#i'm going to say this as a vax stan you all know he was one of my faves i think

[justalittlebluetiefling]

I’m having so many unpopular takes!

[abitcaughtinthemiddle]

The Hypocrisy of Vex'ahlia

Before you all come for me, I am a Vex stan and I will defend her until I die - she is my favorite Critical Role character and I'm so glad we're getting a deeper dive into her psyche.

The complexities of her character cannot be overstated. She has a lot going on under the surface, and the breadcrumbs of her deep-seated insecurities have been there the whole time.

I'm really excited we get to explore those in season 3 through her relationship with Percy, in a way different than what we've seen in the actual play streams. I want to commend the writers for being able to convey so much in so little time.

We are introduced to Vex as a sexy, confident woman who uses her looks and charisma to her advantage. She takes charge most of the time, being the unofficial "leader" of Vox Machina. She presents herself as someone who doesn't really need anyone else and does not care about anyone outside of her brother. Keyleth even comments on this in the first episode, "Vex and Vax only care about themselves".

This, of course, is a complete fabrication, a mask she wears to hide her insecurities. A mask, she wants no one to see through. The irony here is that she can so easily see behind Percy's mask - "Darling, take off the mask". It takes one to know one, after all.

She so badly wants to get underneath Percy's mask, for him to show himself to her fully. There's something inside of her that sees the guilt and shame inside of him and that resonates with her belief that she is deeply broken. Vex truly believes that something must truly be wrong with her. And why wouldn't she? Saundor, who said he knew everything about her, saw this, too, after all.

Saundor says plainly, "you will never be enough."

So it must be true, right?

Why wouldn't something be so wrong with her? It would make sense. Her father carries no love for her, her mother died, and Vax had to sacrifice his life for hers. She knows Vax loves her, and she believes he is the only one who does. Even Kamaljiori, an ancient and all-knowing Sphinx, fed into this during their test when Vax fell: "you have no family left who cares for you".

Her hypocrisy lies in the facade she built as a woman who does not need anyone or anything. She presents herself as someone who does not need the love of others, when in reality, she desperately wants to be loved.

Saundor saw this as well.

Vex longs to love and be loved. And yet, she cannot allow herself to give up her facade and let Percy love her and admit her love for him.

The last person to see through her walls was Saundor, and we know how that went.

What he said really cut her deep, as we see after the Kevdak fight when she brushes off Pike's inquiries about her experience in the fey realm.

As we see her relationship with Percy move from harmless flirting to physical intimacy at the beginning of season 3, we see her embrace the physical closeness to Percy but starts to block him out the moment he wants to cement their relationship. But she can't let herself tell him how she feels because that would mean admitting her heart is his - and that would be doomed to end in tragedy, as Vex admits later in the cave.

Putting up this emotional wall between her and Percy will not give Vex what she wants: love.

Love is that emotional intimacy. Vex loves to point out the importance of love between other people- in season 2, pushing Keyleth to tell Vax how she feels ("it always matters"), assuring Allura that Kima's love for her will help her endure after Vorugal's attack, and putting faith in the rest of Vox Machina.

Vex understands what makes love so special, and how important truth and intimacy are to real, lasting love.

And while she comforts others and pushes them to be vulnerable and embrace love, her own fears prevent her from fully doing the same. It's ironic and sad, how one of the only people who can see through her mask is the one she's pushing away.

Trauma makes hypocrites of us all.

Image credits @blorbologist @aq2003

[johanna-swann]

I'll always find it... I'll say interesting, how Rockmond was fired because his medical/religious beliefs resulting in his refusal to be vaccinated because it was "a concern he'll harm others" (which understanding the industry regulations that's a tough one to fight... even though they still allowed him to film scenes so they could write him off "peacefully" 🤐) And in the same breath Ryan got to keep his job after his vaccination/N*zi comparisons/rants... 👀 Yeah okay I see y'all 🤨 Whether I agree/DISAGREE with Rockmond's personal beliefs, what the actual fuck! Fair treatment, my ass! They should've both been axed if they were both "contributing to antivax agendas" But again, someone who had religious reasons not to do it got canned while someone with uh questionable treatment of certain/multiple groups of people 👀 got to stay??? Fox was wild for that, but hey we got to know who fits their brand...

... his what now comparison??? Omg, somebody tell me Ryan Guzman did not compare pandemic regulations to the Third Reich. See, this is why I don't usually read up on actors. In the end it's just disappointing.

Like, I'm very pro-vaccination. I think the show rightfully decided to protect cast and crew by writing out an anti-vax cast member, but in the end you can't force him, bodily autonomy and all.

There's a difference between "I'm not getting vaccinated because of my faith" and "vaccination rules are like nazi germany" though.

Also fun fact, I don't know if you knew this @ anon, but I'm German and we had this huge scandal at an anti-vax protest where a student gave a speech on stage claiming to feel like the very famous resistance member Sophie Scholl. The backlash and media shitstorm was huge. That's not a thing to joke about and it's even worse if Ryan Guzman was serious.

Is that his MO? Go online, talk insensitive bullshit and apologise later so he can keep his job? But his stans are the ones running around calling other fans racist and homophobic?