#@ that one sentence: that pretty much sums up how fjord beau and caleb balance taking the lead for the mighty nein

[theregoesmylurkerstatus]

The Mighty Nein keep self describing their group as a bunch of “assholes” but now that I think about it, they’ve kind of... won over the vast majority of people they’ve come across who they weren't trying to kill?

They got a wary mob boss to hire them and give them professional trust and leniency. They got an ENEMY SPY in the middle of a mission to speak with them honestly after about five minutes of talking. They got an anti-social, grumpy old wizard who’s house they almost broke into to give them the time of day and the ability to jump in and out of his house. Two of those they just did on a whim.

They were almost hired on by contract for the Empire, officially. They got a hostile Queen from an enemy nation that was at war with the land she assumed they came from to grant them her favour. They got a fucking Pirate King who KNEW that they’d broken pretty much the only rules he (lethally) enforced to let them go. 

All of these people had legitimate reasons to do so -- given that the Nein had done a them favours or proved their competency -- but the fact remains that the Mighty Nein were able to ingratiate themselves. Have consistently been able to wriggle their way out of bad situations not with their skill in battle, but with forthrightness and communication. They've charmed and deceived and negotiated, yeah. But ultimately what that means is that people were won over by them, by their arguments and gestures of good faith. Because most of these are ongoing connections they’ve made. They didn’t just sweet talk in the moment, they’ve maintained these relationships in some capacity. Very few could have made those relationships in the first place.

How many friends have they made, now? Shakaste, Nila, Twiggy, Keg, Calianna, all out there somewhere. Kiri, Kiri’s adopted family, Bryce, Rissa and her father Cleff, Gustav, Orly. How many allies? Yussah, Essik, potentially Ophelia and the Gentlemen, perhaps Dairon if they don’t step on each other’s toes, Waccoh if they stay on her good side. They’ve gotten guest PCs they’ve met to be willing to die for them (Twiggy and Keg, most notably). Of course, that’s partially just due to the nature of the game, but in-universe the point stands.

Calianna’s letter is what got me thinking about all this. She points out, very correctly, that though they’re suspicious and not terribly polite, they give pretty much everyone the time of day and effort at the slightest incentive. And yet they never think people like them in particular.

They’ve gotten on just about everyone they’ve encountered’s good side, somehow, which is impressive, but they don’t seem to realize anyone is going to continue looking at them with anything other than annoyance or tolerance. There were a lot of great metas floating around over the last week discussing (or just joking) about how they were so close to running last week after a single screw up, and in the end the Bright Queen... thanked them for what they’d already done, instead of punishing them from their failure like they expected.

The Nein think they have to prove, over and over and over again to the same people, that they’re competent and useful and not liabilities. Because otherwise they’ll be tossed aside at the slightest provocation. 

Of course, that’s not news. We’ve known this whole time that they have these issues because it’s pretty obvious in how they interact with one another. It’s taken them this long for them to come to terms, individually, with the fact that people within the Nein actually like them. Hell, that lesson still may have not sunk in all the way! But they clearly still think that no one outside the group will want them around them for any length of time. They think they have to go above and beyond to prove that they’re trustworthy, all the time, and still assume they’re on thin ice. It doesn’t even occur to them that people might find them likeable in any capacity (excluding, of course, Caduceus and Jester. Everyone likes Caduceus and Jester.)

I’m not saying that’s not the case. They’ve had to prove themselves to many, many people, and if they hadn’t then most of these connections probably wouldn’t exist at all. They’re on shaky territory with many of their allegiances. But the fact that they’ve made them at all speaks to them NOT being nearly as bad at gaining trust and good will as they all seem to think. Their general attitude is that these are a series of flukes that will inevitably collapse, and not a pattern that speaks to their general reputation. They think they’re bullshitting their way through everything, and while they may be making it up as they go along, they’ve actually been pretty honest and rather lacking in ill intent, exercising and improving a decent personable front. And the people around them can see that, and have potentially formed favourable opinions from that.

The default, patented Mighty Nein assumption is “we’re skating by.” Yes, Caduceus, you’re right, none of the rest of them HAVE had the experience of being trusted to do the right thing. Not only that, it straight up doesn’t occur to them that they ever could be. It’s a surprise when anyone says anything positive about them aside from “they can do their jobs.” That people might reluctantly find them charming, if they’re not actively trying to seem that way? That people might grow fond of them, value them? There’s a constant clock ticking in most of their heads, counting down until they inevitably burn any and all bridges they’ve made.

I don’t believe any of the Nein realized the impression they’d made on Calianna until that letter. That they might not only have done the bare minimum, but actually raised her bar for how she’d like to be treated. That (shocker) they might actually be... better, and kinder, than the average person.

(And, well. Why would they? Fjord, bullied and outcast his whole life, eyed with suspicion, tolerated at best. Beau, scolded and outcast her whole life, having her own parents fail to give her positive attention, lacking almost entirely for friends and role models. Nott, bullied and outcast her whole life (are we noticing a patten here?), first by her own community and family, then by a community she hated. Caleb, trained up as a ruthless weapon, discarded when no longer useful, locked up alone for a decade, and (you guessed it) outcast once he was free. Jester, alone and sheltered, friendless for all but her most recent months of life, forced out of the only place she’d ever lived under threat of death for a single silly mistake. Yasha! Has never mentioned friends! Lost her only loved one! Kicked out of her only known home. And then Caduceus. Who came from a big family who seems to have loved him, was given legitimate responsibilities, and feels comfortable within them. Is any of this a mystery? Why would most of the Nein EVER expect people to want them around? They never have before.)

I feel like I’m not necessarily saying anything unique here. But I often wonder what people think of the Nein as a whole, and while “crazy” and “competent” are the popular answers (and I’m sure they’re true), “liked” or “thought well of” to ANY degree generally isn’t up there. Certainly not among the Nein themselves. And yet positive inclinations towards them (from Essik, and Calianna, and many others) are perhaps not such uncommon reactions, regardless.

Am I wrong? Are they actually generally disliked or considered annoying? Possibly. It’s hard to know the inner workings of most NPC’s heads. But they certainly have gained better reactions than they give themselves credit for. And the dislike they seem to assume as the default is maybe not as much of a default as they think.

#@ that one sentence: that pretty much sums up how fjord beau and caleb balance taking the lead for the mighty nein #'charmed' fjords specialty 'deceived' beaus specialty 'negotiated' calebs specialty #there's a whole other interesting post in that that i... still haven't finished writing #idk how accurate this is and (as usual) i don't know if what I'm trying to say comes across #but ay I've word vomited some thoughts prompted by both caliannas letter and essik's amusement at their dumb prank #as well as the whole bright queen thing last week #so maybe there's something interesting and accurate buried in this dfhgjhkj #critical role #cr spoilers #c2e71 #ramblings #the mighty nein #speculation