Talks Machina 92: In Hot Water

is the ninety-second episode of Talks Machina. Marisha Ray and Travis Willingham discuss with host Brian Wayne Foster.

Synopsis

 * Dharlette: Travis: How does Fjord feel about Caleb making the decision to stop playing pirates and bring things to a head with Avantica?
 * Ken Fagan: Marisha: What was your reaction when Jester decided to take Beau and travel away from the group? Were you concerned it might turn bad?
 * DDDragon1: Travis: Fjord's done some shady stuff, but demon summoning is on a whole new level. Is Fjord at all concerned about the path he's following, or about how the other members of the Mighty Nein will view his new skill?
 * @justmegg93: Marisha: what motivated Beauregard to use such a radically different tactic during this debacle - aka patience, diplomacy, and honesty? How did it feel when it all worked?
 * Gif of the Week: Becca aka @beccadahlia's gif of "executivegoth.exe has stopped working."
 * @whatshecalled: Travis: Was there a reason that Fjord slipped into his real voice when yelling that Caleb needed help?
 * Ceecee7: Marisha: Beau's mention of the Cobalt Soul played a huge role in earning the Plank King's ear and helped avert a disastrous confrontation. Did she know pulling the library card would get her somewhere with the Plank King, or was it a last-ditch effort to help save herself and her friends?
 * Nathan Kolodziej: Both: Had Beau's Fists of Truth not succeeded, do you think that this would have been the end of the M9? Why or why not?
 * @CarnotLesbian: Marisha: After her punches have been pivotal to the defeat of multiple bosses (Stunning Strike on Lorenzo and Extort Truth on Avantika), does Beau feel better about having "just her fists"?
 * @KyleWithAnN: Travis: Does Fjord think Avantika truly feel betrayed by someone she referred to as a lover? Or does he believe she was merely spouting a sob story meant to sway the crowd and the Plank King in her favor?
 * Fan Art of the Week: Haley Pavelko aka @fwishb0ne's "I......wait."
 * @MissSunFlower94: Both: Did you expect the Plank King's judgement of Avantika to be so sudden and violent? and Marisha: If Beau had known that would be the result, would she still have forced the truth out of Avantika?
 * @EvaKuchen: Travis: does Fjord have any regrets about Avantika's death, given how he could have found out more about his patron with her help?
 * Tmande2nd: Marisha: Did Beau feel even slightly intimidated by the Plank King or was he just another authority figure to her?
 * LandShanties: Travis: Fjord's Texan accent is a relic of losing Vandren, and currently Fjord's swjord is a relic of losing Molly. Did you intend for Fjord to pick up pieces of lost friends as part of his identity or did that come about as a result of playing him?
 * No Critmas this year, but every week on Talks they will feature a gift from a critter. This week's gift: Fjord's falchion by @BrazenSelkie (featured in the episode's thumbnail).

Quotations

 * Brian: "Who would've thought that Tumblr and Mollymauk would have so much in common?"
 * Travis: "It's only my wife, it's no big deal. Oh and Taliesin, my other wife."
 * Brian: "For as much as you like swallowing, potions, not so much." Travis: "They're not swords, Brian. I have a very strict diet."
 * Brian: "You sound like McCree's drunk uncle."
 * Travis: "Let's not simplify it as a plan. We obsessed." Marisha: "We had two weeks, y'all."
 * Marisha: "We'll consider the morality later, just get the fucking orbs."
 * Marisha: "I could just see ghost images of your faces in front of me as I'm weighing the consequences."
 * Marisha: "If I fuck this up, we're all dead. There's no way."
 * Marisha: "You have every right to plead the Liam."
 * Brian: "Only Matt Mercer could make Plank King cool again."
 * Marisha: "Pulling wife privileges, Matt did mention...she would have called for a trial and then she would have tried to pull some tricks...We would have gotten caught up in something."
 * Travis: "Don't we only need to worry about drowning one furry animal at a time??"
 * Marisha: "We are totally dodging a war right now."
 * Marisha: "We can't be like 'So, Traveler Con...what's with that?'"
 * Brian: "So your gag reflex is straight out of the Player’s Handbook?" Travis: "And based off personal experience." Brian: "Ok, a little bit of both."
 * Dani: "How did you go through life, doing all these anime and stuff like that and all these conventions, and never hear the phrase 'shipping'?" Travis: "I like football, I don't know."
 * Marisha: "I thought she was gonna get arrested. And then if she died when we were further away, then I mean, out of sight out of mind. Fuck it, it feels less like your fault in that case. But when it's someone literally getting their neck snapped immediately in front of you, that was pretty gnarly." Travis: "And Beau's no fan of Avantika, right?" Marisha: "No, but that was...That was brutal." Travis: "It was pretty savage. Yeah, I thought there was going to be some prolongment and then it kept escalating and she kept saying nothing and then nothing and you could just start to see it unfold in Matt’s head and you're like 'oh god, we're gonna be front row center for this. We might get some blood spatter!'"
 * Travis: "The only thing I wish I had said was, while he was holding her up there right before the snap, was go like 'No. Don't. Stop.'"
 * Brian: "You're fooling no one with that lawful good bullshit, Travis."
 * Travis: "Crickety-crack, here's your boat, get the fuck out."
 * Marisha: "More of the first, definitely intimidated. But she's still like 'ugh,' especially towards someone like that."
 * Dani: "Talk more about how firm the Plank King is, Marisha."
 * Travis: "He is now finding out who he is for the first time, right? This new version of himself. And as he moves through the world, there are people that impact him. And if those people left a positive mark on his life, then I think we all try to model aspects of those people. Or take some of that with you and make it part of yourself. And that's what he’s doing. He looked up to Vandren. He respected Vandren. Vandren treated him well and I think maybe had a bearing that he admired, so he's taken that on. And for Molly it was the same thing. He felt a great amount of regret and grief, and if he can make that a permanent fixture as he moves forward and however long this goes for, I think he wanted to do that."
 * Travis: "Fjord is living his best life right now."
 * Brian: "I don't think about what a sentence is going to be until it's over."