#i need to take a nap maybe. i watched a whole episode of critical role this morning. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

agerefandom · 4 years

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Books and Pigments

(art by @sparrowinged, story written for @sparrowinged)

Fandom: Critical Role

Characters: Regressor!Caleb, regressor!Jester, featuring Mama!Nott, caregiver!Ford, and the rest of the Mighty Nein in the background (Beau, Yasha, and Molly)

Words: 3,000

Summary: Upstairs, Jester gives Caleb a bath and they both find the process nostalgic. Downstairs, the others discuss ‘somechildren,’ people who never fully grow up. They’re well-known in Wildemount, but much more accepted on the Menagerie Coast.

Content warnings: ‘Little’ is used as an adjective, but not a noun. Caleb’s backstory is briefly alluded to, as is memory loss from trauma. There is drinking (done by adults). Nott is considered a mother and is referred to as such.

Note: I’m only on episode 47, please excuse any backstory gaps!

Nott was the last to join the table, crawling onto a chair and grabbing a drink that was already on the table, downing most of it in one go.

“Nott!” Molly greeted her from the other side of the table, raising his own tankard to her. “Are the others not coming?”

“Jester has insisted on giving Caleb a bath,” Nott said once she was finished with her beer. “I left him in her capable hands.”

“Capable at many things,” Fjord pointed out. “I hope she’s feeling kind this evening, or Caleb may be in trouble.”

“He’ll be fine.” Nott crawled partly onto the table to drag a plate of meat towards herself, tucking some of it into her pockets. “He does have magic, after all.”

“So does Jester,” Beau said from across the table. Nott flapped a hand at her dismissively.

“Caleb is better.”

“Okay, but if the two of them were in a fight,” Beau started, leaning forwards.

“Jester would win,” Yasha finished.

Nott glared at them both, crossing her arms. “You don’t have enough faith in him,” she said reproachfully. “He’s a very powerful wizard!”

“Yeah, but have you seen Jester’s biceps?” Beau asked.

Nott gave up on the battle in the interest of fitting as much ham as possible into her mouth, and the conversation moved onto arm wrestling shortly after that, shifting with the usual chaos of the Mighty Nein’s evenings off.

Meanwhile, upstairs:

Jester was gentler than Caleb had expected, double-checking the temperature of the water and adding another half-bucket before gesturing for Caleb to undress. She hovered around him, snatching his clothes as he removed them and folding them to lie on the bench by the door. Once he was naked, she ushered him towards the washtub.

Sure enough, the water was perfect as Caleb sank into it, not hot enough to scald but warm enough to turn his pale skin rosy as it met the surface.

“Look at your freckles!” Jester cooed, poking Caleb’s shoulders as she bustled around him, preparing the soaps. Caleb hunched forward, self-conscious despite himself. They had all been in the public baths together, and had helped each other with their armour many times. Nevertheless, he was aware of his scars and spots, and didn’t appreciate Jester’s wandering hands.

“Relax,” Jester ordered, as if sensing Caleb’s wandering thoughts. “I am a good girl, I can keep my hands on task.” This was apparently all the warning she deemed necessary before dumping a bucket of lukewarm water over Caleb’s head, plastering his hair over his face until he spat it out of his mouth and tried to push it back.

“Leave it!” Jester’s hands batted Caleb’s away, and she guided him to lean against the edge of the washtub, combing his hair back with sudsy hands. “You’ll just get it more dirty with your stinky fingers.” Caleb was about to protest her wording when she started to dig her fingers into his scalp, and he abruptly found himself melting into the touch. He had not had someone else wash his hair for a very long time, not since far into his childhood. He closed his eyes, although he wasn’t sure if he wanted to chase the memories or push them away. Parts of his childhood had been missing when he’d returned to himself, gaps in his memory that led to disorienting echoes like Jester’s fingers in his hair. Jester’s voice brought him back from the confusion, humming a quiet tune that Caleb did not recognize.

Caleb found himself drifting through the rest of the bath, with Jester’s hands shielding his eyes from the suds she rinsed out of his hair, guiding him from position to position so that she could rub sweet-smelling lotions into his hair, his cheeks, his back. She even washed the bottoms of his feet before smearing a handful of soap into his palm and gesturing for him to finish the rest of his body. Through every motion, her humming got louder, until she was singing little pieces of foreign songs to herself as she brought over the final bucket of water.

The washing water had become quite dirty, and Jester rinsed Caleb’s body with the last fresh water as he stood up from the tub. She wrapped a soft blanket around him and tugged him out of the bath with a giggle. Caleb followed where she led, feeling pleasantly distant and oddly content.

Jester sat him on a stool and started to comb out his hair, making tiny braids as she sang those little snatches of simple but unfamiliar songs.

Jester had been singing for long enough that her speaking voice almost startled Caleb when she put down the comb. “Do you want to take a nap?” She ran her hands through his hair. “Or I could give you a haircut.”

“Nap,” Caleb said quickly. It was the preferable of the two options: Jester had been gentle enough with the comb, but he didn’t want to test their luck with a sharp blade near his ears. “Nap is good.”

“Naps are the best,” Jester corrected, pulling Caleb off the stool and towards the door without sparing a glance at his clothes. “Come on, let’s go!”

“Clothes,” Caleb managed to protest.

“Who needs clothes?”

“Me!” Caleb managed to pull his wrist free of Jester’s grasp and scoop up his abandoned clothes with one arm. His outer layers and everything important were back in his room, but he didn’t want to leave things in the bath room to get taken.

“We’ll get fresh clothes in your room, but I want to nap in my bed,” Jester said, in a tone that invited no challenges. Caleb nodded and followed her down the hallway, watching Jester’s skirts swish as she skipped past each door, her tail bobbing behind her. She stopped outside of Caleb and Nott’s room, gesturing for Caleb to go in and get changed. Caleb wandered into the room, sat down on the bed, and decided that he didn’t want to get up. The warm water of the bath and the gentle washing had made him too sleepy, and there was no way he was budging.

“Caaaaleb,” Jester whined from the doorway. “I want to go to my room!” Caleb ignored her, leaning back on the mattress and wrapping his blanket tighter around him. It was soft and perfect and he wasn’t leaving, no matter how loudly Jester protested. “Caaaaleb!!” Although her voice was rather disturbing the tranquility of the room. “Nap in my room! Get your clothes!”

With a huff, Caleb rolled sideways off the bed and managed to collect a few items of clothing, stumbling towards Jester in the doorway and accepting the hand she had stretched out towards him. She pulled him down the hallway and into the room that the girls shared, shutting the door behind them before jumping at the double bed with an impressive leap and rolling across it in a blur of petticoats and skirts.

“Sleepover, Caleb!” Jester popped back up to sitting, and patted the bed beside her enthusiastically. Caleb wandered over and she pulled him down on the mattress with a little more force than necessary. It was very comfortable, Caleb acknowledged. Maybe even more comfortable than the bed in his room. He wiggled back and forth to get himself properly wrapped up in his blanket, and then let his head rest against the covers of the bed. Jester was arranging herself beside him, wrapping one arm over his swaddled side and pulling him back against her. She was inhumanly warm, impossibly cozy, and as she started to hum a quiet song, Caleb felt his eyes drifting closed.

“Oh, that was nothing, remember the time that she decided to drop a box of manure on that priest of the Allhammer?”

“Classic!”

“Y’all think Jester is a troublemaker now, you should see her when she’s feeling little,” Fjord offered to the discussion. “No one is safe.”

“Jester’s a somechild?” Molly asked, leaning forwards. “I’m surprised I didn’t realize sooner.”

“Oh yeah. She isn’t little often.” Fjord finished his drink and wiggled it in the air for a refill. “Sweetest thing but a handful for anyone. I met her when she was little, actually.”

“Are somechildren more common where you come from?” Nott asked.

“Yeah, the Menagerie Coast is a lot better about them,” Fjord said. “Nicodranas has a whole district dedicated to them, and it’s the loudest part of the city. Empire kids come there all the time for a break, I hear.”

“Most of the Empire’s not big on them,” Beau confirmed. “Never understood why, I think they’re sweet. And it doesn’t stop Jester from being the most badass tiefling I’ve ever met—no offence, Molly.”

“Jester can have the baddest ass as long as I have the sweetest,” Mollymauk laughed. “Also, I bet I could take Jester in a fight.” Beau made a doubtful sound. “What, don’t believe me? I’ll go and get her now, settle it here.”

“Fuck yeah!” Beau sprang to her feet. “I’ll come with you and get her.”

“Two gold on Molly,” Nott muttered to Fjord.

“I’ll take that bet. He’s gonna go easy on her.”

“You clearly don’t know him well enough,” Yasha interjected. “He doesn’t go easy on anyone over the age of fifteen.”

“Either way, I think we’ll be spending our bet money repairing the bar if we don’t convince them to take it outside,” Fjord pointed out, and made to follow the two who’d already left. The others brought their drinks, but trailed obediently up the stairs to watch the outcome.

“They only need to drink every few days, and retrieve much of their hydration from the plant matter they consume.” Jester giggled at Caleb’s fancy words, focused on the drawing that she was working on. “They can eat up to seventy-five stones worth of vegetation in a single day, but do not kill the trees they feed on.”

“They eat stones?” Jester asked, reaching for a different colour.

“Nein!” Caleb laughed. “Die bäume! Leaves!”

“Ohhhh.” Jester added a rock anyways in the grass. “Keep reading!”

“Um… The trees of the area are best known for their wide leaves, and their layered appearance.” Caleb’s voice was different when he was reading, his accent lighter with the care he used in pronouncing each word. Jester looked critically at the tree she had already drawn and was about to start on another one when the door opened.

“Here they are!” Molly’s voice came from behind her.

Jester turned with a smile, putting down the stick of pigment that she had been using to draw. “Hi Molly! Caleb is teaching me about South Marquet! Have you ever seen a giraffe?”

“Can’t say that I have, sweetheart.” Molly leaned himself against the doorframe, all sparkly and pretty. Jester wanted to draw a star on his cheek, but she would have to wait until he was asleep, probably. “Have you?”

“I saw one in a cage once! It looked like this!” Jester showed Molly her drawing.

“Hmm, that’s pretty neat.” Molly came closer to look at it. “You’re a very good artist, Jester.”

“I know I am!” Jester had to lean around Molly’s legs to look at Caleb. He was curled up on the bed with a pile of blankets around him, a big book open on his lap. He’d stopped reading when Molly came in and now he looked like he was trying to hide himself in the blankets. “Caleb, what are you doing?”

Jester received no answer, only a muffled squeak from the pile of blankets. She pushed herself to her feet, ready to go extract her friend from his hiding place, but Fjord walked in the door and she froze, tucking her hands behind her back and puffing out her chest.

Fjord’s gaze travelled over the room before landing on her, and he sighed. “Jester, you know you’re supposed to come and find me when you’re little.”

“I’m not!” Jester protested. “I’m big!”

“Uh-huh. Because I know for a fact that big Jester wouldn’t be very happy to get pigment all over her nice blue dress, and tends to use paper like a big girl, and not draw on the walls of an inn that she’ll have to pay for.” Jester glanced back at her drawing, which was indeed on the wall of the room.

“That was Caleb,” she tried. “I didn’t do it.”

“Oh.” Fjord nodded understandingly. “And did he get pigments on your dress as well?”

“Yep!” Jester bobbed her head. Thank goodness, he was going for it! Maybe Caleb would get in trouble and she would get to watch.

“Alright.” Fjord got really close to her, all unfairly tall and wide and green. “Let me see your hands.” Jester hesitated, but when Fjord put his hands out, palms-up, she obediently put her hands into his. He traced the lines of colour on her palms, showing where she had held the sticks of pigment. “That’s what I thought.” He dropped Jester’s hands and she hunched her shoulders, embarrassed at being caught in the lie. It wasn’t her fault! Fjord was just really smart. That was why he was going to the Academy when they got there!

“You ready to be honest with me?” Jester nodded her head wordlessly. “That’s good. Are you little, Jester?” Jester couldn’t help pouting at the question, but she nodded anyways. “Thank you. And why are you supposed to come and get me when you’re little?”

“Cause it’s dangerous,” Jester sighed. “And I could get hurt.”

“That’s right.” Fjord put a hand on the top of her head, right between her curved horns. “We’re visiting the Empire right now, and they aren’t as friendly as in Nicodranas, so it’s important to stick close.”

“Okay.” She didn’t know why they were visiting the stupid Empire anyways when people in Nicodranas were so much more fun. Stupid Empire. Stupid Fjord.

“Where’s Caleb gone, anyways?”

Jester lifted her head to see that Molly had left the room at some point, and Caleb had effectively hidden himself in the blankets, with only the still-open book poking out from the pile.

“He’s playing hide and seek!” She shook off Fjord’s hand and bounced towards the bed. “Caaaleb, I’m coming to find you!” Caleb stayed quiet, but Jester knew where he was. She pounced on the pile and sure enough it squirmed underneath her, trying to push her off.

“Lass den Quatsch!!” she heard Caleb protesting, and she rolled off with a giggle, helping him remove the blankets. Once Caleb was revealed, he was pouting, his hair a staticky mess from the struggle.

“Found you!” Jester pulled him in for a hug and he allowed it, wrapping his arms back around her. When she finally released him, he wriggled backwards into the blanket pile again, pulling one around his shoulders. Caleb sure liked blankets a lot!

Jester glanced over her shoulder at Fjord, who was watching them curiously without saying anything.

“Do you want to play with us? You can hide next if you want!”

Caleb made a sound like a deflating balloon and flopped forwards, his blanket covering his head.

“Stop that!” Jester pulled him back up to sitting. “You’re not supposed to hide anymore, I found you.” Caleb whined, tugging against Jester’s grasp on his blanket.

“Caleb?” Nott appeared in the doorway as if summoned by the noise, and was pushing Jester away before she could even blink.

“Hey!” Jester protested, trying to get back to Caleb.

“You were hurting him!” Nott accused, standing between them. She was eye-level with Jester like this, with Jester kneeling on the bed, and she looked super mad and scary.

“I wasn’t! He was hiding!”

“Mama?” Caleb’s voice was quiet, but Nott immediately turned to him. “She’s nice.”

“Okay. I believe you.” Nott gave Jester a second look, still not looking very friendly, and then swept Caleb up in a hug, her arms and legs wrapping around his shoulders and torso. Caleb buried his nose in her shoulder, and Jester subsided onto her butt, letting them have their moment.

“Do you want me to send them away?” Nott asked, her voice quiet. Jester was still close enough to hear the question.

Caleb shook his head, and Nott detached from him, lowering her feet to the mattress and keeping one hand on Caleb’s cheek. “Okay.”

“I understand why you were asking about the Menagerie Coast now,” Fjord said from behind them. “Didn’t realize you were a caregiver.”

“Mother,” Nott corrected him, stroking clawed fingers through Caleb’s newly clean and shiny hair. “I did tell you that he was my boy.”

“Right, right.” Fjord nodded. “I’m sorry for intruding, I didn’t know he and Jester were playing together.”

“He was telling me about giraffes!” Jester said, pointing to her art again.

“He’s a very clever boy, isn’t he?” Nott sounded proud. Jester thought she was probably a really good mom. She could tell those kinds of things about people.

“He can read all kinds of books and he doesn’t even sound really funny most of the time when he’s reading!” Jester said. Caleb made a ‘hmph’ sound. “I mean, he doesn’t sound funny at all ever!” she added. “He’s really smart.”

Caleb’s hands reached for the book, pulling it onto his lap and hugging it to his chest.

“Would you read to me again?” Jester asked, scooting forwards on the bed. “I was really enjoying it.”

“Do you want some paper for your illustrations this time?” Fjord asked, already holding it out in her direction.

“Yeah!” Jester stretched her arms out and waited for Fjord to bring it over. “I can make you more pictures!”

“Mm-hm.” Caleb opened the book and spent a few seconds flicking through the pages before settling on one, looking up and waiting for everyone to settle down. Fjord closed the door and took a seat on the floor by the bed once Jester’s paper had been delivered, joining the audience for Caleb’s story. Caleb glanced nervously at him, and then up at Nott standing beside him.

“You are very good at reading,” Nott told him. “But you don’t have to.”

Caleb cleared his throat, put one finger under the line he was reading, and started again. “The trees in the region are best known for their wide leaves and layered appearance.” Jester started on her drawing, all four of them settling in for an unplanned quiet evening.

#critical role agere #agere fanfiction #fandom agere #sfw age regression #sfw agere #agere art #critical role #my writing #cr #cr agere

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eponymous-rose · 5 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E65 (June 4, 2019)

Are we on the internet? Probably! Either way, Travis goes falsetto and Marisha’s playing with a pillow. Brian: “We’re back. ...on the air.”

Tonight’s guests are Marisha Ray and Travis Willingham!

Announcements: Last night was a special one-off episode of Between the Sheets featuring Ashley Johnson! It’s an awfully good one, and you can watch it right this very moment if you’re subscribed on Twitch, or on Wednesday on YouTube if you’re not. The very first Between the Sheets t-shirt (”Baby Got Backstory”) is available for preorder on the site! If you missed the horror-themed promo for the shirt, it’ll come around again. There’s also a Pride t-shirt, and all the proceeds go to OutRight Action International! There’s also a huge thank-you to everyone at Denver Pop Culture Con and they marvel at the cosplay---they especially highlight a Grog who was bigger than Travis! There’s also a long discussion about Brian’s fly. Buttons are confusing.

Okay, okay, okay let’s get to Episode 65: Chases and Trees

Stats: At over 12 minutes, this was the longest DnDBeyond ad. Travis: “But what do you do? Do you edit the Oscar-worthy performance of Marisha Ray?” There’s some rambling discussion about demonetized British currency, as you do. Dani, quietly: “We have questions...” Nott rolled the 300th player Natural 20! This episode also marks the first combat encounter Beau has ended with all of her ki points still available.

It is pointed out that Travis is wearing one of Liam’s sweaters over his legs to hide his shorts. Dani: “That sweater is for our protection.” Marisha: “Everyone is blinded for 60 seconds.” Brian: “The next thing you’re going to hear in your visions is ‘Ṣ̛̪͉̭͈͍ͅP̦R̭A̘͙̲͇̭Y̦͜ͅ-͜T̡A̴̫̣͎̹N͉͍’ .”

[id: Travis coyly pushing the sweater back, revealing his untanned legs. Marisha looks amused and exasperated. end id]

Kiri was contacted for the first time in 40 episodes or 140 in-game days!

Marisha and Travis commiserate over what it’s like to be very awesome but not specifically in a flashy, magical way like the rest of the party. Marisha: “I’ll just do yoga on the horses.”

At first, Travis thought the figure in the vision was going to be Fjord’s mother, but once it played out, he realized it was probably the Wildmother and he’s definitely going to talk to Caduceus about it. “I’ll fucking sip some tea. I don’t give a shit. I’ll help him grow some dead people fungus. I’ll help him make some Smurfs.”

Marisha points out that Beau is pretty self-deprecating about her abilities, even when they include sprinting up the side of a 400-foot tree. "She assumes everyone hates her because she hates herself first. And once again, everyone around her can do crazy magic shit. She’s going to figure it out, but I think it’s going to take something. Talk to Beau. Don’t talk to me.”

Brian: “Travis, continue to sit there like my Nana watching Jeopardy while answering this question...”

Travis on Fjord: “Look, he puts on a brave, stoic face, because that’s what he saw Vandren do; that’s what people in leadership positions do: they don’t show vulnerability. Yeah, it’s a fucking facade.” With no risk to him, there’s a genuine olive branch being offered, and he’s been desperately looking for that kind of rescue. “That was huge.”

Travis notes that he used his only two spell slots to run up that tree. “I thought we were gonna have a rest before BIG BIRD showed up.”

Beau is "kind of an introvert” and does better one-on-one because there’s less vulnerability than talking in front of multiple people, and she can take more time to think about what she’s going to say. But she’s also got Dairon in the back of her head reminding her not to get close to people. “She’s got a lot of walls, still. She’s getting there, though.”

Cosplay of the Week: a wonderful Keyleth (@teaandtails, photo by Jay Villanueva). Dani notes that the antlers are huge in person!

Travis had plans both for if someone else fell, and for if he fell, which is why he was so quick off the draw. There are some memories shared of campaign one’s Goldfish Incident. Marisha: “Look, in my brain, there was nothing that could have gone wrong!”

Beau opening up to Yasha was less about comforting her (”Beau’s not a comforter.”) and more about finally being able to talk to someone who would understand. Marisha had it in the back of her mind for a while, but didn’t want to bring it up in front of everybody.

Fjord didn’t understand that the tree was connected to the Wildmother when he damaged it, but Travis figures she was probably thinking along the lines of: “Fuck, aw, c’mon-- twice?! You’re gonna dent the thing! Should we just get rid of this asshole? Chosen one, my ass. I mean, that snake thing’s not a big deal, right?”

Beau thinks of her relationship with Tori as a bit of a “what not to do”, and that whole encounter is part of why she pushes people away and has such elaborate walls. There’s a very over-elaborate analogy in which Brian brings up the hypothetical of having lactose intolerance: Marisha: “Maybe loving ice cream isn’t the thing for him! Maybe it’s better to have never loved ice cream!” Brian: “But there’s lactose-free ice cream.”

Marisha was excited to have an opportunity to use her ability to run up vertical walls. “I was stoked! First opportunity I can get. And then to get down, I was like, ‘...it’ll be fine.’”

Fjord is feeling really encouraged that the gods can intervene in his pact with Uk’otoa. “The fact that they can get around and fuck with each other’s shit... aces.”

Fan Art of the Week: the Wildmother comforting Fjord. (@_strawberryfox_)

Brian: “Are we just putting our feet up on the coffee table? Is that what’s happening?” (Henry disapproves.)

[id: Travis, Marisha, and Brian lounging with their feet on the coffee table, while Henry glances up from his nap in a judging way. end id]

Fjord wasn’t relying on Feather Fall; he was going to Misty Step when he got close to the ground if it didn’t work out. Beau was definitely relying on Nott. They’re doing a better job of trusting each other and knowing each other’s abilities, but it’s still a work-in-progress.

Marisha notes that Fjord and Beau are on a similar page re: the Dynasty. “In my head, I wonder if I’m being a Tyrion Lannister about this.” (As someone who didn’t follow that show, I am smiling and nodding nervously through this whole discussion and hoping I don’t need to transcribe something I don’t understand.) Beau’s hoping that if they can keep going, their influence will help sway the Queen in a different way, or an option will present itself to avoid this kind of conflict. Fjord is cautiously optimistic, but he thinks “she still intends to nuke them, regardless.” Beau’s also hoping to find someone else in the upper echelon of the Dynasty who might have different opinions. The word “coup” gets thrown around a bit.

There’s a spell Fjord has that he hasn’t used yet at all (Travis doesn’t remember it at the moment), since he only has the two spell slots. Beau has the Preternatural Counter ability, but hasn’t had the opportunity to use it yet (Sentinel kind of supplants it most of the time).

Brian shows off his John-Wick-and-his-dog pins. Oh dear. Travis: “...that’s a weird pin set to have.” It was, of course, a gift from Ashley.

Biggest achievement for their characters thus far? Brian points out that not dying before level 9 and having had no huge falling-outs are genuinely big achievements. Marisha: “I feel like our characters have reached that kind of awkward point, where we were fighting and trying to figure each other out, and now we’re starting to find a common goal.” Travis: “Minus Caduceus. What’s that fucking guy all about? He turns people into tea and he’s got us thinking that’s normal!”

Dani: “Episode 66 on 6/6... WHAT DOES IT MEAN?”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

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danwhobrowses · 5 years

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Whatever Happened to: Sheska?

So, as promised, the first of hopefully many posts of the ‘Whatever Happened to’ series, where I bring up characters that just, fell off the map. For our first one we will begin with a character disappearance that always confused me, Sheska from Fullmetal Alchemist Manga and the Brotherhood anime There will be Spoilers for the story so if you haven’t read/watched it then...maybe you should

When was she last Seen? While in the 2003 anime series Sheska maintained a recurring role as Winry’s female friend and helping uncover the dirty secrets hidden by the Homunculi and in turn the Military. However, in the Manga and Brotherhood anime, Sheska is last seen in Chapter 34/Episode 16, both titled ‘Footsteps of a Comrade-in-Arms’. In it she is revealed to be covering for Mustang as he digs for information regarding Hughes’ death - mainly out of solidarity since Hughes did give her the job that pays her bills and keeps her mother in a nice home, and the least she can do is assist in helping find the culprit. She unfortunately lets this slip to ‘Captain Focker/Fokker’ who is Envy in disguise (but still a Focker if you ask me), which leads to the whole Maria Ross frame-up. From there we never see or hear from Sheska again, we don’t see her at Central when it’s attacked by Briggs, we don’t see her fall victim of the countrywide transmutation circle and do not we see her in the Chapter 107 splash

Which, frankly, is ridiculous given that characters dead, alive and barely in the story like Sheska was are here, including Fu, Hughes, Grumman, some no-names in the bottom and one no-name at the top right corner, Rebecca, Mustang’s old Ishval squad and Henschel. An oversight maybe, but it still leaves the question mark, what DID happen to Sheska? Theory 1: Sheska was Murdered Leaking that she knew about Mustang’s digging, covering for him and her photographic memory is two very dangerous tidbits of knowledge for one person to have, even if the Homunculi look down on humans up to this point they have been extremely efficient in not leaking their own information. So a worst case scenario could be that the Homunculi killed Sheska, quietly disposing of her and maybe even covering it up, she was on a heavy workload and could’ve ‘crumbled’ and disappeared to work in a nice undisclosed village. The fortunate thing that goes against this theory is that Mustang would notice, and since Hughes’ death she had been a lot more relaxed with her workload, it would also be in the Homunculi’s nature to only take care of things when it looks like a critical moment. Another plausible way Sheska may’ve died is via the Mannequins or when Our Father freaking Kamehameha’d half of Central Command, but then she would have to be fighting the Mannequins and not escaped Central when the Briggs soldiers gave them a chance, and Sheska would run if she were there. She may’ve also suffocated under a mountain of books like how she almost did when we first saw her, if she ever actually gets to go home anymore. Theory 2: Sheska was Dishonorably Discharged Given that Mustang is treated with contempt for digging into the Hughes case and his actions in making people believe that he scorched Maria Ross, it would be possible that the higher ups would use this as an excuse to discharge her from the military, to sever a connection Mustang would have in Central who could provide him information on Father’s plans. Envy may’ve been a lighter hand as Focker but Focker himself or any other members of Bradley’s high council may opt to picture it as harboring criminal activity. Sheska isn’t exactly one to come crying to the Elrics about this either so it’s not like it’d be huge news, the reason this may not work however is that Sheska still has all the dots Hughes had, she just hasn’t connected them yet, and the Homunculi keep tabs on people like that. Theory 3: Sheska was Transferred Like most of Mustang’s crew, Sheska may’ve been moved by association. Her absence from Central Command would fuel this and after she’s finished completing all the records there’s not much else she is useful for in the eyes of the military. Since she has no career goals, she could’ve simply been moved to a smaller military office - her ignorance to the happenings protecting her from being in warzones but not out of the country circle’s range. She may’ve also been transferred normally, maybe another library got burned down or maybe they rebuilt the Central Library and had her repopulate that with all the normal books and secret alchemy cookbooks and actually declutter her apartment with all the books that are there (okay it bothers me, where does she sleep? Does she have a book bed, next to her book oven and book fridge and cooks book eggs for bookfast in her book pan in her book kitchen?). Theory 4: Sheska left the Military on her own accord While she never expressed displeasure in working for the Military we leave Sheska in a pivotal moment in the plot, the next episode/chapter Mustang supposedly burns Maria Ross to a crisp. Not knowing it part of the plan, Sheska may’ve felt partly responsible in the ‘murder’ of Ross and disgusted by Mustang’s actions, which could have led her to leave the military. There are other reasons she may’ve quit her job also, she may’ve found a new calling or as said before the Library could’ve been rebuilt and she could’ve gotten her old job back from that or another closer-to-mother library/general job, she may’ve left to tend to her ill mother if her condition worsened or simply moved to a job with a career track - hell if you wanna go wild maybe she went to become an Alchemist, that photographic memory would be handy if she had the aptitude. The backdrop of this like the previous theory of her leaving the military is that this’d prevent the Homunculi from keeping tabs on her, while it is possible that Ross’ death would’ve prompted her to leave, the military may’ve offered an alternative of transfer or another government job so to keep and eye on her. Theory 5: Sheska slept through the whole thing A comical theory, but the records department isn’t something one would frequent in a lot, I mean Mustang was able to sleep in a storeroom for a bit completely undetected. It would be funny if Sheska did miss all the action from falling into a comatose sleep in a basement or something having been overworked, and given the isolated placement completely missed the Mannequin Soldiers, thought the Circle stealing her soul was a nightmare and then napped again through the whole Father fight. This is unlikely because it obviously didn’t happen, as I said Sheska’s workload doesn’t take a huge toll on her anymore so she wouldn’t pass out...not until after the Father Fight when she has to rewrite all the paperwork destroyed by Father’s Kamehameha, it’d be a good laugh though. Theory 6: Sheska was there, you just didn’t see her One of the most plausible theories is simply that it happened but there was no need to focus on Sheska while it was happening. Falman also had a great memory and worked with the Briggs men and the Armstrongs had worked in Central for months, so her talents weren’t exactly needed for the situation, she likely escaped the mannequins and left Central Command intact. It’s likely but it’s still annoying, we could have shown her in this scenario, even if it’s when Buccaneer saved those women (imaged in manga since I couldn’t find a screen of the scene in anime) they could’ve thrown in Sheska, could’ve shown her losing and regaining her soul, at least some closure on that would’ve been nice given that we saw every other player and the people of Liore during the Promised Day.

Theory 7: Sheska still works for the Military, she just wasn’t There The final theory that is as plausible as the prior, Sheska was basically away that day. We saw it with Brosh who only arrived at the scene because he was disgusted by Mustang and then elated that Ross was alive, a ‘bookworm’ like Sheska may’ve taken time off to witness an eclipse, and if she didn’t she may’ve simply had the day off. Another thing she could’ve done is gone on holiday, I doubt she went to Xing to meet the Armstrongs while they were statue hunting but maybe she went out of Central. She could’ve visited her mother, visited other family, gone to a place with other libraries and stuff she may have hobbies in. The downfall of this theory is that none of it escapes the circle, hostilities with Creta, Aurego and Drachma mean the only way out of the country is by crossing the desert, which doesn’t seem up Sheska’s alley, which means we circle back to why didn’t we show her? We showed Liore, Kanama, Resembool and Rush Valley, the latter just to specifically show Paninya - someone who had less screen time than Sheska, no offence to Paninya but if we gave time for her lying on a random floor (lucky she wasn’t fixing a roof) we could’ve just put Sheska in a room face first in a book for a second and that’d be that. So yeah, the mystery of Sheska racks my brain, mainly out of desire for closure but also because she still played a valid part in Ed and Al’s journey. Without her they would’ve never obtained Marcoh’s notes, which meant they would never have found out the properties of a stone, they would’ve never gone to the Fifth Laboratory and thus never learned about the Homunculi marking them as a sacrifice - since Ross got framed because of her, Ed would’ve never gone to Xerxes either, meaning he wouldn’t have figured out the transmutation circle or found the Ishvalan slum to discover that Scar killed the Rockbells, that discovery led to the confrontation that became a turning point for Scar’s redemption arc too. Sheska also inadvertently was necessary for Mustang’s plot also; had the brothers not gone to the Fifth Laboratory they would’ve never gotten Barry the Chopper as an ally (who in turn busted Ling out of jail, meaning everything Ling contributes to is a byproduct of Sheska’s action) but if she hadn’t have told Envy about Mustang’s digging they would’ve never framed Ross, which meant that they never would’ve had opportunity to capture Gluttony, kill Lust or discover that Bradley was Wrath. These are big things as well! Could someone just like, poke Arakawa for an answer? Or are we just gonna expect a Launch situation (save her for another day). Out of the 7 theories I would rank them as Most to Least Likely: 6, 7, 3, 4, 2, 1, 5 Most to Least Preferred: 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 2, 1 Maybe one day we’ll find out, but for now it’s all headcanon, but whatever did happen to her, she is not forgotten.

#fma #fmab #fullmetal alchimist brotherhood #fullmetal alchemist #theories #sheska #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood

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inkofamethyst · 3 years

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December 25, 2020

Merry Christmas, everyone! A few notes for today.

My grandmother’s funeral was yesterday. I don’t want to dwell on it very much, but yes, it was on Christmas Eve, and yes, I did cry a lot. You know, I feel like rain during funerals is such a tired trope in movies/television, and there it goes and rains during the outdoor funeral yesterday. Cliche, but it fit the mood. I will say that whoever did my grandmother’s makeup did such an incredible job. I have always since my youth been averse to going up to do the viewing to the point where I don’t think I’ve ever done so. I’ve simply refused. Yesterday, though, I knew it was important, so I didn’t refuse. I held my mom’s hand the entire time, but I was amazed at how not-sick my grandmother looked. I was so afraid that I’d see her in that gaunt, frazzled, weak state that had come over her during the past year or so, but she really didn’t look like that at all. She looked like the woman I’d grown up around.

We went to my maternal grandparents’ house following the funeral just to be with my grandfather (he expressed how much he really loved her) and me and my mom went and poked around their house. My grandmother was quite the collector, as it turns out. Her house never looked junky, but that was just because she was clever about where she put her antiques and jazz. Hidden in drawers and chests and wardrobes and closets. There will be a lot to go through once covid skips town. I took a brooch (with my grandfather’s permission, of course), and it looks quite vintagey.

I couldn’t really sleep last night and my sleep schedule has been so jacked up that I just decided to stay up the whole night sewing and wrapping presents. Because it was late in the night, my work wasn’t the best, but I was able to finally finish my mother’s skirt, and it actually looks pretty good. I just need to iron it and maybe finish some of the interior seams so they don’t fray. This made me really sleepy this morning, so I did take three naps in the morning ~45 minutes each to tide me over until I fell asleep. I made snickerdoodle muffins (really... they were cupcakes) from scratch for breakfast, visited my grandfather again and my paternal grandmother/great aunt, then came home and made dinner with my sister and unwrapped gifts. Some of the highlights were a weighted blanket, a stamp for wax seals (!!!), and some pinking shears. We tried to watch the new Disney(/Pixar?) movie Soul but I was falling asleep halfway through so we decided we’d pick it up another time.

And now, I’m about to head to bed.

Since I’ve been talking about it a lot these past few days, I would like to express that I am mildly worried that I may lose interest in the DreamSMP? Like, the plot continues on a daily basis, and I don’t have the time to watch Techno and Tommy and Tubbo and Wilbur and George and all of the other heavy hitters of the SMP to get the full story. It was interesting when Wilbur would upload 20-ish minute highlights on a weekly basis, but I’ve watched, like, six or so streams of over an hour each (while doing other things) over the past couple of days (I’ve switched to watching Techno, but I think Tommy might be back in L’Manburg again so I might have to check out one of his recent VODs to see what that’s all about), and I’m afraid that it’s going to get saturated and I’ll feel more overwhelmed than entertained. Critical Role is different because I get four or so hours of content that I can spread across a week, and there’s no guesswork as to whether an episode will further the plot or if it’s just filler because they’re all important to plot. As much as I enjoyed watching Techno bully Dream from the shadows as Dream built a shoddy house after Techno called him homeless, I totally could’ve skipped that entire half an hour if I was focusing on plot alone.

Today I’m thankful that I got to spend Christmas with my family.

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