#her saying she knows my favorite characters are Travis and Laura and how happy and honored that makes her ahhhHHHH ❤️

[teamhawkeye]

know that this video is playing on loop in my head all weekend long ❤️

[levyscripts]

Happy Nine Years to Critical Role!

I unfortunately didn’t start then. I have only been here for two years. I did watch Bells Hells first episode when it aired but I struggled on watching it on my small laptop. I was given the go ahead a week before their 7th anniversary that I could have the tv weekly.

I had watched Vox Machina season 1 by then and was hooked. By March 2022 I was writing fic. It brought me joy to write Vax and Gilmote fics (yes I know what happens) i spoiled myself so I could prepare myself emotionally.

Because I fell in love with these characters, the players, and Matt. Most of them are voices of my childhood. Who remembers staying up late in 2002 to watch Naruto on Toonami or 2004 to watch Full Metal Alchemist? Remember watching Yu-Gi-Oh! Saturday mornings? Watching Recess?

Not only that but characters I loved. Gaara, Roy Mustang, Lust, Tristan (first 20 episodes), and Gretchen. Matt has been practically so much I have watched or played. So yes, I loved Nerdy Voice Actors.

I’m currently watching campaign 1 slowly. Knowing my heart is going to be ripped out in the end. Yes, Vax is my fav. This past February I got a D20 tat with two small feathers, one black outline (Vax) and the other black outline filled in with blue (Vex). I am a dice goblin even before this but seeing Laura with her dice hoard. She is the dice queen.

I was lucky last September to meet some of them at RCCC. It was such a stressful day. It was my second con ever. I have adhd and anxiety. Crowds is a big problem for me and I can’t go alone. My mom was nice enough to go with me but it only afforded me one day. She was kind enough to take a day off work.

I was stressed, nervous, and scared Because 3 out of 4 were on my dream list to meet since childhood. I was able to meet Taliesin, Liam, Laura, and Travis. My four favs!!!

Taliesin was first and he was so kind. I gave him some of the d20 stickers I designed. I don’t know if he used them but it was nice of him to tell me he just got a new bottle and had to decorate it. It made me feel good even with how scared/nervous I was to talk.

Liam I was tongue tied. I was only able to say Vax is my favorite and gave him the stickers. He thanked me but he was kind.

Laura was a sweetheart l. I was also getting a signature for my friend. He paid for it and I got it while there. She was so kind. She talked to me even though I didn’t say much. The thanked me for my stickers.

Finally I got to my final autograph, Travis. I did end up getting a selfie and I regret not doing the others because that day seems like a blur because of my stress. But travis was so kind. I told him I had been a fan since FMA 2003. He told me I was an OG fan and shook my hand in thanks. I gave him my sticker pack for him.

They all were smiles and they made my stress worth it. Because when I’m having bad days I think of CR, read fic, go look at fan art or watch episodes. Because they have created these stories and characters that inspire many of is. They give us an escape in this crazy, difficult world.

So thank you to Critical Role. You have done so much for my mental health. I hope to meet all of you again! I know there is not enough words to fully say to say how thankful I am. I just wish i got into it since the beginning.

Thank you!!!!

[funnygirlthatbelle]

since we’re about to hit episode ten, here’s a few things i love that each cast member is doing

travis

~first off, the balls to do that fakeout

~the fact that he joined them for the intro every time even when he wasn’t going to play? such a tease

~the way he’s created two characters that are clearly joke characters, but imbues them with a lot of empathy 

~bertrand’s last night; he brought so much to it that lends to the tragedy

~using his past experiences as fjord to understand how fucking fun teasing dorian would be 

~honestly, just the fact that he makes an effort and consistently engages with robbie

robbie

~the aesthetic is just *chef’s kiss* right here

~slipping up and saying “the nine of us” because he counted matt

~he doesn’t use a ton of spells, but when he does, it’s very effective

~not afraid to look bad; this can be really tough with roleplay but he doesn’t seem to care if he looks like an idiot 

~setty

~everything going on effects dorian- he’s very active and reactive to what’s going on in the game

marisha

~the entire concept of laudna is a delight

~her choice of voice; the contrast between such a cheery voice and her appearance is perfect

~the conversation about love; it was such a genuine exploration of a nebulous sort of topic

~how marisha commits to the joints cracking and popping; as someone with arthritis, it makes me laugh and wanna take tylenol at the same time

~bringing delilah back- just a delightful choice

~the way marisha seems fine with the fact that most npcs hate/fear her even though that’s obviously inconvenient

sam

~taking the leap into robots

~how he keeps finding new ways to play small characters 

~also he/they! hell yeah!

~the decision to play a therapist friend who’s actually a really bad therapist is really intriguing to me, and i can’t wait to see where he takes it

~the foreshadowing he’s already doing for the inevitable “actually i am a deeply tragic character” moment

~pussy

ashley

~ashley looks so happy and relaxed knowing she’s here full time and it makes my heart so happy

~the gale ad

~fearne really allows her to be funny in a way she hasn’t gotten to before and it’s a delight

~little mister, our favorite seven year old

~most chaotic characters are so loud, having a really soft-spoken one only makes her chaos even more shocking 

~whatever’s going on with her hand and how that may tie into what we saw in exu

laura

~the decision to play a human

~this is a weird thing to latch onto but i love imogen’s color palette 

~laura’s dedication to making sure that her powers are just as much a hindrance as they are helpful, since that’s clearly such an important part of who she is

~honestly, how open imogen is with her boundaries. it can be really hard to set those sometimes even in real life but she does this wonderfully

~how much she clearly cares about launda

~calling fcg letters

liam

~his commitment to reminding us that orym is a halfling, especially with his physical acting

~the way he’s so on top of all of his fighter abilities and makes the most of them

~playing a dex-based fighter; it’s legit just cool

~his signature liam o’brien small acting moments 

~the way he clearly loves keyleth so much still and has no problem showing it

~when matt made a phantom of the opera joke and he inexplicably started singing les miz

taliesin

~he/they!

~honestly i feel like ashton is a refined version of molly in a lot of ways with a clearer moral compass; i feel like i’ve met this person and loved them

~once again, the aesthetic; taliesin always goes off but ashton in particular is cool

~the “pretending not to care about these people but also i bought you all breakfast sandwiches” style of friendship is so fun to me

~mechanically, just so cool. they’re so fun in combat

~the mystery of it all! what’s going on here, bud? 

matt

~so many great npcs: lord eshteross, pretty, cyrus, everybody at the crook house, etc.

~i feel like a lot of the “normal” people are extra fun this time around; all of our random store owners and criminal contacts act very realistically, but in a fun way that reminds us that what our heroes are doing is absolutely insane

~imogen’s dream about bertrand

~the worldbuilding of jrusar is very interesting and odd, and im excited to see how it all goes down

~really interesting, unique monsters from the get go

~he’s clearly making the most of the new set up and i can’t wait to see what else he does with it

[maskeddevera]

Laura and Travis are definitely in it for the long haul/slow burn with the Jester and Fjord relationship. I truly think that they are both ready and willing to set up scenarios for further angst and screwball comedy misunderstandings, but story circumstances outside of their control just keep happening and then they roll along with it to be true to their characters, and then that unintentionally accelerates the timing of the romance progression.

First we have Fjord, hesitant to move forward because he wants to clean up his past and tie a bow on that. He all but said to Jester that he wanted to deal with his past before moving on. That cemented the ongoing mutual pining thing that they had going in which neither of them was quite sure how the other person felt. Then some of Jester’s life got sucked out of her, and all those plans went out the window. I’m firmly of the opinion that everything that happened in the tower just kind of snowballed. Fjord went to check on her and ask her to be careful, and that lead to him confessing that he cared about her, and that lead to the kiss...none of that situation was part of Fjord’s long-term plan, which was half of the reason of his panic. (The other half was not knowing how she felt.)

Then we have the next day. I think one loose thread that is “out there” after the kiss is that they didn’t really discuss their feelings or give themselves a label. The conversation before the kiss was more of the same way that they have always expressed care for each other. Looking after each other. A team. Fjord told her that he cared about her, and Jester heard it in the way that he meant it, but he didn’t say the word “love” or “boyfriend” or “dating.” Jester didn’t say anything back to him after the kiss other than smiling giddily and saying kissing is a lot more fun when you’re not dying. There was a lot left unsaid. The next night when they cuddled on watch, you could see Travis/Fjord tense up and wonder if they were going to have a serious follow up talk...but Jester just made a card for Caduceus and shared with him what she was thinking. It was reassuring--it wasn’t weird. Their friendship remains on the same solid foundation.

Next we have the watch talks with Beau and Yasha. From those conversations we find out that Fjord isn’t sure how Jester feels. I mean, he thinks that she seemed happy...but he’s unsure how she feels about him. Jester hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary for her when she told him to be safe. With Jester, she discusses her feelings a bit with Yasha, but most importantly Laura sets up another obstacle--Jester doesn’t plan on making out with Fjord with Lucien right there watching them. This reveal sets up another possible source of angst--if Fjord is unsure, and Jester is waiting for better atmosphere, that could make it so that Fjord would think that maybe his feelings aren’t returned. And if he thought his feelings weren’t returned, he might back off, and then Jester might worry that she made a bigger thing of the kiss than Fjord meant it to be...et cetera, I could just see the route that this set up could have gone. (Edit to add: I almost forgot Travis setting up the possible “I should dial it back” when Beau suggests he was acting weird which could also contribute to possible future misunderstandings.)

And yet...this last episode Jester goes to Fjord in battle after he is hurt and heals him. Healing is not her favorite use of her high level spells--Fjord knows this-- and she even says “only for you, Fjord” as she casts it. I don’t really think that Fjord said out loud “she loves me,” but it’s worth noting that Travis didn’t say “she loves me” in his own voice...that was a realization by Fjord. Jester shows him how she feels for him by her actions. He might still have some worries, but the combination of her healing him with a public declaration that it is only for him, even for Fjord it must be fairly clear. So yes, he goes to her afterwards to thank her (and kiss her again to make all the snow art canon because let’s be honest he’s probably been looking for any excuse to kiss her again.) It’s also reminiscent of the “thanks, Jessie” cheek kiss. It’s a natural progression.

So now Jester is flustered. She basically told Yasha she was nervous about public displays of affection, and Fjord just went up and kissed her in front of Lucien and everybody. On the other hand, she’s clearly happy with his reaction, flirting back. She says to him “Anything for my Fjord”...which is cute, but also...she doesn’t know what else to say? If you think about this phrase, it’s like she started to say...”Anything for my boyfriend” or something similar and then realized that they haven’t had that discussion. So she substitutes his name into the sentence instead, which is oddly even cuter and more honest. I also just love that she plays a prank on Veth, claiming that this kiss that Veth sees is their first kiss ever. It’s so perfectly Jester. Yet at the end of that conversation, when Veth asks if Jester still has feelings for him, you can see from Jester’s face...yes, absolutely. And Veth is pleased.

So I definitely think one potential source of some angst is that there might be some nervousness on both of their parts until they have some future conversations. I do think that Fjord is feeling more confident based on Jester’s actions, though. Then there is always the potion for future screwball comedy scenarios, which could go very wrong, but I don’t feel like Jester has any plans to use it.

[fjoresterthoughts]

1/3 Fjorester is my favorite ship as well, but I wanted to say that I don't think there wasn't lot of talking about them in the wrap up not because they don't matter to either Laura or Travis (they clearly do, based on how careful both of them are about portraying their characters and liking fan art of them), but because they were all trying to cram 141 episodes worth of content into 4 hours, majority of it not centric to any ship. B/Y was the only ship that was talked about a little more

2/3 extensively, all the others were touched upon a little here and there. Overall, the wrap up was more oriented toward discussing in world lore and alternate possibilities. Another reason is something I think about regularly and that's Travis mentioning in his last Talks with Laura how he's very private about his personal life, hence it feels to me since F/J are so personal for both of them that they would want to keep some intimate things about them private and special just for themselves.

3/3 Also, we did get confirmation that they would go deal with Fjord's old orphanage and that Fjord started falling in love with Jester and connecting with her emotionally after their jellyfish talk where she had dropped her mask. Overall, it just felt like both Laura and Travis were comfortable and satisfied with everything that was established about F/J and where they left them.

Yeah, and this is a good way of looking at it. It would not surprise me if they did a part 2 of the wrap up like they did in campaign one, because there were so many fan questions. I can’t imagine trying to condense 141 episodes into 4 hours of wrap up! Anon, you worded this all beautifully, btw. 

I had been thinking that I wish fjorester had a moment to talk about when they first fell in love with each other too, but you’re right - Travis really doesn’t like talking about romance, and Laura also has already discussed that on Talks. And while I wish that after they talked about beauyasha falling in love someone would extend that invitation to the other ships, the cast probably already knew that Travis is uncomfortable talking about romance in detail publicly. Honestly, looking back at it now, the couple Talks episodes that we did get that was amazing. I know he made the quick comment about the jellyfish which was so nice to hear, but I think expecting more was what lead to being disappointed. But I don’t think it was unrealistic for people to expect more.  

I know too that fjorester aren’t big plan ahead people. They’re impulsive and adventurous, so it makes sense too (combined with your point about Travis being a very private person) that their epilogue would be a little vague. I just... kinda wish that Travis and Laura came a bit more prepared? I know that they’re satisfied with their epilogue and are incredibly busy people, but it also kinda felt to me that they were like “meh? I don’t know, I guess? We probably should’ve planned this, oops?” about it. And I think that hurt because I have spent SO much time thinking and wondering about it. I mean, I’m literally writing a long multi-chaptered fic about their epilogue. Maybe one day Travis and Laura will share more and figure it out, but for now, taking comfort in the fact that they’re content with their happy ending, care deeply about their characters, and that Fjord and Jester are sticking together for whatever life has in store for them… is nice. And that’s what I personally would rather focus on!

I hope this helps for anyone who was feeling bummed. I know these asks helped pull me out of my rain cloud, so thank you anon. ❤️ This was a good perspective reminder. 

[cameoamalthea]

I think it's interesting how many people were wanting Jester to leave Artagan and go with the Moonweaver (who is awesome btw). I can't properly convey how relieved I am that didn't happen and that their already strong bond was made stronger and they both grew from it. Because that is how good relationships work and people are capable of changing for the better. Finding new faith worked for Fjord, but I don't believe it would have worked for Jester the same way. What they have can't be replaced.

If Artagan was forcibly taken from Jester it would have been traumatizing for Jester. 

What the Mighty Nein, and perhaps a portion of the fandom, don’t understand is that Jester is a depressed lonely person who hides it. She puts on a mask of always happy and fine, it’s ok. She’s not ok and they don’t see it. Jester is also afraid of being alone, which plays into her fear of being disliked and abandoned. 

Whether or not anyone else likes Artagan, Jester LOVES him and she has some serious attachment issues so just ripping him away from her would be super harmful.

There’s a scene in C2E19 where the party sees a shack and wants to investigate it. Jester suggests turning Frumpkin into a bird to go check it out since it’s like a mile away. Caleb does not like the idea, but then playfully says for you Fjord I will do it. Jester responds by being dramatic and pouting about him shooting her down but being willing to do it for Fjord. 

LAURA: Can Frumpkin be a bird? 

LIAM: (reluctantly) Yeah. 

TALIESIN: For a bit. 

TRAVIS: I want to check out the shack. 

LIAM: All right. For you, Fjord, I will make Frumpkin a bird. 

LAURA: Not for me, though. Caleb hates me.

SAM: We could just walk over there. It's a hassle to turn him into a bird. 

TRAVIS: Yeah. Keep your cat. 

LIAM: You are more sensitive than I would have imagined. 

LAURA: I want people to like me.

Caleb is extremely observant and although this is a light, playful scene, says something that cuts really close. “You are more sensitive than I would have imagined.” She’s being over the top and dramatic, he criticizes her, and since what she was joking about what is actually some real insecurity she kind of deflates, her voice gets real small and she says “I want people to like me.” 

It’s a blink and you’ll miss it moment made harder to catch by the fact everyone is talking at once and Laura is eating pizza (role-playing with your mouth full - this is not to shame her for eating, she is entitled to that pizza, but it might make it harder to pick up on the moment). However, I think this touches upon something important. 

Jester is in fact extremely insecure about being liked, and you see this with her relationship with the Traveler. Worrying that he might not like her now that she has other friends at first, and constantly needing reassurance that she’s the most important. 

There’s a brilliant thread on reddit that sums up Jester’s character as follows:

“She's a people-pleaser because she's afraid to lose people. She grew up with the only 'low resource' being people - caring, loving, laughing people. She had her mother, who definitely loves her, but that was it. Most children have scores of people, and other children! to play with. Jester didn't.

And she's afraid to lose that, at any cost. Even realizing she was manipulated, keeping Artagen is more important than standing up for herself or showing her disappointment, because she can't lose him.

Onto - Artagen. What we know:

He's openly admitted to being manipulative and selfish

More importantly: he's openly admitted to never wanting to be bored and never wanting to 'get into emotions'

This REALLY matters. Why?

Because Jester is afraid of losing everyone so she can't be what those people don't want.

Jester can't be upset in front of Artagen because he might get bored with all of her emotions and leave.

It's crazy important for her to be his favorite because, as she is helping him leave all of his followers (her biggest fear) he keeps saying he won't leave her.”

Jester has pretty serious abandonment issues. Children need the attention and support of a caregiver. RedditTotalWar made a great point on that reddit thread: “A significant withdrawal of attention is often enough to cause a child to develop abandonment issues. Children don't have the capacity to realize that some things aren't about them since they are the centers of their own universe.” So the fact Jester’s mother, who clearly loves her and is a good person, did not always have time for her and required Jester to keep her existence secret is damaging. 

Note, this is not to suggest that Marrion is a bad person or was intentionally abusive. You don’t have to be a monster to hurt a child. Disney example: In Tangled, Mother Gothel isolated Rapunzel and was an abuser who just wanted to use her. In Frozen, Anna’s Mother and Father isolated Anna out of a desire to do what they thought was best for their other daughter Elsa and to protect Anna from what they saw as the threat posed by Elsa’s magic. Anna’s parents were not intentionally abusive and loved their children, but Anna was still neglected and isolated and harmed by their actions.

To Jester, the message she got growing up was ‘Momma loves me, but she’s busy and I can’t get in the way and no one can know I exist’ which could easily be taken as ‘Momma loves me, but I’m not the most important thing to her’ or even ‘Momma loves me, but my existence makes her life harder, so maybe I’m not completely lovable since I’m a problem’. 

And while you may think, if she was that worried why would she act out and play pranks and cause trouble, the fact is that children who are insecure about being loved may self-sabotage with caregivers. You see a high rate of disruption in foster children right before adoption because the child starts exhibiting behaviors. Perhaps faced with the fear of, maybe my parental won’t love me if I cause trouble, it feels safer just deliberately causing trouble because then at least you’re the one in control rather than walking on eggshells terrified that messing up could mean abandonment. 

The fact that Jester’s prank on Lord Sharp resulted in her having to leave the only home she’s ever known and never come back under threat of death and that her Mother could not (or in her mind, would not?) protect her may have made her abandonment issues a lot worse. 

Jester is terrified of being left alone, of being abandoned. Taking away the one person who has been a constant in her life and who she has felt safe with all at once would not be good. As Laura said on her playlist “he’s always been the one person she could show her insecurities to” and losing that stable, trusted person would hurt. 

 I don’t think her relationship with Artagan is entirely healthy (it’s not healthy for a child to grow up with only one other friend and her attachment to him extreme and also he’s a selfish, manipulative Archfey - I don’t think Artagan thinks this relationship is entirely healthy). However, I do not think it would have been better for her to have him ripped away like that. Especially given the fact that the whole Moonweaver thing was her idea and she would likely blame herself for what happened. 

How devastating would that be for someone with Jester’s level of insecurity? 

The Mighty Nein, and again a portion of the fandom, may have preferred it if Jester broke up with Artagan and moved on or found a new god. Fjord’s relationship with Uk’otoa (Uk’atoa) was toxic and abusive, so the Mighty Nein are very wary of that sort of relationship. Fjord if projecting and thinks that any relationship with a powerful being that isn’t a god is dangerous. 

The truth is Jester’s relationship with Artagan isn’t really like one of cleric and god. It’s more like a personal relationship where he happens to give her divine powers.

LAURA: I take a bite of my caramel apple, and I go walking down.

MATT: You hear a crunch sound and your handshakes for a second and you look down and a mysterious secondary bite was taken out of the apple.

LAURA: (gasp) I lick the spot.

(groaning)

SAM: You're making out with your god? Gross.

MATT: They have a special relationship.

A special relationship indeed, Matt. It’s intimate, she talks to him about her crushes and asks him for advice on boys then casually confesses love to him.

LAURA: You're not jealous, are you?

MATT: "No."

LAURA: You'll always be my number one love.

MATT: "I know.”

Fjord is an orphan who was looking for parental figures. Vandren was a mentor and father figure, and it was through Vandren that Fjord gained his connection to Uk’otoa. The Wild Mother felt Motherly to Fjord and in Talks Travis said that when Matt first described the feeling his thoughts were on like have I found my Mother somehow. To Fjord religion is a divine parent, an authority figure who provides guidance and direction, and in the case of the Wild Mother love and support for him. 

Jester has never seen the Traveler as a ‘dad figure’. He’s just her best friend and based on her behavior towards him and jealousy towards his other followers, and the number of love songs on Laura’s playlist, I’m pretty convinced that Jester is IN LOVE with him. 

(I don’t know if that feeling is required. Given they grew up together with him in the form of another child and the fact Artagan is actually ancient, I think he sees her more like a little sister. This might be why he was so confused when she grabbed his face and leaned in like she was about to kiss him despite the fact that like she’s flat out told him that he’s her number one love and requires constant reassurance that she’s his favorite and acts like a schoolgirl with a very obvious crush)

And again, all of this may not be healthy or ideal for Jester. She might get hurt. However, I think in order to grow the relationship has to run it’s course no matter what happens. Artagan not only acted completely selflessly by kicking her off of him rather than face the possibility that she’d have to choose between him and or friends or be banished with him but like - he apologized to her. 

An actual, real, non-manipulative apology. He admitted he was manipulative and he’s sorry and when she tries to play it off as it’s fine, he says he doesn’t want to defend himself. He’s sorry.

That’s growth.

[redjennies]

Hmm, what about Fjord and Jester for the shipping ask? (I don't know how to spell the ship name and at this point I'm too afraid to ask.) I know you love Beauyasha, but was there a moment when you started shipping Jessie with Captain Tusktooth?

when I started shipping it if I did:

it snuck up on me, it did! I can tell you it was somewhere between the Iron Shepherds and the Happy Fun Ball. probably in Xhorhas around "you're being so awkward" "no I'm disarming you." idk, man, the bad fjlirting got to me. I've never felt so seen as I have by two characters who are good at charming other people and so useless at talking to their crush.

my thoughts:

Laura and Travis are trying to kill me specifically. I have never resented being this invested in a ship. they cut right to the gooey center of me and expose me for the sap I am. where to begin? they're just so similar to me and I tend to look for similarities when choosing ships. like they interact with the world in a similar way and even their differences manifest similarly. like if Jester is "yes, and..." then Fjord is "no, but..." and they end up in the same place because they have that dedication. they're both very curious people who like to provoke things just to see what happens but they also use charm to defuse the problems they cause. it's all very interesting to me the parallels of things they do. like Fjord impersonating Vandran while Jester is trying to embody Marion and Artagan. Fjord charming the Laughing Hand and Jester modifying Isharnai's memory. "just don't be evil to me." vs "I don't really care about 200 other people." there's a lot there thematically and that appeals to me. I don't feel like they totally understand each other but I do feel like they get each other it that makes sense.

What makes me happy about them:

they're so goofy. like seriously this is one of the funniest major ships as far as I'm concerned. also Travis and Laura doing the heart eyes at each other. also Travis and Laura antagonizing each other on purpose. how much they confide in each other and back each other up.

What makes me sad about them:

I could see them being a case of "right person, wrong time" and at this point, I'm too invested and that will break my heart honestly.

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

well I don't really read a ton of fic in general unless it's by the people I follow and they're all very cool and smart. so this is more general fandom interpretation. I don't know if I would say it annoys me so much as an opinion I've seen that I did not personally agree with, but I can't imagine Fjord being seriously jealous of Artagan. like one of the appeals of fjorester to me is how much they know what's important to each other and I feel like yeah, Fjord got a little jealous when Jester was talking about him being handsome but I interpreted that as a very shallow, kneejerk "no, I'm pretty!" I feel like when it comes to Jester's love of Artagan, Fjord mostly understands what it means to Jester and wouldn't be upset by it in relation to his feelings for her.

things I look for in fanfic:

once again general fandom not fanfic, but just focuses on things they have in common, the friendship aspect, the silliness.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

I have other Fjord and Jester ships but I don't think they'll end up canon. if it comes to it, I will survive this ship sinking and be all right with whatever comes along instead. still, I'll remember it fondly.

My happily ever after for them:

I honestly have a hard time imagining either Fjord or Jester's future. they're both just such "in the present" characters for me that it's hard for me to imagine an epilogue until we get to it. idk something something "and then I don't know what [...] but I hope she's a part of that."

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Fjord for the first few months because it's the proper thing to do, and then Jester when they realize that's dumb.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

impersonating members of the Tal'Dorei Council at restaurants for fun. The Lord Percival and Lady Vex'ahlia De Rolo of Whitestone have sent several cease and desists letters to no avail.

[justaweirddruid]

I say this as a Fjorester shipper who is 100% ambivalent about W*dojest — I genuinely am, I’m not trying to pull some fake fandom credentials for credit — but your post about Liam was needlessly antagonist, and really not fair

Liam has done nothing disrespectful to Fjord or Jester, or to Laura and Travis. He has never tried to take a Fjorester moment and make it about Caleb — even when he saw them cuddle for the first time and acknowledged it, the Fjorester moment was already over and it was fine, it was fair game for Liam to say that (WJ shippers, on the other hand, are *constantly* making Fjorester moments about Caleb, but I’m not talking about them) Caleb has never once implied that Fjord and Jester shouldn’t be in a relationship together, and neither has Liam. And Liam has confirmed that he had no intention of having Caleb pursue Jester romantically, so it’s not like there’s a secret plan for Caleb to break up Fjord and Jester. And really, Liam was so excited and proud of Travis in episode 118! He meta-teased them in episode 119! Liam is happy and approves of Fjorester.

Yeah, it’s easy for Liam, speaking for Caleb, to gush about my Beauyasha! It’s easy for Caleb to be happy for them. His feelings for Jester (which themselves are not disrespectful in anyway — Jester treats Caleb with kindness and love and consideration, because she treats all of her friends that way, and Caleb is/has been deprived of that kind of attention — it’s not some weak excuse made by Liam to create dramatic tension to say that Caleb has developed feelings for Jester) and even his arguable attraction to Fjord make things more difficult. And that’s totally fair.

And unlike Beauyasha, Liam had no reason to describe his feelings about Fjorester on Talks Machina! The Beauyasha date already happened, and it was a lovely and grand moment — while Caleb had yet to talk to either Fjord or Jester about their relationship, so Liam has no reason to go in depth about his feelings for his friend’s fake relationship on Talks. It would be much more impactful to address it in character, during the game, and as far as I’m concerned, that discussion will happen. So long as there are no surprising perma-deaths that make that discussion impossible, Liam probably wants Caleb to talk to one or both of them about it. We have been inundated with emotional conversations lately, we’ll have a dozen more before they fight the Tombtakers, and it will be fair game for Liam to talk about it as much as anyone wants him to on Talks after that.

I know that there are people who hate Liam no matter what he does, and take all of his choices in bad faith. I’m not one of them, I love Liam, but you might be one of those fans — idk you, I just saw your post in the fjorester tag and thought, wow, that’s not at all the interpretation I made at all. Your post might have just been your form of venting, and you almost certainly weren’t expecting an anon to write an essay in your asks, so feel free to delete this without any guilt. But I feel like your post really missed the mark and implies that Liam isn’t a supportive friend or player at the table, and imposes fan-created ship drama onto the players

Hey anon

I wrote a long post replying to all the things you mentioned because I disagree with most of them, but I decided that I don't wanna add to the discourse today because I know we won't change each other's mind.

So just the most important points:

- I'm not a Liam hater, although I'm not surprised you said this because since the campaign started every time someone tries to criticize Liam or Caleb, people try to discredit them as just mindless haters that complain about everything they do.

I like Liam as a person, I like him in every other CR content, I liked Vax as a character and the twins were my favorite part of vox machina. I just don't like his playstyle when it comes to romance (since C1) and I was never a big fan of Caleb (since way before wj was even a possibility)

- Second, the thing that bothers me is not the ship itself. But the fact he made a point to show Caleb acknowledging fjorester (aka Jester's choice when it comes to her romantic relationships), but still didn't change the way Caleb behaves with her. That moment would've been the perfect way to close this chapter in Caleb's story in a meaningful way.

I know feelings don't simply disappear, but is it really necessary to bring them up all the time now? I mean, just look at Pikelan in C1, Scanlan never stopped loving Pike, but when he realized things needed to change, he stopped bringing it up all the time and focused on other important things for his story. 

I know both ships are completely different, but you can understand what I mean. If Caleb is aware he needs to move on, than why bring it up all the time? Or at least have him *talk* to someone (not fjord or jester because I think this would be even worse) about it instead of just narrating everything in an unnecessary way, have it be a way to show growth instead of being a weird guy in a corner staring at an unaware woman. 

- Finally, I don't think Liam is doing this in bad faith, maybe he's not even aware. Media spent decades showing these type of stories. How many movies and tv shows do we see where a guy showing affection for an unavailable woman is portrait as the highlight of romance? I'm not surprised one of them thinks this too and chose to include it in his character story.

My only comfort is knowing Critical Role is not a scripted show, otherwise we know how this would end.

I just wish people respected a woman's choice to pursue romance with whoever she wants and realized that a grown ass man pinning for his friend for a year while fully aware she doesn't feel the same is not romantic.

[beetlejuicelover]

So I was going to wait until I finish episode 5 to post about the second campaign but I can't wait. This moment right here?

ajdonfjxdnfjfoeheif!!!!

Look at Travis' face. Not to mention Fjord's accent. ❤ When he got his mustang, not gonna lie. I was slightly hoping he'd name it Roy (or Sally) . 🤷‍♀️

Jester, I think is my favorite character so far. I love the pranks and the way she writes in her journal, and Laura's voice makes me giggle and happy.

Molly ❤❤ I am trying everything I can not to love him knowing what happens to him [thank you Google for that unintentional spoiler]. The way he was caring for Toya and his banter with Beau. 💯💯

Beau, I was a bit on the fence about her in the beginning but she quickly won me over between her banter with Yasha and Molly. Plus her 1 on 1 with Matt.

Yasha, I don't know much of you yet, but I can't wait to learn more. I think she's going to be another badass when we (I) get to see more of her.

Nott is also another favorite of mine! When Sam started with the voice, I almost died. The way she is stealing things and caring for Caleb? ❤❤

Caleb has me laughing, or should I say Liam how he is embracing the stink shade from Laura and making it his own.

Storyline: it's still early but I am LOVING how they started out at the carnival. I have mixed feelings on them killing the toad but I get that they were doing what they thought best and well, it did kill 3 people. 🤷‍♀️

[odditiesnein]

Light TW for this post. Insinuating of mental illnesses

-

I really wanted to say how much happiness this show brings me

I’ve spent all week in so much unbelievable pain. I’ve spent all day in such a bad mood, and the majority of this episode was curled up in bed or on the floor of my bathroom. I’ve had such bad flare ups this week and can barely enjoy myself let alone take in content

But these fools, these eight fools, managed to make me squeal, nearly cry, laugh out loud, and forget pain existed for at least five minutes. When it comes to chronic pain and chronic illnesses you usually don’t have a day where you have no pain and you usually can’t think of a day you don’t suffer. But whenever I sit down to watch them play DND I always smile and for even just a moment I forget pain exists. I forget that I’ll be disabled by 20 and that I won’t be able to have a traditional job. I forget school and the real world exists, that I’m not struggling with my religion and struggling with my happiness.

This year has been so miserable, and I’ve been struggling for so long. When I found these guys almost three to four years ago, I didn’t think I’d be happy like this again. I didn’t think I’d be able to have something I talk about as avidly as I talk about this show. It’s given me a special interest in both Critical Role and DnD. I sit in bed and forget the war going on outside my door and I watch them play dnd like the rest of the world exists. So, I really wanted to say Thank you, Critical Role cast and crew, for allowing me to be this happy.

Thank you for giving me a purpose again. Thank you for giving me something I can look forward to. Thank you for giving me a reason to get up everyday because “Damnit it’s almost Thursday!” Thank you for keeping me here as long as I have, because without these characters, these people I had no idea I could relate to, I wouldn’t be here.

I guess I owe them a lot more credit that I would always want to thank them for unknowingly saving my life. I know I’m not alone here, but thank you.

-

Some thank you’s:

Thank you Travis, Laura, Liam, Sam, Ashley, Taliesin, Marisha, and Matt for this.

Thank you Brian and Dani for bringing me Talks to look forward to when I finish an episode

Thank you the rest of the critical role staff for bringing these goofs to a platform

Thank you to anybody and everyone who’s ever participated in this show in either campaign or any one shot for being here.

Thank you Liam for bringing me Caleb, someone who I see myself in. I reflect a lot about my past and a lot of shit that’s happened to me and when I see Caleb I say “wow. That’s like me” and I smile. I have someone finally

Thank you Ashley for bringing me Yasha, someone who I see myself in. Someone who knows who they are but, at the same time, doesn’t. Thank you for bringing that representation to this show

Thank you Sam, for bringing me Veth/Nott. Hands down a favorite, her upbeat can do attitude brings a smile to my face. And your ads, thank you for your ads.

Thank you Taliesin. I can’t say I directly relate to the three boys but Caduceus has brought me so much unusual joy in my life that I can never replace. Thank you for bringing me someone who wouldn’t fail on making me smile

Thank you Laura for bringing me Jester, for bringing me the bubbly happy girl I adore. Thank you for bringing someone so upbeat she rarely reflects on the world around her and never once brings others down to her mood. Thank you for someone who can both forgive and forget in a moments time.

Thank you Marisha for Beau, and of course Kiki. Thank you for the girls who I can never even begin to fathom and thank you for bringing me people I look up to and adore, even if they’re complete opposites.

Thank you, Travis, for Fjord. Mr. Yeehaw. I have not once said “you all” and now only say “y’all” now. Thank you for someone who I can barely relate to but at the same time relate so much to without knowing it.

And thank you, Matt, for bringing them to life. Thank you for giving them a way to get to me and thank you for writing something I give my life to.

-

Thank you, you goofy nerds

[smalleststress]

Just all of them for the crit role either or asks

Oh hell yeah!

Thank you for this, now I have something to do during class lol

(Spoiler Warning for campaign 1&2 and Dalen’s closet !) 

1. Campaign one or campaign two?

Definitely two, I’m biased since I started during campaign two and haven’t watched all of the first yet. I definitely will finish it soon though since the current campaign is on pause.

2. Vex’ahlia or Jester?

I would die for jester without a second thought, I love her so much. She’s the perfect mix of a silly personality, and I just want her to be happy,, please Mercer,,, 

I do like Vex though, the whole wedding one-off murdered my heart.  

3. Vax’ildan or Caleb?

Shit, that’s really hard because I’m a sucker for the raven queen and the whole scene with him coming back at the wedding, Matt and Liam did such an amazing job that was so good. But also what is better than sexy wizards… nothin. Caleb has grown on me a lot, he has made so many developments and Essek n him? Oh my heart, forehead kisses will be the death of me. Caleb, sorry Vax.

4. Pike or Yasha?

Do I have a crush on Ashley? Yes. Does that influence my feelings on Yasha? Absolutely. Pike is a sweetheart but women that could carry me without batting an eye can have my soul. She is just so caring and “I smell like crayons.” Actually murdered me.

5. Keyleth or Beauregard?

While I will never stop laughing over Keyleth dying as a goldfish, Beauregard hits home. Also fucks. And I respect that.

6. Scanlan or Tary or Nott?

Nott. I’m sorry but her character growth has been crazy and I’m so glad she is finally comfortable in her own skin, she deserves it! Also, Sam fucking kills me, that man is literally comedy gold. 

7. Percy or Mollymauk or Caduceus?

Fuck how am I supposed to pick between any of these… Mollymauk will always hold a special place in my heart I literally bawled when he died, long may he reign. It’s gotta be Caduceus, Talesin seems so comfortable paying him and I love his chill vibe versus the chaos of the rest of the party.

8. Grog or Fjord?

I love Fjord for many reasons but also because every time I see his name my brain reads it as fij-ord even tho I know the proper way to say it. Ep 98 had me so scared, the start of the episode was so nice, I was tricked!

9. Trinket or Frumpkin?

I’m a cat gal, Frumpkin literally warms my heart so much and the art everyone does is so cute!!

10. Vox machina or the Mighty nein?

Haha it's probably pretty obvious at this point, M9

11. Gilmore or Pumat sol?

Pumat, the telephone story about him was so funny and I got so scared in the cathedral. I love soft seeming characters that can whoop ass if need be. 

12. Kima or Keg?

Keg is literally me but a fantasy version. Her letter to Beau after their one night stand was so funny, “your eyes are so pretty when you smile, I love Thanks.”

13. Zahra or Calianna?

Calianna, bro the cosplay and art? Tasty. 

14. Kashaw or Shakäste?

Shakaste!! My dude! I love Jester messaging him, good shit.

15. Kaylie or Marion lavorre?

Ruby of the red sea, I love how Mercer portrays her. He does an amazing job, she gives off big dick vibes and I support her.

16. Clarota or Lorenzo?

Lorenzo was terrifying, the dude kept talking while on FIRE. Scariest shit and he killed MollyMauk so he is already a monster (literally, as well). Caleb’s “You shouldn’t have killed my cat.” oh heck yea.

17. The Raven queen or the traveler?

The traveler and his whole reveal was hilarious, can’t wait for traveler con. But, Raven Queen is my favorite, I’m just a sucker for the cracked porcelain mask what can I say.

18. Sarenrae or the Stormlord?

Stormlord, the lighting aesthetic is so badass I really want to play a character involved with him so bad.

19. Emon or Wildemount?

WIldmount, have you seen the book put out? That shit is wild how does Mercer do this… I want his brain so I can dm for my friends better lol.

20. How do you want to do this or nerdy-ass voice actors?

Nerdy ass voice actors!! Though the relief/excitement in how do you want to do this is top tier

21. The campaign one cosplay intro or the campaign two animated intro?

I love animation, always have, I admire/envy those artists so much. It gets me so hyped for the show like you wouldn’t believe, that theme song kicks ass

22. Travis’ refusal to believe in dice superstitions or laura’s hoard of dice?

I only play with one pair because I really like it (though I lost the d4 so I occasionally use others) but I don’t do prerolls beforehand or anything like that, more on the Travis side.

23. Door troubles or yelling ‘nein’?

NEIN

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Episode #100 Highlights!

That’s right: 100 EPISODES. That’s a lot of great questions, greater answers, questionable pronunciations of usernames, even more questionable uses of overlays, and a++++ excellent dogs. 

The entire cast is answering questions this week!

Max runs an (adorable) intro in the above puppet theater, and each cast member gets a title. Laura is The Heart, Sam is The “Funny Guy”, Travis is The Brawn, Liam is The Actor, Matt is The Brains, Marisha is The Face, Taliesin is The Pyramid, Brian is The Convict, and Ashley is The Favorite.

The cast’s entrance is majestic. There are balloons, sashes, tiaras, and champagne. Henry has a tiara too!

The Search for Grog will air this Friday, February 22 at 7 PM Pacific on twitch.tv/criticalrole. If you miss the stream, it’ll be available Saturday morning on CR’s YouTube channel!

Talks Machina and CR will air on CR’s official channels starting today! Starting next episode, TM will be available on CR’s YouTube channel on Thursday at 7 Pacific, and also in podcast form!

Stats: in 100 episodes of TM, there’s been 81 episodes of Brian’s glorious beard. There have been 9 Skype/FaceTime call-ins! There were 244 guest misnomers before that well ran dry. 93 episodes of pre-show hijinks (thanks to Max James!). 95 episodes of Arsequeef. 826 days of being on the internet!

Brian: "The concept of creating a talk show about a D&D campaign has always been absurd to me, so we wanted to embrace that terribleness.”

There’s now a Steve Cam (quietly reading, meal prepping, and ignoring the show), and a Zach Cam (staring at a monitor that’s all just Liam’s chest hair and the Fjord bust), and a Max Cam (dancing in a stripper cop outfit), Lockey Cam (practicing with a sword in front of a mirror and then charging at Daniel for filming it - Brian: “Hopefully Daniel’s non-union.”), Ed Cam (drinking scotch and counting down the days until football returns, and also lint rolling his new goatee), Chris Cam (rapping in the VO booth), Brittany Cam (dancing with a unicorn blanket, huffing compressed air - Brian: “You can’t show that on Twitch!”).

Matt is asked how his DMing style has evolved with campaign 2. “Well... I’ve been forced to embrace a little more of the tragedy in the characters’ backstories.” The internal and external conflict has been really interesting for him to watch and react to. “I’ve learned to be very proud of my players for mucking up my perception of where things are going to go.”

Coming to Xhorhas, Nott’s thrilled to no longer have to worry about the mask. Sam’s excited about the City of Beasts “to see what kind of fucked-up individuals we’re going to find and seeing how Nott will react to that.”

Yasha definitely sympathizes with Nott trying to save her spouse, but “there’s a lot going on with her going back to Xhorhas. It’s definitely triggering for her, but she understands the need to want to go back. I wish I could go to Xhorhas. We’ll see what happens.” Travis: “I’m pretty sure once we go to a place we can never go back.”

Favorite item on the Talks shelves? Taliesin mentions a magnetic Percy mini, Sam likes the tiny Sams (”It looks like my bedroom!”), Ashley and Brian are partial to the Sully painting, Laura loves the Pike painting, Marisha loves all the stuff the cast bought on a hungover voyage to the flea market when they were first building the set, Matt loves a very cool dice tower. Brian likes the Vecna with Marisha’s face. Matt: “I don’t know if I like that one.”

Laura doesn’t like the party using the derogatory term for the Krynn, because she wants people to be happy even if she doesn’t know them. Sam: “I haven’t been the best for that, but if Jester wants me to... I guess I’ll change.”

There are new wipe transitions featuring the Matt pillow and the Fjord bust. It’s glorious.

Gif of the week: Sam calling Travis “studly” for catching the candy. Laura: “...I like that I’ve been cut out of it completely.”

Arsequeef gets the Lifetime Achievement Award for Gif of the Week. He wins Max’s 2006 Honda Accord.

On Caleb taking off his bandages because there’s nothing to hide anymore: “Was that terrifying for him, or a relief?” Liam: “Yes!” He’s waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it feels good. He’s got f...r...iends?” Marisha: “I love that sitcom. (weakly) F...r...iends?”

Caduceus being a source of comfort, insight, and advice was built into the character. Taliesin looked at low INT high WIS, and Matt immediately started laughing and told Taliesin he’d do well with that. Taliesin: “There’s plenty of things that will eventually flap that, but we haven’t hit them yet.”

As a player, Travis doesn’t like to weigh things carefully all the time, so a lot of Fjord’s leardership has been a bit about pressing fast-forward. Marisha: “So what you’re saying is that your Grog’s poking through.” Matt points out that if both characters have a trait, it’s probably just Travis. 

Liam: “I’ve got a little Travis poking me from behind.” Marisha, musing: “So many conflicting beards...”

Beau’s prayer to Ioun mostly came from a “couldn’t hurt” perspective. “I’ll try it out. Give it a spin.” When Travis asks, Marisha clarifies that it was Ioun specifically because of the Cobalt Soul. Travis: “Oh yeah, I totally knew the relationship there. I just wanted to make sure the audience did.”

Bugbear friend or bugbear foe? Sam: “He speaks goblin, he seems cool, his name’s Gluzo. He has a hard-to-pin-down accent, but it’s amazing.” Taliesin: “You have a hard-to-pin-down accent, too. It’s something you have in common.” Taliesin gets asked if his insight check revealed that the bugbear is secretly pretending to be someone else. “Yes, he’s just pretending to be a bugbear. He’s actually Matt Mercer.” Laura: “I like him. ‘Cause he’s cute and he let me give him a tattoo.”

Sam: “Nott trusts her friends to be as strong as they can be, and at this point, I don’t know if she’s as concerned with one of them dying as just getting to her husband in time before he dies. If we lose one along the way, Nott will probably cry a little, but will move on.” What if it were Fjord? “Fjord’s expjendable.”

Matt: “I’ve reached a point where Travis controls Yasha in combat, but I don’t consider any of his roleplay canon.” Ashley: “I trust Travis. Barbarian respect.” Laura: “Don’t give him that.” Ashley: “Travis himself is like a Deck of Many things. This is risky, but it’s kind of fun!”

Sam: “That dunamancy shit is lit.” Liam: “And it’s tied up in everything that Caleb wants, so if he can get on the entropy shit and the gravity shit, you know he’s going to go back in time, motherfucker.” Sam is so excited to have these mystery spells because they’re so new, and they’re inherently something they don’t know how to counter or prepare for. Travis: “It’s almost like every time we play D&D.”

Fanart of the Week: a spectacular group shot.

Everyone freaks out over how good Travis looks with glasses. He takes them off and puts them back on sexily for a while. I was too slow grabbing a screencap, but don’t worry, the gifs will be everywhere.

Laura: “Jester hasn’t experienced a lot of emotions. She hasn’t experienced a lot of anything, really. She’s definitely dealt with sadness in her life, but I don’t think it’s been so in-your-face constantly, just the trauma of it all.” Liam: “Yeah, she’s with some very terrible people.” Laura: “While it is traumatic, it’s also been a great adventure, and she’s enjoying being out and doing things. Even if it might hurt her, it’s so much better than reading about it, drawing it, just imagining how it would be.”

Caleb’s still feeling out the shift in his relationship with Nott, but there’s no question that everything they’ve gone through can’t be forgotten or overlooked. “He sees her as an absolute ally no matter what, and will do anything for her. In a weird way, he feels like they’re even more alike than he thought they were, and he loves her and wants her to succeed in what she’s doing, and hopes that the things that he wants don’t fuck it up entirely.” Sam: “Are you talking about Liam and Sam right now?”

Caduceus’ thoughts on Xhorhas? “A new environment, certainly, and a new aspect of nature that he’s unfamiliar with. This is just more terrain to him at this point. He’s also very unaware of the political realities. He’s vaguely aware there is war. He’s still not sure why we can’t just go up and ask for directions from everyone.”

Brian: “That tiara is the most blessed image.”

Travis on the Captain Tusktooth tattoo: “Brand recognition is huge in Xhorhas.” Taliesin: “Viral marketing.” Laura confirms that it’s not likely to change apart from some small differences from tattoo to tattoo. “Each person gets a special google.”

Laura on fans actually getting this tattoo: “I am ALL ABOUT IT.”

Marisha: “Guys! How about instead of M9 tattoos...” Sam: “We let Laura tattoo us? I would legitimately be down with that!” Ashley: “I’m kind of into it.” Liam: “This is what splits us apart.” Laura: “Everybody gets a dick.” Travis: “How would we explain that to our kid? ‘What’s that?’ ‘Your mom did that.’”

Beau is holding back a bit since her impulsiveness started having negative repercussions. “I think it’s about accountability. She’s started to learn--- especially when she first joined M9, she didn’t have friends, really. I think you had to learn, oh, my actions do affect others around me. I think that’s something you can learn and you can grow in, but yeah, she is trying to not be a total fuckwad anymore. Trying. But old habits...”

Favorite TM moments? Travis: “Do you remember that episode where Brian wasn’t the host?” Brian remembers Travis throwing the card that almost took him out. Ashley fondly remembers PullOutKing. Laura remembers Taliesin saying the phrase “I love teenage assholes” (referring to Percy acting immature), and Taliesin is super glad someone brought that up again just when the tweets were finally starting to die down. 

Ashley talks about how proud she is about how far Brian’s come, and how great he’s doing at this. Everyone has an uncharacteristically sincere moment of applause for Brian. Liam: “Everyone take 30 seconds to drop the bit that we think you’re a total fucking weirdo. You’re so good at this, and you’re such a good friend, and we’re so glad you’re part of this family.”

Marisha pitches the idea of trying to sell TM syndicated on LifeTime now that they have 100 episodes.

Brian remembers having food poisoning that led to him running off-screen, throwing up in the middle of the show, and then having to come back. Marisha remembers Travis texting everyone that night with “lol, did Brian just yarf on TV?”

Matt talks about how proud he is of Brian for going from zero tabletop experience to co-running his own game.

Talks Machina After Dog ft. Sleepy Boi Henry

“This is the best dog-petting show ever.”

Liam was skeptical about TM initially, because he was worried it would take away from what would be shared in-game. Marisha: “I was stoked for it, not gonna lie. I was very misunderstood and people hated my character, so I was kind of stoked to just get to explain it.” Travis was sold once they picked the name.

Marisha: “It also set the precedent for really dumb, punny names.” Brian points out that, as a channel, they now can’t stick with serious names as their final choice.

Laura’s sister has been watching the show, and she texted Laura after the show to ask what the whisper was, so Laura’s going to tell her and no one else. Liam: “You’re gonna tell your real sibling?”

There’s a horrified discussion about giraffe fighting. Some segues happened in there.

What’s something their characters have done that’s made them proud? Liam: Caleb using the Wall of Fire. Marisha: the Plank King execution episode as a whole (everyone agrees). Travis: “I was proud of hooking up with an NPC when my wife wasn’t here to threaten me with death.” (he immediately turns to Taliesin: “Help.” Taliesin: “No god can help you now.”) Taliesin: “I sunk a boat.” Laura: Proud of not getting caught with Nott in the Platinum Dragon sanctuary. Sam: Taking the blow for Jester so she could escape. Liam: “Molly showing his dick covered in eggs.”

Matt: “I’m proud of you guys not entirely descending into evil madness. I’m proud of the character arcs of being broken, terrible people, and finding out that it’s okay to be broken; you’re not necessarily terrible.” Liam: “The entire cast went, ‘He’s talking about everyone but me’.” Matt thought it was going to be very hard to keep the group together, but the party turned it into character growth moments. “I’m proud of you.” Laura: “Thanks, Dad.”

Yasha loved the arm wrestling. “Oh man, it’s so fun to be the tank.”

Laura: “I’m really proud of us for saving Kiri!”

Everyone has Liam’s chest hair:

Wishes for the next 100 episodes? More Ashley. 

Brian: “I hate this coffee table more than anything in the whole, entire world.”

What’s something that should never change about the show? How ridiculous it is, the barrel, Dani. Also always have a dog. They fundamentally do the show for themselves, still, and that’s made it a really good environment for them to open up about the show and their characters.

Liam: “There’s a lot of beauty to what we do, but it’s also inherently silly. And to deny that is silly.”

Matt likes that it’s unpolished and imperfect. “Things are going to go wrong regardless, and you can either get angry and frustrated about the lack of control, or you can embrace it.” Sam: “None of this is real anyway.” 

Brian points out that this is not an excuse to stop paying him.

And that’s a wrap! This is the last After Dark for a while, but there are some big ideas in the works for the coming weeks!

[bees-for-the-wildmother]

Either-Or CritRole Ask Meme (with all my answers)

Campaign One or Campaign Two? Ummm, I think I'm going to have to say...campaign two. I love campaign one with all my heart, but there's something about watching it unfold, watching the party comes together and form the bonds VM had solidly in place.

Vex'ahlia or Jester? Jester. I love my darling, but Jester has this exuberance that is so charming. I fell in love with her just like the rest of the Nein. Like Yasha, after spending only a few minutes around her, I decided I liked her right away.

Vax'ildan or Caleb? I keep going back and forth on this one, but I think I'm going to go Vax, though it does feel weird splitting the twins. But his tendency for Jenga shenanigans is what made him pull slightly ahead of Caleb. At least at the moment I'm writing this.

Pike or Yasha? Pike. It might be different if I knew more about Yasha, but Pike will always be my favorite little monstah.

Keyleth or Beauregard? Oh no. This is another difficult one. I love Kiki, but Beau...at this exact moment my heart is telling me Keyleth, so I'm going to pick her.

Scanlan or Tary or Nott? Hmm...I think I'm going to go with Nott. I love Scanlan dearly, but there's just something about Nott.

Percy or Mollymauk or Caduceus? I think it'll be Caduceus. I love all of Taliesin's characters, but Caduceus just has this vibe that has him puking ahead of the others...I guess I'm team Cleric, I chose all the Clerics available to me.

Grog or Fjord? Grog. Fjord is interesting and a great character, but I can't go without my Grog.

Trinket or Frumpkin? Trinket! Easy one. My giant fluffy good boy.

Vox Machina or the Mighty Nein? Why am I forcing these questions on myself? It's like asking to pick my favorite family...it is picking a favorite family. *sigh* I think I'm going to choose the Mighty Nein. Again, it might just be because I'm getting to come along on the journey of them becoming the family they are.

Gilmore or Pumat Sol? Gilmore. He's glorious and wonderful and an easy choice for me.

Kima or Keg? Kima. I feel a little guilty going for the NPC, but it's almost like she's not an NPC because she's one of the dearest ones to the community and Matt. And she did have a bigger role than most normal NPCs.

Zarha or Calianna? Zarha. Her relationship with Vex and everything about her. Definitely Zarha.

Kashaw or Shakäste? I'm going to go Kashaw on this one. His rough, blunt, and abrupt ways made him so fun to interact with.

Kaylie or Marion? Ooo. Another hard one. But I think I'm going to go with Marion. Just the love she has for Jester and her soft ways. And her gentle threat to send her hoard of people after the Nein if they don't take care of her daughter.

Clarota or Lorenzo? Clarota. Mostly for how Vox Machina interacted with him and how he played into the story. Plus, Lorenzo played a part in the biggest trauma for the Mighty Nein, so no.

The Raven Queen or the Traveler? The Traveler. There's something up with him, and per usual, I just want answers. But Jester's interactions with him and what he was (and is) for her make me choose him.

Sarenrae or the Stormlord? Sarenrae. I feel like I don't know much about the Stormlord. But I'll always appreciate Sarenrae's gentle and loving light.

Emon or Wildemount? Wil-de-mount (that's how my brain likes to read it even though I know it's wrong). I think it now has something to do with my penchant for wanting to explore and know more and I feel like I know a lot about Emon. And why is it a city vs a country. Shouldn't it be Tal'Dorei or Wildemount, or Emon or Zadash, or something like that? My reasoning still stands any of the ways. I like the new and relatively unexplored (in comparison).

How do you want to do this? Or Nerdy-ass voice actors? How do you want to do this? The joy and happiness and sense of victory that comes with this question will never die.

Campaign One cosplay intro or Campaign Two animated intro? Campaign two animated intro hands down. It's been out for weeks and I still get giddy every time I watch it.

Travis's refusal to believe in dice or Laura's hoard of dice? Laura's dice hoard. I can relate. My friends literally gave admonishing exclaimation of, "Shelby?!" when I brought out all my new pretty dice at our last game.

Door troubles or yelling, "Nein!"? Nein! Because it's fun to yell. And it has its double-meaning: "I rolled a nine" and "Nein, I probably didn't succeed."

I'm going to just leave this little tag here, @thegriffin-blakefamily. You'd probably see it regardless, but since I told you I was going to do it, I thought I'd make it easier for you to find my agonizing over the difficult questions.

If anyone else in the Critical Role fandom feels like making some hard decisions, I call you to attempt this. Either as an ask game (as intended by the original post) or like I did (with all you answers inserted).

[readbythestarlight]

c2e36

So this will be 10 episodes since the one where we lost Molly. Just throwing that out there.

Also it’s apparently my 9 (NEIN) month anniversary for being subbed to G&S which means it’s also my 9 month anniversary for watching CR and also the show has been going for 9 months as of the 11th so. That’s cool.

I like that jacket, Sam.

Broadway advert lol

“Andrew Loyd Website”

“I could have backed up all night” and “I’ve grown accustomed to her encryption” I’m dead

Okay that was hands down Sam’s best ad he’s so goddamn creative

NEW YORK NEW YORK I’m so excited I loved the last live show

A SLEEVES ARE BULLSHIT SHIRT?!

I need it

Oh wait it doesn’t actually say sleeves are bullshit

I still love the shirt tho and I want one

And the bumper sticker

“It makes it sound bad when you say it like that” guys it WAS bad xD

Poor Caduceus is having an Experience

Cad: “You keep leaving”

Y: “They keep finding me”

Cad: “I think you might have the right idea”

THE FUCK? NO

guys you need to convince Caduceus to sTAY

HE’S ALIVE?!

HE HAS AN AXE IN HIS HEAD

Oh no don’t get Cad he’s sad and tired right now

I mean y’all almost left him behind which was crummy

Caleb really wanted to yank that axe out

Also how does healing work? Like does the guy have permanent brain damage in the are where the axe wrecked now? If it had hit somewhere vital to like, say, memory, would his memory be gone? Enquiring minds want to know.

When Caleb tries to be intimidating it both makes me laugh but also freaks me out a little

I LOVE when Matt has cool props

So does Travis lol

J: “Have you heard of THE Traveler”

Galen: “….Oh no not another one”

Nott and Jester building up Galen like “no no you’re totally special!!!”

“Missed all the major organs” sAM xD

“The Mist…ake” I’m crying

lol promoting this guy to first mate I’m crying

“We got a new pet!”

“Let’s call him Professor Thadeus the second!”

They forgot they had someone tied to the mast too what nerds

They cut up his nice shirt xD

I adore that Travis has totally got the islands and shit memorized so he can be super in-character

Also Cad is being too quiet it’s making me sad

Caleb The Navigator

Captain Fjord

First Mate Galen

Oh oh oh they should have a guest to come aboard and sail with them

Oh noooo they left the magic invisible cart

YES THANK YOU MATT y’all need to talk to Caduceus thank you Matt for pointing out that poor Taliesin has been silent for 30 minutes

Oh no have they somehow fucked over Cad’s mission?

I’m curious about this. Because obviously Taliesin knew this was exactly how the M9 were, so I can’t believe that he would have made Cad to be wholly incompatible with them.

He’s feeling really low and lost I think it’s time for a group hug

Him almost dying really freaked him out (and I think it really freaked Taliesin out too)

I’M HAVING A LOT OF FEELINGS RIGHT NOW WITH JESTER AND CADUCEUS YOU GUYS

Caduceus is the ship’s cook

Mmm Beau is starting to feel like Caleb is trying too hard to excuse the bad things they do

I think the dock thing was a disaster for sure but I don’t think it was necessarily that they REALLY did anything wrong?

I’m not sure what exactly Beau is feeling bad about? Like freeing the genie wasn’t wrong, the boat thing was a mistake built on bad choice but it wasn’t them being inherently bad, and they didn’t kill Algar, so?

Ah, she’s feeling like she didn’t leave Nicodranus better than she found it

I like this whole “why didn’t we try to talk it out first” thing because it’s nice that two of them are having some moral conflicts. I also like what it says about Fjord and Beau as far as character development.

I mean I don’t think boiling it down to “like we were justified in our actions” really covers what Caleb said. He did say they could have handled things a lot better, but that they did what they had to to survive a situation they could have but didn’t handle better.

“I don’t want to drive you guys away” BEAUUUU my heart

Yasha staring off south “looking for a storm”

Caduceus cooking for the group is literally just my favorite thing. They totally needed a group member who could like make them slow down and eat and just like… take care of themselves, even just for the length of the meal.

Beau went from “I’m sorry for killing these guys” to “fuck those guys they’re dead anyway let’s smear their name”

We should not split up

There’s no way any of this could go wrong

Awwww Caleb showing Nott the stars and planets so sweet

SEE Caleb understands that things went horribly wrong. I honestly think he’s just trying to keep their spirits’ up.

Nott honey you don’t have to be okay with him using suggestion, I understand you both admire and need him but you can be mad at him

“Nott is a one-earther”

Have I mentioned how much I love Caduceus?

Fjord’s just like “please tell me you mean you talk to alive grieving people and not the dead people”

Oh no

They’re coming for them

You should NOT go back

Sam is like “why the fuck are we going back” and I agree so hard

Fjord should not stay on the ship Nott is right

N: “Oh, oh, what other languages do you speak?!”

J: “I speak Infernal”

Everyone cracks up

Oh this is going to be another disaster

Although I guess the guard guys wouldn’t be expecting them to immediately come back?? Maybe??

“YOU’RE THE SAILOR GUY THIS IS YOUR WHOLE EPISODE” lol sam

“I’m gonna bake, fuck it” I LOVE CAD

“I look like Captain Crunch btw” I’m crying can’t breathe omg

Except isn’t the captain dead lol

“Unknown do-gooders” well that wasn’t the reputation I expected

UH HEY I HOPE MARION DIDN’T HEAR ABOUT THE BLUE SKINNED TIEFLING KILLING HERSELF

These lies are getting more and more ridiculous

“The little devil girl who drowned a hundred years ago” Taliesin and the idea of a ghost story is just… so perfect.

Beau stop xD

If this ghost story isn’t in campaign 3 someday I’m gonna cry

I’m so glad that Orli is coming along

They hired the tortle! :D

Nott is really being adorable with the “we are a team and you are important” thing. Obvious, but adorable.

Taliesin wanted ghost stories and now we’re getting islands people avoid because strange ancient unnatural stuff

Okay quick aside but this conversation with Yasha and Caduceus makes me think — I love how there’s this group of people who seemingly should have nothing in common, but in a lot of ways they have things they can understand about each other. Struggles they can related to. It’s really nice.

Jester and her multiple message spells lol

I’ll miss you Marion!

Oooo a glow in the water?

Awww Matt that’s really pretty!

“Sometimes the things that are the most beautiful are the things that can hurt you the worst” that’s very profound, Jester.

I’m gonna cry I don’t want Jester to be sad don’t be sad (Laura needs to stop looking like she’s gonna cry because it’s gonna make me cry)

And the way she does this little laugh like she’s trying to brush off how sad she is like STOP IT IM EMOTIONAL.

Marion was gonna leave with Jester’s dad but then he didn’t come back and I’m thinking at some point they had better kick the Gentleman’s ass for abandoning her

The way Fjord is so sweet and soft with Jester is so cute I can’t decide if I ship them or if I just want them to be soft and close but not romantic I think I’d be happy either way but my god Fjord’s being so gentle with her is killing me

“There are vegetarian options as well”

Marius: “Thank you, thank you, it’s very good—they’re crazy aren’t they?”

Cad: “Oh yeah, they’re completely crazy.”

I desperately hope they get attacked by a sea monster at some point

“Captain Tusktooth”

Tiny elf-owl Frumpkin omg

He’s loaning her tiny owl Frumpkin for a week I cry

M: “I poke him to see if he bites me”

Tr: “He’s dead”

“I’m gonna probably start talking to fish at some point in the near future” Caduceus Doolittle

When Nott is sincere like when she’s talking to Caduceus right now is so sweet

I take it back it’s too soon to talk about Molly Sam

“Between you and me, Jester’s a really bad cleric, so…” and Laura almost spits out her drink lol

I want to meet the rest of the Clays someday I hope some of them are still alive

“A sign that there could be, for all of us, another chapter” Nott is getting me in my feelings tonight

Matt: “You get the sense that the fish would be happy to”

Cad/Tal: “I’m a lunatic aren’t I?”

M: “Yeah.”

C/T: “I’m sorry.”

M: “Yeah, no, it’s great! :D”

The fish: “sure, sure, suresuresuresure sure”

Oh godddd sky monster?

Bird?

WHAT IS IT

“Professor Thadeus…?”

Oh. Fuck. Creepy flying humanoid thing.

lol Beau making sure it’s not Yasha

Oh jeez poor Yasha

…Okay Matt that wasn’t cool because it’s past midnight and the windows are open and I’m feeling weirdly paranoid now

HERE WE GO

Harpies omggggg

Caleb’s really not gonna be able to use fire for this without risking the ship

Oh fuck don’t get the deck hands

Okay the sail isn’t that big a deal Jester can probably mend it, so save the deck hand first

Harpies are not sirens that shouldn’t be allowed to do anything

Oh poor Nott

SAVE THE CREW PERSON FIRST BEAU

I love Cad’s beetles

“Snack time” Cad you’re so creepy sometimes xD

15pts of beetle damage hell yeah

Okay I take it back Beau might have done the best thing saving the sail.

Okay this is too easy of a fight tho what’s coming that’s worse

Oh daaaaamn snapped her neck with the sail rope

Caleb Nott this isn’t nice xD

“We saved his life with the power of friendship” I’m crying

F: “How do we prevent further heart episodes?”

N: “MORE FRIENDSHP. MORE FRIENDSHIP.”

Awkward friend hugs are best hugs

Nott please don’t eat harpy meat

Cad’s gonna compost the harpy

Beau is keeping Frumpkin in her pocket of course she is

Poor Travis just like “I DIDN’T KNOW ID ACTUALLY HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO CAPTAIN A SHIP” poor guy

Oh god the ship is gonna sink

They’re gonna end up stranded on the cursed island just watch

Gonna try and block the hole…. with a mattress

I’m shocked they managed to patch it bless Galen for that Nat20

Caleb being clever to save the ship with his magic bubble

I hope they don’t get Orli killed

They gonna get sunk

Oh wait

Does Caleb have to stay inside the bubble?? I hope it doesn’t start to fill too much

YAAAAAS what a good episode!

SO MUCH SAILING PIRATE-Y FUN

Oh please wear pirate outfits I’m begging

I’m so excited for next week

[parasite-core]

1, 19, 21, and 22 for the critter asks!

Thank you anon ☺️ I’m going to be placing this under a cut because it got really long. I...got a tad emotional.

1: How did you first discover Critical Role?

So I’d been playing Pathfinder for about a year before Critical Role got super popular. My partner Zane, who is also the only person I played Pathfinder with back then, started watching and was pretty into it. I had a vague interest at the time, but it was already well into the Vecna arc by the time I really started hearing about it. I actually remember the first scene I ever overheard Zane listening to when he was catching up was the love potion scene 😂 Amazing first introduction. The only CR 1 episode I listened to live was about an hour of the final battle with Vecna. I didn’t actually think back then that I’d ever commit to watching it, because four hours felt like a big chunk of time weekly. Then I realized that one of the players was Liam, and I have been a huge fan of his voice work since high school. I’d heard of Laura, Travis, and Matt beforehand, but finding out Liam was in it was what really got me interested enough to take the dive and start watching live when campaign 2 started. I never looked back. Ironically now I’m the only one in my immediate friend group who still watches now.

19: Who’s your favorite cast member?

Despite my previous answer alluding to me being a huge fan of Liam’s work for years, it’s actually a tie between Liam and Taliesin. Even beyond being a huge fan of his voice work (he just has a really great recognizable voice and I always feel happy when I recognize him in something) I adore how in character Liam gets and how much thought goes into how he expresses his characters. I love how excited he gets for the fandom content too, as the art dad of the cast. I love his descriptions and how he uses D&D as a way to show his love for his nerdy best friends. But it’s really Taliesin who’s affected my life in very big very personal ways. He also really came out of left field for who I’d end up really liking of the cast. See, I grew up in a very socially conservative home. My mom is very judgmental about piercings, tattoos, clothing, hair color/style, all that stuff, and when I started Critical Role I was still fairly fresh out of college and hadn’t yet pulled myself from some of that judgmental mindset I’d grown up with. So when I first saw Taliesin, my immediate reaction was basically ‘isn’t he kind of old to be dressing like that?’. I went in basically expecting to enjoy the entire cast except Taliesin, entirely because he was an older goth. I dropped that bullshit pretty fast after I saw him play Percy and Molly, his characters have consistently been some of my favorites. Hearing him talk about self expression, and learning to not give a fuck about what people whose opinions don’t matter, and all that really helped me to let go of some of my own toxic bs. And as I started exploring my gender identity more, I saw him as an example of how to be okay with myself no matter how I ended up wanting to present myself on the outside. After Mollymauk died I had a major spike in my depression, because I’d been kind of using Molly on an unhealthy level to keep myself going on a weekly basis (telling myself “I have to survive until Thursday so I can see what Molly will do next” “I have to make it to Thursday, maybe we’ll learn more about his backstory this week”, stuff like that). Then one day I was watching some other show online Taliesin was a guest in, I don’t remember what it was just that he was there dressed in the most fabulous purple outfit, and it kind of hit me that I could do that too. I could just make Taliesin and Molly’s worldview my own, I could dress loud and bright and be someone who people remember fondly. I could try to leave every place better than I found it. So I’ve since bought a bunch of clothes I just think are fun and fanciful, just because I like them, and I’ve tried to let go of my first instinct of being scared of how people will view me, and I’ve made a very conscious effort to stop that judgmental way of looking at people that made me almost not give someone amazing like Taliesin a chance. So anyways that was probably way more personal info than you wanted to know 😂 Tl;dr, I consider Taliesin an inspiration and a role model.

21: Who’s your favorite CR1 PC

That’s hard. My first instinct is Percy. And it’s a good first instinct. I love my dark tormented soul type characters who don’t consider themselves redeemable (see: my CR2 favorite). But also I love Grog, he’s hilarious and Travis really just made him a joy to watch. His antics are some of the first things I think of any time I think of CR1. Also I love the twins, their interactions were wonderful, and Vax’s storyline was so good and so tragic. But, no, I do think I have to go with my first instinct and say Percy. I’m just a sucker for a guy with a demon in his head seeking revenge and finding a family who helps to make him a better version of himself. That final moment admitting how much he misses his family and how hurt he is by what happened and his survivor’s guilt is all so heart wrenching. Angry “No Mercy Percy” coldly going after the people who hurt him and his is so dark and mildly terrifying and so fun to watch. Just...I enjoy Percy.

22 Who’s your favorite CR2 player character?

If he hadn’t died, it probably would have been Molly, he was easily my favorite for a long time. And I still adore him and I can’t wait for what’s coming. But there’s been such a long time between then and now, I ended up falling into my love of characters with dark backstories who don’t believe they can be redeemed. Caleb is definitely one of my favorites. I just like my sad haunted guys, I’m just that predictable. But also like I said earlier, I really like how Liam describes things, and Caleb and his magic really lend themselves to that. And he’s a dork who loves cats, and his found family. Although Beau blindsided me and ended up also being one of my favorites. I just love the Empire Siblings. Beau is so gutsy and plays up not giving a fuck but she also loves her friends so much that losing them would have been the biggest sacrifice she could think of for the hag. She came from a terrible toxic environment and she rose up and made a place for herself and she found her own family who loves her unconditionally and just 😭 I love Beau.

[loquaciousquark]

Highlights from Talks Machina (Episode 105)

Again, covering for @eponymous-rose​ while she continues her international vacation! Sorry for missing last week--things got crazy! Tonight’s guests: Darin de Paul, Taliesin sporting a lovely scarlet mohawk, and Travis. Brian starts a story that ends with him forging several signatures, and off we go.

The new campaign guide comes out soon! Taliesin is now worried about messing up the history of a character he invented.

Darin loves D&D as a long-form improv exercise and is happy he was able to get moments with each of the cast members.

Right after college, Darin was an apprentice at the Burt Reynolds Theater in Florida (a year-long program for theater students). One of his co-apprentices was Matt’s mom, and Matt’s grandmother was the director’s assistant. Matt’s father was part of the writing room. During the run of Darin’s last show (Fiddler), a clarinet player said they were going to play D&D and invited Darin. Matt’s mother was also in the group; they were all new to the game, so they rolled on a table for names and played four sessions. Last year, Darin was hired by Blizzard to do various voices, which is where he and Matt became friends. Later, Matt realized his mom had a picture of herself with Darin de Paul, and discussion of that picture led to the conversation of their D&D game. It’s been 37 years since Sprigg’s original campaign.

Matt was worried about fitting Sprigg in until Darin mentioned he was a hermit. The hobgoblin TPK was canon! Sprigg, a chaotic evil illusionist thief, was the only one to survive; the last moment of that campaign had him fleeing on a cart with wolves chasing him, abandoning the rest of the party to their deaths. Travis and Taliesin ask if he really was chaotic evil; “Why do you think he was so interested in redemption, dear boy?”

The first episode Darin saw was the Trials of the Take episode when the carpet was destroyed. He’s wanted to be on the show ever since.

Symmetra’s voice actor, Anjali Bhimani, also plays D&D. My heart skips a few beats.

Vex and Percy eloped over the year break. Laura and Taliesin kept it secret out of pique at first (Taliesin doesn’t remember why they were piqued). He’s not surprised the others are annoyed.

Grog was extremely impressed by Sarenrae and hasn’t thought much about Kord giving him any boons.

Darin has been a fan of the show and watching for some time. Taliesin says he is the most prepared guest they’ve ever had.

Very few people were present at Vex & Percy’s wedding. They did not intend to ever bring it up on their own.

The plane of books is the worst possible plane for Grog. Only the plane of shopping would be worse.

As soon as Darin walked into the studio last Thursday, Travis immediately asked him if he was a god. Travis still thinks he might be.

Percy would rather have a thousand years with Vex than a thousand years with Ioun’s library.

Travis wants a “positive, upbeat resolution to all the drama that is a-hanging in the air.” Me too. Travis does not read the Player’s Handbook to help keep Grog dumb, so he never knows what’s going on.

Travis loves how prepared Darin was. He offered the Deck because he thought Darin was looking for something specific after Sprigg deflected the weaker offerings.

Darin loved the emotion in the room during the plane shift and the strong moment with Marisha in particular. He also likes the movie Gargoyles.

The hardest thing about playing Sprigg after so long was finding him again. Brian gets very sentimental about the long journey that brought Sprigg back to life, including Darin becoming friends and colleagues with Matt so many years later.

Darin will be back on the next episode and is visibly excited about it.

Darin used to read tons of D&D books (mentions Drizzt by name) and used to paint minis as a hobby. He still has some of the figures and wants to donate them to the show.

Darin’s wife was part of Taliesin’s parents’ circle, so he’s known her for a long time. Taliesin and Darin exchange memories of meeting Roddy McDowall, and Darin says part of Sprigg’s concept of memories being the most important came from a conversation he had with Roddy while Roddy was dying of cancer.

Percy’s current distrusting attitude towards the gods came directly from his interaction with the Raven Queen. However, he didn’t know there was a god of knowledge and has been “chewing on it a lot, and what it means to have faith in knowledge.” He sees the library as a testament to faith in humanity and the good works of life and how important memory is and is blown away by it. “Books have always been about finding meaning and this whole library thing has changed him.” Taliesin expected Percy to be much more resistant to Ioun and was surprised at how quickly the books sold him.

Darin felt as the scenes progressed that his role was to “illuminate” CR as to where they were and what they could be. Taliesin and Percy both wondered if he was Scanlan from the future. Darin had the choice of being Scanlan’s dad, but declined.

Percy picked Vesper because her namesake was the last person he’d talked to in real life.

The only place Travis can think of worse for Grog is if the books were replaced with clothing & a For Sale sign. “Grog has a beatnik poet inside him waiting to get out.”

Darin’s advice to Keyleth was total improv. He almost cried when she touched his hand. He loves funny characters that can become sad and/or touching.

Marisha has no idea how to get Keyleth out of her emotional nosedive. Watching Marisha break character from Keyleth at the end of an episode is one of Taliesin’s favorite things because they’re such different people.

Percy would seek out the lifebooks for all his family & ancestry because he’s fascinated with legacy, and Whitestone is full of ghost stories. He had lots of stories he’d planned to give as part of the gnomes’ tour, and tells one about a woman forced into a marriage who slowly poisoned her husband over a number of years.

Sprigg feels he is what Scanlan might become. He did not expect to survive the episode.

If they were really in Ioun’s halls, Travis would love to see the books of his family and of JFK. Darin would like to see his father’s book. Darin also likes wearing suits, which is why he wears suits. He only wears t-shirts at the gym. (At one point Darin’s family also owned 20 horses???). He wishes his parents could see him now because they were so supportive when he was growing up.

Honor! Justice! After Dark, After Dark, After Dark!

If the challenge for Ioun involves any physical activity, Grog will fight Percy for it.

Bucket lists: Travis wants to swim with a great white shark. (Darin’s biggest fear is great white sharks.) Taliesin wants to travel to India. Darin wants to learn to tap dance, and casually drops that he used to dance with Cirque du Soleil.

Darin’s favorite color is black. His favorite season is winter.

There’s a video somewhere of Darin de Paul and Steve Blum pretending to be zombies and running towards the camera.

Travis and Darin do Reinhardt “impressions” by talking in high-pitched baby voices. Taliesin does a pretty decent actual impression! Darin likes that there’s heroes for every playstyle.

Darin hasn’t told Matt’s parents he brought back Sprigg. He also used to have a crush on Matt’s mom.

If Darin could pick any character from VM to play, he would play Scanlan. Brian teases the entire world by saying he would play “the character Pike’s in love with.”

Darin’s twitter flooded after last Thursday and he wishes he could respond to all of the kind messages.

Darin once shared floss with Gilbert Gottfried as part of an old bit.

Darin feels his whole history has led to this moment last Thursday where he had the chance to create a story with people he loved.

Laura read the Game of Thrones books as they came out, well before the show started. Brian just found the copy of the first book she lent him in 2010, which he still hasn’t read.

If Sprigg could fight any D&D monster, it would be a hobgoblin.