#I wasn’t even here for cr1 but ALSO

[hand-of-devotion]

Liam when I catch you Liam

[joycrispy]

Y’know what? Instead of a prediction post, I want to make an appreciation post.

So, in no particular order, here are the things I PERSONALLY love best about each player at the Critical Role table.

Sam -- Sam’s ability and willingness to GO THERE. He takes creative risks, in the sense that he well and truly lets the dice get final say, but also in being true to his character in ways he MUST know will be controversial. Scanlan chewing everyone out and leaving the party was ballsy as hell; it is also, now, one of the most iconic moments in CR1. And Veth was such a dark, complex, rich character because she was allowed to be a woman who wasn’t always aspirational; her feelings were allowed to be selfish, allowed to be messy, allowed to be gross. He is absolutely fearless as a storyteller, and we get some of the best plotlines for it.

Laura -- Everyone knows what I’m going to say here, because everyone and their dog has sung this particular praise for Laura Bailey already, but; the woman is a MASTER of improv. To use Travis’ wording, she catches the ball and throws it back harder and better than anyone else at that table. A lot of the time it’s hilarious. Some of the time it’s heartbreaking. All of the time it adds something so lively and dynamic that I actually can’t watch dnd shows that don’t have a bit of this quality. They need at least a fraction of what Laura brings in spades, to be worth the time. Like. It’s amazing that she can just do that. (also I’m going to miss Jester so much I can’t stand it).

Travis -- Travis is a. TEAM. PLAYER. In-game and out, and you know what? THAT’S IMPORTANT. He goes out of his way to make sure everyone is getting their moment in the spotlight, and even beyond that, he keeps things calm on the game side of things. It was SO SWEET in the M9 finale when he told everyone else to take their time, to not get overwhelmed, because the stakes were so high and they were starting to freak out. Not Travis. He was their rock. He is always their rock.

Ashley -- Ashley is go-hard-or-go-home for the aesthetic of her characters, which is GREAT because her particular sense of the beautiful is unusually rich. Yasha and Fearne were both such a careful balancing of elements to achieve particular (and distinct!) effects, but she threads that needle with such precision. Complete control and poise. But then also she busts out hot nonsense like “I smell like a crayon” and somehow it doesn’t contradict any of the rest of it. That is some impressive character-work.

Liam -- Have you ever noticed that, almost no matter what game they’re playing or who the other players are, Liam will always construct his characters in relation to another? The sibling relationship with Vex. The best-friendship with Nott. Hell, even in the Darrington Brigade or Honey Heist, he did this -- when he was Macaroni’s “Buddy,” or when he and Taliesin played a pair of brother bears. It’s a great instinct to have; it gets us some more complex social scenes right out of the box, it’s free motivation for everyone involved, and it’s a way of reaching out to one of your friends to play together all in one. I love it. (can’t wait to see who he’s picked out to be his buddy this go around :3)

Taliesin -- Oh, boy, Taliesin is a man after my own heart. He approaches this game with a writer’s sensibility, you can tell from the quality of the dialogue that just drops out of his mouth sometimes, but that’s not my favorite thing. My favorite thing is how generous a player he really is. He is on the lookout not just for his own character beats and moments, but everyone else’s too, and he is always willing to give up looking cool or competent if it would be more meaningful/story-rich for someone else. THIS IS A QUALITY EVERYONE SHOULD EMULATE, IMO. DND is a collaborative storytelling game, not a competition to make the bestest most awesome guy ever, and you can tell he’s really internalized this fact. Also. He said he made Cad to be an OP healer specifically so that everyone else could still have fun and not be gun-shy after what happened to Molly. A little ‘don’t worry, it’s going to be all right’ but in the form of his entire character. That’s...that’s so good you guys. Dang.

Marisha -- On a really bone-deep level, Marisha clearly understands her characters and why they are the way they are, and then she takes that understanding and just lets it go wild. Her roleplay feels GENUINE in a really rare and wonderful way --it’s easy to watch her play Beau and forget that that’s not actually Marisha’s speaking voice, not actually Marisha’s body language...until you turn on CR1 and witness firsthand how she embodies Keyleth so completely differently. Like...Gif of Patrick Stewart saying ‘acting.’ She’s amazing.

And Matt probably would need a whole post to himself lmao. Feel free to reblog with additions about him or anyone else.

[beetlemancy]

Oof, I went into the Main Tag and it was something else. Saw someone claiming Liam only knows one trope when it comes to romance in the game (they mentioned Liam also likes 'drama' in his romances I think), that he's butting in/pushing "a man" into a w/w relationship aka beaujester and ruining it, but it's expected from him cause he was like this in CR1? That he was queerbaiting again like in CR1 I guess for not pursuing m/m relationships and only "joking"? Basically just shit all over Liam.

So here’s the thing. I understand feeling disappointed about Liam’s reveal from a mlm perspective. Nobody should be saying that mlm representation isn’t important or that there shouldn’t be more of it in CR. 

Laying that at the feet of solely Liam is what’s weird to me (why is it entirely his fault and not all the other men on the show too?) Calling back Vaxleth, which is a canonically bisexual ship (yes, a ship, not just characters, because a bi person’s relationship is not ever straight imo), and continuing to harp on Vaxleth and call it cishet is what is weird to me. Calling everyone who ships WJ “cishets” is weird to me. Saying that Liam is forcing this on everyone, that he forced Vaxleth and he’s forcing WJ on Laura now, is mind-boggling to me. Saying that beaujester has been infiltrated by this somehow is also bonkers because ... what little faith you have in Beau and Marisha I guess? Liam did the same thing Marisha did, even less so because it wasn’t in-game? Get your ship together??

Calling for hate to be sent to any cast member over this, or calling for people to actually do anything about it at cons or live-shows, however? Absolutely not fucking okay. None of this is healthy. Everyone who thinks any of these things is okay needs to take a step back and reassess their choices in watching this show or participating in this fandom.  

Liam does not need us to back him up. But its not just Liam these people go after - they go after his ‘traits.’ Things people relate to him over. They say he’s overdramatic. They say theatre kids are the worst, or somehow problematic.They attack the traits of his characters, like bisexuality and neurodiversity. They might not even know that’s what they’re implying, but they are. They are so un-careful in their hatred of Liam that often they don’t see all the other real people they’re stomping over in order to get to him. 

[potatoesandsunshine]

001 & critical role for the ask thing?

thanks so much for the ask!!! turns out i have a Lot to say lol

Favorite character: for cr1 pike, for cr2 beau (pike by just a little bit more overall)

Least Favorite character: trent ikithon can choke... i usually like villains i find them really interesting but this guy is just the Worst

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

pikelan, it’s about the changing for the better

widofjord, aka if i’m giving in to my worst impulses and you’re giving in to your worst impulses then who’s driving the cart

grogleth, my eternal rarepair

beauyasha, it’s good stuff i love to see them

perc’ahlia, the truth is that no cr2 ship will ever be perc’ahlia. the drama. the symbolism. the masks. “i should’ve told you, it’s yours” ugh kills me every time

Character I find most attractive: vex

Character I would marry: also vex

Character I would be best friends with: i’d love to be best friends with grog! that would make us family and i love him very much

A random thought: i think that people would have a much better time if they viewed cr as an entertainment product rather than a defining facet of their lives. it was that for me for a long time - i got into the show when i was just starting college and trying to figure myself out, so i put a lot of weight on cr as part of Who I Was - but now that it’s just... a thing i watch on thursdays i’m a lot happier with it. having a little distance means i’m able to engage with the show and criticism of it in a much better way.

An unpopular opinion: i mean, see the random thought above but i am not limited to one unpopular cr opinion. i do really dislike the kind of... importance (? not sure this is the right word) that shipping has in the fandom. cr1 fandom had many problems but it seems like as the show has grown with cr2 there’s more and more bullshit shipping discourse each week. maybe i just wasn’t aware of it during cr1 and that’s why it feels like such a big change? but yeah “lesbian ship for straight people” i fucking hate it here. anyway there’s a reason i don’t get that deep into the tags.

My canon OTP: perc’ahlia all the way, i love them so much

Non-canon OTP: grogleth... it has it all. underrated to the extreme.

Most badass character: keyleth!!! “call me child one more goddamn time” lives forever in my heart, and keyleth’s entire journey was so much about growing stronger and standing by your convictions even when your friends won’t.

Pairing I am not a fan of: i don’t really have a pairing i hate? but some iterations of caleb ships are not really my thing. i like shadowgast where they’re both a little fucked up more than the kind of cutesy romanticized academia a lot of people are into. like if they’re gonna do wizard stuff it should be kind of messy. if the ship had more sharp edges i’d like it more. 

sidenote that’s kinda why i love seeing caleb and astrid interact - it’s so fraught with damage and baggage from both sides and i love watching that play out. i don’t like... ship them now? but i’m so interested in their relationship as it stands

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): this question is a little tough for cr because the show isn’t scripted but uhhh i thought matt really fumbled the molly funeral speech. there’s been better stuff since then but it was a real moment of like ??? don’t love the word choices you’re making there. i haven’t watched that scene since it happened so maybe i remember it worse than it was? idk though

Favourite friendship: pike & grog for cr1, jester & yasha for cr2! 

you can find this ask game here!

[cameoamalthea]

On DMs, Players, and Trust

“Of all the themes I want to explore, the Traveler-Jester relationship is one that I’m being very careful with. It can go into a dark path, which I don’t want to, and I don’t want it to even lean that way.”

— Matthew Mercer in Talks Machina Episode 146 - Discussing Up to c2e109 (via icouldbeherpocketbacon)

Matt Mercer is a good DM. And I don’t mean that in a he’s a professional actor with years of experience in VO work that makes him especially gifted at portraying NPCs or even a talented DM with years of experience crafting dungeons, building encounters, planning stories and running games. You don’t need that to be a good DM. 

What you do need is to always respect your players and their experience, and try to make sure everyone at the table is having fun. That you’re all having fun together because at the end of the day you’re playing a game.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a take that really bothered me and has been sort of eating at me:

[Artagan is] not a person with whom anyone would start a relationship like Jester has, knowing him as a person. He was her childhood best friend, the one who was there for her when she was alone. And what a brilliant trap Matt has set that Laura is rising to so masterfully- Jester is so determined to stick with him despite everything Laura knows, and she keeps rising to his level over and over again

And now that I can articulate why, I want to talk about it (without hijacking @wellbustmybuffers post. Also this isn’t a call out. But I’m also not gonna vague post or not attribute the points I’m responding to because if you want to want to anything I say, then you should be informed of this post so you can, if you want : ) )

Matt did not trap Laura. A DM should not set ‘traps’ for players that override their agency. 

Literal traps in a dungeon are fine because everyone is sitting down and consenting to play a game where you as players explore dungeons and face dangers, including traps. Your characters can die through bad rolls or poor choices, that’s part of the game everyone agrees to play together. However, a DM should NEVER force a player into a role playing a scenario they did not sign up to play or could make the player uncomfortable.

There are plenty of DND horror stories out there, and a lot of them stem from this kind of behavior. A DM kills a player’s animal companion off screen because they think animal companions are OP, causing a player to leave in tears. Or (TW rape, bigotry, homophobia, sexism, everything) a DM who crosses every line imaginable.  And even outside of worst case horror stories, putting players in a situation where they don’t get to play a game they enjoy or are forced into situations they didn’t anticipate is not good. Of course, players can consent to play whatever type of game. If you want a backstory where you’re a warlock of a mysterious force that you know nothing about and the DM asks, are you cool if the mysterious patron might be evil, then that’s cool. Like whatever the players find cool and interesting is fine. You want to play a drow or a goblin in a world where they are hated and feared and play with having to disguise yourself and deal with hatred - again that’s cool. But you don’t inflict conflicts on the player they didn’t sign up for. If they want to play a goblin for fun and want acceptance/don’t want to rp racism, respect that.

It would not be ok if Matt saw that Laura had a backstory where her god was her mysterious imaginary friend and she loved him and then he sprung it on her that her best friend was actually a terrible guy no one would want for a friend. A DM should not hijack a player’s backstory or railroad them into losing their best friend or having to change their concept.

[Artagan is] not a person with whom anyone would start a relationship like Jester has, knowing him as a person.

Laura Bailey wanted her character to have a relationship like that knowing Artagan as a person because Laura loved him in CR1. 

You can see it in how Vex reacts to Artagan. When they first meet in The Echo Tree:

MATT: “All right. Travel safe. Stay alive. And maybe visit. If you get lonely.” And he gives a deep bow and just vanishes.

LAURA: He was fucking cool.

TALIESIN: Dear god, let’s get out of here before something else happens.

LAURA: I really liked him.

When they meet again in Dark Dealings

LAURA: No, he was great!

MARISHA: He was cool.

SAM: Wasn't he the guy who sketched us and was creepy?

LAURA: Yeah, he was funny, and he also helped us, and he also enjoyed us because we were weird.

 Vex liked him even after he asked if he could strangle her unkillable brother after the party offers him ‘a good time’ in exchange for a favor’ and Vax agrees, so they do). When Vax comes back, Vex invites Artagan to dinner and asked him for help identifying things in The Final Ascent. 

LAURA: Artagan can join us.

MATT: Oh, he does. Don't worry. As soon as you guys begin to eat, at the far end of the table you see the orange mane erupt from the side of table as he takes a seat. "Oh, wondrous. I appreciate this, thank you."

LIAM: So did that live up to your expectations, then?

MATT: "Hello. It was all right."

LIAM: New hobby, or--?

MATT: "I don't know. Have to try when they're not willing. That's a joke; that's a joke."

LAURA: Okay. Hey, Artagan, can you look at this wand?

MATT: It's a war wand. It's a plus one wand. For anyone who's casting a spell through it, it's a plus one modifier to DC.

LAURA: Oh, do you have to attune?

MATT: Generally you have to attune to these, yeah.

LAURA: Okay. Great. All right. Thanks.

Laura liked this character so much that she worked him into her character’s backstory. Before she wanted to play Jester as a cleric, she wanted to play Jester as a character who is best friends with Artagan and they play pranks together. Knowing exactly who Artagan is as a person, Laura wanted her character to be his best friend, Talks Machina Discussing Episode 94

My original plan was to make a warlock, and I was going to make a warlock with the fey pack to Artagan and then I was gonna have the book...There's a thing called the book - the book pact or something like that, and I was like what a way to worship him!  With like a spell book with like lewd drawings and it, that's so perfect. Yeah, and then Travis was like ‘what? Warlock? Oh ok”. And then I was like, oh shit I have to be cleric. And so I asked Matt, can I still have him as my god? And Matt’s like yeah, we can make it work.

This is what a good DM does. They listen to what their player wants to do with a character concept and they make it work because they want their players to have fun. Laura Bailey wanted Artagan and made up a backstory that would allow a relationship with him since there’s a class for that (fey pact Warlock) but when her husband decided to go Warlock she decided to go Cleric and Matt made it work so she could keep her concept and play with the NPC she loved and wanted as her best friend. Matt didn’t trick Laura, Matt didn’t trap Laura, listened to Laura and worked with her to give her the warlock/patron or cleric/deity relationship she wanted to have and play. Because that’s what good DMs do. 

[thewolfisawake]

Critical Role

Favorite character:

In CR1, Percy and Scanlan. And gonna sound so hipster but I did legitimately like Percy prior to the Briarwood arc. I liked his place as the more subdued person that didn’t need fanfare for his support. And then I was scared and intrigued when he was more...forthcoming in that arc since he was quieter before (I think I read this was also because Taliesin was bit shy starting out but got comfortable). And Scanlan, was the man I shed tears for because I kept crying ‘oh god, someone please notice. Someone HELP HIM.’ They both had some serious gut punches and their stories did shift the dynamics (of the story and the party respectively) permanently. They are also great support and yet also had some amazing solos. 

In CR2, Caleb and Fjord. I just like me some sad boys apparently. I think Caleb’s bumbling and trying to do right but struggling with doing what’s good for you so painfully relatable. As of writing this, I haven’t caught up yet but I’ve seen him make such leaps and bounds in terms of letting people in and being a support to others. I also think mechanically he’s a show of how the drawbacks like his fear can make for good moments. As for Fjord, he’s just in general how I think a moral compass or herder character can be done without irritating both the player and viewer. I mean morals of this cast is more wonky but in general Fjord seems to put forward a general ‘we all get through this’ and respect towards the team. 

Least Favorite character:

In CR1, Keyleth. And no, it’s got nothing to do with Marisha. She’s cool. I honestly felt bad for her because Keyleth had to pick up the moral slack whenever Pike wasn’t there, which was often. Some of her best moments were when she had to draw the hard line. But it was far outweighed with having this moral high horse for some reason even though they promptly do something just as low down as the ones she looked down on. Also, I feel it’s hard to do a character that is naive but also very likable so again, sorry for Marisha. 

In CR2, I like so many but I’ll go with Mollymauk. And it was a bit of a shame because he was like the one person I heard so much about. I did like that he was the one that tended to push into some of the best shenanigans I’ve listened to. However, he was just fine. There wasn’t much to push him into love him so much nor much to say I dislike him. I’m a little disappointed of not being able to know what his deal was I guess was what I would choose if I have to say what made him least favorite. 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

Vax’limore - Their interactions just oozed banter and playfulness. There was no intro to how that this happened, it just jumps into their flirtations. And it was that cute banter and the real ‘I’d do anything for you, my friend’ that ended up hurting seeing Gilmore have his heart strings pulled as they did. Like if you love him, let him go. For real. Don’t dangle it in front of him like that. 

Pike/Percy - Weird thought but I thought it was pretty clear that Pike liked Percy. Everyone sees her as a stalwart beacon but she still has wants and falls off from time to time. But she tries. And she saw something within Percy that was dark and I don’t think it was necessarily ‘I want to fix him’ but ‘I want to save him.’ And Percy find a light in Pike like many do but also seeing her as just Pike.  

Perc’ahlia - I mean, it’s canon. Thing is that I can’t pinpoint a moment when it began. Just that it happened and that felt okay. I think they’re both maniacs in their own right and it’s kind of cute how they indulge each other’s passion/excitement. Gifts feels like Percy’s love language and he shows it so much in how he tinkers for Vex and her glee in what new way she can fuck shit up is enough for him. And also it’s really delicious the parallel with them and the Briarwoods and Laura has stated that if Percy had died died, that it was possible Vex end up the same kind of menace Delilah was. 

Vex/Zahra - In some other life, they would have been the femme fatale couple. All of their interactions were enjoyable and they so clearly enjoy each other. Just looking over and it’s the eyes with them.

Widobrave - Partners in crime. I think that their dynamic isn’t simple and that’s what’s so interesting. They see each other as someone to protect and don’t exactly see how the other views them as the one to be protected. And they have ‘without question’ sort of trust in each other and are genuinely awed and so happy when they witness one do something great. It gets sad with more of their backstory. And it gets me that both immediately felt guilty for keeping it a secret from them. Not the entire party, their partner. They both have seen past appearances and see the strength, the zaniness and the brilliance the other possesses and I can’t wait to get to more of their moments. 

Character I find most attractive:

CR1: Gilmore. My god he was gorgeous. Vax why did you just walk away from that? Raishan. Look, she was hot and smart and even if she fell eventually, she made the most of when she was there. 

CR2: Cali is so frickin’ adorable. Like she’s so cute and hey, if not for the whole cult chasing her thing, it’d be nice to stick around and sightsee. I am also a ‘Jester is really cute’ person.

Character I would marry:

I don’t really think there’s anyone I’d actually--well, I think maybe Pike because stronk lady that can get into mischief with but at the same time just be able to be content with.

No one in this campaign so far. 

Character I would be best friends with:

I would LIKE to be friends with Cassandra because everyone continues to ignore how this woman has been tormented and then thrust into very important position. All while harboring guilt for what she had to do to survive. The girl needs a break and I’m here with a blanket and some tea.

I would like to be friends with Nott actually. She’s really cool and I think it’s fun to let her be her zany self. 

a random thought:

So who is really credited as the inventor of firearms, Percy, who did technically make it, or Ripley, who is the one that sold the schematics to make them mass-produced? 

Is there just an abundance of mysterious magic ladies in Wildemount or what? 

An unpopular opinion:

Scanlan deserved his anger and feelings of being unappreciated. Even if he was brought back, it does not lessen that there was uncertainty nor the lack of respect towards his body. Vox Machina had gotten cocky and it drove one of their members away. Vex and Vax were the only ones that took Scanlan’s frustration to heart and did not mess up with Tary for that reason. Also Tary was a parallel of the worst of the party, which is why most of them couldn’t stand him. 

The small races are not fucking children. I don’t get why they get called children or thought of like that. They’re just short, goddammit!

My Canon OTP:

CR1: Perc’ahlia for above reasons.

CR2: None to be seen so far?

My Non-canon OTP:

CR1: Because I’m hella fucked up, I am enamored by the thought that Percy had a crush on Ripley. Because she paid attention to him, one of the younger and less interesting of his family. And to him she was brilliant and she took advantage of that, which is how he survived or why they got in. And Percy never forgot or forgave her. 

CR2: “And they were roommates” “oh god they were roommates.” * whispers * I kind of liked Fjord and Molly. They felt like foils that were amicable with each other aaaaannndddd actually had nice interactions? 

Most Badass Character:

CR1: NO MERCY PERCY

CR2: Shakaste is pretty awesome and Khary Payton is awesome. 

Most Epic Villain:

CR1: Raishan. Like I wish she could’ve been a bigger villain but alas the dice were not on her side. I think her arc was the most interesting as she was the true threat in the party’s eyes despite there being a dragon terraforming their home. 

CR2: At this point? There hasn’t been a major villain for the party.  

Pairing I am not a fan of:

I don’t really have anything I can’t ship in this one.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

Can’t really say anyone ‘screwed up’ since this is a lot of improv and all that. So I guess miss chances I think would only really be Molly since y’know, he’s dead. 

Favourite Friendship:

CR1: Pike & Grog - They’re Best Buddies, y’all. I can’t get over how much they just pal around like that’s just the usual for them. And technically it is. They can go get wasted together and then kick ass after. It’s just the casualness of their relationships and how much respect and lack of reverence that I like. Pike is just Pike to Grog so he finds no reason to hold back or hold her as a light unlike the rest of the party. But he does want to do good by her because she’s his friend and he doesn’t want to disappoint her. And Pike never insults Grog’s intellect and actively works to help him improve and deflects the party’s remarks of how he is. 

CR2: Empire Kids - They’ve come a long way from their seats of mistrust and standoff-ishness. I think there was a post that put it best that they’re ‘learning how to human.’ And because they both are at the same point of it, they are struggling together. As a result they’ve come to lean on each other to keep themselves from going to far. They’re not perfect but they’re trying to keep this found family of theirs together. 

Character I most identify with:

CR1: Keyleth. Being the one to try to keep people together or on the straight on narrow isn’t easy. It sucks and I’m not usually the person that should do it but here I am.

CR2: Caleb. I am very off-beat and odd but I do want to have friends and the like....just not stellar at showing that...

Character I wish I could be:

I mean, this is D&D where awesome shit goes on all the time. So anyone I guess?

[stabbykiri]

wait wait wait what did orion do??

Well in Critical Role he was generally disrespectful as time went on, metagamed a whole lot and even lied about dice rolls (in some eps you can see him turning the dice over after he rolls and it got so bad, other people at his table would double check his rolls). He also frequently got gets frustrated at Matt when he doesn't get his way or when Tiberius (his pc) is "nerfed" in any way (ex: Tibs once got feeble minded by an enemy and Orion did NOT like that and Orion once admitted that he got angry at Matt during c1e11 because he thought Matt was trying to force a TPK instead of challenging them as Matt intended).

It all came to a head when a fan tweeted out a shirt design they had made on redbubble or the like (i think??? it’s been a while) that had to do with Tibs, to which Orion was outraged bc Tibs was “his intellectual property” and that the fan was “uncrittered”. (Laura and Travis promptly tried to clean up the situation and tried to tell them that they were absolutely fine) Orion was then gone for an episode before it was announced in the next that Orion was not coming back, though they didn’t mention directly what the issue was or what had happened on twitter. 

**SPOILER FOR CR1 AND REST OF EXPLANATION BELOW**

Orion went on to do stuff with Tibs on his own but I never really checked into it bc I didn’t like how Orion played. People asked if Orion would ever return and Matt never explictly said no but later in the campaign, Tibs was killed off which made it very very clear that he wasn’t coming back. Matt even mentioned he talked to Orion about it before he made the decision.

A year or so later Orion explained his and apologized for his behavior on a stream, basically telling us that he was having a LOT of very serious health problems, one of which was cancer, and that he wanted to talk to his best friend (Marisha) again and that he hoped he could be forgiven. At the time I felt super bad and forgave him, but then all the bad shit hit the fan.

When I looked up stuff to make sure I had the right info, I saw that there was a lot more than I remembered so instead of going on and on I’ll link some good posts here.

X (a personal account from a former mod of his twitch stream)X (a brief overview of what went on that covers a lot) X (this goes over what was talked about in the tweet Matt liked about his abuse, but WARNING: there is a video of a audio message from Orion that is loud and very angry with a lot a swearing so if you decide to watch it be careful)

So TDLR: Orion has manipulated, lied, basically stole, and abused people and he is not worth any Critter’s time at all.

[nicolewrites]

heartstrings - iv

hey here’s a reminder that this was supposed to be a one-shot and it’s now 4 parts with part 5 on the way because i wrote too much again.

part i | part ii | part iii

Rating: T Genre: Romance Characters: [Vax’ildan and Keyleth] [Percival de Rolo and Vex’ahlia] Words: 6,990

Kiki @keylethashari has tagged you in a tweet: New Q&A up and we’re talking music! creds to @vexmachina @vaxmachina @burtreynoldsesq @thelumineers and others!! // CR1 Vaxleth+Perc’ahlia YouTuber/Musician/Celebrity AU

AO3

Vax came to feeling a tingling pain in his abdomen. At first, all he could manage was staring at the backs of his eyelids because everything felt heavy and sluggish. After a long moment, he managed to force his eyes open, only to be nearly blinded by bright fluorescent lights. He squinted against them for a moment before his vision adjusted and he was staring at a plain white ceiling.

His limbs felt unreasonably heavy and stiff. He shifted, trying to raise his arm, and he finally looked around. He was wearing a thin, flimsy gown covered by thin, stiff blankets. His left index finger was encased by a plastic tip and there was a rhythmic beeping to his left. Vax also noticed that there was an IV connected into his left wrist.

The shock hit him suddenly as the memories slammed to the forefront of his mind. The dull pain in his stomach throbbed again and Vax jerked his hand to press against his abdomen. The sudden movement was apparently broad enough to awaken the woman dozing in the chair next to his bed.

Vax had hardly noticed Vex before she jolted awake, startled eyes fixating on him as soon as they opened. “Vax!” she gasped. She leaned forward in the plastic hospital chair and touched his arm. “How do you feel?”

Vax swallowed. His throat was uncomfortably dry. “I was shot,” he muttered.

Vex licked her lips, looking unnerved. “Yes,” she agreed. “And it scared the crap out of everyone.” She punched his arm.

“Ow!” he cried, glaring at her as he rubbed his shoulder. “What was that for?”

Vex folded her arms. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

The pain in his stomach pulsed again and Vax frowned, leaning back against the pillows. “How long have I been out?”

“All night and,” she paused, checking her phone, “most of today. They brought you into surgery almost immediately when you got here.”

Vax nodded slowly. “Sunday afternoon then, right?”

Vex nodded. “I should call your nurse. They should know you’re awake.”

Just as she stood to leave his side and the room, the door opened. A kind looking woman in scrubs who was likely his nurse stepped into the room, followed by someone that Vax recognized. His heart leapt into his throat as Keyleth followed the nurse in. She looked exhausted and worried, but as beautiful as ever. Her face was clear of make-up and she was wearing a simple sweater and jeans, but she was still radiant.

Her eyes lit up as they made eye contact and her lips curled into a relieved smile. Vax felt his own features twitch into a matching one, but the nurse quickly stepped to his bedside and broke his line of sight with Keyleth.

“Good to see you awake,” the nurse said politely. “How are you feeling?”

Vax shrugged awkwardly. “Okay, all things considered. I guess,” he paused, “I’m not sure how much is me and how much is the drugs.”

The nurse chuckled. “You’re on a fairly low dose, Vax’ildan, don’t worry. I can see about getting you something to eat and finding Dr. Carlisle to check up on you.”

Vex stood from her visitor’s chair. “I’ll handle the food. If he’s alright to have non-hospital food that is.”

The nurse nodded. She turned to look back at Vax. “You’re a very lucky young man. The shot managed to miss all of your vital organs. It did some tissue damage and will take time to recover from, but all things considered, it wasn’t a bad place to take a bullet. He’s free to eat almost anything, but softer foods would be better so not to agitate anything.”

Vex smiled. “Of course.” She looked down at Vax and then across the room at Keyleth who had resorted to standing awkwardly by the door. “I’m sure that Keyleth would be more than happy to keep you company while I go out and pick something up. I’ll let the others know you’re awake too.”

With that, Vex swept out of the room and after several brief moments of assessments, the nurse followed, leaving Vax and Keyleth alone. She hovered by the door, shifting from foot to foot nervously. Vax exhaled slowly and gestured for the chair next to the bed. Keyleth bit her lip, but walked towards it, sinking into the seat Vex had vacated.

“Are you alright?” they asked at the exact same time.

Keyleth’s eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise. “Vax!” she exclaimed. “You were just shot! Why on earth are you asking if I’m alright?”

Vax laughed shortly. “Well, that man had been bothering you before he decided to put a bullet in me. Plus, I did pass out so I don’t know what happened afterwards.”

Keyleth’s expression softened. She took Vax’s hand in both of hers. “Don’t worry. Grog took him down almost immediately and the police were quick to respond. You were the only one who got hurt.”

Vax nodded. “Okay,” he replied slowly. “And,” he made eye contact, “I feel surprisingly okay.”

Keyleth exhaled in relief and squeezed his hand again. “I’m so relieved. You really scared us. I never thought there would be that much blood.” She trailed off, her eyes looking haunted and sad. “I thought we were going to lose you.”

“Didn’t Vex tell you? I’m much too stubborn to die.”

His response drew a tentative smile from her as she relaxed into the situation a bit more. “Regardless, I’m so glad you’re doing alright.”

Vax nodded. “Me too. Though I’ll admit, I have always fantasized about fainting in the arms of a beautiful person.”

Keyleth gave him a short look. “Idiot.”

-

To his complete dismay, it was almost two full weeks before the doctors felt comfortable enough to discharge him. Even then, they scheduled regular checkups and wanted him to go to physical therapy to regain core strength that the injury had destroyed. Vax was just glad to be leaving. Even with constant visits from Vex, Keyleth, and their other friends, he had been getting stir crazy.

Gilmore had offered to drive Vex and Vax back to their apartment from the hospital and Vex was currently wheeling Vax towards the side exit of the hospital. Apparently, somehow the news had leaked that someone big was getting released today, so paparazzi had gathered at the front of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The staff had graciously allowed the twins to exit through a usually employee only entrance as to avoid such deals while security attempted to control the crowd of reporters.

Once outside, a nurse and Vex helped him stand from the wheelchair. Vax grit his teeth and walked towards the car. Gilmore was already there, holding the door and Vax nodded gratefully to him.

Gilmore pulled away from the hospital very shortly after and they were headed home. Vex and Gilmore struck up a casual conversation and Vax pulled out his phone, unlocking it.

[Vax] headed home, finally

[Keyleth] oh yay!! i’ll come by tomorrow, ok?

[Vax] please do, i think i’ll go crazy otherwise.

[Keyleth] :P

He switched out of the text app and his finger hovered over Twitter. He had avoided the platform for the entirety of his hospital stay and it was morbid curiosity that caused him to open the app now. A news tweet was the first thing to catch his eye.

E! News @enews • 2 hours ago

Half of Youtube pop-folk duo #VoxMachina being released from hospital today after suffering gun-shot wound during fan meet-and-greet two weeks ago.

Vax sighed. He knew that the news would have broken somehow, explaining the crowd of reporters and celebrity watchers, but he was hoping it hadn’t been by a major celebrity news source. He switched to his page and saw several thousand mentions in tweets of people wishing him a swift recovery and thousands of new followers.

He searched up Vex’s username and saw that she had been conspicuously silent for the last two weeks. Her latest tweet was a retweet.

Vex @vexmachina • Aug 14

icymi :/ | Gunshots fired at Vox Machina event, sources report 1 seriously injured - cnn.com

The tweet was attached to a link from the CNN website reporting on the incident. Vax swallowed hard and left Vex’s Twitter. He was left staring at his own newsfeed and his finger drifted towards the compose button. He clicked it.

Vax @vaxmachina • Just Now

Headed home. Privacy for myself, family, and friends is appreciated at this time. #VoxMachina

Vex’s phone chimed as he tweeted and she paused her conversation with Gilmore to check the notification. She turned in her seat and made eye contact with him. “That was tasteful and surprisingly well-done,” she said after finishing reading it.

He shrugged. “Necessary.”

She sighed. “Unfortunately.”

-

True to her word, Keyleth buzzed the apartment at 10 the next morning. Vax let her up and opened the door as she arrived. He was walking with the support of a cane to compensate for his pained abdomen. She slid inside the apartment and immediately linked their arms together so that she could support some of his weight.

Together they walked to the couch where they sat side by side. Keyleth was studying him intently, but before either of them could say anything, Vex swept into the living room. Vax’s head snapped to his sister as she looked between him and Keyleth, assessing the situation.

“Hello Keyleth,” Vex greeted politely after a moment.

“Hi Vex,” Keyleth replied.

Vex’s gaze turned to Vax. “I’m assuming she can babysit you while I’m out?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m not a child.”

She folded her arms and raised a perfectly manicured brow. “But at the moment you are something of an invalid, aren’t you?”

Vax scowled, but Vex just winked and strode into the kitchen. Vax and Keyleth sat awkwardly for a long moment. Vex reappeared in the room, now wearing a coat and she headed for the front door. She gave the pair one last look.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she advised teasingly.

Keyleth flushed bright red and Vax hurled a pillow from the couch at the door, but Vex managed to dodge by ducking out the door, laughing. He sighed and turned to Keyleth. Her cheeks were painted dark pink and she was looking anywhere else in the room except at him. He chuckled and gently touched her arm.

“Kiki, she’s just teasing.”

Keyleth turned back towards him and she bit her lip. “I know.”

They fell back into silence for a moment. Vax inhaled sharply and stood from the couch. Slowly, he made his way across the room to where his guitar sat in its stand. He turned back to the couch, returning to his seat next to Keyleth as she watched him cautiously. He studied her face for a long moment.

He strummed an A flat chord followed by a C minor, a B flat, and an E flat. Her eyes widened marginally and she leaned forward almost unintentionally.

“You’re afraid to need someone, ‘cause you’ve been burned, you’ve been burned, you’ve been burned,” Vax sang quietly.

Keyleth’s breath hitched as she listened to him sing. Vax sang the first verse softly, managing to only stumble on a few of the chords. He made it partway through the chorus before Keyleth’s hands reached for his and stilled them on the guitar. Vax broke off and looked at her. To his surprise, her eyes were filled with tears.

“What is this song?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s called Temporary Love. Ben Platt, the guy who played Evan Hansen, released his album earlier this year.” Vax inhaled slowly, turning one of his hands to hold hers carefully. “I have to admit it took me most of Friday night after Pike left to figure it out.”

She laughed and wiped her eyes with her free hand. “Vax, why are you so good to me? I pushed you away and you almost died and you’re still here singing to me.”

“Kiki, come on,” he mumbled gently squeezing her hand.

She gently pulled her hand back, letting it rest in her lap. “Well, the song was accurate enough. I’m terrified of love, Vax.”

He shifted, lowering the guitar to the floor before turning back to her. “Keyleth, does this have something to do with your mother?” She inhaled sharply and gave him a confused look. Vax gave a small half-smile in return. “Pike mentioned it, but said I should ask you about it.”

Keyleth let out a slow sigh. “My mother vanished on a work trip. One day everything was great, and the next day she was gone. My father was devastated.” She paused shaking her head. “I’ve never seen anyone that broken before. I missed my mother too, but the way my father reacted was terrifying. The thought of doing that to someone, or,” she made eye contact with him, “someone doing that to me, is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever felt.”

Vax leaned forward, taking both of her hands. “Keyleth, I’m so sorry about your mother. I can’t promise that nothing will ever happen, but I can promise I would never leave you unless there was no choice in the matter.”

She closed her eyes and frowned. “You got shot and you almost died and I was so terrified. I felt like my father in that moment and after I realized how stupid I was being since losing you still hurt anyways, even if I couldn’t let myself,” she paused, unable to finish the sentence.

Vax squeezed her hands. “I’m right here,” he urged gently.

She opened her eyes and he saw a new resolution there. “I’m a mess, Vax. I’m insecure and scared and naive. This won’t be easy.”

He smiled gently. “It’s a damn good thing that I learned some persistence in London then, isn’t it?”

Keyleth smiled and it was like sunlight breaking through the crowds. Vax had half a mind to lean forward and kiss her again when the apartment phone rang insistently. Keyleth jumped, her head whipping to where it sat on the coffee table. Vax rolled his eyes and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Stringbean! Scanlan and I were wondering if you wanted some company since you’re finally at home and we haven’t seen you in days!” Pike’s voice was cheerful and startling because Vax had definitely been expecting Vex, not Pike and Scanlan.

“I’m, uh,” he paused glancing at Keyleth, “Keyleth’s here,” he said finally.

“Oh!” Pike exclaimed. She said something away from the receiver for a moment. “We can come back later?”

Keyleth was smiling and she shook her head at him. Vax chuckled. “You’re already here, might as well come up. We can see if we can get Vex, Percy, and Grog here later too maybe.”

Vax heard Scanlan laugh in the background. “If we’re getting the whole gang together we ought to hang out at my house there’s much more space.”

“Shut up, Scanlan,” Pike replied. “We’ll be right up, thanks Vax!”

Though he was a bit annoyed at Pike and Scanlan for crashing what could have turned into a romantic moment, he was glad to see their faces as they swept into the apartment armed with cheap takeout and a variety of boardgames. The four of them hung out and laughed and yelled over friendly competitions for several hours before Vax’s phone rung.

He motioned for them to hold his turn, but Keyleth just laughed and snagged one of his cards. He elbowed her and she giggled again.

“This is Vax,” he said into the phone, not even stopping to see who was calling him.

“Hello, Brother, you wouldn’t happen to be with Pike and Scanlan would you?”

He felt his lips twitch into a smile as he juggled the phone and swatted Scanlan’s hand away from stealing another of his cards. “I am, yeah. We’re all at the apartment.”

“Well I’m texting you an address and you all better make your way there: Percy is having everyone over and I’m ordering expensive Indian food.”

Vax grinned. “Sounds great.”

-

Dinner and their evening turned into a giant clusterfuck of shouting and laughing and storytelling amongst the seven of them. Vex, Vax, and Percy traded good memories of England while Pike and Scanlan were roped into telling the story of their meeting which somehow involved much more pudding than made sense. Grog was happy to chime in on that part to make fun of Scanlan. Keyleth revealed that she had met Percy near Whitestone when their publicists had tried to set them up, but that only resulted in Zahra and Kashaw being introduced to each other.

Vax learned more about his friends than he shared, but he felt relaxed and though there was the occasional twinge of pain from his side as one could expect, he was sandwiched between Vex and Keyleth on the couch as they laughed for hours and hours. It was almost weird, the group of friends that had developed, but it felt far more natural than he could have expected even though most of them were completely different genres of YouTubers, or not in the business at all in Percy’s case.

It was almost two in the morning when Percy finally kicked everyone out. Grog immediately headed for the gym despite the odd hour and Pike and Scanlan exchanged an unreadable look before calling an Uber together to Scanlan’s place. Vax gave Pike a curious look, but she just shook her head and wrinkled her nose―they really were just friends.

Vax and Keyleth stood alone on the sidewalk outside Percy’s apartment building, Vex having elected to stay the night with her kind-of-sort-of boyfriend. Keyleth lived nearby and was apparently planning on walking home, but she insisted on waiting with Vax until his Uber arrived. Vax, as always, found himself drawn to watching her.

The city lights combined with the bright full moon bathed her skin and made her glow. She was going on about something or another, but Vax was still distracted by the raw honesty she had shared with him earlier. Finally, when he couldn’t bear his own idleness any longer, he slid his hand into hers and tugged it towards him.

Keyleth’s words stopped flowing abruptly as she turned to him, curious. “Everything alright?” she asked. “You’re not in pain or anything?”

Vax smiled. “I mean I love you so much it hurts but I’m pretty sure that’s not what you meant.”

Instead of panic and fear like he might have expected weeks ago, a shy smile curled up her lips and she squeezed his hand. “Not exactly,” she replied gently.

Vax exhaled slowly and took a leap of faith. He leaned in and Keyleth met him halfway, her hand dropping his so she could rest hers on his face as she kissed him back. The kiss was slow and unhurried, but a familiar warmth curled deeply in Vax’s stomach as he let his arms wind around Keyleth’s waist as he pulled her closer.

She was the one to deepen the kiss, her arms sliding around his neck as she pressed them together even more closely. After a long moment, she pulled back, her breaths deep and heavy. There was a spark in her eyes that made Vax’s ears redden, but Keyleth didn’t step out of his personal space, keeping her arms around him.

“How are you feeling?” she breathed out slowly.

Vax smiled idly. “Fine. A little confused as to why you stopped though.”

Keyleth blushed under his heavy gaze. “I didn’t want to hurt you,” she admitted quietly.

Vax lifted a hand to trace her jawline. “You couldn’t even if you tried.”

Her lips twitched into a small, shy smile. “Your Uber is coming.”

“I’ll cancel it.”

“Vex won’t be expecting you?”

“She’s with Percy. You don’t really think she’s going home tonight, do you?”

“Come home with me?”

“You don’t even need to ask.”

-

The next morning, Vax woke up in a bed that was decidedly not his wearing decidedly less clothes than he would normally. There was a dull throbbing pain from his abdomen and he took several deep breaths to try and soothe his body before he attempted to sit up. He propped himself up against the pillows and studied the room.

In the events of the night before he hadn’t paid much attention to the room, but as he looked around now he was able to appreciate it fully. There were two large windows on one side covered by gauzy curtains that did very little to block out the bright LA sunshine. It was similar to Keyleth’s apartment in that it was decorated with artistic, bohemian decorations and many, many small potted plants and succulents. Her furniture was all the same wood tone and the canopy above her bed was a dark blue cloth peppered with white dots that looked suspiciously like a constellation map.

In looking around, he woke up more fully and was able to smell coffee and what was probably breakfast coming from the other room. He rolled his shoulders and swung his legs off the bed. Locating his pants was fairly simple, but the grey Slayer’s Take shirt he had been wearing was nowhere to be seen. He ignored that fact and made his way out of the bedroom into the rest of the apartment.

All the blinds were open and sunlight streamed in through Keyleth’s many, many windows. Music was playing at a low volume from the kitchen and Vax followed it and the scent of coffee into the kitchen. His first glance of Keyleth stole his breath away.

Her red hair hung around her chin, turning copper from the sunlight and she was shimmying along to the song that was playing. The next thing he realized was that he couldn’t find his shirt in Keyleth’s bedroom because she had taken it and it really wasn’t doing his mind any favours since it barely covered more on her than it did on him. Vax felt his lips curl into a smirk as he crept forward and let his arms encircle her from behind, pulling her back against him.

Keyleth squeaked in surprise, but she relaxed when she realized that it was just Vax. “You are entirely too sneaky for your own good,” she scolded. “Especially for an injured man.”

Vax pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck humming softly. “Injured perhaps only because not only did I wake up alone, but you seem to have stolen something of mine.” His hands drifted to her waist, thumbing at the stolen shirt.

Keyleth turned in his grip so that they were face to face. Her cheeks were completely red and she looked nervous. “You’re okay though?”

Vax smiled. “Of course.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips and finally felt her smile against him. “Are you?”

She hummed. “Best I’ve been in a long time.” She paused, biting her lip. “Thank you,” she murmured. “For not letting me be afraid and for pushing it,” she elaborated after a moment.

Vax laughed softly. “You’ve met me, right? Vex and I, we don’t know when to quit.”

She kissed him gently again, her hands drifting up to his shoulders. “I’m more grateful than you know.”

Vax tipped his head and pressed a kiss to her neck just below her ear. “I think I have some idea,” he teased and Keyleth’s breath hitched.

-

Hours later, Vax finally left Keyleth’s place and made it to his physical therapist’s appointment. After two hours of pain and grueling exercise, he was dismissed and he headed home, desiring a shower. Vex still wasn’t home at the apartment, but Vax didn’t think anything of it―she was likely just with Percy still and it wouldn’t be the first time this had happened.

He showered with only minor difficulty and was on his way to the dedicated office space to fiddle on his guitar when his phone buzzed with a text.

[Shaun] Does Mr Popular have time for a drink tonight?

Vax smiled faintly at the screen before typing out his response.

[Vax] For you? Anytime, anyplace.

[Shaun] Raven’s Rook, 8?

[Vax] I’ll be there.

Gilmore didn’t reply again, but Vax redirected himself to his room to put on clothes decent enough for a meeting and a drink with his close friend. Two hours later, he was calling an Uber to get to the pub.

The place was fairly crowded, but no one seemed to give him a second glance, despite his recent publicity, and he spotted Gilmore at a small table in the back corner. Vax made his way over and sat down across from his old friend. Gilmore glanced up over his pint of what Vax was sure was something local and gave him a wide grin.

“Hello stranger,” Gilmore greeted, his low voice rumbling warmly in his chest.

Vax could still remember when he got horribly flustered whenever Gilmore used to flirt and now it felt incredibly natural. “Shaun,” he greeted.

“How is the recovery going?”

Vax shrugged. “Therapy is a bitch of course, but I have good people looking out for me like you and Vex and Kima and Allura.”

“And Keyleth,” Gilmore added.

Vax blinked and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Gilmore chuckled. “Come on, Vax, you forget that I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of those looks.” Vax bit the inside of his cheek, waiting for Gilmore to continue. Gilmore smiled though this one was slightly more bittersweet. “I won’t say I’m not a little disappointed, but it wasn’t the right time for either of us I don’t think.” Vax’s brow furrowed and Gilmore waved a hand. “Vax’ildan, that girl looks at you like you’re her lifeline and I know the feeling is the same. I’ll be fine.”

Vax sighed. “That doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to care, does it?”

Gilmore chuckled. “I would be horrified if you didn’t.”

Vax traced a finger over a particularly interesting swirl in the wood of the tabletop. “Gilmore, you’ve always been such a good friend to Vex and myself. I don’t know where we would be without you.”

Gilmore sipped his drink. “Probably still making really terrible coffee while pretending that you two didn’t have the kick ass talents you do have.”

Vax chuckled. “So even though you’ve heard all of our songs already, will you still be picking up a copy of our album when it releases?”

“Vox Machina’s debut album? The very same Vox Machina who I pushed to even launch their career?” Gilmore smiled slyly. “I had better be getting an autographed copy in the mail.”

Vax laughed and extended his hand for a handshake. “How about an in-person delivery instead?”

Gilmore firmly shook Vax’s hand. “Sounds agreeable.” He paused once more, giving Vax an appraising look. “Don’t let Keyleth go, alright? I can only have lost to the best and, Vax, she’s the absolute best of you all.”

Vax smiled. “I have no intentions of letting her go, don’t worry.”

-

Vax and Keyleth got dinner at Melora’s on Friday. They had elected to let Uvenda surprise them with their meals, and the food was as delicious as ever. The dinner felt easy and natural and Keyleth held his hand across the table any time he wasn’t using his hands.

“The album release party is coming up, isn’t it?” Keyleth asked as they were waiting for their bill.

Vax nodded. “Saturday night next week at Whitestone’s head office. Are you looking for an invitation?”

She leaned forward and smiled. “Only as a plus one,” she teased.

He chuckled. “Naturally.”

Before he could say anything else, both his and Keyleth’s phones went off in unison. He raised an eyebrow and picked it up. His lockscreen was filled with Twitter notifications and he cringed.

“This can’t be good.”

Keyleth pressed her lips together before glancing around the restaurant. She turned back to him and showed him the screen of her phone.

Keyleth is our Queen @queenkikiashari • 9 minutes ago

SHE’S AT MELORA’S ON A DATE THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Hand-holding has happened, but I can’t get a shot of his face!!

Vax shook his head. “They never quit do they. Come on, I’m sure Uvenda can let us disappear out the back again.”

Keyleth slid her phone into her purse and led the way to the back. Uvenda grumbled something about them taking advantage of her love for Keyleth before she let them slip out the back. Vax had tried to argue for the bill, but Keyleth hadn’t heard a word of it, insisting Uvenda charge her for the full price.

They stepped out into the alley and Vax looked up at the steadily darkening sky. Keyleth slid her hand into his and pulled him forward.

“A little different from the last time we were here, isn’t it?”

Vax smiled. “Yeah, well, last time I had no idea how in love with you I was.” Keyleth blushed and Vax dropped her hand, stepping back. He held up his hands like a camera and framed her against the setting sun. “Give me a moment to capture this moment, will you?”

She shook her head. “You’re silly.”

Vax paused, reaching for his phone. “If it’s okay, I would really love to share this view though.”

Keyleth’s lips parted in surprise, but after a moment she nodded. “If you’re okay with that.”

Vax smiled widely, opening the camera app. “More than okay.”

Keyleth turned so it was her rear profile in shot as she looked up at the sky. She was mostly darkened by the sun, but with the buildings around her and the sky lit up with deep purples and oranges, it was a beautiful shot. He admired it for another moment before he composed his tweet.

Vax @vaxmachina • Just Now

The best view in the house. | at Melora’s Garden

Replies, likes and retweets poured in almost immediately as it wasn’t hard to figure out who was in the photo. His phone buzzed relentlessly and he wanted to ignore it, but it chimed with a text so he paused to open it.

[Vex] very smooth.

[Vax] I like to think so

Keyleth was smiling at him and Vax reached out to tangle their fingers together. “Feeling up for a night of adventure?”

-

By the time the album release party was half over, Vax’s hand was actually starting to hurt from signing so many CD cases. He didn’t even know that many people still bought physical copies of albums. There were people everywhere in the Whitestone office and everyone was dressed to the nines.

Vex had managed to shove him into a navy blue tuxedo that complimented the deep blue dress with the plunging neck she had procured for herself. Zahra and Cassandra had applauded their coordination so Vax had given his sister credit where it was due. She was currently off schmoozing some of Whitestone’s investors, arm linked in Percy’s.

Vox Machina’s cover of Thinking Out Loud was playing through the sound system as people swayed on the makeshift dance floor and Vax leaned against the wall, watching intently. From his position he could see Zahra in a head-turning red dress with Kashaw and another pair that almost surprised him. He knew that it should not have been really surprising, but there was something still a little shocking to see Pike’s head resting atop Scanlan’s shoulder.

Vax presses a knuckle against his lips to hide his smile. With the way that Scanlan was looking at Pike and the fact that Pike had been so kind and supportive of him, Vax wondered if it was time to pull the blindfold off of Pike. His gaze finally skimmed past his friends and he caught sight of Allura dancing with a reluctant Kima, and just on their other side was Keyleth, a glass of champagne clutched in her hand as she chatted politely with some Whitestone executive.

“Boo!” came a voice to his left.

Vax spun, coming face to face with his smirking sister. “Jesus, Vex’ahlia, when did you learn to sneak like that?”

She jabbed her finger against his arm. “I learned from the best.”

He scowled and leaned back against the wall, slightly turned towards her. “Need something, Stubby?”

She shrugged. “Honestly I just wanted to talk to you. We’ve both been so busy,” she said. Vax caught her gaze drifting to where Percy was speaking with Cassandra.

Vax tipped his head. “How is he?”

“Surprisingly better about this whole thing than I am,” she replied carefully.

“How are you?” he asked instead.

Vex turned her eyes back to him. “I would love a glass of champagne, but other than that, I’m doing really well.”

Before Vax could comment on her alcohol craving, she waved him off.

“Don’t worry, I am sticking to water.”

He nodded. “I’m proud of you, Vex.”

Before Vex could reply, Cassandra had materialized in front of the two of them. She was wearing a perfectly tailored suit and her eyes were glinting in excitement. Vax raised an eyebrow and Vex crossed her arms.

“It’s time for you two to give a toast.” Cassandra looked over her shoulder towards the front of the room. She glanced back, a little more tentative. “We also have the equipment if you would like to perform. Of course,” she cast Vax an extra glance, “I understand if you don’t feel up to it.”

Vax shook his head. “We’re here to celebrate our music, right? Might as well give them something of a show right, Stubby?”

Vex rolled her eyes. “I’ve got nothing, so you had better have an idea.”

Vax held out his arm, smirking. “Of course I have one.”

“Then let’s go,” she replied.

Vax guided Vex up to the front of the room, following Cassandra. Cassandra pulled two flutes of bubbling liquid off of a tray and offered them to the twins. Vax accepted his immediately, but Vex hesitated. Cassandra smiled kindly.

“They’re actually both cider since you’re performing, I don’t want to get you too drunk.”

Vex chuckled and accepted the glass. “Brilliant.”

Cassandra smiled in response and reached for her own glass, also picking up a slim metal stirring rod. She clicked the rod against the glass several times and waited for the crowd to come to attention. Finally, a relative silence fell over the room.

Cassandra smiled widely at the crowd. “Good evening everyone! On behalf of Whitestone Records, I would like to thank everyone for being here tonight in support of Vox Machina’s debut album. Now, I’m sure no one wants to hear me talk for hours, so I’ll pass it off to our guests of honour: Vex’ahlia and Vax’ildan.”

Cassandra swept a hand towards the twins and Vax felt the eyes of every person in the room fall upon him. He froze momentarily, a sudden, uncontrollable fear stopping all possible words from leaving his mouth. Fortunately for him, Vex had always been better around crowds. She tugged on their still linked arms and gave the crowd a wide, open smile.

“Thank you to everyone for coming tonight. Vax and I have been working towards this for quite some time now and we’re honoured to see it come to fruition. I want to extend some thanks to Cassandra and the team here at Whitestone for believing we had it in us and for working tirelessly in the studio and the office to ensure that we received only the best,” Vex said, her gaze sweeping across the onlookers.

Vax steeled himself. “To all the supporters we’ve had since the beginning when we were just two kids with a YouTube channel and a dream, we’re grateful. Especially Shaun, Allura, and Kima―none of this would have ever existed without you. To the others who we met along the way, we are stronger with your support and we thank you for all you’ve done for us.” Vax’s eyes found Keyleth in the crowd and she gave him a bright smile. Any remaining nerves vanished entirely.

Vex nudged him. “To Vax, my brother,” she lifted her cider flute, “who’s heart is entirely too big for his chest.”

“And to Vex, my sister,” he replied, “who pushes us all to be better and bolder than ever before.”

“To Vox Machina!” Cassandra cheered, raising her glass in the final toast.

The crowd echoed her sentiment cheering loudly. Vax bumped his glass lightly against Vex’s and took a sip. The room was abuzz with energy and passion and warmth curled in his stomach. All these people were here to celebrate him and Vex’s passion project. A project which he hoped could be the first of many. If he’d ever thought that the side-project YouTube channel that Gilmore had insisted upon would have evolved into this, Vax would have thought himself entirely insane. Instead, he was proud and happier than he’d been in a long, long time.

“Come on, Vax, let’s give these people a show,” Vex said in his ear as she tugged him back to a makeshift stage with two microphones, two stools, and an acoustic guitar on a stand.

Vax instantly picked up the guitar, letting his fingers find the frets and strings like it was the most natural thing in the world. He positioned himself on his stool and glanced at Vex. She was staring at him expectantly and Vax realized that she needed his idea for the song they were going to sing.

“You and Me,” he said to her lowly.

Vex smiled. “Fitting.”

“I thought so.”

Cassandra cleared her throat from nearby, again catching the attention of the crowd. “The album is now live for purchase and I’m happy to present the indomitable Vox Machina!” She swept her arm aside, leaving the gaze of the room to fall upon the twins.

Vax strummed the intro, letting his eyes close and his fingers feel the music completely. They leapt into the song at the same point, harmonizing beautifully.

“You and me were always with each other,” they sang together.

The song was a return to the pop-folk music they’d started on and the music that they really wanted to make. It was simple and fitting. Vex had the main melody, but it was incomplete without Vax’s harmonies. The lyrics told a story that was touching and deeply personal and true to the twins’ relationship.

When they finished, the room burst into applause and Vax grinned widely. He looked around and spotted Keyleth, Percy, Pike, Scanlan, Grog, and the others looking happy and he even caught Keyleth wiping away a stray tear as she beamed at him. Giddy, Vax turned to look at Vex.

She was smiling widely as she looked out over the crowd, but Vax watched as her eyes landed on something in specific. Her smile dropped and the blood drained out of her face. For a moment he was afraid she would collapse, but she just stood up abruptly and painted on a forced smile. He stood next to her, reaching for her arm, but she pulled him into a brief bow before striding away to the edge of the room.

Vax stumbled, awkwardly placing the guitar back in the stand before he followed her quickly. He caught up to her and grabbed her arm, spinning her to face him. The colour had returned to her face and she was looking better already.

“Vex’ahlia, what’s wrong?” he asked concernedly.

She shook her head, exhaling deeply. “It’s nothing. I thought I saw something, but I didn’t. Everything is fine, Vax,” she replied, her tone calculated and even.

Vax furrowed his brow. He didn’t really believe her, but before he could push her on it, something covered his eyes and his vision went dark.

“Guess who!” Keyleth’s cheerful voice rang out.

Vax chuckled and pushed her hands out of the way, pulling her into a hug instead. When he pulled away from Keyleth he saw that Vex was embracing Percy and had taken the appearance of her kind-of-maybe-boyfriend as an excuse to flee from Vax’s scrutiny.

Vax frowned as she slipped away.

[piratefjord]

So I’m a person who loves character death. I’ve had heaps of characters die in my games, I’ve died plenty of times myself as a character, but even by my own slightly morbid standards tonight’s ep felt a little... cheap. I’m going to do the adult thing and try to analyse why, so I can avoid it with my players and maybe some of you can too idk. The usual disclaimer: DnD is hard, its improv, and choices made in the moment vs hindsight are always a bitch (for DM and players alike). I think you should be able to criticise things without hating on them, especially if it’s done for learning purposes other than to just blame people.

ANYWAY.

This encounter was way too hard for the party to cope with. 

Which is fine, by itself. That fact is more obvious to anyone who DMs a lot (while all the players have DMed oneshots, I’m going to guess they didn’t dig too deeply into the meat of encounter difficulty calculation).  The more enemies you add, the exponentially harder an encounter gets. One boss monster may many times be easier to defeat than three medium minions, for the simple rules of turn economy. Your big boss monster might miss every attack on your player characters, and even with multiple attacks it usually can’t occupy or split up multiple resources. Multiple enemies means more rolls (kinda like giving advantage), a higher degree of aggro control over the battlefield to split up firepower. This is why multi enemies usually have pretty low HP pools compared to their relative damage output - lots of glass cannons if you will.

So even on paper, fighting a party of 7 with only 5 members is a bad idea. It’s going to be a tough encounter. While there was some suggestion of the level of deadly, based on previous party experience they’d had with multi enemies, there wasn’t a great deal of foreshadowing or warning about the fact that this encounter potentially broke the cardinal rule of multi-encounters, which is where enemies usually have low hp high damage, or high hp and low damage per turn. 

Which brings us to Lorenzo. It took me a while to work out what he was exactly. Ashly said he was a fighter to the party, which based on what he just pulled seems like a misleading description if Matt gave it to her. Cone of Cold is a level 5 spell, which is insanely powerful and could have TPKed the whole team. Let that sink in. It is also only available on sorcerer and wizard spell lists (and as a hexblade pact spell), however at no point is it ever available to an Eldritch Knight (fighter subclass). Even at level 20, they can only cast up to level four. I also thought it might have been a hexblade thing, however glaives are two handed heavy weapons and are therefore unavailable as a hexblade weapon. Add to this fact that Matt mentions that Lorenzo uses his action surge, which is a fighter trait, acquired at level 2. Cone of cold is available to wizards and sorcerers at 9th level. 

So this dude is at least a level 11 fighter/caster build, possibly level 14 (I’d need to rewatch to check for other multi attacks). That’s putting him in the realm of CR8 territory, which by himself is a hard encounter for a party of five level five characters. Adding only one or two CR1 creatures to this moves it into deadly territory, and those are the sorts of enemies they were crushing several levels ago. Adding an additional six, presumably of CR 2-3 territory puts this into actually bonkers territory, without a lot of warning or viable escape routes for your players. 

I think there may have been some degree of over-compensation for things like magical weapons, but no one would accuse the M9 of breezing through their previous encounters, which had party members close to death in them consistently. The difficulty curve increase comes left of field and was poorly telegraphed. ‘Making an example’ of players is something I only normally like to apply to players who are actively out of line, pushing the limits or generally trying to break the game. I’ve put dozens of ‘you will not win this with violence’ encounters in my games, most of which only end in death if players pursue them past the point of all warnings and by refusing to back out. While the same could be said of the M9, I don’t feel the warnings justify the outcome or the severity of the encounter. 

Things you can use to avoid things like this: 

Non-lethal punishments, where the PCs wake up captured or otherwise incapacitated, perhaps without resources, gold or other boons they’d previously acquired. Servitude to gods, curses, contracts etc are also good options. A good example here would be pressganging them into the slaver’s ring as well. 

Gradual escalation of combat, and pointed descriptors early to help PCs know when it’s time to bail. This includes things like their attacks doing very little damage, or scaring them with initial outlay of damage. 

Consistent signposting of encounters that shouldn’t be taken by force (if your players value their lives). Keg was an excellent way to help with this, but I feel Matt may have undersold the severity of the threat they were facing based on what Ashly said. 

Providing exit routes: you should make it clear that running is always an option.

You can only do so much, and sometimes the dice will roll against your players in ways that feel unfair or left of field (especially if you’re like me and regularly roll poorly). The best you can do is prepare your players for it and make it feel more like a consequence of a choice, rather than of chance. If you think you’ve made a mistake (and Matt may have underestimated just how badly this would go) don’t ‘apologise’ in as many words, but use it as a storytelling opportunity and try to course correct. Personally I’d use this as a chance to bring back Lucien, but we’ll see how Matt and Taliesin choose to proceed.  

[beetlemancy]

amusingdisplacement replied to your post “xombigirl replied to your post: an interesting...”

it seems to be a function of people pushing back against (the perception of?) caleb as the most loved/shipped character (which...is he? widomauk is (was?) the biggest c2 ship, but that seems to have far more to do with molly tbh? that's a whole other tangent though). people seem to think one of the reasons caleb fans like him so much is because he/liam is hot and so then seem to find satisfaction in going "but he's not really!!"

this is actually an interesting take - i was thinking this, but you put it into much better words than i could. i have Thoughts, and they are L O N G: 

i think all of fandom is a reaction. a lot of the Caleb love, at least in the tags, is often in response to the Caleb hate. and a lot of the Caleb hate is in response to the Caleb love. but then again ... IS that where it comes from? maybe for some people.

i was just talking with someone over pm about this, but i think its relevant : there is a lot of marisha hate in this fandom. we all know this and acknowledge it and actively try to beat it back. but i think we all focus too hard on the obvious hate and not the insidious hate. 

the biphobia in this fandom during CR1, for instance, was hella strong and was leveled down on Vax. It was said, by people who hated him, that he “stole” Keyleth’s story and that he forced himself into a relationship with her. That he should have stuck with Gilmore and that he wasn’t really good LGBTQ rep because of his relationship with Keyleth. These were things said by people who claimed to be Keyleth fans.

Two things about that: 1) they took away Keyleth’s agency, the agency that she canonically had in the story, and MARISHA’S agency too,  in order to spin it so Vax was Bad and 2) By definition they implied that Keyleth/Marisha was at fault for “ruining” Vax’s bisexuality. 

Obviously this is incredibly unfair and half the time they don’t even understand that’s what they’ve implied. Marisha-hate has many faces.

Here’s the relevance: I’m seeing a repeat of that shit in CR2, just minus the romance. The “liam character hate squad” tends to really pull for Beau. (also, disclaimer, I am NOT saying that if you don’t like caleb and do like Beau that you are automatically in this group - its more nuanced than that) But often what I see and hear is that Caleb’s story doesn’t matter. Their reasoning for this could very well be because he is “too loved.” But what does that mean for the other characters? What does that mean for Beau’s story? They are ENTWINED. He is like a brother to her. He supports her, she supports him. She has admitted to loving ALL of the M9, including Caleb, and she goes out of her way to hang out with him now. So why ignore an entire aspect of Beau’s journey just to spite the fandom who likes Caleb? Why ignore Marisha’s RP? She’s actively seeking Liam out as scene partner - why would the people who claim to love her be so adamant that those interactions are wrong?

Again, I’m just talking about the people who take it all a step too far. We can react to things in fandom. This entire post is a reaction. But the push-pull of fandom has to stop SOMEWHERE, and I think when we hit “I hate this character and therefore will hate everything about him including aspects of his character that exist in real life and I’m gonna talk about how I hate those aspects in the main tag/feed” territory, we’ve gone too far. 

Which is, I suppose, how I’m bringing it back to Caleb’s appearance. To ignore canon, to ignore other characters, and to edge (and in some cases blatantly hop) into antisemitism just to spite a character you think gets too much attention seems unbelievably gross to me.