#percleth

Hello my friends! Some of you may recall that just about 2 years ago now, I ran a series of polls for ships from Campaign 1, Campaign 2, and EXU Calamity that were not together at the end of their respective series. I excluded any Campaign 3 and modern era EXU ships, since at the time, those storylines were still open; Imodna weren't even together at that point. However, now that C3 has reached it's conclusion, I thought it was a good time to revisit the concept. I also didn't feature M/F pairings last time around and now is a good time to make that right too.

So! Let's get into the rules and paraments parameters:

The phrasing "non-endgame" was chosen as certain relationships present were together at some point in canon but are not longer (ex. Blumendrei) or there was an either mutual or one-sided attraction that did not result in a relationship (ex. Widojest). It doesn't feel right to me to simply call these ships "non-canon", though they are featured alongside plenty of purely fanon ships (ex. Verinwulf), so. Non-endgame. It's a little clunky, but it works.

I've reincorporated pairings from the first poll that lost in the very first round, potentially giving them an opportunity to shine further! Any ship from the first poll that made it further than that is not present this time around. These pairings are: Widofjord, Fjordwulf, Vaxmore, Fjolly, Jester x Reani, Polynein, Vexleth, Perc'ildan, Beaukeg, Vexahra, Beastrid, Beaureani, Polymachina, Beaujester, Lucigast, and Widomauk. Please do not ask me where they are.

Almost every ship will feature fanart of the characters in question, included of course with permission from the artist. Links to the original posts will be included and I highly encourage giving them some love if you vote! Any ship that doesn't have a piece of fanart has a little tableau designed in HeroForge by myself. Grogleth is the only exception, with a still from TLOVM.

This bracket is for fun. Ship hate will not be tolerated. You will be blocked if you act poorly in the tags.

Block “cr non endgame poll” if you don’t want to see this further!

Voting will begin this Friday, February 14th, at 3pm CST. All polls will run for 24 hours. The first round will take place over two days, split into Parts A and B.

Matchup links and breakdown below the cut.

Ooooh ok so when I first got into vox machina and before I knew about the campaigns I would see ship art of them and like listen I'm not someone who shits on other people's ships, if it's not gross then live your truth. It's just I really didn't understand it? Because back then the show was the only context I had

But since watching the campaign I totally get it. I think I still favor their platonic relationship over a romantic one, but I'm defs not opposed to it either. I think they're both really dorky and goofy, but also Percy is diplomatic and a quick thinker and I imagine it's super helpful for someone like Keyleth who over thinks and freezes when she's under pressure. While with Percy, God bless that man, but sometimes his ego gets the best of him and he doesn't notice until Keyleth calls him out on it and brings him back down to earth. I feel like she's one of the few people who can get away with it too. Percy's stubborn in the sense that when there is a problem he studies it from all angles and then come up with a solution so to him whatever decision he makes has to be the correct one because he did the math for it, so he's not going to listen to anyone who questions it. But I feel Keyleth adds a different perspective to things where Percy's like "wow I didn't even consider this"

It's Friday yet again, my friends! This week, we're calling for submissions for fic that feature rarepairs for our dear Voice of the Tempest, Keyleth! As a reminder, the only Keyleth ship that's too popular for our lists is Vaxleth, so go nuts with your reccs beyond that! It's also important to note that polyamorous pairings that include both Keyleth and Vax are allowed, so if you have, say, some Vaxlethmore in your bookmarks, please feel free to send that in! 💕

We are also currently taking submissions for Polyamorous Ships, Enemies to Lovers, and Miscommunication, the lists for which will be published in the following weeks in that order!

The form to submit recommendations, as well as the rules are submissions, is located HERE!

Pike and Scanlan Vex and Percy

Vax and Keyleth Percy and Vax

Keyleth and Percy Vex and Keyleth

Grog and Pike Vex and Trinket

Eventually she and her crew run into the most famous pirate the sea has known, The Demon, Percival De Rolo. He is as ruthless as he is mysterious, having killed any enemy he ever had, with a gun he allegedly crafted himself. The rumors say that when his eyes glow and his face becomes clouded in black smoke, you know you're a goner.

After a mix up where Capt Keyleth rejects a meeting Percy requested, they come face to face. Percy, to his great surprise, finds Keyleth to be incredibly peculiar but... intriguing. So, he stays aboard her ship with his two closest crewmembers, Vex and Vax, after promising Vex he would kill Keyleth and give her Keyleth's crew as he retires.

However, as time goes along, it becomes more and more apparent that Percy can't do it. Truthfully, he finds Keyleth delightful. He's been in a rut ever since he killed the last of the people who destroyed his family. He thought it would bring him the ultimate satisfaction, but... he feels more empty inside now than ever before. Keyleth's sincerity and earnestness, not to mention her joy and sense of adventure, have really started to lift his spirits and make him think maybe there's more life out there for him after all.

Plus, Vax has happily joined in on, well, whatever the hell is going on with Scanlan, Grog, and Pike, so he isn't in a rush to go. Everyone seems happy to just let things continue to happen...

Except Vex, who, even if she hadnt been promised a ship and crew out of this has been pining over Percy and can't stand to watch him fawn (in his way) over Keyleth.

When Percy refuses to try to kill Keyleth, Vex decides she will do it herself. She easily persuades Keyleth into spending a day with her under the guise of some mentoring and plans the perfect moment to (quite literally) stab Keyleth in the back. However, over the course of the day Vex can't help the guilt creeping in as Keyleth gives her honest effort at everything Vex shows her and does her best to nudge down the walls Vex always has up, being apparently delighted that Vex is Finally giving her a chance and spending time with her.

When it comes time, Vex simply cannot kill Keyleth and she even confesses to planning it. And Keyleth isn't even mad, she just asks if they could forget that and be friends for real this time. Vex says she would like that.

So, Vex, Percy, and Keyleth decide to start over as friends, and, although Keyleth still isn't the best pirate, she has improved. Both Percy and Vex start to open up more and more, letting joy and wonder back into their lives, all thanks to Keyleth and her misfit crew.

They aren't quite sure what to make of their little arrangement, two seasoned and ruthless pirates, a (former?) captain and his first mate, just sort of.. hanging around this still new and honestly still bumbling Captain. yet.. they still can't manage to extract themselves from Keyleth's ship (and, dare I say, perhaps... her heart?)