#beau was just being beau and caleb grew because of it

[laurasbailey]

beau got a lot of shit from the fandom for constantly poking at caleb and questioning his motives in the first half of the campaign but honestly she should get a lot more credit for it (especially from caleb fans) bc it's her pushing that forced him to be honest which made him a better person in the end

[12pt-times-new-roman]

y'all I'm not fucking ready for this.

How many weeks in a row is this with no DDB sponsor?

Matt is dressed in Ruidus colors. fear

personally? I think it would be very funny if somebody replaced Liam's chair with one that's a foot shorter than everyone else's.

I'm fully expecting Ira to be a Garmellie/Artagan situation. This motherfucker is an archfey slumming it on Exandria and ancient god-killing wizard dilfs are his dive bar of choice.

Ira was around for at least one previous apogee solstice, but he was in the Feywild when it happened so he didn't get to see the true extent of is power.

"What do you think about the gods?" "I don't think about them." good answer, good answer

Aberrations and other "mythological creatures" born on solstices (even normal ones) are particularly powerful.

The circlet prevents Imogen from hearing the thoughts of people around her. It just eliminates that entirely. And with it goes most of the reasons she'd have to side with Ludinus and Otohan. Truly the peak of non-wizard mortal hubris, to consider killing the gods before looking for an item or a spell to solve your problem first

Sending to Keyleth from Imogen: "We're a couple hours out, to the southwest. Are we meeting up? Just going for it? Help?" "I'm gathering those of able-body who recovered from our last endeavor. I'll look for a tree. Let me know when you need the cavalry; our arrival isn't quiet."

"I go over and give Fearne a big hug." "Aww—" "I reach into her pocket." never change, Ashton

A ways out from the crater, the Bells Hells come upon a structure in the storm — the wood and stone wreckage of a skyship that carried a cathedral on it. It's mangled and burned; the brumestone has been scavenged. It looks recent, and the outer hull is covered in mounts for heavy armor, harpoons, and cannons, but it was brought down by battle on the deck, not by massive damage to the outer hull. The iconography indicates that it was from Vasselheim, possibly a Judicator ship.

jesus fucking christ. Matt could not say "DO NOT GO THROUGH WITH CRASHING THE SHIP" any more clearly.

if that dispel pulse is shutting down the automatons briefly, then maybe it's not actually intentional. maybe it's a by-product, an unintended consequence.

it never ceases to amaze me that without fail and across all of his characters, Travis manages to be both the voice of "fuck it we ball" and the person who slows down combat to calm players.

like, does CritRoleStats keep track of how many combat encounters each PC has started? bc Chetney has got to be up there with Imogen this campaign

this battle music has the same opening notes as the 2001 theme and now I can't hear anything else

The spellcaster has a +6 spell attack, but also cast hold person at 5th level and did 15 damage on a fire bolt, so they're most likely 9th level with a +2 spellcasting ability modifier.

Ashton rage build update: 2 on the d4 is the space build (portals!). they took the Crusher feat for their 8th level ASI. also, when the space build is active, they can use portals (either as a bonus action or as a result of hitting a creature or as a result of bringing a creature to 0 hp) to teleport to any space they can see within 30 or 60 feet of them.

As a reminder, shock flare is a reskin of arms of hadar, but it pushes creatures away instead of preventing them from taking reactions and deals lightning damage instead of necrotic.

Tal saying "five foot step" gave me hella flashbacks to Pathfinder 1e

"Well, I don't get to choose, do I? Let's just go with it." god fucking damnit. Ashton's rage abilities and how fucking random they are is so poetically and narratively intwined with the themes of this campaign, it's wild

it will never not amuse me that Matt, without fail, misunderstands the way the command spell works. it's super minor and not a big deal but as someone with a DM who's pretty on-top of it, it's very funny

Imogen gets pulled into a tent by a very quick and quiet force.

"Who are you, and why are you fighting the Vanguard?" "I've got friends coming in. Friends or enemies?" "I asked you first." "The question isn't why! It's 'are you fighting too'?" "Who are you with?" "

oh my god of fucking COURSE there are already infiltrators in here. of course there are. why wouldn't there be? Ryn didn't come here alone.

BEAUREGARD???

BEAUREGARD!!!!

y'all you have no fucking idea how excited I am——

"He can go say hi to the rest of his friends we've put there [in jail]." how fucking many of the Cerberus Assembly are in jail now? we know Trent is in there but who else?

CALEB!!!! blorbo!!!

"So. What's the play here, Beauregard?"

They're both friends to the Verity, and they've worked with Ryn before. They came here with her, trying to do a recon mission before she was taken.

The Children of Malice are a front for the Ruby Vanguard.

Caleb and Beau saw the other skyship go down. It was from Vasselheim. The Vanguard struck the skyship from the sky at Ludinus' request, though Caleb hasn't seen any sign of Ludinus being in the crater for many days. But the perpetual dispel pulse was intentionally installed.

Caleb, Beau, and Ryn were all on the Shadowfell team — they were able to damage the key, but unable to completely destroy it.

Caleb refers to Ludinus as the most powerful of the assembly, "the one who could topple it all" if he goes down. He and Beau came here alone;

The entire site is illusion-proofed, there's a dispel wave every minute. There are also mage-hunter golems here, which we've only ever heard of existing inside the Heirloom Sphere. I am forcibly reminded of the fact that Ludinus Da'leth is aware of the Happy Fun Ball.

"The absolute, absurd amount of muscles she has—" "Like Marisha?" *raised eyebrow* Matthew. (fuckin' simp (affectionate))

Ludinus has been reverse-engineering Aeorian technology and using distilled dunamis energy to power it, with multiple mesh-like power sources. He's "obsessed" with divinity and appears to be "counting on opposition, which makes [Beau] uneasy."

"What's dunabis?" "...there isn't time to lecture. It's a very obtuse form of magic that exists between the fabric of all other forms of power. It's one of the oldest and most fundamental forces within Exandria and beyond. It can alter time, space, probability, entropy — it is dangerous in the wrong hands, and unfortunately, a very strong source of it has been in the hands of Ludinus and the Assembly for some time." The 'very strong source' is presumably the beacon, which Ludinus has had since 835 PD.

The Cobalt Soul has been trying to nail down Ludinus for a long time, but "he's always one step ahead."

Caleb specifically refers to dunamis as chaotic, referencing Ashton.

Ludinus has apparently been doing this outside of the Assembly. Caleb's contact in the Assembly (Astrid, presumably) notes that even the rest of the Assembly is afraid to get involved in Ludinus' plans.

Halas, Trent, and "Bendathar" are in Beau's list of archmages they've fucked up.

Hey! Beau knows the Ashari! that's cool. She also knows Ira and his history of designing the keys.

There are dozens of mirrors and hook-like spires facing toward the key itself. Everything is reinforced with a massive amount of residuum — the device, the walls of the excavation site, and everything beyond. "An all-out assault would be far too dangerous." Caleb gives a sending stone to Chetney, who gives it to Laudna, under the assumption that the groups are going to split up to cover more ground.

given the fact that the solstice didn't actually happen this episode and that the Mighty Nein and the Crown Keepers are now attached to this, I feel like my "PFS2 special scenario" theory has some more merit

Beau disappears, Caleb goes invisible (they both start to circle around), and the Bells Hells start to descend the crater.

also, last minute update: Fearne would have flirted incessantly with both Beau and Caleb.

threads that have connected in this episode:

Missing residuum shipments: the malleus key and its surroundings are reinforced with residuum. that's a massive amount; it's possible that Trent's supply of residuum, the stuff the Nameless Ones stole, and the stuff the Paragon's Call were trafficking were probably all going here.

The Cobalt Soul and the Cerberus Assembly: It takes a long, long time to dismantle political systems. The Cobalt Soul has apparently imprisoned more Assembly members than just Trent.

Out-of-the-blue rolls: Those random rolls Matt had Marisha and Liam make were indeed rolls for the Shadowfell expedition that Beau, Caleb, and Ryn were involved with. They rolled shitty, so the Shadowfell key wasn't entirely destroyed, but was damaged.

[c-kiddo]

one of my fave things about cr2 i think is that tmn as characters are impossible to separate from their setting, wildemount . like its intrinsically part of all of them. beau and caleb want to try their bests to cut out the corruption in the empire despite knowing its deep-rooted, because they grew up there. veths from the empire too but from a smaller farming community, she's less connected to the government or politics in that way but her being from that town that was destroyed in the war is what makes esseks actions so severely hurt her. yasha sleeps on the floor for comfort and eats odd things because she's been nomadic her entire life. she recognises the big weird lumbering beasts they see in the wastes and just shrugs them off. jester and fjord are always relieved to see the menagerie coast again. jester has drawn that ocean view from her bedroom window so many times, she recommends shops and foods from nicodranas, and fjord worships the sea he grew up besides and worked on. caduceus listens to beau and caleb because he's from the north, outside of the empire, and trusts they understand the complicated political aspects more than he does. in exchange he shares his tea and food from home with them all, and when he's having winter clothes made he brings fabric from home as an example - his family have specific fabrics and patterns they pass down. his tea is only grown in the grove, his staff is from there, grew there with him. and his armour! and lichen! he carries his home with him everywhere. theyre all so rooted in the continent and i love that

[blorbologist]

📂📂📂

Three please!

Order up!

You know, we don't exactly know from where in Wildemount Sylas, Delilah and Ripley are from - or if they're even Wildemount natives at all and didn't just migrate there independently as adults for the ethically dubious work opportunities. None have a Zemnian accent, so I doubt any of the three are from that cultural group. The Truskan Vale (area of origin of Beau and Tary) and Marrow Valley (where Veth is from + where the M9 formed and had their first adventures) seem likely culprits. The reason I'm underlining this is because Caleb, Astrid and Eadwulf, all Zemnian, are single children (which is unusual), while Beau, Tary and Veth have siblings. So if any of these nasties are from Wildemount, and not hiding a Zemnian accent, they likely have (or had) siblings back at home. Can you imagine Percy on a vacation and running into someone with Ripley's eyes or Delilah's smile? Likelyhood is low given they'd likely be rural, but! You never know. (AU where Ripley is Caleb's aunt worth anything?)

I don't think we as a fandom poke at the parallels between Tary and Beau enough! Especially given they both grew up in the same neck of the woods, and with parents of high social standing and relatively new money. What I mean is: Beau absolutely heard about Tary growing up. She 100% heard of this unworthy son turned adventurer and hero and author and friend to many, and maybe she wondered if an unworthy daughter could do the same. I doubt Thoreau would have bought any of the Darrington books, but Beau could have either stolen some copies or read them once she was taken by the Soul. I think they'd get along, in a weird way no one expects that puts off everyone initially. (He reminds her a bit of Caleb and Jester, she'd remind him of Percy)

I think Percy might have a smidge of bias against Wildemount people in positions of authority. As I've pointed out above: Ripley and Delilah (and Sylas) were from Wildemount as far as he knows, and Tary's father was certainly an asshole too. Dwendal refused to send forces to help face Vecna. If he hears about Caleb and Beau's respective trials against their abusers? Oh, oh that would not go well. I can see him being a smidge wary of high-status Dwendalian folk he's dealing with for diplomatic reasons. Good thing Vex is more involved in politics than he is - and she can be perfectly shrewd and petty in her own right <3 I hope Whitestone withdrawing much trade after news of Trent and Zenoth's abuses came to light put pressure on Rexxentrum and the crown to handle this shit. (And I'm sure Ludinus' whole deal is helping a lot)

SEND ME A 📂 FOR A RANDOM HC

[echoes-lighthouse]

My primary f/os ranked on how much they care when I infodump about online (and academia) discourse*:

1. Jester: is absolutely here for the gossip and the self-reflection, wants to know all the details (due to fantasy setting, this is 100% academia discourse and she also gets it from Beau and Caleb and then dishes to me)

2. Shigaraki: mostly just gets really upset when something makes me mad, but also enjoys the fighting and discourse when I’m dramatically retelling it and not personally invested

3. Zero: has a lot of opinions and gets pretty wound up about all of it, but we get to yell together and that’s a good time, and we really enjoy getting down to the bottom of the internet discourse and what’s really being debated

4. Jonah: cares about the academia debates but not the internet discourse because he’s openly classist and shames me for being interested in the personal aspects of the political (but does deeply enjoy the philosophical debates if I tell him about discourse in a more abstract way)

5. Dirk: he does care a lot but a lot of the internet discourse is stuff he finds actively triggering so we don’t talk about it a LOT but also he can get in a mood where he really wants to hear about it and talk about it

6. Val: she’s just not very interested in that kind of stuff, she’ll go to bat for her school library when she has to, and she’ll support her students, but when it comes to the nitty-gritty of identity politics and university drama she just doesn’t care

7. Toshinori: it makes him really bummed out and even though I’m excited about it he just gets stressed and feels like he has to Solve It All so I’ve learned to infodump about other things instead

*one of my special interests is online and fandom communities, and one of the consequences of that is that I get really interested in internet discourse and how it works: I try not to actually involve myself in the discourse so I compensate by spending a LOT of time rambling to my irl partner and friends about what I think is interesting. Also, as a person who grew up in a University community, academia discourse runs very similarly to internet discourse so I’m just combining them since a lot of my s/is are University professors or students :P

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Nineteen things I noted about CR2E125 “The Neverending Day” and the Talks Machina about it :

The Mighty Nein basically asked Yussa “Hey Yussa, do you want to come with us on in the place where magic is the most-fucked up thing ever in a desperate attempt to thwart the plans of some ancient and powerful minds of Aeor long lost ?” and Yussa responded “Fuck no” (and I respect him for that)

my god, Halas thinks he is soooooooo EDGY. “Society is destined to crumble” God !! He’s insufferable. He would get along wonderfully with Trent Ickythong.

The cast, freaking OUT at the idea of going to Allura in Emon : “HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!” The cast, a second later, when they realized they are in the 2nd campaign and have different characters who know nothing about Emon : “I mean, cool. Whatever. ”

ALLURA AND KIMA !!!!! OH MY GOD I know I just saw them in TLOVM but still !!!!!!!!!!!! they’re so great

The Mighty Nein, basically asked Allura “Hey Allura, do you want to come with us on in the place where magic is the most-fucked up thing ever in a desperate attempt to thwart the plans of some ancient and powerful minds of Aeor long lost ?” and Allura responded “Fuck no” (and I respect her for that)

Only a natural 20 could have convinced Kima to give up her cool sword.

oh man. Every reference to Campaign 1, even thinly-veiled, like the one to the Slayer’s Take, is so wondrous

this is high fantasy : the corrupted guy who forced Beau to stay with the monks in exchange for payment has been arrested

I didn’t expect it to hit me that hard but… At the very beginning, when Beau was just meeting Dairon, she said “I don’t really believe in systems or being a part of them, let alone a system that takes down other systems. Seems almost hypocritical” and Dairon responded “Who knows. Maybe one day you’ll find the corruption inside our own”. And now !!! Because Dairon listened to her and believed her and did the investigation, it came true… Beau helped root out corruption in the group that is supposed to fight corruption.

“I guess you get used to… cruelty, being handed down as the norm.” FUCK, MARISHA !! I didn’t need to cry tonight !!

Beau grew up so much, and so did Dairon. They apologized for her earlier beliefs in the Kryn’s evilness, and now it’s Beau that’s reassuring Dairon… I was crying and feeling relieved. Is this what going to therapy feels like after ?

Travis loves Werther’s, and I am projected out of my body, back at the start of Campaign 3, when Sir Bertrand Bell appeared. Did he knew already back them ? that he was going to take this character back and make him an iconic old schmuck ?

SAM ‘I don’t like Luck and I will not use it except when it’s for messing with my friends when this cursed dagger gets too much’ RIEGEL, YOU LITTLE SHIT

Fjord : “Does anybody have a third item that they’re kind of eh about ?” Jester, who just got the Ring of Fire Resistance as a gift from Fjord : “I mean, I’ve got this Ring of Fire Resistance…” Fjord, amazed and shamed : “Ooo-kayyyy !”

Beau’s list of Things To Do on Her First Date With Yasha : 1) Fight some cat ninjas, 2) profit ????!

“A city street made of teeth as it begins to devour your family from beneath” MATTHEW

more eyes ??????? on Caleb and Beau ?????? oh no.

Travis, on discovering music from the 70’s for the first time, very much not lying : “There’s also this band called Fleetwood Mac ? They’re not bad !!” (Laura made him listen to it and I thank her, as a Fleetwood Mac huge fan)

Awwwww Travis talking about Fjord’s confession to Jester and the kiss and the progression of the relationship was so great !! I love when the Baileyhams are on Talks together, they’re very silly and awesome

[essekknits]

We don’t talk nearly enough about Caleb and Yasha together.

Just the two of them, sitting together in quiet, not having to say much.

The two of them being the only ones in the group to truly, deeply understand the kind of pain and regret they face. Relating to one another in the mirror they are to one another. Finding a way to help make each other better.

Caleb finding Yasha books in Celestial, nice books, soft books. Poetry. They speak Celestial with one another, occasionally, because Caleb knows how much it sucks to not have anyone to speak with in your native language.

Gardening together. Building stuff with hands they always believed can only destroy. Yasha grew up in a barren land, while Caleb grew up on a farm, surrounded by fields and forests. Let him show her how to plant seeds in the ground and watch them grow. Let him rediscover the joy in it.

Caleb and Beau are siblings, we know that much, but Caleb and Yasha’s bond is just as strong. They are family forged in blood and pain and joy and discovery. The destroyers who became nurturers.

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

A prompt, if you’re interested: Marion reacts to something she didn’t know before about Fjord’s upbringing? Something he’s never experienced before, perhaps? I’m not sure I just think that dynamic could be really interesting, and also very cute.

Hope this can take your mind somewhere else for a little bit -ghost

tw- implied child abuse (I went the more cute than dramatic route here, but now I am thinking up some deliciously angsty ideas.)

Marion watches her daughter with a soft smile, sipping her coffee delicately. Jester is carrying her own daughter around on her shoulders, showing the wide eyed toddler all of the fancy Winter's Crest decorations in the Chateau.

"May I sit?" Marion looks up to see Fjord standing behind the empty chair beside her. She smiles and nods her consent. "Thank you for inviting us, Marion. It's always great to stay here."

Marion pats his hand, "You're family, Fjord, no thanks is needed. All I need is some quality time with my granddaughter."

Fjord smiles, looking over at his wife and child, "How long until they find the candy table?"

"I wager less than three minutes," Marion sips her drink. "When Jester was little, the whole staff here would make a game of hiding little presents around the building for her to find. Whoever's she found last won a very expensive bottle of alcohol." Marion chuckles at the memory, "She always was a curious child, getting into all sorts of trouble. I only hope your little one doesn't do the same."

Fjord smiles, "I hope so too, the Nein Heroz already has enough chaos, we don't need a toddler running around causing havoc." The two of them share a smile as Fjord leans back in his chair, looking around the room in something like wonder. "Marion, when Jester was little, you did this all the time? Celebrate holidays, I mean?"

Marion gives him an odd look, "Of course. Not just when Jester was little though, we've always celebrated Winter's Crest together. Why do you ask?"

Fjord shrugs, picking at his tusk in what Marion has come to learn is a nervous habit. "I've just never...never really celebrated it before, or anything like this before. We did Barren Eve with Caleb and Beau the last few years, but this feels different. We didn't do things like this in the orphanage."

"Oh." Marion lays a hand on Fjord's wrist. Jester hasn't told her much about her husband's upbringing, but she's been able to put things together from context. She knows he was raised at an orphanage, treated awfully because of his heritage, and that the orphanage had some ties to the Clasp. She's put two and two together from that. "You know that that's...not normal right?" She asks gently.

Fjord looks down and nods, "Becoming a father has made me realize a lot of things about how I grew up weren't normal. I would never dream of laying a hand on my daughter, and yet people did that to me and to the other kids." He shakes his head, "The thought makes me sick."

"Me as well," Marion assures him. "I'm glad you got out of there and I'm glad you found Jester, if only so you can be part of my family." She winks, letting him know she's joking. "Really, Fjord, you are a Lavorre now and Lavorres tend to celebrate holidays with the biggest most ostentatious parties you can even imagine."

Fjord smiles, "I really like being a Lavorre. Much better than being a Stone."

Marion rises, placing a hand on his shoulder as she kisses his head, "I'm very glad to hear that. I'm going to go find my granddaughter, I've yet to receive a hug from her today."

Fjord smiles as he watches her leave, reaching up to touch where she kissed him. Huh. He never had a mom before, guess that's something to get used to too.

[bardicbird]

gender/pronoun hcs for the mighty nein + essek because i am legally obligated to hit every character w/ my queerification beam

caleb - was born a guy and is comfortable being called a guy and using he/him but someone asks him if he’s a man and he’s like “uhh????? sure? maybe?” has that very Neurodivergent connection to gender where he doesn’t really understand the purpose or practicality of it so he just. doesn’t think about it. if you reallyyyy made him think abt it he’d probably say he/they pronouns are fine.

fjord - transgender babeyyyy. he transitioned somewhere around the time where he chilled w/ vandren a lot, and vandren was very supportive. fjord was the kinda kid who grew up aggressively not thinking about gender until someone went ‘hey if you want to be perceived as a boy that much than you probably are one’ and he went ‘oh . oh fuck.’ uses he/him !

beau - 100% nonbinary lesbian. definitely has that ‘i grew up in a household that forced rigid femininity on me so now I’m uncomfortable with it’ vibe. pretty much cool with all pronouns and will just kind of. shrug if you ask, but there are definitely situations where she does not want people to refer to her as a woman (especially around strangers or male authority figures). she’s totally cool with the nein using she/he/they .

yasha - guess what it’s another nonbinary lesbian. yasha has kinda just. demigirl vibes. where she’s fine being called a woman but she just doesn’t super see a point in connecting to any femininity or feelings of womanhood. views her gender similarly to caleb but in the girl way ! i think she would use she/they :]

veth - i mean., if you give me a whole trans allegory backstory I’m going to hc her as trans 😌 no one in the nein is cishet. probably transitioned pretty early in her life , before all the goblin shit went down, and probably even before she met yeza. uses she/her !

jester - trans girl jester !!! i also hc marion as not-totally-cis so she definitely had a supportive household growing up, and probably transitioned very early. even picked out a new name with her mom ! i think jester would just have a lot of fun with gender. she identifies solely as a girl, but looooves to fuck around with neopronouns and different expressions of her identity. she would probably go by she/her as well as just. a whole list of neopronouns that i can’t think of right now. maybe some themed around cute creatures and sweets :]

mollymauk - genderfluid legend. his gender is literally just ‘fuck around find out’. he is every gender at once, and likes to express this in many different ways. doesn’t give a fuck about pronouns: he uses all of them. and he will absolutely refer to himself as a man and a woman in the same sentence to confuse people. i don’t particularly think molly would be okay with it/its but he’d definitely be cool with other neopronouns ! xe/xir definitely comes to mind with him.

caduceus - gender??? we don’t know her. cad’s just vibing. pretty agender as things go but doesn’t use labels. everyone sort of assumes he just goes by he/him and he doesn’t bother to correct them because i mean. they’re not technically wrong; he just likes other pronouns as well. he would definitely call himself a man casually and then take a solid minute to laugh at himself because ‘oh my god that sounds so silly’. would mostly go by he/they but wouldn’t mind a she thrown in there from time to time !

essek - there is no way this floating dysphoria hoodie of a man is cis. i hc him as transmasc ! which creates some.. interesting connotations in terms of drow tradition. i’d like to think that that’s part of the reason why he keeps his hair short? bc traditionally drow men have long hair and when essek came out he was just like ‘ugh fuck this I’m not growing my hair out thats too much work’. i think he’d primarily use he/him but would be pleasantly surprised at an occasional they.

[redjennies]

when you say Beau and Caleb have extreme only child syndrome wdym?

I mean it presents different because Caleb's dead parents loved him and Beau's living parents didn't love her, but I think their personalities are both in line with people who had the undivided attention of both their (still married) parents whether that attention was positive or negative.

for instance, I've talked before that the reason I think Caleb and Beau come into conflict so much, especially early in the campaign, is that on some level Caleb deeply feels like he's a Special Boy who the rules don't apply to, including the rules of reality and erasing his own grief and shame if he can just be special enough. Beau, on the other hand, desperately wants to be special and in a very fucked up way was special to her parents until she was an adult and was more or less replaced but that specialness meant the rules were always applied to her so she makes her own rules, a personal code of conduct, and gets irritated when others aren't listening to her or following her rules and that's usually Caleb for aforementioned reasons.

it's hard to explain without getting into a full analysis of comparing and contrasting every single member of The Mighty Nein's personal backstories, but I do think it's there on some level in the characters. you can compare it to a character like Jester who has the stereotypical Only Child traits of being bratty and spoiled but her complicated relationship with her mother and father figure Artagan along with her biological father being completely absent from her life make her less argumentative than Caleb and Beau or contrast it to two characters like Fjord and Yasha who don't have any siblings that we or even they know of but still grew up in group settings with a lot of other children (or most likely did in Yasha's case) and spent most of their life feeling entirely un-special and ended up being chosen by Literal Gods through their actions and perserverence.

idk Caleb and Beau have always felt like two sides of the same coin to me and part of that is likely regarding how they were raised. it's also interesting that Caleb's endgame involved rejecting his former ambitions and Beau's ended with accepting hers.

[nellasbookplanet]

To your post on people finding the M9 campaign disappointing, as someone who hated the ending I agree with almost all your points. I really did want to end with having seen them all settle into their places. However your point of a continuation after fighting Lucian feeling cheap is the exact opposite of how I feel. To me, as it stands the ending feels cheap. Molly as a character was only around for 26 of 141 episodes. I fundamentally don’t believe that he had as strong of an affect on 1/2

the M9 as he did on the fandom. Yes he helped shape who they are as people at the beginning, but then they all (and the narrative) grew on from that and developed on their own, so for him to be forced back into the narrative as the big bad of the campaign felt cheap. If they would have continued on for a bit more and had time to show individual characters on their paths of the journey I would have been satisfied with the ending. 2/2

Well, anon, I simply don't agree.

Back when Molly first died, when I was very new to the show and only just dipping my toes into the tag, I vaguely remember coming across this post jokingly saying how bad it is when your group is made up of people only in it for themselves with only a chaotic asshole as your moral compass, and then that chaotic asshole dies (trying to save you, no less).

Molly’s death, and the Iron Shepherd's arc as a whole, fundamentally changed t9's outlook. Before then they did the occassional good deed when the opportunity presented itself (saving Kiri, helping that family in Hupperdook), but mainly they were mercenaries working for whoever paid them while secretly having their own agendas. There wasn't much real loyalty, and frequent inter-group clashes due to lack of trust (Fjord holding a sword to Caleb, Nott attempting to steal from the group, Molly charming people left and right and only divulging his past when put under zone of truth, Beau forcing the truth out of Caleb, I could go on). Molly was no exception; he was an asshole with a poor understanding of boundaries and no qualms about scamming people, but he still had a very clear moral sense that a lot of the group lacked. He doesn’t leave people behind. He leaves things better than he found them. He’s here to have a good time but not to cause harm.

The Iron Shepherd's was a turning point. It was when they stopped being colleagues and decided to risk their lives for each other, learned the very real consequences of said risks in losing Molly, and then decided to keep going anyway. We saw this very clearly in Caleb, who nearly bolted when the going got rough, but once he'd made the desicion to stay there was devotion. After this, most of what they do is for each other. They go to the ocean for Fjord. Travel to Xhorhas for Veth. Fight Obann for Yasha. Stop the war for Caleb and Beau, because the Empire is their home. Hold travelercon for Jester. Save Caduceus' home. Fight Trent for Caleb and their families. They are no longer just mercenaries, they are family. And Molly as a person might not have caused this, but the circumstamces of his death combined with his personal philosophies certainly kickstarted it.

It is true they all grew and developed on their own, anon, but Molly was the jumping off point. He was the one who told Beau leave things better than you found them, which she only realized the truth of post his death and made her own. As she mentioned after t9 disasterously stole their first pirate ship (and isn't hilarious that they’ve had multiple pirate ships), one moment of clarity isn't enough. It was their own choice and their own work to grow and develop.

But they were all very clearly aware of the influence Molly had on them. Beau getting a tattoo in his honor (and keeping a piece of his clothing, which she then uses to beat up Lucien in the finale). Jester keeping his tarot cards, finishing them with her own illustrations and teaching herself to use them and then turning them against Lucien. Caleb designing the tower with Molly as a clear visual inspiration (turning also that against Lucien), and kissing Essek on the forehead and urging him to be better as a clear callback to Molly. Yasha keeping the clover he gave her, only to gift it to Lucien in hope of seeing a glimpse of her friend. Veth saying that the only choice they’ve ever consistenetly made is to take care of their friends. Molly’s ghost hangs over them till the end, when he is finally released in the awakening of Kingsley.

I also think there’s a point to be made of fandom reaction to Molly, especially as you brought up thinking he made a larger impression on fandom than on t9, anon. As with many popular characters, I’ve seen a consistent thread of bitterness toward Molly from certain corners of fandom (I have noticed the same thing with Caleb). People thought he was taking up too much space in the tag compared to their faves, who they considered more "deserving" of the attention. They wanted everyone else to stop talking about him and making things about him now that he was dead and, supposedly, irrelevant. When he then ended up not only coming back but taking center stage in the culminating arc, said people got upset that everyone who had refused to forget him had been vindicated. I believe they tried so hard to convince themselves that Molly didn’t matter and that everyone should move on that they turned a blind eye to the actual long term influences he had on t9 and the campaign as a whole.

[demigoddessqueens]

Hey there! Vampire anon here and I’m back on my bullshit! How about Vox Machina, the Mighty Nein and the Bells Hells all reacting to their Vampire!Reader s/o introducing them into the secret society of vampires that exists in the shadows of most cultivated cities around the world, and the reader being so old and so powerful that upon introduction the respective groups that the reader brings with them are immediately treated with the utmost respect by every vampire they meet? Pls and thx, bye!

Liking this, loving this. Y/n channeling their inner Vlad Dracula Tepes (perhaps tad less murder-y 😝)

Vox Machina

Immediately, they’re floored. First off, they grew to trust you. And now you’re the top dog of a vampire hierarchy?? Not that they’re complaining if they’re the affectionate favorites of a powerful supernatural leader. Percy almost laughs in irony given his past realizations, but the rest of them are still getting used to it. Plus, it pays off given all the indulgences you dote on them and the extra protection pays off in the long run

The Mighty Nein

At first, this sudden revelation seems right out of a story book (looking at you Jester 👀), and then Beau is floored at all of the connections this hierarchy indirectly had to the Cobalt Soul. Caleb is the most hesitant of the group to come around at first (bad memories from Trent), but when he sees and realizes that your motives have been nothing like THAT, he rebuilds that trust with you. The rest of the group like to low key brag that they’re the lover of a badass secret organization leader

Bell’s Hells

Looks like Lord E needs to find a new group to do his tasks for him cause they got everything they need here. It was one thing for them to have some luxuries now and then, but it’s a whole new level when you freely give it because you just want to with them. First things first, Dorian here’s some hefty coin to bail out your brother cause we’d be sad if you left. Fearne, Ashton and Chetney are free to take whatever treasures their hearts’ desire. The rest just take it all in as much they can and savor the extra security that rarely came in their earlier life

[blorbologist]

Lost World for Beau?

24. Lost world.

South America has been host to so much weird shit. Just. So much weird shit in its fairly recent fossil record. Terror birds. Saber-toothed feline-mimic marsupial. Glyptodonts. Running crocodilians. Marine giant sloths. Tunnel-making giant ground sloths. Mountain climbing giant ground sloths. Just the weirdest fucking shit you can imagine - @ any dms liberally mine the prehistory of this continent for monster ideas it's absolutely insane.

Beau, it should be remembered, is a curious bastard. She hides it behind her tough-guy exterior, because she knows knowledge is power and if people know she wants to know they can use it against her. You know?

I like to think she grew up on adventure books - potentially similar ones Tary enjoyed, given their upper-class upbringings in Wildemount. Had some dreams of rescuing damsels in distress and being a dashing knight or a swashbuckler on the seas or an adventurer. It was a lot of escapism, when she was too small to outsmart or outpace those watching her. That she could be important and earn respect. Because nothing she did got her father's.

Actually? Scratch that - she absolutely fucking read Tarys books growing up. She'd never, ever admit it but she's a huge fan of The Deastok Mysteries. Shut up. Once, when she still hoped she could be what her father wanted, she begged him to pull some strings so she could meet him - Wildemount nobility and all. Lionel dismissed it as frivolous and not befitting his heir or a young lady.

So a lot of the adventures of the Mighty Nein really had her geeking out on the inside, but especially the mystery of who betrayed the Dynasty (it couldn't be Essek, that was too predictable, right? Right?) and anything done in the tropics (the whole pirate thing was a riot, and Rumblecusp too).

Eventually, when she's less prickly about her soft side, she shares the stories with Jester, Caleb and Yasha - the first two because she thinks they'll genuinely enjoy them and Yasha because she knows how much of her heart and hopes they really reveal. Yasha thumbs the pages reverently with her big hands.

I don't think Beau ever really retires from adventuring, really. She's always sticking her nose into some mystery or another, sniffing out the paper trails and testimonies to take down the Assembly, but, y'know. It's the Assembly, so a lot of this information is in places more dangerous than a desk drawer. So it's a fun outing with some of the Nein. And maybe she gets carried away, sometimes, and delves a little too deep, because the idea of knowledge unknown to anyone but her, knowledge she gets to share, it gets her pulse spiking.

[aeruthien]

We all joke about the 'bisexual maelstorm' comment and Caleb's many crushes, but there is also something really sad about it. It seems to me that Caleb has never learned how to differentiate between normal friendships and romantic/sexual relationships.

I've struggled myself with differentiating between actual attraction and just the giddiness of having a friend/someone you like to hang out with or even someone who scares/threatens you. So it could very well be the case that Caleb just skips 'friends' altogether. "You are making me feel something (good or bad) thus I am sexually/romantically attracted to you."

He started his sexual relationship with his first true friends because they were being tortured together. After escaping from the asylum he spends many years alone, and then has this codependent undefined relationship with Nott. When Jester treats him like a person, he immediately jumps to 'in love with' status, and his relationship with Essek started with mutual deception.

I think one of the reasons he grew so close to Beau out of all of the M9 is because it was immediately clear that she was not ever going to be interested in him. So their relationship was clearly put into a definitive category from the start, allowing him to be just her friend. And even that took a while.

Just to be sure, this is in no way intended to undermine those relationships, or to say that his love for them isn't real. Just that almost all of Caleb's relationships have the status 'it is complicated'.

[luckthebard]

Thinking about how much more (at least outwardly) confident Caleb was going to Rexxentrum and confronting Trent in 109-110 than he was in 85-89. It hadn’t seemed that long since then, but then I realized how much happened in-between:

Caleb, Nott, and Essek successfully deciphered Halas’s spell 

The party went to Beau’s home and confronted her abusive father

They all told Beau they didn’t want her to leave and how much she meant to them (this, to me, the start of them finally openly referring to each other as a family)

They defeated the gorgon and freed Caduceus’s family

They met and interacted with Cad’s family

Restored Veth to her halfling body (a huge feat of magic)

Revealed Essek’s treason and confronted him about it

Fjord’s past caught up with him and they watched him die (even though he got better)

Outward peace between the Dynasty and the Empire was achieved

Jester started reframing her relationship with the Traveler, post non-god reveal

The Mighty Nein destroyed the false god of Rumblecusp

And I think the difference in attitude is not just related to the fact that Caleb himself is more powerful (see: restoring Veth and destroying Vokodo) and grew more confident on his own, but also the nature of some of the personal struggles the party went through in the meantime. 

Everything with Beau’s dad and the group reacting to seeing his awfulness. Being around Caduceus’s giant, loving family. Almost losing Fjord. Supporting Jester through a personal crisis. A lot of what the group did between episodes 90 and 108 really solidified their connection to and care for each other. Caleb went to Rexxentrum in 109 not only more confident in himself, but probably the most confident he’d ever been in his support system. There’s a reason he finally felt ready to tell Jester and Caduceus about his parents, and it wasn’t just because they needed to know everything before confronting Trent. “Welcome Home,” indeed.

[primrose-path-of-dalliance]

jester began falling in love with caleb in episode 103.

not any earlier in my opinion, and not later, either.

there's two elements to why i believe e103 is the turning point.

(1) the first is caleb's actions and jester's responses to them during the night they all sleep by the waterfall—his support of her idea to sleep underwater, his conversation with her after her commune with artagan, and his casting of programmed illusion in the dome.

(2) the second is the way her behavior toward caleb pivots around e103. before e103 is a noticeably different beast to how she begins to treat him after e103—the attention she pays him, her efforts to hold more standout interactions with him, and a dramatic swell of emotion and thematic meaning in these scenes’ respective subtext.

the rumblecusp arc is the point in which jester’s character growth, and caleb’s efforts to unconditionally support her, really begin to shine. throughout the complex growing pains that jester and artagan's relationship was experiencing, the one person who truly takes a moment to offer her support without any agenda or judgment is caleb.

(e103, 1:22:55, bold mine)

CALEB: You okay over there?

JESTER: (tearful) Yeah, I'm fine. Just—I'm just drawing.

CALEB: Maybe didn't go as well as you were hoping?

JESTER: Um... In some ways it went better. But no.

CALEB: I can't speak for him. But you do have us.

JESTER: I know.

CALEB: So whatever you land on, Jester, we'll make it happen.

JESTER: (shaky laugh) I have to figure out what I want to land on.

CALEB: That is the, uh—sticky wicket, isn't it?

JESTER: Yeah. Everything's confusing.

CALEB: Maybe... Maybe we sleep on it, it'll make more sense in the morning.

JESTER: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Caleb.

CALEB: I didn't do anything.

jester confesses that her commune with artagan didn’t provide the answers she was hoping for—that he knew about the curse on the island—and caleb doesn’t remark on what that seems like. he deliberately avoids speculating on why artagan is doing these things because “he can’t speak for him.” he doesn’t assume anything about what she might choose to do and explicitly leaves that choice up to her. jester vents briefly about how difficult the choice is, and caleb offers her reassurance, a reminder that some time will make things clearer. he doesn’t suggest solutions.

unlike fjord or beau, caleb doesn’t ask her to voice outright whether artagan is being a good friend. he doesn’t continually question his character and imply any personal opinions to her or what he thinks she should do. instead, he asks whether she’s okay. he listens. and he offers unconditional support.

this is consistently the stance caleb takes in the rumblecusp arc. and it’s not discussed much, i think, exactly how monumental that was to jester.

(hold on, this is a long one.)

jester is a young woman who grew up sheltered and wants to define herself outside of that shelter. for her, this campaign has essentially been a coming-of-age journey (talks for e76-77, 14:12). she is deeply sensitive to whether or not she’s respected because she’s aware of how her personality and general lack of experience makes others think she’s naive, immature, or incapable (talks for e79, 31:51).

it’s also incredibly evident that her relationship with artagan is unique. in e105 (1:15:01), jester tells the m9, “he really got me through a lot when i was younger, you know? and he was all i had, really.” he was her best friend from childhood in a home where she spent most of her time hidden in a single room. when she was younger, the few times she left the chateau, she was bullied by other girls (e110, 3:34:59). her best friend, though? her best friend was a god. a god with an incredible sense of humor, an aggrandizing attitude, and adoring respect for a young girl in a difficult situation who had as wonderful a personality as him. in every way that matters, artagan’s friendship undoubtedly saved jester’s life.

and she is so, so aware of this. she cares for him deeply, trusts him unconditionally, and is determined to be there for the one person who had been there for her when no one else was, not even her mother.

the renegotiation of this friendship after artagan revealed his full identity was clearly extraordinarily difficult for jester. she was having to reevaluate her entire relationship with the being that pulled her through a childhood of isolation and misery, question his intentions with her and whether they could even remain friends at all. and this was amidst her arrival at a dangerous island with her other friends to help him clean up his mistakes.

asking her to make a judgment on artagan before she’s ready to do it on her own, while managing some high expectations at the same time—not only is it a lot of pressure, it’s frustrating and painful. jester did not want to judge artagan without giving him his fair due and a proper conversation. knowing that her new friends dislike her old friend, besides being hurt by it, distracted her. she had to both defend him outwardly and interrogate him internally. and if she tried to explain how important artagan is to her, a lot of vulnerability would’ve been necessary when she was trying to be a leader and seem competent and capable, instead of a child who needs patronizing guidance.

this latter point is exceptional. because jester lavorre is so vulnerable when it comes to how much she thinks her loved ones respect her and consider her a valuable, equal, and trustworthy individual. and it’s difficult to feel like you’re being valued and trusted when people are repeatedly questioning you about a person and a relationship that they don’t understand in a way that, despite genuine concern, comes across as them doubting your own judgment of one of the most intimate parts of your life.

in this precise moment in e103, caleb is the only person who acknowledges—to her in person, even—that he doesn't have any place in judging her relationship with artagan. that it’s not what she needs from him or anyone else. that he’s content waiting for her to reach a decision. that he will respect that decision.

and jester can believe him. caleb’s done nothing but remain consistent on this stance. he repeatedly supports her choices to run travelercon, trust artagan, and come to his aid.

when other party members question artagan's legitimacy, caleb is the one who almost always speaks up to support jester (some examples: e61, 30:43 / e77, 49:17 / e95, 1:09:17 and 1:15:24).

he actively and enthusiastically offers his magical talents to her to provide for the event preparations. he has a whole conversation with her in e91 (beginning 1:53:41) where he expresses his immense respect for her and her personality, explicitly validates her faith in artagan, and shows her a tangible example of how he wants to help her during the upcoming travelercon. when she suggests some ideas, despite their arguable silliness, caleb takes them at face value and openly admits his lack of expertise in this area (e91, 1:58:35).

when they first arrive at rumblecusp, he directly reassures jester about the ‘travelercon 3000’ banner she leaves on the wrong beach by mentioning that he can make her a new banner (e101, 48:18). once preparations begin in earnest, caleb expends spells very freely, including ones of higher-level, to produce whatever jester requests.

in e103, he hears out her idea of sleeping underwater and gives it equal consideration in spite of other party members trying to shoot it down. the first time she suggests it (36:23), caduceus comments against it and no other party member acknowledges her except for caleb, who agrees with her quietly while the others move on. the second time jester suggests it (46:08), veth comments against it and caleb steps in to openly agree that it’s a good idea, even after fjord and beau join veth in being dubious.

compare these active, consistent moments of support and validation from caleb to similarly active and consistent examples of the other attitudes that manifest during the rumblecusp arc, in contradiction to people’s apparent claims of trust (one such claim of trust: e95, 1:00:21).

plainly insulting artagan to jester as if it’s a given, such as fjord’s “he’s generally full of shit, right?” (e107, 49:42);

fjord, beau, and caduceus’s conversation about “not ruining jester’s big day,” yet distrusting artagan to the extent of planning to keep her from being alone with him, preparing to attack him should he try to sacrifice 200 people for some speculated unknown ritual and/or hurt jester, and discussing all of this behind jester’s back (e108, beginning 15:41);

caduceus’s said shift to distrust of artagan because of a semi-disturbing conversation that jester was equally a part of (e107, beginning 20:40);

and the discussion right before jester’s commune with artagan where beau questions if artagan sent them to rumblecusp knowing of the memory problems, without regard for their well-being (e103, 29:40).

the unfortunate assumption being made by these party members’ repeated questioning and protectiveness of jester is that she cannot be trusted to have good judgment. despite their familiarity with some of the context of her relationship with artagan (especially after e105), they disregard her repeatedly-expressed support of him. they indirectly disrespect her ability to judge for herself whether someone is dangerous to her or her friends. they don’t acknowledge jester’s own role in creating dubious situations and instead direct all their negative feelings and sense of fault to artagan, minimizing her agency.

the e108 conversation is a dense microcosm of how the party perpetrates these assumptions throughout the rumblecusp arc as a whole. without qualm, they discuss deliberately controlling jester’s time with artagan to ‘protect’ her and their willingness to kill the evil image they’ve constructed of him, and dodge jester directly asking them what they’re talking about—even though it is a known given that the m9 would defend her with their lives with or without any prior discussion. the purpose of holding this conversation isn’t to make sure that jester is safe. like caduceus near-explicitly says, it’s to “feel better knowing” that “anybody else was on board with this” (20:26 and 18:57)—to validate their unacknowledged distrust of jester’s judgment with each other, behind her back.

and as laura has said: jester, with her very high wisdom, tends to know what’s going on even if she acts like she doesn’t (talks for e79, 32:39).

in e103, when jester is crying because she’s found out that artagan did know about the island’s memory problems, caleb doesn’t show any sign of taking this as proof of artagan's ill intent. what he does instead: he offers compassion for her pain with zero judgment. he promises to support her, no matter what she ultimately decides to make of this information. these are offers of safety and trust, ones that jester desperately needed.

then—caleb creates a programmed illusion of the m9’s lives. and it’s beautiful.

in comparison to all the analysis prior, this moment is straightforward. jester is an artist. she paints, draws, and creates, and she loves doing it. moreover, she loves making art for other people. though she doesn’t get many chances to do so, the mural of a flowery meadow that she paints for yasha’s room in the xhorhaus is a perfect example. similarly, she enjoys the art she makes when defacing other people’s property—altered signage or statue of the platinum dragon painted in rainbow—in part because they’re gifts to the traveler. she loves making those she loves happy.

happiness and love to jester is overwhelmingly about emotional intimacy. i’ve talked about this to some degree in a previous post about jester’s jealousy. please refer there for in-depth explanation. in brief, though, she puts value on how deeply she knows a person; how often she’s been able to be there for them. this is the love she learned from her mother and from artagan, and how she continues to love once she’s older.

caleb’s arcane rendition of the m9′s lives floating around the inside of the dome is a display of exactly this kind of love. not only is it art crafted from his magic and imagination and love—it’s blatant evidence of how much he cares for every member of the party and where they’ve come from. he remembers their stories and hangs them in the air in hopes that it’ll help them resist the memory erasing. he moves the memory of yasha and zuala in a meadow over to yasha’s pillow-side so she can watch it until she falls asleep. he creates a memory for vilya of her, her husband, and her daughter, listening to and respecting the emotional gravity of what she’s confiding in them.

only a few minutes after jester’s disappointing commune with artagan and her conversation with caleb, she walks into the dome and sees this art. she laughs and stares in wonder at all the memories (e103, 1:46:08). when beau points out the humorous memories of fjord being attacked by turtles so they can all laugh, she tells caleb with equal awe and joy, “wow. this is amazing, caleb” (e103, 1:47:04).

...of course, as lovely and meaningful as these back-to-back moments were for jester, it's not quite evidence of her starting to fall in love with caleb around this time.

that’s where the following episodes come in.

[id: three screenshots of messages sent in a discord channel by the user “prim” (the op). all are timestamped to friday, august 28, 2020, the day after the live premiere of e107. the first has an additional timestamp of 12:53 PM, the second 1:03 PM, and the third 1:30 PM. they read:

honest to god though i don't know if it's just the shipper brain that is making me think laura is trying to roleplay jester beginning to reciprocate caleb's feelings [...]

like........ the golden dick hunt teasing is definitely on par with jester's past shenanigans, but the compliments have been Catching My Attention bc it's honestly not normal for jester to compliment caleb of her own volition like that, just as a one-on-one "i appreciate you" reassurance

and i'm thinking less about the spells from last night's episode (although how much jester was emphasizing the compliments made me go "awwwww") and more of the moments like jester telling caleb "that was impressive" after getting cad out of the tunnel with beau's help

but laura is absolutely a shipping troll with jester this campaign so i'm here like "I'M MAYBE 80% SURE I'M BEING FUCKED WITH BUT IT MAYBE HOLDS UP????" [...]

basically laura keeps doing things that make the alarm in my brain go off and i don't know if i'm picking up something legit or if i'm projecting my hopes, like the recent pattern of compliments from jester LOL

/end id.]

i’m not going to lie, if i try to list every single receipt like i otherwise prefer to do in these metas, i think we (and especially i) would all lose our minds. so while i’m about to provide a lot of citations, they genuinely are just a few possible examples that will mostly be within the dozen episodes after e103.

the more important detail that can be observed from this is that e103 is a turning point.

prior to e103, jester does not particularly go out of her way to interact with caleb. by and large, most of their direct interactions are either initiated by caleb or prompted by the context of a general party conversation. the majority of other moments that could be referred to as ‘widojest’ are of caleb’s evident feelings. beyond early campaign days, jester rarely teases caleb about sexual topics while insinuating things about her own sexual life at the same time.

after e103, laura and jester begin to go out of their way to interact with and intertwine jester’s time with caleb.

the rate of jester’s compliments and enthusiastic gratitude to caleb skyrocket (some examples: e104, 30:36 / e107, 16:49 and 1:11:28 and 1:12:15 and 3:10:39 / e110, 15:58 and 3:37:24 / e111, 36:15 and 38:41 and 50:58);

several mature jokes/flirtations she makes involve both caleb and herself (examples: e107, 1:16:17 / e110, 1:18:07 / e115, 1:52:53);

she deliberately and specifically engages caleb in full-blown interactions, such as the conversations during the tour of her childhood bedroom (e110, beginning 1:11:38), hanging out with him on the icebreaker ship (e112, beginning 3:45:29), and the reading of der katzenprinz (e115, beginning 1:52:43);

as well as the expansion of more extended ‘conversations’ like their motif of dancing (e108, 13:39 / e109, 2:54:14), their parental relationships (e110, 20:44 and 3:38:41 / e115′s der katzenprinz / e121, beginning 1:52:12), and polymorph shenanigans (examples: e107, beginning 2:58:41 / e117, beginning 1:13:55 / e118, 43:57).

thrown in are additional background details that further tie jester to caleb, such as her determination to recover caleb’s amulet after their defeat of vokodo (e106, 25:33), the knowing comments on his purchasing of paper (e109, 22:32 / e111, 1:25:49), her deliberate choice to ride whaleb during the avantika chase (e113, 2:32:28), her retrieval of caleb’s coat when he’s attempting to remove the necromantic emerald (e115, 1:30:56), and her deliberate reference to der katzenprinz to iver (e120, 3:05:14);

and simply everything about the tower. it’s another example of the art and creativity caleb produces with his magic to make his loved ones happy, which jester acknowledges at least twice (refer to the e111 compliments). contrarily, jester also makes note of the signs that this tower shows less love to caleb than she thinks he deserves, in keeping with her value of emotional intimacy (e115’s der katzenprinz / e122’s floor 8, room 1).

the reading of der katzenprinz in e115 is arguably the pinnacle of these examples. it’s intentionally initiated by jester. she both takes the step to visit caleb's room and indirectly requests him to read the story to her. laura’s implication that she remembered this subplot because of beau’s reading of a very romantic letter from yasha is particularly suggestive. the story itself incorporates many similar characters and themes that are present in jester’s backstory: the lonely, sheltered boy and his single working mom as jester and marion; the dubious cat prince who ultimately gives the boy freedom and confidence as artagan; and the deep love between the boy and his mother because of how they only have each other, which compels a powerful being to have compassion and thus set the boy free so that they can be together. very similar to both jester’s depth of relationship with her mother and her pleas on artagan’s behalf to the moonweaver’s celestial servant.

and the post-story conversation—caleb’s confiding of its importance to him because of his mother. jester’s open willingness to compare the cat prince to artagan, knowing that caleb respects their friendship and has treated artagan fairly. jester’s lingering, repeated looks toward caleb while smiling and holding her copy of der katzenprinz to her heart.

with all this dramatic expansion of the emotional and thematic intimacy between jester and caleb beginning to roll down the hill after e103—in brilliant contrast to their more muted, less reciprocal dynamic before this episode—e103 is more than likely the turning point of jester’s feelings. and based on the events and context, it was caused by the combined emotional appeal of caleb’s offer of unconditional support and his display of love for his family in the programmed illusion of memories.