#gilmore & kima

[art-of-vox-machina]

New screenshots for The Legend of Vox Machina Season 3!

[romancemedia]

Vax is going to save and bring back Percy de Rolo (3x12)

[burr-ell]

you can follow a trend two months late right

[divinegayness]

What your favourite TLOVM character says about you!

Vax: Daddy issues. I do not care what you say, if you think about it long enough, you will find that you have father problems. And there's a big possibility you're also bisexual.

Vex: She was made for fight club lesbians and shy nerdy little bi men. You are one or the other and I do NOT make the rules.

Percy: Autism. Spectrum. Disorder.

Keyleth: You really really like distracting yourself from your own thoughts and have at least one cat. (Seriously babes go get therapy, the thing you don't talk about isn't going away.)

Scanlan: You're either just as horny as him or you feel bad for him. Either way you're probably really funny but how's that insecurity going?

Pike: Everyone I know that likes her is an angel, moving on.

Grog: You're in it for the humour. You also probably like his character development but you're mostly in it because he's funny.

Trinket: Dog person. You have at least one big dog in your household and you feel bad every time the bear has to stay outside.

Gilmore: Heyyy diva, how's the situationship going?

Cassandra: Angry, short, and should probably stop bottling that up. Seriously babes it's not healthy.

Sylas: Freaks. End of discussion. Your search history would kill a victorian child on the spot.

Delilah: You either have an ungodly obsession with this woman and desire her in ways I cannot comprehend or you want to pick her apart psychologically. Either way I support.

Dr. Ripley: War criminals and nonbinary people come together for one thing only and it's an androgynous looking woman with a gun.

Zahra: Bisexual bad bitches who want to pull a guy around on a leash.

Kayleigh: I really do need to call y'all queer less but it is just so so easy. Same with the parental issues, you know how this is.

Lady Allura: Sword enthusiast lesbians.

Lady Kima: You think she's cool but are frothing at the mouth for how little screen time she gets.

Raishan: You want to be mysterious so bad but you just CANNOT shut up.

[bigolbard]

Couple thoughts on LoVM eps 4-6:

1) They’re absolutely ending the season with Bard’s Lament and holy fuck it’s gonna fucking hurt

2) EXU Calamity fans eating absolutely deliciously today

3) They could not have adapted the Vorugal fight better. That shit was sick

4) I *adore* how much Gilmore, Allura, and Kima were getting this season. They all feel like bonafide members of the team, which is exactly what they should feel like.

[percildanz]

anyways, to reference current meme culture:

truly CritRole is full of overconfident fools or truly confident winners. dont think any of the ones who'd fail the jump would go for the chicken

Vax - Literally has wings so goes for the beef and makes it Vex - More cautious, but still nimble and smart on her feet. Goes for the chicken most of the time and makes it every time Percy - Saw Vex and Vax do the jumps with ease and ended up slipping because misfortune follows him everywhere Keyleth - Scared so goes for the chicken and makes it because she's 6'1 and doesn't even have to jump Grog - Goes for the beef and also doesn't have to jump because hes really tall so just walks over there Pike - Impressive feat of athleticism and makes it to the beef Scanlan - Tries to impress pike by going for the beef and fails so horribly Allura - She never fails and always goes for the beef Kima - Less nimble than Allie, but still athletic as fuck and also makes it to the beef Cassandra - Refuses to risk her life for the beef, goes for the chicken Shaun - Goes for the chicken mostly and has the magical prowess/strength to make it every time Anna - Sees most of VM make it so goes for the beef but she's so mad that she doesn't even get close

[thingsasbarcodes]

The Legend of Vox Machina 2x12 - The Hope Devourer

[whirlingbadger]

Pics from the EW article:

[mayapapaya33]

Allura Vysoren and Gilmore better be level 20 by now so help me Matt Mercer. After he allowed the M9 and Essek to just skip straight to lvl 20 after only 7 years in which some of them had been RETIRED FROM ADVENTURING for the admittedly very fun one shot for C3. Allura and Gilmore have been helping save the world on and off for well over 30 years. They BETTER be level 20 or I will simply pass away from the sheer disrespect. They have EARNED level 20. Also Kima as well because she's definitely not letting Allura go into battle alone if she can help it.

This might have already been revealed somewhere lol. If it has, good. If not, come on Mercer, Allura and Gilmore have fought way more battles than the M9 by now! They must help save a city/ a continent at least once a year and all of Exandria at least once a decade (and that's my conservative estimate!) Especially Allura, adopting chucklefuck adventurers left and right, taking them under her wing. She's totally getting dragged into adventures off screen too lol. That and her eternal mom friend duties of apparently having to go rescue Yussa from his nonsense every so often, you just know that's dangerous and exhausting lmfao. Level 20!

[essayofthoughts]

Just a general place for if you want to write and discuss Campaign 1 Fic. That does mean all of Campaign 1 (VM, Guest characters, NPCs) and not so much TLOVM (show only people, spoilers WILL abound)

Discord Server Invite (if it expires, let me know)

[vaxyl]

Thinking about Exandria having a holiday that celebrates love, rather than just romantic relationships, but during which you see romantic couples going all out to celebrate their partners rather earnestly.

Inns, bathhouses and taverns give couple discounts.

While high-end stores sell goodies and teddy bears with cute romance themed writing and imagery on them.

Some towns and villages even host speed dating events for those who are single but interested in trying dating out.

Sure, there's also more familial and otherwise platonic stuff too - much like with the many different romantic gifts, a lot of family-themed or friendship oriented gifts and sweets are sold by the thousands.

And some taverns and inns even offer special family meal deals and room discounts.

I think Vax'ildan would love this holiday, Keyleth too.

Vex'ahlia and Percy probably love it secretly but pretend to find it annoying if with others.

I also see Pike liking it, Tary too, while Grog is just indifferent.

Scanlan, though, probably pretends to love it, but in all truth it makes him feel lonely.

Also - Gilmore is a sucker for it, decorating his whole store with enough excitement to make Sherry consider retirement.

While Kims and Allura always take advantage of it to get away from work and take a much needed vacation.

Jarett probably respects it, but I also see him feeling lonely during it and keeping to himself outside of work hours.

Idk, love is in the air or some shit and my boyfriend gave me this idea so I ran with it.

[waltwhitmansbeard]

the person commenting about the fictional world map in your fanfiction is so fucking stupid but it's also such an hilarious comment considering who keyleth IS, like. i think even in AUs where she's not a druid, if there's someone who can ride anywhere that's her, like are you kidding bro. have you met this girlie

i don't want to call them stupid, but i do want to say that the comment made a presumption about me and what i do or do not know about the world of exandria that i didn't appreciate. i know that this person doesn't know i dm a campaign set in tal'dorei, that i've read the tal'dorei campaign guide cover to cover, that i put hours of research into my fics, that i already commented on the very thing they were pointing out, but all that is fine. what i'll never, ever understand is the gall that someone would have to *checks notes* fact-check fanfiction. i totally support everyone's right to spend their one wild and precious life however they wish, and if geographical liberties make you want to stop reading a fic, hey, go with god, my dude. but keep your opinions to yourself. i didn't bring my story to a publishing company and have a team of editors go over it. i work full-time and wrote almost 250 pages of mfl in my spare goddamn time (i mean, a lot of it was on the clock, but shush). it's an au. i don't care what i get right or wrong. i try to be canon-compliant where i can, sure, bc that's a challenge i enjoy, but at the end of the day, i made something for free that this person is reading for free and they can choose to walk away from at any time, for free. to put it simply, leave me the fuck alone.

[criticalrolenpctournament]

ROUND 5: POLL 1

Propaganda

Gilmore: He's fabulous, he's powerful, he dueled the Cinder King and lived to tell the tale, he's fucking gorgeous, he had a really close relationship with Vox Machina that survived being rejected by Vax romantically, he held the barrier over Whitestone and smushed an assassin and over 30 years later he's still Glorious

Kima: Lady Kima dueled Thordak while he was being sealed into the Plane of Fire. She received equipment directly from Bahamut. She endured privation and torment at the hands of the duergar of Emberhold. And she married Allura Vysoren.

I love that her oath canonically changes from Devotion to Vengeance. Like Thordak came back and she took one look and was like omg fuck that one red dragon in particular and Bahamut went like yeah you go I got your back. Secondly, she is such a good spin on a class that is widely considered somewhat boring and stiff (rp wise, not mechanically)but I feel like the 'lawful good' aspect is usually very polarizing and there's a lot of prejudice towards it being uninteresting? and Kima is such a fresh fucking spin on the lawful good paladin trope? thirdly, Kima getting gifted a cool sword by Grog (a barbarian) in campaign one. Kima lending out that same cool sword to Yasha (a barbarian) in campaign two. I just love Kima and her soft spot for barbarians :D. fourth... ly? Kima is canonically taller than Scanlan, which is interesting because according to the PHB halflings are on average significantly smaller than gnomes, so even if we assume that Scanlan is somewhat short for a gnome, still means that Kima is a TALL halfling. so technically Allura & Kima are not tol & smol, but in fact both tall queens :D

[keefechambers]

(This is intended to explicitly be romantic/sexual relationships not platonic relationships let that factor into your voting.)

The winner of this poll will face off against the winner of the Best Grog Strongjaw Ship (Vox Machina Edition) for the ultimate title.

Reblog and signal boost!

[aspiringsophrosyne]

Season 2, Episode 1: The Rise of The Chroma Conclave

Before we get started, I would be remiss not to address the passing of Lance Reddick, who provided the voice for Thordak and whose body of work included (but was far from limited to) the Wire, Lost, and Fringe. Most likely, the third season is already recorded, and if so, it will be one of his last projects.

The crew of Critical Role, us critters, and the newbies were even luckier to have him than we knew. Thank you, Lance Reddick, and rest easy.

On to the episode.

No intro again? Well let's get right to it then. Lights are going down, curtains are going up. Let's watch the show.

The Good

I mean....dragons. Dragons. There really isn't much I can say besides that. This whole episode is....dragons.

Dragons

I'd seen some fans call Brimscythe distracting; I never really thought so. But even so, the dragons here have very obviously had an overall. They look even more smoothly integrated into this world, and watching them fly over such a huge and beautiful city as Emon is a thing to behold.

Something interesting about Raishan's breath weapon: it's easier to notice when all four are in action that it contrasts starkly with the other dragons'. Umbrasyl's, Vorugal's, and Thordak's breath weapons are tremendously damaging to structures and buildings, but Raishan's is not. While the boys' breath weapons are very visually, viscerally, and dramatically deadly, Raishan's poison appears deceptively harmless until her victims start bleeding from every orifice. It marks her as much more subtle and insidious than the others, which is true to form.

Hearing lines right out of the campaign in Cree Summer's and Lance Reddick's voices; god damn. We can talk about Cree more later when she gets a more significant moment to herself, but with just what she gets here: she is terrifying. She gets Raishan's gleeful sadism and understated danger (understated compared to her peers, anyway) across perfectly. 

Lance Reddick's Thordak is commanding, authoritative, and dismissively confident. He talks, and he expects the insects who hear him to do as he bids without question, and given what he can do, it isn't a surprise. There is no room for doubt or bargaining. Only the promise of certain destruction. Lance played Thordak like a firestorm that can talk; you can't reason or argue with it. You can't stop it. It just is, and it's going to wreck your shit, and only if you're lucky will you live through what it deems to visit upon your houses. 

If he did record season 3 already, it's going to be very interesting to watch Thordak's further descent into madness play out. I can't wait. 

That acid attack is nightmarish. It already was even back during the stream when we didn't have a visual and it was left to our imagination. Seeing it here, and how excruciatingly it kills so many people of Emon and nearly Percy....it's shiver and shudder-inducing. And it helps set up Umbrasyl for later in the season. 

One thing I can't praise enough is the individual designs for the dragons. I never expected them to look that different from each other, but the design team went above and beyond for them. They all look like different species, which fits, given these are supposed to be very different kinds of dragons who are not supposed to work together. Umbrasyl's frog-like throat sack for his acid spew, Raishan's serpentine form and movements, Vorugal's bigger, stockier build with icicle rhino spikes coming out of his face and back....all of it is so, so good.

And Thordak....even from the previews, it was easy to pick out the crystal in his chest and those four curling horns that almost give a crown-like appearance. And even before we see his fire breath, the lamp posts melting in the presence of his body heat is just....it shows how hard it'll be just to get close to him and not burn; what's fighting him going to be like?

And then the actual fire breath weapon.....awe-inspiring. In the original (and we'll see how much this is touched upon going forward) Thordak being imprisoned in the Fire Plane and merging with that crystal physically changed him. It made him bigger and more dangerous than even normal red dragons, and those are pretty bad already. The vents and the horrendously devastating fire breath he unleashes to utterly destroy the palace of Emon are a fabulous way to lean into that; it establishes a distinct power gap between him and the other dragons. However hard they'll be to deal with, he'll be that much harder. 

The explosion of blood when Vorugal hits people with his ice breath...that's the best kind of nasty. It's a great way to avoid any ambiguity as to his victims' fate and avoid the Harmless Freezing trope, which Trinket actually fell victim to in the stream.

And that shield over Vorugal's eye was a clever way to portray blindsight. Another lovely example of show-don't-tell.

And that, alongside Grog breaking his axe against Raishan's throat, is another confirmation for the characters and the audience that they're going to need new tricks if they want to fight these guys. Because the ones that took down the Iron Storm are not going to work.

Miscellaneous

Allura and Gilmore get to flex!! We don't have a wizard or sorcerer in the main crew this campaign, so it's nice to see these two show off a little. And Kima even gets in a hit too!

I nearly lost my shit when I realized who decided to show up early. But...if there was ever a time or place that called for the Matron's presence, it would be there and then.

It's exciting to see they're already establishing a low-key rivalry between Keyleth and Raishan. The wind attack that mitigated the latter's breath, and then the flashback to the orbs as the green dragon makes it clear she very much remembers Vox Machina were the slayers of Brimscythe and it's another thing that makes for a pretty good set up.

I appreciated that they addressed whether or not this was Vox Machina's fault and rightfully dismissed it after Percy pointed out what Brimscythe had been up to. During the stream, the characters and some of the players agonized over whether or not they triggered the attack by killing Krieg and/or re-exploring his place right before the dragons attacked. It's just good to see that addressed here.

And yes!! Vasselheim! You guys don't know how much I wanted to see that and how worried I was we might not get to. To say nothing of who and what we might see on Issylra. That was the cherry on top of a hell of a first episode back.

The Bad (or at least not so great)

Because we were going to run into Allura later, I think it would've been better to show she was casting a spell before the rocks hit where she, Kima, the council, and the sovereign's family were. Just some visual flair to show she was trying to cast, even if the audience wouldn't know if it worked in time until later.

By the same token, it could've been made clearer (without Scanlan having to spell it out to the audience) that Raishan was using magic to dispel Scanlan's Foot.

And then there's this:

Gilmore: [...]This could be the end of civilization as we know it.

Scanlan: Yeah, but, come on, civilization's overrated. I say fսck it, let's hit Marquet.

I...am sure this wasn't deliberate, but doesn't this come off as saying Marquet isn't civilization/civilized?

You know, Marquet, the continent Matt made a deliberate effort to model after countries of the middle east like Turkey and Palestine? In order to break a little from the overly anglo influence in high fantasy in general that we can see in a lot of Exandria in particular?

And Scanlan's saying this to the Marquessian man who just saved all their lives and sells them all their stuff?

Oy vey. Badly phrased if nothing else.

Scanlan is also the most immediately and vehemently against even attempting to fight the dragons, and it's not portrayed as an unreasonable point of view....but, well, we'll get into that farther down the road.

After Scanlan suggests booking it, Pike says she thought they stopped running from their problems. Which...is something I'll address next episode. For now, I'll say it caught me by surprise.

I think it could've been hammered home a little harder that what they tried with Brimscythe wasn't going to work with the Conclave. Not just to drive it home for the audience, but because part of the group doesn't know Scanlan's illusion magic wouldn't work, and another part of the group doesn't know going for the throat again won't work. Not until they talk it out together, anyway.

The characters throw around the word "Ancient" more than a little here. While stream watchers and/or d&d enjoyers in general would know that when it comes to dragons that word is a crap-your-pants-and-run trigger, it means little to the newbies. It would've been better to take a second to explain it at some point.

Nitpicks

I'm a little sad we didn't get some of the things with Gilmore that we got in the stream, but there's time to get into something like that later. So we'll see about that.

On that note....why does Gilmore have a crystal that can teleport to Vox Machina's keep? I mean...I can make a pretty good guess why, but if it's not explicitly stated it can come off as weirdly convenient.

Also, I would've loved if after Grog flicked the rock off the balcony at the end with Scanlan, we heard Vax yell as he's hit from off-screen.

That's the start of Season 2, everybody. Things are about to get really damn crazy, for better or worse.