okay so ive been thinking a lot abt the vaelus/thaisha vs vaelus/hannan discourse recently and
i think its really interesting that hannan and thaisha are, despite obviously both being druids and having the same world-goal, pretty much entirely narrative opposite.
(this is mostly rambling, minor spoilers under the cut)
bcs the description hannan gives about what he does is that he (and im paraphrasing obv) goes out into the darkest parts of the world and puts 110% of himself into fighting undead to the point where hes okay (and to a point wants to) dying to rid the world of evil undead because he's lost everything already.
whereas thaisha leaves to heal the world because she's inspired by hal's art and wants to continue the work of her ancestors to create a better, and safer, world for her family/her children. and even though she leaves dol makjar she returns to visit her family, obviously often enough that she's familiar with elodie and hero (as well as aranessa and thjazi, assuming they got married around the time hal and elodie met based on when hero was born in the cold open) and swaps teams to stay at the theatre to see hal and shadia's show.
and it makes perfect sense that hannan would be the one to help vaelus realize that sylandri was wrong, because they're both elves and both lived during the time of the shapers while thaisha, no matter how much she may know/learn, will never have the same experiences.
but I personally don't think that hannan is the person (elf? is person just for humans or is that universal?) to help vaelus heal from that realization, because they've suffered the same losses and are actually already very similar (throwing themselves into combat not considering personal risk because a part of them welcomes death bcs it means being with those they lost)
also thaisha has (seemingly) what vaelus wants out of her life, and i especially think it would be interesting, since blended families seems normalized in orcish culture in araman, for vaelus to be welcomed into a (thaisha's) family in a way that hannan can't offer.
anyway the tldr is that thaisha probably couldn't have helped vaelus accept the reality of who sylandri was, particularly as quickly as hannan did, but hannan likely isnt capable of offering the healing that vaelus would want that comes after the realization in the way thaisha can based on their priorities/experiences
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
now that the seekers table arc is over(ish) i have character dynamic thoughts
thaisha has maybe the most interesting relationship to the other pcs because she has something to live for
vaelus, julien, and occtis have all [to varying degrees and differing timelines] recently lost effectively everything, leading them to have a very what is there to live for besides my revenge perspective, especially for julien and vaelus (occtisâ is more i already died what worse could happen)
but unlike the three of them, thaisha has to survive, and wants to survive, because she has work to do and people to protect. she canât afford to die in Tannessar because she has to find alogar. she [aabria, above table,] is planning to die less [take the durable feat]. she takes virtually no damage in any of the battles after she finds out her son is in danger bcs she canât afford to be careless.
and it leads to an interesting party dynamic bcs they all have reasons to distrust each other, but thaisha is the only one selling something/someone tangible, vs information or revenge (as a primary personal goal). vaelus has committed herself to joining the party bcs sheâs following a thread (occtis). julien doesnât trust the others but he knows what they want and it donât conflict with his goals. occtis (seemingly, his goals are the most unclear) wants knowledge more than anything else, and to understand what happened to him and why. and thaisha is trying to find/save her son, which is the only goal that has a v clear endpoint/resolution that isnt (most likely) an overarching central point of conflict in the campaign (killing the tachonises, dealing w the deaths of the shapers, occtis is most likely permanently âdeadâ)
so she argues with the other pcs because her stress in the situation comes from fear, instead of anger or grief or betrayal (or whatever occtis is capable of feeling), which makes her a little bit unrelatable to the rest of them in a v cool interesting way
anyway this is meant to be a seekers table dynamic appreciation thought post bcs v few dnd tables take the we are holding on by the thinnest of threads rn route and im lowk obsessed and sad its over for a bit
(just to be so clear thaisha is one of my fav characters and aabria is a genius)
(also also thaisha being like huh there rly are a lot of paths) (not a full thought but yk) (also thaisha and vaelus. that one is a full thought.)
(also also also poor dame seramai but also at least that wont be a problem in the future (pls let her not snitch on occtis in the afterlife) also poor dr. talter)
holy fuck brennan i am obsessed with this and i will be stealing this bird thing (aabria is right this is rad) (also the face ashley made i am screaming)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
petition to rename the cr4 tables to the soldier (singular, thimble), the sought (occtis and julien & aranessa), and the stuck (bcs everyone else can at least run away from the problems/attackers)
okay new blog bcs iâve needed a place to yap about movies i watch for class for a while but specifically bcs i have thoughts about campaign 4 of critical role
anyway spoilers for exu: calamity and cr4e11
iâve realized part of why i love the schemers table so much is that theyâre kind of narrative foils for exu:calamity
like murray is similar to nydas, they both have influence in the local school/university, both obviously care about the futures of the children/students attending the schools, and (importantly, to me at least) came from v little/no money
but murray is a wizard who teaches and (implied) embezzles funds and lies bcs she has a teacherâs salary, whereas nydas was a sorcerer who turned away from sorcery and towards being a bard because it was easier for him, so instead he sponsored the school with his enormous wealth
and hal is similar to loquatious bcs they both are the foremost âartsâ (i say in quotes bcs loquacious was a news broadcaster, but a performer nonetheless) influence at the time and are (maybe were, in halâs case, since we donât rly know yet how being thjaziâs brother will impact him) beloved by everyone they know in their city
but hal works directly with the people to show off the truth and more importantly the history of the land to inspire people, whereas loquatious was an untouchable celebrity figure who announced the present/future and lied to (in his justification) protect people
and bolaire is kind of a combination of patia and laerynn, where he has a profound magical knowledge and a very important âfamilyâ history
but he/it prioritizes history and memory and stories while laerynn and patia did the exact opposite and focused on dreams of the future and [the illusion of] greatness
bolaire doesnât need to pretend he can become god-like by achieving something bcs he helped killed a god, why would he want to become one, and if anything he just wants to feel and be treated like a regular person
and funny enough luisâs characters kind of mirror each other, except azune has none of zerxusâ ego and is closer in job ranking to cerrit since he has bosses and the ability to detect/monitor magic usage (and he seems to try to be like cerrit, not intentionally but as a character trope as an investigator, and he fails at that immediately and his friend dies because of it)
but azune (at least theoretically) protects the city and is (unlike zerxus) in the loop with the other schemers and shows up with a plan and wants to help and trust others
and he is also the first one to suggest hiring a militia, and even if its just to keep them out of the hands of the tachonis/halovar, its a v aggressive stance to take and he (like zerxus) doesnt seem to know moderation and is very much all in
so basically the schemers (to me) are the ring of brass if the ring of brass had v little (or no, in reference to the most powerful ppl/the tachonis & halovar) influence, v little money (comparatively), & limited access to magic and still had to save the city/world
anyway if anyone reads this thx ig and if not oh well thx anyway
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
random thoughts @rhkino-random-thoughts - Tumblr Blog | Tumlook