no thoughts head empty

Rewatching downfall and ooooh knowing the arcadia twist makes everything so good. All the little foreshadowing details even just when she's first introduced: the fact that her dress is red and white (red! Not an ioun color who's always been described with blue/purple associations!), the fact that she's wearing a golden headdress (almost like a crown?).

The use of the phrase "know" as if to reinforce that this is the Knowing Mistress, and can't possibly be anyone else. Her immediate beeline to Ayden first out of everyone. Her scolding of and little eyeroll at SILAHA. The fact that she called the emissary "Not Sister", rather than construct or servant or anything else. Putting a hand to her temple as if in thought (but probably sending a message to the other betrayers). Her warning to trist that's just vague enough to not technically be a lie.

It's all the little details that taken on their own aren't suspicious or out of character but when you realize who's really talking, they make it all the more sinister!

Two big thoughts about the devil helping Pike then telling her "Go, wee God.":

1. This, and Zerxus' blood comment in tlovm is really making me think Pike might have some god-blood in her a la Trist's descendants.

2. Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells, is never beating the "loves his siblings" allegations.

As much as I love the tragically beautiful sexy temptor role hes occupied, I think that we as a fandom should recognize the fact that Asmodeus is 10 billion years old. There's a reason why brennan portrayed him as an elderly priest in Downfall, the devil isn't some sexy sad bad boy (though he often pretends he is). He's an old man with hate in his heart.

I want more old man depictions of him. Him reading contracts 10 feet away from his face cause it helps him see better. Having an opinion about literally anything even if hes never heard of it before. Constantly complaining about kids these days and how "back in his day" mortals knew their place.

Him and Dawnfather have old man parallels cause they're both the most stubborn people in the world and always think they know best. Neither use mortal technology, Pelor because he doesnt understand it and Asmodeus because he refuses to on principle. They would both perish if they saw a skibidi toilet video, for very different reasons.

Anyways--do you think Asmodeus picks his champions based on how much they remind him of his siblings?

Cause like, obviously Zerxus The Redemption Paladin has Everlight parallels. But also Asmo quite explicitly compared him to the Dawnfather with the whole arrogance thing, not to mention the whole paternal projection/condescension thing he's got going on.

And also, Teven Klask kinda fits this model too in a weird way??? Like, his stern demeanor and big ego is also kinda Dawnfather??? From a very outsider perspective that is, like if all you knew about him was the temple at Hearthdell. (Obviously Teven is nothing like the Dawnfather in actuality). He fits the model very loosely, but I don't get the vibes that he's one of Asmo's favorites anyways so maybe there's more leeway.

Also, both Zexus and Teven are big strong paladins, and I'm just gonna say, Dawnfather in his most classical depictions (not talking baby boi Ayden, here) matches that description pretty well.

Asmo, buddy, I think your obsession is showing.

It's so funny how much brennan lee mulligan has scarred this fandom. We're seeing devils in every shadow now. It's just like: ludinus is secretly asmodeus' avatar! Wait, no, the Archheart is secretly asmodeus in disguise!

Asmodeus shows up and talks to braius? Clearly he's lying about the freeing predathos plan! Or he isn't lying but is failing to mention some deeper, hidden goal that we the audience don't already know about! Or he's lying to himself about wanting that!

Or, or, that wasn't actually the lord of the hells! It was the Archheart in disguise trying to trick braius into going with his plan! Cause everyone knows if it's not brennan lee mulligan himself at the table then we can never be *really* sure who's talking.

being annoying again, bear with me:

So ive been thinking, asmodeus' plan sounds all well-and-good (for him at least): let predathos drive his siblings away, hide out until its gone, then take over the world and torture mortals for eternity.

But it's not accounting for something a little important: What makes him think his siblings would just leave mortals behind? What makes him think they'd just leave him behind?

The brief Asmodeus appearance in this week's episode has reignited my brainrot over this terrible man-devil-god, so here we go again:

Of course he wants to stay in Exandria. And of course he wants to weaponize predathos against his siblings to kill them/drive them away.

Because, here's the thing: he does love his siblings. He loves them *so* much, he's quite literally eternally burning for them. But he loves his *hatred* more. He is consumed by the hatred, the rage, the fiery vengeance, because he is a liar, and these things are the lies he tells so he does not have to face the truth of himself.

The truth that he's *wrong*. The truth that he loves his siblings, and his siblings love him, and they love mortals too of their own volition, and these things can coexist. The truth that *he* ruined his relationship with his siblings, not mortals. The truth that he's been burning in hatred for so long and that burning has all been for naught.

And let's just say, hypothetically, he gets what he wants. Everything goes according to plan, his siblings are killed or exiled and he gets to torment mortals for all eternity. But will he be satisfied? Hell no!

Because vengeance is a lose-lose game. The burning may be fun for a while, but in the end you're left alone with nothing but ashes.

...

And then he'll have a mental breakdown and explode :) Which I kinda want to see ngl.

Horrible idea just popped into my brain that I must share with all of you:

The lord of the hells looks like the most beautiful person you've ever seen. So, who does he see when he looks at himself?

My guess is the Everlight, and isn't that fucked?

Can I just say, I really appreciate how Critical Role plays the Devil trope straight. There's been this phenomena in a lot of modern media (I'm not going to mention specifics but I'm sure a few examples pop up in people's minds) where Hell and the Devil aren't scary or malevolent forces. Hell is portrayed as being basically the same as our world just "edgier", and the Devil is a pretty decent guy actually. Heaven are secretly the real bad guys!

But Critical Role doesn't do that. In Exandria, Asmodeus *feels* like the Devil. He's malevolent and manipulative and terrifyingly powerful and he hates you, personally. We never see that type of portrayal anymore! And it's amazing! And he still manages to be sympathetic and tragic without losing his edge!

And the "Good Gods" are portrayed as flawed without being secretly evil or something! Like, actual nuance? In my Heaven/Hell dichotomy? What!?

It's just such a breath of fresh air after so many "The Devil was right, actually" stories. So props to Matt and Brennan and the cast.

Love how it seems to be a constant for asmodeus that he's always racing towards his goals and tripping right before he reaches them.

He's always first, but he gets too absorbed in the heat of victory to watch his next steps. And that pride is his fall, always.

And Pelor and Sarenrae are always a few steps behind, chasing after him.

Back on my Asmodeus and Ludinus are narrative parallels bullshit again. I've just been trying to put into words why, despite their massive similarities, I feel so differently about them. Like, Asmodeus is an objectively worse person than Ludinus Da'leth but I love him while Ludi's mere presence has me contemplating homicide.

Honestly, I think the biggest differentiator here is that Asmodeus is FUN. Like, he's being horrible but at least on some level he's having fun while doing so. It's the Disney villain effect! He's bad but he's also charismatic and funny (he's got jokes!) and has plots and schemes and is committed to the bit!

And he's tragic too! He's such a messy bitch and whenever he enters the room you know shit's about to get dramatic. Despite all his talk, you can see the longing he has for his siblings. He loves them so much! He loves them but his love burns and he refuses to accept his part in the breakdown of their relationship. It's so juicy!!! There's so much here!!!

Ludinus just doesn't have this! He's not fun, he's preachy. He's got reddit atheist vibes, fucking twitter accelerationist yapping in your replies about how fascism is a good thing, actually. He's so sweaty! Just a huge fucking nerd. JD Vance levels of negative rizz.

And its just like, yeah I guess Ludinus is tragic. On an objective level, I suppose. But its not entertaining, its just kinda pathetic. And I think part of that is because the man is so isolated he doesn't really have any relationships to give him tragic depth? There's Lilliana, and his weird projection with Imogen, and that's kind of it. Which, this loneliness could be something! It could be interesting! But it falls flat on the sympathy side for me because its entirely self-inflicted and just kinda gives off "male loneliness" vibes.

Like, other people survived Calamity. They're all dead now, but he also should be dead now so that’s a moot point. His foremost developmental years were spent with people who shared his experiences and understood his pain, and he *still* couldn't form connections and move on. At that point, his lack of relationships is just a skill issue.

Both of them ruin the party when they walk in, but with Asmodeus shit gets messy while with Ludinus it just gets annoying. Asmodeus I want to beat up and make him cry then hug him. Ludinus I just want to beat up, period.

One very fun thing about Asmodeus is that you can never be 100% sure about anything he says or does. Like, even when we know he's objectively false about something, there's still the question of whether he realizes what he's saying is a lie. Is he just making stuff up or does he actually believe his own bullshit? It's so hard to tell!

Personally, I think he's deluded himself into thinking the primes don't love him. His whole plot with Aeor is a convoluted way of "proving" this. He needs to prove this, he needs to be right, he cannot accept anything otherwise.

Because he's the god of lies. He is the god of lies and there's noone he lies to more than himself. And the greatest tragedy about him is that he is incapable of being honest about how much his siblings love him.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god everybody shut up I just realized something huge (to me at least). Asmodeus wants what the Briarwoods had. He wants his siblings to "break the world" for him. For them.

Because for him, that's the greatest act of love!!! Burning everything to the ground, ruining the world and yourself for the ones you love. That's what made him real in the first place!!! So of course that's why he's so angry that the Primes chose Exandria over the Betrayers.

They couldn't do that! They can't break the world for him, for them. They can't do what he did for them. And he hates them for it.

He hates them. And he loves them. And he can't admit that so he lies and betrays and burns burns burns everything to the ground over and over again because that's the only way he knows how to express his love.

He'd break the world for them, but they cannot do the same for him. It is not out of a lack of love. It is just not in their nature to burn.

@nickmarini's response to my asks has suddenly and inexplicably broken me out of my writer's block, so here's a snippet of a fic inspired by it. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it lol.

...

He glances towards his brother—who is not there. A look behind him reveals the coward has already fled. Typical.

Pelor looks back towards the Wildmother and raises his hands up in placation. “Sister—”

“Brother. For the sake of our continued sibling-hood—Run.”

Pelor runs.

The screeching howls of wild things follow them as they make their escape. Twisting vines and gnarled roots reach out to trip them as they dash through the dense thicket.

“I see our sister is as cheery as ever!” Asmodeus calls out from ahead. “Did I touch a nerve?”

“That was her anniversary gift from Erathis, you ass!”

“Oh really!? Well, forgive me for not keeping up! I haven’t exactly been invited to any family reunions lately!”

Pelor’s response is cut short by a roar in his ear. He dives out of the way a moment before the largest tiger he’s ever seen rips out his throat. He lands in a nearby thorn-bush, spikes digging into his skin.

His sister can be really mean, sometimes.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t get a moment to breathe. A sharp tug pulls at him, and he knows that Asmodeus has reached the end of their tether.  He moves to get up but before he can do so, the tiger pounces. Dagger-like claws tear at his flesh, and the iron stench of blood fills the air.

“Aargh!” Pelor struggles to push the cat off him. It is hundreds of pounds of pure muscle but even in this form, He is the Sun. BOOM. Light explodes out from him, and the beast is thrown back into a tree trunk, landing with a wet thud and a crack of splintering wood.

He pushes himself up, and startles as sudden heat whooshes over his shoulder and rockets down on the tiger, igniting both it and the tree in a blaze of fire.

Pelor looks back at the fiend-that-is-his-brother standing a few paces behind him.

“What?” Asmodeus accuses. “It moved. I’m helping.”

Pelor shakes his head as he brushes past him. “I didn’t say anything.”

Asmodeus bristles, about to object, when another howl sounds from deeper into the jungle and snaps them out of their squabble.

They look at each other.

Pelor smirks, “Go on, help some more.”

Asmodeus rolls his eyes, “I hate you.” He scoffs, but his lips are twitching. Liar.

Pelor’s smirk widens into a grin, and it lights up the forest around them.

The howl sounds again, closer this time, and they break out into a run. They weave though snares of vines and dart out of the jaws of carnivorous plants. Venomous snakes bite at their ankles and birds swoop down at them with sharp beaks and long talons.

At one point, an eagle dive-bombs them and tries to claw out their eyes. Asmodeus throws fire at it and the bird explodes into a squawking ball of flaming plumage.

Pelor blinks. Fire. Squawking. Burnt feathers. “Looks like that phoenix of yours!”

Asmodeus cackles at that comment.

Suddenly, the tree-line breaks. They can see the sky, the clouds, the sunlight shining down upon them. The wide-open air greets them, and they skid to a stop before the precipice of a great cliff.

…

That's it for now! Hope ya'll enjoy reading. I have so much brain rot about these two its not okay.