Beauyasha

Beauyasha is the femslash ship between Beauregard and Yasha Nydoorin from the Critical Role fandom.

Curious Beginnings
Beau is sitting at a table with her traveling companions, when two strangers walk in. One of them, Molly, sits down at the table while the other, Yasha, stands behind him. As Molly reads Jester's fortune, Beau asks Yasha if she's also in the carnival. She's not, she just sets things up. She and Molly leave to set up for the night.

Late, the group arrives at the carnival and see Molly and Yasha. Molly tells them that they have to give their weapons to Yasha, before they enter, much to their displeasure. They eventually agree and start to hand over their weapons. Beau tries to keep her staff, telling them that she also uses it as a walking stick due to a previous injury. Yasha suggests that she take the staff and then just carry Beau to her seat. Beau hands over her staff and says yes to these conditions. Once she has everyone's weapons she goes to Beau and fireman carries her into the tent.

Once inside, Beau tells Yasha that she overheard her talking about Jester. Yasha quickly starts to feel awkward, but Beau says that Jester doesn't have a significant other so she could go for it. Yasha starts to say that she's not looking for a relationship, but Beau interrupts and asks if Yasha will carry her through the whole show. Yasha says that she can do it for an extra charge of five gold. Out of Beau's price range, she suggests paying five silver to sit on Yasha's cloak, but Yasha doesn't remove it. She says that Beau should keep her money as she places her on the ground, and Beau calls that fair.

Zemnian Nights
The next morning, Beau and Jester see that Yasha is now gone. Beau suggests that she was a ghost the whole time, while Jester suggests that the lightning exploded her. Beau calls that metal, but Jester offers that she walked off at lost her memories. Beau things that is a possiblity, but feels that Yasha probably just went off to do Yasha stuff. Jester agrees, and both decide to ask Molly and head downstairs.

Jester and Beau tell Molly that Yasha left after starring at the storm. Beau asks if Yasha sleeps, which Molly says she does. Beau thinks it's creepy, but also hot. Jester feels like she's protected and safe, which Beau kinda agrees with. Beua says that she's mysterious, but Molly assures her that she's good, just going through some personal stuff.

Curious Beginnings

 * Beau tells Fjord and Jester that she liked Yasha.
 * Beau tries to get Yasha to briefly hire them so that they won't have to give up their weapons.

Disparate Pieces

 * Beau comments that it was cool that Yasha roughed up some of the guards.
 * Beau thinks of Yasha as one of the group.

Zemnian Nights

 * Beau and Jester wake up to see Yasha staring out to the storm outside.
 * Beaus says Yasha looks scary at night, which Yashs gets a lot.
 * Beau notices how pale Yasha looks.
 * Beau asks if Yasha's alright.
 * Beau thinks that Yasha is allowed to go through personal issues.

Fanon
Fans were quick to ship the two after "Curious Beginnings", when Yasha carried Beau to her seat at the carnival. This dynamic helped coin the "Disaster Lesbian" nickname for Beau, referencing her initial failures to woo women early in the campaign. Fans took notice of how frequently Yasha began complimenting Beau, and quickly flustering, and compliment everyone else in the room. This led to fans considering Yasha a Lesbian Disaster as well. Being a monk and a barbarian, Beau and Yasha were always paired up to fight in the front lines. This led to the fandom idea that they were "Sentinel Babes". Both terms were later used by Marisha Ray.

Due to her busy schedule, Ashley Johnson (and, by association, Yasha) had to leave the group often and for long bouts of time. This meant that scenes of the pairing were few and far between, but were substantial enough to keep shippers engaged. The most substantial being their watch in "Chasing and Trees". Many Beauyasha fans point to this as their favorite moment and how it solidified their adoration for the pairing.

As these periods of absence grew longer and more frequent, critiques started to arise. The first was within the fandom and how the ship was treated at the time — particularly in fanfiction. Beau x Yasha was often a background couple instead of a leading pair. Some fans became disillusioned with the ship after Ashley's absenteeism became more and more prominent. This led to migrations to other ships that had more content in canon and fanon (art, fics, meta discussions, etc). Other factors deterred some fans, including the reveal that Yasha was a grieving widow and Beau's confirmed crush on Jester in "The Threads Converge". The ship then lost focus within the community.

There were a few notable crumbs throughout this period kept the devoted fans of the ship going. Such as Yasha's official playlist alluding to her having feelings for someone in the group, which was theorized to be Beau. The new Critical Role intro. "Your Turn to Roll", included Beau blushing at Yasha, and the two are depicted fighting alongside one another. The Exandrian Pin-up Calendar pairing Beau and Yasha together and used the page as promotional material on their site. The artbook Critical Role: The Chronicles of Exandria had a paragraph written from Beauregard's perspective calling Yasha cute. This line was comedically stricken from the sentence as she meant to write "cut and dry". The cast and fans alike were overjoyed to see Ashley return permanently in "The Cathedral". Interest in the ship steadily grew again with Ashley's return and the pairing spending more time together.

Yasha's second playlist included "Let Me Hold You". The description yet again alludes to Yasha harbouring romantic feelings towards someone in the group. Fans began to suspect Beau due to the name of the song — a possible reference to Yasha holding Beau in the first episode.

In (C2E102): "Ghosts, Dinosaurs, and Stuff", there is a more direct callback. After being injured in a fight, Beau asks Yasha if she could be carried and held. Yasha gladly obliged. Ashley Johnson then added that she wanted to see fanart of the moment. Many fans were happy to fulfil the request, lamenting on how cute the scene was as more artwork was posted online. A week after this episode aired, Beauregard's second playlist was released. This one directly name-drops Yasha for Sondre Lerche's "Serenading in the Trenches". Marisha writes that Beau has a crush forged from battle. Another song to note is Kesha's "I Need a Woman to Love". The description reads that Beau longs to be held by a woman. While not naming Yasha, a few fans began wondering if this is a reference to Yasha carrying Beau. Especially given the similar wording to "Let Me Hold You"s description. But this is up for interpretation and debate.

Due to all this recent activity, the ship has seen a tremendous resurgence of artwork, fics, discussion and renewed interest. Long-term fans of the ship are jokingly referring to it as The Beauyasha Renaissance.

General consensus concludes that fans like Beauyasha for their adorably awkward interactions and the themes that the pair embody. Beau and Yasha share similar arcs; healing after past trauma, their shared inability to open up or to feel as though they can open up, and the subsequent difficulty that comes with trusting people. The two characters have been ostracised by their families after finding out about their partners — Beau and her partner in crime Tori, Yasha and her late wife Zuala. The allegory was not lost on LGBT+ viewers. Fans draw on these themes and create headcanons of them bonding and overcoming these struggles together. In canon, Yasha prolifically uses Healing Hands on Beau. Many artists/fanfic writers have used this as metaphoric healing in their work.

On AO3, Beauyasha is the most written ship for Yasha and the second most written ship for Beau. It is also the third most written ship for Campaign 2 and the fourth most written in the Critical Role tag overall.

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Trivia

 * During the Mighty Nein Intro, Beau blushes as she looks at Yasha.
 * Beau and Yasha's rooms are next to each other in the Xhorhaus.
 * Beauyasha week takes place between May 25th to 31st.
 * Whenever Travis (Fjord) control's Yasha while Ashley (Yasha) is in New York, he normally has her flirt with Beau more often.
 * Beauregard's gauntlets deal lightning damage instead of bludgeoning damage. Yasha is a follower of Kord the Stormlord and has been described by Matthew Mercer as having a thunderous roar when she rages. The pair have shared imagery of thunder, lightning, and storms. This inspired the alternative name; "Cracklepop."

Variations

 * Bashter refers to the ship between Beauregard, Yasha and Jester Lavorre