Talks Machina 81: The Ruby and the Sapphire

 is the eighty-first episode of Talks Machina. Liam O'Brien and Taliesin Jaffe discuss with host Brian Wayne Foster.

GIF of the Week
Winner: Robin Griffin (@rabology); "LORE ALERT."

Prize: Critical Role retro t-shirt.

Fan Art of the Week
Winner: Dae (@zomgdaes); "The Ruby of the Sea".

Prize: Mahogany dice tower system by Wyrmwood Gaming, featuring Euphoros cartography by Deven Rue.

Quotations

 * Brian: "Taliesin is like an endless well of darkness and love and joy."
 * Liam: "Caleb's state of cleanliness or dirtiness is Laura Bailey's call, not mine."
 * Brian: "Tumblr's a place I go to feel good."
 * Liam: "We are so insignificant in the face of the universe."
 * Taliesin: "He's fond of all of them, he thinks they're great. He really likes them."
 * Taliesin: "He feels like he really gets Jester. If he had to pick one, that would be the one because he feels that she's the easiest to read."
 * Taliesin: "It's if The Dude and Alan Watts had a baby and left it in the jungle."
 * Brian: "Caleb's thoughts towards other people are always so much more kind than the thoughts he has toward himself."
 * Liam: "Caleb is often thinking 'this is what my life would be like if I wasn't terrible.'"
 * Dani: "Heart and soul of the party, Professor Thaddeus."
 * Liam: "It would be so good to be close friends with you and have fun with you if I didn't have to also consider leaving you to die if the situation calls for it."
 * Taliesin: "I tried to make an irredeemable character...I wouldn't know how to make a character who's moving towards redemption who on some level can't be redeemed just by the act of moving in that direction."
 * Taliesin: "If he had been invited to stay he would have stayed longer."
 * Taliesin: "Molly would've been all about that tower."
 * Marisha: "Sometimes it's just fun to hop the fence to say that you could."
 * Taliesin: "He is a big fan of quiet and personal delight. He is happy to sit and just feel a feeling and not necessarily do anything beyond that."
 * Taliesin: "If something hadn't gone wrong in his home, he probably would have never left it."
 * Brian: "When Taliesin says he has a fun idea, it's time to get lubricated!"

Trivia

 * Laura Bailey was initially scheduled to appear on this episode, but she got sick and was too ill to come onto the show.