He/Him. 26. Demisexual/-romantic. From Germany. Teacher (History/Politics/Social Sciences) at the highest German school level. This is mostly a Critical Role blog.
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i think part of the problem the rest of the group keeps running up against when they try to listen to jester and understand her problems and comfort her is that they still don’t really believe the traveler loves her.
Most of the m9 have been badly hurt by people - sometimes people who should have loved them, like beau’s parents - but mostly by people who didn’t love them, and who they didn’t love. caduceus is probably the biggest exception to this, and he’s still dealing with his own shit that’s stopping him from even recognizing his issues.
it’s so important to jester that they understand that the traveler loves her. and to them, it looks like, well, if he loved you he wouldn’t treat you like that, so he must actually not love you all that much, and you don’t have to love him – we love you, we expect nothing from you, this is what love looks like.
but sometimes people love you to the very best of their ability and they still do hurtful things and fuck you up! and it’s not just the traveler! it’s her mother, too. before they met marion, jester’s descriptions of her childhood really worried the nein because it sounded like she was being neglected by a mother who didn’t really care about her. beau and caleb were both ready to be highly critical of marion if she turned out not to care about her daughter!
but when it turns out that, actually, marion adores jester, and wants only the best for her, and tries her absolute hardest to do right by her, it makes it much harder to criticize her and her parenting! it happened to the fandom, too! “the ruby of the sea is the best mom ever!”
she’s not. she’s really not. she’s a flawed, fucked-up person who loves her kid and does her best and sometimes she still fucks up. that happens. marion’s unconditional love for jester didn’t make jester’s childhood hidden away in her room any less traumatic and damaging - it just makes it harder for her to say “this hurt me.” it makes it feel really bad to complain, because you know she loves you and you know she’s doing her best, and really shouldn’t that be enough?
i think it’s really hard for jester to open up about the ways in which the traveler’s behavior has hurt her, in part because she feels like she has to defend him, and defend their relationship, and defend his love for her. someone needs to say, you know, you’re right, it’s amazing how much he loves you, he clearly cares about you an awful lot, and that’s a wonderful friendship to have - AND he’s fucked up very badly here and you are entitled to feel hurt! because people can love you and still hurt you! and when they do, they should apologize and try to make amends, because they love you, and they don’t want to hurt you. and loving you a whole lot does not make any of the things he’s done here okay!
i just think it’s very hard for the nein, who have largely been victims of intentional cruelty, to really understand how jester is feeling here. veth came closest, i think, talking about how friends can call each other out on their shit and still care about each other.
(i also think that none of them - with the possible exception of caleb - really understands what Artagan is and what that means, and how serious a promise from him really is, but that’s a slightly different issue.)
#critical role#cr spoilers#jester lavorre#meta#a great read on the old understanding jester problem#i think the talk in ep105 still reassured jester a great deal#but it didn't solve the lack of understanding between artagan and m9#a promise from an archfey is the biggest sign of love artagan could give#he's literally bound to it - but i don't think all the m9 (or even all the players) get that#they will still not trust him (which they shouldn't)#but they can trust him with jester's happiness and they haven't understood that (yet)#also the points about marion: right on the money#she's a great mom who also made some bad decisions in her parenting
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Do you have any thoughts on what talks machina would look like if it came back with the episodes being prerecorded? I thought it could work if, instead of having it after every episode, they had a longer one with the whole cast at the end of major story arcs or something like that.
Honestly I’m not sure how bringing Talks back would work, and I’m incredibly sympathetic to the conundrum they are trying to solve regarding it.
Because they could surely stream it remotely from each person’s home or even pre-record it to make sure there were no tech issues, like they did with AWNP:U. But the bigger logistical challenge is definitely how and when to request fan questions, and how to avoid spoilers.
Before the era of pandemic pre-recording, CR never needed to worry about spoilers because it literally wasn’t possible to spoil an episode that hadn’t happened yet. But now they would be trying to make sure to only respond to questions based on knowledge up through a certain episode/plot point, and honestly I’m not sure if I would be able to do that when talking about my D&D game - everything gets kind of streamlined together as one story. And absolutely no offense here, but we know at least a few of the cast are kind of forgetful.
So yeah, I dunno. I think your suggestion of having sort of an “end of an arc” Talks might be the best idea, but I also think it would work better if they did it while taking a break from recording (sort of like the big “new year” full-cast Talks episodes they sometimes did at the end of the winter break). And I’m not sure if a week or several weeks off from the main game would be logistically feasible or even desirable, just to bring Talks back.
A conundrum for sure.
#critical role#talks machina#this basically sums up all the thoughts i've had on talks returning#it's incredibly difficult#nobody will always know what happened in which episode#especially if they're two weeks ahead in filming#prerecording is perhaps a possibility but they couldn't use fan questions#one big recap after every arc could work#for example everything that happened on rumblecusp#easier to remember for the cast and easier to keep spoiler-free#or actually wait until the christmas break and do a 4-hour special#(i'm kidding with the last one)#or: dani asks all the questions#she's the critter on the inside
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Imagine being one of the Rumblecusp kids. Like the kids who were born there. And suddenly everyone around you is remembering stuff.
Except for a couple other kids and like 3 adults Everyone is remembering stuff. And all of a sudden they’re talking about what they lost, how they’ve been living a lie. But you haven’t been. This is your whole life, and everyone is so ready to toss it aside, they treat it like it’s some of horrible curse.
You hear your mom talking about the family she left behind, your dad talks about the same. You have sisters and brothers and 3 houses across the world.
And when your parents don’t think you can hear them? You hear them cursing Vokodo, talking about how horrible it is. How horrible it was to forget everything and have to start over.
They don’t ever mention regretting you, but you know that you were a product of that lie. Apparently everyone around you was a lie. Every personality you knew was fake, watered down and constructed to help some false god.
Everyone around you deals with remembering the real world they left behind when they got lost in this fake one.
But you have to deal with the fact that you don’t have any real world to fall back on.
#critical role#cr spoilers#meta#yup this will be a big mess#lots of things to sort out even before travelercon starts#i don't think the m9 can do much here#but damn that's gonna weigh on those people
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I’ve seen a few posts and tweets floating around (today and since they came back from hiatus) that lament the fact that it feels like the cast have had discussions about ships and which ships to pursue. And all I want to say on this topic is: YES, THEY THANKFULLY PROBABLY HAVE, AND I DO HOPE THAT YOU DO THE SAME IN YOUR GAMES!
Please talk to your fellow players when you feel like your PC could be developing feelings for another PC! Please ask your DM how they feel about you flirting with an NPC. Please, please, please make sure everyone’s comfortable and on the same page. And I don’t mean that the other character needs to reciprocate the feelings, but the players need to be aware of what’s happening and need to be comfortable with it!
I am almost certain that there have been talks between the cast about their characters’ feelings behind the scenes, especially in light of some of their playlist choices. And that has nothing to do with meta-gaming and everything to do with being a decent player.
#critical role#cr shipping discourse#nobody wants a mess of hurt feelings at the table#make sure everybody is comfortable with in-game romance first#most d&d games work just fine without it#and just because the cr cast is down for it#doesn't mean that they shouldn't talk about it anymore#they did that in campaign 1#and now - and this is very clear in my opinion - they did that for campaign 2#so that everybody can have a great time#and know where their character stands#they will still play out the feelings that their characters developed#and resolve those arcs for their characters in some way#also: death can still come knocking on the door#nothing is set in stone in d&d#sometimes there's just a (near-)tpk#which is the last thing i want to see on cr#and i'm completely okay with the two og ships being the canon ones at the end#even if there is some wasted potential - but that's every story with unrequited love#being comfortable at the table is much more important
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“See sometimes I see him buying pretty shit, and then later I find out its meant to destroy us :(”
Marisha I love you
#critical role#marisha ray#matt mercer#when your husband is the dm#and you could and should be the spy for the party#get your head in the game marisha#that comment was a+ though
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Check out Fjord’s new playlist »HERE«!
#critical role#the final playlist#or: travis throwing some songs together with the help of dani#and it still makes a lot of sense#and if there's someone out there who hadn't picked up on it#fjord's also in love with jester#those playlists have certainly shifted my views on a few of the characters#and they also made me realize some things that should have been obvious#i love this medium so much
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shygaladriel replied to your post “IT’S RELATED TO MOLLY I CALLED IT THE NONAGON ‘SAW A CITY’ AND IT…”
WAIT WHAT????
one of the only hints we had about molly’s past is that cree said something along the lines of “did it work? did you see the city?”
and molly bullshitted some “well, it’s complicated, yes and no” answer because he doesn’t know
but they were doing some ritual that involved a “city,” and it’s what killed lucien & led to molly coming into creation
and when they were getting vokodo’s flashbacks, matt said “eyes of nine” - that’s nonagon. yasha said molly had a total of nine eye tattoos; nonagon means nine-sided.
the nonagon cult is involved with this somehow, i just don’t quite know how.
(my money still says that the “spell-slinger woman from the capital” was deRogna, though. she probably knows something about all this.)
#critical role#cr spoilers#this#i hadn't thought about this for a while now#what in hell was that cult doing?#and i'm sure there's no reason they got this flashback#not even ten episodes after vess derogna bamfed onto their ship and said hello#she is the neutral evil one in the assembly#one third of the poison in the empire alongside ludinus and trent#this has endgame written over it#but so do the oblivion cult and uk'otoa#and what if it's all connected?#crazy theory time
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My only comment on the Disintegrate Discourse™:
Of course it was a move full of foolish hubris, that was kind of the point. It’s one of Caleb’s key character flaws, and one he hasn’t truly grappled with yet because his self-loathing often makes him blind to it. “I was sure, I was so sure…until I wasn’t.” “I’m going to kill Vokodo, obviously.”
^based on that last line, spoken when Liam was sure Matt had rolled a 20 rather than a 1, my guess would be Liam thought the target of any potential reflection was going to be Caleb himself
(related: sarcasm and joking about potentially terrible outcomes is a thing, no one actually wanted certain characters to die)
Liam very clearly and loudly told the entire table his intentions, giving room for objections. A few of them (Laura and Marisha especially) commented on it but either joked about it with him or just sort of agreed that “wow, that’s a risk.” No one said “don’t do that” - and we know from past sessions that they would if they really had a problem. Especially Laura.
Going off the last bullet point, it’s fine if that’s not what you would have done at your table or something you would have found fun with your gaming group. Everyone at CR had fun with that risk though. It’s part of how they play. It’s why they fit so well together as a gaming group - yeah, everyone was stressed, but it’s how they like to play. So dislike of it that projects those feelings onto the other players is a miss for me. None of them need to be protected from their friend.
Fin.
#critical role#cr spoilers#liam o'brien#it needs to be stated that they are very clos friends who are not mad at each other#if someone at my table would've done this i would've had to cool off a little bit#because while it is a big wizard hubris moment#it was unnecessary as fuck#still: nobody at the table had a problem with that so calm down people#and i do also think it would've hit caleb#because his player took that risk#and punishing somebody else for it would be a little too cruel
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matt: *already describing the death cinematic from vokodo* me, still recovering from the potential of a second character death:
#critical role#cr spoilers#that almost gave my a heart attack#and i blame liam o'brien#he did this knowing fully well what could've happened#i want to know who matt would've hit with that spell#if i would've been the dm i wouldn't have hit one of the other pcs#because none of them had anything to do with this mad idea#but npc vilya or caleb himself... would've been fair game
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Don’t let me be a shackle
#critical role#cr spoilers#yasha nydoorin#the facial journey of that big yasha scene#they're so good at this
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Jester, finally learning why people EXPRESS THEIR NEGATIVE EMOTIONS: oh wow, that was pretty great! I feel pretty good right now!
caduceus: oh thank wildmother they’re learning
#critical role#cr spoilers#jester lavorre#caduceus clay#yup#jester actually let herself cry in front of her friends#and express her doubts#how far we've come#the idiots even helped her without cad's guidance#damn miracles these days
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Jester: *casts sending*
Anyone ever, listening to the message:

#critical role#cr spoilers#jester lavorre#even turtle boi was interested for a moment#but then decided to fuck off#jester didn't charm him enough#sadly we might never see him again#i loved him - he was really funny to me#but still: jester's sending is the bane of so many people's existence#and her charms are the other half of it
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@ramsiegel: An attempt was made.
#selfgrooming #trimmerfail #lockdownhair #slipped #oops #accidentalpunk
#critical role#sam riegel#this is not a spoiler until in two weeks#but sam#why?#quarantine is not enough of an explanation for this
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Jester and The Mighty Nein Talk - Episode 105
[starts at 01:31:41 on Twitch VOD]
B: Jester.
J: Hmm?
B: How are you feeling about Travelercon? You know, if we defeat the looming volcano god that has this entire island held hostage.
J: Um.
Weiterlesen
#critical role#cr spoilers#jester lavorre#the mighty nein#thank you so much for this#for future reference#a wonderful scene that already resolves some of the tension ahead of travelercon#at least within the group and within jester
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I haven’t reached the end of the fight yet, but I can already tell that this one would’ve been a LOT harder, if they had remembered to roll concentration checks whenever they took damage from the heat of the water.
It was a low save, but Jester’s duplicate, Vilya’s storm, Veth’s Phantasmal Force, Fjord’s Major Image and Caduceus’ Bless would’ve all been in danger (as well as Banishment, which would’ve actually been beneficial for them).
Those kind of AoEs are great to mess with spellcasters, but dang - it’s so hard to remember concentration during these battles (I only just remembered, now, after the third round of combat).
#critical role#cr spoilers#echoing my thoughts#i only noticed when vokodo was banished#and cleric is one of the classes i play quite often#it would've taken really low rolls#but just ask ashley double nat 1s johnson#they tend to happen at the worst possible times
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Jester summarised in one line
Jester, outright weeping: I’m not sad, y’know?
#critical role#cr spoilers#jester lavorre#jester honey no#don't be upset#i'm so glad that fjord beau and the others got their shit together#and actually made her feel supported and loved#you could feel that both jester and laura felt way better after this scene
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beau: and that’s how faces get trees
yasha, just vibing and not truly paying attention:
the rest of the mighty nein: what
#critical role#cr spoilers#marisha ray#ashley johnson#beauregard lionett#yasha nydoorin#while it works in character#it works even better as marisha saying just ashley things#see also: narrative telephone
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