astrid-week

[astrid-week]

My favourite Critical Role verbal flubs:

‘Why a - why is you so mean to me???’

‘Snea snake’

‘Their brand new 5e setting, Aeorar. … Ayroawra. Auroara.’

‘Let’s make ourselves a bit more suspicious.’

‘Wildmother, please watch over the cast - the crew!’

‘Looks like I ganked your new Robbie - your new friend’s body!’

‘Shiver and quiff’

[astrid-week]

@astrid-week may technically be over but we’re still doing this, oops. Part four of five, started as a fill for day 5 (years). Also on AO3.

CW: discussions of death, gaslighting; this deals heavily with the effects of memory modification, but the premise is that at some point, Astrid and Eadwulf must have also had their memory restored

— — — 

Remove Curse (3rd-level abjuration)

Range: Touch Components: V, S

At your touch, all curses affecting one creature or object end. If the object is a cursed magic item, its curse remains, but the spell breaks its owner’s attunement to the object so it can be removed or discarded.

— — — 

Two years and three months after Bren is sent to Vergesson — Bren would be able to tell her the time elapsed, down to the hour, were he in his right mind — Astrid sits cross-legged on top of the desk at the front of a dark classroom. It’s near midnight; the moonlight through the high windows leaves faint rectangles of silver to fall across the empty rows of desks.

It’s one of the larger lecture halls, used for introductory courses. Behind her, the blackboard is still marked with the day’s lesson. She’d spent a few minutes staring at the arcane equations for the second fundamental law of evocation, then the next half hour staring through the pale, moon-limned chalk lines, recalling her own first year of lectures and papers and exams. The untrammeled ambition and hope.

A floorboard in the hallway creaks and she tenses. One hand rises, ready to cast; the other draws a knife from a sheath in her boot.

A familiar figure steps into the room, broad-shouldered and carrying a scent of wine undercut by iron.

“You always pick the strangest places to brood,” Eadwulf says, and then: “Please don’t stab me, I don’t need more blood on this shirt.” Fire crackles to life in his hand, throwing flickering light over his face. His expression is drawn, a shuttered look to his eyes, and there is indeed a telltale stain on one sleeve, red fading to brown.

Astrid narrows her eyes at him, but sheathes the knife with a jerk. “Don’t sneak up on me, then. And I’m not brooding.”

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[astrid-week]

Alright, there we are! And if you've missed out so far, don't worry, I'll be checking the tags for a week or two more <3

Thank you to everyone who's participated so far!

[astrid-week]

Another late one! Archmage!! holyshitshesactuallyanarchmageguys,,,,,,,, it amazes me everytime i remember :)

bonus lil’ edit my friend @digital-cup�� did below the cut <333

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[astrid-week]

Written for Astrid Week 2021 - Day 5: Years // I’m too tired to listen, I’m too old to believe

Relationships: Astrid/Eadwulf, Astrid/Eadwulf/Caleb CW: Blood, canon-typical violence

–

Soltryce Academy is under several binding contracts not to reveal the scholarship program’s greatest benefactor to anyone outside of the board of directors. It wouldn’t do at all for people to think that Archmage Beck has more of an influence on the Academy than she should.

In all honesty, the archmage has no particular interest in matters concerning the academe. She’s currently occupied in wrapping her hands in preparation for her usual morning warm-up. Four layers of a linen strip folded over her knuckles, which will bear the brunt of the impact. The rest of the linen is bound tightly around her palm and between her fingers. She does this so often that her hands move on their own. No thought, all muscle memory. The end of the linen is tucked carefully into the last few loops around her wrist. 

Astrid flexes her hands, slow and deliberate, ensuring that she’s still capable of her usual range of motion. Satisfied, she pushes herself up and strides to the sand-filled leather bag in the center of the room.

There is a distinct relief that comes with physical exertion. Her mind goes blank, wiped clean of all but the solid thud of her fists against the bag. Eins, zwei, drei, vier, each punch keeping time with the rhythm in her head.

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[astrid-week]

Belated part three of five in my prompt fills for @astrid-week​ (this one’s ostensibly for day 4: mask) and also an excuse to do a wizard polycule fic, but make it Astrid and Essek shopping for their mutual boyfriend.

(Also on AO3.)

— — —

Light (Evocation cantrip)

Range: Touch Components: V, M (a firefly or phosphorescent moss) Duration: 1 hour

You touch one object that is no larger than 10 feet in any dimension. Until the spell ends, the object sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The light can be colored as you like. Completely covering the object with something opaque blocks the light. The spell ends if you cast it again or dismiss it as an action.

— — —

The Mighty Nein all gather together at least twice a year, if not more often — Astrid knows this because she makes a point of keeping tabs on the movement of the Cobalt Soul, and also because Professor Widogast is exceptionally diligent about noting his official vacation time even during the summer holidays. (She also knows perfectly well that this conscientiousness is a smokescreen of plausible deniability for his unofficial vacations, but this is something she’s decided not to pry too deeply into. In this arrangement they have, some things remain unspoken through necessity.)

So — summer comes around again, and the Mighty Nein gather on the beaches of Nicodranas for a week of chaos and revelry, and this is nothing unexpected. Astrid is always sure to hear about it afterwards, whether via exuberant Sendings from a certain tiefling in the moment, casual details dropped by Expositor Lionett over the following weeks as thinly-veiled hints that Astrid should look into taking a vacation herself for the purposes of removing that stick from her ass, or from a sun-freckled Caleb who always seems so much more languid and relaxed after escapades that any sane observer would describe as riotous.

What is unexpected is that this year is the first time she and Eadwulf have been invited.

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[astrid-week]

when your war is over — astrid post-canon playlist for @astrid-week (find part one here)

[ listen on spotify / lyric selections below ]

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[astrid-week]

Snapshots of Astrid’s life through five spells, part two (@astrid-week​ day 3: soltryce; usual content warnings for the blumendrei graduation mission apply.)

— — —

Feeblemind (8th-level enchantment)

Range: 150 feet Components: V, S, M (a handful of clay, crystal, glass, or mineral spheres)

You blast the mind of a creature that you can see within range, attempting to shatter its intellect and personality. The target takes 4d6 psychic damage and must make an Intelligence saving throw.

On a failed save, the creature’s Intelligence and Charisma scores become 1. The creature can’t cast spells, activate magic items, understand language, or communicate in any intelligible way. The creature can, however, identify its friends, follow them, and even protect them. At the end of every 30 days, the creature can repeat its saving throw against this spell. If it succeeds on its saving throw, the spell ends. The spell can also be ended by greater restoration, heal, or wish.

— — —

Bren’s house catches fire faster than Astrid expects it to, given the damp spring Blumenthal has had. The smell of straw and wood going up in smoke is heavy in the air before there’s any sign that Una and Leofric have woken, and for a fleeting moment, she worries that the telltale signs of a house fire will draw the neighbors’ attention, even with the Ermendrud house as set back from the road as it is. (That is an oversight that Trent would be loathe to forgive, and all three of them know that their teacher is scrying on them, keeping a close eye on them tonight.)

And then the screams begin.

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[astrid-week]

Day 3 of Astrid week - Solstiyce

This is a collection of interludes of Astrid’s time in the academy and learning under Trent, trigger warnings include trent himself,  talk of murder, unconsenting medical surgeries and other things covered in the backstories we know in itself. This will also be cross posed to AO3 later on.

Astrid was never Ikithon’s favorite.  She knew that, and so did Eadwulf. Bren was oblivious to that fact, and the pair made sure it stayed that way. It wasn’t because Wulf or Astrid were jealous, but rather they both knew the moment Bren knew that Ikithon was playing favorites he’d try and pull back, put less of his heart into his magic. Neither of them wanted to see that.

 —

Astrid always seemed to find herself in the boys’ room, picking the lock if she had to. It was better than being alone in her own space. Sometimes it was just sitting alone reading, for study or for pleasure, most the time it was waiting for till they returned. Waiting to see what state they were in and if they needed any help. They were her boys and she’d do anything to keep them safe.

—

The harsher lessons started the moment all three of them had been selected to study privately under Ikithon. He wanted nothing less than perfection. When they didn’t do what he wanted, punishments were harsh. Locked and isolated away, physical punishments including implements they would soon learn to use on others, nights in the abandoned tower that had them coming together just to get warm. Those moments were the ones that started them on the path of supporting each other through everything that would come next.

Astrid noticed Eadwulf took responsibility for any faults that had physical punishments. Astrid had taken to trying to take responsibility for when punishments would deal with the mind keeping her boys safe

—

They had seen what happened to traitors of the empire. They knew the cost of what it took to keep their home safe, but the day blades had been put into their own hands was a shock to their system.  All three of them were smart enough to know what exactly was being asked of them. Astrid moved first. If she went first, then she couldn’t keep Bren and Wulf from staining their hands with blood, she could go first so they had time to come to terms with what they were being forced to do. Eadwulf was next, and then Bren. All of them stained for the protection of the Empire. Once she was alone she raged for the three of them, even if she understood why it needed to be done. 

—

She was the first to have the burn of residuum added to her skin, the feeling of a high she never asked for pulsing through her veins. Being first meant she couldn’t protect her boys. One by one, they were forged into weapons for Trent to control. It made her blood boil, it made her loyalties shift. 

—

The night she killed her parents she should have had more regret for what she had done to them. Instead, her heart bled for Bren, watching him fall apart. Watching Trent do nothing to help in that moment. She didn’t feel the burn of Bren’s magic against her skin, only the shattering of all three of their hearts.

[astrid-week]

Apologies for running late on reblogs, work caught up to me and I have t been checking my socials as much. I'll catch up tonight!

[astrid-week]

Snapshots of Astrid’s life through five spells, part one (@astrid-week​ day 2: scourger)

— — —

Counterspell (3rd-level abjuration)

Casting Time: 1 reaction Range: 60 ft. Components: S

You attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of casting a spell. If the creature is casting a spell of 3rd level or lower, its spell fails and has no effect. If it is casting a spell of 4th level or higher, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a success, the creature’s spell fails and has no effect.

— — —

Astrid’s feet are nearly silent on the winding stairs, her passage followed by the fading sound of Errenis’ goblin butler blustering frantically at Trent Ikithon. Her breathing is steady; her hands do not shake. 

It is foolish to go ahead alone when she knows that Bren’s escape will be blamed on her already. 

If Trent suspects her, as he must, he has yet to let the executioner’s axe fall on her. Every action she takes from this point forward will be examined for further evidence of her disloyalty — so, after all that, what does one more indiscretion matter?

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[astrid-week]

Day 2 of Astrid Week -  Scourger

I went with a fanmix this time around. It can be listened to on Spotify here. Starting tomorrow I have a felling things are gonna start to run a little late.

i / Savages - Marina and diamonds

Were we born to abuse, shoot a gun and run / Or has something deep inside of us come undone?

ii / Cold-Blooded - Zayde Wolf

Never gonna run / Venom on my fangs / Fire on my tongue

iii / The One to Survive - Hidden Citizens

There’s only one spot on this throne / But I’ll find my way up / Cause it’s all I know

iv / Big Bad Wolf - Roses & Revolutions

Bang, bang, bang / Gonna shoot you down / Wasted youth lies in the ground

v / Dark Side - Bishop Briggs

Acting like I’m heartless, I do it all the time / That don’t mean I’m scarless, that don’t mean I’m fine / But you’ll see, when someone else makes you this way

vi / Pit of Vipers - Simon Curtis 

I’m falling deep into a pit of vipers / Over me, over me and I can’t break free / Secrets run deep when you’re in a pit of vipers

vii / Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish 

Don’t talk ‘bout me like how you might know how I feel / Top of the world, but your world isn’t real / Your world’s an ideal

viii / Empire - Beth Crowley 

I was born to play this game / So fear me or love me / It’s all the same

ix / Toxic - Cover by 2WEI 

It’s getting late to give you up / I took a sip from my devil’s cup / Slowly, it’s taking over me

x / No Good - UNSECRET ft. Ruelle

Keep enemies close so / You can play the wolf / But you can’t escape the woods, no

[astrid-week]

It’s a day late but! PROMT ONE! MAIDEN! AU where the Drei stayed in Blumenthal! Shes running errands <3,,,,, (also, man,,,, she looks different w/out trauma,,,,)

[astrid-week]

Day 1 - Maiden

Blumenthal was known as a farming community and for most people it was considered a backwater, but Astrid enjoyed growing up here. It’s where she found her joy in dancing. It was a great way for her to have fun that her mother approved of.

That day had been one of those days they had celebrated the harvest of the season. Astrid’s mother had dressed her up in a light blue dirndl and a blouse her mother had spent afternoons embroidering for her. There would be food and dancing, as well as an excuse to not do any chores. A fair trade for her mother subjecting her to the braids woven tightly in her hair, ribbons trailing in them. 

The moment the Beck family had arrived Astrid had bolted straight to the edge of the makeshift dance floor, watching couples dance happily together. It was one of those songs you needed a partner for, which meant she would likely watch while her mother and papa danced. Just as she was about to be settled in to watch her papa was next to her offering his hand. The height difference should have made their dance awkward, but Astrid didn’t care. She had a wide grin on her face as they moved.

The next dance was a group dance. There were two groups, the adults and kids. Astrid joined hands with a red-haired kid, all knobby-kneed but just as joyful about dancing as she was. She knew of him, all of Blumenthal knew and gossiped. He could do magic, even if it was only glowing orbs of light. Blumenthal was already excited at the prospect of having a spell caster in town. She didn’t really know him, but he was a good dancer.

The next song was slower and people paired off again. Astrid looked up for her father, but he was already dancing with her mother. She was about to leave to find the food tables when a dark hair boy approached her, offering her a hand without any talking.

Eadwulf lived only a few houses down from her and her family, though they didn’t interact much. She knew he did help her family with some of the physical labor she wasn’t capable of doing herself.

He was a good dancer though, easily keeping up with the turns and tempo of the music. He was lighter on his feel than Astrid would have guessed for someone as strong as he was. She was nearly in giggles with how much fun this was, and she was sad when the song came to a close. Once they were done he turned to her, looked her in the eyesspoke. 

“We should get something to eat.” Simple, blunt, much more of what Astrid had ever really known about him, unlike his dancing. Astrid nodded, she was going to get something to drink anyway, so she might as well head to the tables full of all the refreshments.

When the pair of them got there, the first boy she had danced with was eating an apple tart, bright smiled and licking the mess from his fingers. He smiled brighter when he noticed the pair of them. Eadwulf grabbed two cups of cider, handing one to her as if he had already known exactly what she would have wanted. The cool drink helped after the dancing. She looked at the food offered on the tables before she saw Eadwulf had already grabbed a pretzel. 

“I’m Bren.” The boy stuck out his hand, paused, whipped it on the dark pants he was wearing before holding it back out for her.

“I know.” She took his hand all the same. “I’m Astrid, this is Eadwulf.” The dark-haired boy gave a slight nod.

“ You’re the one who can do magic” Eadwulf spoke after swallowing a bit of pretzel. A flush made its way onto the red-haired boy’s face, and Astrid couldn’t tell if it was embarrassment or excitement that brought the color to his cheeks.

“Uh… yes, though I don’t think dancing lights is that impressive.” So at least he admitted that one, that was her immediate thought. But then no one in Blumenthal had done magic in a long time, and on top of that, every spell-caster she knew of was older than he was now when they started.

“What your mother does to flour is more impressive to me.” Bren spoke as he motioned to the pretzel in the other boy’s hand.“The Beck family has always had good bakers, or at least that’s what my papa has always said.” Bren elaborated. The joke was on her family then because she couldn’t seem to learn even the basics of what her mother and father were teaching her.

“Magic might be a little cooler.” She admitted taking a sip from her glass.

“My dad is going to find me books to study from. You both could always take a look if you wanted.” Bren had a warm smile as he stared at the braids woven through Astrid’s hair, embroidery fluttering in the breeze. The red haired boy noticed little animals included in the embroidery as well.

“You look like something out of a fairy tale.” Bren murmured, which had Astrid pausing mid sip of her drink, hearing a hum of agreement from Wulf. 

“One of those girls who goes into the woods.” Eadwulf added.

“If anyone is from a fairy tale it’s Bren. He’s the one with magic, pretty lights and everything.”

“You think my lights are pretty?” Astrid’s cheeks warmed as she turned away. She hadn’t meant to admit that, but both of them made her feel comfortable. 

“They are, and I’m sure given time you’ll be able to do more than just lights.”

A song Astrid recognized as a group dance started, and both Wulf and Caleb reached out for her hand. The group ended up in a fit of giggles. They joined the crowded dance floor, laughing and just enjoying the party around them. It felt like a fairy tale, and she couldn’t tell if this was the beginning of something that would be bigger than what it already was. She wanted to see where everything would go moving forward. She knew already she wanted to spend more time with both of the boys, and maybe she could learn a bit of magic herself.

[astrid-week]

An inspiration mix for this year’s prompts.

Tracklist:

1: Laurentia, Liebe Laurentia Mein // German Traditional 2: You’re Gonna Go Far Kid // The Offspring 3: Mouth of the Devil // Mother Mother 4: The Ballad of Mona Lisa // Panic! at the Disco 5: I’ll Try // Joantha Brooke 6: Achilles Come Down // Gang of Youths 7: Hey Look Ma I Made It // Panic! at the Disco 8: Sam’s Town // The Killers

[astrid-week]

Official Prompt List!

It’s time! Prepare yourself, study up, and start planning, as we write, draw, cosplay, fanvid, gif, playlist, or otherwise make creative works to celebrate Archmage Astrid Beck, from October 31 - November 6!

Day 1: Maiden // Laurentia Liebe, Laurentia mein

Day 2: Scourger // Turning all against the one is an art that’s hard to teach

Day 3: Solstryce // And we would steal each other’s grief, We were thin but we were thick as thieves

Day 4: Mask // I’d pay to see you frown

Day 5: Years // I’m too tired to listen, I’m too old to believe

Day 6: Catharsis // Hurt and grieve but don’t suffer alone, Engage with the pain as a motive

Day 7: Archmage // And if you lose boo hoo

Free Prompt: Escape //  And I’m sick of all my judges, They’re so scared of letting me shine

To participate, simply make something creative, and tag it as “astrid week 2021″ and we’ll reblog it! As of right now, we don’t have an official twitter, but feel free to promote there as well.

We can’t wait to see what you create!

[astrid-week]

And so we begin! Happy Astrid week everyone, I can't wait to see what you make!