#cr sabian

[amurih]

There is nothing stoping Jester from like “who was phone” Sabian like she did with Beau’s dad. Fjord has mask of many faces/major/minor image, he can give Jester what he looks like, and she can endlessly fuck around with him without actually meeting.

Mask of many faces🤝sending🤝major/minor image

#critical role #jester lavorre #cr sabian #fjord

[demenior]

Random Fjord theory that I take as a truth bc there's nothing to tell me otherwise and it doesn't change anything:

Fjord and Sabian have the same birthday.

Actually, all of the kids who came out of the orphanage have the same "legal" birthday. The orphanage lists all of their birthdays as the first day of the new year, because it's easier for record keeping.

#jester and veth spend a LOT of time #with astrology charts #to try and pick a new bday for fjord #fjord stone #anyways this is always background true to me for all of my writing #technically fjord doesn't know how old he is exactly #by like a year either way #but it barely matters tbh #especially in fantasy worlds where you are a child or an adult lmao #sabian cr #cr sabian #this is also where my idea #of the tides breath crew #referring to fjord n sabian as [the brothers] comes from #tbh both sabian and fjord didn't like it #but it was kind of a hazing name calling thing that meant they'd been hashtag accepted by the crew #so they put up w it #it DOES make it funny tho #in the versions of fjords backstory #where i think he and sabian had a very bad romance for a bit #yes those are the Stone brothers #yes they are making out #don't question it they'll be back to fighting each other tomorrow #and we hope they grow out of it soon

[natp20]

i finally managed to get my hands on fjord's origin comic and i had to share some of my favourite things

the tide's breath having little hints of everybody's favourite snea snake

vandran using eldritch blast

KIRI IN VANDRAN'S OFFICE

a member of vandran's crew being a literal parrot

fjord and his natural enemy

captain tusktooth (affectionate) vs captain tusktooth (derogatory)

destiny awaits a young orc without a last name

fjord emulating vandran all the way down to his outfit

mask of many faces

the sword of fathoms in vandran's office

and a dash of travis willingham's player characters inception

#critical role #cr2 #the mighty nein #mighty nein origins #anyway anybody wanna help me find sabian and grankton and beat the shit out of them #i miss my son #hope he's doing well wherever he is with the world about to end in a week #fjord stone #my screenshots #cr comics

[captainofthetidesbreath]

tbh Sabian's design is like, to me, this is a bisexual, you can't tell me he doesn't look incredibly bisexual. he wears his hair long and in a braid, he has one (1) fingerless glove, he carries a stiletto dagger in his coat as if it is a lapel pin. this is an incredibly bisexual man.

#Sabian as the toxic and problematic queer rep they warn you about #Critical Role things #CR #MNO spoilers

[fjordstan]

very important notes. with 2 "focus fjord"s and a little "heck you fjord!"

#critical role #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #mighty nein origins #fjord origins comic #mno spoilers #cr fjord #fjord stone #vandran #sabian #orig #thirsting for a sea man

[bardly-working]

“I really, really don’t like you” - thoughts about Fjord, Eadwulf, and Betrayal

So I was reading @thechekhov‘s BEAUTIFUL quickreacts to C2′s finale, and I kept thinking about Eadwulf.  Specifically, about Fjord’s very tense and weirdly angry banter with Eadwulf.  Fjord doesn’t tend to do a lot of banter with his enemies in combat.  With his friends?  Sure.  But not his enemies: he doesn’t care about them.  He just needs to get rid of them.  But there was weirdly a lot of talk here.  “I’m really, really glad this is happening, I don’t like you.”  “You excited? Hexblade’s Curse.”

Why does Fjord dislike Eadwulf so much?  Is it just because the Nein focused more on Astrid (for a variety of reasons, some of which we can only speculate on), and got to see her in vulnerable moments we didn't get with Wulf?  Hmmm, maybe.  But I think it's about something more than that.

I want to talk about Fjord and betrayal.  I want to talk about Sabian.

Even by the end of the campaign, we still know almost nothing about Sabian.  Vandran calls him a coward in Ep 141, Fjord says they grew up together both worked on the Tide’s Breath.  I’ve seen fans’ suggestions that Sabian was Fjord’s childhood bully, that they’d once been best friends, and that they were just kind-of-indifferent-to-each-other-but-still-family.  But despite the fact that Fjord almost never mentions the guy, his fixation on revenge never dies down.  Even after all of his healing and growth and confidence (and Fjord grew SO much, you guys), at the end of the Rumblecusp arc he still hires Kotho to track down Sabian.  And he still checks on Kotho’s progress in Ep 117.  This isn’t to say he’s wrong to do so!  Just that it’s something unresolved that’s clearly very important to him.  For all his personal growth and his new lease on life (thanks, Wildmom!), it’s something he can’t let go of.

But let’s look at other instances of perceived betrayal.

When Caleb makes an only-slightly-risky play to grab a scroll case in the High Richter's house in Ep 12 "Midnight Espionage," Fjord overreacts WILDLY (and yes I will die on this hill).  Nott made a lot of salient points later: there was plenty of evidence of their shenanigans already, the other house had been totally wrecked, and the crownsguard weren't going to be asking about Prucine’s missing property when Prucine is the one under investigation.  This was a gut reaction to what Fjord perceived as a betrayal of their group by Caleb putting his own interests before theirs, and escalated in a way that was more about ego and toxic masculinity than about the event itself.  Fjord admits later (in Ep 98, “Dark Waters”) that he's somewhat ashamed of his initial reaction.  But I still think the reaction itself is rather telling.

When Yasha ‘leaves’ the group in Ep 69 (nice) “The King’s Cage”, Fjord is the first person to suggest that Yasha had betrayed the group of her own free will, even declaring "We've been played the whole time. How stupid are we?”  He continues to remain fixated — understandably — on the fact that his friend, a woman he was imprisoned by the Iron Shepherds with, not only abandoned him when he tried to save her, but made her best efforts to kill him and the rest of the M9.  It takes a considerable while for Jester and Beau and the others to convince him that maybe Yasha’s not in control, and he doesn’t really believe them until Jester’s scry reveals the burning mark on Yasha’s neck and sees her crying.  When they finally free Yasha from Obann’s control, he acknowledges that she was a victim in the situation, and had never wanted to hurt any of them.  But it’s still clearly hard for him to go through.  Fjord goes through a lot of character development during this time, and comes out of it actively trying to be more trusting and patient with people, which we see in our next case.

When Essek’s betrayal is revealed, Fjord tries really hard to not go with that gut reaction (”Right, but we trust Essek; we have to at least give him the opportunity to fail, right? I mean, he might be altruistic. He might be doing this for good reasons.” Ep 97).  After Essek’s confession he just... sort of goes quiet.  Even after that, he makes very few for-or-against statements, because as strongly as he feels about betrayal... he’s been wrong before, and he’s seen the very real grief and remorse in Essek’s confession.

But what does this have to do with Eadwulf?  Well, lets think of what Fjord’s knowledge of Eadwulf is and what his experience with him has been by the end of Ep 110:

Caleb, Eadwulf, and Astrid were extremely close

they were trained as assassins and torturers

they were trained under a fascistic political ideology by Trent Ikithon

the three of them killed their own parents in cold blood as part of a test

Caleb was left in an asylum for 11 years (note: Caleb told them this minutes before they met Eadwulf for the first time)

Astrid and Eadwulf abandoned him there and did not, to Caleb’s knowledge, try to get him out

Caleb says they never wavered in their beliefs, and he does not know that Astrid and Eadwulf are redeemable

Even after everything, they believe their work and the suffering they — and Caleb — endured was worth it “for the Empire”

Wulf, in three separate conversations, never appears bothered by any of the events surrounding Caleb or their past, and seems proud of being a "living magical weapon"

to top it all off... he asked Cad “what are you” which was just fkn rude lbh

Fjord can forgive a lot of shit.  Theft, torture, starting a war, following the call of an apocalyptically evil demigod, mail fraud.  But one thing he cannot forgive is personal betrayal.

And from what Fjord’s seen, Caleb was left to rot for 11 years in a nightmarish political prison by people he considered his dearest friends.  At least Astrid showed some obvious regret for it all.  She showed a softness when Caleb danced with her.  Beau saw her crying in an alleyway.  She let them escape in Tidepeak Tower.  We had the opportunity

Eadwulf?  Fjord hasn’t seen any of that from him.  Hasn’t even heard it.

I’m not surprised that Fjord has projected all of his resentments and feelings of betrayal onto Eadwulf.  Sabian is far away.  Eadwulf is here.  And he hurt Fjord’s friend.

....ANYWAY I’M REALLY EXCITED FOR THE MIGHTY NEIN REUNION ONESHOT, HOW ABOUT Y’ALL?

#fjord #cr meta #I started writing this shit in February and then just left it in drafts #don't know why i never posted it #but here ya go! #critical role #mighty nein #it's missing them hours #eadwulf grieve #sabian #c2 spoilers #fjord stone

[utilitycaster]

Something that I find misses the point so completely it is breathtaking is when people are like "this player hates engaging with their backstory" about the CR cast. It's pretty much never true, and what's worst is that I've seen it the most about Travis and Taliesin, two of the players who I think have the strongest grasp on how to create and engage with a backstory.

The choice to have a character who avoids elements of their past can be a valid, informed, and deliberate character choice. People run from their pasts! People decide not to pursue things for a number of reasons - because it hurts too much, because they're scared to know the answer, because they think the people around them don't care, and because their interests change. Caduceus very much is an avoidant character. He has access to Sending by the time we first meet him, and he never uses it to try to contact his family. That's not Taliesin being stupid or avoiding. That's Caduceus making a conscious choice to not ask the question "is my family dead" because he is terrified the answer is yes. He waits for a concrete sign to go after his family to the point of deep loneliness and self-harm out of this fear. That's a crucial trait that you need to understand him as a character! Ashton is also on some level similar in that he engages in no shortage of harmful, wallowing, and self-indulgent behaviors - and that is a choice. They also have obviously messy feelings about the Hishari and it's pretty plain to see they feel extremely conflicted about their growing bonds with Bells Hells because now they'll feel bad if Bells Hells leaves them. So of course he's hesitant to bring this to Orym, because then he's entrusted Orym with this information, and he has to care, and again, this is a major part of who Ashton is.

The same goes with Fjord and Vandran (and Sabian). One of the core themes of Fjord's story is deciding whether to run from or embrace your past, and which parts of that past you want to bring forward as you change, which means that to explore that, he has to do some running! He makes efforts to learn more about where they are (going to search for Vandran during the Zadash downtime; hiring a bounty hunter for Sabian) but those get interrupted by Fjord's shifting feelings about Vandran, and fact that this is an ensemble and the story naturally shifts.

Which brings us to the practical element. Fjord doesn't want to release Uk'otoa at the time, so it makes sense to return to the mainland and process next steps, and the focus of the story then turns to rescuing Yeza, and then finding Yasha, and rescuing Caduceus's family, and changing Veth back, and brokering peace, and TravelerCon, and Eiselcross. Through this, he still in fact does quite a lot of backstory work (changing patrons and taking a paladin oath, asking Jester to contact Vandran), as well as an immense amount of character growth and engagement with the ongoing story, but Travis doesn't wrench everything off its natural course just to check off every box on Fjord's list, because that would be selfish, obnoxious, and not fun to watch. And Caduceus achieves exactly what he set out to do! He found and rescued his family and found a way to hold off the corruption! Despite his avoidance, he covers all the bases! And as for Ashton...we've had precious little time to cover anyone's backstory in depth other than Imogen's, and we've actually seen a decent amount of Ashton's backstory regardless with their contacts in Bassuras and their interactions with Jiana. There simply was not time in Bassuras to stray from the main objectives and search for the Nobodies, and I think if we had people would be annoyed since that arc already took a very long time (and, for what it's worth, rather like Fjord, Ashton has explicitly asked after The Nobodies. Do not mistake lack of payoff for character disinterest).

It is, to me, incredibly telling this criticism is most commonly seen about the two players who I think also get the most "well they had an central arc/more focus than my fave" criticism.There's no way to make everyone in the fandom happy, and I think Travis and Taliesin are the players at the table who most understand that and give the least fucks about what the fandom thinks, and who (possibly relatedly) have some of the strongest grasps of narrative and what it means to play in an ensemble. Which is in my opinion a major factor in why their characters are so good - even the ones I do not vibe with are fully realized and well-crafted, because the players are not trying to make likeable characters, but rather interesting ones, and they're not trying to take center stage, but rather be generous at the table.

#critical role #meta #truly as a fan i say fuck fandom wishes. if you're a good enough creator you'll make me like something i didn't know i would. #also lbh the fjord criticism is like 99.9% from people salty that travis did NOT lose interest in the character and had fjord romance jeste #they're like yeah he was CLEARLY checked out but it's wishful thinking. they wish he had been and they're furious he wasn't. #this also reminds me of the accursed Suvi w/o the imperialism art i've mentioned #the character was designed to engage with the idea of empire and someone raised within it. you have given her an icepick lobotomy #it's also like. sometimes backstory is a hook. sometimes it's just there to inform the present. it's okay if it's the latter!

[thisisnotthenerd]

i've come back to the mighty nein in the cr regency au. some of them are easy to think up backstory for because of existing dynamics, some are a little harder to work with.

beau first: the lionetts are the ruling family of kamordah but for some shitty sexist primogeniture reasons, beau cannot inherit under her own power. maybe thoreau makes some shitty deals with isharnai still. idk. anyway, this bluestocking daughter of the aristocracy gets shipped off to the cobalt soul to ostensibly make her fit for society. too bad that she starts work as an expositor after becoming a monk, not a nun. when tj is born thoreau invites her back into the fold for marriage reasons--she ends up ousting him for his financials and takes control of the estate after awhile.

jester: still the beloved daughter of the ruby of the sea, still basically hidden away with only artagan to be her friend. the gentleman, as the ruler of the underbelly of zadash finds out that he has a daughter when she prances into the city causing chaos in her wake. i'm assuming he blackmails the sutan family into titling him at some point, so he legitimizes her as his daughter and sets her up to debut in the empire--somewhere in here he and marion get married.

fjord: an orphan still. works his way through childhood, ends up running off to sea with sabian and makes his fortune there. enters the season as a sea captain with a ship and some money behind him--some say that he acquired it through unusual arcane means. never seen without the falchion on his belt, later replaced with the rare dwueth'var.

caleb: the talented young commoner bren ermendrud is swept up by trent ikithon of the cerberus assembly. he along with several other talented young volstruckers dazzle the empire with their academic prowess and new scientific discovery. after several tragic incidents that rendered the volstruckers orphans, bren has a breakdown and ends up in a sanatorium. is there for 11 years. has a fit of sanity that enables him to escape--currently a traveling scholar using the name caleb widogast; assisted by a young lady who goes by the name nott the brave.

nott/veth: married to yeza and has luc when the village is attacked and she is left after what is thought to be her final stand. starts mixing with criminal elements as she tries to get back to her family--ends up basically running odd jobs until she meets caleb. they tour around universities for awhile but don't really have roots to put down because publicly both veth and bren are dead. avoids the season with a burning passion.

yasha: was quietly married to zuala for a number of years before attacks on their village caused her death. yasha ends up enlisting and working under obann, and her traumatized memories of battle are sealed away. currently a bodyguard to mollymauk, who really needs it.

mollymauk: after a catastrophic head injury, mollymauk tealeaf wakes up with no memory of lucien tavelle, the charismatic young man who worked his way up doing archaeological expeditions for the empire alongside his fellow tombtakers. convalesced for awhile alone before starting a fortunetelling business to entertain those that engage in the typical season. delights in hedonist pleasures and mingling with high society in order to leave his previous life behind.

caduceus: he and his family are stewards of the blooming grove at the edge of the savalirwood. priest of melora--he's the guy who everyone calls to do funerary rites. upon molly's passing in this au, this is how the m9 encounter him.

#critical role #cr regency au #the mighty nein #m9

[what-a-messek]

My brain's just been slowly chanting "Sabian" in the background of my mind since I saw the announcement PLEASE CR come through for me

#critical role #i know a lot of us are on the same page here #truly the only disappointment i had with the end of the campaign was not getting to know wtf was up with this guy #c2

[daggersandarrows]

40 for the cr ask meme, please :)

40. What named but as of yet unseen character do you most want to see onscreen?

oooh, you gave me an easy one. sabian by a MILE. the man fascinates me. i have my fingers crossed for this thursday!

#thanks! #katia-dreamer #critical role #ask game

[passingthegravesoftheunknown]

Finally can post these!! These are my pieces for the It Keeps Us Dancing PMV directed by @/skaterFc on twitter! Had a lot of fun giving life to these two moments: first is Fjord's second Uk'otoa vision, and the second is Beau confronting her father.

Check the replies for links to the project! (Trying to cheat out the fact that tumblr does not like links on posts)

✨do not repost my art | Reblogs are love✨

#critical role #critical role fanart #critical role art #critical role campaign 2 #cr2 #critrole #fjord #fjord stone #cr beauregard #beauregard lionett #cr beau #thoreau lionett #vandran #cr vandran #cr sabian #sabian #ptgotu art #it keeps us dancing #IKUD PMV #it keeps us dancing pmv

[critroleaintcrit]

i'm actually upset & pissed that we aren't getting a caleb vs. trent, fjord vs. sabian, vandren, fjord vs. uk'otoa, beau's family curse & the witch who cursed them, beau's trial, yasha's ENTIRE story - all her missing memories, WHY did she Fall? did cadeceus even get a story arc? didn't delve into ANYONE'S personal storyline or backstory beyond surface-level reveals. veth and jester are the only ones who got to play out their stories to a full resolution :/

.

(My ask box is open and anonymous is on so you can send in your thoughts and criticisms about the show without getting any backlash for expressing an opinion.)

#critical role #critical role campaign 2 #the mighty nein #mighty nein #cr2 #cr 2 #anonymous #anon #caleb widogast #trent ikithon #fjord stone #cr fjord #cr sabian #cr vandren #beauregard lionett #isharnai #yasha nydoorin #caduceus clay #jester lavorre #veth brenatto

[demenior]

You cannot tell me that Fjord and Sabian didn't have a mutually tocic relationship at one point. Everything about how Fjord speaks about him reads as Sabian being his ex.

I fully believe if (when) we learn more about Fjord's relationship with Sabian, it will have been an estranged, difficult friendship that may have turned fraternal through their time together under Vandran. They've got deep history and Sabian was definitely part of the crowd that was cruel to Fjord while they were in the orphanage. Also they have the camaraderie of "we survived it" that doesn't necessarily mean they trust each other, but they know how the other thinks so they're more comfortable with the devil they know vs the one they don't. I think no matter the form (romantic or platonic) their relationship is weighted down from their past and Sabian has made the mistake of literally killing Fjord's family and the people he was responsible for (his crew), and thinking that Fjord wouldn't come looking for revenge.

That being said, I think it's absolutely infinitely funnier if they're exes. I think Fjord's pattern of "that's hot" is "people who want to kill him", with Jester being the break in that pattern

#fjord exudes [you want to fuck me so bad it makss you stupid] #and unfortunately sabian and avantika took the bait #(this is a gross oversimplification for jokes) #fjord tusktooth #cr sabian

[vethbrenatto]

As far as the Cerberus Assembly/Empire storyline goes, I’m not really sure I want a oneshot for it, but I think an ideal ending there (for me) would be just a hint of the start of reform or revolution prompted by the M9 and Caleb’s actions. I think it would be really awesome to get to hear about that from a distance in Campaign 3, the same way the M9 got hints and whiffs of VM’s impact. If C3 took place again somewhere from 30-50 years in the future on a different continent, and the characters just got little hints of “Oh, there’s massive restructuring going in Wildemount/The Empire right now,” or a note on the crazy political climate was there, and we could just have that little ping in our minds about the M9′s impact. I just really like that idea because social reform is obviously a lengthy and intense process especially when rooted systemically, so seeing the Empire/CA just topple over in a oneshot or an episode doesn’t feel right. 

#critical role #cr spoilers #i would love to see some sort of uk'otoa oneshot though #or just a resolution to fjord's vandran/sabian arc if that doesn't happen in the epilogue #a yasha based oneshot would be fun too

[captainofthetidesbreath]

One of the most amusing things about the Fjorigins comic (and there are a lot of things in it that amuse me) is that Sabian is demonstrably shown to have a surname because it's written down in a panel, but it is deliberately illegible.

It's apparent that name isn't meant to be read when compared to the very legible "Sabian" and "Stone, Fjord" and to the deliberately illegible entries.

On the topic of other people's names, the comic also suggests that "Vandran" is his surname because it shows that his shipping company is called "Vandran's Merchantile Shipping" (using a dated spelling for "mercantile").

While the comic suggests this is his family name, there is, however, no suggestion as to what Vandran's personal name might be.

#Critical Role #Sabian CR #Vandran #The Mighty Nein Origins: Fjord Stone #Mighty Nein Origins #Critical Role things #MNO spoilers #Yes this hits digital like on Wednesday and I'm still photographing my comic bc I want to make this post nowww #I'll just swap the images then lmfao

[fjordstan]

fjord & jester & just the menagerie coast in general are so fucking superior. FUCK the empire FUCK the dynasty sorry caleb & beau & veth y'all got NOTHIN on the coast!

#west coast best coast am i rite yall #as a socal resident i'm— #critical role #menagerie coast #wildemount #jester lavorre #fjord #fjord stone #cr sabian #cr twiggy #y'all remember twiggy?? powerful #cr reani #cr calianna #yussa errenis #marion lavorre #nicodranas #port damali #orig #thirsting for a sea man #blueberry babeyy