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aeor-is-for-reccing · 11 months

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Hidden Gems: A Shadowgast Rec List

This week, we have one of our recurring themes: fics with fewer than 150 kudos! Check under the cut for fourteen amazing fics that you might have missed the first time around:

Ocean Blues by Vailee (3836,General)

Warnings: None

On a remote island, Caleb meets a merman named Essek.

Reccer says: The description of merman Essek with his fins and tail is very adorable.

Breaking Inertia by futureshieldmaiden (31096,Teen)

Warnings: None

A time loop fic where Bren has to work with the Shadowhand Essek Thelyss to straighten out time.

Reccer says: There's a lovely slow burn between the two, and I like the plot develops - with a couple of twists along the way.

flurries by quinn_of_aebradore (1381,General)

Warnings: none

Caleb and Essek visit a night market

Reccer says: It's extremely sweet and soft, with a warm and cozy wintertime feel to it.

the start: wings to chase the sky by mllekurtz (TheKnittingJedi) (2662,Teen)

Warnings: None, but note that the other part of the duology has its own tags! (calamity fic)

Part of a duology of an Age of Arcanum AU where Caleb and Essek are prestigious wizards of Avalir. A getting-together ficlet.

Reccer says: Mlle is so good at writing the shadowgast getting together, and it's fun to see the wizards in this lavish arcane world.

in the blood by VexedVixen (11075,Mature)

Warnings: None

Vampire!Essek rescues an injured Caleb and brings him to his towers in Rosohna. Caleb is them offered a job by Essek - a job that includes donating some blood.

Reccer says: The worldbuilding is so cool! Always nice to see a good vampire AU.

A Thousand Words, Unspoken by soot_and_salt (3150,General)

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings (technically, but it's not a dark story)

Caleb runs a YouTube channel where he films himself restoring paintings. The latest one to come in is a portrait of a beautiful drow man.

Reccer says: If you're familiar with the story of Pygmalion and Galatea, it's a little like that.

you're the only light i've ever known by glossolali (1463,Teen)

Warnings: None

After their bath, Essek combs and plays with Caleb's hair. Caleb enjoys himself.

Reccer says: It's very sweet and tender. And like the author says in the end note, it shows how Caleb has changed and healed over the course of campaign 2.

Break Me, Mend Me by Kaiannae (21835,Mature)

Warnings: Depiction of depression and self-sabotage, CNC if you squint, borderline force feeding if you squint.

Caleb's self-loathing is rearing its ugly head and he is spiraling out of control, pushing his friends and chosen family away, isolating himself from those who care about him and attempting to sabotage everything good in his life. Eventually, Essek decides to do something about it. He knows that nothing mundane like talking would be of any help, so he offers Caleb what the human thinks he wants: punishment, atonement, debasement, a way to quiet the vicious voices in his head.

Reccer says: BDSM as therapy, sort of, getting into Caleb's head for the character study, aftercare for the masses, doms and subs alike.

Silver Couches To Recline Upon And Ornaments Of Gold by soot_and_salt (3242,Teen)

Warnings: None

Essek, unable to leave the tower he resides in, finds a cat on his balcony. He soon discovers there is more to this cat than he could have ever imagined.

Reccer says: It is a fairy tale au and I am a big fan of fairy tales.

Let the River Carry You by Operafloozy (2983,General)

Warnings: none

Essek knits something for each of the Nein

Reccer says: It's very sweet and thoughtful, and I love the description of the patterns

in vaults and cherished amber by allinna (4406,Teen)

Warnings: none

At the Vurmas Outpost, Essek receives some well-deserved love from Caleb and the M9.

Reccer says: it's a sweet, comfy fic that makes you smile! what more would you want.

born from beauty by hanap (2375,Explicit)

Warnings: None

Caleb and Essek have a conversation about their respective experiences with gender and what it means to feel at home in one's body, after which Essek shows his love for Caleb's body by giving him a blowjob.

Reccer says: I resonate with both Caleb and Essek's experiences of gender in this fic, so it was a lovely experience getting to read how much the two of them love each other's bodies that are so similar to mine.

if only I could see your face by lakrisrot (3399,Explicit)

Warnings: Can read having a sex-negative to sex-neutral POV character

Caleb spends some time with Essek after the Transmogrification fails. They end up more intimate that expected.

Reccer says: This fic offers a very intriguing look into Essek's mind as an asexual/demi person. I very much enjoyed that.

And two recs for

the hole in the stone by MinnesotaBruja (13243,Teen)

Warnings: Animal/Pet Death

Shortly after the end of campaign 2, Essek takes a position as a lighthouse keeper on a remote island north of Eiselcross. The fic is comprised of his letters to Caleb.

Reccer 1 says: Essek cares for chickens while living on the island and I find it extremely sweet. Reccer 2 says: Beautiful, heartbreaking, so very well written you will most definitely cry and it's worth every tear!

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. And hey! Don’t forget to leave comments and kudos for the lovely authors!

Check out the previous Hidden Gem Recs Lists here [1] [2]

Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week's theme is Time Travel/Time Loops!

#critical role fan fiction #shadowgast #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #aeor is for lovers #hidden gems rec list #fan fiction rec lists #cr fan fic

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glossolali · 3 months

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i feel you and your precious soul

shadowidomauk, shadowmauk

hurt/comfort, sci-fi au, cyberpunk au, relationship negotiations, touch aversion/ sensitivity/starvation, essek pov

gift for @wanderingbasilisk 💜

AO3

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“How are you feeling?”

Molly sits across from Caleb, and both hands, prosthetic and natural, lay in Caleb's outstretched palms atop his knees. Molly flexes the natural one easily enough, but the other is in a tight fist, and he's frowning at it, seemingly frustrated.

At Essek's prompting, he looks up, and it takes him another moment or two to focus his gaze on Essek’s face proper, who stands in the doorway, his own hands clasped together anxiously. Essek is patient and steady as he can, and even if his heart aches for him, he sequesters that away to a private place. He would hate to seem anywhere near pitying of him.

“I'd love to say I'm right as rain, but that is not quite the case.” Molly tries for a smile but it doesn't quite reach his eyes and falls too quickly, and he ends up revealing instead how tired he is.

“Uhm... I'm still numb in some places, and in others, it hurts. And I can't stop twitching since yesterday. This hand,” and he gestures to his left, the mechanical one, “Has been locked in a fist since last night. It usually takes a few hours to unlock on its own, but it seems to be stuck this time.”

Molly's left arm has been jerking intermittently, a clearly uncontrollable motion that shifts his whole body and translates all the way down to his clenched hand, and seems to be bringing him some distress, and pain.

Caleb's eyes follow the motion and turn a shade more somber, though he secrets that away swiftly while Molly is turned around. Essek can almost see Caleb's heart take a tumble and break into pieces as Molly speaks, as upset as he himself feels. Caleb's circuitry scarred hands squeeze Molly’s lightly, then return to their former position where they cupped them.

Essek can't help but feel utterly awful. After all, he's the one that did this to him.

He recalls with a pang the distressed message Caleb had sent him, then Jester's, begging for his help to save their friend, Mollymauk. He'd met the tiefling in passing, finding a chaotic and colorful being who never stayed in one place for long enough for Essek to parse him out properly.

A few days after the Message, the entire Mighty Nein appeared at his doorstep. When they ensured Essek's lab was secure, Caleb fetched what was left of their dear friend's bloody, mangled body from an Amber Vault – a digital, portable safe– and handed that over to Essek, alongside a memory drive that had Molly's mind uploaded to it in a combination of efforts by Caleb and Caduceus.

Essek had been terrified at the responsibility inherent in saving such a precious person's life, but he had done his best to focus on the cybernetics puzzle at hand and to take the anxiety out of his mind. There was no room for mistakes or missteps.

He was successful, much to his relief, and his friends’ collective joy.

The tears and yells as Molly had opened his eyes for the first time rang clear in his memory. The tiefling had startled, covered his ears, and ran from the room– only to collapse in a heap a few steps into the next one.

It wasn't an unexpected sign of failure by any means– the collapse, that is, not the fleeing– after all, Mollymauk’s body was half machine now, and it had yet to be calibrated and tested properly. More specifically, it was costly, state-of-the-art cyberware mods and prosthetics, provided for free of course, connecting what of his ravaged body Essek and his team could salvage.

As a scientist who'd lived through the last hundred and twenty some years watching the world and its technologies develop at an alarming pace, he'd slowly grown more and more doubtful of the ethics of the now normalized practice of cyber modification, or ‘cybermods’. It's even worse that his current patient– ward, friend, whatever their odd relationship now was– hadn't been able to consent to these operations at all.

It made Essek hate himself just a little bit more, made him doubt his work– political and scientific– his family, their wealth, their entire society, his everything, even more deeply, despite how thankful all his friends, and Molly, were in the aftermath of that incident.

“Essek?”

Molly's voice has now taken on a subtle digital tone to it due to his voice-box being modded, and in addition, he sounds… lost, exhausted. Nothing like the person he once was.

Essek tries not to wallow right now. That can be for later, when he's done his job and is alone once again.

“My apologies. Just thinking.”

He goes to them. A person he is helping take care of needs his care right now. He has a function to serve, and that is the priority.

[Read the rest on AO3]

#shadowidomauk #shadowmauk #widomauk #shadowgast #essek #molly #caleb #cr fic #critical role fanfic #critical role fic #scifi au #cyberpunk #glossopost #glossofic

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atlasarcana · 3 months

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echo bren, act 2 fic 1 snippet (since it's been a while!)

Sydenstar 3, 839 P.D.

He arrives in Ank’harel a few days prior to the ceremony, thinking himself a good student for taking the time to scout. He gets a towel and an empty glass in his hands as a reward.

Bartender work. Well — there’s nothing wrong with scouting in disguise, in fairness. And it is a quick way to learn the clientèle. To overhear conversation and catch words where they escape secrets. More than anything, to make notes.

He spends three days bored out of his mind wiping down the wet bar of a long and golden casino room. He takes orders, he compliments the early-arriving guests. Technically on duty as Volstrucker (though when the duty ever ends is beyond him), he marks easy targets for cornering and conversation. A noblewoman here and there touches his collar too closely, champagne too heavy on her breath, and he takes her to the back room to see the estate wines, of course, and peeks into her mind — only a gentle folding back of paper, not a terrible knife-intrusion — and pockets the rumors and the drivel for himself before spinning her back out to the main bar without a break in charisma.

Twice he escorts a drunk out of the bathrooms. Thrice he rips down Missing posters nailed up in search of some halfling boy.

They smoke a great deal here in Ank’harel. That was the one thing he wasn’t expecting. On a mandated smoke break — a perk he ought to campaign to Ikithon — he steps out onto the great big flat white patios overlooking the great big flat fucking lake of a pool in between the buildings on either side of the property, and gets struck with the thought of diving in from the third storey. Which would be silly, and maybe suicidal, and he does not trust himself to know the difference. The white sun is a ball of eternity in the radioactive blue sky, and every shadow it casts grows long and crisp against all the other pale clay surfaces in a way that reminds him distinctly of ink on parchment. Out here on this patio, a hundred feet from the ground with layers of sandstone between himself and anything that makes a sound, he suddenly feels suffocatingly alone. The property is smack in the center of the Sand-Herald district, which is where all the money and noise is, and yet the two palaces of the resort are such tall, bright, architectural knives that the thousands of civilians beneath him are more like ants than anything. He could shut his eyes and only hear the birds and the breathing swell of the city. The slow, industrial chugging. A far-off clang. A distant splash as someone falls unceremoniously from the diving board.

Days like this made the rest tolerable. But days like this would end. And he would wake up somewhere new again, with another sin tallied under his name somewhere by an accountant in the Nine Hells.

He’s lost in thought for a while until a seagull lands by his feet. Quite a bit out from any ocean here, friend. Though, upon closer inspection, it isn’t a seagull — it’s just a white desert pigeon. Pretty little thing. And clearly, Nicodranas is still in his head if he first went to seagulls. He doesn’t fault himself for it; he doesn’t remember the last time he had so much vacation sex. Or a vacation at all.

Bren stares at the pigeon. He inches closer. He stoops.

On a whim, he uses the hand that isn’t holding a cigarillo to swish Sending into the air.

“Beloved,” he says, staring straight at the bird. “My goodest and greatest and sweetest friend.” He pauses. “Food. Ank’harel. Recommendations?”

He knows what he gives with this information. It is possibly the most treasonous thing he has done in years, and in as little as a word. But he cannot find himself to care.

The bird cocks his head at him. For a long moment, the spell doesn’t seem to take.

Then, the receiver picks up the line: Essek’s voice spins in his head.

Ank’harel… says the Shadowhand, very slowly and direly, as though still digesting his morning evil on the other side of the world.

The bird twitches its head this way and that. Essek’s voice could be speaking through it if Bren tried to overlap them in his mind. He experiments with the idea, squinting.

Well. Anything but a kurrak fruit, says Essek.

Essek-Birdy moves its head in a way that could look offended, and, oh, yes. It is quite funny.

They say it tastes like mango.

Liars. Curs. More like rotten eggs.

Avoid. At all costs.

Essek-Birdy pap-paps its feet on the ground. Pecks at Bren’s boot, thinking it a big brown worm. At the illusory-to-physical difference between a bartender’s boot and a Volstrucker’s boot, the bird spasms with perplexity. Then it flies away.

No kurrak fruits. Well, alright. At least that was one insider fact he hadn’t wormed out by sleeping with the Essek of another timeline. Bren puffs his cigarillo and throws it into the midden by the door.

He’d normally throw it over the side of the building, but he fears the bird picking at it later. He goes inside.

#shadowgast #shadowgast fic #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #fic: echo bren #critical role

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utilitycaster · 1 year

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The Beaujester/Widojest stuff actually reminds me of why I almost wasn't on board with Fjord/Jester at first - I really don't like ships where it feels like one party has to wear down the other, and at first, I thought that was the vibe. So I get really stumped on why people are pushing for closure here. It reminds me of that wild d&d court case. Why would they needlessly burden their friend (Jester) with this information? What do fans think would happen after???

Hi anon,

You are 100% right in that I also think of that D&D Court Case (for those wondering, it's the one that starts here and basically, a couple is playing in a D&D game together and the DM some time ago confessed drunkenly to the player who is writing in that he has feelings for the player's girlfriend...and is now romancing her in-game as an NPC). Like, for real, keep that to yourself! It's so awkward and for what! Tell your therapist! Tell other friends outside this social circle! Do some weird art about it! Have weird feelings! But do not say that to the actual couple involved, holy fuck.

It would require someone with far more knowledge of fandom history to back up my hunch here, so I am presenting it as just a hunch, but it feels like there has been a very heavy drive in the past maybe five or six years towards, rather than "oh man, I wish this ship had happened instead, and here are my AUs and fics in which it did" to "here's why the story is BAD and UNRESOLVED and WRONG." And I don't quite know how it came to be, since internet forums have been around for quite some time, and maybe I'm just clueless because I have come relatively late to every social media ever and it was always like this and the volume has just increased. My personal theory is that people saw all those quirky letter writing campaigns of the 2000s and didn't realize that mailing potato chips or whatever to an NBC exec who was cutting the show because it wasn't getting enough viewers by metrics that were well behind current technology and who would see this and say "oh, shit, this has fans, maybe we can make money off it" is very different than writing hate mail to actual creators, but I could be totally wrong.

But anyway, it is pretty apparent that Uk'otoa was left unresolved! Travis actually had laid the groundwork in-character as Fjord (the bounty hunter hire for Sabian, telling Jester in 2x117 he wanted to deal with Uk'otoa before other things) to return, but it made sense for the show to end after Aeor. Meanwhile, it's not unresolved for someone to quietly nurse a crush, and I'd argue, actually, that both Beau and Caleb's feelings were largely resolved in show. Beau outright told Fjord that she'd had a crush on Jester, but her feelings for Yasha were deeper and more real (and in general this tracks with Beau's repeated self-sabotage when things felt too good to be true). And if you take off the Widojest shipping goggles, it's hard to see Caleb's actions following the party's return from Rumblecusp as anything but quietly admitting that this is not going to happen, as he pushes Jester to dance with Fjord and finally tells her about his past. The goal post of "resolved" secretly means "the preferred ship happens instead."

And then no one ever has an answer for what happens after. Does Beau break up with Yasha? Does the entire scene in Aeor with Essek in 141 - absolutely pivotal, despite coming so late, to Caleb's arc - just not happen, because you really cannot read that as anything but romantic? Does Jester break up with Fjord? How do we reconcile that Jester does not wish to live in Rexxentrum as a housewife, and does want to continue to see the world and be able to regularly spend lots of time in Nicodranas? Do Caleb or Beau make even the slightest concession to Jester's wants and needs, in this fantasy?

I guess I'll wrap this up with this thought: I think that Beau and Caleb's romantic feelings for Jester and how they deal with them are very well played by Marisha and Liam and are incredibly important - indeed, crucial - to understanding their respective character development. But that's the thing in the end. The romantic feelings are deeply important to the stories of Beau and Caleb. They are a footnote on the story of the Mighty Nein. And they are utterly irrelevant to the story of Jester.

#answered #Anonymous #cr discourse #i was actually pretty generous and one day i shall write the meta of why those stories are so important

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critter-genfic-events · 10 months

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Gods and their Followers: A Critical Role Rec List

Hello friends! Please enjoy these twelve amazing fics featuring the various gods of Exandria and their followers! Oh, and don't forget to show the authors some love if you liked their work!

The Purest Priorities by wtgw (4133,Teen) Warnings: No archive warnings apply Pairings Artagan & Jester Lavorre

Lord Artagan of the Morncrown meets a delightful little creature and feels himself start to become something different.

Reccer says: Artagan's voice here is amazing and I love the concept - of him accidentally tripping and falling into godhood.

(how could i) look at anything in this world and tremble by Chrome (4539,Mature) Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence Pairings Caduceus Clay & Melora the Wildmother, Caduceus Clay & Fjord & Jester Lavorre

Caduceus is on a mission from god, and forgets that just because he has Melora, it doesn't mean he wouldn't need further backup.

Reccer says: There's a simplicity to Caduceus's devotion to Melora and his thought patterns that's extremely interesting, and I love Jester and Fjord's reactions to him going off on his own.

Morning Elvis by fruitzbat (1000,General) Warnings: no archive warnings apply Pairings Lucien & The Somnovem

A songfic about Lucien making a pit stop near the end.

Reccer says: It's short, atmospheric, and horrifying

Gods and Otherwise by sabinelagrande (2381,General) Warnings: No archive warnings apply Pairings Caduceus Clay & Jester, Jester & The Traveler (Critical Role), Caduceus Clay & The Wildmother

Caduceus and Jester have a late night conversation about gods.

Reccer says: It's very sweet and has a very good voice for Caduceus and Jester both. It's rare to see those two interact in fic, and I'd love to see more of that.

Hope Is A Seed That Blooms In The Heart by Angel Ascending (angel_in_ink) (1744,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings Orym & Melora

One night, Orym reaches out to the Wildmother. The Wildmother reaches back.

Reccer says: I liked it

Troubled Water by CitizenMocha (1327,General) Warnings: none Pairings Fjord & Melora, Fjord/Jester (background)

With/in spite of most of the Mighty Nein gathered in their new home, Fjord takes a little time to himself to try and reconnect with the Wildmother.

Reccer says: I love fics that spend some time exploring Fjord's emotions, and this fic takes place in the middle of the Mighty Nein Reuninted, so he's having a lot of them.

Deity Support Group Meeting by YesIAmPlease (1539,General) Warnings: none Pairings Essek thelyss & The Luxon

The Luxon attends a support group for deities after her attempt to claim Essek as her very first champion.

Reccer says: It's absolutely hilarious

Bitter Earth, Briar Sting by thetickingclock (2407,Teen) Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence Pairings Caduceus Clay & Eadwulf Grieve, Eadwulf Grieve & The Raven Queen, Past Blumentrio

Eadwulf worships death. Eadwulf gardens. It's the same thing, in the end.

Reccer says: I love this in-depth look at how and why Eadwulf worships the raven queen, and how that's changed over the years.

It Means Puppet by Beauteousmajesty (1677,Teen) Warnings: Major Character Death Pairings Caduceus Clay & Melora the Wildmother

Melora's point of view on Caduceus Clay

Reccer says: It's gorgeously written and has some interesting concepts in there

Endless Ambition (Athenaeum Finite) by Monarchetype (1434,General) Warnings: none Pairings Ioun the Knowing Mistress & Scanlan Shorthalt, Ioun the Knowing Mistress & Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III

A very cynical take on Ioun's thoughts during the events of The Endless Athenaeum.

Reccer says: It's a very interesting idea on why Ioun chose Scanlan over Percy

and she's breaking my world by grayintogreen (2318,General) Warnings: none Pairings Cree & Jester

Cree and Jester compare minor deities

Reccer says: Jester in particular comes off incredibly well - she comes off as flighty, but it's all setup to rock Cree's worldview. And Cree herself - tragically devoted to Lucien, is very compelling

Fear of Cold by NKMLN (1525,General) Warnings: None Pairings Vaxildan & The Raven Queen

Vaxildan must become something new, now that he is properly the Champion of the Raven Queen. Its a difficult process, but at least he isn't alone for it.

Reccer says: I just really enjoy the care and compassion that the RQ shows to Vax as he adjusts

If you liked this rec list, follow along for more! We'll be posting a new list with a new theme each Monday. And if you would like to make a rec yourself, feel free to reach out to @professor-rye to request access to the submission form! Next week, we'll be presenting gen fics about Holidays! Get ready for some divine devotion!

#critter genfic rec lists #critical role fan fiction #cr fan fic #exandrian lore #the mighty nein #bells hells #vox machina #gen fic #critical role fan fic rec list

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fourth-quartet · 3 months

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So you said you were working on a few wips...talk to me. Tell me everything

okay okay okay okay so (pulls up the last time i referenced any of my wips to remember what i even posted about)

Original WIPs:

Since I just started working on it tonight. I'm taking a playwriting class this semester so I started working on what will be my end-of-the-semester project (the semester starts tuesday) because I already know what my project is going to be. It doesn't have a title yet, but it is going to return to my roots of leaving two actors on a stage basically going through emotional hell as their stories intertwine in the form of interrogations (gotta love a barebones interrogation room scene on a barely lit stage).

"#WhatHappenedToTennysonBeatty" is (hopefully) going to be the project I focus on moving forwards with my fiction courses. It's written in script form, as a podcast breaks open and exposes the mystery of a disappearance from ten years previously.

I have a new adult fantasy book I've been working on for a minute too, and I just had a breakthrough literally tonight about it, so I'll probably be working on that on/off as well. The book is split between three major POVS: Felicity 'Fix' Brion (married to a diplomat and maternal figure to her orphaned nephews, in her husband's country following an assassination of her sister-in-law), Roel Devani (former prince, former spymaster, turned war criminal), and Cealin Ecgwine (essentially a priest in the church, escorting what may possibly be an actual god reborn away from his death).

I ALSO have a near-future dystopian book I've been working on in a very on-and-off way that deals with some pretty heavy topics I don't want to super get into. But its got some queers and some magic realism, so that's fun.

TDJ WIPs:

"What if Yohan simply didn't?" I've mentioned it in passing, I think, but it's an AU in which Yohan's plans are waylaid by chronic pain and trauma. Soohyun's meddling ends up with Gaon going to visit the house in which Yohan and Elijah are bottled up, and though initially the Kangs are both cold to him, it takes very little for them to warm up to Gaon.

"????" is an Elijah-centric 5+1 of emotions as she experiences them over the course of the show. I know the emotions are 'anger, bitterness, reluctance, hesitation, hope + happiness' but I've written exactly one sentence of it.

"Another ?????" is an exploration of Yohan's trust in Gaon through the eyes of the people around them: K, Jinjoo, Elijah, Jungho, Soohyun, etc.

SFH WIPs:

I can't talk about the SFH WIP for legal reasons (again, I'm a mod of the zine, I know what the topic/theme is gonna be months in advance lmfao)

Critical Role WIPs:

Nicknamed "Tilly" with the working title "regret informs only the living," it jumps between ~C1 and C3, in a world where Percy and Laudna had met as children and did know one another. It jumps between their childhoods, immediately after reclaiming Whitestone, and when Bells Hells bring Laudna to Whitestone to revive her.

Originally nicknamed "Life 5," now its own fic titled "obsessively, incessantly, to a point of suffocation", it's an alternate history in which the Empire made a severe push into Xhorhas as the perfect moment. Asarius falls, and Dens Olios, Thelyss, and Tasithar are captured. The citizens of Asarius are split between four internment camps. Switching POVs between scourger Bren and survivor Essek, it's an alignment flip.

"friends on the other side," also called "Kingsley is Confused™," is immediately post C2, following Kingsley as he tries to piece together some semblance of identity and life, while Mollymauk and Lucien simply do not shut up in his head. It's enough to drive anyone mad, really. But maybe, just maybe, King is smart enough to figure out how to get them out of head and into bodies of their own.

"kindness is a dish best served" is an alternate C2 ending, in which it is Lucien pre-Nonagon who wakes up when the Wildmother brings him back. He lies through his teeth, claiming he doesn't know any of them. Only Caleb (visibly) sees through the lies.

Currently nicknamed "Vesper de Rolo's Very Bad, Not Good Day," it's a retelling of C3, in which Vesper de Rolo is a member of Bells Hells.

Currently only nicknamed "the consecution fic," the only thing I've written is this: 'thirty years after Essek Thelyss of No Den is executed for treason, Lirik Thelyss of Den Thelyss begins to go through anamnesis and realizes he can tell nobody who he truly is.'

And that's not including two 5+1s I'm sitting on for more Thelyss family dynamics because there's something so fun about locking Essek, Verin, and Deirta in a room together and poking them to see what happens.

And, now, lastly. The one I can't forget. "The Fickle Nature of Time's Children," suffering under the weight of my 22k word outline. It's a Caleb/Essek time travel fic with a twist, dealing heavily with themes of depression, a lack of fulfillment and unhappiness, with a massive redemption arc for the Tombtakers because they deserve it.

*exhales* okay that's it. Mostly. I have a couple of other original pieces of writing I didn't touch on because I haven't been working on them as much.

#took writes #took writes a LOT #fic stuffs #original writing #took answers #moot tag #sass tag #i will talk ENDLESSLY about all of this

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hiyaluronic · 1 year

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Working on a thing-!!!!! The air smelt odd. A weird fragrant mix of ozone, geosmin, and dirt. A scent that tickled against his memory and drew forth faint memories from long ago that seemed to comfort some ill-forgotten part of his mind that he hadn’t realized had been fraught with worry.

He wanted to stay here. Stay in this twilight fugue where nothing was wrong. There were no villains to slay, no wrongs to right, no hurts to soothe–just a simple comfort and a bed of soft soil beneath him.

Rest.

Utterly and finally.

Rest.

“Kaweb! Mubber Fumper! KAWEB!”

The angered shout sent the pleasantness rushing away and forced reality to crash back into him with jarring clarity.

The solstice, Ludinus, Ruidus, the beacon. His unwilling silence and lassitude while everything seemed to bend around him in frightening contrast to how things should have been.

And, then. Nothing.

Nothing but an all encompassing wall of white that seemed to wash everything away in a dazzling display of negligence and power.

Caleb shot up from his false comfort, his hands shaking while he fumbled for the heavy metal that sat like a death sentence around his neck.

“Kaweb, mon’t! Weave it.”

“Beauregard?” Caleb winced, pain winding through his vocal cords from the attempt at communication; his breath hot against his lips and the silent words sour on his heavy tongue.

“Um’ass. ‘On’t tawk.”

Caleb swallowed thickly, his hands blocking out the world around him while he took a few grounding breaths. He hadn’t had a panic attack in years and this was no time to fall back into old habits that he’d worked so hard to claw and fight his way out of. Beauregard needed him, he didn’t have time to break down. That could come later in the safety of his and Essek’s home.

“Unwock ‘ee.”

With one more deep breath, Caleb let his hands fall away and gingerly made his way over to Beau, trying not to think how uncomfortable his friend must be with the chains and shackles binding her form into a forced kneeling position, a piece of worn and dirty linen tied tightly between her teeth garbling her attempts to communicate effectively.

Beau jerked against her confines when Caleb settled uncertainly in front of her, his hands shaking while deft fingers worked to untie the gag. He grimaced when the cloth finally came free before tossing it to the side.

“Holy shit.” Beau murmured with a wince, tongue peeking out to poke at the bleeding and cracked edges of her mouth. “Mother fucking asshole.”

Caleb opened his mouth to speak before he remembered what an awful idea that would be and sighed in agreement. Thoughts of uncertainty started to creep in with just the very notion that this could be permanent for the foreseeable future in they didn’t find a way to get the collar off.

Beau raised an eyebrow at Caleb. “Hey, ring of telepathy, remember? You can still communicate, don’t freak out on me yet.”

Caleb blinked and turned to stare at the tiny metal ring encircling his right index finger and rolled his eyes at his own stupidity for forgetting the trinket. It seems current events have rattled more than just my nerves.

“Yeah.” Beau shifted to look over her shoulder before turning back to Caleb. “Thieves kit in my pack, think you can get to them?”

I can certainly try. Caleb reached through the lengths of chain that bound Beau’s arms tightly together along the length of her back and reached into her tiny haversack to pull free a small thieves toolkit that, while well worn, had probably only seen the light of day once or twice in its life.

While Caleb was busy unwrapping the kit, Beau finally looked around the pasture they currently found themselves residing in. The orange and pink of the sun cresting the horizon in the distance was starting to give way to brighter rays of early morning. The tall grass around them glistened with dew and swayed in the soft breeze. “Any idea where we are? Or what even happened for that matter?”

Caleb pursed his lips while he pulled the tension wrench and torsion wrench out of the kit. I know we are North of where we were. Beyond that, I am uncertain.

“Great. Fantastic” Beau grunted and tried her best to adjust her arms to relieve a cramp in her shoulder. “Remind me to tell Imogen what a bitch her mother is when we get a chance. Feels like that’s something important enough the kid should know.”

Caleb smiled at the exasperated tone and looked at the mess of metal surrounding Beau. I’m not sure where to even start here, Beauregard. Ludinus certainly didn’t want to take any chances on you breaking free.

“Because he knew if I did, I’d break that prima donna face of his.” Beau shifted and tried her best to get her legs out in front of her. “Legs first, for the love of everything, legs first. I’ll feel better knowing I’m mobile if we need to move quickly.”

Veth is much better at this than I am. Caleb commented before working at the lock that held the length of chain wrapped tightly around Beau’s legs together.

Beau winced, the chain Caleb was working at rubbing the rough fabric of her pants against her raw and sensitive skin. “Veth is also hopefully miles and miles away having a good old time with Yez-fuuuck!”

Sorry, sorry. Caleb held Beau upright as best he could. Deep breaths.

“Going to kick his elven face into mush, swear to one of the gods, I don’t know which one–Arty probably. He’s still a sort-of-kind-of god right?”

I’m sure he likes to think so. Ankles next, then I will try and free your arms. Caleb watched Beau for a second making sure she was alright before turning back to the task at hand. It doesn’t feel like anything has changed. So I’m not sure if Ludinus won or if our new friends did enough damage to interrupt it.

“Yeah, excluding the giant whiteout, this doesn’t feel very end of the world-y, does it?”

Not truly. I have hope that we may yet very well win. With gentle hands, Caleb gently removed the shackles around Beau’s ankles and did his best to rub circulation back into her limbs.

#caleb widogast #beauregard lionett #critical role #the mighty nein #c3e51 #cr spoilers #I love my empire siblings and wanted to write something for them #Hoping I will get to finish it later after work

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the-kaedageist · 1 year

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tagged by @tarydarrington to do sunday six, even though it is way past Sunday at this point!

Every Sunday, share six sentences from your current WIP and tag six friends* *Sunday is only a suggestion, please post your own any time in the week!

The following snippet is the last bit I wrote and contains major spoilers for 2 Tusk 2 Love, so read at your own risk! (Although I do think these are spoilers more of the “how the fuck are you going to get to that point” variety, which are by FAR the most interesting...)

This is a bit more than six sentences, but not by much?

“Ah, yes,” said Bren. “I forgot to mention that part. Apparently, our world is generated from a smut novel.” Essek wondered if this was what it felt like to have a break from reality. There was no way that any of this could be real, no matter how much the spell they’d crafted had seemed solid in theory. “I believe our spell has backfired,” he said. “You cannot have just said our world is out of a…romance novel.” The Mollymauk-lookalike grinned at him. “You know, ‘smut’ isn’t a dirty word.” He peered at Bren. “You look almost the same as him, but magic man is almost completely different. What gives?” Bren brushed his fringe of hair from his eyes and gave him a look. “Different histories,” he said. “No way,” said Veth. “Caleb, does this mean you could have been a little shit if things had gone slightly different?” She sounded delighted. “No,” said Widogast. “Yes,” said Bren, radiating smugness.

Tagging with NO pressure: @essektheylyss @kmackatie @mllekurtz @natrenwal @caltracat @rainydaymonk and anyone else who’s interested!

#memes #my fics #my writing #snippets #tusk love: the behemoth

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saturdaysky · 2 years

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🌹🌹🌹

Three roses? Two scenes of Essek whump for you, my friend, both taken from the second chapter of my Trent-nabs-Essek-after-Vergessen-Heist fic. This chapter is outsider POV by a scourger-in-training sitting in on the interrogation.

(CW: blood, torture, Trent Ikithon) [Snip 1: Essek attempts to bargain. Trent has been rooting around in his head the past few days and has pulled up a lot of dunamancy knowledge, but Essek has resisted giving up info about the Nein]

Master Ikithon gestures for the prisoner to speak, the rings on his hands glinting in the dim light. “What do you ask for this deal?”

The drow smiles a politician's smile, polished and regal despite the fact he is listing heavily to one side. He does not quite manage to focus on their faces.

“Two items," he says through bloody teeth. "The first: cease pursuit of the Nein. The second: ensure my body is found to have been taken by some hazard of the North. Mauled by beasts, perhaps. Do not leave the body a mouth to speak."

Amusement plays over the Master’s expression, but this has caught his interest. He leans forward slightly, tracing his eyes over the drow's face. "Are you asking for us to set beasts upon you? We can oblige, but that is not the negotiating tactic I expected, Shadowhand."

The prisoner smiles that same placid smile, though the edges of it are grim. "I am asking that a body identifiable as myself be found to have been taken by a natural threat, not a political one. Surely, it is in both our interests to prevent another war." His head lolls forward before he jerks it back into place, blinking his way back to focus. "Whether the body is mine or another's will not be a decision I can make, I think."

[Snip 2: later in the interrogation, after Trent has left]

He jerks and lets out a sound that is nearly a sob. At first she thinks it is pain at his hands, but then he begins to speak. His affect has been flattened, gilded voice turned to lead.

“Jester. It is good to hear from you. I am fine, but…” His voice wavers. His eyes flick up to meet hers; resolve settles in his face before he drops his gaze to the wreck at the end of his wrists.

“I am a coward,” he says firmly. “I ran to keep myself safe. I am sorry.”

When he finishes, he does not look up again. He simply sits like he is waiting for a blow, then flinches. Another Sending, then. She fixes the words of the first into her memory, and waits for him to speak.

“I’m sorry,” he replies. “Save the world. Be safe. I will not be back. My supplies at the outpost are yours, should you require.” He stops talking, nearly long enough for the spell to drop. She can see his throat working as he fights to keep his tone even.

“I am glad to have met you,” he whispers, eyes closed. The last four words did not make it before the drop of the spell, she is sure. From the way his voice breaks on the last syllables, he knows that, too.

#my writing #critical role #essek thelyss #trent ikithon #cw torture #this really is a put the blorbo in a blender fic. it DOES actually have comfort in it in the last chapter #whump #cw blood

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aeor-is-for-reccing · 10 months

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Shadowgast Recs: Learning to Love/Accept that they're Loved

Hi all! This week we've got ten fics that involve Caleb or Essek learning how to accept love, or learning how to love. Recs under the cut, and as always, remember to comment or kudos if you liked them!

The Mind and The Malady by SaltCore (38941,Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence, vomiting, (assumed) terminal illness

Essek contracts hanahaki disease, and documents his decline while travelling with the Mighy Nein through Aeor.

Reccer says: The hanahaki fic for people who don't like the hanahaki trope -- nuanced exploration of the ethical dilemma behind telling someone that their unrequited love is killing you, and Essek's scientific, methodical approach towards the illness feels very in-character

If Essek Were of a Mood by OkaySoWereDoinThis (3572,Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

The day after destroying the T-dock chamber, Essek overhears Caleb’s predictions about their future and has Things To Say about that.

Reccer says: It's a very cute response to the idea that lifespan angst may stand in the way of Caleb and Essek loving each other

Have You Reconsidered? by wtgw (4081,Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: Major Character Death, lifespan angst

Caleb breaks up with Essek shortly before his 65th birthday. Every so often, Essek asks if he reconsidered.

Reccer says: It's sad and sweet and demonstrates how Essek would respect Caleb's boundaries, but would refuse to stop loving him through his years.

Keys to the Castle by Anonymous (51812,Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: None

Essek has a spare key to the tower and it takes him a while to realise that it's a romantic thing

Reccer says: Omg the pining is glorious and painful

the lavender bush by canyon_wizard (16921,Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Dubcon/Consensual Non Consent

Caleb has a complicated relationship to sex, attraction, and Essek.

Reccer says: A sharper look at learning to accept love and kindness, it's rough at the beginning as they work through a darker take on Caleb's history, this is full of sharp character moments and plot points that keep you reading. I love the journey of where it ends up.

i wish to sleep, (but not) to wake by Defiler_Wyrm, SaltCore (36736,Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: Suicidal ideation, gaslighting/unreality

Essek appears to be living a charmed life with Caleb, getting everything he wishes. But there have been strange intrusions on his world, with his friends acting strange. They're begging him to wake up.

Reccer says: The setup is masterfully done, but I think the real star is the back half- where Essek has to deal with the fallout of everything he's experienced and learn to adjust to reality.

a sort of beacon where there used to be a dull roar by wordonawing (8781,Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek gets hurt, and then stays with Caleb while he recovers. And then for a while after

Reccer says: It's very soft and sweet and has a lot of quiet pining even while they're living together

The cold space between us fears your warmth by measuringtheabyss (6223,General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek hides an injury from Caleb, not wanting to “waste” a potion on himself—because he is trying to unlearn being selfish.

Reccer says: Essek’s thought process is so achingly believable here, and the whump and h/c is delightful. Caleb’s reaction is perfect.

pieces of (you) me by KmacKatie (31012,Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

A post-canon fic that explores coming together and what makes a house a home.

Reccer says: Told in alternating perspectives, this is about each of the wizards grappling with the changes they go through and adjustment to a new life, while each tentatively bridging that gap between friend and more. It's so worth the end of seeing them finally reach out and take up space.

Hold Me Close, Cut Me Deep by CatgirlTheCrazy (14192,Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Mind control

While in Aeor, Essek accidentally releases an incubus that takes Caleb's form

Reccer says: It's great for lovers of self-sacrifice, but also both Caleb and Essek get a lesson on valuing their own life as well.

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. Next week, we're featuring Alternate Timelines/Echoes!

#shadowgast #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #critical role #aeor is for lovers #cr fic #cr fic recs

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captainsspnanon · 1 year

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C2E63 - Intervention - rewatch

Lots of announcements this episode, but AAAH one shot with Stephen Colbert! Surprise, Matt, this is just the FIRST one.

(it’s such a cute one shot though, just seeing Stephen’s delight with it!)

I love when Ashley makes a joke “maybe I should do the talking this time” and everyone just holds her to it. Both supportive friends and roasting friends at the same time.

I’ve said it before, but I really do prefer Sam’s flask here to what he does in C3. It just feels more disruptive in C3, they always seem to have to stop and look at it, whereas here the roleplay keeps going and there’s only bits of acknowledgment.

Nothing shows that this is a real dnd campaign that isn’t scripted more than Jester ringing the bell as soon as they’re in the Lucid Bastion and Matt having the NPC come out and be aggravated, even though the bell and the guy are in Asarius and not Rosohna. If it was scripted, would they do that bit in the completely wrong building and city? (also, fuck the spelling of Rosohna, I NEVER remember how to spell it. Especially because I want to spell it like Rosh Hashana, which is something completely different XD)

Poor Beau and Caleb, desperately trying to get the Bright Queen to not go full slaughter on the Empire. On a shallow watch, I fully stand in their shoes. On this more in depth watch, …. yeah, trying to think about this in terms of actual military strategy and stuff? What the Bright Queen is doing makes sense. I don’t like it in terms of a fictional narrative, but trying to put it in real world terms? Now, not only is it super above my head, but also I’d suspect that if they are more gentle and withdrawing as Beau suggests, then the Empire would just move in and conquer just that much more easily.

Also, Essek tells the Bright Queen that the Nein not only can be trusted since they are capable, but also that they had his ‘tutelage’. There’s been a lot of analysis (and lots with shipping goggles on) of the moment that Essek decided to teach Caleb dunamantic spells. I wonder now if this was something that had already been run by and approved by the Bright Queen – hence why a persuasion roll of 12 was able to work, because it had already been decided that it would be done.

In hindsight, it’s very interesting to see Caleb be so fervently gung-ho about having the Xhorhasians take the Nein along to defeat the Assembly, how much of his plan relies on the Bright Queen essentially using the war to do it for him – give him the opening, versus how it ends up by the end of the campaign with Caleb and Beau working with the Cobalt Soul and mostly just themselves to try to take the Assembly down. Personally, I think the end result is better. Having the Assembly taken down in a war? All it will do is push the Empire to immediately rebuild it, probably even stronger. Have it taken down by people in the Empire, proving crimes? That might work to disband it eventually, or clean the corruption out of it.

Jester going “let’s form our own country!” and just BREAKING everyone. LOVE IT

I honestly forgot so much of the stress for Beau with having to contact Dairon, and the fear she had regarding it. Knowing that it turns out well, I just remember the good parts of it like the promotion and leading the charge for the arrest. It makes the rewatch and re-experiencing this tension all the better because it feels so real, so honest. Beau HAS no way of knowing that it will turn out well, hell, MARISHA has no way of knowing. And so in this fictional game is the truth of a new and quick mentor relationship where there is a level of appreciation and respect for being the one authority figure who listens, couched with the fear of knowing how authority figures tend to act.

I love Caleb’s hypocrisy. Nott accuses him when Yeza was taken – “these are YOUR people”, Caleb throws up and freaks out. Caleb wants to get Dairon involved, constantly tells Beau that she needs to get “your people” involved. Never once considers that Beau might not want to be so tightly linked to the Soul like people assume Caleb is linked to the Assembly. Maybe he considers it fine because she hasn’t abandoned the Soul (except she basically did except for Dairon, at least at this point), but it’s a level of self-centeredness that adds a lot to Caleb’s character. Honestly? I don’t remember if he stops being as hypocritical by the end of the campaign, or if this is a flaw that he continues to have. I THINK he gets better, at least by a good amount?

Also with Caleb – for some reason him acting like he’s the smartest one in the room usually doesn’t rub me the wrong way that Molly and Kingsley do. I’m trying to figure out why, and I think it’s because Molly and Kingsley would act like the smartest by acting like others were stupid, whereas Caleb doesn’t even seem to be thinking about the intelligence level of others? ...that’s a terrible way of describing it. I don’t know! There’s also a good chance that it’s just character bias, or the fact that people are way more willing to call out Caleb being an ass than Molly or Kingsley (one shot spoilers for part one, but notice that no one has called out Kingsley at all yet? Despite him being a massive asshole to Fjord? And pretty flippant to everyone else re: their capabilities? Seriously, with Taliesin it seems that he deliberately designs PCs who need to be called out, and only Marisha seems willing to call him out. Improves in C3, but STILL.)

I really like this map of the Overcrow. It’s not a very complex map, just houses and some exterior items, but it really FEELS good. We’ve had a few exterior maps like this in C3 that haven’t felt as nice. I’m not sure why – if it’s just the angle we’re seeing at it or something different.

...this has GOT to be the episode that Jester turns into a moth, right?

(off topic, but I told my mom that I find Sam sexy when he has a beard, and she doesn’t see it at all. I’m not alone in this, right???)

I actually really enjoy when they all overlap a bit and get confused, it’s the occasional moments that really remind me that this is just a game like any other, just a bit more polished and put on the internet. Sam rolling but then not knowing if he was rolling investigation or stealth because there were like three different things going on a the same time, yup, that’s happened.

CONTROVERSIAL HOT TAKE TIME: I don’t like when Tal has his PCs just show up during other people’s moments when it doesn’t make sense for them to be there. This happened a LOT with Percy and Molly, but every once in a while, Cad hits it too. Like right now. Cad is hopping in through the window after Nott has entered the building sneakily, with all the rest of the party NOT going there, and him not knowing what’s going on. In character, there’s absolutely no reason and also no MOTIVATION for Cad to go in there. It just doesn’t make sense for him as a PC! He never sneaks off on his own or joins Nott for stealthy things, basically just moves with the group when they do. But all of a sudden he’s now jumping in a window that no one else has gone into and hasn’t been confirmed clear? It just feels a lot more like Taliesin than Caduceus, that’s all I’m saying. Luckily, most of the time that Tal does this it’s more for exploratory stuff so usually doesn’t hit the RP or story that hard. It just bugs me. (for clarification purposes, a scene like where Percy ended up killing Vex because Tal didn’t wait for Laura to finish checking for traps? Does NOT fall in this category. The scene where Vex and Vax were upstairs in some building having a conversation about something or other and then Percy interrupts despite not being involved at all and not even in the area, but then claims that he heard over the earrings when they protest that he wasn’t there? DOES fall in this category. Don’t ask me what episode or what it was about though because I have no recollection and searching transcripts isn’t helping. I’ll find it and give my mini-rant when I do my C1 rewatch.)

YESSSS Moth with an intelligence of ONE!!!! Oh, the looks of realization on their faces!!! To be fair to them, they are very used to wildshape from C1 in which the mind is kept, and they really haven’t polymorphed THEMSELVES much yet, only enemies. Before this, it was only Jester as the dire badger digging through the tunnel.

Oh lol after just typing that up they literally bring up themselves how wildshape is different

Holy shit, Jester used her channel divinity to turn invisible!! I swear I thought she only used this once when she was showing it off to Nott, when she didn’t realize that it was only for a few seconds.

Ten hours total for everyone to get a long rest? I’m guessing this is probably the episode where Matt gets spammed with a ton of corrections about how long rests work.

Oh dear, I just realized I’m going from the last one shot (so much combat!) right into combat and then a dungeon crawl. *le sigh* Ah well, not as bad as the last few episodes of the campaign will get. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy combat! Just, when it lasts a long time, I tend to zone out. And the last two/three episodes of the campaign? OOOF. One of the reasons why I struggled at times with C1? SO MANY LONG BATTLES. I’ll have to see if I feel the same after the rewatch of both campaigns, but having seen C2 first and then into C1, I DID feel that C1 had more tense on-the-edge-of-your-seat battles. With C2, and now even into C3, it doesn’t feel the same. I genuinely can’t figure out why, because the combat in C2 and C3 isn’t bad! There’s just as much risk of people dying! I suspect that it’s due to the level discrepancy. C2 is mostly low to mid level combat, C3 is currently in low level combat (only level 7 at the time of me writing). C1? STARTS at level 10 combat and only goes up from there. I mean, look at Kevdak! Level 16! PLUS there were 20 other NPCs in the fight! Vox Machina was between level 13 and 14 at the time, and this was around episode 53. For comparable Mighty Nein? They weren’t between level 13 and 14 until episodes 108-124. This was undead Avantika and Aeor fights. I think people who really worship the C1 combats and are highly dismissive of C2/C3 combats need to realize the immense level difference. (Then again, there’s also just a case of feel. There was a somewhat recent combat in C3 with unexpected outcome, if you know you know, and yet despite what happened and how it went, I still ended up not feeling as intense as the C1 fights? In the moment, I think it was a failure to process what was happening. SIDEBAR, I’m looking forwards to my eventual C3 rewatch, because I DO think that watching it on a weekly basis rather than being able to binge the entire campaign in a go DOES make a difference as to how things feel, especially pacing.)

WOW TANGENT SORRY

and now I’m back from the tangent break, where I made the stupid mistake of trying to stay informed with the news and everything is awful here and there, local and global, and I almost set myself into a panic attack. FML. LET ME DROWN MYSELF IN FICTION.

Oh hey I just noticed Marisha’s wearing a shirt that says “Everything is Awful”. ...YUP

Jester as noble woman demanding her money back, lots of comments are talking about Vex, but I’m assuming in character that this may be influenced by people she met at the Chateau.

Glad that everyone does get a full rest though. I could not remember, was worried that Beau and especially Caleb would be going in with a broken rest.

You know what. I keep wanting to watch this episode, and keep stopping because I don’t have the energy to write. So fuck it, gonna watch the rest of this and if I don’t write any more, that’s fine! TIME FOR ME TO HAVE FUN.

I was about to say I wonder what the payoff was for this dragonborn, because I don’t remember any context for her. Looked it up in the wiki, she dies in the fight. Whoops oh well. Wonder what her role in all of this was.

They REALLY do use “making my way” as a crutch phrase, don’t they? The singing bit (which hasn’t started yet) probably helped them recognize how much they were relying on it and try to diversify their language usage.

I’m feeling very strongly about this being one of the strongest table setups (maybe I would switch Ashley and Taliesin, but I’m not sure, WAIT I KNOW. Switch Sam and Taliesin. THAT I think would be strongest table setup), and a big part of that is the constant casual touches throughout the campaign. Sam and Laura are always poking each other, top table is flailing into each other constantly, Tal and Ashley collapse into each other a few times. It’s hard for me to remember if Travis has as much casual touch with the C3 table layout, I feel not? I feel like the new bottom table is the more touchy one. But yes, I think my ideal table layout for a campaign is Top Left – Travis, Top Middle – Marisha, Top Right – Liam, Bottom Left – Taliesin, Bottom Middle pt1 – Laura, Bottom Middle pt2 – Sam, Bottom Right – Ashley. Yes, this feels good.

They completely forgot that Beau still had an action left here, I wonder how the encounter would have changed once she got inside if she realized she could still attack as well.

Love rewatching the reactions when the Mysterious Drow says “Orphanmaker” and everyone FLIPS OUT. Or rather, Taliesin flips out first, Ashley’s eyes pop open wide, and then Travis and Sam are getting into it while everyone is going ‘oooooooo’

Fjord’s first counterspell!

Stop. Fucking. Hitting. Me. UGH such a great Yasha moment, and perfect Ashley timing.

What is it with the second half of this episode and me having such a struggle watching it??? Basically since they started the stakeout I have just NOT been able to watch this in more than brief chunks. There’s nothing wrong with it, but for some reason I am just Having Issues. I only have half an hour left! But that just feels so hard!

Mmmm, Fjord deception. It’s weird though, because I just watched the reunion recently so the british accent is in my head, even though right now he’s still using texan accent, so it SHOULD feel like a fake accent but my brain is going ‘real’ even though he’s about to drop back into texan again

I got through the rest of it by being zoned out half the time, and looking at my phone. Really really unsure why this was a struggle for me, as it was filled with a lot of fun and is taking us right into the Obann arc.

#critical role #the mighty nein #cr c2 rewatch #man i just petered out at the end because of dumb brain reasons

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imalsoscarlet · 1 year

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Where I Am Needed Most

For whatever reason I'm writing fanfiction again. 🤷‍♀️

“I had long known that you were dissatisfied with the Dynasty. I knew you wanted to study the beacons. Your skepticism was never hidden, young Thelyss.” Starguide Uraya Hythenos looks at Essek with a cold anger. Colder than even the temperatures here at the end of the world. “I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me you went this far. But do you understand what this means? Do you understand what will happen to you now that you know?”

Essek looks down at his hands, contemplating what to say. There is nothing to say, really. When he had chosen to tell his closest ally in Eiselcross of his sins, he knew it wouldn’t go well. He supposes that he should be the guards haven’t been called. Before telling them, Essek had made a promise: he wouldn’t fight he guards. As much as he’d like to avoid the executioner’s blade waiting for him in the Empire, his sins were his alone and no one else needed to pay for them. Looking up at the Starguide, he feels the bravery of his decision crumble. He feels a tightness in his chest and has to look away again.

“I know,” he says with a voice thick of sadness. “I know and I don’t expect you to do anything less. The fact that you haven’t called the guards-”

“The guards are under your command.”

“A command which would be much better in your hands. I will not fight them. Enough people have paid the price for what I’ve done.”

“Why confess to me now?”

“Because I-” Essek bit his lip, unsure if this truth could be believed, “-I have been helped greatly by your friendship. It has made the cold of Eiselcross a little less chilly. And you deserve to know what monster you harbor, even if I wear a mask of smiles.”

“Thelyss look at me.” Uraya’s voice isn’t demanding and it catches Essek off guard. He looks up and sees a cold anger has been worn down to pity. “You carry guilt. That is something I have never seen of a Thelyss. Your family is… proud. Too proud. Proud and distance.”

Essek said nothing to this truth. Only flinched as Uraya’s hand cuffed one of his shoulders. They were sitting on a couch in his office and the silence of the space is almost too much. Essek’s heart twists as Uraya’s hand moves.

“Essek you… you have a brilliant mind. A brilliant mind who would be a awesome force of good should he gotten what he wished. Our own scriptures tell us of a Luxon that wishes to know what it is. To know what it is. What it’s purpose is. In essence you are what our holy verses want.”

This was not how he expected this to go. “Uraya, are you suggesting that I am… champion of the Luxon?”

“No. You are not. A champion never would have stolen the Dynasty’s most precious objects and traded them to the Empire of all places. A champion would have found another way. No Essek, who I see before me is a man I never knew in Rosohna. The man I see before me does not deserve death. But he doesn’t deserve to lead us.”

Essek nods, stunned into silent. They are letting him… live? “What… what is to become of me?”

“You made friends with the Mighty Nein correct?”

“I… I did. They… they were the ones who should me a path of… of change.” Essek feels his eyes water. “Uraya what are you suggesting?”

Uraya opens their mouth to speak but a familiar glow catches Essek’s attention. He swipes the sending stone off the desk and holds it close to his mouth.

“Essek, it’s Caleb. I need help. Running from trouble in Rexxentrum. Out of spells. About two blocks from home. Help. Please.”

His answer comes without a thought. “I’ll be there shortly. Do what you must to lose them. I will find you.”

Shadowhand Essek Thelyss glanced at Uraya and opens his mouth. They hold up a finger to silence him.

“One week. I can tell the outpost you have an emergency that comes from the Mighty Nein. I will assume your death after one week, then I will inform the Bright Queen. I suggest you get your things from your towers.”

Tears stream down Essek’s cheek and he turns away as a sob breaks from his throat. “You are risking so much.”

“Only what I must. The Luxon teaches understanding, empathy, mercy. I will not give this a second time. May the light be with you.”

Essek nods through blurry eyes and takes out a piece of amber. “May the light be with you.”

He disappears into a flash of it, and Uraya is left staring into the now empty space of a criminal.

#critical role #essek thelyss #fanfiction #i know some people in the ttrpg follow me here so just ignore the fact that I like writing fanfiction occasionally lol #campaign 2 #the Mighty Nein #rough draft

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