#marble vax

[undead-knick-knack]

You better love Vax no matter what form he's in 😤

[screechingfromthevoid]

Something that I want to explore, probably in the trips go to the moon, is the fact that ludinus destroyed Orym's life. And Orym's family's life. This is the man who took the two (not including Alma) most important people in the world to Orym. Orym has thought about his husband and fathers killer every day for the past six/seven years.

And Ludinus didn't even know their names.

[goblin-king-jay]

[ID: a meme of a person standing alone in a corner at a party. A couple dancing at the party are labeled "new tlovm fans crushing on vax". The person at standing in a corner is thinking "they don't know he's a marble". End ID.]

has this been done yet

[blackmosscupcakes]

Liam: best case scenario, Vax is not a ball...

Aabria, absolutely dying of laughter: OH MY GOD I FORGOT YOUR ASS IS A MARBLE

[loading-excuses]

talisen and ashley playing the mortal incarnations of gods they’ve played clerics for is makes so much sense but there’s something poetic about laura’s character being the mortal incarnation of the raven queen

i just miss vax, i hope he’s okay in his marble

[bloodinmymilkshake]

My wife gave me an idea for a modern!AU where Vax is a funeral home owner.

Percy is on the run from the mafia who are after him as the heir to the corporation (Anna Ripley and the Briarwoods, of course). He's tortured, broke, has nothing to eat, and nowhere to sleep, so he wanders into an open funeral home in the middle of the night and, finding no one there, goes to sleep in a coffin. That's where Vax finds him. At first, he mistakes the fast-sleeping, pale guy with signs of beatings for a corpse and can't figure out how he got there. But then the "corpse" opens its eyes and Vax is not at all prepared for this.

Percy tries to convince Vax to give him a job. Vax initially says that he is not looking for employees, as he is used to handling everything himself. His only employee is Grog, a gravedigger who does mostly heavy lifting. However, Percy convinces Vax that he is very good with his hands, and Vax agrees to hire him (possibly to make coffins or carve marble tombstones).

Over time, while working at a funeral home, Percy meets Vax's ex, Keyleth, who works as a pathologist, but at the same time, is the sunniest and most cheerful person. Keyleth says that Vax wasn't always like this, and tells Percy the story of Vax's life in confidence. His mother died when he was a teenager, and a few years later, Vax lost the last person close to him - his twin sister. In her memory, he opened a funeral home, investing all the money his mother had saved for Vax and his sister's future. Percy, who also lost his family, becomes even more sympathetic and compassionate towards Vax.

"You would make a great couple, you are two of the most gloomy people I know," Keyleth says, and Percy blushes in embarrassment.

Vax lives in a small room above a funeral home and spends most of his time at work. Percy sleeps on the couch in the funeral home, but sometimes he goes to sleep in a coffin because "here I can lie down at full height."

Percy and Vax also have their first sex in the coffin. After the funeral home closes, finishing their work, they don't even notice how they start kissing. Already undressing each other, they understand that there is not much place for lovemaking here. However, instead of going up to the room, Vax puts Percy right into the coffin, continuing to passionately caress him. Percy remembers his first sex for the rest of his life, especially after the coffin lid slams shut on them at the end of the process. They start laughing at the same time.

Percy and Vax become the most important people in each other's lives, and together they gradually learn to be happy and smile.

[utilitycaster]

Something I haven't really gotten the point of is the weird resurgence of focus on whether Vex is aware that Vax is in the marble and arguing that it's against her characterization to not be there. I think it's actually entirely possible that, as a kindness, Keyleth hasn't told her. What could Vex meaningfully do here? I don't think she can just break him out, and even if she could, that, as Keyleth says, destroys their ability to travel to Ruidus and potentially stop the Vanguard. She'd be telling Vex her brother is suffering endlessly and they need to keep him there, which is only going to hurt her. And even If Keyleth has told her, isn't it more effective for Vex to focus on amassing Tal'Dorei's political power and ensuring the country is prepared for disaster? I mean, I'd love to see Vex, but the idea she's in Emon, as a key figure in Tal'Dorei's government, makes perfect sense. It feels like the desire for Vex to be there comes from the idea that the only valid way to show affection or loyalty or grief is through physical presence.

More generally, I think it's worth pointing out that Vax choosing to protect Keyleth in the way he did is why the Ruby Vanguard's plan succeeded and why she was attacked in the first place. It's not portrayed as a good thing that he visits her like this—in fact it's pretty explicitly portrayed as unhealthy for both of them. It's inhibited her ability to move on, whereas Vex, while she will always grieve, seems to have adjusted much better to her loss in the 30 years since Vax's death. I think the "better version" of post-Campaign 1 is not one in which Vax is constantly sending ravens to Vex; it's one in which he lets Keyleth have the distance she needs to process and heal.

[miscellaneouzz]

Sorry for the absolute WALL of Text but I wanted to put my own thoughts about where Pike's story could go. There's honestly a lot of avenues that Pike's story could take and all of them are so fucked and angsty in the best way possible.

Like I can very much see a storyline where Pike is targeted by the Whisper One cult for her blood + powers to resurrect him. Firstly, there's Pike's general isolation from everyone. VM's disbanded and as such, there's really no one around to see or check on Pike. Percy and Vex are in Whitestone, Vax and Keyleth are doing Ashari stuff. Scanlan's on his world tour (Plus whatever the hell they plan to do with the whole "You're not real family" thing which I KNOW is going to come back around to bash in Scanlan's teeth) And Grog, while super supportive, doesn't really ask that many questions or comments and as such, this leaves Pike in a prime state of isolation from the group.

There's also Pike's disregard of her own self as well as her tumultuous relationship with Everlight that's probably the biggest thing that'll kick everything into gear.

She very much doesn't want to bother anyone with her problems, especally when it comes to her Goddess, and her refusal to tell people about her fracturing relationship with said goddess is exactly what's going to get her hurt. Her few years away from VM was great for her because she didn't have to work as hard to conceal her problems from Grog. But now that VM is back together, it's going to be difficult to hide everything because, well, she's the healer, the cleric, the holy one. She needs to be at the top of her game, and it looks like it's going to be absolutely hell for her because her powers are not working.

There's also the added stress of her entire existance, how her blood is special, how it connects to her overall faith. It's no surprise that the whisper one wants her blood. If you go back to Season one, Delilah actually carves The Whisper One Symbol into her arm twice -- Once when she was turning Silas into a vampire and the second was when she was attempting to bring Mr. Whisper into the world under Whitestone. Both times, the ritual used blood magic to do so. While Silas' transformation was a success, Delilah's second offering was only half-that. He needs a tangable body (he was only ever able to bring his marble body to the material world) to live in and Pike's divine blood is just strong enough to allow that.

I desperly wonder how they're going to make the Whisper One corrupt Pike. I know that they're most likely going to make Pike possibly hear the Whispered One's voice (much like Delilah did--although TLOVM didn't exactly allow us to hear it, it's heavily implied that the WO preyed on Delilah's anguish and whispered in her mind her greatest desire) but I wonder if they'll go a little farther and make The WO some shadowing figure in her dreams/prayer void, not necessary charming her but speaking just enough truth to effectively manipulate her.

There's also just the fact that we could potentially see her fuck-ass hillbilly family and how their involvement will greatly influence Pike's already scattered sense of self and faith, as well as whatever they plan to do with Willhand because the fact that he didnt seem all that fazed when she returned home with white hair makes me think he knows what Pike is and i'm just---

I am so excited to see where they take our gnome in the future but also I am not ready for the pain it will cause. especially when it comes to whatever they have planned with her blood. I hope she took her iron tablets

The whispered one cult targeting her bc of her blood is a direction I can totally see them going in, especially with her having the mark! I like how throughout this season Grog does ask her questions concerning her faith, she just quickly dodges the questions and gives skewed answers (ex: “can’t the Everlight help you?” “I haven’t had a chance to ask yet” “have you tried praying?” “I don’t think that’ll help”) so I wonder how much of that is gonna continue into season 4 and if she’ll eventually confide in him like she did in season 1. I also wonder how much of season 4 we’re gonna spend apart before coming back together, like how much are we just gonna get Pike/Grog as a duo and how much are we gonna see more her dynamic with the rest of the group and her potentially confronting Scanlan about everything. (He’s also the only one who read Delilah’s book so I wonder if he would potentially recognize the mark, then again he didn’t say anything when Zerxus handed it over so idk)

I’m definitely curious about how or if it’ll all play into her pride in being a redeemer and how she views her role in the group. One of the lines I just keep thinking about is Zerxus’ “I can see why the Everlight favors you, you’re as careless with those close to you as you are yourself” bc not only does it make me want more Everlight lore but it also immediately takes me back to Pike’s moment in season 2 telling Osysa “I don’t care if I die, none of us do”. Pike’s role as the holy redeemer in her group is such an interesting clash with her less apparent carelessness/willingness to throw both her and others lives away, yet they seem to very purposefully play into each other.

I love me a good crisis of faith story but ohh man am I worried for my girl…

And thank you for sharing all these ideas/theories I eat that shit up!!

[quipxotic]

Love Marisha/Keyleth casting Earthquake on the Key, even knowing it could damage the Vax-marble and Beacon within it, as well as her allies in the area. It's the end of the world, time for some big swings.

[pucaantaibhse]

Two things about that scene with Vex at Percy’s tomb, and Vax coming to comfort her:

Vex regretting that she never told Percy how she felt, that she pushed him away a bit, was devastating, especially after her confrontation with Syldor. Vax comforting her was so sweet too. 🥺

That set up at the coffin was a fucking fire hazard. I mean, you’ve got slippy marble steps and a serious amount of open flames on different surfaces (without even holders for the candles!!!), and a relatively narrow space without them in between? Like, this is a world in which wearing a long cape is not unheard of, and those things swish around. Not to mention the amount of robes and long dresses. There’s barely room for a mourner to dramatically slide down the side of the tomb while sobbing about tragically being unable to admit their love before it was too late without some sleeve getting caught on a wick. Like I know Keeper Yennen is probably more used to outside ceremonies for the past few years, and for obvious reasons the budget probably isn’t massive (and most of THAT probably went to the stone carvers for that lid) , but unless they want yet another funeral on their hands, Whitestone should probably look into appointing a fire safety inspector or something

[empressofedge]

In all seriousness, though. One of my favorite things about this last episode of Critical Role is that I was a week behind when it aired and the ONLY spoiler I truly saw was the Imodna kiss. Like, there were vague mentions about Chet’s kidnapping and Vax marble screaming, but other than that... nothing. And even then it was SUPER vague to the point I didn’t even understand the spoilers. Meaning...

I literally had no idea that they legit showed Imogen’s mother, Ludinus, and Ira on Ruidus until I watched the full ep. That’s how absolutely batshit we all went for the sapphics and honestly? Completely valid.

[hazelcephalopod]

Idle thought. How long has Vax been in that marble? He’s still screaming right? Hasn’t it been weeks at this point? So just weeks of torture for Vax. I hate to say it but I don’t think he’s gonna be doing well when he gets out.

[ladygoofus]

Hopefully you didn't only get random mean people in your dms talking about how shitty the third campaign was, because while undoubtedly flawed (its mostly improvised dnd, it comes with the territory) I think it was lovely. The fans are very much split at the center though, and many who disliked it are actively cruel about it for some reason.

The main thing that happened in the finale, which had been a point of discussion since about ep 50, was a big change in the way the gods of exandria exist.

Ludinus, the big bad wizard this campaign, was working on releasing an ancient being trapped in the red moon, Predathos, who's sole purpose was to eat the gods (they put it there in the first place when it came to exandria and ate two previously unknown gods). To do so he linked the red moon to exandria (trapping Vax in a marble) and then created a teleport to and from. Another thing he needed were Ruidusborn, people born under a flare (Ruidus would randomly get all shiny) who had a particular link to Pred. Imogen is obviously one, and it's discovered Fearne is also one (on purpose, her shitty bio dad tried to create a weapon-child). Ludinus needs at least one powerful Ruidusborn to be the vessel for Preddy once it's out. At the moment Liliana, Imogen's mom and his second in comand, was the best option.

Imogen had been trying to shake her mom out of her cult-induced haze, and seems to wake her enough to have a mole in Ludinus midst.

At this point though, Bells Hells are still debating what to do with the god-eating situation, none of them are particularly religious (the one guy they had, FCG, dies pretty late in the campaign and even they weren't truly a scholar), so they are legitimately contemplating letting Preddy eat all the gods, what they don't want, is Ludinus being the one to release the monster, they (obviously) dont trust a power hungry wizard to have possibly controll over it, and are worried it would go on to eat everything on exandria once the gods are gone.

Anyway, they end up talking to the Archheart, god of magic and beauty and whatever, and they tell BH that they're actually okay with Predathos being released, they're tired of the status quo, of how the gods continue to squabble and don't allow their creations (mortals) to truly thrive. Tells them actually its them and one other god (Matron of ravens) who are thinking its time to end this millennia long absolute reign. Tells them the gods are rallying to get down on Exandria and might cause a new calamity in their fighting. Also tells them the vessel would probably die but thats irrelevant to him, gods being gods.

So now BH goes to the moon with a vague plan to, stop Ludinus, maybeeeee let Imogen or Fearne be the vessel, figure it out from there (very Bells Hells, why plan anything, winging it works usually! Lmao).

They are also backed by both Vox Machina and Mighty Nein (played by the cast) as they have allied with all of the morals on Exandria in a big council to kind of save the planet and the gods. BH obviously have not told any of these allies they plan on possibly eating the gods.

Which was an interesting development but was unfortunately not really followed through very satisfyingly in the campaign. Though I have some hope post finale materials, being books comics or one shots, will address this a bit more. (A lot of fans are just angry at this and wanted BH to suffer for betraying this big council of npcs. Honestly it confuses me, guys its dnd, we all know matt is usually a kind dm especially in finales)

Anyway, BH go to the moon, where Ludi has absorbed Liliana's powers to be the one to free Preddy (he found out she was betraying him). They fight, kill Ludi (who has a clone somewhere obviously because. Evil wizards are immortal) and find themselves face to face with Predathos. Imogen offers herself as the vessel, and theres a big fight were BH try to smack her out of it in this big monster body. Mid fight they get a little chat with the Matron, were they finally decide (mid fight. Again very Bells Hells and it also made many fans angry lmao) to diminish Preddy and make Imogen control it enough to allow the Gods to chose: leave, or become mortals with reincarnation through the beacons. Imogen being part of the creature let her see that it truly couldn't care less about the rest of exandria, only saw its food (the gods) and its children (Ruidusborn).

So they defeat it and get back to Exandria, where even the gods are terrified of them (just Imogen tbf) and they manage to get an audience with the gods, and convince All of them (with a wonderful nat 20) to descend as mortals.

Its unclear how this will manifest exactly, as thats pretty much where the story ends, with some character focused epilogues for everyone, like we know they're all going to be reborn as babies, so for some years at least, none of them will be aware of who they are. But it's got fun possibilities!

Now, the main discourse I've seen is:

a) people who simply couldn't stand Bells Hells and hated their story loudly, often saying they should have let Mighty Nein do it instead. Which is just... Guys go rewatch the previous campaign, it's still there, no need to be shitty about the new one, you can just not watch it if it's not for you.

b) bells hells are villain and deserve consequences and punishment. I agree that the story could have been handled in a more interesting way, had a lot of potential for some truly gray areas that were barely scratched, like I said before. Personally I would have loved to see them having to hide and run away the rest of their lives because religious fanatics want revenge, but that's just not what Matt and the players wanted. They wanted an happy ending, and this is their story first of all. Plus Matt said there's still room to explore this in the future, but in the moment, after the rough times in the real world (including the LA fires that literally stopped them recording mid finale) they all wanted a moment of kindness and a positive conclusion to this exandrian saga.

c) they coerced the gods into depowering, which just means the betrayers will try to rise back into godhood and destroy everything. Or just recreated the same power structure there was before but on earth. And here's the thing, yeah, they did force most of the gods to do something they didn't want, it wasn't a real nice choice, matt was ready to have a few gods leave forever, but Matt is truly the only real god in Exandria. Sure, the gods might want to get back into godhood but that's for Matt to decide, to make the story interesting if he so choEses! So hypothetically? Yeah! But this is not just a world that exist on its own. Matt and the rest of the cast decide, and if he says "there no more divinity" then that's that. Evil powerful kings have always existed, now they're just no longer also immortal.

The main thing is that the stagnation is over now, and maybe, maybe some of the gods can finally find some common ground with their old siblings, can actually make peace, and can finally change perspective.

d) Ludinus won. To some extent, yes. He did. He wanted them dead, but they are still there, but no longer able to decide on a whim to destroy huge chunks of the planet for a squabble. He's currently still around, so there's a good chance they'll revisit him in a oneshot.

Anyway this got long, im sure I'm missing something, but heres a bit of a recap.

Imo Bells Hells are pretty great, the third campaign was good though flawed, and fans hate change of any kind.

Peace out.

THANK YOU KIND ANON, I was so curious about what's been going on in Critical Role. And don't worry, there have been no meanies in my DMs, just people offering to explain. I am sharing for anyone else who who's baffled about what happened in the Bells Hells campaign and why the fandom has mixed opinions.

I'm so curious where they're gonna take the next campaign!! Like a year ago I popped into one random episode stream where Pike appeared and I've been wanting to watch through it in part just to see all the Vox Machina and Mighty Nein characters return.

[amberlin1]

So yeah everyone who watched c1 already knows and accepts that s3 of tlvom is different in a ton of ways. Its not bad, i like it and I'm still waiting for a lot of heartbreak.

But i just watched percy's resurrection and the leadup to it.

Vax became the champion of the Matron of Ravens to get his sister back. Established, pretty much the same, almost exactly done, as table as in studio.

See, thing is, i thought he'd sacrificed his chance at happiness, and a life and relationship with keyleth when he brought percy's soul back. But considering Percy's soul was captured and kept in a gun at Orthax's will and whim, did this half elf motherfucker just give up his freedom of movement for his brother in law?

Is that why he's a goddamned marble in campaign 3?

[arclundarchivist]

Spoilers C3E109

All together not a bad episode.

I’m not sure where things go from here honestly.

But I’m wondering if we’re gonna see the end of this campaign by maybe early next year?

Dorian seemed more peaceable towards the Matron by the end.

I do find it interesting that the Matron doesn’t intend to run with the other Gods.

But neither seemingly does Asmo… I want to know how they think they‘ll slip away from its notice.

I will say “reworking the contract” or whatever ending feels better than they all die/they all run/everything is not actually okay and things get fucked/the worst ending honestly, they die and the worlds just fine.

The Mateon’s history with the Old Death God is interesting, I know there’s some comments of him giving her the path, but it seemed like they worked together to actually make the Rite workable.

The only time Mortal and God were actually on even footing.

And in a weird way… she’s kind of like Keyleth, no?

Her love died, sacrificing himself for her, so perhaps I’m a more intertwining and literal manner, but she is now this ageless, deathless being, watching everything else age around her constantly reminded of what she lost.

I do also wonder what is going to befall Vax.

Outside of him not being a fucking marble anymore.

Like…. Does he become a new death god if she checks out? Or the closest thing?

It’s not like the “cycle” or whatever is gonna snap back to the way it wasn’t instantly would it??

But fuck maybe I’m wrong.

Like I said, I honesty don’t know where this campaign is going.

Might not even be an Exandria by the end of this, or at least one I find as compelling depending on their choices.

Not sure “New Gods, with semi familiar faces” is the path I’d want to go down.

But “No Gods! Nada, just cycles and energies and whatever man, why should we have just good faiths in this fantasy world?” Is also a path that uh… sucks so…

Shrugs

I’m just hoping Ludinus dies as bad as he deserves.

Also I’m amazed that they didn’t ask about FCG.

And! The Luxon being separate from Predathos, but being similarly ancient and startling to the Tengari is curious. They’re also counterpointed. Predathos is an ultimate end, and the Luxon is *the* beginning.

[momspren]

Hey guys I've been gone for awhile, is Vax still a marble?