Bidet Critters,
So for the last month my fellow critters and myself have been watching The Legend of Vox Machina, the cartoon adaption of Critical Role's first Campaign. The last episodes of the season just dropped this past Friday, so I decided to do this write up about it. I was going to do it after the first episodes came out, but I struggled once more to sit and be motivated to write. But better late than never. So since there's so much to discuss I decided to break it into two parts. This part will be introductions and my personal story, and part two that will be my review of the show itself.
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| Vox Machina POPs have gathered to aid me in this writing...** |
Introductions
Now there are those of you who I'm sure are sitting there going Vox Machina? Critical Role? What is this madness? Let me explain, and it's best to start at the beginning.
A decade or so ago, some voice actors decided to get together regularly and play Dungeons and Dragons. They'd been playing for a while when Felicia Day (cue the geeky heavenly choir) told them they should do a show of them playing their game. Well in 2015, on the Geek and Sundry channel, I think on both the Twitch and then YouTube, the show Critical Role premiered, and they just kept going. The first campaign of the show follows the adventures of Vox Machina, a group of friends and heroes of different races and classes kicking butt and taking names in the world of Exandria, often in unorthodox and hilarious ways. Plus, did I mention there was a cute bear?
Our Characters:
Dungeon Master- Our game is led by the talented Matthew Mercer. With his story teller's flair and voice acting Mercer creates this amazing world for our cast to traverse, and fills it with equally memorable and lovable NPC's that are as recognizable to fans as the main characters themselves.
Vax- The half-elf rogue, voiced by Liam O'Brien, who's masterful hands can make quick work of a locked chest, and your coin purse. He's stealthy, charming, but be wary lest he "Dagger, Dagger" you. He also has a caring heart if all the rest wasn't awesome enough for you.
Vex- Vax's twin sister and a ranger/rogue, voiced by Laura Bailey. Don't worry if you mix up the names for a bit, we all probably did that our first time here. She's protective, good with a bow, and armed with a sassy wink. She's the treasurer of the group who loves her coin, and knows how to haggle.
Grog- He's a goliath barbarian/fighter with a giant love of ale, who's voiced by Travis Willingham. His not the brightest of the team, but he is the strongest. May his rage never fall upon you. He takes great joy in bashing in heads. He's also proud of his impossible beard, long story.
Percy- The human gunslinger, voiced by Taliesin Jaffee. Hailing from Whitestone, something he takes pride in. He's a bright man who designed and built he's own gun, well with a little questionable inspiration. He seeks to reclaim he's family home from those who took it and his family.
Keyleth- a half-elf druid of the Air Ashari tribe, voiced by Marisha Ray. She's going through her Aramenté, a rite of passage that she has to complete to become leader of her people. Gifted at her nature based magic she is often found changing into amazing beast, or chatting up chill sun trees. She's also on a mission to locate her mother, who went missing during her Aramenté.
Pike- She's a deep gnome who's a cleric, voiced by Ashley Johnson. Her goddess is Seranrae, and she knows her way around magic weapon. Friend of Grog and object of affection for Scanlan; I feel like Pike is the sweet heart of the group.
Scanlan- He's a sassy bard gnome, voiced by Sam Riegel. He is a killer performer, with plenty of inspiration to give to his friends. He loves the ladies, especially his fellow gnome Pike. He also has a bad habit of defecating on things.
Tiberius- A sorcerer dragonborn, voiced by Orion Acaba. He was only in 25 episodes, plus he is seen by Vox Machina in one other episode apart from these. I don't have a lot to say on him cause my memory is fuzzy, it's been almost three years since I did my first Campaign One watch and four years since I saw any with Tiberius, and last few years has been in a pandemic fog. So I promise it's not cause I didn't like the character it's cause I have a crappy memory. Blame the Mental Health Hydra B----!
Trinket- Vex's bear companion, voiced by Mercer. Discovered by Vex as a cub, the two are great companions. He fights by her side as well as gives her massages apparently.
The show picks up where the home games left off, with Vox Machina already established in the world with a few adventures under their belts. We come in as their setting out on a new mission for Lady Allura to find a missing friend at the Kraghammer mines. The adventures only grew going across the world of Exandria: land, air and sea, even under them.
Needless to say, the show proved to be a rousing success. It was so popular that they would host live shows that would be taped at conventions with a full house audience. It spawned fan made content, comic lines, and books. The first campaign ran from 2015 to 2017, with one shots that continued the adventures of this particular group after the dust of the campaign has supposedly settled. It soon grew to be so popular that Critical Role spawned it's own channel. Now the show is in it's third campaign. The following two campaigns also take place in Exandria,but across different continents and two new sets of main characters, though things from Campaign one have found their way into other campaigns.
Now the latest milestone of the story of Vox Machina is The Legend of Vox Machina, the animated series that will make the campaign one story more, dare I say it, animated.
My Personal Story
I am subscribed to Geek and Sundry. So I'd been seeing this Critical Role show for a while, but it didn't peak my interest until I learned Travis Willingham was in it. I have been a Travis fan since college or there abouts, and I learned his wife Laura Bailey was in it who I was familiar with as well. The only problem was I saw the episode count which was pretty high at the time and each one being about 3 hours or so, and I already had a lot of YouTube I was watching at the time, so it seemed a bit much to tackle then (a common feeling for first timers). I did try one of their one shots to get an idea what it was like.
Well in late 2017 or early 2018 there was a huge lull in my subscribed videos section on Youtube, I think some YouTubers were on breaks or just not putting out things I was enjoying, so I had a huge chuck of time to fill in my evenings, so I gave it a shot. I. LOVED. IT! It was spell-bounding and funny. I loved these amazing characters that were funny, epic, and sometimes ridiculous. I watched regularly up until Spring of 2018 then I had my first manic high, and I couldn't sit still for nothing let alone these three hoursish videos. So my watching slowed down. Then that Fall I began to have my first manic low, by December I was in tears everyday. It was a horrible time period for me. Luckily I had this show to provide me with a way to get out of my head, and it gave me the biggest laughs during that rough period. So I thank you guys for that. You gave me respite when I really needed it.
When I heard a animated version was coming out I was excited. I couldn't wait to see things we heard and imagined in these sessions all these years getting brought to life. I was counting it down with them, and getting more hyped as I heard more and more about it. Glad to say it didn't disappoint, but I'll cover that more in part two of this post.
I hope you enjoyed this introductory look at the world of Vox Machina, hope to see you here for the next one. Have a a good day, be weird, and God bless!
*Thrifty Geek*
** Yes I know this isn't all of them. Fangirl, who has gifted me all these guys, is working on getting the twins and Trinket. But I mean in this picture these Funkos seem to be having fun in their own way at my desk as I write. Keyleth is looking like "You got this friend"! Pike is praying for my success. Scanlan looking the way he does is like he's pointing at me saying "YOU. WRITE. NOW"! I'm seriously thing about making him a permanent writing companion. Maybe he'll give me inspiration. Percy looks like he's so fascinated by what I'm doing at the keyboard. Then you got Grog who's like ready to kick my writing demons butts.
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