quill-cos

[yudol-skorbi]

fave cringe fail loser girlboss

[nomidreams]

god i finally watched new episodes my honest reaction is jgiwoaoKzmxmkwkakkak

[blorbologist]

S3 eps 7-9 thoughts below the cut

This is all fresh after the episode and I gotta be up in a couple hours so it won't be fully thought out but...

I love a lot of the creative choices being made! But I think many weren't implemented well, or balanced nicely.

Just! as someone who has deconstructed Campaign 1 and made deviations to the timeline of events and etc (mind you, without the same goal of condensing things for television… but somehow the show has an equivalent perc'ahlia focus to a ship-centered fic?) I think… I can see several avenues of narrative choices that would strengthen the ideas they're going with instead of weakening them.

(My credentials here are 'almost 300k canon divergent AU that converged on a handful of similar plot points to TLOVM', but also the aims of an AU fanfic =/= that of a show. I understand and respect that challenge the team faced. But when a single amateur can point out issues that would be pretty easy to solve and detract from a very enjoyable experience... there might be a Problem)

Ripley doesn't need a sob story, she's getting a book anyways leave it there. Fully agree with @/aq2003. The whole point is that she's monstrous and evil and got her PhD out of a fucking cereal box. Percy is less like her than he thinks. But he dies and she just??? escapes??? IF Percy had to die without VM being present, having Ripley either die of her wounds right after or be unable to flee and get torn to shreds by them would have been excellent.

On that note - only Vex and Cass seem to show strong emotion about his death. Keyleth's supposed to be his best friend, and he and Grog were close this season, but. Well, not like we have any platonic relationships. Everyone's just Kinda Sad.

MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE OF THE MUSIC OVER PERCY'S DEATH HUH. Flashbacks to watching Vampire Diaries as a teenager and pop songs coming on over the end-of-episode drama.

Again just. All the platonic, non-familial (Pike n Grog count. to me. buddies <3) relationships are so scant, which is especially hard on characters who lean on that so hard! Grog and Keyleth especially are hurt by this. Does Keyleth have a single conversation (not quip, conversation) that isn't with Vax? And in group contexts she only loudly brings up her distrust of Raishan without any of the solid backbone it has in fact. (Also her going from Raishan was right last time we should trust her now / She betrayed us! Knew it! / oh maybe she didn't and I should apologize. girl. come on. please)

I have Concerns about 'late Game of Thrones teleportation' syndrome happening here. Scanlan goes from Wildemount back to Whitestone (which are completely different continents) with no explanation. Kash and Zahra make it to Emon (again, different continent to Issylra) just in the nick of time. Which, sure, would take a couple of days to carve Percy a nice likeness (but you have a druid who can manipulate stone right there), and if Kash and Zahra changed their minds and set out as soon as Vax talked to them they might make it! But uh. There's a lot of transport that's omitted, while the scenes give the impression everything is happening within a short period of time. And a lot of these conversations are one-on-ones with the relevant characters without acknowledging they couldn't be there without magical transport. Where is Allura or Gilmore or Keyleth in the back of these shots twiddling their thumbs 'hey can we teleport to the next person on our HELP US list'?

IDK what's going on with Kash. He's likely gonna be used as a lead-in to Something to rez Percy (and him?) but. That quick buildup of him being too carefree to getting smushed was very transparent and Zahra's grief didn't feel earned (though it WAS baller. yes they made them bleed girl <3).

The fact Vax didn't ask him At All about the resurrection ritual in the Tomb stuns me tho. You think Vax remembered the offhand comment Kash made about the body needing to be warm while his sister was dead? We as an audience could have used a reminder, and Vax too. Because anyone who Doesn't remember this one line from S2 is Extra frustrated at everyone for being stupid.

Raishan or Ripley being moved to be the 'Vox Machina, united, with all their Vestiges' fight is... hmn. You could argue Raishan has solid buildup (what with the cameo in Brimscythe's lair), and it does follow campaign canon. She lacks the devastating power to justify the use of all the Vestiges (tbh given Thordak it might feel like a curbstomp unless her necromantic plans are successful)... but I could see it working. But why the fuck has Ripley escaped A THIRD TIME. Percy even duped her twice! How many times are we gonna do that song and dance?

If anything, I'd have moved some Ripley stuff here. If she escapes so be it but VM putting the fate of the world on hold to avenge their friend, THEN have Percy be back for Thordak, would be tasty.

... wait does this mean Percy might not have Cabal's Ruin by the final dragon fight of the season? ffs-

DID NO ONE LOOT CABAL'S RUIN FROM THE FACTORY.

Thordak fight was baller, having all our NPCs there to worry about? a bit much. Cass why are you here. Go home before Whitestone loses its last de Rolo.

Also. Thordak my dude I know you're insane. mad even. but uh... you sent your children into battle. A TON have already died by the time you sadly nuzzle the hatchlings. This was kinda your fault. There's a reason animals don't send their babies into combat. then again you're a large reptile who talks about milk so what do I, a reptile researcher, know -

(Don't give me that crap about reptiles being bad parents we have several snakes who require maternal attendance after birth or they're Asocial Weirdos, crocodilians are VERY goo parents, and there are social lizards too.)

'fix him - FIX HIM' being gutted fucking killed me :c

I sure hope Pike's 'IT'S ME' was uh. about faith in herself. Not abandoning the god she spent all of S1 figuring out how to devote herself to. While wearing the Vestige associated with another god. the vestige that explicitly made this possible and not a nuke fire falls u all die tpk. haha. ha. (@/burr-ell)

Yes yes yes I know the voiceover and visuals fill in for 'I hear my mother in the morning. Fuck you'. but. idk. Felt like the grief of that moment was taken out of it? Also it's a banger line

Raishan's little killsteal attempt being bumped from Vorugal to Thordak was tasty! Go green girl go! ... except it did nothing but set up a few quiet moments before she turned on everyone again.

The amount of times I'm seeing things happen Again in this is... not great.

Glintshore is Not Glinting. Where is my broken glass difficult terrain?

Perc'ahlia arc fuckin impeccable tho. Delicious

And Pike got lots of fun and stunning moments so far! And Grog takin down the lair!

I love a lot of this though. The hallucination gas. Percy vs Ripley in the factory was so cool. Percy downright being Put in a Box for a while. VEX'S CONVERSATION WITH SYLDOR!!! SO MUCH!! Her being the leader and feeling so responsible for all this, and seeing herself become her father! ELAINA BACKSTORY! Scanlan leaving the party only to miss Kaylie too! Thordak being A Dad! Percy's death/Vex's grief being the catalyst for Vaxleth! The animation was fucking stellar - Vax killing Thordak, Percy's death, Pike mastering the Plate.

I don't have concrete thoughts on how I'd restructure the episodes/season (seasons?) to better balance platonic and romantic relationships, and utilize the changes to their fullest potential. But damn if the temptation to do ANOTHER canon divergence rewrite / exploration of cause and effect to make things hit a bit more nicely... make myself a challenge to only use X amount of scenes per episode/chapter, to try and match the difficulty of adapting this to television... idk

[critical-twenty]

I'm kinda new to the cr fandom so i only know c1 stuff... could you write something with the prompt "is it okay to hug you?" from the part 2 list! Maybe something with the party having a s/o who struggles with touch and being vulnerable who has been having a very stressful day? Cries easily when they are frustrated or upset? 😢 If thats too much maybe just something with Vax or Percy cause i love them the most. 💖

sorry this is so late! it’s been sitting in my notes for ages, i’ve just been too busy to post it!

S/O who struggles with touch has a stressful day!

Vax

Vax never really has an issue with the lack of touch in your relationship

Sure, he likes to hold your hand, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t want to

He’s able to fluster you with just his words anyway

But when you come home one day with tears in your eyes and tension in your back, Vax is unsure of what to do

His first instinct is to reach out to you. It’s what he does for Vex and the others, so why wouldn’t he?

He stops himself when he remembers how much you dislike being touched without express permission

Even when you start crying, Vax doesn’t want to make things worse, so he just stares at you as he tries to ask what’s wrong

You look up at him through tearful eyes and ask ‘Can I hug you?’

Vax is immediately scooping you into his arms, letting his warmth invade your senses and comfort you

He tentatively begins to rub a hand up and down your back, continuing when you don’t tell him to stop

He’s relieved, in all honesty. He’s relieved he can help you and he’s honored that you let him hug you in such a moment of need

When you finally calm down enough to talk, he draws away to give you some space

His fingers stay connected with yours though, as you won’t let him go

He smiles at this, before pressing a kiss to your head

‘I’m sorry you had such a hard day, sweetheart. I’ll be here as long as you need me to be’

And he is 🖤

Grog

It took Grog a while to understand your reluctance in touch

It wasn’t that he thought it was weird, he just couldn’t read the signals as to how uncomfortable you were with his physical affection and you didn’t want to say anything

Finally, though, you told him about how you weren’t the biggest fan of touching

He nods, but it doesn’t fully register

Still he tries his best to remember, but he forget sometimes

He apologizes when he forgets and you can’t really get mad at him when he’s so genuine

When you come back home from a really rough day, Grog can instantly tell that something is up

He’s not the smartest, but when it comes to your happiness, he’s learned to become more attentive

He also knows that you don’t always want to be touched when you’re like this

(Pike had reminded him enough that it stuck with him)

So he watches you until he really can’t stand the sight of it anymore

‘Can I hug you?’

You look up at him with tears ready to fall and nod

Grog gives the best comforting hugs. He’s gentle but firm and he won’t let go until you ask him to

He’s not perfect, but he’s trying

Percy

Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III was never a man who thrived in touch

He rarely initiated physical contact with you and whenever he did, he asked for your permission first

It was like he already knew about your dislike for touch without you even telling him

(He definitely did. He’s observant enough to see your subtle emotions and tells)

You were perfectly content with a dynamic mostly built on quality time and acts of service, rather than physical affection

This wasn’t always the case though

You had had a particularly hard day at work. There was so much to do and you felt like not enough time to do it all

So, when you walked into Percy’s Tinker Room, he instantly noticed your tense demeanor

He is the king of stress himself, he knows the signs

However he doesn’t know what to do. He knows that he likes to be alone when stressed, but by seeking him out you seem to want to be around him

He contemplates in his head for a moment as you tell him about your day, waiting for you to finish before he stands up and comes over to you

‘May I hug you, darling?’

You immediately look at him, before barreling into his arms

He’s quick to wrap them around you, pressing a light kiss to the crown of your head as he tries to ground you

He’ll hold you as long as you want. He’ll even offer cuddles

Needless to say, he’s done working for the day. You need him and that’s 10x more important than anything else

Scanlan

It took Scanlan awhile to adapt to your feelings on touch

He’s a naturally extroverted person and he’s usually the first to initiate physical contact with anyone, so it’s an adjustment for him

However, once he finds out that it’s even more fun to fluster you with his shitty pick-up lines and love songs, the physical touch thing becomes easier

He slips up every once in a while, but he tries to make it up to you (he is a secret romantic underneath that… sexual persona)

You go find him, sitting with his lute, after an awful day

You were tired, and stressed, and part of you just wanted to go to sleep and wake up when this project you were working on was over

Scanlan knew the minute you walked over to him that something was up

Not wanting to be obvious in his effort to comfort you, and not wanting to touch you when you were clearly already tense, he decided to do what he does best: talk

He began to make small talk, talking about his songs and his day and whatever was going on with his friends

He thought it was working, until you said his name and looked up at him with tired eyes

‘Can I have a hug?’

He was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting it, but he got over it quickly

He lightly wrapped himself around you, holding you close and just letting it be

It was rare that Scanlan was so silent but, for once, the only sound was breathing

It was a small moment, but it was more than enough for you

Keyleth

Keyleth was awkward at first

Not because she had a hard time without physical affection, but more because she didn’t know what to do in general

Romance was still foreign to her

Still, she read your body language with perfection

You didn’t even need to tell her that you didn’t like physical touch… she just knew

You were thankful for that

It had been a stressful day and you were really just looking forward to hanging out with Keyleth

Sitting in the forest and listening to her talk to the plants always calmed you down

But even as you sat there, the stress didn’t go away

Keyleth noticed immediately, of course

She’s not great at words but she is more than adept at movement

‘…Is it okay if I hug you?’

You looked up with wide eyes and Keyleth immediately backtracks

‘We don’t have to, of course! You just seemed a bit tense and I thought maybe a hug might help be we don’t have to do that if you don’t-‘

She’s cut off by your arms gently wrapping around her waist

She freezes for a moment, before embracing you

It’s warm and comforting and Keyleth suddenly understands why people like doing this so much

She’ll hold you as long as you need. After all, she’s enjoying herself just as much as you are

Vex

Vex’ahlia is the queen of subtle touches

She loved resting a hand on the shoulders of her friends, or bumping into them playfully as they walked

It took a bit of self-control to not do those things with you

It wasn’t hard, per say. It just required a bit more focus and awareness of her movements

But, Vex would do anything for you, so she learned (quickly, as expected)

It was after a fight, while everyone was setting up camp, that Vex noticed the look on your face

It was the same look she saw when you were stuck on a particular puzzle, or when everything seemed to be piling on your shoulders

‘My dear, are you alright?’

You shrug half heartedly

‘Would you like to accompany Trinket and I on a walk? I think it will be quite relaxing and the moon is especially gorgeous tonight.’

Vex waits for your reply when finally you look up

‘Vex, will you hold me?’

Vex doesn’t even falter

Sure, she’s surprised, but the urge to comfort you overrides everything else

She hold you as close as she can without it being uncomfortable, rubbing circles on your back and whispering sweet encouragements into your ear

When you part, she tells you to take your time joining the rest of the party, before turning around and giving hushed threats to anyone who dares make a comment

You hear them, but it’s endearing. It shows that she care.

Pike

Pike is a very affectionate person

Not in the same flirty way as Vax or Scanlan, nor in the subtle way as Vex

Pike was just a very loving woman. Physical affection (including hugs) were just commonplace to her

Which is why she was a little stunned when you told her that you weren’t too fond of physical touch

It was hard for her, at first, because she had to find new ways to express all the love that she had for you, but your comfort came before everything

She always asked before initiating anything and you were always so thankful for that

One day, you came back to find Pike kneeling in the garden, mumbling under her breath

You assumed she was praying (for what, you weren’t sure) but you really needed her

Today had been hell and Pike had always known how to make you feel better

Sitting behind her, you gently rested your head on her shoulder

She tensed, knowing it was you, but confused by the display of touch

Still, she didn’t saying anything

‘Pike…’

She knew with that one call of her name what you needed

‘Do you want me to hug you?’

A small nod was all it took for Pike to spin around and gather you in her arms

Her hugs were like sunshine embodied

You felt all your stress and tension slip away as she held you close

Maybe she was a God herself, with the way she made you feel so safe in her embrace

[cornbake]

Hi! Can I request a Vax x reader? They are enemies to lovers, you can decide the plot, but maybe with a one bed trope ( although I don't think Vex would allow that!) If you of course like it and want.

One of my favorite tropies when it comes to romance ngl. So most gladly I will do so!!

Splitting this one up too. Helps my thought process!

Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: language (like always thou)

Spoilers: None

You had been with the twins for a while. A little before the rest of Vox. Your affliation with the clasp and them is how you first met. And how you kept together was more so due to skill than personal attachment. After all. Why would the twins like a cocky arrogant prick like yourself?

At least thats what Vax was thinking as you droned on and on about old stories to the others. You and him never got along. Always rivaling in your skills, and rivaling in your feats. If he had done some death defying act, you where sure to do the same not but moment after. You always had to rub your stuns in his face, boasting about them any moment you got after doing so. It made Vax wish he wipe that smirk off your face any moment he saw it.

Brooding in his room, one at the only inn the group could find in this small town. He was finishing up matnance with his daggers as his sister entered.

"Hopefully you aren't too far down that dark pit of yours." She wandered over to her bow to start to restring it for the journey ahead. "We need you present and not swallowing in your own thoughts, brother." His eyes didn't meet hers as she cast him a glance. His brows knitted together as his focus kept to the blades.

"I am aware of what must be done. But mind you, I am not the issue of this party." He could hear the soft scofting from his twin. "My focus is kept to the task at hand. Much more that what some of the others can say."

"Please. I still say you are over thinking this. No one is trying to steal the other's spot here. Maybe you just need to speak with them to understand them better." Her words only gain a huff from the raven-haired rouge. Sighing, Vax gathered her stuff to get ready for the road again. "Just... promise me you won't be distracted, brother..."

He took a moment to sigh. Hearing the hint of fear in his sisters voice made his heart twing with guilt.

"I promise to try, stubby..."

She can't get mad at him, he said he would try and here he is! Trying! Trying so very hard!

They had all been tasked to clear out the mine shaft next to the town so the miners could get back to work. The group needed the coin, so they took the job. You and Vax took up scouting ahead, something you both had been paired up to do countless times. Not that it meant you both enjoyed the other's shadow next to your own but sucking up your pride, the pair of you made do.

A simple scout ahead and come back, that's all it was! And what do you do? You go on further ahead without him and now he has to clean up YOUR mess.

"I swear I'm going to kill them if they are still alive after all this." The raven haired man grumbles as he assassinates a figure posted by one of the entrances. The Gnoll being dragged away just as another comes out to see what was going on, scratching his head in confusion at the missing ally. Giving the rouge just the perfect moment to slip by.

He kept to the shadows, feet stepping quickly yet lightly to make no sound. He could barely see, his Darkvision only helping him so much in the nearly pitch darkness. Both an advantage and a disadvantage.

The more he crept the further from the light he got, but his ears could here the struggles from a certain someone.

"I hope you know you are in deep shit after we get out of here."

"Oh great, my savior and my demise. Save your sharp tongue for the rope asshole."

There you, quick witt and annoying voice included. He had some hope that the Gnolls would have taken one of the two from you at the very least but seems that he can't get everything he wants all the time.

Making quick work of the lock that held you in the rusted cage like structure he pulls a dagger out to get the tightly bound rope cut. His rough treatment of your hands making you hiss.

"That hurt fuck nut"

"Well I'm sorry that you were the one to get you into this mess. Be grateful I came at all."

He had gotten the blade under the rope just as a pair of fur matted paws roughtly grab his face and chest, pulling him back away from you.

"VAX!" Your voice pierces the void that now engulfed his vision. Claws digging into skin as the Gnoll behind him struggled to hold onto his fighting form.

He kept trying to fight off the fish scented beast but he couldn't out flex something that could rival Grog in a fight. He could hear the mutt talking to other Gnolls. Gods save him.

It didn't take long for him to be bound next to you in the same cage. Sitting across from you, and while you can't see it, glaring into your soul. He was going to kill you the second he could. You got him in this mess. Something that had a very low chance of getting out of.

"I can feel you staring. Stop it. It's not gunna undo your loud ass boots."

"My loud ass- why. Best count your blessing while you can, I would gut you where you were if I wasn't bound. All because of your doing!"

"MY doing? Oh? And that includes, what? Me sa-"

A loud and harsh CLANG, rings from the metal cage. One of the Gnolls snarling at you two to get your bickering to stop.

"Once I am free from this you are dead, raven boy."

He sulked, not sharing any more words. His anger boiling his blood, he will make sure you never forget this moment. Whether this be the last moment the two of you share with one another or a scar to remind you of your mistakes. He will make sure you have a reminder.

[waltwhitmansbeard]

a little thing based on this art. nsfw but not explicit.

Keyleth didn't buy the lingerie for herself. She never would—it just seems so...frivolous, and expensive, and embarrassing. She understands the appeal—people like soft, delicate things, like butterflies and lace—but...it just wasn't her.

Which is why she couldn't help but stare owlishly when a package was dumped unceremoniously in her lap on a random afternoon by a sun-kissed Pike. "Happy birthday."

"My...birthday was four months ago."

Pike shrugged. "Time is an illusion. Go on, open it."

Nothing could have surprised her more than the forest green negligee and matching panties she discovered nestled among blush pink tissue paper when she opened up the box. She sputtered out half a dozen different sentences at once, before finally choking out, "Why?"

"I thought it would go nicely with your complexion. I got a royal blue for Vex, because, y'know, she's got a motif going on." Pike smirked. "My set is yellow."

"Do we...have matching underwear?"

Pike rolled her eyes and hopped up on the couch in Keyleth's Zephran cottage. "Not matching, I just got a set for each of us. Y'know..." She elbowed Keyleth in the ribs. "For fun."

"Oh." Her blush extended all the way down her arms. "So this—I mean—I'm supposed to—"

"Keyleth, you can do what you want with it. Vex is gonna use hers to fuck Percy nasty, and I like to wear mine to dance around the house." She paused. "And also to fuck nasty. But why don't you just try wearing yours to sleep? It doesn't have to be sexual if you don't want it to be."

Keyleth swallowed hard. "Right."

"I mean, you put this on and Vax is definitely gonna break his leash, but—"

"OKAY, THANK YOU PIKE." She slammed the lid of the box closed and buried her face in her hands.

And yet, here she is, just a week later, inexplicably wearing the surprisingly soft lingerie set, lounging on the bed with a book in her hand. It's not a particularly interesting read—something about architecture and city planning that Percy insisted she peruse—but at least it'll help her fall asleep. Vax is curled up beside her, his long hair a waterfall up over his pillow, and she's got an arm around him, keeping him close, her favorite place for him to be.

Pike wasn't wrong: the first time Vax saw her wearing this, face red and lip chewed nervously, his eyes bulged—as did other things. But when she stammered out an explanation, he took her face in his hands, kissed her gently, and said, "You're always beautiful, and I always want you." His fingers toyed with the hem of the negligee. "This is just...bonus."

Now she pulls him in tighter, eying him over his shoulder. He's pretending to be asleep, probably to guilt her into turning off the light so he actually can go to sleep, and she takes the opportunity to admire him in the way she so often feels him admiring her. His muscles are long and ropey, giving him a deceptively wiry look, and in the past year or so since she's given it to him, the burn scar of her palm in the center of his back has healed into a warm red the color of her freckles. He is, in a word, sexy, and wearing this ridiculous, frilly thing makes her feel sexy too, a feeling that is so often foreign to her.

She catches him peeking over his shoulder at her. "Ah, so you are awake."

"No I'm not." He grins.

She sets the book on the nightstand beside her. "That sucks. If you were awake..." The sentence dangles in an unfinished suggestion.

His head fully cranes around, eyes dancing hopefully. "Yeah?"

Keyleth shrugs, and the motion makes the gauzy negligee ripple across her stomach. "But you're so tired."

He's on her then, warm body held aloft over hers by arms leaned by years of hurling daggers and scaling walls. "Oh, trust me." His smile glitters, playful and devilish. "I would love nothing more for you to tire me out."

And as his hand comes skittering up beneath the nightie, she grins up into a kiss, silently thanking Pike for the strangest, best gift she would never have asked for.

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: Souls in Darkness (3x12)

As a not-so-secret Percy/Vax enjoyer, even though I do ship the canon ships more... this episode made me very happy.

Cons:

Okay, remember when I did the big paragraph in episode nine about Pike's whole deal with the Everlight? In this episode we get this line: "sometimes you should go against the wishes of your deity. After all, the gods didn't create us to blindly obey them, right?" And that sentiment is fine with me, that makes a lot of sense as a conclusion a character could come to on her faith journey. But... why did she literally throw away the Everlight symbol when facing down Thordak? That moment doesn't seem to actually lead to this one! I'm really hoping that season four can give us a bit more clarity on how we're supposed to view Pike's relationship to the Everlight. I'm fine with them making strong choices, but right now it feels kind of directionless and unspecific.

I want to reiterate that I'm sad about the Bard's Lament thing here. I still wonder what we'll see in future seasons, if some alternate version with different context will play out. But just... seeing Scanlan hugging Pike and Grog and then going off with Kaylie, everyone sad but ultimately at peace and in a good place with each other, i was just like... this is not my Fucked Up Story of Self-Destruction! I just want Scanlan to be way more of a mess. I want "what's my mother's name," and since we didn't get it here, within its original context, I wonder if we'll be getting any version of it at all! That does make me sad, even if I understand the reasoning behind it.

I liked how the Raishan fight ultimately went down but I wish they could have found some way to tie in the idea of the feeblemind - defeating Raishan by taking away her intellect, her main asset, was such a cool thematic element in the stream. I get why it would be hard to adapt, though!

A small thing, but it feels like only Vex and Vax are really grieving all that much for Percy? Like, the rest of the gang are there for the ritual, and Pike and Keyleth are helping with the magic part of it, but nobody else has had really any emotional processing time about Percy's death since his funeral. I wish there had been a bit more going on with some of them, especially Keyleth, who's supposed to be Percy's good friend!

An even smaller thing, I don't like Vax calling Pike "Pickle" in the scene where they're discussing the resurrection. I feel like Liam always used those nicknames in cute little moments in the stream, but it wasn't a regular thing, and it feels overplayed this season to me. All the nicknames, really.

Pros:

But, okay - I thought this was a kick-ass finale, really strong! The Raishan fight was, I'm a broken record here, extremely cool to look at. The animation of this show is so top-notch that even in moments where I feel hesitant about a writing choice or what have you, it's still always stunning to look at. I loved, loved, loved Keyleth getting more of a one-on-one showdown with Raishan while still having the group there to back her up.

The thing where Keyleth turns into a rock statue of herself and then crumbles apart to become an earth elemental is both a) extremely fucking dope and b) a good angst-generating machine, as it makes everyone who witnesses it think she's just fuckin' died before she pops up out of the earth like a total bad-ass. Vax wailing in agony about her ostensible demise... yes please. We love to see it.

And the cleverness of feeding Raishan's disease back to her - wow! The visual of Keyleth killing Raishan so quickly at the end of the last episode, and then feeding into the way Raishan is ultimately brought down here - they did a good job of making the Raishan vs. Keyleth fight feel very personal. Thordak, for all that he killed Vex and Vax's mom, was still mostly just this abstract big huge danger that was going to take over the world. Raishan had a more personal vendetta against the Ashari, so it was satisfying to see this showdown play out the way it did. Five out of five dragons defeated, Vox Machina. Hell yeah.

And then we bring Percy back to life!!! Ahhhh. Everything about Vax talking to the Matron, going into the shadowy Orthax realm, finding Percy, while the ritual is going on back on Exandria, I could literally quote every beat of it as my favorite part. I got super emotional at Orthax saying "Percival deserves this" and Vax saying "the fuck he does" and struggling towards his friend. Vax's shock and dismay when Percy doesn't recognize him at first, and then "she loves you, and so do I, brother"... like, fuck me up, it was so perfect! I loved the fact that it was a team effort from the twins, here. Vex giving her famous speech and the tear breaking through to wake Percy up from his trance, and then recognizing Vax at last... Vax has this special relationship to death specifically because he loves his sister so much and was willing to die to save her, and now he's using that connection in order to find a way to get Percy back. It really ties everything together from all the way back in season two episode three, when Percy inadvertently sets off the trap that kills Vex. The three of them have had this sort of convoluted relationship to what happened that day ever since, and this is a lovely capstone of it.

Then let's talk about that ending. I already said I'm sad about the big Scanlan change. But... I understand that when they were mapping this season out, they didn't have a guaranteed season four. Given that limitation, and the economy of storytelling required to make this show at all, I do appreciate the send-offs that the characters got. Everyone's going off on their own little journeys for a while. Scanlan with his daughter, and Vex and Percy to Whitestone, and Keyleth and Vax on her Aramente. They threw in the Vex line to Vax and Keyleth about not going off to get married, which got an eyebrow raise out of me, that's for sure. I'm happy for Vex and Percy - I loved that shot of them both leaning against Trinket and cuddling. So sweet. And I'm happy for Vax and Keyleth. Him wanting nothing more than to help her out on her journey is a good look for him. I am really curious about the Matron's consequences for him for helping Percy, and how that's going to alter how that arc for Vax went originally.

And... I think that's all I've got! In a way, I think this season didn't click with me during the process of watching at quite the same level as the first two seasons did. We've got quite the escalation, and a lot of changes, and just a lot riding on certain moments, and... well, I think this is still some exceptional television. I think it's remarkably high caliber and I'm still overall quite pleased with what we got! I just had a different emotional experience with it than I think I was expecting in a couple of spots. Still, I was so relieved and excited to hear about the renewal for season four and I'm so ready to see where they take the story from here!

8.5/10

[jae-birde]

The Legend of Vox Machina Liveblog: Episode 2

I just finished the second episode of TLOVM season 3, and this breakdown got long.

(I reference the campaign again some, so if you don't want spoilers for that, maybe stay clear from my breakdown)

(Breakdown under the cut)

Starting off immediately with Orthax and Ripley is exactly what I wanted holy shit. I need to know if Percy's okay

holy shit is it just me or does Orthax look even more terrifying here? because he does to me oh my gods.

"You left it a whisper, but that whisper found me" Is the word choice of "whisper" intentional? Because I'm just thinking of the Vestige rn

Okay, that shot of Percy with Ripley walking away reflected in his glasses is SO GOOD. WHY DOES IT GO SO HARD

And Ripley admittedly looks really badass with Orthax coming up behind her like that (it's mostly bc of Orthax tho) And the delivery of her last line there? So good

I've talked about it before but HOLY SHIT THE INTRO GOES SO HARD

THE MUSIC IS AMAZING

THE ANIMATION

THE GODDAMN STORYTELLING HOLY SHIT

Gods above it just makes me so much more hyped for the whole show omg

Keyleth immediately blaming it on Raishan, lol. In character

Oooo, the idea of using Mythcarver to find Ripley + Percy. I don't think they ever did that in the campaign, though I might be mistaken lol

Vax amping up his flirtiness with Gilmore to get him to help, heh, I don't think that'll work

Oh, never mind it did work

OOOOOO, DESGUISE SELF, COOL!

Omg I turned on subtitles for when Gilmore was speaking Marquesian, and it actually had the translations! That's so cool!

And ah, yes. The twins sneaking in together. Honestly? The best two to go in

Aaaaannndd now Ripley monologuing about spreading the guns around Exandria. Perfect

Okay, but they're actually making Ripley's point seem somewhat understandable. Like, I get where she's coming from, but she's def not seeing the whole picture about the guns. Like, if everyone in Exandria had one, it would be, like Percy said, chaos. Plus I still absolutely despise her.

OOOOOO, RIPLEY WANTS THE VESTIGES AS A POWER SUPPLY

I honestly never thought too much about why she wanted them in the campaign, but this is interesting!

And now we're back to the twins!

Honestly, a little sad we didn't get the absolute madness that was Vox Machina trying to cover their tracks at the murder scene, as we saw in the campaign, but I def understand why they didn't. Plus, this is really interesting to see the twins investigating!

OMG CLASP MENTION

"Oh, I'm Vax, I was in a thieves' guild, I'm so cool" "seven days a week" gotta love the sibling teasing and banter between the two of 'em! XD

OOOP, THE OTHER GUARDS MIGHT BE CATCHING ONTO GILMORE, FUCK

Poor Gilmore, man. If the spell he used is the same as Disguise Self in D&D, then he was waiting out there for almost an hour for the twins.

OH NO, A GUARD SPOTTED THEM, FUCK

OMG KAYLIE! YAY

And Scanlan is such a proud dad watcher her too, aww. (I doubt she'll appreciate it much tho)

"That's my daughter up ther" OMG HE'S SO SO PROUD I LOVE THIS MAN SO MUCH

DOCTOR DRANZEL! Everyone give it up for Dr. Dra!

NICODRANIS MENTION?

And we're once again at Ripley. Of course

OH FUCK MASS PRODUCED GUNS POWERED BY VESTIGES? FUCK NO

"Once the weak rise up, what's to stop the oppressed from becoming oppressors" THANK YOU PERCY, THAT'S WHAT I WAS SAYING

"That's why I need you Percival, you understand humanity far more than I" Yeah, bitch, it's cuz you aint got much left

PERCY NO DON'T SAY YES DON'T SAY IT. PERCY NO.

PERCY YOU BETTER BE PLANNING SOMETHING I SWEAR TO THE DAWNFATHER I WILL REACH THROUGH THE SCREEN AND BEAT YOUR ASS IF YOU HELP HER

omg the rest of the party's at a Gilmore rip-off. Why is that so funny?

"I'm sorry about earlier, I just-" "Didn't believe me? No one does." KIKI BABY NO

Keyleth, stop lying, it's clearly not fine, you need to talk to someone about this!

Vex worrying about Percy, ah! My heart can't take it!

OMG SHE CARES SO MUCH FUCK GLINTSHORE IS GONNA HURT SO FUCKING BAD FUCK

Vax clearly SEES how much his sister cares for Percy, you can see it so clearly on his face.

Omg, is that the githyanki skull over where Grog was looking?

Oh, Grog playing along with the kids, he's so freakin' cute, I love him so much.

Okay, but Grog is actually lowkey really clever for asking the kids about that

Grog I adore you

OMG IT'S THE CLIP

IT'S THE CLIP THAT DROPPED THE SAME DAY AS THE MIGHTY NEIN SNEAK PEAK

I KNOW THIS SCENE

"There are times to talk and times to fight, but sometimes you've just gotta run" That's a really good quote by Pike

Holy shit what kind of armour do the guards have? damn that's cool

PLS DON'T GET ARRESTED GILMORE

FUCK HE GOT ARRESTED

Omg Vax is fucking Narruto runnign. First Percy, now him? lol

Aaaannnddd, now we're back to Scanlan & Kaylie. Say what you will about splitting the party, but it adds a lot of intrigue to a show like this!

"You're not making this easy on me are you?" "Did you make it easy on me and mum?" Scanlan, she's definitely got you there

Okay, so my first thought was don't mention the vestige, but if Kaylie found out later than she'd definitely be more upset he lied, so good job Scanlan!

Scanlan I swear to god if you run off because you're worried about being accused of being one of the "foriegners who killed someone", I will punt you. You CANNOT leave Kaylie again, I will actually reach through the screen to punt you, I'm warning you

Okay, it cut. He better not fucking run.

Percy, I will beat your ass later assuming you're not trying to play Ripley, but also I feel bad for him considering he has to listen to the demon that was in his head for several years talk about wanting his soul to the woman who literally tortured him. Cannot be easy

"That is very disconcerting" LITERALLY WHAT I'M SAYING

PERCY WHAT ARE YOU DOIJNG YPOU ABSOLUTE DUMBASS DONT WORK WITH THE BITCH

NEVER MIND I LOVE YOU PERCY KILL THE BITCH

Wait, the plate was damaged. OH MY GOD IS IT A FAKE?

OH FUCK ORTHAX AND RIPLEY (also the shot with Ripley holding Percy by the throat and Orthax curling above lowkey goes hard)

Ooooo, Ripley DID get the black and orange eye! Cool!

FUCK YEAH VEX SAVE YOUR MAN

COMING IN LIKE A BADASS I LOVE THIS WOMAN SO FUCKING MUCH

FUCK YEAH GROG

FUCK NO RIPLEY YOU BITCH

VOX MACHINA GET HER ASS

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH NO ONE SPEAK TO ME PERC'AHLIA HUG PERC'AHLIA HUG I'M GOIGN TO COMBUST

"I thought I'd lost you" "I'm here, Vex'ahlia" And what if I just died, huh? Because I love them so much (and also because Vex does lose Percy and there is a time where he won't be there, and fuck I'm sad again) AND OMG THE WAY THEY ARE HOLDING EACH OTHER I CAN'T I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

THE WAY SHE LEANS INTO HIS HAND

I'M GONNA DIE AND THEY ARE THE REASON I LOVE THEM

YES KIKI FREEZE RIPLEY'S ASS

OH FUCK I FORGOT ABOUT RIPLEY'S GUN. FUCK

VEX NOOOOO! OH NO OH NO OH NO OH FUCK

OH FUCK NO VEX GOT SHOT AND PERCY'S GONNA HAVE A GUILT COMPLEX OVER IT BEING HIS FAULT AND I SWEAR NO ONE BETTER BLAME PERCY OR I WILL RIOT

YES KEYLETH BREAKING OUT THE SUNLIGHT SPELL, QUEEN!

Oh fuck i thought Vex was hit in the shoulder not the chest FUCK (at least it's not lethal tho)

OH GOD THE MIXING OF RIPLEY'S AND ORTHAX'S VOICES IT'S JUST LIKE S1 WITH PERCY

Oh fuck VEX

Thank SARENRAE Pike was there my god. Also really good to get the bullet out, I was worried about that too

"You saved me. Twice." "What would you do without me?" *Cradles Perc'ahlia in my hands* No, you don't understand, I would die for them

FUCK THE GUARDS ARE HERE

THAT'S NOT GOOD

OMG J'MON SA ORD IS COMING IN, HELL YES! I cannot WAIT to see what they'll look like!

SCANLAN NO, DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE

Scanlan I swear if you get you're daughter arrested we will have words

Scanlan, if you keep acting like this, you're gonna make it worse. You can't be distracted for this conversation, man!

"The truth is, when I'm on stage, I'm golden. Straight fire. But when the lute goes down, I kinda... I don't know who I am." Oh Scanlan, the poor man. I appreciate that we're getting into these issues earlier, like, it's so clear throughout Campaign 1 that Scanlan struggles a lot with who he is, but hearing him actually really talk about it, especially before his Bard's Lament, is something I appreaciate.

SCANLAN, THEY AREN'T EVEN LOOKING FOR YOU

JUST TALK TO YOUR DAUGHTER MAN

OMG VOX MACHINA IS ABOUT TO MEET J'MON SA ORD, THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT (...let's just hope they don't fuck it up)

Percy, darling, don't blame yourself, please

OMG THE SMILE THAT PERCY GIVES VEX I CAN'T. AND THE SMILE SHE GIVES HIM. They are seriously trying to kill me with the amount of Perc'ahlia this season. AND IT'S THE SECOND EPISODE

I appreciate them showing Vex sensing J'mon, considering they are a dragon too.

OMG J'MON LOOKS SO GOOD

And them having (what I presume is) a pseudodragon is such a nice touch!

yeah, i don't think talking it out is gonna quite work Gilmore, but good shot!

Keyleth, honey, I love you, but I don't know if this is gonna help!

"Where you not here to steal them?" Oop. Caught red-handed. I Y'all better say that you were gonna ask or you're basically screwed.

Vax, you idiot.

Oh fuck, this is exactly the problem with Percy existing in Ank'harel at this time, Ripley is fucking things up. As she does

PERCY NO

I KNOW YOU'RE TRYING TO PROTECT EVERYONE ELSE BUT DARLING NO

Oh fuck and him saying "i take full responsibility" is him saying that he takes responsibility for Ripley and Orthax, because they were his problem first and in his mind he "let them" get here. Fuck

Vox Machina trying to convince J'mon of their collective innocence vs. Percy's raging guilt complex. Which will win?

Oh god, Vex's face. Oh no

THE TRANSFORMATION? WHAT THE FUCK

FUCK VEX'S FACE AS THEY'RE BEING DRAGGED OUT NO FUCK PERCY

Oh my GOD Scanlan are you shitting me? Did you get the fucking Sandkeg's Hide? Please tell me you didn't. This is a conversation to be SOBER

"I just wanna be in your wife, I mean life" Scanlan you are clearly too drunk for this

Scanlan. Man. Please. Good god, I feel bad for Kaylie because she has to deal with this.

Oh Kaylie, honey no, he does wanna change, he just doesn't know how yet.

Oh, I feel bad for Scanlan too. Fuck

Finally! Finally, Vox Machina found him!

Aw, Pike jumping in to protect him <3

Oh, poor Scanlan. He's really struggling rn, and I feel so bad because I know that it gets worse

Vex, I know you're worried, trust me, so am I, but c'mon, the man is struggling!

I'm onto Percy's next bit now. *chuckles nervously* what the fuck

OH FUCK THAT'S WHAT J'MON MEANT WHEN THEY SAID TRANSFORMATION

Oh Percy, darling, FUCK I'M GONNA CRY

OH FUCK WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING THIS IS SOME FREAKY SHIT GOING ON

OH GOD HIM SEEING VOX MACHINA FOR A MOMENT STOP MY HEART

Scanlan coming in clutch with the "OBJECTION" thank FUCK

Okay, but the guards picking him up by the arms and him staying exactly how he was is unreasonably hilarious

Oh god, he's still drunk. Fuck. This might go terribly

WAIT OH MY GOD WE'RE GETTING BURT REYNOLDS THE LAWYER NOW OH MY GOD YES

Using Mythcarver to prove Percy's innocence is actually GENIUS

Holy shit the animation when J'mon uses Mythcarver and their eyes light up and hair gets all flowy and shit goes HARD

OH FUCK ORTHAX SAW? FUCK

Can we all just say together THANK YOU SCANLAN

OH MY GODS THE LOOK THAT PERCY AND VEX SHARED

AND HER HOLDING HIS HAND

FUCK I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

Oh Scanlan, he still feels bad about how things went with Kaylie

OMG MORE FORGIVENESS TALK WITH PERCY AND VEX LETS GOOOO

"But I am to blame for what I made" I FUCKING CALLED IT. I KNEW THIS WAS HIS THOUGHT PROCESS

Also, can we talk about how beautiful this animation is? When it does the close up on Percy it looks SO GOOD

Like, LOOK AT THIS. THIS IS GORGEOUS

(yes I'm watching with subtitles, i wanna know what they say in Marquesian)

"And above all else, I just didn't want you to see me that way" PERCY DARLING, YOU CAN'T KEEP DOING THIS TO MY HEART

OH MY GOD THIS SCENE IS BEAUTIFUL

I SIMPLY ADORE THEM

"I've been thinking long and hard about our options." "What'd you come up with?" "Nothin'. Just wanted you to know I'd been thinking" And this, everyone, is why I adore Grog strongjaw

I KNEW IT WAS A FAKE I FUCKING KNEW IT

MAGIC ITEMS THAT STRONG DON'T GET DAMAGED LIKE THAT, THEY DON'T

"I did the only responsible thing." Did you put the real one in the Hells?

"I hid it in a place beyond even Thordak's reach" It's the fucking Hells isn't it

"Are you familiar with the Hells of Despath?" I fucking knew it

WAIT ZERXUS? AS IN THE FIRST KNIGHT OF AVALIR DURING THE CALAMITY ZERXUS? HOLY SHIT? WHAT THE FUCK? OH MY GOD REALLY? PLEASE TELL ME THEY GOT LUIS CARAZO TO PLAY HIM PLEASE

OMG THE END CREDITS IS DRANZEL'S SONG

OMG IT'S ABOUT RUBY LAVORRE

I FUCKING KNEW IT

I ABSOLUTELY FUCKING KNEW IT

Okay is this Matt singing? Because oh my god if is he is seriously so good! Whoever it is, but still

Okay, so I absolutely LOVED the episode! It was only like 25 minutes but it felt so much longer! (and that might've been because I kept pausing to write this, but shhhh)

This was really good, and I really enjoyed seeing everyone throughout the episode, and seeing the changes they're making too! It's so cool to see and I'm definitely looking forwards to what comes next! (i am both terrified and excited at the prospect of Glintshore happening soon, oh my god)

I don't have time to watch another episode rn, but this one was so good!

[timaeusterrored]

(The Northern Lights)

Depression was a common thing in the Eurodyne household. It normally hit at different times luckily enough, their bad weeks never usually lined up. But the one time it did, Kerry booked them a trip. He needed to get them both out of the city, away from stress and reminders.

Kerry wanted to spice things up, go somewhere Vax had never been. He tried to keep it to his place in Florida or Italy simply for his husband’s comfort, but he felt they needed something new, and see something Vax would be all over.

So next thing he knew, they were on their plane to Iceland. Vax was mostly quiet, lost in thought as he usually was as Kerry answered emails and did the less fun part of his job.

“What’s goin’ on in that pretty head?” Kerry spoke up after about an hour of silence, making Vax look up. His exhaustion was hitting him hard, and Kerry wished he didn’t over work himself like this.

“Static. I think if I had a single thought right now I’d explode.” Vax got up from his seat and moved to cuddle up with Kerry, the older man moving his laptop away in favor of his favorite person.

“Understandable… try not to think too hard. You take your meds today?”

“Yes Vik.” Vax mumbled sarcastically.

“Hey now, don’t get sassy because I’m making sure you’re doing what you’re supposed to.” Kerry held him to his chest, looking out the window. He hoped he had planned this right.

When they landed, Kerry got them checked into their lodge as soon as possible, they had a tour to get too and he could see that Vax’s interest had been caught.

He had Vax out of the lodge in ten minutes flat, basically dragging him. Vax had no idea what was going on, but he was into it. And Kerry had to keep that interest for the next few hours.

Okay, the beginning of the tour was kind of a drag, Kerry wouldn’t lie… but goddamn was it worth it when he saw what he had dragged his husband all the way up for.

“Aurora.” Vax breathed, staring at the night sky with childlike wonder. Kerry was glad the Space station hadn’t completely ruined the stars for Vax.

Kerry leaned into his side, for warmth and support. This was totally worth it.

“Can I-“

“Yes you can tell me facts, that’s why we’re here.” Vax was his own personal stars podcast sometimes.

“So basically, the Northern lights, or Aurora borealis, is actually sun storms. But our atmosphere protects us from them, they’re as pretty as they are violent.”

“Sounds like someone I know.”

“Yeah Venus is fucking violent sometimes-“

“You asshole. You knew who I was talking about.”

“A n y w a y, speaking of Venus, did you know that the lights were named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora? And the Greek god of winds, Boreas?”

“I did not.”

“Yeah, it’s really fuckin cool when you think about it-“

Vax proceeded to take about the lights for the next 15 minutes, until they had faded and his face fell a bit.

“What?” Kerry frowned.

“It’s just said something so beautiful only lasts for a short amount of time. We’re lucky we even got to see them.”

“…kinda like life.”

Vax’s arm tightened around him, and Kerry looked up to find grey eyes staring down at him.

“You didn’t drag me up here to serve divorce papers did you? Because we are stuck in this shit together, no one else could possibly-“

Kerry cut him off with a kiss, holding his face with a small smile when they pulled back.

“I’m genuinely amazed you haven’t exploded yet… I’m not going anywhere.” Kerry whispered, bumping their foreheads together.

“Good…” Vax whispered back, looking back up at the stars.

[burr-ell]

🔥 Critical Role c1, please ? or TLOVM ?

I really don't care for how TLOVM is adapting Keyleth and Vax. Their relationship doesn't do a whole lot for me in C1, but I respect it, and I actually find it more interesting as this sort of legendary star-crossed tragedy, written in fables and shrouded in myth. We know who these characters were in canon—Keyleth was fierce, compassionate, self-righteous, naive, courageous, and stubborn; Vax was loyal, fun-loving, snarky, possessive, reckless, and foolhardy. Like, the dramatic irony between what we know about Keyleth and Vax and what the world knows about the Tempest and the Champion is great!

So I really feel like TLOVM is fumbling the ball here. Keyleth hasn't exhibited a single flaw other than "doesn't believe in herself enough, hasn't memorized the druid 5e spell list", and it strips her of what made her relatable and interesting. Gone is her contentious-yet-loving relationship with Percy; gone is her distrust for the gods; gone is her preachiness and willingness to be the moral compass. What's left is a Disney Princess who says fuck, who's just so endearing and likable, and it feels so sanded-down. Her moments of triumph don't feel earned, because what did she have to overcome other than self-doubt?

She doesn't even have the agency to change her clothes! That could have been a great moment where she swaps out green for red to honor her fallen people, not to mention excellent setup for her conflict with Raishan later, but instead it just...happens because of her doing magick-y stuff in the Fire Plane. It's a small thing, but it adds up.

Vax is just...frustrating. There's not a single moment that really makes him look bad; even him being mean to Percy is completely understandable and justified by the narrative. (Like, Percy killed his sister, man. It was an accident, sure, but he killed her. Vax has every reason to be mean to him!) He doesn't do something like knocking Kynan unconscious in one hit in a misguided attempt at tough love or charging into a trap in Anders' office and nearly getting Cassandra killed. The reckless "but did you die" attitude he often has in that stage of the campaign is nonexistent, leaving in its place a very nice YA love interest who traded his life for his sister's and follows the Raven Queen now. He's completely palatable and sympathetic the entire time.

There is one exception to this, and it's completely unintentional: the grove in the Fey Realm. Percy tells the group they have to project positivity, and right as Vax is grumbling that it's stupid, he gets attacked. Vax...immediately blames Percy, and even Percy says it doesn't make sense. But it does. Vax was openly and loudly showing negative emotions. Why is no one pointing this out? Why is Vax allowed to have the last word in this scene? Why is this a "Percy doesn't get the Fey Realm" or "there's something weird about Vax" moment? From the scene as it's written, Percy gets the Fey Realm just fine; there's no reason to conclude from this that there's anything special about Vax other than that he's being surly, doing exactly the thing Percy told him not to do. Now I get what they were trying to do here; this is, to be clear, a flaw in the writing, not some ontological element of Vax as a character. The fact remains, however, that it's poorly done.

The romance itself suffers as a result of this, and honestly almost feels a little phoned-in, at least on the part of the writing and boarding teams. These characters aren't challenging each other; they aren't moving each other; they just blush a lot. It's just not very interesting.

I get it, adaptation is hard, but they gotta push these guys more, because as it stands, they're the weakest links in the show by far.

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

And What Lies Beneath Stone

Summary: Members of Vox Machina faces a monster that feeds on truth, voicing their innermost thoughts. They have to admit something true in order to defeat it.

Series: The Heroes of Vox Machina...

Caves are bullshit. At least that’s what Pike thinks as they trudge down the path. Percy, Vex, Keyleth, and Scanlan all file in a line. It had been incredibly hard to convince Grog to sit this one out, accompanying Vax to the Raven Queen’s temple. All it took was Vax’s promise of buying three rounds of mead.

“It’s fucking cold in here,” Pike complains as they trek even deeper into the cave. “Do you guys feel a draft?”

Vex nods, “At least it means there’s a way out and we’re not stuck in here forever if the tunnel collapses behind us.”

Keyleth looks at them with wide eyes, “Is there a chance of that happening? Because-”

Scanlan reaches up and pats Keyleth’s wrist in a quasi-comforting gesture, “It’s not going to collapse. Probably.”

Vex sighs and puts her bow over her shoulder. “Let’s keep moving. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to spend the night here if we don’t find what we’re looking for.”

“Because we have so much to go on,” Pike says with a roll of her eyes. “People going missing in a cave isn’t exactly our kind of problem.”

“Well we’re getting paid more than enough to make it our problem,” Vex reminds them. “Which we won’t get if we take too long.”

Scanlan rolls his eyes as well, “It’s one path, Vex. It’s not like there’s any way we can figure this out any faster.” Vex shoots him a glare, but before Scanlan can respond, Percy shakes his head at the gnome.

While their group has been together for a long while now, Vex still gets twitchy when she’s on a mission without her brother. It’s almost like she’s missing a limb, she moves unsteadily and off kilter. Percy understands and if he can keep everyone from fighting, it will ease her nerves. Falling in step beside Vex, he turns his collar up against the chill of the wind. 

Continue reading on ao3!

[pocketgalaxies]

i feel like we're gonna need a whole long individual post from you where you sum up your thoughts and feelings of c3ep51...it's a doozy and i'm interested to hear what you have to say!!😵‍💫

okay. okayyy. i just finished the ep so i haven't had a lot of time to think about it yet but. initial reaction is that i'm feeling a little hm. bad! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

obviously i haven't been on tungle so idk if a lot of other ppl feel this way or if i'm in the minority but. a lot of the latter parts felt bad. like in my soul, i mean. i was simply not having as good of a time as i wanted to be having.

cue complaining! apologies in advance:

it was like. liliana being obstinate, even with appreciably high rolls from imogen. ludinus giving this stupid-ass speech that went on for ages about how his life is sooo so so so hard. sky ship was a complete and utter bust. beau and caleb were a complete and utter bust. keyleth was obviously a complete and utter bust and then some. fcg was just stuck in a goddamn automaton for half the thing. destroying power cores maybe caused the key to malfunction, we'll find out, but they certainly didn't feel particularly influential in the final climax. nobody in the party even had an opportunity to do anything during initiative with the backpack having an AC of fucking 25 (when bh is only level 8!!!). laudna and ashton weren't even there, which obviously couldn't have been predicted or controlled, but it didn't feel good

i can appreciate and understand the idea of having it be very clear that this effort was actually futile from the beginning, because ludinus is unbelievably powerful and otohan beat their asses already and this was a plan centuries in the making and the manpower was there and the group is low-level etc etc. maybe this was always meant to happen, maybe the rest of the campaign as matt planned hinges on the majority of ludinus' plan succeeding, which is FINE. but i don't think i was alone in thinking that there was a non-negligible amount of hope going into this ep that something amazing might happen, esp with beau caleb and keyleth all explicitly involved. and it was all, very very unceremoniously, crushed piece by piece and all ludinus had to do was raise a fuckin pinky. you know what i mean? it just felt too easy for him. after watching bells hells painstakingly plan and desperately recruit help for two straight eps, i just sat here and watched ludinus shit and spit on all of that within seconds? felt bad. i think if there was more of an encounter, more of a fighting chance, then it wouldn't have made me as a viewer feel stupid for thinking something might actually fuckin work

i think it could be argued that the otohan fight in bassuras was similar in its feeling of futility, but like. it wasn't??? bc they were fighting her, they were doing damage, they were using up her spells and her legendary actions/resistances, and there was decision-making involved esp on laura's part. there was good rp and there was tension and risky choices, and the players were driving the ship. here it was like every single thing they threw at it didn't even make it in the door. the whole thing was over in one round

speaking of one round, i really actually quite unironically hated the 5 full minutes during which matt rolled 200 damage or whatever against keyleth. obviously because i love her, but also because it was the quintessential moment in the ep of making me sit here and go "what is the fucking point." one of the most powerful people on the entire planet, down before she can even think to do anything about it. and then vax shows up in this triumphant moment of divine victory just to get totally fucked. BY IMOGEN'S MOM, NO LESS. and NEITHER of them got a turn in initiative. bc ludinus is sooo smart and sooo powerful and sooo wise and sooo evil. vom

so anyway. i don't think i'm nearly as mad as this post makes me sound, but i am definitely having trouble finding parts about the latter half of this ep that i particularly enjoyed, at least in hindsight. like in the moment vax's appearance was Amazing. Legendary. but the fact that all it did was play into ludinus' hand made it feel lowkey like shit. so idk!

sorry this post turned into me saying mean things. i was trying to keep an open mind during my liveblog but i was quite frustrated at certain points lmao idk i'll keep thinking on it and you'll prob see posts from me if i change my mind about things

[you-poopin]

Not Broken- An Ace-Spec Keyleth Character Study

Here is that Ace Keyleth fic I promised! I hope you enjoy! I'd love to hear your thoughts! No cut to AO3, the rest of the fic in it's entirety is under the Read More. Happy Pride!

____________

She had always been different. That was clear in so many ways, but the one that mattered most when she was a teenaged girl was the whole dating thing. 

She understood it. She knew why the others her age went looking for someone to hold and kiss, and some part of her wanted it too, but she didn't know how. She wanted it, but she also didn't, and she couldn't make sense of that herself, let alone ask someone else to try and decipher it with her, so she didn't. She didn't have time anyway. She had her Aramente to worry about, travels to make. So she didn't. 

And then she met the people who would become her chosen family. And there she had her first ever vague attraction to someone. Sure, she had known different people to be attractive or pretty or handsome, but this wasn't like being told by someone that he was supposed to be attractive. It was confusing and new and all consuming for a time, just like him. 

He was all blue eyes and glasses and mystery. He was funny and quick-witted. He was smart. He was a little scary. He needed a hug. And he was kind to her. And that's what she got hung up on- his kindness to her and the way his beautiful eyes told so much but kept so much a secret. She was a gangly mess, naive and clumsy. People hadn't always been kind. But he was. 

But she wasn't stupid. She saw the way Pike’s cheeks dusted a light pink when he sent any praise her way. She saw the way Vex looked at him, like he was incredible (and he was). And so, she just stopped. She stopped feeling anything but brotherly love towards him. It was easy. It was just a decision she made, just to be his friend and nothing else. And she was happy.

But then there there was Vax, all dark and mysterious in his own right, who loved his sister so much his heart was on his sleeve, whether he knew it or not. Who looked at her with so much kindness, who spoke to her gently. And that's what did her in again, the kindness. 

But she didn't know what to do with it. He was all sharp edges. He flirted with everyone. So she couldn't be special. 

But then, then out of nowhere he had told her he was in love with her. 

How had he fallen in love with her? What had she possibly done to earn that? And the idea made her cheeks burn, but it wasn't the time. She thought he was handsome and kind, he was lovely. But she couldn't possibly understand how he had fallen in love with her without her knowing, without them doing any of the things people who were in love did. And it was bad timing. And she told him so. 

But then there was time. When lingering glances and conversations became light kisses on her cheek, when she reached for his hand, when there were tiny braids twisted into her hair. When she realized she fell in love right back. Cheek kisses turned into proper kisses. A hand on her lower back. A secret shared smile. It made her warm inside, it made her glow. Someone loved her. 

And she loved him too, but the words were hard to say for a while. And he never pressured her to say it back. But when her brain had wrapped itself around the idea of loving him, and she had told him, she wanted to remember that look on his face for the rest of her life. Someone loved her, and she loved him too. 

She knew what people who were in love were supposed to do. She knew how it was supposed to work in theory. But it made no sense to her. The why's and the how's she understood from a purely academic standpoint, but she couldn't understand it realistically. She never thought about it. She never looked at Vax and thought about it. And that was what made her different, and she knew it. 

And when his hand, accidentally or not, gently brushed the inside of her thigh and she jumped away, it wasn't because she didn't trust him. It wasn't because anyone had hurt her in the past. It was truly because her body didn't want that or need that. And it scared her. Because she was supposed to, wasn't she? She was supposed to want it. Was she actually broken? Probably. 

Scanlan really enjoyed running off and doing things with people that he didn't even necessarily care about, and it was so hard for Keyleth to understand as to why anyone would want that. 

But Vax didn't push her, he didn't pressure her. Even though she knew he thought about it, kind of hoped for it, he didn't make her feel like she had to do anything she wasn't ready for. He gave her time. She needed time. 

And when one day, his hand dipped under her dress, up towards her stomach, and he froze, watching her for the go ahead or the knock it off, it was all the time he gave her that made her able to nod with a shy smile. She wanted him to touch her. But like this. This was as intimate as she needed, as she wanted. Maybe it'd be more someday, but for right now this was fine. 

"You're beautiful," he had whispered, as if she were the most beautiful, incredible thing in the world. As if he had seen more of her than she was willing to show at the moment. It made her feel tingly from her head to her feet, just his hand on her stomach under her clothes. He didn't view her as different or broken. He thought she was special. He always thought she was special. 

And eventually, it was more than that. She had worked up to it, they had worked up to it. It was slow and he was so, so patient, so gentle. He asked her constantly if she was alright, assured her that they could stop whenever she wanted in that soft, gentle voice he reserved for her and her alone. 

Honestly, there was no interest there. What they were doing, truly, meant very little to her. Her body reacted the way it was designed, but her brain cared more about his kind words, his gentleness. It was him- his sharp wit and his soft eyes and his genuine interest in what she thought, what she felt- that she craved. This, this physical bit, she could take it or leave it. She didn't mind it. She was willing to do it, but not for her. For him. And not because she was pressured, but because she wanted him to be happy too. She would be happy without it. But his brain wasn't different like hers. 

She didn't hate it. She wasn't scared. It was just… something to do. But nothing she thought about on her own. And thinking about it too much gave her a headache. 

And when she had burst into tears due to her confusion over herself and her body and her heart in the middle of everything and he had fussed over her, worried he'd hurt her, it was hard to explain that her brain was broken and sex wasn't something she really thought about and she was so sorry, she wasn't expecting a gentle hand to brush away tears, to cup her cheek. She was expecting to be told off, to be asked to leave, for him to never touch her again. 

She wasn't expecting him to seemingly understand that she didn't fully understand her thoughts and feelings. She wasn't expecting him to assure her it was alright. That he loved her for who she was, he loved her honesty, he loved how much she trusted him to tell him, he loved her so much. She wasn't expecting to be told that he was fine with that, that her brain wasn't broken, and he would happily live the rest of his life without touching her like that again. And he would be happy anyways, because he would be with her. 

She stumbled over her words again trying to explain that she didn't mind it. She would do it. She wasn't afraid, she just didn't think of him like that very often. But she was willing. Physically, despite not understanding the appeal at face value, she had to admit it did… feel nice. She liked that part. She would do it again. Her cheeks were red and she felt shy.

He laughed at that, kissing her gently. "Only if you really want to, KiKi, okay? You are always allowed to tell me no, and you never have to give a reason." 

And then there was more snuggles, more hugs, more handholding, more soft touches and kisses- the kind of affection she wholeheartedly loved to give and receive. And he was happy. Because she was happy. And she loved him. She loved him so much. 

And sometimes, his hand would drift somewhere and she'd push it away, sometimes they would be kissing and it would get too much for her and she'd ask him to stop. And he never seemed offended or hurt. He always listened. He always respected her boundaries even if they changed from day to day or hour to hour. 

But sometimes, she'd nod at him. Sometimes she'd tell him that it was alright, that he could keep going. Sometimes, after doing it enough times when she had learned what she was supposed to do, sometimes she'd pull him close for a kiss that was too hard to just be a kiss. Sometimes, she would roll over on top of him and watch his face change and laugh. Because sometimes, she wanted to do all that too. Because she loved him. And sometimes, now that she was comfortable and felt so safe with him, with herself, she enjoyed it, for herself. 

But no matter what happened, no matter how they touched or if they did at all, Vax always looked at her like she was the most wonderful thing. Always told her she was beautiful. Always treated her with so much love and respect. He loved her so much that she didn't feel broken anymore. Different, sure. But different was not broken.

A sleepy kiss to a freckled shoulder meant just as much to him as it did to her. Because intimacy could take on so many different forms. And just being together was the most important part. 

[missizzy]

Fic: Hold Me in the Darkness(Critical Role, Vaxleth)

It's Keyleth who falls asleep first, this final time. Vax won't sleep yet. He wants just a little more time, just a few minutes, at least, a last chance to memorize her face when it's at peace. He knows it won't be again while he's still alive.

Will I remember her? he silently asks the Raven Queen. Will I remember Vex? Will I remember any of them?

It frightened him, her realm, in a way it hadn't before that day. It's not even how dark and cold and lonely it was; he could face all that. It's that this time, he felt the effect it had on him. His heart feels colder now, and he's been fighting a feeling of distance from events since he got back. And that's just from a few hours.

When he next meets with Vex after this battle, it will, hopefully, have been a century and a half. When he nexts meets with Keyleth, it ought to be well over a thousand years. Even if he does remember their names, does remember all his friends, what use will that be, if he can feel nothing for them by the time they die?

Looking at Keyleth now, Vax still feels so much. And it's hard for him to imagine beholding her and not being overcome with love and adoration. He's letting it flow through him now, trying to commit the feelings to memory.

There are so many people he could do this for. He conjures mental images of them instead. It is easiest for those who sleep here with them in the Feywild; he can even hear Grog's faint snores when he remembers nights on the road, all of them huddled together for warmth. He thinks of Shaun, and Allura and Kima, wishes them strength to get through the hour this will be for them. Of Tary, probably now begun his journey back to Wildemount.

Of Korrin, and of all the friends he's made this year in in Zepyrah, whom he cheerfully said goodbye to only a few weeks ago, none of them knowing he'd never see them again. That's a whole new pain to lance through him, another thing he still can't imagine being indifferent to-but he knows what's to come could make it so.

Ironically, it's words from Ellaila, now happily married and living her own life, but making sure to drop in on Keyleth now and then, that hang in his head, "You strike me as a happiness an Ashari leader isn't supposed to get to have." She went on to say how happy she was to see Keyleth have it anyway, had no reason to think she might lose it.

Nor, in all probably, has she ever had any idea of how her old friend once felt about her. That's one of the many things about Keyleth only Vax knows.

One of the many things where soon, there'll be noone to know them.

It's not even just himself he's worried about when it comes to the future preservation of a heart and a soul. Even when he hoped to live a full life out with Keyleth, he feared what would happen to her, she who loved so much and so deeply, when she started losing all the people she loved, and he hopes she will love others, but then she'll lose them, too. How much pain can a heart take, before even the softest one has to grow hard?

How much will losing him now speed up that process? Vax actually doesn't think it will immediately, but he knows she'll feel this loss for years, maybe even decades. He fears in a century and a half's time, when his sister dies, it'll cause it to spring anew for her, all over again.

He supposes he might not remain in total ignorance of how everyone will fare. The Raven Queen has now had the chance to import a bit more information to him of what his future duties will be as her champion, and it will on occasion involve him in the affairs of this world; he might even come back into it for brief moments, at her bidding.

And even when he wouldn't, and she might even keep him from his friends, she herself certainly keeps track of what's going on. She's been doing so for the lot of them since she first found them in the tomb of her previous champion-and now she'll have to keep doing so, thanks to the understanding the two of them came to, in these last few hours he's been dead again.

She's certainly not the only one at the moment, either. The gods are seemingly all communicating with each other about these people who have come to receive their favor. There even seems to be some gossiping going on, and between gods Vax certainly wouldn't expect it from. At least enough so that the Matron has now passed on to him what Pelor sensed inside his sister when she plunged into his holy fire.

Vax doesn't think she knows yet. He doubts it was planned. Hells, it's all too possible she'll find out from a miscarriage; the battlefield is no place for a woman who wants to keep her baby. Though she hasn't suffered one so far, even when she was briefly dead, and that gives him hope she'll get through the rest of this without it happening.

Of course, even if she does, she and Percy will still inevitably have children. De Rolos must have their heirs, and Vax knows Vex wants children, too. Nieces and nephews he won't get any time with, who will know him only from their mother's stories. To some extent, the thought that he'll miss meeting the first of them by so little taunts him. But it would've been worse for him to not know. It's still a consolation he can hold on to, one more person who'll see to it that his sister won't be at all alone.

That is a comfort, he thinks, to know those he love won't be alone. He wishes, more than ever, that Vex and Percy had only waited long enough to have him at their wedding, but at least he knows now they have each other for good. He's also more glad than ever Scanlan is now back with them, and indicating that at the very least, he won't cut himself off completely again any time soon. Pike and Grog, too, will remain in their circle, and Vax very much hopes they haven't seen the last of Tary, either.

But even there, he can't be as consoled when it comes to Keyleth. She'll be less supported at home, with only an aging father left to love her, burdened with responsibilities that will leave her with only so much time to be where her other friends are.

I need to keep helping her. The realization wraps himself around him like his armor, a thing he absolutely must do, no two ways about it, period. A simple fact, unshaken even by the additional fact that he has no idea how to do it. Instead, that just further fuels a feeling of determination, not necessarily stronger than those he's felt before, but it settles down deeper within him, an eternal commitment of the kind the living aren't ever in position to make.

And the mistress he'll be going to serve soon can thinks what she wants about it. He's accepted her demand, yes, and that by itself is just fine. But she knows he ultimately did all of it for people other than himself, and she ought to realize what that means. And this new feeling, he instinctively knows, she and her realm can never destroy. Maybe he can even preserve more of himself within it than he'd keep otherwise. Bury it all down, maybe not hidden, exactly, but kept out of sight and mind, until it comes time to act on it.

Keyleth sighs in her sleep, and shifts over; her head was already more facing him than not, but now her arms fall over him. She now has bourn his cold touch without flinching while awake, but even with her asleep, Vax still tenses up when one of her hands finds the bare skin of his, still expecting it to shy away.

There's just enough light filtering in for some of her freckles are still visible. Vax spent the year he had with her trying to memorize them. He never quite managed it for them in their entirety, but those on her face he can see with his eyes closed. He wants so badly to touch, that would wake her for sure.

So instead, he keeps watching. He's so close, he can see her throat rising and falling as she breathes. Everything around her is warmth. Vax has, in the past, joked to himself-and to her, once-that she might radiate just a little sunlight even when she isn't casting any spells. Now, he thinks he could be brought to believe it, if he only had a little more time.

Even while she continues to sleep, Keyleth's arms continue to move. One of her hands finds his back; Vax can feel a little extra warmth against his armor. He thinks that her fingers are pressing pretty hard against him, even as he can see her other hand sprawled out by his head, fully relaxed, but maybe inching toward him as well. She hasn't tried to cling to him too much while awake, but maybe right now she can't help herself.

Cling, my fierce, beautiful Kiki, Vax mentally says to her. Cling until you rip away a part of me; it should be so easy to do so. Keep it safe for me until we meet again.

If he lasts long enough tomorrow, maybe she'll pull it off.

He's just telling himself he does need to sleep, and closing his eyes, when he hears a strange caw, from somewhere maybe not too far off, although who knows in this realm. It's probably not a raven; the birds are different here. But it kind of sounds like one.

For a moment he thinks he should resent that. But when he doesn't, he's not going to force the feeling. The Raven Queen is with him anyway, has always been this past year. He had even found himself spotting ravens in Zepyrah, at least every few days, and often thought they were looking at him. That's not even been something he's never been glad for.

And in another moment, he's glad for it again. Because as he closes his eyes at last and settles into his beloved's embrace, the beginning of an idea starts to form in his head.

[loquaciousquark]

4-Sided Dive Highlights - Critical Role C3 up to E38 (Nov. 1, 2022)

Good afternoon, all! It's rainy and lovely here and this accursed week is finally over, so let's join Marisha, Sam, Matt, and Taliesin on this week's episode. Matt wins host & intros us from a Laudna-dark-dimension-themed spiel. "Taliesin Jaffe's current character, Ashton, got to argue with Taliesin Jaffe's old character, Percy, giving form to the internal strife between our old egos and the audacity of the now." Omar arrives to be held in the last segment and he remains adorable.

What the Fuck is Up With That? Matt got to be most of VM except for Scanlan, Grog, and Vax. Sam: "Percy is a dick!" Matt says him being in charge of the only source of residuum in the world and watching his weapons stretch across the world has stressed him out. Taliesin was very impressed with Matt's portrayal of both Percy and Delilah and agrees that with Delilah present and Percy as paranoid as he is, it all felt true to form. Matt says with all his trauma Percy would have let Laudna "go" (I think he means "stay dead" in this context). Sam: "Whitestone is a paranoid place."

Matt knew when Orym & Laudna were created that he might have to play C1 characters. He was nervous about it and hoped it wouldn't happen, but as the story leaned that way he knew he'd need to be ready. When they ended the episode going through the Sun Tree, Matt emailed Taliesin and asked him about where Percy would be in the world, his relationship with Keyleth & Whitestone, etc. All the players agreed they did NOT want to play their old characters alongside their new ones: "That would have been SO confusing." Matt knew they were excited about the mystery as well.

Keyleth and Percy are okay. She was distracted and had places to be. "When you're friends for a long time, you can agree a lot of the time and occasionally not agree." Sam: "Are they having an affair?" Everyone else, repulsed: "No!" Marisha: "They wouldn't be having an affair. Vex would be totally in on it, let's be real." Tal: That's true, yeah. She would instigate it, to be honest."

Matt wanted Keyleth to stick around longer, but it was juggling too many characters. Sam says the longer she's onscreen, the higher the likelihood she turns into a fish and dies.

Matt wanted the old characters to be able to help, but wants the new ones to understand they are still small fries & need to find their own solutions.

As son as Vex realized the connection, she was eager to help. Tal likes that Laudna never put it together who Vex was; it makes it almost more cruel.

Percy is very close to Gwendolyn because he sees a lot of his bad qualities in her and is trying to guide them in a better direction.

The Matilda/Laudna confabulation was Matt showing Delilah was having a hard time keeping the illusions together.

She was born Matilda Bradbury and changed her name to Laudna after dying and living alone in the woods for a long time. She was losing touch with who she was. She doesn't hate the name Matilda, but had just become something else.

All three of Marisha's characters have Timeless Body by complete accident. Sam: "Seems like a cry for help." Marisha, aggrieved: "It's really hard being a woman in Hollywood, slowly aging! Let me have this!"

Sam loved the moving buildings. Marisha thought it was crazy seeing them experience her backstory without her being there.

Marisha had a small living room set up in the area where she was watching offscreen. Dani tells us everyone at the table at the end were the same people who were either taken by the Iron Shepherds or who passed away. Fascinating! Scripted!!!!

Sam talks about having never died and left the table as a player. Scanlan was only dead very briefly, and Tary came on right away after Scanlan left the party.

If FCG dies, they'll just put him in neutral and roll him down a hill until he kickstarts again.

The creature Matt created was the Shade of Delilah Briarwood and she was a creature rather than a full PC/NPC.

When Pike said there was a chance Delilah was gone forever, Matt rolled behind the screen and knows himself whether she is dead forever. He refuses to say to preserve the mystery. Tal suggests throwing Laudna in an acid pit to be sure.

Travis is the worst at trying to catch Matt off-guard in revealing secrets. Matt has deliberately "woven an aura of confusion" around what he's told Travis and others to keep from revealing too much.

Pate is a reflavored imp from the Pact of the Chain warlock ability.

If you had to do a one-man show of a piece of media, what would it be? Sam: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. He doesn't love the movie, but he's seen it so many times; Sam reveals he worked on a cruise ship when he was a teenager (!) and saw the same eight movies a thousand times. Bill & Ted, Memphis Belle, Adventures in Babysitting, Glengarry Glen Ross...incredible! Taliesin: SpaceCamp or Young Frankenstein. Marisha: Popeye movie.

Tower of Inquiry! Where did your character's names come from? We've had this question before, huh. "Matilda" came from a rabbit hole in Marisha's research, where she read about young girls who made silk flowers in the late 1800s in factories. They used a popular bright green paint (apparently a difficult color to manufacture) called Scheele's green which turned out to have arsenic in it, and one of the girls who died was called Matilda. FCG's name did in fact come from the article about how freshly cut grass screams. Ashton came from one of Taliesin's friend's names. Greymoore came from Tal's love of Dickensian slightly off-kilter names: Cratchet, Bumble, Greymoore.

Sam & Tal had a 2:1 with Matt prior to the first session, and Tal liked seeing Sam find the voice for FCG. Matt wondered if he should say something to Laura when she came up with the same voice later, but decided not to.

The EXU crew & Travis didn't have 1:1s because they already knew their characters from EXU & C1.

Favorite RP moments so far? Sam loved the dream journey with Imogen & giving couples' advice to the Green Seekers. Taliesin: loves his moments with Laudna & messing with Percy. Matt thought it was so fun to have such a mutual disdain & respect. Marisha: breaking the rock on the airship & all of the one on one conversations with everyone giving advice afterwards.

The Deep Dive! Laudna's mind was an extended skill check. Anything that fit with a heroic moment applied. If Orym hadn't found the tunnel under the house, they would have had to keep going through the forest with more Laudna memories, which would have drained them.

Tal really loved every moment of the Percy interactions & thought Matt did an amazing job. He loves playing Percy & would do it again anytime, but playing against him was satisfying too. He would have kept going for twenty more minutes if he could.

Scanlan would be okay with Laudna: she's weird & he likes weird. "He has a weird kink, but I don't know about the dead thing... You know, I've spent so much time with Scanlan at this point, I'd like to think no, but if I'm being honest..." Scanlan is probably splitting his time between Whitestone & Marquet.

Marisha didn't put any stipulations on Matt in terms of the resurrection ritual: "Whatever happens happens." She was willing to accept it if it went wrong, and Matt reminds us it got real close. She didn't want him to pad rolls. "Natural one..."

Eshteross knew the end was coming for him eventually. He got his affairs in order early & knew BH would be best suited for airship travel in the short term.

Ashton has worked really hard not to think about his parents until the Hishari helm made him face it. "You would be a coward and an idiot to not start figuring it out." He's only consciously & deliberately touched another member of the group for the first time in this last episode because everything hurts.

FCG was shocked by the discovery that he has a soul because suddenly he has a responsibility to it. It's easy to take care of other people when that's your designated role, but when you're forced to take care of yourself too, that's way harder. That FCG dying would be a loss for the world is more pressure. "It's a hard thing for them to swallow especially since they can't digest things."

Block break! Thanks a lot, tumblr. This didn't used to be a thing!

Having her friends fight Delilah for her felt like having your friends take care of you when you're way too drunk: "I didn't want anybody to have to do that."

Tower of Inquiry, Redux: Moments of greatest character impact so far? FCG: the flapping wings of the night. Laudna: dying. Ashton: getting out of the contract & everything that came with it. FCG: getting hooked up with the Changebringer.

Describe two characters stuck in an elevator. Hazel Copperpot & Keyleth are trapped; Hazel refuses to allow the doors to open for 15 minutes while she gets an interview. Nott & Taryon: Nott would think he's very handsome & then become instantly annoyed. Percy & Molly would have a terrible first 30 minutes but then be good friends. Gilmore & Essek: Matt does a little one-man-show where they appreciate each other's styles & comment on Essek's floating.

Sam approaches the Jenga tower with "the energy of a three-year-old." It's truly terrifying. Matt does still have pictures of key rolls on his phone. FCG has a new feature called Shared Exuberance that lets him get a little boost on a friend's natural 20. Cute name!

Post-Break Shenanigans: Hand to Hand Wombat! Our post-break game is a one I've never heard of. Players build a small tower of blocks while covering their eyes. One player is a secret tower saboteur. It's a good thing these rounds are 90 seconds long because this is CHAOTIC. Taliesin is the saboteur and is hilariously obvious about it. Votes are split between Tal & Sam and they all answer three questions at the same time as each other???? Why would you do this to me!!

Laudna is excited and happy to be back & is feeling a bit like a fever dream that she doesn't believe is real.

No way Eshteross could have survived alone. The BH could have maybe helped, but it still would have been close. He was doomed.

Ashton has kept the pain to himself for a long time and didn't know how to share it. Having it reveal in game the way it did was nice.

DON'T AT ME IF ANY OF THESE ARE WRONG, I DID MY BEST.

Game one, round two: wicked wombat wins again! This time Taliesin is clearly identified and eliminated. Victory to the others.

FCG likes that he's gotten to see other people's trauma, but it's been traumatic. He needs to bond with Laudna but is sad it will be so straightforward: "It'll just be like a waiting room. It'll be chips and snacks..."

Game two: Matt is a hideous liar, good Lord. Hilariously, he still wins the game despite being correctly eliminated in the first round.

Delilah was manipulating the shades of Laudna's parents.

FCG likes the Changebringer a lot, but Sam wonders if FCG needs something with more clarity and direction, like Catholicism.

Game three, round one: they get worse as this game goes on with no towers built. Tal is eliminated; I think the saboteur was Sam?

Marisha picked Pact of the Chain solely because she wanted to bring Pate to life.

Sam: "We can't play this game. It's killing me. I haven't touched this many humans in so long." Matt: "Building calluses already?" Sam: "My hand can't take this kind of strain."

Game three, round two: one tower built, no eliminations. Matt is convinced it's Marisha but Sam insists it was Tal.

FINALLY, I WANTED THIS QUESTION HOURS AGO: The thought process behind casting Compulsion on Laudna! Sam: "It was not a very good thought process, though, as Laura instantly shamed me. She was like, 'You know her history and you would do that to Laudna?' and I was like, 'Oh fuck, she's right. That's so stupid!'" Ashton seriously thought about cutting FCG off in the moment but didn't. Sam was just looking for spells that would help physically bring the soul back, and all of his healing spells were worthless. He was trying to avoid using Persuasion since they all know Imogen would be trying that one, and the DC increases every time the same skill is used. Matt talks about other ways to creatively use certain strengths in rituals like this, like Intimidating someone to return, or using Strength to help wake them up.

Taliesin loved Percy's office & would spend as much time there as he could. He wanted to see the streetlamps at night.

Game three, round three. Matt: "I told you it's Marisha!" Sam, desperately: "It is Marisha!!" All pretense is abandoned as she destroys their carefully built towers piece by piece. She was by far the best liar of the bunch! Amazing.

And that's a wrap! Is it Thursday yet?

[pollencoveredman]

written in pain, written in awe

(cw: mentions of covid, mentions of ED)

“dennis?” mac whispers, craning his head around the half-open door of dennis’s hospital room. “den, you awake, man?”

dennis lifts his head from his pillow and rubs his eyes, yawning. “hey,” he mumbles as mac sits down next to his bed. the lights are off, but through the crack of light coming through the curtains, mac can tell how pale he is. “what… what are you doing here?”

“oh, i work here,” mac deadpans. “coming to see you, dumbass, what d’you think?”

dennis rolls his eyes and sits up, turning the light on next to him. he winces as the room turns bright white, shielding his eyes with a shaky hand. 

“you good?”

“yeah, yeah, just…” he trails off, blinking slowly. “christ, i feel awful.”

mac frowns. “yeah, you sound pretty rough. but at least you’re okay, right? i mean, when dee told me what happened, i was so scared, dude, she made it sound like you died.” he shakes his head, eyes wide as he takes a deep breath. “i’m just glad you’re alive.”

“yeah. guess so.”

“that sheep wool really got to you, huh?” mac jokes, smiling weakly. 

dennis feigns a laugh. he admits it’s a little funny, but he doesn’t want to be laughing at any of mac’s jokes right now. he doesn’t want to encourage him. he’s mad at him. he’s mad at him for not caring enough, for not dropping everything the minute he started showing symptoms of covid, for calling him an idiot for not getting vaxxed (though dennis admits, now, he wasn’t wrong). 

for not being there.

“hey, den, i’m sorry i was a dick before,” mac blurts out, as if he could read his mind. “i was all caught up in being a priest and stuff, i didn’t realise how sick you were and if i knew i totally would’ve come and helped out— i mean, not too much, ‘cause i got shit to do, y’know, and i don’t want all your germs, but—”

“quiet,” dennis groans, pulling the covers up to his nose. “head hurts. stop talking.”

mac blinks. “oh. sorry, man.” he does this a lot. he feels bad about something, tries to apologise, starts rambling, inevitably makes things worse. “i can go, if you want.”

“no, no, stay here,” dennis says hurriedly, voice suddenly thick with desperation. god, how hard is it for mac to understand? he needs him here. just like always. 

“okay, okay, calm down, dude. god.” he catches himself and quickly clasps his hands together, looking up to the ceiling. “sorry, father.”

“thanks for—” he breaks off into a coughing fit, doubling over as he clutches his chest. mac lays a hand on his shoulder, holding him firmly while he waits for it to subside. 

“oh, jesus,” dennis says breathlessly. “thanks for coming here, man.”

mac grimaces. “yeah, of course. that cough sounds nasty, dude,” he comments, his voice a mix of concern and disgust. “you need some water?”

“no, i’m good, it’s just…” he breathes in deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “just really painful. feels like i swallowed a foghorn.”

there’s an awkward silence, bar the sound of dennis’s laboured breathing, as mac runs his hand up and down his back. 

“you can stop touching me now,” dennis mumbles, sniffling. “don’t want you to catch my covid.”

“catch your covid? i don’t know if that’s grammatically correct, den.” mac laughs a little at the sight of dennis rolling his eyes and flopping back down into his bed. “besides, i’m not gonna catch it. i have the power of god on my side; he’ll protect me.”

“sure, asshole,” dennis sighs. “just don’t be an idiot.”

“says the guy who didn’t get vaccinated and then denied he had anything wrong with him until he nearly died.”

dennis groans weakly, triggering another cough and muffling it into his pillow.

“dude, cover your mouth; you’re gonna get all your germs everywhere.” mac chastises. “dee told me some other stuff that happened as well. but i’ll spare you the embarrassment for now.”

“she told you?” dennis says incredulously, sitting up a little too fast. he clutches his head as he feels the room start to spin, tears pricking at his eyes. “oh, fuck… oh, that goddamn bitch. that goddamn bitch.”

mac lays a hand on his knee, patting it awkwardly. “hey, c’mon, lay back down. you look awful, man.” 

dennis glares at him, but obliges anyway. he knows he looks awful. he knows he’s white as a sheet, he knows his hair’s sticking up in all the wrong places, he knows how red his eyes are. he doesn’t need to be told that, to feel even worse about the way he looks when he’s already feeling like this stupid hospital bed should just open up and swallow him whole. 

“den, have you, um… have you eaten today?” mac asks gently. he wants to cry when dennis shakes his head. he knows he shouldn’t be surprised; dennis never has an appetite most of the time, let alone when he’s sick, but he thinks this stupid irish hospital should at least know to keep a better eye on him. 

it’s not like they haven’t tried. they’ve brought him various plates of disgusting hospital food, telling him he needs to eat if he wants to get out of here soon, but dennis has cultivated a wide range of deceptions to get himself out of eating over the past thirty years. those goddamn fools that call themselves doctors should be able to tell, he thinks — not that he cares. 

“please try and eat something later,” he whispers. “you’ll feel so much better.”

dennis chews on his lip, avoiding eye contact.

“please, den. promise me, okay?”

“yeah. promise.”

mac smiles. he knows he probably won’t, but he’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. 

“i met this guy at the seminary,” he starts, wanting to keep things light. “he was gorgeous. he looked like an example photo at a barber shop. he was meant to, like, show me around and shit, but i was like, no way, ‘cause how the hell am i going to focus with a guy like that around?” he laughs giddily as he pictures him, but stops himself abruptly as he sees dennis’s eyes starting to close.

“den?”

he clicks his tongue fondly, standing up slowly as dennis falls asleep. he sets a gentle hand on his forehead, slowly moving down to his cheek, his neck, and shit, he’s so fucking warm. though, he supposes, a 105-degree fever doesn’t go down quickly. 

dennis stirs as he goes to leave, and he wonders if he woke him up, but he’s out cold. he’s always been a fairly restless sleeper, so him falling asleep this fast feels like an accomplishment to mac, even if it is a covid-induced nap. 

mac sanitises his hands as he walks to the door, of course, because even if god is protecting him from covid, it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially now that catholic is only fourth on his roster of important identities.

he flicks the light off, making the room eerily dark and quiet if not for the sound of dennis’s snoring. he smiles a little, and even in this state, he’s never been more enamoured with a guy. 

“feel better, den.”