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critter-rarepair-reccs · 1 month

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Hello all! Hope your Wednesday has been well so far. This week we have fourteen fics featuring various different polyamorous ships! As always, you can find them below the cut and if you check any of them out, I encourage you to leave kudoes and comments to spread the rarepair love 💕

gilded mischief by annie_blackbird (20,437 words, Explicit) Pairing: Yussa Errenis/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Shadowidoyussa) Warnings: Consensual Somnophilia, Safeword Use, Mentions of Slavery

Caleb and Essek spend a night with Yussa, with Caleb under the effect of a sleeping potion. After some discussion, the night progresses with Essek as Yussa's very good boy.

Reccer Says: *grabs you by the shoulder* you need to read this fic. Even if you're not already aboard the Shadowidoyussa ship. It will convert you. It is so soft. It is so hot. Like, the perfect balance of tooth-rotting fluff and scorchingly hot smut. Yussa is Exandria's softest dom and I adore him. Essek is a sweetheart doing his very best and I'm holding him in my hands. Caleb is asleep but the ways he's still a present influence on the story through Essek's POV is absolutely wonderful. Please read it, you will not regret it.

can't you see yourself by my side? by ryseling (7,519 words, Explicit) Pairing: Fjord/Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast (Widofjorester) Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Under-negotiated Relationship

Fjord and Jester are together, and Caleb - hopelessly in love with them as he is - agrees to a threesome. Porn with feelings, Caleb POV.

Reccer Says: Very well written in terms of style. Everyone also feels very in character.

Hearts Full of Light by kaeda (5,032 words, Mature) Pairing: Astrid Beck/Fjord/Eadwulf Grieve/Jester Lavorre Warnings: None

The nein & friends are restoring the blooming grove after Trent's attack in 141. Mostly lighthearted as Jester meddles & matchmakes. POV alternating between Fjord and Jester.

Reccer Says: Jester/Astrid/Fjord/Eadwulf is such an underrated rarepair.

all glittering things by quinn_of_aebradore (32,418 words, Teen) Pairing: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Shadowidomauk) Warnings: Minor Canon Character Death

"Essek Thelyss, prodigious dunamancer and crown Prince of Rosohna. Caleb Widogast, illustrious court mage for the Lord Eadwulf Grieve of Blumenthal. Mollymauk Tealeaf, Opal of Nicodranas, fourth child of the Tealeaf Estate. What happens when affection escapes the bounds of propriety and courting? What comes once a kiss has been bestowed? A romance draped with light and honey, of course."

Reccer Says: I just love this entire AU so much so I'm cheating and reccing the whole thing lol... it's so well done and thoughtfully constructed, and they're sooo lovey dovey and pining and flirty ugghggh - bonus: the lucien vs essek part makes me especially feral 🤣💜

Kisses by the Road by Clare_Hope (6,351 words, Teen) Pairing: Dorian Storm/Fearne Calloway/Dariax Zaveon/Opal Warnings: Alcohol

Fearne wins the drinking contest in Byroden and requests kisses as her prize. Polyamory and shenanigans ensue.

Reccer Says: I enjoyed it!

I dream of you amid the flowers by glittergarbage (66,967 words, Explicit) Pairing: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Shadowidomauk) Warnings: Dirty Talk, Smut, AFAB NB Molly, Threesome

"In which Mollymauk comes back to his body, minus a few memories, at the Blooming Grove. Essek is intrigued. Caleb is glad."

Reccer Says: I LOVE THIS FIC SM.... it's such a perfect post-canon depiction of the slow, realistic, exciting, curious unfolding of their relationship, and I love their characterizations and dynamics 🥰🥰🥰 it's a SWM classic to me

First Light by the_deep_magic (5,673 words, Explicit) Pairing: Ashton Greymoore/Orym/Dorian Storm (Dashrym) Warnings: None

Ashton wakes up while Orym is doing his morning exercises, which they find Very Sexy. Dorian, already awake, agrees and the two of them pretend to be asleep until Orym is done and they can have sex about it.

Reccer Says: Domestic Dashrym, hot smut, and a very well-written Ashton POV 💕

locked in here with us by wanderingbasilisk (3,002 words, General) Pairing: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Shadowidomauk) Warnings: None

"a dragon, a damsel in a tower, a knight in shining armor you can guess how this goes ;)"

Reccer Says: Love a fairytale AU! It's just so sweet and fun and adorable and there's a little sprinkle of angst in there which is sooo good 💜🧡💜 delightful and heartwarming

in the light of long-dead things by Anonymous (3,426 words, Teen) Pairing: Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Blumenshadow) Warnings: PTSD, Panic Attacks

While spending the night in Caleb’s tower, Astrid gets thrown into the past.

Reccer Says: God, the way this one has Stuck with me since I first read it. The visual of Astrid squeezing herself under the nook by the stairs is burned into my brain. Her panic, Wulf coaxing her back to herself and the present, her reactions to Caleb and Essek, it’s all so heartaching and wonderful, I love it so much.

to be in someone else's coat by jaskofalltrades (1,369 words, General) Pairing: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Shadowidomauk) Warnings: None

Widomauk/Pre-Shadowidomauk where Molly and Caleb were the ones to walk Essek home from dinner at the Xhorhaus

Reccer Says: Listen SWM canon molly lives AU is a wonderful and rare creature and this is one such example that gave me the warm cozies... also I LOVE WHEN THEY FLIRT AAAA 💜💕

Where I am going you can't save me by thesweetpianowritingdownmylife (20,461 words, Teen) Pairing: Jester Lavorre/Beauregard Lionett/Yasha Nydoorin (Beauyashter) Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Vomiting, Blood

Yasha starts coughing up petals, white and blue. There is no doubt to whom they belong. Aka Beaujasha Hanahaki AU. Set after episode 89.

Reccer Says: I enjoyed it!

keep following the heartlines on your hands by floralprintshark (8,014 words, Teen) Pairing: Fjord/Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast (Widofjolly) Warnings: None

Five times Molly tries to set up Fjord and Caleb with each other and one time Molly gets set up with them.

Reccer Says: I enjoyed it!

We also have two reccs for: the stranger who was your self by Demenior (60,045 words, Mature) Pairing: Fjord/Eadwulf Grieve/Jester Lavorre Warnings: Power Dynamics

Eadwulf joins Fjord & Jester's crew as they sail the Lucidian. POV alternating between the three leads. Fjord and Jester are about to embark on a high-seas adventure...and Eadwulf shows up and insists on joining their crew. They don't know what he's plotting (or what he's running away from,) but that won't stop them from flirting with him until they find out.

Reccer 1 Says: I enjoyed it! Reccer 2 Says: Adorable Fjorester flirting. All the sexual tension of that one sword fight between Fjord and Eadwulf. Unstoppable force (Jester Lavorre) meets immovable object (the world's most miserable, wretched wet dog of a scourger.)

And we have three reccs for: amongst the things left unforgiven by nonwal (63,958 words, Mature) Pairings: Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve/Essek Thelyss, Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Blumenshadow) Warnings: Panic Attacks, Discussions of Suicidality/Euthenasia, Temporary Character Death, Suicidal Ideation

Astrid and Eodwulf start visiting Essek in Rosonah to keep an eye on him, then Essek starts visiting them at Caleb's tower in Rexxentrum to keep an eye on them. They dance around eachother in conversation out of mutual distrust (and flirting) long enough to save Essek from himself and fall in love about it. Astrid and Eadwulf take it upon themselves to save Essek from himself. Two scourgers show up at Essek's home to interrogate him about the Mighty Nein. Then he discovers that both of them are also uselessly pining over Caleb. Then, he gets closer than advisable.

Reccer 1 Says: the character dynamics and banter are absolutely top notch. the author really nails the character voices. Reccer 2 Says: I enjoyed it! Reccer 3 Says: An alternate ending to C2 with a great balance of intrigue, angst, slow-burn romance, and fluff (if you can count three wizards lying to each other for fun as fluff.)

Thank you for joining us this week’s recc list! All the love to everyone who submitted a fic 💕 All enclosed recommendations were submitted by the community via our submissions form, which you can find here. All fic information is as it was provided by the reccer, so it may not be accurate to the author’s intent or the precise contents of the fic itself. Please assume good intent from all parties 💕

Submissions for next week’s list are already open! We’ll be featuring Enemies to Lovers. If you have any you’d like to highlight, you can send them in here. The week after that, the theme is Miscommunication and the weeks after that we’re taking recommendations for Works in Progress and Angst! Submissions for all of these themes are currently open.

If you want more rarepair fic, check out @cr-summer-wildflowers and their event collections on ao3! If you want some friendship after all this romance, take a look at @critter-genfic-events and their recc lists! And if you’re interested in everyone’s favorite wizards, you can’t go wrong with the lists at @aeor-is-for-reccing !

Thanks all and have a lovely day/night/timezone! 💕

#critter rarepair recc lists #shadowidoyussa #widofjorester #astrid x fjord x eadwulf x jester #fjord x eadwulf x jester #astrid x eadwulf x essek #blumenshadow #shadowidomauk #dashrym #dorian x fearne x dariax x opal #beauyashter #widofjolly

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atlasarcana · 1 year

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chapter 12 🩸 destructive interference

An hourglass shatters next to his head.

His eyes snap open. Essek gasps, whirling back, dodging the explosion of sand and glass.

He only realizes the scale of the threat — or lack thereof — when the room settles as his long-ago office in the Thelyss Estate: the same vermaloc floor, the same lonely candelabras, and the same grief-stricken brother tottering in front of the window behind his marble desk.

Rating: M Fandom: Critical Role Ship: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast Word Count: 116,492k out of 140k+ Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Happy Ending, Unreality, (...) Chapter: 12/13 !

Content warnings for the fic are described in the tags and in the Author’s Note.

⋆ Read on AO3 here ⋆

#shadowgast #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #shadowgast fic #fic: destructive interference

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critrolesideblog · 9 months

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It's WIP Wednesday! And I've finally gotten some real momentum going on part 3 of The Winds Did Sing it to Me, so to celebrate here is a little snippet.

"Want to join Den Thelyss?" Verin asked, a hint of manic laughter in his voice. He didn't have the station to make such an offer. It was a ridiculous thing to say, and Bek laughed in kind. "Can you imagine? Me in that den of scholars and politicians and spies?" Verin could. Of course, he could. "It's not so bad. Just a bunch of boring dinner parties." It wasn't so bad. Not when he could slip away with someone pretty when he'd had his fill of doublespeak and leave Essek to wheel and deal and make excuses for his absence. When he could stay in Essek's towers while on leave and connect with friends and visit the estate only as required or as he pleased. When little was expected of him beyond doing what he decided to do well. There would be none of that now. No one to make faces at across the dinner table or bring salacious party gossip. No quiet acceptance of his impromptu obstacle courses and midnight runs. No one to share the weight of the den's expectations of inevitable disappointment. Now, he would be alone among the nobles forever talking and saying nothing. Alone in his quarters on the estate wondering what idiosyncrasies the servants were reporting and to whom. A lone soldier to be moved around the chess board by the scholars and politicians and spies with no brother to watch his back. The lone son of Dierta Thelyss.

I hope this WIP Wednesday is treating you all well 🌟

#I really did not think this chapter would take so long to write - joke's on me lol #my writing tag #wip wednesday

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thevexedvixen · 2 years

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WIP Wednesday!

my first one! WIP wednesday was one of the main reasons i decided to make this blog. i was hoping it would help motivate me to write more since it can take me quite a bit of time to make a simple lil fic

first WIP i’m posting is of another vampire!AU i have going because i love vampires and their stupid AUs for some reason i’m sorry. it’s a lil over 5k now and maybe halfway done? at the end it might be close to 10k and will still prolly be a oneshot might make it two chapters who knows? i have it all planned out so far so i know what’s gonna happen but the AU feels very specific... so i hope people like it (・・；)

relationship: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast

The door behind him suddenly creaks.

Caleb turns around as the door swings open. He places his hand on his component pouch beneath his coat, hoping it wasn’t obvious. A goblin steps inside the room, but not one of the like Caleb has ever seen before. This one walks in wearing blue and gold robes and carrying some sort of clipboard in their hands. They look at Caleb in surprise. Then, they say something in a language Caleb doesn’t understand.

Caleb frowns and doesn’t say anything.

“Common, then, perhaps?” the goblin tries next.

“Ja, I speak Common,” Caleb replies

“Good, good,” the goblin says with a nod. “How are you feeling? You came in quite a state last night.”

“I feel fine,” Caleb answers stiffly. “Who are you? Where am I and how did I come to be here?”

“Oh, apologies, I am Starguide Uraya. And what might we call you?”

“Caleb Widogast.”

“Mr. Widogast, a pleasure,” Uraya says with a polite and toothy smile. “You are in Rosohna, inside the estate of the Shadowhand.”

“Rosohna?” Caleb repeats, trying not to gape.

“The capitol of Xhorhas, yes.”

That would explain the darkness at this time of day. Caleb has never been to Xhorhas before, but he had heard rumors of the magical darkness that blanketed portions of the nation.

“How did I get here, though?” Caleb is still confused. “I-I didn’t think I was that close to the border.”

“The Shadowhand brought you here,” Uraya explains.

#critical role #cr2 #critical role fanfiction #cr fan fic #shadowgast #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #vampire au #my works #my WIPs #WIP Wednesday

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fourth-quartet · 16 days

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For the ask game for teasing wips/upcoming projects: ❄️🌧️🌀

❄️ Share a snippet from a WIP of your choosing.

Lost in one of those memories, Percival did not hear the first time Cassandra knocked. Nor the second or third, by the irritation on her face when he finally blinked and saw her within feet of him, arms crossed over her chest. “Yes?” Percival asked, an eyebrow delicately raised.

“You are the most irritating man I have the displeasure of being related to,” Cassandra grumbled under her breath, before shaking her head, nearly shaking loose her hair from the pins that carefully held together a look years out of date. “Percival, we found something while cleaning that I thought perhaps you might wish to see.”

Confused, he followed her. It was hard to gauge her now, after all this time. Cassandra rarely showed her emotions, constantly hidden behind a stony exterior. Percival could hardly blame her; they were far too similar now.

“We reached the guest quarters while cleaning,” Cassandra said, her hands folded primly at her waist as they walked. Servants and guards bowed their heads in greeting to the lord and lady but neither sibling paid them much mind, striding in perfect unison down the halls that once knew their childish laughter and quick footsteps late to tutors.

“Specifically, we reached the rooms in which the Briarwoods brought those they hung on the Tree,” Cassandra said, lowering her voice. Percival flinched, fingers flicking against air before finding one of the buttons of his coat, his lip drawn between his teeth as he inhaled sharply, a quiet hiss. “We couldn’t quite get the names of all those they killed. The number of citizens we lost was far too great. But…” she trailed off.

“But?” Percival asked. He nearly walked into her as she stopped suddenly and gestured ahead to a door to the left. Percival gestured bluntly for her to continue. Cassandra shook her head and smiled sadly and, with a growing ominous feeling in his chest, Percival turned and pushed open the door.

There was a simple dress laid out on the bed, a pair of simple boots unlaced and left by the foot. A comb and a leather strap that once tied hair back sat abandoned atop a vanity, and glancing in the mirror, Percival’s brow furrowed. The items were no more than what he would have expected. “Cassandra, whatever makes this room so different from…”

Out of the periphery of his vision, Percival’s eyes caught a glimpse of a faint orange colour. He spun on his heel and strode to the bed. Tucked, up into the corner, between the pillow and the wall, was a cloth doll with orange buttons for eyes. “Gilly,” Percival breathed out, tentatively reaching out for the doll. His hands were shaking. “This is-”

- from "regret informs only the living"

🌧️ Share something angsty from your WIP.

Both Matilda and Percy nursed quiet crushes on each other in this fic. They never would have said anything because it wouldn't have been proper, not when they were childhood friends.

- from "regret informs only the living"

🌀 Post the fic summary for a fic you haven't written/published yet. It can be hypothetical or something you really plan on releasing...

Deals are powerful things, but so too are names:

Let loose into the thickets around the Thelyss estate, Essek and Verin stumble onto an ancient, crumbling gate. Inside, they find a new friend, a red-haired boy who calls himself the Traveler.

- from "symbiotic"

Upcoming Projects Asks | Send Me Asks!

#took answers #moot tag #sass tag #fic stuffs

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breitweisergallery · 29 days

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“He’s not coming back,” Verin says instead. Numb. Lost. Drifting. Mother’s hand in his hair, tightening even for a second, is answer enough. Essek had never wished for consecution, even when it was offered. Verin could remember the pride in Essek’s expression when Verin, too, had refused consecution, mere minutes after Essek had. Even then, Verin had not been able to imagine living a life without him.

Mother presses another kiss to his forehead and lets him cry. She doesn’t frown when he curses out the Luxon in every language he can string a sentence together in. She stands silent, watching, when he rises and kicks Essek’s chair across the room, a tsunami of anger rushing through him. “How dare he?” Verin demands, snarls. It fades quickly, quicker, and he collapses onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. There is a slight indentation from where Essek, experimenting with some of his gravity spells, had cracked his head into the ceiling from a miscalculation. The memory pulls simultaneous tears and a smile to Verin’s face.

“I always said you weren’t a new soul, neither of you,” Mother says quietly when Verin finally sinks to the darkness that spreads across the city again like a calming blanket. “That you were one soul, split into two.”

She had said that, countless times. Only in the privacy of the estate, where no one would hear the slight blasphemy from her. It was expected of Father, and eventually of Essek, but to hear the Umavi Deirta Thelyss herself speak those words…

“I wondered sometimes,” Verin says, hoarse. Mother hums. The bed sinks next to him, where she sits. Her hand is warm on his wrist, her fingers gentle as they lace with his.

“You must not give up so soon,” she says. “Do not go rushing to join him, darling Verin. He would not want you to do something so foolish.”

“He would scold me for considering it.” Verin’s eyes fix on the ceiling again, even as Mother’s hand brushes a tear from his cheek, as he feels the smile radiating through her touch.

“He would call you quite a few things worse than foolish that I shan’t repeat.” He barks a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

“What do I do now?”

She doesn’t answer. He doesn’t ask her to.

#critical role fanfiction #fic stuffs #snippet of a thing i'm working on

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tangereendream · 10 months

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choose violence ask game: 2, 12, 17, and/or 25 👀

2. A compelling argument for why your fav would never top or bottom.

Essek Thelyss would never top or bottom because he has no interest whatsoever in penetrative sex. Clothes on, no touching, telepathic sex only.

12. The unpopular character you actually like and why more people should like them.

I think Wulf is only "unpopular" in the sense that he's less popular than Astrid, and only because he got less canon attention. But, to me, he's literally everything. Here are a few examples of why you should like Wulf more

Buff wizard! Look at those arms, look at those back muscles, look at those thighs!!!! Is he just buff? Does he multiclass? Up to you, but he hunky no matter what!

Men 👏 get 👏 pegged 👏

My wretched big puppy doggy 🐶

Free real-estate, make that lack of canon content work for you!

Bi, poly, demi, ace, trans, nonbinary, whatever you want! He's got it!

Tattoos!!!!

Constant flirt

Was one of the volstrucker guarding the beacon and what the fuck is up with that?? Knows wristpocket???? Does he know other dunamancy spells? Did Essek teach him? Did he steal them? What's going on?????????

Goth

The Raven Queen gives her bloodiest assassinations to her sexiest followers

Covered in blood with the biggest, sweetest brown eyes

Creepy or wet? Get you a man that can do both!!

He's the commit attrocities guy!

Would kill for you. Please let him kill for you. He's so good at it. Let him be good for you.

Speaking of: good girl

Big boy/little wolf

Just wait until his hair grows out. Then you'll all. You'll all see.

17. There should be more of this type of fic/art.

There should be more esswulf fic that I didn't write and more esswulf art that isn't blumenshadow. Please feed me. It's a good fucking ship and I will die on this hill.

25. Topic that brings up the most rancid discourse.

If there is rancid discourse, I have already left the building and will never know which is the worst.

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thechekhov · 1 year

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So here’s the deal - I went a little off the rails and decided to design Essek’s entire towers for a little group project. It’s mostly just to see how well I can design and draw TTRPG maps from scratch, but I also realized that maybe people would be interested in this. So this is... a teaser! Full disclosure - the maps are not quite ready yet. (Or rather... they are...... but I’m not gonna post them yet. For reasons.)

If you’re interested, watch this space, I guess? Or follow me. I will post them by the end of March, and then you can unfollow me again.

Why am I posting this before the maps are actually available?

Bait. It’s bait. I just want to share SOME PART OF IT because I’ve been working on this for several weeks and I’m quite proud of the result!

(There will be four maps in total, one per floor, plus a little bonus map, perhaps, of a fifth, secret floor. We’ll see.)

#critical role #critical role fanart #essek thelyss #essek thelyss estate #critical role map #ttrpg #dnd #ttrpg map #dnd map #d&d #critrolefanart

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saturdaysky · 3 years

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Time-traveling Caleb meets Essek as a child please.

(from the ask me about my WIP meme)

This WIP was one of the first things I wrote when I decided I wanted to learn to write late last year!

It began as a snippet I was writing for a prompt in the big Essek discord, something along the lines of “kid Essek proposes marriage to Caleb” -- pretty fluffy, lighthearted, and cute. Naturally this meant I plotted something bittersweet about love and the grief for selves who never were and whom we no longer have a chance to be.

The premise: Sometime in the future, Essek and Caleb are together and have developed a spell that allows temporary travel to a decayed or decaying timeline. Caleb uses it and accidentally winds up much further back in time than intended, where he meets Essek as a child. Young Essek is lonely and hides Caleb on the Thelyss estates for a week or so while Caleb rides out the spell. From there, it’s a character study as Caleb gets to know Essek in his early life.

I don’t know if I’ll finish this one. Reading through it, if I returned to it I’d want to rewrite most of it since I understand writing and these characters a little better now. So who knows! Have part of 2 scenes. :)

Scene: One hour before the spell ends and the timeline decays for good

At the sound of Caleb’s footsteps in the courtyard, Essek turns slowly to face him, posture exactingly correct in a way that speaks of both practice and nerves. He inclines his head and folds his hands in formal greeting, the grace of the gesture falling a little awkwardly on his small frame.

“Master Widogast,” he begins, and then stops. Takes a shallow breath. “I know you are to depart today. I- I wished to speak with you before you are gone.”

His tone reaches for the chilly gravitas of his mother, but a muddled panic lurks around the edges of his words. Caleb returns the formal greeting, but lets his lips curve into a friendly smile. “I am here to listen. What would you ask of me?”

The lines of Essek’s shoulders ease a fraction. He drifts over, ignoring the whorls of the tiled labyrinth below in favor of making a line straight to Caleb. He stops a foot and a half away, as close as etiquette allows, and fidgets, one hand twisting the edge of a sleeve.

“I...there is a parting gift I wished to give you.” Essek’s small fingers shake a little as he draws the line to open his wristpocket. The spell takes and he lets out a satisfied hum as a small black codex tumbles into his hands.

“I made this,” he says, pride suffusing his voice. His courteous smile brightens into unguarded excitement, before fading into something small and hesitant. “It is for you. I know you are going far away somewhere, so...so in case you need to study the floating spell I taught you, I thought you might wish for reference.”

He thrusts the book up at Caleb. “Do not show anyone. Ah, Verin said I should not have told you things at all and I could get in trouble, so maybe keep it secret.”

Caleb turns the object over in his hands. It’s a small booklet of notes on dunamancy, written in a child’s scrawl. Essek has written out the directions for the cantrip that lets him float, each step of the spell thoroughly but ineptly diagrammed. Here and there in the margins are poorly-drawn creatures it takes Caleb a moment to realize are cats.

No, Caleb realizes, not cats: cat. All of them are Frumpkin, and all of them have been drawn with the earnest appreciation of a young boy who has seen exactly one cat in his entire life and is making up for lost time.

Caleb traces a finger over the drawings, despair catching at his throat. He wants nothing more than to gather this desperately lonely child into his arms and shield him from the future that will turn him jaded and cruel, that will rip out this tender heart and replace it with callous intent.

But he can’t. He can’t save this Essek. This young echo will be gone forever in an hour. Caleb swallows the lump in his throat.

“You are very kind, Master Thelyss,” he says a little hoarsely. “It was an honor to be your student.”

Scene: Caleb returns from the spell

“Welcome back.” Essek’s silhouette is bent over the desk in front of him as he scratches out notes on a large piece of vellum, but he straightens and glances in Caleb’s direction. His sleeves are rolled up and there is a bit of ink smudged on his nose Caleb is sure he doesn’t know is there.

“Hallo,” Caleb says, meeting Essek’s eyes. They are worried and lovely, and a little tired.

Essek scans Caleb’s body, as if checking to make sure he has all the same appendages he left with. Satisfied, he lets a lopsided smile curl over his face.

“Hallo,” he replies. “That was longer than expected. Did you find the information you were looking for?”

“I did, eventually.”

Essek's eyes narrow, gaze assessing. He sets the pen down on the desk, and turns to fully face Caleb. “But…?”

There is no point in hiding it. “The spell took me back further than intended. I also met you there. As a child.” Shock briefly paints itself on Essek’s face.

“Ah. Unexpected, I- Well,” he says, slim, dark fingers twisting over themselves once before falling still, “I’m sure that was an enlightening experience.” Essek’s voice is light and carefully neutral. By degrees, his smile evens out, grows soft and pleasant. Opaque. Untouchable.

It is the last thing Caleb wants to see right now.

He crosses the floor and Essek looks up at him, eyes shuttered. Caleb cups his face and guides him into a kiss, soft at first, merely comforting himself with Essek’s presence. Essek leans into it. Comfort for the two of them, maybe.

Caleb is good at kissing, and over the last decade, he’s made a dedicated effort to be good at kissing Essek, specifically. He nips at a lower lip and deepens the kiss, drawing a decidedly unchaste noise from Essek. It soothes something in Caleb to hear it, this spark of passion beneath the mask. After a moment, fingers curl into Caleb’s shirt.

Caleb pulls back and whispers into Essek’s ear, pleased to feel him shiver in response. “You were quite the, ah, charmer. You offered your hand in marriage. Scandalous.”

Essek lets out an undignified little snort that charms Caleb to his bones. “I should think I have made my desire for you quite clear in the present. Do not try to play me against my child self, Widogast.” As if to emphasize the point, his fingers slide from Caleb’s chest, over his sides, and onto his back with deliberate slowness. Caleb doesn’t even try to repress his own shiver, and he can feel the resulting smugness radiating from Essek.

“You also taught me to float. You were a very enthusiastic teacher.”

“Did I?” Amusement drips from Essek’s voice. “It is handy for you that you figured that one out yourself years ago.” Over Essek’s shoulder, Caleb can see the notes and diagrams he’s working on. All letters and lines are crisp and precise; not a single wasted mark. There is no hint of embellishment here, Caleb sees. There are no more earnest drawings.

He buries his face in the crook where Essek’s neck meets his shoulder, taking in the comforting, familiar scent of him. Essek shifts to allow him better access, and Caleb breathes him in, letting grief settle in his chest.

After a moment, Essek’s fingers begin to trace lightly across his back, drawing comforting and repetitive patterns. Spell runes, Caleb realizes, and closes his eyes.

You were an earnest child, he does not say, and so achingly desperate for connection that you hid a strange mage in your house and taught him your favorite spell. He does not say, you were kind and you still had hope when you were young. You still talked to your brother. You loved magic like a friend, and no blood stained your hands for it.

Essek knows. Essek does not welcome pity, and Caleb cannot blame him for it. Caleb does not welcome it either.

#asks #my writing #sky learns to write 2k21 #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #shadowgast #catalists #the cool thing about being pretty new at this whole writing business is that you can look back at stuff you wrote and see how much better #you understand what you're doing now than you did then! even if there's certainly still a far distance to go i'm new enough that each step #feels like a big one :)

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spottedenchants · 2 years

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Stray Italian Greyhound by Vienna Teng is perfect for Essek vs the Nein

ooooo interesting 👀

Oh no, not now Please not now I've just settled into the glass half empty made myself at home And so why now? Oh, please not now I just stopped believing in happy endings, harbors of my own

dun dun dun guess who threw the boot back into Essek's yard

But you had to come along didn't you Tear down the doors Throw open windows Oh, if you knew just what a fool you have made me So what do I do with this?

Mmmmaybe Essek being their steward- I'm specifically thinking about the Xhorhaus hug

This stray Italian greyhound These inconvenient fireworks This ice-cream-covered screaming hyperactive thought God, I just want to lay down These colors make my eyes hurt This feeling calls for everything that I am not

And then these people go and deck out the Thelyss-gifted estate in an extremely gaudy manner, but...? (insert Loathing from Wicked)

I'm not that kind I'm so good at shooting down any notion This tired world could change It's all been bought Well at least that was my line No use in spending all that emotion when there's someone else to blame

Disillusioned much? And then some of the turned internal, of course

But you had to come along didn't you? Rev up the crowd Rewrite the rule book Where do I go when every no turns into maybe So what do I do with this?

Like objectively speaking the Mighty Nein are utterly baffling, going off to meet/fight dragons and hags and the chained oblivion and stopping a war and stuff, AND YET. AND YET AND YET THEY'RE ENDEARING

This sudden burst of sunlight And me with my umbrella

I MEAN YEAH

Cross-indexing every weatherman's report I was ready for the down slide But not for spring to well up This feeling calls for everything I can't afford To know Is possible now

Bet Essek thought he might end up dead when the confrontation rolled around huh? Nope, friends are still there.

#definitely a song i've seen around but not one i've actually listened to until now #i do have Never Look Away on my essek playlist #pretty sure i got that one from one of giulia's posts #and then with this songgggg #similar vibe but opposite sound is Flames by Tedy #think i've already given that one but #brainpower has been swapped with sleepy tired #essek thelyss #valakiir #chanswers

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professor-rye · 2 years

Text

Chapter 59 of Dappled Shadow and Penumbral Light is up!

Title: Dappled Shadow and Penumbral Light Relationships: Shadowgast, Beauyasha, Fjorester Rating: Mature Set: Post Aeor, Canon Divergent from Episode c2e140 on Tags: LuxonChampion!Essek, Secrets Revealed, Political Shame, Bad Parent Dierta Thelyss, Good Brother Verin Thelyss, Found Family, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Trent Ikithon, Kidnapping, Torture, Hurt/Comfort, Rescue, Multiple Arcs Chapter 59: With All The Fire We Can Breathe Current Word Count: 283,579 Featuring the forward march to Trent Ikithon's estate, a bit of planning, and a bit of evil monologueing.

#critical role #cr fan fiction #cr fan fic #critical role fan fiction #critical role fan fic #shadowgast #trent ikithon #final battle!#sorta #essek thelyss

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atlasarcana · 1 year

Text

chapter 8 🩸 destructive interference

He stands in some disconsolately bleak Rosohnan bedroom, surrounded by the glaring absence of paintings and portraits of mono-fanged drow children from eons and lifetimes ago. (...) The spout of a retort flask pokes out of one to his left, kissing a stack of runic circle books — the wizard’s equivalent to a grammar reference manual — and the rest of it is an easily-enough transported procession of crates, floating through the halls weightlessly like the cauldrons and potions of a storybook witch, until they pile all together by the massive door at the very front of the estate, where someone will pick it all up later after a last look about an emptied childhood bedroom.

The someone is him, three years prior.

The childhood itself had been emptied long ago.

Rating: M Fandom: Critical Role Ship: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast Word Count: 68,958 out of 130k+ Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Happy Ending, Unreality, (...) Chapter: 8/12 !

Content warnings for the fic are described in the tags and in the Author’s Note.

Featuring artwork by @prismantis !

⋆ Read on AO3 here ⋆

#shadowgast #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #critical role #shadowgast fic #destructive interference

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saphirered · 3 years

Text

Fight For Dessert?

And here it finally is, part two to the last Essek x Eldritch Knight reader request.

A walk through the streets of Rosohna did you good but Essek was still refusing to let you go anywhere isolated with him without supervision besides his home or the Xhorhaus after the whole ordeal with the Volstruckers. The presence of the Aurora Watch brought him more comfort than it ever had done. Not for himself but the sense of security that you wouldn’t be alone if trouble found you.

The two of you walk or float perhaps a little bit closer than may be socially acceptable but neither of you seem aware or care enough. A guard of the Aurora Watch rushes over to you a little out of breath and gives a short bow to both you and Essek.

“What is it?” Essek asks in a tone befitting of the Shadowhand, demeanour changing to a more cold and distant one at the approach of the guard.

“A message for you Shadowhand. And one for the Knight.” The guard holds out two delicate envelopes stamped with a deep purple seal, names written in beautiful cursive. You take the one addressed to you with a confused look and can see a hint of annoyance from Essek.

“You may go now.” Essek dismisses the guard who keeps waiting.

“My apologies, Shadowhand. I was instructed to await your answers.” The guard looks to the envelopes. Essek takes his and opens it as well reading it. His expression does not change.

‘You have been graciously invited to attend a formal dinner in your honour at the estate of Den Thelyss tonight.’

“Essek?” You give him a glance allowing him to see the invitation. Essek shows you his invitation too. His has and additional note; ‘bring your friend’. You see Essek lift his chin with a deep sigh giving the guard a bit of a glare.

“Please tell my mother-“ Seeing where this is going you cut him off.

“-that we accept her gracious invitation, isn’t that right, Essek.” You would have stepped on his foot to shut him up if he weren’t floating. Essek gives you a surprised look as the guard nods, excuses himself and hurries off.

“Why would you…” Essek doesn’t finish the question.

“Because even I know you simply do not refuse an invite from nobility let alone a Denmother, your mother no less.” He can’t deny. You have a point.

So there you are, dressed in the fanciest clothes gold could buy in such a short period of time, courtesy of Jester and her impeccable taste. The fine silks in hues of purple, dark blues, black and silver made you stand out in the crowd for sure if it weren’t the design itself, like it was made for you. Many garments were tried on. None but this passed Jester’s approval. Luckily for you the outfit wasn’t so heavy or tight you couldn’t even lift your arms, or would feel like you were carrying both Fjord and Caduceus on your back. You had your full range of motion and a perfect fit.

Essek escorted you to the estate which is every bit as grand and impressive as you expected it to be. You’re a bit on edge and nervous. It’s not every day one gets such an invitation, let alone one by the family your ‘friend’ belongs to.

“You are calmer ahead of battle than you are attending dinner. I do not think I have ever seen you this on edge.” Essek couldn’t keep his observation to himself. It’s quite a funny one in his eyes. You’d be prepared to walk into a moorbounder nest no hesitation and no fear yet a social gathering is enough to nearly throw you off your feet and have you panic.

“Don’t laugh! Not all of us have spent our lives making friends with the leaders of nations.” He stops, you with him and turns to you.

“And yet I doubt that’s what unnerves you so.” He places his hands on your shoulders as you take a deep breath.

“What if she doesn’t like me? Or if she doesn’t approve your blatant admiration of me?” You manage to lighten the mood with your last question.

“If my mother didn’t approve of you she would never have invited both of us to dinner. As for my ‘blatant admiration of you’, as you put it, I think it is more than deserved after everything.” Essek looks around seeing no one but the guards in front of the estate and pulls you into his embrace.

“You’ll do perfectly. My mother will love you just as much as I.” He speaks as you return the hug. Pulling apart he offers his arm and the two of you make your way through the gates.

“You’re biased.” You whisper as the guards open the doors for the two of you.

“I am. So what?” You scoff at the wizard’s answer as you enter Essek’s childhood home.

Worked stone, stained glass windows and geometric designs make up the majority of the structure. It’s quite beautiful and comes close to what you expect a private palace might look like. Though, you didn’t expect any less from one of the most prominent and well respected Dens in the Dynasty. Your eyes wander taking in the beautiful art work displayed within the foyer alone. You can’t begin to imagine what the rest of the building looks like.

Walking down the stairs as the servants take your and Essek’s cloaks, is the Denmother herself in all her glory. You can see the family resemblance and are taken aback by the sheer presence the woman radiates. Sensing you panic as you resist the urge to gulp Essek pats your arm leading you forward.

You take a deep breath. For the first time you feel like the roles are reversed, Essek being your support and saviour when you’re in need instead of the other way around. He keeps you grounded. You squeeze his arm linked through yours in a quick thank you.

It’s no different from a battle. Except your sword has been exchanged for your wit and your words are your weapon and shield. The strategy remains. You can do this. You got this. The words echo in your head only to realise Essek whispered them. You nod. You got this.

Essek and you meet Deirta at the bottom of the stairs. You offer a brief bow in respect, returned with a bow of the head and a smile.

“Welcome. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person. My son speaks very highly of you. I am Deirta Thelyss.” Deirta takes the lead, you and Essek following into the dining room.

A large table enough to fit half the court alone, houses only four chairs, one at the head, two on one side and a single one at the other. The table is set for four, plates, cutlery, beautiful glasses and everything. Leaning on one of the chairs is a handsome drow, dressed appropriately for the dinner bearing the vestiges of a Taskhand, or at least so you’ve been told. This drow, while elvish age might be more difficult to pinpoint seems to be a bit younger than Essek and shares similar features. A sibling perhaps? Essek doesn’t really talk about his family much.

Essek guides you along to the two chairs next to each other, one of which the other man is leaning on. The man raises to a more proper stature and bows to you.

“My, my, you must be my dear brother’s heroic saviour. Taskhand Verin Thelyss. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Verin pulls out the chair next to the one he was leaning on and offers it to you. You unlink your arm from Essek’s and take a seat thanking the Taskhand. Before Verin can, Essek takes the seat next to you at the right hand of the Denmother. Verin sends him a glare but Essek looks on innocently. Sibling rivalry? You’ll never let him hear the end if this goes on.

“Don’t look so glum, Verin. It doesn’t suit you.” You raise an eyebrow at Essek’s comment as Verin takes the seat opposite of his brother and Deirta takes hers.

“And pomposity suits you perfectly brother.” Verin raises his glass.

“Children. No bickering at my table. We have a guest.” Deirta smiles at you as servants fill your glasses and uncover the plates set out in front of you to reveal a delicious looking meal.

“Thank you for joining us tonight. I’m grateful you were able to accept my invitation on such short notice. When my son speaks about your exploits he tends to leave out the mortal danger of it all and I have to learn from others the details of the risk you put yourself at to keep him safe. You have my eternal gratitude.” Deirta places a hand over her heart.

“You talk about me?” You give Essek a look and can just see the tiniest of blushes creep on his face for just a second as he tries to repress it.

“Gushes on about you really, singing your praises. ‘Such an intelligence, a fast learner, strong and clever’. It never ends.” Essek glares at Verin as you lean into the arm of your chair giving him an ‘oh really’ look waiting for him to come up with some clever comment or witty remark in return to deflect from the fact he’s not been subtile about his affections towards you around his family.

“I only shared my conclusions based on the information and evidence provided to me first hand.”

“I believe that’s what us common folk would call ‘an opinion’, darling.” You laugh amused by the whole situation. You earned a snort from Verin with your comment. Deirta looks between the three of you before turning her attention back to you directly.

“I heard you had gotten rather seriously injured. I hope you’ve recovered well enough?” Deirta asks.

“I have thanks to my rather talented healer friends. Though if it were not for Essek’s quick response getting them, things may have played out very differently.” You praise the wizard next to you trying to put him a bit more at ease and give him something to return fire if he has to against his brother, letting him know you have his side still. Esseks gives you a thankful smile.

“So you’re recovered then?” Verin’s expression turns a bit more mischievous and you can see Deirta giving him a scolding look.

“I am according to my clerics, though I feel they held off on my release from bedrest and confinement to the house for several days. It’s good to be out and about again. I’ve missed it, even though the company has been good I definitely missed being allowed to swing a sword and throw a proper punch.” Verin’s smile grows.

“Since you’re good to fight again, how about you show me what you’re made off? How much of my brother’s opinions prove true?”

“Verin.” Both Essek and Deirta warn each for different reasons.

“Oh come on, I’m merely joking. Unless you’d take me up on the offer of course.” Verin gives you an innocent look you’ve seen so many times on Essek. Plausible deniability apparently runs in the family.

You lean your elbows on the table, clasping your hands together. Essek mutters an ‘oh no’ under his breath and takes a big gulp from his drink as you grin.

“You want a fight? I’ll give you a fight.” You wink.

“Verin need I remind you of your manners. We do not challenge guests to a fight over dinner.” Deirta scolds her son.

“It’s just a bit of fun, mother.” Verin complains and where he not presenting himself as a renowned official and the person he is, it might have sounded like the plea of a child being told no.

“I would not wish to overstep any boundaries and forgo all rules of social engagement. Nor do I wish to ruin a perfectly pleasant evening, Denmother. Perhaps another time, Verin?” You earn the Denmother’s approval as she says something to Verin in Undercommon you do not understand but by the tone of her voice alone and Verin’s response you can tell it’s probably not positive.

Essek sighs deeply next to you pinching the bridge of his nose as Deirta and Verin continue their argument.

“Oh for the love of… Can you two please cease this useless fight. I’d much rather see Verin being put in his place than listen to this endless argument one more second. Thank you.” The two of them slowly quiet down when Essek speaks up. Verin gets up from his chair.

“It’s settled then, we’re all in agreement.”

“We are not all in agreement but to cease this argument, very well. You have my permission.” Deirta concedes despite all better efforts.

“If you wish to take my son up on this fight you have my permission.”

Before you know it you’re outside in what you can assume is Den Thelyss’ private gardens. It’s simple and large enough of an open space to not break anything in the near vicinity should things get ugly. Both of you drop the heavier and unnecessary layers of your outfits. You’re pulled aside by Essek before you walk into the fighting ring.

“Not that I do not have full confidence you’ll win, but please do not get injured or I fear I might find my next cup of tea poisoned or my books desecrated.” Essek worries taking hold of your hands giving them a brief squeeze.

“I’ll do my best to protect your precious books and keep any attempts of poisoning at bay. Now please excuse me while I go kick your brother’s ass.” You pat his cheek as you step back and into the makeshift fighting ring. Verin offers you a sword but you don’t take it.

“I’ve brought my own.” You summon your trusty sword and earn a nod of approval from the drow.

“Nice trick.” The moment you’re ready Verin swings at you but you’ve lived this long thanks to your reflexes and step to the side with ease. You tap the blade of your sword against his to inch it out of your way as you go for a high strike giving Verin enough time to counter block.

This isn’t a fight to the death and you’re not deliberately trying to seriously injure your opponent so you both hold back but you do get a glimpse of the soldier within Verin and see where he gets his reputation from. It’s earned. The ‘dance’ between you and Verin continues until it gets more competitive and the both of you come to a nonverbal understanding to find out who’s going to be the clear winner here.

Verin summons his echo letting it come at you while putting some distance between you and him to give him the advantage. You’re quick to respond with a lightning lure. A satisfying grin visible as you pull Verin back within your range. You deflect a blow from the echo while kicking Verin’s wrist preventing his sword from striking you. Bringing your own sword around you cut the echo in half, turning it to wisps of shadow. You strike back with a hit directed at Verin. He dodges and comes around with a hit you use your blade to parry. Another echo comes in play but you pay it no mind having had enough of this back and forth. You grab the blade of Verin’s sword, not nearly tight enough to pierce your skin but just enough to hold it in place, drop your own sword and reach into your component pouch.

You speak the familiar words and release the gold dust you re-summon your sword back to your hand and point it at Verin’s chest. Verin tries to pull the sword from the air but is unable to move it.

“Do you concede?” Verin holds up his hands in surrender but you notice a glint in his eye. He quickly moves around the other side of the sword frozen in the air kicking at your leg. You toss your sword to the side, punch once to break his defence and another directly to the chest. Verin’s breath hitches and you kick his legs from under him. He groans, the air is knocked out of him as he lands on his back. You put your foot on his chest standing over him. He grabs it purely by instinct but loosens his grip quickly.

“Very well. I concede.” Verin speaks out of breath. You remove your foot and offer him a hand pulling him back to his feet. From the stairs you hear a slow clap. Both of you look over to see Deirta standing next to an amused Essek.

“Impressive. My son’s words have proven true. You have my approval.” The Denmother speaks rather indifferently but offers a smile no less before retreating back inside.

“Perhaps one day we might fight side by side. I look forward to seeing you around more often.” Verin slaps a hand on your shoulder before he wanders off to clean up. Essek joins you, the two of you left alone in the gardens outside the building.

“What just happened?” You ask confused about how you just gained the approval and respect of Verin and Deirta Thelyss.

“They saw exactly why you have my affection.” You bump into Essek’s shoulder in a ‘shut up’ and he offers you a genuine smile.

“I am that great, aren’t I?” You joke as the two of you begin making your way back inside. You’re still processing unsure of how to take and handle all of this. This was unexpected to say the least.

“And I’ve told you many times. I don’t plan to stop doing so either.” You give him a little side hug as you look around the abandoned remains of dinner being cleared off the table by the servants.

“Is this how fancy dinners always go?”

“Certainly not. Though, I can say watching my brother be put in his place certainly has been the highlight of my day, second to you showing off.” You both laugh as you’re ready to head back leaving the Thelyss estate behind you. Perhaps it’ll become a place you’ll visit more often. Though you’ll still always prefer the towers. And feeling some bruises form already, you have some books to protect from the wrath of a doodling tiefling.

#essek x reader #essek thelyss x reader #mighty nein x reader #critical role x reader #critrole x reader

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