#masc!vex au

[essayofthoughts]

Relevant to our convo: wedding HCs for the AUs? Do any AUs result in the Perc'ahlia elopement and/or wedding changes? Elope earlier or later, or actually spill the secret deliberately, or Sylas not crashing Dalen's Closet, etc.?

I haven't decided for all of the AUs yet! And some are.... complicated in various ways and by various things. I'm going to be ignoring the ones which are entire new universes or significantly altered timelines and instead stick to the ones which maintain some semblance of the canon timeline and tell you what changes in the Perc'ahlia's for each.

Ghost Cass - So. We all remember when and how Perc'ahlia got together, right? Namely, after slaying Vorugal. And, as we recall, they put off fighting Vorugal for a day because Percy had very recently died. He was still recovering from resurrection.

So uh. In this AU, Cass flatly refuses to let Percy go fight Vorugal and he isn't there after that fight. Percy and Vex don't even get together til the year break. I'm not sure when they get married - I don't think they elope over the year break in this AU, and I'm inclined to say they get married after Vecna. As I've still not decided every detail of the end of the final arc of this, I have no idea if Sylas makes it to Dalen's Closet or not.

Soulmate AU - So. In Soulmate AU, for various reasons, Percy and Vex get together shortly before the Briarwood Arc really kick off and then break up at the end of the Briarwood Arc for Reasons (No, I Will Not Explain; sufficeth to say, there is Angst and Irony in play).

They nonetheless get back together after Vorugal. Given that they'd broken up earlier and actually cleared the air, there is no year break break up in this AU and I'm inclined to say they don't elope? They've rushed things before, they're more willing to take their time.

Evilest AU - So uh. I'm not entirely set on how things go in this AU yet, but the leading idea currently is that they get together on their first trip to Marquet. Given events after the Briarwood Arc in this AU, they may not? Break up during the year off? But they also just as easily might, but for different reasons than I posit in my Year Break Break-Up Fic. I suspect they do still elope in this AU, however, though it still isn't fully determined.

Happier Evilest - They actually get together and start figuring things out way earlier in this AU which ... in this specific circumstance makes me inclined to say that they do elope or come very close to it in this AU?

Sylas Briarwood Gets To Live Bitches - This probably treads the closest to canon... though I don't know that they break up the same way/for the same reasons as I posit in the Year Break Break-Up Fic. I think they realise just how Briarwoods-y they can be and take a break from each other just to be sure, and I think, having confronted it, they pace themselves a bit more and possibly discuss with others (Vax for Vex, I'm inclined to say Keyleth for Percy?) their worries about the similarities. So if they do get married over the year break, I don't think they elope. And of course, in this AU, the Briarwoods are working to be better people, so no Sylas crashing any fancy re-wedding at Dalen's Closet!

Fem!Percy AU - So. Due to various things they have a really really solid friendship as a basis for their relationship here? It's not just trust it's that Vex made an active effort to reach out and make Persy feel welcome from relatively early on, and to comfort her with regards to what she saw as lingering anxieties from trauma (she was correct; Vex is very perceptive). Consequently, when they get together they've got an awful lot of trust in each other and an extremely good understanding of each other; I don't think they'd break-up over the year break. I do think that they'd get married, but it wouldn't be an elopement: I think they'd inform and invite the others.

Masc!Vex AU - Hey. Hey @blorbologist. You remember that delicious piece of angst you wrote me for my birthday? Well-versed in wishing? I am almost inclined to say that happens in this AU, though I'm not certain. It's just that Percy has a lot of baggage to unpack about certain things and while he gets with Vex on the same timeline as canon in this AU, I think Vex is perceptive enough to register his hesitancy and personal issues regarding other things and so their break up may last uh. Longer? I don't want it to; that feels very angsty and kind of unfair in this AU, so I'd like them to get back together before the decades long pause of your lovely fic, but what exactly causes-

Oh no. Oh Blorb, you give me the best ideas. *runs away cackling*

Wolf Siblings AU - So on the one hand: Percy knows he's into Vex and is in a much better place mentally and emotionally! Plus, I don't particularly want to play out like. The Vecna arc or even necessarily the whole of the Conclave Arc for this AU? I may do things like the Tomb but with a different plot? Undecided. No Glintshore because Ripley gets ripped apart by the wolf siblings. But anyway, so in this AU, Percy is being wingmanned by Vesper and is generally doing better so on the one hand some things go more smoothly!

On the other hand, having his siblings involved and invested in his romance stalls him a lot, so it ends up being on about the same timeline. There is no elopement: Percy's siblings are both nosy and all have had five years of being extremely nosy in his life - if anything, they figure out Percy and Vex are planning to get married before the two even manage to propose to each other.

Of course, given I don't intend to do the Vecna Arc in this AU, no Dalen's closet crashing for Sylas. If Percy and Vex do elope, Vesper is dragging them back to Whitestone for a formal wedding as soon as she finds where the hell they've gone.

Tiefling!Percy AU - So. Percy has some issues with the fact he's a tiefling? And one thing I have actually written ahead is him and Vex having a conversation about the possibility of children and Percy specifically asking that they wait because... well. He's a tiefling and he's not sure how he feels about that basically ever. And. Given he's a tiefling, that means good odds that their children will be tieflings - and the last thing he wants to do is have those same conflicted feelings about his own children, or for them to feel unloved.

So I think because of that they might well impulse-propose to each other, but I think they wouldn't elope. Percy's wedding to Vex ends up being the first time Whitestone's citizens get to see him fully decked out in all the shiny horn rings and such that Vox Machina give him.

Sylas may still crash Dalen's Closet, though, and now I'm wondering what impact Percy's tiefling spells might have on that.

Elaina Lives AU - You know what? Good damn question. I actually have no idea? This story is told primarily from Elaina's POV with a possible dip into Vax's - no Vex or Percy planned thus far. I genuinely have no idea.

Canon Vampercy AU - Likewise genuinely no idea. I've only got a couple of scenes down for this AU and it's more vibes than anything. I don't even know if this would end up as more than a oneshot.

Werewolf’s Soulmate AU Continuation - Reasonable odds they try to elope in this AU - however how secret that remains... I don't know. Thanks to @rightpastnowhere I had the idea that they would at some point each get half-bracelet tattoos, each getting one half that matches to the other, so it shows as a full bracelet between them? I'm wondering if, as soulmates, this ends up part of their marriage ceremony, in which case everyone finds out pretty quickly. That said, I may do it as just... something they get at some other point as a mark of their commitment to each other so - yet to be determined!

Daemon AU - I have not plotted this one far enough ahead to be sure yet. That said, you asking this has given me the delightful image of Vex's magpie daemon shattering into Dust over the ocean at Dalen's Closet so uh.

Enjoy that!

PercyRipley Soulmate AU - Percy has so many fucking hangups in this AU. After all, if even his soulmate would reject him, what kind of a person does that make him? (An infinitely better person, obviously, Ripley is the worst.)

Anyway, I think Percy's issues may fuel a year break break-up in this AU, though I'm not 100% sure on that yet. That said, seeing how much it hurts Vex would absolutely buck Percy up and they could well elope after that. I'm not certain though: I've only really got an outline down for this so far.

Syldor Isn’t A Dick AU - Vex has so many fewer issues in this AU. On the one hand this means she's in a much better place! On the other hand it means it takes her and Percy a bit longer to get together, I feel? An awful lot of Percy's actions in canon that seed their love for each other are things that remind Vex of her worth, both as an individual and to him specifically, and in this AU she doesn't need that so much? So they get together much more based on personal connection and shared interests.

That said, I think that means 1. They're less likely to break up during the year break and 2. There's good odds she and Percy elope almost as soon as possible in the year break and then end up spilling the beans to just about everyone in their thrilled-ness about it and end up getting married again during the break.

Sylas may still crash some other event at Dalen's Closet a year on though.

[stuffins]

Note that this will be updated as I get more ideas for them all. Don’t mind all the empty hermits I’m still figuring them out, and I don't watch all the hermits, so I don't have backstories for them all.

I at least tried to put in PNs for everyone and Species but some I'm still working on.

Main AU hermits overview-

- Xisuma- Xe/Xem perfers more gender neutral terms. Keeps helmet on at all times(doesn’t need it to breathe, but it does make breathing more comfortable), actual age 5000+ immortal. Voidwalker xem body is literally made of compressed void, and if touched on bare skin will make whoever touched xem tingle. (Backstory not fully flushed out) Due to religion and not flowing a ‘respectable’ god, xe got disowned by xems group with only xems twin(EX) staying in contact. - design

- Keralis- He/They perfers more masc terms.

- Grian- it/its perfers more masc terms. Looks 24(because that’s when evo started) and doesn’t age past that, actual age way older then you. K.o.v., Crafted movie, and Evo. are its backstory in that order. It doesn’t look like an avian hybrid(pair of wings on back AND head, legs look like one of a humans, has no feathers besides the ones on wings, soulless eyes, talons on hands instead of feet, and the large bit of magic it seems to possess) but shares instinctual habits with them and says it is one(is actually a watcher). - design

- Mumbo- They/Them doesnt care what terms you use. Looks 28 doesn’t age past that because vampire, if they don’t eat properly they will start to age. Actual about age 370. A turned Vampling(any vampire under 500). X made a code so that they can be in the sunlight. (I have an idea for backstory but it’s not even close to being fully flushed out.) Was alone for a long time cause its harder to control instincts as a Vampling.

- Scar- He/They/She doesn't care but leans towards masc and gender netural terms. Looks 32(cause that’s when he died in tcd) can shift to look however old they want. Actual age somewhere around 70-80. Elf/Vex hybrid but isn’t a true vex(meaning alley turned vex). Is more in touch with being a vex than being an elf. Backstory Tcd, some in between, then kingdomcraft. Tubbo is his child, I haven’t figured out the backstory for that, but she’s Tubbo’s dad.

- Cub- They/He perfers more gender neutral over masc. Looks 30 can shift to look however old they want. Actual age somewhere around 70/80 but is older then Scar. Vex hybrid and is a true Vex(was a vex since they were born). Backstory his last of us let’s play.

- Bdubs- They/Them perfers gender neutral terms. Glare

- Etho- He/Him perfers masc terms. Age 36 and looks 31. Phantom hybrid(basically the phantom origin). X made a code for him to be in the sun as well, but he still stays as covered up as he can.

- Ren- He/She does care what terms. Werewolf - design

- Pearl- They/She/It perfers gender neutral terms. luner moth hybrid but shifted purple.

- Gem- She/Her perfers fem terms. deer hybrid

- Stress- She/Her perfers fem and gender netural terms.

- False- She/Her perfers fem terms. Eagal hybrid

- Cleo- She/They perfers gender neutral and fem terms. Zombie

- Beef- He/Him perfers masc terms. Cow hybrid

- Doc- He/They perfers masc and gender netural terms. creeper hybrid that's a cyborg

- Zedaph- They/Them perfers gender neutral terms. sheep. - design

- Hypno- He/They perfers gender neutral doesn't mind masc.

- Impulse- Any and perfers gender neutral terms. dragon hybrid

- Iskall- He/She/They doesn't care what terms. Robot that was based on an actual person.

- Jevin- they/them doesnt care about terms. Slime, when touched their slime jiggles. Age: 1000+ and doesn't have a solid enough form to tell how old they look.

- Joe- Any including neos, and doesnt care what terms are used. Glitch everything it touches glitches with him(especially things they holds), when touching her, it feels like static. Somehow, he got perma killed then glitched out.

- Tango- He/Him perfers more masc doesn't mind other terms. Blazeborn(basically the blazeborn origin). X made a code so he could touch water, still finds water uncomfortable but not painful.

- Wels- He/They perfers gender neutral terms.

- Xb- They/He/She doesn't care what terms.

[essayofthoughts]

For the masc!Vex AU, considering the mental gymnastics Percy might get up to while he still hasn't processed his heteronormativity I can absolutely see him trying to set up Cass and Vex, because that's definitely a way to bind Vex permanently to his family? And Vex is so good and of course Cass only deserves the best. Other thing I could definitely see fucking with Percy is the fact that Vex and Vax looks so similar. And he likes Vex so much, oh gods this isn't only casual attraction.

I think you're misunderstanding what I mean when I talk about Percy's baggage in this AU? Let me try to explain.

By the time they get to Whitestone Percy has figured out he's interested in Vex. He is trying not to acknowledge it, but he does like Vex and knows it. What he's processing there is the baggage associated, the implicit judgement of same-sex relationships as Not As Good, and the idea he might be Letting Down His Family - and in a way, getting Cass back eases that fear, because there's other family to help continue the family name. It's not all on his shoulders. The heteronormativity is the first thing he deals with - aided considerably by Vex and Vax both being openly bi and Scanlan making jokes and Pike - a holy woman - being entirely fine with it. It's not altogether too complicated for him to get past his repression and acknowledge his own bisexuality, and so he's never really in a place to displace his own feelings onto others in the way you suggest.

The baggage takes longer because a lot of it is ingrained in much more insidious ways - so for him, okay, he's bi, that's fine, but should he really be considering a relationship with Vex given 1. Probably not the healthiest just as in canon, and 2. He has to think of his Family and Legacy and Inheritance, and that gets complicated in a relationship that requires assistance to produce heirs. Obviously it's not infeasible at his station, but it is an obstacle - and one that's known ahead of time, unlike fertility problems in a male-female partnership. And, additionally - does Vex want that? Does Vex even want to deal with his infinite baggage?

Hopefully that clears up exactly what Percy's dealing with? But tl;dr: the heteronormativity is only a very small part of Percy's shit in this AU. There's an awful lot of additional baggage that's a lot lot more complicated and ingrained.

Plus, depending on how you calculate Percy's age, Vex is between 3-8 years older than him just in canon (Percy is early-mid twenties per Taliesin, meaning he's anywhere from 20-25. The twins are 28. I tend to split the difference on Percy's age and make him 23) and so there's an even bigger age gap between Vex and Cass (I tend to make Cass five years younger than Percy, firstly because we're told she looks around 18 - which is exactly five years younger than the midpoint age for Percy - and secondly because it means that when Percy returns to kill the Briarwoods she's the same age he was when the Briarwoods arrived). Now, an age gap between spouses is pretty common, and even large ones like that are known of in upper class noble circles but Percy canonically pays attention when something could be unhealthy and he wouldn't want to saddle his one remaining sibling and one of his dear friends with such an imbalanced relationship.

Plus well... Percy's a dick but one thing that's consistent is how much he respects those he loves - he's not overbearing or controlling (despite his control issues). Doing that implies he doesn't trust or respect those people, and Percy canonically trusts Vex implicitly and respects the hell out of both Vex and Cassandra.

As for the other thing - yeah basically!

Like, one of the things that prompts Percy to realise he's into Vex and isn't as straight as he thinks is that he sketches Vex a lot, more than he does any of the others, and one day Keyleth asks him about it. And of course, he's got an excuse - Vex is just aesthetically pleasing and engaging to draw, perfectly reasonable - and then Keyleth just casually, unthinkingly counters with "but what about Vax?"

And. Huh, thinks Percy. Yeah, that's a good point. The twins are identical. What is it that makes Vex more engaging? Maybe it's the way a braid balances his features instead of Vax's looser hair? Maybe it's the feathers? Maybe it's the smile and competency? Maybe-

Keyleth: Hey Percy, why do you watch Vex more than anyone?

Percy, internally: GOOD QUESTION. DON'T KNOW.

(Percy, externally: *bluescreening*)

It'll be fun.

Vax also figures out that Percy is into Vex sooner than most (obviously; he's still protective of Vex in this AU, it's just not quite as pronounced) but unlike Keyleth wondering towards it as a series of why questions that end in an are you-, Vax just goes "Well you pay more attention to my brother than anyone else, so obviously."

And well. Vax tends to be a bit blunt, doesn't he? And direct? So the way that'd go is Vax plopping himself down next to Percy one day when Percy is watching Vex and just going "Hey so you know it's okay to be interested in men, right?"

Which runs the risk of Percy interpreting it as Vax coming onto him and being startled and spluttery and defensive. (It'd be very funny, though.)

But yeah. Most of VM figures out Percy isn't straight before he does, but the way they are about it makes it a lot easier for him to process it. It's just the rest of the baggage that's the issue.

Send me asks about my fic ideas!

[essayofthoughts]

First, I just want to say that all your AUs are literally amazing and I want to read every single one, they're just so great!! I'd personally love to know more about the fem!Percy and masc!Vex AUs (the dynamics sounds super interesting, and I'd love to hear your expanded thoughts on that), as well as Murder on the Exandrian Express, which just sounds like sooo much fun. Who are they killing? Why? Does it follow the exact format as Orient Express or are there new angles and characters? Who knows!

Aw, I'm glad you like them! Hopefully I'll get to all of them in time; if I end up moving on to a new fandom I have already determined I'll post all unfinished fics and notes to AO3 for adoption. But in the meantime!

fem!Percy is a quiet favourite of mine, because a Percy socialised to lean more on soft power, to be less of a stuffy young man and more of a stuffy young woman, and the social expectations that follow at her social class, like...

I know Exandria is better about gender than our world but 1. It isn't perfect and has gotten better over the campaigns, which are also happening on a timeline! Suggesting that the improvement is constant and continual; that there are improvements to be made even in C1, 2. Gender stratification tends to become a bit more distinct at higher classes, where the leisure time to be a picky authoritarian bitch is more present, and 3. the de Rolos came from Wildemount and are based on Prussian nobility; that implies links to the Prussian inspired Dwendalian Empire and German-themed Zemni Fields, and we know the Empire is pretty authoritarian.

So. They probably mean well and have ostensible equality and fairness, but there would still be implicit Baggage passed down and boy do I want to play with that.

Canon Percy is such a traditional like... polymath genius young man, allowed the leisure time to indulge his interests, to be a bit obnoxious and socially oblivious. But historically women have been expected to do some degree of socialising - to exert that soft power - and that'd impede a female Percy's ability to study, this expectation of social normativity.

And that's interesting! A Percy who's a bit more shy about her interests because she was, intentionally or not, subtly discouraged from them. A Percy who's even better at social things by necessity, but also maybe dislikes and resents it - until she gets to use it to help her friends. A Percy who perhaps looks up to Doctor Ripley as an example of what she could do if perhaps she was only given more freedom to do so (and perhaps a Doctor Ripley who looks at Percy and resents, because here is a young woman with all the leisure time and funding she likes to apply to her education, spoiled as she never was).

A Percy who, not unlike canon Percy, is probably extra uncomfortable explaining her scars. In canon it's traumatising for Percy and he avoids discussing it like the plague, but he's also got the level keel of "Ripley is awful" to anchor himself on. A Percy who looked up to Ripley and who was then so severely hurt and violated by another woman, who she'd wanted to extend trust and friendship to - that would sting badly. It'd be not unlike female-socialised bullying all over again - lies and deception, manipulation, ostracisation. "Of course we'd never let you play with us, why would you ever think so?"

It's extremely insidious and given how we know Percy overthinks things I'd love to see how that impacts a female Percy with that kind of social baggage - we know canon Percy was ostracised a bit by his cousins and classmates from some of the things Taliesin's said; given female socialisation and expectations a fem!Percy likely would experience that too, just in a different form.

Now, masc!Vex on the other hand...

Vex gets a lot of her way by persuading - often aided by flirting -to convince people to help them. Given, as I've established above, C1 Exandria isn't perfect with gender and there is some gendered expectations going on in certain parts of it and that the twins spent some upbringing in high society in Syngorn which is again stratified and also authoritarian (even more so than the Dwendalian Empire - elven partners in Syngorn aren't allowed to have children unless they gain permission from those in authority!), a masc!Vex using those same tactics would come across very differently. In canon Vex can get away with being quite forward because that kind of flirting isn't generally seen as being so aggressive from a woman - even though at times one could argue she is being so! - but from a man, that flirting could feel a lot more pressuring. And, the thing is, we know Vex. We know how perceptive and aware she is - I don't think a masc!Vex would want to be that imposing to people, especially people he's trying to convince to help. I can see a masc!Vex being much more conventionally charming, still occasionally flirtatious but much more obviously as a joke or a tease, to take that pressure off, and - here's the big game-changer in a lot of ways - a lot more cautious with pet names and endearments.

Yeah, my masc!Vex is going to use "dear" and "darling" sparingly. (It'll hit so much harder, I promise.)

And then, from another angle: as established, gendered bullshit. We saw how the characters teased and joked Vax for his interest in Gilmore. It's not unlikely that Percy, while bi (... he's a Taliesin character, I refuse to believe this boy isn't queer) has nonetheless tacitly absorbed the idea that while male-male relationships aren't wrong they aren't As Good As male-female relationships, and consequently tamped down on any acknowledgement of his own queerness. He's not unaware but he prefers not to look too closely at it. And then, in canon, he ends up with Vex, so it's not something he needs to think on.

In this, he ends up with Vex too. And that means he has some shit to process first - to acknowledge that he is interested in Vex, that he is attracted to Vex, to unpack the baggage he imbibed intentionally or not. Unpacking one's own heteronomativity can be a whole Thing and I'm looking forward to digging into that just as much as I am how Vex's Everything changes (I have not here even gotten into how the twins closeness would be different in this AU - another time perhaps!).

And. Lastly. Murder on the Exandrian Express.

You seem to think that it's Perc'ahlia who'll be doing the murderer.

My darling, they are Poirot.

There's some other people on the train committing a murder - carefully planned for and managed and explained (and, frankly, justified, Ickythong deserves it, and I've found a way to explain how he gets there too because it's me and I overthink everything) - and I'm going to have so much fun.

Also, Percy gets to build a train! Not the same as a skyship, but lets be honest, a train is still his kind of fun.

Send me asks about my fic ideas!

[essayofthoughts]

MASC!VEX AU!! i know it changes the dynamic he has with percy, but how does it affect some of his other relationships? like with, i dunno, just throwing this out there, zahra? maybe?

A little? It's kind of hard to explain how because, well... they still end up close, good friends! Masc!Vex is much more charming to balance out the decreased flirting and also doesn't feel quite as socially threatened as canon Vex did with Zahra, so they get on pretty well from earlier and opening up about their shitty dads only improves that.

However, because of this, they bond very solidly, and when Vex points out that Percy is easily flustered they may or may not very slightly tease him a little bit.

Just a little.

Look, his blushes and flusteredness is very cute - and it's a way for Vex to deflect from talking any more about trauma when he doesn't want to. Like canon, masc!Vex is both prviate, prone to deflection and isn't so keen on direct social conflict, and so uses misdirection and redirection at times, because avoidance is easier than the risk of outright refusal.

(Zahra notices this and doesn't call him on it. Given what they do each say of their histories - why would they? Like Vex, Zahra can be astonishingly tactful at times.)

Send me asks about my fic ideas!

[essayofthoughts]

worth you | 6.5k, Masc!Vex AU

Percy thought he was delirious at first, seeing two identical faces at the door to his cell, and it took him a moment to clarify that, no, there were two men there, in different clothes, one with a bow and one already kneeling to pick the lock. Much as it shames him, it takes him a few days to consistently tell them both apart - he’s known twins, yes, but never ones as identical as Vax’ildan and Vex’ahlian.

Read @ AO3 for @percahliaweek

[essayofthoughts]

I was tagged by @rightpastnowhere over Here (and for once I’m getting on it in a reasonable time; other people who’ve tagged me in things... I’ll get there. I promise.)

rules: post the names of the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! tag as many people as you have WIPs! 

Because of the sheer bullshit number of WIPs I have, I’m gonna be limiting this to my Critical Role C1 fics. My pinned WIPs list is not even the half of it.

I am also not tagging anyone, firstly because Too Many WIPs and secondly because No. I am where tag games go to die.

ANYWAY. On to the ridiculous number of WIPs.

CR VM Rock Band AU for Nell

Desmond-Cass Fic

Emon is Burning

Niamh - Perc’ahlia Kidfic

Percy-Ripley Hatesex Oh God

PercyVex Stargazing

Piercings Percy for Hannah - Modern AU

SYLDOR ISNT A SHITTY DAD AU

Vampercy Canon AU

CR Daemon AU

Elaina Survives

Eros & Psyche AU

Eventual PROGIA smuts thoughts

Masc!Vex AU

Modern Fake Dating AU I Guess

Perc’ahlia Noir AU

Zahra & Kash Things

Alternate Soulmate AU of Moar Angst

Corrupted Tiefling Percy AU

CR Hogwarts AU

CR Uni AU

Perc’ahlia Sonnie’s Edge AU

Perc’ahlia Witcher AU

Sylas Briarwood gets to live bitches. Like live live. as in not undead, live.

Murder on the Exandrian Express

Happy AU - No Briarwoods Yet AU

Magnus Archives AU

Percy/Vex Twilight AU

Six Swan Brothers but it’s Wolf Siblings AU

Fem!Percy AU

Perc’ahlia Beauty and the Beast AU

01. Teacher Ripley - Percy-Ripley Adopt Kids Spinoff AU

02. PercyRipley Cabin Out In The Woods Spinoff Idea

03. What If More Kids AU of Delia AU

Fic: PercyRipley Alt Briarwoods Escape - Dream Based

Charlie The Bear

Kash backstory writeup

Parent Elections - Gwen & Trinket

Percy dies...

The Little Things - Percy Mourning His Siblings

Vesper Notices...

Werewolf’s Soulmate AU Pt3

Zahra POV

00. Ghost Cass - Kraghammer Arc

01. Ghost Cass - Briarwood Arc to End

PercyVex Soulmate AU

AU of an AU, for Hannah

[REDACTED] (I aint sharing the WIP title of this one because it’s a massive fucking spoiler)

01. FIC DOC - Delia AU - Ripley’s Daughter

02. Arcs 2&3 - Delia AU - Ripley’s Daughter

*stares at the number*

Jesus fuck, when did that happen.

ANYWAY. If you want to ask about any of my WIPs, feel free! I am always happy to ramble about any of them and good odds it’ll make me write more.

[essayofthoughts]

First for any of your wips :)

Okay, how about the newest bloody addition (which I blame firmly on @rightpastnowhere)? I already have a Fem!Percy AU, and damn my brain but apparently I now have notes to write a Masc!Vex AU.

As you've already seen some of it, I'm gonna go back to the start of this AU to answer this ask:

Percy thought he was delirious at first, seeing two identical faces at the door to his cell, and it took him a moment to clarify that, no, there were two men there, in different clothes, one with a bow and one already kneeling to pick the lock. Much as it shames him, it takes him a few days to consistently tell them both apart - he's known twins, yes, but never ones as identical as Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlian.

Send in a prompt from This List

[essayofthoughts]

How does Velora factor into a few AUs of your choice?

I think we really under-utilize her in the CR fandom, even among Perc'ahlia shippers. This is Vex's little sister - she's now an *older* sibling, like Percy, but with an even bigger age and lived experience gap than between him and Cass. And when they elope, that means Percy has *another sister*, once they come clean about it. Velora could have picked up on some biases from her father, and with Vex acting as ambassador they could have gotten to know eachother better too. Given the owlbear stuffy Gwen is holding in her official art it's implied she might have given it to the quarter elves (or at least gotten a similar one for them/Gwen).

Just! Velora and Vex, Velora and Percy, Velora and the quarter elves, Velora and her father, there's so many interesting angles - which could get more curious depending on what changes in your AUs.

(Say, masc!Vex and Vax with an itty bitty sister? Or Wolf Siblings AU where Percy has more siblings around, who might also be able to offer Vex advice about being a big sister? Or modern AUs where she can be either far more present in the narrative due to transport/phones/etc. or less so due to custody/etc.)

I'll be honest, I've not really thought too deeply about Velora for most of my AUs! She is a small child, she is still in Syldor's care - I don't know that she'd be able to have that much of an impact in a lot of AUs? She'll still appear, but until she's older and more independent - and for elves that tends to mean in her fifties; of course this would be different in a modern/no-magic AU - I don't see her being allowed to do that much?

Obviously she's still loved by the twins and important to them, but I'll be honest, given how I tend to keep close to canon even as I do twists on it, I've not really had cause to think too deeply about it? Mostly she's there more to elaborate on Syldor's bullshit than anything else.

I think... the AU she'd have the most impact in is, if I ever do it, the AU in which Syldor was actually a decent dad. Because I think that has the potential to be very fun, in a world where Syldor wasn't awful and did love the twins, the twins having complex feelings about how Velora gets so easily accepted by other elves compared to them, but also loving her because she's their sister. I think that'd allow for it to have a lot of narrative weight and be fun to play with!

Ask me about my fic ideas!

[essayofthoughts]

❌👻

❌What WIP do you find the most challenging? Why?

Probably at present the Eros & Psyche AU and the Masc!Vex AU. The former because I was in a specific headspace when I came up with the idea and I'll need to reach it again to write it consistently, while for the latter it's a case of needing to think over the small ways the character and interactions would shift due to shifting the gender.

Fem!Percy AU is pretty simple in a lot of ways, feminism gives us a lot of understanding of the unspoken expectations placed on women and the privileges had by men - and these do seem to be present in Critical Role, there is some gender stuff going on despite the fact the world is generally pretty equal! - but a lot of the effects that kind of stuff has on men sadly isn't talked about so much? And certain parties want to deny patriarchy negatively affects men at all (go rot, TERFs).

I've spent a lot of life thinking about the way gender dynamics impact women - my mother made sure my siblings and I knew about suffrage and raised us as gender neutrally as she could - but it's not really occurred to me much to think deeply about how men are impacted by those same things beyond knowing that, obviously, they are.

So noodling that out is going on quietly in the back of my mind and probably will for between 6 months to a year before I feel really comfortable writing Masc!Vex AU.

👻Is there a scene that you find intimidating that you have yet to write?

Not really? Not really. A lot of the big scenes for my fics are ones I want to get to, one way or another, because the high tension and emotion are things I enjoy writing - I found downtime and empty fluff boring, so even if it means pushing my writerly boundaries, I enjoy writing all the hefty stuff.

What I tend to find... not intimidating but daunting or annoying at times is the more transitionary stuff, scene introductions and flow between events, the stitches that hold the patchwork scenes together?

This is why I've been working at Delia AU lately, because my brain has got stuck in the mud on Ghost Cass and I'm gonna work on something else a little until it figures out what to do. It'll be fine.

[essayofthoughts]

Pinned Post

Call me Essay or Aich. This blog is a mess of interests with some degree of consistent tagging. I post fic on AO3 under the same username, currently for Campaign 1 of Critical Role.

Currently posting fics include:

Ghost Cass - Percy’s not the only member of his family to escape the Briarwoods. He’s just the only one to do so alive. 

[Series] | Arc 1 | Arc 2 | Bonus | Arc 3 WIP

Soulmate AU - Percy and Vex both know what it’s like to have a bond broken against their will.

nor all your Piety nor Wit | Posting monthly.

Delia AU - After the attack, the thing Percy wants most is his family restored to him. It doesn’t happen how he thinks.

Odi | On Hiatus

Tiefling!Percy AU - Based on @blorbologist‘s idea; this has already gotten out of control and may well be more than a oneshot at this stage. Or even several oneshots.

Tell me who I am now (I don’t know) | Might be more later.

Werewolf’s Soulmate AU - AU based on @exhaustedwerewolf‘s excellent soulmate AU. It has maybe got a little out of hand. 

[Series] | echoes on her skin | spelled out on skin | more to come

Kash Backstory Fic - I read Werewolf’s fantastic meta on him and oops I have a problem. (Boy was raised in a cult! He was fifteen!) 

[does your GOD believe in you?] | [Promo Post] |

Other CritRole Fic WIPs & Ideas Beneath the Cut

Listed in rough order of how much I have written/planned out for each. 

Current Projects (AKA, these have a lot written already):

Evilest AU - Percy doesn’t come away quite so intact from his second encounter with Doctor Anna Ripley.

Kash & Zahra fic - See above. How they meet, how their relationship progresses from debt to friendship to family to love.

Side Projects (AKA, I’ve written parts of these already):

Happier Evilest AU - See Evilest AU, above. Now with a tad less angst.

No Briarwoods (Yet) AU - Whitestone has been without a head of the Grey Hunt. Vex applies to try.

Sylas Briarwood Gets To Live, Bitches - Pike has Divine Intervention. What if Sylas was made truly alive and Vecna had no hold on the Briarwoods anymore. What if they had to live and experience consequences?

Perc’ahlia Twilight AU - I read Midnight Sun. I realised Percy is what Meyer thinks Edward is. Also, Vex isn’t a doormat.

Fem!Percy AU - Waking up on a fishing boat, surrounded by strangers, in torn, soaked clothes after two weeks of torture hits different as a girl. Will be Lesbians.

Masc!Vex AU - Similarly to the above, Vex’s flirting comes across very differently with a male character. Also Percy has to directly process the fact that he is bi as all hell.

Magnus Archives AU - What if Percy as an Archivist?

Murder on the Exandrian Express - Murder on the Orient Express but in Exandria and with a dose of crack.

Perc’ahlia Beauty and the Beast - Vex and Vax kill Saundor but Saundor gets off one last curse before he dies. Vex is a tree-creature, just like him, until she gains a heart freely given.

Wolf Siblings AU - Six Swan Brothers but it’s Wolf Siblings. The de Rolo siblings are cursed to be wolves and Percy travels Exandria with the pack that are his siblings.

Modern Perc’ahlia Fake Dating AU - Do I have worldbuilding and backstory for this set up too? Maybe.

Zahra Backstory Fic - LOOK. Maybe I just have a Problem. And two new blorbos, that too.

Oneshots to finish. One day:

Perc’ahlia Kidfic for @cosmonauthill - I will write it! I promise! A series of snapshots of the early days with baby Vesper.

Rock Band AU for Nell for @nanyoky - I will also write this! I promise! Modern Rock Band AU, mostly fluff, some trauma.

Perc’ahlia Noir AU - Vex would make a hell of a femme fatale, that’s all I’m sayin’.

Emon is Burning - Introspection after the Conclave’s attack on Emon.

Desmond-Cass Fic - Canon-compliant fic where I poke at the similar trauma these two have and why they might each have reason to distrust/dislike Percy and also it may end up very very slowburn.

PercyVex Stargazing AU - Tal’Dorei guide lists Exandrian days of the week. Days of the week usually reference gods or moons/stars/planets. None of the Exandrian gods match, not even elvish ones. Don’t match the moon names either. Ergo: planets or stars. Percy speaks Elvish, Vex grew up in Syngorn. Go.

Elaina Lives AU - One of my first ideas when watching CR was an AU where Elaina lives as a Raven Queen cleric and is present at Marrowglade. Have fun!

Canon Vampercy AU - I’ve read too many Vampire!Percy AUs. Kinda wanna do my own take on it.

Ideas? (AKA, I’ve got an idea. And maybe two lines?):

Modern Uni AU - Oh so much trauma in there. Ripley as an evil professor. Percy and Keyleth as roommates and childhood friends. Vex and Vax as the hot neighbours down the hall. Scanlan is That theatre kid. Grog there on sports scholarship; Pike there doing medicine. Go.

Eros & Psyche Perc’ahlia - The OG Beauty and the Beast. Trapped in shadows and darkness, Percy is slowly pulled into the light by Vex's persistence.

Daemon AU - Adelheid leaves him sometime between his two weeks in Ripley’s care and when he comes back to himself, gun in hand. He knows trauma can Separate a person from their Daemon. He still never thought Adelheid would leave him.

AU PercyRipley Briarwoods Escape - Percy’s at the Lyceum or Westhall Academy in Westruun to study when he realises he’s had no letters from his family in weeks. He returns home worried - and then he isn’t allowed to leave.

VERY AU PercyRipley Fic - I had an idea writing Delia AU. It goes Very AU, involves less-awful Briarwoods and I’ll write this only if I have time.

Delia AU Spinoff: Cabin in the Woods - Percy is aware enough to plan his own escape...

Delia AU Spinoff: What If More Kids AU - A commenter suggested this. My brain went Brrrr.

Kinda want to write... maybe? (AKA, a concept. idk):

PercyRipley Soulmate AU - Soulmates as the love of your life? Done before. Soulmates as people who have an impact on you? TASTY. Percy and Ripley have a bond. That doesn’t stop Ripley from testing it, torturing him, or tearing the bond apart. Percy knew he’d likely not be a good or attentive partner in a bond. It still hurts that even Ripley rejected him.

Hogwarts AU - This would take a fuckload of worldbuilding and might as well just be a whole ass other magic AU but whatever, that was the original idea and that’s what I’m running with. May never get to this one.

Post-That Balance May Return Smuts - Look, the negotiation of sex when there’s trauma involved and all is fun. The matter of consent, of keeping an eye on each other to know that things are okay. The fact that Percy has so many terrible habits when it comes to self-care. TASTY is all I’m sayin’.

Piercings Percy AU for @agarthanguide - Hannah sent me an idea a while back. One day I will write this. Maybe. Probably? I hope I do.

PercyRipley Hatesex - Figuring out how I could make this work is a challenge given... everything. But the challenge is half of the fun. 

Sonnie’s Edge AU - Look. Look. Vex as Sonnie. That’s all I’m saying. Vex. As. Sonnie.

Witcher AU - I just have Thoughts, okay.

Syldor Isn’t A Dick AU - Look. It’d be interesting - just because Syldor isn’t a dick doesn’t mean Syngorn is better. I think it could be interesting!