#so have this essek

[mintt-tea-2]

a twinkling star in the night sky

#HEYYYYY #HI CRITTER TUMBLR #you guys accepted my caduceus offering #so have this essek #loml #my child #autistic ass bitch look at him #art #fanart #my art #dnd #dnd character #dnd character art #dnd art #essek thelyss #critical role essek #essek theyless #cr essek #shadowhand essek #critical role mighty nein #critical role the mighty nein #critical role fanart #critical role #the mighty nein #cr m9 #fun fact #he has freckles because angel kisses = freckles and i wanted to put one on his forehead where caleb kissed him #you’re all welcome

[tshortik]

Cryptic visions of space and time...

#essek #essek thelyss #critical role #mighty nein #caleb widogast #this works on its own but it's actually part of a bigger fancomic idea i have #but i still have to figure out if i even want to invest so much time into something like that lmao.. prob not #i already made a concept document for fun and its way too long.. unfortunately i rly like it #i rly believe in the idea tbh i just dont know if its physically possible because i work fulltime LMAO #its a lot of fun tho #here i am 3 years late idk why the essek thoughts bubble out NOW ignore me

[shrugsinchinese]

Tether Essence: for you to feel the entirety of my love

#essek really saying if you don’t want to marry me I’ll offer up my entire self so you’ll pine after me forever smh #will Caleb marry him after this I do not know #but they do make out sloppy #I’m having feelings about their relationship okay #this is my way of coping #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #critical role #critical role fanart #shadowgast

[residentinsomniacartist]

wait wait wait guys have you ever thought about how the Mighty Nein are everything they shouldn’t be upon first glance

no no guys guys listen to me they’re all the antithesis of what they’re meant to be and that’s why they’re such amazing and heartfelt characters

like, Caleb is a wizard who’s afraid of his own fire magic. his own power causes him to falter in battle. his strongest spells are his most dangerous to himself. wizards are supposed to be prideful of their magic, but Caleb’s is the reason he hates himself

Beau is a monk who never wanted to be. her job is one that people normally associate with being calm and collected and Beau was a wild rebellious kid who got dragged into this line of work against her will. she never wanted to be this!! but now she is and she’s gotta deal with it!!

Fjord is a warlock who never wanted power from his pact, which is why you’d think a warlock would make their pact at all. but no. Fjord made his pact because he wanted to live, not because he wanted power. he was a scared orphan who hated his tusks, not a buff, muscled, angry half-orc like people assumed

Nott is NOT, that’s the whole crux of her narrative! she wasn’t pretty, like a halfling girl was supposed to be. she wasn’t a goblin, she was just transformed into one. and not only that, but despite being a three-foot-tall alcoholic kleptomaniac, she’s the mom of the group!

Jester is a Cleric whose god isn’t actually a god and who would much rather bash bad guys over the head with her lollipop than have to stop and heal her friends!! she’s a bubbly, optimistic ray-of-sunshine, but you know when she says she’s gonna change the world with friendship she means it as a threat

Mollymauk is an amnesiac, but he doesn’t want to remember who he was. if you ask him, that wasn’t him! he might be a flirtatious hedonistic carnie, but he’s also single-mindedly devoted to making the world a better and more loved place than it was when he found it. he’s a liar, but he means well. he’s an arrogant fool, yes, but he’s right! he did it! he left it better!

Caduceus seems like he’d be creepy and grim from growing up in a graveyard, but he’s actually the most chill out of the entire Nein by far. he’s calm, he’s sweet, and he’s comforting, more than anything else. you’d think he’d be amazed by seeing the outside world for the first time, but he spends the whole time knowing that one day he’ll return home, that he wasn’t supposed to be the one to leave

Yasha is a barbarian with skeletal wings and a dramatic, monochromatic look, but she’s a complete sweetheart. she’s Molly’s best friend, she was a carnival bouncer, she’s a lesbian disaster who collects pressed flowers in a book out of love for the wife she lost. those black wings were actually hiding soft white feathers

Essek was born straight into the den of politics, he was a spymaster, he literally started a war for his own gain, and yet. he’s sounds irredeemable on paper, but. he’s not!! sure, the Nein kind of have to drag his alignment kicking and screaming into neutral, but they manage it. Essek learns and grows and he overcomes his nature. he becomes good, against all odds

guys guys guys don’t you see it!! look at them!!they’re such compelling characters!! they’re everything they’re not supposed to be!! dude y’all how didn’t I realize this earlier!! they subvert their narratives in the most interesting ways ever and I justhshsbhshshsjnsmshsnhsfn!!

#having very normal thoughts about the hyperfixation before bed as you can see #god I love the Mighty Nein #I swear to god their story is one of the best things I’ve ever discovered #it just #it just screams ‘you can be more than what the world made you to be’ #‘you can be more than you once were�� #‘you can live and grow and love and it can be so so amazing. just let yourself have it’ #the Mighty Nein’s story is one of such overwhelming hope and love for the world and I just #*distant sobbing* /pos #the mighty nein #critical role campaign 2 spoilers #critical role #cr c2 #caleb widogast #beauregard lionett #fjord stone #nott the brave #veth brenatto #jester lavorre #mollymauk tealeaf #caduceus clay #yasha nydoorin #essek thelyss #cr meta

[astrid-beck]

I will never understand people who want Caleb to find some weird magical way to live longer not only bc it extremely obviously undermines everything that is poignant and crucial about him thematically but also because I think about old man Caleb and I want to start violently weeping

#pt. 1 #i have more. thinking about old man caleb again forever #and it's usually done so he can be with essek for longer but essek and old man caleb make me CRAZY. #and like did you learn nothing. about how sometimes it doesn't need to be forever. it can just be a moment. and that's still worth something #cr2 #caleb widogast #lena watches cr

[folksong-weaver]

“They’re married” “they’re boyfriends” no no no, they have a weird, queer platonic, intellectually based mutual attraction going on with lots of strange flirting, oppressive guilt, unpaid debts, unconditional love, and the ever present tragedy of unequal lifespans.

#reading shadowgast fics like #‘my boyfriend’ no that’s his Kryn friend. these two are not that direct #it’s about the weird unyielding love that doesn’t have a label #shadowgast #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #i ship shadowgast btw like hard core #i just love this weird dance they do about their relationship #it’s so tasty

[essektheylyss]

I'm just thinking about those family secrets and drama that people don't tell the kids about because kids can blurt things out in mixed company even with the best intentions, that you only learn when your mom says something offhand about "And that's why your cousin lived with us for a year," while you're helping in the kitchen at 11pm the night before a holiday and it recontextualizes a whole bunch of stuff from when you were nine and things didn't quite add up but also you were having a great time having sleepovers with your cousin, but also this context raises a LOT of other questions.

So in that regard, it is so funny to wonder like, how much Luc actually knows about Essek. Has he actually met him? I presume he has, but in that case, was he in disguise? Does Luc know him by an alias? Is Essek one of those family members who shows up to events very intermittently and no one really talks about? For that matter, how much does he know about Caleb's history?

I'm just imagining him hearing the "Shadowhand" comment in the Archive and not knowing who the fuck this geezer is talking about let alone why his godfather's being threatened until Aunt Jester says, "And he's going to hurt Essek," and putting a lot of things together that also raises more questions than it answers like

#critical role #cr spoilers #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #luc brenatto #m9 solstice #I have so many serious meta posts to make cuz I'm still feral and yet here I am making shitposts #it's fine it's cool lmfao #I'll get to them eventually lol

[quill-n]

Here's that Molly animatic I've been working on <3 !! I thought that this song fit him a little too well so I had to do something with it :)

[Here's the Youtube link for anyone that wants to watch it there]

thumbnail posting for Ant <3

#critical role #the mighty nein #mollymauk #mollymauk tealeaf #jester lavorre #yasha nydoorin #caleb widogast #lestera #kingsley tealeaf #caduceus clay #I know the others made appearances but they weren't really major figures in the animatic so I'm not gonna tag them #mighty nein spoilers #quillnart #I packed in a LOT of little details #hope you enjoy!! #(do I tag this as widomauk? i tried sneaking them in there a little) #(can be interpreted as non-romantic ofc tho) #(anyways I got a fun little idea for another mitski animatic involving essek #can't guarantee that one will be next though...) #(I have so many animatic scripts waiting to be drawn. rip me)

[unfortunatelyevent]

thinking about Caleb "been a fugitive in the streets for 3 years" widogast giving tips about being on the run to essek "public figure member of one of the most powerful dens all his life" thelyss like "schatz pls you need to look a little more rugged than that if you're trying to go unnoticed everyone and their mother will stop and look to the most handsome man they've ever seen" "darling everyone on the assembly and dynasty knows how you do your hair perfectly you NEED to use him a little bit messier than that" "yes I know you pride yourself on your perfect posture but if you could hunch down just one bit so not everyone in that village knows you come from nobility..."

#essek looks at him horrified in the last one #at some point caleb says 'you could throw some dirt around yourself so people will actively ignore you more yk' #to which essek responds 'I would rather die' #cr2 #shadowgast #mighty nein #Caleb widogast #essek thelyss #sorry I'm just having silly thoughts about him for comfort today

[undead-knick-knack]

In honor of the upcoming Mighty Nein Special, I present The Mighty Nein as Call Me Kevin Life Tips

Bonus Frumpkin and Sprinkle

#this took so long to make #but i was committed to it like sam is to the bit #shoutout to the bestie since i couldn't have done this without her <3 #critical role #m9 reunion #critrole memes #critrole #the mighty nein #call me kevin #cmk #callmekevin #fjord tusktooth #jester lavorre #caleb widogast #nott the brave #veth brenatto #mollymauk tealeaf #caduceus clay #beauregard lionett #essek thelyss #sprinkle #frumpkin #text post meme #cr memes #cr shitpost #courtesy of me #1k #2k #3k

[quinn-of-aebradore]

Essek Thelyss; Barbie Edition

#it’s 11pm I have an allergy headache and it’s time for Bullshit XD #this is an Excellent format I love it so much #critical role #essek thelyss

[utilitycaster]

I feel like we as a fandom had a lot of this conversation during Campaign 2 but redemption, however you may interpret it, is a process. It is not a binary of redeemed and not redeemed. And in the world of a D&D actual play, a lot of the hard decisions really come down to "is the harm this person did actively ongoing, or is it a past action with ongoing ramifications" and "will they stop doing this continued harm quickly enough for it to matter." It sounds cold to say that it's a risk-benefit analysis, but on some level, it has to be be. I think Bor'Dor was likely redeemable in some abstract sense, but could Team Issylra do it with the time and resources they had without risking their own lives? Probably not. I think the same is true with Liliana: if they had months in which to do this - and they have been contacting her on and off for a couple months, and every effort failed - maybe, but the clock's run out.

#like. i think the liliana v. essek discussion is a very thorny one though one i'm personally willing to have #but a big part of it is that his great transgression was already in the past and he hadn't done much more other than cover it up since #so it's like. yeah they can give him that time #i also tbh think that the fact they found out about him just before the peace talks was a major factor #if the war was still raging...perhaps the response would have been very different #critical role #cr spoilers #cr discourse #anyway. the coin flip should always land on its side.

[artist-rat]

i’ve never listened/watched critical role but my best friend does and sometimes talks to me about it. i asked them for some characters to draw (from any campaign) :p

#critical role #cr #caleb widogast #yasha nydoorin #mollymauk tealeaf #chetney pock o'pea #essek thelyss #also i've seen lots of fanart around ever since the dawn of time so i had pretty clear pictures of them in my mind but #i wanted to do these without looking at refs and just went with the vibes i have + what i remembered having seen people do #it was rly fun and at least my bestie liked them so i've met my goal lool<3 #(these are in the order my friend came up with the charas... first prompt was caleb bc.. im ''good at skrunkly wizards and cats''.......) #(i should've known what to expect) #also if anyone now follows me for critrole i hope the caption is clear enough so u won't expect a lot ahahbdbdb #i might do some more of these in the future if im feeling like it but as said im not rly that into it personally:D✌️

[aeoris4lovers]

the quiet tragedy of verin being the one who never quite made it out.

for most of their lives, essek was the one who was entrenched in expectations, in the politics of their den. while verin was stationed far from the heart of the dynasty, ostensibly free from the eyes of his elders, essek was sitting beside their mother in court and speaking before the queen. and it made sense, because essek had always been better at all of it — the posturing, the sweet-talking, the ladder-climbing. his brother the black sleep was still his brother the prodigy; his brother the heretic was still his brother the shadowhand.

but then, essek meets new people and they get through to him and change him and make him softer, make him better (and why them? what is it about them, that they could do what verin never could?) and he runs. he gives up the title and the status and the power and leaves it all (leaves verin) behind.

suddenly, verin is the lone newsoul of den thelyss, the one with all eyes on him, with the expectations meant for two brothers falling squarely on his shoulders and only his in the absence of their other target. he is still the youngest of his den, the one they all watch and wait to be disappointed by, but there is no one to share that burden with anymore and all at once it becomes painfully clear that distance never really was freedom.

essek has a family, then — not a den but a family, with love and trust and care and warmth and all the things essek once called verin childish for craving — and a welcoming home to go to with someone who loves him waiting there and a garden in the front yard, and verin is left still fighting demons under the banner of a god (of a family, of a home) he only half-believes in.

and maybe they see each other more often then. maybe bazzoxan is remote enough that it’s safe for essek to visit in disguise. maybe essek’s friends come too and are kind enough to offer a taste of what essek has now and verin can almost believe it’s his too. maybe essek doesn’t even fight it anymore when verin insists on hugging him. but how much can that really fix? how much can it really change?

an unloved man leaves no one behind when he finally makes a better life for himself, but essek was never an unloved man. not really.

#listen i have a lot of feelings about verin #hes the kindhearted himbo of the family yes but he also is A Thelyss and weve seen the baggage that comes with #i think on the surface hed be thrilled for essek and love the nein #but it definitely wouldnt be an easy thing to stomach #i imagine its like the feeling of your sibling going to college and leaving you with your shitty parents but like. times a hundred #like ‘im so happy for you but i want to be happy for myself too and you getting out mightve just locked me in so where do we go from here’ #fuck man sibling relationships are so messy im going feral #we never even get to SEE verin but he haunts the entirety of essek’s arc and im incapable of being normal about it #cr meta #verin thelyss #essek thelyss #the thelyss brothers #den thelyss #the mighty nein #c2 #critical role #critical role meta

[danikatze]

[ID in alt text]

I got a request for Essek or Jester (and then tumblr ate the ask when I tried to save it to my drafts so I'm posting it like this..) and I drew them both <33 Essek has finally brought Jester the yummy she asked for.

#I'm going to colour this one later as well #I've partially coloured the Empire Sibs drawing but I have more deadline-y things coming up so I'll probably finish that next month #Jester Lavorre #Essek Thelyss #Jesties #jessties #Critical Role #Critical Role Fanart #fanart #danikunst #2 #2023

[thespicyhoney]

Cross posting this from twitter cause I’ve been more active there. Anyways its always missing Essek hours 

#critical role #Essek Theylss #essek #campaign 2 #mighty nein #So happy I remembered the textured version of my fav brush #I really need to post more here #I have more art on my twitter that is not yet on here #whoops #myart #my art