#I rolled for Molly's insight to see if he believed Fjord

[mareastrorum]

WIP Wednesday: TF&TS (Alfield)

Here is a scene from an early chapter of a longfic I am working on.

Fanfic Summary: Mollymauk Tealeaf survived the encounter with the Iron Shepherds, but a short time later, a spirit had begun hunting him, claiming that he stole his body. This Campaign 2 AU begins with Episode 26 and continues on from there.

This fanfic will be posted on AO3 starting in July. (OH GOD, THAT'S SO SOON. OH NO.)

Alfield was still in the process of rebuilding since the last time the Nein had stopped in town. They had arrived via the Amber Road shortly before dark, then briefly met with Bryce Feelid and had made their way to the Feed and Mead. Bryce joined them after a meal. It was kind of nice when people were grateful for their work, even when they got paid for it anyway.

Beau was also happy to indulge in the free drinks offered by the other patrons. Molly snuck some coins into their pockets as they walked away, but eventually he was tipsy enough that the only reason they didn’t return the coin was the awkwardness.

“You doing alright, Molly?” Beau prodded. She almost followed up with an instinctive disclaimer that she didn’t care, but, well, she did. Why was it still so hard to remember to be nice?

Molly hummed a question back, but didn’t wait for her to elaborate. “We’re finally back on the road, so I’m celebrating!”

Beau raised a brow. “Celebrating being on the road?”

“Damn right,” Molly replied as he lifted his tankard in a toast. “Staying in one place for two weeks was far too long.” Beau rolled her eyes, but tapped her own against his and took a drink. The others joined, if they could reach, but the rest on the other end just lifted theirs and sipped. “To adventures and low profiles!”

Beau snorted and took a second drink. After the fiasco in Shadycreek Run and then running into Cree again at Zadash, she couldn’t blame Molly for wanting to slink into anonymity. However, he also was the most ostentatious of the Nein. If anyone was going to be recognized on sight, it was going to be Molly.

Jester, Fjord, and Nott discussed getting past the Wuyun Gates with Bryce at the other end of the table, though Beau had little to add. Bryce was pretty cool for letting the open discussion of mail fraud go by. Most Watchmasters had a stick up their ass about that sort of thing. But now that she thought about it, Molly, Nott, and Caduceus probably didn’t have any papers. Beau flipped through her notebook quickly to see if she had anything that might be useful for forging.

“Hey, Molly, Caduceus, do you have like, papers for traveling?” Beau asked as she looked up.

Molly shrugged affirmatively. “Oh, sure. Had to put some together at the carnival ages ago. Plenty of Crownsguard found it thrilling to pester us whenever we got near the garrisons or the capital.”

“Ah, I don’t know what that is,” Caduceus answered with a smile.

Beau sighed. “We’ll figure something out. Molly, gimme yours and I’ll see what we can do for Caduceus. We can probably copy what you have and just switch some stuff around to fix it up.”

Molly fished in what seemed to be an endless number of pockets in his coat, then handed off the papers. His eyes didn’t have pupils, but Beau got the sense that he spaced out a moment afterwards.

“What papers do people need for traveling?” Caduceus inquired.

“Just bullshit for leaving during a war,” Beau answered as she looked them over. “It’s usually checking for spies and deserting soldiers. We’re so far from the front lines that it’s probably not that big of a deal.”

After a brief review, Molly’s papers were actually decent forgeries. They had all the right seals to permit travel across the Empire with the carnival. The band had traveled in a circle around the Silberquel Ridge, though it seems they skipped large cities like Rexxentrum and Zadash. Beau started scribbling notes of what the Nein should include for any papers they might forge.

“That reminds me,” Molly started with a subtle drawl, “Mister Caleb, I’ve got a bone to pick with you about your book.”

Beau rolled her eyes yet again without looking up. She knew that Caleb had gifted a book of fairy tales to Molly. She’d been rather surprised to find out that Molly had not only accepted the gift, but actually read it. Or part of it, anyway. She had thought the day spent at the Valley Archive in Zadash would have put him off reading for a good while. Or forever.

“Was?” Caleb asked, an eyebrow raised. “It’s your book, Mister Mollymauk.”

“Yeah, but you gave it to me,” Molly stated matter-of-factly, “and one of the stories in it is wrong.”

Beau shifted her attention to Molly and Caleb. The carnie was going to argue with a Zemnian about Zemnian fairy tales. She grabbed her tankard and took small sips to hide her expression.

“Wrong?” Caleb replied, almost looking offended now with two brows raised. “How can one of them be wrong? They’re stories.”

Molly sat up straight and emphasized with his hands. “Your book has a story about ‘The Scorpion and the Frog,’ but it’s supposed to be ‘The Scorpion and the Turtle.’”

Beau focused intently on Molly’s face as she took a long drink from her tankard. It was possible that he was just pulling Caleb’s leg, but Molly actually looked serious. Well, as serious as Molly ever could be outside of a fight. And she faintly recalled that he had mentioned a fable about a scorpion back when he chastised Nott for some of the drama that happened during that Knights of Requital job.

Caleb’s brow furrowed as he pondered that a moment, then looked back at Molly. “No, you are mistaken. The tale is ‘The Scorpion and the Frog.’ It couldn’t be a turtle. The lesson is that one should not trust bad people because they cannot resist their nature, even if betrayal is against their interests.”

Now Molly looked offended. “That’s a terrible lesson. That’s the sort of shite the people in charge want the common folk to buy into. No, it’s ‘The Scorpion and the Turtle.’ The point is that sometimes you have to trust untrustworthy people, or else you’ll just be stuck alone.”

Beau stifled a laugh and took another swig of ale. Oh gods, Molly had not thought that through entirely. She said nothing though; she wanted to see how Caleb would handle this.

Caleb’s face fell to confusion as he thought it over. After a moment, he asked, “Well, what happens in your story?”

“The scorpion rides on the turtle to cross the river, then stings her, and they both die,” Molly explained confidently. “But it was still better to at least try, rather than stay where they were by themselves.”

“But the turtle could have crossed on its own, while the scorpion needed the turtle, ja?” Caleb inquired. “So the turtle did not need to trust the scorpion to cross the river.”

“Well… yes,” Molly agreed hesitantly, some of his confidence fading.

“And how did the scorpion sting the turtle when it is protected by a shell?” Caleb pressed.

Molly stared back at Caleb in silence, opening his mouth to speak, then closing it after saying nothing, and then his face seemed to express the various stages of grief over the course of a few seconds.

Beau exploded with laughter, nearly spilling her tankard, but she managed to set it on the table to save it, then leaned on one hand to try to calm down. She barely heard a “Fuck you, Beau,” but she could not collect herself to give her usual response. After giving her abs a good warmup, Beau managed to bring it down to quiet snickering and looked back at the two. Molly had a tight, frustrated grin while Caleb seemed quite amused and victorious with a small smirk.

“So who told you the version with the turtle?” Caleb asked.

“Ornna,” Molly replied while shaking his head. “Godsdamnit.” Caleb chuckled, but did not say anything further.

Beau snickered and went for another drink of ale, only to find she had finished it already. She looked over and waved at the barkeep, pointing at her tankard for a refill, but he pointedly turned away from her to help another customer. She frowned. “Yeah, he— uh… Crute? Yeah, Crute might be kinda sore about Jester breaking that window with her spell.”

“Oh, well that’s unfortunate,” Molly noted as he turned to look. He finished off his drink, then stood up abruptly. “Well, I’m in need of another drink, and his beautiful face is sure to cheer me up, so I’ll see about smoothing things over. Besides, we need three rooms, right?”

Bryce perked up at that, briefly looking over, “Oh, that will be covered for your stay. Please, let Crute know to see me about that.”

Molly squinted. “Are you paying for it, or is the Starosta?”

Bryce chuckled, “The defense fund is covering it as thanks for your prior defense of the town. We may be shorthanded, but the Crown has provided plenty to hire hands as needed.”

“Excellent!” Molly grinned wide and headed off. Of course he was happy to spend the Crown’s money.

“Molly, get us another round too,” Beau called after him.

“And, uh…” Caduceus began.

“And something for Caduceus!” Beau added. Molly waved her off and leaned over the bar to snatch Crute’s attention as soon as he reached it, though she could not hear the conversation at that distance. She shook her head and looked back at the others as a brief check before she went back to the papers.

“Like, see it see it,” Fjord said to Jester. Bryce had a hand over one eye, slowly shifting to cover both. Nott was looking at Jester with curiosity, and Caleb was turning red. Beau raised a brow. What were they talking about now?

“Like, penises?” Jester asked, waggling her eyebrows. “Wieners? I’ve seen so many penises.”

“Really?” Fjord seemed half-appalled and half-unconvinced. Beau smirked deviously. Oh, this would be fun.

“Jester, what’s the best penis you’ve ever seen?” Beau interrupted.

“Hold on hold on hold on—” Caleb suddenly jumped in as Fjord also tried to intercede.

The explosion of overlapping conversation was everything Beau had hoped for. Caleb attempted to divert the topic to voyeurism versus experience. Why was Caleb so interested in people’s sex lives? Fjord tried to pin the question on Beau instead. Jester clearly enjoyed the chaos, prolonging the discussion by answering every side question they threw her way, which only disoriented them even more. Nott just drank from her flask and admired the insanity. Caduceus looked so confused. Bryce was staring straight ahead and trying to pretend they weren’t there.

Oh man, neither Caleb nor Fjord wanted to know the answer. They were both totally sweet on Jester and did not know how to handle it. Well, it’s not like Beau could blame them either, she was adorable.

“Yeah, what’s your best dick?” Beau insisted once the distraction had gone on long enough.

“My best dick?” Jester giggled.

“If it’s too hard, you can do top three,” Nott suggested with a snort.

All three women dissolved into a giggle-fest. Caleb turned red and hid behind a facepalm. Fjord sighed and resigned himself to the embarrassment. Caduceus watched, still lost.

��Okay, honestly?” Jester said, looking around quickly, then turning back and wagging her eyebrows dramatically. “I saw Molly’s when we were in the bath house.”

Beau had no idea what face she made as she momentarily closed her eyes and laughed, but she hoped it conveyed how much that was the most amazing answer Jester could have given in that context.

“Was it? We all saw it, but how did it compare?” Nott asked.

“Molly's was pretty good,” Jester answered noncommittally, though she gave a nod.

“In terms of just being giant or, like, well-proportioned? Symmetrical?” Nott kept pressing.

“It was really nice and it was a good color,” Jester elaborated sweetly.

The whole time, Beau was squinting to try to contain her giggling to a reasonable volume. Jester and Nott knew exactly what they were doing with this conversation. The faces on Caleb and Fjord were priceless. Especially when Nott suggested “giant.” Beau had not expected Nott to be such a shit-disturber.

Once they recovered some composure, Caleb and Fjord tried diverting the conversation again, and Beau could not catch her breath.

At that point, Bryce spoke up, with some moderate color on their cheeks, “Well, folks, I think this is my cue to get some rest. It’s been great catching up a bit with all of you. Stay safe.”

The Nein bade Bryce goodbye, though Nott threatened to kill them if they tried to pay for their drinks. Bryce looked a bit concerned and conceded, then left their coin at the bar anyway with a polite and slightly mischievous smile.

Molly was still at the bar, apparently making no progress with Crute. That carnie was nowhere near as charming as he thought he was, and Beau was pretty sure that he was just diverting Crute’s annoyance with Jester to himself rather than absolving it.

“I know this sounds petty,” Fjord requested with a low voice, also glancing in that direction, “but could y’all do me a favor and not tell Molly about this conversation?”

“What? Why?” Jester asked petulantly.

“Because I have to room with him and the nudity is awkward enough already,” Fjord answered flatly. Nott scrunched up her face.

“I mean, he’d probably use it as an excuse to show off more than he already does,” Beau agreed, stifling a laugh. “That wouldn’t be all that conducive to finding good jobs.” Though really, Beau just wanted to avoid the preening. It would never end. Molly did not need that sort of ego boost.

“Yeaaaaah, that might be trouble with some kinds of work,” Jester said thoughtfully, though she was clearly weighing whether she wanted to see the madness that would result from telling Molly.

“You could always tell him later, Jester,” Nott chimed in.

“I could!” Jester laughed.

“I don’t get it, but alright,” Caduceus added, still digesting the insanity that just occurred. He’d get used to their weirdness eventually.

Of course, Caleb just switched topics rather than answer, “Anyway, Jester, do you have a good sense of how Nott would fit in at the Menagerie Coast?”

Nott derailed the conversation completely to show off her “skin mittens” as Jester called them, and they were appropriately horrifying. Molly eventually returned with a tray of drinks (he was surprisingly graceful after so many drinks) and three keys for their rooms, insisting that he had smoothed things over with Crute. The side-eye that Crute kept casting their way suggested otherwise.

Beau shook her head with a smile and enjoyed her ale. These misfits were so much better than putting up with the snobs at the Cobalt Soul.

* * *

Fjord was immensely grateful that his and Molly’s room had twin beds. Caleb and Nott had offered to share with Caduceus since theirs also had twin beds, so it was just the two of them this time while the Jester and Beau had the room with a single bed.

Once the door was closed, Fjord saw to doffing his armor. It fit well, but loosening the snug pieces was always such a relief. Maybe he’d see about getting it refitted in Nicodranas.

“So, Fjord,” Molly started suddenly, “why did everyone keep looking at me while I was chatting up Crute?”

“Hu—what?” Fjord stumbled, trying to appear clueless. Shit, he already fucked that up. He stayed focused on getting his shoulder guard off, hoping that Molly would leave it alone.

“You all kept looking my way,” Molly repeated calmly. “Why?”

Fjord looked up at him to see the tiefling had a knowing grin, though still flushed slightly from all that drinking. Did someone already tell Molly? Or was that just the drink and he was being a brat? Fjord couldn’t be sure. “Well, you were taking quite a while, and we were keeping an eye out.”

“All at the same time?” Molly leaned closer, narrowing his eyes with suspicion.

“We didn’t all look over at the same time,” Fjord insisted, though he honestly did not recall. Godsdamnit, he did not want to deal with Molly peacocking around if he found out about that stupid dick conversation.

“You did,” Molly insisted with suspicion, though he still had his mischievous grin.

“Uh…” Fjord mumbled. “Well, I guess you did come up in conversation.” He was trying to stall for time, but no good explanations came to mind.

Molly grinned wide. “I did, did I? What about?”

Fjord dropped his hand from his shoulder as the armor came loose. Shit. He explained slowly, trying to come up with something to throw it off, but his mind drew blanks. “The subject of… of men’s genetalia came up, and given Jester’s background growing up in a, uh, where she did, Beau asked Jester what the best she had seen was.”

Molly stared incredulously, unblinking, arms crossed.

“She said yours, alright?” Fjord confessed as he lifted both his hands in concession. Godsdamnit. Molly was going to be insufferable about this for who knows how long. And walking around naked even more than usual. Maybe Fjord could convince Caduceus to room with him so he could room with Caleb and Nott.

Molly stared him down for several seconds. “This is payback for telling you my glass swords were magic, isn’t it?”

“What?” Fjord blurted out. “No, I’m serious.”

“Listen, you’re normally a decent liar,” Molly reasoned as he put a hand on his chest, “and I love the appeal to my ego, but c’mon. That’s not believable that you all happened to have that conversation while I was dealing with Crute.”

Fjord felt slightly annoyed that Molly thought he was so deceitful—and secondly that he was also bad at it—but that was easily buried under shameless gratitude that it still achieved what he wanted. And it meant he didn’t even have to put on an act anymore. “Really, Molly. You could ask any of the others, even Beau.”

“Aha!” Molly exclaimed as he pointed at Fjord. “You’re trying to set me up to piss off Beau!”

Fjord sighed in exasperation, “Fine, don’t believe me then. The rest would still back me up.”

“No, no, you’re not getting me that easily,” Molly crowed as he walked over to his side of the room. “You need to work on your pranks, Fjord, that was just uninspired.”

Fjord shook his head and mouthed “thank you” to the sky at whatever deity had been watching over him just then. He went back to removing his armor and hoped th— no, Molly was already stripping to nothing. Shit.

* * *

“Hey, Jester.” Beau prodded as she did her evening stretches. “Do you still have a crush on Fjord?”

Jester was already curled up in the blankets on the bed. Their room only had one, but it was large enough that they had plenty of space to share. She had been sketching in her notebook, but she sat up with a coy smile. Jester adored girly talk, and while it wasn’t always Beau’s top interest, a thought had occurred to her.

“Mayyyyybe,” Jester drawled coyly. “Why? Did he say something about me?”

Beau took a moment to think of how to phrase this. She was still trying to become comfortable with correcting her own social stumbles, and it was difficult to sort out how to be gentle about pointing out others’ mistakes. She preferred being an asshole about it, but she didn’t want to be an asshole to Jester.

“Well, uh,” Beau tried to couch it with some of her own awkwardness, “Isn’t it kind of, you know, messed up that you basically said Molly’s dick is better than Fjord’s to the entire group? I mean, that’s gotta wound his pride, even if it’s just based on looks.”

“Oh, shit, I did huh,” Jester said as her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open a bit.

“Yeahhhh.” Beau nodded, waiting to see how Jester would react.

“Um, well, ac-tu-al-ly,” Jester enunciated slowly for emphasis, “you know, some dicks are good for one thing and not another, and there’s definitely some…”

Beau had thought of several ways this conversation could go, but an in-depth analysis of penises based on Jester’s observations at home had somehow not made the cut. She had never had any interest in them beyond bored curiosity, and Jester was apparently an expert. Beau listened for about a minute before she truly could not stand to hear more about dicks.

“Y—you know what,” Beau interrupted, still trying to be polite and only half-succeeding, “I kinda didn’t think about how this conversation would proceed, and now I’m thinking we should just, y’know, not talk about that. That— That’s on me, that’s my bad. Totally my fault.”

Jester had been earnestly listening to Beau speak, but as she had continued, that soft smile had turned into a pointed, impish grin. Oh, shit.

As the conversation turned worse, Beau could only sigh.

I did this to myself, godsdamnit.

* * *

“Man, everyone got really awkward during that conversation about dicks,” Caduceus noted as he, Caleb, and Nott got ready for bed. Their room had twin beds, and Caleb had intended to share with Nott so that Caduceus had one to himself. Unfortunately, all of the beds were too short, so Caduceus was setting up his bedroll instead so that the others could each have their own.

“It was a strange conversation,” Caleb agreed, a little flushed and stubbornly not making eye contact with the other two while he looked over his spellbook. Nott inspected Caleb’s face and posture closely. She seemed to be trying to piece things together, but Caduceus had the feeling that she had not quite caught on. But she was certainly going to try to help anyway.

“Don’t worry about what Jester said, Caleb,” Nott said matronly. “I’m sure your dick is great for a human’s, probably one of the best. Jester’s just biased towards tieflings.”

Caduceus watched as Caleb’s face flushed to melon pink and then a tomato red as Nott spoke. Caduceus said nothing, but the embarrassment reminded him so much of Clarabelle teasing Colton. It was harmless fun, and would probably do Caleb a bit of good. He needed silly types of humility, not the self-sabotaging depreciation that he seemed to prefer.

“I would very much like to stop talking about this please,” Caleb replied flatly, still refusing to look at either of them.

Caduceus knew that he was much older than any of the Nein by several decades, but that younger brother instinct was kicking in. He could give into temptation sometimes.

“I’m a bit confused about what makes one dick better than another dick,” Caduceus commented to Nott. It wasn’t really a lie, but that wasn’t the point of saying it either.

“Welllllll…” Nott drawled excitedly as she clapped her hands and rubbed them together, preparing herself for a lecture.

“TIME FOR BED!” Caleb blurted suddenly as he threw his blanket over himself and faced away from them.

Caduceus chuckled a bit and let it alone. He shrugged good-naturedly at Nott and bid them both goodnight. He missed his family greatly, but he wasn’t lonely with this group. He felt certain he had the right companions for his quest.

[your-turn-to-role]

alright i've got an hour on the train with nothing to do time for caduceus meta

i'm just thinking about how this is gonna affect our boy going forward, like, even best case scenario where they get him back and he's fine, this whole day has to have been really shaking him up?

caduceus has a +9 to wis saves, he really shouldn't fail them ever. he's probably never really had to worry about them before, because that's his strong suit, and also taliesin's usual luck, it takes a lot to mess with caduceus' mind and ability to center himself. but he didn't just fail one wis save last episode, he failed every single one (never rolled higher than a nat 5), except fjord's last command spell - something that it would have been better had he failed. and the memory thing, while it's still a mental influence he wasn't resistant against, that one's not that bad, caduceus doesn't put a huge amount of stake in his ability to recall things, he'd rather trust in what he's currently feeling and what he currently knows.

but what happens when that gets fucked with? because that's the worst part, this thing took what caduceus uses to ground himself - the faith that he's always moving in the right direction - and completely twisted it for its own intentions. matt's always excelled at possession and mind control narration, because he gets what motivates the characters and personalises it. when caleb was influenced in episode 55, that played on his trust issues and paranoia due to his past - his friends are working against him, they've been trying to take him down the whole time and he was an idiot who trusted them, he should have realised they were out to get him earlier, and now he has to fight for his life.

whatever this entity or influence is this time, though, is playing with cad's sense of destiny and purpose. this is where you need to go, this is what things have been leading to, this has the answer to all your questions, that thing you're searching for? it's here. this is more important than everything else because this is what you were put here to do. he doesn't attack fjord, because that's not who he is - he's not caleb, who's still always waiting for a fight he sees as inevitable. caduceus believes fighting is a last resort, if you can reason, do so, and don't step into a fight you don't have to - sometimes they're just trying to distract you.

which is exactly his approach here. he knows where he has to go, and he has to do that first. he's aware fjord has concerns, but he'll get to those later, he can coach someone after he has his answers, after he's fulfilled his purpose. fjord's trying to stop him and fjord means well, but he's still got a lot to learn, he doesn't know these things as well as caduceus, who's been preparing for this his whole life.

nothing about these thoughts are fundamentally different from how caduceus is normally. be it his own plan or the wildmother's (and really, there's not much difference), he absolutely trusts that when he has thoughts like that, he's doing the right thing.

but not this time. this time what he thought was destiny led him unequivocally down the wrong path. and while i don't think caduceus is going to lose faith in the wildmother over this, it might definitely shake that faith in his own rock solid judgement.

like, all of taliesin's characters have different facets of that kind of naive arrogance? the lowkey judgementalism buried in the idea that the things they believe or trust in are definitively right. (and all of them have had high wisdom/insight to back it up, which feeds that more). percy didn't trust himself to always act morally good, but he trusted he was always the smartest person in the room, and made snap judgements of people accordingly. molly didn't know a lot about the world, but he trusted that the social tools learned in the circus were the best way to deal with people, even if people tended to react badly to that. caduceus isn't an evangelist, he doesn't need people to follow the wildmother, but he does believe he knows what's best for them. all of them are the "we're all about to learn a valuable lesson" type (i.e. seeing someone about to cause their own downfall, and watching because they knew not to do that, even if the person in trouble didn't, and because it wasn't serious enough to cause the person's death, they felt no need to interfere).

how's this for a valuable lesson: sometimes you're wrong. sometimes the things you trust in will fail you. sometimes you fail yourself, or your friends, and it leads to disaster. and sometimes, despite what your usual wisdom would suggest, sometimes that's not your fault.

caduceus might be able to square this away as destiny if it leads to something good, but what if it doesn't?

i know the caduceus is gonna die theory is floating round the fandom, and i really hope it didn't happen, not just because i love caduceus, but because it would be the second time taliesin loses a character right before we could get a potentially really interesting turning point in their character arc. and this might be that for caduceus. he can resolve any amount of tragedy with "it was supposed to happen", but can he resolve this?

[captainsspnanon]

C2E11 - Zemnian Nights

@suicidallyreckless, tagging as requested!

LET’S GOOOO.  Will I finish this before C3 TOMORROW (now tonight) NIGHT.  I have no clue.  (I’m legit going to be trying to see if my essentially dead laptop can at least have word open so that I can type my reactions!  I can’t do it on the current laptop because I’ll be watching full screen and I AIN’T PAUSING unlike how I pause the rewatches constantly)

Zemnian Nights….the title literally gives nothing away.  I have no memories of what happens here, though from last episode I’m assuming that we get the start of the rebellion, first meeting with the Gentleman (no wait, Laura’s here), Fjord and Molly using truth spell on Nott…..fuck it.  LET’S GOOOOO.

Emmy-nominated Sam!!!!   I wonder what it’s like for them in the biz, how do they view award shows and such like that?  I know the outside view is ‘popularity contest’ and such.

IT’S RAINING.  AND IN C3!!!!  WE’LL HAVE RAIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNN I cannot wait I cannot wait I cannot wait

:(  Goodbye Yasha. AT LEAST WE GET YOU ALL TIME FOR C3!!!

Even early game Beau is such Expositor material.  I love it so much.  The hints were always there, we just watch it blossom!

I forgot Pumat BREATHED on Fjord!  Good!   Make it awkward!  Don’t use him as a dry cleaner!

Does Molly ever actually have the periapt take effect?  I know Caleb has it go off when he’s drowning...but I’m not sure if Molly or Cad ever have it go into effect.

SMUT.  GOD their faces.  LOVE THIS SO MUCH.

I forgot how much detail Matt actually goes into!

Awwww, the bakery scene with the bread-muff.  I’d completely forgotten about it until I saw an animatic of it, and then it’s almost one of my favorite moments because it’s so small and so sad.

Honestly, watching this after having seen C1, I LOVE the pairings a lot more than I did in C1.  C1 seemed to be you had your buddy and you had your romantic partner and that’s it.  With C2, there are SO many relationship dynamics!  I’m getting Empire Kids feels already, and they’re still super prickly with each other.  And then you’ve got the Brjos, and then you’ve got the Caleb&Fjord stuff at the beginning, the Caleb&Jester relationship is great, Caleb&Nott is AMAZING, and then you’ve got the Beau&Jester relationship which is amazing, and I can keep going and going with the entire cast.  They just feel much more interconnected with strong friendships then C1 did, which felt more distant, even though they were technically ‘closer’ with each other.

Aaaand nothing more perfect than me typing that thought, going back into the episode where Beau talks about just wanting to drink booze and make money, and Liam immediately goes “Insight check!  ...One!”

Hello Mr. Skeleton! We know your story now!  You’re a piece of shit!

OMG Jester is hitting on Fjord so hard, I forgot it started so early!  “Nothing, Oskar.  Don’t worry about it” omg laura ilu

Marisha’s little freakout about how she’s writing down smut and it has to be important is sooo fucking adorable

We find out that Crick is a slur through the SMUT???  I forgot that!  I would have thought it’d be when they meet the Kryn dude in the sewers.

LOL the Dolan bit. And Sam doesn’t find out til wrap up that the Dolan handkerchief was just a random roll!  XD

I forgot that the plan that the NPCs had was crap.  I wonder if Matt always intended for the PCs to come up with a better option.  Also lol at mentions of the Myriad.  Unlike the Clasp, the Myriad came to nothing during C2, which I honestly preferred.  (though to be fair I think the Gentleman was actually part of the Myriad?  I THINK I read that somewhere, but could be 100% wrong)

“You can reply to this message”  *heart*

Molly using magic on Nott to force her to tell the truth.  It’s a dick move, especially considering Molly lies to fucking EVERYONE about EVERYTHING (I don’t even believe the story he claims about pretending to be royalty), but I actually like it?  Like, it makes SENSE, and it’s a hell of an escalation.  It doesn’t make me like Molly any more, but it doesn’t make me like him any LESS either.  It’s just a hell of a scene, and one that Sam fucking acts amazing in.

“So he can save me”.  Goddamn it Sam you really are so fucking amazing when you let yourself play scenes straight.  Even Matt can’t keep a straight face during this scene.

“I did my own dental work” such a throwaway joke with so much SADS behind it!!!

...I didn’t remember Molly threatening her at the end of the spell.  Very dislike.  Fuck you Molly.

“Do you trust Fjord and Molly?”  “No, no I do not” “Me neither” is SUCH a powerful moment for a few very short lines.  SAM YOUR FACE.  And then in comes Laura to lighten the mood!

I did NOT remember Fjord casting Crown of Madness on the guard!!  Alright, so impulsive!Travis/impulsive!Fjord DID exist early campaign, and not just after Cad came in.

LOL Liam always wants to be Laura’s twin.  That so fucking cute.

Hmmm, can’t figure out if the pacing in this is a bit too slow for me, or if I’m just not fully focused because C3 TONIGHT!!!  Either way, I almost feel like speeding up.  Not going to, considering I’m close enough to the end, but it’s there.  To be fair, when thinking about C2, this is also a plot thread that I pretty much never remember, so it might just be one that doesn’t hold much interest for me.

Molly just mentioned about being content to make snap judgments (something I’m not thrilled with as a character aspect of his) but it reminded me of how on Talks Machina, Taliesin keeps thinking that there’s something up with Jester, that Jester is pulling the same game as Molly, etc. etc., and I just kind of love how utterly wrong he is??  He’s SO expecting to find more layered depth to Jester and it’s just like, nope!  She is how she is!!  And I love it so much, that THEY don’t know as well.  There’s a comment he made in an earlier Talks as well about how he’s pretty sure only Molly and Jester have had sex, while actually everyone else has had sex BUT Jester (at least I’m pretty sure that Beau has, though it’s never clearly stated, I don’t think).

Fancybottom!  The first of the Fancy-s!

I wonder if Ulog was always going to put in a ton of gold, or if it was upped because Matt could tell that they might not pursue the thread without it.

“At dawn, we plan?” oh fuck, yeah that went right over my head before I watched C1.

“Is it Thursday yet?”  YES IT IS LESS THAN FOUR HOURS TO GO AAAAAAAA

@suicidallyreckless  HA NOW THE TAGGING WORKED!

[readbythestarlight]

c2e30 (I’m very late and I know it but here it is anyway)

I’m almost a week late but hey that’s fine let’s do this!

Still miss Ashley but I’m gad Travis and Laura are back!

I also miss Keg

I’m so glad they fucked Lorenzo up. I’m sorry for Matt’s plans but fuck that guy.

“Enduring it silently” Yasha my girl

“Case closed” cool make me cry again that’s fine

Nott just has no fucks to give for Fjord xD

Oh, Yasha, my girl.

"I have healing I have healing who are you I have healing" oh sure Jester NOW you wanna heal

“Where’s Molly?” FUCK it’s fine I’m fine

“is he waiting upstairs?”

“He didn’t make it.”

“To… this dungeon? Cause he’s waiting upstairs?”

IT’S FINE IM NOT CRYING

Fjord sounds so exhausted someone hug him

Everyone’s sad I’m sad I don’t wanna live with this again

Fjord. Honey. It’s not your fault.

God Fjord and Jester and Yasha are going to have such a rough time healing and moving on…

This is really hard… like. My heart hurts.

“We learned for the future. This won’t happen again, understand me?”

“Nothing this good ever happens, this is great.” I love him. He’s sweet and he tries.

Jester and Beau back at the cute BFF banter already

B: “I would have laid down my life for you guys.”

J: “I would have tried to heal you back.”

Oh lord guys you can’t just make butt jokes in the middle of my crying.

Oh damn, I forgot Molly and Fjord shared a room the most often. Poor Fjord.

“It’s probably stolen.”

“People need killin’ if that happens.”

Them talking about Molly possibly coming back like that’s what we’re all still hoping for please don’t pull my heartstrings like this.

And the Fjord/Jester train rolls on again. They wasted no time.

“Oooooo, ooooo! That’s all I need to know.”

“INSIGHT CHECK”

oh my god Sam xD

WHISPERS

“Fuck human traffickers, ammiright?” You are so right.

“Please bring me any books” Caleb’s priorities back in place again

Cad cooking food I love him

Matt plz chill with the torture stuff

I love how they’re always finding random potions

Godddd Lorenzo’s chamber…

“Some young creature” it’s a baby Matt just say it

Bag of holding?? IT IS A BAG OF HOLDING?

YAAAS

Please no body parts please no body parts…

Fjord checking the room for books <3

I want Fjord and Caleb to get back to being bros man I miss that so hard

Fuck I forgot Caleb was still injured Jester plz heal him

I adore Cad you guys. Adore him.

“Roots.”

“Do I smell anything…? Nah it smells like breakfast fuck it I go back down” xD Travis

A long rest sounds like a good idea, but is the fortress safe?

“WHAT’S THAT NEW MAGIC YOU USED?” SAAAAM LOL

Cad is gonna be the weird uncle of the team who keeps them all fed and relatively healthy

I’m curious about the bag and what all it can do and stuff

lol Fjord just spilled everything out

“I have deep arcane abilities” lol Fjord

101 PLATINUM NICE

Ooooo a gem!

Oh daaaamn wax sealed envelope

AN ACTUAL ENVELOPE

okay what is it….

omg could they collect anyone 101 platinum?

Oooo Wayfairer’s Cove? Is it Pirates?? Please be pirates.

Also does that mean they’ll go to Nicodranus?

OH.

OH SHIT.

FJORD HAS ONE. IN HIS STOMACH.

“You have 50 rings, do you have a glass bead?”

Nott has the most amazing collection of stuff

Ouch, 5 intelligence check

Fjord my darling why are you collecting a tusk?

Also guys i’m over my annoyance with Fjord I missed him so much he’s back to being one of my faves

“HEY LOOK WHAT I MADE :D” Caleb my son he’s so proud and happy look at him

He’s been working on it so he can protect his friends I’m crying

Cad just makes me smile every time he speaks. Taliesin just knows how to cheer me up with every character he makes.

I can’t believe Caleb actually managed to make them a small “home” they can move just like he wanted I’m so proud of him

NOTT PLZ

Jester dragging Yasha in lol

Niiiice magic potion and magic red gem

bad magic manacles no

C: “This has great power.”

N: “What is it?”

C: “It’s a meat hook.”

300 bolts nice

Beau looking for something throwable

Those are creepy manacles 0/10

Caleb please stop being weird about fire YOU’RE SCARING ME

“It’s not my thing” hnnn

Beau honey please keep it for him he doesn’t need it right now

Fjord using Molly’s sword is good

DON’T EAT THE GODDAMN SWORD

PLEASE

Fjord’s actual identity is a bag of holding I’ve solved it

BEAU

BEAU NO

beau plz

Oh Jester… oh honey… I’m crying again

“Why didn’t you come?” IT’S FINE

I’m fine

it’s not fine

Bye Keg WE’LL MISS YOU

Letter for Nott I cry

“Oh, a note… It’s really badly written…” Nott plz

That letter I’M CRRRYYYYYING

“p.s. if anyone hurts you I will kill them” <3<3<3<3

Marisha’s face when she looked at the letter I’m crying

Ashley B is the best I miss her so much

Fjord keeping the glaive for Yasha. <3

Cad offering to help dye the bag pink xD

He and Jester are going to be good buddies

C: “I need to head east at some point.”

Cad: “What is east?”

C: “I don’t know. But I’d like to find out.”

—

B: “He makes dead people tea.”

F: “He makes what?!”

Hmmm okay so what’s making the illusion. the cart itself?

MAGIC ILLUSION CART that could be great

Stealth cart yessss

Happy (late) birthday, Ashley!

Cad should stay with the cart maybe?

They’re very touchy about the cart xD

Ophelia is classy as hell and I don’t trust her but I like her

Oooo smart to remember to bring the glaive Fjord good job

My boy with the Nat20 persuasion ayyyyyyy

No wait we’re keeping it for Yasha

Nice okay good she let them have it

Oh dang I forgot they were supposed to escort her back to Zadesh

“I think ‘hot fuck’ is accurate on a few levels” Beau continues to be THE disaster lesbian

Fjord is creeped out by Cad and I’m loving it

Oh no who’s coming…

Oh okay it’s just the carriages lol I was worried

Stealth check for giggles lol

Money says Beau will try to sleep with Ophelia before the trip is over

SAM NAMED THEM AFTER ABBA SONGS omg I’m crying

Oh oh oh a crick person. What were they called?

J: “Shady deals happening!”

Cad: “Oh is that what that is? I’ve never seen one before.”

Okay we’re in the slums this is where something is going to happen

Driving through slums in fancy carriages is bad

Frumpkin is gone sadly

Oooo Jester has a fancy new spell? Nice

“Next time you use it maybe it will have a purpose” xD harsh, Nott.

Oooo some Beau and Caleb talk! It’s been a few weeks. And yesss give us some Beau backstory!

“Why are you running around with criminals? And me?” Caleb you are just as much a criminal as the rest of them

Beau and Caleb’s friendship and their conversations are my fave

I SAW SPOILERS ABOUT WHAT’S ABOUT TO HAPPEN AND IM NOT OKAY

is his coat there

HIS COAT IS THERE

thank god

I’m not ready for this

Taliesin looks like he might cry, I’m gonna cry, everyone’s gonna cry

Letting Taliesin choose which card Jester pulled I’m weeping

the same card she pulled when they met I’m sobbing now

Fjord with Summer Dance I’m just. A wreck.

Yasha wakes up AT MOLLY’S GRAVE THIS ISN’T OKAY

“What’s going on” noPE MATT HOW DARE

Oh Yasha my dear oh god

“It happened again” stop please I beg you

She didn’t even get to help kill Lorenzo

Oh, oh, Yasha…

Oh fuck.

Oh. Oh, my heart.

She doesn’t even have her sword.

Caleb and Nott please don’t make me cry either

TALIESIN DONT

IM

I CANNOT

He’s gone.

He’s really, forever, never coming back, gone.

“I made the earth remember him. Something will be here.”

Like… like I had this vague hope that somehow he’d come back, ten, twenty episodes from now. Hell, maybe close to the end, he’d just come back. He’d return to life and maybe he wouldn’t remember at first, but they’d help remind him who he is. But no… he’s gone. Tal gave him the best goodbye he could.

C: “Come, everyone. Molly wanted us to keep living.”

B: “And make things better.”

I’m glad they all got to say goodbye but my god, none of them had ever die, because I can’t handle anything like this ever again.

Goodbye, Molly. For real this time.

“Those ideas I had have come to fruition” oh god what does that mean

Caleb worries me

New feat is cool but he still worries me

Ophelia and the Gentleman, huh?

PFFF SHE BIT HIM. kinky.

I like Ophelia more and more tbh

Cad just grins

also the Gentleman doesn’t have Cad’s blood that’s probably good

Hey @ the Gentleman don’t be a dick “that’s just the way of it” i’m gonna kick you

LOL Nott and the moisture thing again I’m cackling

How much money? I don’t remember

“mostly platinum” O_O

600 platinum NICE

250 gold

6250 alksjdlaksjflkjsdhfkjasdhg

+50 platinum for the loss of Molly HE WAS WORTH SO MUCH MORE HE WAS PRICELESS

Nott explaining “money” to Cad lol

“I can’t think of four things I’d like to get, that’s nice.”

A tea set, a skillet, more cups.

Fuck okay he’s gonna get his blood sigh

WHISPERRRSSSSS

Cad and his bugs alksjdlkas

I’m actually glad that Caleb lied about Molly… I’m not sure why but I’m just glad. Molly didn’t want to be tied to Lucien, even in death.

Metagaming pigeon lol

GO SEE PUMAT SOL I just want him to meet Cad desperately

Tal rolling to determine how Cad feels about milk lol

Tal wants to strangle Sam/Nott for their tragic lack of knowledge (r their total deception) about how whiskey is made lol

Introducing Cad to alcohol lol

Fjord is so baffled whenever people flirt with him I love it

“Here is to fucking making it work” <3

Beau I don’t think he wants to talk about it, darling

Alright Fjord needs a goddamn hug. Like a big one.

They think Jester is fine but guys she’s not fine keep an eye on her. This is how she copes but she’s gonna fall apart. There are cracks.

Caleb is right about her. She’s suffering.

Cad: “I’ve had six drinks. I’m in the biggest city I’ve ever been in. Everything tastes TERRIBLE.”

—

N: “Have you not thrown up yet?”

Cad: “Is that part of the—are you supposed to?”

—

Oh boy intruding Jester to alcohol too let her be sweet and innocent and not a useless drunk like all of you smh

Jester is going to have so much fun introducing Cad to pastries

“What’s a smut shop?” Oh lord.

C: “To that purple devil. To Mollymauk Tealeaf.”

B: “And now to our new… tea leaf…”

Travis just suggested shopping the world must be ending

Matt just keeps ducking his head and giggling I love him

Nott my dear you are not subtle

I’m so glad they all back together (minus Yasha—come back soon, Ashley!!). I missed these happy nights of goofiness.

And I’ll always miss you, Mollymauk.

“FOR MOLLY!”

Goblight lol

“Caduceus Clay, we are your destiny!!” xD Caleb

Oooo some downtime episodes coming! Some time to get to know Cad, that’ll be nice.

THEY EACH HAEV OVER 1000 GOLD

amazing

“Just one 10 hour Critical Role episode, please.” Someday, Liam, someday.

Good episode. Good, good episode.

[wuffielover]

Tonight’s Crit Role highlights (for me, personally, in no particular order) (SPOILERS BELOW):

Caleb just... booking it when his social anxiety kicked up. Relateable.

Does no one KEEP NOTES when they talk to people about stuff?? Maybe I’m spoiled since I have one person in my group who keeps notes RELIGIOUSLY and basically has a quest log/NPC tally that’s better than my DM one, but it seemed like they forgot half the stuff they talked to Bryce about last episode (where/when to meet them, the healing potions thing), c’mon guys.

The tiefling two were scarily in sync this episode, the syphilis joke and the pickles... lol

Molly’s just digging himself in more and more with the backstory lies... The party (and me) are pretty sure that was 90% bullshit (although no one insight checked him I believe??? C’mon y’all there could have been a kernel of truth in there and now we’ll never know!).

Fjord/Caleb moments (yes I’m shipping them don’t judge meeeee): Fjord offering all his incense to Caleb and Caleb trying to play it like it was super helpful when really it wasn’t going to help at all (he didn’t want to disappoint Fjord by telling him his gift was basically useless!). Fjord complimenting Caleb’s tactical skills after Caleb downplayed them! Them team-persuading the guard (even though they both rolled pretty bad...)! That’s all I recall off the top of my head but I’ll probably pick up a few more subtle things on the rewatch... 

Dad!Fjord “I’m not mad, just disappointed,” at the guard... also guaranteed that charm person is gonna come back to bite them, using it like that always does!

When Sam started with “I have a plan...” I had Scanlan flashbacks big time. Then it was a slightly terrible ridiculous plan so... still Scanlan, yep.

I’m pretty sure Matt came up with a name for the ‘buffalo-type creatures’ JUST so the party would STOP HARPING ON THEM THEY’RE JUST FREAKIN’ LIVESTOCK!

Puns... PUNS. Sam laid it on as usual, but Marisha with the ‘canary in a gnoll mine’ was really the score of the evening.

LIAM REFERENCED MATILDA THE MUSICAL AND I LOVE THAT MUSICAL!! (”If you want to throw the hammer for your country...”) LIAM ILU PLATONICALLY OF COURSE BUT YOU’RE THE BEST!

Molly and Fjord simultaneously finishing off the last 2 hyenas and then clinking their weapons was pretty dope! 

Poor Caleb couldn’t hit for SHIT this fight...

Oh the frustration of having ONE ENEMY LEFT and NO ONE CAN HIT IT!! Heck even Nott only managed to finish it because she had advantage! 

Throwing in the woman screaming about her baby right at the end... low blow Matt, low blow. Nothing like luring your party deeper into danger when they’re already damaged and almost out of spells... (let’s see, Nott just has cantrips left but she’s a rogue so no biggie, Caleb has 1 2nd level and 2 1st levels I think, then he’s down to Fire Bolt as his damage-dealer, Fjord only has cantrips so Eldritch Blast, Jester has 1 2nd level slot left then she’s got Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead. That’s if I tallied up everyone’s spell usage right...)

Guest next week! Good ‘cuz Disaster Team is probably gonna need some backup...