#keyleth cr
If I had a nickel for every time an Air Ashari character on Critical Role cast Gust while in the middle of a thousand foot fall in order to try and avoid getting hit by obstacles on the way down, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s only happened twice so far.
I’M SO DEPRESSED the way keyleth CANNOT bear to go down and see if it’s actually vax. she sits in the tree she holds his armor close to her chest and she stays, waits. meanwhile vax is on the ground wanting to hug his family but knowing that he shouldn’t be trusted right now and all he wants to do is see her face.
“this was supposed to be a weekend trip.”
i’m so hashtag depressed over the way vex is normally a decision-maker, a leader, someone who takes control, and keyleth is normally the spell-caster asked to clear the fog, melt the ice, heat the metal, transport the party, and both of them are just. catatonic. barely able to muster a few questions and a cantrip. holding each other and a set of empty armor.
every week marisha ray says something galaxy brained about her character and i go “hey you are. so cool”
vex: are we really going to pledge allegiance to a bunch of different gods?
grog: that could be cool
keyleth: do we each get, like, different suits? like matching suits but in different colors? like god powers? maybe rings, so when we all combine them–
grog: no. you’re taking it too – just relax a little,,
“is it you? i thought i killed you.”
“you?”
“i could have done more.”
“no. nobody could have done more for me.”
vex trying a tiny bit to poke a lil fun at keyleth and for once, just this one time, keyleth does not have the energy to be good-natured about it. “fuck all of you. for a fucking second just tell me what is going on.” because this is not a joke she Will Not come back from this if she isn’t careful and fuck everyone for thinking she can take a joke right now
sprigg saying “is there value in saving the world? or should you just let it all go away?” has got me thinking about the differences between keyleth and wonder woman (2017). as you do
i think it’s interesting that they’re both about a woman who has incredible untapped potential, power, and influence, who grew up in an extremely sheltered society, who leaves that society for the first time and has to learn the harshness of the world, and ultimately finds herself in a position of being the only one who can save it
but by the end of it for diana it’s more about choosing to save humanity in all of its complexities, right? like the reason she leaves is specifically because she learns of a war that she thinks she can stop. she leaves with the intent of saving the world, and then later sees how shitty it is and wonders if her intent is meaningless. is humanity inherently doomed because of its flaws, or are those flaws (and people having the power to rise above them) part of what makes them beautiful and interesting and deserving of love? and she chooses the latter, she makes a conscious choice to say you know what i think they’re worth saving regardless of their corruption, and then she saves them.
i find keyleth a little harder to put into words because this is not a condensed 2-hour movie it’s fucking 400 hours of rpg content but anyway, the difference with her is that keyleth is constantly plagued by responsibility that was pushed onto her. she didn’t make the choice to leave zephrah, she had no intent to do anything noble or heroic. she was born into this position that forced her to explore some of the absolute worst parts of the world and she has spent the last several in-game years trying to figure out, how can i have my own agency and follow my heart when the world is constantly trying to rip that away from me and the very reason that i’m here is because of something that was forced on me? if i had it my way wouldn’t i be back at home living a normal life with the people i love? (the latter is in and of itself kind of an interesting keyleth question and i don’t think the answer is as simple as she would like it to be but i digress)
and i don’t necessarily think keyleth is questioning the value of humanity in the way diana was. keyleth has explicitly said and demonstrated time and time again that one of her biggest priorities is helping and protecting innocent people, so i think for keyleth it’s an easy answer of yes, the world is worth saving because people are worth saving, of course they are. but for her the question becomes like…why am i the one who has to do it? how is it fair that i am the one who is constantly finding myself in the position of having to sacrifice myself and the people that i love to save the rest of the world? and then grappling with those more self-hateful thoughts of like how dare you think that your sacrifice of a few friends isn’t worth the rest of civilization, how dare you think that just for a second you’d rather stop and go on vacation when you’re the only ones who can do this. for keyleth there has never been a choice and the struggle comes from finding a way to carve out her own sense of agency within those constraints, and being okay with the things she can’t control
tl;dr wonder woman is a story about choice and deciding whether or not to save the world after seeing its flaws brutally played out in front of you; critical role keyleth of the ashari is a story about navigating a world that has never let you choose anything in your goddamn life.
ugh. keyleth’s face when he says “people die every day. except me. that’s my punishment, child. i live on. i live on with my shame and my intelligence.”
sprigg saying “i used to have companions who were like you and you and you, and i’m all that’s left. you’re looking into a mirror of your future.” the nonsensical stuff he tosses into his language throws the group off and leads scanlan to take it literally, say with confusion “i’m going to look like you?” but keyleth, who knows that her worst fear of being the last living member of vm a hundred years from now will almost inevitably come true, knows immediately and exactly what he’s talking about
vax noticing and Knowing and, even though there’s been some tension between him and keyleth ever since he came back, holding onto her hand and squeezing it as they listen to sprigg. keyleth trying not to cry as she reaches out for him too
sprigg saying “i used to have companions who were like you and you and you, and i’m all that’s left. you’re looking into a mirror of your future.” the nonsensical stuff he tosses into his language throws the group off and leads scanlan to take it literally, say with confusion “i’m going to look like you?” but keyleth, who knows that her worst fear of being the last living member of vm a hundred years from now will almost inevitably come true, knows immediately and exactly what he’s talking about
grog: how the fuck do i get in that damn door?
vax: have you not crawled on all fours before?
percy: you should try it if you haven’t. it’s quite delightful.
grog: are you lying?
percy: no! for once i’m not.
keyleth:
vex:
