Some late night very unpopular opinions. Please don't kill me! I respect opposing opinions. I'm okay w/ Veth's crush on Caleb! I believe even Caleb's feelings towards her aren't or were never child/parent feelings. Relationships change & come to mean different things (Thread)

Veth's speech about being a parent to Caleb was very early in the campaign when she was very much traumatically separated from her actual child. It makes sense she would project her motherly protectiveness on Caleb because her real outlet for such feelings was out of her reach.

As Caleb came into his own it would make sense that Veth's motherly projections onto Caleb wouldn't make sense to her any longer. Caleb isn't a child and more importantly he's not Veth's child. As they stayed with the M9, they became less a unit consumed by their traumas

and more fully realized, individual people. Its completely understandable to me that Veth would catch feelings for Caleb then. It makes even more sense once she has been reunited with her child and transformed back into her real body.

As for Caleb I don't think he ever saw Veth/Nott as his mother. The parent/child framing was very much an expression of Veth's trauma, not really Caleb's. Imo Caleb never viewed himself as her son. I would describe Caleb's feelings towards Veth as queerplatonic. I think that fits

Now as for her being unfaithful to her husband, I heard somewhere that Halflings are generally polygamous (but maybe that's wrong Idk). So maybe culturally Yeza wouldn't be so scandalized by Veth's crush that she barely acts on. But even if that isn't the case, Veth is messy

Yes she's not the best mother, she's not the best wife. And that's why I like her! I think it's easy to underestimate the trauma Veth went through not only being turned into a goblin but living a life completely separate from her old one. Basically living a double life.

It makes sense to me that after living a second life for so long, she's apprehensive to the point of irresponsibility about completely returning to her old one again. She feels guilty. But, Veth has scars & returning to a traditional, simple life is going to be scary for her.

It's kind of like Frodo returning to Hobbiton after everything! He still loves the place and he especially loves the people but he doesn't really fit in anymore. There is something else always calling him. I sympathize with Veth's apprehensiveness about settling down again.

Anyway, I'm officially part of the Veth defense squad I guess lol. I just find her fascinating! The impossibility of putting her and her feelings into a neat box is one of the reasons why. She's a little storm raging & touching everything in its reach. I like that about her

Second unpopular opinion/somewhat embarrassing confession. I do think Jester is being somewhat weird with her relationship with Fjord but I don't think that means she subconsciously wants to break up with him.

I can relate an honestly embarrassing level to Jester's relationship with romance & romantic relationships. My Twitter username is romanceography but to be blunt I have never had a romantic relationship. Not even that, I haven't even had a flirtation

At this point, Jester has more experience than me in these matters and her experience isn't a lot. But just like Jester, I'm obsessed with Romance. I love love stories and ships and romantic songs. And I don't think that juxtaposition is exactly rare in young people

I'm always daydreaming and having fantasies much like Jester. But there's giant differences in these romantic fantasies and being in a relationship. and a pretty big one is the level of control one has. In a fantasy, the dreamer has complete control. Not so much in a relationship

I can say without I doubt if I were to enter a romantic relationship now I would have no idea how to comport myself at least at the start and probably a while longer. The scripts that work in my fantasies would be completely derailed if I'm being honest with myself.

So there is awkwardness in Jester's demeanor. There is perhaps confusion. But that's not because Fjord isn't the "right" person imo. To me, it's not a reflection of her thoughts about Fjord or even about their relationship. It's very much an inward thing. A reflection of herself

So while FJ doesn't excite me as much as the other romances and potential romances in the show, I think it rings true for me in a way that the others won't. But I understand that this is very much a me thing and a lot of people probably don't relate to FJ in that exact way.

I don't want Fjord and Jester to break up cuz I'd rather see a more nuanced take on how Jester and Fjord respond to confusion & awkwardness. How do they communicate when they get the chance? It's not the most thrilling stuff but I have a personal interest in it for my own reasons

And of course, my perception of Jester's behavior might be wrong and it definitely differs from others. It might be the tweets and meta I've been reading. I do know a lot of fans don't think Jester is being more awkward than usual. So there's that.

So yeah just some late night unpopular opinions I wanted to get off my chest. These might also be heavily influenced by the fact that I only consistently got into Critical Role after the hiatus & not before it. Full disclaimer: I understand & respect opposing opinions to mine