#I KNOW BEAU AND CALEB ARE ALIVE THEY HAVE A LIVE SHOW COMING UP

[godaweful]

"what happened to the other two? the wizard and the monk?" "probably dead."

#FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU #I KNOW BEAU AND CALEB ARE ALIVE THEY HAVE A LIVE SHOW COMING UP #AHHHHH #critcal role #critrole liveblog #critrole spoilers #critical role spoilers #cr3e72

[tarydarrington]

Veth doesn’t know who she’d expected to be waiting on the other side of the knock at the door, but if she’d had to guess, Essek Thelyss wringing his hands like a worried grandmother would have been near the bottom of her list.

“Oh,” she says. “Hi?”

He bobs his head, almost more a quick bow than a nod, tenting his fingers in front of his chest. “Good afternoon,” he says, with the distinct cadence of someone who has repeated the words to himself in the mirror all morning. “I hope you are well?”

“I’m all right,” Veth answers haltingly.

The two of them stand there for a moment, awkward silence hanging between them. Then, finally, Essek gives her a nervous smile.

“I do not wish to impose, but, ah…” He gestures past her. “May I enter?”

“Yeah. Sure.” She steps aside, and Essek gives her a grateful nod before walking - walking? - past her into the living room. “Take a seat, if you like.”

He takes the invitation, perching gingerly onto the very edge of the armchair they keep for their larger-sized guests. Veth follows him in, shutting the door behind her and wondering if this isn’t all a very strange dream. Essek barely meets her gaze as she circles around to stand before him. She leans forward, narrowing her eyes.

"What is this? Why are you being weird? Did something happen? Did Caleb die?"

"No!" Essek reins in his volume, pressing his palms together in apology. "No, certainly not. It is simply…"

Veth raises her eyebrows to prompt him.

"Well, I, ah…" His fingers draw little circles in the air, as though he can pull the words out like a spell. "I have read that it is custom in the Empire to request the blessing of a guardian if one wishes to…" The pained look on his face stretches even further. "Court."

Veth blinks at him. He’s serious. He has to be. That face, all pinched up towards the middle, reminds her of the way the neighbor boy looked when he admitted to breaking her dining room window. It looks absolutely absurd on the former Shadowhand.

"Well, I'm sure he would be flattered, but even with the slower aging, Luc's a little young for you."

She can practically see the joke fly over his head. "No," Essek blurts hurriedly, eyes blown wide with mortification. Veth might have laughed if she didn't feel a bit guilty. "No, I…" He brings one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezing shut, and she suspects he's rooted out the sarcasm.

"If you're talking about Caleb," she says as a peace offering, "I'm certainly not his mother."

"No." Essek presses his palms together again, this time in his lap. "I have considered ways to make a meaningful gesture regarding his parents, but…"

He shakes his head. Veth can fill in the blanks. She wouldn't want the beginning of a new relationship to be tangled up in past trauma, either.

"So," he continues. "I had thought, perhaps, that as his closest friend, you might be a suitable alternative."

Well, that’s… She isn’t sure if it’s flattering, exactly, but she’ll accept the show of respect. She takes a moment to scrutinize him as he watches her apprehensively. Essek and Caleb. Caleb and Essek. It makes a certain kind of sense. Once, years ago, she might have railed against it; despite his growth, it’s still difficult sometimes to look at Essek and see anything other than her husband’s former jailer.

But lately, these last few years, Veth has been at home. She’s been with her family, the most important people in the world to her, and Caleb… well, he’s been off on his own adventures. And without Veth there to look after him, it’s been on Essek’s shoulders to make sure he comes back from said adventures alive and whole. Which he has, so far, without fail.

And that look Essek is giving her, as though if she says no, it might actually dissuade him?

"First of all," she begins with a sigh, "you’re not at court. You’re not courting. You're dating."

At the look of confusion on Essek's face, she takes a deep breath.

"You'll take him to have a meal together, or to see a play, or to watch a lecture. Don't do the lecture thing, that's a bad idea. That would be a terrible date." She pauses. "Although, with you two, maybe."

She can tell from the look on his face that she's losing him, so she waves her hands. "Nevermind that. Disregard all of that. The point is, you'll take him to nice places and do enjoyable things together."

Essek shifts uncomfortably. “I… don’t know if I can do that,” he admits. “I cannot be seen outside of the confines of his home or areas outside of the Empire.”

Veth frowns. “Well, you’re going to have to take him somewhere. You have disguises, right?”

Essek seems to consider it. “I do,” he says. “I suppose it would be worth a small risk, from time to time.”

“You’re darn right,” Veth agrees. “And don’t skimp, either. Caleb deserves the best.”

Essek nods entirely too seriously, as though he’s filing all this away in his mind. Veth makes a mental note to pester him with a progress report in about six months’ time.

Not one too rigorous, though. It’s hard to imagine prodding at him for entertainment’s sake when he looks so pathetic.

“Is there anything else?” he asks tentatively, when the silence persists.

“Well, let’s see.” She runs a finger over her chin, theatrically deep in thought. She already knows her answer. “Do you care for him?”

“Of course.” The sincerity on his face almost makes her feel bad about this. “More deeply than I have ever cared for anyone.”

She shouldn’t ask. It’s probably not something he’s discussed with Caleb himself, yet, if they’re only just now getting together. It would be prying, even for her. “Do you love him?” she asks, anyway.

A little, lost smile turns up one corner of Essek’s lips, and it’s almost a whisper when he replies, “How could I not?”

A pang of something that has never quite left Veth’s heart smarts for the first time in years, and she looks away with a matching smile.

When she and Caleb had been traveling with the others, people tended to hem and haw when she brought up how amazing Caleb was. They thought he was talented, sure, but it sometimes felt like none of the others could see the unquenchable light in him. But looking at Essek’s face, at the way his eyes are shining, Veth can’t help but think that maybe, finally, somebody gets it.

"Alright." She reaches out, and before he can flinch away, pats his hand. "You've convinced me. You have earned my permission to have regular sex with my adult, human son."

“I…” His brow furrows. “Truly?”

“Yeah, go nuts.” She waves a hand dismissively. “Caleb’s a grown adult. He can make his own choices, and if he’s choosing you, then good for both of you.”

Essek blinks at her like she’s just handed him a full pardon from the Bright Queen.

“I mean, obviously, if you hurt him, you will have all of us to answer to,” she says. “But you’re the guilt guy, so I think you’ll probably have yourself to answer to, first.”

"I…" He clasps his hands together. "I expected more… what is the word? Pushback.”

Veth braces her hands on her hips. “You know what? Fjord and Jester didn’t even tell me they were dating until I literally saw them kissing, and Beau and Yasha were barely better.” She jabs a finger towards Essek’s chest, ignoring the way he startles at the movement. “So you have just made it to the top of the Winter’s Crest card list.”

Essek presses his steepled fingers against his mouth, but not before Veth catches the bashful smile spreading there.

“Thank you,” he says. “Truly, I… This means a great deal.”

“Heck yeah, my blessing’s worth a lot,” she replies with a grin. “You know what? Tell Fjord that. He doesn’t have my blessing. I’m gonna make him work for it.”

This time the joke doesn’t pass him by, and she can read in his small smile that he’s grateful for the show of familiarity.

“I should hope he will rise to the occasion,” he says, and Veth gets the feeling he isn’t just talking about Fjord.

#shadowgast #veth brenatto #essek thelyss #mine #mine:fic #i really wish i had executed this concept better because i really liked the concept #but i promised myself i would finish one of my billion little ficlet chunks so here is this #veth #essek

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E138 & 139 (May 25, 2021)

Hello, you lovely people! It’s Tuesday and it’s time again for TM! Tonight’s guests: Marisha Ray & Liam O’Brien! The first picture that pops up when you google his name to check the spelling for the thousandth time is him with a shaved head, which is a wild look.

Ah! According to Dani, this is likely the last Zoom Talks! I’m so happy to hear this! They complain about Laura’s internet freezing constantly whenever she was about to say something exciting.

This episode is sponsored by The Elder Scrolls Online. As I’ve recently resumed my Skyrim run, this makes me crave it all over again.

Liam talks about having to drop everything to start the Zoom call, then having 27 minutes of technical difficulties before they could even begin recording. Augh, same hat.

Beau navigating the Astral Sea & Cognouza was empowering and unsettling. “This is the coolest! Uh oh.” It’s like seeing a new piece of RL tech come out and thinking about how it will change everything, then immediately thinking about how it’ll be abused, like deepfakes.

The first interactions with the Somnovem was overwhelming. They started fighting gnolls in a medieval towns and are now fighting interstellar beings. For Beau, it felt like talking to a really drunk friend. I actually love how she phrases this. “To me, it definitely felt like when you talk to one of your friends when they’re really drunk, and you’re like, ‘oh, I see what version of this person I have right now.’ And then you catch another version of that person on a shit day, and you’re like, ‘ah, I get it, you’re having a shit day.’ But then you catch them when they’re all put together and holding it down, and you’re like, ‘okay, you only hate yourself on the fringes.’ I get that. I found the Somnovem relatable.” Dani: “I too am just a collection of different emotions just barely hanging on by a thread.”

Marisha was able to put the pieces together of the ninefold emotions pretty quickly.

They do a whole tape-review bit after Brian mispronounces Yussa that is amazing. Aside from that, the M9 are glad they got him out of the city. It felt like a die-in-the-Matrix situation for him.

Liam kind of always suspected Matt would dangle the time-travel carrot in front of him. He honestly doesn’t know which way he’d go now. “For a long time, Caleb was like, ‘this doesn’t exist, so it doesn’t matter.’” It’ll probably be a mental coin flip if it comes down to an in-game decision.

"The dice are a CW producer,” when it comes to Beau & Yasha fighting each other.

They can’t remember another prolonged encounter bleeding into another encounter directly since Thordak/Raishan & Kevdak/the herd.

Cosplay of the Week: cattheterrible on Twitter with a beautiful Yasha.

Liam thinks Matt did a great job making it feel like a pressure cooker in terms of balancing their approaches between Lucien’s party & Cree. They’re also both very pleased that their plan with the threshold crests worked - it’s one of the few plans they’ve had across two campaigns that worked. (Honorable mentions they pull: intuit charges, Gelidon, Yenk/Vorugal from C1. “Will Friedle was a better [tactician] than all of us that entire campaign.”)

As far as the nine eyes on everyone go, “we’re all just one metaphysical garbage disposal.” Omar starts barking and they joke the dog will be SAG-eligible before Dani. Ha!

Just the idea of Aeor as a relic of history is massively important. They might die at any point, but if they live, Caleb thinks it’s so important to preserve that history Indiana-Jones-style, especially since it was obviously more advanced as a civilization.

Marisha wonders if they can bring forward the piece of Lucien that is Molly. “It’s a fractal. It’s that full molecular crystalline structure that’s repeating and recurring, and even if it’s several times removed, it still feels like part of the same thing. But maybe a different version, a different timeline of what Lucien is was more or less Molly, and can we Spiderverse the fuck out of this? Can we somehow recall that programming from whatever’s buried? [...] It’s like how moving things to your Recycling Bin doesn’t really clear them from your hard drive.”

Fanart of the Week: mellifera38 with a beautiful Lucien pre-tentacles. The card award shenanigans come complete with massive fireworks green screen display, a rainbow unicorn, a cease and desist letter, eagle wings, lasers, and a PHYSICAL CARD in his hand oh my gosh, to celebrate the final Zoom Talks.

Liam is glad Essek was there to help out with the dunamantic elements of their fights. He’s doing a lot to redeem himself. Liam is also thinking a lot about endgame, long-term repercussions of how this would affect the kingdoms.

Marisha finds the weasel being Artagan adorably traumatic and hilariously tragic. Not only was this poor weasel getting dragged to hell and back, sometimes his personality gets shoved to the side to allow Artagan in. Poor thing, ha! Liam talks about one aspect of the game is that you learn things about your character as ago and then apply it backwards; “We ragged on this weasel so hard, that Matt was like ‘fuck you guys, he’s alive because there’s a fey prince inside him’ and made it retroactive through time.” He’d noticed it for a while, but because there was no downtime in Aeor, there was never a chance to casually bring it up. Beau’s confirmation of seeing something weird about the weasel was a relief that he wasn’t crazy.

It’s a lot of pressure to be the “face” of the party, especially considering Beau’s CHA stat is low. Now it feels like siblings deliberately pushing Lucien’s buttons, except with the full recognition you’re poking a nuclear bomb. It’s honestly been fun, though - she loves being a smartass to people she should ABSOLUTELY not be saying things to. In Caleb’s mind, Beau is the closest thing the group has to a responsible hero. Cad is a great sage, but Beau does what she thinks is the right thing that needs to be done.

They both laugh at this being Matt’s love letter to FF games. They should have been ready for the transformation and the amazing spectacle of the whole thing.

And that is that is that! Brian thanks the guests, Dani, and the crew. “We did it! We did Zoom. Thank you Marisha especially, and our amazing production team for figuring out a way for us to be able to do this from home and make all the artwork and everything so awesome. Thank you to everyone who has touched the show in some way and helped us do it from home.”

Is it Thursday yet?

#talks machina #talks machina spoilers #critical role #critical role spoilers #long post for ts

[mollymauk-teafleak]

Tie Your Heart to Mine

Widomauk vampire AU! Huge thanks to @minky-for-short for coming up with this AU idea and for being an amazing beta reader alongside the ever wonderful @spiky-lesbian

Please consider leaving a comment on Ao3!

-------

Mollymauk only ever remembers being a vampire. He woke up like this, with a still heart and a thirst he had to fight to control. He struggled to understand humans for the decades he's been alive.

Until vampire hunter Caleb Widogast arrived to kill him.

A year or so on from that day, he marks Caleb as his for the rest of their lives.

-------

When you see them, you just know. You just know.

When Yasha had given him that answer, Mollymauk seemed to remember he’d made a retching noise and aimed a kick at her head. He’d felt that had summarised his feelings succinctly, even if it had earned him a pillow to the face.

He’d just been struggling to understand it. Ever since Yasha had bonded not only with the usual one partner but a second, and a human at that, Molly had been trying to wrap his head around it. How someone’s life could change so completely and so quickly. One day his best friend had been the silent, towering, stoic vampire he’d whiled away decades annoying and travelling with. But then she’d met Jester and Beau and suddenly she was silent, towering, stoic and in love.

With a lot less time for her best friend.

Not that Mollymauk was bitter. He’d wanted happiness for Yasha since he’d met her, he knew how hard her life had been since she was turned, since she lost her first wife. The way she’d talk about Jester and Beau, the light that would dawn in her eyes, the kind that used to be a memory. Molly would never, ever deny her that. He just didn’t understand and that answer hadn’t helped.

But now he was looking down at Caleb, holding his angular face in his hands as he paused in between kisses, kneeling over him as they sprawled out on the bed. A moment’s inhaling, the slightest pause before their lives changed forever, where he looked down at the man he loved.

And he just knew. He just knew.

“What are you thinking, Liebling?” Caleb’s voice was rough and low, breathless from the countless kisses that had carried them up the stairs and into the bedroom. His smile was bright, crooked, a little goofy in the way it only got when he had let his walls down completely.

Molly gave a soft chuckle, running his thumbs over Caleb’s cheekbones, “Just how I can’t wait to be yours…”

“Mine,” Caleb murmured, a note of awe gentling his voice as he reached up to return the touch, ghosting his fingertips along Molly’s neck and following the line of that old scar that bisected his body, “And...you’re certain you want this? You want me?”

Mollymauk sighed softly, his smile turning fond. Ever since he’d explained the process to Caleb, the way that vampires marked those they’d chosen to bond with, the way they tied their souls to another’s, he’d seemed completely mystified. Like he wanted to believe it was happening but, even now that they were moments away from it, part of him still doubted.

And Molly knew exactly who had planted those parts of him, who had cultivated them until they’d grown into a tangled thicket of thorns that Caleb still cut himself on today. He’d known Caleb and his scars for years and it still woke a deep, hungry anger in him. One day he would need to do something about that anger. He would need to do something about Trent Ikithon.

But not tonight. Tonight he would show Caleb exactly what he was worth.

“I want you,” he nodded, kissing the bridge of his lover’s nose, his cheeks, his forehead, “Every part of you, Caleb. Since the moment you walked through my door.”

Molly felt his human squirm, saw the delicious rise of colour up his neck, smelled his sweet, rising pulse.

“Since the very first moment, huh?” his blue eyes shone like pools of water in high summer, though his smile was somehow brighter.

“Well, there was something just so alluring about the vampire hunter turning up all soaked through with rain, giving me the whole oh kind sir my carriage broke down just outside your door routine like I didn’t know he had a stake strapped to your thigh under those ever so tight trousers…”

“Küss meinen Arsch,” Caleb slapped his leg lightly, “It worked, didn’t it? I saw where your eyes were.”

Molly laughed, flicking his tail in retaliation, “I was simply watching for more concealed weaponry, I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Caleb rolled them over, a growling edge to his laughter, until the two of them were caught somewhere between wrestling and kissing, hands wandering and gripping tight enough to leave marks.

“So…” Caleb eventually asked, chest heaving, hair now loose from it’s tie and spread out across the pillows like burnished copper, “Do you want to, um…how do we…”

Molly, now sprawled on his side next to his lover, grinned and took his hand, “You know how to do this part, darling. Let me take care of the rest.”

So Caleb nodded, the last of his anxiety falling away like leaves from a tree in the last days of autumn. He dragged Molly across those last few inches between them, kissing him hard, letting his lover stretch out over him like a contented cat. Mollymauk remembered when his dear human had been a thin twig of a thing, when he’d been forced to keep his strength on a tighter rein than he would even have to normally, for fear of hurting him when they lay together.

Now he was fuller, wire cords of muscle hiding in those still slender limbs, stronger and surer. Of course Mollymauk could still break his bones with a firm grasp but that was humans for you. About a year of wandering, free from Ikithon’s brutal, abusive training and returning often to Molly’s determined, loving caretaking, Caleb had flourished. He wasn’t the frightened young man with the shaking hands who’d been sent to Mollymauk’s door to kill him. And as much as Molly had loved that man, he loved this one just as much.

“Liebling…” the other language fell from Caleb’s lips in between heavy, open kisses, making Molly think of far flung fields full of golden wheat, snow capped mountains, all the things you couldn’t find on the Menagerie Coast. It made him think of the other world his lover came from and just how lucky he was that he’d wandered into his home.

“My darling,” Molly murmured in return, bringing their still clasped hands down between his own legs, encouraging Caleb to feel how aroused he already was, “Take me?”

The human gave a breathy gasp and nodded, drawing himself up onto the bolsters so Molly could climb fully into his lap. He slipped his hand back between Molly’s thighs, gently teasing him open, as the tiefling’s tail wrapped around his bare thigh and anchored them together.

“My mate,” Molly whined, biting his lower lip, fangs snagging the low light, “Mine, oh gods…”

Caleb grinned up at him, working his fingers deeper, breaching the soft heat between his legs, “Then make me yours. Show the whole world who I belong to.”

Molly groaned brokenly, digging his nails into Caleb’s shoulders as he dragged him into a bruising kiss and sank down onto his cock. He felt the human start under him before leaning into it, moving into that rhythm they knew, that they’d built over nearly a year together. Familiar, comforting, the same way it always was after Caleb would come home from his long hunting trips. Like coming home. Like exhaling.

And always, as ever, that line waiting just up ahead. The line Molly had never crossed, as much as his heart had ached for it from the first moment he’d had Caleb in his bed. Something so much deeper than his usual hunger, the kind of desire he’d never experienced with any other partner, with anyone he’d ever fed from or slept with. That pull that said he’s yours, the one you didn’t know you were waiting for.

They’d held back from it for nearly a year, both of them very aware that the brainwashed, brutalised, rain thin vampire hunter who’d turned up in the rain that night was in no fit state to make that kind of bond. So it had been long months of separation while Caleb sorted his head out, Molly putting him on the trail of those many vampires that did deserve the justice he’d been trained to give. He’d receive letters, tales of nights under the stars and the deep, dark thoughts that were slowly being unpicked and straightened out, and Molly’s heart would break for him. Breaks that would knit back together the moment Caleb returned.

Molly had been happy to wait, it wasn’t as if he wasn’t used to that. Immortal beings had to learn how to be patient or things got messy.

But now here was Caleb, his mind his own and his heart about to be Molly’s for the rest of his life. And gods, all Molly could think was how long he’d wanted this. How much he was going to enjoy this.

“Ready?” he gasped out, voice high and wild, instinct and lust burning through him so fiercely it took every inch of his carefully constructed self control to ask that question.

Caleb lifted his chin, pupils blown wide, hair falling in his eyes. He just looked so bloody alive, all flushed skin and damp brow and throat pulsing. So human, so fragile but nothing other than complete and total trust on his face.

“Ready,” Caleb hands slid down his shoulders to rest against Molly’s chest, over his heart that hadn’t beat in nearly a hundred years, as long as he could remember owning it but he could have sworn he felt it flutter at that touch. He felt it respond to that call.

Time stopped when Molly’s fangs broke Caleb’s skin. A single, perfect moment of stillness where the universe clicked neatly into place. Then everything flooded through him, the dark, savoury taste of Caleb’s blood crashing over his tongue, the white hot release of his orgasm and something more, something much more. If his mouth wasn’t busy he would have screamed, though Caleb did enough for both of them. Molly had always wondered what the feeding felt like for his human lover, if he really gained as much from it as Molly did.

But in this moment, he didn’t have to wonder. Caleb’s pleasure was his own and his was Caleb’s, everything they felt theirs to share. They weren’t separate for that brief beautiful heartbeat, they were one being, tied together right down to their atoms. Mollymauk felt Caleb’s red hair sticking to his forehead, the tremble in his hands, the fear and anxiety and doubt that had become permanent fixtures in his brain shaken in their foundations and starting to shift. Caleb felt the strength and power in Mollymauk’s muscles, the looseness of s form that could change at will, the never ending, always gnawing hunger sated only in moments like this.

And they both felt the love the other held for them. Even when they’d doubted and felt unworthy, even when it had seemed impossible, there it was.

Coming back to themselves was like the snapping of a whip, both vampire and human left reeling as they crashed back into their own bodies. Molly shook all over, the usual adrenaline rush he got from feeding cranked up so high he felt like he might break at the seams, every noise a racket in his ears, even the low candlelight too bright. He took deep breaths to ground himself, bracing himself to throw back the usual violent urge to take and take again and take too much.

But it didn’t come. Because how could he ever hurt his mate?

He swayed, their bodies coming apart as he tumbled onto his back, gasping out, “Gods, Caleb, that was…”

He trailed off, everything calming down enough that he could pick out the sound of muffled, snatching sobs. He saw that Caleb had thrown his arms over his face, his whole body hitching as he cried.

“Oh…” Molly immediately reached for him and Caleb latched on, gripping him tight enough to hurt anyone but a vampire, “Oh, my darling, come here. It’s alright, I’ve got you…”

“Sorry,” Caleb choked out, “Sorry, I’m okay, I promise. It was just…a lot.”

“I know,” Molly soothed him, stroking his hair and squeezing his shoulders, making sure he could feel that he was there and his thoughts couldn’t take him far from his embrace, “I know, darling.”

And he did. He felt how overwhelmed Caleb was, how his mind was slowly growing to accommodate these new feelings, the ache in his muscles and rawness in his throat. It was as if the emotions and sensations were coming from somewhere behind his own heart. That was going to take some getting used to.

Eventually Caleb’s sobs were just sniffles and his smile was shining through like sun peeking through clouds. Though he still clung to Molly tightly.

“My mate,” he sighed happily, licking over the twin puncture marks and blushing bruise he’d left on Caleb’s neck, chasing away any lingering burn. Unlike the others from their year together, this one was permanent and it was perfect.

“Mine,” Caleb replied, his voice heavy as the inevitable exhaustion overwhelmed him. He’d always fall asleep after Molly fed so this must have floored him.

Molly smiled, kissing his forehead as he let him drift away, “Sleep, darling. Everything’s going to be okay.”

And as he held his mate in his arms and listened to the quiet of the night around them, Mollymauk meant it. Despite everything they’d been through, it would be okay.

He just knew.

#widomauk #critical role #caleb widogast #mollymauk tealeaf #vampire molly #trans molly #vampire au #smut #please leave a comment!

[dent-de-leon]

Mollymauk, 4, 5, 11, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22 :D (feel free to trim down if this is too many)

asksjkdf I'm sorry in advance because I got a little carried away so this got a little long, but thanks for the ask! I love any and every excuse to talk about Mollymauk...

4.) Best places to kiss on their body

I think Molly is actually very partial to forehead kisses! I feel like he uses that to ground Caleb in part because it’s something that’s always been very comforting to him--for instance, when Yasha finally gets to embrace him again, she also kisses his forehead. I think I remember Molly doing this for the twins back at the carnival too, so I feel like it’s a habit he picked up from the circus? Just the kind of little thing you do for someone to show you love them.

Aside from that, I think he would really appreciate a kiss on the neck, where most of his blood hunter scars--and that haunting red Eye--are. A bit of loving tenderness to soothe the pain.

5.) Guilty pleasures

Oh I love this pick for Molly cause boY does he have a lot of these!! He builds a life off joy and hedonism, so he’s got this in spades. I forget where, but I’ve definitely seen someone theorize before that the reason base pleasures are so appealing to Molly is because he started out just feeling like an “Empty” body, so anything that’s very stimulating on a physical level is very grounding for him? I really like the idea of that. I think wanting to feel like he was really “alive” and “whole” is part of why he gravitated towards decadence and indulgence, anything that made his heart beat faster.

The episode where we get the famous “Long may I reign” scene definitely covers a lot of his favorite indulgences. But as much as he loves being spoiled, I think he also likes making sure the people he cares about are pampered like royalty too. Taliesin mentioned before that the reason Molly likes gold so much is because he’s got this very childish perception that money is Good because you can use it to get Nice Things that make other people Happy. Since Molly’s been alive for only two years, I feel like a lot of his guilty pleasures actually stem from this sort of sentiment. The fact that he’s still so young and everything in the world is very new and exciting and he just wants to be as happy as possible--and make his loved ones happy too. It’s a very endearingly innocent sort of view.

11.) Bad or petty habits

Hmmm I feel like the one thing that makes Molly the pettiest is when someone tries to tell him his tarot readings are bullshit lmao. Even if he mostly thinks so himself, he adamantly refuses to hear it from anyone else.

13.) What gets them flustered

I think whenever someone is being very genuine and having a real heart to heart with him. Molly is perfectly at ease talking bullshit or telling pretty lies. He’s also very comfortable being very sincere and compassionate when it comes to comforting others, like the little ways he’s always trying to cheer up Jester, the forehead kiss for Caleb, promising Fjord the Nein won’t let him die, bringing Yasha a four-leaf-clover with the wish that one day she’ll feel happier.

But whenever people are openly affectionate and trying to have an honest conversation with him? I think that makes him tense up and panic a bit. He’s not good with letting himself be vulnerable, dropping his showman’s performance. We actually see a lot of this when Molly is resurrected and starts going by Kingsley. He knows he has feelings for the Nein, but he’s definitely a little nervous and overwhelmed when he confronts that.

Several times, Caleb assures King he’s still welcome in the Nein, and that always makes Kingsley either defensive or very quiet, keeps catching him off-guard. “Well for starters, you are with friends.” “Perhaps this is your first time meeting us. It's our second time...Stick with us.” “We have a habit of taking in strays.” “This is the newest member of the band.” Being accepted just like that, loved by all the Nein so unconditionally, just like that? I think it leaves him a little shaken, because he doesn’t feel like he’s done anything to earn it. Like he doesn’t deserve to be this missed and wanted and loved.

14.) Ingrained habits/forces of habit

I think there are some nights where he keeps looking over his shoulder and feels like he’s being watched--when the Eyes of Nine start to itch and burn, when it feels like something’s crawling under his skin--and he looks at the mirror and swears he sees a face that looks just the same but somehow isn’t his. And for a while after he first wakes--and again when he’s resurrected--I think there are still moments when he’s scared or panicked and he’ll just keep repeating Empty over and over.

I also really like how Taliesin used to just pick a random card from his tarot deck to decide what Molly should do. I can definitely see Mollymauk doing something similar--just pulling a random card from his deck on a whim, trusting it’ll lead him in the right direction.

15.) What it takes to make them cry

I feel like Molly rarely cries, mainly because he hates feeling sorry for himself or ruminating on any bad memories. He’s kinda funny that way; he refuses to let himself be unhappy, especially when he feels like he’s always living on borrowed time. The one thing I can see really making him break down is seeing his loved ones hurting--he literally spits at the face of his own death, but I think he’s really terrified of losing someone else.

If there’s one scene where I can really see Molly crying, it’s when Jester falls in that final battle. When Caleb makes this desperate plea that breaks through to Molly for a single heart-wrenching moment, “You’re killing her, you’re killing her! You love her. You’re killing her!” The absolute horror of that shakes Lucien’s control for just a moment, and Molly claws at his own face in retaliation. You can just tell how much his heart is breaking just then, how scared he is, how much he must hate himself. I could definitely imagine Molly shedding a few tears right then, if he had enough control of the body to do it.

Having to watch Lucien use his body to kill Jester and Caleb, the amount of pain Lucien caused Yasha and all the others, the nightmares of his death and black chains that forever haunt him after--I think those are the kinds of things that would bring Molly to tears in his lowest moments. And when he finally reads Beau’s book and finds out about how Yasha suffered a similar fate under Obann? Yeah, I think he’d get choked up over that too.

21.) Turning points in their life

Oh, there’s so many interesting twists and turns Molly’s life takes in just a few short years. Undoubtably, I think every life, death, and rebirth left the biggest impact. The fact that he woke all alone that first time--and then found himself surrounded by so many loved ones a lifetime later--I think that had a profound impact on his sense of self worth and his attachment to others.

That first life, Molly convinces himself that he must have been someone awful before, to have been left alone in an unmarked grave on the side of the road. With no one who missed or mourned him. He believes he somehow deserves that fate. And when he’s taken in by the circus? Taliesin mentions he never spends more than 24 hours alone. He’s...very lonely, I think. Someone who can’t bear to be isolated again. So when he wakes up again to a whole family of people who love him? Who welcome him wholeheartedly and insist they’ll love him unconditionally, no matter who he is? It’s beautiful, and it means the world to someone like Mollymauk/Kingsley. “I’m looking forward to the future. And I hope to deserve to have woken up surrounded by such people.”

Molly’s also mentioned that it was the Moonweaver who helped guide him when he first woke, who gave him comfort in having a new start in life. “Can you imagine what it would feel like to not feel anything about anything that had happened to you so far?...It’s very freeing. It’s the best thing--It’s the thing that happened to me. It’s not the best thing that happened to me, it’s the thing that happened to me. I found peace in building a new person. The Moonweaver--” However he came to worship the Moonweaver, I think it was definitely one of the most formative experiences in all his lives. I also like to headcanon the woman in a red coat Molly/King met in his dream was another visit from the Moonweaver, and she was either trying to return his memories or offer him another chance at a fresh start.

22.) People who’ve influenced them greatly

Oh, pre-campaign I think Molly modeled a lot of his behaviors and mannerisms after others in the circus, especially Gustav. He’s the one who named Mollymauk and presumably the one who spent the most time raising him and caring for him in that Empty period.

Molly has his own set of morals he feels very strongly about, and it’s entirely learned from the circus, “Things came back quick, and the circus helped. They were good people. They did a lot for me, and joy can fill an awful lot of a person’s life.” “I may be a liar, but I’m never a betrayer. I’m honest in my work and I believe in doing a good turn...I stayed with that circus for two years, and I know how people treat each other. It’s important.” When Molly is resurrected again, I think all of the Mighty Nein have very much the same effect on him.

#i just...love this little tief a whole lot

[pomp-and-circumstance]

Oh my God. Ok. Everybody stop everything. This baby Critter needs to get a few things off my chest.

Episode 105. The dream. A tumultuous past behind her, but peace before her. The feather in front of the shakles. Zuala’s voice. I’m proud of you. Don’t let me be a shackle.

So like, I watch this show live. I was watching highlights of CR before I started watching Campaign 2 from the beginning. I knew this sequence was coming up, and I had an idea of the depth of Zuala’s words, but I had no idea just how deeply they ring. I believe there’s record of Yasha last seeing Zuala alive during her execution before she ran away, and I can’t imagine what that all must entail; not just the guilt, but what she must have seen, what she must have heard. (Did Zuala know she was there? Did they make eye contact before Yasha turned and ran?) That means, up to this point, the lasting memory Yasha held of her late wife are the moments before her death. Was Zuala afraid? Defiant? Will we ever know?

Regardless, we know Yasha holds tremendous guilt and turmoil. She’s called herself a coward from very early on. But now we have the Storm Lord, giver of tough love and trials, who wants to see what she’d do with the opportunity to have closure. But the thing is, Yasha is beyond that point. She’s got a family now, she’s had numerous moments of growth and bonds with the Nein, not to mention developing feelings for Beau, and to reach to Zuala would be to continue to tie herself to her past. One she can’t get back. One she can’t change. She knows what that looks like; she’s seen it in Caleb. She’s seen growth beyond her circumstances; she’s seen that in Beau. She’s been given love with no expectations in return; she gets it from Jester. She’s seen leadership and caring, and renewed identity; it happens in Fjord. She knows the struggle for your desires is great, but sharing that burden with others helps you carry the load; she’s done it for Veth.

Her past holds nothing anymore. She can’t grow with someone who is gone. So she has to go.

And in that decision, she gets the closure she didn’t know she was chasing, but it’s the one that takes her final memory of Zuala and turns it on its head.

I’m proud of you.

Pride. Zuala has pride - I’ve seen you, Yasha, and I know this is what you want, but it isn’t what you need. You see that now.

Don’t let me be a shackle.

Yasha has been released, and it was all of her own doing. In that, she traverses the unknown road knowing the heaviest burden she carried has been left behind her.

It’s just a phenomenal moment of storytelling from Matthew Mercer, and a tremendous show of vulnerability from Ashley Johnson. I haven’t continued beyond this scene yet. I’m still reeling.

#critical role #s2ep105 #critical role spoilers #yasha nydoorin #ashley johnson #matthew mercer #it's gonna take me forever to recover from this #but i also think this is why Zuala has to be dead even though Yasha didn't see her die #because letting go of her past is such a crucial moment of character development for yasha #and Zuala living would only push her backwards not forwards #and why would the Storm Lord use Zuala in such a crucial dream if Yasha had the chance to go back and see her alive again? #narratively i don't think it makes sense #not to mention it would only make her SUPER conflicted about falling in love with Beau #and honey she don't need that kind of negativity in her life

[saphirered]

Late Night  Caleb Widogast x reader

*You got in the splash zone of a fireball and have a good post battle talk with the caster assuring him it’s not his fault you got hurt*

The fight was turning and not in your favour. Two away from the main fight. One down. You use your staff to swing at your opponent and deflect a blow from another with the other end. Behind you you saw Fjord looking between you and the unconscious wizard on the docks. 

“Go! I’ll be fine!” You shouted swiping the legs out from under one of the crew members. Within a second Fjord teleported away and started making his way toward Caleb. You started going the same way too but on the gangplank you were met with the Captain herself. She came at you with her rapier and you just managed to avoid the first hit but the second one cut into your arm pretty deeply. You’ve had much worse though but with the ship behind you and Avantika in front you couldn’t really go anywhere. She kept attacking you but you managed to hold your ground landing some good hits yourself but the fight seemed far from over until a red light shot out from the far docks hitting the ship. The heat of a fireball burned at your side and you were flung off the gangplank barely making it onto the docks. Avantika seemed to be fine and just out of range but now you were far enough away from her. Grunting you got up, your entire left side of your body tingling, scorched red and bleeding. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been had you been at the centre like some of the unlucky crew members but it still hurt a good bit. You ignored the pain and as the Captain looked behind her to see you get up with a smirk and a wave taking a sprint as far as you could until you were stopped by guards. You held up your hands in surrender and just followed along with the others. 

From your position you could see Caleb standing frozen in place eyes glazed over arm stretched out as the guards grabbed him. Though from what you could see, the wizards wouldn’t be in the right mind to cast spells any time soon. Everyone went along and you were begging the gods the plan worked out and Beau and Jester got the book to the Plank King.

——————————————————————————

Everything had worked out fine in the end… at least as well as to be expected and the Nein now had ownership of the Squalleater and were back on sea with their crew, all banished from Darktow. The sun set a few hours ago and you took watch as you felt like sleep would not come to you easily anyway. Jester and Caduceus had been able to heal your injuries but you still felt like you had taken a dive off a cliffside onto the rocks. You stand on the deck watching the sky, the sails blowing in the wind and into the vast darkness of the never ending sea, Darktow now far behind. Stuck in your own world you don’t hear Caleb getting onto the deck and pick a spot far away from you staring into nothingness. Deciding it’s time to try and get some sleep you get up but seeing the wizard sitting at bow of the ship looking at the partially scorched masts and deck fiddling with something between his fingers you decide against it after all. You walk over and sit down next to him. He doesn’t respond beyond the brief pause of his motions let you know he knows you are there.

“If you want me to leave you alone I can go.” You look at him expecting some sort of a response, words or not but you got none. Waiting a little bit longer you eventually get up. Half up a hand wrapped around your arm so you sit back down in a comfortable silence. You know, to an extend what he had been through and what happened in Darktow triggered some bad memories. Caleb would talk if he felt like talking so you’d wait patiently and you stay with him night and day if it means he’d utter even a single word. He’s suffering and sometimes someone just being there can make even the tiniest difference. At least, for you it had in the past. Hours pass and you gather from the sky you are but hours away from dawn though only Caleb can confirm your estimate more precisely. Your mind starts wandering again looking at the sky, the endless seas ahead but you are pull out of your thoughts by the wizard speaking. 

“How?” Caleb breaks the silence. The word came out raspy and ridden with guilt and pain, eyes still trained on the scorched ship. “How can you still look me in the eye let alone sit next to me knowing what I did to you?” A pitied frown creeps onto your face as you tried to formulate an answer. You feel bad for him but that doesn’t change the way he’s feeling. 

“Because it was never your intend. Because sometimes accidents happen. Caleb, you might be one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met but you can’t know everything. You can’t control everything no matter how hard you try. You didn’t know I was there and to be honest, if you hadn’t cast that spell I’m sure I’d be dead right now with my head on a spike or weighed down by some rocks at the bottom of the sea.” You turned to face him. “I’m alive aren’t I? I’m still here and I’m still kicking. That’s what counts.” You softly put you hand on the side of his face and turned it away from looking at the fading burn marks now no more than a bad sunburn thanks to the clerics. 

“I don’t want to lose anyone else. I don’t know why even the thought of losing you hurts so much. I can’t afford to lose someone else.” He’s conflicted. Caleb never truly cared about who lived or died. Sure he’s grown attached to the Mighty Nein but wouldn’t hesitate to run should it come to it. At least, that’s how it had been. He’s changing, experiencing things he hadn’t felt in a long while. A sense of belonging, friends maybe even family. He’s not alone anymore and while that comes with many perks, it also came with risks and downsides to the way of life he has grown so accustomed to.

“It hurts because you are a good man, Caleb. It shows you have a heart and care for those other than yourself.” You reach for his bandaged hand but don’t touch until he places his hand in yours. You give his hand a squeeze and guiding him slightly to the side so you can see his expression.

“I’m anything but a good man. The things I’ve done, I’ll never be a good man.” He looks down at your hands and you bit your lip. Despite his hunger for learning and broadening his mind he is stubborn and changing his mind is as difficult as getting Nott to give up alcohol.

“I’m only going to tell you this once so listen carefully.” You encompass the hand you’re holding and move to unwrap the bandage. To your surprise he doesn’t stop you and turns his arm to make it easier for you to do so. “You feel that pain? That guilt and regret and heartbreak tearing at your soul? Don’t wallow in it for it will not serve you well. You carry your mistakes and regrets with you and they will weigh you down like bricks. You use your bricks to build but your actions will determine whenever you are building a palace or a prison. Only you can make that decision but know you have the potential to create a better tomorrow for everyone.” You remove the bandages from his left arm and moved on to the right. Caleb keeps his focus on your hands as you work. While your hands may be weathered and show the years of labor and harsh circumstances  your touch is soft, careful and deliberate like a porcelain painter, delicate and precise with fragile material. 

“These scars? They are part of you but they are not all you are. You are so much more than your past, Caleb.” You trace the scars on his arms. His eyes focus on your every movement.

“You want revenge on those who wronged you and hurt you like they did and continue to do so many others and I swear, if that is what you desire, what you need I will help you do so but do not let it be your undoing. You use your guilt and anger and mistakes and you use them to drive you but do not forget your compassion, kindness and desire to right your wrongs and remember why you are on this path. You are not alone anymore. Empires rise and fall by the actions of one. Imagine what a bunch of assholes trying leave a place better than they found it can do to the world.” He finally looks you in the eye and you can see the turmoil trying to calculate and process what’s going through his mind. The Caleb always quick witted and charismatic seems to have problems finding words.

“Thank you… For everything.” He trails off. You start picking up the bandages to wrap his arms again. “No leave them… For now at least.” He traces over one of the more prominent scars. 

“Only told you what you undoubtedly already knew but are just to stubborn to accept, you idiot.” He musters a smile at your comment and breathes in deeply.

“A bunch of assholes changing the world? I like the sound of that.” 

#caleb-widogast-x-reader #critical role x reader #mighty nein x reader #caleb widogast x reader #caleb widogast

[cadaceus]

C2E141

One last time, y’all. This campaign and these characters have meant so much to me, and this seven hour finale was definitely an emotional rollercoaster. (Yes, I shed actual tears at one point, which rarely happens to me with media. But this is a special occasion.) These liveblogs are nearly as long as the episode itself, so grab a snack! With that being said, here are my very last liveblogs for Campaign 2 of Critical Role. As always, major spoilers below, so beware. 

- Veth taking a level in Wizard, god I am really gonna cry ten minutes into this thing...  😭

- We got our first “stay with us” to Essek, I am emo...

- I was fully not expecting to say goodbye to Frumpkin, but now I’m on the verge of tears... farewell dear fey friend (Marisha saying “that wasn’t supposed to be what broke me” me too me too)

- “You’re a good person.” “I could be.” “You are.”

- “I think you’re a good person” I never thought that I’d hear Beau say that about Essek and this genuinely might be what breaks me... she thinks he’s a good person.... redemption is possible.... maybe love is real....

- If I end up crying over wizards, look away

- Jester lifting up Fjord’s arm to snuggle beneath it made me say “awww” out loud  🥺

- VETH GOING FOR A DIP IN THE POND, I AM GENUINELY SO PROUD OF HER

- “Aahhh!! It’s me! Your wife!” I am going to miss Jester’s sending so much

- Okay that accent bit was so funny, I am going to miss all of them so much

- REAL MOLLY IS BACK REAL MOLLY IS BACK REAL MOLLY IS BACK

- Oh but he doesn’t remember them... and Yasha is trying so hard to help him remember, it’s so so sweet 

- Something about the way he said “Tealeaf’s nice” made me tear up... I was neutral on Mollymauk early campaign because I went into things knowing that he passed away, but this whole conversation with the Mighty Nein is So Much. Also “Kingsley Tealeaf” 

- “Everyone should have a brother” as someone with three of them, I vouch for this  🥺

- a) I love Marion Lavorre (and Jester ofc!) so very much and b) I can’t believe that Jester’s parent trap actually worked??

- “I do not think Exandria is ready for how you’re going to change it” got to me... and it’s also so true. jester has already changed the world just by being kind.

- Good bye Marion... I love and will miss you so much! (And many thanks to Laura and Matt for creating an agoraphic single mother who raised a wonderful child <3)

- Beau and Jester teasing Marion for having a complicated relationship with Babenon reminds me of Caleb saying he has a complicated relationship with Essek...

- LEAVE CALEB ALON E FUOIKJLKGKNL 

- THIS IS ....... SO MUCH WORSE THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE.

- Caleb’s biggest trauma(s) coming back to haunt him, I am genuinely going to cry I’m not ready for this I’m not okay

- Beau saying to Jester “Thanks, cutie” I love themmmmm

- INITIATIVE AAGJASKHDKJ AAAAAHHHH

- Essek’s Gravity Sinkhole did nothing? uhhhhh Mr Stark...

- EADWULF???? HELLO?????

- Essek using his entire turn to save Caleb last battle 🤝 Caleb using his entire turn to save Essek this battle

- ASTRID???? I TRUSTED YOU??? WE ALL TRUSTED YOU????

- Another Counterspell chain sdfdghjkdl wizards !!!

- “It’s just business” is literally the Neutral Evil line, it always gives me chills when any character says it

- This hurts more after Liam confirming on Twitter that Astrid/Caleb/Eadwulf were all three a romantic item... please stop hurting Caleb, you loved him  😭

- THE FJORD VS EADWULF SWORD FIGHT IS SO CINEMATIC I LOVE IT HERE ACTUALLY

- Essek taking every opportunity to pull Caleb to safety makes me so emotional...  😭

- “You’re not the first student I’ve had to put down” I am burning with my anger for you, old man 

- THE DISPEL WORKED LET’S GO CALEB.....

- Remember when Matt said that Essek doesn’t openly show concern/emotion? And now he’s saying “I’m scared” in front of his closest friends and his worst enemies.... growth my love.....

- BEAU AND VETH LETS GO CHAOS CREW LETS MF GO BABEYYYY!!!

- FJORD COUNTERSPELLING THE DIMENSION DOOR..... and Matt having him describe it.... is this taking the place of a “HDYWTDT” *eyes emoji*

- CALEB GOING DOWN NO, THANK GOD FOR THAT DEATH WARD

- Veth’s illusion of Caleb’s parents flanking Caleb in the flames.... that got me too, Liam

- “Stay down.” yeah, okay, that was sexy

- ASTRID BEING THE ONE TO ACTIVATE THE COLLAR IS LITERALLY POETIC JUSTICE... Trent being beaten by the student who stuck with him longest I love this so much, she deserved that moment honestly

- Break Time, AKA Emma Makes Her Weekly Mug Brownie Interlude

- Sometimes I feel like “death is too good for you” is a copout, but in this case it fits so well, I want this mf’s reputation destroyed and the entire operation exposed and overthrown let’s goooo

- “I loved you both so much”.... Astrid and Eadwulf walking away.... oh, Blumendrei... I know this is not the end of your story. What’s past is prologue, loves

- The Empire Siblings are gonna burn down the whole system because it’s the system that enables individual corruption... I am so fulfilled by this, god i love them

- “I love you too” OH MY GOD I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, FJORESTER ARE THE CUTEST FOR REAL

- Jester and Essek’s friendship still means so much to me btw just in case anyone wanted a check-in

- Veth giving the flask to Kingsley!! Good for her, good for her!

- OH Blumenduo are back already! I truly thought that was going to be their last appearance of the Campaign, why is this taking me more by surprise than Trent’s appearance

- “[Caleb] notes how similar Eadwulf and Fjord are” this is Widofjord adjacent... this episode we have gotten Widomauk-adjacent, Widojest-adjacent, and Widofjord-adjacent (and Blumentrio ofc), now come through Shadowgast and we can get a full Bingo on the “Bisexual Maelstrom” card

- Speaking of relationships, I am lowkey into the Fjord/Jester/Kingsley dynamic LOL no one look at me I’m in hiding

- I’M NOT READY TO SAY GOODBYE TO VETH AND CAD 😭 It makes sense and the fact that they have their families back is beautiful but also consider this: I’m sad and I will miss them 

- The goodbyes to Caduceus..... I am going to cry aren’t I?

- “If he’s anything like his mom, you won’t see him until it’s too late” Okay that made me giggle, I love Veth and I love Luc and I love their little family

- IS ESSEK LEAVING TOO? THAT’S GONNA BE WHAT BREAKS ME ISN’T IT

- If Essek leaves and we never see him again, getting a triple whammy of goodbyes I will be so incredibly sad, I cannot do this  😭

- If anyone is interested, no I am not doing well

- I was lowkey ready to get an Essek’s feelings for Caleb confirmation tonight, I guess it makes sense that we didn’t but I hope that this is not the last time we see Essek... I want to write another emo post about him and about how much he means to me but I will refrain

- CALEB BEING A TEACHER IS THE ENDGAME I WANT FOR HIM PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

- Wow, I really was not ready to see Caduceus and Essek go for some reason... I really wanted this Campaign to end on the image of the Mighty Nein together as all nine of them... I’m feeling so numb right now having to say goodbye  😭

- Oh, we’re in the epilogue now!

- When Fjord said “[the sea] is my favorite place to be” I genuinely felt that on a spiritual level... the ocean is home, it truly is and always will be for me as well

- “I CAST MODIFY MEMORY” FJORD LMAOOOOOOO

- Okay, that Widobrave ending is what made me shed tears for the first time this episode... not to be Personal but my biological brother graduates High School tomorrow, and for some reason this conversation just reminded me so much of me and him and now I’m emotional

- NOT THE SYPHILIS BANDITS DSYUHDFJKLSFJ;DS OKAY I NEEDED THAT LAUGH

- “I’d like to hear about your friend” Kingsley aww

- Beau giving Kingsley her first diary to help him realize who they all are is actually so perfectly fitting, I love that!

- “The other eight and I, yes” Caleb counting all nine of them again  😭

- CALEB BEING OFFERED AN ASSEMBLY SEAT WTF AAAHHH

- Oh shit, Astrid took the Assembly seat... I’m not sure how I feel about this, I feel so bad for her for having to stay in the system that abused her for so long and I would have loved to see her burn the whole thing down, but I hope that she at least has a sense of contentment with this title

- “I go where you go, baby” Beauyasha.... my darling loves....

- Beau’s dad??? But also Beau being the one with power over her father is so Good, I’m glad that she got justice on that front as well!

- This talk with Artagan... “I didn’t want you to be a god. I wanted you to be my friend.” and in the process my love you created divinity... maybe divinity is the friends we made along the way

- OH SHIT WE ARE GETTING ALL THE VANDRAN LORE TONIGHT I’M READY LET’S GO LET’S GO

- VANDRAN AND AVANTIKA WERE AN ITEM???

- Wait crack theory: Sabian was a half elf right? Could he be the son of Vandren and Avantika? Or is that too much of a stretch? 

- Vandran going with them!!! Also I feel like that moment between Fjord and Vandran was lowkey a tease to a post-campain Uk’otoa one shot and I am ready for it already 

- THIS BEAUYASHA MOMENT... “i’ve never known anyone as deeply as i know you” & “explore every bit of you in multiple ways ;)” & “your past doesn’t scare me, it only makes you beautiful” .... this is so much they are so much i love them so much

- “I will have you and then some” Beauyasha   😭

- I’m torn between “oh my god there’s still half an hour left?” and “how is there only half an hour left??”

- “You will let this Skyspear live at least?” oh my god so Yasha killed the last Skyspear then? Oof...

- YASHA GIVING ZUALA(’S GRAVE) THE BOOK OF FLOWERS, OH DEAR HEART

- And Beau’s talk to Zuala about being the luckiest woman alive and sacrifice.... 😭  

- PLANTING FLOWERS AT ZUALA’S GRAVE... “NO BETTER GRAVE MARKER” THIS IS MAKING ME SO EMOTIONAL, I KNOW I’VE SAID THIS A LOT THIS EPISODE BUT THIS TRULY IS SO BEAUTIFUL

- So... I may or may not be crying again

- Shadowgast with a steel chair??

- Caleb’s plan for saving his parents... it’s clear he has thought of this so much, oh my darling love  😭

- Caleb burning down his chance to change his past is so symbolic and something he really needed to do, it does make me emotional though

- The other book was him writing to his parents?? Oh bby boy  😭  

- While I would have loved for Caleb to open his own magic school (especially with Essek, or the Mighty Nein, or someone else as well), I am so pleased that he stays with Veth and that their friendship continues for the rest of their life because again: they mean so so much to me, and in a way they remind me of me and my biological brother (which I never realized before this episode) and yeah. They just make me Emo

- Also. Caleb being a professor was my Number One Endgame Hope for him and the fact that it came true is just so surreal in the best way possible. I’m so used to being robbed of happy endings. The fact that the Mighty Nein all got theirs makes me incredibly happy. A story does not have to be sad to be impactful. Happy stories and happy endings, especially during a time period of tumultuous real life circumstances, have just as much value and meaning and they always will. Caleb is teaching the next generation magic, and he is teaching them to be Good, and he is nurturing them, and that just means so much

- MATT CRYING IS GONNA GET TO ME

- “Let’s do it again” Please, let’s.

- Okay, everyone. I made it all seven hours in one piece with surprisingly minimal tears (though who knows, this might all sink in tomorrow.) I already wrote my thoughts earlier today about how much the Mighty Nein mean to me and how much this show and these characters have kept me holding on during quarantine and today... I’m still not ready to let them go, but I know that I can always revisit to say hello and to say thank you for changing me. Until then though... I love you all more than you could ever know. And for the last time of Campaign 2... is it Thursday yet?

Good night 💗

#cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #c2e141 #critical role #my liveblogs #cr2 #i genuinely can't believe this is the end y'all... what a journey. what a freaking journey 💗 #to anyone who has ever interacted with even one of my liveblogs: i love you and i think about you every damn day dfghjkflf #it makes me Emo knowing that i'm not just speaking to the void and that there are ppl out there listening etc #also this liveblog was TWO THOUSAND WORDS LONG i checked it in a google doc sgdhjkdl #so if you made it through all that you may be entitled to financial compensation #but in all seriousness: i love you mighty nein. and thank you for everything. #is it thursday yet? #queue #(i always queue these for the mornings dgfhjk!) #and yes i WILL be liveblogging campaign 3 #also mayhaps this hiatus will be time for me to catch up with vox machina?

[peach-the-owl]

Welcome…

Child of the Nein (Mighty Nein & Child!Reader)

So I remember seeing a request for something like this a while ago but it disappeared (Tumblr being dumb probably had something to do with it 😑). If I remember it was basically how the Mighty Nein, and Lucien, react to their child getting an eye tattoo on them

Jester

It felt really weird to see Lucien, having been Molly before was awesome, he was kind and a lot of fun but Lucien was not kind or fun to you and this giant living city you chased him to didn’t make it any better. The walls, floors, just everything was gross and fleshy and creeped you out to no end, making you huddle closer to Jester for some comfort.

"Don’t worry (y/n), it’s going to be alright." She places a hand on your shoulder and gives you a sweet smile, but you could tell by her tone she was just trying to make you feel better and wasn’t fully convinced by her own words. Returning the smile you push forward through the halls of Aeor, a weird humming noise starting to buzz in your ear, coming from one of the walls.

"Do you hear that humming sound too?" You tugged Jester's coat as you ask, she gives you a confused look.

"I don’t hear any humming." She says, looking around with concern. You let a puff of air in annoyance, why where you the only one being tormented by the sound? You just wanted it to stop. The humming got louder, sounding more like screams, you look around seeing a wall with strange text on it shifting around, this was where the sound seemed to be coming from. You walk away from Jester towards the wall in almost a trance, being pulled towards it and staring at the odd text you had no way of reading. Without realizing, you raise your hand up and place it on the wall, a series of symbols and odd scribbles flash before your eyes until you feel yourself being yanked away from the wall making you gasp in shock as you’re thrust back into reality. "(Y/n)! (Y/n), are you okay?" Jester frantically asks starting to look you over.

"Ummm… I think so." You reply after a second to refocus yourself. Now seeing everyone staring down at you with wide eyes. "What’s wrong?"

"Eye. You have a red eye right here." Jester points to a spot on the side of her neck, close to the ear, showing you where a red eye tattoo had appeared. You quickly place a hand over the area, flinching away only to look back up at her, letting out a scared whine. She immediately picks you up and holds you close to her. "It'll be okay, don’t cry. We’ll figure this out." She hushes you, you nod hoping she’s right, wrapping your arms around her neck and take a few deep breaths to calm down before continuing forward.

Veth

Molly had always been a loud and proud individual, it was an infectious feeling at the time making you feel just a little more confident in your own skin too. Lucien, while still in his own way proud was not as morally boosting to you, you did not like him in the slightest. Now having chased him into the astral sea and to the giant moving city you were sure you were entering the endgame. Everything here was gross and moving, yet strangely you weren’t that creeped out over it, having spent a long time living with goblins you've seen your fair share of gross fleshy messes before. As you traverse the place you encountered these weird creatures with way too many eyes and mouths to be comfortable with, and having killed one of these things a series of symbols flashes in you mind before disappearing. You look around not noticing anything else out of the ordinary and run over to Veth who, when you drew closer, let’s out a small gasp making you tilt your head to the side confused.

"(Y/n), sweetie, I don’t want to alarm you… but look at your shoulder." You look at your right shoulder, seeing nothing, then look to the left one where through a tear in your coats fabric you see a red eye had appeared, you quickly place your hand over it.

"Am I dying?! Does this mean I’m dying?!" You ask in a small panic.

"Of course it doesn’t." Veth comforts, placing an arm around you and planting a small kiss on your head. "I mean just look at Caleb and Beau, they’re covered in red eyes and they’re still alive." She had a point there, you nod at this and continue to journey farther into the city with the rest of the Nein.

Caleb

It was weird to see Molly again, except he wasn’t Molly anymore. This Lucien guy was odd, you weren’t entirely sure what to make of him yet, for now he and the rest of the Tombtakers were traveling with you and, after some bumpy starts, sharing Caleb’s magic tower with you for the night. It was getting later in the evening but you wander the tower in search of Caleb, it’s been hard to get any sleep lately so he would tell you at least one bedtime story to help. During your search you pick up one of the servant cats that inhabit the tower, its legs dangle limply in your arms. Finally you spot him, he and Beau were looking over some book, Lucien was there too which confused you so you decide to approach slowly and cautiously. Getting close enough you could see the pages to the book they were looking through but weren’t able to fully read the words on the page, that is until they flipped to one covered in crazed scrawls and symbols all over it. Your eyes were locked on the page going over the different patterns, finding yourself unable to look away, the book's suddenly snapped shut and you shake your head back into reality. You had a feeling you probably weren’t supposed to see that, but the three didn’t seem to take notice of you as they conversed so you quickly sneak off and wait for Beau and Caleb to return.

Evening falls, you and the Nein were all huddled in one room as a safety precaution while you try to get some sleep, but the evening had other plans for you when you find yourself staring off in a dark void. All you could remember was after Caleb a came to join you again, you got your little bedtime story and went to sleep, yet now you were somewhere else entirely, wherever here was. A red light breaks through the darkness opening into a single large eye, you stare petrified until a feeling, a thought enters your head.

"Welcome…" Just a single word, floating around, echoing in your mind followed by images of symbols and scrawls similar to those from that book and a humming that slowly turns to screams growing louder and louder. The eye closes and you jolt awake, by the looks of it you weren’t the only one affected by this either.

"That’s rare." You hear Fjord say, unsure of what to make of the situation. Beau grabs her notebook and quickly starts writing something down as she does you see a red eye was now on the back of her left hand, something Caleb brings to her own attention. After some concerned looks between the two they both check for any eyes on Caleb, finding one on his right shoulder region. "Wait, why’d you wake up?" Fjord points attention over to you now.

"They weren’t with us when we examined the book." Caleb looks over at you and you shrink in on yourself a little. "(Y/n)?" He gives a concerned stare.

"I didn’t mean to." You say quietly, no one else says anything so you continue. "I was trying to find you, but then I saw you were busy with that weird book. I didn’t mean peek, but I couldn’t look away when you turned to that page with all those strange drawings on it. I’m sorry." You get teary eyed and sniffle, hearing Caleb sigh before pulling you closer to him.

"It’s alright kleiner, you meant well and we couldn’t have predicted this would happen." Caleb tries to calm you a little. "However, if you saw what we did then that would mean…" He trails off, only for Beau to fill in the rest.

"They have one as well." She points to where your pants had rolled up your leg a ways, revealing a single red eye on your right ankle. You hoped this wasn’t permanent and could get reversed somehow, little did you know this was only the beginning as the rest of the group begins to stir from all the commotion.

Caduceus

You were not a fan of this Lucien character, there was something unnatural to him that made your skin crawl and this giant living city you’d chased him to wasn’t helping the case. You knew a bit about the person who had inhabited their body from the rest of the Nein but since you never knew Molly personally you didn’t feel the same emotional distress as the others. The creatures that inhabited the city proved to make difficult obstacles, you squared off with a smaller one while the others dealt with several larger ones, you weren’t even sure what to make of this thing and defiantly didn’t want to over think about it either. When you manage to take the thing down it sends out a small burst as a last resort attack, but you didn’t notice any pain or damage to yourself, instead these strange symbols flash before your eyes. The designs were almost hypnotic but as much as you tried you could take your eyes away from them.

"…" There was a mumble of something but you couldn’t hear what. "…!" Same incoherent voice but a little louder, you wanted to see who was talking you really did but it felt like you were stuck in place. Something grabs ahold of you making you jump and ready to attack but then a wave clarity washes over you, the symbols disappear and you’re able to refocus again.

"What happened?" You look up at Caduceus confused, noticing you weren’t in the spot you’d been standing in originally. He doesn’t say anything right away, just takes you into his arms holding you close and lifts you up, going to follow the rest of the group.

"They did something to you," he finally says, you look at him worried. "Your eyes glazed over red and you started attacking us." This upset you deeply, you didn't mean to hurt anyone, you place your hands on your head and shrink into yourself a little, that’s when you see it. Now present on your right forearm was one of those red eye tattoos, you gasp and pull your arms away from yourself giving Caduceus the chance to see the eye. Tears start to fall from you, this was so wrong, you were a force working with nature but this was anything but natural. Caduceus soothingly rubs your back helping you calm down slightly.

"It'll be okay, we’ll find a way to fix this." He whispers to you, you nod as you take in slow deep breaths to help refocus yourself to the task at hand. It was like a part of you knew that in order to remove the eye, this city had to go down.

Fjord

This whole thing felt weird, confusing and frustrating to you. Things used to be so simple, now this Molly lookalike who called himself Lucien came along and everything felt like it was in disarray, it unfortunately couldn’t be helped and now you had to share Caleb’s tower with him and the rest of his group. You were chasing around one of the towers cats as a means of entertainment when you bump into someone and stumble to the ground, pushing yourself up and dusting yourself off you look up and see Caleb, Beau and Lucien staring at you.

"Umm sorry, didn’t know I was interrupting something." You apologies and are about to turn and leave when you see the book in their hands. "What’s that and why’s it all in undercommon?"

"A book we’re trying to read, so if you’ll… wait you know this is undercommon?" Beau raises an eyebrow at you, you just nod. "And you can read it?"

"Kinda, I guess." You shrug and before you know it you’re now helping to decipher through the various journal entries, until you reach a page just full of scribbles and crazy drawings. You look over everything finding yourself being drawn in and unable to look away the longer you stared, in a flash the book's shut and Lucien's bidding you all a goodnight.

While everyone was readying themselves for sleep you wanted to stay up and keep first watch with Fjord, you didn’t realize you’d fallen asleep until you find yourself staring into nothingness. It almost felt like déjà vu, floating in a dark abyss only to be greeted by an eye staring you down, though this time it wasn’t a creep, mysterious sea leviathan staring at you but something else, completely unnatural. It didn’t really speak either but rather placed a feeling or thought that formed words in your head saying one thing.

"Welcome…" The word was echoed around, like it was bouncing off of nonexistent walls, then screams fill your ears as the eye closes and your brought back into the waking world. You look up at Fjord who in turn looks between you, Caleb and Beau, who also awoke possibly from the same thing.

"That’s… rare." He says with confusion and concern, you look around the room to see if anyone else had somehow woken up, seeing signs of the others slowly beginning to stir. There’s a sudden feathery touch on the back of your neck making you jump slightly, instinctually place a hand over it and whip back to look at Fjord again, who stares back in shock.

"What?" You tilt your head confused but look over to see Beau and Caleb having red eye tattoos on them, making it click in you head that you must’ve now had one too.

Beau

To say you didn’t like Lucien was an understatement, he was snarky and overall a jerk, sure Molly was similar in someways but at least he had done it all in good fun. Still your curiosity got the better of you what with that book he held onto, wondering what sort of secrets were hidden in those pages. You got your answer sooner then you thought when spending the evening in Caleb’s tower Beau, Caleb and yourself were approached by the tiefling. Well mostly they were you just so happened to be present as well, but you weren’t going to let this opportunity to gain new information slip by, the three of you working through deciphering the pages until you reach a page just covered in mad scrawls and odd symbols. The different patterns and marking gave off a hypnotic feel, finding yourself unable to look away until the book is snapped shut by Lucien. You feel a little dazed by the whole thing taking a second for yourself to refocus.

When evening finally come around everyone huddled together in one room away from the Tometakers for safety and to discuss what to do going forward. You couldn’t quite keep yourself awake as long as everyone else and end up passing out for the night only to open your eyes and stare into an endless, dark void. You look around yourself to see if you could… well see something, spotting a red glow cut through the darkness. The light grows larger, opening into a giant eye that felt as though it was looking everywhere all at once. It was like a link was formed between you and whatever this thing was as it sends a thought into your mind. Just one single word.

"Welcome…" It echos and repeats itself over and over like a buzzing hive, images of those symbols from the book flash before you and you now realize the buzzing wasn’t actually buzzing but screams. Before you can dwell on it too long the eye closes and you shot up, wide awake alongside Caleb and Beau.

"That’s rare." You hear Fjord mumble, but don’t pay much mind to him as you go and grab your notebook to write down what you’d seen, seemed like Beau had a similar idea since she was also frantically writing in her own notes. When you’re done you have a look at what you wrote, seeing mad scrawls and utter nonsense cover the page, when you look up Caleb had removed his shirt showing a red eye by his shoulder and Beau was alternating between staring at the back of her hand and looking over at you with concern. Catching onto the idea you check yourself for any red eyes, and who would’ve guessed when you lift your own shirt a little ways you see a single eye located on your abdomen, you now stare up at Beau with equal concern. Before anything else can be said the rest of the Nein start to stir.

Yasha

Meeting Lucien was like a heavy punch in the gut for both you and Yasha, he didn’t know or care much about you and he called Molly a fragment or imposter, which you didn’t believe to be true. Molly was nice, fun and he showed you how bright and beautiful the world could really be, Lucien felt like the complete opposite and yet their personality was so similar. By now you had chased him to the astral sea and into the creepy living city of Aeor, but you weren’t going to let the unnerving nature of this place deter you from wanting to save your friend, if there was anything for you to save. The weird monstrosity’s that roamed the place didn’t like your presents, having to fight them off to move forward, throughout all of this there was an odd humming sound that resonated in the back of your mind.

"What’s wrong?" Yasha asks concerned, seeing your face scrunch up.

"I keep hearing this humming sound and it won’t go away." You cross your arms in a huff, getting increasingly frustrated with the strange noise.

"I wish I could do something to help you, but I can’t find anything that could be making a humming sound." She says with a sighs, having a look around to try and pick up on anything herself. Continuing forward you try and ignore the sound but it only gets worse, now sounding more like screams growing louder and louder, it was giving you so much of a headache you cover your ears in a poor attempt to stop the sound. Symbols start flashing before your eyes, the screams still growing louder then silence, you take a second reopen your eyes seeing Yasha kneeling in front of you with worry. "Are you okay? You dropped to the ground so suddenly, I thought something attacked you." You just nod that you're okay and reach up for her to pick you up, she does so and you both gasp when you see one of those red eye tattoos had appeared on top of your right wrist. Yasha looks at you with concern, you stare back for a second before covering your wrist with your other hand and give a look of determination.

"We're gonna fix this and make everything better, won’t we?" You tried to sound as confident as possible but deep down you were scared, Yasha having noticed this also puts in a determined face, touching her forehead against yours.

"Of course we will."

Mø-lŸ Lucien

When you met up with the Nein again things were still tense, you being the sorta bridge between both parties to try and keep things from going too far south. It was a lot for one kid to handle but you certainly tried your best, now everyone was spending the night in Caleb’s magic tower, something else you missed out on the first time around. As much as you wanted to interact with the Nein and see how they were doing, Lucien was still very adamant on keeping you close to his side. As nice as it was to know a part of him still cared about you, something the Nein tried to question him on with little results, it could get a bit overbearing. Taking a moment you close your eyes, lean against a wall and slide down into a sitting position, you then feel something get placed in your lap as a second presents joins you. You open your eyes again to of course see Lucien had joined you then look down at the odd book he gave you.

"What’s this?" You ask staring at the book curiously.

"I feel I’ve been unfair with ya. Ye’ve well proven to have earned me trust so I figure it about time I share something with ya." Lucien brings you in closer to him and opens the book, which you can see is written in undercommon. "Are ye able to understand what this says?" He questions you.

"Hardly, I only know some basic words in undercommon." You say after you’ve examine the words on the page trying to decipher what it all said.

"That’s alright, this is really what I wanted to show ya anyways." He flips through several pages until he reaches one with odd designs and symbols on it. You suddenly feel memorized, unable to look away from the page, studying each design and crazy scrawling of words. He flips to another page similar to the first… then another… and another… finally he closes the book, breaking you from the little trance you were in. "I think that should be enough." He comments, a little ominously.

"Enough of what?" You look at him confused.

"Don’t worry yerself about it. It’s gettin' late anyway, best get some rest for tomorrow little one." You blink a few times, still very confused as to what all that was about but decide to just leave it for now and try and get some sleep…

You find yourself floating alone in this cold, dark, endless void, was this some sort of dream? You know you tried to fall asleep but now you were here, wherever here was. Through the void a thin crack forms, giving off a menacing red glow before opening into a large eye that seems to look at you, through you and around you all at once. You can only stare back unsure of what to do and a little scared, then a voice… no, a thought enters your head.

"Welcome…" It echos around your head, alongside a strange humming sound as you become linked to this thing. You were shaking, terrified of what this was and unsure of what it wanted, then another thought is placed and echoed into your head by this thing. "Do not fret… young one… we’ve been expecting you…" We? Expected? What was any of this supposed to mean? Symbols and markings similar to those from the book Lucien showed you flash before your eyes, the humming now sounding more like distant, desperate screams. The eye closes…

You jolt yourself awake, taking in deep breaths to calm yourself as best as possible, running your hands down your face to try and get a grip of whatever just happened. When you pull them away you notice a faint red glow on your left palm, rubbing a bit of sleep from your eyes you see a red eye tattoo staring back at you. You run your thumb over the mark and bring your hand in closer to your chest as you finally look up and around the dark room, (e/c) orbs landing on crimson ones staring back. You look down at your palm then back up at Lucien, through the dark you faintly see a smile creep onto his face as he raises his own palm with a similar eye on it.

#critical role #critical role & reader #mighty nein #the mighty nein #mighty nein & reader #jester lavorre #jester & reader #veth brenatto #veth & reader #caleb widogast #caleb & reader #caduceus clay #caduceus & reader #fjord #fjord stone #fjord & reader #beauregard lionett #beauregard & reader #yasha nydoorin #mollymauk tealeaf #lucien #lucien & reader #nothing romantic here

[omniscientwreck]

Day 6: Time & Transformation // Temptation

Day 6 of @shadowgastweek (I’m very late I know I’m sorry!) 

Please enjoy this little glimpse into the future I hope the wizards will get one day, please let me know what you think! 

“Caleb?”

“Ja?” The wizard looks over, silver hairs peeking through the copper and he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose looking over from the loveseat where his papers and books were sprawled across the dark upholstery.

A familiar, grin spreads freely across his features.

“Can I tempt you away from your studies for a moment?”

Eyebrows raise and a mischievous glint, “Well you know, this is some important work I’m doing. I’m not sure if you can compete.”

Gliding over, Essek leans down over the human’s form, sporting his own devilish grin. The wizard’s eyes raked over him with a hunger. That could wait. They have time. “Oh I assure you I can be quite compelling.” And he leans in to kiss Caleb. Kissing him is so comfortable, safe, it fills him with a warmth he’d never previously known. It’s been years and it still excites him when their lips connect. Caleb’s short stubble scrapes a bit before they part, Essek righting himself and offering Caleb a hand.

“I have to say Thelyss, you make a good case. What is it?”

“I just wanted to talk with you, about tomorrow.”

As Caleb stands he smiles reassuringly, “Mein Engel, you are still nervous?” He grabs for Essek’s hand, lacing their fingers together. Caleb’s hands are strong and his fingers are wider than Essek’s. It’s easy to feel reassured in his grasp, familiar callouses rough as Caleb’s thumb rubs circles into his hand. “The spell has been performed many times without issue, we’ve got it figured out. I’m certainly excited to see what happens.”

Essek nods, “Of course I am excited too, but well. The other times it was you and now it’s me and transmutation certainly isn’t my specialty.”

A gentle laugh falls from Caleb’s lips and he squeezes Essek’s hand, “You know you really don’t give yourself enough credit. You quite nearly pioneered an entire school of magic. You’ve been it’s foremost scholar and teacher for some time. I understand nerves but I promise you I trust your ability. You’ll have the rest of the Nein there, Veth has had it done to her and the rest were there with us the first time. I will be okay. Besides, won’t you be happy for me to be rid of some of these age markers?”

He winks at Essek, teasing, already knowing the answer. “You grow more beautiful every day Caleb, I have never once regretted the aging of your body. You know very well it’s not about looks, it’s about time.” Caleb stops their walking and wraps his arms around him, pulling Essek in and kissing him gently, chastely. “Regardless of how old you look or what happens tomorrow I intend to stay by your side until death. But we only have one life so we may as well lengthen our time.”

Caleb kisses the tip of his nose and they continue outside of their home. The dark of the night engulfs them and the glow of the stars is vibrant as always, Essek looks at his husband and tries to quell the nerves, the anticipation, when a voice fills his mind, “Hey Essek it’s Jester! I couldn’t wait to see you and Caleb until tomorrow, it’s been so long and I’ve missed you so much. I’m-” the spell cuts off and he waits a few moments to see if she plans to recast.

When he hears nothing he responds, out loud so Caleb can hear, “Hello Jester. It is good to hear from you. We’re home and I believe you know our address. You’re welcome at any time.”

Caleb’s crows feet crinkle around his still piercing blue eyes, “Well, if Jester’s here then so is Fjord and I can’t imagine the others are far behind. We should prepare the guest beds.”

They float inside to welcome their friends and briefly Essek’s anxiety is pushed to the back of his mind.

-----

Long ago he’d finally stopped referring to the Nein as ‘Caleb’s friends’ and accepted his role in their lives and allowed them to step into their roles in his properly. Agents of change, bestowers of affection, it’s been about a year since they last saw everyone together.

Ten years ago when they defeated Lucien the group took a break. Jester and Fjord split off to Nicodranas with Veth, Caduceus went home, Yasha and Beau had posted up mainly in Zadash, and Essek and Caleb spent a great deal of time travelling and exploring. Whenever one of the Nein called they all answered, whether it was something as simple as providing fire power when Beau had an investigation or something as momentous as tying up loose ends from their past, they remained steadfast to one another.

Jester, Fjord, and Veth and her family are the first to arrive and Essek opens a well aged wine. Luc is a teenager at this point and he’s becoming a bit of a menace at the amusement of his uncles. Caleb had previously taught him message and he’s been getting a lot of mileage out of it. Jester and Fjord have stories from having come back from a few months at sea, helping with some errands for merchant ships for old times’ sake.

Their home feels full and alive, and the next moring when Beau and Yasha arrive, and then Caduceus it feels like the family is whole again.

They begin digging clay out of the back yard just as they had the first time and as everyone assumes their positions, laughing and joking, filling the backyard with cacophonous uproar, Essek is hit with nostalgia.

He misses travelling with them, having them by his side and standing at theirs throughout some of the worst confrontations in history. He misses the jokes they lob his way with ease, Fjord and Veth hurling insults back and forth, all of it. It seems like so much time has passed since they had last upturned his yard to help a friend into a new form, but in his comparatively long life it’s hardly any time at all.

They assemble the clay, sprinkling in diamond dust and Essek is basically useless with nerves, they’ve created the trough, incorporated the diamond dust. All that’s left is him. They pause to eat, Caduceus’ cooking a welcome break from the day’s preparations.

Dinner is delicious, and loud, full of stories Luc and Yeza have heard dozens of times but still delightful all the same. As they finish eating and prepare to cast the rest clean up as Essek floats outside to check their arrangement one last time. He feels a punch land on the back of his shoulder, where he was once marked by the Nonagon and Beau surveys alongside him, the day’s work. “Hey man, you okay?”

He should be used to her check-ins but she still puts him on edge despite their ‘beef’ as she put it having been ‘squashed’ years ago. “I am alright. This is a big deal and well, I just want to perform well.”

“You will.” She rubs his shoulders a bit and continues, “You know, I didn’t think you deserved him. Even after we figured our shit out and you like became cool. I didn’t think you were good enough for him. Thanks for proving me wrong, you’re good people and I know you’ll take care of him. You’re nervous because you care and that shows me a lot about you. You’ve always been that way but. Well, I see the way you look at him, it’s just real fucking nice.”

All he can do in response is nod and swallow hard, he doesn’t have words to explain what the reassurance means. He kneels down to ensure the dimensions are right for the fiftieth time and the others come out breaking the silence.

“Ah- before we begin can I steal him quickly?” Caleb asks his friends as if they have somewhere else to be or any reason to deny the couple a few words. He takes Essek a good distance away so they can talk without being overheard. “Schatz, are you ready?”

“It feels like I should be asking you that. You know the form you would like to assume?”

Caleb nods, “Just as we discussed, we’ll put us on a more even playing field.”

Essek tucks a stray strand of copper hair behind a rounded ear and looks at his husband’s face one last time, “I can’t say I won’t miss this view Widogast, you are a most striking man.”

Caleb just laughs and kisses him gently, “Well you have much to look forward to.”

They stay like that for a moment, hands clasped, pulling their bodies close, eye to eye. Determination and a stoic resilience fall over Essek and he nods to Caleb, “Ready?”

“Ready.”

All told the casting is uneventful. The Nein are knelt in a circle around Caleb with Essek at the head, kissing him one last time before beginning the incantation. As the wind picks up and arcane lines and symbols light up, Essek’s concentration is stone cold. The clay begins slowly building over Caleb, covering his face entirely and as the view of his partner is taken from him he seems to connect on a deeper level to Caleb’s psyche. They think together of the chosen form, and he can feel a reassuring wave come off of Caleb as he continues reciting the incantation. The runes light and as he continues casting and putting everything he has into ensuring their mutual happiness. His voice gradually rises and arcane power swirls around them, hair freely whipping around the faces of his friends, watching with confidence, Yasha smiling knowingly at him across the vessel. He can feel the heat radiating as his hands pass over Caleb and at the hour the clay bursts, the ensuing wave of arcane energy pushes him back a foot or so, even in his kneeling position. The light from the spell is snuffed instantly and the night is dark again. Before them is Caleb anew.

He brushes clay away from his face with slender fingers, gently sitting up as Jester helps him. Essek floats over, kneeling beside him where he sits.

Caleb turns to look at him, he has the same copper hair and bright blue eyes, but the skin is smooth and free of stubble, his ears narrow to a point, and his features are just a little finer.

They did it.

Caleb looks at Essek for a moment, not dissimilar from the look they’d shared as they met at the altar the day they were wed, “So this is what you look like in the dark.”

He cups Essek’s face with a smooth hand and laughs lightly as the Nein begin chattering around them, Essek doesn’t hear what they say as Caleb brings his new lips to Essek’s and they’re locked in their second first kiss. Pulling back slightly, Essek’s laughter rings out and they press their foreheads together. He feels someone wrap their arms around the two of them and eventually the rest of the Nein join. In the middle of the large group hug two wizards hold each other and time stretches before Essek as the full gravity of the what they’ve done makes his heart soar. Time will catch up eventually, it always does, but for now they have plenty.

#shadowgast #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #critical role #critfic #shadowgastweek2021 #I just wanted to write romantic semi-domestic fluff okaaay #god i love these two so much

[grave-avis]

Okay so, anyone who ever so slightly knows me knows I like birds. Like, really like birds. Like I’m organizing my life plan to hopefully be able to dedicate my life to ornithology levels of liking birds. One of my hobbies is birdwatching/ bird feeding and it’s really really fun! So I decided to make a little post about some of my FOs and birdwatching.

Note: if you’re going to be rude about my hobby please leave, I’ve been bullied for liking bird watching before and I just don’t want to deal with that before school starts. Yes it’s an old person hobby, but I enjoy it :)

With Jester I feel like she’d be very enthusiastic to join me, happily sitting next to me to doodle the birds we see. After a bit I’d notice that I’m seeing fewer birds than usual and realize that she’s talking very loudly and making a lot of sudden movements and it’s scaring away all the birds. After a brief conversation about it I decide to take her to visit my less timid bird friends: I’ll introduce her to all the geese I’ve gained the trust of and tell her all their names and help her feed them out of her hand and I’ll take her to visit all my crows and seagulls. I think she’d really like seeing all my friends and would appreciate the beauty of them, she wouldn’t find my enthusiasm about them obnoxious because she’s able to match my energy.

Yasha and I have travelled separately from the nein together in the past, and she’s kind of joined me accidentally. Sometimes I accompany her to pick flowers and I’ll spot a family of sparrows and point them out to her. She’s not very talkative but she doesn’t mind sitting with me and watching them, usually taking the time to write in her notebook as they warble and play. She finds them fascinating and she appreciates cute animals much more than you’d expect from an intimidating woman like her. Sometimes she brings me feathers she finds on the ground, she understands collecting things from nature. When we’re with the nein Beau will sometimes join us just to see what we’re up to. She likes to tease me about it but she’s chill, she gets very into my hypotheticals about what birds would beat each other in a fight.

Caduceus is a member of the nein who I can see genuinely enjoying birdwatching, and he probably adopted the hobby long before we met. He enjoys my enthusiasm and although he doesn’t know much about birds on an ornithology level, he appreciates my info dumps. When my insomnia acts up and he’s up late as well, sometimes we’ll sneak off together and try to find owls. He finds them a bit annoying because of how loud they are but they’re some of my favourites and it’s fun to watch them hunt.

Fjord and Caleb are a bit indifferent to them, Caleb appreciates my bird facts and knowledge (He especially likes my information on vultures and how acidic they are) and was kind enough to buy me a bird guide from a bookstore after noticing a lot of my guides don’t cover the regions we travel to. If I ever invite him out with me he doesn’t pay much attention to them but takes the opportunity to read and study, I don’t mind. The most birdwatching I’ll get out of Fjord is pointing out the seagulls around the ship, he finds them annoying as hell but even he admits seagulls can be fucking hilarious.

Nott and Molly are a bit too chaotic to take out birdwatching, I am worried that either they will accidentally harm the birds (or well,,, intentionally in Nott’s case) or they will accidentally piss off a bird and get mauled. Although one time they wrestled a living seagull back to camp after misunderstanding me talking about how I didn’t have many seagull FEATHERS in my collection.

Percy sometimes comes down to the ocean with me, he’s well acquainted with my geese and seagull friends and even the one crow that lives down there. He mostly likes to feed them with me and laugh about their mannerisms. He’s one of the people who kind of makes me remember how fun this hobby is. It can be very boring when you’re alone or take it too seriously but it’s hard to take much of anything serious when Percy is goofing off and cracking jokes with you. Sometimes when I meet up with him he’ll tell me about the birds he’s seen around because he knows I’ll appreciate it.

What’s the point of birdwatching with Alex around? She gets enthusiastic when I ask her to turn into different types of bird and enjoys the challenge, she never wastes an opportunity to show off her shapeshifting talent. Of course if I ask her to, she’ll happily chase the ravens through the hotel’s halls, trying to get a better look at them. Sometimes they pity us and perch for a few seconds so we can get a better look. When we meet up to work on art together she teases me about the amount of birds I incorporate into my art but I know she doesn’t mean it. Sometimes we’ll even collaborate and she’ll ask me to paint ravens and other animals onto her pottery. One morning I woke up to a small statue of an owl in front of my door, she never mentioned it to me but I recognized her stamp at the bottom of the statue.

Halfborn also isn’t that into birdwatching but he’ll be sure to tell me when birds are mentioned in littérature and loves to discuss poetry with me and will show me any bird themed ones. He appreciates the symbolism behind them more than anything. Sometimes when we can’t sleep we’ll spend the night in each other’s room and tell stories of when we were alive, although he’s a bit tired of me harassing him for any stories about the seagulls in his old fishing village.

Aragorn and Legolas are both fairly into my bird obsession but most of all they like it when I explain falconry to them, they enjoy seeing my owl around the camp and find any facts about her interesting. They find nature and all its creatures simply delightful. Gimli’s a bit indifferent to it but sometimes he’ll point out any birds he sees to keep me entertained on the road (I don’t think he likes birds that much :/).

#raynards rambles #long post #fo: Beauregard Lionett #fo: Jester Lavorre #fo: Mollymuck Tealeaf #fo: fjord tusktooth #fo: Nott #fo: Veth Bernartto #fo: Caleb Widoghast #tea time 🍃 #fo: Percy Jackson #💫the boys💫 #fo: Alex Fierro #fo: Halfborn Gunderson #self ship blog #self ship #self shipping #source: critical role #platonic fo #familial fos #source: riordanverse #source: lord of the rings

[swiftbell]

So I had some thoughts on where everyone in the Mighty Nein ended up, and I needed to write them down somewhere, so have my thoughts under the cut!

To me it really felt like all of the characters ended up so beautifully where they were supposed to be.

Beauregard Lionett, the angry teenager who was always ignored, who screamed at the unjust world, and when it didn’t listen to her she beat it instead. That angry lonely Beau helped make the world more just, by telling the stories of people who had been silenced, by being the central piece in making sure those who had taken advantage of others got their due. She told the truth, and the world listened. And instead of having a family that abandoned her because she was a ‘problem’ she has a family that’ll never give her up, that’ll always support her, and love her.

Caduceus Clay, the soft spoken graveyard keeper who was alone in his home, was forced to go into the world, and do things that went against what he stood for because that’s what he had to do. He not only got his family back, he got a new family as well. He got to return home, he got to make things right, and he learned that when they went too far, he had what was needed to stand up, and demand they help fix what they broke - his way.

Caleb Widogast, born with the name Bren Aldric Ermendrud, who had been shaped by pain and fire, who killed his family, only really living to fix the past, wallowing in his guilt, and hiding in fear. Caleb let go of the past, let go of his guilt - and yes some of it is always going to be there, but it’s no longer the crushing weight it once was. He stopped running from his fears, instead he faced them, and beat them with the intellect they had sought to use, and with the family they would never again take away from him. Caleb got to make his parents proud, and is looking to fix the future rather than the past. Shaping it with creativity and love, making sure there would be no one else who had to suffer like he did. And while he didn’t end up with any of the many romantic interests he had, he is healing, and has them by his side still.

Essek Thelyss, who had his own goals and motivations, who started a war just to gain more knowledge, and who put himself first above all else. Aloof and stoic. He learned what it means to belong, what it means to care, favouring the simple pleasures of life, and the value of giving to others. “Caleb, I’m scared”, he says. “Will you do it?” He says “I will help you.”

Fjord Stone, orphan, who never had a home to speak of, and who was so focused on how others saw him that he changed his appearance, his mannerisms, and his voice - just to be someone he looked up to. Who was pulled into servitude for a dark force and given powers he had so badly wanted - but not this way. Fjord got a family, Fjord got a home he can return to whenever he wants, and still got to stay on the sea he loves. He let his tusks grow out, and stopped trying to be someone else, he grew into himself, and when he met his father figure again, that he had, by himself, grown up to be so much like him. And the powers? He threw them away into a river of molten rock, and then turned around to ask the goddess of nature if he may choose to serve her. His choice, not someone else’s.

Jester Lavorre grew up confined to a room, with only her imagination and possibly imaginary friend to keep her company. Always so full of creativity, so full of the love her mother showed her, the little sapphire. Jester whose trickery got her into so much trouble she had to leave her home behind, and flee into a world she had only read about at most, being scared, and fascinated at the same time. She managed to make friends wherever she went, she learned some hard lessons on the way, but in the end she always made it through. Tougher than the world, sweeter than sugar, and cunning like the fey she gave a heart. Jester got her romance she had always wanted, and she got the adventure she had always craved. And through it all, she was always had a good imagination.

Mollymauk Tealeaf - or really, Kingsley Tealeaf now, dug himself out of his own grave with no memories. He was nothing. Empty. He experienced the world, and inspired those around him to be better - even if he wasn’t. He never cared for his past, didn’t want to know it, ran away from it when he could. He was his own self, and the past wasn’t allowed to change that. Then he was taken away. Sudden, unexpected, too soon. He was gone, and then he was someone else, someone who was like him, but in all the wrong ways. Someone who fought the ones he had come to love, and who tried to kill them. Someone who didn’t want to know the past, who didn’t care, but who never got away from it. And then he died, and was someone new again. Not entirely empty this time, but not quite who he had been before. Someone new, someone who accepted that he could be his own person, and honour the past at the same time. Kingsley got what neither Molly nor Lucien got - he got to be alive, and he got to be free to be who he wanted to be.

Nott the Brave, Veth Brenatto, goblin, halfling. Both, neither. Who had lost her husband and son by sacrificing herself, who wasn’t who she used to be, and who was so caught up in her own insecurities she’d rather tune out the entire world with alcohol. Who would insist that she wasn’t smart, that the others were obviously better than her, that she was not brave. Veth kept sacrificing herself - but now she has others to make sure she makes it out alive too. She has a bigger family than ever, and doesn’t have to choose between one or the other, family or adventure, home or the world - she can have both. She gets to invent, to fully use the skills she had always had, but was too insecure to use, and she gave up the veil she put over herself to hide from the world. No longer Nott the Brave, but Veth Brenatto, the Brave.

And Yasha Nydoorin, from the barren wastes, with holes in her memory, with death on her back, and on her hands. Who lost her love not once, but twice - because she had failed. Wandering, trying to find herself, with a grief heavy heart, and who was used by others to commit crimes she never agreed to. Yasha got to break free from those chains weighing her down, to not only walk freely, but to fly in the sky. She found guidance in the storm, and used that to make sure she would never fail those around her again. She got to stop wandering, and instead got a home to fill with flowers, life, and love.

And at the end of the day, they still have each other, and always will. They travel independently, and they grow, but they always have a home, and they make sure to keep in contact, and stay together. As a family. As the Mighty Nein Nine.

#bibbly bobbly talkey talkey stuff #Critical Role #cr 2 #critical role spoilers #long post #I'm not gonna tag all the characters #I wrote this mostly for myself #I needed to write my thoughts down properly #oh man this finale got me good #I loved it #anyways off to bed for me now #I've not had much sleep today XD #got to watch the finale live though so #worth it

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E111 (Sept. 29, 2020)

@eponymous-rose‘s internet is out tonight, so I’m here late and without coffee! Let’s see how many typos we can fit into an hour and a half episode.

Tonight’s guests: Ashley Williams JOHNSON, oops!! & Liam O’Brien!

We open with Brian in light-up vented sunglasses and Henry at his side, as always. Dani is very excited to be back and has fun-buns in her hair tonight. So cute! Everyone talks about how much they’re Zooming these days for work, and Liam mentions he and Matt & Marisha did a digital cocktail night. He and Dani arrange on camera to have a distanced, masked meetup in the park so Dani can see Liam’s dog again.

No announcements! Tonight, we’re discussin’ episodes 110 and 111.

Starting with the end, Brian jumps right to it by asking how they feel that Molly is alive. Liam 100% thought we’d be back to him, but still wasn’t ready when it happened. Caleb doubted he was alive. Both Liam & Ashley marvel at the numerology that keeps cropping up throughout the show. Brian hates not being able to see it at the same time the show happens live; Ashley was biting her tongue not telling him spoilers. (He doesn’t want to hear spoilers unless Yasha dies so he can be there for Ashley if needed.) Brian says he has a little reality trauma from the night Pike died in the pre-stream game; it was the first time he’d realized how much it affected the players.

Ashley’s realized how much she misses unpacking the game with Brian when they get home. She just has to sit with it until everyone else gets to see it. Brian: “Instead she comes home and I have to fill her in on the Real Housewives of Amarillo, Texas.”

Reunion dinner with Trent! Liam talks about how the way things unfolded with Trent is not at all how he imagined it in his pre-game creation; he’d expected more of a fracas, more of an unexpected clash. “Caleb might have been a different person if he’d run into these people earlier in the story. The M9 changed him before [Trent & co] came back and got to him.” He’d imagined Astrid & Eodwulf to be complicated encounters, but says what Matt’s designed has been even harder than that. A fight on a mountain is one thing, but walking into a room with “what Trent dropped, is impossible to cope with.” It also means that if what Trent said is true, anything Caleb does now is effectively of Trent’s design, even killing him.

He doesn’t think Caleb would have gone anywhere near Trent & co without the M9. “The Mighty Nein--it took a long time--but they cracked Caleb open like a walnut.”

He thinks what Matt has done is much more murky than the simplicity of murder, such as the Briarwood arc. He can’t just exact his revenge now.

Liam says that the tempation to tinker with time is no longer as all-consuming as it was. He might still be tempted if Matt dangles a bunch of carrots in front of him, but he thinks that now it might be better to make sure that that kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore for anyone else (!!!). “It’s still a nugget in his brain and it’s still possible he could be tempted by the drug, but what he wanted in the beginning was entirely selfish, but now that the M9 are involved he owes it to them, to the people of the country, even on the Dynasty side--is so complex that if Caleb were to get that carrot and chase it, he would be risking everything.”

Ashley agrees that most of their choices are no longer black and white. Many of the situations feel more like real life. Liam agrees and says he’ll sometimes make decisions that he’s both really happy with and regrets at the same time. They both look forward to what Matt will reveal in Act 3.

Brian feels it’s tough to gauge how deep they are into what Matt’s planned for the campaign. Liam says that thanks to Matt’s skill, he really doesn’t know what Caleb wants right now.

Ashley agrees, and talks about how she created Yasha to have more to overcome than Pike. She loves what Matt’s doing in terms of allowing each of them to overcome more emotional hurdles than physical ones in this campaign.

Going back to Molly’s grave was very exciting for Ashley since she wasn’t able to be there when he died in the game & wanted to do what she could to honor him. Yasha, however, was very hesitant but knew what needed to be done. She’s not very open with her emotions, but both she & Ashley were stressed. They all could feel the energy in the studio & knew Matt was about to do something mind-blowing. Liam: “You could feel all the dust in the air coalescing around Taliesin.”

Brian trips over Eodwulf. Liam tries to help him find some pronunciation shortcuts. Ashley: “You say it so beautifully.” Brian: “Thank you.” Ashley: “Not you.”

Caleb knows how wickedly intelligent & ambitious Astrid is, and was heartened by the wavering he saw in her at the dinner. However, he can’t trust her until he knows why she’s where she is.

He really feels that if they’d had this dinner 60 episodes ago, Caleb might have tilted back along the evil axis and he would have had to retire the character. He had a playlist entirely for if Caleb turned evil and left the party.

The vision of Zuala was a huge deal for Yasha, even along every other instance she’s had of being mind-controlled, etc. “That’s guilt I think she will always carry with her, but at least she’s starting to forgive herself.” Losing the chains, sprouting wings again--Ashley reiterates that she didn’t know that was even a possibility, she just picked the skeletal wings because they were dope--were huge moments in the character development. Ashley’s glad Beau was there at the moment of the first flight; Ashley thinks of the quotation “Happiness is only beautiful when it’s shared,” and because Yasha tends to keep things very much to herself, having someone there to share it made it more impactful. “That was a cool moment. There’s been a lot of healing for Yasha these last episodes.”d

Ashley also says sometimes in that moment, when all eyes are on you in a one-on-one with Matt, everything goes muffled like Saving Private Ryan. “Wub wub wub.”

Dani feels that the only way she could even have the conversation with Zuala was to let her go in the first place.

Liam thinks one of the things that Yasha & Cad share is that still waters run deep. He loves how much Yasha hangs back sometimes, only to then reveal some new moment like the fighting pit. Apparently Ashley also has a knife collection, and uses that metal side of herself when she wants to let that new side of Yasha show.

Cosplay of the Week: Crystal Armstead (@riyuski on twitter) in a Reani cosplay. Beautiful!

How does Liam feel about the return to Rexxentrum? Very, very complicated. Caleb loves magic and lights up when he sees it, which is wrapped in the Soltryce Academy; he brought folks to the dance hall for the same reason, which was wanting the M9 to see the things that he loved about the city.

Yasha felt the same way about visiting the Chantry of the Dawn. It was a memory of a very traumatic moment (almost killing Beau), but given everything that’s happened between then and now it was cathartic to see again. There’s been a lot of healing in the past few weeks. It also felt like a physical representation of Yasha’s growth, the last time she was controlled against her will like that (or at least, until she was mind-controlled by Vokodo. Ashley sighs, aggrieved.)

Brian: “The tower really feels like a love letter from Caleb to his friends.” Liam: “It is, and a love letter from Liam to his friends.” When he looked at Caleb’s spell list, he remembered how amazing the mansion was in Campaign One and how many role-playing moments it led to and knew he wanted to incorporate it. However, he knew it could never be the same as Scanlan’s mansion because Caleb doesn’t have the same improvisational genius as Scanlan does. Liam has been “tinkering with this machine” for over a year, waiting for the moment to reveal it. He loves that he got a chance to see Jester’s room in time to have her tower room reflect reality. He’d discussed the tower extensively with Dani & Matt. Brian: “Hey! What am I, chopped--what’s the saying?” Ashley: “Chopped cabbage?”

Ashley marvels at the design of the dome. Liam talks about how Caleb knowing Caleb has been abused has been slowly getting better, but he also loves now being able to juxtapose that healing with his innate love of magic and how beautiful he finds it, how he loves to use magic as his artistry. The Soltryce Academy wasn’t “Welcome to DEATH SCHOOL,” it was the Sorbonne. It was amazing, everything he wanted. It was only one bad apple within that recruited him and turned it all bad.

Liam also points out how much it means in real life to be able to express his love and care for his friends in person too.

Ashley talks about how much she loves Yasha’s armor in a meta sense because it’s so cool and useful, and great for her armor class, but struggles with what it represents in game. She might not be able to let it go due to its sheer utility, and she may have to find an in-game reason to justify keeping it.

Ashley segues a moment into talking about her velvet top which apparently has a matching velvet scrunchie. She’s asked to demonstrate the scrunchie and ties her hair up in a way that I have never in my life seen someone do with a scrunchie before, and my hair’s been waist-length most of my life. I watch it again in slow motion. How did she DO that??

Caleb’s been looking for the right time to tell Jester about his past for a long time. She’s a good person and makes him feel like he might be capable of becoming a good person at the end, because that’s how she saw him. Liam knew from Laura that Jester wouldn’t condemn him, but Caleb put it off as long as possible. He also wanted to take the time to make sure Caduceus & Yasha knew the whole story too before they went to dinner with Trent.

Liam was also relieved to get it out, because he could never remember who knew and who didn’t, and now he doesn’t have to track it anymore. “Now we can move forward. Now we can heal wounds, maybe.”

Ashley feels Cad picks up a lot, more than most people realize. Yasha was really affected by Cad’s line: “Patience can be good, but it can lead to apathy.” She really feels it opened her eyes, and she appreciated the simplicity of him pointing out her hair’s growing back white again. Having a friend notice “hey, you’re changing for the better” really means a lot. She’s interested in seeing how this means things might change with Beau.

Dani points out that it also reinforced for Yasha that she can want things too--she can be patient and just continue to be with the group, as she’s wanted, but it’s okay to want more than that too. Ashley remembers Veth asking her what her purpose is. There’s a part of her that knows Yasha is still figuring that out, and she’s interested to see how Yasha will continue to change. She’s always spent her life serving somebody--the Sky Spear, Obann--and then even after she joined the M9, it was very centered on “what do you need, what does the group need, how can I help with our next job?” She’s going to have to take some time to figure out what she wants.

Fanart of the Week! Lovely Yasha & Beau flight art by @JMNP7888. The wings look amazing!

Brian: “One of the things we want to talk to you about, Liam, is about the Vokodo fight and the FUCKING disintegrate spell.”

Liam: “That was one of the most insane 60-90 seconds of gameplay that ever existed for the table, and definitely for me, in the entire history of the show. A lot of people think I just went, oh man, just bet it all on black. But what if I told you that...I Larkin’d the first 20 seconds of that fight and then at a quarter to midnight, I forgot that the reflection was a thing? I just forgot it was a thing! I spent that whole battle thinking I’m just here to banish things. I might buff my friends a little bit, maybe I’ll counterspell, but I’m just here to banish. And it didn’t work and it didn’t work and then it did! Finally it did and Jester made it work and then he was GONE. And then everyone got greedy and it was done but we brought him BACK. And it was a quarter to midnight and I’m not an animatronic D&D lesson machine, I’m just a guy playing D&D at 11:45 at night, and he came back and everyone started Goodfellas circling him and kicking him, and Beau & Yasha are gonna kill him, and then it’s my turn? Disintegrate! And then the room was quiet, and then time passed, and Matt asked, you really cast Disintegrate? And I said yes, of course, and Matt started rolling dice, and in the back of my head I started wondering why he asked if I was rolling Disintegrate. Oh no. In the back of my brain, I was like, well, just tell him that’s not what you did. Tell him you didn’t remember the reflection thing. But he’s already rolling dice! You can’t take it back now. Hold on a second. I’m going to take you on the journey I went through. I was thinking: you have a spell save of 17. This thing wasn’t that fast. +1, +2, maybe? Anything under 14 is okay. That’s 70%. 70%. That’s okay, right? And still no one said anything to tip me off that I was in ELDRITCH MADNESS at that point, no one said anything about the reflection! And then I realize it can reflect back on us, and I realize this is...disintegrate. And then I started becoming morbidly, macabre-ly fascinated at the puppet dance of death I had created. Well, this is a mess. I have made a mess. Let’s just sit in it. And somehow, nonsensically, spectacularly, it worked out in my favor. I went home that night and I got in bed next to my wife, who was fast asleep, and I stared at the ceiling going, dude. Duuuuuuuude. Duuuuuuuuuude.”

He apparently also told his therapist about this and how terrible it was and how close he “danced myself to the precipice like a crazy person!” Marisha (as told by Liam): “Epic roll, though.”

Matt told Liam that night that if it had been reflected, it would have gone back on him. “If a player throws an M80 in the middle of a room, it would reflect on that player who threw it.”

Ashley talks about how interesting that Yasha is not performative, and yet has been doing these public performances with the harp. It’s a great experiment for Ashley--Yasha doesn’t like the attention, but feels like she is making something beautiful for the world.” She’s trying to change something about how she views herself & her place in the world. She was raised to be a weapon for the Sky Spear, but she’s also extremely gentle and loves flowers & beautiful music, and the further away she’s gotten from the tribe, she’s falling in love with gentle, beautiful things. 

Liam also points out it easy (real, but simplistic) to make an entire character centered around a single personality trait: “I’m angry all the time. I’m sad all the time.” He thinks it’s more realistic to see nuance in personality.

Liam can see some paths for Caleb to find peace & do good. He doesn’t know if Caleb is conscious of those. He thinks it’s a huge step forward to admit he was molded in this direction at all and that it wasn’t all his choice, but doesn’t know if this is the same possibility as redemption.

He also mentions Essek in this answer: there was/is attraction there, both intellectual and physical--the forehead kiss was a big marker of that--and he’s interested in seeing where that goes because he’s invested in Essek’s redemption arc on its own, but Essek is not as high on the list as other things Caleb/the M9 need to work on. He loved the “high spy times” of the Essek arc and the tangled-up-ness of feelings getting involved at the same time as intense commitment to duty.

Liam always felt Matt would bring Molly back in some aspect, even though Caleb always demurred because he doesn’t believe in fate. Dani and Brian agree that this is the start of a new act.

Ashley cried at the Vilya reunion. She thought that was an incredible moment and was so glad to see Keyleth. Liam: “Keyleth as part of our story is everything to me. That story is really important to me, so getting just a glimpse of her again was so important to me.” They could all see how that affected Marisha & how special it was to her. Liam: “It was such a great note in her song or color in her painting. She achieved magnificent things and was powerful and great, but had a very heartbreaking and sad ending, so to have this sliver of joy go back in is so complex and beautiful and masterfully done.”

Aaaaaaand that’s all for tonight! Remember, no Critical Role this week. Talks will be back in two weeks. As always, don’t forget to love each other. <3

#talks machina #critical role #talks machina spoilers #critical role spoilers #long post #long post for ts

[autistic-beshelar]

'm loving everyone venting about Molly! Thanks! And I want to ask you how you imagined the finale was gonna be? I have this whole fanfic in my head about Molly realising he had a four leaf clover stuck in his hair and upon noticing it he would give it to Yasha. Then the M9 would deal with Trent and Molly would finally know how terrible of a person the dude was. And then the M9 would introduce Molly to everyone else they met and visit every place they left better than they found it.

that's so sweet!

it's weird, because while like every other molly fan, i've had thoughts on his resurrection and a fic series i'm working on, but i'd never really... thought about the end of the campaign, or what it might be like?

(ETA this ended up so long im so sorry i have a lot to say apparently and this isn't even all of it)

my biggest and most important thing: they are a family. they belong together. maybe they'll go off on their own for a while, or stay with their families, but the nein belong together.

for fjord... he spent so long trying to be someone else, and while he's learning how to be his own person now, he deserves closure on that part of himself. he deserves a last conversation with vandren, and then to move on, to explore new places, to find new goals for himself. there is so much for him now, the open sea with so much life and promise. he buys a ship, a new ship, all his own, not one borrowed or stolen from another, and jester paints its name, decorates its quarters, makes it a home. he wrangles the nein (yes, even veth, yes, even essek) into joining him, and they set sail, all nine of them, the way it couldn't be the first time. he shows molly the ropes, teaches essek how to navigate, and watches his crew, his friends, his family, learning from him, placing so much trust in him, letting him guide them, and sees how truly happy they are to be here with him. usually, the crew is him, jester, beau, and often molly and yasha, but sometimes he will leave for a time, entrusting the boat to orly. sailing isn't all he has now, there is more to see, to do, there are things for him on land now too, but the sea will always be home to him.

for jester... she deserves her happy fairytale ending. i think for a while she stays with her family, seeing her parents happily together, finally properly introducing her boyfriend, and just spending time with her mum in a way that she didn't get to so much when she was young. and then i think she travels, just for the sake of exploring, with no defined goal other than to sow the seeds of joy and chaos everywhere she walks. and as she travels, she begins to write. stories were homes to her as a child, and they're homes even now, for someone with such a powerful imagination. she writes of her adventures, of her friends, she writes of mystical and fantastical things, half of them real. she writes and writes, words and illustrations filling so many books, she gives them to beau, to yasha, passes them off as silly little things, as though they aren't brilliant works of art. all of the nein read her stories - yasha out loud to molly as she plays with his hair, caduceus and calliope in the quiet of their garden, caleb and essek by the light of their bedside table. and in time the stories reach others, scattered journals are copied and bound into books, and one day jester wanders a quiet, nameless town, and in the window of a bookshop she's never seen, embossed on the cover of a novel, there is a brilliant green door.

for caleb... oh man, he is a teacher. that is so perfect for him, and i've been thinking about it ever since his talk with luc. i think there's something so powerful about being the person he deserved when he was younger, about stepping into that position of power and authority and being so kind with it. he's so passionate about magic, and i think it's beautiful to see him come so far - from someone burned and traumatised and so convinced he was irredeemable, to someone who can take comfort in soft things, someone who some days, almost, almost believes he can be good. i think out of everyone, except perhaps veth, he stays home the most. he still adventures with the nein of course, and if there is ever a whisper of artefacts or hidden knowledge or some expedition or other, the nein are with him in an instant to investigate it. but more often than not he is home, making the empire a better place, keeping the fire warm for them.

for veth... i want her to learn that she is enough as she is. i want her to learn that she doesn't have to choose between wife, adventurer, mother. she is all of these things. i want her to accept that her transformation was not a return to her old self but becoming someone new. i think she goes home, as she promised, and i do think she stays there for a long while, a few years perhaps, making up for lost time. and she'll pretend that she's fine with that life, with staying home, with being a wife and a mother. but that isn't all she is, and eventually, with yeza's help, with the nein's help, she will accept that. she'll no longer see it as two lives, two identities. she'll be able to kill fearsome beasts and explore strange new lands with her friends without guilt or fear, and at the end of the day she'll go home and regale her husband and son with extraordinary tales of her and her friends' heroics (that may or may not be exaggerated).

for yasha... i want her to be happy and loved. she's come SO far, from someone running from her past, drowning in guilt and so unsure of herself, to someone strong and bold. i love that ashley said she would do little odd jobs - i think she would do that, go around helping people as they explore. like most of the others, i don't think she would truly settle down. i like to imagine she does have a house somewhere - maybe inspired by the clays, she has a home somewhere green, surrounded by flowers, somewhere quiet and calm and peaceful. a little cottage maybe, for her and beau, just somewhere to return to and feel safe, somewhere she can rest. but i think most of her time would be spent travelling, seeing all the wonderful beautiful things the world has to offer, being with her friends who love her for exactly who she is, who showed her that she was someone worthy of being loved, who taught her that it's possible for her to love herself.

for caduceus... i think, for a time, he rests. he's tired. not done, far from done, but tired. i think he stays with his family at the grove, tending to all the things that are now so vibrant and alive, feeling the walls he was so sure would crumble. but after a time, he would feel that he is supposed to leave. the grove is wonderful, and will always be his home, somewhere he will always return to, and i think throughout his life - throughout the nein's life, and of course they will come to rest there, after everything - he will come home, to tend to the garden, to watch over the temple while his siblings roam. i think he travels, too, but not so much to adventure. after everything he's been through i think he deserves some peace, and quiet. he travels all the lonely winding roads, all the quiet humming spaces, sees all the life in all the hidden corners. while several members of the nein travel with him, it's yasha that walks with him the most, happy to go at his pace, eager to share in that peace and wonder.

for molly... there is so much for him now. he is no longer covered in eyes, no longer has that weight on him, even if he does hold memories of it, in darker moments. he is him but brand new, able to forge himself into whoever he wants to be, and the nein give him so much space and so much time for that. i think he stays with the clays for a little while - while the others deal with trent, yasha, so so scared to lose him again, places all her trust in caduceus to take care of him. and when they return (to find him with freshly cut hair the same colours as his coat, and a particularly proud looking clarabelle), they just spend time with him, all the time they missed and more. fjord tells him of their journey, jester showing him her journal, giving him meaning for it all, and all the time yasha holds his hand, unwilling to ever let him go. it's hard, being gone for so long, and while he is so, so (embarrassingly) proud of his friends for all that they've gone through, and how much they've grown, it's also glaringly obvious that he can't keep up. he almost has it in mind to leave - he doesn't want to hold them back, and he can't help but wonder if he's really the molly they want - it's hard to live up to a memory, after all. and there is so much he's missed. they tell him he's a moron, obviously. he is their friend, and there is nothing they won't do for friends, and waiting, staying, is such a small thing to ask. beau trains him, at his insistence - she thinks it's a joke at first, tells him that she'd be a terrible teacher, just as she was a terrible student. she's wrong, of course, and molly grows stronger by the day. he has so many adventures with them, sailing the seas on fjord's ship, sowing chaos with jester, fighting side by side with beau. there is not a single day that he isn't with his friends, yasha most of all. they are with him through everything, though good days, so many good days, and through bad ones too. molly has so much time - time the nein have given him, as he once gave to them - to live, to love, to wander, to form new memories and experiences. to be everything he never had the chance to the first time, and so much more.

for beau... she is so, so scared at first. they saved the world. they stopped trent. they've done... everything they've set out to do. what's left? what's keeping them together? when molly tries to run it reminds her so much of how she felt before, how she thought to run, to leave them before they could leave her. he returns the favour, reminds her that they are family, reminds her that she has worth, and the nein want her to stay, that they keep her, just as they kept him. (she almost believes him, and definitely doesn't cry). she does so many things - she goes home with yasha once in a while, somewhere tranquil, somewhere to study and research, she travels with caduceus, learning to appreciate a slower pace and all the quiet contemplation and companionship it can offer, she travels with fjord, his first mate, his best mate, allowing someone she trusts to take the helm and lead her on adventures. and she studies - long gone are the days of pretending to turn her nose up at books - she is one of professor widogast's best (and most irritating) students, learning magic not to weave it herself but just to understand it, just learning for the sake of learning. when she confronts her father, fjord and caleb are there as they should be - fjord to talk, to use his words and his charm to help, caleb in quiet solidarity, a hand on her shoulder, just standing with her as she tears down her mentor, her abuser, and comes out stronger for it, just as she had been there for him. finally, she can put that behind her, and she stays with the soul, as their greatest expositor (though maybe one who never does their paperwork), rooting out corruption, seeking the truth, exploring new horizons.

for essek... he spends a long time waiting for the past to catch up to him. it doesn't. it already has, in a way, if only in his own mind, the once unfamiliar guilt that weighs heavily on his shoulders. it never goes away, not entirely, but time heals, and so does the presence of the rest of the nein, always in his life, for as long as they can be. though he and caleb have different goals, they overlap so neatly, and though essek has a place in his own homeland, he spends far, far more time living with caleb. he continues with his research, caleb and beau poring over his notes, sharing his excitement and passion. he doesn't go on adventures near as much as the others, preferring to stay home, but he visits them, in all their different homes scattered across the land - jester in nicodranas, the clays at the blooming grove, veth and her family on the outskirts of zadash, beau and yasha's cottage in a little forest near felderwin. he has homes scattered across the land, so many places he is always welcome, and while guilt never entirely leaves, nor does the knowledge that one day, of course, all this will end, he finds peace.

i guess the reason i've never thought about the campaign ending is because for me.. it doesn't, not really. the mighty nein are family, chosen family. they stay together, they find homes in each other, and they leave every place better than they found it.

#yes i did this by seat position bc otherwise every single time i forget someone #though in my mind it used to be fjord beau caleb nott jester molly/cad yasha #then they MOVED #i had tokyo sunrise in my head while writing this i think that is why there is so Much #idk where jester being a writer came from i was just trying to think about what she would do for herself and it just #snapped into place i guess #anyway writing this devastated me. thank you anon #critical role #mighty nein

[sockablock]

(start) - (previous) - (next)

Chapter 4: Just a Parlor Trick

“—and this is your room! Or it will be, soon, once we get your stuff moved in.”

A blur of curls flew past Nott and dove headfirst onto the bare mattress. Two-feet-two of little halfling boy sprung up, danced around in a circle, and surveyed his new kingdom by bouncing on the bed.

It was—as Nott would be the first to admit—pretty bare at the moment. Caleb had already taken all of his belongings, but there hadn’t been that much to begin with. Aside from the bed-now-turned-trampoline, there was just an oak wardrobe, and a rug. The only other fixture of note was the window, framed by thin blue drapes, currently open and letting in the sea breeze.

“What do you think, Luc?” Yeza grinned from the doorframe. “How do you like it?”

“The ocean is so cool!” Luc’s hair flew around in a storm as he jumped. “And the people—there’s so many people, Dad! That big turtle at the restaurant—his back had a pipe in it!”

Nott felt the ghost of a touch on her arm. When she caught Yeza’s tentative expression, she forced herself to relax into it.

The illusion had held so far, hadn’t it? And besides, her husband already knew the truth.

“It’s okay,” she said quietly. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” Then she gave her son a smile. “And what do you think about the house, sweetie? Do you like your room?”

Luc, mid-air, gave this some thought.

“It’s smaller than my old room,” he said. “The window is bigger. Can I put my pictures up?”

There was a box of posters somewhere in the moving van. Apparently, some time in the last three years, Luc had gotten incredibly invested in a semi-popular cartoon series featuring a team of adventurers who solved mysteries in the Marrow Valley. Yeza had told her during one of their rare reunions that the clerk at the store was all but giving them away; something about increasing promotional awareness.

“Of course you can put your pictures up, Luc.”

He beamed a freckled, toothy smile.

“I like it, Mom! Can I put them up now?”

— — —

Jester hummed cheerfully to herself as she made her way through the streets of Nicodranas.

The novelty of such an act was not lost on her, and not just because she’d spent most of her life indoors—the last time she’d hurried down a road like this, it’d been under much less enjoyable circumstances.

But Jester had more tricks up her sleeves these days, and skipping between street merchants and bustling crowds, weaving through the Opal Archways in the middle of rush hour, she was certain she could hide from any watching eyes.

She squeezed the picnic basket in her arms, packed tight with the best pastries money could buy. She’d keep an eye out, too, for that little sidewalk café that did the strawberry-mango drinks Momma liked, though Jester suspected that her mother was just feigning enthusiasm to get her to eat more fruit.

The stoplight above flickered twice, then turned green. She looked both ways, then skipped across the street.

Maybe she should make a stop for sandwiches. And flowers, while she was at it—and over there, a book sale! Now that Jester was finally back home, with the Chateau such an easy walk from her apartment, every weekend she did her best to bring the whole city to her mother’s boudoir.  

Not that—and here she giggled at the thought—Momma needed any help there.

The Ruby of the Sea was busy, after all. Just not too busy for her little sapphire.

— — —

The thing was, Essek’s mother was busy.

She was always busy, and with good reason at that; for longer than Essek had even been alive—and how much longer before that, gods knew—Deirta Thelyss had been the Umavi of Den Thelyss, and therefore a permanent and immovable fixture in the intricate political dance of the Kryn Dynasty.

In another life, perhaps, Essek might have followed in her footsteps and joined her in running the country—though, if she got her way, there was a good chance that he ultimately would. But, as the Dynasty and Empire so far had managed to maintain a tenuous hold on peace, currently there was little need for a person of Essek’s particular talents.

The irony of that statement occasionally made him want to laugh, though he didn’t much feel like laughing now. It had taken a considerable amount of willpower to even drag him over to his desk, and there he sat with his forehead to the surface, lamenting that going back to bed hadn’t solved his problems.

Why was Mother bothering to attend the upcoming Clovis Concord Gala? Not a single one of these coastal cities was closely allied with the Dynasty, and the sheer geographical distance between them made the two nations vaguely aware of each other at best. In fact, Essek had chosen Nicodranas specifically because of how little the Bright Queen cared about it.

Which meant the unavoidable fact of the matter was that Mother was coming just for him.

The wood of his desk was cold on his head. If she were here now, she’d tell him to sit up.  

Actually, she’d probably say much more than that. If Verin was telling the truth—and his brother had always been on his side when it came to Mother— fending off another round of her attempts to force him home would only be half the struggle.

He kicked his chair back and listened to the way his wheels slid across the floor. Distantly, he could just make out some muted shuffling coming from the kitchen, and he had to remind himself that it was probably not a burglar, but Caleb.

Today was his second day in the apartment, and the man would probably need a few days to settle in. Though, Essek noted with a hint of satisfaction, Caleb seemed like a very efficient person. He’d actually…quite enjoyed their negotiation last night, despite how long it ended up being. For just a few hours his fear of an impending maternal maelstrom had been staved off by the way Widogast sometimes quirked his eyebrow while he was reading, or by the way he’d gently tap the clip of his borrowed pen with his thumb…

Essek had let him keep it, afterwards. He hadn’t even considered doing otherwise.

And as that thought crossed his mind, his restful silence was shattered by a crash.

— — —

“Knock-knock, Momma!”

“Ah, Jester! Come in! Close the door behind—oh, bother.”

This was immediately followed with the sound of air snapping to fill a void, then another minor explosion accented by four scrabbling paws.

“Nugget! Oh, Nuggy, I’ve missed you so much—”

Marion Lavore hiked up her skirts and gently side-stepped the slobber on the floor. She made her way back to her chaise lounge just a moment after Jester peeled herself from the dog.

“He’s getting quite big,” her mother said, artfully removing the exhaustion from her tone. But two decades of living under Momma’s roof gave Jester all the hint that she needed.

“Oh, I want to take him back, I really do, but the apartment doesn’t let us have dogs.” Jester sank into a plush sofa with Nugget wagging his tail at her heels. He put his head in her lap and drooled.

“And…your luck with finding a…a new apartment?”

“We’ve all been busy, Momma,” Jester sighed. “Beau is working all day long to set up a new library by the Quay, and Yasha disappears all the time even though she’s…feeling better now. I think it’ll be a while until everything’s calmed down and we can look.”

Marion pointedly did not think about the many curtains that Nugget had already eaten in three months.

“Ah, well. I understand. And how are you doing, my sweet?”

Jester giggled. “I’m doing good! I’ve been drawing and painting a lot by the sea, and keeping busy with other arts and crafts. Did you know people on the Internet will buy dozens of tiny clay dick statues? The Traveler thought it was very funny.”

Her mother’s expression was an ocean of calm. “Oh, is that…is that so? Well, I’m glad to hear you’re finding ways to…spend your day.”

“I brought some to show you!”

“Oh, how...lovely…”

“Some paintings, Momma.” Jester set aside the picnic basket and fished around in her knapsack. The bag was a horrifically pink mess of burlap and loud, jangly pins. Jester had to shove aside quite a few rolls of brushes and capped paints as she searched.

Marion watched her work with interest. “Well, even if you had brought a…the statue, I would—oh, Jester. It’s beautiful!”

Jester beamed as her mother took the canvas, gingerly like it was—and it was—fine art.

In her hands, a stunning landscape of the sea beside Nicodranas at dawn, pale pink light glancing off the tide and a thin breath of sun just above the water.

“It’s for you, Momma!”

“Oh, Jester, I couldn’t possibly—”

“Take it.” She laughed. “I have lots more at home, but this one’s my favorite so you should have it.”

Decades of living with a burgeoning artist had taught Marion not to hug the piece to her chest, though she quite wanted to.

“I’ll hang it up, then. In a place of honor,” she said seriously. “Maybe heading up the stairs? The light there is lovely, and that way I know the most important people will get to see it.”

Jester’s smile could have swallowed up the world. “Thanks, Momma.”

“No, thank you, my sweet. Now, come. What else have you been doing? What’s new and exciting with your…what did you call yourselves? The Mighty Nein?”

Jester helped her mother lay out a feast’s worth of pastries across the coffee table. Nugget eyed the bounty like a lit fuse until Jester also produced a chewing bone, which he gleefully snapped up and began to gnaw.

“I wanted to make sure we didn’t have a repeat of last time, so I stopped by a pet store,” she explained, munching on a strawberry tart. “And we’re all doing good! Caleb’s move went well, and Nott’s family just landed.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” her mother said. “You know, it would not have been a problem for them to stay with me. At least while they got settled.”

“I know, I know, but I think since she already had a place, she wanted them there, you know? And anyway, she said she didn’t want to impose.”

“Of course,” Marion nodded. “And perhaps the Chateau is…it would be a bit unconventional for a family to stay here, hm?”

“We did it!”

“We did, but we are an unconventional family.”

Jester laughed, then brushed a few crumbs off her skirt. “What have you been doing lately, Momma? Any news? Any interesting clients?” She waggled her eyebrows for emphasis.

“Well,” her mother smiled faintly, “actually, I…might have something interesting to tell you. I was, ah…well, I was invited to a party. To sing, but also as a guest.”

“What?!” Jester threw her hands in the air. “Oh, Momma, that’s amazing!”

“I, ah…might decline.”

Jester’s elation vanished instantly. “Oh, Momma. Is it…the outside…?”

Marion shrugged. It was a decidedly unrefined gesture, and left a little crinkle in her robe. “I’m just…well, you know I’ve made a little progress since you got back, but…I don’t know. I’m not sure I’d feel so comfortable being in a place like that alone.”

Jester reached across the table to pat her mother on the hand. “I understand. It’s probably just a dumb party anyway, I’m sure you won’t be missing much!”

“It’s…well, it’s the 400th Anniversary Gala of the Clovis Concord.”

“Oh, man.”

“Tell me about it, dear,” Marion sighed.

There was a moment’s pause, filled with the sound of thoughtful chewing.

And then:

“What if we went with you?”

Marion blinked twice.

“I beg your pardon?”

— — —

They left Luc in his new bedroom happily slapping tape to the wall. Yeza had been worried that this would damage the paint when they’d eventually have to take down his posters, but Nott reassured him that getting back the safety deposit for this apartment was already a lost cause.

“There was a…small incident,” she said, as he poured her tea, “involving electricity. And…a mild fire.”

“Oh, man. Did you guys blow the fuse box or something?”

Nott debated whether or not exploding a microwave with voltaic bolts fell under that category.

“Mm, yeah, it was something like that.” She watched him sink into the chair across the table, paying special attention to the way his glasses bounced on his nose.

He hadn’t needed glasses three years ago. He hadn’t been quite so pale, either.

“So, how is your friend Caleb?” Yeza asked, tilting his head slightly at her silence. “Is he alright? Settled in and everything?”

Nott quickly scrounged up her smile. “He is! Actually, his place is really nice. Cheap, too, from what I’ve heard.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Yeza sipped his tea, leaving a little half-crescent above his lip. “I was worried about him. You told him for me, right? How much I appreciate this?”

“Of course I did. And I told him plenty that he didn’t have to, but he really insisted, and…well. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy that he did.”

Yeza put a biscuit in her hands. “We’ll send him a fruit basket, then. With pineapples! Heck, I should send one to all of your friends, for pitching in for the plane tickets. They’re really kind.”

“They are pretty great, aren’t they?” Nott took a bite, coating her tongue with chalky crumbs. “They’ll probably be around at some point—they want to see you and the boy again.”

“Is the tall one still around? With the pink hair? I liked him.”

Nott gave a laugh. “I’ll tell him you said that. It’s been quiet these last few days, you know, so it’ll really be great to have the company back. Not that—oh, gods, not that you and Luc aren’t—”

“I get it, I get it,” Yeza shook his head. “Don’t worry. Like we said over the phone, right? It’ll take…there’ll be an adjustment period.”

Nott set her mug down on the table. Her smile was a little less firm now.

“You and Luc are here,” she said again, quietly. “You’re here, but I…I’m talking about my friends, I shouldn’t be saying those things, should I? I…should focus on you two—”

“Hey, no, Veth. Not at all.”

“But it is unfair,” she sighed. “I…sweetie, I’m so happy to see you, and the boy, but now that…Caleb’s gone, and the two of you have moved in, a…a part of me, an awful part of me, already misses—”

“Veth, it’s okay—"

“It’s not, I mean we’re married—gods, wait, I’d never betray—”

“Veth.”

A hand touched her shoulder. Yeza’s voice was low and soft. “Honey, it’s okay. It really is okay, and I…I know. It’s complicated. I know. We haven’t been a family for a while—and none of that is your fault, it just isn’t. It’s just…been a tough few years, for us, but also especially for you. I doubt I could’ve survived what you’ve been through, after all. And things have changed—I’ve changed, I mean—I snore again, and I’ve gotten used to Edith helping around our house, and…I guess what I’m trying to say, is that it’s only natural…it’s only fair, that you’re allowed to change too. It’s okay. We talked about this, right?”

“Right,” Nott murmured.

“So it’ll be okay. We’ll make it work. And it’s still you, right? You still love me, right?”

She felt herself nod. Then, gently, “I didn’t stop loving you.”

“Well, that’s good. Neither did I.”

This time, she risked a glance up, and saw his smile. Yeza’s smiles were always a little lop-sided, smushing his freckles, and crinkling one eye. She’d made fun of that when they were younger, and let go of a breath when she saw that hadn’t changed.

As she exhaled, she gave a nod. Then a chuckle.

“Right. Right. Of course we will. We’re…probably going to have to enroll Luc in school. It—it’s summer now, but when autumn swings around…what is he? In first grade? In second?”

Yeza laughed. “This fall will be his first year of school.” Then his eyes widened. “Oh, gods, it’s his first year of school. He…I don’t even know if he’s ready, if he’s…wait, is it different in Nicodranas? Are there tests? Is this a good school district, I—I didn’t even check—”

This time, it was Veth who stopped him. “Relax,” she said, and poked Yeza’s nose. “His dad is the most brilliant chemist in the world. We can look up all that other stuff.”

She brushed his cheek with her other thumb. “Like you said. We’ve got this. We’ll make it work.”

— — —

It had started with a recipe for blueberry muffins.

It had ended, more or less, somewhere around the time that Caleb realized neither he nor Essek owned measuring cups—and anyway, the blueberries were looking a little mushy so maybe he should wait until next week to surprise the Brenattos, that way he’d have a chance to get better ones, even though their move-in day was technically today—

And at that point, Frumpkin had jumped into the cabinet, dislodging what sounded like years’ worth of unused pots, knocking down an avalanche of dusty pans.

The last skillet clanged like thunder as it spun to a stop on the floor.

“Mist. Frumpkin—”

Ever the cat, Frumpkin deftly wove out of Caleb’s grasp and darted for the counter. He perched himself unblinking at the edge of the sink and licked his paw, as if for emphasis.

Caleb sighed. He crouched down to reach for the nearest displaced kitchen implement, a stock pot.

“You know,” he began, exasperated, “you could at least help me out with this mess.”

“Is that so?”

He whipped around so quickly that his head hit the handle of a drawer. One hand flew up, he startled, “Miste—Essek?”

His landlord raised a curved eyebrow. With the mid-afternoon light streaming in through the windows, the purplish tint to Essek’s complexion was something akin to a dusting of twilight. His hair was half-tousled, like it’d been mussed by something, and his hand lingered on the doorknob.

“I…my cat,” Caleb managed. “That is, er. I apologize. Deeply. For the commotion.”

Essek looked him over. “I thought we had agreed on silence last night, no?”

Caleb hung his head, and he could feel disappointment coming, undoubtedly with despair on its coattails.

“I have broken the terms,” he said mutely. “I…I am sorry. I understand what that means.”

His gaze clung to the polished floor. Which was why he missed it when the heavy stock pot took on a faint, shimmering, blueish glow. And then the saucepan began to shine. And then a wok, a spatula, a bowl—

All of the fallen cookware slowly began to rise through the air. As they moved, a parade past Caleb’s amazed expression, slipping by Frumpkin’s outstretched paw, each individual pot righted itself, formed into lines, then were quickly and neatly whisked away into the cabinet above.

The doors clicked as they shut.

“I…but that—what spell was that?”

Mentally, Caleb kicked himself. He should’ve apologized.

But Essek only chuckled. “Oh, that was just a parlor trick. An idle curiosity about the…shall we say, limits of gravity. Particularly regarding how easy they are to break.”

Caleb scrambled up to his feet. “But I have never seen control like that on such a grand scale before. Your spell, it—Telekinesis only controls one object at once.”

“Well,” Essek allowed himself a smirk. “Telekinesis is a watered-down version of what true dunamancy can accomplish. I will say, even getting that far was impressive. I have seen your documentation.”

“Gods,” though, Caleb noticed, there was not a trace of resentment in his tone. “Here I thought our transmutative literature was the most advanced there was.”

Essek shrugged. “Please, do not misunderstand me. It is good, for Empire wizards, especially. Until then, I had been under the impression that your lot only excelled at evocation.”

“We are a dab hand at necromancy too,” Caleb said dryly, “if the stories from twenty years ago are believed.”

This actually won a laugh. “Maybe I am the one being too cruel. It was your people who pioneered the earliest manipulations of air elemental magic, no? It is truly an interesting method for conquering gravity.”

“Yours is better,” Caleb said, before he could stop himself. “If you think that a parlor trick, my friend, I hesitate to ask else you could accomplish.”

“Why hesitate?”

And then, Caleb blinked. Somewhere in the distance, Frumpkin nudged his shoulder, but in that moment, all he could focus on was Essek.

“I…excuse me?”

And with that, the spell was broken. Essek slid into a kitchen chair.

“Nevermind, nevermind,” he waved his hand. “And please. Do not worry about that mess. I am not so unreasonable to think that accidents can never happen. Just, ah…you have been a wonderful roommate so far. In the future…?”

“You have my word,” Caleb said. He slipped the carton of slightly-mushy blueberries behind him.

“Excellent,” Essek nodded. “Well. If that is settled, I might sit here and, ah…get some work done?”

Caleb, dense as he was, got the message. “I just—of course, I will be gone in a moment, I’ll just put these things away—”

“No rush at all. I am not in any hurry.”

And indeed, whether or not Essek was just being polite, it did seem like the man was…a bit distracted. Caleb had no right to poke into his business, which was a violation of Section II, Subsection IV anyway, but he couldn’t help but ask Frumpkin to take the tiniest peek at Essek’s face.

Something was bothering his landlord. And for once, still basking in the afterglow of powerful magic, Caleb was almost sure it wasn’t him.

He found out just as he was heading to his room.

“Might I, ah, ask you a question?”

Caleb had enough composure to turn around at a normal person’s pace.

“Yes?”

Essek ran a hand through his hair. “Actually, it…it is more of a favor.”

“Oh,” said Caleb. And when more was required, “Yes?”

“Yes already?” He blinked. “But I did not say what it was.”

“I meant,” Caleb amended, leaning against his doorframe, “please describe this favor to me.”

“Ah,” said Essek. “Right. I, er…”

How in the gods’ names was he supposed to phrase something ridiculous as this?

“I wonder…” he tried, “that is…if you might…would it be…are you perhaps…are you busy this weekend?”

Whatever he was expecting, this absolutely was not it.

“I—no?” Caleb said, out of pure shock. Then he shook his head and added, “I do not think so, no.”

“Ah,” said Essek. Somehow he seemed even more uncomfortable now. “That is…excellent.” It did not sound excellent. “If…well, if that is the case, then…do you think you could…help me with something?”

Caleb waited patiently. “With something?”

“A date.”

“A what?”

“No—not—oh, gods, I am doing this wrong.” Essek actually put his head in his hands, and Caleb once again had to throttle his own surprise.

Then, in a move made by a part of him so bold he didn’t even know he still had it, Caleb re-entered the kitchen and down in the seat across from Essek.

“I think, perhaps you should start from the beginning.”

Essek nodded miserably. He breathed in.

“You are right, Caleb.”

He breathed out.

“So. It’s like this…”

— — —

✨ Ko-Fi Link in Bio! ✨ | Requests are OPEN

#thanks so much for reading!! #critical role #critfic #fic #shadowgast #fanfiction #fanfic #critrole #long post #SUCH a long post im so sorry if the break doesn't work yall tumblr is like that sometimes hfjgk #jay writes #now what are the chances of that #nwtcot #modern au #text #<3333333333333333

[ravenquing]

Critical Role Season 2 Episode 136 Thoughts (Part Two):

Continuing from my last post...

Dear Raven Queen and Vax'ildan, Champion Of The Raven Queen, may ye protect these poor fools.

--

"We believe in you"

CALEB 😭💙

--

I'm terrified.

Cad has casted Death Ward.

I'm terrified.

--

What's this?

Me and Cree actually agreeing on something??

Fuck.

Don't likey.

But yeah.

Lucien, cut the crap.

--

"TELL US MORE CIRCUS MAN" CALEB 💙💙💙

AHAHWHAH

24 & 30 INSIGHT CHECKS

SOMETHING ABOUT THE WORDS CALEB SAID RANG SOMETHING

JAJWNJQIhwbwb

--

Oh Gods, is Lucy actually fucking monologuing?

This. Isn't. Story. Time.

SHUT UP!

Have I mentioned that I absolutely hate this guy???

Fucking smooth brianed cult leader douchebag motherfucker piss baby-

--

The showman, Molly, is coming through so hard rn

SHUT UP LUCIEN YOU'RE A SHITTY SHOW HOST

--

Oh yeet, portalz

The City Too

Nice nice niceniceni-

--

Lucien, you ain't the hot shit you think you are, honey 💅

--

INITIATIVE TIME

"The ticket master is a bitch!" Go off, Travis!

--

I just

My brian hurts and feels numb at the same time

This

Wow

Yeah

Fuck Lucien

--

BEAU NARUTO RUNNING ACROSS WATER, I-

--

ANOTHER LEGENDARY

AJJSHEHW

--

"It's now the creature's turn."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Are you tho, Mat???

--

"One at Caleb-"

"That's not right."

LIAM

--

OH BEAY YASHA AND CALEB GOT IT HARD

Beau just blanked because GAY✨👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

---And Caleb is grappled…

-_-

--

VETH ROLLED 81 FOR WILD MAGIC

VETH SHRUNK TO TINY

tiny vax 🤝 tiny veth

--

CALEB CASTS TELEPORT

1D20 - 18

1D100 - 70

1D100 - 81

TELEPORT SUCCESSFUL

CALEB IS A SHEEP NOW

WHAT

"sheep-shifted"

Sheep-leb enters the portal.

BEAUTIFUL

"In space no one can hear you bleet" TRAVIS

THE SHEEP JOKES

--

I'm now being reminded of the time I got home from highschool and found a runaway lamb from a nearby farm in my back garden--

I love living in the Scottish countryside, shit be wild.

--

"SPARKLY DUNAMANCY WINGS"

"GOTH MY LITTLE PONY"

LIAM I LOVE YOU

--

CADUCEUS PICKS UP ESSEK AHHH ✨

ESSEK IS SCREAMING

This keeps happening to Essek lately XD

--

FUCKING LEGENDARY ACTIONS

FUCK

IT HITS CADDY & ESSEK

"MAYBE IT'LL HIT YOU INTO THE PORTAL"

"PINBALL WIZARD"

--

"Are sheep Caleb's eyes square?"

WELL ARE THEY MATTHEW???

--

"Anything for my princess"

ASHLEY, MADAM 🥺

We're winning, beauyashas!!

--

What is Artagan thinking???

How is he doing???

What's his thoughts???

--

t i n y v e t h ✨

--

"OH MY GOD I HAVE A REACTION TO THAT"

I KNOW HE'S CADUCEUS BUT ALL I'M HEARING IS MY GOOD BOY PERCIVAL

TALIESIN I'M CRYING

--

ESSEK IS LOOKING ROUGH

OH NO

ESSEK IS GRAPPLED

FUCK

--

TUG OF WAR BUT ESSEK IS THE ROPE ✨

--

Regular rolls… 🎵

Regular rolls... 🎵

--

CLUTCH MISTY STEP

"damn misty and her steps--"

--

OH JESS-

AH VETH!

PULL THE LEVER KRONK

FUCK YEAH TINY VETH!!

JESSIE IS SAFE!!!

--

"think we can have a feast out here in the sea?"

JESTER

--

OH FFS NOT THE SCREAMING AGAIN MATT

poor Cay & Beau

--

WOW WHAT A FUCKING STREAM HOLY FUCK

JAJAHAHWHAH

thanks RQ & Vax bby for keeping these morons alive 💙

-- STREAM END --

SO THAT WAS A STREAM YESTERDAY

I can assure you, I did not sleep peacefully afterwards

Hoooo boyyyy

Fucking wild yo

I can't even

I don't know how to close this off properly, I just

That was a lot

So uh...

Bidet?!

#critical role #cr spoilers #cr c2 e136 #part 2 of 2 #lynias shut up challenge