#and i LOVE how the mighty nein stick to their guns

[helimir]

This sequence of episodes (Vergesson heist and its aftermath) are also a testament to the sheer determination of the mighty nein, both in the narrative and on a meta level.

When Trent shows up in Vergesson, Matt makes it clear that Ikithon wants to talk. He makes no actual attack on the PCs, and Matt openly expresses surprise when Caleb starts immediately casting offensive spells. They very easily could have been caught there, they only make it out because of Caleb’s nat 20 counterspell.

Then again in Nicodranas, Trent just wants to talk! He’s just curious! And he backs them into a corner that there really should be no way out of… but then they come up with a way. A crazy genius way that Matt could not have predicted.

In a situation where it would have been so easy to let the DM’s expectations combined with the mechanics of the situation guide them into a particular course of action… the mighty nein said ‘fuck that, it’s bad, we’re running’.

Ikithon’s manipulation and Matt’s signaling that a conversation is a viable story path is no match for Caleb’s abject fear and the Mighty Nein’s ride or die attitude. Caleb really said ‘this is the scariest man in the world and I’ll burn down anything including myself before I let him touch your families’ and the Mighty Nein said ‘we’re with you.’ This is the same party that walked across the continent to save part of their family, and it shows.

[utilitycaster]

Ooh, tipsy-to-drunk night! At the start of CR3 you did a very short-lived series (now that I’m thinking about it, may have only lasted a week?) on bad theories from the fandom. Have you gone in the tag since the ep, and if yes, any bad theories that stick out to you?

So...got to be real here, I'm both sticking hard to my guns of "criticism is not bad, please let people express emotions other than constant positivity or you will create a truly horrifying toxic missing stair fallacy space from hell," but like, also, this does mean I am trying to be much more thoughtful about when I decide to go Full Raging Bitch*. As such I've been trying to do a quiet eye roll and go off in the DMs rather than putting people on blast for random theories.

That said I did think it was super weird how many people were convinced that the attack on the Seat of Disdain would be Caleb and Essek. I mean, I've made my feelings on past PCs showing up in extended roles in C3 clear, and this includes C2 just as much as C1 even though I'd love to get separate Mighty Nein content in the form of one-shots and such. But even setting that aside...seems really clumsy and lacking in subtlety? Also can Caleb even openly defend dunamancy at this juncture? Feels purely like wishful thinking.

Were I to get a little bit spicy...how shall I put it. I don't think it's out of the question that Laudna gets resurrected in some capacity, though she may be changed (not just by reincarnate, potentially, but by the mechanics of Hollow One). However, it does seem weird how quiet it's been with regards to potential new Marisha characters...especially since it's also been real quiet with mourning for Laudna as an actual character and person in her own right vs. Laudna as Half of a Theorized Couple/Laudna as a Victim of the Whitestone Occupation With Vox Machina Ties/Laudna as an Excuse to Make This About Vax's Role as a Psychopomp Once Again. I mean. I outright said want her to stay dead and yet I still am attempting to draft a fic about her death instead of treating her as little more than a corpse for Imogen to cry over and kiss on the forehead. This is a GOLDEN opportunity where rampant speculation is not just sanctioned but encouraged! So I guess I'm saying actually we need some MORE weird theories directed at this. I want people to be calling race/class subclass in full.

*I get to call myself a raging bitch; strangers online do not.

[itcameuponamidnightqueer]

001 Critical Role. Not sure if you’re supposed to answer the whole list or specific questions so -

-Character I would marry

-Character I would be best friends with

-An unpopular opinion

-character I want to adopt or be adopted by

i’m going to answer all of these questions bc i love involved asks :) also like, no insult to any vox machina characters but my answers will probably be mighty nein heavy, i just feel like the cast really pounced on the opportunity to create and flesh out super complex characters the second time around

Favorite character: this is.....an impossible choice between jester and beau. but like, gun to my head, i have to choose? it’s jester, tbh. Least Favorite character: this is also a hard choice between vax or molly. i’ll say molly and give vax the leg up since we got him for longer. 5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): oh boy. jestergard, kimallura, yasha/jester (underrated!! should be written about more!!), shadowgast, and perc’ahlia are, begrudgingly, very good for each other. v honorable mention to beau and reani, i hope mica gets to come back someday Character I find most attractive: tie between beau and vex, there is some really good fanart out there Character I would marry: i mean, literally any of the women. Character I would be best friends with: also literally any of the women? but i feel like yasha and i would vibe pretty well. and definitely, definitely scanlan. a random thought: this is too broad for me to answer lol An unpopular opinion: molly/vax/any of the Sad Bois of either campaign? overrated and boring, all of that has been done before and they seem even more boring considering how fresh, new, and innovative almost all of the other characters feel. (jester? yasha? caduceus? revelations!! caleb? big yawn.) my canon OTP: i guess since they seem to be heading that way and they’re not NPCs, beau and yasha. i’m growing to appreciate them. Non-canon OTP: this should be obvious but i’ll say it anyway: the best blue girlfriends a show has ever produced, jestergard forever most badass character: honestly, and i don’t mean this as a copout: the owlbear. taliesin crafted him so well and so hilariously, he’s the most fun i’ve ever had with any of tal’s characters. nothing makes me giggle more than the repeated motif of “....i hide.” pairing I am not a fan of: at the risk of inviting any hate, i’ll just say that if jester had to end up with anyone, fjord is fine. character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): you know, even though i have my favorite/least favorite characters of the cast, i don’t think there are any individual character choices i’ve been mad about/disappointed by. i may not like certain PCs but the cast are certainly talented and authentic about playing them. clearly they’re all just good at sticking to the script :) favourite friendship: grog & kiki is real underrated, caleb & yasha are v sweet together. sometimes i don’t like how competitive beau and veth are with each other and sometimes i love it, and i have a real soft spot for the brjeaus. character I want to adopt or be adopted by:

vex and percy once they settle at the castle, or all of the mighty nein but only when they’re lounging at the xhorhaus (i miss the xhorhaus! i miss the dynasty and the bright queen and even hot boi essek). i just want to be around either party while they’re all there and actively being friends

fandom asks

[vethyourhalflingmother]

whenever you have free time: can you explain your opinions on what houses vox machina and the mighty nein are in? i 100% agree w gryffindor nott btw

I’d just like to start by clarifying that altho I do feel strongly about some of these opinions (& ive joked about them being unchangeable - which is not true, to be serious), that doesnt mean I don’t wanna hear y’all’s - do you agree w/ me on some & not the others? completely disagree? completely agree for different reasons? tell me (politely pls) & give me some of ur reasons! i think part of the intrigue of sorting our fav characters into hogwarts houses is that it tells us what we value in them & what traits of theirs stand out to us the most - and that subsequently makes it…. fairly subjective (also doesn’t help that the standards for each house are kind of……vague lol)

I expect all of ur essays on this v important question on my desk by 8 am monday morning

now onto answering the actual ask:

The Mighty Nein

Caleb - Ravenclaw; aside from the fact that he obviously values books & advancement of his own magical knowledge, he also seems to think through important decisions in a logical manner (ex. he spent a lot of time thinking about whether he & nott should stay w/ the rest of the mighty nein)

Fjord - Ravenclaw; again, besides the obvious, his interest in studying at the Soltryce Academy, he’s also really observant & intent on learning from those around him, given all the questions he’s asked Caleb & the way he keeps an eye on Jester’s divine magic

Molly - Hufflepuff; altho initially i had some mixed feelings about this, after giving it some thought, im actually most convinced of this one: as many have pointed out, he’s shaping up to be the Mom Friend & taliesin also says he has a moral code that he sticks to - i think being steadfast in the way youre gonna put good into the world (& in how u treat the evils & injustices) is very Hufflepuff  

Yasha - Slytherin; though I say this tentatively bc we haven’t seen a lot of her yet - she doesn’t seem like a traditional slytherin in a highly ambitions sense, but she does seem like to stick to her guns & prioritise herself when necessary (“I run into the woods”)   

Beau - Gryffindor; she strikes me as fight first, ask questions later kinda gal & going in guns blazing seems very Gryffindor to me - in addition, she also saved nott from that manticore, which struck me as reckless bravery consistent w/ gryffindors

Nott - Gryffindor; i spent some time thinking about this one after @matt-the-blind-cinnamon-roll gave some of their reasons for slotting nott as a hufflepuff - ultimately, I think nott’s a gryffindor despite the fact that she doesn’t consider herself brave is bc her actions speak louder than her words (“I cover Caleb’s body with my own” & “I kill the baby manticore”); the willingness to put urself at risk for the people u care about over and over even at ur own expense strikes me as a gryffindor trait (for better or worse, I might add - see my thoughts on Vax’ildammit)

Jester - look I……………………………..honestly don’t fuckin know. Hufflepuff? Slytherin? Idk ask me again in fifty episodes

Vox Machina

Percy - Ravenclaw; initially i had percy as a Slytherin but i think once he got over the whole demon revenge thing he actually turned out to be pretty Ravenclaw - I mean, he does invent things, and he’s not interested at all in being in charge of Whitestone (also what kind of fuckin nerd learns Celestial for the fun of it lmao)

Vex - Slytherin; Lady Vex’ahlia, Baroness of the Third House of Whitestone and Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt - she cares about the title & the money & with very good reason, i think - her ability to obtain what she wants & persevere through the tough times puts her in Slytherin (also - with trinket’s origin story - i think it takes some real fucking grit & confidence to dig urself out of that kind of situation on ur own)

Vax - Gryffindor; this one is a lot to unpack. @swiftbell & i have been arguing about this one on & off for awhile; she thinks Vax is a Hufflepuff (& she has good reason to). there’s a lot of debate about whether hogwarts house are based on who u are vs who u want to be/strive to be & while i think arguments based on the latter r fine, i tend to base mine on the former in this list bc its easier to see actions than try to parse out thought

so that being said, i think Vax is a gryffindor bc while he cares deeply about his found family, he doesn’t exactly place a high price on his own safety; he goes in first, he goes in stupidly, he almost gets himself killed a lot - that kind of drive toward self sacrifice, to me, falls under the reckless bravery of a gryffindor

(as I said to steph: a hufflepuff would die for their loved ones if they absolutely had to, but a gryffindor tends to look at it as one of their first choices - also vax reminds me a lot of sirius black but im gonna stop right here to avoid turning this post into a vax character analysis)

Grog - Gryffindor; grog doesn’t do much thinking, he just does (& im not saying all gryffindors don’t think - obviously many do (@ hermione granger)- but i do they’re the types of people most prone to falling into the trap of not thinking things thru) it’s almost like the opposite of vax’s problem except we’re not talking about vax anymore bc this isnt a vax character study

Keyleth - Gryffindor; i feel like im beating a dead horse here but kiki also doesn’t always think things through & is very prone to action; the difference between her brand of gryffindor as opposed to vax’s & grog’s is that her outcomes are a little more mixed bag

Pike - Hufflepuff; i think pike is a hufflepuff for a lot of the same reasons i think molly is… which is a little surprising so just bear with me a second; she’s very devoted to Sarenrae, which sets up her (mostly) clear perspective of the world and how she should exist & treat people in it; she’s less of a mom friend (altho she still has some of those qualities), and she’s as loyal to her own causes as she is to Vox Machina; she also tends to be very kind & fun-loving w/out being a pushover

Scanlan - im a huge fan of scanlan, which probably means i should have some momentous opinion here…………….but I don’t, I really don’t know - i think once i get to some key points in scanlan’s character development (which i think are coming up in the next like 15 episodes or something), i’ll have a clearer thought

Tiberius - im not sure i remember tiberius well enough to make a full judgment, but I would say Ravenclaw probably if i had to bc of his constant interest in intelligence & learning to be a better sorcerer

Tary - ive heard of him but i dont know him yet so tbd