#i love vax so much it hurts

[meadowsofmay]

vax preparing for thordak by having conversations and giving away items that served him well in battle — before he acquired the deathwalker's ward and the whisper — with/to people he loves and cares for is, honestly, heartbreaking. because you can see on liam's face the pain and unshed tears of indirectly saying goodbye. goodbye is always the hardest part especially when you don't know, truly, if you'll come back.

vax gives keyleth the displacement cloak. he encourages vex to accept her feelings for percy and act on 'em. he apologizes to gilmore. he gives kynan his belt, simon. and in half of these instances he admits out loud that he might be dead tomorrow. during the other half his eyes say it.

he wants to protect his love on the battlefield because he knows he won't always be around her and a cloak will give keyleth a chance, a moment more, an opportunity not to fall. he wants vex to be happy and he wants to see her happiness before he dies. he wants to know what it's like and he wants to go, if he'll have to, with peace from knowing that she is happy. he wants shaun to know that he never lied or played him, that he actually loved him. maybe not the way gilmore hoped but he did love him and he never wanted to hurt him. he is desperately trying to redeem himself to his boy, as people claimed kynan to be, because he feels responsible, because he feels guilty, because he feels empathy. he has been there, he has been in troubled position, he has been overwhelmed with emotions and he just wants to help so hard.

what has actually brought tears to my eyes is gilmore making, pressing him to say 'till next time because vax didn't reciprocate the hopeful sentiment at first. he hesitated. he looked at shaun and almost broke before him because he doesn't know! if he will be alive tomorrow, he actually doesn't know and he is scared and he doesn't want to die but he knows that he won't ever be able to hold back if danger comes his loved ones way, his way. if an opportunity for revenge comes his way.

and my heart aches and breaks because i love this stupid guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and tries to love the world, the people and even the gods. and the universe may hurt him, may put hard-to-get-over obstacles in his way, may give things and cruelly snatch away the next second — he still loves it, because what's the point then of existing. of living. and i love him so fucking much. and i want to bring peace to the world for him to live in his happily ever after knowing that he would do the same for those he holds close.

and i would break the world for liam and that still won't be enough to show my gratitude for being unapologetically himself and creating such characters.

[safyresky]

OOH GIRL I HAD A FUN IDEA!

I was thinking about random TSC characters if they had tattoos (which I hope to make my own post about eventually, another one added to the pile) AND THEN I remembered that one Jacqueline Frost exists and I wanna know if she would have any tattoos! What of? Where? Would any of your OTHER oc's have them?

Idk just a thought to roll around in your head. Cause it's certainly been pinballing in mine!

This pin balled in my head ALL NIGHT, I TELL YOU. ALL! NIGHT!

I asked Jacqueline and she had 0 reply so I was left on my OWN here. NONE of the characters were like, sups vocal about this. BUT ANYWAY after a good night's sleep and some pre-bed pin balling, I have a list of likely to get tattoos/want them at the VERY least:

Fino and Fiera deffs would. They probably would get something matchy for funsies at some point, somewhere like. Obscure?? Like their side or like, shoulder or like leg somewhere. Deffs a nondescript one! And probs just before they turn 2000 lol. (tho the image of two rather small 1200 year olds going HI YES 1 MATCHING TATTOO PLEASE is so fucking funny)

Fiera would get more tats than just that for sure, lol.

Blaise would tattoo. does he have any? Not that I'm aware of. But he deffs would

Jacqueline simply has 0 ideas for a funky little tattoo, so she has 0 plans for one/want for one/need for one. Part of me is like, maybe she'd tattoo her scars?? But I think she leaves them as is. She thinks they're neat. They're tinged blue. Nobody ELSE has scars like that (you can imagine how this makes literally every other Frost feel lmao. Except the Twins, they're like "yes girl get it!" Fiera more so than Fino ;) I could MAYBE see her doing one with Dite? But neither of them are like, screaming OMG YES WE HAVE ONE ALREADY EVEN so take that with a smidgen of salt

Winter would not tattoo, but her sisters would! Autumn would get smaller ones but deffs in full colour. Summer is like MY BODY IS A CANVAS LET'S GO! She'd have even MORE colours than Autumn. Spring is a basic bitch and probably has a basic tattoo somewhere like a butterfly or a flower or something. Like, a really stereotypical "I got a tattoo omg!!" kinda thing! I WILL SAY. If she got a phrase in another language, Spring would Spell Check That Shit 100%

If Blossom wasn't a bunny, she'd have tattoos (I don't want to think about the logistics for an anthropomorphic-ish bunny getting a tattoo)

Grand Witches deffs have tattoos. Both of them. What are they? Idk! But they have them!

In terms of other Legates: I think Charlie would get a tattoo >:). Xander is a solid maybe. He could go either way. Day MAYBE and Night DEFFS and his are cool. I bet they're silvery and look like they are made of moonlight (they may very well be!). I already covered Jacquie and Dite (Dite would probably get a tattoo! Doesn't have any that I know of presently but deffs would) Myles I think has a thing about needles so he probably wouldn't get one unless Olivia went with him for emotional support. Olivia would NOT get a tattoo, but probably has the best ideas for them!

Upon further reflection, Winter is not a tattoo person BUT. DEFFS KNOWS HOW TO GIVE THEM. I feel like that's an unexpected hobby she'd have and that she's probably really good at it, too.

I hope this adds a second pinball to your pinballing ;) Sorry there's no concrete like OH YES THIS PERSON WOULD DEFFS GET THIS!! I am very much camp Jacquie and Myles, in that I think tattoos are very cool but A) have no idea what I'd get/want for a tat and B) DO have a thing about needles and would not want to even ATTEMPT to get one, my needle thing is that bad.

[shorthaltsjester]

listen. unless a character explicitly states that a difference in lifespan between them and someone they care about is a concern of their’s, lifespan angst is the most boring and meaningless trope you can add to a fic/fan work. like, yes it is sad to lose someone but that is not because of a difference in lifespan. an elf with 1000+ year life expectancy might die tomorrow, a goliath might live longer than expected. it feels extremely reductive to look at characters with different fantasy races and decide that the biggest concern is that one will outlive the other when those characters have expressed no concern about either outliving or leaving their loved ones behind. like, i get the fear of death and trying to understand that through fictional characters but just do it with the ones who have expressed an actual concern with it, not with characters who seem delighted to get to love someone at all, even if it is brief and mortal. we don’t love people because we think it will be forever, and it hurts when the impermanence of the people we love becomes clear. but if i spent as much time factoring together matters of health and life expectancy for the people i love to try to predict when they’ll die so that i’ll be ready to lose them, i would have a lot less time to love them and it will still hurt just as much when they are no longer around.

[miscellaneouzz]

More Vox Machina meta time bc I feel like people do NOT talk enough about how complex Pike and Scanlan’s relationship is. First off the show is very good at steering away from the typical he’s-annoying-so-she-eventually-gives-in misogynistic approach a lot of those types of dynamics have. Like it initially comes off as just cute and flirtatious until their dynamic ironically becomes the least romantically driven of the main ships in a way that’s far more layered than I expected. It always feels like Pike’s complicated feelings come with observing Scanlan from a distance, she’ll flirt back and play along but ultimately wants to see the person he COULD be, the more sincere and earnest side to him (which can also be tied to Zerxus’ comment about her taking pride in “redeeming” her friends).

But then from Scanlan’s perspective, becoming the person he “could” be means distancing himself from Pike completely, because he’s in love with her and in his mind he sees that as an example of him clinging to his old habits of “finding all the wrong ways” to fill his emptiness. His scene with her on the balcony felt like such a culmination of both their complicated feelings– him relying on those coping mechanisms and Pike recognizing that– and I think that’s part of why he cried and why Pike pulled away at the last second. After that scene, we pretty much see Scanlan stop pursuing romantic interest in Pike for the rest of the season, but she’s still the only person he’ll be vulnerable with.

So then comes this heartbreaking irony that Pike’s been wanting more sincerity from Scanlan for a while now, only for Scanlan finally opening up more about his feelings to include him saying things that end up hurting and pushing away Pike. Because now Scanlan being more vulnerable and sincere means finally admitting he doesn’t view Vox Machina as his “real” family and that he never thought he mattered when he was with them and I don’t think that’s something Pike was truly ready for. And in the end Scanlan is still defining his worth purely on his relationships with others– if he’s no longer pouring his identity into romance/sex, he’s gotta pour it all into his newfound parenthood. He’s still flawed and not in a way where everything just hinges on Pike to “fix” him.

I think when it comes to the romantic relationships in the series it’s the one I’m most invested in from a character perspective. They’re the only pairing that’s yet to sincerely confess or discuss feelings for each other despite how much their relationship focuses on the need for sincerity and it’s so interesting. Like through the relationship struggles of Keyleth x Vax and Percy x Vex, we still see them be more open and upfront with both the conflicts and resolutions of their feelings for each other.

Pike & Scanlan are the only ship we’ve seen neither for, neither a straightforward conversation on the conflict of their relationship itself nor a sincere resolution to their feelings. And I think it has a lot to do with the parallel you can make about their own crisis of identity. Their character motivations and struggles with identity are not entirely dependent on each other as Scanlan has a tumultuous relationship with parenthood and Pike with her faith yet they impact each other so deeply.

There’s a lot more to say BUT for now… onto whatever season 4 brings for the gnomes!

[towriteloveontheirarms]

Cat got your tongue (Percival de Rollo x Half Tabaxi!Reader)

synopsis: Percy liked to believe he wasn´t territorial or easily jealous, but something about seeing you with Vax makes his blood boil.

warnings: jealousy, marking, smut, afab reader

word count: 0.9k

taglist: @hopelesswritergall

A/N: Thank you @kawaiiangel906 for this request and I am so so sorry it took me so long to get to it. I hope you still enjoy. <3

(If you want to be tagged for a specific character/fandom or in general let me know in my asks, comments or DMs)

Dividers by @saradika

Laughter sounded over the grounds of the keep from outside all the way into Percy's workshop. Not even concealed by the sounds of the white-haired man tinkering with a weapon. It wasn't like he had much concentration left for it at the moment anyway, but what little was left of it before fled faster than it had come to him. This had been going on for far too long in his more or less humble opinion. This thing between you and Vax’ildan. Not a thing, as you had reminded him countless times, fur covered ears twitching at the idea of it alone. Worries temporarily stifled with a sweet kiss to the forehead and a deep hug. Filled with whispered confessions of love.

Grumbling under his breath Percy makes his way out of the keep.

“Percy!” You immediately jump up and run towards him, a wide grin on your face.

Percy’s eyes lay on Vax for a moment longer, who sits left behind on the grass where you had just trained with him, looking right back at the two of you. When Percy's eyes snap back to you he can see your mouth moving. Had he really not heard you talking this entire time?

“I'm sorry, my love. Could you repeat yourself?” He asks  the back of his neck.

“I just told you about my training with Vax… Are you not feeling well?” Your eyebrows draw together tightly.

“N-No, it's nothing. I am quite alright. Thank you.” Percy takes a hasty step back to avoid your hand coming up to feel his temperature. “Perhaps too much time in the workshop. I am happy that the progress you and Vax’ildan are making is to your liking.”

“Come sit with us then. We were about to be finished for the day anyway.” Your hand caresses his cheek, the other taking him to pull him along.

Night has never been particularly calm amongst the group either. Most certainly not since you had obtained the keep. Laughter and the sounds of people drinking into the early morning hours traveled easily. But this night's rest was particularly hard to come by. It could. Your bones hurt from the extensive exercise each day and the fights in between. Just not with a certain someone distracting you from the sweet release of slipping off to slumberland by needy lips grazing over the skin of your shoulder blades and teeth nipping at the column of your neck.

“Percival…” You groan. “It is late.”

The words come out mumbled and somewhat unintelligible. Still you turn your head until you can see the white head of hair from the corners of your eyes. One heavy hand finding its way into the light tresses to play with them.

“You have barely spent any time with me or anyone that isn't Vax’ildan lately.” Comes the equally mumbled response against your back.

He doesn't stop what he is doing until you are awake again and turn around fully.

“Love…” You begin a sentence but are quickly shut up by the possessive grip pulling your waist impossibly close to his.

“Shhh. This will just serve as a reminder to the others that you are mine.” Percy's teeth nip right below your jawline. Sucking on the tender flesh until deep purple bruises bloom all over.

Pressed into the mattress by his lean hips, you writhe and mewl helplessly. Subconsciously, your own hips begin to grind up against his after a while. Unable to just take it anymore.

“More.” You plead in high pitched tones. No matter how much you try, your voice just won't stay down.

“Nuh uh uh. What's the magic word, dear?” Percy reprimands you with a smile on his face.

He can feel the movement of your hips as well and it is a game to him. He is fully in charge of you and your pleasure in this moment and he knows it just as well as you do.

“Please, Percy. I need more.” You try again with your tail wrapping tightly around Percy's middle to prevent him from possibly pulling away.

“See, that wasn't so hard. When you ask nicely people will be far more inclined to give you what you are asking for.” He slides down almost unnoticeably, pushing up your nightdress, until his chin rests against your sternum, just underneath the valley of your breasts. Scattering more purple spots over them and then wandering further down. A puff of warm breath bringing your legs together around his shoulders. With a chuckle and two fingers, Percy opens them up again.

“Now, let everyone hear who you belong to.” The words echo in your ear as only moments after, his length impaled you in one rough thrust.

A groan in unison fills the room, on one side from the sudden stretch and on the other, because in response your claws shot out and dug into his shoulders. The rhythm with which he starts thrusting into you as soon as he recovers, has you near screaming. Moans of his name and desperate pleas string together to a sort of prayer. The sweetest prayer Percy had ever heard in his life. Until he has driven you over the edge so often that your throat is sore and your body is a twitching mess. Brain so clouded in fog that you can barely concentrate on anything beside his body against yours.

As you lay beside each other, entirely spent, Percy's hand trailing over your side, a satisfied purring fills the room from your lungs. Not even strong enough to keep your eyes open any longer, you are finally granted the relief of sleep. Dreaming of only one man. The one right beside you, who at that moment felt you were his completely. Pressing one last kiss against the back of your neck as he drifted off to sleep as well.

[pennamenotfound]

I’m really emotional today for no reason so I wanna talk about how soft Matt can be with player characters. Yes he can throw danger and monsters and conflict and Delilah fucking Briarwood who doesn’t die and moon aliens and Ludinus Da’Leth and peril at them, but he can also be so soft and kind. I can’t think of examples for every player character, so please give me examples I’ve missed, but...

Pike, the Everlight loves you and values you. 

Scanlan, underneath it all, your daughter cares deeply for you, and that will blossom into love.

Percy, your sister lives. Your family isn’t fully shattered. 

Vax, you are fatetouched. What you do matters. 

Beau, your abusers will face consequences for what they did to you.

Yasha, the Stormlord values your strength. The way Obann hurt you doesn’t matter to him; he will make you his champion.

Jester, look, your kindness, your innate goodness changed an Archfey’s nature.

Orym, here’s a sword from the Wildmother, and a memory of your husband. The gods are watching.

FCG, you are a person. You are too beautiful for a simple binary answer.

And I love that. I love how much Matt loves his friends, and the characters they play, and the stories they get to create together. 

[beawake]

Random thoughts and immediate impressions of the first three episodes of tlovm3, an incoherent list

Pock o'pea wooden house at Gilmore's wannabe and taste of taldor'ei chalice thing

Did I mention the Gilmore wannabe? His distaste, amazing

Gilmore's displeasure at being dragged into Vox Machina's schemes, and still going along with it

My boy just wants to be home and run his shop, not babysit adventurers

Speaking about gilmore, Vex offering to flirt with the guards, gilmore saying he already tried

Gilmore, I'll hold them off, immediately gets caught. Yeah your adventuring days are behind you with running from highly efficient guards

Scanlan drinking courage

They are all so bad at communicating help!

Soo Draconia? Draconia.. *fingers guns* I forgot if they were there for real but they were there in spirit for sure

Percy looked so young in that scene, you would so often forget he's like 18 or 19 but not then

Kiki: but we kissed. When vax was saying they couldn't be together. It was so innocent and it hurt so much. Communicate dammit. And then cutting to Percy and Vex having sex nextdoor

They kept in Percy going for a talk and Vex opening the door naked!

Aah Cassandra and Percy as siblings, and Percy being so smitten

Kiki feeling so alone and unsupported

Scanlan ruining his relationship with his daughter even more cause he worries for his friends and then feeling unappreciated the cracks are there

The misunderstanding with Pike and Scanlan, oh that hurt, both trying to do their best but Pike not knowing how to fix it

Grog with the kids, being a detective, finding Percy

Percy giving himself up not feeling like he lied because he feels so responsible for all the dead the guns cause

Vex "I care for you so this can only be a fling or you'll get hurt"

Keyleth "so the joy of today is not worth the pain of tomorrow?"

J'mon Sa Ord is so fucking hot I want that character design

Allura and Kima 10/10 no notes these lesbians continue to slay

The banter, the one liners

The songs!!! Matt/Drenzel singing about the Ruby of the Sea

Scanlan singing about the Spice

Matt NPC do you spice? Does your daughter spice?

Scanlans vulnerability that he barely shows to his friends

It is so good, only a little disappointed about missing the cat/tiger demon going after Vax as Gilmore

Oh and I can't forget about Gilmores flirting with Vax

I just really love Gilmore

And how they are giving the NPC's bigger roles

Oh and Percy not knowing orthax's name, buddy? How?

Curious to see where that goes with Ripley, who is very cool

And the intro reminds me so much of anime intros and I love it, it is amazing

Things my friend noticed

J'mon Sa Ord and the creepily too big hands and feet, like trying for human and just missing the mark

Zerxus!!! Are we gonna see him all demon??? I am not ready

I might come up with more but first thoughts and excitements are here and good and there were a lot of changes but I don't mind any of them at the moment, I just trust that they love this as much as us and will go where needed

[pearlaquaoceans]

Dorian's addition made me cry. Like real cry. Not tear up, but cry. Robbie's bit about the tune and remembering it.. it just.. rocked me to such a deep part of my soul and I don't even know why. Dorian means so much to me. I can never be thankful enough that Robbie is back at the table. He is sad. He is hurting. He is full of love. He wants to do right. He is.. everything to me. Like he is there next to Vax and Keyleth in my heart and that means something.

I love him

[ginalongillustrations]

I lied saying the previous video would be the last for a while. I just love these paintings too much, and the colour they splash across my bedroom walls brings me too much joy.

I borrowed this sound from Tempest_and_her_Raven on tiktok and it's just such a lovely video I want to make sure people know.

I'm stupidly going to attempt Keyleth one more time before I make the fullsize painting of her. As much as the Vax painting is so beautiful and I love it so much it hurts, a fullsize one won't eye catch in the same way the bright colours of Keyleth will.

I'm also just itching to paint. It makes me so happy. The paints are temperamental and stubborn and hard to fix when something goes wrong... but they are so beautiful.

Thank goodness for my rational mind coming with time. I got too caught in people on tiktok very kindly tagging Liam and Marisha and the CR account and saying they should see my work and anyone from CR on tiktok really which is very kind of then to think my art worth it. I got swept up thinking of grand expectations of them actually seeing the paintings, and it was foolish. Luckily I was able to chill the fuck out and be a proper human being again and I like this better.

But now these paintings have me going back and reworking my a couple of characters into kind of level 20 designs like Vex and Percy.

[deramin2]

(Spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 1)

I don't have any expectations for wherever FCG will stay dead or come back somehow because I've spent 9 years watching Sam Riegel totally subvert my expectations in a narratively compelling way.

But I will say that "FCG shouldn't come back because it would lessen the impact of a narratively perfect death" is EXACTLY what people were saying about Percy's first death after C1 E68. (The first televised character death.) If he had to have an end, it was a fitting end that, while tragic, neatly tied up the thesis of the story. Would Taliesin even want him to come back? With Whitestone saved and Ripply killed, was there even much left to explore?

They found Percy's death letter telling them he loved them all but please bury him in a ditch with all his designs so he could be forgotten by history. He was so sorry for all he'd done and he could never make it up.

But they tried anyway, having to wrest Percy's soul away from Orthax. The players knew what they said in the resurrection ritual was meaningful along with their rolls. But they did not know they were also having to convince Taliesin. If they'd tried to appeal to Percy's soul in the wrong way, dice be damned, Percy was going to refuse. What we got was really meaningful and powerful roleplay (especially from Marisha and Laura) that did convince Percy along with successful rolls.

Being brought back did not at all weaken Percy's own sacrifice or the impact of his death. It forced him to confront everything he'd been running from. It forced him to see that there were people who loved him and would not let him throw himself away for them. They didn't want a martyr, they wanted their friend. It utterly changed the trajectory of his character.

There's only four ways I can think of on the table to bring FCG back:

True Resurrection — Incredibly expensive high level spell. They would have to find the materials as well as someone who both can and is willing to cast the spell in the middle of a war to stop a second Calamity. None of this would be easy. The ritual could still fail. FCG could decline to come back and the other players would not know that until they went to all the effort. The Raven Queen views True Resurrection as heresy which is why they didn't try it on Vax. How would a second chance change them?

Reincarnate — Lower level and cheaper spell. FCG would come back as a fleshy being instead of an Aeormaton. Would the experience live up to FCG's fantasies about it? How would it change them to realize they are truely alive, and always were, but are now also mortal? Reverse Veth story? Wild ass Pinocchio retelling? What does it mean to get a second chance but everything about you is different?

Wish — I think this would count as duplicating True Resurrection. High component cost and requires a high level magic user. (If it's duplicating a spiral there's no risk of no longer being able to cast Wish.)

Hag Deal — They do know a fatestitcher Hag who likes them and limes making deals even more. Orym may be able to just extend his existing deal. What are the consequences for the deal marker as well as FCG? Would the robit feel responsible for that person's fate? How would that affect how they feel about coming back and the meaning they need to make from it.

I don't think there's a right or best option because whatever we speculate on, the actual result will be full of meaning and very poignant. I can't imagine that Bell's Hells won't try to bring him back. They've lost so much already. They couldn't bring back Eshteross or Bertrand or Will & Derrig. They couldn't live with not even trying. Maybe their method works, maybe it doesn't. But at least they tried.

And if FCG does come back, they have to live with knowing that even though they saved their friends and put an end to Otohan, they also hurt their friends by treating themselves as disposable. They forced their friends to confront that each of them might have done the same and that's deeply unhealthy. It will change the character development tremendously.

My favorite film and play genre is where the protagonist dies (or nearly dies) (usually self-inflicted) at the beginning and has to journey through purgatory to find themselves again before they can return to the living. Films like Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) or Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기 2009). Death matters because it reminds you to live. The journey is finding meaning in both life and death and coming back utterly changed.

[meadowsofmay]

i really want to talk about how much liam leaned into this particular mindset of vax — i am just a secondary character here — while all the plot flow of the universe was thinking otherwise. because he is fate-touched, he is the tangle point of all of the vox machina's strings. he has the purpose in the universe and this purpose is way bigger than he ever thought of himself.

he though of himself as a lowlife and, honestly, he has been. he though of himself as some idiot and schmuck who ultimately doesn't deserve to have a greater purpose. he is depressed that's why he is dark and brooding on the outside and that's not what he thinks a hero or a devoted paladin should be.

all the while not seeing the other side of his actions — to him the things he does are given, expected, right. that's how it must be. his sister and his love must be protected and taken care of emotionally and physically. he always must be in front of his family and even though he is not that much of a shield — he is a killer blow. he will kill, he will fight tooth and nail, he will go down if it means others get to live.

liam said on one of the talks machina episodes that vax views himself as secondary priority. he will put his family first always and it's all that matters to him. and it just makes so much sense in the grand scheme of things.

the one who jumps into the deep end to save his loved one is the one who holds the thread of the other's life. unknowingly, unintentionally, unwillingly but they do it just because. and vax has been doing it all his life not realizing how much it showed his character, how much it showed to the lonely goddess that he is enough.

all because vax was doing it for such an ultimately humane reason — he needed his family, more than they maybe needed him. because he is a lowlife, he is an idiot, he is depressed but his family makes him better, they make him happy even amidst all of his emotional turmoil and uncertainty. he wasn't risking his life to be a hero, he was risking his life because he loved and needed his family so much.

[utilitycaster]

So the very last bit wasn't my favorite just because I think there was specific value to Scanlan leaving angry and saying a lot of hurtful but not entirely untrue things that the brief breakup in episodes 10-11 doesn't capture; with that said, combining the year break vibes does make sense since yeah, it's sort of hard to incorporate Tary, especially since a lot of what he was involved in doesn't make sense within the canon of TLOVM, so this sets up the final Vecna arc. I did really like saving Percy from Orthax; I think that underscored what I personally believe is the overarching theme of like...everything (vengeance will consume you and destroy you and those around you). It's a case of "I'm not sure how you'd adapt this without a. 115 4-ish hour episodes and b. the assumptions of actual play D&D vs. scripted fiction, so I get the change, but it is less satisfying."

My personal take on Vax's scar following that ritual was that because we probably won't get his death in the Kraken fight, it's representative of the Raven Queen reminding him that he is pledged to her after his resurrection in episode 89, and the bruise-like scar he receives then (described in episode 90; while the location is different, the appearance, of a dark mark with dark veins traveling from it, is very similar to how it was described in-game). I think the way they've handled the characters' relationships with the gods has been pretty in line with the stronger elements of C3, and with C2 - Pike is similarly grappling with reconciling faith and free will, which is a good thing!

So: Episodes 10-11 and most of episode 12 were good; the year break being entirely amicable on Scanlan's part is a thing I understand but don't love in the same way I love the campaign; Vax's scar seems fine and in-line with the campaign but I do feel like Vax got a little more main-character vibes than I'd have liked, not with that so much (it's Vex's confession that saves Percy, after all) but with, as I said, the jumping in to save Vex and Keyleth from themselves when he's no less impulsive but doesn't need that saving. I don't feel like Vex, Keyleth, or anyone's stories were underserved; but Vax's is a little overserved to me, especially as someone who'd rank him middle of the pack in terms of my favorite VM characters (and behind Vex and Keyleth specifically).

[finn-writes-stuff]

Jack of All Trades (pt 2)

A follow-up to -this- post, with the rest of the party. The Original Request: Hello. If you're willing and have the time, I jumbly request a TLOVM headcannon for the team having an s/o who steals their weapons and tries to figure out to use them. What would their reactions be and would they/how would they teach them to use the weapons?

Percy, Vax, Scanlan & Grog x Reader

Fandom: The Legend of Vox Machina/ Critical Role

Format: Headcanons

Gender Neutral Reader

Masterlist

Some credit to my lovely partner for giving me accurate info about their specific weapons. As well as a discussion on whether or not you can say Percy or Orthax invented Guns. -Finn

Percy

With anyone else in the party, there's a good chance you may have used a weapon like theirs before. But not Percy and his guns. These are his own inventions, new to Tal'Dorei completely.

They are also powered by exploding gunpowder. He is a little bit worried about letting you handle them.

Hearing a gunshot when he isn't causing it is a deep cause of concern for him, please don't steal his guns, just ask.

Percy will absolutely teach you! It's a chance to have his arms around you as he steadies your aim and stance.

He's a very...specific teacher. You have to make sure he doesn't get too wrapped up in the fine details. Keep him on track with how to shoot and he won't get way into the actual mechanics of the hammer of the gun.

Let him watch you shoot after you get the hang of it. He'll start to understand why you like watching him so much.

Vax

This man owns so many knives. He has a full-out collection of daggers. Hugging him is a dangerous prospect because you never know where one is hiding.

And with all the different daggers, it can't be that hard to steal one or two of them. How could he even notice?

Stealing them proves to be surprisingly hard. He doesn't store many of them, they always seem to be on his person.

But once you manage it, it's quite a lot of fun to handle a truly well-made dagger. In a fantasy world like this, every adventurer has held a dagger, but Vax turns it into an art and his tools reflect that.

They are also insanely sharp. Don't get too cocky with them.

He swipes them out of your hands when he finds you with them, and it's obvious just how experienced he is with handling knives. He can twist and spin them without a glance or a nick.

"Well, well, someone's got sticky fingers, hey love?"

He'll teach you how to throw them accurately and how to spin them without hitting your fingers. He will also tease you while you practice before you get the hang of it.

Scanlan

Scanlan doesn't particularly use a weapon! He's fairly strictly a spellcaster.

That being said, his instruments are likely the next best thing, particularly his lute. And that is his baby, best of luck stealing it.

If you ask him, he'll let you play it and he'll teach you during downtime. He will also serenade you for demonstrations.

He'll be annoyed if you take it without asking though. His music is a source of safety for him as much as a source of joy.

Let him teach you songs around the fire at night and serenade him in return. He won't stop smiling for ages.

Grog

Grog has had some...questionable weapons. Perhaps don't borrow Craven's Edge.

But borrowing his axe or his gauntlets is a world of fun. Even if they might not be well weighted for anyone who isn't as strong as he is.

You will quickly realize how much work goes into swinging his axe and it puts his effortless attacks into a very different light for you.

Grog laughs out loud when he sees you using his weapons, but it's full of fondness and affection.

Even if he isn't exactly academically clever, this is his skill set, he knows how to fight and he does it well. So he's a really good teacher as he corrects your stance and grip.

His teaching method also includes encouraging you to just swing at him, so you'll need a bit of courage and faith that you won't hurt him.

[bananathebookworm]

TLOVM Season 3 Eps 1-3 Ramblings

Ep. 1

Vax showing off his new powers, fuck yeah!

Raishan... such an interesting villain and I love that we're getting to see these flashbacks and cut aways we didn't get to see in the campaign

I love angry Kiki always. I really hope we get the "Call me child one more fucking time." bit.

Vax'leth has my heart... fuck this is going to hurt

Jesus these visions are really going for the kill goddamn...

And Perc'ahlia also has my heart

Trinket is the best little guard-bear. So protective of his mama.

I love how well they've translated the natural group dynamics onto the screen. Moments that happened organically still feel natural even though they're scripted just because of how the cast play off of each other.

I know the use of CGI for the dragons is disliked by many, but I personally love it. For me it makes them feel other-worldly.

New Setting! Ank'Harel. I love seeing all of these places brought to life. It's especially great when a setting or character matches so well with what I imagined.

Ripley... it just occurred to me that we're likely going to get the "How do you, Vox Machina, want to do this?" moment and it's going to break me

Scanlan Solo Adventures! Spice?

I love when part of the music is just Sam doing random vocalizations over the music

As always, you can tell just how much fun this is for all of them and how much love has gone into creating this series

Ep. 2

Again, I love the villains in Critical Role so much and I love that we're getting a more in-depth look at them now that we can explore things away from the party

I love hearing the cast pop up as the other random NPCs

I forgot how much I loved the Twins' dynamic

"A Taste of Tal-Dorei" chalice... hell yeah

Grog being good with children is everything. Also the fact that it's Ronin Willingham voicing the little boy is great.

Ugh... Scanlan trying to be a good dad and lacking confidence for the first time ever is killing me. This spiral is going to fucking hurt... Calling it now that this season ends with his departure... my heart is not ready.

The Phoenix Wright reference... well done.

ZERXUS ILEREZ!? That was not a name I was expecting to hear.

Matt needs to sing more. That is all.

Ep. 3

Dragons being Dragons. I love their different designs so much.

Kima will always be my favourite.

Cassandra already being so over Percy's lovestruck dumbassery is everything

Vax. Shut the fuck up and let yourself be happy. You made Keyleth cry you asshole.

It took way longer than it should've for me to realize Dohla is a direct stand-in for Tiberius

In addition to Villain backstory we're also getting some great Ally backstory and I love every fucking second of it

Shield-tobogganing away from a dragon is peak D&D

General

I love seeing the different setting and NPCs come to life and them being exactly as I imagined they would be

I love the lowkey "what could've been" moments with Pike being here for the whole story. I always wonder how things could've been different if Ashley didn't have to be away so much for campaigns 1 and 2.

This season is going to fucking hurt. Between the different realationship dynamics, Scanlan and his downward spiral, Percy and Ripley... I'm not ready

[phenixy-dunnhart]

WARNING ! SPOILERS for TLOVM season 3 and Campaign 1

I'm a bit sad with all the negativity in the tlovm tags following this new batch of episodes. Because all the usual appreciation and fun details pointing is drown in it. So I'll do my part and draw some light and appreciation for the following things:

"Allura can't teleport us 'cause we mind wind up in the ocean" Nice nod

The beauty of Glintshore sand? crystals ? I mean, I know the entire island isn't covered in it, but it's there and it's gorgeous

Vax and Grog banter, Pike and Vax friendship when she stole his badass line. Who says that the friendships in tlovm are not showed ? It's smaller because they're running out of time but if you keep both eyes open, you can catch the small moments.

How good was the delirium gas ?

Percy having bad Ripley PTSD ?Check.

Orthax forcing the (gas) mask on Percy's face ? Oh f*ck me that was so good.

Elaina's first appearence and Vex's heart torment ? Check

Vex fighting the gas messing with her mind and seeing Percy getting kidnapped ? Great

Her seeing Percy devoured by some hellish pain ? Awesome foreshadowing for Orthax feeding on Percy's soul

I won't dwell too much on ep 7 because I'm Perc'ahlia trash and this was pure gold but ALL their scenes.

And these two shots:

They're the last thing they think about before passing out. And look at them, they're looking at each other. Great parallels, great cinematography

You want more parallels ? You're not in enough pain ? I've got more ! How about this ?:

Percy cradling Vex because he doesn't want to lose her.

Vex cradling Percy because she lost him

MY HEART !!!!!!

Anyways back to our regular program: The color scheme in the factory is on point. Predominance of green during all Ripley's discussion with percy, some blasts of orange for Orthax.

This shot when they want to make us think Percy will go dark but also because he sincerly understand. He sees with her (green) eyes

Culminating in theses shots:

In the end, the true Percy is good (he's blue which is both his color and Vex's)

Then we got some nice Pike and Kiki character development with the delirium gas

Percy's fight with Ripley is pure display of his capacities and wits, not unlike Vex's fight against Saundor or Grog's fight against Kevdak. The fights with nemesis are always awesome, well choreographed and both characters and animators flexing.

And I like Grog's delirium both beacause it brings a bit of comic relief in this big painful episode but that's not all there is. Because when he gets out of it, he asks Pike if he hurt her again and you can't convince me that he didn't saw Craven Edge and the pain he inflicted Pike in his PTSD (not showed but we know)

Onto episode 8, love the Stilben flashback and the dead mystic cult leader being Taliesin.

The funeral was powerful and beautiful. The highlights being Cassandra crying her last family member and Vex'ahlia not saying the prayer despite being one of the Dawnfather.

Scanlan putting Kaylie's song music sheet on the altar for Percy breaks my heart. For him, he lost both of them and also he traded the life of his friend for moments with Kaylie (which he didn't even had, that's so sad)

Vox Machina assembling all of their allies with the beautiful OST was awesome while conserving this... heaviness. We're still grieving (at least I'm still am)

Vex and Syldor whole convesrsation. Laura Bailey, the talented woman you are and Troy Baker did a great job at humanizing him. though he's still a prick.

Vaxleth and Pikelan scenes were cute

We've got LARKIN mentioned and by Vax nonetheless !

Earthbreaker Groon and Grog doing the slapping hands/muscles flexing meme !

How brutal Thordak's attacks are in ep 8 and 9, all the people dying to rise up the stakes worked really well in my opinion.

Travis smarts piercing through Grog's 6 INT just like in the campaign

Earthbreaker Groon being a BAMF with that suplex

The teamwork going strong during all the fight

Zahra and Kash coming in to save the day. I love them your honor

My jaw dropped at Kashaw's badass magical attack. THAT WAS AWESOME and dropped further at his death. I couldn't believe it at first and as bold as a choice it was, I really liked it. Because it's a thing to kill NPC nameless army guys but killing a beloved character: that take some balls . And because of the unpredictability, the shock hit. I'm always here for the drama and it was beautifully done (the visuals for the Raven Queen and her powers are always as gorgeous as ominous).

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn also showing off her VA talent

In the end, every VM members getting his moment of glory :

Vex with getting the Syngorn army while being at her lowest/rock bottom ("The truth is the only bargaining chip at rock bottom", really nice parallels with the Stillben flashback + her using Percy's philosophy)

Grog destroying the lair

Scanlan getting them out of there at the peril at his life and ending up in a coma (nice subversion so there are not two dead party members followed up by two ressurections)

Keyleth being her badass elemental self (with her two gorgeous muscial leitmotives "blinded by the light" + "passing through the fire")

Pike being able to absorb Thordak -not red but- blue fire/laser which we saw went through Emon like butter. That's one MONSTAH move with beautiful beautiful colors (red yellow and blue mixing) look at this shot:

And Vax having the last kill, thinking of his mother doing this for Emon sure but most important for his mom, Vex and himself and what a beautiful shot and power move with the twisting golden and black torpedo that he is.

A great powerful death for a great powerful foe

And then some sorrow and sweetness. The Vaxleth back hug was adorable.

And that last shot of Keyleth after the confrontation with Raishan makes me long for more and to already be next week.

And that's some positivity and appreciation of CR work because they pour their heart and soul into these series and these characters and it's beautiful and I see it. I hope I could put some light on it at my small scale.

Have a great day and let's wait impatiently for next week and end of season 3

[bonisonline]

Getting real fed up of some of the Vox Machina/Critical Role "fans" (slight vent)

Countless times I've seen people complaining about the most miniscule things in the show. Whether it's a slight dialogue change, a timeline shift or not enough/too much queer representation, people can just never be goddamn satisfied can they? I'll give some examples of complaints I saw under YouTube clips of Vox Machina/Critical Role C1 (DISCLAIMER: this is not me talking about genuine fans of CR or VM; just people who've watched the show out of boredom basically):

"Why did they cut out Vax's brotherly love comment to Percy in the show and instead make it about Vex? It ruins the scene." - well it's because in the show's current timeline, the main issue Percy and Vax had been facing is Percy killing Vex by not checking for traps. This had caused a lot of tension between Vax and Percy, and they didn't really have time to build a brotherly bond or have brotherly moments (aside from when Percy tells Vax he's got Vax's back in the Fey Realm). The show's timeline is moving a lot faster than the original campaign due to the CR team only getting 5 seasons with 12 lots of 20 minute episodes per season to work with as opposed to 115 lots of 4 hour long episodes, meaning there's not as much time to flesh out ALL the characters' relationships with one another (at least not on screen). If we're patient I'm sure we'll get more Percy and Vax brotherly moments.

"I'm tired of homosexuality getting the short end of the stick! Sucks that all of the main cast is straight." - Firstly, Vex, Vax, Scanlan and Keyleth are canonically bisexual. Just because someone queer ends up with the opposite sex, doesn't make them automatically straight. Secondly, the show is prewritten, and while the characters end up in heterosexual-presenting relationships it doesn't mean that their relationships are worse/boring simply because it's not Vexleth and Perc'ildan instead of Vaxleth and Perc'ahlia. The way the relationships are written are very fitting for each character, and I enjoy that the writing for these characters is not just "And he/she looked at them and realised he/she was in love! Yay!". Plus campaign 2 has two queer couples, so if Vox Machina not having enough homosexuality frustrates you you can always stop watching and wait for the Mighty Nein series to come out.

(To follow up to my last point about the Mighty Nien series, I also saw this person complaining that it "only has lesbians, no gay men" - so I guess Caleb and Essek don't exist now...)

"I felt bad for Zerxus until he mentioned he had a husband. Why are the characters always gay..." - On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are people who think Vox Machina is TOO gay, which makes me go "have you even researched the cast of Critical Role in the SLIGHTEST?" - obviously not, or else they'd realise how supportive the cast is of the LGBTQ+ community, how a few cast members are a part of it, and how CR actively supports and encourages diversity.

ANYWAY! That's enough venting. What I'm basically trying to get at is this: if there are elements of the show that makes it genuinely hard for you to watch, then stop watching. You don't have to watch a show if you don't actually like what you see on your screen. You can manifest it suddenly making all your headcanons/wishes a reality, but I think you'll just hurt your brain after a while.