#c2e9

Molly: "You know, Nott, I notice. I notice the way that you eye things, on occasion." 

Nott: "I'm not stealing anything right now!"

Molly: "Not right now and that's fine. And I would hate to get in the way of any of your business. Your business is your business and I'm perfectly fine with that. But it's good to remember that there are people who need what they have. There are people who need every bit of what they have. And there are people who would be much happier if they had a little less."

Nott: "How do I know which is which?"

Molly: "Well that's a skill worth developing. That's a skill very much worth developing."

Jester: "If the people look like you and Caleb, they probably need it." 

Molly: "If they seem grumpy, or angry, and seem overly concerned with an enormous amount of money that they happen to have, or using it to just be mean or cruel to somebody, that's probably a sign that they'd just be much happier if they just knew exactly who liked them and the only way you could ever really know if someone likes you is if you don't have anything over them. And the easiest way to get to that honesty is if you don't have anything." 

Nott: "So you're saying steal from grumpy people?" 

Molly: "Oh yes."

 Jester: "Shitty people specifically."

 Molly: "Unless they're grumpy because they don't have enough. Because if you're hungry, you get very angry." 

Jester: "I do, I do get really mad."

 Molly: "You get so angry when you're hungry!" 

Jester: "I know." 

Nott: "Which kind of grumpy is Beau?" 

Molly: "Beau has way too much. So you should probably take some stuff from Beau. That's fair. (laughter) Beau really needs to know who likes her."

The Mighty Nein:

caleb bribing a crownsguard to let him into the tri-spire so he can purchase smutty books in c2e9 ~

“listen to me. there is a store in here called chastity's nook that sells dirty books. i have heard of it for months, and i am going to shop at this store, and if you want to make three gold—and if this one wants to make three gold—you will let me in there to shop for smut at the store.” this cheeky wizard. i love him sm.

Really loved the scene where he sees Nott stealing and tricks her into giving him the acid, or when he wants everybody naked in the bathhouse to discuss important things xD

Wessek the Trim: Oh, we got plenty, we've got like seven of them open. Three rooms, and a tab under the name...?

Nott/Molly: Nein.

Wessek: [counts them twice]

Molly: Nein.

Nott: Just Nein.

Molly: Nein will do.

Wessek: There's six of you.

"Wessek the Trim" Nott: "We have the same middle name" iconic (20:31)

I love that Caleb is constantly looking for ways to scam people (26) Also Fjord sitting back and just watching it happen

Yeah Fjord really is the voice of reason. Telling Molly that they won't be going to go rob random people (32)

Molly: "We're also always big fans of underbellies, especially if there's an underbelly with a heart of gold" Jester: "Especially one if it's furry and you can pet it" (47)

I loved the Gentleman plot line on my first watch. Especially because everyone who warns them away just makes them want to investigate even more (49)

Fjord coaching Beau on compliments and smiles "You're really attractive" with an absolute grimace. One of my favorite reoccurring jokes (54)

They're so fucking nosey. Is this secret meeting at all relevant to what they're doing? Probably not. Are they immediately consumed with investigating? 100% (57)

Also wow this meeting does such a good job of setting up the conflict in the empire. The disconnect between the people and the government, the pervasive level of discontent and distrust for the Cerberus assembly. Matt knew what he was doing

Beau's absolute disbelief in Jester's mom makes so much sense in hindsight. (1:19)

"Families missing in Nogvurot! Crick kidnappers steal them away in the night" God the foreshadowing is so fucking good. That would be the anamnesis (1:28)

This is the moment when Caleb starts thinking about running again. He's so concerned with staying under the radar and remaining hidden and just when he was starting to settle into this group, the rug is suddenly pulled out from under him. I didn't realize the first time through how much of an impact this interaction likely had. (1:32) Also Fjord again keeping the peace

Nott really does have a cut and dry sense of morality lol. Absolutely no gray area. I don't like them, therefore they are evil (1:57)

Caleb "I don't want to stick my neck out, but anything that is a thumb in the eye of empire, I am all for" Beau clocks this so hard

Actually Beau has a good point, it is kind of funny that both Nott and Caleb have an element they aren't a fan of. They just need two people with air and stone trauma to complete the set (2:34)

Wow you can see how this interaction kind of enforces the image that Nott is child-like. Teaching her how to swim like a baby, joking about giving her a sticker (2:40) Really helps her hide her real backstory cause its so far off what they expect

You know I think Molly's insistence on truth was one of the things that bothered me the first time round. Even before it's clear how much he's lying, it feels hypocritical. Also the insistence on truth when it's clear that the others have good reasons for not sharing. You can't just demand honesty before you've earned it (2:43)

It's actually pretty funny how the rest of the Nein treat Yasha's reticence to share her past in comparison to the way they interrogate everyone else. Turns out the trick to keeping your secrets is to give one word answers and look super uncomfortable about sharing them (2:44)

What towns can Molly not enter??? (3:01) It's like he wants the vibes of Ashton but doesn't have the backstory to make it work. Also again, he pretends to be an open book while lying out his ass. Unless the circus really fucked up some shit, there's no way he's been around long enough to have fucked up that much shit

Jester being remarkably clever and manipulative again while looking innocent (3:04)

Actually kind of wild in hindsight that gated communities have dispel fields. On one hand, good for them, but also I feel like there's a lot of rich people who want to keep their secrets.

I got so much second hand embarrassment watching this scene the first time. I thought Jester was deluding herself thinking that her mom would just send her money after she wasted all of her own (3:17)

- The early episodes of C2, especially here in Zadash, did such a good job of laying a solid groundwork for everything to come. The players got the time to do some low stakes stuff so they had time to get to know each other, Zadash was a great location for really getting the flavor and ongoing conflicts of the empire, plenty of foreshadowing, and there was enough breathing room for the group to figure out who they were and wanted to be. I know plenty of campaigns start off with an inciting incident that immediately kicks off a plot and it works fine, but I’m a big fan of these slower starts that really let things simmer.

- The Mighty Nein really were just constantly needling at each other over everything, and this is meant in a complimentary way. Between Fjord clearly trying to scope out who was trustworthy, Beau’s nosiness, and Jester and Nott’s general lack of filter, the characters were constantly playing bumper cars against all each others’ secrets and backstory-influenced behaviors and quirks, and it’s so fun on a rewatch watching them violently stomp on each others’ rakes. Even something like Caleb’s commitment to being grubby, which could have easily just been passed over for character flavor or being eccentric didn’t slip past Beau.

- Ive said this many times, but the early C2 vibes were just so good. I’m not sure what particular sauce Matt was cooking with for this one, everything was just so vivid and well thought out (or maybe my nostalgia goggles are on too tight 😆).