#jester and fjord and veth and caleb and EVERYONE WHO LOVES HIM knows what it's like to be lonely SO DEEPLY | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

utilitycaster · 4 months

Note

🔥 about each member of the mighty nein (instead of sending you a million separate asks lol)

Fjord - this is actually the only character from all of Critical Role where if someone does not like that character I am immediately done with anything they have to say. Ashton and Vex are my favorites from C3 and C1 respectively but I get not being particularly into what they're doing even if I disagree, but like, if you don't like Fjord you either have no understanding of the idea of characters being defined by their settings and narratives and vice versa and therefore you have no media analysis statements worth hearing; or you made a snap judgement based on like 20 minutes of campaign 2.

Beau - I wish the circlet had gone to Veth; I liked Beau's arc a lot but she started as one of my favorites and was later surpassed by a number of other characters and I think it was in part because I liked her getting things the hard way and also doing more with the Cobalt Soul and Dairon than she ultimately ended up doing.

Caleb - I think I kind of covered it with my post about his trauma recently, namely, I think he's a fantastic character and Liam did a great job and also whenever someone acts like Caleb is objectively correct at all times or should have murdered everyone in the assembly it's a MASSIVE red flag.

Veth - weirdly unpopular in this fandom but I like her more as a halfling. Also, I actually think arcane trickster was a phenomenal fit for Sam mechanically even though he wants more spells and would love to see him do another 1/3rd or half caster.

Jester - I feel I've covered my main one repeatedly (people LOVED to talk about her agency and the second she kissed the wrong person she was suddenly a stupid baby girl who didn't know what was good for her) so I think my other one is that as with all of Laura's characters she is much more fun, especially early on, if you lean into the fact that she does say a lot of shit that makes people really uncomfortable or annoyed instead of trying to turn this into a SHE LOVES SO HARD AND NO ONE LISTENS because both can be true, your love can come out in ways that people are very annoyed by, this is how cats feel all the time actually, and so much of Jester's arc is figuring out how to share this love in a way that other people can appreciate without losing her own personality in the process.

Caduceus - I've also covered this a zillion times but I will say it again, Caduceus deflected so many attempts to check in with him and he does not want to like, fix Molaesmyr, he was not neglected, he was built out to be a character who was more of a low-key support guy and Taliesin did an incredible job with that.

Molly - honestly my unpopular opinion remains that I simply found him very well built and a great concept and also irritating as hell, and the Nein's response to him was valid but the fandom's post-death lionization was very tiresome. I'm genuinely not sure the party could have bonded the way they ultimately did if someone who was throwing around "enthrall" like that were still around.

Kingsley - now, while I don't mind if you dislike Kingsley, acting like Kingsley and Molly are the same character is actually equal to the not liking Fjord thing; that's an instant "this person's interpretations of media are so bad I am blocking so as to not accidentally see anything they have to say."

Yasha - I'm not sure I have any unpopular opinions? I do think she is at times underappreciated but I also think specifically she is, like Caleb, a victim of the terrible and weirdly common fandom idea that the only way to move on from abuse and horror is by killing everyone and everything that hurt you rather than rejecting violence and finding your own path and your own meaning.

Essek - sticking specifically to his role in the Nein, again, I love Essek and he is a member of the party and also he is an NPC and acting deeply offended that he doesn't get the same treatment in terms of comic books or merch or appearances in one-shots is very childish.

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag #unpopular opinions ask meme

55 notes · View notes

12pt-times-new-roman · 6 months

Text

IT'S MIGHTY NEIN DAY LET'S GOOOO

god, the SET, the COSTUMES, travis in full half-orc makeup — fucking gorgeous. but I do have the sneaking feeling that Matt is dressed as young Ludinus.......

The time: seven years after the peace treaty that ended the War of Ash and Light, immediately after the ignition of the Malleus Key. The level: 20. The setting: the Encanter's Rest, Blightshore, where Caleb and Beauregard have landed.

In the midst of this, Caleb has a terrifying realization: if his own collar has been disenchanted, what others have been, too? But Beau's priority is to get to Yasha, who was with Caduceus, and Caleb teleports them there with a chipped piece of gravestone.

The Blooming Grove is healthier than they've ever seen it, and the curse of the Savalirwood has been driven away slightly. Caduceus' hair is a vibrant pink again.

"We made it to the Malleus Key like we planned, but nothing ended as we planned. Da'leth brought down a champion of the Matron, into the heart of the dig site, and he did something — our vision went white, we woke up in a different part of the world —" "Long story short, everything's fucked. I think we need to rally the troupe."

Next stop: the deck of the Nein Heroez, docked in Nicodranas.

Fjord update: his level 20 multiclass is warlock 14/paladin 6, and holy fuck his new art—

Stone's Throw has acquired multiple new ships, including the Rumblecusp Express and the Sapphire of the Sea.

As they travel through Nicodranas toward Veth, they catch wind of something having spooked sea-beasts into the streets.

"I'm sorry, the place is a mess, the world has been turned upside down—" "Wait, something happened here too? What's wrong?" "I have a teenager!"

They sit down to have a conversation, alongside Yeza.

"Uh... Cerberus Assembly, global fuckery, the moon is not where it's supposed to be, Trent may not be imprisoned anymore — and we're getting the Nein back together to deal with it."

Jester update: she took flash recall as her 19th level feat.

Jester attempts to scry on Trent and it doesn't work. They immediately assume that he's broken out and has an amulet, but it could still be that the entire prison is warded against scrying.

"Caleb, do you need an amulet so he can't look in on you?" "Let him come." that's what we call character development!

The Nein, in true Nein fashion, decide to tackle the immediate problem first, rather than trying to push the moon back into space when they don't really know anything about it. Trent joined with Ludinus is far more dangerous than Ludinus on his own, so they'll take down Trent first and play whack-a-mole with the rest of the Assembly later.

Veth isn't sure if she should go with them, but Luc slams his door open — "mom, don't be a coward! You do this every time! You have to be an adventurer for everyone, that's our calling! You can ground me all you want, but I learned it from you!"

Caleb cuts in. "Young man, you do not take your mother's love for granted. Do you understand me?"

They start to leave, but Veth doesn't want to. Caleb draws the circle to the Cobalt Soul archive in Rexxentrum, he steps through, the last to go — and Luc, rogue 5/wizard 3, dashes through at the last second!!

The way the entirety of the Mighty Nein turns on Luc the second they realize he's there and are so protective of him is fucking adorable. Beau challenges him to hit her with a spell, but ol' uncle Caleb counters it and puts him in a wall of force. "We are dealing with people who could kill you with a blink. You are not ready. You are talented, and I'm proud of you, but you're not ready." Luc is out here using Sam's 22 charisma to convince everyone — including Caduecus — to let him stay. Caleb agrees, too, on one condition: that Luc will stay under his eye at every moment, and that he reserves the right to teleport Luc back home the second it becomes too dangerous.

On the upside, it appears that the teleportation circles in the Cobalt Soul are still working.

Since the solstice, the Cobalt Soul has closed its archive doors. They discovered that the master vault has had its wards interfered with and has actually been infiltrated and trapped from within — with Yudala Fon meeting with the king, they ask the Nein to investigate.

Caleb update: Fortune's Favor is his second-level spell mastery choice.

The hallway to the vault leads to a massive adamantine door covered in runes — though it would usually glow blue upon approach, the runes are cold and lifeless. It creaks open without issue.

Inside is a storage room filled with various chained crates, tomes, display cases, and other such things.

In the middle of the floor is a toothy mouth. "Welcome, Bren. You are nothing if not reliable. It feels good to be free — have had so much time to ponder. I can now see how solitude forged you, I now know the greatness that can come from endless quiet and conjecture. At the edges of my mind, many seek me in silence. I wonder If any partnership would meet my standards. I have much to thank you for, my exemplary pupil. It is only fitting you have now taught me, and I return renewed. I must confirm my theories, for they keep many secrets beneath this library. You are welcome to learn what I have, Bren." The magic mouth spell vanishes.

At the far end of the room is a figure, crouched — Aggy, a dwarvish monk (way of the drunken fist, presumably), level 5, played by Wembly Arena's announcer Daniel! The monk was sent into the archive ahead of them, but got caught in some kind of explosion. "Without being too rude, who the living fuck are you?"

Beau update: She got promoted to High Monk!

Fjord uses see invisibility, revealing a handle on the wall that was previously hidden. Aggy goes and headbutts it, inadvertently turning the lever and opening a secret door in the wall.

Through this new door, another mouth appears. "We have all done terrible things, Bren, and we all must be punished for them. I still pay the price, and so too shall he. The Shadowhand must step into his own might. I will tell the Bright Queen of his betrayal, and in this, he shall be made free to follow your path of pain. Only in suffering are we made paragon, and I will make you better; you will be my proudest achievement."

The passage leads to a series of terraced platforms that then lead to a room covered in lockboxes. Each is hidden with invisibility, and protected by various wards.

Aggy, brazenly running down the passageway and sticking his hand on one of the lockboxes, gets instantly killed by a disintegrate.

One of the lockboxes is slightly ajar, and no longer has a trap on it; the inside is empty except for a piece of paper, and another magic mouth appears. "To bleed is to scab, to break is to mend stronger, to hurt is to learn; but recklessness will only leave you dead and forgotten. I was called here to take of its blessing and release one of its forgotten nightmares; arrogance thinks it can use me, but I am the master here. I am he who feeds on ambition, he who drinks of promise and leaves nothing unearned." He tells Caleb to meet him at the ruins of his childhood home — "dinner will be waiting."

Beau comforts Caleb in the way that she does. "You've worked really hard to overcome this. You are above this." "You are right. I don't care that he taunts me. But he doesn't need to be breathing anymore."

With at nat20 plus true seeing, Beau can see the name of what each lockbox contains. The two that were ajar read "adrenus sap," a rare unholy ichor distilled for use in abyssal rituals to bind servants of the abyss or undeath to their domains, or to ensnare such creatures; and "afterimentahl," an arcane binding stone used to capture powerful beings for study, syphoning, or experimentation. The ones known typically contain an entity from the Calamity or before, but the process of creating them has been lost.

back from break and so ready to watch them finally kill this motherfucker—

They put up the tower to sleep for the night, and cast a heroes' feast preemptively.

Caleb uses wish to cast simulacrum on himself to create a copy. He then gives Luc his luck stone, re-attunes his ring of evasion, and casts mind blank on himself before going to bed.

And with a night's rest, Caleb can prepare another 9th level spell or can keep wish — he didn't even have to roll for it because he duplicated a spell! 20th level wizards are a hell of a thing.

With potions drank, fog clouds created, and a heroes' feast had, the Nein plus Luc teleport to Blumenthal.

As they approach, Caleb feels the ghost of his grief, but he has come to terms with it. The house that stands here looks exactly like his childhood home. "I have done what I have needed to do in this world. If I don't walk from this, I need you to get that boy to safety."

Inside, there is laughter — Una's, followed by Leofric's, mingled with Trent's. Caleb walks in, followed by Jester and Fjord. With divine sense, Fjord reads both Una and Leofric as undead. Caleb's simulacrum is polymorphed into a sabertooth to protect Luc. The rest flank the house and watch through the windows.

Breakfast is set at the table. There are seven empty chairs.

"Mother, don't you think it's strange, you haven't changed one iota?" "Not at all. He has given us a second chance." With an insight check, Caleb sees them for what they are: just bodies, reanimated.

Jester leans, says "I'm sorry" to Caleb — and casts turn undead. Both parents fail their saves, fall back. Trent's face falls. "Wery well, then. Perhaps the lesson should start with me." The entire house explodes, but their preparation reduces the damage significantly, and before them is Trent Ikithon, floating up in the air — and where Una and Leofric were are two ghoulish corpses.

time for initiative and combat updates!

Trent's spell save DC is 22. That's just about on-par for a 20th-level wizard with money; a 22 INT plus a robe of the archmagi gets him there, and an arcane grimoire can compensate for no robe or a 20 INT.

Trent can use 2 legendary actions to cast a spell.

Caleb Prime: *downed* Caleb 2: immediately turns into a fucking t-rex

Luc casts see invisibility and reveals that Trent's avatar is an illusory duplicate, and the real Trent is crouched behind a tree like a little fucking creep.

After a chain lightning, a meteor swarm that did higher-than-average damage, and a massive house explosion, everyone's back to full with a mass heal! So with two clerics in the party with a 9th level each, plus a guaranteed divine intervention that can duplicate a mass heal, these fuckers have a latent health pool of 2800 hit points.

Beau update: Her 19th level feat is mobile.

In an antimagic field, Trent is cowering — "but this is why the intelligent prepare. Omentis, be unleashed." The field doesn't suppress artifacts, and he breaks the afterimentahl against his chest. From where he stands, an orb of pitch darkness grows, and a 40-foot entity made of purplish and black shadow, with four arms and glowing purple orbs begins to stalk toward Blumenthal itself.

Seeing that, Caleb plants one palm, two palms on the ground — and uses shapechange to transform into Gelidon, the Nightmare in Ivory.

KAIJU FIGHT!!

and then, just to top it all off, Luc casts enlarge on the fucking t-rex!

"Arty, if there's ever a time we needed you—" Jester uses gate to pull Artagan out of the feywild and right into this fucking kaiju fight. "Don't worry, Jester, I've got y—oh, what have you brought me into?! Really?!"

An archfey, an ancient dragon, a giant t-rex, and the avatar of an abyssal archfiend tethered to the soul of a 20th-level archmage walk into a bar...

With holy weapon active, Yasha does 168 damage in a turn without a crit.

Its full name is Omentis, Scion of Ruin. Everyone within 60 feet gets hit with its "void hunger," automatically takes necrotic damage at the top of its turn. It also has "aura of oblivion," a beam that emits from its face and deals massive (as in, 150 points on a failed save) force damage. Its AC is 24, and it is considered undead.

With his passive perception, Caleb notices that the crystal that Trent shattered is still visible in its chest.

Luc notices and targets the artifact, which causes the shadow holding the creature together to flicker.

Caduceus uses divine intervention (which automatically succeeds) to cause the creature's shadow to become translucent, so that they can see the artifact clearly within it. In the center, with the crystal at his heart, is the shadowy echo of Trent, hanging like a puppet.

what is it with live shows and nat20s at crucial story moments???

With a nat20 strength check, Beau rips the heart from the creature. All the shadows swirl around it and get pulled back into the egg, and as it reforms, Trent himself gets pulled, screaming, into it — Beau tosses it up, Gelidon catches it and smashes it into the ground.

As the dust settles, the people of Blumenthal gather, and the sun begins to rise.

The heart remains intact, but sealed forever with Trent inside it.

Caleb uses demiplane — which opens into a familiar nine-sided tower — to seal the heart away for..... future use.

They decide that after all this, Luc deserves a party — not least of all to celebrate Fjord and Jester's engagement!

At the end of it all, Caleb uses the tower to cook a feast for all of Blumenthal.

"While this was a singular victory, it is still the beginning of much work to be done."

#critical role #critical role spoilers #critical role liveblog #note watches critrole #mighty nein #critical role c2 #critical role c2 spoilers #echoes of the solstice #long post #very long post

68 notes · View notes

aspiringsophrosyne · 4 months

Text

Jester Lavorre and Letting go.

A while ago, I wrote a post on the Mighty Nein and how that campaign had, among other accidental themes, an overarching theme of characters (player characters and NPCs alike) running from their problems and only delaying the inevitable at best and making things worse for themselves at worst as a result.

I did not include Jester in the list of characters I covered, and I think now might be a good time to delve into why:

Because Jester doesn't run from her problems, she runs to them.

For the sake of complete accuracy, this is generally the case, but not exclusively. Jester, like the rest of the Nein on the whole, has a rather pessimistic view of things and gives up on some things too soon. (Everyone, including Jester, assumed there was no way back to shore after they stole their first ship, and the rest of the Nein, except for Essek and Cad, were ready to give up before Cad's last Divine Intervention, etc.) But we see multiple times that Jester runs towards her personal problems, or what she sees as her personal missions or obligations, instead of away from them.

In fact, it could be argued that Jester hangs on long after it might've been better for her to let go.

But before that, her father. Jester pursues him every chance she gets, and when Marion reveals he's someone she knows and has met, her first instinct is to Send to him and tell him she's his daughter. She keeps doing this until he finally agrees to meet with her. And then, even after that less-than-hopeful face-to-face conversation where he finally admits she's his biological child, she still clings to the idea of hooking her parents back up again.

Travelercon is another one. It's one of Jester's main focuses after finding her father, and even with all the other things she has to deal with, she's continually worrying about getting there in time and trying to figure out what to do when she gets there. She sees it as an obligation to the Traveler (even after she finds out he was never actually a god), and she never tries to run from it or weasel (heh) out of it.

And then at Travelercon, when a vessel of the Moonweaver herself gets involved in the shenaniganary, Jester latches onto Artie and refuses to let go no matter how much Fjord begs her to do so or how much the vessel questions her loyalty in the face of Artie's selfishness. Only when he kicks her off does he spare them both a trip to the Fey Realm.

(And remember, this would've delayed their trip to Eiselcross, which would've allowed who knows what to happen before they came back; not only was there a ticking clock in the form of DeRogna and another adventuring troupe, but time moves weirdly in the Fey Realm.)

On a more positive note, Jester doesn't just refuse to give up on her goals; she also refuses to give up on people. Because of her, the Gentlemen gives up on selling his problems into slavery, eventually walks away from his criminal life altogether, and reunites with Marion like Jester wanted. Her kindness, however teasing, is a big part of why Essek turns over a new leaf. And she never gives up on either of the circus kids. No matter what terrible things their bodies are made to do, she still believes they're both in there, and not only is she proven correct, but her faith in them is rewarded both times.

Jester doesn't give up on people. And while this ties her to Artie in a way that's not entirely healthy for either of them, it does more good than harm in the long run.

This is part of what so strongly endears her to the rest of the Nein. With the arguable exceptions of Essek and Cad, the Nein have largely been written off by people who should've loved and supported them. Veth highlights this when she reveals why she chose Nott as her pseudonym. Caleb's tutelage under Trent is self-explanatory; Fjord's upbringing scarred him; Beau's dad sold her; Yasha's tribe forbade and then murdered her love; Molly was left to climb out of that shallow grave alone—all these people have been discounted. And when they meet Jester, she makes for a beautiful and powerful counterpoint.

47 notes · View notes

captainkingsley · 1 year

Text

"Does Jester ever purr for you?" Caleb asks, sitting across from Fjord. At the moment they're the only two in the dining hall, with everyone else either out in Rexxentrum to shop or wandering the halls until dinnertime.

"What?" Fjord's eyes meet his, a brow raised. He looks entirely confused. Setting down the mug in his hands, he rests his arms on the table.

"Molly purrs at night. I thought it was a tiefling thing." Caleb says.

"She's never … I don't think she can, actually. Are you sure it's a tiefling thing and not just a Molly thing?" Fjord asks.

"Why would it be just a Molly thing?" Caleb asks. "It sounds entirely natural when he does it."

"And it also sounds entirely natural when he makes up things to sell a con." Fjord says, "Not that … I'm not judging him for it."

"No, no, I understand. But it does sound completely real when he does it. Like a cat." Caleb says, leaning back in his chair. "It sounds almost too real."

"Like a cat, like," Fjord starts, then makes a very similar sound in the back of his throat. Caleb's eyes go wide.

"Just like that, yes."

"I think Molly's just fucking with you, then." Fjord says.

"Dammit, Molly." Caleb huffs, leaning his head back to stare up at the ceiling. As he does so, he hears footsteps across the hall.

"Cursing at me when I'm not around? I'm heartbroken, love." Molly says, stepping into view. Upside-down in Caleb's view, he still looks entirely smug with his lopsided grin.

"I'm not mad, if you're worried about that." Caleb says, lifting himself upright once more. He shifts in his chair until he's sitting on it sideways, looking between Fjord and Molly.

"I wasn't, but now I am." Mollymauk blinks. "I usually assume your cursing at me is out of friendly frustration."

"You're not wrong," Fjord says. He then stands, giving a short wave. "I'll let you two talk. Don't get into some sort of lover's quarrel. Cat fight? No."

Caleb snorts.

"No arguing. Just," Caleb turns his eyes up to Molly, who's still standing behind his chair. Fjord exits the hall and Caleb knows he's going to tell Jester. "Why the fake purring?"

Molly's expression shifts, at first to slight surprise and then to a familiar, soft smile.

"You seemed sad that Frumpkin was gone. And, well, I just… started making the sound and it seemed to make you relax. That's all."

"That's all?" Caleb asks.

"That's it. You seemed happy. It helped you sleep. So I just kept doing it."

Caleb looks his face over for a few moments, taking in his earnest expression. He could tell him to stop, that he doesn't need to put in the effort. But at the same time, Molly's right — it's comforting. It helps him sleep.

And he does miss Frumpkin.

Though…

"Does it… I don't know, annoy you to do it?" Caleb asks.

"No," Molly answers almost immediately. "Makes me happy, actually. You go from tense to relaxed the second I do it. It's like a game to me."

"So you'll keep doing it?"

"Long as you want me to."

When Caleb winds up in bed later that night, Molly is already asleep — Caleb had spent longer then he'd intended in the study with Veth, and he's exhausted — he assumes that he'll miss out on Molly's little trick because of it, but instead,

Molly rolls over and tucks his face against Caleb's shoulder, and somehow in his dozing, he starts the purring sound.

And Caleb relaxes.

#widomauk #here take something dumb and cute

135 notes · View notes

all-pacas · 2 months

Note

Got any widobrave in you? Been thinking about them lately.

You know, I don’t — but I also have a fic I never finished or posted anywhere! Actually I have a couple of them!

crooked kind

She expects it to feel different. Stepping onto a ship, now, after everything. And it does, kinda. The ship is darker, more shadowy. Quieter. The gunpowder smells different, less sharp, until she puts her nose up to it, enough that she gets a bit up her nose when she sniffs and then sneezes and then looks around to make sure no one is watching. Tugs at her hair anxiously. Back above decks.

She still doesn’t like the way the ship moves, rocking around, the water tossing it and pushing it and letting it know who is boss — the water, the ocean going hey now I can sink you any time I want — and she’d thought, for a second, about leaving her ring with Yeza since Luc insists on going swimming for some insane reason, but she twists it around her finger now and is glad she didn’t. Didn’t give it up. Didn’t think about it for long.

Fjord and Beau are running around yelling things about getting the ship ready to sail, Fjord yelling first and then Beau repeating him louder a second later. Caleb is over with Orly and Yasha, looking at a map or something, and she goes over to them. Weird looks from Marius and the crew as she passes. Not the same kind of weird looks as she used to get: a goblin! ahh! Something duller, more familiar: what are you doing here? I don’t know you. You don’t belong.

“An’ then we’ll be h… headin’ west, ‘round these, ah, shoals here,” Orly is saying as she approaches the little table they have set up on deck, near the ship’s wheel, a map held down with red weights. She picks one up, just to feel the heft of it. Orly clears his throat as the map curls. She puts it back.

“Veth,” says Caleb. He hesitates before he says her name. “Have you settled in?”

They haven’t even left port yet, the gangplank is still out: a few of the crew are rushing back and forth, loading last second supplies.

“Mm,” she says. “It’s basically the same as we left it.”

She thinks. It’s a lot harder to see in dark corners now.

Caleb smiles at her, and she puts her arms and chin up on the edge of the table as Orly resumes explaining their route, and Yasha nods along solemnly, tracing the path with her finger.

Yasha spends the first couple of days following everyone around. She’s not subtle about it, and also she’s gigantic. First she tries to build barrels and do carpenter things with Jester, but she’s unexpectedly clumsy with her hands. She follows Beau and Fjord around for a bit, which, because Beau also just follows Fjord around, ends up making him look like he has two bodyguards who are a lot tougher than he is. Next is Caduceus, and last is Caleb.

Veth also spends a lot of her free time around Caleb. So she watches Yasha try to learn to read maps, and watches Yasha and Caleb have quiet moments talking, and watches Yasha get really annoyed at the way Caleb will, whenever Yasha estimates a direction, immediately correct her with “actually it’s west-south-west” or whatever bullshit.

She loves Caleb. But he’s so full of it sometimes.

That’s what she says, out-loud, after Caleb spends ten minutes trying to explain to Yasha that actually she can tell that north is over behind his left shoulder, but two inches left of that, because he just knows, basically. She says: “Caleb, I love you, but you are so full of shit.” She turns to Yasha. “Want to play with explosives instead?”

And that’s how Yasha becomes junior assistant powder monkey.

It’s only until later she thinks about the way Caleb cut himself off, his startled expression, when she’d said that to him. Not hurt. It was something else. Surprise. Something different.

Here’s the problem.

The thing is, there’s lots of problems. The thing is, when she thinks about herself she thinks me, but she also thinks Nott more than she thinks Veth, and when the others all kind of decided on their own to call her Veth, she was glad but — she doesn’t know. Fjord yells Veth, you’re not supposed to play with explosives we’re on a ship, and she turns her head but her first thought is how does he know about Veth? and then she remembers that’s her now. The problem is that things taste different and look different and feel different. Some of it she remembers, from the last time, when she’d woken up to mud and jeering laughter and rope burns, to shadows being too bright and smells being too sharp and her mouth bleeding from the inside, from dozens of tiny tooth cuts. Some of it she’d forgotten. The way her fingers seem to just — feel more. The way she hears less. How her teeth feel in her mouth, how her ears don’t turn and swivel when she wants to listen. She’s a little taller now. She weighs more, she has tits and an ass and is frankly just incredibly hot. She’s still quick but it feels different, to run, to crouch. She gets an eyelash caught in one of her eyes and once she’s done rubbing it out she thinks: holy shit, I have eyelashes again, and runs to bum some mascara off of Beau. Her skin is softer and bruises easier. She doesn’t feel as hungry all the time. She’d never noticed how warm she always was when she was a goblin until she starts feeling chilly sometimes, out on the deck of the ship.

Here’s the other problem.

She feels things more. Not emotionally. If anything she feels it less, a little… slower, maybe calmer, like things aren’t always jumping up and starling her to death. It’s not emotions. Not exactly. It’s just — more.

She’d joked about it. Sunbreaker? Wow was he hot. But she hadn’t really… felt anything. Not like that. Yeza had never tried anything more than a chaste kiss or hug now and then, and she’d felt a guilty relief. How would it even work? Would it work? Or would it be painful and scraping and difficult? She might have tried if he really wanted to, but he didn’t and she was glad. And that was weird, because she had always thought of herself as really into that kind of thing. They’d been going at it since they were sixteen, you know?

So it’s Yeza’s fault, really.

She turns back into her true, hot self, and she feels things again, her body, you know, works again, and they fuck like gnomes for days, and then she goes onto a ship and the first night snuggles in with Caleb the way she always has, except he holds himself really stiff and she doesn’t notice at first until he accidentally brushes her boob and moves away and she thinks oh shit yeah I have tits now and starts thinking about other things, because Caleb is not bad looking now that he bathes sometimes and keeps his hair out of his face, and so the next day she talks loudly and often about her wonderful cannons belowdecks —

(“Veth, you are absolutely fucking forbidden from ever firing the cannons without express orders from me or—“ and Fjord had hesitated, looking over at a slightly-too-eager Beau, failing to stamp out her excitement in time, “Me. Just me. No explosives. Nada.”)

— and sets up a hammock there that evening.

And then three days later, she helps Yasha set up her own hammock, after giving a long speech to her about how half the job of the gunner or powder monkey was to, like, really understand your cannons, and how this was the best way. It’s a lot harder to set a hammock up for Yasha since she’s a giant, but they figure it out eventually, even if her butt ends up landing only an inch or two above the floor.

Here’s the problem.

After they figure out how to move shit around to set up Yasha’s hammock, they go to the galley for dinner with everyone. Night one, Veth jumped up on a table and gave the I used to be a goblin speech to everyone, so she gets less weird “why is there a smokin’ hot halfling hanging out with these idiots” looks now, and dinner is nice. She can actually eat Caduceus’s tofu without getting cramps now, which helps a lot. She jokes around with the others and sits next to Caleb, as always, because they’re not avoiding one another. They talk about the peace conference and have debate #582 about if Essek (codename: Kevin) is okay or not, if Kevin can be trusted. They talk about Yasha’s hammock. Invite Jester and Beau to join the girl’s only super cool cannon slumber party.

“I thought you two,” Beau says, gesturing at Veth and Caleb, “were like, joined at the hip or whatever.” And then she gives Veth a smirk that probably means Yeah I see you, and it takes Veth all she has to keep from turning to Jester and saying something awful like The Traveller is actually kinda hot, right? back. But she doesn’t, because she’s a good fucking friend.

“What are you talking about?” Veth says instead. “‘Lebby, are you mad because I want to sleep with my cannons?” She doesn’t look anywhere near him when she asks.

“Maybe this isn’t dinnertime conversation?” Fjord says.

“Of course not,” says Caleb, and she hopes he meant her thing and not Fjord’s.

And then they all start talking about Travelercon instead.

So now she has two options. Talk to Caleb, or never talk to him again.

No. Now she has three options. Those two, or…

She and Yeza weren’t, like, swingers. Not yet. They were too young for it, generally speaking: you were supposed to wait until your kids were out of the house and all that, focus on raising your family, and Luc was only five and that was assuming they didn’t have more kids. Once you get married, that’s supposed to be it until your kids were grown: it was supposed to be good for the family to turn insular like that. Nowadays some people Veth’s age did talk about open marriages like they should be part of the vows, but it’s not like she and Yeza ever really talked about it back in Felderwin. They both wanted kids. It made sense that they should focus on their family, and anyway, Yeza was the love of her life so it’s not like she really wanted to fuck anyone else.

Was the love of her life.

Still is.

Really.

But things are so weird now, and so after they’d fucked for the third to last time in Nicodranis, when they were talking about buying a house and investing in the timeshare market, Veth had added, as casual as she could: “And if you wanted to like, date around a little, as long as you don’t knock anyone up and go all family values on me…”

“Are you serious?” Yeza asked, and then sat up and pulled his glasses on from the side of the bed.

“What are you doing?”

“This is a conversation that I need to be able to see for. What are you saying?”

Veth had been briefly distracted, but then Yeza pulled the sheet back up. “I mean… are you mad?”

“No…” he’d let the word kinda trail there.

“I mean, you can knock someone up, I guess, it’s just no second families, so overall I’d prefer you didn’t,” she’d said, using this old-fashioned Halfling term that meant ‘the insular family,’ like they were supposed to be raising back home.

“I’m not going to knock anyone up.” Yeza hesitated, pushing his glasses up. “I didn’t think we’d have this conversation for another like, twenty years.”

“I didn’t think I’d be alive in twenty years, up until a couple of days ago,” she mentioned, and then winced when he’d looked hurt. “I mean, I’m okay with it. I keep running off on you and abandoning you and, and leaving, and dy — almost dying —“ because she hadn’t yet told him about that box, or even really about drowning, and planned to never, “and — and I mean, I know it can’t be fun, I would be like, what a selfish bitch, and so if you want to—“

“Veth,” he started saying, about halfway through. “Veth. I don’t think you’re a selfish anything.” He’d taken her hands.

Well, I do, she’d thought. Looking at their hands. The fine hairs on her arms that Nott had lacked. Weird, how even shit like body hair was somehow amazing now.

“I’m happy just — knowing you’re happy, and waiting for you.”

“But I’m not! I can’t just — look, I’m going to leave you money, so buy a house and get Luc into a really great school and then go party, or, or buy the _really fancy_ alchemy ingredients, or just… don’t just sit around waiting for me, because I don’t know when I’ll be back. I want you to fuck other people! Fuck everyone in Nicodranis! Fuck Jester’s mom!”

“I am pretty sure I can’t afford her.”

“I will leave you so much money.”

They both laughed, and Veth felt herself relaxing. A little.

“Okay,” he’d said. “I don’t know if I will or not, but—“ she’d been about to tell him to do it, and he’d raised a hand then, to shush her, “but if I meet someone I like, I’ll think about it very seriously. Okay?”

“Like, or find hot.”

“Like, or find hot,” he’d agreed. He’d hesitated, and then he’d smiled. “But… you too, okay? What’s an adventure on the high seas without a sexy sailor or two?” She’d smiled. He’d hesitated again, and then added: “Or… if there’s anyone else you have in mind. Whatever. It’s fine with me, okay? Screw insular families.”

And then they’d gone ahead and fucked for the second-to-last time.

And kind of, not in an asshole way, but she’d been thinking about that last thing he said as they did. Anyone else you have in mind. Just hanging out there. Unremarked on.

Look. Here’s the thing. Caleb is hot. In a disgusting, takes a bath but doesn’t do laundry kind of way. In a forgets to shave past the point where his stubble is attractive kind of way. In a too many ribs kind of way.

In a long fingers and very nice eyes and a handsome jawline kind of way.

And when she was Nott she knew it but it never really — she didn’t feel it, so it was pretty easy. He was both hot and completely unfuckable, even in her fantasies, and she was disgusting and a goblin and that made it all very neutral and safe. When she’d curl up next to him, sometimes he’d put an arm over her if it was cold out, and it would feel nice and comforting and she’d feel this warm tingling love all over, but there was never sexual tension, even in her head, even in her infrequent attempts at daydreaming.

Because there couldn’t be. She was ugly and disgusting even if he was kind and handsome. It was wonderful of him to even willingly touch her.

And then she and Yeza fucked for three days straight, and it was like, fuck, this is what that feeling is. Like a switch went off in her head: remember how great this is? How good it feels? How hot all your friends are?

And she’s pretty fine now herself. Curves for days. But —

It’s not like she’s a different person. Whoever she is. Even if she also is.

And it isn’t like just because she got laid, she’s not horny on main all the time, just looking for people to jump. It really isn’t. She’s not crazy, or Beau flirting with some temporary member of the party. Jester braids her hair up for her one morning and it’s all nice and Jessie’s hands in her hair, on her scalp, are very soothing but Veth doesn’t feel horny at all. She and Fjord fight over going swimming, and it’s not sexual tension.

“I love you, but you are so full of shit,” she says to Caleb, and he kind of half freezes, and she hears him say it to her with different ears and eyes and she is not stupid, okay? She’s not. She knows he did not mean it like that and will never mean it like that and that they are best friends and he probably thought she was dying, in a way she did die, and it was very sweet and does not mean—

She’s not in love with him. Not like that. She’s just…

Well, she isn’t. There’s no just.

She has a couple of ideas for spells in her head. They’re not fancy ones since she’s not great at magic, but she’s seen Caleb noodling around enough with his spells that she thinks it’s probably possible. If he does all the technical stuff for her. So she mentions it kind of in passing, and he gets really excited and she chickens out.

She’s not sure why. Only because immediately he looked so happy and she got scared, and because last time they’d done this she was different and — and it’s weird. The first time she’d used magic, just a little nugget of it, she’d figured it was probably him tricking her, the way he would sometimes use his light spell to make it seem like she was glowing, back when they were begging for coin. But he’d grabbed her and hugged her hard enough that she’d lost her breath, exclaiming, I’m so proud of you! You’ve done it!

And she’d been — well, at first she hadn’t believed him, obviously. But then she had and she’d felt herself smile and then laugh, from relief or fear or both, and he’d squeezed her hands and said, _now, we will work on a spell_.

And it was pretty stupid but it felt like it mattered. Like it was some big important moment. Not using magic, although that was cool. But the way he’d hugged her and her nose had squashed into him and he’d smelled like wet wool and she’d been happy. Really happy. For probably the first time since she’d died, you know?

So he gets excited when she says she wants to invent her own spell, and she’s not thinking about that until he demands they start practicing now, and then she is thinking about it and she gets scared.

So it’s avoid Caleb forever, talk to him, or knock on his door and say can you help me with magic?

And she wants so fucking bad to get drunk first, but she chooses the third option.

She knocks on his door. Which is super weird, because it used to be her door, and also she has basically never once knocked before going in to see Caleb, ever. There’s no reply, but she knows he’s in there — she _might_ have followed him and then spent half an hour getting up her nerve — so she thinks about leaving and instead just opens the door. “If you’re masturbating this is your two second warning!” she calls as she does.

Caleb is sitting on the bed, reading. He starts, kind of dropping the book, and even though he isn’t jacking it she kind of feels like she walked in on him anyway.

She tugs at her braid. “Hey! What’s up? What’s goin’ on?”

#widobrave #unfinished fanfic

9 notes · View notes

simplysparrow14 · 4 months

Note

I’d love to hear about all your writing, but you know me: the one titled “We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream” immediately piqued interest 👀

ahhh Thank You!!

This fic is mainly inspired by Snow White, more importantly, just the themes of Snow White in general. The notion of friendship and friend-groups, dreaming of love, finding a home that accepts you as you are, regardless of circumstance just really spoke to me.

The entire premise is that Caleb, after years of abuse from Trent in the Soltryce academy, finally gets the courage to escape. He leaves behind Astrid and Eadwulf in his desperate flight and traverses Wildmount, never stopping because of the fear that Trent and the rest of Academy are hot on his trail. He tries his best to steer clear of towns and large cities, and in the process becomes a street-rat, scrounging for food in trash bins and waste disposal carts, even going so far as to threaten normal, unwilling people on the roads, demanding their food (he still regrets the one couple he robbed on the highways; it had been snowing and so very cold, and Caleb had been so hungry. They looked rich. They sounded of money. Calling forth his magic, he threatened the wife with fire. The husband had been fast, and in his fear, Caleb burned him. He ran into the night with their wallet, the cries of anguish still in his ears, and he's sorry, so very sorry...)

In the daylight, Caleb is nothing more than a wandering miscreant, But at night, he is a dutiful student, practicing his charms and cantrips. It puts him at ease knowing that, at the end of the day, after his escape, he still has something to call his own.

Eventualy, Caleb comes across The Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival. In this version, the entire M9 are circus performs (Yasha as a strongman, Jester as a general clown/magicians assistant, Veth and Beau as part of a 2-person acrobat show, Fjord as a swordsmaster.) In this version, Caleb is brought into the group by Molly (insert Muppet charismas carol "Who did NOT die") to be the circus' newest magician. It does take a few weeks for Caleb to be comfortable with everyone but the days that follow are some of the warmest and happiest that he's had in a long, long time.

Caleb is instantly loved by the small children (and by jester) who adores his intricate magic. He makes glowing animals and trinkets out of thin air and during one particularly rowdy show, he turns his magic toward Jester, creating for her the pink horses and lollipops she loves dearly. Jester is instantly smitten with him, charmed by his quiet stance, his intense eyes. He's nothing like the magicians who called the circus home. He's nothing like her, who delights in tricks but scoffs at gifting (she's still learning). Each piece of magic that he crafts for the children is special and unique, thoughtful in a way that none of the other's had been before.

Admittedly, Caleb also becomes smitten with Jester. In the after hours of the shows, she's the first to greet him in his rooms. She sits with him, marveling at the amount of books and tomes he's managed to fit within the small space. At every opportunity, she's smiling at him, and the way his heart flutters at the sight is nothing short of electric. He likes everything about her, including her super scuffy slightly-dead looking ferret who somehow survives She's nothing like Astrid and certainly nothing like the other people he's had clandesdine crushes on. She's a dream made real to him and he's more than willing to waste his magic on simple circus tricks if it means

Eventually, things between Jester and Caleb start happening. She and Caleb start preforming acts together (think a very Zendeya/Zack Efron "Rewrite the Stars" moment) delighting the crowd with their grand shows. Caleb, for the first time in his life, feels appreciated and loved, and most of all safe.

However, all of it comes crashing down when Astrid and Eadwulf arrive one day, along with Trent, who's disguised himself as a simple old man. Releaved that his is alive, Astrid and Eadwulf beg him to return, that Trent, in the event of Caleb's escape, has changed his ways. However, when the two are far from ear-shot, Trent returns to his absuive and manipulative ways. He's been at the circus before, watching Caleb from a distace, and has noticed how he looks at the pretty little tieflight clown.

With whisperd words, Trent preforms the same spell that he used on Caleb to destroyed his parents, twisting his memories. Trent then gives Caleb a peice of food (I cant decide on either a powerderd donut or a cupcake) to give to Jester. As Jester is about eat the food, Caleb snaps out of it just in time to wresle Jester for it, and in his haste to get it away from her, Caleb takes the plunge and eats it. The poison within the food actives and Caleb falls into a death like sleep.

That's about as far as I got with the outline. Obviously it'll end with a Trent vs M9 fight, Jester kissing Caleb awake and a happy, perfect ending.

#WIP meme #widojest #jester lavorre #Caleb widogast #critical role #M9 #mighty nein #C2

9 notes · View notes

randoimago · 2 years

Note

oh good!! i know weight-related things can make some people uncomfortable; i was just hoping for some headcanons about members of the mighty nein with a chubby!reader as a partner?? how they'd treat them in public & private, reassuring them when they have self image issues, etc

How They Treat a Chubby S/O

Fandom: Critical Role

Characters: Beauregard Lionett, Caleb Widogast, Fjord, Jester Lavorre, Mollymauk Tealeaf, Veth Brenatto, Yasha Nydoorin

Type of Request: Headcanons

Notes: Honestly I don’t think any of them would treat their S/O differently in public vs. private (some might be more affectionate), so I think I’ll just do this as a general thing of how they treat S/O.

The Mighty Nein

Beau absolutely believes in the “there’s more of you to love!” mindset. She constantly talks about how much she loves you and how hugging you is like holding the best pillows. Wouldn’t mind helping you lose weight if that’s really what’s bothering you, but she really likes how you look and would rather you be happy with yourself than change for other people.

Caleb is very bony so it’s nice to be able to just lay on you when he reads or studies. Really has no problem with your size or how you look. Just let him rest his head in your lap and he’ll read out loud to you, adding in words of praise for you specifically, but acting like it’s dialogue in the book he’s reading.

Fjord is also a tad self conscious of himself since he’s not the strongest out of the group but he does his best. If you wanted to train or something then he’ll be happy to join you, you each can be each other’s motivation. Just know that he likes you and wants to do what makes you happy, not others.

Jester is chubby herself so you being self conscious might make her self conscious because is that’s how she’s supposed to feel about herself? She loves herself and loves you and so she’ll help you learn to love yourself too!!

Molly’s whole brand is being the center of attention so if that’s causing you to be more self conscious then he’ll try to tone it down. Does tell you that everyone supposedly has only one life to live and you should use it to be happy, not worry about others.

Veth hated herself in the past until Caleb helped her. So if you start feeling down then she’ll do her damnedest to make sure you know that you’re loved and you’re amazing. Seriously, who does she have to shoot to make you happy?

Yasha will still gladly pick you up and carry you around. Don’t even try to tell her that you’re too heavy. She’s strong, she’ll lift you up. And she’ll gladly punch anyone that says anything about you too. You’re fucking beautiful and you should know it.

#critical role x reader #beau x reader #caleb widogast x reader #fjord x reader #jester lavorre x reader #jester x reader #mollymauk x reader #mollymauk tealeaf x reader #veth brenatto x reader #veth x reader #yasha nydoorin x reader #yasha x reader #beauregard lionett x reader

110 notes · View notes

mouseinthecastle · 1 year

Text

Some two purples and a human writing I started in May but forgot about until I recently got caught up in my Molly/Caleb/Essek feelings again. Essek (and Molly) figuring out some feelings. I wanna make this into a series so bad. Pls check it out and lemmie know whatcha think 🧡💜🧡

It was easy, at first, before it became difficult

In the beginning, Essek spends most of his attention not on his own feelings, but on Calebs.

While Essek wasn't totally sure what to make of the changes to their relationship, he could see that Caleb felt guilty and torn, and he hated to see him that way. Who was Essek to deny this man any ounce of happiness?

It was awkward for them, but they talked. They talked for a long time.

They took time to think about it.

They talked again, this time Mollymauk joined the conversation.

They took more time to think.

Caleb was ever-cautious, terribly considerate, and reassured him constantly. One word from Essek and it would never be brought up again. Essek was sure the strange pain in his chest was from his heart full of love for the man, and nothing else.

Even Mollymauk, to his credit, seemed to be taking this seriously. Taking him seriously, for once.

It wasn't all that uncommon in the Dynasty. Many consecuted souls found themselves falling in love many times in many different ways over their lifetimes. It was said to be a blessing of the Light, to be loved and share one’s love so. Essek never thought much of it; but until Caleb, Essek never thought much of romance at all.

Essek was surprised to find that the practice happened in the Empire as well, although seemingly much less common. Perhaps it was just usual for people to have this much love to go around, Essek wondered. It wouldn’t be the first time his tenuous relationship with attraction left him the odd one out.

He wasn't sure if it would have been easier with any other member of the Nein. He refused to entertain the idea of the mess his life would become if it were Veth. Though he was very fond of Yasha, she would come paired with Beau and that was too difficult to wrap his head around, even in the furthest stretch of the hypothetical. Caduceus, however, was a kindred spirit, and he held a great respect for Fjord. He could picture a life with them, faintly.

But Jester would be the best fit. Essek loved her, and he knew Caleb did, too. Although he didn’t hold the same physical attraction for her as he did for Caleb, he wouldn’t at all mind having her around more often. Spending time with Jester was easy, spending time with Jester and Caleb was a delight.

But the Nein’s other tiefling was a different story, He certainly didn’t dislike Mollymauk. He was a good man, and Essek could admit he was an attractive one as well. He made Caleb happy.

Perhaps that was it. Jester was Jester. She made everyone around her happy, and it was impossible not to fall at least a little bit in love with her. Loving Jester was as natural as breathing.

The purple tiefling was different, so different from Caleb or Essek. He could hardly sit still for ten minutes, let alone spend an evening tucked away reading quietly in the library as Essek often loved to do with the human. The only thing they had in common was that they both had the tendency to be cocky, competitive bastards. But Mollymauk was bright, showy, and loud. Vibrant, in a way that Essek could never compete with.

And they both loved Caleb.

Mollymauk made Caleb happy.

Essek knew that he made Caleb happy too, and that Caleb loved him very much.

But Caleb also loved Mollymauk.

(And Jester, and his old classmates, but those were different stories)

Essek didn’t understand, not really, when Caleb explained it, but he looked at the man, his man, who asked for so little and allowed himself so little joy. Who was he to deny Caleb this, when he himself wanted Caleb to be happy, so badly it hurt?

Essek was reminded again that he was different from most others, in terms of love and relationships. He refused to let his own defects get in the way of Caleb’s happiness. He would catch up, for Caleb’s sake. Essek looked into blue eyes, held his ever-cold hands to warm cheeks, and smiled.

It couldn’t be much different than the strange closeness Caleb already had with their other friends.

—-

For a while, it was not much different than usual. Essek and Caleb’s little cottage in Nicodranas with a teleportation circle in the garden shed and small patio with a curtain of green vines to shade from the worst of the sun often saw different members of the Nein coming and going, and Mollymauk was no exception. Until he was.

They were more present, in small ways. There were small things that calmed his fears, that he actually came to enjoy greatly; but also things that were driving him insane.

Caleb assured that Essek didn't have to be any more involved in his relationship with Mollymauk than he was comfortable with. Mollymauk assured that he would be more than welcome, and made a comment that Essek didn't quite understand, although he did take a moment to appreciate the pretty shade of red it made Caleb’s face turn.

Essek was surprised to find himself invited to their time together more often than not, and although he always politely declined, he was even more surprised that sometimes, he was actually tempted to join.

Away from a crowd to perform for, Mollymauk could actually be pretty sweet and thoughtful when he really put his mind to it.

There were times like last night, when Molly had come over to pick up their shared wizard for a night out:

Molly’s curls flowed fetchingly around their horns and over their forehead. They were wearing the faintest bit of some gold, shimmering glitter on their eyelids. Perhaps by accident, a few stray flecks of glitter had ended up across their collarbones, leading the eye to their handsomely scarred chest disappearing beneath a pale, open collared shirt.

Mollymauk sauntered over to Essek, who was curled up sideways on the seatette with an unusually large cat laid across the tops of his feet, and a somehow even larger tome open across his lap.

“You sure you're good here, floaty?” Molly asked as he leaned over the sofa and into Essek’s personal space. He was wearing enough dangling jewelry to rival Essek’s own, and they jingled sweetly as they moved, “I’m fairly sure there's enough room in the bar for the three of us.”

Essek tore his eyes away from his reading, and used an impressive amount of control to keep himself from jumping when he looked up and saw the tiefling’s face so close to his own. Molly was practically draped across the couch in the same way their cats sometimes did.

“Thank you for the invitation, Mollymauk, but I am quite alright here tonight.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d say that.” They said it good naturedly, but Essek couldn't help but feel shame start to coil in his chest. The tiefling paused for a moment to reach down and lazily pet the cat at Essek’s feet. Dough kindly accepted the attention for a moment before beeping out a strange noise and abruptly turning on her side to clean herself, leg stretched out high.

Both Essek and Molly shared a quiet laugh. It was barely more than a soft breath, but it broke the tension and Essek relaxed a bit.

Molly abruptly stood, and hopped back with a flourish, “However, I think it's a perfect night to get wasted, and I simply can't stand aside while you sit here and stay sober” and Essek realized he had been holding one hand behind his back the entire time. He eyed Molly suspiciously.

“Come now, don't be like that, love.” He says, but he didn't keep Essek in suspense for much longer. From behind his back, he pulled out a bottle of wine.

Essek’s eyebrows raise. A Lionett vintage.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t steal it.” Molly says quickly, “Our lovely expositor lost it to me in a bet. But you know me, the cheap stuff suits me just fine. I figured I’d share the winnings with someone who can actually appreciate how fancy this stuff is.”

Essek purposefully didn’t try to hide the small smile that bloomed on his face. “That’s very kind of you. Thank you, Mollymauk,” he said, accepting the bottle from the tiefling.

The expression on Mollymauk’s face was charming, but hard to place. If it had been anyone else, he would have called the answering smile bashful.

But he didn’t have too long to examine; the next moment Caleb came rushing down the stairs.

“Ach, sorry to keep you waiting. Had to finish a few things up before you get me too drunk to remember.”

Caleb too tried to make an attempt to coax Essek out for the night. Thankfully Molly saved him from the guilt of declining by quickly dragging the wizard away, throwing a smile and a wink back at Essek before kicking the door closed behind them.

#I also wrote my very first smut ever n it’s based in this au lol #but idk where to post I’m too shy for ao3 I think #mousewrites #essek theyless #mollymauk tealeaf #critical role #caleb widowgast #shadowwidmauk #shadowidmauk #mighty nein #shadowgast #shadowmauk #widowmauk

39 notes · View notes

quantummindclassicalheart · 1 year

Text

Master post of quantum's Critical Role fic

You can now find me on AO3 as FiveCamellia! I will be gradually archiving older fic there. Various other things I’ve written including scicomm stuff and poetry live in my general #writing tag, feel free to check it out! For scicomm specifically, check out my #quantum talks quantum tag.

(This is a repost of my old pinned post, but with the new post format.)

a dream within a dream (AO3, Tumblr. New! Completed 2023/01/21.) > When the fog of Rumblecusp steals away Caleb’s memories, Jester must help him remember. But this time, it’s going to take a little more than a fifth-level spell slot. For Widojest Secret Santa 2022.

The Lovers’ Lie (original song) > There is an old folk song that is sung in Exandria. It goes by a lot of titles–In Marquet it’s commonly known as The Liar’s Love, while natives of Xhorhas would know it as The Fey Groom, and the elves of Syngorn’s version has a title that translates to “The Sacrifice of Truth for Love.” This is one bard’s rendition of the song in Common, as accompanied by ukulele.

verbal and somatic (AO3) > In which Jester has a creative idea for how to use the Polymorph spell, and with a truly heroic effort (and the benefit of War Caster), Caleb succeeds on a series of concentration checks with increasingly high DC. (AKA: Widojest body swap sexy times.) (Post-campaign, established relationship AU.)

a soft place to land (AO3) > A few years after their travels with the Mighty Nein, Caleb and Jester reunite for the summer and kinda sorta fall in love all over again. (Post-campaign, as the summary suggests, but more or less canon-compliant)

a dream of flight (AO3) > My first Loquaerryn fic, about their first dance (and what comes after). Laerryn is used to taking the lead, but when she meets Loquatius Seelie, he challenges everything she knows about following.

rainy days and twisting braids > Yasha braids Beau’s hair, and softness follows. For Beauyasha Week 2022 Day 2: Hair. (Takes place post-campaign.)

like it’s the last time > A Widojest epilogue “missing scene,” i.e. the final conversation Caleb and Jester never got in canon. It’s the night before Fjord and Jester leave Nicodranas, and the Nein are throwing a party. Everything should be great. Except Caleb’s been distant lately, and Jester wants to know why. (Takes place during the Campaign 2 finale, roughly.)

waves of memory > A short Shadowgast piece based on some merperson!Essek AU art.

we must all tend our gardens > A character study of everyone's favorite drow hotboi and his complicated relationship with faith, as told through gardening. (Takes place during the Campaign 2 finale.)

[podfic] Die Smaragdwelle (Jade_Sabre) > A reading of Die Smaragdwelle, a fairy tale about a princess swallowed up by an emerald wave and the wizard who had to find her. (Featuring my vocal impressions of all the Mighty Nein.)

und andere Zemnische Volksmärchen > What if things had gone just a little differently post-Katzenprinz? (Fluff. Fluff is what happens.) For Widojest Week 2021 Day 6: Der Katzenprinz.

four-and-a-half waltzes of caleb widogast > A series of vignettes in which Caleb shares four dances with four of the most important people in his life, and learns to embrace the magic of possibility. (Spoilers for all of Campaign 2, minus the finale.)

the divine transmutation of the self > In which magic changes Veth, and Veth changes her mind about magic. (Spoilers through C2E97)

drawn together > Making stuff for (and with) the people you care about is a love language. In which Beau decides to learn how to draw, and also learns a few other things along the way. (Takes place sometime post-C2E111)

a taste of summer > In which Caleb’s hidden talent for baking and Jester’s love of sweets collide in the best possible way. (Takes place sometime post-C2E111)

sunrise over eiselcross > A little scene between Fjord and Jester from the morning after their big conversation in C2E118.

you're still there > Beau has a nightmare about a path not taken. Yasha’s there to help her through it. Cuddles ensue. (Takes place sometime post-C2E111)

disguise selves > An AU where Caleb and Jester are (human) roommates, preparing for a Halloween costume party over Zoom. Jester being Jester, she insists on a photo shoot in costume. Everything goes better than expected. (no spoilers)

the nature of possibility > Two things possessed me to write this: the concept of including some actual thermodynamics in a fic about dunamancy, and the idea of hand contact during a spellcraft lesson. What ensued was nearly a thousand words of Shadowgast. (Takes place sometime post-C2E77)

an unnatural tide > Caleb doesn't normally forget things. But Rumblecusp isn't a normal island. What did he forget that last morning? Here's my best guess. (Spoilers for C2E105)

#writing #critical role #mighty nein #widojest #(mostly)#if you're new to my fic: here's a taster menu #like it's the last time is bittersweet but hopeful #a soft place to land is post-canon fix-it fluff #a dream within a dream is a character-driven magical adventure into caleb's memories and trauma #und andere Zemnische Volksmärchen diverges from canon right after Katzenprinz and turns into straight fluff #and a taste of summer is my take on a widojest baking fic. it is as sweet as a strawberry cake should be #that's just the widojest fics-- i also have a bit of shadowgast and beauyasha in there. check them out!

8 notes · View notes

romeoandjulietyouwish · 2 years

Note

How do the rest of the M9 factor into the Beau and Bren arranged marriage 'deprogram this indoctrinated youth gods' AU?

I could see Fjord and Jester being Beau's friends who are trying really, really hard to befriend her new husband, and Beau why the *fuck* did you marry such a guy we thought you had standards, he's a trash wizard, and aren't you exclusively into girls? And they're trying their best to be supportive while also being extremely suspicious of whatever is going on.

Meanwhile Yasha and Molly are perhaps Cerberus Assembly contacts Caleb meets every once in a while? As well as Yeza and thus Veth - he's initially very cold and keeps things to his duties regarding them, but Beau's influence/her being an ass wears things down. Also it's extremely funny to see her blush around Yasha. (I wonder if this whole thing is a test for Caleb, too, to see if he can handle bigger projects - and if he does well Trent might introduce him to Essek? >:D)

No clue how Cad gets roped in? Cobalt Soul hire a therapist for Caleb, or once he's a bit more deprogramed they shunt him off to the middle of nowhere to wait things out (aka using the Blooming Grove as a safehouse)?

Sidenote, but Astrid and Beau would loathe eachother, and from the outside everyone thinks it's a 'oh jealous ex/jealous of the ex' situation, but nah they both know exactly what's going on and want to strangle the other for it. Wulf is just sitting there looking very confused and chaperoning to ensure no murder happens.

yesss I love this au so much!

I think that it probably takes a few weeks for Beau to get to know Caleb enough for her to invite Jester and Fjord over because she thinks that Jester will be good for him and Fjord is always a good mediator if things don't go according to plan. And yeah Jester is super blunt about not liking Caleb from the start because that's her best friend and she deserves better but when Beau explains the situation to her, she is kinder to him and starts coming over with books and pastries. Of course Caleb is a little bit in love with her.

I can see Yasha working tangentially with the Assembly as like a contractor or something and Molly is her barnacle so he's always there. There's immediate tension between Beau and Yasha for obvious Soul vs Assembly reasons but when Beau finds out that she's not really working for them, she allows herself to be attracted to her.

It's absolutely a test for Caleb, if he gets Trent the info on Beau and the Assembly he'll be given a better job, he'll be trusted with bigger responsibilities. Like...infiltrating the dynasty.

#arranged marriage au #critical role #lis makes hcs #mighty nein #empire siblings

23 notes · View notes

utilitycaster · 1 year

Note

Top 10 (or five or however many you wanna do) hopes/dreams/things-you-wanna-see happen during the two shot? What do you want the most. Also for a bonus point however many things you’d hate to see, or like things the fandom wants that you’d disagree with (coughs in inexplicable fjorjester hate)

So, on some level, it's like. It's Mighty Nein. They are dealing with Uk'otoa. I don't really think they can go wrong, per se. With that said, here's the stuff I'd like to see:

Sabian. Travis always excels at providing a certain weight to his character backstories and in having people who are both immensely important and also largely unseen (Vandran; the Claret Orders/Oltgar/Chet's past lovers; Wrayne Agrupnin; Kevdak felt this way prior to him showing up) so it's like. Let us see Sabian, he's at the center of Fjord's backstory, we narrowly missed him bc the Nein decided to go mad hard on Avantika right away and then it made sense to part ways post-Aeor (this is valid of them but still) and he's DEFINITELY caught up in this.

I will be happy if they reseal Uk'otoa, but I will be ECSTATIC if they just fucking kill him. Fuck off, snea snake.

Similarly, I'd like to see Caduceus and Essek cameos. We know Cad's not coming (and why would he, tbh, he's got a garden and he does not have any love for the sea and [long derailing meta about Cad and Fjord's friendship redacted]). I highly doubt Essek is joining them for the full two-shot either for mechanical and narrative reasons. However, a brief send-off scene or a Sending to those guys would be a nice touch.

TBH on that note I'd love for it to open with a like, call to action with scenes from each of the groups, so like, Jester, with Fjord and Kingsley, calling up Beau and Yasha; Caleb (and possibly Essek); Veth; and Caduceus, and each of them getting a scene of what they're currently up to and then joining everyone on the ship, or not, as the case may be. (Cad: I'm well! Absolutely not! But if any of you die and it's not Caleb tell him you can teleport here for resurrection or burial, whatever.)

Veth has 6 first level wizard spells now (possibly more if they leveled up further?) and I want her to go fucking wild.

Taliesin gets carte blanche - even when I don't vibe with his characters (which has only happened once) I trust his builds will be at minimum interesting - so I would love to see something absolutely bananas for Kingsley.

I want Marius LePual to finally kill something. Like, a small thing, like a sea spawn dude.

Fjord was considering getting a tattoo, vaguely, from Orly, and he's had the time, and I think that would be very fun. I feel like dexterity is the obvious choice but who knows. Maybe he picks cold resistance.

torn tbh between "somehow, Avantika returned" for comedy and making Vandran very unhappy, and the fact that her zombie death was a significant moment and the moment of the Star Razor's exultation.

My ridiculous long-shot wish is a Beauyasha engagement thus setting up another one shot set at their wedding. This offers an opportunity for Caduceus and Essek content that would make more sense than in this two-shot, it would be very fun, and probably Isharnai interrupts it.

Things I don't want to see are under a cut so that people who want to be in a pure state of bliss can continue. Rock on; as established, I am, as Brian Murphy once said of himself, made almost entirely of salt, but I admire those who are not.

So here's the thing. Do I care, particularly, about the opinions of people who keep calling for two characters who have been dating for like four months and have never once been stated to be married, to get divorced? Do I care, particularly, about the opinions of people whose social skills are so utterly lacking that they genuinely think that the way to achieving closure for unrequited feelings for one of your closest friends, who is dating another one of your closest friends, when you are also either in a relationship, or at least involved in Serious Wizard Flirting, is to confess this love to them, instead of quietly moving on? Like, realistically, it goes like this:

Do I care, particularly, about the opinions of people, who I believe with unshakeable certainty, would 100% be the biggest Fjord stans of all time if he were played exactly the same, beat for beat, word for word, except by either Marisha or Liam (depending on their personal preference), instead of by Travis?

The answer is, of course, yes. I do. The devil on my shoulder constantly whispers to me "but M, someone is WRONG on the INTERNET." Fortunately, the angel on my shoulder has a boombox blasting "Welcome to Wildemount" at top volume and is doing a pretty good job of drowning it out right now.

Anyway, is it Thursday yet?

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag #I'M SO EXCITED

48 notes · View notes

captainsspnanon · 10 months

Text

C2E69 - The Kings Cage - rewatch reaction

The episode that should have been NiceTM, and was not.

Whyyyy are the subtitles so fucked for this episode? They’re covering Travis’s face! I’m guessing it’s because of the PC icons that showed up. Wait, is this the first time that this has happened??? *checks previous episode again* Oh man, I’m so used to seeing this that 1) I didn’t notice when it wasn’t there and 2) I didn’t realize that this was the first time they showed up! I don’t remember this fucking up the subtitles before or in other episodes….maybe this was first time issues?

I am super distracted by Matt not noticing Sam’s shirt.

Funnily enough, this entire scene matches what the one dnd playtest is talking about with warlocks. Sometimes they are the only one calling for a short rest and you have this disparity in what the players want to do.

It is now July 4th, I last touched this a full fucking month ago. I have watched ~30 minutes of the latest Candela Obscura, but am struggling to get into it (a sad reality of me and CR one shots and mini-series.) SO LET’S GET BACK TO THE DRAMA!!

...I’m only 17 minutes in….*starts over from the beginning*

Oh geez I forgot that this was episode 69. They went into this with teasing hype for months about ‘lul 69’ and then they got this heart wrench of an episode.

Sam and Laura play the “I have Not(t)” bit really well. There’s just a touch in Jester’s tone which is inserting a comma in there ‘I have, Nott’, but it’s a clever bit of attempted deception as well, even though it fails.

I’d forgotten that Nott claimed the flask defined her as a person. T.T Once the campaign is over, it’s easy to remember the goblin alcoholism as mostly jokes, but there were some really deep and painful moments. I don’t personally know anyone who struggles with addiction, so I know there are aspects of this emotionally that I don’t relate to, but there these small moments are incredibly well done. Sam talked about how he discussed Scanlan’s attempts at addiction with Brian, I don’t recall if he also went to him for Nott?

The juxtaposition of Jester very seriously expressing her worries to Nott about how when Nott is drunk, she’s less cautious and will run straight at things without looking for traps, versus everyone else loosing their shit when she says ‘or trigger them’. I’ll have to try to pay attention, but I think even after this RP, Nott still doesn’t become someone super careful about looking for traps. We, of course, know her big moments in the future (happy fun ball time!), but I’m unsure if Sam/Nott is more on top of it.

I really do love the push/pull relationship that Nott/Veth has with her family and her love of adventure. In hindsight, I feel like Sam managed to hold the balance of it very well and very realistically. For most of the PCs, I feel like the epilogues give me enough to have a very good idea of their lives going forwards, even if only for a while. Veth is the one I’m curious about the most though, how does she continue to balance her love of adventure with her family? The dynamics have certainly changed from how they were pre-campaign, and that helps a lot, but I wonder if sometimes she may instigate small things for the Nein to go on, or if she insists she get invited along to someone else’s trip (maybe one of the trips to Aeor?). Or does she find herself content with the chaos of the summer camp in addition to her homely life?

LOL Sam and Laura pushing for Caleb to have a chin that matches Liam, and Liam at every instance making it clear with official art that Caleb absolutely does NOT have a cleft chin.

Does the whip ever actually get used in combat? I know it gets given to Fjord when he loses his power…. TELL ME, CRITROLESTATS. Actually transcript search might be better for this, I don’t think critrolestats says what weapon is used. I think it’s only used in the Obann fight here, and then with the purple worm by Fjord, and then by no one else ever again. XD It gets mentioned in another episode or two as a possibility to use (catching someone who might fall), but I don’t think it does?

WE NEED MORE CALEB AND YASHA MOMENTS!!! Him suggesting she be in the middle of the group, her not being sure, him saying that protection is not a bad thing, her saying it could be and then almost asking him permission to be on the front, him making it clear he’s not telling her what to do. Seriously, this pairing has SUCH a good dynamic and it only gets better from here, but we have so little interaction. :( I will forever grump and mourn and exclaim that we need more Liam and Ashley scenes. We were robbed of Pike and Vax moments in C1, robbed on Caleb and Yasha moments in C2, and I could ALWAYS use more than we currently have in C3.

LOL at the matching nat 1s for trying to determine what the sigil is. Very very glad that Caleb had fortune’s favor and could re-roll. The sometimes frustrating aspect of dnd is some PCs failing at stuff they should 100% be able to do. I’m reminded of the Hand’s heart scene where Liam kept failing checks for Caleb where everyone else was succeeding, despite the fact that it was arcana related.

...Torog? Moradin? Sehanine? What’s with all these 5e names, Matt? I’d thought you’d thoroughly switched to unique epithets by now. You’re even using with with the Allhammer and Moonweaver!

Why do they immediately assume devil upon red skin, yellow eyes, two horns? They’re all gasping before he gets to the wings, but couldn’t he just have been a tiefling with the description?

Did we ever find out what Obann thought he was actually getting from the Angel of Irons? We know they opened abyssal rifts, and that they were trying to free Tharizdun (without knowing that’s what they were doing). So like, is it just an image of an angel saying ‘free me by doing this, oh and also tear the planes apart to let demons in?’ ..demons? devils? This is the hardest part of 5e for me, dammit. Demons. Demons from the abyss. But Obann’s a devil. Aaagh as much as I enjoy the angel of irons subplot, it’s also I think the sketchiest plot in all of CR with no clear understanding of goals or what or why.

...Is this the first “making my way”??? *checks transcripts* Oh, it’s not – the first was in episode 60. BUT I think this is the first time since then, so here’s where it becomes a running gag?

Huh, not letting Fjord get off his eldritch blasts that triggered the whole initiative.

“what do a devil and a tree have in common? Intelligence” …..not gonna lie, I don’t get the joke at ALL. Tasha’s Hideous Laughter would fail just because I’m so confused. I’m ASSUMING that it’s just calling Obann dumb….if so I feel like it would be better if the object were ‘rock’ or ‘brick’, based off of ‘dumb as a rock’ or ‘dumb as a brick’.

I’ve seen some people say that Matt picked up the trick of stating a DC ahead of time from Brennan, but here he just stated that Beau needed at 25 DC acrobatics to do a flurry of blows on Obann (she fails with a 22), so it’s something that he has done beforehand. I think it’s just not something that he prefers to do much.

Only two rounds to free the Laughing Hand? Well, I guess it’s something that Matt really needed to have happen so that makes sense. I think I would have liked three or four rounds to give the PCs more time to do shit, but that’s just personal preference.

Oooo!!! I forgot that over the break he replaced the sarcophagus mini with a broken open sarcophagus! Fun!

Counterspell a Shield! Not quite a counterspell a counterspell, but still sexy.

Ashley interrupting to inform Matt that because of her Ring of Protection, Yasha’s saving throw was actually 3 instead of 2. I LOVE HER.

I really love the moments where something truly horrible starts happening to the PCs (Yasha being turned against them, being an unwilling creature for Fjord’s thunderstep) and while the PCs are NOT happy about it, the players are stoked and excited! It’s a fun juxtaposition of the true fun of ‘what’s going on’ in the game especially when compared with the more settled RP moments where the players are in full PC mode and their personal enthusiasm is sometimes hidden by the RP. Fjord is furious with Yasha for betraying them, but here Travis is wiggling and singing “this is getting interesting!”

I’m not going to research it, and a comments check didn’t help, but I wonder how many PC rolls the Bless-that-should-have-dropped actually helped. Quick check of the livetweets for critrolestats, maybe Yasha’s saving throw against the Hand’s laughter, and the rest are Beau attacks. However, Beau had advantage on many of them, rolled consistently high, and I think actually forgot the bless a number of times? So honestly? I think even if bless had dropped correctly, things still would have played out the way they did. Oh wait...Fjord’s last hit for the HDYWTDT was because of bless. (very sad the the critrolestats livetweets did not include Ashley correcting for Yasha’s 2 to 3 for the wisdom save XD)

MIGHTY NEIN ONE SHOT ANNOUNCED AS FIRST LIVE SHOW SINCE THE PANDEMIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (though I’m seeing some people saying they’ll be level 20, but can’t find any actual statement saying what level they’ll be?? Hoping before I post this that someone will let me know)

Beau using Stillness of Mind to end fear, UGH SO GOOD. Seriously, with the new UAs and everything for the new dnd I keep hearing about how bad monks are, but I haven’t ever experienced it because Beau is so GOOD (and I haven’t played with a monk yet. Someone had done a monk/cleric multiclass, but that game ended while we were still in level 2 due to some session 0 miscommunications)

Lesser Restoration not being able to cure fear, but Greater Restoration does just seems weird to me. Like, Lesser can cure blind, deaf, paralyze, or poison. While Greater…..wait. Greater doesn’t cure frightened either! It only reduces exhaustion, ends charmed or petrified, undoes a curse, undoes an ability score reduction, undoes an effect that reduces hit point max. Fear is none of those. So, neither of the restorations RAW end fear??? Well, I guess that’s the reason for Calm Emotions.

NOTT GIVES YASHA A FLOWER FROM HER HAIR I’m having my heart being crushed by things I didn’t remember! And Jester knew that Yasha was controlled, she tried to Charm her back but it didn’t work! All I really remembered from the Nein was Jester being very sad and Fjord and Beau being very angry, I didn’t remember that others knew she didn’t have a choice!

Oh FUUUUUCK I never realized that when Fjord is brought down by Yasha, only to come back with Relentless Endurance, when he asks her “why” he asks her in his true voice. MY HEAAAART.

I know everyone mentions it, but Ashley’s exaggerated sad-face when Taliesin starts to count her then skips her for Bless, then Matt winking at her and her grin. Even when they have such heavy emotional episodes like this combat turned to be, signs like that are some of the clearest that they’re all still having a blast.

Obviously didn’t say much for the combat itself, I think my only ‘analysis’ of it is that it’s one of the higher stakes combats in C2, easily matching the level of some C1 fights. Even a good chunk into C3, C1 is still the reigning champion for most intense combats. While I don’t all into the hivemind that shouts that Matt takes it easy on them, I do think there are times when Matt is taking it HARDER on them, and this certainly was one of those combats. I really do enjoy the combats where they are fighting an intelligent and evil enemy who is fully intent on destroying them. You get such great tactics and some real creativity in those moments that you don’t get as strongly on a standard 6v1/7v1 creature combat.

Ending the episode with the side by side of Matt and Ashley as Matt gently narrates the confusion in Yasha, the uncertainty of if she is being controlled or doing this on her own, it’s beautiful, heartbreaking, and perfect. (aside from the fact that because of the table layout, they end up facing away from each other during the close ups XD Who knows, maybe that makes it more jarring to go with Yasha’s mindset?)

#cr c2 rewatch #critical role #the mighty nein

4 notes · View notes

demigoddessqueens · 2 years

Note

How would Vox Machina, Mighty Nein, Bell's Hells and poly!Trevor, Sypha, Alucard and Greta from Castlevania react to an S/O who is just Moon Knight from Marvel?

Yessss!!! I love my Egyptian gods and mythology!!

It’s not easy to be the gods’ paladin, but does it ever make for a conversation with your loved ones when you’ve taken the form in the heat of battle

Also when I refer to Egyptian gods for CR, I’m referring to what is the lore equivalent of the pantheon

Keyleth - speechless as you move so fast and take down bands of enemies and dragons

Jester - your wings, your powers! All of it! Are you an angel? Are you with The Traveler?

Alucard - he thought he was the only one who had such supernatural abilities, yet here you are in Egyptian armor

Sypha - wide eyed wonder as your magic amplifies hers; has heard of gods and their chosen from Speaker texts

Scanlan - heart eyes galore!! Hugs your leg and is just rambling with praise

Laudna - smiling widely and utterly enchanted by your magical display

Pike - wow! Like she’s just, wow!! She knows her power and then yours has her hyping up everything you do

Caleb - he’s looking at you as if you hung the moon (well partly) and has so many questions to ask you

Cassandra - surprised just as anyone else is and flashes you a small smile

Grog - holy shit you look great! Thinks the wings are pretty on you!!

Imogen - she must have been born yesterday because this is a whole level of new to her!! “You-you look amazin’…”

Percy - wide eyes in wonder and always staying near your side. “Please tell me more about this later, love”

Fjord - did Melora/Wildmother send you?? Are there new gods?? Catch him cause he thinks his knees are giving out

Nott/Veth - freaking out like Caleb!! How you transformed! How you moved!!

Vex’ahlia - amazing! Spectacular! Ground-breaking! Darling, you’re a vision on and off the battlefield!

Ashton - what the fuck is up with that? A bit adamant that you explain everything to him immediately

FCG - just as surprised as everyone else but ever so curious. “Who’s your creator??”

Yasha - she knew of her wings, but yours look like…metal? Armor?

Beauregard - just as in awe as Yasha and secretly wants you to pick her up with your wings in flight

Greta - she knew of the folklore, tales and stories from centuries ago, but seeing it now is a whole new experience

Mollymauk - he thought his life was interesting but oh is he ever ready to rescind that statement. Please entertain him over drinks

Fearne - even she’s surprised at what’s unraveling, reminds her of the forms the Fae can take

Cadeuces - the calm demeanor slowly melts away with every fight move and punch you throw

Dorian - you’re his muse and he’s found inspiration for a new song, and he can’t stop staring either

Essek - has seen Caleb’s polymorphs and yours knocks him ass over kettle more in love

Orym - he’s familiar with Keyleth’s polymorphs as Voice of the Tempest, but you’re standing here and fighting with such regality!! By the gods!

Chetney - yes he can turn into a werewolf, but you can do that?? Wooooh is he glad they have you around

Vax’ildan - same reaction as Steven did when Layla showed up; “wow!! You look amazing!! What are you wearing??”; does try to show off his skills to impress you but can’t get over how you fight and look.

Trevor - has nothing to say for once in his life, but pulls you aside later after the fight; “that has to be one of the most amazing things you’ve done, and you do a lot”

42 notes · View notes

thequeenofmyownscreen · 1 year

Text

Fourteen things I noted about CR2E110 “Dinner with the Devil” :

110 episodes after the start of the campaign, Caleb officially reveals his backstory to all of the Mighty Nein. That has got to be a record. And given how hard that scene was going to be, and given how hard that scene with Nott and Beau so long ago was... it's no wonder he was going towards it very carefully.

Beau, to Jester : "Do you have any rip-away dresses, you know? So we can wear our gear, but then be like…" (she mimics ripping her top off) Caduceus : "Technically, aren't all clothes rip-away, if you're strong enough ?" Beau, very satisfied with this answer : "You're right !"

Love that it's been less that 24 hours and they already miss Veth so much that they just show up at her house. Co-dependency indeed.

The Mighty Nein going at this dinner with Trent with the right mindset : "If there's an opportunity … Should we just MURDER HIM ?" Caleb says no. The Mighty Nein, seconds later : "Ok, but look... what if we murdered him anyway ??"

I totally respect the need to describe their new outfits for the cold. Like Sam and Matt said together, they want to be hot, and more importantly, look hot.

"Nine women can't make a baby in a month !" Caduceus I love your sayings so much. Or is Taliesin ? Anyway, what a proverb.

Everyone : *describes in great details their new and expensive outfits that everyone clearly has been thinking a lot on* Fjord : "Do you have any coats ?" The tailor : "Yeah. There are a number of coats. What sort of coat are you looking for ?" Fjord : "A warm one." The tailor : "All right. That'll be 5 gold." Fjord : "You got it ! Here you go. We're set. Let's rock !"

A giant elevator ??? Like in the Haunted House at Disneyland ???!! (the one in Paris). Fuck ! I hate Trent, but I love this.

Eadwulf, to Caduceus : "And you, what are you ?" Caduceus, without a pause : "A vegetarian... so I hope the meal reflects that." Power move, Caduceus.

Of fuck, that scene is so gross. An abuser who says "you've suceedeed because of the way I treated you" ? NO FUCKING THANKS. Trent needs to die.

Marisha was me during this discussion. Her expressions alternated between "Can you believe this bitch ? Gaslighting you like that in front of my salad ?" and "Does anyone is going to shut him the fuck up or should I just punch him in the mouth ?"

CADUCEUS, MVP OF THE NIGHT. I want to frame his speech : "I think it has been a long time since anyone has pointed out to you that you're a fool. Pain doesn't make people, it's love that makes people. The pain is inconsequential. It's love that saves them. And you would know that, but you have none around you. You said so yourself, you surround yourself with lies and deceptions. And I wish for you, in the future, to find someone who will mourn you when you are gone... Respectfully."

It's amazing seeing Marisha and the others connecting the dots. It's for sure Vess De Rogna the Tombtakers and Lucien were fleeing from !! I love how everyone jumped on the bandwagon and was like "WHAT IF EVERYTHING WAS CONNECTED ?"

Also love that Jester tried her method to see stuff : inflicting tarot to Fjord. The reading was good (in a narrative way because tarot is bullshit -- sorry but I don't believe in tarot) and I loved that Laura got so excited by the "signs" that she got up from her chair.

#my thoughts #critical role #cr campaign 2 #CR2E110

6 notes · View notes

whumpwizard · 2 years

Text

Whumptober2022 Day 6: Proof of Life

The Nein rushed into Ludinus’ estate at full speed, praying to every god they followed that Essek was still alive. They heard through the grape vine, thanks to Beau, that Ludinus had recently taken in a ‘stray’ from the Dynasty. It didn’t take much digging to find out that it was Essek, stolen away from his post in Eiselcross and held in the Martinet’s home. Caleb had immediately booked of time in his teaching, under the pretence of some rather important business abroad, and had requests Beau as his personal guard. Obviously, Yasha would have to come as well in such a case, and it was hardly an issue to call Fjord and Jester and the Balleater back to the shores of the Menagerie Coast.

Caduceus had been slightly harder to reach, as always, but a few well-informed crows was really all it took in the end. As for Veth, she had jumped as soon as Caleb reached out. The only one they couldn't reach was Kingsley, something that no one was quite sure how they felt about. It felt wrong not to ask, but Caleb would have been lying if he said he hadn’t been relieved at the rebuff from the tiefling. And, just like that, the Nein were back in business. All except one, that is. And that one was who they were after.

“Alright, everyone split up and check every room for him. We have no idea where the Martinet might be keeping him so we have to keep our eyes peeled.” Fjord said, directing them all to split up. Jester and Caleb rushed down the north hall together, Caleb looking for arcane traps while Jester searched for mechanical ones. Both of their hearts were racing more than they would have admitted to anyone.

“He’ll…he’ll be alright, right Cayleb?” Jester asked, the worry clear in voice and her wide eyes. Caleb just nodded.

“Ja, of course, Jester. He…he will be fine. You are a cleric after all. You…you can make him fine if he is not.” Caleb said. It wasn’t a question, and Jester knew it. She nodded back. Both of them knew what Essek meant to the other. Everyone knew what Essek meant to Caleb, of course, but even Fjord had only questions about him and Jester. It was years ago now, and they were so very in love, and Fjord knew he had no place to ask about Jester’s past loves. But many of them suspected that they, too, had been involved at some point.

Interrupting the shared glance, Caleb and Jester heard a scream from down the hall. Blood curdling and deep, they knew whose it was. Both of them took off at a sprint.

“Essek hold on!” Jester shouted, running as fast as she could towards the sound.

“We are here! Please, Essek, we are coming!” Caleb followed, running faster than he ever had in his life. Their cries were met only by screams filling the hall.

When they found the room that the shouts were coming from, they couldn’t help but freeze in the doorway. Essek was alone in the room, chained to the wall, and very badly beaten. His eyes were puffy with bruises, and tears tracked through the dirt caked on his face. His breathing was ragged and hitched, and every other ne was punctuated with a scream. He was calling out to someone, anyone.

“Essek we’re here…” Caleb said, rushing towards him. Jester at his side, they both knelt beside him and began to inspect his wounds. Caleb could see the bruises around his wrists from the shackles, sprained at worse and strained at best. More worrisome though, was the gash in his chest, slowly dripping blood onto the floor.

“He…he is done with me…” Essek choked out. The effort of it brought him to coughing, as blood trickled out of his mouth.

“Well we aren’t Essek, so don’t you go quitting on us yet. It’s very rude, you know.” Jester said, trying to cover the worry with a smile and a laugh, just as she always did. Essek tried to laugh in response, but it only brought on more coughs. More wheezes. More blood. More and more and more, until every breath was coated with it. Until Essek was choking on it. Until his breaths slowed…and stopped.

“No…” Caleb whispered. “No no no no no….no!” He grabbed Essek’s shoulders and began to shake the drow. “Wake up! Wake up!” he ordered. But it was no use. Essek’s eyes were rolled back, blank and hollow.

“I…I can fix it, wait.” Jester said, scrambling in her bag and searching for something. After a few moments, she pulled out a necklace. It was lovely, and opulent, and Caleb remembered the day that Essek had given it to her. He and Jester had visited together, to tell him that it was their last time. Their last time sleeping together, and the end of Jester’s involvement in the relationship. And this had been his goodbye gift. A necklace, studded with heart shaped diamonds, worth far much more than the spell needed. Jester ripped off the centre diamond, and held it to Essek’s chest. “Work.” she commanded. “Work, dammit.”

“Please…” Caleb pleaded. “Please…please please please. Come back to us.” As he begged, he fiddled with the cuffs at Essek’s wrists, undoing them and rubbing the elf’s wrists. Jester took the other wrist in her hand as she chanted. Prayed. Called upon Artie and the Wildmother and the Storm Lord and every god they all knew. This had to work.

A moment passed. Nothing. Just silence and the bated breath of the two mages, alone in the room with Essek…Essek’s body.

Another breath. Silence.

Another…thump…thump…thump.

“I’ve got it!” Jester shouted. “I’ve got a pulse!” Essek’s eyes blew wide open, as he sucked in breath, raspy and shaking.

Caleb melted, and threw himself into Essek’s arms.

#whumptober2022 #no.6 #ive got a pulse #screams from down the hall #critical role #fic #shadowgast #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #jester lavorre #mighty nein #caleb x jester x essek #caleb x essek #caleb x jester #jester x essek #near death experience #kidnapping #rescue mission

8 notes · View notes