#critical role for ts

[hauntedfalcon]

I think all of Aimee’s character’s forever should receive phenomenal cosmic power from a questionable source actually

[defilerwyrm]

I'm glad you're writing a t4t fic! I'm very interested in trans fic in theory, but so much of what's out there is dysphoria hell for me, so I never bother clicking on it when I see it. You're one of the few writers I'd give it a shot for.

Anon, I am in EXACTLY the same boat, and I’m honored that you’d trust me with it.

One of the scenes I’ve written already is Caleb and Essek inadvertently bonding by kvetching about shitty cis people. :D I’m sure it could use some editing, but I’m fairly pleased with it already and looking forward to publishing it when it’s done.

(Incidentally, if your issue with 99.999% of the trans fic out there is similar to mine, a body in absentia by Nonwal might sit well with you. I haven’t read it personally because an unrelated element of it is a big no-thanks for me, but the trans angle of it seems pretty great and very refreshing.)

[paradife-loft]

Caleb Widogast, out of his very own entire mouth: ".....hunger for control is insatiable; it will never be enough."

me, sitting in front of my laptop, munching popcorn toffee: 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 you don't say....

[galufs]

i'm going to be so annoying when the mighty nein animated adaption comes out i'll be so fucking cringe im going to go crazy milfposting about veth i'm going to cheer and clap i'll see keg and start screaming crying etc etc and everyone will wish to kill me because of this

[pluresque]

❛ of course not. ❜ by which caleb must mean that it's a miracle their home is still standing. essek smiles, chagrined, and lifts a hand to brush some of the soot from caleb's cheek. it does explain the smoke, though; at the very least, it seems to have dissipated well enough.

❛ you're lucky we stocked up recently. i'd hate to have to call caduceus and explain what happened. ❜ it would be an unnecessary journey for caduceus to take, and he probably wouldn't want to deal with the city. essek's smile sharpens. ❛ or jester. ❜ she, on the other hand— ❛ come on. i don't know if the eyebrow can be salvaged, but at least we've got something for your hands. ❜

despite the circumstances, caleb smiles at endearment. certainly it is not meant to fill him with great joy, but it does anyway. even in the face of essek's disappointment. ❛ eh? ❜ he reaches up to touch his eyebrow, hisses at the ache it sends ringing through his hands. ❛ ah. well, these things happen in the face of experimentation. ❜

what was he trying to do indeed. caleb would reach out to essek, as is his wont, but the afformentioned hands which are burned stop him. ❛ ah, i was trying to improve upon the delayed blast fireball, but as you can see the delay was minimal and the fireball was very large, in fact. though not, of course, large enough to do significant damage as i would never be so reckless - ❜

[spottedenchants]

While it is extremely fun to clown on Essek for his disguises, consider:

What if they're shoddy because we know him? 👀 To anyone that's spent time studying his mannerisms and speech patterns and personality (say, an avid fan base or the friends that saved his life by ruining it), it's practically that Song of Achilles quote. To anyone else (purely in-universe now), perhaps they'd recognize the accent or find his casting methods unique. Without prompting, would they realize 'that's Essek Thelyss, the once-Shadowhand of the Kryn Dynasty'? Did anyone learn him well enough before he fled the Dynasty to recognize him in an instant? In a conversation? In a day?

What if Essek's disguises are good because they count on no one knowing the person beneath them? 👀

[captainofthetidesbreath]

What classes do you think the mighty nein would play, were they to play dnd? Bonus round would they be good at dnd.

I had a post about this like back in 2020 or something that I cannot find, so I don't know if my opinions have changed since then. I don't have anyone down as DMing because I assume that even their forever DM has a preferred class.

Fjord - Cleric I don't think Fjord would like tanking that much because getting attacked makes him nervous, but he doesn't want to be a glass cannon either. I think that he would initially go for cleric because he simply wants to be useful and helpful, but he didn't necessarily realize how big of a job being the cleric is. He starts out as a just Cure Wounds dispenser, but quickly flourishes into a Holy Terror Wrath Of The Righteous Divine cleric. He loves doing that. His mechanics are solid and efficient and he's tactically astute, but he's a timid roleplayer who struggles to initiate scenes. He's solid if drawn into scenes and forgets to be self-conscious because he's got a better character sense than he thinks. Literally do not ask him what the overall plot of the campaign is because he cannot remember no matter how hard he tries; he remembers individual PC arcs though. I think he'd also like paladins, bards, and druids, and I do think he'd be willing to play some of the more involved fighters like the Knights subclasses and the cooler rangers.

Beau - Wizard She wants to be the person in the game who gets all the information, and that's usually a wizard. She wants to put her little hands all over all the lore, and also she loves having a spell list that's a billion miles long. She does not want you to know that she feels so smugly satisfied playing a character who can do the research and have the connections and know the information. She absolutely hates that this means she's made of tissue paper, so she tends toward Con wizard. Her mechanics and exploration work are really good, and she is stellar at engaging in the world in a way that's highly informed by her character class. She struggles with the roleplaying part of things a lot. She has a decent grasp of character, it's the actual RPing part that she has trouble with. If you can convince her to play a charisma caster, which she is afraid of doing, she'd also enjoy bard a lot. Also monks and artificers.

Caleb - Wizard This is self-explanatory. Caleb is a guy who plays a wizard or the full damage caster in every single game. This is who he is. He is great mechanically until you gotta discuss non-spell stuff. He did, in fact, read that portion of the rules, but it was never relevant to him, so he deleted it from his head. His spell choices and use are phenomenal though. He min-maxes but specifically for the weirdest, most niche element that is useful one time, but it is extremely clutch that one time it's relevant. He is also great at the storytelling portion, though his roleplaying can be a little dense or dry. If you can make him play something that's not a wizard, druid or bard. He will not play a healer druid or bard though.

Veth - Warlock She wants to make bad decisions in her games, and she loves that a warlock comes prepackaged with bad decisions. She has a solid grasp of her spellcasting mechanics, but also finds full casting intimidating. She loves the concept of being a wizard in theory but actually playing one stresses her out. She is a very loud and excitable player, which can be a lot of fun if, uh, loud. She fucking supports you and is into whatever it is you're doing, especially if it's so dumb to do. She is inventing the weirdest and most ambiguously intense patron relationship of all time. She also would enjoy paladins, rangers, artificers, and the fancier fighters (again, the Knights subclasses). She could be eased into cleric if a niche in the party is clear and her mechanical role is structured. She can totally handle full casting, including wizards, she just psyches / stresses herself out.

Jester - Bard I feel like people are going to be like "what about barbarian," but I think that Jester tried it once and the comparative lack of options made her really frustrated. She loves the idea of hitting things, but she hates it when 80% of her options is just hitting it. She is attracted to the charisma casters though, because she really likes the charisma skillset, and she really wants to cast a lot of spells. Out of the charisma caster options, she likes bards best because she loves being a little good at everything. She tends to be a little over-competitive about it and gets sulky when she doesn't feel useful enough. She is actually iffy on mechanical nitty-gritty, but her basics and groundwork is solid so it's fine, but she's a really great if melodramatic roleplayer and her social encounter work is great. She is deeply engaged in the narrative and is intensely invested in every NPC. Buys so fucking hard into the suspension of disbelief. She would like the fancier fighters and paladins better than a barbarian.

Molly - Bard He is playing the stereotype bard of everyone's nightmares. I will not further elaborate.

Caduceus - Ranger He does like to ask the plants and animals question in-game as well, and rangers let him do that and have a bit of magic too without being overwhelming as a class. He isn't super interested in doing complex characters; this is not being bad at D&D, to be clear, it's just a preference. He's your friend who is here to play a simple character because he just wants to hang out with you, which I think is always very sweet. That said, he is not very good mechanically. It's a lot of stuff to keep track of even with 5e being a little simpler. I think he would also like playing paladins or the straightforward fighters, or a cleric if he can decide what his niche is and stick to that specifically. He doesn't vibe with barbarians.

Yasha - Druid She is initially drawn to the class for the vibes (always a valid reason to be drawn to a class), but I think she enjoys having spellcasting options and options that aren't "hit it". She is a timid and awkward roleplayer who has a lot of trouble there, even though she has a lot of fun making up backstory and engaging with the lore and story. Her spellcasting is creative and experimental because she loves weird. She is one of the button pushers of the table and is giggling when she does it. (She and Veth are menaces, lmao, it's great.) I think she'd also enjoy bards, maybe clerics and warlocks, and the fancier fighters and rangers.

[thought-42]

If everybody got flung around the world to various inconvenient locations, this means there is a non-zero chance that Captain Xandis just woke up with a semi-broken tiefling statue, a chained up and furious monk, a mute and magicless dirt wizard, and a grumpy Fey scientist who looks like a cat who has just clambered out of a full bathtub and is no longer bound by a promise to keep them safe.

[enbyandearthworm]

ok so I don't know if this has been said a hundred times or literally never because there is no overlap between these two communities but I recently heard the prophecy by taylor swift and I think it's the most Imodna-coded song I have ever heard. Specifically from Laudna's point of view. Hear me out:

So the overall premise of the song really ties into a more tragic reading of Imogen and Laudna's relationship - they never wanted to be adventurers, never wanted this life, but they were forced into it and now it's destroying themselves and their lives. They are two broken people who got together before they had healed themselves and therefore can never truly find happiness. But in another life, maybe...

And then there are specific lyrics. Some are just funny coincidences:

and I look unstable, gathered with a coven round a sorceress' table

A greater woman stays cool, but I howl like a wolf at the moon (when it's partly the literal moon that's tearing their relationship apart)

But describing finding Imogen as Thought I caught lightning in a bottle, oh, but it's gone again is sooo perfect I can't cope. Like obviously there's the literal relationship between Imogen and lightning but then also the image of finding something so rare it's almost impossible and then realising it's too good to be true...I can't

and Laudna saying I got cursed like Eve got bitten, as in, against her will, without her knowing but being forever blamed for it and having her life ruined for it...do you see what I'm saying?

Plus there's all of the complex relationship with faith and the gods - who do I have to speak to about if they can redo the prophecy?...a greater woman wouldn't beg but I looked to the sky and said please - which is such a complex topic for Bells Hells as almost none of them have any actual faith in the gods, but Laudna is turning to anyone she can (cough delilah cough) for help to save the world and her friends and her love.

Anyway I realise this is very long and slightly insane but I just...I could not get this thought out of my mind

[mareastrorum]

"They brought it on themselves."

@runmienn did a lovely commission for me based on a scene from Chapter 8 of The Fool and the Soldier. Thanks so much!

[road-rhythm]

Baffled by "at 117, Essek was LITERALLY A CHILD" discourse. Man's an elf, not baby freaking Yoda

[hauntedfalcon]

shit fuck shit Zerxus got hotter

[defilerwyrm]

for the wip game, what's the story with [Outline] The Son and the Heir (Shadowgast Arranged Marriage)? 👀

Oh man, so. This is absolutely not a trope I normally go for, but yon back we were talking about it on AifL and I got struck with an Idea, and I just kinda ran with it.

The setup is: as part of their armistice agreements, the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty arrange a marriage to stand as a symbol of their treaty. The Empire sends Caleb Widogast, notable member of the multinational mercenary group who brought to light the heinous crimes and abuses of former Archmage of Civil Influence Trent Ikithon, to be wed to Shadowhand Essek Thelyss, notable dunamantic prodigy and youngest soul to ever hold the title. If these selections also serve as a way to conveniently keep two known iconoclasts busy, so much the better.

Caleb goes into the arrangement full of hope. His parents had been an arranged marriage and they grew to love each other dearly. He’s looking forward to learning about his new husband and homeland. The fact that he’s gorgeous and a powerful wizard only sweeten the deal.

Essek, however, never wanted to marry. He got railroaded into accepting the offer to save face in the eyes of the court. He doesn’t want someone else in his home, he doesn’t want someone with ties to the Cerberus Assembly getting close, and he most certainly has no intention of doing something as embarrassing as falling in love.

The Son and the Heir is a story about a frigid heart that thaws, then breaks, and is mended stronger than it was before.

Send me a WIP title for more!

[paradife-loft]

lmao, I just realized -

the way the Kryn's consecution/resurrection system works - born as a baby in a new body, regain memories of your previous life/ves as you age (insert Complicated family stuff here) - is a slightly-to-the-left reimagining of one of JR^2T's versions of how killed elves get reborn in Aman

(and so once again: HEY MATT I SEE YOU 😂)

[galufs]

superior critical role coming back means my dash is nothing but people posting jester and veth content at breakneck speed this is what bears feel like when they wake up in spring after hibernating all winter i think ❤️❤️❤️

[aswallowssong]

Sicktember 2024 #4: "Great. I got a cold for my birthday."

So @fragolinaa and I have been working on a Critical Role AU for... well over a year. The whole thing is called "Twinkling Lights," (all 3 campaign's characters) but each campaign gets their own little name, because that's not confusing at all. Campaign 2 has always been my baby, and the thought was "What if the Mighty Nein were all absolutely chaotic, burned out high school teachers?" So I give you "Twenty Somethings."

Fjord was done with the day before he’d even opened his eyes. There was a steady pounding in his skull, and his throat hurt. Not to mention the fact that his sinuses felt like someone had shoved handfuls of paper towels up his nose. 

Great. I got a cold for my birthday.

Not that he cared much for his birthday anyway. He didn’t actually know what his birthday was, since his parents had left him at the doorstep of the orphanage when he was a baby. They’d picked a date five months before, since that’s how old the doctor said he probably was, and Cuersaar 6th it was.

And Cuersaar 6th it was, and he was sick, and he needed to get up for work before his second alarm went off and he was super behind for the morning.

Thankfully, Caduceus wasn’t into grand gestures of affection in general, but instead small, intimate gestures. So, when he sat down to shove some toast in his mouth, which scraped his already irritated and painful throat going down, and sniffled pitifully, all that met him was a warm cup of tea, and an affectionate hand on his forehead.

“Good morning, Fjord,” Caduceus said, giving him a knowing smile. “Happy birthday. Are you sick?”

“S’ a cold,” Fjord rasped. “Probably got it off Luc.”

Veth’s son loved Fjord, much to her dismay and his delight, but he’d parked himself in Fjord’s lap for all of movie night while his nose ran and he coughed quietly into the elbow of his sweatshirt. Veth and Yeza had said they’d just stay home with him, but no one in their friend group cared about a little cold.

Now, Fjord almost wished he had.

Caduceus hummed knowingly. “Ah, he was real snotty on Friday. Probably. Sorry, friend. I’ll put some tea I think will help in a travel mug for you to take with us.”

Fjord didn’t go a day without feeling like he was so desperately lucky to have a friend like Caduceus. “Thanks, Cad.”

“Mhm. I think there’s some soup left from a few nights ago. I can put that in a thermos for you, if you’d like? For lunch?”

It would have been easy to brush Cad off and tell him that it was fine. He probably wasn’t going to be hungry, anyway. He didn’t even want the toast he was currently choking down, but he knew that he needed something to get him through his classes. 

“I–”

“Let me? Since it’s a day about you?”

That stopped him from declining, and Fjord nodded slowly after a second. Cad knew the mixed emotions that came with his birthday; he had for years. 

“Okay,” he rasped, wincing and taking another sip of tea. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Sure,” Cad said, smiling widely at Fjord, and making him feel a little warmer inside. “I think there’s some cold medicine under the sink. Why don’t you go get some before we leave while I pack this up?”

Fjord nodded, obeying like a child. Regardless of the fact that he was a thirty-one, no, thirty-two year old man, he wished the same thing he’d wished every time he felt poorly since he could remember. He wanted to be comforted, and taken care of, not because it was someone’s job, but because they wanted to. Because they loved him.

And Cad did. He really did. Fjord knew that. But like a friend, or even a brother, and that was different.

He rustled through their bin of medicine that Cad kept stocked with natural and chemical remedies, and found a few blister packs of bright orange cold and flu medicine. He swallowed one pack, and stored the others in his pocket, wishing that he was staying home in a sweatshirt and joggers instead of the khakis and polo he had on for his job. The fact that Cad got to wear whatever he wanted only frustrated him until he remembered that Cad wasn’t going to be teaching Biology, but Culinary and Agriculture. He’d spend half the day outside in the crisp, early Cuersaar wind.

The thought of it made him shiver, or maybe that was the fact that he was decently sure he was sporting a mild fever, but he didn’t let himself dwell too long. He needed to drive to school.

“Cad?” He called, wincing and sniffling quietly as he pulled a jacket over his polo and pulled his keys off the hook.

Gods, he felt awful.

“Coming!” Caduceus rounded the corner with his school bag, already in a coat, and with both their lunch boxes in his hand. He smiled widely, giving Fjord an encouraging nod, and holding out his other hand, which held the travel mug of tea. “Oh, and don’t forget this.”

Fjord managed a small smile, taking the cup from Cad with a nod. “Thanks.”

“Oh sure. It’s a chilly morning, and by the sound of your voice, I’d say your throat needs it.”

It did, and when it was gone before his first period prep was over, he wished it wasn’t. He knew it wasn’t strep – he’d had that enough times in his life to know the feeling – but it was enough that he wished he had a days supply of the warm tea to keep him from rasping so badly while he taught his first two blocks of AP Bio. Several students looked at him with worry, ones that he knew were prone to anxious thinking, and he tried to give them a reassuring look as he explained the circulatory system.

By the end of his third period the cough had started, and the sniffling was getting annoying enough that Fjord had just grabbed a box of tissues from his cabinet and parked it on his desk. He’d already figured he was going to have to restructure his afternoon classes plans to be independent work, as opposed to teacher-led, but he knew his AP students were already worrying about Thunsheer’s test, and he owed it to them to give them everything they needed.

Even if it was at his own destruction.

When the bell for his lunch period rang, he audibly sighed, and when he turned to make sure his kids hadn’t left anything behind, he nearly jumped.

“Shoot! Oh, Orym. You startled me.”

The senior was looking at him with drawn eyebrows. “Sorry. Coach, are you okay?”

Orym had a heart of gold. Fjord noticed too, now, that Dorian was hanging in the doorway. It was unusual to see one without the other, and Fjord sighed, running a hand through his hair that desperately needed a trim.

“I’m fine,” Fjord said, like a liar. He didn’t want to worry Orym more than he already was, especially with the heaviness he already bore. “Just a cold. Annoying, but bearable.”

Orym nodded, and so did Dorian from his sentinel’s post. “Okay. You should see if Nurse Jester has anything that can help. She showed up in Herr Widogast’s room earlier with cough drops.” He smirked a little. “Someone might have narked.”

Ah, Caleb. Caleb’s immune system was made of tissue paper, and as Luc’s uncle, he tended to pick up anything on the kindergartener immediately. 

“Herr too, huh? Good to know. Thanks, Orym.”

“Are we still having practice?”

Crap. Fjord did not want to have practice out in the crisp wind. He forgot they even had soccer that day. Why would he schedule a practice the day after a game? They didn’t have another one until the next week.

“Right, um. Let me get back to you, okay? Come see me after lunch. This is your lunch period, right?”

Orym nodded. “Okay. And then I’ll let the team know in the groupchat?”

“Perfect. I’ll write you a note to show up to fifth period a little late so we can figure it out. Now, go eat.”

Orym smiled, looking back at Dorian and nodding so the other boy would open the door, and they scrambled out to go find Imogen, no doubt. The three of them were a motley crew, but a favorite among his friend group of teachers. He could help but chuckle watching them go, and then sigh when the door closed and his headache reminded him that he was, indeed, sick.

The only good thing was that none of their friends knew when his birthday was. They didn’t know that it was, supposedly and legally, that day, and wouldn’t fret at him about being ill on a day that was supposed to be happy.

It wasn’t particularly happy, anyway.

The first one in his room was Beau, rage in her eyes, and he knew that the peaceful lunch he’d hoped for to let himself feel like crap was not happening.

“Do you know how ridiculous Kaylie can be?!”

Fjord sighed, sitting down at his desk and pulling out his hidden box of crackers, his water, and another blister pack of cold medicine.

Caleb had filtered in after that, looking pale and sucking on what Fjord assumed was a cough drop. He took a look at Fjord, and under Beau’s rant quietly said in a voice that matched his own rasp, “You as well then?”

Fjord gave a tired smile and nodded. “Yup.”

“Isn’t anyone listening to me?!”

“Kaylie is being a menace today because she spent the weekend with her mother, and then yesterday back with her father, so she is having the emotional whiplash,” Caleb said easily, and raspily, but Beau didn’t seem to notice.

“She still doesn’t have to be a monster–”

“Calm down, Beau. She’s seventeen and her home life is a wreck. Well, her mom’s home is a wreck. Let it roll.”

Beau looked at Fjord silently after he was finished, and then sighed, flopping down at her desk and basically throwing her lunchbox down.

The rest of their group filtered in, Cad bringing Fjord his lunchbox when he did, and Fjord savored the way the warm soup coated his stinging throat, and let conversation wash into the background as he settled a little bit into misery. He’d perk himself up when he needed to teach his next class, especially if he’d be dealing with a pissed off Kaylie, but for the time they sat in comfortable companionship, he simply let himself wallow a little.

Jester was eyeing him with worry, he knew that, and it embarrassed him, especially since he’d realized that he was very much in love with her, and she very much still had a shitty boyfriend. He tried not to make eye contact, but when the lunch bell rang and everyone started cleaning up their things to get ready for their next class, she was standing at his desk, holding a bottle of ibuprofen and a bag of cough drops.

“Here. I already gave Caleb what he needs for the rest of the day. You can come to me too, you know? I’m basically here for the students and the teachers. Having a cold while you’re teaching sucks so bad. Let me make it easier.” She leaned in and whispered to him, so no one else would hear what she said next. “Especially on your birthday.”

He felt like he was going to melt under the sincerity of her gaze, and he couldn’t do anything but give a little nod, his heart doing some sort of anxious tap dance when he took the bottle from her and their fingers brushed. 

“Thanks, Jessie. I know, I just… didn’t want to bother anyone.”

“Cad told me that you don’t want anyone to know about today. And I won’t tell anyone, but, maybe on Folsen I’ll bring a cake to Molly and Yasha’s for family dinner. Just because. Not for any reason.”

Her eyes were sparkling, and she was looking at him with no pity whatsoever. She wanted to do it, he could tell, and she wanted to help him, and all those things made it really hard to focus on what he was going to say next.

“I– Alright. Can it be strawberry?”

“Of course it can. And, I know you’re going to say no, but I’m going to get you a present. Don’t tell me no, I’ve made up my mind. You deserve something better than a cold for your birthday.”

She nodded, speaking in a normal voice again. “Also you should cancel practice, since you’re sick.”

“Oh,” Beau said, whipping around at the word ‘practice.’ “I can take the boys today. You should go home and sleep, you look like you need it.”

They were the only ones left in the room, everyone else having left, Cad with a small wave as he’d gone while Fjord had been talking to Jester.

“I–”

“Say yes,” Jester said simply, and shrugged. “Or else.”

“Or… else?”

“Or else.” She turned, her hair nearly smacking him in the face as she skipped out of the room, her pink scrubs a whirl as she spun out the door, and around Orym as he walked in.

Orym looked confused, but shook it off as he faced both Fjord and Beau.

“Hi, Coach Lionette. Coach Stone, did you figure out practice?”

“You guys are going to practice with me and the girls today. Let your team know.”

Orym looked between Beau and Fjord for a moment before groaning quietly. “They’re gonna kick our butts.”

Fjord chuckled, which turned into a cough, and he knew he’d made the right decision accepting Beau’s offer. She didn’t know it, but she’d also given him a present that was better than a cold. All he had to do was get through the rest of the day, and he could crawl in bed and hope he’d wake up feeling better, for a better day altogether.