hello, the tumblr, i return with three new (shorter) reaction videos, one each for the last three episodes of Legend of Vox Machina! this time with more transitions, effects, memes and references to Vine videos that few people may actually remember lmao
it’s been an emotional journey for me, as im sure it has been for most people who enjoyed CR1, especially those of us who were around during CR1′s live broadcast days. the earliest mention of any desire for an animated series of CritRole was way back in the post-show Q&A in CR1 Ep10, all the way back in 2015, and here we are now in 2022, with a full-fledged season behind us and another one already in pre-production. it’s incredible to think of where we are now, from where we started, and it’s been an incredible honor to have borne witness to CritRole’s success over the past 7 years and counting.
if you enjoy/ed my reaction vids, please consider leaving a Like and/or Comment in the videos, maybe even subscribing to the channel? I don’t have a posting schedule coz i’m very busy with work and real life, but there’s no denying that audience engagement is always good motivation for posting more v(^^v)
(Short and sweet this time, and again, spoilers for the campaign…)
I thought it was interesting that they decided to have Keyleth take Delilah’s finger of death for Vex. I mean, there are a lot of reasons why I feel like it works. It’s kind of poignant for her life to risk ending just after something as epic as that sunbeam, and putting her in danger instead of Vex makes the outcome feel a lot more uncertain after Pike’s disappearance, because we saw her bring Cass back from the brink, and if it were anyone else in danger we’d have that in mind.
Still, I might be wrong, but, I think they might have done it this way because otherwise the scene coming later when Vex goes down in “The Sunken Tomb” would feel too similar.This way everyone gets their chance to panic, and have this moment of fear despite otherwise having won… But later, when Vex’s life is on the line, not near death but dead, and perhaps beyond saving, it will be so much more dramatic and heart-wrenching if it’s the first time we get to see Vax face the thought of losing his sister in such a real way.
It’ll frame the level of desperation that ends in his oath to the Raven Queen in a really impactful way.
(Also, I love Vex and Keyleth’s scene at the Sun Tree. Vex letting go of her defensiveness, and giving her the recognition she’s always honestly known Kiki deserved because they almost lost her, and life’s too short for petty shit…)
So there’s a strange bit of Crit Role/LoVM AU fodder that ambushed me out of nowhere recently. I can’t take credit, because it was born of one of the many reaction videos I’ve been watching of the series (I’ve been watching so many…), and one reactor’s speculations regarding some of the imagery in “A Silver Tongue” in particular put some thoughts in my head…
This is really just a lot of out there “what if” without any real substance, a fun idea for a fanfiction perhaps, but I needed to get it out of my brain.
(Below cut, because spoilers for campaign 1 events…)
Specifically, it was house of k’s reaction to episode 8 that put this idea in my head. He’s got some really good insights in his reactions, he takes notes on things and theorizes and it’s been fun to watch. Check him out maybe if you like reactions.
But there are a few reactors that have commented that the Everlight’s silhouette against the sun-disk looks a bit like an eye, and also a few who have noticed the eye flash when Percy shoots Anders. In house of k’s reaction, he commented on both, but also that the two almost looked like negatives of one another (black-on-fire, fire-on-black), and speculated that the two might be connected, that whatever was going on with Percy might be a sort of dark reflection or counterpart of the Everlight.
Which, sure, those of us who have watched the campaign know that’s not what’s going on. But…but…
The Everlight is the goddess of redemption, and if an inverse existed, wouldn’t it make sense for it to be a god of vengeance?
We know in the setting of Exandria, that godhood can be a bit…fluid. There are gods that have been ousted, killed, forgotten, replaced. New gods can happen. Gods that are gone can come back. The Everlight herself is an example. She was forgotten save by a few followers, and only in recent years as of the first campaign is she making a comeback.
We also know that, at least in typical D&D lore, shadow demons like Orthax, aren’t like most other demons. They aren’t created in the Abyss from damned souls like other demons. Not at first, anyway. They’re what’s left when some bigger, nastier entity is destroyed, and some small part of it survives to recollect itself in the Lower Planes.
And that they typically trade souls to other entities rather than feed off of them directly. But Matt seemed to hint in describing Orthax as being bigger and nastier than the average shadow demon, and by suggesting that it was because the demon had been feeding (presumably on the souls claimed by the List). And that’s definitely what he seems to be doing to Percy after Glintshore.
The idea of Orthax as a forming or remnant god isn’t new, there were a couple of very interesting fics around the concept back in the day, but the idea of a connection to the Everlight could be interesting. The idea of twin gods separated on either side of the divide between the Prime Deities and the Betrayer Gods is interesting (and the parallel motif of twins separated is interesting to think about in general). The idea of twin gods, one nearly forgotten, the other destroyed and lost to mortal memory entirely…
TL;DR - What if Orthax was the remnant of a god of vengeance destroyed in the world’s ancient history, a god that was the Everlight’s twin and opposite? That’d be pretty wild, right?
A bit of a ramble of my thoughts on episode 8, “A Silver Tongue”, and it’s potential impact on later episodes… Mostly de Rolo sibling thoughts.
(Gonna talk about later campaign stuff, so don’t read if you don’t want the streams or the series spoiled. And I don’t know what tags people are using for spoilers, so I’m just going to put it all under a cut…)
I really, really liked this episode the most out of the three we got this week, and I’d like to ramble a bit on what it feels like it’s setting up for later events concerning Cassandra, Orthax and the List.
In the campaign, at least to my memory, when Cassandra’s name appears on the gun, it feels like a moment played for drama against the context of Cassandra’s betrayal. But this episode feels like it’s establishing a different motive.
As early as episode 6, we see how quickly the news that she’s alive cuts through the tide of rage following his revenge on Stonefell. How much “I have a sister.” says in so few words about what that means to Percy, that he finally has something in Whitestone to fight for, something to hopefor.
In episode 6, Percy abandons the group’s plans the minute he sees Stonefell. He was the one Percy was least looking forward to. Stonefell is a murderer and a sadist, but he’s always been the Briarwood’s stooge. But in episode 7, he’s willing to negotiate with Anders, because he has Cassandra hostage. Anders who betrayed their trust, the face he saw when murder entered his heart. His revenge is taking a backseat in that moment, because of course Cassandra is what matters. And then episode 8 gives us that long, tense scene where Keyleth is working to save her, and Percy is watching despite Anders standing there, pouring a drink and gloating. It takes a lot to break Percy away from that moment, for the fear he holds for his sister’s life to go after Anders, and even then it’s when she’s in the best hands available in that moment.
And after Anders is dead, we get that beautiful, clear shot through the lenses of the mask when she says his name. We see his eyes are clear, that the minute he hears her voice, his rage and any other influence are washed away. He drops the gun and the mask to run to her.
Later, Orthax will demand Cassandra’s life, and he will use her betrayal to justify it to Percy, but I feel like the real reason they’ve given us is that Orthax sees Cassandra is a threat. She’s a threat to the pact that he’s made with Percy. A hope for his future against the despair he’s lived with, the emptiness that losing his family left that Orthax crawled into to spur his quest for vengeance. She’s threatening his very promising meal ticket of an endless all-you-can-eat soul buffet at the end of Percy’s gun, and his only hope to defend his interest is for Cassandra to die. Cassandra has to die, because her forgiveness represents a future, both for Percy and for Whitestone. A life that isn’t just rage and pain, and the violence that was supposed to keep Orthax fed.
Because if Percy can forgive Cassandra, he can one day learn to forgive himself and believe he deserves that life. He’ll have something to live for, something to fight for against the demon’s influence, and if that happens Orthax loses everything.
He’s been biding his time for years, subtly enough that Percy didn’t know he was there. When he demands Cassandra’s life, it’s an act of desperation, and when he emerges to attack the party, it’s because he’s already lost.
(P.S. I’m really hoping they keep the gold-iris-black-sclera look around for later seasons, to indicate Percy is using Hex. They’ve shown him use it outside of Orthax-murder-mode, and in a situation where I thinkhe used Hex in the game, so the precedent is there for down the line. It’s there in the canon that his struggle with Orthax left its scars on him, and that some fragment of the demon’s power is still at his disposal. And it’s such a look. Those are the eyes I want to see staring down Craven Edge, demanding it give his big dumb older brother back. I want thoseeyes when he says “I will find an abyss so deep and so far, you will never taste a drop of blood again.”
Look, found family Vox Machina feels are the best feels, and it didn’t have a lot of screen time, but Grog and Percy’s unlikely sibling-esque dynamic was one of my favorite things in the campaign.)
After writing my critique on Anna Ripley’s design, I wanted to try my hand at the LOVM style with a look that was closer to her stream description. Not as a ‘fix’ - just experimenting!
An Overly Granular Critique on the Design Changes to my Favourite Critical Role Villain
(spoiler warning for The Legend of Vox Machina and up to ep. 68 of Critical Role Campaign 1)
So, Doctor Anna Ripley has made her debut on the Legend of Vox Machina animated series!
When I watched the stream, I was fascinated by her. Many people came away from Campaign 1 lauding the Briarwoods’ somewhat tragic story, and their intimidating (and pretty sexy) presence. And, y’know, fair - but despite Ripley’s small amount of on-stream appearances, she made quite an impression on me, and left a hefty mark on the characters, too. She was manipulative, scheming, and opportunistic - and no antagonist on the stream since has engaged me as much as she did…
Ripley was a villain on the backfoot, who had to seize chances at success, rather than a more standard powerful force for the heroes to overcome. She had talents, but could not match any of her adversaries in a typical melee, nor was she presented as being smarter than Percival, her notable rival. What made her dangerous was her cunning.
On the visual side, the DM describes her with the following details:
A woman in her early mid-forties. Jet-black hair with streaks of white pulled into a tight ponytail. Her face is weathered from travel, with dark lines at the sides of her face, whether it be from smiles or frowning. She wears nice travel clothes with a long duster-like coat.
[My 2018 fan art of Ripley. Not everyone’s ideal take I’m sure, but it’s how her description influenced my imagination.]
Now, moving on to her introduction in The Legend of Vox Machina Season 1.
In the animated series, her conniving personality is intact. Percy’s flashbacks show Ripley’s delight in cruelty. I was happy to have her more involved in particular iconic moments, such as the acid pit, as she attempts to squeeze any sort of trust she can out of her new captors. And when ultimately faced with a gun to her head, she manages to turn the tables on her enemies using her wits, and escape.
Her voice actor Kelly Hu delivers an appropriately subdued and raspy performance that embodies the character very well.
On the visual side…
[LOVM Ripley, past and present]
Without the context of adaptation, this is a strong and appealing look. If this had been my introduction to the character, I would be very much on board.
Compared to her stream description, however - there are no lines on her face. In the present day her hair is loose, with the same soft-serve ice cream curls that most of the women on the show seem to have. Despite the ragged clothes and tired eyes of a prisoner, there is a youth and a beauty to her look. All these details feel off to me, for three particular reasons:
1) It makes her too visually similar to Delilah Briarwood. This is not an ‘incorrect’ thing, since they do share broad details, but in a visual medium it’s worth taking opportunities to distinguish characters from one another where possible and appropriate.
2) Her youthful appearance calls into question how old she was during the coup on Whitestone. Percy’s motives are that of a young boy, barely a man, who was betrayed and aggressed by a group of his elders. People who, for all intent, should be worthy of respect to him. In present day, Ripley does look more haggard than in the flashback, though it’s unclear how much of that is her age showing, and how much is having been a starved prisoner.
3) Most importantly, this design makes her seem to me like Percy’s equal, when a facet of what makes her so interesting is that she is not. Anna Ripley is a person who is incredibly versed in science and technology, only using magic when necessary. But she is envious of Percy’s own technological talents. While Ripley is by no means ‘past her prime’, she has certainly been outpaced by the young De Rolo heir. In attempting to recreate his weapon designs, she lost her hand. In the later streams, her ‘more refined’ recreation of his pepperbox can cause psychic damage on a misfire. She was Orthax’s second choice - a vengeance demon’s compromise. If she is to be considered a reflection of Percy, it would need to be from a mirror that is warped, cracked, and corroded.
So, where is the well-worn face of a mature and world-travelled woman? Where is the firmly tied hair of a scientist whose determination supersedes the need for appearances? Where’s that duster coat, y’all?
[LOVM Character concepts, and Marisha Ray’s Ripley cosplay.]
To reiterate, I do not dislike her animated design. And some of the details that I find aren’t evoking the character could be ‘solved’ when she eventually resurfaces without her ragged prisoner’s look. But so far, while the physical and vocal performances are effective, Ripley’s visual design just doesn’t quite mesh.
On a broader perspective, I do think there is a lot of really strong design work on the show. So many of the player characters and NPCs are brilliantly brought to life in ways that exemplify their personalities and traits, and feel in-tune to Matt’s descriptions. It has been really cool to witness many of these creative characters and moments put in motion with equal creative passion.
plot twist: this was all just an excuse to talk about how much I like Ripley :)
You know how Matt being in the background of episodes as an NPC is like… our Stan Lee cameo for the show… what if, and hear me out okay…
What if they reveal that’s secretly Artagan in disguise?
Now, I know what you’re saying “but my guy, my man, my friend, that can’t happen, because of canon stuff.” But they’re already condensing some of the show and stuff for the limited run time, so what if they did something clever to where we see this character in the background, that is just a Matt Cameo, yeah, but then they pull the rug out from under our feet and reveal it to be Artagan the whole time? It would be a clever way to pull several different aspects together while simultaneously giving us what we want… plus like… easter egg stuff ya know.
I am hoping with EVERYTHING inside of me, that when Vox Machina gets to Whitestone, and more accurately the castle, we are going to see flashbacks of Percy staring at the empty hallways/rooms and seeing his younger self, siblings, parents, etc, and how happy they were and gleeful and innocent and it will flashback to an empty desolate castle with covered photos, cobwebs, etc.
Like the pain will go from a 9 to a ten billion so fast-
My sister and I were talking about Delilah’s design and why we didn’t quite fall for her the same way as Sylas.
The answer? She needs more MILF energy.
So I added eyelines and defined cheekbones to match Sylas, changed some colours to feel more cohesive and match her described auburn hair, then simplified the dress a bit. I also made her necklace red because I love those hanging gem necklaces that invoke dripping blood imagery.
![[Image id. Edited screenshot of Delilah Briarwood from The Legend of Vox Machina. Her hair is slightly redder, with darker makeup. She has added eye lines and defined cheekbones. She wears a black, high-collared, sleeveless dress with a red necklace like dripping blood. End id.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/dd29a05754bfe39f91fcf5dd5e0d2fe1/07e93d977661d7d3-96/s640x960/42af1ab199eba204cf645377244d1b20f07ca515.png)
![[Image id. Original screenshot of Delilah Briarwood. Sylas' is holding her chin as she looks at him off-screen with a sinister smile. End id.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5a00c291630b2255c92ee2eeceb8b5bd/07e93d977661d7d3-68/s640x960/6830e068afa344cbc72f49cc6a06fdb7185be632.png)
