#vax meta

[sparring-spirals]

Went through my kith and kin tag after that last post and once again lying on my floor thinking about. vex snarling at vax about his judgement being swayed by a pretty face-

(another person vax is brave enough to love, even if its dangerous. looking for the good and the kindness and the humanity among the darkness, trying to bring it forward, let vex experience it, even when it can leave him bleeding)-

and vax snarling at vex about her judgement being swayed by her desperation to be accepted-

(another time vex sees a way to secure safety and security and approval, which is safety and security, in a different form. for her, her and vax and trinket and everything she loves, safe in one place, where they can belong, they can stay)-

and. oogh.

Holding these twins in my hands. squishing them like playdough. one of them fights desperately to find the kindness and good and light even when its a fools errand. leaves himself open and hurt for a little bit of light. if it keeps vex safe, happier. one of them counting and calculating and running and cruel because the world demands it. keeps the counter going and going and does the hard things if it keeps vax whole, and okay. one close range and one long.

they'll hurt each other if it keeps the other whole. they'll gladly get hurt if it keeps the other safe. the world is harsh, and they are surviving. what the fuck. theyre such a fucked up pair. they love each other so much.

[aeruthien]

"When will your time be served? When will your debt be paid?"

Keyleth keeps thinking about Vax being indebted to the Matron. And that makes sense, because it is a way to explain why he left her. If he had no choice, there is no reason to blame him, and instead she can blame the Matron for keeping him away.

Except I don't think Vax is still indebted to the Matron, at least not in the way that Keyleth is implying. Vax wilfully followed his God. He wilfully upheld the things the Matron stands for - one of them accepting death as part of life, even his own.

How can Vax allow himself to be saved? How can he do that and not revoke anything he has learned to accept through worshipping the Matron?

Keyleth has to accept that it was Vax's choice. That is wasn't the Matron who killed him, but Vecna, and that Vax was not willing to be resurrected.

So she can finally be angry with Vax. So she can finally be angry with the situation. And so she can finally start to heal.

[dandelionjack]

> new series release (space babies) coincided with the uk seeing the northern lights for the first time in years

> the devil’s chord coincided with paul mccartney’s long-missing hofner bass guitar being found, by a doctor who fan no less

> boom coincided with an actual meteor crash

> 73 yards is coinciding with a rise in bizarre supposedly-occult animal sacrifice rituals in britain (the folk horror part) and rishi sunak finally calling a general election (the political drama part)

> hypothesis: russell t davies has somehow managed to tune in to the universe’s divine frequency ??

> conclusion: messing with the forces of fate, cause&effect and coincidence, even if it’s for the pop culture franchise you’re showrunning, actually turns it into an egregore, but only if it’s been going for long enough (sixty fucking years to the dot) and watched by enough people (tens of millions). which it has

> ergo, postscriptum: television magick is real and is being unintentionally performed by the creators + audience of the world’s silliest science fiction show

> /jk. unless?

[parisoonic]

i am not immune to a meme

[your-enby-antihero]

Posted a meme just now but also my personal thoughts on vax and his relationship with coming back and his relationship with the matron.

When I think about them as a god and as a champion there is something so terribly tragic about Vax and the Matron. Both so deeply in love with the people they cared about in life and both so duty bound to safeguard the souls of the people of Exandria.

The Matron giving Vax one night to pretend like the world is fine and nothing bad could have ever happened to him or his loved ones, that nothing was ever scarified for love. She can watch him hug little Gwen and look at Vax Jr/Freddy with big adoring eyes and smile at the Twins seeing a mirror of his beloved sister and himself in both Wolfe and Leona and seeing the little Vesper he saw as a baby as a beautiful grown woman. The Matron can watch for one night and think about the god- no the person that she loved that gave everything (including their duty and family) to her because they thought the earth and the universe about her, and maybe she can think about what ifs about her life with them. She can picture what their face looked like and how their hands felt in hers.

Maybe just for tonight the Matron and her champion can surrender duty and obligation and loyalty and see their loved ones before the world crumbles before their very eyes.

[quinn-of-aebradore]

Something I think about a lot in regards to Vax’s deal with the Raven Queen is that Vox Machina could have brought him back from being Disintegrated. They talked about it at length before they went to sleep that night; Scanlan could’ve used Wish to turn a large enough creature (they joked about using Trinket) into enough diamonds for Pike to cast True Resurrection and bring Vax back even though his body had been destroyed. They just couldn’t do it right away. Bringing him back was well within their powers, they just needed time.

But then the Raven Queen swept in and made her offer to Vax; die now or die later to serve as my Champion in exchange for me bringing you back right away.

This isn’t to discount the fact that Vax made his choice when it came to serving the Raven Queen; I wholeheartedly agree that that was his own choice, not a debt like Keyleth believes it to be. But I do wonder, sometimes, if his answer would’ve been different if he knew what his family was planning. And I wonder too if remembering that plan that would’ve worked given time fuels Vex and Keyleth’s bitterness towards the Raven Queen, on top of everything else.



[jibril-thelibraryangel]

I just had a realization, Vax repeatedly coming back and not letting Keyleth truly move on…. It’s exactly what he did to Gilmore in campaign 1 when he started seeing Keyleth.

How he told him he was in love with someone else and then immediately kiss him

How after every mission he kept coming back to him to repeatedly tell him he couldn’t be with him but that he still love him

How he didn’t hesitated to follow Gilmore into a dark corner of a castle wearing nothing but a bathrobe he gave him

He might now be an immortal demigod champion of the Raven Queen but deep down he’s still the same scare little elf boy starve for love and unable ever let go.

[mareastrorum]

I’ve been working off and on with a longer post about villains and their roles in a story, but in light of the latest episode, one part seems especially relevant:

Villains and antagonists are different roles in a narrative. Some characters overlap, but they aren’t the same thing. A villain represents the wrong conclusion of something; they are the narrative’s spotlight on a destructive, immoral, or self-defeating way of handling a perceived problem. They aren’t necessarily opponents. In comparison, an antagonist is an obstacle for protagonists, whether they are right or wrong. If the story doesn’t dig into those issues, then that character is likely just an antagonist and shouldn’t be expected to carry much narrative weight. In narratives like an improv D&D actual play show, there’s a Schrodinger’s villain aspect going on here because these roles depend on the choices of multiple participants, so we can’t really judge except in hindsight.

That said, Vox Machina wasn’t going to fight against villains in episodes 113 and 114 because their story within the C3 narrative didn’t need a villain. VM wasn’t here for some overarching narrative conclusion to occur during their appearance. They were here to save Vax, break the bridge, and help prevent the end of the world. C3 isn’t their story; this side story is like the EXU breakaways. Every VM antagonist was someone we hadn’t really seen before and didn’t know much of anything about because making them face villains wouldn’t have made sense. They’re not here to face the narrative questions of C3.

I’ve had the impression that the story purpose to include VM and the MN is that they will be contrasts for the motivations and decisions that Bell’s Hells are going to make for the finale. However, because that is my understanding of their purpose, I don’t expect either of those teams to face any villains. They’re going to face antagonists. Maybe there will be some minor comparisons between the Weave Mind and Cognouza or the Cerberus Assembly, but I don’t anticipate those will be more than passing statements. It likely won’t be the focus of the interaction and the players probably won’t dig deep on it. The parties simply don’t have a reason to care why their opponents are doing this, there isn’t any motivation for them to be invested in correcting any wrong conclusions, and the players probably have character stuff they’d rather focus on.

Then, at the end, we’re going to see Bell’s Hells deal with the story’s actual villains: Ludinus Da’leth, Liliana Temult, and the other exaltants of the Ruby Vanguard. From Matt’s perspective as the DM, the villains are on the wrong path. Does Bell’s Hells agree? What are they going to do about it? Are they going to be heroic like VM, sacrificing their own wants and desires for a greater good, even if they take small moments for themselves? Or are they more like MN, who are like, fuck, no one else is gonna do this, and we don’t want the world to end, and apparently we’re experts on psychic bullshit, so we’re here killing some jackass I guess? Or something else?

Not every conflict within a story needs a villain. Sometimes it’s just a bunch of mean assholes so that the drama can focus on the protagonists and their hangups.

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

Suppose Predathos is a hunter, a true predator, and the gods are its natural prey. In that case, a few things may be happening behind the scenes.

In nature, predators lean towards targeting three kinds of prey: the old, the young, and the infirm. But who among the gods would fit any of these categories?

Well, for one, The Knowing Mistress. She's still in hiding, recovering from wounds received during the Calamity. And if her chosen physical form is anything to go by, she could very well be the eldest member of the pantheon.

But who is in charge of her protection? Who is hiding her from her enemies? Who has made it their duty to shield her from further harm?

The Dawnfather.

The Dawnfather, who's scrambling to consolidate as much power as possible. The Dawnfather, who's fighting tooth and nail and doing whatever is necessary to keep a foothold in Exandria.

Sure, he could be doing it for selfish reasons. But this is the god who saw Ioun sacrifice herself so that he could defeat Tharizdun. He has made her safety one of his top priorities. Pelor refused to entertain Deanna's question of whether the gods were worth defending - perhaps because it was not only an insult to him, but an insult to Ioun.

If Predathos is unleashed on them all? She will be the first to be led to the gallows.

And The Dawnfather will do anything to ensure her survival.

[demigoddessqueens]

I always wondered why Vax calls his sister by her full name a lot but she never calls him by his full name

I think that’s just his moniker, like his “extra” step to be more caring to the ones he loves

Canonically he is the one who gives everyone their nicknames but Vex is his twin, his literal other half and extension of their mother whom they love and avenge.

[astralleywright]

How do you feel about Orym's deal with Morri?

There was something kind of funny about Liam getting increasingly obvious - 'ORYM HAS DARK VINES IN HIS VEINS. YOU CAN ALL SEE THIS.' and it still going unacknowledged, but now it just feels like a damp squib. (to me at least)

anon i had no fucking idea what a damp squib was. i thought you mispelled squid. it makes perfect sense now that i've looked it up-you damn british-and i agree but i was SO confused about what squids had to do with any of this

anyways, onto the actual answer-yeah. it's a shame, because its one of the most interesting decisions Orym has made, and maybe the most interesting one that has managed to stick around and inform the character, but. it's been treated so underwhelmingly so far that its hard not to think about it as such.

and i don't blame the other hells at all, really. they were on the moon! and then FCG died and who knew if Orym's deal was relevant any longer! one of their own spontaneously learning to teleport is just an average tuesday for them! (as i've joked before, they might just think its ashari shit! [FCG voice] he's doing it! his aramante!)

as someone who's been playing a similarly reticent and repressed character for the last year and a half in a weekly COfD game, one thing i quickly learned is that if you sit back and wait for the other pcs to ask, you might be waiting a really long time. if you're waiting for the other pcs not just to ask but to push and prod over your continued avoidance, you might be waiting forever. the other players are fallible, and probably don't know your character as well as you, and have their own characters as well as a billion other things to focus on. they may be too wrapped up in their own problems or the problems of the pcs who already shared to (or might simply be playing a character that would not) ask about yours.

take the confession during swordgate: it was in the middle of a tense situation where one of the party members (Laudna) was in clear emotional distress, two of them (Imogen and Ashton) were completely focused on her, and two of them (Dorian and Braius) didn't know what Orym even meant by it or that it was a secret up to that point. that left Fearne and Chetney, and Chetney may or may not have been asleep at the time. so that leaves Fearne. she clearly clocked it and has the most reason to care, but Fearne is honestly even more emotionally repressed and avoidant than Orym, and with all due respect to Ashley, she is not who i would rely on for "initiating rp conversations" and "remembering things."

(Also Fearne tried to check on Orym earlier that day and this was his response, so like.)

TTRPGS are collaborative, yeah, but i would argue that part of that is not leaving the responsibility of your own character’s development largely to the other players. Or if you do, accepting that you might be playing a character whose vivid inner life remains entirely hidden, and also that that might not be as interesting to the other players as the things they can readily interact with. Which makes it less likely for them to follow up on it, and so on, until "sold the rest of my life to a hag to protect everyone" kind of feels like a damp squib.

[iamindifferenttolamp]

Just watched the 2016 critmas and when the "what does vm mean to you" fan montage ended and they cut to show the cast had sat there and watched it too? There was no need to do that to Liam

[nottanickname]

blood pool! blood pool! blood pool!!!

[giftofshewbread]

The Rapture Conspiracy: New Age Planetary Transfer

[essayofthoughts]

#vox machina's story is that much stronger for vax having permanently died for several reasons#but one of them being that if vax hadn't died there isn't really anything narratively for him to DO.#vex and percy raise a family and lead a city. keyleth leads her people. grog learns to read. scanlan and pike get married and then divorce#and scanlan runs a mercantile enterprise while pike rebuilds a wholeass religion while running a bakery#even tary's leading a non-profit adventuring brigade and getting married#what is vax's 'happy ending'. i will be soft with keyleth and love my sister forever :) like great. anyway#vax was someone who yearned for purpose and he became a celestial champion. that's an actual STORY#critical role#cr meta tags from @burr-ell

But exactly this - if you don't like Vax's choice, that's fine, you're entitled to your feelings, but it was still a choice that player and character made, and which gave both purpose and joy. To tell someone they can't make a choice that brings them those things because you don't like it - I mean that's TERF shit baby! That's "your choices make ME unhappy therefore you shouldn't be allowed to make them". It's shitty!

Yeah, Vax's ending is sad, but Vax's ending also gave the character purpose and is something Liam has said repeatedly he is happy with and at peace with. The Raven Queen didn't force shit - simply enforced the rules of her literal godly nature and was very open with Vax what those rules were.

People make their own choices. To try to deny that because you don't like it, or because you think there's external factors - I mean maybe there is, we live under capitalism for example, but we still make choices. To take that way from people is to deny them agency. To take it away from characters is to make them boring.

i truly am baffled by some of the cr fandom when it comes to the topic of the gods and c1 and death in general because. the raven queen didn’t kill vax. in fact she gave him more time. she Does get the blame from keyleth and some from vex but even those two by the end were more so just holding grudges wrapped up in their own issues that were exacerbated by vax’s choices. but it was always vax’s choice. which, y’know, i’m aware of a portion of the cr fandom’s propensity for dismantling every interesting choice a character makes into something forced upon them, but the role of fate in exandria has never been like bad faith you must adhere to the path chosen for you, it’s much more like what brennan has spoken about wrt specificity: as one makes more choices they become more particular to a given outcome. but that’s not some curse by the gods that dooms characters that’s literally just. what living is.

and of course death is a complicated thing that everyone approaches differently but. god the amount of people who view vax’s dynamic with the raven queen as an injustice or his death as some unforgivable thing the raven queen caused some how? in the words of laura bailey, Were We Watching The Same Orb? it isn’t an injustice that vax, completely willing to pay whatever it cost him to save his sister, was bound to the Deal He Agreed To. his role as the champion was one he found meaning and purpose in. further, it was the raven queen that allowed him to be resurrected later in the campaign. like, it isn’t fair that vax had so little time but it is time he chose and time he was given, but vox machina tends to fall on the reaping the benefits side of unfairness of power in exandria. if what makes the gods — particularly the matron of ravens — irredeemable is that they have the power to make choices that mortals can’t like denying someone’s resurrection, how irredeemable must the group of heroes called vox machina (whose members drop like flies to be revived moments later) be to the everyday person who just has to watch the people they love die and make peace with it?

of course it sucks that vax could not have a happy ending or epilogue like the rest of vm, except of course, vex has a family and is happy and loved, and keyleth is strong and alive and protected, and i think that looks a lot like what vax wanted most.