#souls like Lucien’s—like mollys—

[dent-de-leon]

Oh…the raven perching on Molly’s grave and then flying away—it just feels different, knowing now that Lucien was fate touched—

[wizardnuke]

YALL EVER THINK ABOUT BEAU.I SURE DO.

[forgetriestowrite]

Allura got me thinking about M9 again

she said they have a "resilience to [the weave mind's] strengths" which is true but I haven't truly thought about HOW true it is, I was too busy screaming MIGHTY NEIN VOX MACHINA over and over in my head

but like... they really are the best people to take down a hostile hive mind

not only have they literally done that before, but Beau fought off the mind-controlling hold of a demon that had kept her wife captive for years

Then Yasha broke that hold on herself

Jester literally believed so hard in an archfae that she turned him into a deity, and she made friends with an ACTUAL HAG in order to get her friend's curse broken, and it WORKED

Fjord started the campaign in a soul-eating pact with a demigod and ended it as a champion of the Wildmother, which was jumpstarted by him doing the most insane thing he could have done to break Ukotoa's control

Caleb's whole journey was self-love and healing and learning to accept the dark parts of his past and use them for good

Veth not only helped him with that, but also spent the whole campaign working on herself so she could be the person her husband and son knew her to be

Caduceus found a way to bring Kingsley back even though it should have been impossible, because he saw how much his friends wanted it, and he knew what happened to Molly and Lucien was unfair

And to top it all off, they found out one of their own had been manipulated and abused his entire teenage and technically also his adult life, and proceeded to find the person responsible and bully him relentlessly ("I hope someone will mourn you when you are gone" is still the rawest line in cr history), then beat his ass and eventually kill him

these people have shown time and time again that they will not tolerate any kind of authoritative control, especially if it hurts one of them. They refuse to buy into it, and they will destroy anyone who even tries to manipulate someone else.

There is no one else who can go to the moon and completely dismantle their oligarchy. I don't know if there is anyone else who would be willing to do it.

[aspiringsophrosyne]

The Mighty Nein: Weird Coincidences.

I've been compiling these here and there when I've had time, but there was a particular reason I wanted to get this post out of the way now. And it's this.

There's been some nervousness surrounding this, and I'm of two minds about it. On the one hand, people overstate just how hard the Nein's story would be to adapt and how much it would need to be changed for another medium. Can it be one-to-one with the original? Absolutely not. (Just as TLOVM couldn't be one-to-one either.) But the main issue is editing; the content is fine on its own.

And if this is the CRew themselves thinking the same thing, that's a little troubling, because it makes it sound like they might be changing more than they need to out of that unfounded fear.

On the other hand, all they might be talking about here is hindsight. The Mighty Nein's Campaign had a lot of strange coincidences, fortuitous thematic consistencies, and one-of-a-kind moments. The CRew is poised to reap the benefits of having these in mind ahead of time. This allows for some remarkable set-up and payoff if those involved are up to the challenge. Which, in the end, could be all they might be augmenting the story to do.

So maybe it's a good time to get into those weird coincidences, huh?

(Spoilers for basically all of Campaign 2 below the cut.)

Names

Veth Brenatto, her alias Bren, and Caleb’s original name: Bren. (This may have been inspired by the German word "Brennen",  which means “to burn”. Thanks Liam.)

Fjord Stone. Cad’s families: Clay, Dust and Stone. How the Wild Mother fits the story of an orphaned sailor like a glove. And how Cad, his family history, and likely the Wild Mother herself never would’ve entered the story if Molly hadn’t died.

A Mollymawk (spelled with a w instead of a u) is a type of albatross. Albatrosses are supposed to be unlucky, but only if you kill one. Per the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, everything goes to shit after a sailor kills an albatross. Molly’s death is just as unlucky, as it paves the way for Lucien's and Cognouza’s return. (In a meta sense, it’s also unfortunate for Matt and Taliesin, as it derails whatever plans they might have had for the character.)

Nine

Whelp.

Nine. Lots and lots of nines. And while Nein doesn’t mean nine in German/Zemnian (it means no), the wordplay works.

Nine schools of magic.

Nine people killed in Obann’s attack on the Cobalt Soul in Zadash.

The three titans (Uk’otoa, Quajath, and Desirat) collectively have nine eyes and nine crystals to unlock them and set them all free.

Nine hells.

Nine betrayer gods as of Vecna’s ascension.

Nine eye tattoos on Molly, each a mark of the Somnovem, the sleeping nine.

And of course, eventually, nine members of the Mighty Nein.

(Just for fun, Tharizdun’s sacred number in its premier in Greyhawk was 333. [3+3+3=?].)

Nein and its actual meaning work thematically as well. The Nein repeatedly clashes with forces and entities that want to mold them against their will into vessels they can use for their own purposes. And the group repeatedly says “Nein!” to that.

Tarot Readings

Molly deliberately pulls specific cards for his readings. Taliesin makes that explicit. However, some folks have pointed out that you can interpret his original reading for Jester where he tells her “You’ve already found what you’re looking for,” to be true in a few different ways. (She’s already found the people who will help her find her father. She’s discovered the company she sought that she only ever had with her Mamma and the Traveler prior, etc.)

But once we get to Jester’s readings, things really pop off. (Pop-pop off?)

Fjord's Reading

In episode 110, Jester draws two cards for Fjord: one for his present and one for his future. His present card is the Eye, which has two hands holding an eye above a restless sea.

There’s no need to elaborate on how that relates to Fjord’s then-present.

His future card is the Home And Traveler. This card could work for all the Nein if you interpret it as someone who will find or reach their home after some travel. But it hits especially hard for Fjord, who finds a home with Jester, the devotee of the Traveler, on a ship that travels up and down the coast.

And then...

Lucien's Reading

The three cards Jester pulls for Lucien are his past, present, and future. Even at the time, they seem pretty fitting.

His past: History and a Dream, which Taliesin clarifies as depicting the Calamity. This fits perfectly with the Tomb Takers’ previous job for DeRogna and their coming into the Somnovem’s patronage.

His present: the Tyrant. We don’t know either Lucien or his goals too well at this point, but we do know he and his troupe kill indiscriminately and he holds an unnatural sway over the other Tomb Takers.

His future: the Death Card. You can attribute that to the upcoming fight between him and the Nein.

But in hindsight...whoo boy. In hindsight, not only do we know of Lucien’s plans to dispatch the Somnovem and become the Tyrant king of Cognouza and all its lost, broken souls, but we know of his fall. More specifically, who he falls to.

Jester, sitting across from him, pulls his last card and tells him “Facing you is Death.”

And then it’s Miss Lavorre who ends him for good.

Divine Intervention

Generally, a Divine Intervention is a Hail Mary. You roll a d100 (or an equivalent combination of dice) and only if you roll a number below your level do you trigger it. Logically, this gets easier the higher your level gets, but you can’t rely on it until level 20.

Taliesin rolls three of these for Cad in the last quarter of the Campaign. And that’s cool enough. But what’s even better is the Wild Mother’s Grave Cleric rolls successfully for Divine Intervention every time he makes a request (knowingly or not) relating to Cognouza. The city that's coming to swallow Melora's Exandria whole.

The first successful roll comes when Cad seeks info about Vokodo, the pseudo-god of the island of Rumblecusp. Vokodo, it turns out, punched a hole through the Astral Plane to escape the hunger of the lost ward of Aeor. And upon its death, it gives a vision that sets the Nein on Lucien’s trail.

The second success comes when the Nein is attempting to uncover the Tomb Takers' secret entrance to Aeor so that they can use it to set a trap. Cad’s success tells them exactly where they need to go. This allows them to get Zoran, Otis, and Tyffial out of the way early, even if it doesn’t stop Cree and Lucien from continuing towards the city.

As for the third, well...we all know what the third does. That it prevails after Critical Role’s first Resurrection Ritual failure, (due to a natural 1 no less!) is just the icing on the cake.

Caduceus even makes the point that Cognouza had functionally become a corpse that was unable to die and that he was uniquely called upon, given his family’s business, to put it down for good.

Odds and Ends

Nott distracts a Manticore from killing Fjord by killing its baby. Her own child ends up in need of a resurrection later on in the story, during their trip to the Fire Plane. Speaking of which, a painting of said Plane can be observed in Trent's house. You know, the one he would end up chasing the Nein to?

Fjord loses his chance to break the first seal to Avantika; he lands the first attack on her Revenant incarnation when the Nein catches up to her after she escapes with his orb, and he gets the final blow on her there, recovering said orb as he does.

Yasha and Caleb are the most susceptible to the Succubus/Incubus mind control. In the former's case, this could be chalked up to her low Wisdom score...but it also serves as some neat accidental foreshadowing for her time with Obann. And for Caleb, it can be a callback to his time learning under Trent.

The Circus Kids' stories sync up perfectly. Both of their bodies end up puppeteered by someone from their respective pasts. Both of them are used to try to end the world. And, probably once Matt noticed this synchronicity himself, both are revealed to have fallen under the sway of the Chained Oblivion. And their stories didn't have to go this way. Molly didn't have to die, and Matt revealed that Yasha could've theoretically made that wisdom save against Obann's control in the King's Cage. But that's not how things turned out.

Accidental foreshadowing:

Episode 19, Molly and Yasha, after acquiring an item from an Orc hermit living somewhat off the side of the road:

Molly: We made a friend. Jester: Did you kill someone for that? Molly: Yes. Yasha: He’s dead. Molly: He’s very dead. And then he rose up from the grave again and we had to kill him again. Twice. Same man.

Also, in episode 23, after meeting the Syphilis Bandits again and leaving one of them out cold:

Jester: What if we put some flowers in his hair; so when he wakes up, he looks really pretty? Beau: That’s good. Let’s do that. Molly: There’s nothing better than waking up in the morning with no pants and flowers in your hair.

In episode 48, Yussa and Caleb have a conversation:

Caleb: Sometimes I follow my friends places I shouldn’t. Yussa: That might someday get you killed. Or may one day get you what you seek.

Following a certain Tiefling up to Eiselcross got him both.

Nott also asks Caleb in this episode if he has an eye on his forehead. This is probably a callback/joke about Scanlan’s blessing from Ioun, but it foreshadows what happens to Veth much later.

Episode 49, about Ludinus Da’leth and in particular, Vess DeRogna:

Fjord: Then we kill the two elves. Jester: Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Maybe we go up into their room at night or something and just, you know... Stabby stab.

Episode 70:

Jester (to Essek): Maybe you’ll like us so much you’ll just hang out.

Dramatic Irony:

Everything the Nein say about Molly after his death and at his grave is, in hindsight, an awful twist of the knife, as his body's former life is far from finished with him.

Episode 41. The Nein learns Orly can make magic tattoos. Beau talks about getting an eye tattoo on her back to mirror Molly’s:

Jester: I mean, I don’t know, maybe it was really sacred to him and he would be really super offended by it. Beau: Oh, yeah, maybe it would, like I stole it from him? Jester: But it’s fine, I’m sure. Beau: Yeah, you know, he’s dead, so, what’s he going to do?

Almost a hundred episodes later, Beau's new tattoo gets a little addition...

Episode 65

Jester: Are you nervous? Yasha: Yeah. Yeah, I’m nervous. I just don’t know what we’re walking into, you know? Jester: Yeah. We’ve got your back though. That guy isn’t going to do anything bad to you.

Episode 91

Veth asks Essek at dinner if he’s heard of a Nonagon, or someone named Lucien. Essek says he hasn’t. This won't be the case for long.

Episode 95

Jester, talking about Cad and the Wild Mother:

Jester: Yeah. So like, when he asks her questions, you know what she does? Artagan: “Nothing?” Jester: She blows the wind. Exactly, she does shit. So and he’s like, “I sensed, you know, I understand what she’s saying.” She’s not doing anything, but he thinks she is.

This commentary is particularly delicious, considering which Cleric's Divine Interventions end up working.

And there's probably some I've missed! These are just the little bits and pieces I jotted down during a rewatch. It wouldn't surprise me if there's more.

But that's to say, just what we've got here is a monumental amount of things to build off of and play with. The Mighty Nein's animated series has the potential to be something extraordinary if the CRew can make use of all these little gifts deftly and with subtlety. There's power and potential here, and I am nervous as hell about whether or not they can tap into it successfully.

[mourn-and-watch]

no but essek's abnormal behaviours in the last arc and especially in episode 140 are my roman empire. which is ironic because aeor is something of a roman empire itself. but in all seriousness, it was the episode that made me realise i love essek and his development so much and it kinda summarised it even before caleb's epilogue.

and i mean the "it's not fair" scene specifically. it's like, an epitome of his whole character progression from a person who put An Objectively Important Goal above all else without hesitation to someone who can't help but care for people around even more than his goal, no matter how big and relevant it is.

the mighty nein - and he alongside them - pretty much saved the world and freed an ancient city from thousand-year-long suffering. they defeated nine extremely powerful menacing entities who managed to stay out of everyone's sight for years and were so close to achieving their goal and dooming exandria in the process. they did the impossible and became heroes and somehow, they survived, even though they had bidden farewells a couple of hours ago because they had already understood what they had been facing. and nevertheless. they made it.

and none of them was celebrating.

mighty nein are basically essek's only friends. he knew them to be very unusual people, to put it lightly, loud and stubborn and completely inescapable once they consider you to be one of their own. and they showed him so much kindness and put so much faith in him, they were here playing the most atrocious music ever and digging clay in his backyard for a spell they invented just to help one of theirs and asking him if he could bring them pastries the day after they found out he was lying to them and had started a war. they were chaotic and weird and sometimes unbearable but most importantly they were carrying so much hope with them all this time - a hope they could end the war, a hope they could stop the angel of irons cult, a hope they could get better, a hope he could get better, and now, finally, that they could save their lost friend.

and that hope shattered, just like that, the moments after they'd already made the impossible. they saved so many souls - and then could not get back just that one.

for essek "my intentions were never good they were important" thelyss it just. shouldn't have mattered. they won. it could have been worse. people die and when they die they rarely come back. they should've been happy everyone else barely made it alive.

but for some reason, mighty nein being so defeated after they saved the world exposed him to that overwhelming feeling of injustice and unfairness. and i mean, there were many things essek considered to be unfair, but when i watched his first appearance and his interactions with mighty nein later on til their reunion in aeor arc, i wouldn't dare to guess that one of the things on that list would be something that personal. and personal not even to him.

the thing is, essek didn't even know who that guy was. why mighty nein cared about him so much. he had an idea, i guess, that he was their friend once, or someone in that body was. it was also a person who wanted to unleash a terrifying horrific aberration onto the material plane. it was a person very dedicated to killing essek and his friends - and they still didn't take any pleasure in fighting him. essek didn't feel strongly about lucien or molly, because he never knew them.

i don't think he mourned his death and failed resurrection. he mourned mighty nein's hope, the one they put in him when they had no reason to, the one they offered yasha in the cathedral and the one they kept after the spell for veth failed and the one they carried til the very end because they wanted it to reach molly. they had saved people with this hope. they had saved nations. they had saved the world. but they ended up feeling like it hadn't even been worth anything.

how desperate would it feel, witnessing people who for some reason always saw good in you when they absolutely shouldn't, who made literal miracles out of nothing, who ended wars and fought gods and tricked the hags and freed cities from horrors beyond anyone's comprehension purely because they thought it was the right thing to do and also loved their friends this much, silently crying over a dead body they couldn't bring back to life? how desperate would it feel to realise that with all your knowledge about time you dedicated your life to and threw away any principles for, you can't undo this? no one can. some things are left to fate alone and this time it wasn't kind to them. no matter how much good they did, they still got slapped in the face.

and it was, i think, such a genuine moment of empathy. like, essek is the character who prefers to put up a facade and act distant and self-composed but this time he just. walked away unable to watch this. the could only say to fjord that it wasn't fair. even when he was caught off guard in nicodranas he was able to explain himself and his motives to an extent even though he was a nervous wreck whose extra important plan went to hell the second the only people he cared about appeared. this time he had nothing to elaborate on. it just wasn't fair. it wasn't fair his friends didn't get what they wanted the most. it wasn't fair he couldn't do anything to make it right.

it is such a sad and beautiful and even cathartic scene because it is about person who started a war that destroyed so many lives - and then met this ragtag group of weirdos who saw a lonely stand-offish guy and said "hey, let's be friends!" and didn't even wait for him to answer. he saw them being serious and calculated and he saw them being ridiculous and extremely stupid, he saw their mistrust to outsiders and their loyalty to each other, he made spells with them and paid a visit to their hot tub, he ate their stale pastries and drank their hot chocolate mixed with whiskey, he was welcomed amongst them and in their wonderful home, both in xhorhas before they even found out what he had done and in the tower when they already knew - and then, he saw them mourning their loss, defeated and helpless, and he, a person who believed there were things more important than whole nations, let alone just one life, couldn't help but share the pain they felt. a pure display of compassion from someone who detached himself from it, who didn't believe he could grow into a better person capable of it again, but became one nonetheless without even realising it

[essektheylyss]

there's so much to love and examine in the last two episodes, but I'm still a little bit grieving the fact that Lolth made Opal fully forget Ted, which, if my understanding of the recent Luxon lore drop is correct, means she has forgotten a part of her own soul. am I understanding this correctly??? because damn. damn

I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS AND I THINK SO BUT IT'S SO WILD like honestly it's almost Tealeaf vibes but in the opposite direction. I have no answers only questions and a lot of musings.

I do think the way the concept of the soul is established in Exandria is absolutely FASCINATING, because it has the vibe of like... an entity that cannot be fragmented in a way that destroys it. The soul is malleable but always entirely whole and essential. Molly and Kingsley, in spite of being theoretically fragments of Lucien's shattered soul, are whole (and distinct!) people. Opal is always a whole person, and Ted is seemingly distinct in the way that twins can mirror each other in many ways but are distinct regardless. (I don't really understand the past situation there admittedly because it sounds like Ted was a physically distinct person as well to the extent that other people knew her. What is UP with that Luxon cult, dammit, I need to understand this immediately.)

But the thing with this is that it has a really obvious direct analogue in canon: beacons themselves! They are, theoretically, some sort of by-products—more metaphysically, shattered pieces—of a divine entity but they all seem to contain the same infinite space within them, and the liquid dunamis notwithstanding (because I think that is less a beacon than dunamis itself), we've seen that even further broken down into smaller parts with the gems found in Aeor, which seemed to be manmade. And they too allowed a person to peer into that same space.

In theory I do wonder if this would suggest that perhaps Opal's memories are not quite as lost forever as they might seem, but it's really hard to say! I still favor the idea that dunamis is the foundational matter of the universe and that it interacts with memory as such, and if that's the case, then it's possible that whatever connection she has to the Luxon could be utilized to bring at least portions of them back, since she is not the only one who remembers Ted, and the Spider Queen can't exactly root out everyone's memories when she doesn't have a direct line into those other minds.

I don't know what any of this means and I am just rambling at this point but I am still holding so tightly to my own conceptualization of dunamis because it continues to track and I need to understand.

[mareastrorum]

From the latest Entertainment Weekly article on TLOVM:

Riegel chimes in, "[The Mighty Nein animated series is] really tonally different from Vox Machina, and I can't wait for the audience to get their first glimpse."

"It's almost like [how] we took season 3 of LVM with that slight divergence from what was really more of a canonical telling and starting to experiment with changing the storyline up," Willingham adds. "The Mighty Nein is from the get-go a complete departure. You're still going to get the things you love and the story moments, but the way we've gone about it is a totally different approach and we think one that people will love. We're going to be sounding the alarm very early in that you're coming into the characters that you love, but a totally new story."

[danwhobrowses]

So a thing happened on Critical Role this week (campaign 3 ep 91), we're gonna talk about it - a long talk - so if you haven't been caught up and don't wanna be spoiled don't keep reading okay?

One of the disadvantages of being in a different time zone is that after fretting all morning, going to work, thinking 'it's 7am maybe it's done now' I had to sit in my office for a stressful final half hour murmuring don't do this don't fucking do this don't you dare fucking do this!

I already was worried for everyone given the cliffhanger last episode, and the 5 hour length made me further worried as players kept being knocked down by Otohan Thull - already frightening in base form but now with an even higher AC and empowered. Then Sam Riegel had to do what he does best, a devastating sacrifice where FCG blows himself up to take down Otohan - Ludinus' No. 2, harrowed for being proficient in slaughter, defeated by no assassin or warrior but a cleric saving their friends. We've been well past 'get off the moon' hours with this one, but now there is an impact on every one of the Hells to think about, which is what this will be about.

FCG Though he is dead there is still stuff to talk about with FCG's death. A common debate right now is the potential of the Reincarnate spell; while the wording of the death implies that FCG's current body is irreparable there is a chance that a 5th Level Druid Spell can fashion him a new body, one of flesh, bone and tongue. The body itself needs to be dead for less than 10 days so there is wiggle room to gain the necessary components too if the top brass of Exandria turn it into a fetch quest. There is argument on both sides though; if FCG comes back does it undermine his sacrifice? Perhaps, but there's no incentive for the Hells to not try. Reincarnation hasn't quite happened in Critical Role yet - Since Molly/Lucien/Kingsley was kinda different, he kinda had the opposite, different mind same body - so it'd be a refreshing new option and also a way to redesign FCG without having to create a whole new cleric (because they definitely need a cleric) with a whole new skillset that the Hells will need to warm towards before the final battle. But at the same time, the soul has to be willing. FCG was content with his sacrifice, and in the arms of the Changebringer would he go back? I'd like to hope so if it's an option, it'd also entertain a whole new character arc for him as a 'real boy' - plus Matt and Sam don't have to fully abide to the D100 rule of what race he turns into. Of course, I like this angle more than needing a new character, because I like happy endings and it makes narrative sense that the Hells would claw and bite to pull him from that sweet goodnight. It would also validate a reason for the Hells to align with the gods, because if divine favour comes into play and the Gods decide against helping Bell's Hells' greatest advocate for saving them then they are foolishly and callously forsaking key players to their survival, FCG reincarnating with the help of the Gods would play a big part in the Hells standing with them rather than losing faith in them, and even with friction between the Titans & Temults and the Gods from the past they would have a common enemy. Still living or dying can have varying effects on the other characters.

Ashton From the moment Ashton met FCG they wanted to make sure this little bot would be okay, that they'd learn to value their life and be able to thrive. While part of that did happen, Ashton is likely going to feel like nothing's changed since Bassuras; knocked out by Otohan and when awakened a friend is dead, another person they couldn't protect.

Before the shard, I think Ashton would very easily fly off the handle, in their anger they'd blame everything including themselves and maybe even consider leaving themselves, it probably have made them more self-destructive too. Now though I'm not so sure, nobody would hold it against them to waver a little on their promise to take care of themselves in a burst of grief, this was after all their best friend someone they looked after like a little brother, and while I can see Ashton quietly and angrily grieving I can also see Ashton double down on trying to keep their promise, making sure that FCG didn't go out like a martyr and that it won't be in vain. FCG reincarnating would assist in Ashton's character drive too, since I feel like they would detest any replacement cleric because it's not FCG, they may also be less abrasive towards the gods if they came through for them and proved that they care - at least to the Changebringer, think they'd still throw copper at the Dawnfather given the whole Angel incident.

Imogen As the nominated leader of Bell's Hells, many will probably look to Imogen Temult for action, the problem is she has her own mother issues to deal with too - and I'm not entirely sold that Liliana has fully made a turn just yet, only that she won't hand over the Hells to Ludinus. FCG's death is gonna produce a lot of guilt from Imogen though, she was detesting the fact that she had to play dead at 1HP while Otohan cut down her friends again, she will likely blame her inaction which in turn may push her to be more aggressive in combat.

At the same time, I can see her being one of the more gung ho characters to push towards the Reincarnate option, perhaps even going as far as to accost or lambast anyone regardless of alliances or rank who she feels isn't as committed. Imogen has been in the position of loss before, and knowing that FCG had a connection with FRIDA she would likely compel herself to fix it rather than have to deliver the bad news. Regardless of whether he reincarnates though I feel like Imogen may look towards some more defensive spells, and maybe through Liliana try to tap into the powers of an Exalted to try and match the power she saw from Otohan, a risky endeavour for sure but FCG took an even greater risk for them.

Orym Orym is probably the toughest of the Hells to read when it comes to FCG's death. There will of course be a deep sadness at the loss of a friend, but I would also sense a...not bitterness but discontent that this is how it went down. Otohan killed his family, he kept fighting her until he could no longer stand because that's what they would've done, and now she's dead but it doesn't make it better, he wasn't the one to do it, he didn't even see it, and the one who did is gone with her. When Bor'dor was killed, Orym coldly reminded himself that 'we're at war', but I don't think he can justify that way with FCG, the loss was greater than the catharsis.

The death also has to turn attention to his deal with Nanna Mori. Many have pointed out that there is a lot of technicalities that may prolong, void or complete the deal; it was never specified how many times the Hells could return from the moon to continue the deal, but at the same time they did technically return from the moon to Exandria safe and sound via the Secret Backdoor. Still, Mori is his best friend's grandmother, there could be leeway on that matter too and even if he does have to commit to the deal (which I call 'Fatekeeper Orym') it's never been explicitly said that Orym needs to constantly attend to Mori in the Feywild, only that he has to be her caretaker and answer her beck and call. However, FCG's death will likely provide a sobering thought that his deal with Mori was perhaps voided, unless there is one more thread he can have her pull. When it comes to seeking options to bring a friend back, I would keep a close eye on Orym - it's not the first time Liam's resolved himself to be damned before.

Fearne Fearne will likely be a linchpin if the Hells seek out Reincarnate. The spell is exclusive to Druids and if Keyleth isn't on hand to do it the task and pressure will fall to her. It'll be interesting how she reacts, I don't wanna say she'll be the most positive of it because she'll certainly be upset, but I can see her being optimistic even if it's to also convince herself, the one who is most encouraging to find a way. As a shipper I of course want her to be the one who comforts and gets through to Ashton while they grieve but if she also is key to his reincarnation that also adds to their slow-burn. Outside of that, FCG's death may also lead into learning about Mori's deal with Orym, which will probably anger her that Orym kept it from her, there is also the fact that having FCG's life in her hands may bring back bad memories of Bassuras and Whitestone. One must also especially worry about her Asmodeus calling card, the Prince of Lies does nothing for free and I still feel like Klask was planted in her path by Asmodeus' (and maybe even Athion's) titan-seeking design.

If FCG does reincarnate though, I could see her friendship with FCG being even greater than it was, since they'll both feel a greater zeal for life - it may also make her feel further distant from her Evil vision, since she will have saved half her friends rather than risked killing them. If not though, Fearne may have to play mediator for the new cleric and may also be pushed towards freeing up more slots for healing to provide more support for the Hells in future battles.

Chetney It's gonna be an interesting one for Chetney too, from one perspective you could see him thinking that FCG traded their life for his; he died, he made peace with that, but then the one who revived him died. Chetney's more personal mindset has often been cloaked in secrecy, perhaps as one of the least open of the Hells despite many claiming him as the Heart of the group, so I wonder if Chetney may harbour some Survivor's Guilt for what happened.

I can see Chetney being the one to keep his emotions close to his chest, even if FCG were to reincarnate he would perhaps try to shrug off that he always knew it'd happen anyway. That being said someone who remains stoic and unwavering may prove a positive or a negative to the group, depending on the person or their interpretation of it. If a new cleric comes along though I could see him being additionally protective of them, having been the new guy before.

Laudna We should all be worried for Laudna right now. The recent 4SD already revealed that Laudna's 'close to the brink' and I'm pretty sure this is the brink. The aftermath of the Otohan fight will likely push each of the Hells to get stronger, since had they hit harder or been able to take stronger blows it wouldn't have come to this, but that will mean bad things when it comes to Laudna, as she may seek to gain power the only way she thinks she can - through Delilah. After all her last two levels went to Sorcery and did little in the fight, whereas her Warlock class Eldritch Blasts hurt Otohan fairly decently, such a thing can linger in the mind for Delilah to manipulate.

It'll be telling if they do try to Reincarnate him whether the damage will have been done already to Laudna, and that the joy of bringing him back turns to tragedy of Laudna losing herself further, as it often does it will fall to how she leans on Imogen, and how open about it she'll be to her. If FCG is lost however, we may have to keep a very close eye on Laudna being next.

Bell's Hells As I mentioned with Laudna, FCG's death will have made something apparent and clear; despite everything Bell's Hells need to get stronger. Even at Lv13, even with Exalted powers, Fey bargains and Titan shards they still just barely escaped a TPK, and granted they were weakened and worn out but no fight is guaranteed to ever be fought at 100%. Otohan may've been the toughest General of the Vanguard but the other Generals - the Weavemind, Zathuda and the Dominon of Cruft Commander - are still not ones to take lightly, Ludinus is still not one to take lightly, and if Liliana is going to be used by him to become a vessel for Predathos, that cannot be taken lightly. Bell's Hells may need to look towards enhancing their stats as well as their equipment, the harness is still a factor too which can boost them all with enough enchanted items at their disposal. An interesting one would be if Otohan's backpack ends up in one of the Hells' hands; many beforehand have talked about Orym being an Echo Knight but I would personally like to see Ashton take it, since it is powered by the Potion of Possibility like their own Dunamancy powers, it's possible (eheh) that they may align in some manner and could you imagine Ashton + 3 Echoes all raging to get All 4 Dunamancies? Otohan's swords may also provide unique properties for Chetney and/or Orym to use. Reincarnation or not I feel like that may be the Hells' next plan once it's discussed whether to attempt Reincarnation and they're off of Ruidus, gathering allies will likely also be something to prepare for for the final battle given how Otohan stated that they have 'enough Ruidusborns' for their plan. As a group it is difficult to tell if this will strengthen or weaken them, it could strengthen them in a 'never again' way like the Nein, but they were also very enthusiastic about bringing Molly back - it drove them through several arcs - FCG however often was the Hells' beacon of hope and the self-imposed attempted therapist, without that the Hells will either have to put it upon themselves to go the extra lengths or they'll close further in on themselves. If FCG does reincarnate I feel like it would definitely strengthen them mentally but if not I am not so sure.

It shouldn't come to a surprise that I will hold onto the Reincarnate potential so that the Hells can get back their friend, but rest assured I'm worried for all of them right now, there are crossroads ahead.

[ekaeb]

I know I'm probably wrong, but I still wanna get this theory out of my head before I'm proven wrong. (Also, I don't know if anyone else has theorized on this, I only started watching campaign 3 less than 2 months ago.)

What if the Luxon beacons are the crystalized essence of Vordo, the Fateshaper(One of gods Predathos ate)? As far as I'm aware, we don't really know how god eating works, but I feel like it can't be the same as eating a sandwich? What if part of it is that the god goes poof? Their essence would be scattered, but what if it crystalized? The crystals, while not as powerful as the god themself, would still be extremely powerful artefacts.

What if the entire story of the Luxon was created through divine interference to prevent knowledge of Predathos from being uncovered? That would explain why the Luxon doesn't respond to their followers. What if they never existed? What if instead of the Luxon being in stasis, the entity that the beacons came from was already dead?

(*Side note for Luxon lovers on how we can still win, even if this were the case: Entities can be reborn. Gods can be reborn. Molly and Kingsley were reborn from the shattered fragments of Lucien's soul. The power of mortals' belief has been shown to be be very strong, via Sarenrae in c1 and Artagan in c2. With the majority of a country's worship, the Luxon could possibly come into being, either as a reborn of Vordo or as an entity of their own.)

[its-mekjt]

sometimes (like right now) i wonder what would have happened if mollymauk hadn't died OR hadn't died so early on. like what would have happened for the rest of the campaign? would it have been lucien slowly becoming more sentient in molly's head and soul and the two parts of the soul slowly combating to have control of the body. besties we could have possibly had possessed like molly. instead of it being lucien being the final boss, would it be molly with lucien's part of the soul controlling him? THE ANGSG AND SHOCK AND HORROR WOULD BE URIWJDIIE.

and also the relationships! what would have happened? firm believer that molly and caleb would have been a thing™️. jester and molly would have been so chaotic together. we could have seen more yasha and molly. oh my christ, molly being a wingman.

then again, they probably would have been screwed and yasha would probably not be around anymore if it wasn't for caduceus.

anyway, i'm going to go back to crying about this genderfluid purple tiefling and what could've been.

[nellasbookplanet]

I've finally caught up with and finished the crown keepers interlude and I cannot believe I haven’t seen anyone talk about the nature of splitting souls in Exandria, this shit is wild!!

Like!! Is Opal and Ted's situation similar in nature to that of Molly and Lucien? I spoke once of how, though they started out as a single person, merging them back into a single body post Molly's death wasn’t enough to merge them back into a single entity; they had spent too much time apart, become separate. Only by scrubbing their now separate souls clean of their memories could they be truly reunited in the birth of Kingsley; this also meant the death of both of them, as their memories, experiences, and the personality shaped by them was gone, replaced by an empty soul to be shaped anew, being neither and both of them.

This doesn’t seem to be the case for Opal and Ted. If I understand the situation correctly, the intent was for them to eventually be reunited in the same body, where they would merge back into a singular person. We saw in EXU that, though sharing a body, they were still very much separate personalities, much like Lucien and Molly were described to be in the Lucien novel. Is this just a matter of time? Would they have become harder to tell apart the longer they spent together (much like Laudna and Delilah) until they eventually became one? Would this have happened to Molly and Lucien too, with time? What would this have meant, as they were both in Opal's body, specifically, with Ted having much less agency? Would Opal's personality have gotten the upper hand, so to speak, in shaping who they became? Was this how it was supposed to work, or had the ritual gone wrong? Were they meant to have merged physically as well as mentally, putting them on a more equal level of control? What would the process of becoming one person look like? Is it scary? Does it feel like part of you dying and being replaced by an other? Does it feel like losing someone you love? Or is it a comfort? Can you fight it? Can you refuse? How does it compare to consecution, where you remember your other selves, but they never get to exist next to you, as a separate person?

And what will happen to them now? With Opal's memory of their true connection becoming fuzzy, will that hinder them coming together as one, as there is now a rift of unfamiliarity between them? Or will it ultimately help, the way being emptied brought Molly and Lucien together, but at the price of Opal losing much or her personhood?

[dent-de-leon]

lying on the ground. All the times Molly ever died and came back to life, he and Caleb always found each other when they needed it most--

[zelreedsandwrites]

Thinking about nurture vs nature and how Imogen specifically is leaning into the more vicious side of herself and god I wish someone would just be gentle to these characters and give them a chance to grow. We saw last campaign how nurture changes people (read Essek, read Caleb, read Molly/Lucien/Kingsley) and it’s just heartbreaking now seeing the opposite happen and these poor souls with so much capacity to care for each other just getting curb stomped until their humanity is so tarnished you’d never be able to tell how good they could have been. Like ffs Imogen wanted a quiet place with her *cough* roommate *cough* gal pal but now her moms working with the woman that killed aforementioned gal pal with the specific intent to break Imogen. And now we’re seeing her push away that key point of unconditional love, of hope, in her life because of it and I’m just—

I have been getting all my info from other tumblr posts so yk I may have some info wrong but there’s no way I’m THAT far off

[raptorix]

It just struck me, Aabria's description of Deanna's backstory just illuminated what happened with Molly and Kingsley.

When The Mighty Nein resurrected Lucien with the hope of getting Molly back, they didn't expect someone 'new' would come back out of that mess. After Jester restores his mind, Kingsley talks about what it was like being in the Moonweaver's domain.

Molly was only ever a fragment of Lucien's whole. Something left behind in Lucien's body, just enough to let the body come back after everyone thought he was dead. A 'cutting' of a soul, left behind to regrow into a new tree. Lucien was able to will himself to stay together, to not disperse after he died. To seek a return in whatever way possible. And when Cree resurrected him when she learned of Molly's death, Lucien happily returned with no hesitation.

But when Molly died, his new soul just returned to the Moonweaver's domain, blending with the rest of the ocean of souls. When Caduceus called upon the Wildmother to 'put him back', she probably scooped up what had been Molly's soul, which had now mixed with the ocean of souls, becoming something new. That's why we got Kingsley instead.

I haven't read the 'Nine Eyes of Lucien' book yet, but I believe there's references of how Molly kinda exists in Lucien's head after Lucien returns. It's probably like an imprint of his soul & memories left in his body. That anchor that let him come back as Molly the first time.

[saphirered]

It is incredibly late (or early?) Where i live so excuse me if this is rambely.

I got an idea for a Lucien/Mollymauk/Kingsley request. And im Hoping once i have it out in the open I'll be able to sleep.

Basically Lucien and the reader were partners when his soul was scattered the same happened to the reader. They both woke up being buried with no recollection of who they were. Once they meet each other in the Mighty Nein they start getting closer a relationship forms they both feel a sort of pull towards one another. When Molly dies the reader doesn't and Lucien remembers the reader but they don't remember him but they feel the same sort of pull they felt for Mollymauk. Once Lucien is actually dead the reader dies of Wounds sustained but again wake up in a grave with no recollection. They meet Kingsley and again there is this sort of pull.

(basically to really quickly explain my idea, the reader's soul got shattered as did Luciens but their souls are forever linked they are meant to be with each other which is why through every revival they feel a pull towards each other)

Again i am so so sorry if this is weird but it's late and i felt the need to get this out and you were the first person i thought of because I've been reading your Mollymauk oneshots for the past few hours.

Good Morning, good day, good night! I love this concept and hope I did it justice and lived up to expectation. Enjoy 😘

He remembers it well. Your first meeting. Or supposed first meeting. Specifically it was your first meeting in this life. He remembers your whispers to the goblin and the ragged wizard when the fated group later becoming known as the Mighty Nein would first meet too. He was his charming self with his angel at his side ready to pull more patrons to the carnival. The carnival had been his home ever since he first looked up at the sky and saw the stars and moons. The moment he set foot in that tavern, something felt so eerily similar to that emptiness. That something was you. He should have run, Molly should have run while he still had the chance but he couldn’t, or wouldn’t. He’s a stubborn one after all and not even his own instincts could tell him what to do. Sure, who knows? You might be dangerous but you’re not dangerous to him. You’re just… lovely. He’d never even said a word to you. How about he changed that? 

“And you? We’d be honoured to have your esteemed presence, my dear. The cards say I should show you your fate, are you willing to see it?” Despite his typical grin and charm you didn’t fall for his ways so quickly. You simply huddle within yourself crossing your arms and making yourself small to take off attention. You’re so used to moving through the shadows you’ve forgotten what it’s like to live in the light. 

“I’m not that big a believer in fate I’m afraid, but thank you.” That voice sent shivers up his spine. Like a beautiful song that could bring him to tears. Something within himself, he doesn’t know why but it speaks to relief and comfort. 

“You should, you should, you should. Look at the reading I got!” The blue tiefling Jester bounces up and down and you curve a smile. Hesitation. He can work with that. 

“For you, love, I’ll even do it for free. Whether you believe or not, I think you can appreciate the irony in holding your fate in your own hand by card, no?” He winks. You cover a snort. 

“Fine. I’ll draw a card.” You hold up your hands in surrender and cringe when Jester squeals interposing between the two of you excitedly. He could kiss that tiefling for unknowingly being his wingwoman in that very moment. Molly fans out his cards holding them in one hand and with a dramatic bow offers them to you face down letting you pick on. Your fingers brush over the surface until you settle on one and pull it from the deck. He rises fully and equally dramatic. You roll your eyes but fight a smile turning the card towards him. 

“The Moon and the Mirror! The first card that ever called to me. One could say our fates are intertwined.” He winks and that smile breaks through when you shake your head in disbelief. 

“I think you say that to everyone.” You retort. You’re unsure whether you mean it or not. Something from the moment the literal and figurative peacock set foot in this tavern there has been something that just changed. Something fell in place. If the world was wrong before, it was right now. It doesn’t make any sense and yet it does but you can’t explain it. It just is. Part of you is frightened. Another part, so deeply rooted wants to indulge. It’s as if this tiefling has the answers to the questions you didn’t even know you had. 

“Only to beautiful stories.”

“Beautiful stories?”

“That’s what the Moon means. The moon represents beautiful stories. Even when the clouds cover, the moon’s still there. Whether people see it or not, that’s a different thing. Your story is yours, even if you hide it, wrap it in layers and disguise, doesn’t mean it’s not there.” You take in a noticeable breath. That’s what he was looking out for. He’s spot on. You’re carrying a glamour of your own to cover this past of yours and that’s okay. He’s not telling everyone his life story. Okay maybe he is but none of them are true. Even if it were, nobody would be able to tell the difference. 

“And the Mirror then?” You raise an eyebrow attempting to deflect. He’ll play along. 

“So you are interested in your fate after all.” 

“Well you do make it sound so alluring.” You lean onto your elbows. Oh he likes you. Molly is done for. He likes you a lot. He could get used to your company. 

“You are far too kind. The Mirror faces us with the truth, as bitter as it may be sometimes. Even the shadows reflect in the mirror. A reveal awaits on your horizon. It’s up to you if you’re ready to face it.” You take in his words. Something has changed. You just don’t know what or why but this tiefling may just have something to do with it. Is this fate after all? No. Just life, or so you tell yourself. 

————

You loved him. He was torn away from you far too soon. You loved him and when he left, with him he took your heart. Your world is bleaker without him. When you visit the places of your memories together, they replay in your head. When you’re in your room and the door opens, you wait for that lavender tiefling to walk in boasting about his latest sham or in various stages of undress, showering you in affection until you tell him you’ll vomit from his ridiculousness. Even the times you were at odds. You’d give the world for just another day with him. Molly died. You’d held his body as he grew cold. You stared into those ruby eyes but nevermore saw the life in them. You closed them and so your world dulled and never fully recovered. They say it gets easier with time and it does. Life moves on and it’s easier to go along with the motions as time passes but there’s not a day you don’t miss him. Not a day goes by where you don’t think of him. Sometimes at night when you wake you look at the sky, look at the moon and talk to him. He might not be there but you like to pretend he’s watching sometimes. 

It turned out you both had similar stories. You’d never even gotten the chance to fully tell him yours. The two of you had lived focussing on the lives you had now as opposed the earth you crawled out of and that haunted loneliness you awoke with. You can’t help but wonder that feeling, that emptiness is as close a feeling you got these days. You continued with the Nein while he lay buried. Or used to. Molly died but someone else returned in his stead; the one who ended up in the grave he crawled out of in the first place. Molly is dead and now with that face walks a man who can never be him. You’ve seen him-Lucien in flashes of visions before, faded memories that make you frightened of the past you never lived. It’s not your past after all. Someone else lived it in the body you now call yours. The person before is dead and gone. Same as Lucien should have been. It frightens you because what little you know, you know not what your predecessor was to Lucien, or who they were in general. What if he wants that version back? What if that version comes back? What if you cease to exist and this other person takes over? 

But then you met the devil himself. Lucien, what a curse to know him. He shares the same face as your Mollymauk but he is not the same. They share some traits, some little habits you recognise. Each and every one is a dagger to your heart. You think he noticed too. He called you by that name, the one that was never yours. It must have just slipped because the horror in your eyes had given you away. He quickly corrected himself. He didn’t call you by that name again but you swore you could hear it like a whisper upon the cold breeze of Eiselcross sometimes. Like molly Lucien is charming but everything about him is with a darker undertone. When he is charming it feels like a predator coaxing a prey right between their teeth. When he smiles it’s belittling or a calm before the storm, something laced in a fury you cannot begin to comprehend. Despite all of this, that same pull remains. That same pull that brought you to Molly, it calls you to Lucien. You don’t want to get close. Fire burns after all and you have a feeling Lucien is an inferno in disguise. 

Lucien can’t help himself though. You once meant the world to him. Well not you-you of course. The version of you he lost in his own demise. When he drew his first breath yet again, and you weren’t there. He’d have pulled you from the soil himself, dragged you right out of hell. You weren’t there. Someone else had taken your place. Someone new. A new you. The similarities are uncanny. The way you talk and move, it’s like a warped mirror and every time he gets a spark of hope that you might still be in there, he’s proven wrong. You’re not the person he knew. You’ll just have to be another means to an end at best. Another nuisance at worst. That doesn’t make it any easier. He’s not felt alive in his time beyond the veil but now you’re here so close yet so far away, he feels alive like never before, not since he got separated from you. You’re a candle and he’s the moth. He refuses to get burned. 

Then it comes down to it. A fight. He gave you a chance. You picked your side. You joined the Mighty Nein and abandoned him. You made your choice. He’ll deal with the ashes. He takes no pleasure in ending you but no matter what version; you’re a stubborn one and incredibly loyal. You had no loyalties to him, not anymore. Why should he hang onto his loyalties to a ghost? He let it all go even though that sounds easier than it was. It burned him to hurt you. With each injury he inflicted, he felt every single strain, each scream and cry of pain shattered his very soul into fragments. It’s alright or so he kept telling himself. He’d bring you back once this is over; the real you, the true you and the one he held so dearly. He’ll have you back. Not this fragment. 

Something within him shattered when he delivered that killing blow. You fell to your knees. You looked at him and he just saw sadness. You looked at your friends but he couldn’t care less about them. He took a good few hits in his distraction as that damned fragment you had grown attached to gained a little more control than he allowed. He watched the light drain from your eyes, your friends tried to rush towards you as you fell to your knees. You couldn’t breathe anymore. Lucien could feel something crack when you hit the ground and remained unmoving. He tried to move on and deal with your companions. In the end it would mean his own demise. They were too late to get you. When he fell, he met your eyes; never shut. Lucien would be dead. 

————

The Mighty Nein tried to resurrect you. It didn’t work. Not twice would they be so lucky. They took your body, had a funeral in true Mighty Nein fashion, and laid you at rest in the Blooming Grove to be watched over by Caduceus. They grieved you but their lives continued. Kingsley didn’t understand who you were. They tried to explain, explain who you were to Mollymauk. He got it. For some bloody reason he completely understood. When he first saw you you were dead and something within him felt missing, despite being surrounded by love in his resurrection, a piece of a puzzle he could not comprehend never truly fit together. When he saw you, he knew the missing piece had to do with you but the dead don’t just rise and the ritual had failed. You were truly gone. No one saw but for some reason tears did fall when the firbolg performed the burial rites. He didn’t even know you so why was he crying over you like he lost someone so near and dear to his heart? Like he lost a piece of himself. 

One night on the ship far off on the ocean with his captain and trickster partner in crime; the life he’d grown quite used to, something changed. Something in the very air he breathes. The world got a push in the right direction. He didn’t know why or how but somehow it made sense. Some tether pulled him back to that graveyard, told him to go there. Not long after, Jester was freaking out and the wizard was summoned; they had to get back to the mainland fast. They had to get to the Blooming Grove. No one had told him and despite this being the perfect opportunity to commandeer the ship he had longed to captain for himself, he couldn’t just let them go without him. He had to come along. He did. 

From the moment Kingsley stepped into that forest temple, where he saw a shellshocked individual seated on a stool staring into the abyss covered in dirt and a blanket, whatever piece of him he missed from the moment of his resurrection, returned and fell into place. That void within suddenly wasn’t so empty anymore. You hadn’t been responsive until his entrance, or so Clay had told them all. Kingsley approached you. You stared at him with such wonder and a recognition he must have held too in his first moments of life. You felt it too. Everything just made sense. You reached for him, just a finger, trembling and hesitant. The pad of that finger pressed against his cheek. There wasn’t much force behind it but were he standing instead of on his knees already, he might have fallen then and there. 

“M-Mo… Moon… Moon.” It took you some time to get the word out. 

“Moon?” Kingsley asked you though he did not expect a response. It took him while too to truly get to his senses and given the hour and your current state, you must have freshly crawled out of your grave. He feels sorry for you. 

“Moon.” You affirm and place your palm flat over his heart. You tap it. “Moon.” He looked towards the Mighty Nein for some explanation. The one he got, that might as well have broken his heart a little. And should you return to your senses, whoever you might be, he’ll be happy to hold it over your heart your first word implied you found him beautiful. 

This might just be the beginning of something beautiful. One thing is for sure. This’ll be a fresh start. You get to decide who you want to be. Like him you’ll be loved no matter what. He’ll make sure of it.

[critter-rarepair-reccs]

Hey all, hope everyone's having a good Wednesday! Today we have eight whump fics for your enjoyment! Some are on the lighter side, some are much heavier, so don't forget to mind the warnings! As always, you can find them below the cut and if you check any of them out, I encourage you to leave kudoes and comments to spread the rarepair love 🩷

if you must falter, be wise by mabarihound (3,546 words, Explicit) Pairing: Eadwulf Grieve/Essek Thelyss (Esswulf) Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Unhappy Ending, Dubious Consent, Cannibalism, Body Horror

Wulf dies but Essek brings him back as a vampire, a la the Briarwoods.

Reccer Says: unhappy ending TO YOU. I'm built different. Essek is so fucking insane in this, Wulf is barely human, there's so much blood and bad sex, it's gruesome and sad and amazing. Love doesn't fix anything but it makes a thrilling story!

The Self in the Other by fjorests_of_wildemount (1,010 words, Teen) Pairing: Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve (Blumenduo) Warnings: None

After killing some of Trent’s loyalists, Astrid and Wulf head home to tend their wounds.

Reccer Says: It’s a delicious glimpse into what post-C2 might look like for these two and I love it. Their dynamic oozes of the decade and a half of history between them and it’s so good.

Crowned Teeth (or, an Offering Revoked) by fruitzbat (130,570 words, Mature) Pairing: Kingsley Tealeaf/Original Female Character Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Slavery, Mentioned but Not Depicted Sexual Violence

Kingsley escapes being kidnapped by pirates after being mutinied against. Finding himself a long way from home, Kingsley then resorts to hunting the people responsible down with the help of a new ragtag bunch of misfits that call him captain.

Reccer Says: With respect to the rarepair, I think it's a fun dynamic. fruitzbat does a really good job of capturing all of those weird, uncomfortable nooks and crannies that come with new relationships. And I think most importantly, Kingsley really stretches his wings as his own person. There is such a clear vision of what he's like and how that's distinct from Molly and Lucien, and that clearness really carries throughout both this piece and the rest of the series.

which is a tenderness. by redhoods (5,724 words, Mature) Pairing: Fjord/Caleb Widogast (Widofjord) Warnings: Fjord-typical Self Harm, Fantasy Racism

Caleb returns to the tavern and learns Fjord has gotten hurt in a bar fight then locked himself in their room, refusing healing.

Reccer Says: Fjord angst and tender wound care *chef's kiss* (and also just a touch of trans Fjord)

i feel you, your precious soul by glossolali (6009 words, Mature) Pairing: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss (Shadowmauk) Warnings: Offscreen Past Non-Consensual Body Modification, Mentions of Limb Loss & Amputation, Mentions of Disordered Eating, Selective Mutism, Panic Attacks

Essek, a cyberware expert, medical technician and researcher, helps his friends save Mollymauk’s life using what he knows best. What he didn't count on, was the connection that would develop between them, and his own misgivings about it.

Reccer Says: Cyberpunk/cybernetics AU, Essek has mixed feelings about fixing up Molly, and about initiating a relationship (established shadowgast, established widomauk, but Essek hasn't said anything to Molly about them yet). Its great <3 mollymauk's half cybernetic/prosthetics, and the malfunctioning is pretty oof

fell in love with the fire long ago by BananasofThorns (2,501 words, Teen) Pairing: Fjord/Caleb Widogast (Widofjord) Warnings: Mind Control, Burns

Caleb has been mind controlled and is attacking the party with deadly intent. Fjord has a ring of fire resistance and a bad plan.

Reccer Says: What's not to love about a person being forced to hurt those they care about and then blaming themself for it? I've rearead this 3 times.

by the water by nonbinarywithaknife (578 words, Teen) Pairing: Veth Brenatto/Yeza Brenatto Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Canonical Character Death, Nott-Typical Alcoholism

In Felderwin, Nott sits by the river and remembers.

Reccer Says: Mostly sad, briefly sweet. She's really been going through it😢

Peace At Last by HyperKid (4,770 words, Mature) Pairing: Jester Lavorre/Mollymauk Tealeaf (Jestermauk) Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Mentioned Past Character Death

After Cognouza, Jester takes some quiet time to herself in the Blooming Grove. Molly finds her and they cuddle and talk through some difficult emotions.

Reccer Says: It's heartaching and sweet in equal measures. The atmosphere is beautiful and suits it so well. Molly and Jester fit together so well, like the softest of puzzle pieces, if that makes sense. Their relationship feels natural and you can sense the strength of their bond in each moment. It's got some wonderful mentions of Jester's struggle with being the Happy One and Molly having lost so much time while his friends have grown as well, on top of all of the other deliciously angsty feelings the two of them are coping with.

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