#But Taliesin would treat me better for sure.

[kagedbird]

Allora: *drawing outfits from home while the group rests at camp, trying to stop wistfully sighing for just some god damn pants*

Taliesin: You're awfully noisy today. What's got you down, little cherub? *sits down next to her*

Allora: Oh- sorry. I'm, uh... just a little homesick. Mostly for the clothes. *sheepishly shows him her sketches*

Taliesin "Fashionista" Talisein: *gently takes the book and hums, going through each outfit carefully* These certainly look thicker than your current outfit. I don't understand how in Oblivion you can constantly wear those dresses. Especially that white one.

Allora: *sighs, curling up in her fur cloak a bit more* Not like I have much of a choice... but yeah. I miss pants. And every time I try to go to the stores to get some, the seller always looks at me funny.

Taliesin: Nords have always had a strange sense for fashion. No matter! I know the perfect thing to help you. *snaps book shut but keeps it and stands*

Allora: Wh- hey-

Taliesin: We're going shopping!

Allora: *feels dread growing in her stomach* Why do I feel like I'm suddenly at Target with my mother-

[dent-de-leon]

Absolutely ruined by this one panel of Molly telling Yasha about his “choir practice.” The way he just looks so soft and melancholy. A glimpse behind the curtain, a painful vulnerability amidst all the joy and color he revels in. Confessing that he can't bear to watch someone else just suffer in silence; he can't just do nothing when there's someone hurting. “The truth is...how do I put this...The world is harsh and cruel, and I can't seem to be able to just walk on by. You see a wrong? You fix it.”

“I know what the other others think, but—” The twins gossiping whenever Molly takes off in the dead of night. And Molly letting them presume, think what they like, because the reality is something he doesn’t want anyone else to see. “Not sure why he's so embarrassed though...” This is something just for him, just for his own shattered shard of a spirit. A chance to protect another lost soul. To fix a bit of this broken world.

So compassionate, so protective--always getting so easily caught up and invested, ruled by reckless impulse and a bleeding heart. Playing at the hero. (He never knew Lucien loved putting on a performance too, that he was always cast as the villain; warm memories of song and dance and little plays on the roadside. Choking on the ash and smoke of a burning caravan--)

Molly pulling up the hood of his cloak and darting away under the safety of Sehanine's shadows. Running off to risk his life for complete strangers, for people who may never thank him, for a world that may always hate him. “I’ll tell you--and this is true--I did my best every town I went to and every town I left, no matter how they treated me. And a lot of them treated me with deep disrespect...I left every town better than I found it.” The way this resonates with everything Taliesin said about how the whole point of Molly's blood magic is sacrifice, how his powers stem from his desire to be a protector, to be good—

“[Molly’s power] was about sacrifice. It’s the giving of himself to give to others. Giving of himself to be a protector.” 

“His very nature is to appear to be many things that he is not. His power looks one way--it looks damaging and looks broken and unhealthy--but, in the end, it’s all about a desire to be a good friend and a good family member.” 

Mollymauk waking with faint echoes of haunting memories and nightmares of too many eyes and screaming minds, desperately trying to outrun the chilling legacy that Lucien left behind. Trying so hard to do better, to be better, to prove that he's not the monster he's so terrified a part of him once was. “Whatever it was, it doesn't feel good when I-- the moment when something creeps through, I don't like it. I don't want anything to do with it. I was happy!”

“I don’t want to remember anything. I don’t want anybody else’s baggage in my head, I don’t want anybody else’s problems, thoughts, ideas...I like this person. [This person], right now, is a good person, is a fine person, is a happy person.”

The fact that Molly runs headlong into danger for others all the time, yet he's still so taken by surprise that Yasha would do the same for him--

[daggersandarrows]

things i desperately need cr fans to remember before spewing absolute bullshit (inspired by luck's post which i did not want to derail):

sam is jewish

liam is hard of hearing

ashley's personal life is none of your business. nor any of them for that matter but like leave ashley alone right now

can we please stop with the pregnancy theories i s2fg

relatedly, matt and marisha are child free by choice

taliesin is OUT AS A BISEXUAL MAN holy fucking christ he is not straight stop it stop it stop it

can we remember that matt has severe body dysmorphia before making fun of his appearance. better yet can we not make fun of anyone's appearance for any reason

repeat after me: laura, ashley, and marisha are grown women with agency. laura, ashley, and marisha are grown women with agency. laura, ashley, and marisha are grown women with agency. treating them like helpless babies solely controlled by their husbands, partners, or friends is not the #girlboss #feminism move you think it is.

dani is not secretly scripting the whole show ffs

i see this the most with travis and marisha but like can we please remember that the players are not their characters

if. they. hated. each. other. would. they. be. playing. dnd. together. for. eight. years. would. they. own. a. company. together.

people saying "hey that was a bit racist don't you think" is not the same as people "hating on the show"

the mercer effect is not fucking real any more than "the phelps effect" is real, a very legitimate thing i'm sure you've all heard of, which is discouraging people from swimming because they won't be olympic athletes with record breaking medals

it's not for you to decide what the cast is and isn't comfortable with

[wellthebardsdead]

Sylas: Your father sounds like-

Taliesin: Terrible person? I’m aware.

Sylas: Mine.

Taliesin: …Oh… *leans forward hoping to find out a bit more about his companion*

Sylas: he… wasn’t my birth father though… My mother had an affair with a knight Paladin… wouldn’t tell me which one though. Kids run their mouths and all without realising… but exposing the Paladin would have them stripped of their ranking… breaking their oath to Auriel, breaking a home… so she lied and told my da I was his… he… always knew I wasn’t his… I looked nothin like any of my family… all I got was my mothers eyes and skin…

Never mattered what I did, he never loved me, never treated me like a son… Knight Paladin Gelebor though… i sometimes wonder if he was my real father. He was always kind, always went out of his way to look after me… and when the corrupted… those vulgar disgusting bastards came to the chantry and slaughtered everyone he was the one who saved me… he threw me out through a cave and… I never saw him again…

Taliesin: … *quietly watching his face seeing his normally sharp expression give way to a softness he didn’t think possible for the rogue to have* he sounded like a good man…

Sylas: he was… I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be a knight Paladin… I pestered him relentlessly about it, he’d humour me and ‘train’ me with wooden swords… if he could see me know… the wastrel, low life crook I’ve become… he’d be so disappointed in me.

Taliesin: A waif and a wastrel you were, a scoundrel even… But look at you now. Clean, fetching, learning to open up and be a good person not driven by your anger. He’d be proud to see you’ve survived through all the pain the world has given you.

Sylas: *laughs softly and leans forward* there you go again… seeing betterment in me that doesn’t exist… How can you be so blindly optimistic and sure that I’m a good person?…

Taliesin: *reaches forward taking his hand* because you’ve done the same for me… why can’t I do the same for you?…

Sylas: … *stands up and walks around the table to him, never letting go of his hand, his eyes locked onto Taliesins as he stands and meets his gaze, fluttering for only a moment as the snow elf gently grasps his chin to draw in so very close* because I’m not a good person…

Taliesin: *leans in, their lips touching but not enough to kiss, only give soft feathery touches as they speak* I disagree…

Sylas: gods… why did they bless me with you?… *presses his lips against his properly without another moment to spare, his hands sliding around his waist and lifting him up, laying him down and joining him on the table*

Lucien: *walks downstairs to make a snack and immediately turns and walks back up the stairs* Nnnope~

[quicksilverdrabbles]

Taliesin: Why doesn't Caryalind recognize you?

Saturn: *avoiding his eyes, focusing on the enchantment she's making* I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about.

Taliesin: Of course you do. Surely as a noble, you've attended his father's parties.

Saturn: My appearance has changed numerous times in the span of several years. This look, in particular, is vastly different from what it may have been.. maybe five years ago. We only ever returned to the Isles once to attend his Highness' parties in the time we were deployed to Skyrim. I'm sure I didn't stand out to him very much. *huffs, a spark of magic crackling across the enchanting table at the loss of concentration* Of course, that was the one time she actually treated me like a daughter. To get in good with the royal family, and secure an engagement.

Taliesin: ... Oh. I'm sorry.

Saturn: Hmph. *raises her hand over the enchanting table, trying to contain the magic* I'm not entirely sure it would have worked anyways. This body... I'm not sure if it can bear the perfect Altmer they would have wanted.

Taliesin: You're infertile?

Saturn: Wasn't born fertile, if you catch my meaning. The limits of Alteration magic are wild and ever-changing. A ritual of my own making.. it changed me, but I don't know to what extent. Not that I would have wanted to follow their wishes anyways. I would have left the moment the engagement was secured, and never looked back.

Taliesin: I see. Then we may have never met each other.

Saturn: ... Maybe.

Taliesin: *pauses, watching as Saturn's eyes go distant* I don't like that look on your face.

Saturn: *jolts and turns back towards him, a puff of smoke rising from the enchanting table* What look?

Taliesin: Like you're hiding something. You can play that look on the others all you like, but I know it better than most.

Saturn: ... *looks away, remembering the same distrustful look in his eyes during the Great War, when she killed a fellow Thalmor soldier in front of him, then ran away* ... I think you're imagining things. *turns away from the enchanting table, a shattered dagger left behind from the failed enchantment*

Taliesin: I think you're gaslighting me.

Saturn: *strides past him without a glance, leaving the room and gathering her sword* And maybe that's for the best.

[contreparry]

Happy Friday! How about "are you… jealous?" from the romantic yearning prompts?

I saw the prompt and immediately thought of the last time I filled it, and how maybe it should have an accompanying piece. So here’s some Zevran and Isabela for @dadrunkwriting!

Zevran didn’t have many friends.

He didn’t know if he should count his work colleagues as friends. Once upon a time he would have in a heartbeat- Taliesin and Rinna weren’t just his friends. They were like his own limbs, his heart, his everything- until one day they weren’t.

You didn’t burn yourself and come out unscathed.

Zevran had been limping along ever since. Taliesin covered where he could, because that was how he was. Stubborn to a fault and loyal to the Crows no matter what, but Taliesin was falling apart under the strain of his conflicting loyalties to the organization and to Zevran. Without Rinna to think things through and see into the heart of matters with her icy practicality, Taliesin pushed forward blindly and Zevran…

Well. You didn’t burn yourself and come out unscathed.

“Quiet tonight, aren’t we, handsome?” His companion this evening practically purred.

“Ah, Isabela,” Zevran murmured. “My pirate queen.”

He was in Kirkwall for work reasons, but he made sure to make time to stop by Isabela’s bar to catch up with one of the few true friends he had. He was lucky to catch Isabela while she was in, and even luckier to have caught her when the crowd was thin. It meant he could have an evening of drink and sympathy, though Zevran couldn’t figure out what exactly left him so unsettled today. Normally he would be the first to drag Isabela out for a wild night on the town, or he'd have one by his lonesome. But tonight he felt... tired. He was far more tired than a flight across the Waking Sea should have left him, and all Zevran wanted was...

He didn't know what he wanted. That was the trouble. So he found himself at Isabela's place, hoping for a return to normalcy, a return to... something. Anything was better than the restlessness that now plagued him.

“Don’t butter me up, you sly dog. I’m a kept woman now,” Isabela said primly before kissing him firmly on the cheek and squeezing his bicep. She dropped back behind the bar and reached for a bottle of something- rum, perhaps? Zevran was too tired from his flight (from everything) to analyze the label or remember how Isabela organized her drinks.

“So what will it be, Zevran? Feeling adventurous today, or do you want your usual poison?” she was practically bouncing, glowing with a satisfied light that only the truly content could manage. It only made Zevran feel worse. Why was he here? Tea and sympathy? Pathetic.

“Water tonight, dear Isabela,” Zevran murmured, and Isabela almost dropped the cocktail shaker she was holding.

“Zevran, darling, you’re not sick, are you?” Isabela tutted and pressed the back of her hand against his forehead.

"No. Merely tired," Zevran insisted, but he gratefully took the glass of water Isabela pressed into his hand. "The trip to Kirkwall was long."

"How is Amaranthine treating you? It's rather... provincial. For your tastes, that is," Isabela remarked, her tone light and teasing even as she stared him down with her amber brown eyes. It was as if she could divine his very thoughts with a look. Perhaps she could. Isabela had an uncanny knack for sniffing out drama- and her eyes widened. She leaned over the bar, bracing herself on her elbows until their noses nearly touched.

"Zevran. My sweet bird. What have you gotten yourself tangled up in?" Isabela asked, and the sympathy in her eyes, in her voice, hurt as much as any blade.

"Made- made a mistake. Several," Zevran confessed. "I... I think I'm emotionally compromised."

What a clumsy way to express what he thought, what he felt. And all these complex feelings were centered on his job. His target. Zevran sighed and pulled his phone out of his coat pocket. He swiped through his photo gallery, searching for the cause of his current troubles. He turned his screen towards Isabela.

"Him," Zevran said simply. Isabela stared at the phone, eyes tracing the picture that Zevran had long since burned into his eyes: Bran Surana, wearing his blue and silver striped canvas apron as he pulled the half-off book cart out onto the sidewalk in front of the shop. His dark hair was pulled out of his face into a stubby tail at the back of his head. He had a silver ear cuff in the shape of a gryphon clinging to his ear. He was messy and unpolished and glum in the picture, and it was Zevran's favorite candid portrait of his favorite book seller.

Unfortunately, his favorite book seller was also his target.

"Oh. Zevran," Isabela murmured, and Zevran dropped his head to the bar top.

"He's impossible," Zevran explained. "How am I supposed to work when he's like that?"

"... Scruffy? A punk?" Isabela suggested.

"Naive," Zevran retorted. That was what Bran was, utterly naive. Unused to the world beyond a research lab or mage academia. The thought of stealing from prickly, stubborn Bran made Zevran feel like a monster. Well, more of a monster than he already was.

"He's entirely too trusting. His friends have a better sense for danger than he does, but even they can't convince him to drive me away. Would be better for him if they did," Zevran muttered that last remark, but Isabela's ears were sharp. She turned her attention towards him, and the understanding in her gaze was too much for him to bear.

"Oh?"

"He has a bodyguard," Zevran muttered. "One of his coworkers. Ferelden through and through. Stands by like a mabari whenever I'm in that shop. Think he growled at me once." That could have also been the actual mabari napping on the dog bed behind the counter, but Zevran couldn't confirm it.

"Zevran. Are you... jealous?" Isabela asked, and Zevran's blood turned to ice.

"No," he said hastily as panic rose in his throat and threatened to choke him. "No. I have- there is nothing to be jealous about. Nothing!"

Isabela's mouth curled into a sly smile. "You are. You are jealous." She pulled his phone out of his limp grasp and pressed her thumb against the screen before leaning over to press her cheek to his. Zevran smiled instictively even as his heart stuttered in his chest. Jealous. He wasn't jealous. He couldn't be jealous. You had to have a heart, had to feel, to be jealous, and he didn't-

"Now let's see if the feeling is mutual," Isabela declared, and she raised the phone up and pressed her thumb to the screen.

[naiatabris]

ZevWarden Week Day 2's theme is "Gifts." We all know the Warden is an expert gift-giver (an idea I'm playing with here)--so what happens when it's Zev's turn? This is set in the modern AU of my "Charity Case" fic, shortly after the events of the story.

______________

“Hey, are you doing anything Friday after work?”

Zevran glanced over from the pan of eggs he was frying. Naia was making coffee at his side, carefully pushing the top of the press into the vessel to sweep the grounds to the bottom. Naia herself was not picky about her coffee, since she took it with a great deal of sugar and milk; she’d learned this more elaborate method for him, a fact he still did not quite know how to process.

“No firm plans, no. Do you have suggestions?” He winked at her. “Are they naughty ones?”

She laughed as she began to pour the coffee into mugs. “Not exactly. It’s my birthday. I always invite some people for dinner at that diner near the DFRC to celebrate. It’s very casual, but I’d love for you to come.”

“Then I will be there.” He slid the eggs from the pan with practiced ease before pulling out his phone to mark the appointment in his calendar.

*********

Later that day, as Zevran was headed out of Cousland Enterprises to find lunch, a familiar voice interrupted his train of thought. “Hi, Zev!”

Zevran turned to see Beth Cousland walking through the CE door, a bright smile on her face. “Beth! A pleasant surprise. Lunch with a family member?”

She nodded. “I haven’t seen Fergus in ages, and I need ideas for Oren’s birthday. Hey, speaking of birthdays, what are you getting Naia for Friday?”

The question caught Zevran utterly off-guard. He immediately felt foolish. Presents. Of course. As customary in Ferelden as they are in Antiva.

“I … am still struggling with an idea,” he said, not quite lying. “And you?”

“Same here.” Beth’s face lit up. “Here, I’ve got a few minutes before Fergus and I are supposed to leave. Let’s call the expert.”

Barely a minute later, Beth had Alistair Griffin on speakerphone.

“Oooooh. I should have warned you.” Zevran heard Alistair take a deep breath. “Here’s the thing about Naia. She is absurdly, impossibly good at gift-giving. Those action figures on my bookshelf? They were my favorites when I was a kid. I lost them in a move after college but Naia somehow found me new ones. Another year, she sewed me my own Denerim Crashers jersey--that’s the old minor league baseball team that I used to follow before they moved to Highever. She put my name on it and everything.”

Zevran felt a nervous sensation beginning to spread through his stomach.

“So what are you getting her?” Beth asked, a little worried wrinkle between her brows.

“Soccer ball autographed by her favorite Denerim Lightning players,” Alistair said promptly. “Took me a while to find one with the goalie’s signature on it, but I finally had a good idea and I wasn’t going to screw it up.” He cleared his throat. “It was also more than I probably should have spent. Want to split the cost and put your name on the card?”

“Deal,” Beth said immediately. “Any other ideas Zev could use?”

“Unfortunately I spent months coming up with just that one idea,” Alistair said dryly. “Sorry, Zevran. But I wouldn’t worry about it. Gifts are her thing, I think she kind of likes that she’s so much better at it than we are. And most people at the party don’t bring a present. You’ve only been dating a month. She probably doesn’t expect you to get her anything.”

Zevran frowned. “I appreciate the insight,” he told Alistair sincerely. “But I would not wish to arrive empty-handed. I will think of something.”

After exchanging goodbyes with her boyfriend, Beth hung up the phone and gave Zevran a reassuring smile. “I’m sure he’s right, you know. Whatever you get her, she’ll appreciate the thought.”

Zevran was sure Beth had the right of it. But the knowledge that Naia valued gifts, that she spent so much time and effort on presents for those she cared about, felt like a challenge he wanted to meet. ‘Appreciate the thought’ would not do.

He wanted to find something she would love.

*********

Over the next few days, Zevran began jotting down a list of things he knew Naia liked, trying to come up with a potential gift. He listened to her remarks, paid attention to what she watched on TV, looked at her wall of family photos depicting graduations and cookouts and summer days swimming at a beach on the Amaranthine Ocean.

Coming up with a present was more difficult than he’d anticipated. Since Alistair had already secured the soccer ball, anything related to Naia’s favorite sport or team was out. She’d just bought new running shoes a few weeks ago. He considered something more intimate, but between them they had an impressive collection of toys, and lingerie felt like a gift for him as much as for her.

Perhaps a physical present was the wrong direction. He thought back to the birthdays he’d planned for Taliesin and Rinna. During their first year as Crows he’d taken Taliesin club-hopping, laying out his credit card for some absurdly expensive table service before the two of them headed back to Taliesin’s apartment with an enthusiastic third party. For the last birthday he’d celebrated with Rinna, he’d booked a table at the city’s most exclusive restaurant, followed by a night in a penthouse hotel suite with a spectacular view.

Neither of those ideas were right for Naia, though. He’d learned that she was instinctively frugal, that the prospect of a twenty-dollar cocktail made her wrinkle her forehead and order soda instead. A high-end Denerim restaurant or hotel with mostly shemlen patrons would feel like an ordeal rather than a celebration.

He wanted something special yet comfortable, nice enough to be a treat and yet not so expensive it made her uneasy. A difficult balance to strike, especially since he was still getting to know his new city.

But finally, on Thursday morning, it came to him.

*********

Naia had somewhat undersold her birthday celebration. When Zevran arrived at the diner, it was filled with balloons and packed with her friends--old high school and college classmates, teachers from Vanedrin High, and other rec center employees. He was trying to figure out how to insert himself into this clearly tight-knit and friendly group--but before he could puzzle over it too much, Naia seized him by the sleeve and began to introduce him around.

More than once, Zevran touched the pocket of his jacket to make sure the envelope he’d brought was tucked safely inside.

Alistair began handing her presents as the diner’s wait staff brought out buckets of fries and pitchers of beer. She squealed in glee over the soccer ball, turning it around and around until she’d examined every signature; a new backpack, a gift card to a movie theater, and a Denerim Lightning ball cap were all greeted with hugs and enthusiastic thanks.

And finally, as the wrapping paper was cleared away and the guests resumed their party, Zevran slid an envelope in front of Naia. “Happy birthday.”

“Zev! I should have told you, presents are always optional. But thank you.” She grinned at him and opened it.

Her eyebrows rose as she pulled out the photograph inside. “It’s--a little house? Next to the ocean.” Then her eyes widened in recognition. “Zev. This isn’t …?”

He nodded. “The beach where your family used to go in the summer. Places near the water do book up early, but I was fortunate--there was a cancellation next month. It is just a weekend, but …”

Naia leaned over and kissed him, cutting off his almost-apology. When she pulled back, her eyes were sparkling. “I can’t believe this! It’s amazing! My parents had to cut back on the trips when we started saving for college …” she trailed off wistfully, then looked down at the picture and beamed. “I don’t think I’ve been to the beach in years. I can’t wait.”

“I fear there is a small addendum,” he admitted. “I had to call your parents to learn more about your favorite spots. We will be attending the Tabris family cookout next weekend. Adaia and Cyrion were quite clear that ‘no’ is not an option.”

Naia leaned her head back and groaned. “Oh, Maker. I’m sorry in advance, Zev.”

Oddly enough, Zevran was not. He had never met the parents of anyone he slept with, and he could not deny that the idea was strange. But there had been something very pleasant about hearing the elder Tabrises insist on meeting Naia’s boyfriend.

He raised his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. “A cookout is an acceptable price for the chance to see you in a bikini,” he murmured, too low for the rest of the party to hear.

“This place looks pretty private, Zev,” Naia murmured back. “If we’re lucky, we can skip the bathing suits.”

[your-turn-to-role]

This is coming from a place of genuine confusion....but why does a sect of the fandom dislike Marisha so much?? Like, I haven't seen it for ANY of the other players. Is it a "wife/girlfriend of the DM" complex, because I've seen that before. Idk, I don't get it, and no amount of googling has made me understand lol.

yeahhhhhhh

okay, to preface, i absolutely disagree with all of the marisha hate, i think she's a great player and is really unfairly treated

but a couple reasons why this tends to be a thing:

1) just plain old regular misogyny, yeah. all the girls on cr get it to an extent, but it's stronger with marisha - the idea that dnd is inherently a man's game and therefore no woman could be good at it is pervasive even in this fandom, not outright, but in subtle things, like how people give the guys a lot more leeway to do dumb shit than the girls, and on dnd posts in the past i've seen comments like "this reads like how laura and marisha would describe dnd while their husbands facepalm in the background", which like... isn't really harmful on the surface, but i have a hard time imagining matt and especially travis ever facepalming at their wives genuine ideas? like if it's obviously meant to be something ridiculous and not taken seriously, sure, but otherwise, that subtle implication that they see travis as a better player than laura is just way off. (and matt has more dnd experience than marisha but like... she's still a very good player)

2) the keyleth instinct. so here's the thing about campaign one and the characters they chose to play - the majority of the cast played within their comfort zone. they branched out a lot for c2, and obviously they as people aren't identical to their vox machina counterparts, but they're not too far away either. liam's stated he irl would be a rogue, taliesin likes playing intelligent edgy teenage assholes bc he was one, laura is a bit more goofy than vex but she still thinks a lot the same, scanlan is very sam, travis is obviously a lot smarter than grog but he still fell very in line with the kind of character travis is comfortable playing and the things he wants to explore.

but marisha chose a character in campaign one who was completely the opposite of her natural self. marisha is confident and very take no shit and a natural leader, keyleth is awkward and shy and doubts herself and overthinks things and has really bad luck in basically everything she ever tries. and people watched campaign one and assumed all of those traits were just the way marisha was. if you aren't drawn to keyleth as a character, it's relatively easy to find ways to hate her (which again circles back to the misogyny a bit). they see keyleth constantly fuck up due to awkwardness and think "marisha doesn't know how to play the game". they see keyleth be a mess of a person socially and think "wow marisha's not a very good actor if she can't handle this", completely ignoring the fact that she is acting very well and it's proven by the fact that they think keyleth is marisha

(and while she still gets hate as either character, the keyleth hate was far worse than the beau hate)

3) people just, not getting what she's doing. i wasn't in the fandom for the early days of cr2, but i have friends who were, and they've said there were circles of the fandom where everything marisha did was in question, even people not believing beau was a lesbian when it's made obvious in episode one, because what if she's doing it on purpose as a scam? and like, to broaden that a bit, i think marisha's characters and their decisions get misread a lot. i personally happen to find both beau and keyleth very relatable, so i usually get where they're coming from (mostly, bowlgate i was more on caleb's side there, but i still don't think she deserves hate for it), but to people who don't, or just haven't put effort into trying to understand marisha's characters, then between keyleth's awkwardness and beau's abrasiveness i think the majority of what they pick up from marisha's characters is negative

which is a shame, because they're both really good, well thought out, interesting characters.

4) this is going into my own meta for a bit, but, something i've found about marisha's characters is they're quite down to earth and very easily the viewpoint character of the group, in a way? like obviously it's an ensemble cast, but like... let's take keyleth. campaign one starts and ends with her. the very first adventure is triggered by her leaving home for the first time, to start her aramente. she's led a sheltered life up to this point, she doesn't know the world she's walking into - so we learn about this fantasy world at the same time she does. she has the most linear and easy to follow development, her aramente spans most of the story, and once it's done things only get more centered on her. she's now a leader of her people, she's fulfilled her destiny, but that means she lives so long all her worst fears are coming true - that she'll have to spend the rest of her life alone. how did we learn this was her biggest fear? because she's been scared since the start of losing vax, but the reason she has him at all is she resolved to not let that fear control her. and then as the endgame comes in, she suddenly has to face that head on. vax has a week left to live. barely two days after, they run into sprigg - someone who lived so long after all his friends died that he's lost himself, forgotten them, become a hermit of a person who's just living because he's got nothing better to do - everything keyleth believes she will become, and fears so much. but he proves she can still choose to remember them, and choose to live in their absence, not just survive. keyleth is the one who seals away vecna, who's grown so much in her power since that little scared druid girl, she can banish a god. and our story ends with her, and her father, and a raven - she's moving on, she's living, she's thriving, but she'll never forget.

if i was gonna write out vox machina's story as a novel, there is no character who would better suit being the protagonist than her

it's a bit less strong with beau, but she's still one of the more relatable characters, she's a human, who had a rebellious teenage years because of shitty overbearing parents, she's not a magic user, she's from the country we start in (and doesn't have a dark dangerous mystical secret like caleb and veth), a lot of the big turning points in the story have had her take the lead, it's the relative mundanity that gives a contrast to and lifts up the others, while still being a highly interesting character in her own right. beau is a grounding force of the mighty nein.

i personally like those kinds of characters, but i've noticed in almost all fandoms with a main character and then a group of side characters, the main character is rarely anyone's fave, overlooked in favour more (subjectively) interesting side characters, but then because the story puts the focus on the main character, people get sick of them and start to hate them? and in this form of storytelling, there is no main character, but people sorta do that to those kinds of characters anyway. and in addition to all the other marisha stuff, that probably contributes

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E96 (February 25, 2020)

Tonight’s guests are Taliesin Jaffe and Liam O’Brien!

Announcements: The Chicago live show and C2E2 are imminent! The live show will be on Thursday night, but an hour earlier than usual, at 6 PM Pacific/8 PM Central! Liam will be at the live show, but unfortunately has to leave C2E2 early and won’t be able to make it on Sunday. On Friday, the first behind-the-scenes video for The Legend of Vox Machina animated series was posted on YouTube, introducing the writing team!

Episode 96: Family Shatters

Stats for this week’s episode! Of the 16 times Caleb has cast Teleportation Circle, the M9 have remembered to contact someone prior to their arrival 7 times. Of those 7 times, they were successful at contacting someone at the location only 3. Taliesin: “We’re playing this game like Skyrim, we’re just going through people’s houses breaking pottery.” Caduceus got the straw hat that he gave to Clarabelle in episode 31, about 188 in-game days ago. There were 17 cow-related puns. Dani: “Is that above or below average for a Critical Role episode?”

“Clay was kind of built relatively quickly. I didn’t give Matt a ton to play with. I gave him the order in which they left, I gave him Clay’s attitude and his impression of his family members, which was usually just one sentence, and some basic idea of what their power set might be if they had one. I always thought of him as, from a family perspective, of what would have happened to Percy if nothing went wrong.” He was happy to be the one to run the family business and just hang around at home and run the shrine. “I think the rest of the kids’ wanderlust probably put them at odds quite a bit.” He liked being able to play that conflict and show what Caduceus was like when he was annoyed. Cad took after his father, the girls generally wanted to leave, and Colton is “just sort of a doofus.”

Caleb was an only child, so seeing this many kids was a lot. “They clearly had their grudges and their different dynamics with each other, but that’s normal, for sure. Caleb’s very unfamiliar with it.” He also keeps looking at Nott and thinking about how everything he’s doing is about wanting to rebuild his family, whereas Nott is so conflicted about going back to hers. “He doesn’t understand it, but he doesn’t want to push it” or judge her for it. “I thought I had a really defined direction at the start of the campaign, but my seven best friends have knocked it silly.”

What’s keeping Cad with the Nein? “Caduceus is not ready to go home at all. He’s not done with his walkabout. He feels like he wants to see a bit more. He feels he has an intense debt to pay. He feels he has a mission to see everybody else through, at the very least. Or at least he’s telling himself that. So he’s saved his home, or at least he thinks he’s saved his home, and his family’s all right, so now it’s debts that must be paid. He’s not somebody who thinks you can just get off the bus.”

“Caleb was going to ask [the hag] about the ability to travel backward through time, not really believing that she could do that, but was still like, show me what you’ve got.” Even if she’d said it, he would have thought she was a liar. “Probably would’ve offered to kill the M9″ in exchange, then would’ve turned around to hit her with a surprise Disintegrate. Liam notes repeatedly that nothing could possibly have been as cool as what Laura wound up doing.

On the Nein not worrying about places Cad considered sacred ground, Caduceus “is fine with conflict. He doesn’t even really have to have conflict, he could assert himself if he were so inclined. It’s that he’s aware that there are limits to what these people can do. It’s very much the philosophy of ‘children and drunks can do no wrong’.” He’s picking his battles.

Was there a defining moment where Caleb started seeing the Nein as family? No single moment. “It’s like love by a thousand cuts.” Liam notes that he’s still not sure how Caleb would react if he suddenly had the means to carry out his plans. “He’s got the recovering-addict mentality.”

Cosplay of the Week: an amazing Pumat! (CriticalHitical, photo by Minniemooncos on Twitter)

Taliesin notes that Caduceus is definitely feeling more connected to the group. “If anything, Caduceus is really embracing his role as the spiritual guide to the group. He feels like he really has a lot to offer from that perspective of being the roving therapist. Or at least, he thinks he’s a roving therapist.” Liam notes that Cad is the most mysterious of the group to Caleb. “He’s the most religious character I’ve ever played, too. He’s fun! He really came together very nicely.”

On Caleb being more lighthearted on occasion: “He’s been out of practice being a human being for a long time.” The Nein’s brand of ridiculousness is rubbing off on him.

Why hasn’t Cad been pranking the Nein? “They don’t treat him poorly in that way yet. Siblings, man. I have quite a few siblings, and there is an energy. It’s the same way like when you’re around your parents, you revert to a 15-year-old.” Same with siblings. “There’s just something-- just the urge to torture them is so overpowering.” The moment he got the whistle, he knew exactly what he was going to do with it. Liam was reminded of Taliesin’s real-life siblings while watching these interactions in the game.

On Caleb’s laying on compliments for the Traveler: “The thing about time travel is it’s so implausible. It’s so implausible that I could see us finishing this campaign and Caleb will still have it in the back of his head for the rest of his life. But maybe Artagan could help with that. He certainly sees the potential in Artagan, and it was a balance between wanting to support everything Jester has devoted her life to, so it just felt like everyone was ready to write it off. Life is often like this, life isn’t what you thought it would be, it is what it is. Let’s not damn this yet, let’s feel it out. And if I can use this situation to possibly eradicate ultimate evil, that’s a win.”

Cad found it tough to have family and friends in the same room and play both roles. “I don’t know how much it came across that he was trying to keep them, not necessarily separated, but ‘family, guys, guys, family, ANYWAY.’” He did want to get his family on their way as quickly as possible. Cad is the equivalent of his early 20s, so something like 85-120 years old for a firbolg. 

Liam is asked about the conversation between Caleb and Yasha on watch several episodes ago. "You know what one of the best parts of that scene that played out was, is about 20 minutes or 30 minutes before that happened, I texted Ashley at the table and said, ‘Want to take watch? I have nothing planned, it could be fun.’” He wasn’t expecting it to go that far. “I think he had such an extreme reaction because he felt that he had done a good job of hiding things, and he was suddenly worried that he was transparent, that everyone had been able to read him this whole time when he’d thought that he was-- well, he’s a little in love with Jester Lavorre, and has been for a while, uselessly in love with her. The waltz was probably a little pebble. And in that moment-- this doesn’t play out verbally too much in the show, but he just was worried that this thing that he’s never going to admit to because it’s useless, she’s finding herself, and has her whole life ahead of her, and has other people around her who care about her and are a whole lot better for her than he is. And he’s aware of the way those two [Fjord and Beau] feel as well. It’s just there in the background fucking up his shit. It’s really just a problem. Big fucking problem.” 

Fan art of the week: a gorgeous Clay family portrait! (by Teaweltzer on Twitter)

On Clay being absent for the renewal of his home: “I don’t think his arc’s ending off-screen. I think his arc ends when he comes home to see what’s become of it.”

Is Caleb worried about Beau since the confrontation with her father? “Of course he is. She’s ignoring all the advice that she gave him. He doesn’t like to see her that hard on herself when she’s so competent and probably the backbone of the group. It’s the most judgey Caleb’s been of anybody, really, but he’s very aware of the pain of family and personal stuff. She knows her, and even though he broke his shit in half, he could still see the dynamic in the room when we visited his family, so he feels for her. We need you and we love you and we will miss you, you don’t fucking get to go.”

Each of the temples has a secondary god; what was the Blooming Grove’s other god? “The Blooming Grove is for the Archeart because it is a gift of beauty. It’s the Allhammer, the Changebringer, and the Archeart. It’s kind of a powerplay from the Wildmother, in my opinion. They’re all three based off of very specific types of funereal practices that are common throughout the world.”

Caleb saw giving over the transformation spell to Essek as a returning of one of his many favors. “Caleb likes Essek a lot. They’re like two highly gifted kids at school together. And, you know, he’s quirkily charming and handsome. There’s just no reason not to, in his mind. Outside of the M9, he’s probably the only person that Caleb would see as a friend that he’s made. Everyone else is just sort of scenery around the M9.”

What’s next for Cad? “It’s a little bit of finding himself, or at least finishing himself would be the way to put it.” (cue snickering from off-camera) “He’s also vaguely aware of some of the things that are going to possibly emotionally damage the party on the horizon, and he wants to be ready to deal with, in vague order, whatever’s going to happen to Jester, and then whatever’s going to happen to Fjord, and then whatever’s going to happen to Nott, and Yasha, and Caleb. He doesn’t know how to deal with what Beau’s going through. It’s the one thing he has no experience of, because he has no experience with that family dynamic. When he met people with that family dynamic, it was always at the end of it.”

Some fans sent in death whistles. Brian encourages Taliesin to play one on the plane.

The hat for Calliope was a last-minute thought. The flute could also have gone for Colton, depending on “who I could sneak up on”.

Caleb took a symbol of the Archeart from the Labenda Swamp. “I think it was familiar to me. I think I might have either correctly or mistakenly thought it reminded me of the woman who helped Caleb in the Sanatorium.”

[readbythestarlight]

c2e79

Frankly I imagine this is an accurate depiction of how Sam would act if he had indeed been up for 44 straight hours and was surviving on Red Bull

We’re so blessed that Laura and Taliesin sit on the same side of the table as Sam because their reactions are amazing

Laura doesn’t have a clue what’s going on in the Game Ranch and it’s pretty hilarious

Hi Essek pls help us here you can have our horses

HA he smiled! :D

He loves them

WHISPERS

[[MORE]]

Also they didn’t even clearly tell him where to go

Do not file a complaint or ask him for anything else omg

Poor Essek

Guys no

Guys NO

I take it back he hates them xD

Caleb constantly trying to be the one who communicates with Essek and also mostly taking the blame whenever the group messes up is sweet

"The Traveler loves you so much :D"

Fortunately they rolled nice and high

Okay he really does love them

"There would be nothing I would love more.... than to not be around you anymore for the remainder of this day." loves them

I love the little eye squint/crinkle thing Matt does as Essek sometimes

B: "Hey Essek? Are you mad at us?"

E: "Mad is not the right word... I would say, uh... ready to leave."

J: "I’m so glad he didn’t say disappointed."

I wanna know what those whispers to Caleb were about

"Be careful, be safe, do not be stupid, and, ah, goodbye." He loves them.

Cad just talking to the forest

"Probably start a fire who knows" lol

Toad just eats the fly and Cad’s like Cad: "Not cool man! That was definitely not cool. Don’t suppose you want to help."

Toad: "croooooak"

Cad: "yeah, didn’t think so. Shoo."

F: "are we following the frog the toad the??"

Cad: "no no he’s no help"

I’ve got a bad feeling about this

Okay they’re pretty close

Caleb wants to save Yasha, save her from her own head

Oh dear...

Something about this is reminding me of when they went to clear out the Gentleman’s hideout and there were the two dead bodies and the fish people. I know it’s probably 100% unrelated but still.

Wraithwood tree

"Beware the bark that bites"

Oh I love this

Fjord is right they need to be ready

Imma gonna fight Oban for treating my girl Yasha so bad

"Don’t forget you were the one to find me, Orphanmaker." Don’t like that.

THAT’S my girl! Fight him!

Oh they’d better kill that demon fuck before I do

Caleb can’t whoosh y’all away though guys

This is going to be a fucking disaster

This plan is bad

All the plans are bad

Except for the plan where they rest

I think Fjord is right and honestly while I know it’s bad if this next evil thing wakes up, it’s not their sole responsibility to stop it and the risk of one or many of them dying is HIGH

The fact that we’re getting the break before the 2hr mark tells me Matt is anticipating a fight, and probably a long one

The whole plan is already falling apart smh

They’re gonna die

Fuck fuck fuck

I can’t believe

Oh god oh god oh FUCK

This is all going so wrong

You guys are fucked

Fuck fuck fuck

Oh god

Oh no a map

Death is coming

I like the idea that Cad goes invisible instinctively like it’s an animal defense thing.

I also like to think his ears droop and lay flat whenever he’s scared/unhappy

I’m just trying not to think about what’s happening right now

...oh my god they left

I feel like they’re forgetting that if the laughing hand laughs and snares any of them with it they won’t be able to run and this whole plan will be for nothing

This is terrible this is so bad they are 100% not even remotely prepared for this and they need to accept that and STOP

Like I know they want to stop them but they will not be able to and it’s not worth dying

Oh god oh god oh god

Y’all need to LEAVE

Please don’t have the components because summoning the demon is not allowed

No Matt DONT allow it

God

Not to criticize Matt but I feel like maybe he should not have dropped this on Travis/Fjord right in the middle of an episode. It should have been discussed after and implemented from now on.

God tho I still didn’t want him to be able to do it

Do they even have any healing spells left because Jester doesn’t have any and if Cad doesn’t have any they’ll be relying on just cantrips and potions

So now Cad is out of spell slots and they’ve got hellhounds after them. Lovely.

Fuck fuck fuck FUCK

Banishment Plz Plz Plz

FUCK

ajdlsjaksks

CHARM MONSTER PLZ PLZ PLZ

YES

wait fuck Matt no

YESSSSS

GO FJORD THATS MY BOY

Matthew Mercer

Oh thank god what was that

Fjord is such a badass he just saved their asses

Fjord honey NO you can’t stay behind we can’t split the party

Okay please just keep moving I guess if you’re not gonna leave

You should leave tho

That could have been good or terrible

Oh god here we go

Matt’s gonna have to call it for the week, no way can we start a huge fight this late

Oh GOD if this works I will die if this doesn’t work we will all die

The tree lives!

Okay that could be good... useful at least

Noooo he got it?! Fuck

Here we go I can’t breathe

Please please please please be safe Nott

I’m almost too tired to be stressed at this point but only almost

Now they’re double screwed because they don’t have an out

I’m so tiiiiiiired

Insight greed huh that’s interesting

That was so anticlimactic and I’ve never been so glad

NO you cannot kill the laughing hand you are all EMPTY and you need to go home. You need to sleep. There was no way that you could possibly have done this anyway.

Matt, out of game: Marisha my love please be careful with that pencil I am legitimately scared

Cad and Fjord and Jester are right that is as good as it was going to go y’all were not going to win

God I’m so glad they didn’t die

I’m sure you can stop him next time

Liam and Marisha are genuinely so annoyed lol

And Fjord still didn’t get to use his sword

Matt’s mood is very interesting I can’t place it

Love you Matt! Thanks for not killing the whole table!

[jq37]

When you have time, can we get breakdowns for epusodes 3 and 4 of Bloodkeep? I'm going to be honest: I thought for sure that having a fight thousands of feet in the air was going to go about as well for Brennan as having a fight in an active volcano, but I was surprised

**spoilers for airship ambush**

I am not completely caught up on CR and I likely never will be because that backlog is truly stunning but I do know that Matt had a ship battle this season that one player (Taliesin I think) derailed completely. Now idk if that was before or after this was filmed but I have to imagine whichever one happened second had Matt flashing back to whichever one happened first. 

I really appreciate all the work Brennan puts into all the unique mechanics for all of his fight, specifically the ship stuff in this ep.

Sohkbar putting the potion in a cone of beef like he has a dog and not a horrifying monster abomination.

Efink being like, "Why did we let Galfast live?" and everyone being like, "Your??? Dumbass???? Husband???????"

Are there ever gonna be siblings on D20 who don't want each other dead? Marcus can join Adaine in the, "My sibling can go straight to hell," corner. (Kristen’s brothers don’t count, they had like zero screen time). 

"Ye shall pay for it."/"Aw come on." I love Mike.

Efink's spirit guardians are freaking Elven paparazzi.

Maggie being BFF's with John is my fave.  

Sidenote, I really love how all of these guys reskinned their attacks to make them fit their aesthetic and the campaign more.

Everyone applauding the Lord of Shadows.

A Brennan soundboard: Hell Yeah! Incredible. Bud.

MONSTER BANK.

"Who wore it better? Tom Cruise or this Mystery Bird?"

Marcus being like, "Yeah, I come from a pirate city. We're basically all bad guys."

Lilith takes a cue from Marcus and works on recruiting a SECOND eagle. And she rolls a 26!

John throwing a pocket square at the other-other eagle.

"Don't do it Leiland! You have so much to live for."

I love it when a player rolls, nods approvingly, and then is like, "Right, that's a [terribly low roll]."

Leiland being the personification of that John Mulaney gif as he falls off the ship: You know those days when you're like, this might as well happen?

Did the card for Hellish Rebuke actually say, "Set someone on fire if they hurt you"? Because if I got a card that vague as a newbie PC I'd be like, "Well he emotionally hurt me. Does that count?"

Matt using his reaction just to yell, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

"Because you have spent a good couple of sessions establishing yourself as extremely materialistic, this object is a close personal friend of yours."

That is is one of my favorite DnD sentences ever.  

"I WILL DIE BY YOUR HAND."

Efink rolled two, twos and I had Naddpod flashbacks. Shout out to the two crew!

The annoying thing about DnD is that you can just roll total garbage for an entire session. True randomness means that, sometimes, you just can't hit anything for a full 2 hours.

"Tokyo drifting your airship."

I've said this before but it's really a shame Matt doesn't get to play more. He's a great DM obviously, but he's such a stellar player too.

Wild Nat 20 from Leiland and then he tells LIlith to CUT THE CHAIN THAT’S KEEPING HIM FROM FALLING.

The Vingury showing up is one of my favorite things. Players being forced to face the direct consequences of their own RP actions is the best. 

I think the lesson on D20 is Spirit Guardians are Good.

One-liner king Trapp purposely whiffs the easy one liner.

"There is a slim chance that all goblins in the Bloodkeep have a bomb in them. Just a slim chance."/"WHAT?"

"Did we put them there? Is that on us?"

What was Brennan on when he came up with that mechanic?

One of my other fave DnD things is having a lengthy, pointless conversation as a giant battle is happening.

lol, Efink is a cleric. I also forgot.

Poor Leiland being in the radius of her Turn Undead. Buddy.

"You're making doors! You're doing that which you hate."

Boss use of druidcraft by Lilith. I like it when people use mainly flavor spells for combat.

"You could dramatically go above decks and jump OR you can just walk through the giant hole belowdeck."

"WOT IS HAPPENING? DID SOMEONE CLOSE A DOOR ON THE SUN?"/"I thought you liked that. I'm so unclear."

Leiland is getting straight Roadrunner'd by Hamhead and it's wild. (I forgot that the players also made a Loony Tunes ref and they did it right as I was writing this line).

“Puddles of fire.”

Just waves upon waves of enemies this fight, huh? I think that’s a good DM move because it means you can gauge how it’s going and send out more or less depending on if you’re players are getting murdered or if they’re totally breezing through it.

And while we’re talking about the fight, I guess sometimes you womp the terrain and sometimes it womps you and this was a scenario 2. I also think Brennan might have been more prepared this time with like the rooting Ents and the sturdy dwarf and the waves of enemies. 

The indignity of not only getting slayed by J'er'em'ih (or however you spell that) but specifically by his butt hands. Wild. You’d think Marcus would care more about not getting the killing blow but, actually, this is almost better because it’s not even a cool, noble, aesthetic pirate death. 

Trapp: Lol. Wouldn't it be cute if it was like J'er'em'ih was flying the boat?

Brennan: No, he needs to do that. Roll.

HE ROLLS AN 18.

Everything Brennan says about J'er'em'ih is equal parts fascinating and horrifying.

"DON'T BACKSEAT DRIVE EFINK!"

Parachute J'er'em'ih is just so wild.

"Just barely better than J'er'em'ih at driving."

"Oh, you're negging me, I see."

I always forget that Leiland is floating everywhere like he's on a freaking hoverboard.

The running thing of Leiland being useful but no one being able to see it is so so good.

LOTR needed more parachuting. I mean, I assume. I've never seen LOTR.

"It seemed super metal at the time."/"As a religious choice, it makes sense but saying it's for cleanliness doesn't make any sense." These guys are so good at improv. So consistently dropping gold.

"How does physics work?" Mike Trapp asks, as if that's something that has a hard and fast answer in DnD.

"I will actively go prone to sit where I am and pout." What a whole-ass drama queen.

lol Amy finally found Brennan's limit.

Even though they didn't do it, I love how down Rekha was for the insane airship plan.

Lilith treating Leiland like her adult disaster child is my fave.

"Please push harder."

Leiland drops darkness and the Goblin rolls a nat 20 to blow up the ship. Is there a moment more encompassing of this dude's existence?

"I understand that everyone here wants to rob me of my joy." DM mood. (Matt: I genuinely feel you there [and I’m reminded of that CR ship battle.])

The last shot of everyone falling out of the sky is so nice.

"WHAT THE HECK BRENNAN!?"

Anyway, as I was finishing this up, I got an ask about the next ep which is a doozy and prob my fave of the season so far. I’ll answer it as soon as I have another block of free time!

[aviatrickss]

Vox Machina episode 30!!!

“How many are left?” “Two?” “Four.” “Oh Jesus.”

The Gang was prepared for some light-hearted revenge fun and now realizes they gotta help Percy torture/mutilate a bunch more people so that he can murder at least four more folks and burn their houses down

They’re being SO fucking nice and casual about the fact that Percy became a fuckin smoke monster like my friends won’t even let me order something different at Chipotle without grilling my ass like the CIA

Vax immediately being like “what the fuck is IT you got a fuckin PARASITE???”

Percy’s dramatic ass starting off “a few years ago I had a dream” just tell them you got a demon inside of you u fuckin anime protagonist

SCANLAN IS SO FUCKING FLOORED BY THIS ANXBSBSAHZHZ

Scanlan had a sleepover with fuckin Zahra and still does not understand Demons

Percy: we’ve all been inspired by demons to create unholy weapons of war before y’know i dream a lot of weird shit :(

“It didn’t matter.” “It matters now.” HOW WAS PERC’ILDAN NEVER CANON?????

Vax: so u got a demon inside of u and u don’t fuckin know what it is and u know it’s gonna keep wanting more

Percy: you make it sound so bad can we pls fuckin kill these people and THEN talk about my literal inner demons

“I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you” GODDD

“I am so grateful that there is justice in this, but even if there wasn’t, I would still be here.” Why don’t u just fuckin turn me to ash with ur demon powers taliesin huh

Vax trying very hard to Lay Down The Law and tell Percy to not turn into a slaughter-monster while Grog stands behind him making thumbs up signs snejdjwjzhwhshq

Grog and Vax are so fucking funny god they’re morons

“The buttflap of my soul is down”

Amen Percy

“I use my movement to pee, because I just woke up.”

Vex staying awake to make sure Vax and Keyleth don’t make out jfc

Trinket and Grog playing hand-slaps is so effin cute

Again, just dice rolls, but still so good that Percy’s the only one getting sick from the corrupted land

Vax just really wants to pretend to be someone’s dad I think he’s guilty he never gave Kenan those daggers

“Come on Jimmy John” “My name is Tad” “SHUTTUP”

Abusive Peasant Dad!Vax and Abused Little Peasant Boy!Scanlan are SO fucking funny I love these shitheads

“Okay, first and foremost, you gotta treat your boy better.”

Percy revealing himself to the priest and the councilor...... my heart..........

“I TURN INTO A TRICERATOPS”

God I can’t wait for the next episode

[marchusburchens]

Piecing together Taliesin’s “I don’t know if Caleb’s picking up on Molly’s feelings towards him” and “Molly was not romantically interested in those not of sound mind”, along with Molly’s actions/reactions in general, makes me finally see Molly’s desire to do good/be good to others.

I genuinely didn’t get Molly the entire time he was alive, and the Talks Machina for ep. 26 cleared up a lot of things. So much of what he said seemed disingenuous or full of hot air, like Beau noted in her eulogy. He didn’t have the charisma to pull off sincerity, and perhaps knowing that, often relied on coin to bribe his way into others’ good graces. He blustered his way through social aggression with someone he knew it would work on, convincing himself it was for the greater good of the group.

His actions, however, show more of a person who wants to be a rock, a comfort, or a protector. It’s earliest with Toya and the circus folk, where he tries to reassure everyone. It’s visible in his private interactions with Yasha, a person who he doesn’t have to put on a front with. It’s very obvious in his goals with the bandits (both times) and the Krynn soldier. And with regards to the “Molly’s feelings towards him” statement, along with Molly’s actions/conversations with him, I think Caleb represented to Molly the perfect person to be protected. 

I don’t think it had much to do with what Caleb would have wanted or needed, so much as what Molly wanted. Being there for Caleb was also simpler - physically protecting someone, for Molly and his low charisma, typically had a better outcome than emotionally protecting/supporting someone. There was a palpable dynamic change in how the party treated Caleb and Nott after Nott’s episode 13 speech, and perhaps most so for Molly - it’s like Nott shone a guiding spotlight onto a target for Molly’s hunger to be Good to Someone.

For a two year old who was adamant he had a fully formed personality, I can imagine how much work would go into making sure he was constantly upholding that personality - am I being good enough, am I helping enough, did I make enough people happy, did I make everybody safe. He wasn’t always good at it - it’s painful watching him awkwardly compliment people. And he died before he could figure out that it’s not necessary to be constantly on guard for opportunities to let others know you want them to feel safe and loved. 

[boudicathebrave]

Rewatching the discussion about Molly’s backstory, which is very interesting by the way. Under the cut because I’m doing a breakdown of the scene and it’s very long (thanks to crtranscript so I don’t have to retype everything). I went with mostly referring to everyone by the actors’ names because I was talking about the expressions they were making so much and just wanted it a little more consistent but I probably did some switching back and forth: just ignore that.

Taliesin said, “I woke up without any names, or any past, buried in the ground two years ago.” Sam’s face just went slackjawed and he was staring into the middle distance, thinking hard and then he said, urgently, “Were you dead?” (Taliesin: “Obviously not.” Sam gets sidetracked looking through Jester’s spells and then makes Jester cast zone of truth (because Laura wasn’t there). Nott and Molly both fail their charisma saving throws.)

Travis asks what Molly remembers before waking up in the dirt. Taliesin: “There is no before. Whatever happened before is not me. It’s not part of anything–” Sam asks, loudly and kind of in the manner of one speaking deliberately like they’re telling a pun or laying down a clue, “Like your life reset somehow? ... Or you just don’t remember?”

Sam watches with a look of intense concentration as Taliesin replies, “Some asshole got buried in the dirt. Fuck him. I am enjoying what I’m doing; I want nothing to do with that. Anything that came before, I was happy to just leave it be.” Liam then asks “ Yeah, but do you have any theories for what happened before?” Taliesin says “No” and Sam kind of nods his head like “okay then.”

Sam takes a break to take a big swig from his flask and as Marisha asks “ Did you look the same, or did you come back---?” he *seems* to lower the flask more slowly than one would expect.

TALIESIN: How would I know?

SAM: Everything before two years ago is nothing to you. Black.

TALIESIN: That’s somebody else.

(Sam mutters “Okay”)

TRAVIS: Two years ago, did you have all those tattoos? (Sam looks at Taliesin with an absolute laser focus. His look is more serious as he continues to listen.)

TALIESIN: No, not exactly.

SAM: Any of them?

TALIESIN: Some of them, yes.

LIAM: How much time passed between waking up in a dirt box and the circus?

TALIESIN: Days. (Sam looks forward like “holy shit”.) I was a bit out of it.

The conversation goes on for a bit with some interesting tidbits, but Sam’s face is really hard to read during it.

Then Sam asks a very loaded, slow and deliberate question: “ Do you really not want to know your past? Answer truthfully.” Taliesin replies, “I really don’t. Whoever that was came to that end, and I want nothing to do with that.Whatever it was, it doesn’t feel good when I– the moment when something creeps through, I don’t like it. I don’t want anything to do with it. I was happy! I liked the circus! The circus was great!” Meanwhile Sam had that contemplative, slightly skeptical look on his face and you could practically see the math fly around as he mulled it all over.

The conversation goes on for a bit and then Sam says, insistently, “I’m sorry to belabor this, but what if you had a good life before this? What if you were famous or rich or had friends or family?”

Taliesin replies, a little annoyed, “Okay, here’s the thing that you’re not catching. (Sam watches very intently, a little guardedly.) That wasn’t me. This is mine. I don’t want anything from that other person anymore. That person is someone else. I don’t want anything to do with it. I did not feel good coming out of that. It was– I’m in for a penny, might as well. I’m told, although I don’t entirely remember this part, that I only said the word empty over and over again for the first week.”

Sam looks shocked at the word “empty” kind of stricken. People talk a bit and Sam repeats, “Empty” softly and sadly. He then starts to say something but Taliesin cuts him off by continuing, “That sounds terrible. I don’t want to remember anything. I don’t want to anybody else’s baggage in my head and I don’t want anybody else’s problems, thoughts, ideas. I like this person,right now is a good person. Is a fine person. Is a happy person.” Sam is just focused and attentive.

They talk for a bit, about maybe finding the book and such, and Taliesin says, “Can you imagine what it would feel like to not feel anything about anything that had happened to you so far?” Sam says very resolutely and quickly, “No.”

Marisha says “Yes.” And Sam looks at her like “what the fuck did you just say?” and quickly says, “What do you mean yes? You can imagine what it’s like what it’s like to not feel anything before this moment? Have you died before?“ Sam listens intently.

MARISHA: No. Doesn’t mean you have to find meaning in meaningless things.

TALIESIN: It’s very freeing. It’s the best thing– it’s the thing that happened to me. It’s not the best thing that happened to me, it’s the thing that happened to me. I found peace in building a new person. The Moonweaver–

MARISHA: You know just because you know about your past doesn’t mean you have to be beholden to it.

SAM: (nods) That’s true.

MARISHA: If you���

TALIESIN: What if it feels that I owe it something?

MARISHA: You don’t owe your past shit. If I don’t feel anything about my past, but I still remember it and I still don’t give a fuck about where I came from then, why should you care about shit that you don’t even remember?

TRAVIS: That’s a layered question.

Sam mutters really quietly either “I don’t know about that” or “You would know about that.” He looks intent, skeptical, and like he’s disagreeing during Taliesin’s next reply.

TALIESIN: I spent two years before I met you all cajoling people, occasionally ripping them off, occasionally doing a good turn here or there. Never trust the truth. The truth is vicious. The truth thinks you owe it something. None of that. I like my bullshit. It’s good. It’s happy. It makes other people happy.

SAM: But it’s not who you are. (Sam says this kind of like “Oh come on Molly that’s not good enough”. The tone is kinda hard to describe here)

TALIESIN: It is exactly who I am. (Sam looks a bit like he disagrees)

They talk about the Moonweaver and Molly’s swords.

Sam asks, very genuinely, “If you always lie and bullshit, how are we ever going to believe you?”

Taliesin replies, “Because I always lie and bullshit.” Sam looks very disatisfied with that answer.

MARISHA: I can kind of agree with that. Cheers to bullshit. (Sam looks at them in distaste)

TALIESIN: I may be a liar but I’m never a betrayer. I’m honest in my work, and I believe in doing a good turn. (Sam gives a little nod) I’ve never cheated you out of money. I’ve never robbed from you. I stayed with that circus for two years, I know how people treat each other. It’s important. (Sam crosses his arms and gives Taliesin a side eye.) And all that stuff you told me before? I’ve got to admit, I didn’t even listen to any bit of it. (Sam looks somewhat stonefaced) I was just trying to teach you a lesson. I don’t care where you’ve been. I don’t care what terrible things any of you have done. You’re here now. This is how it works.

They talk for a bit. Then Sam says, “But I will say this: Lucien?” Like he’s not sure if Molly wants to go by Lucien or not.

Taliesin says fiercely, “Let me make this abundantly clear. My name is Molly. That person is dead and not me.It’s just a person who had this body. They abandoned it, it’s mine now.”

Sam replies, calmly but insistently, “ I think that you need to know where you’ve been to know where you’re going and I respect your feelings– “

Taliesin, cutting in brusquely, irritated a bit: And I feel---

Sam: But I feel---

Taliesin: ---that you’re fretfully ignorant and filled with platitudes. But I still like you regardless. (He sounds fond by the end)

Sam, still calm and insistent: I feel like when you’re ready to know your past, I would support that and I would help you find it.

Taliesin muses, threateningly, getting more aggressive as he goes on: Maybe he killed goblins. Maybe he was a goblin hunter. Maybe he ate them. Raw. (Sam meanwhile has on a “you don’t know me. your words aren’t affecting me” kind of expression. Sam mutters “As long as he [something something]” but the rest is lost in crosstalk.)

Marisha closes out by saying “ For what it’s worth, I like you a little better now.” And Sam follows up with a quick “Me too.”

That’s about it for Nott’s reactions to Molly’s backstory. There was also some interesting stuff in there about Beau hounding Molly about fortunetellers who “set people on a wrong path” and Yasha saying she finds multiple people attractive and charming but wouldn’t pursue it. Gosh ep. 49 was so illuminating about Nott’s insistence, which I at first thought was really rude but now see she was speaking from her own perspective and relating to Molly deeply, and just couldn’t imagine accepting herself as the goblin she is now and not caring about being Veth. Molly’s words at the end “And I feel that you’re fretfully ignorant and full of platitudes” were so so cutting now that we understand Nott better. Obviously Molly saying them is understandable and I’m not condemning him, but ouch.

I also really liked how Nott kept asking everyone “but did you die though” and how the context of that question has changed.

Matt’s face is basically so unreadable to me that idk if I caught any tells or anything. I wasn’t paying super attention to it because he’s got a great stoneface but I think he might’ve made some slight expressions at the beginning of the conversation and when Nott asked Molly if he’d died.

[dent-de-leon]

I'm so sorry to hear about Molly! I never followed crit role besides your updates and the fanart of him you reblogged; he seemed very nice! if it's okay (because I don't know where to go to get this info) , may I ask you more about molly? what does he do? what's he like? and how'd he... ya know...

asjsdsfkdl thanks that’s very nice of you!! ;; And sure of course I love talking about Molly!! His full name’s Mollymauk Tealeaf and he’s played by VA Taliesin Jaffe. He’s this really charismatic, charming tiefling. His backstroy is really shrouded in mystery, but  here’s what we know–“Molly” has only existed for two years. Before that, he was another person entirely, and went by Lucien. Lucien was a blood hunter–a homebrew class that can track and kill monsters with a kind of blood magic. He was the leader of a group of members with similar abilities, and they were trying to achieve some kind of miracle. We’re not really sure what, but I think it might have something to do with–ironically–cheating death. At the very least, that ended up being a side effect of it.

They performed some kind of ritual, and Lucien died in the process. When he next awoke, he had no memory of his former life, and he was buried alive. He had to claw his way out of the ground and ended up roaming aimlessly until he was picked up by a traveling circus. Molly was catatonic at the time, he was completely out of it and would only repeat the word “Empty.” One of the people who took him in gave him the name Mollymauk Tealeaf, and overtime, he gradually grew more aware and started speaking again. He’s said that he genuinely enjoyed the circus and he was happy there. “Molly” was a completely new persona he had developed, his own separate person–and he wanted nothing to do with Lucien. He considered himself completely different than whoever had his body before, and he wanted nothing to do with that life. He despises any situation where he’s forced to confront his past and wants it to disappear forever. 

The intro Taliesin gave for his character is, “A lavender tiefling with red eyes and very curled, extremely pierced, ostentatious horns that are pierced with little gems and little baubles. He’s got a tattoo that seems to be running up the side of his face, a peacock tattoo that goes off into his very ostentatious, ridiculous, overblown robes that he wears. And his two swords and pouch dangling at the sides of his hips. Yeah, he’s very, very broad in his dress.” “So literal and figurative peacock?” “Oh, yes.” 

Molly’s very much an entertainer. He’s a performer with a flair for the dramatic. He reads fortunes with his cards, juggles swords, and can do a bit of fancy acrobatics. There are times when he’s done a trick to cheer up passing children and little things like that. There’s no actual divination to his fortunes, but he’s good at reading others, and tries to use the cards to give them advice based on his observations. He sees the cards as more or less a means of just conveying whatever advice he thinks will be helpful to that particular person. 

He’s someone very friendly and familiar with others, even strangers. When he first meets another tiefling in the party, he says, “My friends call me Molly. And we’re friends now, aren’t we?” He often uses endearments like darling, sweetheart, ect. He’s kissed one of his teammates on the forehead while calming them during a panic attack, and has casually kissed others in greeting. He’s very much comfortable being tactile. He can also be a bit mischievous and chaotic for the fun of it. He enjoys some playful teasing and poking fun at his teammates every now and again. Loves fun, luxury, and interesting adventures. Doesn’t believe in judging others for their past and really wants everyone on the Mighty Nein to be a team that’s all in this together. Also, and I just have to mention this–he’s pan, which of course is pretty cool to me, since I’m a bi guy. He’s also incredibly charming and I love him dearly,,

Some iconic Molly quotes:

“I don’t know anything. It’s part of my charm.”

“Let me make this abundantly clear—my name is Molly. That person is dead and not me. It’s just a person who had this body. They abandoned it, it’s mine now.”

After being asked why he was in a circus with such weird people: “BECAUSE I’M WEIRD!”

“I’m always ready to make a fool of myself.” 

“Be the chaos you want to see in the world.”

“That sounds terrible. I don’t want to remember anything, I don’t want anybody else’s baggage in my head, I don’t want anybody else’s problems, thoughts, ideas… I like this person—[this person] right now, is a good person, is a fine person, is a happy person.”

“I spent two years before I met you all cajoling people, occasionally ripping them off, occasionally doing a good turn here or there. Never trust the truth. The truth is vicious, the truth thinks that you owe it something… None of that. I like my bullshit. It’s good, it’s happy, it makes other people happy.” 

“I may be a liar, but I’m never a betrayer. I’m honest in my work, and I believe in doing a good turn…I’ve stayed with that circus for two years, and I know how people treat each other. It’s important…I don’t care where you’ve been, I don’t care what terrible things any of you have done. You’re here now. That’s how it works.”

After being asked if he was a good person during a spell where he cannot lie: “I’d like to think so.”

When asked if he could really read fortunes under the truth spell, “I use fortunes to tell people what I see in them. But sometimes, sometimes I feel like maybe there’s something that tickles that back of my head, I will admit…I always try to be helpful when I turn cards for people…I’ll tell you, and this is true—I did my best every town I went to and every town I left, no matter how they treated me, and a lot of them treated me with deep disrespect. I left every town better than I found it.”

While wearing nothing but a gaudy dragon tapestry and eating off a fancy fruit platter, “I am a god! Long may I reign!”

“Don’t you dare have fun without us!”

Taliesin was given the option for Molly to say some last words to his killer. But instead, he just said, “I’m going to spit in his face, with blood,” which was very true to character. And when Molly died, he added, “[My] Eyes never shut.” 

It’s really quite unfortunate, but my understanding is, Molly had some bad rolls and the team had lost their cleric at the time. He knocked himself unconscious using his own blood magic (again, terrible rolls), and his attacker decided to finish him as an example. I didn’t get the chance to watch the stream so I’ve yet to see the full episode, but I saw a clip of how he died and I was pretty upset ;; I’m heartbroken just thinking about it to be honest. Maybe they’ll find a higher level cleric soon and be able to revive him, but even then…there’s no telling whether he’ll come back as Molly, as Lucien, or…be catatonic like before. But the risk of losing Molly as his own person is pretty high, and I’m…really worried for him ;;

[vethyourhalflingmother]

whenever you have free time: can you explain your opinions on what houses vox machina and the mighty nein are in? i 100% agree w gryffindor nott btw

I’d just like to start by clarifying that altho I do feel strongly about some of these opinions (& ive joked about them being unchangeable - which is not true, to be serious), that doesnt mean I don’t wanna hear y’all’s - do you agree w/ me on some & not the others? completely disagree? completely agree for different reasons? tell me (politely pls) & give me some of ur reasons! i think part of the intrigue of sorting our fav characters into hogwarts houses is that it tells us what we value in them & what traits of theirs stand out to us the most - and that subsequently makes it…. fairly subjective (also doesn’t help that the standards for each house are kind of……vague lol)

I expect all of ur essays on this v important question on my desk by 8 am monday morning

now onto answering the actual ask:

The Mighty Nein

Caleb - Ravenclaw; aside from the fact that he obviously values books & advancement of his own magical knowledge, he also seems to think through important decisions in a logical manner (ex. he spent a lot of time thinking about whether he & nott should stay w/ the rest of the mighty nein)

Fjord - Ravenclaw; again, besides the obvious, his interest in studying at the Soltryce Academy, he’s also really observant & intent on learning from those around him, given all the questions he’s asked Caleb & the way he keeps an eye on Jester’s divine magic

Molly - Hufflepuff; altho initially i had some mixed feelings about this, after giving it some thought, im actually most convinced of this one: as many have pointed out, he’s shaping up to be the Mom Friend & taliesin also says he has a moral code that he sticks to - i think being steadfast in the way youre gonna put good into the world (& in how u treat the evils & injustices) is very Hufflepuff  

Yasha - Slytherin; though I say this tentatively bc we haven’t seen a lot of her yet - she doesn’t seem like a traditional slytherin in a highly ambitions sense, but she does seem like to stick to her guns & prioritise herself when necessary (“I run into the woods”)   

Beau - Gryffindor; she strikes me as fight first, ask questions later kinda gal & going in guns blazing seems very Gryffindor to me - in addition, she also saved nott from that manticore, which struck me as reckless bravery consistent w/ gryffindors

Nott - Gryffindor; i spent some time thinking about this one after @matt-the-blind-cinnamon-roll gave some of their reasons for slotting nott as a hufflepuff - ultimately, I think nott’s a gryffindor despite the fact that she doesn’t consider herself brave is bc her actions speak louder than her words (“I cover Caleb’s body with my own” & “I kill the baby manticore”); the willingness to put urself at risk for the people u care about over and over even at ur own expense strikes me as a gryffindor trait (for better or worse, I might add - see my thoughts on Vax’ildammit)

Jester - look I……………………………..honestly don’t fuckin know. Hufflepuff? Slytherin? Idk ask me again in fifty episodes

Vox Machina

Percy - Ravenclaw; initially i had percy as a Slytherin but i think once he got over the whole demon revenge thing he actually turned out to be pretty Ravenclaw - I mean, he does invent things, and he’s not interested at all in being in charge of Whitestone (also what kind of fuckin nerd learns Celestial for the fun of it lmao)

Vex - Slytherin; Lady Vex’ahlia, Baroness of the Third House of Whitestone and Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt - she cares about the title & the money & with very good reason, i think - her ability to obtain what she wants & persevere through the tough times puts her in Slytherin (also - with trinket’s origin story - i think it takes some real fucking grit & confidence to dig urself out of that kind of situation on ur own)

Vax - Gryffindor; this one is a lot to unpack. @swiftbell & i have been arguing about this one on & off for awhile; she thinks Vax is a Hufflepuff (& she has good reason to). there’s a lot of debate about whether hogwarts house are based on who u are vs who u want to be/strive to be & while i think arguments based on the latter r fine, i tend to base mine on the former in this list bc its easier to see actions than try to parse out thought

so that being said, i think Vax is a gryffindor bc while he cares deeply about his found family, he doesn’t exactly place a high price on his own safety; he goes in first, he goes in stupidly, he almost gets himself killed a lot - that kind of drive toward self sacrifice, to me, falls under the reckless bravery of a gryffindor

(as I said to steph: a hufflepuff would die for their loved ones if they absolutely had to, but a gryffindor tends to look at it as one of their first choices - also vax reminds me a lot of sirius black but im gonna stop right here to avoid turning this post into a vax character analysis)

Grog - Gryffindor; grog doesn’t do much thinking, he just does (& im not saying all gryffindors don’t think - obviously many do (@ hermione granger)- but i do they’re the types of people most prone to falling into the trap of not thinking things thru) it’s almost like the opposite of vax’s problem except we’re not talking about vax anymore bc this isnt a vax character study

Keyleth - Gryffindor; i feel like im beating a dead horse here but kiki also doesn’t always think things through & is very prone to action; the difference between her brand of gryffindor as opposed to vax’s & grog’s is that her outcomes are a little more mixed bag

Pike - Hufflepuff; i think pike is a hufflepuff for a lot of the same reasons i think molly is… which is a little surprising so just bear with me a second; she’s very devoted to Sarenrae, which sets up her (mostly) clear perspective of the world and how she should exist & treat people in it; she’s less of a mom friend (altho she still has some of those qualities), and she’s as loyal to her own causes as she is to Vox Machina; she also tends to be very kind & fun-loving w/out being a pushover

Scanlan - im a huge fan of scanlan, which probably means i should have some momentous opinion here…………….but I don’t, I really don’t know - i think once i get to some key points in scanlan’s character development (which i think are coming up in the next like 15 episodes or something), i’ll have a clearer thought

Tiberius - im not sure i remember tiberius well enough to make a full judgment, but I would say Ravenclaw probably if i had to bc of his constant interest in intelligence & learning to be a better sorcerer

Tary - ive heard of him but i dont know him yet so tbd