#even on just beau and caleb

[revvethasmythh]

Beau & Widobrave (C2E59, C2E62, C2E68, C2E85)

[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

[pocketgalaxies]

beau and caleb butting heads so bad about what to do with essek...oof!

[essektheylyss]

I want to know where Athesias Uludan is. He is the only good-aligned member of the Assembly. He was boxed out of the Academy because the rest of the Assembly didn't trust him not to run his mouth. Is he dead. Is he in hiding in Nicodranas. Do the Nein know where two Cerberus Assembly archmages are but were well aware that one of them knows dogshit?

[incorrect-mighty-nein]

Jester: I JUST REALIZED WE DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT DINOSAURS SOUND LIKE! THEY COULDVE BEEN SPEAKING FLUENT ZEMNIAN FOR ALL WE KNOW!

Caleb: it’s too early for this shit

Beau: GUTEN MORGAN HERR PTERODACTYL!

Caleb: I regret everything

[dent-de-leon]

If Caleb gave Lucien a forehead kiss I think maybe he could have undoomed him from the narrative. Or perhaps broken through his control and reached Molly for a moment—

[shadowtraveled]

i know i’m constantly chewing drywall over shadowgast and it is because there’s so much to drive me insane there and i’m extremely fond of them and their batshit fire/mirror dynamic but if i even Think about essek’s induction to the mighty nein or his feelings toward and friendship with them i will lose my fucking mind

[helimir]

actually though. the Beauyasha is one of the best romantic conversations in all of critical role. it’s LONG which is good not in a bean-counting sense, but because it requires getting beyond rehearsed speeches or straightforward confessions; they really have to just talk to one another as characters. and when we see them together we can feel the chemistry and the history and see that they just get along! as people!

and they talk about their fears and their mistakes and their trauma, but also their relationships with other people (Caleb, Molly, the rest of the nein), how much they love dogs, how nervous they are… little details that sum up to the fullness of a relationship!

Beau’s planning of an evening that takes them into safety (when they’ve been constantly under threat!) and reminiscence (when the whole campaign and especially Yasha’s story has been an exploration of memory and history). The way that Caleb’s tower brings it to life with such love and gives Beau and Yasha both something to be surprised by and to laugh at, all in the security of a friend who loves them both fiercely.

“I wanna kiss you so bad” is THE BEST line in critical role for accomplishing the task of “get consent in this primarily audio format while also absolutely everyone at the table and in the audience can tell that these characters want to make out sloppy style this instant”

and that line is followed up by the all time banger: “Babe, I gotta handle these ninjas”

[nellasbookplanet]

An interesting aspect of Laudna and Imogen's relationship and how it has developed is the fact that they got together early in their campaign, long before either of them had any chance to work through their respective issues. Vax confessed his feelings for Keyleth early on (relatively so; c1 had been going for a while before it started streaming), but she explicitly turned him down at the time, and they didn't actually get together until she felt she was ready, later in the campaign. Percy and Vex didn't get together until after Percy had worked through his figurative and literal inner demons. Jester and Fjord didn't get together until he had moved away from Uk'otoa and his self-worth issues, and she from her romanticized ideas of romance. Yasha and Beau didn't become a couple until both of them had moved away from their self-destructive tendencies and Yasha had let go of Zuala and Beau of Jester. Caleb and Essek didn't get together until the epilogue, when Caleb finally let go of the past and embraced the future.

When Laudna and Imogen got together, Laudna was at one of her lowest points (and has since started digging), having just invited Delilah back in, and Imogen was (is) still struggling against the temptation of Predathos. While Imogen has since gone great strides in growing, Laudna has regressed, using her feelings for Imogen as an excuse to further give in to Delilah to protect her. She's too bogged down by her own self-worth issues to uphold a healthy relationship, and keeps hurting Imogen by hurting herself, not realizing how or why this upsets Imogen.

And I can't help but wonder, would Percy and Vex's relationship have been as destructive had they gotten together before or during the Briarwoods arc? Jester and Fjord if they got together during the pirates arc? Yasha and Beau if they got together before or just after Obann, when they were both self-destructing massively? Caleb and Essek if they got together while they were still low-key manipulating and honeypotting each other for information?

But even without the romance, Laudna and Imogen likely wouldn't have escaped the situation they're now in. They started out already kind of co-dependent, and remind me of Vax & Vex and Caleb & Nott in that way. But whereas the twins and Caleb and Nott's arcs had them learn to question each other and embrace love for other people rather than isolate themselves, Imogen and Laudna has only gotten more entrenched in each other's issues, and more unwilling to push each other to grow.

[revvethasmythh]

framing imogen and laudna's relationship as somehow "making queer history" due to *checks notes* sheer quantity of their screentime might be one of the most nonsensical claims i've ever seen, not the least because I have no idea how this "screentime" is being calculated. are we counting every time they'd ever spoken to each other? their general presence as queer people in a very long show? the number of episodes that they were in a relationship together? exclusively the moments between them that were romantic (which is almost entirely subjective)? and like, at the end of the day, i think there's nothing queer history making about the relationship that beau wiping her mouth to pick a phone call from caleb in the middle of eating out her wife doesn't blow out of the fucking water just on principle

[milquetoad]

bells hells suffers so deeply from not having a diplomat in the group i am so serious. c1 had percy and vex and eventually keyleth. c2 had fjord and occasionally caleb and even beau grew into it as an explicit part of her arc. the hells have a high charisma caster whose only two modes are ‘greymoral girlboss’ and ‘i just work here’ and an overly deferential soldier who speaks from the heart but cannot handle a spotlight. they have no one who can or even will speak in a way that endears them to ANYONE; they are constantly combative, belittling, and defensive. every time they meet anyone in any position of authority i get genuine second hand embarrassment because it’s like watching a group of high school freshman try to get the last word in an argument with a teacher. i wish eshteross had lived long enough to get them some fucking etiquette classes

[arabella-strange]

maybe if we EVER GET SOME PRIVATE ROOMS jfc is everybody gonna have to continue to play slumber party in tents with 8 separate beds and NO PRIVACY forever???

Spending my weekend manifesting Orym and Dorian kissing in the Chetney museum.

[gwendolynnderolo]

critical role ships as hozier songs

vax / keyleth : francesca

percy / vex : work song

pike / scanlan : foreigner's god

fjord / jester : nobody

beau / yasha : as it was

caleb / essek : from eden

imogen / laudna : NFWMB

orym / dorian : like real people do

ashton / fearne : dinner & diatribes

specific lyrics that i feel like represent the pairings under the cut!

vax / keyleth : francesca

how could you think, darling, i'd scare so easily?

my life was a storm, since i was born, how could i fear any hurricane?

if i could hold you for a minute, darling, i'd go through it again

it was too soon, when that part of you was ripped away

i would not change it each time, heaven is not fit to house a love like you and i

percy / vex : work song

when my time comes around, lay me gently in the cold dark earth, no grave can hold my body down, i'll crawl home to her

and i was burning up a fever, i didn't care much how long i lived

but i swear, i thought i dreamed her, she never asked me once about the wrong i did

if the lord don't forgive me, i'd still have my baby and my babe would have me

in the low lamplight, i was free, heaven and hell were words to me

pike / scanlan : foreigner's god

she moved with shameless wonder, the perfect creature rarely seen

her eyes look sharp and steady into the empty parts of me

wondering who i copy, mustering some tender charm

breaking if i try conveying, the broken love i make to her

fjord / jester : nobody

i'd be appalled if i saw you ever try to be a saint, i wouldn't fall for someone i thought couldn't misbehave

but i've had no love like your love from nobody

if i had the choice between hearing either noise, the excitement of a thousand, or the soothing of your voice

and on the other side, why should we deny the truth? we could have less to worry about, honey, i won't lie to you

beau / yasha : as it was

and in a few days i will be there, love, whatever here that's left of me is yours, just as it was

the lights were as bright as my baby, but your love was unmoved

tell me if, somehow, some of it remains, how long you would wait for me and how long i've been away

the shape that i'm in now, your shape in the doorway, make your good love known to me or just tell me about your day

and the nights were as dark as my baby, and half as beautiful too

caleb / essek : from eden

there's something tragic about you, something so magic about you, don't you agree?

honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago

innocence died screaming, honey, ask me, i should know

there's something broken about this, but i might be hoping about this

a rope in hand for your other man to hang from a tree

imogen / laudna : NFWMB

give your heart and soul to charity, cause the rest of you, the best of you, honey, belongs to me

ain't it a gentle sound, the rolling in the graves?

if i was born as a blackthorn tree, i'd wanna be felled by you, held by you, fuel the pyre of your enemies

ain't it the life of you, your lightning of the blaze?

orym / dorian : like real people do

i will not ask you where you came from, i will not ask and neither should you

i know that look, dear, eyes always seeking, was there in someone that dug long ago

honey, just put your sweet lips on my lips, we should just kiss like real people do

ashton / fearne : dinner & diatribes

i knew well from our first hookup, the look of mischief in your eyes

your friends are a fate that befell me, hell is the talking type, i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me what you'd do to me tonight

honey, i laugh when it sinks in, a pillar i am, upright

now that the evening is slowing, now that the end's in sight, honey, it's easier knowing what you'd do to me tonight

oh, let there be hotel complaints and grievances raised and that kind of love

[meadowsofmay]

i honestly love fjord so much. i do, i do very much love him. he is a gentle man, simple in his desire for family and place in the world. he wants to do things for his found family, he wants to protect them, to have power to do so, deeming himself useless the moment he lost his magic abilities — not realizing how him just being himself did so much for protection of those around him.

i think of it as one of the most adorable traits that fjord has — his unconscious need to see people. making sure everyone is seen and heard and their opinions are taken into account. he has always made sure that caleb spoke up even when caleb was deep inside his shell, not really tugging and pulling to force him out but just asking like it's normal, not making a huge deal. the thing is it might haven't been a huge deal for fjord, it might have been just who fjord is. it has been a huge deal for caleb, beaten and on the run and stripped of any dignity and voice. caleb didn't want to speak. fjord couldn't imagine him not to.

fjord always looked out for beau. like a found older brother, he taught her from a perspective she respected. he knew he could make a change in her — she felt seen and understood. fjord might have scolded but he didn't judge. he was on her side always while calling out her bullshit. beau respected that. she wanted to be like him, or at least to learn more from him. she was thrilled at the idea of becoming his first mate because it would give her an opportunity to be closer to him.

and i just want to point out how both caleb and beau both learn to see fjord, taking after him. how caleb had a reality check realizing the implications of fjord giving himself to avantika and that moment changing the whole course of their behavior and relationship both with each other and others. how beau learned to care for others and made sure to give back to fjord in form of honest worry and care for his well-being.

can we just appreciate fjord — who appreciated people for who they are because he was never appreciated for who he is before. because despite all of cruelty that was thrown towards him he saved his gentle heart. he is not weak for being kind, he is not weak for being hopeful. his biggest power has never been his magic but his ability to give people a chance, to wait.

i just love fjord so much and i want you all to love him too.

[dent-de-leon]

A lot of things about Lucien’s backstory make me want to cry, but at least with his parents gone, he’ll never be hurt by them again as Molly/Kingsley…

I just…don’t even know how the Nein would react to finding out what his own parents did to him. How would Caleb feel, who went through something so similar—yet who had a mother and father that truly loved him? Family is everything to him. The look in his eyes if he found out how much Tealeaf was abused by them as just a child—

Everyone was so protective of Beau when they faced her father. Thinking about Beau finding out that Molly’s own parents sold him to a hag in another life, how he was just seen as a part of a devil’s bargain too.

Yasha, who is so full of love and so fiercely protective—meeting these people who broke Molly’s spirit in another life, who betrayed him just like the Skyspear did to her. Yasha making sure they never have the chance to hurt him again.

[utilitycaster]

I was working on a significantly longer post, but I wanted to give a very high level summary of why I think the Mighty Nein are the mechanically best party and Bells Hells the weakest across the three main campaigns. I'm not sure the longer post will be helpful or effective, but if you are interested in seeing, let me know! I might also just post the first page or so which covers the three intro bullets here in much more depth.

Mechanically good is to an extent a subject measure but I believe that a good character build is either incredibly versatile (easily capable of most if not all of melee, ranged, and area of effect damage; healing capacity; buffing/debuffing; and tanking; as well as having significant prowess in at least one or two areas of out of combat utility, eg, transportation spells, highly valuable skills like charisma-based skills, navigation, or stealth, etc) OR a pinnacle of specialization (extraordinarily high damage output per turn/extremely high HP and AC tank). As you can see this is not limited to combat.

Party mechanics include composition; five very high damage output characters with no healing is not a good party, even they are individually good mechanically. A good party has a balance of the combat skills discussed above as well as the ability to find things out both magically (things like identify, scry, detect magic, legend lore, comprehend languages) and nonmagically (language proficiencies and skill proficiencies); ability to infiltrate both through stealth/small creatures and through social engineering/subterfuge; and ability to travel of their own power across long distances and planes).

Mechanics are situational: all rogues is good for a heist but not for open field combat against a horde of undead (hence my prioritization of versatility). In general, overlap/redundancy is good (two healers means you’re fine if one is down) but exact replication is not.

The Mighty Nein are able to do pretty much everything given that all characters but Yasha have at least one mental stat at or above 16 and they cover all three mental stats; the women of the party all have impressive physical stats; two clerics and a heavily support-based wizard plus a strong melee line plus a paladin multiclass plus a rogue covers all the combat skills. Caleb and both clerics have transportation spells (teleportation circle, teleport, word of recall, plane shift), Jester has Scry, and she and Caduceus both use Commune, covering forms of information gathering. Caleb has a familiar, both Veth and Beau are extremely good at stealth, and several party members have Polymorph should they need to infiltrate; nearly the entire party has Disguise Self as well. Given the heavy focus on versatility across the board, there are few if any D&D situations in which the Mighty Nein would not excel, despite having fewer magic items than either of the other parties for much if not all of their campaign. Ashley’s absences early on were noted, but Fjord and Beau held up the melee line and served as tanks (HP and dodge respectively) and Jester was able to handle strength-based tasks. Caleb also meant the party nearly always had a relatively safe place to stay.

Vox Machina, were slightly weaker due to an arcane caster being played by a dickhead and subsequently being asked to leave, and due to Ashley’s frequent absences were also down a cleric much of the time. I have frequently praised Sam and Marisha’s immense versatility in how they adapted Scanlan and Keyleth to fill as many gaps as they could. Vox Machina lacked a number of core arcane spells and did not have the redundancy that the Nein had, and because Keyleth often had to serve as melee/secondary tank in wildshape that meant they were often without AOE. However, they too had good representation across all mental stats and physical stats; two extremely strong ranged damagers plus a shorter ranged damager plus Grog on melee and as an impressive tank; and a heavily support-focused character in Scanlan. Keyleth was able to fill nearly any role in combat as needed. Out of combat, she also served as their primary ride, with Plane Shift, Wind Walk, and Transport Via Plants. Scanlan was able to handle a great deal of social infiltration scenarios, and Vax, Vex, and Percy all could as well. While they lacked someone who could cast Comprehend Languages, Vex’s polyglot ranger build covered a great deal. And, notably, Vox Machina’s build worked for their story - they did not need the same degree of arcane knowledge because they were able to outsource that organically to Allura and Gilmore, with whom they had built deep relationships, and instead focused on hunting down artifacts, tracking down dragons, and dungeon crawling, for which the twins especially were well-suited. While I think Vox Machina would have struggled through Aeor, I think they could have managed admirably if they’d been able to take Allura.

Bells Hells had similar problems to Vox Machina in combat, except with 8 people rather than 6. FCG and Fearne both could heal, but FCG’s subclass and Fearne’s temperament both worked against them, as FCG’s subclass naturally drove them towards tanking damage - however, there were three other tanks, and a full-time healer who did not need to stop healing to deal damage to avoid taking damage would have been more useful with this party comp. Imogen and Laudna both primarily focused on single-target damage with almost complete overlap of their skill area, and Laudna especially had a build heavily focused on keeping herself up; this is not inherently bad (Caleb also had Blur and Shield) but sorcerer is also the caster with the least versatility. FCG and Fearne rarely used AOE (somehow, despite two people having it, Bells Hells cast fireball less than Caleb, and FCG rarely used Spirit Guardians). The party was also, in a heavily lore-focused campaign, lacking in any high intelligence characters and frequently were unable to make basic history, religion, or arcana checks. Fearne’s choice to take levels in Arcane Trickster were good character beats and even added some useful basic skills (Identify, Disguise Self) but as a result of her never taking levels in Druid above 10, she did not gain access to Transport Via Plants nor Plane Shift. If Imogen or Dorian took Teleport they did not use it, and neither Imogen, Laudna, nor Dorian took/used Teleportation Circle. Bells Hells were entirely dependent on the Staff of Dark Odyssey, which could only cast Teleport once per day and which had both a physical penalty and, it was implied, a higher chance of malfunction. In short: almost all of the party focused on damage output, without much in the way of buffs or debuffs Ashton’s abilities were unreliable; Orym and Chetney, despite being primary tanks/melee damage in a party with 4-5 primary casters ended up doing most of the debuffing through battle maneuvers and blood curses. There is a reason why it feels like so much of Bells Hells’ story is them being lore-dumped upon and ferried around; it is because they did not have the means to discover information or travel on their own power.