Fortune's Favor hath updated!

the next chapter in the tale of Essek and Artagan's Time Shenanigans!

Yasha exists! there's a porn shop! shit hits the fan!

Hurt/Comfort Fic Recs!

This week, we have thirteen hurt/comfort fics recced! Some emotional hurt/comfort, some physical whump, and sometimes combinations of the two. Check them out under the cut, and as ever, comment or kudos if you like them!

those that crawl and flutter towards the sun by vietbluecoeur (vietbluefic) (6163,Not Rated) Warnings: Major Character Death, Very Mild Insect Imagery, Mortality and Discussions Thereof, Sad & Gentle Ending Pairings: Jester Lavorre & Essek Thelyss

Essek has always been warned not to touch the creatures, called the in’luthin, "insects" with a lifespan of three days, but what harm is there in just looking? And anyways, when has Essek ever been one to listen?

Reccer says: From the very first words, this fic has such a luxurious weight to it. Some of the Mighty Nein appear, but this is definitively a story between AroAce Essek and AroAce Jester as bittersweet as the tags imply, only less bitter and more longing, and definitely, definitely sweet.

Spit, elbow grease, and a whole lot of gold by Multifandom_damnation (2006,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Ashton Greymoore & Milo Krook

The Nobodies dump Ashton off on Milo's table, and Milo does his best to fix him

Reccer says: Milo voices all of my rage at Ashton's treatment wonderfully. The fic also does a great job of managing the actual process of fixing him, along with all of the emotions involved as well

Philia, Is That You? by Professor_Rye (2034,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Yasha & Mollymauk

Yasha gets hurt protecting Mollymauk from assholes, and the Mollymauk helps Yasha make sure she's actually okay

Reccer says: QPRs my beloved

Crowned Teeth (or, An Offering Revoked) by fruitzbat (130570,Mature) Warnings: Frank depictions of PTSD/galley slavery Pairings: Kingsley Tealeaf/Original Character

Kingsley is mutinied against and sold into slavery halfway across the world. He breaks out, finds out the mutiny was the inside job to end all inside jobs, and makes his survival everyone else's problem.

Reccer says: I really, really like the way that this series explores different kinds of hurt and trauma, and how those kinds of hurt affect people's relationships and self-image. The first and second fics in the series are the most direct about the subject, but the third has a lot about what it means to lose a parental figure and complicated grief/trauma response stuff that I found really refreshing. Characters are messy and non-linear in their healing, and do their best to take care of each other. There's a lot of...I don't know how to say this, but a very no-bullshit look at the concept of the power of love that is this through-thread through the stories. Anyway, I really like them.

Trust by silversky (403,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Caleb & Nott

Nott is sick and delirious, but thankfully there is someone there to make sure she's okay.

Reccer says: the fic is very soft and warm

Scar Tissue by Belphegor (0,Teen) Warnings: scars, canon-typical violence, reference to main character death (and resurrection) Pairings: Scanlan Shorthalt/Pike Trickfoot

Sometimes surviving means learning to live with the scars that killed you. Pike knows a lot about that. Scanlan is still learning. (a little comics set a bit post-Campaign 1.)

Reccer says: Author here - sorry, I usually don't shamelessly self-plug like that, but I set out to write and draw post-campaign 1 hurt/comfort dealing with Pike's and Scanlan's different resurrection-related traumas, and I poured my entire heart into it. (turns out making comics is hard but totally worth it.)

I've Held You in the Plan by CitizenMocha (4015,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Vex & Vax

After all is said and done with the Apogee Solstice and its aftermath, Vox Machina free Vax from the Malleus Key. The twins are reunited. Rest, reflection, and a revelation about what happens next ensue.

Reccer says: Vex's grief is palpable throughout the entire fic, even as--especially as, actually--she's reunited with Vax. It's a heartaching yet triumphant look at what might happen when the events of C3 are all said and done. There's so many little details woven in that serve to make it pack even more of a punch ("Vax Speed" does so many things to my heart) and the dynamic between all of Vox Machina is wonderful as well.

The Night is Starting to Ache by CitizenMocha (3872,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Gwendolyn De Rolo & Vax De Rolo & Percy De Rolo

Set after episode 76 of campaign 3. It's the middle of the night and Gwendolyn is afraid to sleep.

Reccer says: I loved this glimpse of an older Percy as a loving, indulgent father doing his best to comfort his child.

maybe then my breath could embody by lunarblazes (1331,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Caduceus & Calliope Clay

Calliope and Caduceus have a fun bonding moment about the fucked up shit that happens when you leave home

Reccer says: There's so many little details I love in this, it's perfectly in character, and I love their sibling not-quite-comforting each other dynamic

a garden in the stars by wanderingBasilisk (2264,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Caduceus & Fjord

Caduceus stays back on the Nein's spaceship while the others run errands on a space station. When Fjord gets overstimulated from the crowds there, Jester brings him back to the ship and to Cad, who knows just what his friend needs.

Reccer says: It's very atmospheric (the description of the garden on board the Nein Heroez is So Evocative) and the familiarity and care between Cad and Fjord is so lovely and sweet. The time they've spent together and the comfort of a well-worn routine is apparent throughout the whole fic and comes together in the sweetest way.

Canities Subita: An Exploration of Self-Image by oversteepedearlgrey (1760,Teen) Warnings: Choose not to warn Pairings: Percy & Vox Machina

Percy hates looking in the mirror. He keeps his hair short and out of his face. He can’t wear his glasses during haircuts, and he certainly can’t be the one cutting it. It takes a creek, a bear, and a panic attack to find out why.

Reccer says: Percy is wonderful for hurt comfort, but I love the way that this is handling something that is more emotionally distressing than physically painful.

A Pirate's Bounty of Gold Doubloons by bluegreenamber (1823,Mature) Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence Pairings: Kingsley & Yussa

Kingsley hadn't been expecting any company today, especially not a powerful (and injured) elven wizard seeking refuge.

Reccer says: It's a really fun pairing!

Miles to Go by Crewe (3621,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings:

After a grueling battle, Vox Machina is hours away from the nearest cleric racing to get an unconscious Keyleth to Pike before poison takes its toll. Scanlan is hiding an injury to keep attention on Keyleth. It’s maybe a little worse than he expected.

Reccer says: Lovely fic where everyone is perfectly in-character, and the humour and tension are balanced just right, as are the worry and deflection (on both sides). Special mention to the Scanlan & Grog and Vex & Scanlan pairings, those add just the necessary acid-sweet icing on the h/c cake!

This is one of our weekly communally-generated gen rec lists. Every week we announce a new theme and allow anyone to submit a fic recommendation. Please note that the summary and content notes are provided by the reccer, and may be different than what the author has provided. Please assume good intentions all around. <3

And hey, anyone includes you!

Next week, we'll be featuring Yasha!

Then, it'll be clothes, time skip/future fics, and pranks!

Any fics coming to mind?  Well, then use this form to submit!

If you're looking for some more, check out some fics written in the critter genfic bingo tag, or the older rec lists! Or you can request your own card and join in on the fun!

a second alphabet of crit role (and other) fics

as promised, as i have hit 100 fics, here is a new alphabet of fics (with some letters repeated from last time i did this)

and in dreams (we will meet again) - shadowgast soulmate dreaming au

basically a god - mollymauk seer au, where molly knows the gentleman is jester's dad (but nothing changes)

calculations and conversations - m9 aeor au: essek and caleb meet during caleb's first day on the t-doc project

deliberation (disc) - jester and essek go to claires! (claire is a dwarven blacksmith mc from uthodurn)

everyday maintenance - milo fixes themself some friends (ashton and fcg) (part one of krook house family shenanigans)

focus - the raven queen considers what campaign two would have looked like if any other member of the nein had 'gone molly' instead

guiding bolt - or jester comes to terms with being herself through a series of conversations with the rest of the nein - through and post campaign

harvest close hairpins - caleb and essek come home after an evening out with the others, post campaign. soft and fluffy like lumpy the cat

it means puppet - how easy would it be for a prime deity to accidentally kill one of their acolytes? anyway, melora gives cad that third divine intervention

just little old me in a big, big world - orym knows vox machina a little better than he was initially letting on (everyone is trans!)

kinds of light - the last day of aeor, through the ever burning lanterns of the genesis ward

lily petals and rainfall - cad's prophetic dream, from the night before the nein climbed his fence

monster in the mirror - on veth and laudna, murdered young women, finding themselves again after death

nostalgia club (extra-curricular) - the cinderbrush gang hang out at sasha's place and jamie gives sasha an undercut

of the sky - m9 aeor era au. a moment between marion lavorre, ruby of the sky, and her husband as the city of aeor sails over beautiful frozen landscapes

prasopita - cooking with jester and caleb!

questions and anger - hey, can't people be nicer to ashton? milo and fcg will hurt people to make it so

requiem for a nobody - the funeral for cinderbrush's amanda beltman

stay with me - c3 milo angst because i love the last of the nobodies

thinner than a razor - m9 chapter fic au. the original lucien meets the members for the mighty nein in trostenwald, and the adventure is shifted

unto the earth - m9 post-canon. beauyasha and green beans for caleb

view from student services - part one of the ofmd kid fic au, where stede and ed are coparenting a hoard of children

waldhexe (spare us from your claws) - in the zemni fields, life goes on, and the ermendruds' neighbours see the ghost of a boy they once knew come home

xhorhassian cuisine: an essential guide for parties crossing the ashkeeper peaks - beau lionett's first draft of a guide book for adventures seeking new travel options. the cobalt soul will not ask her to write another

you'll hear when i do - the people of felderwin gossip about veth. they definitely buried her, but she's also definitely alive. AND she has a wizard now

zemnian housewarming - essek joins the nein for caleb's housewarming party (he's got a gift from aeor)

finally caught up w cr for the first time in over a month and can i just say. every hour is loving caleb widogast hours.

Read it here or on AO3!

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, Beauregard Lionett & Caleb Widogast, The Mighty Nein & Caleb Widogast Characters: Caleb Widogast, Essek Thelyss, Beauregard Lionett, Jester Lavorre, Caduceus Clay Additional Tags: Shadogast - Freeform, dunamancy, Empire Siblings - Freeform, Prank Wars, Tickling, rib tickling Summary:

What happens to a ticklish wizard when he manages to piss off too many of the people who love him? Allies are made and lessons are learned.

FIC

“Caleb Widogast!” Caleb jumped as he walked into the kitchen of the Xorhaus, unsure of what he could have possibly done to upset anyone this early in the morning. He was even more surprised when he saw who. “Essek?” Caleb stammered, taken aback. The drow was perched on a large kitchen chair with a cup of Caduceus’ tea in his hands and a pinched look on his face. “Schatze, I’m sorry, were we to meet? I hope you weren’t waiting long, I--” “No.” Essek corrected him sharply. “I am here to have tea with Mr. Clay at his request, to discuss the situation in Savalierwood. But he just told me that he healed some pretty distinct injuries for you, yesterday?” Caleb felt a guilty cringe fold his stomach in half. He sighed, looking at Caduceus. “So that just came up, ja?” “Yeah,” Caduceus responded, “thought it might be why you slept in.” “Ja, I had a bit of a fall--” “A fall? From where?” Essek’s gaze was intense. Caleb dropped his eyes to the floor. “Oh just, you know, clumsy--” “Really? You clumsily practiced dunamantic phasing on your own and fell through the floor?” “I think it was three floors, actually…” Caduceus mused quietly. The cringe came to the surface and showed, unbidden on Caleb’s face. “Essek, I--” “I have never limited you. It was the one thing I asked.” “I know, I--” “Caleb.” He froze when Essek cut him off, meeting the elf’s gaze once more. Essek stared him down hard before continuing. “I had… better masters than you had, when I was a young wizard. Infinitely gentler, certainly. But they would have whipped me for practicing phasing magic by myself. Truly. You could have cut yourself in half, dismembered yourself, crushed yourself, suffocated in a wall--” Essek seemed to cut himself off with a wave of his hand. “The point… the point is it would cause me a great heartbreak if irresponsible use of the magic I taught you led to your demise. Please promise me again, and keep it this time.” Caleb ducked his head, feeling like a rightfully scolded school child. “I will, ja. I am sorry.” Essek gave him a look that said he didn't entirely believe him. “I do trust you. I do not trust your curiosity. It’s only a virtue if it doesn’t get you killed.” Caleb laughed softly, nodding as he sat down at the table with them and accepted a teacup from the still-silent Caduceus. He winked at Essek. “I think I could say the same to you, but fair enough. If I do it again, I’ll let you whip me.” Essek smiled back, but the doubt didn’t leave his expression. ... “CALEB!” Beau’s voice thundered from upstairs, and Caduceus almost dropped the knife he was using to prepare vegetables for dinner. He spun around to see the wizard in question with his hands in his component pouch, running as fast as he could through the kitchen and out the back door. Beau’s quick steps followed, but by the time she was in the kitchen they could both hear the familiar woosh of a misty step from outside. She stopped stock-still in the kitchen, hands clenched into fists, looking… different than Caduceus had ever seen her. What was it? “Uh… hey. Did you get some new clothes.?” Beau turned to him silently, eyes burning holes in his head. It was pretty scary, actually. “Oh! Uh… is that what this is about?” Beau’s clothes were bright magenta where they had once been her usual cobalt blue. She was still staring at Caduceus with her fists clenched. Veth and Fjord were creeping wearily into the kitchen behind her. “I think it looks nice--!” Veth offered, only to choke off in a scared squeak when Beau rounded to face her. Beau reached out to yank Fjord’s hat off his head and put it on. “Hey!’ Fjord protested, before clamping one hand over his mouth to hide a smile. “Oh. I see.” As it perched on Beau’s head, the hat instantly turned the same bright magenta of her robes. When she handed it back it returned to its usual color. The whole room was biting lips to keep an amused smile off their face, lest they become the new target for her fury. Beau took a deep breath before bellowing again. “CALEB!” She spoke into the air, her voice loud enough to hear throughout the house. “I KNOW THAT SPELL DOESN’T GO FAR. I KNOW YOU’RE HERE, AND I AM GOING TO FUCKING GET YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME? I AM GOING TO DO DOPE MONK SHIT TO YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM, TIE YOU UP AND FEED YOU TO A ROOM FULL OF TIEFLINGS. You will FUCKING SUFFER! THINK OF A NEW NAME, CAUSE CALEB WIDOGAST IS A FUCKING DEAD MAN! ” At the end of her tirade Beau took a deep breath and started to walk upstairs again, but not before spinning around and jabbing a finger at everyone in the kitchen. “ANYONE caught harboring the wizard will share his fucking fate!” … "...CALEB WIDOGAST IS A FUCKING DEAD MAN! ” Caleb was sitting cross-legged on the floor of his hiding place in Fjord’s empty bedroom when Beau finished her threats, but by the time she was climbing the stairs again he had disappeared with a crackling pop. When the disorienting suck of the teleport spell faded he was standing on a clay path in a dimly-lit garden next to a trio of small towers made of iridescent grey brick. An arcane weather-vane creaked in the darkness. He started toward the door. “Caleb?” A head of pale curls popped up over the top of a bush of dark purple flowers, a frown of concern on the face beneath. “Essek, hello. Ah… may I spend the night?” Essek walked toward him as he pulled floral gardening gloves off of his hands, eyes narrowed wearily. “Of course, I am always happy to have you...” He reached Caleb and placed a distracted kiss on his cheek. “... did something happen at home?” “Yes.” Caleb answered, only to stutter as Essek’s worry grew, “Oh, ah, nothing bad. Well, nothing very bad. I just need to avoid Beauregard for a bit.” Essek’s worry immediately evaporated to be replaced with amused annoyance. “I see. What did you do this time?” They both started to stroll through the garden toward Essek’s back door. “Oh, just some illusion work. It will go away by morning. She deserves it, after stealing my spellbook while I was sleeping.” “Mhmm.” Essek hummed, linking his arm with Caleb’s. “But wasn’t her stealing your spellbook revenge for…” “The magic spiders, ja, but I had to do that! She--” “--the disappearing ink, yes, I remember. Are you sensing a pattern here, chathtiu?” Caleb sniffed and turned his nose up. “I have no idea what you mean.” Essek’s smile turned indulgent as he pulled Caleb into his home. “I’m sure you don’t. Beauregard does have a way of pushing your buttons, hm?” “She is the expert.” “I should ask her for advice, one of these days.” Caleb only laughed, pulling the smaller man into his arms. “You have your own way of pushing my buttons, don’t you schatz?” Essek smiled back. “You’re right, of course. I do.” ... Caleb stalked through the library of the Xorhause, circling it room by room. While his books were sitting on the desk he’d been working at the night before, their holsters were missing. He shifted the papers on his desk, panic rising in his chest. Where were they? “Caleb?” Jester was standing in the doorway, his holsters dangling from one finger. Caleb let out a sigh of relief. “Jester! Danke! Where were they?” “Sorry, I think Sprinkle must have stolen them.” Caleb shook his head, the tension in his chest easing. “That’s alright. I’m just glad they are found.” He reached out for them, stopping short when another figure entered the room. It was Beau, her clothes now back to their normal deep blue. Their eyes met for a moment, but the monk just breezed past as though she didn’t even notice Caleb was there. It had been a week since the incident with her clothes with no revenge or further threats, and Caleb was starting to wonder if he’d finally won the war. He shrugged his holsters on as the two women sat down on the sofa. He missed Jester’s giggle until it was too late. “Hey Caleb?” Beau asked. “Uh, ja?” Caleb cringed a little, turning around. Beau’s look was positively predatory. “Fuck you.” Caleb was about to respond when the sensation of fingers digging into his ribs flushed all the air out of him in one squeal. He spun around clumsily, hands flapping, but nobody was near him. He craned his neck to look down, his arms helplessly hugging his own ribcage while his knees buckled. That’s when he realized where the sensation was coming from. “Wh-what? No, I-- ah! Please!” His fingers fumbled with the buckle of his holsters to try and escape the traitorous leather trap, but the buckle was trapped under a magical seal of iridescent purple wax with the image of a skeleton key pressed into its surface. “Fuck!” Beaureguard was grinning like a gnoll. “What’s that buddy? Fuck you?” “Aah!” Caleb’s whole body convulsed and hit the carpet as the tickling escalated, even more invisible fingers reaching out from the leather to stroke delicate bones under pale skin and plain cloth. “No no! Please!” “Can I try?” Jester asked, giggling. “Nein!” “Sure, go for it.” “Fuck yooooou Caleb!” Caleb couldn’t answer her with words, he could only wail wordlessly. He writhed on the ground, trying desperately to resist the currently useless instinct to lock his arms at his sides so he could try and pull the holsters off over his head, but it was no use. All he could do was paw uselessly at the leather before Beureguard hissed the trigger word again and all he could see was stars. “Uh… everything alright in here?” Fjord’s voice came from the direction of the door. Caleb couldn’t see him over the sofa. “Fjord!” Caleb screeched. “Plea-hee-se! Evil!” It was all he could get out before his voice cracked and his laughter turned silent, his head thrown back against the carpet. “Huh?” Beau answered in an exaggeratedly casual tone. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just getting a little payback for my pink phase. Stole his holsters and Essek cursed ‘em.” A wave of betrayal strong enough to overpower his ticklishness gave Caleb just enough breath to shout “WHAT?!” before the laughter overtook him again, tears building in his eyes. “I helped with the ruse!” Jester piped up. “Uh-huh.” Fjord nodded, “can he breathe?” “Hmm? Oh, I guess we can check. Good boy, Caleb.” The sensation stopped all at once, and Caleb rolled flat on his back to gulp in air. “See? He’s fine.” Caleb sat up, hands held out in supplication even as he struggled to catch his breath. “Beau, please, I’m s-” “Fuck you and your apology.” Any strength Caleb had recovered melted away as he squealed and flopped back down on the carpet, limbs curling uselessly against his body. The tickling fingers coming from the inner panels of his holsters might as well have been sucking his very life-force out. Fjord lets out a sigh. “If you’re going to torture him for a prank, you at least have to let him apologise. Good boy?” Caleb didn’t get up this time, too scared to trigger someone’s wrath or sense of mischief. He was still giggling, partially from phantom sensation and partially from the panicky tension of knowing that any of them could trigger the curse at any moment. “I’m sorry! Bitte!” There was a beat of silence before Beau turned to Fjord again. “There, I let him apologise. Can we go back to the torture now?” “Wait!” Caleb squeaked, rising unsteadily to his knees. “Please Beau, we can talk about this--” “Oh, you wanna talk now? Cause when it happened you were happy to teleport away to your fucking boyfriend’s. So… you know,” she finished with a grin, “fuck you, fuck you, FUCK YOU.” “Nein!” Was all Caleb could manage before his laughter stole his voice away, only to crack and go silent once more a moment later. Tears leaked from his eyes to roll into the fluffy carpet beneath him as he crumpled. “Oh, he’s so cute when he cries, I love it!” Jester clapped her hands while she watched from the sofa. “This is the best curse ever.” Fjord made an agreeable sound. “I wonder if Essek could make something more remote? Then we could tickle him wherever we are. That would be fun.” Caleb couldn’t respond to the idea with anything more than pained wail through his hysterics. The others pretended not to notice. “Yeah, I do worry that he goes without when we’re gone.” Jester cooed. “Pfft. Yeah, I don’t think Essek is letting that happen.” Beau snorted. Caleb started to beat at the floor with one hand, hiccups punctuating his laughter. “Aw, alright. Good boy.” The sensation stopped again, but Caleb couldn’t stop his laughter. “Please, pleaheese, *hic* bitte--” “Focus on catching your breath.” Fjord suggested, “It’ll do you more good than begging will.” Caleb let out an exhausted little sob before obeying, his lungs working overtime to suck in air. He wiped the tears from his eyes and tried to make the hiccups go away with little success. When his breathing finally evened out Fjord gave him a reassuring smile. “See, that’s better.” Fjord soothed. Beau’s grin got wider. “Hey, Caleb?” “No!” “Fffffffffff…” “Mercy!” “...uuuuck you!” “Aaii!” Caleb let out a little yelp at the sound of the words, then… nothing. He’d clenched his eyes shut in anticipation, and when he slowly opened them Beau was glaring at him. “Hey! How come it didn’t work?” Caleb let out a huge sigh of relief. The curse must have expended all of its energy. “Is it done?” Jester questioned. Caleb was wondering the same thing. He tried to examine the buckle of his holsters as subtly as possible. The seal was still there, which meant whatever the curse was, it was not over. He needed to get out of earshot as quickly as he could. “I thought it was supposed to last longer than that. Can you message Essek?” “Sure!” Caleb started to cast for misty step as subtly as he could, hoping he was close enough to his lab to lock himself inside. “Hi Essek, it’s Jester! So, your awesome curse thingy is SO great, but like, but it ran out of tickles? Do you know why?” Whoosh. Caleb hit the stone floor of his lab with an oof, dragging himself to his feet and transmuting the door of the lab into stone for good measure. As he groaned he saw that the room looked quite different compared to how he had left it the night before. The large chalkboard he used for calculations had been moved into the centre of the room. In one corner someone had drawn a symbol-- a skeleton key, like the one on the seal trapping him in his holsters. Next to it someone had written in familiar, looping script: I will not practice phasing unsupervised. X100 Caleb whipped out the enchanted little book he and Essek used to send messages between them, only to find a new one waiting for him. You have 30 minutes. Caleb was glad nobody was there to watch him gape like a fish between the chalkboard and the book. Essek couldn’t be serious. He frowned and grabbed up a quill. You are a traitorous snake! There was only a single silent moment before the page shimmered and revealed another message under Caleb’s. Noted. Now you only have 25 minutes. Caleb took a moment to say every curse word in every language he knew. Then he stood up, snatched the chalk and started writing.

Cause all ya’ll

So much complaining about Jester’s relationships lately in the fandom, huh? Thrilling. SO I’m just going to put my *hot take* out there. 

Jester Lavorre is a grown. Adult. Woman. Likely in her mid twenties. Likely the same age as Veth, who has a husband and child. She can make decisions on her own without antis crawling over themselves to be outraged for her. 

I mean come on people. She has a wisdom score of 20! She isn’t being taken advantage of by anyone! She, the one who tricked a whole hag, is not getting victimized by anyone but YA’LL (you know who you are). Stop doing such criminal injustice to the characters and their actors here! 

Caleb is not a super-predator just because he read her a cute story! News flash: you can be an adult and still like “childish” things. Half or more of tumblr is obsessed with what could be called children’s shows and yet here we are. This is where you guys draw the line?

Fjord is not a pervert because he gave her some dinky unicorn. Yes, the display of it was awkward, at least to me. But guess who it wasn’t awkward to? Jester! Those are the two main characters of the scene, not you, and not me.

And you guys out here completely rebelling against any and all Jester ships like some sort of militant counterculture: OK. Out here claiming that nobody has a right to ship her because... reasons? Like it is fine to not want her to be with anyone, whatever, but she has shown *express interest* in pursuing romance in the future. It is just a part of her journey in maturing and finding out what she wants from the world. 

Can we just go back to just not vibing with ships? You find a ship problematic? Block the tag. Easy-peasy. I am personally for Jester/Caleb, not because Fjord is some eldritch being coming to sweep her away into the depths, but just because I like their vibe more. That is it. I mean I know ship wars have always been this way but the absolute injustice done to every single character involved is outstanding. 

I have seen takes that completely ignore entire swaths of characterization! Jester has matured from that abrasive girl riding away from her home in a wagon pulled by dressed up ponies. She is allowed to like cute things! Caleb has learned to trust and love again, and doesn’t deserve to be so fenced in by his trauma! Fjord has grown out of his toxic masculinity and deserves to show affection towards his friends!

POST EPISODE THOUGHTS / DON’T REBLOG.  spoilers below:

JESTER’S DEATH: So I wanna talk about jester’s death for a second. I cannot emphasize enough how.... utterly wrecked I was as soon as it happened. As soon as she dropped, I had burst into tears. I was just emotionally ripped to pieces. I think everyone who follows me knows how much Jessie means to me, and it was just... heart-wrenching to experience that and to watch Laura experience that and just look so upset and afraid and sad. I’m so happy they brought her back though, and that Caleb willed reality to bend to him so that he could get her to Caduceus who saved her. Without the two of them, she might still be dead now, and in my canon at least, I would love to write threads exploring the after-shocks of experiencing the death, and knowing that those two saved her. I would love to write with different Marions too threads touching on it subtly because I don’t think Jester would immediately tell her mom, but eventually she’d break and just start sobbing to her about the trauma she’d experienced and seen. 

CALEB’S DEATH: Caleb dying, at least for my Jester, was a terrible sight. It felt fitting –– EXTREMELY –– fitting for her to be the one to save him, with Artie and Cad’s moral support. The bond between Caleb and Jester has always been strong, even if unnamed or silent; they’ve always looked out for each other and I think while the last arc has... reduced that, at least up to the Travelercon Arc, it was so apparent and strong. Especially when she first met Trent and was so protective of him. It felt so fitting for her to revive him and reach out for him, and heal him. Because I think Jester also knew he was ready to sacrifice himself multiple times for the party, and wouldn’t let him do it. Nobody gets left behind. On a sidenote, I feel it was so important for her to be the one to revive him so that no one ever questions her place as a cleric again. Yeah, Caduceus could have done it, but Jester willingly revived him, and spent a lot of her spell slots to heal them all, and to heal Caleb especially after.  MATT’S WORDS TO HER: When Jester used her willpower and imagination to bring the back up, Matt says to her: “you’ve lived in your imagination for most of your life. from child to adult to friend to cleric to adventurer to hero... has only strengthened that.” And it really highlights the character growth, emotional growth and personal growth Jester has gone through. Everything from the kidnapping, to the stuff with Fjord and Avantika, and meeting Beau’s dad, and meeting her dad finally, and then almost losing her best friend and god... it’s all shaped her into the clever, tricky and wonderfully joyous person she is. Her imagination touches everyone and can cause the wildest and most beautiful things to happen. I’d like to even believe that the reason Jester’s Divine interventions don’t work is because she should be calling upon her own innate magic and power as a trickery being of her own regard instead of Artie. Jester Lavorre is a being of chaos, magic, sprinkles and color, with her own gravitational force of power and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.  RETURN OF MOLLY: Not much to say here that isn’t obvious, but something about Molly equating Jester with joy (I believe he was referring to his set of tarot cards, and using them as titles? that’s what I read on twitter anyway), and how he once said "joy can fill an awful lot of a person's life" means so much to me. That’s all. I just wanted to comment on that and the underrated dynamic between Molly and Jester, and just how much she missed her tiefling friend. 

THE ENDING: This isn’t really meta-related, but I wanted to say that I am... very satisified with the ending we’re getting. It’s not perfect, but I reserve my final say until the next episode because we don’t know how they’re planning to end the chapters that are not finished: i.e Fjord and Uk’otoa, Beau and her Cobalt Soul trial and Caleb and Trent. The first and last of these would require full episodes to achieve an actual ending, especially considering Caleb’s issue is an entire systemic one that can’t just be solved with a Boss Battle. That being said, this episode felt really cinematic and perfect. Defeating Lucien and bringing Molly back was the perfect way to come full circle.  I also talked about this on twitter, but I feel like them not reaching level 20 makes so much sense, because these are not epic, Vox Machina level heroes who everyone will know about, and while that’s bittersweet, at least some people will know of what they did, and what they sacrificed, and the traumas they faced. It feels so fitting and right for them to be these amazing heroic people, and to do so humbly, and quietly with their family. I’m not mad at it.  Overall, episode 140 was either my favorite episode of the campaign, or definitely one of the top 3 of my favorites. Either way, I’m so happy to have been able to watch it live and to experience all of it with the cast and with fellow critters. 

Mighty Nein Cyberpunk AU

This thought occurred to me the other day after hearing Amaranthe’s song “Digital World”, and I spent yesterday’s downtime at work working on it in tidbits, and here it is! Mostly put under a Read More, cause there’s A Lot! (Tagging @criticalrolo, who let me randomly blurt the parts out at her over the day!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Consider, if you will, an Exandria very akin to the one shown in the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 game; very post-transhumanism world, cybernetic augments are beyond accepted, they're virtually expected.

It's a world of corporations, where The Company is all, and the little guys either work with them or get ground up in the gears. The most powerful one is the Rexxentrum Assembly. They've stood solid For decades, having fingers in every profitable venture imaginable.

The only ones to oppose them are the Xhorhasian Conglomerate, a collection of smaller corporations who've banded together to survive, and possibly someday defeat, the mega-corp that is Rexxentrum.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beau works for the Cobalt Soul, an ancient order of hackers that have existed since before the transhumanism event began, keeping their eyes in every corner of the web. They used to be activists, but these days, they're largely archivists and data/info brokers. Beau thinks they should return to their roots and join with the Conglomerate against the Assembly, and is actively working to that end.

Like much of the party, she's an expert hacker, specializing in getting access through stolen info. Physically, she is the least augmented of the party, save for a few tweaks to make her blows a bit faster, and an analysis system to be better able to determine weak points and the "stats" of her enemies.

Her hacking signature is the sigil of the Cobalt Soul, positioned in front of a pair of wrapped fists crossed at the wrist as though over a chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jester Lavorre is a young and fresh hacker. Daughter of the owner of that digital and physical smut empire, known only as The Ruby, and heir to the vast network of anything one could want in that arena. After inadvertently destroying the career of a local prominent politician with a cyber-prank, it was decided that she needed to get out and experience more of the world.

As a hacker, she predominantly focuses on digging up embarrassing secrets of high-level individuals, and then broadcasting them on the web, in her signature saccharine pink and unicorn-decorated infodumps. In the real world, she does her best to make sure her team is in the best shape they can be, getting supplies to help with that whenever she can.

As mentioned, her trademark is the infodump, usually in the form of a bullet-pointed video, coated in sickly sweet pinks, with unicorns and the like dancing in the background.

Aside from the usual strength and endurance mods that basically everyone has, she also has a mod in her skin that lets her shift colors and patterns to almost anything. It's usually not good enough for any proper stealth, but it's fun as hell! She has a similar mod on her horns, but stronger, where she can brighten them and basically become a living rave lighting system. The tips of her horns can also become the most literal version of "headlights" ever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fjord is one of the more interesting party members. Heavily augmented, he once followed the orders of his patron, an entity named Uk'otoa who he only had contact with through the deep web. This entity led him to great troves of augmentations, each with a nugget that Uka'toa itself desired. These troves helped to find the efforts of the party, leading to at least tolerate the presence of the outside force.

Recently, however, his new circle of friends led him to realize that Uk'otoa was, in fact, an incredibly malicious AI from beyond The Walls. With effort and some excising hacks from his friends, he cut off his ties with Uk'otoa. Unfortunately, many of his augments required an external AI to continue to function, and so he let himself be connected to another AI, dubbed the Wildmother by another of his party, one with a far more gentle motivation.

Fjord remains the least hack-savvy member, preferring reality to anything cyberspace can offer. Among his augments, he can deploy a macro-molecular bladed sword seemingly out of thin air, sharp enough to slide between the molecules of most materials, neatly slicing them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caleb's story is simple enough. He was a Company Man. See, though, the thing about being a Company Man, is you can't ever really stop being a Company Man. Especially when that Company is the Assembly.

After one of his tests to enter the upper ranks resulted in the immolation of his family, he snapped. Gathering what he needed, he disappeared, a truly impressive feat in such an interconnected world, and doubly so when not even the Assembly could find him again. Now, he seeks a way to burn them down from the inside out.

Caleb's hacking signature has been dubbed "Scorched Earth", because when he's finished getting what he needs from a target, if he so chooses, he will burn them down, leaving them nothing behind, right down to the system files, and even the hardware itself if he can swing it.

Physically, his augmentations reside chiefly in his arms and his head. Highly experimental neuromods that boosts his already almost eidetic memory, letting him pick out any memory since installation and recall it in perfect clarity, and even overlay filters to uncover further information. Additionally, mini-producers across his body and microjets imbedded in his forearms allow access to his secret weapons: nanites and plain ol' fire.

The micro-producers scattered across his body can generate a cloud of nanites under his control, allowing him much of his near-magical feats. As a way to maintain an at-hand supply of them, he usually forms them into the form of a small animal, granting a measure of hivemind capabilities to allow it to impersonate said creature. The microjets allow him to be as near to a pyromancer as he can without using actual magic. Additionally, he has two small computers, resting in holsters under his arms, that together hold enough power to brute force hack into nearly any system he needs to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where Caleb's story is one of the simpler ones, Nott's can be argued to be the most tragic. On the face of it, she appears to be a Goblin, a faction of heavy augmenters who actively renounce form over function, and typically change their bodies as far from conventionally attractive as they can. Sure, the way Nott openly despises other Goblins is a bit odd, but who's to say what that kind of modding does to ones brain?

Except. She isn't a Goblin by choice. Due to some unknown reason, perhaps for an experiment, or as recompense for some perceived slight, Nott's original form was destroyed, and her brain and mind supplanted and locked into this Goblin form. Now, she follows Caleb, in the hopes that someday, he can learn how to let her leave this body behind and return to one more like her original.

Not to say this form is without it's pros, of course. An enhanced stealth suite and active targeting means that when she hits you, you won't have a clue where it came from.

Typically, Nott doesn't do much hacking, favoring the real world and protecting Caleb (and eventually, the rest of the party) as they do their deep dive hacks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Molly and Yasha were strangers, drifting in from another distant city, claiming to be entertainers, but far more capable at defending themselves online and off. The pair came together and bonded over their lost histories. Yasha, having had a section of hers stolen and sealed away, unsure what she was or did during that time. Molly, having no recollection at all before waking up in that shallow grave. 

Molly's mods were as flashy as the man, able to produce holographic fancies from his fingertips on command, making for a handy show (and distraction) as needed. When he fell, on a mission to rescue their fellows, it nearly broke the team apart.

Yasha's mods were more straightforward; she relied largely on brute strength to overcome her foes, both in reality and in the web. Nobody cheered when her memories were finally unlocked, as they changed her, turned her on them. The team still hopes that, someday, they might bring her back from that dark place she found herself sucked into, but they know, that day may well be far off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caduceus was something of an enigma. Where Beau was one of the most human of the group, Cad was very much the most inhuman. Not even he was entirely sure how much of himself was still organic, but he doubted it was even near 15%. He spent nearly all of his time plugged into the web in some capacity, resulting in a more distracted and absent-minded demeanor than the others were used to.

Nobody was quite sure what all his mods could do. One thing that they were (relatively??) sure about, was that he had a direct line to some powerful AI, one that he called the Wildmother. She seemed to have good intentions for those who followed her, but the party was still wary. They'd been burned before, with Uk'otoa.

Cad's hacking signature was... Well, actually, nobody was quite sure what his signature was. Every now and then, he'd take credit for some random hack, usually one that someone else also claimed shortly after, and always it turned out to have farther reaching implications than anyone else thought it might have.

Jester doesn't know where she fits in in the world. Let me repeat that, Jester "I just want my friends to be happy even if that means ignoring my own feelings" Lavorre doesn't know where she fits in the world. How come nobody is talking about this?????

Sorry to bother, but I was curious about your thoughts on a) everyone so far having a song for Caleb on their playlists and b) their song choices and what it means for their relationship with Caleb?

caleb, sadly: i’m a terrible stinky man who nobody should or could love. everything i touch i end up ruining. i don’t think anyone likes me in their heart of hearts :(

the m9, pointing at him with great Feeling™: this is our dirt wizard man!! he’s very strange about emotions and makes questionable decisions sometimes but we love him very much!!! he is a cherished friend!!!

fgjhgfj memes aside, sure! i’ll go in order of playlist release 

(long post under the read more!)

BEAUREGARD

i think she sees him as like... a dark reflection of herself? beauregard is very standoffish and brusque with the way she deals with her past (or so she wants people to think). she doesn’t give it time of day, and when she does she only stops to give it the middle finger before turning back and focusing on what’s more important: the present moment

contrast that to caleb, who relives the moment of his greatest failure over and over and over again permanently on repeat

i think beau’s approach to mistakes is to accept that she made them, figure out how not to make those same mistakes again, and then move on. caleb is not that.

also it’s a poke about how caleb’s constantly on the hunt for the bogo deals on books ghfkhgjf

NOTT THE BRAVE

is there anyone who loves and supports caleb more than his best friend nott? honestly i think the song speaks for itself

her devotion to him is second-to-none. she will take care of him, not because she wants something from him (although, she is self-aware enough to acknowledge that he can be powerful, and that given time and effort he could help her, that knowledge takes second place to the feeling of companionship and camaraderie she has for him) but because she loves him dearly. 

she will follow him, to hell and back if need be. he doesn’t even have to ask. (he still does, and maybe that’s why she loves him so much.)

FJORD

i think fjord recognizes, now, just how similar he and caleb are

i mean on some level he always recognized a sort of kinship with caleb, knew in his bones that here was a man who had touched power and come away from it irrevocably changed, but now instead of an instinctual knowledge he now knows. he can point to caleb and go “there. he’s just like me.”

but what fjord is just starting to learn is that consuming power also means risking being consumed in turn. caleb learned that lesson and he learned it deep, the scars of his old power still tug at the skin of his knuckles. 

fjord sees caleb as sort of... not a mentor, but like someone who has traveled the same path you find yourself on and reach out with questions. “what’s down there?” fjord seems to ask, and caleb just stares at him and sees the same person he was ten, twenty years ago and doesn’t know how to tell him. i don’t know if fjord realizes that caleb’s silences say more than his words.

this went from a fjord-pov to a more caleb-pov but i think it’s interesting... i think travis realizes that caleb is what fjord could end up becoming if he’s not careful.

JESTER LAVORRE

i think jester sees caleb first and foremost as a friend who someone has hurt very, very deeply. she doesn’t know who did it, she doesn’t know how long ago and how but what she does know is that she is a healer, and healers help others accept and move past their pain.

but she is also very young, and very inexperienced, and she cannot possibly help someone heal if she cannot understand the source of the pain. caleb is tight-lipped about his past, and jester will not push because she is a good person and a better friend, but she desperately wants to help. 

i think jester likes caleb because he’s so different from her. he’s soft-spoken and quiet and dangerous (so dangerous. she didn’t know just how powerful he was until he summoned forth a wall of flame to protect them from avantika and her crew. and yet, she thinks, he has only ever used that terrifying power to keep their fledgling family safe) but... he’s also a loyal friend. he could have left anytime he wanted to, it’s not like he had any real ties to the rest of them

but he stayed. and he’s her friend, now. and at her core, jester is simply someone who wants to make her loved ones smile. she just doesn’t know how to help caleb relearn how yet.

Caduceus, Jester, Caleb; G.

a fistfight / beaujes, implied clayleb / prompts

see, the thing is, usually, jester has somebody in her room that can at least help her heal a little bit. in this exact scenario, when she’s all tapped out of healing spells and they’re out of potions.

but yasha had to go and turn evil, didn’t she. 

and beau can’t heal and neither can nott, so she has to wake up caduceus. who will do his weird not-mad-just-disappointed thing that he’s clearly imitating somebody else doing. she is actually curious about how the boys sleep when the three of them share a room, though, because beau thinks that they spoon, and jester agrees, but they have a solid disagreement as to which spoon is which.

so she doesn’t knock, but rather barges in, and is happy to see that she was right and beau was wrong. she stage-whispers “caduceus!” across the room, and he shoots up, lichen on his arms barely-glowing in the dark, his hair pretty much entirely in his face.

“what?” he asks, his eyes still closed. his voice is even grumblier than usual. “you okay, jess?”

“um. okay, i was--”

caleb, startled by the movement, also perks up, “was? are we--is everything--”

“jester woke me up--come here, jester, i got--healing?”

“lavorre, it is,” and he tilts his head, “three twenty-seven in the morning.”

“does this count as morning?” caduceus asks.

“by most time systems.”

“is fjord gonna wake up too?” jester asks, “or--”

“nah, we knocked him out a couple of hours back. with drugs. not magic. neither of us can really do that with magic. he’s havin’ nightmares again. not of the snake variety, which is progress. anyway. what happened? are you--”

“oh. um. okay, so, like, don’t be mad, but beau and i were bored and couldn’t sleep, and she’s fine, so we went to a bar, but, uh, i--this dude called her a really mean name when she was off in the bathroom so i punched him and he punched back and then we had this whole big fight and beau got mad at me when she came back and i was all out of magic so, um.”

“did you kill him?”

“no. he ran away! i was very inti--” caduceus is touching her shoulder, and it feels like flowers are growing on her arm, “that tickles, but, yeah, i was super intimidating, and--”

“where is beauregard, now?”

“trying to clean things up with the bartender?”

and, on cue, beau bursts through the door loudly, says, “what the fuck were you thin--”

“please be quiet--” caleb pulls frumpkin around his ears.

“he’s the middle spoon?”

“beau. beau, please be quiet. i really--like, these were the fancy sedatives that i used on fjord, you and i were gonna do stuff with the rest of this stock, and i don’t wanna lose any more--”

jester ignores him, “yeah, but we were both right about the spooning thing, and you owe me ten gold, beau!”

“oh, you have a--jester, gimme your face. black eye. forgot to heal that, ugh.”

jester leans in, feels pain and then that weird warm flowery feeling again, and then she just feels a giant hand on her face. beau continues, this time in a whisper, “what the fuck were you thinking? that dude was, like--yasha levels of buff. like--”

“i mean, i’m also pretty buff, beau.”

blandly, caleb nods. “ja, she could easily crush the three of us. i am terrified of her.”

“i know. she could kick my ass.”

“go to bed, beau, i’ll be back soon, okay? just need a little bit more healing.”

caduceus blows some of his hair out of his face, but it falls back almost immediately. “wait, where?”

beau exits, with a little bit of hesitance, a stern glance at caleb and caduceus. jester watches her leave. smiles a little.

“what did the guy, uh. say about beau?”

“i don’t really remember. it was mean. i kinda blacked out, because i really love her, and--and nobody should be mean to her ever, you know? because then i will kill them.”

caduceus does one last cure wounds on jester’s shoulder, and this one feels like rose petals, all velvety and romantic. he’s making fun of her. she pouts. “i don’t love her like that.”

“suuuuure you don’t."

“why can’t you be boring and responsible all the time, caduceus, why do you have to make fun of me--”

“because i was never old enough to make fun of my siblings for having crushes before they left, so i have to get that energy out somehow.”

“i do not have a crush, i don’t! caduceus--caleb, tell him that he is wrong--”

“oh, caduceus, jester does not have a crush. no, nein, she is infatuated,” caleb says, using his hand--loosely bandaged, even at night--to brush caduceus’ hair into a normal place. “with beauregard.”

jester wants to cast sacred flame on both of them, but caduceus did just use three whole healing spells on her, so it’s not worth it. so she just says, “and you two aren’t secretly in love with each other?” and that shuts them up, and she storms off. but in her periphery, she sees long arms wrap around a smaller body, and she has to admit, maybe she was right. and if she was right, maybe they were, too.

okay, so maybe she has a little bit of a crush.

c2e57

So, I finished Episode 57 of Campaign 2 of Critical Role -- “In Love and War” and all I have to say is *loud screech*. And also, I feel like there was so much world-building and world reveals in this episode as a result of Caleb’s actions from last time and I absolutely adored it. I’m so excited to know more about the Dynasty and these beacons and Umavi and just all of it. 

Bonus: Nott’s reunion with Yeza is so perfect, and mysterious Shadowhand Essek is mysterious. But I love these NPCs and will protect them with my life. 

(Further liveblogs below! Beware of spoilers and light conspiracy theorizing!) 

- Finally, some good dodecahedron lore... so it’s a Luxon Beacon, part of their god Luxon/lord of the light (the night is dark and full of terrors...), and now they have three of these beacons, and have lost one, and there are presumably lots more out there... I wonder what will happen if all of the missing pieces are brought together?

- So consecution means that if one’s body dies while in range of a beacon, their soul passes to a newborn’s body, and they have no memories of past lives until the anamesis(?)/remembrance that happens about adolescence age...

- Okay, it’s been less than thirty minutes into this episode, and so many mysteries have been solved, but a few more have opened up, my head is spinning with possibilities

- Not to be a Mollymauk Conspiracy Theorist but y’all… consecution sounds kind of like what happened to him?? But the body he was reborn into wasn’t a baby’s, so maybe it was like... a poor man’s reenaction of it? Or something?? Y’all

- Umavi = a perfect soul

- I love Jester Lavorre, just throwing it out there 

- I support Jester and Fjord trying to keep Nott from being drunk the first time she sees Yeza again,,, I hope this all goes well, I’m scared

- “It’s still you, though right? That’s all that matters.” I love Yeza, protect him from all harm in the world please thank you

- DeRogna??? Part of the Cerberus Assembly... what did she hire Yeza for...

- Caleb’s introduction to Yeza was wholesome before the rest of the Nein interjected into it and made it awkward, save them both

- Anybody: asks any question at all about Essek Matt: whispers

- Poor Caleb is so confused about where to sleep now that he’s lost his roommate ghjkgl :((

- Some slight Caduceus lore/quest knowledge... so he wants to find the crematory because it’s one of three sites revolving around the dead and unusual things springing forth? And that it might help find out what’s happening to his home (which I’m still wondering about tbh!) 

- Jester: “Are you planning on burning someone there?” Cad: “Whichever of you I like the least.” His humor is so underrated, this was so funny and nobody even laughed fhjkgl

- Fjord and Beau’s conversation is so Good... Fjord asking how Beau is (since I feel like people rarely do, weirdly) and Beau reminding Fjord that she’s still his first mate... that’s the brotp stuff I signed up for, right there, I love them dearly

- Caleb: “Sometimes you have to get a little crazy.” Fjord, way too quickly while sharing room with Caleb: “What do you mean, right now?”  ASDFGHJKL FJORD 

As it takes to save a savior

by Flavortext

“No offense,” She starts. Fjord stops walking, a few steps ahead of them, and starts to say something, but Jester plunges on. “You’re pretty fit, Beau, but I don’t think you could take on a dragon.” Beau grunts, stopping as well. “Didn’t say I could. But, okay, look.” Beau looks around for a second. “Nobody’s actually worried about the dragon this far south, really. She doesn’t leave Rexxingtrum most of the time, and if she did, you’d be just as fucked in your nice beds-” Beau pauses for a second as Jester actually laughs. The corner of her mouth tugs into an unintentional smile, which probably ruins her rant, but she can’t help it, something about Jester makes her want to laugh along, it was bad timing to use that wording, really. “I just mean, I’m more likely to die of a cold thanks to the weather than to her, so,” “So you’ll take me up on it?” Jester asks, jewelry on her horns clinking as she tilts her head. Beau bites her lip. “For tonight, sure.” She concedes. She isn’t sure how she just got played into agreeing to that, but she supposes a free room is a free room. Jester being so cute is probably part of it, but whatever. Beau can deal.

Words: 2194, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of raishan AU

Fandoms: Critical Role (Web Series)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F

Characters: Beauregard Lionett, Jester Lavorre, Fjord (Critical Role), The Mighty Nein

Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Beauregard Lionett

Additional Tags: raishan didn't die AU, basically Matt mentioned that if VM hadn't killed her she would be ruling over rexxintrum rn, and my brain went. huh. time to write a whole ass AU, Friends to Lovers, tags to be added as I work out what the frick im doing here

source http://archiveofourown.org/works/21215042

Second part done! Read on AO3 or here! SFW!

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Caduceus Clay & The Mighty Nein, Caduceus Clay & Jester Lavorre, Caduceus Clay & Mollymauk Tealeaf, Caduceus Clay & Yasha, Caduceus Clay & Caleb Widogast, Caduceus Clay & Beauregard Lionett Characters: Caduceus Clay, Jester Lavorre, Mollymauk Tealeaf, Yasha (Critical Role), Nott | Veth Brenatto, Caleb Widogast, Beauregard Lionett Additional Tags: Tickling, Revenge, Shrinking, wild magic mishaps, safeword, Teasing Summary:

Caduceus has made a habit of tickling some of his companions, be it as a cheer-up, a settle-down or a playful punishment. When a mishap with some wild magic makes his smaller than his friends, a few decide to get a little revenge.

CHAPTER 2 TEXT

They’d all agreed to wait a few days before going anywhere weird or dangerous, at least until Caduceus was back to normal. Sure, he didn’t fight using his size much, but the dangerously thin firbolg looked so breakable without his formidable height that they agreed to wait it out. After all, it was only a few days.

So naturally, trouble had found them.

They were lucky, really. Nobody was hurt badly, just a few scrapes and bruises. The spellcasters were burnt out, though.

“OK…” Jester said as they breathed a sigh of relief after entering the tower’s front door. “I got one healing word in me. Caduceus, want me to take care of that cut on your head?”

Caduceus reached up to touch it. It was barely a scrape. “Nah, I’m good. Maybe take down some of the bruising on Yasha’s arm?”

Jester did so, and Caduceus started to float upward toward his room. Thanks to the floating he didn’t even notice he was being followed until two sets of feet set down behind him, two bodies suddenly moving to walk with him pressed between them.

He looked up. It wasn’t Beau and Yasha, as he would have expected, Yasha being the only one to share the floor with him. It was Beau and Caleb, both smirking in ways that made his stomach squirm.

“Hey Caleb, did you hear what went on down there?”

“Ja, I think I did, Beauregard.”

“I think Caduceus just dodged a healing spell.”

Panic ripped a gasp out of Caduceus chest. “I did NOT!”

He started to try and break away from them, but Beau caught him around his middle and hugged him tight from behind. She lifted him off the ground easily, his feet kicking the air while Caleb stared him down.

“Jester offered you healing and you refused, Herr Clay. These are your rules. We have a zero tolerance policy, you see.”

Caduceus squirmed in Beau’s grasp.  “It’s not the same –”

“Um, actually…” Beau cut him off, starting to walk them toward his room, “I’d like to refer you back to a previous instance of you counting Caleb’s ribs two months ago, where you involved Mollymauk for the first time. I believe it was the seventh instance of this punishment being meted out. In that instance, there were limited healing spells left and Caleb’s injury was superficial, but you cited the zero tolerance policy.”

“Ungh!” Caduceus grunted, trying to tug himself free of two arms as strong as ship cable, “You two are–”

“–Going to find out how many ribs a firbolg has?” Caleb teased over a very frightening little smirk that broke into a grin when his eyes flicked over Caduceus’ shoulder. “Veth the brave! I could use your assistance!”

When Beau turned to look he caught sight of Veth floating at the centre of the tower, her arms crossed and an amused look on her face. Her eyes met Caduceus’ gaze for a second.

“Nah. You guys have fun.”

Beau jostled Caduceus as she addressed Caleb. “Don’t worry you skinny shit, I’ll hold him down for you so you can get a little payback.”

“Noo…” Caduceus whimpered, the futility of the situation growing ever clearer. Caleb and Beau ignored him, talking to each other over his head instead as they entered his bedroom.

“Hey, has he ever done that thing where he tickles you until you say nice things about yourself?”

“Ugh. Ja.”

“So what’s he gotta say?” Beau climbed onto the bed with Caduceus still in her arms, keeping his back to her front.

“Hmm. We could make him say something mean, but that does not quite fit….”  

“Nah.” Beau started to wrestle with Caduceus arms, fighting to get them up over his head. “How about just ‘I deserve this’ over and over until we’re satisfied?”

Caduceus fought her, whimpering, but her hands were as quick as sparrows and it was barely a moment before she had his wrists gripped tight. He tried to twist and get his feet under him on the bed, but Caleb grabbed his ankles and tripped his feet out as he perched on the side.

“Ja, that works for me.” Caleb shoved Caduceus’ shirt up, tucking it behind his head to keep it out of the way.

“No no no!” Caduceus wheezed as he saw his wizard friend and frequent victim smiling like a cat who caught the canary and floating his hands in a move that was clearly meant to rile him. It worked.

“Ah, you can take it, I’m sure.” the wizard answered, meeting his eyes with a wicked glitter in his gaze, “I mean, you could safeword, but I don’t think you will. Not when you know you deserve this.”

Caduceus choked a little at the reference to his very first time counting Caleb’s ribs, a whine building in the back of his throat as the man’s hands drifted closer. Oh, he was in for it . It might be easier just to cast gentle repose on himself now— Jester wouldn’t be able to bring him back until the morning.

“Alright, so we start with number one, ja?”

Caleb’s ink-stained fingertips found Caduceus’ lowest rib, flatter and broader than a human’s. The firbolg bit his lip and whimpered as first they only grazed the downy hair there before starting to pinch along the length.

“Eeheek!” Caduceus squeaked, his heels drumming on the soft bedspread as giggles poured out..

“There, just like the first time.” Caleb teased over a tight-lipped smile. “Although, actually…” Caleb’s fingers started to attack him on one side, and then the other, switching back and forth to make him writhe. “That first time, you did it one side at a time, didn’t you? So, do you deserve this, Herr Clay?”

“Noho! I- I caught you ahaha– with aha broken rib thahahat first time!”

“He what ?!” Came a growl from over Caduceus’ shoulder.

“Ah– nothing. Moving on. Two!” Caleb’s hands jumped up one rib, drawing a satisfying squeal from their captive. “Now, the second time was still just you, but a little more like… this.”

Caleb ducked down to nuzzle his nose and cheek across Caduceus’ lower rib cage. The gentle pressure and rough hair along his cheek nearly made Caduceus jump out of his skin. His back arched, his body driven back into Beau’s embrace for lack of a better place to go.

“Aha— AHAha— Ohoho, OHo OK! I deserve it! I deserve it!”

Caleb stopped nuzzling but put his fingers back to work immediately. “Wunderbar! Three.”

“Nohoho! I deserve it! Aahaa! Please!”

Caleb ignored him. “The third time… that was Veth and her feather, wasn’t it?”

Caleb pulled away to dig around his coat, and Caduceus got a precious moment to breath. He slumped against Beau and tried his best to unscramble himself.

“Got it!” Said Caleb.

Caduceus’ eyes shot open to see the wizard twirling a quill in his hand.

“Eep! Wait! I deserve it, I deserve it, I deserve it! ”

Caleb flicked the soft fronds of the feather across one rib, then another. “It’s good that you can admit that now. So here is three, and there is four… I’m sure you have more ribs than I have vengeance, right, Herr Clay?”

Cad was too breathless to answer, slumped against Beau in a frenzy of chirping giggles that pitched upward when Caleb jumped another rib. The feather was surprisingly maddening after the rough scrape of stubble.

“Five!” Caleb cheered, “so the next time would have been Yasha…”

“NO! Nononono! Pleeheeheehease!” Caduceus didn’t bother telling them he deserved it this time, that clearly wasn’t getting him anywhere.

Caleb chuckled, exchanging a devilish wink with Beauregard over Cad’s shoulder before leaning in to nip at the side of Caduceus’ ribcage.

His reaction was more scream than laughter. Oh, the teeth were bad . The biting had all the same staticy mix of sensations that the nuzzles did with the added maddening little scrape of teeth. His breathing was hitched, his legs were kicking desperately against the bedspread. By the time Caleb let up there were tears in his eyes.

Caleb let him catch his breath and watched him with a little softness.

“While we are not nearly even for what you have put me through, I do feel a little bad. You’re nearly done, eh? How about this: We’ll skip to Mollymauk–”

“NO!” Caduceus yelped, still breathless.

“Hey, hey, calm down. I only want one. You made me use my safeword over a black eye, Herr Clay. You deserve much more, but if I get one, we may call it even.”

Caduceus’ whole body was rigid, and he groaned from behind clenched teeth. “Even? Blank slate?”

Caleb chuckled at the answer. “Ja. Blank slate. Until you decide to torture me again.”

“Well that’s up to you, man.” Caduceus growled, shutting his eyes tight and clenching his teeth. “OK. Do it.”

“Ja?” Caleb asked with a renewed smile.

“Yes!”

“You’re ready?”

“Cale–”

Pbbbbbt!

That sound again, this time mostly drowned out by a bleating shriek as Caduceus jerked like he was hit by lightning. The single raspberry felt like it went on forever, a rare credit to Caleb’s lung capacity.

When Caleb pulled back he was chuckling, partly out of delight for his vengeance and partly out of mirth at Caduceus’ reaction, now starting to fade into a collection of leftover giggles, sniffles and hiccups. Beau let go of his arms and hugged him to let him lean against her and catch his breath.

“The next *hic* time you beg for *hic* mercy…”

“You’ll take it very easy on me. We are even, remember? No vengeance allowed.”

Shit . Caduceus winced. He hadn’t processed what he was agreeing to, something the wizard had undoubtedly been hoping for.

“You know, I think this erases your escalations, too.” Beau added from over his shoulder. “Blank slate, right?”

Caleb brightened considerably. “Ja! A blank slate. Starting from the beginning.”

Caduceus growled, crossing his arms and trying to look annoyed while still hiccuping. Beau crawled out from behind him, and they both rose to their feet. Caleb planted a kiss on top of his head.

“Goodnight, Herr Clay.”

…..

He was big again before long. It happened when he was sleeping, and the next morning he’d made a pot of tea by the time he realized he no longer needed two hands to pour. The epiphany made him spring up straight, a smile on his face. He felt like himself again.

It was Veth who trundled into the kitchen first.

“Good morning!” Caduceus greeted her.

“Oh! I see you’re back. Are you happy to be big again?”

“Well, it’s a little more.. Me.”

“Yes, I think it is,” her eyes glittered at him, “now you’ll be safe from the others.”

“Heh.” Caduceus nodded, “I think everyone who wanted revenge got it by now. But I am glad to be a little harder to pin down. Thank you for not helping them.”

He turned toward the sink with his mug, and Veth was suddenly hanging off his back with her feet braced on his belt.

“We both know I don’t need you to be small to get you, do I Mr. Clay?” She whispered in his ear.

Caduceus barely got one large hand over his own mouth before one of Veth’s small ones was plunged down the back of his shirt collar. Her arm disappeared there, fingers scrabbling at the skin between his shoulder blades. He squawked into his hand, legs collapsing and spine twisting. He ended up on his knees, trying desperately to shake her off as she moved with him like a rucksack, as slippery as an itch he couldn’t reach to scratch.

“Ok! Ahaa! Ok! Veth, please!” He wheezed around his hand.

She did stop, hopping off his back with a little smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna keep that secret and hold over you for a while yet.”

“Wonderful.” Caduceus groaned from his position curled up in a ball on the floor.

“Just don’t get cocky and I’ll never have a reason to TAKE YOU DOWN!”

“Alright, alright.” He sighed as he stood up. “Deal. Mercy. And don’t worry, Caleb already negotiated a pretty generous immunity offer for himself.”

Veth snorted. “Please. Do that as much as you want. Just don’t. Get. Cocky.”

“Ok, Veth.”