#and vax background

[timaeusterrored]

(Vax’s mommy issues)

((Tw: mentions of addiction))

“I just think it’s a little convenient is all. She’s not there for nearly 33 years and suddenly she’s interested after he reveals his face? Do we even know if she’s his mother?” Vik asked, following Guadeloupe around the kitchen until she turned.

“Oh I’m quite sure. Even chromed up, V looks exactly like her. And trust me, Vik, I don’t like it either but he deserves to meet his mother at least once. Then he can chose to do as he pleases after.” She explained calmly, then shoved a spoon of soup into Vik’s mouth to shut him up.

Vax showed up a few hours later, trying to not look too excited and failing miserably. The sight hurt Vik’s soul. There was a feeling deep in his chest that this wasn’t going to end well.

“Is she here?” He asked, he sounded like a kid on Christmas asking if Santa came that night. Luckily, Guadeloupe best him to the punch to go with him. Vik watched from the kitchen as Melissa Kane stood to greet her son for the first time. She couldn’t even come sober?

Vik sat at the table, Guadeloupe joining him after a few minutes with a beer. They clinked their bottles together and waited, hearing the soft talking going on in the living room.

It too all of 30 minutes for Vax to go storming out. And Vik’s suspicions were confirmed. He watched Melissa try to follow, stopping just outside. She didn’t come for Vax, she came for V Eurodyne. Husband of a rock legend and a legend himself in the underworld of Night City.

“If you ever contact my son again, I will not hesitate to contact the police. I’d deal with you myself but I raised too much of a good person.” Vik couldn’t help but add that last bit. But it was true.

He was there when Vex had her baby, he was there when Vax woke up screaming from nightmares at an age too young to be having them, he was there for Vax’s first boxing match, taught him to shoot a gun and how to drive. And Guadeloupe was there to house him when V was too scared to talk to Vik about his own addiction. They raised V into the man he was today, not her.

He should call Kerry.

Vax was glad for one thing in the Villa, and that was the bar and the fact that Kerry only stayed here when he was making a new album, which luckily wasn’t now. He downed his second drink and went to pour another when a hand stopped him, silver wedding band sticking out against the golden jewel he normally wore.

He let the bottle get taken from him and sighed, feeling defeated. And hurt. And extremely vulnerable right now.

“She asked for money. Knew her all of 30 minutes, and she asked me for money.” He had hoped Vex would be wrong about her, that their mother would be an amazing woman who just made a rough decision. But no, she barely cared about Vax, only his last name and status.

“I’m so sorry, baby…” Kerry kissed his temple and led V to sit on the couch, then moved to make him an actual drink. Something he’d actually enjoy instead of just drowning in self pity for ever thinking his mother would be a good woman.

“I just… is it so bad that I hoped my mother would be a good person?” He asked when Kerry came back over with drink and made V look at him.

“Your mother is a good woman. That woman is not your mother, your mother is Guadeloupe Welles. And that is the best mother ever right there.” Kerry wrapped his arm around V’s shoulders and gave him a knowing look.

“She’s missin’ out on the most amazing, talented, kindest, and sexiest man alive. And if she was gonna use you for money, then fuck her. She doesn’t deserve to know Vax. She’s lucky she got to him. And she’s extremely lucky I wasn’t there.” She probably was, V had no idea how overprotective Kerry could be when they first met.

V took a drink and sighed. Fuck Kerry knew him too well this was amazing. He rested his temple on Kerry’s forehead, feeling him rub his shoulder.

“Still hurts… I spent years looking for her… wanting to meet her. And turns out she didn’t care about me or Vex at all…” he whispered. “I know I have Vik and Mama but damn I was so excited to meet her.”

Kerry nodded, simply listening to rant because he knew that’s what V needed. His merc didn’t need advice he needed someone to hear him. And Kerry would listen to him for hours if that’s what it took.

[liltaireissocute]

[PERC'ILDAN]

midnight conversations during the night watch can make you closer than anything in the world

[demigoddessqueens]

He’s so 💕🥹💞

[natreidess]

They’re going out and Keyleth is better at make up 

[suaimhneas-gairid]

I'm usually pretty good at skipping past posts with spoilers but there is... so much content that even pictures of current cast feel like I'm seeing something I'm not ready for yet 🥲

I'll see you guys in the present in like a year

[batshit-auspol]

So a bit of background first for our international followers: Clive Palmer is one of Australia's many mining billionaires who like to meddle in our country's politics, and as such he is utterly despised by all of Australia.

Picture for context:

He is most commonly known online by the title "Fatty McFuckhead", (problematic as it may be) because he tried to sue a youtuber for $500,000 for calling him that - and he lost. So the name stuck.

Up until his most recent foray into parliament, the legally certified Fuckhead was best known for his batshit business ventures, such as attempting to build "The Titanic 2" (failed) and trying to build a dinosaur theme park (also failed, but at least nobody got eaten by a T-Rex in this one).

For a very long time Clive played the role of sugar daddy to Australia's largest conservative party, the ironically named Liberal Party, until they had a falling out in 2012 after Clive claimed there was too much money influencing politics (lol), at which point he started his own party, days after saying he totally quit and wasn't fired and he only left because he didn't want to be a distraction.

His initial run at parliament was actually kinda successful, with Palmer's group winning 4 seats, plus a member from the "Motoring Enthusiasts Party" joined them too after accidentally getting elected and not knowing what the fuck to do.

Despite this initial success however, Palmer's party (which ran on basically no platform other than "I'm rich") hit an iceberg (titanic 2 achieved) and seven elected state and federal politicians quit within the first year.

By the time the next federal election rolled around, only one Palmer party candidate was still running for re-election. The most successful of this group - Jaquie Lambie - quit to sit as an independant and is still in parliament today.

Here she is with a painting of herself strangling Clive (she sells signed copies of this)

And here the senator is posting about liking sausage:

Anyway, we're getting to the point: which is the yellow posters. By the 2016 election, just two years after forming, the party was in complete freefall. It won just 0.01% of the vote at their second election, and it was announced shortly after that Clive was quitting politics and the party was being shut down. Australia breathed a sigh of relief.

It was, of course, short lived.

Clive, in desperate need of attention, restarted the party for the 2019 election, fielding candidates in every seat and spending $60 million in advertising in an attempt to win votes.

Every single candidate lost.

It was in this campaign however that Australia really started to fall out of love with Palmer, because most of that $60 million went towards putting up the world's least compelling marketing billboards on almost every single free space in the country.

For a good six months this was basically the only thing you would see in Australia if you went outside:

Clearly Graphic design is his passion. And yes, the genius did just straight up try and copy Trump's homework while changing a few words, hoping nobody would notice.

Very quickly these all got vandalised and it seemed the ad companies didn't care enough to replace them.

We could go on posting examples, there are thousands, but the best is definitely the one Ikea put up shortly after Clive lost the election:

In 2022, Clive's party contested the election AGAIN, this time also opting to send millions on spam text messages to every person in Australia begging for people to vote for him, as well as buying almost every youtube ad for a year, at the cost of $100 million.

He won a whopping one seat.

During this election Clive ran on an anti-lockdown, anti-vax platform with the slogan "freedom, freedom, freedom". That message, however, was slightly undermined when his goons, dressed in 'Freedom!' shirts, made national news for trying to beat up a protester who turned up at a rally dressed as an annoying text message, shouting "pay your workers" at Clive.

As if that wasn't bad enough, at another rally Clive knocked himself unconscious while trying to jump up on stage, and then a few weeks later was rushed to hospital with covid, while his anti-vax ads were still in regular rotation on TV, at which point it was also leaked to the press that Palmer had been alledgedly trying to buy Hitler's car.

Utterly humiliated, the party deregistered again shortly after the election.

Can't wait until he runs again in 2025.

Anyway, on the other "Clive tweeting Miss Kobayashi's Dragon" thing, we have no idea what that means but here's a screencap:

[thespoonisvictory]

the backgrounds and shot compositions for tlovm continue to stun me, they consistently knock it out of the park with such lush, magical environments. the dragon animation on the other hand...

[drawsmaddy]

[ID: A digital illustration of Vax'ildan from Critical Role. He is facing to the left but his head is turned and he's looking off to the right. He's smiling and his hair moves in the wind, shifting to the left. Vax has an overall purple tint to him and the background is a light blue. End description.]

Vax!

[ginalongillustrations]

Vox Machina

I'm done. Holy shit y'all I'm fucking done (barring Tary and the several NPCs I wanna do)

Made all seven of these while going through the campaign and I just finished the campaign a few days ago and I'm in that mourning phase that I don't get anymore story with these characters who I couldn't help but come to love with all their strengths and weaknesses.

The prints look so amazing side by side. I'm happy that I got to make all these while the inspiration lasted.

Now watch me go back and just watch through campaign 1 again instead of campaign 2 because I'm I am going to miss these characters too much. I know campaign 2 is super beloved and I'm sure I'll get there eventually, but for now.. I mourn.. and admire these prints on my wall.

Also, to the random person in my tiktok comments when they saw me watching ep 4 in the background of a video while painting Anakin. That I would love Vax and Percy the most because it would be similar to Anakin and I laughed it off... you were half right, because Vax is so Anakin coded in the ways I adore Anakin and it was fate I was going to love Vax and adore him and all his rights and wrongs.

[burr-ell]

Putting Terms on the High Shelf: Main Character Syndrome

As I'm watching C2, one thing I've noticed about Caleb's various sidebars to talk to different people is that he's still very much involving them—the conversations reveal various different priorities not just for Caleb, but for the people he's talking with. Liam's RP is often geared toward encouraging character work out of the other players at the table; it's something you see with Vax early on, and it's very present with Caleb.

So I find the accusations and warnings of Liam having Main Character Syndrome, which started during C1 but really ramped up in C2, to be rather shallow. Look at the contrast between the tables during this:

and this:

In C1x27, Orion adds pressure to the cast's already-frayed nerves with him, compounded from previous incidents of bad behavior, by taking up several minutes of time purely to himself—his only interaction with anyone else at the table is to ask Keyleth for help with alchemy mechanics (fun fact, early Keyleth was into alchemy!). This included:

An attempt to buy 1500 mirrors to build a light array;

A request to his father to send in his home country's army to Whitestone; and

An attempt to combine a fog spell and a sleep spell after being told point blank that it was mechanically impossible

This was all very obviously an attempt to make himself the hero in what is clearly set up to be a Percy-centric arc. (Worth noting, for the record, is that up to this point Percy had actually had very little focus and largely kept himself in the background, while Tiberius had been in focus for most of the show's run up to that point.) Laura snarks that he's like the giant eagles in Lord of the Rings and can just do everything, and if you actually watch the clip that I've giffed above, Travis's tone is genuinely aggravated. This, by the way, is all after Tiberius was notably not present for Percy revealing his backstory to the rest of the party in episode 24; while everyone else voiced concerns for him and went down to his workshop to check on him, Tiberius largely ignored this and went off to do his own business.

That is a selfish player. That is selfish behavior and a clear example of someone who thinks the story should revolve around them. There are several reasons Orion was asked to leave, not just because he fudged his dice rolls.

C2x62 is a completely different story. None of the conversations Caleb has within that episode are just a way for Caleb to gain information; he's engaging with what the other people are doing. When he asks Nott and Jester about the letter they wrote to Astrid, he reveals a little about himself—something he is particularly reluctant to do with Jester—and they are given an opportunity to respond. His conversation with Beau gives time for both of them to check in on each other and where they're at and lets Beau give her own perspective on the politics of the Empire, the Cobalt Soul, and Xhorhas. The discussion with Fjord lets them both level with each other a little and does more work for Fjord's character, letting him open up about his insecurities and issues, than it does for Caleb's. Caleb is still initiating these conversations and he still gets something out of them, but both the players and the audience still get the benefit of the other characters pushing and pulling against that in response.

Like many terms that get thrown around in this circle ("player agency", "manipulating", "metagaming", "going dark", to name a few), Main Character Syndrome has been so misconstrued and warped to fit a heavily biased perspective as to be almost meaningless. Main Character Syndrome is not when a character initiates a lot of conversations, even if you personally don't like the conversations for whatever reason. Main Character Syndrome is not when a character chooses to take a risk or push a big red button, even if you personally don't like the choice for whatever reason. Main Character Syndrome is not when a character has an arc or aspect of lore heavily focused on them, even if you personally don't like the character for whatever reason. (Particularly considering that arc focus is entirely out of the player's control; Taliesin, Liam, and Laura did not in fact force Matt to focus a significant portion of each campaign's lore on Percy, Caleb, or Imogen's backstories respectively.)

Main Character Syndrome is specifically about player selfishness—it's a player inserting their character into scenes or roles where they do not logically belong in order to make them the center of the story, as we see with the example of Tiberius. The camaraderie at the current table versus what was going on back in 2015 does not suggest that anyone currently sees anyone else like that; everyone is laughing at the jokes made at someone's expense, and everyone is getting something to do. Your favorite character may not always be flashy or in focus all the time, but then again, you wouldn't want them to have Main Character Syndrome, would you?

[blorbologist]

Confession time:

In the campaign, I loathe Mythcarver.

Vox Machina are given the Vestige as a sidenote - 'here are the locations of a ton of cool ancient weapons, and also this sword I can just give you guys'. While every other Vestige involves a quest for it, or at least some planning, often with some degree of expectation of who will get it (Fenthras, the Titanstone Knuckles, Whisper, the Plate of the Dawnmartyr, the Spire of Conflux - they all really fit one party member well. Cabal's Ruin is more up in the air until we find out who has it, and the Ward has already been given to Vax by this point). Many of them are tied to character moments for the party members in question - 'take me instead you raven bitch', the killbox, 'my heart is someone else's', 'i forgive you, but I cannot let you leave'.

Scanlan doesn't get a noble quest with his friends to power him up. Scanlan does's even do anything of particular note in Kamaljiori's canon trial. He's just... given this Vestige as loot, and because it's made with bards in mind and he's the bard so he should get it.

Except Mythcarver doesn't suit *Scanlan's* style of bard, at all, and I can count the number of times he uses it on one hand, one of which required heavy prompting by Matt because Sam was so used to ignoring the thing. It's a glorified stat stick that buffs some abilities but never sees use because Scanlan is so heavily focused on support spells. It can't match the damage output or utility of his spells, so it just sits on his belt looking pretty. He gets one cool moment with it, against a minor boss, and that's it.

(Notably, he pulls it out and tries poking for a Blinked enemy during a critical fight which I'm not naming due to spoilers, and he just... still doesn't get to do anything with it. That one round could have prevented a death - sinking a turn into trying to use that sword actively hurt the party. It sucks.)

Credit where credit is due: I really appreciate the vision Matt had for the weapon and the intent behind it! On the other hand, it just... further fed into Scanlan feeling like he was an afterthought to the party. They didn't go on a quest for him. They didn't even think of getting him a Vestige - he's just handed one, in a fairly forgettable sidebar, and then hardly ever uses it again. It sucks. I hate that stupid sword.

So when I tell you I was grinning so, so massively during episide 6 of season 2 -

Mythcarver isn't given to Scanlan by default - it's given to him, specifically, by a friend. Kamaljiori is the first person to see through his exterior, his many masks, who bonds with him over love and longing and sincerity. It's not an offhand 'oh while you're here take this' it's for him. He gets a cool moment with it!! It reveals the locations of the other Vestiges!

Here, now, Mythcarver represents what Scanlan wants to be: a hero, a valued friend, someone who matters and has an impact on the world. Someone loved.

(And also noteworthy that this happened not long after Pike was dismissive of him, too. Whistles.)

And then Umbrasyl swoops in to take it, singling Scanlan out for what he carries - and Kami fights for him. Kamaljiori protects him, over and over and over, not for Mythcarver but because it’s Scanlan, it's his friend. He's going toe to toe with an ancient black dragon for Scanlan. And dies for it.

Not only does Umbrasyl kill Kamaljiori but he steals this Vestige. This gift for Scanlan alone, this first fucking testament to having mattered to someone, to being valued and cared for. Mythcarver isn't just a reward, it actively pushes the plot and Scanlan's character development forward, gives Scanlan what he's been quietly looking for in the background, and then viciously takes it away.

(This also gives Scanlan a bigger motivation to be part of that one stupid plan with Vax that's in the trailer: Umbrasyl killed his friend and stole something representing everything Scanlan wants. And he wants it badly and he wants it back, you flying fuck.)

I can't wait to see what's in store. This was, I think, my favorite change to TLOVM so far after 'darling take off the mask' getting a bigger Moment. I can't believe they gave weight and meaning to that stupid sword and I'm here for it.

[liltaireissocute]

another perfectly fine evening in a local tavern

[PERC'ILDAN] + Vex thinks her brother is stupid (it's his normal state)

[demigoddessqueens]

I was thinking of a scenario like the end of DDHAT - have you seen it? **SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN D&D Honor Among Thieves**

Percy x Reader - at the conclusion of a big baddie battle, everyone is checking in, except for Reader. They finally find them - they’ve been struck by the baddie’s poison weapon, to which there is no cure, sorry Pike, not even you. Death is imminent and painful. Percy IS in possession of a resurrection tablet (in this version Cassandra didn’t survive the Briarwoods) that they just quested for and that Percy was intending for his sister. As they’re drawing their last pained breath the reader says their only regret was not telling Percy about their feelings sooner. Percy is a mess. Vox is devastated and even a few members beg an already conflicted Percy to bring them back. He brings them back. Happy happy confessions love angsty romantic bliss 🤭🥰

Long convoluted idea - sorry!!- love all your stuff!!!

This was such a guilty pleasure movie for me! I loved it and now this idea makes me sad 💔

Cw slight mention of death

FOUND ON MASTERLIST 9 HERE

After the final blow was delivered, Percy’s immediate reaction is to check on you

he sees you hunched over as you hold your wounded side, a hand covering the fatal gash

Vex’ahlia is to your other side, holding you upward, and fighting back the heartbreak she feels encroaching

behind him, he can hear Keyleth, Vax, Grog gasping in shock just as they realize what’s happened

You look at him with a bittersweet expression. Either you accept your fate or regret not making the most of what the gods had offered you in life, but somehow focusing on Percy takes away the burden of what feel’s impending

“…that was a hell of a fight, wasn’t it? At least I made this one count…”

Denial and every other emotion of bargaining overwhelms Percy, and he comes to your

there’s no joy in the song that Scanlan whispers along with you to offer as a small comfort when he holds your hand

Percy can see the hope dwindling out of Pike’s eyes as her magic fades, she can’t heal you and even if there was a chance to revive you…it couldn’t…

every thing feels as if it’s crashing down and they’re helpless to stop it

With his trembling hands, Percy tries to hold onto you as he’s begging through breathy sobs. You grip back as much as you can as your strength wanes.

one. Two. Three agonizing seconds go by until he realizes you are still with a parted smile on your face.

He looks to the tablet. To you. The memories of his family, Cassandra; that all start to blend with you and Vox Machina and the new life he’s started to form. You’ve been there; all of you, from you and Vex to everyone and he can’t imagine a life without any one of you. As he speaks the words, Percy offers one final plea despite the years of pain before

The quiet pleas from the rest of the party are all but background noise to him as he watches you for any sign.

you look around in amazement at seven pairs of tear-stained eyes widening as you realize what’s happened

“Don’t tell me you used that on me….” is all you can manage as you gasp in amazement and shock

Percy holds you close to him before you get a chance to utter more words

“I was a fool to not tell you sooner than later…”

you look at him in disbelief laced with the same love that he holds for you, not realizing the tears that are falling on your face

“Percy…I’ve always loved you too,”

now there are seven pairs of of arms around you, just holding you a little tighter than normal after a close encounter they don’t want to repeat

[towards-toramunda]

I had a moment earlier in this campaign (maybe around episode 25-35?) when I thought “…hm maybe Ashton and Orym would be a good ship” and then episode 40 happened and I’ve been in an ashrym brain rot ever since.

Like don’t get me wrong I’m a Dorym and Callowmoore and Laudmoore respecter, but I just love the care and softness and respect Ashton and Orym hold for each other any time they have a one on one. And I had a feeling that without any healers there would be a moment of one of them caring for the other in this recent arc, but seeing Orym just reach for Ashton and begin massaging their hand because he knows they’re in pain even if they don’t say it? Absolutely perfect 10/10 no notes.

The world has been cruel to both of them in different ways, and they’ve both been overlooked in different ways. The soldier in the background doing what he’s told always. The broken thief laying on the ground to be left behind. The loneliness that comes from chronic pain. The loneliness that comes from being a widower. Orym constantly trying to turn towards kindness even when its hard. Ashton blaming the world, blaming themselves, believing that they deserved to be left behind.

Ashton telling Orym that it must be hard to be the good one all the time, and they’re here if he needs any help. Carrying him to his room after he fell off the air ship. Asking him what he thinks when he’s been silent. Looking to him. Trusting him with their pain when he knows they rarely trust.

Orym with ties to something that sounds familiar (Ashari?) treating Ashton with kindness. Telling them to breathe. Blotting out their nosebleed. Teaching them to meditate. Massaging their hand. Showing them that they’re part of the group. That their pain matters to someone else.

Since the recent 4 sided dive and Liam mentioning that Orym was about 5 when Vax went to Zephra: I’ve been thinking about how Orym is 35-36 and Ashton is 24-28, and I feel like we can see all the time how much Ashton looks up (pun intended) to Orym. He’s older, he’s more experienced, and they’re constantly looking to Orym for wisdom and asking him what he thinks and following him. Ashton may be a punk who has problems with authority, but he has no problem putting Orym in a position of authority. At the end of the day Ashton believes in him, and they believe in him because hes kind.

And just to be clear: if they don’t turn into any canon romantic pairing or anything I’d be totally fine with that. I just love their dynamic so much. I love the tanks constantly going into the heat of the fray, but helping and understanding each other. (Almost similarly to how I felt with Beau and Yasha last campaign)

[ravendruid]

Taryon asking Keyleth if she has a manservant who brushes her hair at night, and Vax in the background like, "Hi, it's me. I'm the manservant".

It's canon. Vax brushes Keyleth's hair every night.

[pawthorn]

Guys, I think Liam and Taliesin are finally playing main campaign characters that understand each other, at least somewhat. In other campaigns, their characters definitely loved and respected each other, but there was always an element of “wow I don’t get you.”

Percy’s repression and brutal pragmatism vs Vax’s recklessness and compassion.

The weight of past trauma and guilt on Caleb vs the denial of the past and lack of regret with Molly.

Caduceus’ optimism and faith in oneself and the future vs Caleb’s struggle with hopelessness.

And I think until recent events, Ashton and Orym were there too.

Former indentured servant angry at the world vs former willing bodyguard trying his best to help others.

But then both Orym and Ashton helped keep the group focused when recovering Laudna. In Whitestone, Orym proved not to be overly trusting of authority. After Eshteros’ death, Ashton was willing to trust the powers that be, at least a little. We’ve seen that their outlooks aren’t as different as their approaches might indicate.

Then that conversation on the Silver Sun…

I was by myself. It's not great.

No, it’s not. Well, as a person who is professionally left behind, you're doing a really good job. You should maybe take care of yourself a little bit…

And

You have pain long enough, it just becomes background noise, anyway.

Yeah, I hear that…

Just, so many moments in that conversation, you could see little drops of realization fall.

Oh, they get it.

What it means to be taken in, adopted into a family.

To lose that family, and not know why.

To be left alone with pain and no purpose.

To have a family again, and be willing to do anything to protect it.

To continually carry pain, but keep moving on regardless.

What an interesting pair of characters these frontline fighters are.

I can’t wait to see more.