#this goes for all of them but jester specifically I think was hit VERY hard and she also spent a hellish amount of time with lucien | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

angelsndragons · 3 years

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*sing* it's been ~a while~

and i have been watching vm vs the nein a lot so let's talk about it. as always with me, this is a very long word vomit.

i said over on my mechanics post that the vm playbook requires urgency while the nein's playbook requires setup. here's what i mean. if the nein can make it to round 3-4 intact, that is if all of them are up, they are going to win. period. the nein simply have too many ways to steal turns from their enemies or to maximize their own effectiveness for things to go any other way.

if you want to see this in action even with a reduced roster, go watch the fire elemental fight in episode 129 and count the rounds. between caduceus' mass cure wounds and spirit guardians, caleb's slow, veth's sneak attacks, and jester's guiding bolts, the nein were able to scrape out a win thanks more to their bag of tricks than the damage output. veth only got sneak attack because of guiding bolt's secondary effects, slow kept veth safe from an opportunity attack and jester from a multi-attack, mass cure wounds gave caleb that round to cast slow, and the spirit guardians passively whittled down the enemies into KO range. the accumulated secondary effects were too much for the enemies to withstand and they fell hard. notice how everything built on one another here. that's what cockroach parties learn to do well. it was sloppier than a normal nein fight but they did it with a reduced roster AND with nearly all of their high level spell slots spent before the fight. yeah, they're fucking scary.

vm, however, is a whole different kind of scary. this team can put you down before you even know what's happening. it's harder to target the group's biggest damage dealers because you have a hulking barbarian and often an elemental up front locking down combatants. the dagger rogue can teleport and fly. oh, and give himself an extra action each round. the ranger and the gunslinger can stand back and just go to town. the freaking bear can maul you. the bard can make your life a living joke in your final moments. the cleric is a wildcard because the group is built to fight without her; if she's around, good luck because that's another round of attacks you have to take and an extra round vm can take. their DCs are ridiculous, as are their overall ACs.

but the thing to know about vm is that they have to put you down fast. they don't have the hit points for longer fights and they definitely don't have the utility for longer fights. their druid is offensively oriented, their cleric is often absent, and their bard is mostly support. he's often the only one running that bag of tricks. he can and will fuck up an opposing team given the chance and bolster his own, the problem is that he has almost no backup here. it's a giant hole that is begging to be exploited. it's an even bigger hole when that bard can only cast one spell per round.

so, going into the battle royale, the vm side had to down one member of the nein as fast as possible preferably in two rounds or fewer. it almost doesn't matter who, because if you down beau or fjord, that forces jester or fjord to spend their action or spell getting the downed member back up. if jester goes down, fjord has to do something about it. well, i say it almost doesn't matter but beau's deflect missiles makes her the worst target of the trio and yes, i'm including fjord's half-orc bounce back in that calculation. that gives you one round where the person healing isn't fucking up your team. vm's secondary objective was to monitor and control beau. her movement is nothing to compared to a hasted vax but her stunning strike is the most lethal weapon the nein brought into this fight. vm overall is not a melee group to begin with and their con saves are all garbage. vm has to find a way to keep her off their tails if they want a chance. we also know that vm's plan was to try to take out jester first so throw that objective into the mix as well.

all the nein have to do is survive the first couple rounds, monitor scanlan and pike, and get into position. that's basically it. the nein can absolutely withstand vax and percy's damage output for the first two rounds. pike and scanlan's damage output can be scary but pike in particular has to decide whether she wants to hold high level slots for healing. and she would need those higher level slots to get close to percy and vax's damage output. the nein know from experience that the support caster is where the real trouble will begin.

but before we kick things off, remember that matt specifically designed this battlefield to take turns away from the teams. the chests are an action to search and are located far out of the way in the field. the gem requires an action to activate, which basically means sacrificing your action for someone else's, and shifts between six designated points on the field. matt, who has a deep understanding of how both teams operate, decided to play on the nein's insecurities that they were at a severe item disadvantage and see if he could get them to bite. high risk, high reward. granted, this is me speculating but it does look like matt saw the fight very differently from the players and readjusted the field accordingly.

so we kick off and immediately scanlan proves why he is the top priority on the nein's list. he gets the gem, gets fjord prone on the ground, and comes within a hair's breadth of turning the fight into a five on two potential slaughter. travis brilliantly responds to these circumstances in the best of ways. see, fjord isn't the nein's utility magician for this fight; fjord's the bait. travis makes a very big spectacle of himself and fjord's predicament. and vm buys it hook, line, and sinker. ashley tries to continue with the original plan of gunning for jester only to discover that jester is who knows where.

vax, percy and scanlan? immediately take their shots at fjord. but fjord's on the ground which puts percy's awful misfire mechanic into reasonable play. so fjord gets lucky and doesn't take anywhere near the amount of damage he could have from percy. scanlan, after percy is removed from the field, decides he's better off trying to finish fjord but only hits a 3rd level thunder wave instead of a higher level one, which sam was probably saving for some counterspells or such. i don't think a higher level would have made that much of a difference but it is important to note.

more importantly, vax gets greedy. he got two good hits on fjord with his two actions, he could have left and hidden for the next turn. yes, vm has to down fjord as fast as possible. however that haste is going to be more effective over the long term if vax can keep it. but fjord's easy prey and he thinks vm can down him before jester can get over there to do anything about it. so he goes for the bonus action attack. pike eventually joins this mad dash scramble and like scanlan, she absolutely needed to throw something huge at fjord to get past his half-orc racial trait to have a prayer at downing him. but she did not because ashley seems to have been saving all her high levels for healing so fjord survives the round in honestly a very good position. vax can't target him from range with the cloud up, scanlan now has bigger problems than fjord with molly right up on him, and pike ran, taking damage and healing fjord in the process.

meanwhile, the nein's ladies are free to run and play the field as they see fit. jester has a big opening round flame strike. beau decides she can hold off on her round 2 blitz run to vm in favor of bringing molly onto the field. remember kids, never let a monk with 55ft of movement have the run of the place, it's bad for business. jester then makes a great play with her dispel magic at vax's haste. hashtag thanks, fjord. remember, kids, cockroach parties excel at taking turns and actions away from their opponents. in round 2 alone, the nein successfully remove percy from the field and remove vax's extra attack. that's both big damage dealers hobbled in one round. they also gave themselves an extra turn, adding molly onto the field. and oh boy, molly.

here we see the utility martial fighter molly could have been. sam's confused by the low damage that molly's doing his first round but the damage isn't really the point of the attacks. that brand of tethering is far more important, as are taliesin keeping an eye on which reactions will support the nein and molly's second attack wasting scanlan's reaction. counterspell is off the table for the back half of round 2-beginning of round 3, which is important if fjord wants to get the heck out of dodge.

in case it wasn't obvious earlier in the match that the nein are absolutely gunning for scanlan, round 3 begins with beau's blitz against scanlan. fjord's luck against the dominate person balances out with scanlan's save against the stun and beau missing one attack. here, vm starts to get distracted. they chose their focus fire target, fjord, but now do not, arguably cannot, follow through on it. we'll never know what could have happened had vm said to hell with beau and molly in our faces, we have to finish fjord.

vax tries to retaliate against beau but here's where the cockroach starts to come into play. molly blood curses vax, which saves beau a full sneak attack+ worth of damage. it also utterly wastes vax's turn. fjord manages to escape (and damage pike while he's at it) and regroup where it's safe. scanlan tries to dimension door but fails due to the brand. literally any other move scanlan could try on the pair of them had a better chance of success. instead, another vm turn is lost. taliesin recognizes the importance of getting beau advantage and supports her at the cost of two of his attacks missing, but not before scanlan is forced to cutting words one of them. another potential counterspell and cutting words lost. neither jester or pike contribute significantly to this round; the nein have done so much damage to pike in three rounds that she is forced to heal herself while jester chooses to dimension door herself to the gem and only a low damage roll lets it evade her.

beau takes molly's setup and gets the critical scanlan stun. he loses his full round. fjord takes the opportunity molly provided him to polymorph into a t-rex, bringing him fully back into the fight. vm is really going to have a time and a half trying to finish him now unless they can put up a big single damage attack. jester builds on beau's setup by casting flame strike, whose dex save scanlan automatically fails. he goes down. if you're the nein, this is exactly where you want pike focused, on her team and not on yours. she has access to most of the same spells that jester has and the more you pressure her to focus on her team, the better. it's not wasting her turn, precisely, but it is controlling what she can reasonably do with it.

now we come to percy versus beau. i don't want to diminish the insane good luck beau had to take only 26 points of damage from six shots because what matters here is that percy absolutely could not down beau. period. her hit points were too high and after she took almost nothing from the first two shots, it should have been clear that she was going to get her turn and she would absolutely attempt to stun and down pike and scanlan. i'm not going to monday morning quarterback this fight but i will point out that the more rolls travis has to make to maintain concentration, the greater the chance he fails and you get to hit fjord's actual hit point pool and trade fjord for scanlan. and if you can get him before he can get back into the fray, even better.

beau stuns the gnomes and drops scanlan again. her inner cockroach rears its head once more as she negates more than half the damage on vax's critical hit sneak attack. fjord-rex downs scanlan and grapples pike. the stun on pike here really helps negate that high AC of hers. after scanlan's death, it's a long slow death spiral. vax abandons the fight in the next critical round in favor of keeping the gem instead of targeting fjord. percy attacks beau once more instead of fjord due to fjord dangling pike over lava. he starts to focus on fjord only to get distracted by jester. pike goes down but vax gets caught by beau before he can get her back up. and so it goes with vm losing turn after turn after turn until finally the nein poof percy out of existence and bring molly back. a fitting end for the team who started their final boss fight with eight and came out nine.

bottom line here, the vm team played like they had way more time than they actually did. they had to commit to a target and see it dead as fast as possible. they had to control the battlefield quickly and keep it. they didn't so they couldn't. aside from building on damage dealt, they couldn't create advantages or opportunities for each other nearly as effectively as nein did. all of these factors meant that the nein did what they always do: grind their enemies under heel.

#critical role #cr meta #critical role spoilers #vm vs m9 #vox machina vs mighty nein #d&d mechanics #vox machina #mighty nein #the mighty nein #cr spoilers #my meta #long post #don't let your opponents run circles around you kids #control the battlefield or the enemy will control you #teamwork makes the dream work

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c-is-for-circinate · 4 years

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Y’all this episode had everything I could possibly have wanted and things I never even knew to wish for.

How did one episode start with Henry Crabgrass, the most glorious and beloved NPC of my heart, and end with mother fucking Avantika, with so much awesome shit in between!!! How!!!

Okay I am making a list of shit I absolutely loved tonight, in approximate chronological order:

Y’all I just love Henry Crabgrass so much. I don’t even have smart things to say about that fact, just a warm glow in my heart. May all the light of Melora’s grace smile down upon them and leave Henry as the toughest, most unkillable patch of crabgrass in all Exandria.

Vess and the Tombtakers, so many questions and so few certain answers, so many things to wonder, so many dots to connect! I really do feel like the crew are connecting them at this point, and while I’m sure in some places they’re far from the map, the general outline really is starting to emerge. What, exactly, was in the book the Tombtakers tried to claim without showing it to Vess deRogna first? What did it do to Lucien? And, if Vess has the book--what are they trying to find now?

So okay, let’s talk about Yasha and Beau. As someone who has had a lot of feelings about the intense relatability of Beau’s crush on Jester, I have now fully committed to also having a whole lot of mostly new feelings about these terrible awkward disaster lesbians with no fucking idea what they’re doing. I saw a post the other day mention how this whole relationship is about the feeling of discovering you can have this, that you can actually be happy, that you get to have this kind of relationship with someone. I’ve written about that. And I feel it so, so hard, every time I see them interact, when every bit of bravado leaves both of them. It’s so easy to be off-putting! It’s so easy to have crushes on wonderful people you kind of wish would look at you but you’re absolutely sure never will. It’s so hard to actually know what the fuck to do in the face of wait shit this might actually be a thing I could get for real? how? wait, how???

Also let’s talk about Jester in that scene, who ships Beauyasha harder than anything in the world??? Because yes, right, some of it is just that Jester loves romance, and some of it’s that Jester gets very invested in the happiness of her friends, but that is a lot of investment there. And I can’t help wondering if there’s a little dimension of...she wants to see True Love and Happily-Ever-After work. And she’s delighted to see it work for her friends who she loves, and when it comes true they’ll be happy and she loves that, but also I don’t know that Jester’s ever actually seen two people fall in love with each other and enter into a healthy, happy relationship before. But hey, all of her books say this wonderful magical thing exists, and now it seems to actually be showing up for her friends? Of course she wants to see it. Of course she wants it to be just as magical and wonderful as in all her stories, even if it’s not for her. (And maybe especially if it’s not for her, but I think that’s a whole separate post about Jester and her very high passive insight and all the people who are in love with her and the very specific ways she treats each of them.)

I love Yeza. Don’t we all love Yeza? He’s trying so hard. It’s always great to see Yeza for that kind of wide-eyed outsider POV on the M9 shenanigans, and I love it. He made a comment this episode about meeting goblins while living in Rosohna, and everything that’s happened to him really hit me in a while new way. Usually I think about how he’s had his life turned upside down by all of this, but man, just think how much he’s seen that he never in a million years would have begun to expect to experience! This smalltown alchemist from a pastoral little farming city in the middle of the Dwendalian midwest has lived for a significant amount of time as a housekeeper in the capitol city of the Krynn Dynasty. He must have gone to the markets and met the neighbors and learned the streets and the food, and who had he ever known in his whole life who could say such a thing? He lived with the Ruby of the Sea in Nicodranas by the ocean. He’s been to Zadash, now, and it’s only a matter of time before he sees Rexxentrum. How much farther will he go? (Man, I would love some good Yeza fic once this campaign is over. I think it’s going to take that long for me to really know how his story arc ends.)

Someone was posting earlier this episode about witnessing Vess scare Yeza so badly, and insight into how the Nein are starting to run in circles that really outstrip the people they used to know. Watching Pumat in the wake of being Informed By Lady de Rogna That He Would Put A Rush On That has really hammered it home. They remarked, in their very M9 somewhat idle vaguely ridiculous way that they wanted the icebreaker, and one tiny snowman later Vess had pulled rank and money and rerouted the ship’s entire passage for them. She’s scary--and with her, the M9 have the kind of power that’s scary, too. And that’s always such an interesting moment. The M9 are used to thinking of themselves as people with very little, who have to fight and scrap and get lucky for their own survival all the time. And yes, they’re utterly careless with money--why not be, when it comes and goes and almost none of them have ever really seen it help or last? And yes, they’re prone to violence and sometimes pretty rude. But before now, it’s always been a situation where the M9 acting loud, rude, and demanding could be chaotic underdogs scrapping to get what they needed or wanted from people who had the option of saying no. Suddenly they’re in a position where the balance of social situations is biased in their favor instead of against them. There’s such a difference between ‘please accede to my unreasonable request because I have a high charisma and will pay you lots of gold’, and, ‘you’re going to accede to my unreasonable request because otherwise my Cerberus Assembly boss may or may not have you assassinated’. The M9 have never been on this side of that before. I’m very curious to see how much they notice that they are now.

PALADIN OATH PALADIN OATH PALADIN OATH! I was not paying nearly enough attention when that scene started, so I am going to need to watch it again and also make extra sure to read any available source material on this specific homebrew oath, because it’s probably not exactly the same as the Oath of the Sea homebrew you can find on google. There’s some overlap between the abilities there and the ones Fjord already have, and the vows don’t quite match up, though some of them are close. Ugh, mostly I’m just so glad it has happened and Fjord has promised and he means it, he means it so much. He rest-of-his-life means it, and my heart belongs to Fjord who couldn’t even imagine the rest of his life as a thing separate from the monotony of his first thirty years, so very recently.

I actually always really love when CR has episodes at sea? Obviously the M9 have done it the most, but Vox Machina went sailing a time or two as well, and it’s just always so great. It’s often days of down time in a way that overland travel isn’t, and the party fills it with so many good little moments. Matt always gives them such cool encounters. On boats, spending a week at a time getting from one place to another, so much of the chaos of rewriting a plan seventeen times in an hour gets stripped away: they’re headed towards a destination, sometimes something comes up to deter them, and they have to find a way to deal with it. There are always crew members and the structure of a boat itself to take into consideration in any combat that pops up. It’s just such a nice tone, and I also love that the ocean itself kind of hates them now because it adds really delightful additional risks, and anyway heck yeah ocean voyage.

WHICH ENDS IN UNDEAD AVANTIKA ATTACKING THE SHIP WITH A TRIO OF CRAB-MEN AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE HOLY FUCK. Look, I think M9 becoming pirates by accident and then trying to figure out wtf might actually be my favorite arc of this campaign so far, and every time it comes back I get so so happy. I’ve got some feelings about this showing up in the same episode as Fjord finally taking his full oath to the Wildmother. They are going to have to kill U’kotoa before this campaign is through. They are going to have to, because Fjord will never be safe on the ocean again if they don’t, and Fjord has bound himself by vow and will in service as the Wildmother’s paladin of the open sea. She hasn’t asked it of him, not specifically, but it’s his job. It’s going to be his job. In part it’ll be because it’s poetic justice, Fjord taking down the cruel demigod who (in some ways) made him. Mostly it’s just that killing U’kotoa is a job that needs to be done. To protect the oceans, the life they hold, the people who sail upon them, it’s going to need to be done. It’s Melora’s domain to do this, which means it’s her paladin’s job, and Fjord is her paladin of the sea. It’ll be him sooner or later.

I am so fucking delighted at the massive pile of fireworks on the deck of this ship, and I hope to god these Chekhovian bottle rockets go off before the end of this combat encounter, because this is, in fact, all I ever wanted the minute Beau put them in there.

#CR spoilers #episode 112

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slipperyskell · 4 years

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Skyrim/Witcher Crossover - Cicero Fuckeries

alright so i’m gonna make this its own post since I have a lot in mind for this specific lil scenario, and i don’t want to make a too big a text wall ajs;dlfkjasldk

just hear me out on this one, this would be a lot more entertaining than you might think

Cicero, Geralt and Jaskier first meet out on the road, out in front of the Loreius farm

Geralt was fully intent on ignoring Cicero’s call for help, but Jaskier is the one to be like “hey, why don’t we give this guy a hand?”

honestly the two prolly bicker a bit on what they should do but then Jaskier hits him with That Look and Geralt finally relents

Geralt helps up to the farm while Jaskier sticks around with Cicero, making small talk

aint long for Geralt to come back down the hill with Loreius in tow - really not hard for him to change Loreius’s mind on the whole ordeal

Jaskier finds the little man very odd, but still fun to talk to

Cicero also thinks he’s fun, but at the same time, i would not be surprised in the slightest if he’s lowkey plotting a murder - getting mother home stays his blade, of course, but if he has the free time? hmm... tempting, tempting indeed...

Once Loreius is down there helping Cicero, Geralt starts to leave, but Cicero calls out to him, asks him to wait, before tossing a coin purse his way as a thank you

he accepts it without a word, and off Geralt and Jaskier go

Jaskier has no idea what’s up with Cicero, but Geralt knows there’s something definitely not right

he wasn’t lying about his mother being in that box, as far as he could tell - his sharp sense of smell confirmed it - but there was just something... wrong. something dark. something evil

they don’t see each other again for a while, not until the Cure for Madness happens and Cicero is all alone in Dawnstar (assuming he’s been spared)

Geralt and Jaskier happen to be there, too, looking for work

they’re in the tavern, with Jaskier playing tunes for coin and Geralt sitting alone at a table, watching him and takin swigs of his ale, and Cicero sees em and he’s just like !!!!!!

just scampers his tiny ass over to Geralt and plops down next to him with a big smile on his face

“Well, well, well! Long time, no see, dearest Witcher! I was wondering if we’d ever cross paths again.”

“Cicero.”

they chat up a storm - or more Cicero’s talking to him while Geralt listens and prolly says like... five words in one sentence at most

definitely asks about his mother, who Cicero simply says is enjoying her new home

which confirms something on Geralt’s mind, but he keeps it to himself

Jaskier had seen the jester walk over to Geralt while he was performing, and once he’s done he goes over to say hello

ain’t long before it’s the three of them sittin there, chattin it up. Err, well, Cicero and Jaskier chatting it up while Geralt offers his most enlightening hmm’s

something something Cicero ends up more or less inviting himself along on the adventure since he, at that time between the Cure for Madness and the end of the DB questline, has nowhere else to be

something something also tagging along so he can go through with his little Jaskier murder plot

something something he does attempt to kill him a couple times but some thing or another foils it without him actually getting caught by the bard in question, or more importantly, Geralt

mind you, Jaskier actually likes Cicero - as eccentric as the man is, he relates

but then he hits him with the bard joke

and poor Jaskier

a lad is CONCERNED

HE’S TALKIN ABOUT SMASHIN LUTES AND BURNIN BARDS

starts sticking around Geralt a bit closer than usual

Cicero learns very, very quickly that you do not make murder jokes around Geralt

he does not appreciate them

he especially does not appreciate murder jokes about Jaskier

Regardless of this, Cicero tries very hard to get Geralt to laugh when the three of them are out on the road

he’s never seen him do anything more than smirk and “hmmph” in a way that he’s pretty sure was a laugh but isn’t positive on

he’s done countless jokes, no matter how well structured or not, desperate to get a chuckle, a smile, anything

Usually doesn’t work, but Jaskier gets a kick out of most of em

there’s some point in time where Cicero gives up on trying to kill Jaskier, for a couple of different reasons.

One, Geralt Will Find Him. Cicero may have outrun Arnbjorn but he will not stand a chance against a Witcher. He knows this.

Two, he’s found enough bloodshed travelling with these two to keep him contented

Three - honestly? Jaskier is friend-shaped. He can never know about who or what Cicero actually is since saying anything about him would technically break one of the Tenets, but he’s helped Cicero out in ways he may never know

at some point, the trio are at a jarl’s palace, attending some celebration (prolly the “slaying” or Alduin or something to do with the Civil War, regardless if we’re taking Dragonborn!Geralt into account)

Jaskier gets harassed by someone, who claims he slept with their spouse the last time they were there

Geralt steps in, tells em to fuck off, right

But Cicero’s watching from afar as the person leaves, and he walks over after they go with a grin on his face

“Tsk tsk tsk tsk! Naughty, naughty, Jaskier! You ought to know better than to sleep with a noble’s lover! You’ve gotten yourself in a situation now, haven’t you?”

Jaskier apologizes (kinda sarcastically, kinda awkwardly, not really sure where Cicero’s going with this)

and then the little fucker just hits him with

“Well... Geralt may scare them off for now, but... oh, what are you going to do if you’re alone, hmm?”

his grin widens and he leans closer

“Cicero could make sure they don’t come back. If you would like.”

and Jaskier is just like “wat” for a solid couple of seconds before he realizes he’s talking MURDER

Jaskier appreciates and utilizes Cicero’s murderiness and you caN’T TELL ME OTHERWISE

HE IS A FERAL FUCKING BABY NOT AFRAID TO SEND THE LITTLE GREMLIN JESTER MAN OUT TO STAB A BITCH FOR HIM

AND CICERO THRIVES OFF JASKIER’S FERAL BABINESS BECAUSE IT’S A SIDE OF HIM HE NEVER SAW UNTIL NOW

and poor Geralt

Geralt is very tired

not only does he have to make sure Jaskier doesn’t get killed, he has to make sure Cicero doesn’t go out killing people himself

the trio is often mockingly called the travelling circus by those living in the towns and cities they pass through

Geralt knows Cicero’s Dark Brotherhood and caught on pretty early, but he actually doesn’t do anything, per se

he keeps him in line as best he can when they’re travelling together - more or less makes sure he’s not killing people he shouldn’t be

but he knows Cicero’s off to his own devices when he leaves to go do whatever it is he does before travelling again

And, while he would NEVER openly admit it, he is aware the Dark Brotherhood is something of a necessary evil in Tamriel. From what he understands, they kill people, yes, but the ones they’re called upon to kill aren’t innocent people by any sense of the word. They’re slavers, they’re abusers, they’re corrupt politicians - the scum of the earth. Geralt (likely with a little bit of convincing from Jaskier if/when he finds out about Cicero’s true identity), tries his best to keep Cicero in line outside of the contracts he was once called upon to fulfill

I’m gonna leave it here for now and do separate interaction headcanon posts between Cicero and Geralt and Jaskier individually because this is a fucking huge text block but really tho

i just fucking love the idea of the gremlin jester travelling with the gremlin bard and gremlin monster hunter. there is a chaos there that i’m thriving on

#cicero #jaskier #geralt #jaskier the bard #geralt of rivia #skyrim #witcher #the witcher #netflix the witcher #the witcher netflix #cicero skyrim #skyrim cicero #skyrim/witcher #witcher/skyrim #cicero headcanon time #AU cicero headcanon time #the elder scrolls #tes

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whalohs · 5 years

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i’m back with meta.

( and then immediately i hecked up the tags, so deleting and reposting. sorry for the spam! )

let’s look at caleb and jester’s relationship, as mainly a retrospective of where it started. i’m also going to talk about where it has gone since, and how the heck we got here. not particularly shippy unless you ship it already (in which case i hope you enjoy the ship meta), and ready to discuss anything as long as you’re respectful about it.

as always, general disclaimer: for me, it’s more interesting for me to think “[character] would do this because [actions]”, rather than “[character] would do this because [player preferences]”. i can’t claim to know the critical role cast, and i think it does a disservice to their characters if i try to bring them in like that. a weird distinction, i know, but i always think it’s important to mention! i try to distance my meta from the cast, and take the character’s actions by their own merit.

anyway.

for all we joke about how ridiculous jester is or how much caleb was ready to run from the mighty nein, it’s hard to deny these two had a really, really rough start. jester was everything caleb didn’t want in a person, and caleb was someone jester never... really had experience with.

lemme explain, first with caleb’s perspective: caleb is running from trent & the cerberus assembly. the last thing he wanted was to be noticed or seen, let alone get his name out there in any way shape or form - and yet here comes the most silly, obnoxious, ready-to-turn-the-world-upside-down tiefling he has ever met, and he met molly at the same time.

naturally, he hates it. but it runs a deeper than having to travel with someone who doesn’t give a shit about discretion when caleb is discretion personified. i think when we dislike someone, it’s because we see parts of ourselves reflected in them; not necessarily all bad, but parts we have lost, never had, or don’t want to acknowledge.

it’s important to note that while caleb and jester are very different, there are parts that are shockingly similar; caleb started as a very hopeful, bright, and confident young man at the time he entered the assembly, not unlike where jester started in their adventures ( now is a different story, and i’ll get to that later ). they are both stubborn in their ideals and put a lot of faith in the people they care about ( caleb with nott, jester with the traveler, marion, and fjord ).

i would not be surprised if caleb sees a little bit of his younger self in jester. but the conflict occurs where he sees his younger self as a very flawed, terrible individual, while jester is not... that. he simultaneously wants to protect her from becoming jaded (as anyone with experience tends to want to), while also knowing she could make very awful mistakes (like he did) if left alone.

that said! jester is the way she is because she was able to foster her positivity, her hopes, and her ideals in a way that didn’t come and bite her in the ass. so it’s not “jester is caleb pre-development”, and more “jester and caleb are two different results due to different experiences from similar individuals”. unfortunately, caleb can’t think like that with the experiences he’s had, hence all of this.

i think that it’ll make more sense from jester’s perspective: jester’s living conditions weren’t perfect by any means, but they weren’t exactly trauma central, either. she had loving, kind people in her life that allowed her to develop by encouraging what she enjoyed, as opposed to molding her a specific way. again! she was able to grow the strong parts of her personality - her hopes, her positivity, her confidence - in a way that didn’t come and bite her in the ass. she doesn’t regret anything that she did, because she has never had a reason to.

you could say that she doesn’t have enough experience to see the negative consequences of her actions, and i both agree and disagree. experience doesn’t always equate to hardships; while failure is an important part of learning, it is not the only way you learn. caleb is not necessarily more experienced because he suffered negative consequences, but because he experienced more types of consequences.

that said, she is sorely lacking in some experiences! primarily in dealing with people with different wants and opinions than her. having a loving, encouraging, but ultimately sheltered environment likely means she got to have a lot of things her way. and we see a lot of that at the start of the campaign.

so the simplest way to say is: jester has never really had someone who dislikes her for who she is. she has never sat through a level of conflict resolution her and caleb needed, and so in an attempt to do things in the way that made the most sense for her, basically got off on the worst foot.

and so, you know, this goes on for a while. start of campaign two is hilariously turbulent for the both of them. caleb makes nice because he sees the benefit of someone like jester in a party (and not much else), and jester isn’t going to treat caleb any differently than she does anyone else. hence, friction.

then the money conversation / argument / caleb-smears-mud-on-his-face-out-of-spite happens. which i think really was a bigger turning point than we originally thought it would be (because the nature of the fight wasn’t too serious), mostly because caleb took forever to warm up to the party (disclaimer: i love caleb).

it’s interesting because it’s the one of the first times we actually see... any actual conflict involving jester. most people brush jester off as the quirky weirdo at first, and doesn’t take her opinions as seriously as others. that makes sense, and jester is fine with that! but that’s what makes caleb’s reaction to jester basically saying she grew up spoiled really fascinating.

he’s furious, and rightfully so. and caleb back then was keen on making sure he didn’t attract any attention, that unless she really struck a nerve he was just gonna nod and not think about it. but as we saw -- that’s not how it happened. i think he especially felt stung because he tried to help, because she had been distressed, but all of it backfired terribly.

so they fight. they’re upset at each other. caleb smears mud on his face then walks away and i think it hits jester on the head that oh, what she said without thinking really did upset someone, when she hadn’t meant to necessarily make them uncomfortable.

jester, for the limited social experiences she has, is a very empathetic person. it doesn’t take a lot from her to understand why he would have been upset by what she said, once she cares enough to consider it.

the remainder is a gradual, but noticeable change to where we are now; while it’s outdated and my opinions on details have changed, i did write a shorter meta on caleb and jester on an earlier episode point. i think the bulk of it stands true, though, so feel free to read that and then come back!

spoilers: they’re destroying me now.

a few things i did want to add: i think a lot about how out of all of the nein, the main people who notice jester’s slowly dwindling confidence are caleb and caduceus (beau, nott, and fjord notice it too, just in a slightly different way; and yasha is.... bring ashley back 2k19). caduceus pretty much has 3 million in insight so i’ll touch on that later, but fitting caleb in here is interesting!

mostly because he likely, again, experienced that dwindling confidence in finding his place in life, just in a more drastic way than jester; he pretty much hit rock bottom at the start of the campaign! he’s definitely projecting a little, but a lot of relationships are built on people projecting parts of themselves to others; it’s the easiest way to relate to another person.

as an aside: it really is cool, and speaks to his development a ton, that caleb’s motives for helping the party have become a lot more altruistic than when i wrote the post above. he cares about them now, very, very deeply, and i have a lot of thoughts on why! this just isn’t the post for ‘em; maybe next time.

how he comforts her has changed too. before it was a lot of [ throw frumpkin at her and hope it fixes the problem ]; his attempts at bringing the party together were definitely more material in nature, compared to now.

it’s also really, really good to see jester slowly starting to see the “imperfections” in caleb ( the ones that caleb sees, anyway ), and accept them wholeheartedly. again! she is an extremely empathetic person, and once they understood each other it became a lot easier for her to actually provide the support he needed.

it’s the subtle things; less jokes at his expense, and more ridiculous things in general. sharing porn with him because she thinks he’ll like it. and, a surplus of optimism about her outlook on life that seems to affect the top row a ton.

they’re all in love with her. i can tell. that’s okay, jester has two hands and a tail ( i had to ).

so, where are we now? it’s obvious enough to say that they’re friends, good friends at that! they care about each other a lot! caleb makes the softest faces at jester and jester grins so happily at him and they really do have a good thing going.

i think the biggest change in caleb is that he trusts her enough to rely on her for things outside of her abilities. i think a lot about the conversation they had recently after talking to the scourger, and how caleb let himself be comforted by jester instead of denying her attempts completely. it speaks to the level of emotional vulnerability he is comfortable showing to the group now.

that said: i definitely consider jester to be the group baseline for caleb. liam has mentioned multiple times that out of all of the nein, jester is the one person who he doesn’t want to share his past with. which, again, given the juxtaposition in their upbringing, makes a lot of sense!

but the fact that he’s willing to be vulnerable with someone he didn’t want to be vulnerable is huge. the fact that he doesn’t see her optimism and ridiculousness as a weakness for the group, and instead looks to use them as strengths (how they use polymorph is a huge example) is very different than beginning-of-campaign caleb.

the biggest change in jester is that her worldview has expanded to understand what caleb needs, and how that might be different than what she needs. it wasn’t as huge strides for jester as it was for caleb, but i think that makes sense! a lot of jester’s development is internal, and reflects a lot about what she thinks of herself, whereas caleb’s development has been very external, and how he is beginning to view the people around him ( and allowing himself to be viewed ).

but still! it’s huge! jester has two decades of solving problems a certain way, and being told that that way was all that she needed; but her ability to listen, comfort, and provide insight in ways that others in the group can’t thanks to her unique world view really helped shaped the types of conversations she had with him.

a really, really simple way to say this is that jester started taking caleb a lot more seriously. which i think is hilarious, because you’d think that’d be more fitting for caleb’s thoughts on jester. but once she started reaching out to him to understand, the tone of their relationship changed. it seems less caleb-indulges-jester-on-nonsense and two equals who indulge each other on ridiculous nonsense, if that makes sense?

oh that said: i do attribute a lot of caleb’s relationship changes with the party to the fact that he went through a lot of external development. definitely not the place for that here, maybe i’ll come back to it some day.

well i’m back and surprising no one i wrote like 2k words on critical role so welcome back, me. i’m rusty and rambly and i may have written things here that aren’t as poignant as i wish it was, so please forgive me if anything seems off!

#critical role #jester lavorre #caleb widogast #the mighty nein #widojest #sure lets tag the ship why not #not particularly shippy though #just good ol character analysis #anyway i love them #i wrote all this in one sitting then never saved it #so we're really living life on the edge today #yolo #meta meta meta #what if i didn't suck at tagging #why is tumblr so hard

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critical-ramblings · 4 years

Text

Things that Mean More

On a second watch through of Critical Role campaign 2. (Ep 11-15)

“Maybe [Yasha] was a ghost the whole time, maybe the lightning exploded her, maybe she wandered out into the rain and lost her memory”...one of these is not like the others!

Molly: What should we do while keeping watch? Jester: We could find a candy store Molly: Wait there are stores specifically for selling candy?” sometimes Molly makes me sad

“Nott and Molly, you ready to go?” For some reason I expected him to say Caduceus and now I’m sad.

Matt is going really hard on the class differences between the Outersteads and the Tri-spire.

The three towers of the Tri-spire are the Zauberspire, the Constellation Bridge, and the Triumph Chime, which we don’t know much about because Beau rolled a 6 on her history check

Matt cracks himself up describing Chastity’s Nook. His face is SO RED. Liam: “I made you plan for this!”

Tusk Love makes an appearance! Who knew Matt’s smut shop prep would become a recurring theme this campaign

Beau, to Caleb: the Cerberus Assembly, you know much about them?

It’s so interesting to hear them talk about the state of the Empire and the Cerberus Assembly, because they’re just so...powerless.

I think Beau straight up says, “I don’t know, look at this. Look at how much money is up here compared to elsewhere. This is a lot of control.”

Caleb immediately asks, “so what do you plan to do about it?” after which Beau deflects to drinking booze and making money. Look how far they’ve come. :)

Caleb buys Jester bear claws and then Jester buys him the Courting of the Crick. Their love language has always been gifts

I remember not being a Huge fan of the political arc in Zadash, it’s pretty slow and doesn’t have a super conclusive end, even though they ‘succeed’

first explanation of the crick slur! this is also the first real experience we have with the Kryn Dynasty, and I remember wanting to know more about them! Xhorhas is like a black hole of knowledge, it’s just on the other side of the mountains and we know NOTHING

Doolan Tversky! What the FUCK Nott? WHAT DOES IT MEAN???

Dolan and Horace are...very relatable in today’s political situation

We talk about how bad it was for Molly to charm Nott, but she started it by stealing from Fjord. That doesn’t make it okay, but it does add some context. As far as PVP goes, she was the instigator

“I need him to be powerful. So he can save me.” the ‘using him’ undertones of the conversation are SO GOOD

Fjord is also asking all the right questions, but Nott is excellent at dancing around them. Even charmed, she doesn’t trust them enough to tell them.

“I did my own dental work” oh boooooooy i missed that one

the description of fictional Xhorhas is very :/

Fjord attempts to Manage Nott..it does not work...he asks Caleb to do it. Nott tells him she’s not an idiot. I think this is the first time she really pushes back against the infantilization

If you want your players to know someone is evil, have them advocate killing puppies and call tieflings ‘demonbloods’

proficient in mail fraud

man the Mighty Nein (and mostly Caleb) really Improved the Knights of Requital plan. We go from ~somehow~ tying Sutan to the Myriad and the High Richtor to framing the two of them for murder (of the Lawmaster)

intro of the meta-gaming pigeon! originally a signal in-game for investigating Dolan

Ren Sutan is the one they were investigating at the hospital, his father Deitrich Sutan is the one they frame in the Heist

The Hospital Scene....the last brain cell in the Nein went with Beau and Jester

the grin that Taliesin has when he says “I��ve got a plan” is Terrifying

after Molly’s done with his Disguise, Fjord says ‘do I dare ask how it looks,’ Molly says, ‘well, i can show you?’ and it’s CALEB who says “yes show us the goods”

“we are working together. we are TRYING to work together. Getting all of us out is more important than finding this asshole” Caleb, being a Team Player. This is 1 episode before scrollgate

Caleb tells Jester to keep her writing plain “not as charming as you normally speak”

hes so softe already

Nott and Caleb have a talk about learning Identify, how Nott supports Caleb, believes in him, which visibly makes Caleb uncomfortable. Nott is clearly fishing for ways to make Caleb more powerful without revealing why

The robberies/evidence planting actually goes off without (too much of) a hitch. Not much to say, until we get to the Scrolls

Fjord is classic dumbass, he escalates the situation (brings out the falchion) and then even if he agrees with Caleb (they’d already destroyed the rug in Sutan’s place) he can’t back down

Then Ulog’s sacrifice--absolutely the most interesting part of this arc, to me. He’s not just a thief, he’s a real revolutionary.

he also knocks Caleb out in one hit, which is Nice

The assassins strike the Zauberspire!!!!! Earlier this episode Sam says “We think Matt’s managing three plot lines, but there’s actually a fourth we don’t even know about” and he is Absolutely Right

god I want to write a fic about those two. It seems like the classic echo knight/wizard support combo, i want to know about these two special forces drow sent to retrieve the Beacon, the holy symbol of their people. Blessed by the Bright Queen herself. And they come so close. (if it weren’t for those meddling kids!)

Matt pulls this Advanced DM trick, where you have the party fight an enemy that would be completely annihilating them--if it wasn’t already injured.

The first impressions of the Beacon, from what they manage to glean from this Charmed assassin, are so interesting. Jester’s eternal mis-interpretation about babies (which isn’t...really wrong?)

The drow twitched when Ulog’s name was mentioned! Though the Gentleman’s association did not deal with the Krynn, Ulog knows some shady people. If he wasn’t a spy himself.

They don’t even take the Beacon! (But the time they took futzing about with the assassin was what allowed him to be captured and killed)

I just realized that the reason Caleb stays with the Beacon that first night isn’t because he’s afraid it’ll be stolen--it’s because as long as he’s within 5 ft it can’t be scried on!

Okay, Molly and Beau really do team up against Nott in this talking to. Nott Does Not Agree with their reasoning--in the episode before, it was Caleb who put the scrolls back to deescalate the situation. Caleb is the one here who has the aside with the skull about how much he wants to make this group work. It’s Nott who’s on the fence.

“He’s MY boy. I take care of HIM.”

Caleb tries, after the skull interlude, he tries to tell Nott. “You know, I was going to go to that place. The Soltryce Academy...But I fucked it up.” He can’t bring himself to say more than that.

Nott purchases the enchantment for her never-ending flask. 250 gold is nothing, when you’re a goblin who just likes shiny things.

Whenever Caleb has money, he spends it on paper and ink to transcribe spells. Whenever he doesn’t have spells to transcribe, he buys them. :)

Taryon Darrington!!!! I also fell out of my chair when this book came up. Can’t wait for Caleb to read it someday and declare it trash

MOLLY! He bullshits SO well, I (and Cree) bought into the idea that he just really wanted to stay on the DL. That’s really what I take away from this revelation, his intense desire to keep his past under wraps.

Meeting the Gentleman! Fjord won 600 gold with some good gambling, they get a job dungeon crawling, Laura isn’t there to meet her dad.

Yasha backstory! The crumbs we get about Xhorhas are so little, and I remember being a little confused about how big Xhorhas was, the difference between the region and the Krynn Dynasty, how connected everything is over there.

Caleb asks Fjord whether or not he used party funds to gamble. Fjord reassures him, but Caleb says he would be alright with it. “Calculated risks.”

From home Jester strikes with the Wand of Smiles...

This interrogation has so many good one-liners from our good Mollymauk. “That person is dead and not me” “The truth is vicious, it thinks you owe it something” “joy can fill an awful lot of a person’s life”

Caleb’s Joke: (about Pumat) “Well, [he’s] not one of a kind.” Molly: “Did you just make a joke?” Caleb: “No.”

Yasha in Pumat Sol’s shop is the most awkward we ever see her. She stumbles over her words, bails on her attempts at banter, DOES manage to roll a 14 Persuasion for a discount on her healing potions.

Important Caleb & Yasha bonding over buying the throwing stars for Beau

Liam really is the best Jester (besides Laura, of course)

Some really great early Fjord/Jester in the Underworks. “Don’t read into it.” “This is just like that scene in Tusk Love.” I think Fjord did flirt with Jester, but that came from a) heteronormativity and b) Fjord always pushes his luck. His curiosity and playfulness have burned him more than once--I don’t think he considers that he might also be hurting Jester with these interactions.

bonus Caleb: “It is sad when ships sink.”

Highlight of this dungeon crawl is Nott completely failing to rogue. Nott and traps don’t get along...

#cr #critical role #c2 rewatch #started before it was cool you guys

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halforcpaladin · 5 years

Text

we are at a tavern

[a beau/yasha fic from yashas POV]

We are at a tavern. The lights from the candles lining the wall are warm and dim, and the people are mostly hidden in shadows. I am not comfortable here. The music is loud and the people are talking over each other and I feel large, like there is not enough space for me. I am happier when we sleep outside. I like the quiet and complex sounds animals make when the sun goes down.

Taverns seemed easier when Molly was here.

Jester is leaned over the table and her eyes are lit up by flashes of candlelight as she grins at Caleb. I don’t catch what she says, but I see Caleb press his lips together in both a grimace and a smile. One of the rings around Jester’s horn is shining, like she just recently polished it.

I look away.

Beau is next to me and she is talking to Fjord. She says, “I’ll bet you anything.”

Fjord says, “I’m not putting a bet on that, Beau.” I take the clay mug full of warm ale in front of me off of the table and bring it to my lips as I watch Beau. When she speaks, her jaw tightens. Everything about her is lean and taut. I can tell she is almost always tense, her back muscles drawn together and her hand is clenched in a fist. This is Beau’s natural state: defensive. Ready. I swallow some of my drink and it tastes like wheat.

I look up at her face again and she’s looking at me. Her eyes are really blue. “Yasha?” She says.

“Yes, Beau?” I answer.

“You’re staring at me.”

I tilt my head. “It’s just--you just have something--” I gesture at the side of my mouth in a brushing motion. Beau goes to wipe her face with the back of her hand but she’s missing it, I think it’s a bit of sauce, and I reach for her face without thinking and my thumb touches her lip and then her cheek and I rub it away.

Her eyes are open wide when she says, “Um. Thanks, Yasha.” She looks at the table.

Fjord is watching us from across the table. I notice that Caduceus is now looking, too. He makes me uneasy because I’m not sure how to talk to him. I’m afraid that he might say something I won’t have a response for.

Beau slips away from the table, swinging her legs over the bench we sat on together with an ease I admire.

Caduceus is leaning forward with his head resting in his palm and his pink hair lies in front of his face, covering one of his eyes. “Interesting.” I meet his eyes for a second and he doesn’t blink.

I turn and watch Beau as she weaves through the crowd towards the back of the room, where a bartender is pouring drinks from casks.

“Beau was just tryin’ to get me to bet her she could sleep with the bartender tonight.” Fjord says. “I told her that was a foolish idea, but looks like she’s goin’ for it.” His voice has a little smile in it like he’s amused but I don’t really feel amused.

I sit up a little straighter and feel my brows furrow. Generally, I find Beau amusing, but I feel annoyance right now. I’m annoyed with her.

Caduceus leans in closer and says, “Does that bother you, Yasha?”

Fjord laughs and says, “Why would that bother Yasha? She knows how Beau is.”

I look away from them, down the table at the rest of the group, hoping one of them might change the subject. Nott is laughing with her flask in hand and her mask is resting against her chest. Jester is gesturing wildly and Caleb has a small smile. None of them are paying attention to us.

I clear my throat and look back at Fjord and Caduceus. “No, I’m definitely not bothered.” I get up from the bench. “Excuse me, I, um, I have a headache and I need to go to bed.” The music had paused but now it is picking back up and a woman is singing.

In the dark town of Shady Grove on a Monday eve--

I walk away from the table and move through the crowd. People move aside for me when they see me coming. I try not to look at Beau when I walk past her to the staircase at the back of the tavern, but I see her in my peripheral. She’s leaning against the bar. I keep walking and now I’m going up the stairs and I can’t see her anymore.

I met a fair maid as lovely as you’d believe--

The hallway at the top of the stairs is well lit by torches and it’s brighter than below. There are numbers painted on the doors. I realize that Jester has the keys for our rooms tonight.

She wore no jewels and her eyes were bright--

I don’t want to go back downstairs so I keep walking down the hallway. The din of laughter and conversation fades as I walk, though it never quite dies. There is a door at the very end of the hallway and I try the handle, hoping it might lead outside. It opens, and there is a small deck with a staircase beyond it.

Her hair as black as a moonless night--

I go outside. The air is very cold and there are trees hanging over a path behind the tavern. A light wind blows through and the leaves rustle, sounding a little like the waves on the beach in Nicodranas. I shiver. I start to relax. I lean against the railing. Light escapes from the tavern windows beneath me, giving the plants beneath the trees a warm glow, like they are props on a stage.

It did bother me that Beau left to go chat with the bartender. I’m sure Caduceus knew that, but Fjord is like me. Clueless.

I miss Molly. I’m almost never not missing Molly, but right now I wish I could talk to him. “What would you say?” I ask the trees.

I picture him standing next to me, leaning over the railing. He has a wicked grin. “You don’t really like that bratty girl, right?” I speak for him, and I can almost remember how his mouth moved when he talked, how his lower lip got stuck behind his fangs on hard syllables.

I feel my mouth turn down and my eyes get hot for a second. “You don’t know, Molly. She’s changed. Everything has changed so much since you’ve been gone.”

His ghost disappears because I can’t picture him here anymore. He could have grown with us. I don’t know what type of person he could have become, and this is what really strikes my heart. He is frozen in time, in the dirt, and he does not get to redeem or create or learn anymore.

It is unfair.

I look up at the stars and let the air cool my head. I take a deep breath and let out a stammering exhale.

There is something specifically about Beauregard that makes me want to be around her. I like when she laughs and I like when she tries to look tough. I like the color of her eyes when we fight together. I don’t know when it was that I started to like those things about her, but it was after Molly. After Darktow.

I hear footsteps behind me and I instinctively place my hand on the hilt of my dagger, the one Caleb gave to me (“For the next time you give me a shave”).

I turn and it’s Beau. She’s holding a key in her fingers and holding it out to me. Her face is covered in shadow so I can’t make out her expression. “Jester said to take this to you.”

I reach for it. “Well… thank you,” I say. “How--how’s it going in there?”

“Nott got up on the table and started shouting, so I’d say business as usual.”

I smile. “I meant with the bartender.”

She sort of shrugs and looks at the ground. “Good, actually.”

“Hm.” I tuck the key away and fold my arms across my chest.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Really? Nothing?” She says, and she’s looking me in the eyes now. I can tell because a little bit of starlight is reflecting off of her brown skin. “Fine.”

For a moment I’m not sure what to say. Something is starting to click into place. “Are you angry with me, Beau?”

She throws her hands up in an exaggerated motion. “Maybe I am!”

I open my mouth to say something and then I stop. “Oh,” is all I can think to reply.

Beau makes a low, rumbling noise and steps towards me. “I’m tired of this. Look, Yasha, do you want me or not?”

“I do.” I surprise us both when I say it. My words come out in a little white cloud when they hit the cold air. “I want you.” It feels like a little wind has picked up inside my chest. The truth of it is making my skin buzz and I look away from Beau. “But I can’t--”

She places her hand on my cheek and it’s so warm I flinch a little, and then her lips are pressed against mine. It’s too much and not enough all at once and I think about pulling away but then I start to feel like I do when a fight starts.

I hear a crack of thunder in the distance and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end.

I put my hand on her face and I’m kissing her back, pulling her towards me. I push her inside and against the wall of the hallway. Beau pulls her face away and says, “I want you, too.” She’s grinning. I’m grinning. Her body feels loose in my arms.

I lean over her and kiss her. It feels like relief.

#beauyasha #yasha #beau #critical role #beauregard #fanfic #sorry it mentions molly and its sad #but its nice too #i wanted to know what it would be like to write from yasha's voice and turns out its fun and sexy #george tm

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totaldramafan-lauri · 5 years

Text

Gushing over my current favorite song, don’t mind me

WARNING: FANGIRLING

You’ve been warned.

My favorite song in the SU show proper is “It’s Over, Isn’t It?” I find that song pretty much perfect, with excellent lyrics and gorgeous vocals. I still remember the first time I heard it. I was blown away. I credit it, and Mr. Greg in general, for renewing my interest in SU when I was moving on from it. I STILL consider it one of the best episodes of the show, and adding that significance to it just made me love that song more. I thought that the show’d have a hell of a time trying to top it, and if it ever DID, it’d be outstanding.

Well, it took them three years, but.....th-they did. Hoo BOY, they did.

How do you top a technically perfect song to me? Well, by appealing to my specific interests, of course!

Enter “Other Friends” from the movie, and....y-yeah, I never stood a chance. >/////>

Now, one of the things that can REALLY make a musical number is context. Sure, a musical number can be awesome on its own, but it can also be made even better when you put it in context of the story. If I heard “Other Friends” for the first time completely by itself, just the audio, with nothing else attached, I wouldn’t have loved it NEARLY as much.

I’m grossly biased towards this song, not gonna lie. B-but...I can’t help BUT be! Keep in mind, that when you have a character you’ve never seen before, and they introduce themselves by singing a song, then that song will be forever associated with that character. It’s a thing that happens a lot. That song was the audience’s first impression of the character, so it makes sense! So, if you end up loving the character to death, then your opinion of their intro song goes up by a lot....a loooooot....

“That’s right, I heard the story over and over again~!”

Spinel is the best. To me, she’s the single best character to come out of this series. She is SO COOL I can hardly stand it. Her character design, her unique animation style, her voice....ESPECIALLY her voice....everything about her is just pure gold!! I love watching her! I love listening to her talk! She’s just....SO entertaining!

Lemme tell ya, if there’s one character type that I tend to gravitate towards above all others, it’s this: Charismatic, showy, villains. Villains who are intelligent and competent, yet fun. Where you can’t justify their actions, but you want, you YEARN, to see more of them. And Spinel is all that and more. She manages to be super cool and fun while also being very complex. (However, at this point in the movie, I didn’t know that part yet) And it was so unexpected for me! I NEVER thought I’d get that type of character from Steven flipping Universe! Usually, the villains in this show are nothing like that! Usually they’re all very serious, self-righteous “I believe I’m doing the right thing” types! In this show, it’s the heroes that are usually the most fun...But not this time!

I knew I would like her from the very beginning, when she said “Lemme get a look at the menagerie~” and her rebuttal to Pearl recognizing her, but I had no idea of just how bad I’d get it. And then she started singing. And I just about LOST MY MIND. The villain song, this early? And from a character that looked so flipping cool already? Count me in!

It should come as no surprise that I love music, so when a character I love sings and sounds good, I’ll usually flip out. XD And this song exceeded ALL my expectations....The song itself AND the scene...

Where to even start with “Other Friends”...Well, I guess I can say that, if you don’t like Spinel as much as me, or at all for some reason, then I feel so sorry for you because this is a song that will take up permanent residence in your head and will not care how much you want to evict it. Even removing how much I adore the character singing it, this is a WILDLY catchy song! That beat is addicting! I didn’t even know I LIKED electro-swing until this (I mean, I guess there was “Still In Love With You” from Eurovision 2015, which I liked?? But that’s it), but now I’m actually curious about the rest of the genre! And it’s an absolutely perfect way to introduce Spinel, because it’s a style that’s perfect for her! It’s retro, like she is, and is very bouncy, like she is! It fits with her playfulness! But that part’s obvious by now...

And then...there’s the vocals. Holy crap, I flipping loooooooooove her voice! I’m not that familiar with Sarah Stiles (I’ve heard the name, but haven’t seen anything else she’s been in), so I didn’t know what to expect, but man oh MAN did she flipping KILL it as Spinel! I can see clearly why she’s a big deal now! She has soooo much energy, and she really got into the character! Spinel’s unhinged personality clearly shines through...the way she just....switches between playful and threatening....stuff like that, I’m a real sucker for....It’s good stuff. Good. Flipping. Stuff.

I even notice the small things about her voice....like her slight accent...a-and the small growls....

And while the song is going on, we get confirmation that this is a villain NOT to be trifled with, as she utilizes her strange powers to “play” with the Crystal Gems as they’re unable to touch her once. All the while she’s acting all playful (the little flick to Pearl’s nose), and seems like she’s having a blast picking on them, untiiiiiiil.....crap hits the fan when she finds out Pearl didn’t tell them about her.

She becomes menacing.

“Who am I!? Who am I!? What are you even saying!?”

And then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, she whips out her Rejuvinator! We have a really awesome unique villain who’s singing a really awesome catchy song while beating up the main characters with a smile on her face, and now she’s got a flipping SCYTHE!! And at this same time, we also get the best part of the song, where her voice gets even BETTER as the intensity rises...

“Let’s play another game, this time I get to win~ Lives on the line! Winner takes all! Ready or not, LET’S BEGIN!”

And she’s just twirling her weapon like she’s Ruby Rose or something, and it’s become SUCH a spectacle! At this point, I could not stop grinning. I’d been smiling throughout the whole song, but NOW, I can’t get it off my face. It’s stuck there. I think, in that moment, that this has officially become a love letter to me. I’d never enjoyed SU THIS MUCH before, and I already liked it! But now....it felt like I’d sold my soul to it...or at least, to her.

The song ends on that perfect note....that “OOO-THEEEERRRR....frieeends~” as she poofs three of the main characters in a single blow. Still with that smirk on her face....

I was slightly bummed that the song was over, but I wasn’t for long. Yeah, my favorite part of the movie is not just the song, but actually Spinel’s whole intro scene. That whole thing.

She proceeds to attack Steven, just giggling, giggling maniacally, before outright taunting him. And we get more of her great expressions and incredible line delivery....

“Your human half won’t stand a chance against my Injector...not after what I just did to your geeeem~”

“You weren’t always a powerful hero, were you~?”

Then Steven manages to get the jump on her, and slices her across the face. Her response? More giggling. That didn’t matter to her. Her job was done.

......And then....it was over.

I was left just....wanting to scream at how cool that was. I was almost in disbelief...my heart was beating so fast.....There was no going back. I was doomed.

And that was my first experience with “Other Friends”, the song that still makes me squee every single time I listen to it. Yes, it still gets a reaction outta me even now...It’s been years since I’ve heard a song that gets to me this flipping much...Sure, it might be because of the character, and the context....but it’s become something that I just can’t take away from it.

____________

Then we learn about who she used to be....what she was created to be. And it only made the current her even cooler in my eyes. She was only supposed to entertain, being essentially a jester, nothing more. Just tell jokes, make everyone smile, basically a Gem Pinkie Pie. And yet, much like Pearl, she went against that purpose and became someone much more...She’s smart, and she can fight. And that wasn’t supposed to be natural for her! How cool is that!?

We do find out that the reason she became like this was extremely tragic...but, to me at least, that didn’t make her any less entertaining. Sure, she’s sympathetic for sure, but she’s more than that. She’s not just angst, angst, angst. She’s still one of the most dangerous opponents the Crystal Gems have ever faced! After we learn her backstory, she still has great moments and great lines. I didn’t....want it to end....

Spinel was an outstanding villain. Cool and fun, yet sympathetic. She wasn’t an “innocent bean that can do no wrong” (like she was before she snapped), no, she was still a villain! She was trying to kill Steven, despite knowing he had nothing to do with her trauma! She just wanted someone to take her anger out on! She was NOT in the right! But you still wanted more of her....h-her devious smirk, her voice....her attitude from “Other Friends” was still there....You still felt sorry for her, but not in a way that made her hard to watch. It’s the perfect balance....

And “Other Friends” was the perfect introduction to such a character, and nothing can take away from that song. With her good and her bad, she stole viewers’ hearts, and it all started with that.

Sure, a part of me is worried about what Future could possibly do with her now that she’s redeemed, but I’m gonna try to go in optimistic. Sure, she’s happy, but...All I want is for her to not be made boring, or exactly like her past self. But knowing SU, there’s a chance that shades of the cool Spinel COULD possibly still remain (I mean, they did keep Peridot entertaining after HER redemption, so maybe?)

But even if that ends up not being the case.....heck, even if she ends up just being just a cameo.....at least we have this movie. This excellent, excellent movie....

And “Other Friends”.

For a few glorious minutes, I got everything I ever wanted. So I’m not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.

#HOOOOOOLY CRAP THIS IS LONG #IM SO SORRY #but it feels good to get that all out #I CANT BELIEVE I ACTUALLY DID IT #hopefully the next time i go on about spinel it wont be to THIS EXTENT #since ive basically summed everything up now here and in past posts #and i dont wanna repeat myself too often XD #opinions

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fiendpact · 5 years

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Viv: as a person, i don't like her, i feel she doesn't know/understand what the Circle Mage were put through. now as a character, i think she's super cool. she's a mage against mages, she sticks with her beliefs(even if it sounds like she's repeating something she's been force-fed), her fight to keep someone she loves so much. the thing that caught my eye, was when she tried to save her lover. she tried SO HARD to save him, his death obviously hits her hard. (runnin low on writing space)

viv is such a complex character and i’m gonna try to get my dumb brain to cooperate so i can answer this properly.

first, i wanna address these bits specifically: “i feel she doesn’t know/understand what the circle mages were put through” and “she’s a mage against mages” (and this got kinda long so i’ll put it under a read more)

so, we know vivienne was taken from her parents at a “very young age” and put in the ostwick circle, where she stayed until she was nineteen years old. she was then transferred to the montsimmard circle. not sure how much time passes between then and 9:16, but from 9:16 through 9:20, she stayed primarily with duke bastien on his estate and “conducted most of her circle business” [X] from there, and then she goes on to be court enchanter for empress celene, turning the position from a “court jester” job to an advisory one. i don’t know exactly how old she was when she left the circle, but i think she definitely understands what circle mages goes through because she had to fight through that oppression herself to get where she is today. she had to go through scandal, through assassination attempts, through a literal ban keeping mages from holding political power. and she made it, with all the odds stacked against her. it’s not the same as what happened with the gallows, but it’s still an example of a mage fighting through their oppression in an attempt to make things better.

and i don’t think she’s a “mage against mages” at all. here’s a post that proposes that she’s not against mages so much as she just cares so much for them that she’s afraid that the rebellion will do nothing but set them back even further and put them in more danger. like, let’s be honest. vivienne is an incredibly smart woman. she’s calculating and imho one step ahead of pretty much everyone else. she’s busted her ass to get the respect and the power that she has. and because she’s a mage in such a high position, she has to continue being steadfast and “in line” with what people expect of her, or else she risks losing everything she has and everything she could gain, both for herself and for mages as a whole. so i really don’t think she’s anti-mage or anything, i think she’s just being very careful in how she deals with all eyes on her, especially re: the rebellion, because one misstep could cost her a hell of a lot.

moving on to the last part of your ask, viv’s personal quest really pulled on my heartstrings lol. i definitely wasn’t expecting anything like it. her little heart-to-heart with the inquisitor at the end was really sweet too. it was a good moment for viv and my inquisitor personally to have a chance to be like “we may disagree on some things but at the end of the day we’ll still be there to help each other out,” y’know?

all in all, while i disagree with some of viv’s ideas, she has every reason to believe in what she does. she knows exactly what she’s doing and i genuinely believe she’s doing it in an attempt to protect mages as well as their reputation, so to speak.

#is ANY of this articulated in a way that makes sense to anyone? i've been here for what feels like forever rewriting this #also if anyone has any corrections or anything i encourage you to add on #should i give this a meta/lore tag??#anon #vivienne #asks #meta and lore #da

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cherrettephineus97 · 4 years

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How To Get Your Ex Back In 25 Days Veronica Isles Stunning Unique Ideas

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Wanting Your Ex Back Quotes

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How To Write A Letter To Get Your Ex Husband Back

#How To Get Your Ex Back In 25 Days Veronica Isles Stunning Unique Ideas #Stealing Your Ex Girlfriend

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