#Fjord would be a really good option too

[danikatze]

I have one (1) irl friend who loves Critical Role and she can't come with me to the live show in London, but I'm going to try to get a ticket anyway and go by myself!

Also also, I'm learning to screen print on fabric in a week and a half and if I manage to get a ticket I'm going to print one of my own CR drawings on a hoodie to wear to the show 🤩

[utilitycaster]

Hi there,

You said in the answer you just gave that, "the Nein mechanically played really well to the casts strength." Could you talk more about that? I'm someone who hasn't actually played D&D before, and everything I've learned has been through osmosis with CR, and your more crunchy posts have been really interesting to read, too.

Hi anon,

Thank you! I can answer but this is definitely pretty subjective in terms of how I see the classes they played and my view of the cast's mechanical strengths so know that you're getting one very specific perspective here. You will notice as a theme that I am not one for indecision.

Anyway: I think Liam and Travis are both notable within the cast for being decisive, in and out of combat, and both played characters with a huge array of options, as arcane utility spellcasters (plus Fjord's melee and, later, paladin abilities) and so having people who can make a quick, confident decision and stick to it with their spellcasting was crucial. Travis also has, as I once put it, court sense, and so having a character with options at basically any range in combat (from melee to eldritch blast range) was extremely good for him. I also just think they like utility casting, which, as my url indicates, I obviously think is awesome; but not all people like it and that's okay! I also just think they like it - both have mentioned on 4SD that Orym and Chetney are much more limited in what they can do.

I think Sam can get really hung up on the optimal and ideal thing to do at times. Really, the best way to put it - and FCG's death is a great example actually - is that Sam is not precious at all with his own characters but is worried about letting other people down. So I think the fact that Veth had a limited but interesting number of choices was actually quite good for him - he could make creative decisions (and even think outside the box, as with fluffernutter) but didn't have an endless list. It also still provided spellcasting, which is important to him.

I think Marisha is one of the strongest players on adding flavor to combat which is purely non-mechanical but is important in actual play if you are playing a character who does mostly the same thing. For what it's worth a lot of the things Beau played to her strengths were on the RP side (give the notetaker a character who has a reason to know a lot of lore) and also, I like monks but they are very straightforward characters to play in battle for the most part so there's not a ton to say, but I think she had a good sense of melee combat and would love to see her play more melee characters; Keyleth was obviously incredibly versatile, but this meant she did spend a lot of time in melee! Marisha also has decent instincts for tanking (Keyleth as regular tank thanks to wildshape and Beau as a dodge tank) so Beau allowed her to exercise that.

Taliesin is also a generally strong player in terms of mechanics and I think, honestly, his strength is that he doesn't seem to have a strong preference on what sort of class he plays and therefore was able to lean into a character who was almost purely support without any resentment over not getting the kill. In general I think Taliesin is very good at just...doing what his character is built to do, which seems damning with faint praise but honestly I think people who get really obsessive about Subverting Their D&D Class are annoying so this is praise and respect.

Laura is an interesting one in that I think she really likes to do Big Damage but she actually is quite skilled at utility casting. Having Caduceus definitely allowed Jester to shine in that she didn't have to serve as dedicated healer, but she also was a strong healer. Laura can be somewhat precious about her characters and I think being a healer is a good antidote for that in that you have the power to heal yourself if you get worried (honestly, this is why I started off as someone who played healers until I allowed myself to accept that dying on graph paper, as Taliesin once said, is fine). Being a prepared caster is also good for someone who, like Laura, can be competitive - it's interesting because she and Sam have a lot of similarities but I think respond in different ways, and Laura having a lot of options and knowing she can change them works well for her approach.

Ashley is also quite strong at flavor descriptors but I also think she likes doing damage, and I think Yasha was very much a "right character at the right time" for her in that barbarians are complicated in the sense of maneuvering, but not in the sense of options - it's a much easier character to jump back into after being away because she is, for the most part, going to be hitting things with a sword. I think she's doing a great job with Fearne too, but wildfire druid is MUCH harder to put down and pick up.

Really, in short, I think the cast members who thrive on having a ton of decisions had them; the cast members who at times have trouble picking what to do had a much more limited list which helped them; and those who don't really have a strong preference had other stylistic elements that were a good fit.

(I also happen to think, as I alluded to especially for Marisha's portrayal of Beau, that the Nein played to the cast's RP strengths as well and/or were given the time and space for the cast to grow into things they were less confident doing, eg: Travis and romance; and I think that does bleed into combat in that it helps you take actions that feel right for the character which in turn helps the other people around you predict what you'll do. It's the drift compatibility.)

[nehswritesstuffs]

Visiting Home

Sometimes you just have to write something super-fcking depressing and, well, this is what I came up with this time.

4348 words; I might rework this sort of a situation into something else later, but for now, this is a version of said events; gotta love these comfort characters that have never experienced any comfort in their lives; very strong content warning for death, referenced genocide, and an abandoned war zone, with descriptors of what one might find there; I actually cried while writing this so please forgive me if there’s more than the usual amount of mistakes (I’m okay, just, damn); set when Law is 17, Shachi is 18, Penguin is 19, and Bepo is 13

Visiting Home; Law wants to go back to Flevance to run some tests on the remaining Amber Lead, though the excursion turns into another sort of thing entirely. [canon compliant]

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“You want us to go where?!”

Law casually glanced up from his book and looked at Shachi, who was staring at him with his jaw dropped open. Penguin wasn’t too far away with two plates of food in his hands, while Bepo was attempting to cower behind him.

“Flevance,” Law repeated. “I want to test the area.”

“I thought you said that the entire country was a mess of poison,” Penguin said. He put the plates down on the table and raised an eyebrow at his captain. “You want us to go into that?”

“Not all of you—someone has to stay with the Tang—but I would like at least one other to come along and help with the tests.” He accepted his plate from Penguin and looked at his crew with a raised eyebrow. “What…?”

“Cap, we know it’s the land that…” Shachi hesitated, trying to find the right words. “Listen, we know what happened there. How can you be so sure we’ll be alright?”

“I now know how to scan our bodies for Amber Lead. Any buildup, no matter how minute, will get scraped out of us upon our return to the Tang. At least my aim’s better now than when we first met.” Law took a bite of food—Penguin was getting really good at this cooking business—before continuing. “We are uniquely situated to be able to run scientific experiments without any lasting due harm that others might acquire.”

“…and why do you want to go in the first place?” Penguin asked. “I feel like it wasn’t that long ago you said that you never wanted to go back.”

“I want to see what seven years of dormancy has done to the area, and what that could have on a potential cleanup campaign.” Law then shrugged awkwardly. “I want to see what’s left.”

“If there’s anything at all,” Penguin reminded him. He saw his friend’s—no, his captain’s—gaze unfocus as they ate and something deep in him hurt. “Will you be alright doing that?”

No reply.

“I have the course set already,” Bepo offered quietly. He pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and flattened it out on the table. “It won’t be too far removed from any other populated places, so we can stock up before we go so that we have enough supplies to quarantine properly.” Law shot him a glare and he cringed. “Sorry; I know it’s not contagious, but it’s essentially a quarantine while we figure everything out. We could be idle in port for ages.”

“That’s true,” Shachi shrugged. “Though we can’t tell anyone else where we’re going. You got an alternate we can tell nosy shits in the meantime?”

“We’re coming from Spider Miles, but are headed to Reverse Mountain,” Bepo offered. “There’s an island close to Reverse Mountain that we could supposedly use as our only stop if we go that route. It’s the best option no matter where we stop at.”

“Then we’ll do it,” Penguin agreed, “only if you promise us you’re really okay with this. Don’t make yourself suffer because of this.”

Law nodded into his food and his crew knew it was a bald-faced lie.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Slowly, carefully, the Polar Tang made her way through the fjord that gave the White City access to the sea. Shachi and Bepo both took turns steering, doing their best to maneuver in the wreck-filled waters. Everything was covered in a sheen of Amber Lead, making it nearly impossible to tell what was a shipwreck or garbage or a natural port feature.

“I don’t want to look at anything white for a whole month after we’re done with this,” Penguin scowled. He looked at his friend sitting in the captain’s chair, seeing how intense his stare was on the monitors. “You sure it’s alright to do this?”

“It is—just trust me.”

“You might be the captain, but you know I am the oldest and I will beat your ass if I think it’s what’s best.”

Law did not answer, his gaze unbroken.

“’Kay… right…” Penguin looked over Shachi’s shoulder and looked at the varying blips on the radar. “At least we’re nearly at the shore. Captain, do you want me to get the coveralls ready?”

Law grunted in response, which Penguin took as an affirmative. He stalked out of the control room and went to the topmost internal room, where there was a box that had been thrown haphazardly by the door. Pulling out the contents, he inspected the coveralls for any tears and the boots for any cracks. They all had gasmasks and gloves as well, which he finished checking as the Polar Tang broke the surface, a world of white opening up before him.

Growing up, Penguin had grown up hearing about the glistening White City and the horrors that had taken place there. Shachi’s aunt and uncle used the place as a threat if they didn’t get what they wanted; the idea that they could have been tied up at night and dumped in the disease-infested city to die was not only a solid motivator to kids that didn’t know any better, but also a great way to create a light sleeper. Nothing could really prepare him for the sight, however, even with Law’s whispered stories and watching him tear the Amber Lead from his body.

The entire city was a charred ruin—it didn’t look like it had been a Buster Call, from what he could imagine, but it was close. There was evidence of a grand port that the ship inched ever closer towards, yet everything felt hollow, felt haunted. The Tang went close to the wharf as it could and stopped, idling gently as the rest of the crew made an appearance.

“So this is it, huh?” Shachi marveled. He and Penguin both began to pull blue coveralls over their clothes despite the fact they were unable to take their eyes off of Flevance. “It’s… the stories don’t do it justice.”

“Nothing does anymore,” Law said, staring out the window. He bit his bottom lip and exhaled heavily before looking away—this wasn’t something he could avoid for much longer. “Once we open this door, we’ll have exactly three hours, got that? I don’t want to base my findings on any additional exposure until we know precisely what’s still going on out there.”

“Don’t push yourselves,” Bepo insisted. He was chosen to stay by the other three, based on the fact he both could steer the ship should the rest of them fall out of commission, as well as the fact he was still technically a kid—a very tall kid with three adoptive overprotective brothers. “I’ll have the snail on; call me if anything happens!”

“We shall,” Law promised. He accepted a set of coveralls from Penguin and began to suit up, trying his best to not continue looking at the ruins on the shore. “Let’s be ready to go in five minutes—time to do a supply check.”

“Aye, aye,” Shachi saluted, checking the packs. By the time he made certain all the equipment was secured, the others were ready. They pulled on their gas masks and shooed out a tearful Bepo before opening the door and stepping out into the world of char and white.

The three teens made landfall easily, tying their dinghy up on the remnants of the most solid-looking of the piers. Neglect and the elements made the wharf precarious and suddenly they were really glad they left the heaviest of their number on the ship. They made it to solid ground and began to wander about the eerily empty streets—the timer was already ticking.

“So, any idea on where you want to first gather data?” Shachi asked. He and Penguin were following Law as the young captain carefully went through the streets. “I know it’s been a bit, but…?”

“Right now I want to see if there are any victims’ remains,” Law stated. His voice was muffled through the rubber of his gas mask and their covered ears, but he couldn’t stop them from hearing the waver in his voice. “To do that, we need to find the most intact buildings or areas where there might be hiding places. I doubt there’s much left, but anything that is shall be valuable.”

“What about stuff made with Amber Lead?” Penguin wondered. “What do you want to take?”

“Probably things like paint chips, teaspoons—things that are light and easy to transport. Depending on the compositions we might be able to come back for more later.”

“Do you really think there’s going to be another round of this?”

“There might be—who knows?”

As Law led his crew through the city, the two older teens grew increasingly uncomfortable with their surroundings. Their captain would often head into a house without warning, going past doors marked with crosses in chalk and paint and finding the chaos surrounding an interrupted wake. Bodies petrified by poison were popping up everywhere and it was beginning to make Penguin and Shachi sick to their stomachs; it might have been seven years, but the smell was still there.

Suddenly, Law stopped walking and stared down the street.

“What’s the matter?” Penguin wondered. He tapped at his wristwatch. “We’ve got to get back to Bepo soon and get to work on these analyses.”

“Not to mention the fact I really got to take a piss,” Shachi grimaced. Law didn’t answer, instead feeling a gentle tug near his navel, something wanting him to head down the street…

“You’re right—we spent too much time spreading out to keep going,” he said eventually, shaking the sensation from him. “Next time we need to go further… there’s some place I need to go.”

“…your house…?” Penguin wondered cautiously.

“No. The hospital.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

In the infirmary, Law sheathed the knife and dropped the Room, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He looked at his two friends sitting before him and offered them a wan smile.

“Nothing—not even a trace.”

“Really…?” Shachi marveled. “Not a lick of anything?”

“Are we safe?” Bepo asked from the door. Law rolled his eyes and went to the counter, where some of the items they took were already going through experiments to extract the Amber Lead.

“There’s no evidence of Amber Lead buildup in our bodies,” Law replied idly. “Next time I think we can stay for longer and with less protective equipment.”

“Why the fuck would we want to do that?” Penguin snorted. “I feel like we just chanced luck and survived beyond the odds.”

“Maneuverability, comfort, ease in communication—gas masks aren’t like surgical masks and require much of the face to be blocked and constrained. We should be able to ditch them and function like normal, just in coveralls and boots.”

‘…and look less like them,’ Law thought privately, his memory quickly going to when the White City fell. He would never tell them, but there had been a couple times he had seen Shachi and Penguin while they were out and he nearly thought he was a child again and they were there to kill.

“Will we still need at least the surgical masks?” Penguin wondered.

“That depends on what I find in the gas masks’ respirators; I have reason to believe that there might be active and latent poisoning phases to the Amber Lead. The buildup in my body was due to generations-long active poisoning, where it was newly-mined and the chemical activation was still fresh. Now, however, it could be that the chemical reaction with the air has been ongoing so long that it’s stale and only leeches poison once in a great while. Enough latent poisoning could be as dangerous as active poisoning in large enough concentrations, but the rate of chemical decay is what has me curious.”

“So… like burrito farts,” Shachi decided. Law glared at him, unimpressed. “Hear me out: there’s an active phase, where we’re all farting because the burritos were that good, but as time goes on, they get less and less, but they still smell like burrito farts.” The young captain did not dignify that with an answer and went back to the experiment. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

He wasn’t right, but he wasn’t wrong either.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Soon as his foot touched land the next day, something was calling to him.

Law didn’t entirely understand the sensation; it was the same as the day prior, pulling him inland in the direction of the hospital. He frowned and looked over at Penguin and Shachi, all three teens foregoing the masks this time.

“We’re going further in this time,” he explained before adjusting the pack on his shoulder. “There’s something I want to look for.”

“You said the hospital, right?” Shachi asked. Law nodded. “Is it far?”

“Not very… I don’t think.” He began to walk along the disused boulevard, not waiting to see if the other two were following. “My legs were a lot shorter last time I walked from the port to the hospital.”

“This place still gives me the creeps,” Penguin shivered. “I’m obviously here, but I will not be sad when we get out of here for good.”

“More walking, less sass,” Law warned. They walked past all the businesses and residences that they wandered around in the day before, heading deep into the heart of the city. Penguin and Shachi stayed silent, instead exchanging looks between bouts of watching their captain, wondering what exactly was coming next.

The hospital, or what was left of it, looked like anything but a place of healing. Parts were completely hollowed out by fire and the elements, left to rot like the rest of the city. The pull Law was experiencing was stronger now—he wasn’t sure now if he wanted to see what it was. He had to, however; he needed to know.

Stepping across the threshold of the front door, Law took a deep, shuddering breath as he tried to remember the way through his childhood home. Half-decomposed bodies and bones with clothes littered the corridors, remaining where they fell after being killed so mercilessly. Bullets were lodged in bones and walls, showing the mercilessness of the soldiers despite the years that had passed.

“You alright?” Penguin asked, clapping his hand on Law’s shoulder. The younger teen nodded slightly.

“Yeah. Let’s… uh… turn down here…”

“Was this the wing where they held advanced cases?”

“Kind of.”

Silently, Penguin and Shachi followed Law as he went up a flight of stairs and navigated a labyrinthine corridor without so much as pausing to look at the wall plaques. Fire had not touched this part of the hospital as severely as the others, making it so that it seemed relatively safe in comparison. The interior lights flickered above—never turned off and never disconnected from the hydro generator—and poorly illuminated the doorway the young captain stopped by.

“Oh, fuck…” Shachi grimaced, looking at the name plaque next to the ajar door. “Your parents’ office…?”

“No,” Law said. He took a step forward, stopping only when Penguin grabbed his upper arm.

“You don’t have to do this. We can still turn around and get the fuck out of here. Pretend there was nothing here…”

Law walked out of Penguin’s grip and through the door, entering the familiar reception office. Everything seemed frozen in time—the calendars, décor, the dated newspapers and magazines—nearly as though they had walked into his memories. The only evidence that there was anything wrong was the open doorways into the inner rooms.

With the first step into the internal corridor, the wooden flooring creaked under his weight, sending a surge of nostalgia through Law. He could almost hear his sister laughing, nearly see their parents down by their lab… it was chilling, in a way, knowing that had there been nothing wrong—no Amber Lead poisoning—this would more than likely be where he was still living.

“This doesn’t feel right,” Shachi shivered. He followed Law as he went into one of the rooms, seeing that it was a child’s bedroom. “Did you… did you live here…?”

“I did,” Law confirmed. It was eerie seeing his old room, like stepping into a dream. He picked a textbook up off the desk and flipped through it—fuck, it had seemed like such difficult material back then…

“Why did you live in the hospital?” Penguin wondered. “Were any of you sick… you know… before…?”

“No; that’s just what the hospital did,” Law said. “It was an incentive to keep talent employed and at the ready. We not only lived here, but if we wanted, there could have been someone from the janitorial staff to come in and clean for us, and my parents would have not had to cook if they didn’t want to… some nights they didn’t and we ate at the cafeteria instead. Food was decent, if you’ll believe it.”

“So, you were fucking rich.”

“We all were rich—doctors, janitors, food service, secretaries, management—everyone at first benefited from the riches that Amber Lead brought. People in Flevance worked because they enjoyed working—we did what we were talented at… what we loved to do…” Law pulled an old stuffed animal from a shelf and held it close—it almost smelled like it did before. “We knew it too—people came from all over the North just to live and work here…”

“…which is why the poisoning was as scary as it was, I imagine,” Penguin frowned. “Fuck… how many people around here didn’t show any symptoms? Do you remember?”

“Few; the reason they were all non-native Flevench gave my parents the first hint it was possibly an environmental factor.” Law then left his room for the time being and went into another, this one clearly a medical lab. He looked at the notes that were half-finished on a countertop, analyzing what progress had been made. A choked laugh escaped him as he realized what he had in his hand. “Shit—they were so close too.”

“Cap, let’s get out of here,” Penguin said, refusing to go past the lab doorway. “I don’t like it here—it feels wrong.”

“I’m sure it’s psychosomatic, considering what has been drilled into you all these years,” Law replied. Penguin knew it wasn’t a condemnation, but a fact his captain had learned to live with. Everyone was creeped out by Flevance because of the horrors that were told over and over and over, with little mention of the good they did, and a societal-level brainwashing was a very difficult thing to counteract.

“Law, this is a hospital full of corpses and we’re the only living people in the entire fucking country… it’s a little more apparent than a bit of mental shit.” Penguin watched as his eyebrows furrowed in thought. “What now…?”

“I thought they were in here,” he said. He looked around the floor; there was blood and broken medical equipment, but not his parents. “Everything was such a blur, but I thought they were in here when they were killed.”

A weight dropped in Penguin’s stomach. “They were…?”

“I think it’s a little more complicated than that,” Shachi sniffled. Penguin looked down the corridor to see their third standing by another door, tears streaming down his face. Law popped his head out and looked at Shachi, his face going white.

Lami.

Pushing past Penguin, Law ran down to the other end of the corridor and stumbled into his little sister’s room. All his breath left him as his eyes were drawn to Lami’s bed, which was occupied by three figures. He didn’t need to tell his crewmates who they were—it was apparent as it was gut-churning. Law’s legs gave out and he fell to his knees as he heard Penguin finally vomit in the corridor.

“Law…?” Shachi’s voice seemed so far away as he tried to shake the younger teen into paying attention. “Law…? Captain…?” Law shook as he snapped from his daze, nearly falling over as he stood. “Hey, come on man… it’s okay. They at least went together.”

It was true. Based on the position of the corpses and the amount of dried blood in the clothes and bedding, it looked like the adults knew there was no ambiguity to their situation. They wanted to be together as they died and now all that remained was bones and hair and the calcified lesions that would have killed them had the bullets not. His parents chose their last moments to comfort his sister, his mother holding Lami while his father held her. One arm was at an awkward angle—he must have stroked her hair as they went, just as Law remembered him doing to him and Lami whenever he held them.

«I made it,» he blurted out in a language he never spoke around others. «I’m still alive, and I’m fighting, and I’m going to make sure the world knows! It might only be me left, but as long as I’m still here, Flevance lives!»

Silence.

Everything came crashing down on Law all at once. His homeland, his parents, his sister… they were all gone. Emotions he hadn’t felt in years flooded him and he started to sob hysterically. Penguin and Shachi looked at one another, unsure what to do; it wasn’t like one of his nightmares where all he needed was to be woken up. No, it was much worse than that. Eventually, Penguin let him cry into his shoulder, while Shachi gently rubbed circles on his back.

“Hey,” Shachi whispered, “let’s take care of them. We can at least do that.”

Unable to reply verbally, Law nodded as he rubbed his eyes and nose with a blue coverall sleeve. His face was contorted into a painful grimace and the best sound he could make was a couple squeaks. Penguin went and began carefully taking Law’s father and arranging him to be carried in his lab coat, Shachi did the same with Law’s mother, and Law himself wrapped his sister up, carrying Lami as they made their way back through the hospital into the central courtyard, which was open and filled with grass and young tree shoots. Law was left alone to say goodbye as his crewmates found some shovels and began to dig. They returned to his side when they had three holes, having dug them side by side.

“Do you want to put them all in, or…?” Penguin asked cautiously. Law nodded, still clutching Lami’s bundle close to his chest.

“Yeah,” he croaked out. “It’s my duty as… as the one who survived.”

The two elder teens stepped aside and knelt respectfully in the grass while Law placed the remains in their new resting places. He placed his sister in the middle and his parents on either side, like they were in her room, muttering words his crew could only figure were Flevench prayers the entire time. From his sister, he took her bracelet; from his mother, the pendant around her neck; from his father, his eyeglasses; and from both parents, their wedding rings. He held the items in his hands and cried in more of the alien language, trembling furiously by the time Shachi and Penguin came over to fill the dirt back over the bones.

“Let’s go get some stuff,” Penguin decided. He was not envious of Law’s pain, but still wondered what it would have been like to have a family that cared about him to draw out that reaction. “You know: pictures, trinkets, books, things of theirs you want to keep. Then we can leave… and leave for good.”

“She’s Bepo’s age, you know,” Law replied, staring at the middle mound. “She should be a teenager like us…”

“Come on, Cap,” Shachi replied, gently tugging at Law’s elbow. “Let’s go.”

His head too filled with cotton fluff to think, Law allowed himself to be pulled back through the hospital by his crew, the trio heading back to the family quarters so they could search through the Family Trafalgar’s things and figure out what to bring along. By the time they were leaving, they had a few albums’ worth of photos, some additional small items, his father’s spare lab coat, and books that contained snippets of research done by both of Law’s parents. Penguin and Shachi knew they were going to sneak back later to bring some more books along—especially the volumes of Sora translated into Flevench—and so concentrated on getting their captain out of there.

They were nearly out, however, when something began to pull at Law’s senses again, causing him to go off on his own in the hospital corridors. Shachi and Penguin followed him, too scared to even protest as he found their way to the hospital director’s office.

“What’s in here?” Penguin asked. “Were you here often?”

“No, never,” Law admitted. Whatever it was that pulled at him drew him towards the wall where a sword sat in a stand. The weapon was long, with crosses on the scabbard and what nearly looked like fur covering the guard.

Take me with you.

Law blinked.

You wish to make what is wrong with the world burn. Let me help you.

Take me with you.

Free me.

The sword radiated malice as he lifted the weapon from its stand and eased it from its sheath. It glinted in the late afternoon sun, humming with pleasure.

My name is Kikoku—use me well child and your ends will be met with satisfaction, for I too crave the death of those who harmed our caretakers.

“Hey… can we get back to the ship now?” Penguin wondered. “Bep’s got to be worried sick.”

“Yeah,” Law said. He sheathed Kikoku and slung it over his shoulder, putting it at an angle so it did not drag. “Let’s get back.”

Trafalgar D. Water Law stepped out of his childhood home for the final time and silently swore to whatever listened that he was going to have his revenge.

[thatshadowgastwhore]

the mighty nein as college majors

i’m back on my bullshit. :)

Fjord My man went in undecided, and stayed that way as long as possible. He just gives me that vibe. He originally thought that he’d go through with marine biology, and i think he actually got a fair way into that major before finding a better fit as a conservation biology major

Beau Imo, beauregard is doing the most over here. she’s a double major in law and library and archives with a minor in gender and women’s studies. like, she really said, of course i’m going to be a high powered, shoulder pad wearing lawyer, who specializes in representing women and queer people, but i also fucking love libraries, and you can pry them out of my cold, dead hands. i know that’s kinda a weird take, but i feel like a college au where beau is actually super into school as a way of fucking with her dad could be a cool take

Caleb If wizard is what happens when you make stem kids magic, then transmutation is definitely the chemistry of this AU. as such, my darling blorbo Caleb is biochemistry major. chemistry also has fire, ta-da!

Veth She’s definitely giving me chemistry vibes, and i finally decide don specifically, inorganic chemistry. I feel like her, caleb, yeza, and essek are all chemistry nerds with slightly different focuses, so they all sort of understand each other when they’re talking about their shit, but they’re all slightly confused by wtf they mean specifically, and that could make for some very funny conversations. yeza, btw, i think is in organic chemistry

Jester She’s got art/art Studies with a focus in painting. she originally went into uni undecided and actually took a few theology classes before saying, screw it, and fully committing to the arts like she kinda knew she would in the beginning 

Molly Our other art kid! While he entered into uni as a Musical Theatre major, I think he actually changed majors pretty early on to focus specifically on Costume Design instead

Caduceus Okay, so he entered college as a mortuary sciences major, but added a double major in botany. he’s actually way more into the botany stuff, but his family owns a funeral home, and he doesn’t not enjoy the mortuary sciences, so he just added it instead of switching entirely Yasha She’s a botany major! Her family definitely pressured her to do literally anything else, and she reluctantly added a minor in ecology in general so that she’d have broader options just to appease them. But flowers are her favorite, and she and caduceus have some very long conversations about them together

Essek Our final chemist! Essek is actually a theoretical chemist and, because he can’t leave well enough alone, has a double major in theoretical physics, just because he’s to fucking smart for his own good. his friends often have to drag him away from his notes, lest he get carried away It’s really weird that i put most of these guys as science majors, because i’m notorious horrible as science, and even weirder that a solid third are chemistry, because chemistry makes no sense to me but eh. They’ve got jester and molly to balance them out when they’re too caught up in their own heads, i suppose. Yasha, Fjord, and Caduceus are over there like, nature! and beau alone is shouldering the responsibility of representing all of the liberal arts and sciences and she’s doing it like a boss 

[grayintogreen]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Hello, hello, it's that time again! I'm about halfway done with Chapter Twenty-Four of YCDHN, so here's a scene for you!

The Olly, Oxen, & Free was a pub that had not been built so much as it had been carved out of the rock walls of the section of city known as the Liber Disk, and owned by a set of dwarf triplets. Molly made a dry comment that if your parents name you things that can be shortened to ‘Olly, Oxen, and Free’ you really didn’t have much of a choice other than to forgo all other options and name a pub after yourself, but the mead was good and therefore he forgave them for being predictable.

They were too deep underground now, and even with the knowledge that there was nothing covering the sky above them, it was no longer visible and that alone was enough to make Molly even edgier. Their confrontation with Reani had occurred just outside the city proper after Caleb dropped them on the mountain and Molly had expected something a little closer to those mountain towns right at the edge of the Empire- even fondly remembered a certain one with so little of a name to it that some mistakenly labeled it as part of Nogvurot even if it was at least sixty miles away from it. But no, Cali had led them downwards into a city built like an auger that was beautiful to behold and anxiety-inducing to keep moving downwards in. He would have been happy to have taken up in one of the taverns on the disk above this one, but Cali said this one was closer to where Reani was taking Fjord and Caduceus and she wanted to stay close.

She had both of her hands on a massive tankard of mead she wasn’t drinking, her lank hair falling to cover the dragon side of her face almost entirely, but when she pushed it aside a bit to speak to locals who came up on her while everyone else was collecting themselves and drinking, no one flinched away at her. Her dragon tail, curled beneath her chair, even thunked a little at the gentle conversation.

“People really seem to like you here, Cali,” Jester noted as she sipped a cup of goat’s milk, her nose wrinkling as she tried to decide how she felt about the taste.

“Oh… Yeah. They do.” Cali’s cheeks pinkened. “They’re some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I wanna do right by them, so that’s why I help Reani with-“ She cut herself off. “Never mind. There’s a lot of stuff I can’t talk about, but I also don’t want you to be angry with her. Reani’s done a lot for me, but so have you and she knows that.”

“She must care a great deal for you to put aside her morals for us,” Caleb drawled. “Not to put more stones in my pockets, but we are, indeed, still assholes.”

Cali was no longer so much pink as she was the color of an unripened strawberry. “You got my letter?”

“Ja, it came at a… very good time for us.”

“Right after we almost got arrested for trying to do the right thing,” Beau shrugged and tried to draw attention to the blue roses in her high ponytail. “Happens to us a lot.”

She, predictably, reacted. “You’re even wearing the roses I got you!”

Jester showed off her own gifts and encouraged those who could at the table to do the same. “We’re all wearing your stuff, Cali. We thought about you all the time. I really wanted to write to you, but it’s been a lot, like, all the time.”

Cali buried her face in her tankard. “I understand. And I never felt anything bad about you for not writing. You’re all actually serious adventurers and heroes and I’m… well, I’m still working on what I am.”

“Ironic, considering you met us at our least serious and least heroic,” Molly chuckled into his drink. Cali gave him a deeply tragic look.

The next few minutes were a blur of Jester trying to shove as many details of the last year of incidents without giving away details that shouldn’t be shared in either public or with someone Lucien and Cree didn’t know- who were currently watching from their space at the table, judging every reaction and microexpression, though there was more of the former than the latter (even now Cali couldn’t keep her business to herself).

“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Cree, Mr. Lucien,” she said, at the conclusion of the explanation. “You all have been through a lot, it seems. I’m sorry that the Empire is chasing you because of something that wasn’t your fault.”

“Shit,” Beau suddenly swore. “Should we have been disguising ourselves if those wanted posters made it this far north?” She eyed everyone in the tavern suspiciously, but no one so much as raised an eyebrow in their direction.

“Most people in the Wildlands don’t care for Empire business and after awhile bounty hunters stopped asking questions about you lot.” Cali sighed with relief. “It made it easy for Reani to let it go too, until you came into town like this. No offense, Mr. Lucien.”

Lucien made a noncommittal noise into his drink. Cree was the one to actually speak. “I have heard a great deal of what you are doing now and what we have been doing, but not so much about how you all even met.”

Jester leaned closer to her. “Do you remember when we went to investigate that safehouse in Berleben for my dad?”

“Aye.”

“Well, Cali was also looking for a-“

Cali made a sharp growling sound and then immediately covered her mouth. “Oh! I didn’t mean to do that. I’m so sorry, Jester, but… I, um… That is, Reani doesn’t know about my history with Serissa and her cult. I will tell her, eventually! But right now she just thinks I’m… I’m sort of a vigilante myself, just like her. And it’s been really nice.”

Molly lowered his tankard to the ground. “You know if you can’t tell your friend that you used to be in a cult, she’s not really your friend.”

“Exactly!” Nott exclaimed. “Lucien and Cree here were in cults and we don’t like them any less for it.”

“Thank you, Nott,” Cree deadpanned.

Lucien narrowed his eyes. “Oh is that so?”

Only Molly picked up on the sudden churning emotional dissatisfaction moving like storm-tossed waters in his head. His face remained a mask of blank consideration, while Cali dug her hole a little deeper.

“I just don’t want her to think less of me. She might look at all the things I did and not be as kind about it as you all were. I want her to like me so much… and I will tell her. I just… I need her to know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m a good person, despite everything I did for the Caustic Heart. Do you understand?”

The answer was a murmured assent that was less than convincing, but before Jester could rise to the occasion and help encourage Cali to be honest, Lucien slammed his tankard down with enough force that the contents spilled over onto the rough-carved woodgrain of the table. “So. Let me see if I’ve been followin’ this tale correctly. You wandered into the swamp with this girl- who openly admitted to formerly bein’ in one of the worst cults in all of Exandria, and trusted her word that she stood against them with minimal suspicion thrown her way?”

“I would not call it minimal,” Caleb deadpanned.

Jester deflated and sank down into her chair, her intentions forgotten. “There was a whole thing with a bowl and everything.”

“They definitely didn’t trust me, Mr. Lucien! But I also didn’t tell them all of this up front either. I deserved their wariness.”

Cali’s anxiety and the admittance of the Nein’s distrust was barely anything more than salt on the wound. They hadn’t bullied her or else she wouldn’t be speaking so kindly to them now. They hadn’t treated her or Cree with nearly the suspicion that they had given Lucien. That was all because of Molly, himself- he’d painted them a picture and they filled in the lines with their own biases. Lucien had walked into a game he couldn’t win before he’d even tried to play it.

“Seems to have worked out for you, though, eh?” Lucien leaned in a bit and Cali leaned back. She had the look of someone trying not to be uncomfortable because being uncomfortable might make the situation worse. “Wasn’t quite so easy for me.”

Cali, lighting on something, leaned forwards again. “What cult were you involved in?”

“Oh we don’t have to discuss that.” He waved her off. “We’ve done our bonding, haven’t we? Took a few months, but perhaps I’m not nearly as adorable as she is.”

Beau pursed her lips. “Man, I really wanna fight you on this, but I don’t think I can without looking like a dick.”

Lucien rested his chin on his knuckles and bared his teeth in a grin. “Oh, but I want you to try anyway.”

“All right, all right,” Molly cut in before the moment could go off like a lit match close to Nott’s cloak. “Point taken. Let’s move on.”

[pjohnsonarts245-01]

blog post 7

Reading this chapter was very insightful and fit really well with the guest speaker we had in class this week. This book so far has taught me so much about the history of type and its evolution over the years. It’s crazy to me how far we’ve come and to look back and see what the process used to look like for creating and printing type. I’ve never been around or used one of the traditional methods for placing type, but I would love to go and test it. After hearing out guest speaker brad Vetter talk about how he was inspired by experimenting in staples and with different traditional methods like letter press printing, it makes me think how I could be inspired by them too and would love to take a look at how it all works.

This week we are finishing up our zine projects and got introduced to our newest project where we will be making posters for a national park that we chose. I chose Kenai fjords national park in Alaska. When I was searching through parks to choose from an image of this particular park stood out to me, it was a picture of a bunch of bears in a river fishing. It reminded me of the scene in brother bear and I thought I could do a lot of different things with my focus on bears. There are also so many other distinct features about this park so if bears fail, I have a lot of options as backup, so I feel very good about my choice. I’m pretty excited about this project.

[salmonberrypj]

Interview With a Raindrop

[Interviewer]: And joining us as our next guest, allow me to welcome... a raindrop!

[Crowd cheers]

[Interviewer]: Welcome to the show, raindrop! I gotta say, you're looking great tonight!

[Raindrop]: Aw, really? You mean it?

[Int.]: Every word!

[Rain.]: Well thank you! I don't hear that a lot, at my age.

[Int.]: I hope this isn't too private of a question, but I'm sure our audience would like to know - how old are you, actually?

[Rain.]: Oh, I'm as old as they come. I'm as old as the rocks that sleep deep beneath, creeping up to recycle for a couple million years before they melt into a smooth snooze again. I'm as old as the old ocean, before this one, that mostly floated off into space. I'm older than the Moon. I'm older than the rain.

[Int.]: And was that your first gig? The first rain?

[Rain.]: Ah, yes, we played so well in that one. I remember how we played for centuries, filling oceans, and submerging forever all the deepest cracks and hollows where the darkest creeping creatures used to hide. It was a sold-out show, I think. You never heard anything like it.

[Int.]: I bet! And you've been touring quite a lot since then, haven't you?

[Rain.]: I have! I've gotten to see some amazing places. Aquifers, avalanches, inside airplane window-panes. Antarctica. Agents, peddlers, and also solicitors. Petersburgs & Pacifics Northwest. Every crinkling frond of every Carboniferous fern. Bodegas in bromeliads with frogs bartering bugs. Sinks, soups, streams. Salty water and saltwater. I've played everywhere there is to play.

[Int.]: And, besides that one first rain, what's been your favourite so far?

[Rain.]: Well, this morning I landed on one of your audience members' heads in the shower. Don't worry, I won't say who. But I thought they were so lovely, I gave them little kisses all down their forehead.

[Crowd goes 'aaaw']

[Int.]: That's very sweet! I have heard, though, that some of your fans are a bit disappointed, because there's been some rumours that you were involved in that tropical rainstorm last month, you know, the one that destroyed several houses. Care to address those rumours?

[Rain.]: Oh, yes, I was a part of that storm, and it was pretty dreadful.

[Int.]: Really? Do you wish you hadn't been?

[Rain.]: I don't. I'm a raindrop, see, and raindrops can't wish otherwise, because we have only one path to take. We can't hope or hop-options, as humans often opt to. It's one of the things I admire so much about you - you can choose things, and you frequently do. Like that rescue crew, after the tropical storm. But raindrops, no, not us. We have a pretty strict manager.

[Int.]: And who is that manager? God? Physics?

[Rain.]: Yes, very much. She goes by lots of different names.

[Int.]: Well... there you have it! We're running out of time, so I have just one more question for you. Where can your fans go to hear more of your work?

[Rain.]: That's a good question! Gullies, sometimes. Gutters, especially over rocks, or the kind that pour out into the yard. Gargoyles are a particular favourite. Misty forests are good, or mountain fjords, or mighty floral broadleafs. The storm drain, when it gets clogged up. The blood in your ears, when you're mad. Two single tears, one hitting the pillowcase after the other. We don't do deserts much, yet, but pretty much anywhere else you get your music.

[Int.]: Thank you very much for your time, and I hope you have a great night. Next up, we'll be interviewing only five of the 3.348 million people in Mongolia, and after that? Well, we'll get there when we get there.

P.J.

[prettylonelys]

Ok I hope you are ready for this mammoth. I am going to start off by telling you some cafes to visit. Eckers in Frogner is a really pretty and does nice coffee and food. Pust, which is just across the road from Majorstuen station is another cafe with a very cool atmsophere. As I have already said before if you are looking for a chain coffee shop I would pick Kaffebrenneriet. My favorite is the one by Nationaltheatre but you will probably want to go to the one from Skam which is on Skovveien. They do the best reasonably priced coffee and you must try the pastries. It is good to know you are staying in Gamle because then I will recommend a tiny brunch place called Kumi. It has the most beautiful interior and vegetarian food but I warn you it is on the pricier side. You absolutley must go to Hotel Bristol to get hot chocolate. Inside is absolutely breathtaking and has major dark academia vibes. This is quite popular so I would recommend booking a table in advance on their website. Do not let them fool you into getting two pots of hot chocolate, one is enough for two people to have two cups each. For places to eat, I would first recommend a burrito bar called Freddy Fuego. They have a vegetarian option and lots of options which are all delicious and not badly priced. For pizza go to Villa Paradiso, there are a few of these over the city. If you want a more general Italian restaurant I would try Olivia by the fjord. Great food but more expensive. If you like Japanese food I can tell you about a tiny, tucked away restaurant called Izakaya on Olavs Plass. If you just want to buy snacks or something to cook at your airbnb I can tell you again the cheapest supermarket by far is Kiwi. Now for the thrift shops! Oslo has some amazing thrift stores and Grünnerløkka is the place you want to be. You absoltuely have to go to Robot! This is the coolest thrift shop of all in my opinion. Lots of good finds and a huge shelf of second hand sunglasses. There's also Velouria and Good Vibes Vintage. UFF is worth a look in Løkka but they have a much bigger, I think better store across the city in Prinsens Gate you should check out. The best budget friendly thrift store is Fretex. They are linked with the Salvation Army and you can get items as low as 50nok, which I looked up is about the equivilant of 7 aussie dollars. Next I've got a list of other things nice things you might like to do if you have the time. I saw you like art from your blog so I thought I'd recommend you some galleries. I mentioned before the National Gallery and Museum are free on Thursdays and the Munch Museum is free on Wednesdays from 6pm to 9pm. Astrup Fearnley is the only one without a free day. But I also have some smaller, lesser known galleries for you. It is worth checking out whether Peder Lund, Galleri Riis or Galleri Golsa have any exhibitons on while you are there. They are all free and very small, only a few rooms each. Galleri Golsa seems confusing to find but it is opposite a gym carpark and the door is heavy to open but I promise you're in the right place. They are well worth visitng. I would also recommend visiting a huge lake outside the city called Songsvaan. I know it looks far on a map but it only takes 20 minutes on one line and is still within your zone 1 ticket. There is something so magical about walking round the lake on a winter evening with it frozen over and snow covering the trees. They even have a little cafe. You will notice the increase in cold so you definitely want to your wool innersoles and tights under trousers here, I would recommend that if you venture out of the city anywhere or when it gets dark. If you like hiking and it's not too icy walk up Grefsenkollen and you will get a view over the entire city. In my opinion this is better than the view from Holmenkollen. Since you are staying in Gamle I will also recommend visiting Ekerberg woods which is a ten minute tram ride away and has a scultpure park and also the Botanisk Hage at Tøyen. It is small but pretty inside and guaranteed to be warm. I hope this is a help to you!

oh my god thank you so much, i know this must have taken a lot of time and effort to put together so i hope you know i really appreciate it!!!! these all sound wonderful i am about to start making notes literally right after i finish typing this xx

[angelsndragons]

fjord’s feelings for caduceus changed in episodes 98-99

by which i mean, fjord finally realized how special and important he is to caduceus, which in turn set the tone of their relationship for the rest of the campaign. buckle up, this is a long one.

not when fjord threw away his sword and went to caduceus instead of jester. or when caduceus presented him with the star razor. or after the citadel fight when caduceus gave him his holy symbol. i think things changed for fjord in episode 98-99, when caduceus saved his life and removed the orb.

this is going to require some context.

because here’s the thing: fjord’s always looking for the price, waiting for the catch or other shoe to drop. people caring for him because of him with no strings attached is unprecedented. vandren and the world taught fjord that love is conditional, that only if you hide what others would find ugly and make yourself useful to them will they deign to give you a scrap of affection. i don’t think vandren did this maliciously, mind you, it was just part of his worldview and fjord’s life up to and beyond that point supported it. we can see that right up to the end of the show, where fjord is terrified that vandren didn’t remember him or that he didn’t mean nearly as much to the man as vandren did to him.

so we have fjord, who learned to don masks and hide his truest self, including his best and worst aspects. while fjord made the nein into a coherent group, into a force, a crew, a family, even, he still waited for that other shoe to drop. waited for the day that they would reject him because he was no longer useful or because he pushed them too far. you can see this waiting all over the early campaign; he’s not looking for an excuse like caleb to cut and run but he anticipates nearly all the moments that almost fractured the nein, in spite of that low wisdom score. while jester carried the guilt of not being able to save molly, fjord carried the guilt of not protecting the group in that crucial moment. travis confirmed on talks that fjord’s biggest fear when he lost his powers the first time was that he would no longer be useful and be kicked out of the group. 

that’s why fjord damn near broke down at the end of 72. the nein, no questions asked, with their standard level of snark, accepted that he was going to be a liability and kept him around anyway. armed him anyway. declared that he was no liability and that they would help him along until he could help himself and them again. this unconditional acceptance caught fjord completely off guard. it always does, really. because caduceus had said for months, an out of game half a year, that he was looking to reforge the sword as a gift for fjord. he said this to fjord’s face. he did not change course when he learned that the sword was a legendary blade forged by acolytes of the wildmother and moonweaver. the blade was still meant for fjord, even if fjord was still chained to uk’otoa. fjord extends his love and protection to the nein but is still not convinced the reverse is true. he was starting to believe it but he wasn’t quite there yet.

caduceus has a high enough wisdom to understand that’s fjord’s hang up even if he doesn’t quite understand the reasoning behind it. that’s why he pulls fjord aside in ep 75 and tells him that he doesn’t have to choose the wildmother, that there are other gods and other ideas out there looking for a champion. fjord, who at this point considers wildmom his only option (travis says she’s the only one who’s shown the slightest interest in fjord and that’s why he’s gunning for her), is befuddled by caduceus and this whole talk, so much so the pair end up talking past each other for the next several episodes.

after fjord officially becomes a paladin, things between him and caduceus become fairly...unsettled compared to their previous interactions. they talk past each other more, they aren’t in sync enough to double team those social interactions they were just starting to get good at. things are just weird for a while. to me, that’s fjord waiting for the catch, waiting for caduceus to call in some favor or something like it. and he keeps getting confused when caduceus doesn’t. so he tries once or twice to follow in caduceus’ footsteps and do as he would instead. and it just makes things weirder. these two don’t have a moment together that doesn’t leave one of them confused or unsatisfied until ep 87, when caduceus gives fjord the holy symbol and inadvertently kicks off the next phase of their relationship. because here, caduceus tries to put them back on equal footing and fjord recognizes it. caduceus rejects framing their relationship as mentor/student and tells fjord he doesn’t need caduceus to give him answers. fjord is “well on his way.”

by defining what they aren’t, mentor/student, our two boys inadvertently ask the question, “so what are we?” honestly, it’s a question that the entire group grapples with in the 90s as they reintegrate yasha, as veth struggles with the question of changing back and whether she can stay with the nein, as beau tries to sacrifice herself for veth, as jester learns some uncomfortable truths about the traveler, as caduceus finds his family again. fjord and caduceus can easily define what they aren’t - not mentor/student, not brothers or cousins- but what they actually are stumps both of them.

their relationship doesn't look like any of their relationships with the others: beau is fjord's bro and first mate, caleb is fjord's complicated mirror and admiree, jester his crush and first person he learned to be vulnerable with, veth his antagonistic sibling. on caduceus' side, caleb is the one he looks to for a fellow project nerd and clear, unvarnished goals, beau and jester are the sisters caduceus misses, yasha the quiet beloved barbarian he understands better than the rest, and veth a mess he wants to help but can't. but fjord and caduceus' relationship is highly undefined at this point. notably undefined, beyond their newly shared connection to melora. at the dinner with essek, we get the stone bomb. and travis and fjord panic. like no, seriously, they spend the next four episodes low key panicking over this revelation. this ties back to fjord waiting for those other shoes to drop but it’s also more than that.

when it comes to destiny, fjord has always been the answer, the self made man, to both caduceus and caleb’s questions about destiny. he makes choices about who he is, who he wants to be, and takes actions towards those goals. he is one of those rare people who can wear many different masks, take on many different roles, while still maintaining his sense of self and becoming a fuller version of who he is. when I say fjord is the answer to destiny, what i mean is that he is what ioun said way back in c1 about Fate: mortals make choices and through those choices, destiny is fulfilled. he is the answer to caduceus' own growth from passive instrument waiting for someone to play him to active communicator in this conversation between gods and mortals. in this sense, fjord is what caduceus learns to be (this is exactly why caduceus rejects a mentor role; he has as much to learn from fjord as vice versa).

so for this coincidence to pop up, this idea that maybe fjord only had the illusion of choice to extend his service to the wildmother, that maybe somehow he was manipulated again, that there was some grand destiny pushing things and fjord had no say in it, yeah, i can see why fjord was low-key terrified. so is this what fjord and caduceus are: just some predestined grand fairy tale partnership neither of them have that much say in? episode 96 resoundingly rejects that label too. for one thing, none of the stones or clays treat fjord's last name as anything amazing or spectacular. for another, this string of episodes gives us caduceus at his most human. the terror of not knowing what happened to his family, the uncertainty of his homecoming, the relief of saving his family and home, the irritation at the way the chaos crew treats the temple, the playful attitude caduceus cultivates after, it's all on display. caduceus drops much of his placid exterior and willingly allows the nein to see sheer depth of emotion he has.

which leads me back to episode 98-99. uk’otoa’s agents come for fjord. and caduceus is pissed. travis and ashley both said on talks that they hadn’t really seen taliesin that pissed, that it was like someone had threatened an actual loved one of his. fjord dies. and comes back to an exhausted, still pissed off firbolg who is five seconds away from snapping archmage vess derogna’s head off for interrupting his prayer of healing. taliesin doesn’t even begin to relax until they start interrogating the dead fish people the next day. once caduceus confirms the ball is still in fjord, notably caduceus and caleb were the two who remembered, fjord starts asking for a way to remove it. he asks caduceus to start a commune with wildmom in tandem with jester’s commune with the traveler. caleb tells fjord that caduceus fought “very hard for you while you were down, i don’t know if he’s up to it.” having heard that, caduceus still tries, with his first divine intervention attempt of the campaign. and when jester figures out that greater restoration will work, caduceus pushes through his exhaustion, takes charge, and goes through a truly terrifying greater restoration with fjord to remove the ball. convulsing, seizing, shuddering, collapsing, etc.

in those moments, and in the quiet after when fjord confirms that he still has his powers, it finally hits him that yes, people can protect, fight, and love him for who he is alone. there is no chain or other shoe waiting to be dropped here. the wildmother is no uk’otoa, to punish or take power at a whim. caduceus will fight with everything he has and then some for fjord because he loves him (not for nothing does fjord only realizes the depths of jester’s feelings when she uses heal on him). who are caduceus and fjord to each other? they are people who will fight for one another and the others as far as they can. fjord says over and over again that he wants to protect the nein and look out for them because he cares for them. he demonstrates it over and over again as well. caduceus says basically the same thing; he wants everyone safe and happily on their way and will stay until they are. he demonstrates this all the time as well. this is, i think, the first time that he demonstrates his dedication so unequivocally, free of the artifice of duty, fully committed through love. fjord recognizes this in caduceus and caduceus does in fjord.

i say this is a turning point because, while they don’t really have another super in depth conversation alone together, these two start clocking each other and openly help and look out for each other. there’s an ease and intimacy to the relationship after this. fjord watching caduceus swim near vokodo’s lair, fjord being ready to hand over his armor to caduceus when it looks like his won’t be ready, fjord, caduceus, and beau plotting behind jester’s back to keep her safe from the traveler, the absolute offense fjord takes to eadwulf after he spoke to caduceus like that, fjord levels up in paladin after caduceus tells him he’s proud to know him, all the way to the end of the show when fjord shelters the clerics and tells them to finish lucien, we get little moments like these from both of them. hell, caduceus is the first person in the campaign to tell fjord directly that he loves him.

[saphirered]

Hey! Hope you’re enjoying the holiday season, however you celebrate! Would you please write about how the members of any party of your choosing celebrate Winter’s Crest/Barren Eve with their s/o? The open-ended party option is meant to be fun, so lmk if it’s better to pick a specific party. Thanks! ❄️💜❄️

-🐋🎄

Love this request so I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did writing it! Happy holidays! 😘

(Caleb)

This wizard has not truly celebrated any kind of holiday since leaving the guardianship of his former mentor. The only fond memories of celebrating any type of holiday were with his parents so for the longest of times he just felt wrong to feel good on a day that brings so much pain, guilt and regret but with the Nein, and trouble left far behind, he finally feels like he can be somewhat happy again and allow himself to indulge into that festive spirit.

This mentality leaves him to feel the need to catch up on everything he’s missed so be prepared for an over-planned day of activities and traditions. Before you know it you’re being pulled through the streets from one market stand to another to try some traditional Zemnian delicacies, play games and be showered in gifts with a large heap of affection, as Caleb lets himself go unrestrained. He’ll pull all the tricks out of his sleeve to allow you to share in his experiences and hopes that you may follow old and start new traditions for the years to come.

It fills your own heart with joy to see a happy Caleb, almost childlike in his excitement to introduce you to the things that brought him so much happiness in his formative years, though you might need to slow him down at times and take a break, but sitting down somewhere to watch the people out and about with some steaming cups of gluhwein, pressed up against each other wrapped in layers to keep warm, still very much satisfies Caleb’s reborn holiday spirit.

(Beau)

Beauregard is not one for the holidays. She’s a bit of a Scrooge when it comes down to it. Holidays mean holiday parties and she claims to hate those with a passion because of the ones her parents made her attend and play prim and proper daughter at while she just wanted to drink and forget about the snobs she’d be surrounded by. So when you suggest having a party expect a groaned ‘do we have to’. Bribing with booze and assuring this party does not include any snobs, manners, or other upper class expectations will persuade her.

The winter cold of the Empire definitely means she’s staying in bed until at least afternoon, and if you had anything planned, forget about it. Holidays are meant to be spent together right? And you’re already there. If you had other intentions for those words, Beau will most certainly make you reconsider their meaning and leave you plenty happy to agree with her definition. Though, you have to get up at some point breakfast in bed is a must.

Being away from the holiday cheer of the outside world does Beau good but she too knows she can’t avoid it as her friends will come knocking for a nice gathering. She’ll pretend to be all grumpy about getting dressed all fancy, but will totally hand pick the bottles for the night to be paired perfectly with the food, and slowly slide into her own version of holiday cheer. No need for faked laughter or proper manners when the people around you bring you plenty of smiles and half of them don’t know proper manners anyway.

(Fjord)

Coming from the background he did, Fjord never really experienced holiday celebrations, and if he encountered them, enjoy the fun and move on. On a ship there isn’t really time for big celebrations, there’s work to be done after all and any time a ship makes port after a few weeks to months at sea, it’s a party like any holiday so having you to introduce him to traditions and customs of a proper one is a bit of a learning curve but he genuinely enjoys it.

Seeing the joy it brings you is enough of a reason for him to go full in on the commitment regardless of him getting it right. Kisses whenever you walk under a palm tree, right? That’s great! Port in Nicodranas means there’s plenty of palm trees. It takes you a bit to catch on but after being stopped for the eighth time under yet another palm tree, you can’t contain your laughter and leave the half orc flustered. Kisses under palm trees are now a thing for you.

When you tell him traditionally gifts are involved and you already have the perfect one for him, watch him guide you back to the little trinket you admired at one vendor in the streets and instantly buy it for you as a gift. Please don’t tell the man his company and dedication to learning is gift enough for you or he might just overheat. One hundred percent will he summon Star Razor to make it snow above your head despite the warm tropical climate.

(Veth)

Veth is very used to the holiday traditions; a decorated home in advance, freshly baked cookies to be decorated on the day, a pile of nicely wrapped gifts waiting to be opened, and the promise of a delicious roast for dinner. Holidays mean spending time with family, both old and new and she tends to go all out, trying to include everyone as the size of said family has grown by quite a bit.

Sharing this experience with you, if you wish so will absolutely be the best gift she could ask for. You’ll be putting up the shiniest of decorations, and make some of your own but for the love of Pelor, do not ask her where she got them from because the less you know, the better. Picking out presents together is no better, because she’ll manage to take some while shopping you don’t even notice while she’ll have all of yours figured out, not able to cope with the curiosity of what you’d gotten her.

While Veth has significantly cut back on her alcohol habits, once only the adults remain and everything else is a tomorrow’s problem, the drinking games are fair game. Too intoxicated to remember the rules? Pshhhh, like you remembered them before that one glass too many! As long as you’re having fun together, that’s all that counts. To Veth the holidays are meant to be spent with your loved ones and that’ll always include you right there. No exceptions.

(Jester)

Coming from a loving household holiday cheer was a given for Jester, though traditions may very well vary from those within the Empire or anywhere in the world, the port city always had been a mashup of traditions around the world. Just pick and choose whichever ones fit your needs because she does! Family of course is very important and she’ll enlist you to help out with that fact. Begged you for helping her with this one thing, as she needs no other gift. Better agree and be showered in hugs and kisses and ‘thank you thank you thank you’s when you do.

The help Jester needed included in getting that family together. She forgot to mention that meant arranging another parent trap to get her mom and dad to celebrate too with the rest of you like one happy family. Now this made you a little uneasy for pulling such a stunt with your in-laws but Jester, charming as she is had you wrapped around her finger.

Honestly, you don’t know what she did or how she did it, but with your help getting her parents to go where she needed them, was a big surprise that must have involved some kind of (not-so) divine intervention. Either way, you had a lovely picnic at the beach with plenty of gifts exchanged and some surprise fireworks and mysterious mistletoe growing right overhead. All in all it was a happy moment and worked out perfectly. That’s exactly why you love this mischievous little troublemaker.

(Caduceus)

There’s only so many things one is aware of when living so remote the troubles of civilities rarely bleed through and this includes the multitude of celebrations. Caduceus knows plenty of holy days for the gods where rites and rituals are performed in their honour but he’s completely oblivious to any celebratory customs of those outside the Blooming Grove’s lands. It honestly leaves him so confused why certain things are a thing let alone how they work.

Seeing your excitement is reason enough for Caduceus to keep a close eye on you running around, claiming to have lost track of the date while you make decorations from whatever you can find and hang it around the place, using a bit of magic here and there. When he sees you stressing out he’ll offer to help and he has to admit, there’s something relaxing about making garlands by hand and infusing old jars with magic lights to string up on some spare rope to light up the place.

Your holidays take up on this after he gets the hang of it and while it’s mostly diy, you collect and create and make it truly yours, modifying and creating your own traditions to suit your needs and celebrate with your families, just making it a jolly get-together regardless of deities and other customs. You got your own now.

(Yasha)

Holidays like you’re used to are not a thing where Yasha comes from and it wasn’t until the carnival she got in touch with any. For the stoic intimidating warrior she is, she really lets that softer side shine through during these festivities and it’s heavily influenced by her carnival family so quite a few of the ‘traditions’ she’s learned are not exactly the same as the ones you know to be more commonly accepted.

Last one out of bed being the one to prep dinner being another because the moment your feet touched the ground Yasha tried to pull you back but it was already too late. You didn’t know why and just gave her a kiss to go about your day, pick up your last gifts and so on but when you returned the woman was frantically running around the kitchen, the place a mess of dirty bowls and platters, spoons, knives and a whisk or two.

You might try and help her out and she’ll let you because she won’t say no to you but will claim it’s her responsibility as you got up first. How could you stay away from the kitchen when the food being prepped smells absolutely divine and your lover is right there working her arse off? So you’ll help wherever you can until the two of you have a delicious meal to yourselves, exchanging some gifts and all in all just spend the rest of the day together.

(Mollymauk)

This devious little shit’s got plans. None of those plans you’re supposed to be aware of. It’s a secret. Secret surprises for his lover because he wouldn’t be him if he didn’t spoil you filthy to his hearts content. All traditions he’s collected over his time with the carnival have all blended together anyway so he’ll pick and choose and make it up as he goes if necessary. Call out his bullshit if you dare. He’ll tease you with kisses and wandering hands to no end either way.

The day starts good, warm and cozy, in each other’s embrace, plenty of kisses, cuddles and all-round affection to go around. Maybe even something a little more spicy to keep warm. Breakfast in bed is nonnegotiable. It’ll be the best money can buy wherever you are at the moment. If there’s no bathing opportunities in the place your staying at, money will be flaunted to buy the best options at whatever spa or bath house is available to be seriously pampered.

Molly will take you on a little adventure or two because no holiday is complete without at least one bar fight or similar to keep you both on your toes, and the drink is good too but he definitely does not object to some peace and strolling down the streets and window shopping. Returning to your friends and family of course has to be a grand event, it’s a party after all so count on a big celebration of joy and happiness, dancing, drinking and all the affection one can muster because the night is still young, even if it’s not…

(Essek) a little holiday bonus for you folks 😘

Essek prefers to spend his time away from the big broad outside world, or in other words; far away from people he’s got no interest in meddling with, and limiting any and all unnecessary social interactions. He’s not Scrooge but just never had any interest in spending any more time with people than absolutely necessary. Keyword had. Because you waltzed in his life and when you expressed your love for the festive season, he simply had to indulge, if only to see you happy.

Scouring all sources he can find in the days leading up to ‘the big day’ to learn as much as he can about traditions, customs and other habits he thinks he’s totally prepared, good to go and plans made to deliver to you the best of holidays he can provide. On the day itself he got some right, but the Dynasty’s resources on your festive habits are severely lacking or just plain wrong and leave you finding the whole ordeal hilarious.

Fear sets in he might have ruined your holiday but you assure him that is most certainly not the case and you might just find Essek making a fool out of himself out of love for you hilarious, his dedication is not a laughing matter and very much appreciated he tried, and promises to keep trying. Though he does suggest you actually schooling him on what your festive traditions entail in the future. You spend your day together, surrounded by love, laughter and a good heap of embarrassment.

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E121 (Jan. 19, 2021)

Aaaand we're back! The epic pet montage at the start is still the greatest thing ever.

Tonight's guests? Matthew Mercer and Marisha Ray!

We begin with an extensive discussion of waffle farts. As you do.

Matt is asked what it's been like to get to build out the characters in the Tombtakers. Lucien is Matt's favorite, but they've all got some fun traits to them. "It's one of those rare experiences as a dungeon master where you get to watch your players combat with the necessity of playing along. The instinct is: fuck these guys, I want to fight them, we'll take their shit... or I guess we have to play nice. And they begrudgingly grit their teeth and I smile internally."

On the Lucien accent: "You guys are all so mean to Taliesin!" Matt knew his own take would be a "weird mutation" of Mollymauk's accent anyway.

How's Marisha feeling about a lot of her predictions panning out? "Aw, I mean, gee, me? What? Noooo. It's definitely vindicating, I'm not gonna lie, and rewarding, but I also know that I write a lot of shit down in that notebook that's never relevant ever again. It's definitely a good feeling to know that I didn't go on that fifteen-minute deep dive and was utterly wrong about everything I said." Matt: "I was super proud. I was just silently cheering you on as you went on these long tangents."

What does Lucien think of the Mighty Nein? "Lucien is definitely curious about why they're getting involved in his shit and what they're planning alongside them. One, he hates Beau because he doesn't like people who challenge his authority. He gravitates towards Jester to an extent because she's the most open, which from his standpoint makes her easiest to manipulate. He loves toying with curiosity, and so between Jester and Caleb, those are the two people that he's the most comfortable interacting with. Caduceus makes him feel a little weird. He's amused by them. Fjord to Lucien is one of the more guarded and less accessible at the moment."

Is Beau enjoying getting under Lucien's skin? "Beau's picking and poking still kind of stems from her defensiveness and guardedness and her feelings, in a lot of ways, and the way that she's coping with things. It's a few steps removed from her default and what she often resorts to when she starts throwing up those barriers. She still has in the back of her head that she's looking at her dead friend. It's her way of protecting herself if she can go, fuck you, I don't care about you. This isn't too dissimilar to the way she reacted when Yasha was brainwashed." Matt: "It's a unique social sparring match the whole time they're traveling side-by-side. It's unique to have an antagonistic force that you're--" Marisha: "That we're going camping with."

Navigating the Tombtaker/M9 relationship as a DM is "challenging. At any given moment, a wrong statement could escalate matters one way or the other. It's having to pay attention to a lot of things at all points in time to be ready for how those chain reactions can happen and where it might go." He likens it to trying to follow and participate in two different conversations simultaneously at a party.

On the note from Yasha: "Oh man, you guys. Oh, it was so sweet. I don't think Beau was expecting Yasha to be so forthcoming with everything, and so complimentary and eloquent. Beau is awkward with healthy relationships, so she doesn't know how to handle them. She's still processing that and wants to not ruin it. No, it was magical." Ashley told Marisha after the episode that she was trying to think of what to say and wound up basing it on what she would say about Marisha.

Cosplay of the Week: an amazing Vax (by stormfeather_cosplay, photograph by travi_b, both on Instagram)!

On using variations on the Wild Magic table: "I wanted to give it some variation to consequences. They took some of the tooth out of it from earlier editions. I knew it would be fun once I gave them the specifications of when these things would happen - players are just waiting for someone to roll a 20 or a 1 at all times."

Why is it so important to Beau that she and Yasha have a proper date? Part of it is a fresh start. "So much of Beau's past relationships have been rooted in some toxic behavior. Beau feels like, well, maybe we should just start from the beginning in the most us way possible: fighting through the tundra with our dead-ish friend."

The sci-fi-ish theme came toward the end of developing Aeor, but it mostly comes from rationalization. Matt is intrigued by how all these different societies want to usurp the gods... which has parallels with modern society. He notes that focusing more on the science of the magic means the aesthetics pull away to "instead facilitate the utility or the most direct route to the answers you want. You streamline as opposed to focusing on the aesthetics."

Beau’s reaction to all the weird magic stuff? “I think Beau’s just so focused on the pragmatic aspects of it all right now. There are greedy people with motives and the will and want to corrupt across all spans of cultures and times. She’s trying not to get lost in the magic, both proverbially and literally, of it all, and just trying to focus on the motives of these people at hand.”

In some ways, Matt was surprised by Caduceus’ strong reaction to the creepy woods. “It was the first major reveal that there are some other sides to the coin that he hadn’t learned about. I had no idea how he would react. It pushed him away more in ways than I expected.”

Fan art of the week: an amazing Lucien! (by oratorkayla on Twitter)

What’s Dagen’s motivation? “He’s definitely a man of his word when it comes to fulfilling a contract and getting the other half of his pay, but it’s not hard to see they’ve grown on him a little bit. He’s really good at getting around the tundra unseen and unnoticed.”

Brian: “In true Sam fashion-” Marisha, instantly: “OH MY GOD.”

Marisha: “Here’s the thing. Here’s the tea, okay? If I ever hear one more fucking person trying to claim that I’m ruining things by metagaming, I’m going to point to Sam. I’m expected to respond accordingly to Veth being a Sam troll. Gods damn him! Raven Queen curse upon him! Let chaos reign! He made me pull out my earphones, I can’t hear anything you’re saying. It’s frustrating because I’d be mad at it if it wasn’t so god damn funny.” Matt notes that at a different table this wouldn’t be great behavior, but they all know each other well enough (and check in with each other enough) that it’s comfortable teasing.

With a bit of a deeper pull, Matt is asked whether he knew Avantika would return someday? “I knew she was a fun, interesting option out there. The M9 still have in their grasp the single most important artifact, in Uk’otoa’s opinion, at the moment. As long as they carry that artifact, his eye of Sauron is upon them.” Matt notes that he has more encounter tables going, so a lot of the time even he’s not sure what’s going to happen.

Caduceus suggested contacting Essek, but Beau and Caleb nixed that idea. Does Beau trust him? “Gods no. Absolutely not. She can like Essek personally. As a person, he’s fine, I guess. But I think a lot of people might be forgetting that he’s kind of a war criminal and kind of set off a lot of bad things in motion with this war with the Empire and the Dynasty, because he wanted power and to know things. So now here he is, also in Aeor. Yeah. Just kinda putting two and two together there. It is another one of those things of, you’re walking that line on trying to keep him on your good side and having a mutually beneficial relationship before it could easily go completely south.”

On the Star Razor being a Vestige: “I don’t want this to be--- the Vestiges aren’t always a thing where it’s like, you get a Vestige and you get a Vestige! I want them to be still considered special and rare. This is one that had to be earned, it had to be reforged. I didn’t know the circumstances that would involve it coming about.” He based it on the circumstances of Fjord’s evolution into a paladin. “In essence, not only did he finish the creation of the sword, but he Awakened it at the same time as he made this transition. It is Exalted at this point, it’s in its final form.”

What does Beau think might lie ahead? “I have no idea. I am trying to abandon expectation when it comes to that. I know what we don’t know, and that’s it. Beau is trying to compensate for the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns. I hope we can keep this tenuous relationship through to Aeor, because we need more answers before it explodes in our face. Beau, and Marisha, is hoping for a little more information before shit hits the fan.”

[utilitycaster]

Love can save people. It can redeem.

It can also damn you and others.

If anything, Delilah is a cautionary tale on how you could love someone so much, you never think twice about damning the entire world in the name of it, and that it can be so easy to never stop.

As you say, many others could have gone down the same road as Delilah and Sylas. And yet they didn't. Because they chose to stop and reflect before it was too late.

But because she never did, all that waited Delilah was perpetual defeat. It doesn't matter if she's got all the time in the world. Because no matter what, she will never win.

It's a lesson that she will never learn.

I mean…one can I suppose take that message from the story of Delilah, but that’s not really what I was getting at. I am not personally saying “oh how sad for her!”; I am saying this:

As you say, she’s a dark mirror - a living example of how it would have been so very easy for so many heroic characters to be just a touch less scrupulous. She serves to show just how easy it would have been for Percy to say “well, I guess what’s done is done” re: guns; for Vex to give into Saundor or for her justified hunger and self preservation to calcify into avarice; for Fjord to have Jester take them and theirs to the Feywild and leave the Menagerie Coast to drown; for Caleb to go on his Assembly Murder Spree and use the T-Dock; or, a millennium before Delilah existed, for the Ring of Brass to have cut line and teleported or flown out rather than mitigating their damage. And yet none of them did, because they not only loved their partners and friends; they loved their homes and the world. So our post-Divergence era heroes are happy, and even amidst the Calamity the Ring of Brass endures...and Delilah was deservedly hoisted by her own petard into the mind palace of a weird girl who likes rats.

Delilah is compelling not because others would do what she did - in fact, everyone I mentioned demonstrably did not. She is compelling because she didn’t know when to stop, and it’s her own fault. It’s fitting and, at least to me, pretty hilarious, that Delilah never wins; with any luck she’s been swept under whatever cosmic rug Laudna’s resurrection achieved and we never hear from her again. She played stupid games and she won stupid prizes. In the same way that I am most interested in heroic characters who were asked who they were in the dark and in doing so realized they were, at heart, not the monsters they could have been, and dragged themselves out, I am bored stiff by the “oh the villain just needed LOVE and they would have been good” school of thought.

I want a villain (like Delilah, or Avantika, or Lucien) who was shown an off-ramp, and each time slammed down on the gas, and then crashed into a wall, and then exploded. And I especially want a villain like Delilah who had love, and who didn’t need to choose between love and power, and who managed to still take truly the most garbage third option possible.

(Relatedly: this is also why all concepts of Imogen making even the tiniest deal with Delilah to save Laudna, let alone this become a full corruption arc for her, absolutely suck. Why on Exandria would one ever willingly make a deal with the tattered, miserable, widowed cringe fail patron of Love Isn’t Enough, Actually? This is D&D: there are far better fiends and horrors available.)

[poesparakeet-fics]

A Lovely birthday present for @sapphicquill! A fic full of all her favorite things for my favorite person on the planet!

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Fjord/Caleb Widogast, The Poly Nein - Relationship Characters: Caleb Widogast, Fjord (Critical Role) Additional Tags: Tickling, Teasing, Verbal teasing, Fjord’s a charismatic fuck, and will wreck a wizard, Kink Negotiation, Praise Kink, tickle kink, critickle role, Cuddling & Snuggling, Pinned, All Tieflings Are Knismos, Begging, Communication, Dom Fjord (Critical Role), Sub Caleb Widogast, Light Dom/sub Summary:

With their tiefling lovers away visiting their people, Caleb and Fjord are left alone in the tower. Caleb has an itch. A want. No, a need. If only he could bring himself to ask for it.

Read on Ao3 or here:

He should have just asked.

As agonizing as that would have been, Jester wouldn’t have even teased him about it. She would have smiled and opened her arms, inviting him in, and turned him into a puddle before she left. Clearly a better option than the one he was stuck in.

Molly would have teased him, sure, but his eagerness to get on with the thing would have made it short-lived, and the results would have been the same.

He might have even been able to rope both of them, if he really wanted it. Gods, did he really want it. Now they were both in Nicodranas for the week, and an unexpected call from the Cobalt Soul had emptied their home further, until it contained one unique set of marbles that rattled around in the emptiness. Caleb himself… and Fjord.

It was so rare that they were alone together, their social lives whittled away from the web of their found family to their own unique love and camaraderie. Caleb would never tell Beau about Fjord’s skipped workouts. Fjord would keep quiet about the many long nights Caleb would spend buried in books and surviving on whatever food his insistent little cats could entice him with.

They were intimate, though with the others gone they fell into the pattern of a slow, quiet midday fuck in the library rather than mind-melting tickle attacks.

As warm as their days together were, Caleb was feeling the absence of the others. Had he really become this dependent? Had he lived so long with the luxury of insightful tiefling lovers (with a crew of accomplices) that he couldn’t go more than a few days without? Evidence said yes.

Specifically, the way his nerves had ignited when Fjord poked his head into the library late that night.

“Caleb?” He waited for the wizard’s gaze, “Come to bed tonight, hm? It’s getting lonely.”

“Oh…” Caleb felt his face alight, “It’s been so late, I didn’t want to wake you…”

Fjord waved a hand with an affectionate grin. “I know. I’m not offended. I don’t care if you wake me, though. Come to bed.”

Caleb returned the smile, hoping the shiver that chased itself around his skin wasn’t visible from the doorway. “ Ja , ok. I will. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

~~~

Caleb would swear to himself, even later, that he hadn’t meant to wake Fjord. He’d stepped into his lovers’ bedroom with every intention of creeping over to the empty side of the bed and slipping between the covers, quiet as a mouse. Unfortunately he’d left his sea legs on a ship many months before.

The gentle rocking that he’d enchanted into the bedroom combined with pitch blackness and an exhausted mind sent him tumbling into a piece of furniture— a chair?— then over it and onto the floor with a clatter. He was upright again by the time Fjord roused.

“Caleb? Are you alright?”

“Ja, just clumsy.” Caleb assured him, hurriedly putting himself into the bed and holding perfectly still. “I’m fine, go back to sleep.”

His attempt to be inconspicuous was thwarted when one arm slung itself around his middle and pulled him in to spoon with a long, even sigh. “‘Kay.”

Caleb tried to relax into Fjord’s warm embrace, until the other man’s hand started to move. One broad, smooth palm stroked his chest, stomach, side, ribcage… all in firm, gentle strokes that didn’t tickle. At all . Caleb wanted to whimper and squirm, try to catch Fjord’s fingertips against a sensitive spot and earn some little zing of sensation, but he’d already woken him once. Instead he sat very still with his skin aglow with desperation until Fjord drifted off and his hand stilled. Caleb fell asleep not long after, still wholly sensitized and half-hard.

Between basic biology and want-filled dreams, neither situation had resolved itself by morning. In fact, as it did most mornings, his skin felt more sensitive as it awakened. Caleb hadn’t opened his eyes yet when he felt the press of cool lips against the heated skin at the back of his neck, sending shivers rattling through his thin frame.

“Good morning.” Fjord’s voice was a low, sleepy rumble that made Caleb shiver for entirely different reasons.

“Morning” Caleb returned through a yawn, stretching as best he could without wriggling out of Fjord’s embrace.

He found himself suddenly sharply aware of the placement of Fjord’s hands where they were wrapped around his torso, and the restraining weight of one muscular leg thrown over his hip. Still half asleep, he bumped against the embrace with a satisfied little hum before settling his own gangly form within Fjord’s larger one.

“What are you getting up to, today?” Caleb mumbled against the pillows, still wiping sleep from his eyes.

That’s when Fjord’s embrace suddenly tightened, his arms pulling Caleb in close while his leg stopped him from curling up to press him, stretched, against the length of his companion’s form.

“Well, you know…” Fjord yawned, “I’d thought with the tiefs gone you might like a little break from certain things, seeing as how they do get you pretty often. But I’m starting to think that was a mistake on my part.”

Caleb’s skin ignited and he squirmed, suddenly breathless. “I— wait —” For what, even Caleb wasn’t sure.

Fjord chuckled into his shoulders. “Aw, you don’t need to pretend, Caleb. I felt a little bad letting you fall asleep in such a state last night, but it was late, and I know how much more sensitive you are in the mornings.” With that he clenched his fingers, settling their tips on Caleb’s rib cage like needlepoints only to hold perfectly still.

“ Fjord! ” Caleb whined, but it was barely more than a wheeze. He fought the urge to squirm.

“Yes? Did you need something?”

“ Bitte .”

Another chuckle, then hot breath in Caleb’s ear. “Bitty what? Maybe we should make this a lesson in asking for what you want from people who love you. I can stand in for Jester and Caduceus.”

Caleb gritted his teeth, unable to even consider saying the word. He didn’t need to. It was so close . He let out a wordless, pleading whine. Fjord was one of the more susceptible of the nein to pleading.

One of Fjord’s hands tossed the blankets to the side and exposed a long flank of pale skin, currently bound by strong green limbs. The same hand started to float above Caleb’s side, fingers flicking to set off interspersed giggles from the trapped wizard.

“It’s not a burden, you know. Look how easy it is to rile you. Hardly a chore. I don’t even need to touch you…”

Caleb could only whine and giggle, eyes locked on Fjord’s floating hand. The half-orc’s other arm was still wrapped around Caleb’s torso, gripping the wizard’s arms tightly to keep them out of his way.

“…just imagine how bad it’s gonna be when I do.”

Caleb thrashed a little against his restraint with his eyes shut tight, half to hide from the teasing and half out of embarrassment over the squeaking strings of giggles he was producing without so much as a touch.

A smooth palm strokeed at this stomach in a move that would have been comforting had he been calmer, but instead his eyes shot open with a hiccoughing yelp that turned into a whine as the hand withdrew and started floating once more.

“You’re gonna have to say it, if you want it. I could do it just how you love it. Start out nice and slow…”

Fjord’s fingers started to drift again, his fingers skating a scant inch above the soft skin of Caleb’s stomach. Caleb’s eyes were open and locked in a wide, giddy panic. He was already getting breathless.

“…or I could get a little more serious…”

Fingers crooked and made a clawing motion over Caleb’s ribcage, making him squeal and kick his feet against the mattress.

“…or maybe a little beard action…”

“No!” Caleb squeaked, his neck collapsing backward. Fjord hadn’t done anything, but the knowledge that said beard was just out of sight and free to wreak havoc was enough.

“No? Why not?” Fjord asked, hooking one finger to menace above Caleb’s armpit. “Keep telling me ‘no’ instead of 'please tickle me Fjord’ and I might really stop. Just let you marinade for the rest of the week and tell the tieflings how bad you need it when they get home, hmm?”

“No-hohoho! Evil!”

“What’s evil?” Fjord asked patiently, chuckling at the frustrated sound it pulled from the trapped wizard. “Not my beard! You were singing its praises not too long ago. Remember that night? The one where Jester and I kissed you from head to toe?”

The sense memory lit Caleb up. He hid in the bicep of his trapped arm and groaned, feet mussing the sheets further.

“ Der teufel … you’re a fucking devil… they should have brought you with, to their tiefling retreat!”

“Careful, if those two had decided to make exceptions to the tieflings-only rule they would have packed you in a suitcase and served you on a plate.” Fjord’s fingers flexed in the air once more, and Caleb made a sound like he was dying.

“Hang in there, now, what if I were to grab that rope that’s tied under the headboard… and the paintbrushes in the bedside drawer… and I get real patient with your armpits to see how long you can take it.”

One cautious finger was set down carefully on the thin skin at the back of his armpit, too firm and still to really tickle, but Caleb sobbed into his bicep all the same. He felt Fjord shift.

“Are you crying ? Oh, I cannot wait to show Jester this new trick. How to make you wail and cry without doling out one single tickle?”

Caleb didn’t want to prove him right, but he couldn’t help the little wail that escaped. Jester didn’t need to learn to tease like this . Nobody needed to learn to tease like this. In fact, if Fjord didn’t stop teasing, Caleb was pretty due he was going to melt and be absorbed into the mattress like spilled tea.

“Fjord no , stop —”

Suddenly the pinprick sensation near his armpit was gone. The weight of Fjord’s leg was gone, as was Fjord himself. Caleb kicked himself upright, head on a swivel. The half-orc was already pulling on a shirt.

“What…?”

“I told you, if you kept telling me no, I’d stop.”

Cold shock slid down Caleb’s spine, his stomach dropping.

“ Please , Fjord!”

“Please what?”

Caleb made a frustrated sound, balling his hands into fists in the sheets. “Please do everything you just threatened to, you arschloch !” Then he felt a thrill of panic as he was pinned under the paladin’s gaze.

A wicked grin split Fjord’s features as he turned and stalked back towards the bed. “ Everything? Well, I was going to make you say the word, but that’s an offer I can’t refuse. C’mere.”

Whatever fight Caleb had found at the prospect of being abandoned drained out of him as Fjord pushed him backward and sprawled across him.

“So…” Fjord questioned, one eyebrow raised as his hand started to float again. “I’m afraid I can’t quite remember my list… gonna need some help from that keen mind of yours.”

Caleb groaned.

“What was that first thing again?”

It was a ruse. It was a trick. Caleb didn’t care. He was going to combust.  His arms were already thrown up to hide his face, so from that hiding place he croaked “Start off slow…”

“Right, right… slow.” Fjord purred.

It turned out that there would be no going slow that morning, because the second his fingers started to skate around Caleb’s navel the wizard’s arms snapped down to protect his torso while he dissolved into breathless, pitchy laughter.

“Oh dear, you’re in big trouble, aren’t you? So riled up already.”

“St— nahaha— don’t tease! ”

“Oh… that was not part of the deal. What’s next?”

“ Nahaha— you know! ”

“Nope.” Fjord was nonchalant as he took the other man apart with one fingertip. “Sorry, don’t remember…”

Caleb hugged his ribcage tighter with one arm and pressed his other fist against his mouth. “Get ahahaha— little mohohore serious!”

His attempts to hide were universally futile. Fjord’s hands started to hop and skip around his torso, delivering a ticklish pinch and prod at every open space he could find without ever trying to get Caleb’s hands out of the way, a sharp reminder of how helpless Caleb was to stop him.

Caleb’s laughter kicked up in a way that left him without breathe to plead or squeal, so he settled for wrapping both arms around his ribs and rolling onto his side to put his face in the pillow.

“Nope.” Two strong hands grabbed his shoulders and flattened him out on his back. “No hiding. Watching you fall apart is the best bit.”

Caleb wailed at his exposure, his laughter leaving him weak enough for Fjord to slide his hands around his ribcage and dig in more thoroughly. Caleb arched his back and tossed his head in an attempt to drive the sensation away, but he could only cackle and accept his fate for the time being.

Fjord finally let him catch his breath a short while later, hands still in their attack position but with stilled fingers. “So…” he purred over the sounds of Caleb’s hiccuping gasps “What was the next one?”

Caleb had only a few breaths to collect himself, a little thrill of rebellion rising in his chest. “You were going to… hic… get the r-rope…”

“That’s right! Now I remember.” Fjord purred again, kissing a few stray tears of laughter away from Caleb’s face as he reached one arm between the mattress and the headboard to pull out a length of silken red rope (an absolutely mortifying gift from Marion Lavorre that had sparked quite the conversation about privacy) and wrap it around both of Caleb’s wrists.

The wizard sighed in relief as his deception went unnoticed, then quivered at the helpless stretch of his body. He hid his face in the bends of his arms while Fjord settled next to him.

“See, the only problem with this paintbrush idea…” Fjord mused, watching Caleb’s breath even out. “Is that you’re a fuckin liar and that’s not what I said next.”

Caleb managed one quick, panicked gasp as the accusation landed, but the unbearable scrape of a beard across the side of his ribcage drew it all out of him in a squeal.

“Aaaah! Nein! No! Stahp! ”

“Say ‘please tickle me Fjord’.”

“ Nahaha —” Caleb wheezed “ Can’t— can’t! Bitte!”

“Oh, that’s right, it was supposed to be your armpits, wasn’t it?” One strong hand gripped an elbow, pinning it next to one flushed cheek to stretch the thin skin beneath.

“ Nahahaha! ” Caleb shrieked as Fjord hovered his lips just above his underarm, warm breath already making the wizard’s entire body rigid with ticklish panic.

“Say iiiiiit” Fjord sing-songed, his words drawing out a fresh wave of hysterics. “Say it or I’ll stay like this forever…”

Caleb swallowed, gasped and hiccuped for a moment before finally choking out “ P-please tickle me, Fjord. ”

“Good boy…” Fjord’s voice was soothing, but he had to raise it to be heard over the screams of laughter that the gentle bump of his nose and soft brush of his lips ripped out of the wizard beneath him. “I am so proud of you. I’m going to tell Jester all about it, and she’ll be proud of you too.”

He kept it up for a few moments, even after he stopped showering Caleb with praise, applying a good nuzzle to the ticklish armpit before releasing the wizard to melt into a giggly puddle in the middle of his bed.

“Would have been so much easier if you’d just asked,” he murmured into ginger hair, “but you know that, didn’t you?”

[captainofthetidesbreath]

I'm actually playing a Hexblade and I'm super interested in how Travis has set up his character! If you're willing, I'd love to hear more about the different aspects that play well together.

Can I get the same range without taking three levels of paladin? Is it the Star Razor that gives the edge for the spells, or do you think any weapon would work? Why do you think he took the feats he did?

I rewatched the Mighty Nein vs Vox Machina, and I was struck by how much Fjord did that fight. Beau was full offense, Laura really capitalized on their Trickery aspect, but Fjord seemed to switch roles on every players turn, not even just the round!

I think you can absolutely get the same range with a straight hexblade!

A lot of what Travis accomplishes with Fjord is honestly a function of a killer Con score and good warlock builing. If you're alright with not having healing ability, then you don't need the paladin levels at all. Fjord is, largely, a warlock. Besides that it is largely narrative focused, paladin levels allow Travis to access healing magic, smite spells, and more lower level spell slots.

You'll be sacrificing healing capability, which isn't possible for a hexblade to access without double-dipping, but you absolutely can get a decent amount of mobility-based flexibility without multiclassing. You just have to be change around your Invocations and spells a little and be more careful about your spell slot usage.

Travis gets the flexibility he does with Fjord through mobility and survivability. Switching between playing ranged harassment and close-range threat, maintaining range for Counterspell, being close enough to hep allies, he can do this because distance is largely trivial to him and incoming damage when playing closer to frontline is not a huge concern. Tough increases his survivability, and Mobile gives him, well, mobility and survivability (with the nullified opportunity attacks). War Caster is a staple for spellcasters and I always recommend—the increased ability to maintain concentration through damage is critical. These help him be able to more confidently making his positioning choices, particularly in making it easier to commit to melee.

Travis' build emphasizes mobility because that's the best way to use Fjord's extremes in range and easily peel for the large party, who all prefer to play at different ranges. Quickly moving from being Beau's flanking partner to defending Caleb when there's the entire field between them is critical when aiming for the ability to change roles and who you're supporting on a dime. There is no transitional turn necessary when you can cross space in a single step; look to how many times Yasha has to spend an entire time simply moving.

I love the Star Razor, but what makes it very good is it's suited to Travis' playstyle. I've written in the past about the mechanics of the Star Razor: one here and one here. It encourages Fjord's range flexibility, but it doesn't invent it. So, I think any weapon you personally like would replace it. In general, items with spells are a warlock's friend because they allow you to cast without expending a spell slot, and the most important thing is you have items (not just weapons too) that cast stuff you like. Duskcrusher can serve a hexblade fine, for example.

If you're a big fan of the splash damage, I do suggest considering Armor of Agathys or Shadow of Moil, two spells Travis used that probably influenced Matt's decision to give the Star Razor its passive splashback. I don't think one needs as many teleports as Fjord had, but Far Step, Thunder Step, Misty Step, Dimension Door, and Relentless Hex are all warlock teleport options to choose from. Relentless Hex is a must have; it works extremely well with all weapon-based hexblade builds because it easily allows closing distance. I'd also recommend taking Thunder Step or Dimension Door, for the ability to reposition an ally, and Far Step, which allows you to teleport per turn of concentration. Fly is a warlock spell, as is Counterspell. Since you're not dipping into paladin, take the Eldritch Smite invocation, which actually does a 6d8 at 5th level instead of capping at 5d8 like Divine Smite does.

Personally, I think if you're interested in tanking as a hexblade, you should consider taking the Tomb of Levistus Invocation. If you have room in your Invocations list, you can also take Eldritch Mind and take a different feat instead of War Caster.

Between all that, you've basically given yourself the mobility, you just only need to play carefully and considerately from there. Much of what Travis accomplishes is his team-oriented playstyle and his spatial awareness in combat. Having these options doesn't automatically create the playstyle, it rather facilitates a general desire to be helpful to teammates and be able to be at their side as soon as possible.

[yfere]

Look, Beau has an inferiority complex, this is not news

am I behind on critical role? yes. am I going to skip ahead specifically to watch and analyze the whole Beau-Fjord conversation as soon as the episode releases on Monday? also yes.

it’s just from what I’ve seen from the clips and the transcripts.... there’s so much there, and it doesn’t feel good, AT ALL, to witness, but it’s messy in a real way? the inherent messiness of Beau’s feelings and her position--these three, best friends and grouped together from the start, but Beau was from the beginning in a position to feel like a third wheel to the dynamic. She loves them both, she was Jester’s roomie, Fjord’s first mate..... but like Fjord says, “I knew [Jester] the longest.” Beau doesn’t have the Menagerie Coast connection, she’s not the one who was privy to the beginnings of their travels, the first secrets they shared. And there she is, developing feelings for Jester, who had a very loud crush on Fjord for the longest time, until it seemed like maybe she didn’t.... and after having resigned herself to unrequited feelings for so long, Beau lets herself hope:

I could be her beacon

....Except, maybe it was a stupid hope. Because it’s now abundantly clear that the captain, the one who was Jester’s first choice, he loves her too. And if Beau’s anything, she’s very willing to accept being number two--the second friend, the second in command, the one who backs down from love. She’s the girl who was replaced in her family role by a baby brother. From what we’ve seen in Kamordah, it’s not something that she resents her brother for--but how could a person not take it to heart, that message that you can’t come first? That the way you are, the things you can’t change, make you inferior?

So Beau looks around, very aware that Jester has a lot of people in the Mighty Nein who’ve fallen for her, and the realization comes with bitterness. I believe she’s taken it for granted that she can’t compete. If someone else loves Jester, if there are any other sources of light held out for her, then Beau herself must be a non-option. Beau sees herself as the one settled for, not the one desired. So isn’t it easy to retreat to the devil-may-care attitude, the insistence that she never cared anyway, certainly not DEEPLY, haha, it must have been a shallow physical thing all along! Whoopsie, just temporarily blinded by the sparkles, nothing special! Hello, my name is Beau and I’m an asshole with no feelings! After all, isn’t it easier to claim you never really wanted the thing you feel you are losing?

And yet, there are the things she can’t help. Beau can’t help but offer advice to Fjord, tell him “Jester needs directness” in a way that sort of screams “I know Jester better than you do, I know her mind and heart enough to be able to tell you what she needs, what she will and won’t understand.” This is a part of the conversation that I looked at and thought, huh. She really does believe she knows Jester that well--and that’s nothing that can come from a fleeting attachment. And doesn’t it show that Beau is still so desperate to offer Jester everything in the world to comfort her and bring her happiness, that she’ll try to shape up and deliver Jester an ideal partner that isn’t her?

Complicating this--there’s Yasha. Yasha, who is mysterious and beautiful and compelling in a different way. Who Beau has also cared for and wanted to help, who might--possibly--want to pursue her. And Beau is a person who must be pursued, who needs directness more than anyone. She was scared off before by the mere mention of Zuala--so sure that the memory of Yasha’s wife would eclipse anything Yasha could feel for Beau in the present. Even when it’s not the case.... I worry about what Beau is making out of all this. Is she following her heart, or is abandoning the thought of a relationship with Jester doing what feels easiest, safest, what Beau thinks will ruffle the least feathers in her relationship with Fjord? Does she actually take Yasha’s feelings seriously, or is she going to minimize them, as she seemed to when she approached the question by asking if Yasha felt physically pulled to her? Is she going to rationalize Yasha by thinking of herself as a person Yasha would only “settle for” because Zuala isn’t around?

From what I’ve seen of that conversation with Fjord.....that looks to me like Beau’s character flaws, her troubles with inferiority erupting into the kind of ugly language we saw. It looks to me like something that may sabotage her relationship with Jester as well as with Yasha. As much as it kills me to see it, I’ll hold onto hope and keep watching

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E113 (Oct. 27, 2020)

Good evening and good night, lovely people of the world! We’re on the internet and ready to go. Tonight’s guests are Travis Willingham and Sam Riegel. This will be calm, controlled, and sane, I can feel it. Brian points out it’s been seven months since either of them were on Talks. Oof. (Sam asks if it’s been going the whole time without him. Bigger oof.) Travis keeps sneaking bites out of an acai bowl or something and tries to look sneaky about it, and I laugh every time because he’s just...so big. He’s such a big person.

(Brian is wearing a lobstrosity shirt. He and Travis talk about Dark Tower for a bit; then Sam tries to get into the conversation: “Is that the thing from It?” Brian: “Is what the thing from It?” Sam: “Is that lobster the clown from It? I’m not very literate. Is that a Langolier? Is that a Shawshank?”)

Announcements: none! Maybe they just forgot. We’ve been talking about Sam’s spooky skeleton decorations for like five minutes. Brian suggests taking them to Travis’s house. Travis: “That’s the fastest way to get to the smell of burning plastic.” Brian: “Speaking of your girlfriend...”

On Avantika: Fjord wouldn’t call it a relationship as much as a casual sexual interaction. Not official! Super not official!!

The first sea voyage wasn’t great for Fjord, but he tried to be thoughtful about preparing for this one before they left: praying, kneeling at the bow of the ship, etc. He’s a little disappointed the Wildmother didn’t even throw him a “yo, fam” heads up.

They weren’t sure how to resolve the conflict at first, since Avantika went for Fjord rather than the crystal. No one expected it to get exposed in that way. Travis thought the necklace was a pocket dimension and was alarmed to learn it wasn’t. Travis wants it destroyed along with the third gateway, so until they are he won’t rest easy.

Everyone enjoyed watching them all fail on the battlefield again. (Sam: “You used [Counterspell] so effectively!”) Travis thought he’d said Thunder Step, which would imply Avantika was running, rather than Thunder Wave. Sam says it’s fine since none of them have that spell and he wouldn’t know it anyway.

It’s very difficult for Veth to find reasons to stay with the M9. She loves the adventures and making a difference, but she also wants to come home and have weekends and have a husband and life. “She’s a career girl!” He’s very excited about the possibilities of Caleb’s transportation effectively creating an easy commute for her. He also, as a player, doesn’t want to be the person who’s always leaving the party. “My characters wanna roam!”

Travis was fully tilted that Avantika might have gotten away right before the break. He doesn’t think he could have focused on Vess DeRogna’s task knowing Avantika had gotten away; he was seriously working out how Fjord would leave the party to go make a last stand at the third gate if she’d escaped.

Sam looooves how Matt plays Yeza, but it honestly makes him feel a little worse at how encouraging he is for Veth to chase her dreams. “He’s always like - go shine! Go blossom!” He wants to have the conversation about Yeza feeling a little ignored. It’s fun to share the tales of adventures with Luc & Yeza. 

Travis says there’s no way it’s Molly--it’s all Lucien. They don’t know if it was a resurrection, if he’s undead, possessed, etc. Everyone--everyone--rags on Taliesin’s accent work. Brian surreptitiously claims Ashly was brought on to relieve him of the burden of the accent. Poor Ashly, ha!

Initially, Travis landed on the Oath of the Ancients, but it had more nature & pacifism in it than he felt fit Fjord very well. Many of them also had a focus on good & lawfulness, which also didn’t feel quite right; he also wasn’t that vengeful for some of the others. He & Matt got together and discussed options. Matt asked what Travis liked about Fjord; Fjord’s love for the ocean was a huge part of it, since Travis himself also loves the ocean & scuba diving, and so Matt created a custom oath for him. Travis does not plan to post its details, but he thinks Matt will at some point.

Cosplay of the Week! a lovely Scanlan by Air Bubbles Cosplay! Sam tells us the “canon” Scanlan cosplay was actually borrowed hodgepodge, and the boots were falling off all day.

It was really cool to see how Yeza & Luc have made a home in Nicodranas. Felderwin was okay, but kind of your basic D&D fishing village, and she likes the Nicodranas is much better. She’s confident & comfortable knowing her family is safe and sound.

Why is Fjord so interested in finding Sabian? To him, post-orphanage, his time with Vandren was the best of his life & the most love he’d ever received, because he mattered & had worth. It was taken by someone he’d known basically his whole life, so Fjord is not going to let that go. “That fuckin’ bill needs to be paid, my friend.”

Sam acknowledges that he should NOT have looked at his phone in re: the Vilya reveal, but it was pretty surprising! He can’t believe none of them recognized it! Travis points out the M9 had never met, heard of, or known anything about Vilya, so it’s not that surprising. Brian points out Matt has also done a really good job keeping the two campaigns separate, so any references were tasteful. Sam marvels that it was so well done: it was tasteful, had emotional and story impact... “That Matt. He’s getting better!”

Liam texted Sam back something like “oh SHIT.”

Knowing Veth had a chance to help someone else return to her child made Veth feel almost karmically forgiven for being away from her kid, but it also made Veth a little guilty--”this lady wants to desperately return home, shouldn’t I want to go home too?” Caleb’s teleportation spell couldn’t have come a better time.

Sam wants Caleb & Astrid to get back together (well, he says “hump each other”), and Dani’s eyebrows climb off her forehead. Veth/Nott really thinks Caleb needs to have a roll in ze hay, and feels like after meeting her that there is a kindness or vulnerability to her that could be worthwhile. Travis thinks she feels like someone tethered, that it feels like she has a bomb or something in her chest that’ll explode if she tries to leave. Sam thinks Eadwulf is super cool. None of these names are spelled like I think.

Travis found the dinner super frustrating, because he felt Caleb was trying to walk a diplomatic line and he just wanted to backhand Trent. 

Fjord is still coming to terms with his feelings for Jester, and the feelings are definitely real, but there’s a lot of timing that he’s considering and he also wants to figure out what the relationship is like outside of constant tension and battle. Fjord is also having trouble figuring out how to exercise the ability to display affection as well since he’s never received them, and is feeling out how to give and receive them. “It’s fine now, because he’s feeling it, but once you say it out loud, or once you come to a point where you make it known to the other side, then what happens? It might be ruined. It might be broken. Or it might not be!” The moment with the porcelain unicorn was too good not to try. Travis also sighs that he’s not a romance D&D guy, “but now I am! Fuckin’ Laura Bailey!” He’s definitely feeling it out and will see how it unfolds in the game.

If Jester hadn’t let go of the Traveler, Fjord would have either attacked the Traveler or the Moonweaver and tried to kick them both off.

Sam doesn’t think the Traveler’s realized yet what a dick he is. Brian thinks it may not happen in this campaign, but agrees the full weight of what he deserves hasn’t been felt yet. Travis: “Yeah, he came to the edge, but it didn’t cost him anything.” Brian: “Yeah, he’s a real edgelord.”

Fanart of the Week! a beautiful portrait of Molly in the snow by @claygryphon on twitter.

Veth acknowledges that they work for shady people with shady pasts, so Vess DeRogna isn’t her first rodeo, but this time it’s personal. It’s Jaws 2: Electric Boogaloo. Sam can’t commit to actual actions, since Vess is like level 20 or something, but “I will get some kinda revenge. Be it petty or significant, I will get revenge.”

How are they feeling about being in Eiselcross? They’ve only just landed, so not sure yet. The cold is intimidating. They’re excited to explore a new island that’s part of Wildemount, especially with the river of lava running through it. “It’s icy with lava? Sounds like a Dairy Queen.”

There’s still a ton of unknowns regarding the Tombtakers, Vess, the nature of their job, and who’s here on whose orders. They’re excited to see how it’s all going to play out. Travis laughs that he doesn’t take notes, he’s just here to fight things. It just washes over him when Matt starts talking about names and places. “It’ll reveal itself in time. [...] I don’t write those notes down. I don’t even know how to spell it off the bat.” I have never identified more with Travis. Sam actually does pay attention and take notes and was really impressed by Marisha’s dive.

Veth became interested in branding her own spellcraft as soon as she saw Caleb doing it. “That’s what the influencer agents are gonna be looking at. It would be nice to leave the world better than we found it, but also with some branded spells.”

What were Fjord’s thoughts on dropping so much money on the ring & the Ioun stone? It wasn’t about money for Fjord, it was about a cool thing to acquire. It’s why he saves money in his campaign. Caleb needs “as much of a flak jacket as he can get.” He also REJECTS the idea of buyer’s remorse on the ring and touts the effectiveness it’ll have on the lava river.

Travis talks about his old coins - a 340AD coin he bought at a ren faire and a 120BC coin that was a gift from a friend.

Sam marvels at the love and thought that Caleb put into the tower. Sam points out they forgot to go to the top two floors altogether. Travis: “Did the mansion get as much careful planning from Scanlan as the tower did from Caleb?” Sam: Absolutely not. But they were still thinking small in C1, figuring out how things went, and they didn’t have as much detail in their heads yet.

And that’s all the time we have for tonight! We end on everyone whispering way too close into their mics and tapping fingernails on mason jars. A fitting end to this crazy episode, I think.

Is it Thursday yet?