priestessofeste replied to your post:

Still can’t accept this

The tone of the show is supposed to be at least somewhat on the lighthearted side. If I wanted depressing, hopeless bullshit, I would watch Game of Thrones. I don’t want to see my favorite character have such a miserable end to his already incredibly sad story. (Yes, I am also far too attached to CR)

They have dark and tragic moments on the show, but they’re never grimdark. They’re never hopeless and heartless. They have meaning and purpose. They don’t revel in grimdark and shock value.

I really don’t want to see Vax die, hopeless and helpless, and leave his family to grieve for the rest of their lives. That takes this story of an epic team of heroes who were brought together by Vax and banded together to save the world, and makes it end with a really sad story about a depressed man who wasn’t allowed to live.

Even if this does happen, fuck anyone who tells me I should be happy about that, or think it’s an “epic” or “fitting” end. It’s not. Fuck that noise. I will not be happy that Vax died. I will not think that’s cool or awesome or an epic ending. I will think it’s a tragic, upsetting, sickening fate for a man who fought and fought for a bit of happiness and then his ultimate reward was to drop dead.

I reject grimdark bullshit anywhere, but especially here on this show.

Brian can take his “happy endings are boring” shit and shove it elsewhere. Happy endings are important and meaningful when they are earned, and by god or whatever else higher power, how much more can a person do to fucking earn their happy ending.

Insert quote about stories that really mattered here, even though it’s something only Movie!Sam says and Tolkien’s actual point was slightly different because that shit resonated with me, dammit.

I’m so sick of this

out-there-on-the-maroon:

vohalika:

out-there-on-the-maroon:

I’m so sick of people harping on Vex’s “greed.” Fans, trolls, even fellow party members. Tonight, it’s the very first thing Scanlan says about Vex to a God asking if she’s worthy of his blessing and divine gifts.

Vex and her brother ran away from their abusive father when they were teens. They went back to their hometown, to find their mother and entire village dead from a dragon attack. They had nowhere else to go.

Then they lived on their own, scrounging, scraping by. Vax became a thief and Vex lived in the woods. At one point she was captured by hunters and had to kill her way to freedom, something she never told Vax about and harbored a lot of anger and guilt over for years. They starved. They had next to nothing. They had to struggle for every bit of coin they got.

But sure yeah lol she’s so greedy and she hoards money, how ~hilarious~

You know that Vex, she’s greedy.

Everyone calling Vex greedy has never had to worry about whether they’d make rent of have enough food on the table next month. She’s never spent a single copper for herself, always just party funds for the party, who she tried to get the best deals for.

The only time she took something for herself was the broom. Which. Yeah. Okay. And now the business with the boots. But I mean, we forgive people for insulting all their friends in the most personal way possible after they just died, so why can’t we cut her some slack because of emotional trauma, geez.

EXACTLY. Like it’s not even that concealed that she and Vax had a rough time of things for a while there, and yet so many people are like “lol, greedy selfish weirdo.” What possible reason could a lower class woman, with no family connections to protect her, want with MONEY in a dangerous medieval-esque world? Money = food and safety = life.

It’s very telling to me that she never spent money on herself from the party funds, she used her own money. To the point that what she spent during the missing year cleared out her own savings.

That fucking broom, I swear to gods. I’m still mad about her getting slapped with an alignment change for that. Laura had never played D&D before and didn’t know that’s one of those old timey D&D “never ever” things and she got punished for it. For stealing a method of flight when they were facing down a group of terrifying evil FLYING dragons and had just lost their carpet. From a guy who was likely never gonna show up again. Made total sense to me at the time and I was really confused how many people flipped out like she’d murdered a child in real life or something, like that’s the degree of outrage that was flaring up around it and still does to this day. Personally I’m way more troubled by say, Scanlan’s rampant use of mind control on people, than I am by Vex stealing a broom from a rando one time. ~~But Scanlan is a man and that’s funny, and Vex is a woman so you gotta keep her in line, I guess?~~ I don’t like that whole situation at all. It still really troubles me.

Yeah we’re supposed to just forgive Scanlan for targeting his friends’ emotional vulnerabilities ruthlessly and running off, not letting them know if he was alive or dead for a year. But not ever let Vex forget about the damn broom. Because … um … reasons. Yeah.

Also. I mean. I was presented as a weak argument at the time, but she did steal from a necromancer. And it hadn’t been very long since they sorted out a necromancer’s mess. And before the dragons attacked, they were uncovering a necromancy cult. You know, the thing the plot is now about again.

What kind of damage you’d think Delilah Briarwood would have been able to dish out from a flying broom? Just throwing that out there.

out-there-on-the-maroon:

vohalika:

Aaaaah also
Vex. Vex, sweetheart, no. I know you are a people pleaser at heart and just want
everyone to be happy and get along, but no. Scanlan was shitty to you
especially. He hurt you really badly, and I know you just want your gnome dad
back, especially when your new bestie is leaving you and your brother is happy
elsewhere, but no. Just letting everything go immediately is not the answer,
and I don’t say this often, but listen to your boyfriend/secret fiancé/secret
husband, he is right, you did not deserve this.

I was yelling a lot last night. The fact that she seems so determined to like, make things smooth over no matter the personal cost to herself, is upsetting me greatly.

Like it hurt her so much that she couldn’t be there for the resurrection. She so clearly thinks of Scanlan as not just a friend but a surrogate dad at times. You really see that, especially last night.

I know she’s all about “forgiveness” but that doesn’t mean allowing people who did you wrong or hurt you to walk all over you and get away with their actions. It means not holding onto anger for your own personal sanity and comfort. Forgiveness is something for yourself, not the people who wronged you.

Percy’s not always right but I think his instincts were spot-on here. He instantly found a way to determine how serious Scanlan really is about being a good dad now to Kaylie, confirmed that Scanlan doesn’t even know Kaylie’s mom’s name, gave what he thought Scanlan really wanted (ammo) and walked away in disgust. Vex desperately wants to believe Scanlan’s a changed man, even after his reaction to her hugging him in relief was to try and MIND WIPE her.

I’m really mad that Scanlan, whose last words to Vex were a scathing comment about “daddy issues,” is now leaning on those dad issues to get out of apologizing to her and her brother. Talking about what a great dad he is to Kaylie now, how happy he is being a family man, to these two people who lost their mom and were abused by their own father. Maybe it’s not intentional but I can’t help but think that it is.

I knooooow. Like, I hardcore identified with Vex even before this, but what the fuck this is just not funny anymore.

And honestly, I think Tary was kind of proof for Sam being well aware of all of these things. Tary is just completely sincere and positive about everyone, and an honest friend to Vex and all that. I think Sam knows what he’s doing at this point. Tary didn’t call Scanlan a creep for nothing.

tiamat-zx:

out-there-on-the-maroon:

vohalika:

Alright,
guess I’m not gonna fanfic this any time soon, so here we go.

Pike
dragging Scanlan for calling her magic fucked up is great. So gratifying. But
you know what should truly be addressed at some point about the things he said,
and the things Pike specifically should be upset about?

When
Scanlan made the point of listing off how everyone’s got someone, and he got no
one on VM, he started with Pike and Grog who would always have each other.
Which is, as far as we know, a purely familial bond. That’s fair.

And then he
went on and listed the couples? How they’d always have each other? When I’m not
even sure Percy and Vex were all that official with everyone yet (dragons kind
of made them have bigger concerns), and also, you know, twins?

Like, real
talk. Romantic relationships come and go. I don’t see either of them going any
time soon, or ever, but how is that any more significant than, you know,
twins?!

Not to
mention that Percy and Keyleth had a very platonic to familial relationship
going on as well.

The point
is, in that speech, Scanlan’s priorities were somewhat skewered towards
romantic relationships. I don’t have someone romantically, and that’s part of
the reason why all this is happening. Which places a really, truly unfair
burden on Pike, seeing how the entire proposal thing went down.

So, if she’d
just said yes, he’d have stayed? If she’d just taken one for the team and
accepted his proposal and advances, so he could have someone, too?

That’s just
gross. So gross. Up there with calling someone who’d been looking up to you as
a father figure out for daddy issues kinds of gross, if not worse.

And the
fact that he seems to be okay now that he has people “rooting” for him doesn’t
make this any better. Someone used the Tyra Banks gif in response already, VM
was already rooting for Scanlan. They all did have each other’s backs
unconditionally, and independently of romantic or blood relationships, it’s just
that apparently, Scanlan didn’t value anything else.

He had fair
points about being treated differently for his height and Vax being bad about
his personal space, and also leaving him alone after dying was not a good move,
even without the prank which was… Welll, an entirely different cup of tea. VM
needs like an aftercare ritual after intense fights, so no one has to spend the
night alone, also independently of the romantic relationships, so the burden
doesn’t fall to one person specifically. Like Pike. Poor Pike.

“Up there with calling someone who’d been looking up to you as a father figure out for daddy issues kinds of gross, if not worse.”

I’m still not over that, at all. How dare he write off the entire Feywild arc, which included Vex facing down a manifestation of her insecurities and fears about the darkness within her, as “daddy issues.” They had to talk to the head of the city and their dad could get them in, that’s all that was.

“VM was already rooting for Scanlan. They all did have each other’s backs unconditionally, and independently of romantic or blood relationships, it’s just that apparently, Scanlan didn’t value anything else.”

EXACTLY. THIS. THIS. A THOUSAND TIMES THIS ^

“I’m still not over that, at all. How dare he write off the entire Feywild arc, which included Vex facing down a manifestation of her insecurities and fears about the darkness within her, as “daddy issues.” They had to talk to the head of the city and their dad could get them in, that’s all that was.“

That was perhaps the biggest lie. They went to the Feywild for a Vestige. They only went to Syngorn because of the deal with Garmelie. If they hadn’t encountered him, they would’ve ignored the city and just pressed on.

Not to mention that every other point he made was an outright lie just so he could make his departure easier. Hell, he wasn’t even planning to go with Kaylie to begin with. Vex had to convince him to do so. He was going to abandon his own flesh-and-blood daughter all over again, except this time on purpose.

I always disliked Scanlan, and now that he’s pulling this shit with the party after a year and claiming that he’s a better man, my disgust towards him has grown even more intense.

There was a LOT of gaslighting in that departure speech. They went to Whitestone so Percy could feel good about his name? Riiight. Totally not because they all fucked up their legal standing with the Emon authority and were trying to exonerate themselves. We all imagined that happening.

Same with the vestige quests. Yes, the plane of fire was terrifying. Saundor was unpleasant. The fight with the horde was the closest they’d gotten to a TPK at that point. But these things were done for the VESTIGES, not so people could work out their personal issues. That was just a side effect.

And they never did anything for Scanlan? Bitch when? When basically every single member of VM at one point was ready to drop everything, expend a high level spell slot, or spend days with you on a detour so you could deal with you daughter? The only one who never assisted Scanlan with any of that was Grog. And he would have, too, had his skill set been needed.

They were also all completely ride or die about his stupid spice deal way back when. VM would drop anything for any member at any time; you just have to ask. And the few times Scanlan did ask, he received. Blegh.

…Hell, even today, Percy, of all people, just GAVE him the bullets. After Scanlan tried to extort him for them. That also kind of bothers me.

Not to reopen broomgate

out-there-on-the-maroon:

But how come Percy, after all he’s done, has been allowed to stay Neutral Good?

I don’t just mean all the vengeance stuff. Later, when he’s free of corruption, he tells Zahra to build the shrine under the ruins of the old house (the house he gave to Vex as part of being Baroness) and he tells her to take the bodies out of the crypt under the house and just like, toss them anywhere. Because Tylieri was a traitor.

I’ll grant you Tylieri’s body requires no good burial (not that it can be, being ash) but his ancestors? They didn’t do anything wrong. Why are their remains to be scattered?

That’s pretty nasty, even for Percy.

I know alignments aren’t super set in stone, and all the characters make questionable decisions. These are complex characters who can’t entirely be confined to the strict alignment, especially considering how personal a lot of this is and how long the show has been running. But I really question why stealing a broom from a necromancer they were never gonna see again is worthy of an alignment shift, but all the nasty stuff Percy has done and said and thought hasn’t been worthy of an alignment shift. It seems … unfair. To me at least.

(Please note I love Percy, he’s a great character. I just think a lot of the things he’s said and done really test or outright break from the ‘Neutral Good’ alignment, and no character should be above reproach or exempt from analysis.)

I’ve seen you debate this in reblogs, so first of all, the Raven Queen shrine is in the Anders family crypt, and has been put in there before he turned Vex into a baroness over it. The entire thing happens in episode 57. And yes, Vex is technically lady of the former Tylerie house, so don’t ask me how this works. A noble did it.

And I do agree that it seems really disproportionate for only Vex to get an alignment change for stealing a broom, something that was perfectly in line with her previous characterization even.

But when it comes to clearing out the crypt, uhm, well. Not to pull the historically accurate card on a setting with dragons and multiverses, but Anders fucked up pretty badly. Worse than Tylieri who just happened to be an enforcer. Anders was a confidante of the de Rolo family, and considering the fact his family had a crypt in Whitestone to begin with, he probably fucked over generations loyal Anders family members there, and this is just how things tend to work. You betray the rulers you have served this badly, your entire family is expunged. Might seem drastic by today’s standards and even more so depending on cultural background, but I think this holds water.

It’s also been said that alignments can only change after a period of acting against the previous one, and that Vex’s shift was also based on the aggressive haggling back in Vasselheim and other choices (even though it wasn’t her who escalated things with the potion merchant), so this one act, that was still technically motivated by good intentions, wouldn’t be enough to shift Percy anyhow. His actions during the Briarwoods arc should have gotten him shifted, no question, and he probably was – but that was the corruption and/or Orthax’s influence at that point, and he did come around from it on his own in the end, so fine.

And if anything, “I forgive you, but I can’t let you leave” would have put him back into good territory anyhow. So I think his case is debatable, and I also think Taliesin is a seasoned enough D&D player to figure this out for himself and play accordingly. Also, he and Matt probably talked about this constantly, so non-public shifts may or may not have happened anyhow.

So this is how I’d rationalize that. But the kind of weird way alignment changes are handled has been a pet peeve of mine ever since broomgate, really. Scanlan, for example, has I believe been good aligned for the entirety of the series, instead of being chaotic neutral like Grog. Now I agree he should be good aligned now, but uh, there’s been questionable shit in the first 40 episodes or so.

And since I don’t know how far along you are, I’m also just going to say that Vax and especially Keyleth of later episodes reeeaaaally might warrant a change towards neutral at this point. Though Keyleth has been nonchalantly sending woodland creatures to their death since episode 50 or so, sooo…