#yes this is about cr

[six-improbable-things]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Sometimes the dice tell a better story than anyone ever could if they were trying.

#yes this is about cr #specifically caduceus being the one to bring Molly back #my brain is in shambles #I can't think straight #time to watch the last episode of TMN.... #if I die and never come back you can blame emotional overload. <3 #morrigan.text #morrigan watches #morrigan watches: critical role #critical role #critical role campaign 2 #the mighty nein #cr2

[boxingcleverrr]

Can't relate to people who don't multi-ship, or at least are at peace about others doing so, like.

I say this as someone who regularly gets lost in the sauce of media escapism: chill out we're all just smashing barbies together, it's not that serious.

#yes this is about CR #why has canon ever stopped people + required people to harass others over how they mash barbies together

[undead-knick-knack]

And of course he fucking loved it 😭🖤💜

#yes i'm going to be very annoying about this for the foreseeable future #critical role #cr3 #cr c3 #critrole #critrole memes #bells hells #bell's hells #laudna #ashton greymoore #angry crafting #gift giving #gifts #laudmoore #ashna #cr tombstone #cr gravestone #laudna x ashton #ashton x laudna #cr spoilers #cr memes #cr shitpost #courtesy of me #cr campaign three #crit role #critrole meme #1k #2k

[elliesgaymachete]

Imogen: Can I kiss you?

Laura:

#yes it’s another shitpost from yours truly #yes I watched it again to get these screenshots #it’s called being very normal about something #cr spoilers #critical role #laura bailey #imogen temult #imodna #if u saw the typo no u didn’t

[chaosgenasi]

We came to a young world. We came to a world of raw, elemental wonder. Of chaos and exultant passion. Of energy vaster, and more potent than anything we beheld in the cosmos... It doesn’t seem like it’s random or chaos. It just seemed like potential.

#critical role #criticalroleedit #critteredit #aabria iyengar #brennan lee mulligan #matthew mercer #cr exu #cr calamity #cr2 #cr3 #basil.gif #long post #it's about magic it's about potential it's about life it's about stories it's about exandria being a beacon it's about let's do it again #i mean it's also my thoughts on how the luxon maybe made leylines when they impacted/scattered #+ how cool that is when u examine the magic of exandria especially when u consider. luxon = leylines = ether = dunamancy = magic #(some quotes that Almost made it in were matt saying that all magic basically falls under dunamancy + the description of ether) #not to mention the tharizdun connections of a being of elemental chaos & what that could mean for the relationship between the luxon + them #and ruidus and exandria. i also have so many ashton thoughts re: elements + divine + being a fucking beacon but that's for another set lmao #also aabria's!!! dark motes of potential!! what's that about!! i gotta rewatch exu sdfjkh this was just everything off the top of my head #also real spiral shit here but the first person to officially find a beacon post calamity being named leylas. COINCIDENCE. most likely yes #also thinking about draconic being one of the like. languages of magic esp when you think about Elements. but i'm gonna stop now

[sparring-spirals]

so its really like. i love you. i love your power. i hate the source of it. i love you more than i hate it. i love you so much i'll never let you go. i love you. i love your power. i hate the thought of being away from you. i love you more than i hate that. if it means you reaching the full extent of your power i will let you go. i love you. i love you. that is a promise. that is a threat.

#critical role #cr spoilers #c3e89 #cr liveblogging #imogen temult #laudna #hey. What The Hell. Incredible. i was not expecting this #love wins!! the wildly precarious and dangerous dynamic that dangles on the knives edge between love and obsession is sapphic!!!!! #sorcery pact #the universe said spar is being ridiculous about her watching schedule again #we are going to reward it though. deeply unhealthy imodna dynamic convo be upon ye

[greenteaandtattoos]

the sheer unfaithfulness of laudna's argument of, "i gave you a bruise, you gave me gashes" in trying to undermine orym's validity as if she wasn't the REASON he had attacked her, thinking she was an enemy because he couldn't SEE her after she cast darkness and she wouldn't SPEAK UP to assure him that it was her and she REFUSED to back down after he woke up and chose thievery and lashing out and risking his life AND his trust instead of COMMUNICATING, left me completely and utterly FLABBERGASTED at the AUDACITY

#critical role #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #laudna #orym #yeah there were moments where laudna was absolutely correct #i.e. when chet said that she hadn't experienced loss like the others #and her feelings about the sword in general #but oh man that moment was NOT one of them #definitely a moment that pissed me off #among many if not most other moments in that argument #i.e. orym calling out laudna's hypocrisy for “relying” on a dark force #like ooooo he called her out so haaaaard #like yes circumstances are vastly different #but she can't call the kettle black as an argument #and not expect to be told that the pot is also black

[sky-scribbles]

Shepard holds a funeral for her clone.

The paperwork is almost harder than the ceremony. Turns out it’s tricky to register the death of someone whose birth - creation? Decanting-from-vat? - was never recorded to begin with. Then there’s some kind of question about whether the clone needs to be retroactively registered as a Council space citizen to have her death put on the official record, and if so, whether she counts as a member of the Systems Alliance or as an ‘undocumented alien’. Which is pretty fucking ironic, considering how utterly she’d have loathed having the word alien attached to her.

And once Shepard’s ground her teeth through a dozen calls and bludgeoned through the first layer of formwork - a death certificate still needs a name.

‘I have to put something,’ she says. She’s aware that her voice is ragged, and that Kaidan is watching her as he brews her fourth coffee of the evening with concern heavy on his face. She must look barely alive, up near midnight in a kitchen that was Anderson’s and still feels nothing like hers, hair falling forward, eyes shadowed grey. Datapads and empty mugs strewn around her. Fine. She’s felt barely alive ever since she woke up in a Cerberus lab.

‘You could choose one for her,’ Kaidan says gently. A lot of people speak to her gently, these days.

‘She’d hate that. A name makes you individual. She didn’t want to be an individual; she wanted to be me.’

The cofee machine whirrs softly, sounding louder than it is in the open space of the apartment. It still doesn’t feel right, all this space for one person. Someone could drown in this much space.

‘She didn’t want to be you, though. Not really.’ Kaidan pours out the coffee, his eyes only leaving her face for a moment. ‘What she wanted was to be the symbol. The face on the vids.’

He carries the mug over and sets it down beside her hand. Shepard grips it tight. The unfinished form blinks up at her from the datapad screen, and she looks away.

‘I’m not asking this because I don’t support you doing it, or to judge you for it, or anything,’ Kaidan says, after a moment. ‘I just want to understand. Can you tell me why this is so important to you? I mean - I get that you were trying to save her, and she... she let go. But...’

He hesitates, and in his silence Shepard hears, she tried to kill you. She tried to take you away from me, and everyone who cares about you, for a second time - because she was jealous.

Shepard sips her coffee. It hasn’t had time to cool down, and her lips smart. She ignores it. She thinks.

‘What you said about... being the symbol,’ she says at last. ‘I get why she wanted it, or thought she did. I understand feeling that Commander Shepard is someone bigger than you are.’

Kaidan breathes out slowly, and takes a seat beside her.

‘I get feeling that you’re so small, so nothing, next to everyone’s idea of what Commander Shepard is. And when I fall short -’ She sees him prepare to protest, and cuts across him. ‘I do, I do all the time - I feel like it’d be easier if I were the symbol. Not...’ She waves a hand, indicating all the sleep-starved mess of her. ‘This. I don’t even know when what would Shepard do and what will I do stopped feeling like the same question.’

She lets her hand fall back onto the table. Kaidan takes it and holds it tight.

‘And I think of her, the clone, waking up in some Cerberus med bay. Confused. And Brooks - Brooks was there, feeding her things to believe, manipulating her, turning her into the symbol she wanted. And I get it.’ Shepard bites her burned lip. ‘Because I woke up in a Cerberus lab. And I was scared. And they used me, and I let them.’

What she does not add is, and sometimes I don’t feel any more real than her. I don’t have any way to prove that I’m the woman who died in the wreckage of her broken ship. They wiped away that woman’s scars. There could be all kinds of tech in my head, feeding me a lie, telling me I’m real.

She swallows. Her throat feels raw. ‘And now the clone’s dead, and no one cares. We’re planning a fucking party. If I don’t push for a funeral, she’ll just go unregistered and undocumented and everyone will keep joking about how crazy this whole mess has been, how I fell through a fish tank and a mad clone tried to steal my life, and it’d be like she never existed at all. I don’t have to fill in these forms. I could take the easy road and let her be a ghost. But I can’t do that, Kaidan. I can’t.’

He looks at her, his eyes steady and patient and full of worry. Then he slips an arm over her shoulder and pulls her in, and Shepard leans into him, needing the surety of his touch, his warmth. Anything that tells her she’s something more than a force piloting a set of N7 armour.

Kaidan presses a slow kiss to the top of her head. He holds her until she stops feeling ready to howl. Then he sits with her and helps her fill in the forms, helps her choose a name for the clone, one that fits. When morning comes, he calls C-Sec and stays on the line until they agree to release the body to the Normandy, into the custody of the only person who could be considered the dead woman’s relative. 

He doesn’t ask Shepard any more questions as to why she needs this done.

In the end, they bury her in space, as Shepard would a crewmate. And no one has stories to tell of what she meant to them. They have nothing to say about the achievements of her angry little life. But they wear their dress blues, and speak softly, and they turn the lights down low.

Shepard doesn’t know if this is what her clone would have wanted. Maybe she never learned to want anything for herself at all. It doesn’t matter. A funeral doesn’t help her clone; it helps her.

They lift the casket into the airlock. EDI opens the outer door. And the casket leaps away into space in a blur of silver-grey, like the body within is hungry for the stars.

#anyway the clone is a walking tragedy and ill never be normal about it #yes this is still a cr blog. but im doing a mass effect replay and i have feelings #mass effect #femshep #shepard #kaidan alenko #shenko #sky's writing #oc: sita shepard

[piratespencil]

God, every time Ashton makes a conscious choice to jump/fall from a great height it hits so hard. Ashton leaping thru the portal to grab Imahara Joe and soak the fall damage… when we know Ashton’s history with falls…. oof.

#and then orym follows right after them to do the same with the mystery person #god damn these self sacrificing tanks are gonna end me #(yes i’m watching ep 70 rn) #critical role #cr3 #c3e70 #cr spoilers #cr liveblog #ashton greymoore #kk talks about stuff #kk watches cr3

[beauregardlionett]

did i rant to my friends about dorian and orym just to be called a simp? yes i did. and i'll do it again.

these two characters? consume my waking thoughts. because just fucking think about this from a timeline/literary point of view for a second with me.

orym lost his husband and his father-in-law (who he always calls dad because he didn't have a dad growing up) in a violent attack on his leader a while ago and whatever magic was used to kill them kept them dead - no reviving magic worked to bring them back. in the space of a single attack, he lost two of the most important people in his life, and now he's a widow who still mourns and loves in equal measure even while far from home trying to save the world. he loves even though he's scared of losing again.

dorian is a runaway heir to a title he never really wanted, a musician for himself, a charlatan hiding behind an easy smile, who has really only ever wanted to see the world in his own time and make real friends for once in his life. and he did that! all on his own! he was with the group at the beginning of the campaign but then they ran into his older brother who was in trouble and needed to lay low and dorian went with him, falling back on old instincts that family by blood comes first. he ran from the group and from the foundations he was building with them. because dorian has only ever run from the things that scare him. but now he's back, re-traced his frightened footsteps toward the daunting promise of tomorrow - not yet with the group, we're getting his side of the story first. and he even said it himself, that he ran from the group and now he's not sure why he did it, why he left, when he stands here now and realizes everything he wanted was already in front of him.

they have sending stones, a once a day chance to say something to each other in 25 words or less. they've been using them, keeping each other updated on where they are, that they're still alive, and kindling this flame even without dorian at the table, without even seeing each other, and liam has been carrying this torch alone for 78 episodes but damn it the flame is still lit regardless!

and orym always updates on their progress and location first, and with whatever words he has left he drops in a sentiment to remind dorian that they still care - that orym still cares. and orym is practical through and through, he's a strategist so he always always always uses his words wisely because he's so fucking limited by this spell but the last message he sent? he repeated himself, he admitted a weakness, he faltered.

he told dorian where they were. he asked if dorian could come their way. he admitted to struggling while his voice broke. he asked again but in a different way if dorian could come their way. he ended the message with the most heartbreaking "fuck, i miss you," i have ever heard in my life.

orym, the man who messaged dorian 52 episodes ago and said "glad you're not here, wish you were anyway." because they're constantly in danger, and he wouldn't wish that on dorian, but he still aches to have him near. orym, the man who confessed 13 episodes ago during a trial with his friends that he's lonely, that he misses dorian and sometimes he thinks it's okay and sometimes he doesn't - because he was married and is still mourning and how dare he have feelings for someone else? how dare he move on even when his husband would WANT him to be happy again? he indicated dorian was missed by everyone in three of his previous messages before the trial, before finally shifting to 'I, orym, me - it's me who misses you'.

and dorian, the one who replied to a message orym sent him with "stay steadfast, sending you fairer winds" in the most longing tone i have EVER heard. dorian, who kissed orym's forehead when they parted ways but that is the closest they have come to acknowledging whatever is between them. dorian, who has been to orym's home between exu and c3 and met orym's mom and knows about orym's husband.

when orym died 58 episodes ago, he went limp and the sending stone slipped out of his hand because he was trying to message dorian before he died, before he ran out of words and breath. before he was revived, there was a moment he stood in the beyond and saw his husband and he told orym "you're not done," and orym said "i really wish i could stay," and then his husband said "i'll still be here," and orym said, heartbroken, "oh, i miss you so bad."

he told dorian, "i've really missed you," and "fuck, i miss you." i miss you is orym's way of saying i love you.

they're so close. they are so close. and orym fully died 19 episodes after dorian left, but he was revived and then never told dorian via sending that happened. part of me wants dorian to find out and the other part hopes he never has to feel like he failed orym by leaving. because nothing could have changed that from happening, not even dorian.

they are so close to reuniting, orym has needed dorian back for WEEKS and he's so close. i'm begging them to hold on so they can hold each other again.

and, again, from a literary point of view, you know the wildest part about all of this?

none of it is scripted.

#cr #critical role #dorian storm #orym of the air ashari #dorym #writing #my writing #i guess???? idk simp rant or whatever #anyway. am i making a hell of a lot of assumptions about their dynamic? yes. #will i be stopping? n o p e #this ship hasn't sailed far but i'm clinging to the steering wheel regardless #i had to get this out of my brain so i could focus on finals

[caeslxys]

I’ve mentioned this elsewhere but it feels relevant again in light of the most recent episode. Something that’s really fascinating to me about Orym’s grief in comparison to the rest of the hells’ grief is that his is the youngest/most fresh and because of that tends to be the most volatile when it is triggered (aside from FCG, who was two and obviously The Most volatile when triggered.)

As in: prior to the attack on Zephrah, Orym was leading a normal, happy, casual life! with family who loved him and still do! Grief was something that was inflicted upon him via Ludinus’ machinations, whereas with characters like Imogen or Ashton, grief has been the background tapestry of their entire lives. And I think that shows in how the rest of them are largely able to, if not see past completely (Imogen/Laudna/Chetney) then at least temper/direct their vitriol or grief (Ashton/Fearne/Chetney again) to where it is most effective. (There is a glaring reason, for example, that Imogen scolded Orym for the way he reacted to Liliana and not Ashton. Because Ashton’s anger was directed in a way that was ultimately protective of Imogen—most effective—and Orym’s was founded solely in his personal grief.)

He wants Imogen to have her mom and he wants Lilliana to be salvageable for Imogen because he loves Imogen. But his love for the people in his present actively and consistently tend to conflict with the love he has for the people in his past. They are in a constant battle and Orym—he cannot fathom losing either of them.

(Or, to that point, recognize that allowing empathy to take root in him for the enemy isn't losing one of them.)

It is deeply poignant, then, that Orym’s grief is symbolized by both a sword and shield. It is something he wields as a blade when he feels his philosophy being threatened by certain conversational threads (as he believes it is one of the only things he has left of Will and Derrig, and is therefore desperately clinging onto with both bloody hands even if it makes him, occasionally, a hypocrite), but also something he can use in defense of the people he presently loves—if that provocative, blade-grief side of him does not push them—or himself—away first.

(it won’t—he is as loved by the hells as he loves them. he just needs to—as laudna so beautifully said—say and hear it more often.)

#critical role #cr spoilers #bells hells #orym of the air ashari #cr meta #imogen temult #ashton greymoore #liliana temult #this is genuinely completely written in good faith as someone who loves orym #but is also about orym and so will inevitably end up being completely misconstrued and made into discourse. alas #I could talk about how Orym’s unwillingness to allow the hells to actually finish/come to a solid conclusion on Philosophy Talk #is directly connected to one of the largest criticisms of c3 (that they are constantly having these conversations) #all day. alas. engaging with orym’s flaws tends to make people upset #it is ESP prevelant when he walks off after exclaiming ‘they (vangaurd) are NOT right’ #which was not only never said but wasn’t even what they were talking about #he even admits as much to imogen like ten minutes later! that he is incapable of viewing it objectively #which is 100% justifiable and understandable but simultaneously does not make his grief alone the most important perspective in the world #also bc i fear ppl will play semantics on my tags yes the line ‘i hope she’s right’ was said but it was from ASHTON #who does not believe they are at all and wasn’t saying they actively WERE right. orym just heard something to latch onto and ran with it #ultimately there is a reason orym only admitted that he was struggling when he had stepped away to talk to dorian #who has not been around and thusly has not changed once n orym's eyes #and it isn't that the hells never check in or care. they do. they have several times over #it is dishonest to say they haven't #the actual reason is that all of this is something He Is Aware Of. he doesn't mention it bc he KNOWS it's hypocritical and selfish #he says as much! #EXHALES. @ MY OWN BRAIN CAN WE THINK ABT MOG AGAIN. FYRA RAI EVEN. FOR ME. #posting this literally at 8 in the morning so I can get my thoughts out of my brain but also attempt to immediately make this post invisibl

[six-improbable-things]

Seeing people from California describe extreme cold is very funny to me. Like, if it's warm enough for snowflakes to melt, and you're all bundled up, you shouldn't be that cold? And your breath fogs even when it's not that cold. Like, I've been walking around, totally fine in just a sweatshirt, or a t-shirt and a coat and still had my breath fog up.

#yes this is about cr #when Marisha said ''it's like 2C'' I laughed #at 2C I'd at most be wearing a coat #but not a sweatshirt and a coat #(2C = ~35F) #morrigan.text #morrigan watches #morrigan watches: critical role #critical role #critical role campaign 2 #cr2 #the mighty nein #bitch I'm from michigan #cold is our normal #it's 25F here right now and that's not even *that* cold #(that's about -4C for those of you who use the Water Temp Language)

[essektheylyss]

Honestly, the implication with the Sendings that there is something wrong with the leylines and the weave of magic in Exandria is so funny to me. There is a non-zero chance, not even a low chance, that Ludinus is pissed because he got tossed to some random point in Exandria, and now he has to walk places. And maybe get on a ship. God forbid.*

But this also has a lot of other implications. The leylines tend to be associated with both intra- and interdimensional travel, as well as things like Scrying, Sending of course, and possibly other methods of divination.

It is also possible that, given what we know about dunamis, that dunamancy is also tied to the leylines or the weave in some way.

We know that divine magic is at least working—but we only know this to be true of divine magic granted by a god of the Pantheon.

So, with all of that in mind, a HIGHLY incomplete sample of things that may or may not be happening across Exandria while the Hells A-Team is traveling to Uthodurn:

Yussa is torn between gratitude for being free from the menace of Caleb Widogast teleporting into his house and Jester Lavorre sending him messages at all hours, and irritation that he can't get any of his work done because it all has to do with planar magic.

Any gratitude wears off when Fjord and Jester come banging on his door because Jester cannot send any messages nor contact Artagan, who is bound by the rules of the planes and by extension the leylines (since he can, unlike the gods, pass mostly freely from plane to plane).

Fjord's magic is completely fine because he is operating on sheer force of will and obeys no laws known to mortals, physics, or nature. Essek, who was holed up in the Lavorres' spare room for the week, is absolutely pissed because half of his magic is broken (and also he has no idea where his partner is).

Caleb and Beau take like seven hours to get the collar off before discovering that they are stuck somewhere in the Issylran tundra. (They would probably get fined by the Slayer's Take for the number of bounties they take out their rage on, if the Slayer's Take had ANY idea who the fuck they were.)

Caduceus is cheerfully gardening and has no idea this has happened. Melora decides not to bother him. Let him live in bliss, unlike the rest of Exandria.

Dorian has been having a meltdown into his Sending stone while Opal and Dariax run rampant and Cyrus looks very pretty but does absolutely nothing. It has no effect.

Keyleth is sitting in a daze somewhere next to a tree that will not open wondering if the last thirty-six hours were a fever dream.

The city of Syngorn saw the moon nonsense, panicked, tried to hop to the Feywild, then panicked harder. Fortunately, they could not contact anyone, and Allura Vysoren did not have to hear about it.

Ludinus has murdered several people. It has gotten him no closer to leaving whatever random part of the Tal'dorei countryside he is menacing.

Somewhere, there is a bird. That bird saw this beam, looked down into a very old, very precious orb, and said, "Not this fucking shit again."

All in all, very funny couple of days Exandria is happening. I'm sure things will not get any worse.

*I know he traveled by ship to the peace talks, okay, but that was for appearances. He didn't have shit to be doing at the time.

#critical role #cr spoilers #cr meta #honestly what's up in bazzoxan. I was gonna make a joke about verin but I truly don't even have a CLUE #I do think either the shattered teeth are in chaos or the perpetual cloud over it is just suddenly clear for the first time in a millennium #now THAT would be wild actually #yes this is just a post to clown on everyone. I'm having a great time actually. #yes I did make an agrupnin joke cerrit was invoked and I am being absolutely normal about it.

[ariadne-mouse]

Blue Perennem

Common names: taintflower, gooch poppy, grundlebundle, taint-patiens, pussy willow, butt-ercup, nether-lily, panty-petunia, chrysanthebum, down-low daisy (1)

Appearance: Leaves and stems are greyish or black, and similar in shape to those of a rose bush. Flowers are a vivid blue, each with six petals, and each petal bearing distinct variegation that resembles a screaming face.

Etymology: Most scholars agree Blue Perennem takes its name from Archaic Common word perennis, meaning "everlasting", possibly in reference to its survival in harsh environments or its use in healing medicines. However, folklore points to its origin in the Modern Common word perineum, which informs many all of its common names. The association of perineum with the flower itself is unclear. It may be that in some phenotypes, the center of the flower markedly resembles an anus, and thus the petals would be analogous to the aforementioned perineum.

Distribution: Blue Perennem is an uncommon flower native to the Grey Valley, a region of the Cliffkeep Mountains north of the Umbra Hills in Tal'Dorei. It can be found growing in areas rich with demonic energy, cursed magic, death, loss, or other sites where significant conflict has occurred.

Uses and cultivation: Blue Perennem is used in powerful restorative medicines, in particular those reversing damage caused by poisons. Cultivation is largely unsuccessful. Despite Blue Perennem's hardiness against the hazards of its native environment, it poorly tolerates transplanting. Advocates of the perineum-origin etymology point to this as an example countering the flower's association with "everlasting".

(1) the author received many unsolicited contributions for this entry from amateur arcano-botanists, especially for common names of the Blue Perennem. Most have been reluctantly included for the fulfillment of linguistic descriptivism, though this author doubts the validity of several of them, especially those from parties who made many submissions and were giggling as they handed over their papers.

#please note this is a comedy post and not a Lore post #though I have used some Lore of course #yes I spent about two hours doing this #it was well spent #please stay tuned for regularly scheduled liveblog activity #cr spoilers #ariadne draws CR #(what at thing to put in that tag) #c3e67 #c3 #critical role #op #fanart

[aeoris4lovers]

the quiet tragedy of verin being the one who never quite made it out.

for most of their lives, essek was the one who was entrenched in expectations, in the politics of their den. while verin was stationed far from the heart of the dynasty, ostensibly free from the eyes of his elders, essek was sitting beside their mother in court and speaking before the queen. and it made sense, because essek had always been better at all of it — the posturing, the sweet-talking, the ladder-climbing. his brother the black sleep was still his brother the prodigy; his brother the heretic was still his brother the shadowhand.

but then, essek meets new people and they get through to him and change him and make him softer, make him better (and why them? what is it about them, that they could do what verin never could?) and he runs. he gives up the title and the status and the power and leaves it all (leaves verin) behind.

suddenly, verin is the lone newsoul of den thelyss, the one with all eyes on him, with the expectations meant for two brothers falling squarely on his shoulders and only his in the absence of their other target. he is still the youngest of his den, the one they all watch and wait to be disappointed by, but there is no one to share that burden with anymore and all at once it becomes painfully clear that distance never really was freedom.

essek has a family, then — not a den but a family, with love and trust and care and warmth and all the things essek once called verin childish for craving — and a welcoming home to go to with someone who loves him waiting there and a garden in the front yard, and verin is left still fighting demons under the banner of a god (of a family, of a home) he only half-believes in.

and maybe they see each other more often then. maybe bazzoxan is remote enough that it’s safe for essek to visit in disguise. maybe essek’s friends come too and are kind enough to offer a taste of what essek has now and verin can almost believe it’s his too. maybe essek doesn’t even fight it anymore when verin insists on hugging him. but how much can that really fix? how much can it really change?

an unloved man leaves no one behind when he finally makes a better life for himself, but essek was never an unloved man. not really.

#listen i have a lot of feelings about verin #hes the kindhearted himbo of the family yes but he also is A Thelyss and weve seen the baggage that comes with #i think on the surface hed be thrilled for essek and love the nein #but it definitely wouldnt be an easy thing to stomach #i imagine its like the feeling of your sibling going to college and leaving you with your shitty parents but like. times a hundred #like ‘im so happy for you but i want to be happy for myself too and you getting out mightve just locked me in so where do we go from here’ #fuck man sibling relationships are so messy im going feral #we never even get to SEE verin but he haunts the entirety of essek’s arc and im incapable of being normal about it #cr meta #verin thelyss #essek thelyss #the thelyss brothers #den thelyss #the mighty nein #c2 #critical role #critical role meta

[elliesgaymachete]

#yes this is when matt was like that’s your girlfriend! #no i will not stop making memes about this #might even write some monsterfucker imogen myself #critical role #cr spoilers #matt mercer #imogen temult #imodna #sorcerer babes