#essek theylss

[stickandthorn]

I was thinking about that post about redemption I just reblogged, and I think it’s worth pointing out just how difficult and time consuming it would to de-radicalize or “redeem” Lilliana. And I think Essek’s redemption in campaign 2 is actually a really good example of what I’m talking about.

First of all, what the Nein did to redeem Essek was not slowly and politely talk him through why what he did was wrong. They didn’t even know he did anything wrong. What they did was continually reach out to him and give him a support system of friends he did not have before. Notably, friends who he could be comfortable sharing his worldview around: he was an atheist* in a theocratic society who had to hide his worldview in order to have any social, academic, or governmental standing. The mighty nein were probably the first people he could be himself around, and creating a change in his personal life is what led to a change in his ideology. Notably, he did most of the actual deconstructing of his ideology on his own, some before the big betrayal reveal and a lot after. The Nein helped with that directly a little, but the main thing they did was offer him a personal connection he had stakes in, and a people in his life with different world views he hadn’t seen up close before.

This is pretty true to life, in the real world, most people who leave radical or bigoted groups leave at least partially because of a change in their personal life. Even if they do leave because of someone directly challenging their worldview, it’s usually someone they care about who challenges them in a non-aggressive way. It’s still personal.

Secondly, this took a lot of time. I can’t remember exactly how long they spent in the Dynasty, but they befriended Essek over a really long period of in game and out of game time. The cast spent actual real world hours talking pretty much one on one with Essek, and the party spent weeks, maybe even months slowly getting to know him and bringing this support structure into his life. Essek spent even longer actually thinking through and deconstructing on his own. The change in his worldview between the ship and the outpost really shows this, he did a lot of the thinking that led him to change by himself over a lot of time we weren’t there for. They could not have gotten him to actually change his mindset, fully realize what he did was wrong of his own free will, in anything approaching a short amount of time. This was a time consuming process.

All this to say: this is the kind of effort it would take to legitimately de-radicalize Lilliana. She has been in the Vanguard for ~25 years, she most likely joined when she was in her early to mid 20s, and she gave up all personal connections, even her daughter and her husband to join. Not only has her entire ideology been built around this being the right thing to do, her entire personal life is contained within the Vanguard. It’s most likely where she gets any housing or money or really anything from. It is her whole life, and she believes wholeheartedly in it. The level of time and effort it took to get Essek to organically change his mind is most likely the level it would take to get Lilliana to change hers, if not more.

And they don’t have that time. Lilliana is actively doing harm now, she is helping the Vanguard release Predathos right now, they simply do not have the time to redeem her. It sucks, but pragmatically speaking, it is simply not worth the time and effort. Essek gave away the beacons in the past, but also, the Nein did not know he did that for their early friendship. If the Nein had known, they probably would not have put in all the work it took to get him to change. They probably couldn’t have. Lilliana might be able to be redeemed in theory, but so can a lot of people who do very bad things. Focusing on that redemption process is prioritizing Imogen’s complicated feelings over the harsh reality that this is a war, and Lilliana is a key figure in that war doing a great deal of harm. It sucks, but I do think it’s time to move on, and I think Imogen is now leaning that way.

*atheist is a loose term here, it’s hard to be an atheist in a world where gods are proven to exist, but it gets the point across

#critical role #cr spoilers #cr meta #imogen temult #essek theylss #Lilliana temult

[calenthee]

wowwieee so much good news the past few days

I will die when I see these wizards flirt in HIGH DEF 4K FULL FRONTAL ANIMATION.

also get fucked wotc & hasbro greedy ass bitches

Anyways, UH....flirty lads. I love them.

#shadowgast #essek x caleb #essek #essek theylss #caleb #caleb widowgast #hot boi #cr caleb #cr essek #m9 #mighty nein #c2 #campaign 2 #crc2 #critical role #crit role #cr fan art #my art

[sheepintheastralsea]

list of characters Matt HAS to voice

1. Essek. This is non-negotiable.

2. Pumat Sol

3. One of the Syphilis Bandits

4. Yeza

#critical role #cr #the mighty nein #mighty nein #tm9 #m9 #mighty nein animated #essek theylss

[fael-draws]

I miss two (2) sad wizards 

#shadowgast #Critical Role #essek theylss #caleb widowgast #Mighty Nine #CR2 #my art!

[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

[bluemoontarot]

This meme brought to you by my younger sibling, this was their first reaction to Molly.

I'm open for rp if anyone is interested! I rp mostly the purple boys and Caleb, and I'm good at playing all of them.

I'm open to a lot of ideas, I just love writing ♡ And rp is how I relax, it's a place I can let go in and explore various topics. I've been role-playing for 11 years, and I adore it! Stories can be spicy, dramatic, mysterious, slow burn...I love AU's that let me explore how characters might act or change depending on the environment and circumstances.

Roleplay is done in 3rd person POV past tense, it's my default and easier for a lot of people. I do not require "length matching", I have a degree in creative writing so if your response is done at 1 or 2 paragraphs that's great! My nerd ass will send 3-5 paragraphs bc I like ~details~ and ~setting the scene~

I would prefer rp partners be 20+ in age since I do rp nsfw and dark content. I'm more than happy to discuss boundaries and themes to avoid!

Comment on this post or send me a DM on Discord if interested!

Discord Username: maityb

#shadowgast #shadowidomauk #widomauk #caleb widogast #mollymauk tealeaf #kingsley tealeaf #essek thelyss #rp #mighty nein #critical role #tumblr rp #dnd #widoking #shadow king #shadowidoking #essek theylss

[mathi-blodnatt]

Just think up!

I have actually never stopped thinking about the wizards in the nein sided tower btw

#Critical Role #critical role fanart #Shadowgast #essek theylss #caleb widogast #artists on tumblr

[sissiarte]

Come, dear

They haven't left my mind since, and they are probably here to stay for a while <3

Buy the print here

(commissions are open!)

#shadowgast #critical role fanart #caleb widogast #essek theylss #they got the soft epiloge they deserved ;___; #IM SO HAPPY #when i was drawing their faces and stuff i had to stop several times to calm myself bc i was getting all giddy fdhjs #critical role reunited spoilers #critical role spoilers #critical role reunited #sissiarte

[moondrops-and-ink]

Come dear~

Listen I think the wizard's should kiss in Caleb's Dunamancy room like... 👀😩

Also does anyone wanna see the speedpaint? I struggled with the background lmao I'll post it

#critical role fanart #shadowgast #caleb x essek #caleb widogast #essek theylss #gay wizards #cr fanart #digital art #art #procreate #tumblr artist #critical role #critical role campaign 2 #dnd #campaign 2 #i love them your honor

[lumiink]

since a few people asked for the essek sketches mentioned on my marion post, i tidied up my fave one! kinda tempted to finish it now but oh the detail i know i want to add is a lot and life is busy, so we shall see

#essek theylss #critical role #critical role fanart #essek #cr2 #fanart

[cielmeowtan]

This is a soft one, but still- Check it out as well as the rest of the Shadowgast NSFW content!

[ CL's PATREON ]

#shadowgast #critical role #cr2 art #essek theylss #caleb widogast #patreon #patreon content

[stickandthorn]

I was rewatching some of the Aeor episodes of C2 recently, and I forgot just how much Caleb and Essek were Like That in their average conversations. Every time they spoke was like “I’m using magic and the war between our respective countries we both have complex feelings about as a metaphor for our relationship but it’s veiled in 6 layers of obscure side speak and discussing atonement and redemption as deeply personal and multilayered quasi-flirting.” The sexual tension requires a literature degree to fully parse and even then it’s iffy if you can get the entire meaning. They were both deeply fucked up magic prodigies and I guess that’s their favorite wavelength to communicate on, that and staring deeply into each other’s eyes. More meaning and certainly more layers of subtext is conveyed through their average casual greeting than is conveyed through a full semester of any given undergrad class. They basically do sexy philosophy dissertations about their sins at each other. Also everyone else at the table constantly watches like 👀👀👀 while happens. It’s beautiful.

#critical role #shadowgast #essek theylss #caleb widogast

[calenthee]

them...

#essek x caleb #essek #caleb #hot boi #cr caleb #cr essek #m9 #mighty nein #c2 #campaign 2 #crc2 #my art #shadowgast #caleb widowgast #essek theylss

[thespicyhoney]

I just wanna keep drawing Essek in different outfits post campaign. Gotta keep oneself protected from the sun. Another crosspost from Twitter. 

#Essek Theylss #Essek #the mighty nein #essek thelyss #He just goes around wearing all the scarves and sunglasses #Gotta find the sunhat drawing I did #myart #my art #critical role

[bluemoontarot]

In Modern AU you KNOW the Mighty Nein spam Caleb with "Oh no little German Boy! Don't-" memes

And Caleb wants to be offended

But they are honest to god so fuckin funny he usually ends up wheezing

Essek was the first one to make Caleb bark out a laugh in class because he sent him a "Oh no German boy!" meme he made and Caleb almost got in trouble for his laugh

#Molly was a close second #modern au #oh no little german boy #caleb widogast #jester lavorre #fjord #fjord stone #beauregard lionett #yasha nydoorin #essek theylss #caduceus clay #mollymauk tealeaf #nott the brave #veth brenatto #mighty nein #mighty 9 #m9 #critical role #campaign 2 #cr2

[shiversdownyourspleen]

I go about my day and none of these people know the Mighty Nein’s getting an animated series and it really shows

#critical role #cr #critical role c2 #mighty nein #the mighty nein #campaign 2 #caleb widogast #fjord cr #jester lavorre #beauregard critical role #mollymauk tealeaf #caduceus clay #nott the brave #veth #frumpkin #essek theylss