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nellie-elizabeth · 1 year

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The Legend of Vox Machina: The Killbox (2x10)

Goddamn, this show is something special.

Cons:

I'm not sure the utility of Kaylie coming back to witness the Kill Box fight. It feels like the exact same effect could have been achieved if Kaylie and the rest of the band had turned up after Kevdak's defeat, saying they'd gotten word that the herd was no longer going to be a problem. Having her around doesn't add anything, other than just a hint that she's trying to stay close to Scanlan for some reason, but I think that could have been achieved after the Kevdak battle.

The only complaint I have about the Kill Box fight sequence is that I wanted even more of it, which seems selfish because it was pretty incredible! I think the one thing that would have elevated it even just slightly, would be a bit more combo action. We saw each individual of Vox Machina fucking shit up, per Grog's instructions, and then obviously the awesome Vex and Grog combo there at the end, but my favorite part of the fight sequences is watching how all the different fighting styles and magics support and enhance one another. This fight had a lot of impressive single character actions, and then a lot of characters shooting a bad guy to protect each other, like Vex shooting bad guys near Percy and vice versa, which I obviously love, but I could have used some more combo creativity. This is such a nitpick though, it's only remembering the stream, how the Kill Box episode was one long combat from start to finish, and how fucking insane it was... when it ended here I was still eagerly wanting more.

The "I'm daddy" cliffhanger joke with Scanlan doesn't quite work because earlier he says he's not opposed to being called daddy, and then he says "I'm daddy?!" all incredulously at the end. I feel like it should have been him saying that he'd call her daddy, and then at the end he'd be like "I'm daddy?!" I don't know, for some reason the joke didn't land, even though the leadup to it was incredible.

Pros:

What to even say? This was so fucking good.

It was smart to check in at Whitestone at the start of the episode, see Kima, Allura, Gilmore, Cass, and Yennen all together. To remind us that Vox Machina has allies, and a place to fall back on, something they're looking to protect. This scene was so great, seeing everyone's relief, learning about Whitestone's magical defenses, seeing Cass in her leadership role. And Gilmore and Vax were pretty adorable too! Allura helps them to check in on Pike, Scanlan, and Grog, and we see that things aren't going so great for them...

I want to start by saying that I really felt the weight and gravitas of Kevdak as an adversary in this episode. His sheer physical size and strength, during the initial one-on-one combat with Grog, was so intimidating and legitimately distressing to watch. Seeing Grog stabbed with the wooden spike had me gasping. It was just such a smart narrative move to have Grog weakened in all sorts of ways, then at the mercy of watching tiny little Pike under Kevdak's boot, for him to have his big cathartic "where does your strength come from" moment. Just a brilliant restructuring of the way Grog's development happens in the stream. He realizes that his friends make him strong, and he's able to rage his way back into his full physical prowess, free himself of his impaled state, and rush back into the fight with Kevdak.

I was just really getting the feels about Grog and all his friends, especially the way he yells "No! Leave 'em!" when he realizes the herd is going after Pike and Scanlan, and then he says "they're more than just friends." Buddy! This is a smart change from the stream, because instead of Vox Machina lying in wait ready to ambush, Grog did fully intend to take this fight on alone, and it's only when the herd makes the first dishonorable move by getting Pike, Scanlan, and Kaylie involved, that all bets are off and Grog calls in his friends. Soooo glad they kept "Vox Machina, fuck shit up!!!" in there, because what a fucking line from Travis, holy shit. All the praise for his improv in the stream, and his performance here.

And the combat... so many individual shots I could call out about the group combat, but I think I just wanna say that the shot of Percy with his glasses flashing white as an explosion goes off behind him due to one of Vex's arrows is... the coolest fucking shit I've ever seen. The song was amazing, everyone was a total bad-ass, Grog was really getting to show off his more strategic mindset, focusing in on the gauntlets as he allowed his friends to clear the periphery for him.

Seeing the Titan Stone Knuckles in action, Kevdak pulling his arm off, really reinforced how bad-ass he is as a villain, but also was an excellent way to show that our good guys are having a real impact, here. Things aren't going great for them, but things are also not going so great for the herd. And then we get the poke-ball moment, one of Grog's most epic natural 20s brought to stunning life as he falls through the sky and slams down into Kevdak, cutting his evil uncle in half. I was so hyped for this episode, and that moment really, really did not disappoint.

And while I said above I would have loved even more combo action during the combat, there were a couple moments we did get that I enjoyed. Keyleth growing the wall of vines and Vex setting it on fire, Pike in peril and Keyleth as Minxie jumping out of nowhere to protect her... I particularly loved the moment at the end where Vax catches Vex when she tumbles off the broom.

Grog, as rightful Thunderlord of the Herd of Storms, immediately passes the mantle to Zanror, which is a nice moment. This season really does allow us to check in with most of our characters' families, between Vex and Vax's father and meeting their half-sister, Keyleth seeing her dad in Pyrah, Pike and Wilhand, Grog and the herd, even Percy gets to check in on Cass a few times. Funny how Scanlan is the only one who doesn't check in with family.

Oh, wait.

As if all that amazing combat wasn't enough, we immediately follow it up with an incredible tavern scene, full of so much fun, giving us a chance to decompress without ever fully taking our foot off the gas. I loved that they got "at dawn we plan" in there, as that's such a funny joke from the stream, and exemplifies so much of what Critical Role (and D&D in general, I suppose) can be. Lots and lots of discussion, and then total chaos once it comes time to actually implement the idea.

Keyleth and Vex fill Pike in on their adventure in the Fey Realm, while Percy talks with Grog and Zanror about how to kill Umbrasyl. Scanlan is up on stage singing a truly filthy song about masturbation, and Kaylie joins in... Vax seems to be enjoying the performance, when yet another vision from the Matron of Ravens unsettles him. The moment when Keyleth tries to ask Vax to dance and gets rejected is so quietly tragic! Kiki, he loves you, just hang in there, girl! I just loved all the vibes of this scene, the joy, the catharsis of everyone being together and safe and with new hope of defeating their foe.

And then...

Listen, the scene with Kaylie at the end filled me with so much dread, but in the best way. When you know what's coming, every compliment from Scanlan, every lascivious glance, it just makes you cringe. What a cliffhanger for people who didn't know what was coming!

As a last note, I loved the little detail of Scanlan telling Kaylie a story as they enter the bedroom: "and then, I disguised us all as cows!" This is obviously referencing an event from the stream that didn't make it into the animated show, but I also like that Scanlan is telling the tale of Vox Machina here. I've been so impressed with the adaptation in this show of Scanlan as bard, as storyteller, as the one who will pass the legend on through the ages. That's a common theme with this show, where not only are the big important plot moments adapted so well, often in surprising and fresh ways, but I feel that thematically, the characters are getting a chance to grow and develop much like we saw in the stream, albeit with the pacing drastically tightened up, and certain meandering paths shortened or cut.

And now, onward to episode eleven! I'm so mad the season is already over, I want more!!!

9/10

#review #tlovm #tlovm review #the legend of vox machina #critical role

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merindab · 1 year

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youtube

IGN’s review of tlovm s2

#tlovm #tlovm s2 #tlovm review #ign #Youtube

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vaxxy-the-raven · 1 year

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(The Legend Of Vox Machina - Season 1 Episode 3 - The Feast Of Realms)

Episode Rating - 5 out of 5

"They were so cruel with this opening and I love it.

Am I a bit peeved over the family tree rewrite? A little, I admit.

Cassandra should be younger than the twins and we're missing both Vesper and Ludwig.

Also Percy being too depressed to appreciate Vex looking like that is not as funny as the memes about it are, but is it still pretty funny.

Keyleth being her usual Disney Princess self is lovely! But her reaction to Vax's greeting is annoying, he has food in his mouth Keyleth, what did you expect? Vax singing good morning? Come on, girl, give him a break lmao.

Then Grog ruining Vax's day before he even has breakfast is such a brother thing to do. A+ sibling representation there.

Then Allura!! The door!! Vax getting revenge!! Scanlan flirting with Pike!! This scene is so good, poor Percy trying to save face with an unimpressed Allura always cracks me up.

Then the dinner!

There's a slight animation error that has Vax looking a little depry when they first arrive, but the curtsey more than makes up for it - also, he looks so pretty!

("No thoughts, just pretty boy" is the biggest mood of the season.)

Also petition for Vax to have a ponytail in season 3 if we don't get the beads and braids. So much nicer than whatever he has going on normally.

Also everyone looks great here, Vex especially so. Hooo boy. Her and Percy having matching necklaces and chokers is so cute, I fucking love them.

Pike and her fancy shots, then her telling off the audience.

Scanlan flirting with Reginald. My new favourite otp.

The Briarwoods' entrance, tho.

Sylas walks like a man who knows he's the sexiest man alive and that his wife is the hottest woman alive. Love that for him.

Also Vax immediately wanting to help Percy? Asking what he needs? Offering to snoop?

Love him. Love him. Love him.

The safeword bit is funny, but it doesn't make sense without the earrings??? Like, what???

Then Scanlan failing that charisma check so bad was funny, Allura totally knew he was lying through his teeth.

The dinner scenes are a bit grating, but still kinda funny.

Vax and his stealth roll is beautiful, love that sneaky boy!

Then we get to see Simon! Yes!

I hope we see more Simon next season! I adore him!

Also the long shot on Vax's crotch while he picked that lock was so fucking rude. 10/10 thank you

Then the scene where Delilah has Sylas charm Uriel to stop him from drawing suspicion on the pair and Whitestone?

Sylas touching the sovereign and nobody stopping him?

I do think he should have said "You don't need to do that, Friend." rather than just "You don't need to do that.", but maybe that's just me?

Still hot though!

And only Keyleth seeing it? Does she realise what's happening or ???? Baby girl, what do your (Half) Elf eyes see? What do you know?

Also the tension when Delilah finally addresses Percy, everyone panicking - thankfully Vex is there, they'd be lost without her sometimes.

Syals saying "Charmed" like that, though, and right after charming Uriel? Perfect. Beautiful. Amazing.

The beads joke is a bit… eh.

When Delilah tells her little story in a passive aggressive attack on Percy? Percy's reaction?

Fuck me. That was good.

The Briarwoods feigning offence as they leave? They know.

I bet Delilah's things had some sort-of alarm spell on them.

There's another animation error in this scene - as the scene opens we see a servant giving Sylas dessert, but as the Briarwoods leave he has his dinner in front of him again.

(Not mad about this! Genuinely find it really funny.)

Then of course, Vax having his attention stolen by the fire - he had plenty of time, surely.

Then we see the Briarwoods' walking past the mirror to their room and Syals has no reflection while Delilah does? Finally confirming that Delilah wasn't a Vampire while Sylas is one? Because that did confuse people during the campaign. Love it.

And the confrontation! Vax panic-flirting! Then, foolishly, running into the couple instead of to the side and away???

That fucking staredown???

Percy telling the others about what happened to his family, the group rushing to help Vax.

Sylas caressing Vax's face and talking about him being curious while Delilah watches from the bed, the vibes suggesting so many different possibilities???

"You look delicious."????

The bite???? Ahhh????

The ensuing fight, Delilah's spell hitting Pike in the back and looking like when Pike hit her back off the wall in Episode 2???

Keyleth's clutch thorn wall???

No Mercy Percy? Poor Desmond? Scanlan coming out in the end and realising his party fucked up big time?

When I say this is my favourite episode of any show ever...

That being said, Vex'ahlia was robbed of two nat 20s in this fight! She should have hit Delilah!! Twice!!! Ahhhhhhhh-"

Vax Suffering Rating - 5 out of 5

"My boy is paralysed and then felt up by a (very sexy) Vampire?

He gets bitten by said Vampire?

He throws himself out a window?

He hits a flagpole during his fall and lands on concrete?

He gets torn up by Vampire claws after grabbing a broken shard of glass and cutting his hand trying to protect himself?

Then he nearly gets choked out?

Before being hard yeeted onto concrete again?

And he still looks so pretty?

Baby Boy, Baby Boy-"

(masterpost)

#can you tell that i like this episode?#tlovm spoilers #tlovm review #tlovm s1 e3 #the legend of vox machina #tlovm #lynias watches tlovm #stop being gay on main lynias

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aspiringsophrosyne · 10 months

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Episode 9: A Test of Pride.

Oh, don't you hate cliffhangers? Unless the movie's damn good enough to justify it, and those kinds are a rarity these days.

The Good.

This was another episode written by Sam and Travis, and it shows. Later I'll talk about the show's humor compared to the stream, but for now, I'll say that this one had some pretty good gags. The return of Boulder, Parchment, Shears, and Grog slamming Pike face-first into a barrel are peak Critical Role jokes.

You can catch an early nod to "When the Bald Man Cries" before Scanlan takes off; the beret on the dragonfly was a great little touch.

And hey, Cobalt Soul cameo!

I appreciate the Grog backstory. Especially since, in-game, Travis has been repeatedly reticent (at best) to explore his characters' pasts. Ironic, given that, so far, they've turned out pretty damn hype. The level of brutality is perfect; it shows just how little freedom, care, and love Grog would've gotten had he not spared Wilhand and been given away through him and Pike.

Also, I love the detail that Kevdak has one blind eye in the present day because Grog slashed it out in their backstory. Took me a re-watch or two to pick up on that.

I dig the focus on civilians. I like seeing how not everybody in this world is a mercenary or can defend themselves as the protagonists can. In the game, there would definitely be individual NPCs that got focus and love, but you couldn't do too much, or blood vessels in the DM's brain would eventually bust.

I love Kaylie's design; it's a cute pixie-ish look that doesn't conflict with her justifiable distrust and angry behavior and makes the family resemblance clear as crystal.

In terms of characterization, I appreciate that she and the troupe are trying to get help for the rest of the town; you get the impression Kaylie at least could sneak out on her own, but she's not doing that; she specifically charges Scanlan with the task of getting everyone out.

We got to see a little more from Zanror, too. Most of his portrayal was off-screen before the Kill Box fight in the original, so I liked seeing his and Grog's former closeness and Zanror's misgivings about Kevdak before that in these Herd-centric episodes.

The Bad. (Or at least, not great.)

I have something to say about Dranzel's troupe, but I think it fits better a couple episodes down the road. Keep them in mind for now.

Nitpick

I wouldn't have minded it if they'd made the flash back in the beginning of the episode a montage of different towns instead of just the one instance we saw. This would give us more info within the same amount of time, plus you can show multiple pillaged towns and Grog never encountering someone who was completely unprepared to fight back to any degree. Until he meets Wilhand.

This makes his change of heart make more sense and hit harder.

Pacing.

This is another episode with less-than-stellar pacing.

Grog and Pike's part of the story is handled well, but Scanlan and Kaylie's storyline should feel much less drawn out than it does. There's a cut back to those two, Dranzel's troupe, and the various townsfolk a couple of times; nothing really happens with them before Scanlan convinces Kaylie he can get them out before he reunites with Grog and Pike.

We can fix that.

There's a dragon in the neighborhood: have his presence shake the walls, have Scanlan peer outside only to see a long black tail slinking around the building, or have Umbrasyl's acid breath seep through the roof and down onto the people below, who cry out in fear and pain and then desperately try to stifle themselves so they don't draw his attention.

You can play up the suspense and uncertainty of the moment and make it feel like something catastrophic could happen at any time.

Pike's Mom?

I believe it was Sam who acknowledged during the watch party for this episode that there was some confusion over whether the gnomish woman we saw in the flashback was Pike or maybe her mother. This confusion was due to her hair being black, and her calling Wilhand her grandfather. Sam said that they didn't want Pike to say "great-great" every time she spoke of him, and that's reasonable.

Except...

If you've got a scene where a character looks markedly different than usual, to the point they can be mistaken for another character or a relative, you have to. If there was any scene where Pike needed to refer to her great-great-grandfather as such, it was here, so it would be clear that this woman was Pike.

Kevdak

We'll talk more about Ralph Ineson and how fucking intimidating he and the animators made Kevdak in the next episode...but I gotta say, he comes across as a little generic here compared to his stream counterpart. Kevdak's scary, sure, but not in any specific way. He feels scary the way any big, brutal dude would feel scary.

I like the idea of one of the folks Zanror was talking to about a rebellion getting impulsive, attacking Kevdak, and either getting mutilated (losing an ear, or maybe a finger) or being killed outright in turn. This tells us two things: the rest of the Herd is not and maybe has not been happy with Kevdak's leadership, but he is very good at putting down dissenters. It's a reminder of the Herd and its leader's specific brand of brutality.

In the same vein I would've liked to see them do more to tell us what Kevdak's motivations were. In the wrap-up for the first campaign, the DM revealed that, as had been hinted at during the stream, Kevdak had been biding his time until he would eventually try to take down Umbrasyl. By contrast, the audience doesn't even get hints about what Kevdak's deal is in the show. Is he genuinely cowed by Umbrasyl? Is he biding his time until he can rebel against him? Is that just what he's telling himself to avoid coming to terms with the fact that he's a dragon's servant? What's going on with him? Despite the show having multiple opportunities to clarify this for us, it doesn't.

That's it for this one folks. The last three episodes of the last season were nuts, and this one's no exception.

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crystal-lillies · 8 months

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Revenge pasta time babeyyyy

Percy, probably: look upon this garlicky pasta, Sylas, and despair

Prep wise, it didn't take too long. The red pepper flakes definitely give it a kick that I don't know if I'll add again, but it's not entirely unpleasant. Definitely add more ricotta cheese on the end step for balance of flavors and textures.

It was fun to make, but I will probably add, subtract, and/or change things next time I make it.

As it stands on its own, I would give the De Rolos Revenge Pasta a solid 8.5/10.

Not bad, Percy, not bad.

#flowerspeak #critical role #food #photo #photos #percy de rolo #percival fredrickstein von musel klossowski de rolo iii #mine #tlovm #the legend of Vox Machina #exquisite exandria #review i guess?

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niamhoftirnanog · 1 year

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I trawled through the Fandom Year in Review so that you don't have to: Critical Role Edition

Here is every mention of Critical Role and any associated topics across all categories.

Top 22 of 2022 - #4 Critical Role

Top 100 Ships - #35 Imodna. #68 Shadowgast

Top 100 TV Shows - #51 The Legend of Vox Machina

Top 50 Web Celebs - #6 Marisha Ray. #9 Laura Bailey. #10 Travis Willingham. #11 Sam Riegel. #12 Liam O'Brien. #13 Brennan Lee Mulligan. #15 Ashley Johnson. #17 Taliesin Jaffe. #18 Matt Mercer. #22 Aabria Iyengar. #23 Robbie Daymond. #30 Lou Wilson.

Top 50 Web Series - #1 Critical Role. #20 Exandria Unlimited.

#critical role #year in review 2022 #24% of top 50 web celebs are associated with cr. that's a lot #cr cast #exu #tlovm #exandria unlimited #the legend of vox machina

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spiderdreamer-blog · 1 year

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The Legend of Vox Machina: The Nature of Change

The Legend of Vox Machina is two-thirds of the way into its second season, with three episodes left in terms of the adaptation of this portion of the campaign’s Chroma Conclave arc. I think on balance, it’s been pretty great! The first season tackling the Briarwoods arc was excellent, but as with most first seasons, it took a bit to find its creative identity and how to approach the material. The Conclave arc is bigger, bolder, and wider in scope, and they’ve done a hell of a job upping the stakes as well as their production values, already very good to start with. Additionally, there have been even more changes made to the story and character choices than there were in the first season. This has caused a lot of debate, inevitably, and I don’t begrudge people for DISLIKING some or even most of them; for my part, I think they took a bit to figure out how to translate Scanlan’s crass humor when at the table, much of the edge is taken off by his cast members’ genuine laughter and assurance that it’s all in good fun. And I think there have been some odd friendships seemingly lost in translation like Vax and Grog’s prank war, or Percy bonding with Keyleth initially because he thinks she’s the only other adult in the group. But outside of my own minor personal gripes, I think there has been a broad failure here of a proper analytical framework for an animated series as opposed to a tabletop campaign, and I wanted to dig into that in my own long-winded way. Strap in.

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Where does one start a story? Good question. There are as many ways to begin weaving your tale as there are to end them. Once upon a time, long ago in a galaxy far far away, it was a dark and stormy night, and so on. The beginning is in many ways the most important part of your story because it’s setting the tone, the place, the time, and your characters. And much is dependent on genre too: if you’re, say, a romantic comedy, you might choose to begin with your protagonist at a low point in their personal relationships so that the conflict is immediately established.

Critical Role’s first campaign began in medias res, two years into the players and characters already knowing each other as respected adventurers and heroes of the realm. Thus, the audience was left at an initial disadvantage, and the cast created backstory videos to explain what the plot had been up to this point as well as the journeys of the characters. Thankfully, Matthew Mercer’s world of Exandria was fairly simple and standard in terms of its high fantasy leanings at first, and the initial streamed arc was a basic dungeon crawl as a quest given to them by NPC Allura Vysoren. By the time the adventures through the Underdark and Vasselheim were over, the story was ready to move into the far more personal and harrowing Briarwoods arc because we as an audience were now attached to those characters. Even so, much of this was dependent on the cast playing out those relationships in the theater of the mind, especially since Mercer’s minis and battle maps were far less elaborate at this point. We learned information as we went, and Mercer built the world to be far more robust as time went on, narrating descriptions of towns and cities to bolster that picture.

By contrast, animated series, like any other kind of film or TV, have many more tools at their disposal in order to help with these tasks even if there is a far shorter amount of time available because of how much time production takes and how expensive it is. Think about how Avatar: The Last Airbender begins with the refrain of “Water...earth...fire...air“. It then segues into Katara, one of our main and most important characters, explaining how those elements correspond to the four nations of her world, how “everything changed” when the Fire Nation decided to make war upon the others, the function and disappearance of the Avatar, and her belief that he will return some day. This is a lot of information and could have easily been dry exposition, but it gains our interest through the visuals of moving through the world map, the excellent music by Jeremy Zuckerman, and striking still images like the fearful closeup of Katara and Sokka in their village, as well as Mae Whitman’s heartfelt vocal performance. The effect is far more immediate. We know the danger of the current situation, we gain insight into Katara as a character (she has grown up in a terrible situation but not yet lost hope), and where our journey will go (the Avatar’s almost certainly going to show up again soon).

Thus, The Legend of Vox Machina opts for a different approach compared to the campaign or even other adaptations of pre-stream material like the Vox Machina Origins comics or novels like Kith & Kin: we’re still in medias res, but Vox Machina are not yet a cohesive unit of heroes that kings and arcanists call upon in their time of need, and they’ve been traveling together for a much shorter amount of time outside of pre-existing relationships like the twins or Pike and Grog. This is the largest and crucial change made in the adaptation, and key to understanding every other choice that comes out of it. Starting them off in a far more difficult position makes us more likely to root for them as the underdogs, such as when they’re laughed at in their introductory bar fight scene and then lick their wounds afterwards, wondering if they can change their luck. We see how their failure to save a village and children within it galvanizes them into vengeance and heroism in the Brimscythe encounter. This provides explicit proof that they can kick ass through the power of friendship and teamwork. Basic, but it gives everyone somewhere to grow from.

MECHANICS AND MEDIUM

Now, it is true that the Briarwoods arc did not have as many changes on a basic plot level. We still go from A to B to C in much the same manner; it helps a great deal that the Briarwoods arc itself was on the shorter side, and there was less to outright cut. But even here, there are myriad changes large and small, and much of them have to do with the filmmaking end of things. As an example: because the script cuts down much of the timescale, things happen more quickly and with juicier character interactions: Percy no longer has time to prepare for dinner with the Briarwoods to calmly disguise himself as Vax and avoid recognition, but instead has to sit and listen to them lie with his own face, finally able to stand it no longer. We are also able to gain more insight into the Briarwoods and some of their associates because we are no longer restricted to the party’s POV in all scenes. Delilah’s flashback to the deal she made with The Whispered One to save her beloved Sylas illuminates what was only hinted at in the campaign. Or take how Professor Anders, a fairly forgettable boss fight, becomes a genuine highlight through Stephen Root’s demented, sneering intellectual tones and showing us that he felt underappreciated by the De Rolos because they held his research back. Ripley too is boosted by actually helping the party with the acid trap, even if it’s only for her own survival, and escaping at a moment where it’s far more inconvenient for her to do so.

Yet despite these and other changes (I like in particular how Percy is in far more denial about Orthax’s hold over him and this adds considerably higher stakes to the fight with the demon), it’s still fairly compact as a story. The Conclave arc, meanwhile, has had far more drastic additions and subtractions to the plot. Because the original is so sprawling and epic, the party could afford to take their time and do the usual goofing off shenanigans in between fights. Not so here; time is of the essence, time the party increasingly seems to be running out of. And that seems to be the chief complaint rising up, that we’re rushing through things and not slowing down enough.

I do find a couple things funny with this statement. It’s always been a complaint of both fans and haters that the cast goofs off even when things are serious and does side trips. And of course there’s the infamous planning sessions where they can often argue in circles before finally deciding on a course of action. But this is a function of the tabletop stream medium; unless Matt decides to literally drop a dragon on them, he can let them take as much time as he wants.

The series, however, gains as much as it loses by cutting most of this down and switching things around. For one, the danger IS more immediate; losing allies like Kamaljiori as soon as they gain him ups the tension dramatically and keeps the threat ever-present, which is useful if you don’t want people to get bored in an action-adventure series. Or Grog, Pike, and Scanlan getting sent to Westruun in a botched plane shift spell adds intrigue to that; can Grog get his strength back in time? Additionally, the visuals, music, and performances can substitute for everyone narrating out every action. Sam Riegel dials down considerably as Scanlan and offers more sincerity to where we know his arc is headed. Vax’s connection with the Raven Queen is an outright horror movie at the moment with his flashes of images he doesn’t wholly understand, as well as hinting at his eventual fate. Or we can now truly see the guilt and shame on a young Grog’s face as he regards Wilhand, begging for life in Henry Winkler’s quavering, sympathetic voice. Parts that could feel a little weaker dramatically because Matt is not ultimately out to “win” the game and most heroic-aligned NPCs need to be at least a little accommodating no longer have that restriction; Troy Baker can bring the full force of Syldor’s personality to bear and make him a tougher challenge, such as dismissing Percy’s attempt to bolster Vex with his title and fueling her defense of herself and her friends.

(Sidenote: I’m very curious to see how the Mighty Nein series translates Yeza, who I felt and still feel is Matt’s most jarring example of this tendency)

Hell, what about the Conclave themselves? Even outside the casting of heavyweights like Lance Reddick and Cree Summer as Thordak and Raishan, we can now gain more insight into their motives and just how scary they are. An exchange between Umbrasyl and Kevdak has the danger of two politicians jockeying for position, and almost makes us feel sympathetic for the latter...almost. Ripley teaming up with Umbrasyl is another boost for a character who was great but appeared infrequently; by keeping her and Kelly Hu’s hot-but-evil purr around, we’re keeping her fresh and active.

THE FEMALE CHARACTER PROBLEM

This is where things get a little bit...trickier. Both Dungeons and Dragons and tabletop gaming at large have long-time problems of sexism, homophobia, racism, you name it; many a horror story has been told of gatekeeping assholes. And the reception to Critical Role was sadly no exception despite their evolving efforts to be an inclusive company and brand. Marisha Ray got the worst of it for sure in terms of her portrayal of Keyleth, being both a novice to D&D and streaming as well as Matt’s girlfriend, later fiancee and wife. But Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson have had their fair share of mistreatment too: Vex was called a greedy bitch on the regular, Jester confounded everyone by rarely suffering serious consequences for her prankish actions (whatever the hell that means), and to this day Johnson is seen as the worst player at the table mechanically by rules lawyers because she commits cardinal sins like not remembering all her class abilities (in case you can’t tell, add a heavy sarcasm font to that). In response to this harassment, both Critical Role and the community made it increasingly clear these assholes weren’t welcome and they thankfully, slowly bled out of influence.

However, I must confess that it feels like we haven’t really left that sort of...defensive paternalism, for lack of a better phrase. Instead of treating the female cast members like adults, which they are, and fellow participants in the company and story, there is this odd parasocial insistence that anything they do that the audience doesn’t like is somehow forced upon them by the male cast members. To be blunt: we don’t have evidence this is the case. And while it would be folly to say that the CR team can do no wrong or have no biases because they are a majority cishet white group, their apparent sincere commitment to inclusive practices leaves me doubting that anything especially pernicious is going on.

What’s basically come to a head recently with The Legend of Vox Machina are complaints that they’ve either made the women characters too mean OR too nice. This hasn’t really come up with Pike (who I think is a much stronger character because Ashley has a much clearer thesis upfront and isn’t absent for huge chunks of the narrative), but I’ve seen both applied to Keyleth and Vex. Keyleth, I think, is a case of Marisha wanting to not exactly sand off her edges, but correcting what she saw as missteps because she the player didn’t know what she was doing. She’s less self-righteous about things like religion or that they shouldn’t make deals with groups like the Clasp because those conflicts have been substituted for putting more emphasis on her reckoning with the “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown” principle. I do miss that a little, but also, I think people are often reading more into those instances than what was actually there in terms of substance.

Vex is admittedly a difficult character to translate because in the campaign, so much of her arc is internal and subtle; she changes very slowly compared to Keyleth going from “nervous wreck” to “confident leader”. You can’t really do this in an animated series. Long-term character arcs are certainly POSSIBLE, but they genuinely require being communicated through clear shifts in visuals, writing, and performance. Thus Vex’s problems in particular have to be more blatantly shown: her stinginess causes problems with Zahra before they reconcile, she connects with Percy quicker because of shared experience, and she folds in on herself far more when talking with Syldor compared to Vax because she still wants a relationship and her brother has long given up on this.

And here’s where we get to the complaint I still find the most inexplicable because it seems to describe a totally different character than the one that exists onscreen: that making changes like this or Vax being present for Vex’s rescue of Trinket when he originally had no idea how she found him somehow makes her arc “all about men” and “not about herself”. I feel like this is an overcorrection from earlier feminist schools of criticism that women characters are all too often accessories to men and not their own full characters. Which I do still agree is v. bad, but also, saying that women can or should never have meaningful relationships with men because of our patriarchal systems of society...well, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. More to the point, it ignores that Laura had and has meaningful input into these relationships in the game as well as other campaigns: in addition to focusing much of her C1 roleplay on Percy, Syldor, Vax, and even Scanlan, Jester directly pursued Fjord because Laura wanted to try and romance her husband Travis Willingham in game and blatantly said this was her intent. It feels like people aren’t giving themselves permission to just...not like her choices because they don’t want to be lumped in with Those Assholes. And that’s a terrible way to treat yourself as a fan.

CONCLUSION

To sum it up: feel free to be a hater! You don’t have to suddenly like the show and the changes it makes because some random rambling asshole like me says so. But I think it is far more useful to look at what actually exists on the screen than making up an idealized version in your head of “this is how it’s supposed to go!” You’ll be happier, I’ll be happier, and we can enjoy things. Or don’t. It’s your choice.

#tlovm #tlovm spoilers #critical role #cr spoilers #media analysis #reviews

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nerdygirlreviews · 1 year

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And just like that, season 2 of The Legend of Vox Machina is behind us! But not entirely, as I was joined recently by my lovely friend @robb-stark to talk about everything that happened this season, and we just had the best time chatting about all the things, including but not limited to our beloved Vax'ildan, our favorite episodes, and the moments that stood out to us the most.

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foldybikes · 1 year

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first three episodes down, was fun but having some mixed feelings compared with tlovm season one so far. unsure if I like the memes and scanlan's joke about purvon, bit meh. memes always date a work, especially with the speed we're cycling through them nowadays. they're having to set up a lot of background stuff very quickly and it doesn't always work seamlessly. I enjoy the gravitas of the earthbreaker groon fight more in the actual play campaign, I'm hoping scanlan's arcane magic moves beyond just bigby's hand and shows his full impressive range (bards are insane), and victor hits different without the atmosphere of the table (though I can't fault the acting or writing for that, the character was fine, I just love table victor vs percy).

that said, I do like how pike gets a good amount of screen time and characterization, how they wove in the twins' backstory and the deserved recognition liam's dramatic 'don't go far from me' line gets. and the dragon attack was suberb, what a treat to have that visualized! seeing emon burned to cinders and the show not shying away from gore was very neat. Lance is so good as thordak and I'm excited to see more of raishan. also enjoyed osysa's sharp and painful insights on the characters, especially scanlan, which you can view as a throw-away joke at the expense of the court jester, but really cuts to the heart of his issues. plus more overt focus on keyleth's motivations and fear is a better path than the campaign took sometimes. plus the whole show is just goddamn gorgeous, I love phil bourassa's sleek designs and the care and detail put into the vista's and cityscapes and divergence scenes.

anyway I like it and I'm excited! waiting to see how the rest of the episodes go, I'm sure they'll redeem some of the pacing doubts I have. can't wait to see certain fights and rp moments, and the opportunity a scripted and animated medium brings to those. can't wait for ep four!

#critical role #critical role spoilers #tlovm spoilers #the legend of vox machina #cr1 #vox machina #foldycr #giving this all the tags so people can filter and block spoilers #spoilers don't detract from the drama and quality of a story but they can reduce the impact #anyway this is just my nuanced take! I'm looking forward to reading more reviews of this season

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tentacle-stylograph · 11 months

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okay, cool. i think i figured out something. i really didn't care about the new Puss in Boots movie. almost the whole time i was like "so?"

even when the wolf guy showed up i was just like "who's this bitch?" (that got answered later but yeah i didn't care much about him for a while)

i just watched the first episode of Legend of Vox Machina and had the same blank reaction to it.

it's pretty much ALL "who're these bitches?"

it was especially flat that the main group, after a quarrel, asked, "why are we even together?" and i was thinking, yeah, okay, why ARE you together? but then that never got answered

so now i know why exposition is important and why just jumping into stuff doesn't always work lol.

(i do think the first episode would have been slightly better if the bar quarrel were cut altogether and it introduced them in front of the king instead. that's literally an introduction, and an interesting and fun one, with them a mess as the song plays. plus, it doesn't include the seemingly out of place, unanswered, "why are we even together")

#lovm #tlovm #puss in boots #writing #still sticking with it for at least two more episodes. the writing at the start of any show can be rough.#i'm just recording this because i'm like 'okay cool. possibly figured out one thing.'#ep's also weird 'cause the group's interactions seem to ping pong between 'they've known each other for a while' and #'they're not used to each other' in a seemingly contradictory way. i get you want to have a sense for what's unusual but #it could be done better.#review

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nellie-elizabeth · 1 year

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The Legend of Vox Machina: Into Rimecleft (2x06)

Eyyyyy we're splitting the party, this should be good.

Cons:

Okay. So. Keyleth encouraging Vax to talk to the Matron of Ravens... I get why they added this little detail in, but to be honest it's a characterization change I'm not sure about. Keyleth in the streams has always been very dismissive or even distrustful of the gods. It feels weird that she should be the one to gently nudge Vax towards exploring that relationship. Maybe I'm misremembering and Keyleth says something to him in the stream too, it's hundreds of hours of gameplay and character choices aren't always 100% consistent, but this just rang false for me as a Keyleth moment.

Literally I have no other complaints though, this episode is perfect.

Pros:

I've been saying that all the episodes could use a couple more minutes of breathing room, and this episode really helped by having a section where everyone's just walking on their journey to meet the second sphinx, and they have a chance to chat, to catch up. The aforementioned Vax and Keyleth moment happens there, and we have Pike worrying about Grog, we have the ADORABLE moment of Percy giving Vex his coat... he's so smitten, I love it. It just really gave the group a chance to breathe and check in with each other before their next big moment of tension.

Grog's nightmare at the start of the episode was so intense, and was mirrored so beautifully by the agonizing ending where he stabs Pike with Craven Edge! This is changed in circumstances to how it happened on the stream, although something similar did occur, and it's so brutal to see it play out! Travis is killing it in the voice acting department. He really only offered comic relief last season, but now he gets to shine.

That goes double for Scanlan - see, when I started watching Critical Role during campaign one, my original favorites were, quite predictably, the twins and Percy. Percy's got that anime angst thing going on, and then pretty quickly so does Vax, after the Sunken Tomb incident. But as I kept watching, slowly emerging to the forefront of my "favorite characters" list was... Scanlan Shorthalt. It's partly the genius of Sam Riegel. He's such a charismatic man, he can take the jokey little gnome bard character and just shatter you to pieces with what happens next. And since watching this show, they have the time and space to set that up properly... hot damn, this is one of my absolute favorite episodes of the whole show thus far.

To start, we see that Scanlan does have people checking in on him, in their own way. He's not as completely isolated as he pretends to be, it's just that his humor is deflecting people from noticing his pain. Grog offers to carry him to warm him up, and yeah it's a comedy beat, and yeah Grog is manhandling him, but that's Grog's way of showing he cares, too. And Pike wants to talk to him about Grog, and yeah she tells him off for making a dumb joke, but she was looking for some sincere conversation from him, and he was the one who failed to give it.

Then we get Kamaljiori. This is a significant shift from how this encounter went down on the stream. I actually laughed out loud when the sphinx just introduced himself, because let's just say that's definitely not how it went the first time around! I love how Kamaljiori's trials are similar to Osysa's, in that they both involve touching on the insecurities of the party members: Vex doesn't have family who cares about her other than Vax, Grog needs to find where his strength comes from, etc., but it's also different. They're finding fun ways to mix up all the different combat scenarios from the show, what with this being a one-on-one test of strength that's ultimately won by emotional damage.

Fucking Scanlan, pulling out a pop ballad to wound Kamaljiori's heart... and it's honestly such a good song? Sam has such a good voice, damn! I actually got goosebumps. It's such a funny twist, and so heartfelt, and Scanlan actually finds a friend who understands him on an emotional level, who he can joke around with but who understands there's a heart under all that, and that he's having a hard time. It's so heartwarming for Scanlan to find this, and he even gets his own Vestige out of the deal! Mythcarver. I like how they've added in the twist about Mythcarver being tied to all the other Vestiges, so it can lead them to find the others as we go.

And then... just to pile on the angst... looks like with Ripley's assist, Umbrasyl has found Vox Machina. This was such an epic showdown, and again it's increasing the menace of these dragons. We just watched how Vox Machina couldn't get a hit in on this Sphinx, and now Umbrasyl is able to go toe to toe with him! I was genuinely moved by Scanlan and "Kammi" defending each other during the fight. This ancient powerful being risked his life to protect his new little friend. In fact, he lost his life, after thanking Scanlan for letting him see Osysa once more before the end. This totally broke my heart!

And while we're all being sad about this Sphinx dying, meanwhile Grog is losing his battle to control Craven Edge, as he ferociously tackles Umbrasyl single-handed. Keyleth is trying to get a plane shift spell going, Grog is covered in Umbrasyl's blood and won't stop attacking, Pike tries to stop him and... gets impaled for her trouble! Gasp!

I'm actually really excited to see the Fey Realm stuff play out and the Westruun story also take strides, while our party is split up. It feels like it's a good opportunity to mix things up, and honestly will build to a really satisfying reunion in a few episodes!

A couple small things to call out: the Vax and Percy tension is still there simmering in the background. He's short with Percy about reading the runes, then shoulder-checks him on his way to go face the Sphinx. I'm obsessed with guilt-ridden Percy trying to make nice with Vax and just getting nowhere... I hope we get some of that in the next batch of episodes. Keyleth has a moment where she's hesitant about trying an unfamiliar spell, and Vax calls her "Kiki" and encourages her to try, and she is quite calm and more self-assured than we'd normally see her as she agrees to try. I love this! She's growing into her confidence more and more! Grog's attempts to hide what's happening with Craven Edge are very suspicious but also very funny. This week, he claims he was talking to the trees, to throw Pike off the scent.

And that's it! I can't believe this show keeps making me wait after such tense moments. Pike is seriously injured, Grog is drowning in guilt, the group is separated... can't wait to see more next week!

10/10

#review #tlovm #tlovm review #the legend of vox machina #critical role

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vethbrenatto · 1 year

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I posted 10,867 times in 2022

That's 462 more posts than 2021!

2,273 posts created (21%)

8,594 posts reblogged (79%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@yashley

@slayerscake

@luckthebard

@squirrel-saloli

@chungledownresponsibly

I tagged 10,554 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#critical role - 6,276 posts

#bells hells - 2,911 posts

#queue-tie pie - 2,381 posts

#cr spoilers - 2,067 posts

#mighty nein - 1,418 posts

#dimension 20 - 1,289 posts

#vox machina - 806 posts

#cr liveblog - 761 posts

#a court of fey and flowers - 654 posts

#laudna - 560 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i’m hoping i’m wrong and then once i see tlovm i’ll be much happier again with the content but right now im not in a very critical mood out

My Top Posts in 2022:

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My #1 post of 2022

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Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #skjfkfgfdkgf not my TLOVM critical tag popping back up

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vaxxy-the-raven · 1 year

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(The Legend Of Vox Machina - Season 1 Episode 2 - The Terror of Tal'Dorei pt.2)

Episode Rating - 4 out of 5

"The start of this episode was great. Those poor guards.

Very violent. Loved it.

Also Vox Machina showing up as Fince (Finch?) tries to suggest they're dead lmao.

Then Vex teasing Vax about his relationship with Gilmore, sending Pike to babysit Vax while hoping Gilmore's fondness of Vax will get them something to help them fight the dragon.

Scanlan trying to step up as leader, Vex scaring him off using Trinket. Hilarious.

And Vax and Gilmore? Ahhh. I love these dumbasses. The sexual tension between them is so heavy and Gilmore just bleeds flirtatious banter.

Poor Pike did not sign up for this, though the reading material does pique her interest.

Also Gilmore joking about not being a dragon. Okay sir. 👀

Then of course, the Grog and Scanlan shenanigans as they chase Fince around Emon is so entertaining. It was brilliant.

Ass ale anyone?

The sandwich bit is really endearing, while the door bit had me cackling when I first saw it.

Vax really likes to act like he's so smooth and sauve, fucking love this cocky dumbass.

My favourite olive theif ever.

The confrontation in the basement, the Krieg reveal? Very tense, very fun.

Not Vax low-key flirting with Krieg and wondering about his armour and sneaking technique.

(Relatable.)

Then poor Vex figuring it out?

The room investigation feels a bit dragging in my opinion, though it does give us a lovely Vax'leth moment with some jealous Vex angst.

The lair reveal was amazing, then the dragon transformation?

The fight? The detail of the gold melting after being struck by lightning? The d20 effect when Scanlan's Hand throws Vax??

I loved this fight so much and David Tennant sounded amazing! He was brilliant!

I am disappointed by the end though, knowing that in the original campaign Vax killed Brimscythe but seeing Grog get the kill in the show.

I hope this doesn't become a pattern, but I trust Critical Role.

Also, Vax's reaction to them getting the keep breaks my heart every time. I love him????

Then that Briarwood teaser? That scene has no right being so fucking sexy. My Gods."

Vax Suffering Rating - 3 out of 5

"Vax gets beat to fuck and its hot as fuck. Not as much emotional damage, though."

(masterpost)

#tlovm spoilers #tlovm review #tlovm s1 e2 #the legend of vox machina #lynias watches tlovm

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aspiringsophrosyne · 1 year

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Episode 6: Into Rimecleft

Fairly simple episode this time. Feels like it's been a while (been awhile) since the last show. So let's get right to it.

The Good.

Ah, Critical Role and dreams. Is there a better combo out there? Campaign 2 says: NEIN!

We get a nice little action scene to start things off. And we're really starting to build off the groundwork from the last episode, where Craven Edge, frustrated at the Fire Plane creatures' lack of blood, lurched in Pike's direction.

The implication was clear then. Here it's no longer a mere implication.

Getting to hear Ralph Ineson as Kevdak here for the first time is...Mm! A voice like rusted hinges, years of tobacco, and something dangerous awaiting the opportunity to strike. So good. The CRew really lucked out with their guest actors.

Speaking of which, Tony Plana acting as the second Sphinx is a wholly unique but equally joyful addition. While he's just as slow to warm to Vox Machina as Osysa, he brings a different energy that keeps things from getting repetitive. While she was lofty and dismissive, Kammie was more playful. Even when he doesn't see much in the group, his barbs don't cut as deep even before his moment with Scanlan.

I am a little sad we didn't see the whole thinking with portals puzzle from the original stream (which could've looked incredible in a visual medium) however...

Sam Riegel can strike the perfect balance between absolutely head-in-your-hands ridiculous and sincerely, heartbreakingly heartfelt. And it's a skill I have no shortage of envy for. You keep listening to Scanlan's song and expecting it to be too stupid to make you feel for the Sphinxes....but it never is. And that's just amazing. Still waiting for Seasons 2's OST to drop.

I do like the idea of a spell taking a significant amount of time to cast. It uses spells we've seen a million times to make for one hell of a nail-biter. And it's true to the game in some ways. While Plane Shift wasn't one of them, in-game, some spells take minutes, even hours. Or longer. And that can make things tense if you need every second to cast before something gets close enough to eat your face.

The Grog Umbrasyl fight was hype. We got first blood drawn on a dragon, and as Marisha says in the watch-along, it'd been a hot minute since Grog got to flex. But you can also see really fast why this is a problem. Not only do the rest of Grog's squishier teammates have to get out, but you could also easily see him killing himself fighting Umbrasyl alone to feed Craven Edge.

And then....well, we'll talk about it next episode.

I liked some of the little things here too. Percy giving Vex his coat, blushing up a storm, and Keyleth's reaction in the background. Likewise, Keyleth suggesting Vax could ask the Matron for help is a nice bit of setup for later things. Even if it is a little funny in hindsight; stream-Keyleth was almost a flat-earth atheist.

It's interesting to see what the cast has done to change up their characters from the stream.

The Bad. (Or at least not great.)

This is another episode that suffers from some poor pacing. After Grog's dream, little happens until they reach the Sphinx's lair. This is frustrating for me.

Remember how I said in the last episode that the time VM is traveling would be a good place for banter? Not just because it makes sense for them to do because they've got nothing else to occupy themselves while they walk, but because it would also help with character and world-building? All that is just as true here as in the last episode. But it'd also help with pacing.

There's a little bit here, but it's mainly bouncing from one two-to-three-sentence conversation to another. We could do more with the time.

Something that could help draw up suspense, for example, is having the crew talk with each other about how hard things have been so far; what's meeting the second Sphinx going to be like? Do they think they can convince them the way they did Osysa? Do they think they have a chance to get the other Vestiges? Do they believe those weapons will be enough to defeat the dragons?

That kind of thing makes for a good through-line for the Chroma Conclave plot that keeps things interesting even when the characters are just traveling and not doing much. The way things are now, it's like the writing team is just killing time until the action starts. And the banter was one of the best parts of the original stream.

I have...mixed feelings about the Sphinx's death. The Kaiju fight helps establish Umbrasyl as the boss of the season. It was also just really cool to watch...

But I can't help but worry this will be the writing CRew's go-to when they need to portray something as a threat or when they want to surprise stream watchers: just kill a character that survived in the original. And...yeah, nah. I'm not into that. I'll admit to being sentimental, and usually, I'll gravitate more toward happy endings than tragic ones, but I can enjoy the latter if it's earned and set up well. This death doesn't bother me as much as Archie's, but it does bother me a little.

Nitpicks:

This line is...kind of awkward:

Vex'ahlia: Hard to believe we're gonna find a Sphinx in this forsaken place. (shivers) I'm as cold as a corpse, and I'd rather not repeat that experience.

Maybe something like this?

Vex'ahlia: Hard to believe we're gonna find a Sphinx in this forsaken place. (shivers) Wouldn't it be hilarious if I died and was brought back, only to freeze to death out here before we found the damn thing?

And this:

Keyleth: The entire range is eternally cold. Well, except for Pyrah. There's a myth about it, actually. A thousand...

Scanlan: Uh, m-maybe we just save the myth? My balls are ice cubes.

Me (tearing my hair out): AH! Maybe a myth will help take your mind off your balls for once, Scanlan!? Give me my damn lore.

And this line is just...I know it's Scanlan, but what does one have to do with the other??

Mostly a set up episode for what's to come. Overall not bad, could be better. But I think things really start to ramp up in the next batch.

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