Beauyasha vs Beaujester

Ship War
ShipWar:	beauyasha vs beaujester
Date(s):	2019 - ongoing
Location:	Twitter / Tumblr
Fandom:	Critical Role
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This article documents a currently unfolding situation within the fannish realm. Content may change quickly, and the page structure itself may undergo major revision. New details are very welcome.

While not an official name, beauyasha vs beaujester describes a conflict between shippers of two Beauregard Lionett ships: Beau/Yasha and Beau/Jester

Canon Material (or lack of)

Ive seen people crying over “What are you guys talking about? There were hints of Beauyasha/Fjorester before. It didn’t come out of nowehere” and yeah, there were. Early on. And then nothing. For a really long time. And then, all of the sudden (not all of the sudden, after a three month break) it all came back in an acelereated format that we are supposed to shut up and swallow.From, at least ep 46 up to ep 99 we saw the Beau/Jester relationship grow and develop and bloom before our eyes. To the point where Beau on ep 99 (THE ONE RIGHT BEFORE THE BREAK) was talking to Jester to her face, that she was cute, that purple looked good on her.But then they decided to just ignore what happened during this 46-99 period and go back to the prior status quo, where Beau has a crush on Yasha, Jester likes Fjord and Fjord starts to show that he likes Jester back and Beau and Jester are just good pals.

I wouldn’t say that there was no development for BY, but I felt so lead on by the meta of BJ, the statement that it was “incomparable” to what B felt before, which would include her moments with Y. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken the meta so seriously when things may have changed in game, but what I saw matched this illustration of deep slow-burn romance for BJ. (reply by arexaalexa)

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I was a Beauyasha shipper who transitioned to Beaujes and then more recently back to Beauyasha (of all 3 together but that’s still crack ship ground) and honestley I didn’t think Yasha and Beau has that much build up until I went back and rewatched their supercut and there’s actually a TON of development between them with some of the better moments happening before and during the Oban arc (reply by reachforstrikhedonia)

Personally, I think Beauyasha has and is moving at a proper pace. I think since Yasha was no longer under control and alive Beau began to realize her feelings with Jester were because Yasha was gone.

I think these few moments but also little romantic moments between Beauyasha were Beau rekindling her own feelings for Yasha over Jester especially since I think she had feelings for her since the beginning. Once Yasha reciprocated some of Beau’s flirting at the uh fish market I think Beau decided it was okay to gently push and try to get closer but remains hesitant. I think Beau is still hesitant because Yasha is shy and awkward and still thinks Yasha is still mourning her wife and is not getting her hopes up just in case.

Edit: Apologies, I forgot Beau DID tell Fjord she thinks Yasha is still mourning her wife.

While it is a lesbian to lesbian relationship I don’t think it’s misplaced and forced but also Beau being hesitant to be hopeful for something with Jester. Jester has never shown a romantic interest and, to her probably, only a romantic interest in Fjord. She thinks she has no chance.

So, in comparison Beau probably thinks–even if she’s in love with Yasha or not–that she has a better chance with Yasha than with Jester. There’s no definite ending to this, for all we know Jester could suddenly confess to someone else that she has feelings for Beau but knows that Beau likes Yasha.

I think the thing that bothers me the most about the beaujester vs. beauyasha discourse at this point is that nobody has really been focusing on what jester (and by extension laura) feels

like, she’s never shown any real indication of reciprocating beau’s feelings, and has on many occasions jumped on opportunities to support beau and yasha having gay moments, which makes me think that laura has no intention of having jester develop feelings for beau

so basically people are arguing that, rather than take a chance on finding happiness with yasha – who she’s been interested in since day one, knows is gay, and has an inkling might also like her – beau should instead stay forever alone, pining after her seemingly straight best friend on the off chance that she might someday like her too

and idk about y’all, but that outcome really bothers me, whatever beau’s feelings for jester are or might have been

What has been frustrating me the most in this situation is seeing people posting and alleging that BeauYasha has had no build up, that there is nothing there compared to BeauJester and other similar things that I find crazy because I, and many others, have been seeing these things from day one. They’ve been happening the entire time it’s just been few and far between until recently because of ABC’s Blindside.

…i’m seeing a lot of criticism about how marisha and ashley are ‘telling’, rather than ‘showing’, beau and yasha’s relationship post-hiatus, and speculation on the cast deciding endgame pairings behind closed doors. obviously, i can’t really speak on how true the latter is but i firmly disagree on the idea that their relationship has ‘no emotional backbone’.

maybe my experiences are different as someone who: a) was a b/y shipper from episode 1; b) binged most of campaign 2 (and therefore didn’t really experience yasha’s absence from the party for too long); and c) really, really likes yasha. because if you were paying attention, you’d have noticed how much yasha’s opened up to the mighty nein since the beginning of the campaign… [several examples given of their dynamic and interactions]

…and i’ve seen discussion on how the cast are leaning too much into the funny ‘disaster lesbians’ trope - based on mutual physical and sexual attraction alone - and how their awkwardness stems from a lack of real, genuine, emotional connection. i vehemently disagree - we are witnessing a progression, a second step in their relationship that began with yasha being almost entirely closed-off to a fumbling (but honest) devotion. to say otherwise is to admit that you weren’t paying attention from the start.

7. Beau and Yasha have had many more romantic moments since quarantine, and it’s clear that those old flames Beau held for Yasha are reigniting. She even brought it back full circle by having Yasha carry her. That was a callback allll the way from episode 1 when Beau first started flirting with Yasha.

Episode- or event-specific reactions

Post 2x109

In episode 108, Traveler Con, Beau and Fjord talk to each other. Fjord admits that he wants Jester to be a part of his future and that he's not sure whether he wants to address potential feelings for her or not; Beau made the comment that “I think it’s easy to lust after Jester because she’s sparkles and confetti and shiny.”. She also asks Fjord whether he thinks Yasha is into her. In episode 109, Frigid Propositions, Beau asks Jester whether she thinks that Yasha’s into her; Beau says “I feel like the ball's in her court, 'cause she's the one with the dead wife.” Beauyasha and Beaujester shippers alike had reactions to these events.

I still maintain that Beau was downplaying what she felt/feels for Jester during her conversation with Fjord. I doubt Marisha would have said what she said on Talks if it wasn’t true. I think what is happening is that Beau really thinks those feelings would only be one sided. So she distanced herself from Jester and in that process has realised that she also has these unaddressed feelings for Yasha which she never confronted because of her wife being dead. And her decision seems to pay off. Her and Jester seem to still be close, Yasha seems to respond to her flirting and J & F seem to also slowly grow closer. What I am trying to say is that to me those recent developments make sense and seems to be in line with all the characters. What disappoints me is that the potential of Beau and Jester as a couple will probably never be explored in canon. But I am totally fine with what we get instead. But I also understand that my interpretations and feelings are not the only ones out there. Please know that you are valid for not seeing things like I do. As long as you are not attacking anyone (cast or other shippers) hating that it happens is also fine.

I think the trouble with Beau’s words is that there was never a right way to say it without it being painful for the Beaujester ship. If she kept gushing about how much she loved Jester it would invalidate any romance between her and Yasha. As hard as this is the story is moving on - how things are said or rephrased won’t soften the blow or change the outcome. I’m sorry for your pain. (reply to Tumblr post)

I’m re-watching the episode and I need to talk (again) about what Beau said during the fjorester/beauyasha talk because it just makes all this discourse even more ridiculous.

Her exact words were “I think it’s easy to lust after Jester because she’s sparkles and confetti and shiny” What she’s talking about isn’t what we’d normally think of as lust. She’s talking about how pretty much everyone is drawn to Jester because she’s this bright, whimsical presence… I think for Beau, who hasn’t had many stable or positive relationships in her life, Jester sort of caught her off guard. She was drawn to the positivity and brightness Jester puts out and it’s easy to become infatuated with that. But overtime she realized what those feelings actually were and that she simply loves Jester as a close friend. I don’t think her feelings for Jester necessarily changed, just that she realized what exactly those feelings actually were.

So stop acting like Beau (and by extension Marisha) is a terrible person for “lusting” after Jester. She had a crush…Characters with changing or conflicting feelings are interesting! Sorry if you’re not getting the ship you want but it’s not your game. Let Travis romance his wife, finally. Let Ashley and Marisha be disaster lesbians together. LET THE CAST PLAY THEIR CHARACTERS HOWEVER THEY WANT AND LEAVE THEM ALONE

8. So Beau’s talk with Fjord was, more than Beau explaining to Fjord, Marisha entering all of this into canon. It’s okay to fall in and out of love, especially, like Beau has said, she doesn’t think Jester would ever even see her that way. It’s okay to get over somebody. 9. There have been lots of theories as to why Beau said “lust” instead of “love” referring to Jester. Maybe it was the tone of the conversation, with Fjord and Beau sort of downplaying their romantic feelings and doing a kind of “broooo…” “BroooOOOO…” Maybe it’s a lot of things, and maybe Marisha will talk about it when Talks comes back.

Post-Talks Machina (Oct 13 2020)

I definitely think the way people are reacting negatively to Marisha’s Beauyasha statements from last night is indicative of how their images of love and relationships has been incredibly misconstrued, most likely by popular media. The thing is that it’s 100% okay to like more than one person, and it’s also completely normal not to fall in love at first sight, bc such a thing is actually very unlikely. Love can be messy as fuck. None of that invalidates the feelings you had for anyone you once looked at through a romantic lens— yes, it totally makes sense that Beau liked both Jester and Yasha romantically, and yes, it totally is valid for her to still be pursuing Yasha primarily and develop deeper feelings from there.

Marisha Ray going on record with Beau being attracted to both Jester and Yasha is just. Amazing and real. People are hot and emotions are MESSY!!!!!! You can like more than one person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And thats normal!!!! It doesnt invalidate how you feel that you feel things for more than one person. But deciding she doesnt have to be lonely and that she CAN let herself be happy and that she just wants both of them in her life no matter how…. its just beautiful to me. #beauyasha #beaujester #she has two hands #obvi im biased but

OK MYBE I MISSED IT BUT ??? IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE FACT MARISHA SAID IN TALKS THAT BEAU IS ATTRACTED AND INTERESTED IN **BOTH** JESTER AND YASHA AT THE SAME TIME??? and that thats a good and common thing both in fiction and irl, to have multiple crushes and to not quite know what to do, *especially* for people like the nein who are really just moving past their loneliness and letting themselves have happiness?? (marisha: ”if you say you havent [been attracted to multiple people at once] you’re a liar, because people are hot!!” bryan: “YEAH I mean look at this window! get dani in here”) also that all beau wants is for jester to be happy :sobs:

Okay so now I hope we can put this dumb Beaujester/Beauyasha discourse to bed. Beau likes and is attracted to both which most knew anyway. Such a good insight into Beau and how she feels about both women, at the end of the day she wants Jester and herself to be happy which is huge for Beau because she used to think she’d never find happiness.

Post 2x112

In this episode, Yasha confesses that she has a crush on Beau to Jester and the two proceed to write a poem about Beau. (examples welcome)

Post 2x118

In this episode, Fjord tells Jester that he wants to help keep her safe, asks if he can kiss her, and when she assents he does so. (examples welcome)

Cast influence

There has been a great deal of speculation about the extent to which cast members have talked to each other out-of-game about their intentions. Fan responses are sometimes based in evidence from Talks Machina, where the cast are asked questions (some proposed by fans); other times, fans express frustration at changes they feel happened in the in-game character dynamics, or frustration at information they feel is being withheld intentionally or glossed over.

The thing is, during the hiatus, Marisha made a choice. She decided that Beau was not gonna be into Jester anymore and that she was going to develop feelings for Yasha. If she made that decision by herself or if she talked to Laura, or Ashley or whoever, I don’t know and honestly I don’t care.

Is she well within her right to do that, given that its her character and such? For sure, totally within her right, she can do whatever she wants.

Do I think it makes it a good narrative, good character development and/or good relationship development? No.

Now, why, oh why, they decided to nip on the bud (at least aparently) the full potential of Beau/Jester while settling for the safe (and boring) Beau/Yasha and Fjord/Jester? Well, I have my pet theories and most of them involve Ashley Johnson being back at the table full time, but I don’t want to come off as hater because honestly, I’m not. Except when it comes to Widojest, that one I fully admit to be a card caring member hater. I like Ashley Johnson, and I like Yasha. That doesnt mean I like Beau and Yasha together romantically.

I also just really don’t think that Laura would have been opposed to Beaujester if the conversation was just about what relationships they were comfortable with going forward because like I said before Laura was playing Jester as having pretty intense feelings towards Beau pre and also a little bit post hiatus. Like I don’t see Laura saying to Marisha “oh I just don’t think Jester is interested” but I also don’t know these people and I am not as in tune with their characters as they are.

So it feels like this was less a conversation about boundaries and more so what would be endgame and I think its really cramping their RP. Unless they’re playing the longest con ever and are trying to pair up fjordjester and beauyasha quickly to show that they aren’t as compatible as they hoped and beaujester comes back around and becomes Canon because they just compliment each other so well. Now if thats what their plotting during the hiatus was about then I would definitely be interested in the story again but even if that is the case it is still making right now feel forced and stilted.

And I do feel like we are being robbed of something. Fjord and Caleb had songs about Jester, one of which was an appropriated wlw song, which Liam retracted and apologized for, but Beau a wlw poc who is the only one in Canon to have confessed feelings got nothing? I know Liam apologized but it kind of highlights how the cast doesn’t really put the time and thought into the people they are trying represent that is needed, like they do put in some work but they usually fall short.

Frankly I’d rather Fjord and Cad and Jester and a woman but it’s Travis and Laura I mean can you really blame them for wanting to romance each other in game?

6. The cast clearly took time this quarantine to talk to each and plan what couples would be what. There’s another post about this that goes into more detail about it, but this is a good thing. You should talk to your fellow players out-of-game about romance before you really get into it in game. Ashley and Marisha have obviously talked beforehand about beginning a real take on BeauYasha. …11. Even if [Marisha] doesn’t [talk about Beau’s conversation with Fjord in ep 108 on Talks], that’s okay, and you shouldn’t give her shit for it because the cast flubs lines and misspeaks all the time. Matt couldn’t remember the word “tailgating”.

...I’ve given up on Beaujester being canon, I’m happy for the ships that will be, but sad about my second favorite ship not being canon, but I’m all for platonic beau and jester too. Ever since they came back from their covid hiatus, there’s been a distance between beau and jester that has been bothering me. Romantic or platonic, our blue girls had one of the most interesting relationships in critical role, they always checked in with each other and were each other’s strongest confidant. Maybe it’s the seating arrangement due to the need to social distance, maybe laura and marisha played them like that unintentionally or intentionally, I don’t know, but there’s been a distance between them since the series came back and I’ve been really sad about it.

In particular, many beaujester shippers post-ep 118 have expressed intense disappointment with the directions the show went, and feel that the cast have not adequately answered or addressed changes in Beau and Jester’s relationship. Other beaujester fans mention being aware of Word of God statements from the respective cast members – including Laura confirming that Jester’s feelings for Fjord never went away, or Marisha discussing how Beau figured Jester would never reciprocate – but are still disappointed.

Using each others tags on Tumblr

I love how the replies is just the BYs coming into our tag and telling us we’re wrong. Maybe watch the scene where Beau was petrified and Jester was freaking out? Or the scene of “I know why you’re mad at me” since according to all the BYs, Jester has never shown any interest in Beau. Or hey, that scene on the ship where Jester spent all her the drawing Beau. (professorsoak in reply to this post

To all my fellow wlw in the beauyasha fandom who feels the need to come into the beaujester tag to gloat and attack your wlw sisters.

Shame on you.

I would’ve expect this behavior from the straights but wlw? Shame on you.

Instead of trying to understand and empathize with people’s legitimate upset and criticism you come into the tag to shit on your fellow wlw, because what? You got what you wanted so screw the rest, is that it? Or are you afraid to hear the criticism because if you do you’ll see that they have a point and your experience will also be tainted?

Criticism of fandom behavior

I’m not saying this is everyone, but there is an unfortunately loud group being particularly awful and I hope that this very very long explanation maybe gives some perspective about how others have read into these ships and how they are playing out. Calling it “retconning” I think is immature and premature all at the same time. Beau is still grappling with her feelings and what they mean, as is Jester, and as is Yasha. Let’s just see how it plays out, without being nasty to one another?

Okay half of this discourse is happening because people are misinterpreting each other. Let me state this as plainly as possible to hopefully stop some of the confusion:

It IS okay if you’re sad about Beaujes.

It is NOT okay to attack the cast on twitter over it. Yes this is happening.

It is NOT okay to attack Beauyasha and Fjorester shippers over it. Yes this is happening.

It is NOT okay to claim Jester’s sexuality is determined by who she ends up with. Yes this has been happening for a long time. Only Laura gets to decide this fact about her own character.

It is NOT accurate to claim the show queerbaited you. This show and brand has no interest in retaining a homophobic audience nor is the queer representarion only an illusion.

It is NOT accurate to claim that Marisha and/or the show are homo/lesbophobic. Yes this is the main thing that is happening.

Again… if youre sad about Beaujes, youre fine, as long as you arent being a dick about it.

Gonna start some shit but beaujester and beauyasha are not interchangeable and if you don’t get that or don’t get why some people felt hurt by the way in which Beau’s feelings for Jester were retconned then full offense but you need a reality check.

I get that the Beau/Jester folks are upset about what happened in the latest Critical Role episode, but when did a little thing like canon ever stop us from shipping? Plenty of Molly content still gets made.

sending hate to a cast member over a ship is ugly as shit but also… why can’t people just let beaujesters be sad and disappointed.

isn’t funny how beaujesters constantly attacked beauyashas but now look at them crying like children because they didn’t get what they want

the animosity around shipping in the cr fandom is really bumming me out. as someone who enjoys shipping beauyasha as well as beaujester it truly makes no sense to me why some of y’all are being so shitty towards each other. i get why people are disappointed and why some feel the cast didn’t handle b/j properly. i get that some people just don’t vibe with b/y. what i don’t get is why people are insulting the cast and refusing to aknowledge the rp effort that was put in b/y. what i don’t get is why people are going around claiming they know jester’s straight, dunking on people for being emotionally invested in a ship that won’t be canon and just bullying people for being disappointed...??

as much as i love beauyasha and beaujester, and beau/yasha/jester, really wish more fans would stop framing this all like a shipping war. critical role is such a gift in that we’re watching real, actual people writing the growth of characters they’re attached in real time, it’s not cut together like pre-written and produced media where the budget means having to condense the character and relationship growth to a few key moments. we can actually appreciate in CR how people’s lives are never as clear cut as written stories often show- whatever is developing between Beau and Yasha right now doesn’t mean Beau suddenly has moved on from Jester. It doesn’t mean the cast is pushing for any one pairing. The cast doesn’t speak up about everything they feel their characters are going through because 1) that doesn’t make for a fun or compelling show and 2) they don’t even know! There are so many opportunities for the players to act, to interact, and to shape each others’ narrative… …i personally love CR for showing [a realistic experience of having unresolved, romantic feelings for multiple people at the same time]. it’s a shame to see other fans take issue with that

Post ep-119, Matt posted a twitter thread addressing a loud minority of anti-Fjord/Jester shippers, which also seemed to have ties to the shipping war.

For everyone wondering what the discourse on Twitter with Matt’s tweets is about: Some beaujester fans were very angry and vocal about the last episode being “toxic” because “the aged jester up just to make fjorjester happen” and other stuff about conspiracy and erasure of lgbt+ characters that I won’t repeat because they’re beyond stupid. Now the issue has died down and also I want to make clear that this is a MINORITY of people complaining and the majority of fans of every ship, canon or not, are very happy and supporting so please let’s just enjoy the story together and let’s be respectful.

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