#the moonweaver's child

[a-still-small-vox]

When Mollymauk died, he suddenly understood a lot of things. Like first of all, the reason he had amnesia his whole life was probably because this kinda sorta wasn’t his body. Yup. Definitely stole it. And also, when he’d told everyone that he prayed over his swords every morning because his family taught him to, that weirdly kinda hadn’t been a lie? Because in fact, the Moonweaver was his parent. And now he had returned to her court, she didn't want him to go back to Exandria to continue his adventures with his friends. But if there was one thing Molly wanted more than anything else, it was to see the Mighty Nein again. Especially Caleb...

I haven't gotten all of the Widomauk fix-its out of my system yet, so have this Orpheus & Eurydice inspired story.

[READ HERE ON AO3]

[dent-de-leon]

hopping up and down. Critical role, if you’re going to publish works based on books in Exandria, would you consider,,, publishing a book of Exandrian fairytales. Der Katzenprinz, the Moonweaver’s tale of The Yellow King, all the other stories of the Feywild Artagan would tell Jester as a child.

Just a colorful and lovely book of fairytales—

[aspiringsophrosyne]

Jester Lavorre and Letting go.

A while ago, I wrote a post on the Mighty Nein and how that campaign had, among other accidental themes, an overarching theme of characters (player characters and NPCs alike) running from their problems and only delaying the inevitable at best and making things worse for themselves at worst as a result.

I did not include Jester in the list of characters I covered, and I think now might be a good time to delve into why:

Because Jester doesn't run from her problems, she runs to them.

For the sake of complete accuracy, this is generally the case, but not exclusively. Jester, like the rest of the Nein on the whole, has a rather pessimistic view of things and gives up on some things too soon. (Everyone, including Jester, assumed there was no way back to shore after they stole their first ship, and the rest of the Nein, except for Essek and Cad, were ready to give up before Cad's last Divine Intervention, etc.) But we see multiple times that Jester runs towards her personal problems, or what she sees as her personal missions or obligations, instead of away from them.

In fact, it could be argued that Jester hangs on long after it might've been better for her to let go.

But before that, her father. Jester pursues him every chance she gets, and when Marion reveals he's someone she knows and has met, her first instinct is to Send to him and tell him she's his daughter. She keeps doing this until he finally agrees to meet with her. And then, even after that less-than-hopeful face-to-face conversation where he finally admits she's his biological child, she still clings to the idea of hooking her parents back up again.

Travelercon is another one. It's one of Jester's main focuses after finding her father, and even with all the other things she has to deal with, she's continually worrying about getting there in time and trying to figure out what to do when she gets there. She sees it as an obligation to the Traveler (even after she finds out he was never actually a god), and she never tries to run from it or weasel (heh) out of it.

And then at Travelercon, when a vessel of the Moonweaver herself gets involved in the shenaniganary, Jester latches onto Artie and refuses to let go no matter how much Fjord begs her to do so or how much the vessel questions her loyalty in the face of Artie's selfishness. Only when he kicks her off does he spare them both a trip to the Fey Realm.

(And remember, this would've delayed their trip to Eiselcross, which would've allowed who knows what to happen before they came back; not only was there a ticking clock in the form of DeRogna and another adventuring troupe, but time moves weirdly in the Fey Realm.)

On a more positive note, Jester doesn't just refuse to give up on her goals; she also refuses to give up on people. Because of her, the Gentlemen gives up on selling his problems into slavery, eventually walks away from his criminal life altogether, and reunites with Marion like Jester wanted. Her kindness, however teasing, is a big part of why Essek turns over a new leaf. And she never gives up on either of the circus kids. No matter what terrible things their bodies are made to do, she still believes they're both in there, and not only is she proven correct, but her faith in them is rewarded both times.

Jester doesn't give up on people. And while this ties her to Artie in a way that's not entirely healthy for either of them, it does more good than harm in the long run.

This is part of what so strongly endears her to the rest of the Nein. With the arguable exceptions of Essek and Cad, the Nein have largely been written off by people who should've loved and supported them. Veth highlights this when she reveals why she chose Nott as her pseudonym. Caleb's tutelage under Trent is self-explanatory; Fjord's upbringing scarred him; Beau's dad sold her; Yasha's tribe forbade and then murdered her love; Molly was left to climb out of that shallow grave alone—all these people have been discounted. And when they meet Jester, she makes for a beautiful and powerful counterpoint.

[storiesbreathed]

it’s an emoji based starter call , ttrpg / bg 3 / cr / d20 edition! : react with one or multiple to let me know who you want a starter from, specify your muses if you are a multi! ( note : can and will adapt any and all characters into a bg3 & cr setting so if you have one you want, let me know )

also note : all of these will be put in a queue when i write them and will slowly be dropped onto the dash!

if you cannot send an emoji just toss out who you want :)

📖~ allura vysoren  

🎶~ ariverane laraethahl ( bio [ bg3 verse tbt but is same as gen ] ) : drow. college of lore bard. runaway noble / haunted one.

🪄~ astrid becke

👊~ beauregard lionett

🦋~ binx choppley

🧚‍♂️~ joy brecklyn galliot (full bio tbt temp HERE ) : “fetch” ( fey replacement for stolen child ). fighter warlock. haunted one.

💰~ cyriel ( bio tbt ) : high elf. thief rouge. from the book kith & kin

🧙‍♀️~ delilah briarwood

🌸~ fearne calloway 

🌊~ fjord stone

✨~ gwendolyn zahra melanie von musel de rolo ( bio tbt ) : child of percival and vex’ahlia de rolo- tiefling sorcerer

⛈️~ imogen temult

🎸~ kaylie shorthalt

🧵~ laudna 

🟣~ laerryn coramar-seelie

🔨~ leona pike de rolo ( bio tbt ) : child of percival and vex’ahlia de rolo. rouge artificer fighter gunslinger. noble.

🌕~ lyriel ( bio ) bg3 verse tbt  : drow. champion of the moonweaver. bard / trickster cleric. noble.

🕸️~ opal 

☀️~ pike trickfoot 

⚡️~ tanila sommers ( bio bg3 verse tbt - similar to bio ) : fallen assimar. wild magic sorcerer. haunted one. daughter of kord?

🗡️~ vax’ildan vessar

🏹~ veth brenotto / nott the brave

⚔️~ wyll ravengard

[masterqwertster]

Bells Hells C1 Class Swap AU

Basically just giving the Hells the same class as their player's Campaign 1 characters and getting a bit different approaches to the plot beats.

Orym: Oath of the Watcher Paladin/Inquisitive Rogue

Started as pure paladin. Devotion to either elemental spirits or the Wildmother because Ashari

Fighting Style is Blind Fighting because ridiculous Perception or Protection because he's always got his shield and is a guard

Oath based on Ashari directive to hold the elemental rifts

Inquisitive rogue levels are form searching for clues about the attack on Zephrah in the hunt for Will and Derrig's murder(s)

Fearne: Light Domain Cleric

This subclass has got all the fire spells, and Fearne loves to burn

Her god is probably the Moonweaver, since she has a presence in the Fey Realm and the moon does reflect light from the sun. Also, the Moonweaver is one of the trickster-type deities, so that also fits Fearne's mischievous nature

Of course, devotion to the moon goddess does add some interesting layers/twists to the whole Ruidus/Ruisduborn deal

Laudna: Circle of Spores Druid

It's the undead druid, of course Laudna gets this subclass

She probably picked up the druid class from the whole Witch of the Woods thing, and was thought weird/creepy for liking mushrooms and other dead-ish things found among the detritus of the forests surrounding Whitestone as a child

Delilah is still around, but definitely more as a haunting spirit and unwanted advisor, since there's no warlock multi-class

Imogen: Fey Wanderer Ranger (reflavor)

This subclass is closest to Imogen's mindreader/Aberrant Mind skillset, so reflavor for her Exaltant Ruidusborn status in that her mystique is from that instead of the fey

Her Preternatural Blessing would be the lightning scars/marks

The ranger class is a result of escaping from everyone in Gelvaan by going out into nature

One of her favored enemies is undead because she wants Delilah to leave Laudna alone

Favored terrain is either grassland or mountain because that's where she lived

Fighting Style is Druidic Warrior, probably learned the spells from Laudna, and keeps with Witchy Bitches

Chetney: Path of the Beast Barbarian (reflavor)

Werewolf is really a blood hunter thing, but Path of the Beast includes a level of shapeshifting (and can have origin from a lycanthrope parent), so reflavor as Chet's lycanthropy is controlled through barbarian practices of this Path

Uses a giant wood ax as main weapon rather than wood carving tools

Fresh Cut Grass: College of Creation Bard and/or Alchemist Artificer

Sam had two characters for C1: Scanlan and Tary, so I'm making this open for either or both of their classes

None of the bard subclasses are very healing oriented. But Creation has some good support features

Instrument could be himself as like a percussion instrument drumming on himself. Possibly with mechanical beeps and whistles

When they finally learn Animating Performance, it's a weird day because of how Bells Hells came together, and because FCG always tries to get a response from the animated items, like he did with with other automatons in early campaign

Alchemist artificers are the most healing oriented, so that's the reason for that subclass

It's also a fun kind of irony that an aeormaton is also a creator of magical items/constructs

Ahston: Echo Knight Fighter (modified)

Uses dual swords. Milo made jagged glass blades, sort of like obsidian blades in shape, instead of the hammer

Has either Two-weapon Fighting or Unarmed Fighting for their Fighting Style. Depends on if you want to lean into the brawler bit or not

After galaxy brain set in, they ended up manifesting echoes. But his echoes are a little weird, because their weapon is random and they have more of a galaxy coloration than a shadow

Flavors are same dual swords, canon!Ashton’s hammer, dual pistols, and a long spear/halberd. Higher levels could lead to more random weapon options

Some Events/Points of Interest

Orym picks out that Ashton's echoes die the same way the assassins did in the attack 6 years ago. Finds that to be a bit of a dead end, though, since Ashton has no clue why or how they have such a skill. He does insist on practicing fighting their echoes, though, just to get a better feel for such enemies

Dorian and FCG would bond more if FCG is a bard. Like Dorian teaches FCG a bit about playing a lute, but not a flute because FCG doesn't breathe

Fearne could pick up clues about Ruidus by communing with the Moonweaver. Or got hints before meeting everyone, but never put them together until Bells Hells started uncovering shit

Laudna could puppet Paté with those zombie mushrooms (in a bit of hand-wavy-ness since there's no actual brain in Paté) or Find Familiar him to life for a few hours at a time as a fey entity with the optional Wild Companion feature of the druid class

Chetney might be into chainsaw woodcarving, except with a huge battle ax instead of a chainsaw. If he is, he definitely tries to get FCG into this kind of carving with their buzzsaw

Ashton only personally learned how to fight with swords. Knowledge of how to use all the other weapons his echoes use just came with them. Say "thank you, galaxy brain"

Imogen can use her Telekinetic Feat to make an arrow turn. I honestly wanna say go full Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy, but that might be a bit much, if very cool

Orym's increased Charisma because that's the paladin spell casting stat means that he's better at arguing "fuck Ludinus and the Ruby Vanguard, they will build their 'better' world on a mountain of corpses"

[voxiferous]

Thank you to @mathclasswarfare for tagging me!

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (or however many you have) posted fics and see if there's a pattern!

“Good evening, Madame,” Caleb said, inclining his head politely to a woman in a feathered blue mask as she took two mini quiches from his tray of hors d’oeuvres. (Masquerade Heist / Critical Role)

“I hate this place,” Prompto said, his voice muffled in Noctis’s shirt front. (Window of the Soul / FFXV)

“Take the ship around to the cove. If I don’t come back in three days, assume I either drowned or I decided to stay here for a while,” Shion said, neatly folding his last shirt and tucking it on top of his pack, then closing the bag. (The Siren / No. 6)

“Ooh, and the walk-in closet is big enough to turn into a dark room if you want to. Dave, you could work on your vampire portrait portfolio at home!” Jade said, squeezing the steering wheel a little too hard with her colourfully-banded fingers. (Welcome to the Polycule / Homestuck)

Once-mighty tanks were stacked up in the streets of Omashu like so much rubbish, and children played there once more. (Four Slices / A:tLA)

“We need a miracle,” Ignis muttered. (See Through / FFXV)

Muffled explosions and loud cheering filled the air. (grab your things, I've come to take you home / Critical Role)

When Mollymauk died, he suddenly understood a lot of things. (The Moonweaver's Child / Critical Role)

Caleb shivered himself awake as the warmth of Nott’s small body suddenly left his arms. (RE-ROLL / Critical Role)

Caleb knows he’s smart, but he would need a major in psychology with double minors in tiefling and carnie to figure out why Mollymauk pays him as much attention as he does. (Why Do You Like Me? / Critical Role)

Woof, I am almost a one-trick pony, and I didn't expect that XD The Vox opening line formula is apparently:

["Dialogue hook", establishing information.]

To be fair, though, three of the first four fics were all written within the span of a month. I probably was out of ideas at the time.

I've always felt that my last lines are a lot better than my first lines. I am confident in my ability to close something well. Never felt particularly good at opening.

I don't know anyone writing a lot of fic at the moment (except Rev, but yours are secret...), but if you want to do this go ahead and tag me! :)

[ogdoadfates]

Vox Machina Godlings AU

In this AU every once in a while the gods have children (can be by birth or by choice. They also can have more then two parents or chosen by more then one god) but these children aren’t able to join them in their godly realm (for the lack of a better world) and have to stay on the material planes/realms till a certain age or until they are powerful enough (this can be through learning new skills with magic or gaining more physical strength, ect) but other gods (aka bad gods or gods with grudges) and other entities (demons and such) hunt down these godlings to gain power or to piss off another god. In order to protect their children/chosen the gods will cover up their mark on them, this mark they have from birth/when chosen and exposes of which god they are from. The spell used to hide these marks are very powerful and dispelling it can have certain magical effects like healing someone who is dieing or killing everyone within a certain radius, tho dispelling the mark is a double edged sword for if you dispell it, it is basicly a beacon to other gods and demons where they are. A godlings power doesn’t have to match the god they are connected to but they will be able to learn and understand their gods powers better then others. Godlings hide that they are godlings for the most part to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Godlings:

Keyleth: Parent goddess Raven Queen (In this the Raven Queens real name is Vilya so it’s still keyleths mom but instead of leaving for the aramante she leaves due to her godly duties which leads Keyleth to have some resentment towards her among other things) Keyleths god symbol is antlered sabertooth skull embraced/surrounded by a pair of raven wings and vines. Keyleths mark is hidden with the spell.

Pike: Chosen godess Everlight. Pikes god symbol is the everlight holy symbol placed within the ball of a mace. Her mark is not hidden by a spell but is on her back so due to her heavy armor it is always hidden.

Keyleth sets out to try to understand her abilities better and to feel less lonely and like an outcast for even tho she loves her home she hasn’t ever made a friend there and they all know who she is the child of and who’d want to befriend the goddess of deaths child? 

Percys backstory is still the same

Vex & Vaxs backstory is still the same

Pike & Grog set out to help Pike gain power so she’ll be able to travel and physically talk to the everlight.

Scanlans backstory is still the same.

At some point Percy becomes godling chosen by The Moonweaver

Main romances: Vaxleth, Percahlia, Pikelan.

[grayintogreen]

LitMoR Original Character Guide

FINALLY a guide to the massive amount of OCs featured in LitMoR. Despite how big this is, this doesn't contain every goddamn character in my expanded universe, just the ones that have appeared multiple times, have a significant impact on the narrative/world, or because I just wanted to throw them in because you've probably seen them in OTHER works of mine and maybe you'd like to know a bit more about them.

This list doesn't include characters like Ishel, Nima, the Jagentoths, and any other character I took straight from the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. Those are Canon OC's and while I have thoughts on all of them that goes beyond little blurbs in a book that doesn't make them mine.

I have also avoided MOST spoilers for the entirety of LitMoR but there still are some.

SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO: THE LIST.

Narcissa “Agee” Ageratum Female firbolg, Rogue (Thief) After exhibiting a series of troubling unchildlike behaviors when she was six that she can’t fully remember but were considered ill omens by her tribe, Agee was left in the care of a shopkeeper in Nogvurot and was “communally raised” by various locals who looked after her for ten years before she began to have strange dreams that exacerbated a sense of anxiety around the Righteous Brand. Fighting off her own growing anxiety with kleptomania, she began to alienate her adopted family and when she was all set to run away, she was approached by members of a Kryn party looking for their own people in the Empire. Believing that she might finally understand her strange dreams, she went with them but panicked and robbed them in the night.

Ashley Allard Male human, Paladin (Oath of Treachery) The youngest child of Yves Allard of Nicodranas and his late wife, Ashley was born into privilege and immediately found it to be a complete bore. Through a series of cutthroat victories, he stole the Blade of Broken Mirrors and the title of Champion of Tharizdun from his uncle Alder. As a paladin, Ashley has a strong personal code, despite the atrocities he’s willing to commit to get what he wants, and believes very strongly in his objectives to the point of playing long games for years to reach what he believes to be his magnum opus.

Yves Allard Male human, noble Ashley’s father and a founding member of the Court of Nightmares, alongside Rinna Pathan and her patron. As the eldest member of the Allard family, he maintains the family’s massive shrine to Tharizdun in the basement of his manor in Nicodranas, though he has no particular interest in the Epoch of the Ends and prefers to use his family’s old money to feed his obsession with the Calamity and indulge his own cruelty. He uses his considerable connections to gather members of the Court for Rinna.

Calpurnius Amabilia Male aasimar, Bard (College of Whispers) Cal is an immigrant into Aeor from the floating island of Zemniaz, who managed to excel quickly through the ranks in Cognouza by being extremely good at finding and keeping secrets. Using his quick wit and charm, he maintained personal relations between Cognouza and the other wards as “Cognouza’s voice,” but when Cognouza was shut out, he turned his attentions to spycraft, instead. Cal is known more for his compassionate nature and easy-going charisma more than anything, but he is absolutely ruthless when that which he loves is threatened.

Levitica Arrenhall Female elf, Cleric (Twilight Domain) The High Priestess of the Midnight Vertex and one of the Dawn Marshalls of Vasselheim. It is said she saw the construction of the first Moonweaver temple in Vasselheim and will not die until it crumbles to dust. She considers herself a mother to all those who find themselves in her temple and guides them like a shepherd as an extension of Sehanine’s will.

Seneca Candidus Male elf, Wizard (Order of Scribes) A vocal philosopher who developed a reputation among the wards of Aeor for outlandish ideas on the belief of manifestation and higher achievement through dreams, which were considered particularly backwards in a city on the cutting age of advancements in arcane sciences. After becoming the head of Cognouza, he gathered like-minded debaters and scholars and scientists who were outcasts in their own right and formed the Somnovem.

Tacitus Camillus Male human, Wizard (School of Enchantment) Before coming to Aeor, Tacitus was lord over a small community on an island in the Lucidian Ocean that he attempted to manipulate into a perfect society where everyone lives up to their exact potential, after becoming disillusioned with the majority of societies within Domunas. When his attempts to mind control the masses led to a series of misfortunes, he covered up his mistake and fled to Aeor where he was readily accepted into Cognouza as a Lorekeeper, leaving nothing behind but his guilt. Calculated and manipulative as well as charming, Tacitus often assuages his own guilt by placing the blame on others, instead. It’s often said that he cares more about preserving history and leaving something behind that future generations will find pleasing than he cares about the present.

Gertrude Blakenship Female aasimar, Bloodhunter (Order of the Mutant) The current head of the Order of the Mutant in Wildemount. Gertrude is an anxious, spacey woman who compensates for her shortcomings by crafting elaborate mutagens, preferring ones that increase her strength and make her a menace in hand to hand combat.

June Blessedthane Female dwarf, Bloodhunter (Order of the Lycan) A boisterous werewolf who runs the Order of the Lycan compound in Trostenwald. Primarily jovial and easy to get along with she has no patience for any lycanthrope who gives her Orders a bad name and has mercilessly killed her own students for even showing the potential to go rogue.

Melancholia Cheveron Female human, Druid (Circle of Spores) Huron Stahlmast’s childhood friend and eventual lover. Despite coming from two entirely different worlds, Melancholia’s devotion to Stahlmast allowed her to overlook his obsession with industrializing Wildemount, which he often promised her would be used towards reclaiming the land for her and her people, long wiped out by Hupperdook’s advancement and constant encroaching upon the mountain. Whether or not it was true, Melancholia believed it wholeheartedly and therefore supported him in everything he chose to do, often defending him publicly when the rest of Hupperdook shunned his ideas, which further othered her as an outsider and left her with no one else but her long time friend.

Wake Dashwood Female dwarf, Ranger (Horizon Walker) A follower of Sehanine and friend/daughter figure to Levitica, Wake acts as a go-between for the Midnight Vertex and the rest of Vasselheim as the clergy rarely, if ever, come down off the mountain. She knows the Vesper Timberlands like the back of her hand and runs with a group of rangers called the Riftkeepers who keep an eye out for extraplanar threats to Vasselheim.

Balbus Delphina Male human, Wizard (School of Divination) A former member of the Hall of Prophecy in Avalir, Balbus washed out when his visions became too much for him to handle and he no longer wished to serve as an oracle. Knowing this would bring shame to his family, he fled to Aeor where he studied under Seneca in dream-based magic, at first, and then eventually turning to astronomy after discovering a love of the stars, though he could never properly escape his visions.

Antioch Dodger Male elf/halfling, Bard (College of Glamour) The “Beggar Lord” of Shadycreek Run, Dodger developed a reputation among the Tribes when he created his own tribe consisting of the cast-off children of the working girls, which he eventually expanded into various other orphans that the slavers couldn’t catch. Thanks to his skill with illusions, he managed to obtain enough blackmail material on the tribes to keep himself in enough standing to provide his own form of service, until he was as much a staple in the Run as anything else. It’s said that he makes deals with things far more dangerous than simple crime lords.

Heather Dougal Female human, commoner A staple of Shadycreek Run, Heather Dougal has been surviving on sheer grit and kindness for sixty years, despite the town trying to drag her down. She saved Ophelia Khar from succumbing to injuries and illness when she first came to the Run and helped her eventually become Jack Mardoon’s heir. In return, Ophelia left her infant son Lucien in her care.

Fergus Dougal Male human, commoner Heather’s deaf-mute husband and a talented fisherman and woodcarver.

Eda Female human, Artificer (Artillerist) No one in Hupperdook can exactly tell you where Eda came from, only that she turned up as Nima Cinnarid’s protege some years ago and has been building more and more terrifying cannons ever since. When Lance, Fayne, and Obsidian settled in town, she declared herself a member of their group. The trio have accepted her over time, even going as far as to call themselves the Clockwork Hounds after her automaton dog, Auto.

Faint Chance Male tabaxi, Bard (College of Eloquence)/Rogue (Thief) A member of the Rifenmist Jungle-based Briskmist Clan, Chance believed he was born for more than simply languishing in the trees and spent considerable amounts of time taking risks by engaging travelers who came through the jungle for stories- risks that earned him his name. His love of a good gamble and a better yarn led him to Byroden where he developed a lust for both card games and music. A wandering bard trained him up enough that he felt capable of taking his skills on the road and he left his home to see the world and seek out more stories.

Gabriel Ferreira Male black dragonborn, Warlock (Pact of the Talisman) A member of the mysterious "Seven" along with Ashley Allard and Jayne Merriweather and captain of the Feywild Delight. Gabriel originally hailed from the Rifenmist Peninsula to a nomadic tribe until his pirate father returned to claim the son that one of the women had borne, slaughtering them all when she refused to give him up. His father taught him piracy, which he continued long after his father died, eventually taking on a ship staffed entirely by fey after an encounter in the Feywild no one really knows the truth about.

Augusta Felice Trans female half-elf, Wizard (School of Conjuration) A former Genesis Ward arcane scientist, Augusta became the Architect Arcane of Cognouza after being humiliated at a conference by Laerryn Corramar-Seelie who held many of the same theories as she did about extraplanar travel. Unable to prove whether or not her work came first, Augusta was laughed out of the Genesis Ward and taken in by Seneca Candidas where he allowed her room to build a machine capable of transporting Cognouza to the Astral Sea.

Claudia Felice Female half-elf, Artificer (Armorer) Augusta’s twin sister and the meeker of the two Felice twins, Claudia prefers to exist in her sister’s shadow, though she is a considerable scientist in her own right, having been responsible for the Aeormaton sleeper assassins that the Genesis Ward took full credit for after she was banished to Cognouza with her sister because she refused to denounce her. Claudia is one of the only Somnovem who is well-liked by nearly every single one of her peers due to her lack of guile and ambition, though her inability to ever see when Augusta might be wrong about something has led her to butt heads with Balbus, specifically, quite often. She prefers the company of her Aeormaton “babies” more than she does other people besides Augusta.

Fayne Hart Female elf, fighter (gunslinger) Born in Syngorn, Fayne left after robbing the home of a minor lord and spent the next several years of her life as a casual cat burglar. She met Lance and Obsidian in Kymal by insisting they help her with a casino heist that would mutually benefit all three of them, but when the plan went sour and not a one of them got what they wanted, she tagged along with them, much to their immediate disdain.

Stasya Hydriss Female tiefling, Druid (Circle of the Moon) Daughter of Kashaw Vesh and Zahra Hydriss. Stasya acts as an acolyte and “assistant” for the Voice of the Tempest of the Air Ashari in Zephrah, offsetting Keyleth’s kindness with her bossy, brash nature. She is her father’s favorite even if he insists he doesn’t pick favorites.

Tasya Hydriss Female tiefling, Monk (Way of the Cobalt Soul) Daughter of Kashaw Vesh and Zahra Hydriss and younger twin of Stasya. Despite having a vested interest in the arcane, Tasya has no inherent magical talent nor any real knack for picking it up and therefore has devoted her life to the study of it. Her ability to see through deceptions and understand magic has made her an asset in detaining illegal arcane magic users in Vasselheim and because of this, she was made the personal warden of Gulliver Thurston. Unlike her grumpier sister, she is bubbly and excitable, which comes as a surprise to anyone who knows her solely by reputation.

Spurius Juventus Male elf, Artificer (Alchemist) As an alchemy savant, Spurius was one of the first to be picked as a member of the Somnovem with Seneca Candidas citing his skill with potions as a necessary part of his plans to achieve power through manifestation and dreams. On top of numerous other advancements in alchemy, Spurius created a potion that helped promote lucid dreaming that helped the Somnovem learn to harness the aether of the Astral Sea long before they ever planned to set foot there. Despite his skills, Spurius is considered off-putting to anyone outside of the Somnovem due to his poor social skills and intensity about his work.

Tyne Kerthis Female dragonborn, cleric (Knowledge Domain) The High Curator of the Cobalt Vault in Vasselheim. Tyne runs a tight ship despite her gregarious and jovial nature, though some question her desire to rehabilitate criminals such as Gulliver Thurston out of a desire to not waste their knowledge. On top of being a dedicated to the preservation of knowledge, she is a loving wife and aunt to her sister-in-law’s multiple children.

Bastian Klinger Male human, Wizard (School of Necromancy) A nobleman from Nogvurot, Bastian Klinger attended the Academy while Delilah Briarwood was still Archmage of Antiquity and became one of her star pupils. Delilah’s casual interest in necromancy inspired him and after she was cast out, he left the Academy and began to pursue his own necromancy experiments, which eventually attracted the attention of Rinna Pathan who was building up the Court of Nightmares. At the suggestion of her patron Ira Wendagoth, Rinna encouraged Klinger to create creatures that were a fusion of living and dead flesh that could withstand divine magic. The task became his obsession, squandering a chunk of his fortune in the pursuit of it.

Cassia Livio Female human, Wizard (School of Necromancy) An arcane scientist of considerable clout and even more considerable attitude, Cassia was shunned in her home ward for her violent outbursts and extremely outspoken beliefs in the science of divinity and how precisely one could extract essence of Fate from those who were said to be Fate-Touched. Her cruel methods and outlandish theories and philosophies led her to be scouted by Seneca Candidas to become one of the Somnovem, though she admits to only being part of the cabal out of a lack of any choice, as Seneca is more than willing to support her extremely brutal experiments.

Lydas Male halfling, Warlock After being shipwrecked on the island of Rumblecusp as a teenager, Lydas quickly rose to the ranks of leadership through cuttthroat ambition and a not insignificant amount of prodding from the corrupting forces of the island.

Miriam Marchen Female human, Wizard (School of Divination) Trent Ikithon’s annex and one of the first Volstrucker and the longest surviving member of Trent’s original experiments, Miriam earned the nickname Dornroschen after she killed her parents in her sleep as part of her initiation. She is considered an “imperfect” experiment due to lacking some of the refinement of the later Volstruckter, though she makes up for it in sheer loyalty and tenacity.

Joni Mennolly Female tiefling, Bard (College of Lore) An archivist for the Cobalt Soul in Vasselheim who performs in the Lady Luck tavern. Her interests lie primarily in Betrayer god and Calamity mythology.

Sparrow Mistral Female air genasi, Wizard (School of Illusion) Vess DeRogna’s annex. Initially stoic and serious, after Vess took the Somnovem tome, she became increasingly nervous about her superior’s behavior and threatened to take the matter to Ludinus. When Vess attempted to modify her memory, she resisted it, resulting in a fight leading to Vess using her newly acquired Somnovem gifts on her. Sparrow survived the attack, but between the Rend Mind and the successful Modify Memory, she was left mentally shattered leaving her unable to regulate her emotions to the point of seeming vapid and empty.

Obsidian Noire Male dwarf, fighter (gunslinger) A former member of the Public Defense in Kymal, Obsidian’s entire life was destroyed when he began to suspect a member of his team was acting against the margrave by feeding information to Clasp and Myriad members. In an attempt to expose them, he teamed up with Lance Veidrodis and Fayne Hart to uncover the truth, but the resulting catastrophe left him exiled from Kymal as a wanted man- his arrest ordered by the very margrave he sought to protect. Disillusioned, he now works as a bounty hunter as the de facto leader of the Clockwork Hounds.

Gorazm Pathan Male human, noble Gorazm Pathan rose to power in Marquet as a drug lord, running one of the most successful residuum smuggling empires in Exandria and using it to manufacture suude, which he then smuggled back into Tal’Dorei to be sold at high prices by the Clasp. After the Clasp began to fall apart, he began to expand his business by selling to the Myriad, the tribes of Shadycreek Run, and even to the margrave of Kymal to be distributed in her casinos. On top of being a successful businessman, he dotes and fawns over his only child Rinna, though due to his lifestyle he remains professionally paranoid of losing her, keeping her under tight scrutiny to make sure nothing ever happens to her. When his daughter was five, he purchased a tabaxi kitten from the Jagentoths to raise alongside her as a companion and protector- a kitten he named Creek, eventually shortened to Cree.

Rinna Pathan Female human, Warlock (Pact of the Chain) As Gorazm Pathan’s only child, Rinna was raised like a hothouse flower, kept in a gilded cage with only her tabaxi servant Cree for company. Over the years, Rinna became resentful of her father’s overprotective nature and took her anger out on Cree by bullying her. After Cree fled, she became extremely lonely and desperate, eventually attracting the attention of Ira Wendagoth who made a pact with her- power in exchange for helping him sow chaos and gather fodder for his experiments. Together, they formed the Court of Nightmares, a group of like-minded individuals who sow discord and cause harm for the sake of it.

Phaedra Quavein Female drow, Rogue (Thief) The head of den Quavein, nearing status as a Umavi, Phaedra gained a reputation in the Dynasty by being their most dedicated and talented spy- earning her the title of Queen's Blade- before eventually settling into a life of running her den and training up the next generation of spies and rogues for the Bright Queen. Despite the Bright Queen’s protests, she demanded to be sent out to seek the lost beacons sixteen years ago and was captured by the Righteous Brand near Pride’s Call. To avoid interrogation, she slit her own throat knowing that a beacon was nearby and would eventually be reborn as Narcissa Ageratum.

Valerius Severna Male human, Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline) The latest in the long line of Cognouza wardens from the Severna family, Valerius is unique in being the first of his family line to have inherited magic (which gained him a position as a member of the Somnovem), but with the cost of some of his humanity, due to his red dragon blood. Though he tries to be tolerant and kind, the dragon blood leaves him with a nasty temper, which is exacerbated by his fellow Somnovem not quite jiving with his particular morals.

Beagan Starhollow, the Luna Moth Non-binary archfey The former Solstice Sentinel of Sehanine Moonbow's court before she ascended into godhood. After the dissolution of the Moonweaver's court, Beagan fell into a deep melancholy and decided to shirk any and all responsibilities going forward by taking the form of a child (calling themself Luna) and running wild through the Feywild. This behavior allowed them to be geased by the hag Granny Nightshade, who was then captured and brought to the Material Plane by Isharnai. From there, they remained bound to the woods surrounding Mount Mentiri, desperate to get someone to destroy the hags and break their geas so that they can finally be free again .

Malachi “Doc” Stursk Male human, Cleric (Tempest Domain) A surgeon who served under Vandran while he was in the Revelry with an incurable genetic lung disorder that left his faith in the Wildmother wavering. When Avantika and Vandran agreed they needed a third person to help them release Uk’otoa from his prison and divide the seals up evenly, they went to Malachi, appealing to his waning faith and his desire to be strong enough to fight off the disease claiming him. When Vandran left, he and Avantika disagreed on how best to proceed (Avantika wanting to continue and Malachi wanting to take Uk’otoa’s granted power and simply leave him be) and split ways shortly after, with the two of them both ending up captaining their own ships.

Maira Thistleeyes Female halfling, Cleric (Blood Domain) The High Priestess of the Wildemount Claret Orders and Cree’s previous mentor. She and Derrin Zacrux have been friends for years and, as such, have a similar mindset about the Orders and the necessity of them. She was extremely dedicated to Cree’s tutelage and was the first to point out her prodigal gifts with blood and had attempted to groom her to become the next High Priestess before she abandoned the Orders entirely.

Sir Gulliver Thurston Male human, Druid (Circle of the Land)/Wizard (School of Transmutation) Thurston started out as minor nobility from a druid clan from deep within the wilds of Issylra and left that life to come to Vasselheim, changing his name (the “Sir” he tacked on to make himself noble without being overblown about it) and most of his nature, preferring books to the land he’d once been raised to tend. He spent a great deal of time in the Slayer’s Take where he developed an interest in arcane pursuits and developed himself as a powerful transmutation wizard up until he was caught for trafficking in illegal transmutation potions by the Cobalt Soul. He was able to plead a case for himself to become an asset rather than face the Dawn Marshalls and the Soul have kept him on ice ever since.

Lance Veidrodis Male human, Bard (College of Whispers)/Monk (Way of the Drunken Master) A former member of Thordak’s Tongue, an order of spies that began to operate out of Emon following the Clasp falling apart, Lance left the order after being betrayed by his partner and turned to alcohol and pit fighting to ease the sting. After discovering his partner and his ex were both in Kymal, he teamed up with a guardsman trying to find evidence that the guards in Kymal were corrupt and a thief trying to rob the place in the hopes of settling the score. When the plan went tits up, however, the three of them fled Tal’Dorei together.

Victoria Female human, shopkeeper The daughter of Victor the Black Powder Merchant from Vasselheim. She built her father’s business into a franchise by expanding into Wildemount and opening a shop in Nogvurot. Her intention was to open several others, but her lack of ambition hasn’t allowed her to progress very far.

Werner Vogel Male human, noble After meeting a beautiful tiefling woman in his home of Odessloe named Ophelia, freshly released from a Dawnfather chantry, he pursued a meaningless relationship with her to balance the boredom of his nobleman’s life, finding her to be both naive and exotic. Knowing that his indiscretion would soon be found out, he tricked her by offering her some of his wife’s jewelry and asked her to come by his home and they would run away together. When she arrived, he summoned the Crownsguard, labeling her a thief and had her chased out of town. This would have been enough to cover his tracks had Ophelia not been inclined to vengeance and carrying his child. He allegedly has sired two other children with tiefling lovers.

Derrin Zacrux Male human, Bloodhunter (Order of the Ghostslayer) A no-nonsense Bloodhunter who was chosen to head the Ghostslayers in Wildemount by Elias de Corvo, himself. After gaining horrific scars and losing his eye in a fiend attack some years prior to his promotion, he’s developed a completely intolerant few of anything that comes from the Hells, including tieflings, which led him to often push his tiefling acolytes much harder and much more unfairly than the rest.

[ice-and-starlight]

It's been a few days, but if you were still interested in that ask meme....

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

=D Yeay! An ask!

Hooooo, okay, so, I have a LOT of fanfic that I'm theoretically working on/daydreaming about that doesn't get shared, but, uh, lets see what's not too horrifying to share...

I spent a couple of weeks a few months ago binge-watching Criminal Minds, and got infected by a plotbunny of Dean Winchester/Aaron Hotchner(/Haley Brooks) as a sort of... fix it crossover where, because they're both protagonists from rather different genres, their different approach manages to fix things in the other 'verse.

As in, Dean kills Foyet in proper I'm-fresh-out-of-hell-and-you-did-WHAT-to-my-boyfriend?! style. With added bonus 'you think you're good with a knife? Boy, have I got some things to show you. Say hello to Alastair for me when you get down there'.

And Hotch (and the team) profile the fucking devil so well they manage to talk him down from trying to wipe out humanity. (He goes off to fuck up heaven instead.)

I've gotten bits and pieces of, well, backstory written up, plus some 'Dean meets the BAU' and 'Hotch meets hunters' scenes that I love, but I've gotten stuck on something really stupid and just haven't managed to get my brain to move past it, so I haven't actually written the parts I started writing the story for yet ^^" (this happens to me a lot).

What else?

I have been working, on and off, on a Critical Role Time Travel AU that's actually kind of a spin-off of my very first Critical Role fic which is 'Molly lives rent-free in Caleb's head for the entire rest of the campaign' because as I was watching it I was constantly thinking 'but how would Molly react to this?!' so I wrote it (some of it).

And then I thought 'okay, but what if, okay, I know time-travel is supposed to be semi-impossible, but what if it is technically POSSIBLE, it's just that going backwards through time essentially destroys the soul/spirit/whatever, EXCEPT, of course, that when Caleb does it, he has a BONUS SOUL coming along for the ride, and it's basically enough for Molly to get through more or less intact?'

And then the Moonweaver is like 'fuck, you are my Most Troublesome Worshipper, what am I going to do with you?' and Molly is, you know, themself, so the Moonweaver, also being a goddess of lovers trysts, nudges things until Lucien ends up with twin baby brothers (Molly and Kingsley are both Aspects of the same being, and thus inextricably linked, so bits and pieces of Kingsley got dragged along for the ride, only not enough for him to have more than Weird Instincts) and a bonus Moonweaver Cleric mum.

Was this an excuse to write canon!verse Tealeaf triplets? Yes. Yes it was.

Did it turn into a Ridiculous Epic Saga of the Tea Leaves (Molly, Kingsley, Caduceus, Keg, and Ophelia Mardun) treking across all of Wildmount trying to save people from the future and stumbling into messes along the way? Yes. Yes it did.

Did I actually manage to write any of the actual story? No. I wrote backstory instead, and ended up mostly writing about the adventures of two separate Parent Squads that are probably... 40-60% OCs? doing a tiny little Molly's bidding. It very much became a And You Get A Parent And You Get A Parent And You Get Three Parents story.

I have Such Plans for this AU (including, importantly, a Shadowidomauk endgame), but, alas, actually writing it is proving... difficult.

One more for luck?

Hmm... I have Ideas for a Peaky Blinders AU based on my Little Sallyanne fic? It's not very well fleshed out yet, but it definitely results in Sally murdering the shit out of her brother's terrible wife, adopting her nibling, and going on to severely fuck up nazis when WWII rolls around.

This one is Percolating, and I'm really not sure what I want to do with it, exactly. Just general Vibes of Tommy being the feral gremlin mentor to my beloved feral gremlin child. (Also, Sally getting semi-adopted by Alfie Solomons, maybe, because here's this child going around claiming to be Jewish when she's not, and Alfie's like 'no, either you fucking Stop That, or you commit to the fucking bit' and Sally's like '-starry eyes- Okay Dad'. I would have to do a lot of research to do this justice because I'm aware that I don't know enough to know how to write this properly ^^" Basically, I just want everyone adopting her like a starving feral cat who will absolutely bite the hand that feeds her)

Technically, I think you can say that things like Never Simple, Not All Who Wander, and the various other unfinished things on my writing blog are all on a backburner right now? As well as the next instalments in my Somewhere Just Beyond My Reach and Gramarye and Trapped In The Amber series also count. I am Thinking About Them a lot, but there's either not enough for me to get my teeth stuck into, or my teeth are stuck and I can't chew on them properly =P

[shadowcatzone]

there's also Silvermoon (warlock), who is a pale elf mixed child between a man who turned into a lich (some time afterwards) and a former matron mother... dark elf? And 10 siblings.

Her lich father is also her patron.

And the only other note is "Moonweaver" so i suppose she worships that one? Maybe??

make a wizard and name him Nilrem Draziw.

Also give him elvish blood.

[a-still-small-vox]

Fics written in 2023, and their word counts:

The Bridge • FFXV | Promptis | 5,116 words | FTH gift

You and I Kaleide • FFXV | Promptis | 12,626 words | Promptis exchange gift

My Only • The Witcher | Gerlion | 1,714 words

A Ring for Dandelion • The Witcher | Gerlion | 1,798 words

Petals On Your Tongue • The Witcher | Gerlion | 2,954 words

Sleeping Bastard • FFXV | Promptis | 3,658 words | FTH gift

To Last Your Whole Life Long • The Witcher | Gerlion | 2,590 words

Hear My Cry • No. 6 | Nezushi | 794 words

Like The Wind • No. 6 | Nezushi | 1,980 words

One Dance • No. 6 | Nezushi | 694 words

A Quiet Evening • No. 6 | Nezushi | 889 words

Lost & Found • No. 6 | Nezushi | 1,320 words

The Spark & The Storm • No. 6 | Nezushi | 899 words

The Wanderer • No. 6 | Nezushi | 1,689 words

Why Do You Like Me? • Mighty Nein | Widomauk | 1,803 words

RE-ROLL • Mighty Nein | Widomauk | 12,354 words

The Moonweaver's Child • Mighty Nein | Widomauk | 6,567 words

grab your things, I've come to take you home • Mighty Nein | Widomauk | 4,231 words

See Through • FFXV | Promptis | 2,834 words | FTH gift

Welcome to the Polycule • Homestuck | KatNepDaveJade | 2,036 words | Homestuck Secret Santa gift

The Siren • No. 6 | Nezushi | 2,493 words | No. 6 Secret Santa gift

Unreleased fics:

Window Of The Soul • FFXV | Promptis | 5,341 words | Book Club Discord Exchange gift

Masquerade Heist • Critical Role | Widomauk | 5,316 words | Tealeaf Tavern Secret Santa gift

Long Shadows • Critical Role | Widomauk | 66,461 words | Super secret upcoming longfic, in beta~

Translations:

Petit fics pour la Semaine de Kaidan 2017 • Mass Effect | multi | 445 words | original by BardofHeartDive

Petit fics pour la Semaine de MER 2020 • Mass Effect | multi | 476 words | original by BardofHeartDive

Le Club des Maris Morts • Mass Effect | Kaidan/m!Shep | 1,347 words | original by BardofHeartDive

Récupération • Mass Effect | Kaidan/James/m!Shep | 1,618 words | original by BardofHeartDive

Fragile • Critical Role | Kimallura | 2,246 words | original by BardofHeartDive

La muse accidentelle • The Old Guard | Andy/Quynh | 2,422 words | original by Saltwaterselkie

Les cicatrices qu'elle portait • Black Widow | Natasha Romanov & Clint Barton | 2,485 words | original by Saltwaterselkie

14,000,606 • Avengers: Endgame | Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes; Steve Rogers & Tony Stark | 4,120 words | original by BardofHeartDive

Toutes mes lignes invisibles • A League Of Their Own | Max Chapman & Clance Morgan | 2,319 words | original by Saltwaterselkie

La Teuf d'Halloween de Billy Batson • Shazam! | Billy Batson & Batman | 3,478 words | original by Saltwaterselkie

Total fics: 24 + 10 translations Total word count: 150,147 + 20,956 (translated)

Specifics:

Best/worst title?

Best: You and I Kaleide, Hear My Cry, Like the Wind, RE-ROLL, & grab your things, I've come to take you home

Worst: See Through, One Dance

I think a lot of the titles were uninspired this year, but those two are the least aesthetically pleasing to me.

Best/worst quote/passage?

Best:

Brighter, richer, a window opening to a world Prompto has never known, a dimension unfolding before him. He is experiencing something for which he has no name, has no language and no words and can’t describe. It isn’t just the visual phenomenon. It is the way his heart, too, is opening. As easily and as freely as a door swinging wide.

The simplest explanation, which is no real explanation, is colour.

And the colour is blue.

And the world is breaking apart, fracturing and wheeling and turning in a glorious, shining ballet. Yet Prince Noctis’s face somehow remains the same, an anchor and a harbour and a refuge. There are new colours in his face and colours in his hair and colour dancing around him which he’ll only later know how to name, peach and pink and black and grey and blue, more blue; pure, vast blue of sky.

(You and I Kaleide)

Why?: Writing the descriptions of the magical kaleidoscope moment in this fic gave me the opportunity to be very creative and artsy. Honestly, I probably could've pushed it even further than I did. But I think this is the fic with the most unique visuals this year.

Best/worst first line?

Best: Caleb knows he’s smart, but he would need a major in psychology with double minors in tiefling and carnie to figure out why Mollymauk pays him as much attention as he does. (Why Do You Like Me?) Why?: Most of my first lines are pretty serviceable. This one is actually clever.

Worst: “H-hello?” (The Wanderer) Why?: Conveying emotion through adding a letter to indicate a stutter is a bit of a cop out. The runner up to this is "“We need a miracle,” Ignis muttered." (See Through) because I feel like that's a cliché thing to say.

Best/worst last line?

Best: Cradled by the arms of his living friend, who time had returned to him, he finally fell asleep. (RE-ROLL) Why?: None of the last lines from this year really stood out to me, but this one is definitely the most interesting.

Worst: Then they dashed out of the alleyway and back into the fray. (The Spark And The Storm) Why?: My last lines tend to have at least some emotion in them. This line doesn't really have any. It's pretty weak.

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

I wrote way more than I expected. I would never just expect to write 150K, aha. I especially didn't expect to write one fic a day for a week (which is what I did for No. 6 week), nor did I expect to write a novel-length longfic, which is what Long Shadows turned out to be.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

Last year I didn't know I'd get into the Witcher games or the Mighty Nein in 2023. I already had a vague interest in the Gerlion/Geraskier ship, but I didn't know I was going to start actually engaging in the fandom beyond having read one novel. And I've always had a vague awareness of Critical Role thanks to my other mutuals, but never had the intent to get into the fandom myself. That one happened, I think, because I got a chance to play my first game of DND this summer, and got interested in other DND stuff in consequence.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

As always, it's a bit of a toss-up, but I think Long Shadows fucking rocks. I can't wait to share it with everyone. The Bridge, You and I Kaleide, and RE-ROLL are all really good too.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

You and I Kaleide is my most popular by hits. The Bridge is my most popular by kudos. (Both in the FFXV fandom.)

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

It's kinda sucky to roll up to the Critical Role fandom like five years too late, especially with such an investment in Widomauk. The CritRole fandom also doesn't seem to comment much, and never really seems to have done so, which is a shame. But I feel like people do like my stories, even if they're not very vocal about it. ;3;

Story that could have been better?

All of my No. 6 week fics were made via writing sprint, so they're not necessarily the best thought out stories I've ever written. I think they're pretty good for what they are, though.

Sexiest story?

Long Shadows /eyes emoji

You can look forward to TWO sexy scenes in that one~

Saddest story?

The Bridge and Sleeping Bastard have some sad moments. RE-ROLL is kinda about a twenty three hour long panic attack, lol. And Long Shadows has a VERY angsty opening, woof.

Most fun?

Welcome To The Polycule has the most banter and silly lines in it. It's kinda unavoidable with Homestuck fics, because that's just how the characters talk.

Story with single sweetest moment?

Probably You and I Kaleide, which is just romance all the way down. But you could also make an argument for one of the fics in my Witcher 1 series. (My Only, A Ring For Dandelion, & To Last Your Whole Life Long)

Hardest story to write?

RE-ROLL, You and I Kaleide, and Long Shadows had the greatest effort put into them. I took copious notes on episodes 26 and 27 of the Mighty Nein campaign in order to be able to write RE-ROLL. You and I Kaleide has a pretty complicated structure that it took me a few tries to get right. And Long Shadows is a longfic, so of course it took more planning than just a one-shot. I've already written an author's note explaining my process for it, which will be released when the fic is fully posted.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

The writing sprints for No. 6 week were all pretty easy. Come up with an idea in five to ten minutes, then write for half an hour. Maybe a few minutes more or a second sprint. Done.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

I wrote Why Do You Like Me specifically to explore why Molly would like Caleb. I can see why Caleb would like Molly. Molly's great. But early-campaign Caleb is, well. An anti-social asshole with purposefully poor hygiene who gets reprimanded multiple times for being dishonest and selfish. Yet, there must be something special about him that's obvious to the people around him and not just to the audience, otherwise this ship wouldn't be as popular as it is. The question I had was what, and this fic helped me explore that.

Most overdue story?

See Through was based on an idea I had in like 2018. You and I Kaleide was also a prompt I had sitting around for a while. This is why I hoard all of my good story ideas - I never know when I might bust one out to write it for some gift exchange - or just because!

I also have been saying for many years that I ship KatNepDaveJade, but I never put my money where my mouth is before to actually write the ship.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

Lots, actually. You and I Kaleide had a very complicated structure. RE-ROLL used real dice rolls to direct the plot. And Long Shadows starts off with just a huge chunk of unapologetic angst, which is so not my normal wheelhouse. Then there were the writing sprints I just posted. Then The Bridge and Window Of The Soul have premises that are a little risqué, as they deal with themes of suicide and burgeoning sexuality. So yeah, I had a lot of fun flexing my creative muscles this year.

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

EDIT AND POST LONG SHADOWS!!!

Work on one of my currently unfinished fics (Perchance to Wake, OFF-Script, or Fateswap Beyond)

*

That’s all, folks! If anyone else wants to do this wrap up like it’s a meme and tag me, go right ahead. Happy New Year!

[dent-de-leon]

Something about how Ayden is only 15 and the Moonweaver is also often represented as a young girl. The Sun and the Moon being young, curious, and so in love with the mortal world. Does the Dawnfather ever take the form of a child still, like his sister? Are there moments when he lets himself be the same hopeful, soft, carefree soul? Do they see themselves reflected a bit in each other--?

[everywishway]

M9 Kids/Next Gen AU Headcanons

I made the weirdest, most chaotic version of Mighty Nein kids with all the canon couples (plus ShadoWidoMauk because Molly's alive in this) at midnight last night.

35+ chaotic notes I love & I want others to see:

(more under the cut)

Fjord and Jester were told she was pregnant by Artagan one morning, laying in bed between them going, "Congrats on the triplets you two"

While Jester was pregnant, her and Artagan babyproofed the house by putting bubblewrap on the knife handles and flipped the doors upside-down (but they are rounded at the top and have glass windows so Fjord has on more than one occasion kicked it and broke glass)

They're born on April Fools day (or the Wildemount version of it)

All three of them are warlocks for Artagan with official Fey Wild court titles

For their third birthday he let them choose plushies (the same way parents have their kids pick their HP house) and they later become their Familiars

Each of them multiclass to a different charisma based class though (One is a Glamour Bard, another is a Wild Magic Sorcerer (flavored to be Fey Wild based bc Artagan), and the last one is Oath of the Open Sea Paladin (for the Moonweaver))

They have, like, a twelve year younger brother who's like 6 yrs old, a protégé in sculpting and just a green clone of Jester

He has one level as a Forge Cleric. His Plushie Familiar is a sea turtle to mess with Fjord

This kid actually gets dreams of the Wild Mother and when he first sees the statue in Nicodranas, he goes 'Daddy, that's the woman in my dreams!'

Fjord immediately calls Cad and goes "WE HAVE A WILD MOTHER WORSHIPER!" He is so proud

This kid also has super strength for a six year old and a higher strength stat than Fjord, Veth takes every opportunity to make fun of him

ShadoWidoMauk has two kids

Essek is trans in this AU so him and Caleb have a kid (who becomes a Divination Wizard (with a minor obsession in chronomancy) who uses tarot cards as her spell book)

Has a Bat Familiar who has the full title of Lord Spinkle of Den Nein, named after Jester's Weasel Sprinkle (yes, purposefully spelt like that, Spinkle)

This kid also has a bag full of cards (a playing card set, a marked card set for cheating, tarot cards, Moon Weaver oracle cards, spell cards, a Deck of Illusions and a Deck of Many Things)

We were thinking maybe a couple levels in bard but IDK

Then Molly randomly adopts an Aasimar kid that reminds him of Yasha

Aasimar kid is agender but is also an Eldritch Knight flavored for Dunamancy and uses dual swords like Mollymauk

Used to hide in their parents and older sister's coats, really shy baby

BeauYasha has two kids, TJ and another they adopt

TJ takes a few levels in Artificer but runs the BeaureBar and does side stuff for the Cobalt Soul

In the same vain as #16, Beau finds a Tiefling on a Cobalt Soul Mission and Yasha is like 'Molly and I swapped kids'

This kid is a problem child and Yasha and Beau teach them how to work through their anger (Astral Self Monk who works for the Cobalt Soul the same way kids volunteer at the Library)

Beau and Veth have a competition on who has the most kids so they will fight each other. Veth Wins

Artagan is 100% making sure Veth wins, idk how but he does

Veth has two more kids besides Luc (A Gloomstalker Ranger/Spore Druid and a Barbarian, Path of the Fundamental Chaos (What Ashton is))

Luc, obviously, becomes a Arcane Trickster Rogue like his momma and goes out on his own adventures with Toya, Clarabelle, and Kiri

The Ranger/Druid is born one day after ShadoWidoMauk's wizard kid and will never hear the end of it (does that thing where she go "When I was your age" then proceeds to tell them what she did yesterday)

BeauYasha's Tiefling kid is dating the Barbarian kid and they are both just figuring out their anger problems together

So there will be no war between the Brenattos and the Lionetts

ALL OF THE BRENATTO KIDS ARE OBSESSED WITH UNCLE CADUCEUS. They just are. Mandatory, they all say he's their favorite.

Last one is Cad, he felt like he was missing out on something the others had by being AroAce

Then Clarabelle knocks on the door with an Air Genasi baby in her arms going 'Yeah, parents are dead' and Cad sees this as a sign to adopt her

The only kid in this AU we have a name for, Cirrus Clay after the clouds

She is a Twilight Domain Cleric who worships every god? Polytheistic, mainly works with WildMom but has worked with all the different gods at least three times

Meditates in water because the feel like they're floating, has nearly drowned before

Honestly, this is Melora's way of making Cad face his fear of water by giving him a beach obsessed kid

IF YOU WANT MORE OF THIS AU PUT IT IN MY ASK BOX, I HAVE SO MANY MORE NOTES BUT NO MORE SPACE. A single ask is enough for me to rant more about this AU

I have notes on M9 as parents, life after (mostly) settling down, and these kids starting their own party & interpersonal relationships, I'm down for anything

[peach-the-owl]

A request by the always wonderful @sirkekselord: For Artagan: Basically a sequel to the other one: The kid has loosened up more around him and starts to enjoy letting chaos into their life but you know, still has their serious moments. And when Artagan suddenly goes missing for a few days the kid thinks he abandoned her not knowing he got into a tricky situation he couldn't get out of. Maybe some old foe? Or the Moonweaver? Who knows! And then he comes back and apologizes.

My goodness this was back during NPC month and I still hadn’t finished it. I feel so ashamed *continues to be dramatic* At least it’s finally done now 😅

A God Or A Fraud?

Artagan & Child!Warlock!Reader

It’s been a few months since you became a fully fledged warlock to your archfey friend and life was never a dull moment. Having started to embrace the idea of letting loose and causing chaos towards others was a lot easier then you thought. Sure you played nice and had to keep up the mature attitude, you did still have to survive after all, but taking the time to let out your more childish side was a nice break from all that. Now here you lay on a shops roof hiding from some guards, granted they were looking for you but at the time you didn’t look like yourself so they wouldn’t even recognize you as you were now, but you were tired and wanted to take this moment to relax. After a while you sense a second presents join in next to you, through you don’t have to look over to know who it is.

“How’s everything going?” You ask casually. Finally looking over you don’t even bother to hold back your chuckle seeing the archfey dressed completely in guards attire. “You do know that even the guards here barely wear their helmets, right?” You snort out.

“So it would seem…” Artagan trails off displeased, immediately taking off said helmet with a look of disgust before waving his hand and changing into what you were more accustomed to seeing him wear. “That feels much better.” He sighs in relief.

“That’s nice. Now back to my question.” You look up at him waiting, he just stares back with a raised eyebrow making you roll your eyes. “Seriously, you already forgot? You’ve told me a lot about this cult thing you’ve got going on and I was curious how everything was going.”

“Ah! Yes… that.” Artagan perks up a bit. “I mentioned how it’s getting a little out of hand, yes?” He asks, you nod and wait for him to continue. “Well I’ve thought up a solution so that I no longer have to worry about making personal visits to each and every follower when they ask for something.” Being as dramatic a ever, he takes a long pause to build up the anticipation. “I’ve decided… to fake my ascension.” He places his hands on his hips with pride, as if this was the most foolproof plan ever concocted.

“Somehow I’m not surprised.” You say with a straight face.

“Oh come now. At least pretend you’re showing interest.”

“But if I did it’d be giving you what you want, and we both know I would never do that.” You joke, earning a soft shove from him making you giggle. “So how do you plan on achieving this?”

“I told you about my favourite before, right?” You rack your brain, trying to remember what Artagan’s all told you about.

“Ah yes, your star pupil and my ‘opposite’ or whatever. What was her name… Jester, I think.” He nods in affirmation. “So what? Did you tell her you were going to ascend and needed her help to achieve it?”

“Not exactly…” He trails off a second. “I finally revealed my true self to her and it’s more like she helped me come up with a plan to fake ascension. In fact her group has already set off to put the plan into action.”

“Wow. Even after learning you’re not a real god she’s still helping you. That’s actually kinda sweet.” You say genuinely shocked.

“Yes, I suppose so…” He trails off again, this wasn’t normal behaviour from the fey so you were getting a bit suspicious.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” Deciding not to beat around the bush, knowing it’d get you nowhere, you get right to the point.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb with me mister! You’re acting all hesitant and cautious. That’s not something you normally do, that’s usually my job.” You state matter-of-factly. There’s a small pause between the you two.

“Heh, to think I’d be confiding in a child.” Artagan mutters while giving a light chuckle. “Here’s the thing, I’ve chosen this specific location so that even if things went sour it could be used as a backup plan. However it is… just a tad risky.”

“Knowing you that means it’s extremely risky.”

“Well… I mean…” Artagan fumbles over his words a bit. “I know Jester and her friends can handle themselves just fine. They’ve been through plenty of hard struggles before.” He concludes.

“If you say so.” You sigh. You decide to finally change topics and talk about what you’d been up to and all the little bits of mischief you’ve been causing. It’s well past sunset by now, you having long since left the rooftops, setting up camp a little ways outside the city and preparing for the next day.

A week had passed since your conversation with Artagan and not much was different at first, Artagan would pop in for a time each day and fill you in on all the juicy gossip and some details about this Traveler Con that’ll be happening soon while you told him all about what you’ve been up to. Then he only showed up every other day saying things were getting a bit more complicated then he’d like, mentioning someplace called Rumblecusp. Then out of the blue he stopped showing up altogether, no explanation, no quick goodbye, just nothing. At first you didn’t mind, having some time for yourself was nice but the longer he didn’t appear the more concerned you started to feel. He’d mentioned many times how he wanted to cut ties with his followers so he could go back to doing more of what he pleased again, it made you wonder if that included yourself too. The only hope you still had that he hadn’t completely abandoned you was the fact you still had your Warlock abilities, surely that had to mean something, right?

More time came and went and still no word or sigh from you fey friend, it disheartening honestly, after finally allowing yourself to open up more to someone else they up and disappear without a trace. You tried to get his attention by causing some major chaos to some poor unsuspecting villagers, using illusion spells to make it look like a dragon was circling the city, swooping down and scaring the locals. It was entertaining, but in the long run didn’t really achieve much, not to mention it was exhausting using such powerful magic. You sigh as you sit yourself down at a nearby lake to rest, staring up at the moon, which looked oddly bigger and brighter then usual tonight but still really pretty. Letting your thoughts wander back to when you first met Artagan, how much of a nuisance he used to be, well he still was but you were able to tolerate it much more now. All this reminiscing makes you realize just how boring your life used to be, you used to just go about your days solely to survive but once Artagan showed up and taught you how to be a kid again you weren’t just surviving anymore, you were living, having fun and actually enjoying yourself. You didn’t notice you were curling in on yourself and crying until your vision started going blurry from tears, doing your best to try wiping them away.

“There there. Come now, there’s really no need for such sour tears.” The sudden voice followed by a cloth helping dab some tears away makes you back. Looking up at a set of familiar, shining green eyes and fiery hair. “Ha, you should see yourself, you look like you’ve seen- oof!” Now Artagan was the one left in shock when you suddenly spring up from the ground and hug him. Eventually he does hug you back, albeit a bit awkwardly, still confused about what was happening.

“I thought you left me.” You mutter, when he doesn’t respond you continue. “You said wanted to cut ties with your followers so you wouldn’t have to show up all the time, that’s what that whole Traveler Con talk was about, right? So when you stopped showing up I thought you meant me too.”

“Oh…” It comes out so softly you could almost mistake it as him simply taking a breath. “I uhh, heh… you see things got complicated and…” It sounded like he was trying to bring up the mood, but with how his grip tightened around you… “I would never abandon you.” It startles you how serious he suddenly sounded. “I don’t give the title of favourites to just anyone, Jester is a wonderfully devious friend to have. While you brought a sort of grounding I didn’t realize I needed. Funny isn’t it, the adult brings the carefree nature, while the child plays the voice of reason.” It goes silent between you both, but it’s a comforting silence.

“So why-why were you gone so long?” You finally manage to ask.

“Ahh, that. Yes, well if could imagine, I may have overstepped my boundaries by pretending to be the Moonweaver and she wasn’t happy about that…” He explains with an awkward chuckle.

“Somehow, I’m not surprised.” You say with a small giggle.

“Are you kidding me! It’s was the Moonweaver herself! How can you not be surprised by that!” He asks exasperated, finally stepping away from you.

“Because it’s you, and you always find a way to annoy someone.” You poke fun at him. He takes another step back with a overly dramatic look of shock. “Geez, for someone who doesn’t like the theatre, you sure love the drama.”

“Don’t get me started! If I’d known this is what I’d be greeted to when I made my glorious return I would’ve stayed away.” He pouts. Yup, still being a drama queen. You get a good laugh out of it though.

“Well if that’s the case then I guess I won’t tell you how I fooled a whole village into thinking a dragon was nesting nearby.” You huff lightheartedly, pretending to march away.

“No wait, I want to know. Tell me.” Artagan follows after you. For the rest of the night you both share stories of what the other had missed in your time apart.

Bonus:

“Hey Artagan, I’m curious about something.”

“Oh? Care to inquire about some new tricks or perhaps refine older ones?”

“No, I was just wondering, how would you react if I ever met Jester for myself?”

“…”

“…”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Alright, good talk.”

“Wait, why?”

“Goodnight.”

“No! You can’t just ask me that and then leave it!”

“…”

“(Y/n).”

“…”

“Oh come on! No one falls asleep that fast!”

[essekwidogast]

You know what’s interesting? The similarities between Essek and Artagan’s arcs, the way the Mighty Nein treat each character, and what this might mean for Essek’s future development.

If you drew a venn diagram of non-player characters who would lay down their lives for the Mighty Nein (not to save the world, just to save the Mighty Nein) and NPCs that actually have the power to do something useful in a situation like that, the only characters in the overlap would be Essek and Artagan (and possibly Marion Lavorre, but that’s based on pure, unfounded speculation about her possible abilities.) Simultaneously, however, these are some of the allies that the Mighty Nein rightfully trust (or trusted) the least.

Neither of them started out particularly trustworthy in the Mighty Nein's eyes. Artagan was only known as the Traveler, a mysterious, hooded figure that showed himself to Jester since she was a child who sought to expand his worship in a cult-like fashion. Essek was the Shadowhand, Yeza's captor and potentially theirs as well if Caleb hadn't given up the beacon in their possession. However, both characters gave the Mighty Nein something incredibly useful: magical favors, either through cleric spells for Jester, or dunamancy spells for Caleb and teleports. This caused them to be useful allies to the Mighty Nein, but never quite trusted by all but Jester Lavorre.

And then came the revelations. Both characters actively lied to the Mighty Nein in a huge way. The "Traveler," of course, was never a god, but a banished archfey looking to stroke his ego and have some fun on the material plane. Essek had started a war by working with the very same people who had abused Caleb for years. Both confessions came at a point when they realized their actions had unintended consequences they couldn't have planned for. Artagan found handling all his worshippers a hassle, and Essek didn't know he would be betraying his only friends before he ever met them. But even though both had some regrets over the way things went, neither showed true remorse for their actions or a desire to make things better. Artagan was planning Travelercon, where he would find a way to lie and get people to stop worshipping him (even if that meant wiping their memories as a last ditch effort) but never telling them the truth of his nature. Essek was perfectly happy letting an innocent man (of this particular crime, at least) take the fall for him. Understandably, the Mighty Nein (again, with the exception of Jester) became extremely cold and distrustful after discovering this, even more so than they were before. It seemed like trust could never be repaired between them.

And then Travelercon happened. During the height of their ceremony, a servant of the Moonweaver descended upon the crowd and chained Artagan away, revealing his true nature to his worshippers and condemning him to be locked away in the Feywild once more. Jester held on tight, refusing to let go of her best friend and leave him to his sentence without her. And he... kicked her away. In that moment, he showed that as selfish and deceitful as he was, he would not let Jester get hurt as well. Of course, he never did end up serving out that sentence in the Feywild. While a bit scared by the whole experience no doubt, he never faced a punishment "worthy" of his numerous terrible deeds. It would be a bit much to say that the Mighty Nein as a whole trust Artagan, they certainly distrust him a lot less than they ever did before. Simply put, he's an ally, and one they know they can turn to in an hour of need.

So this makes me wonder... what does this mean for Essek's arc? A servant of the Moonweaver is proverbially descending upon him as the Dynasty begins to suspect his involvement in the plot and assassins are sent for him by the very people he worked for. Out of the many people they begged for assistance, Essek was the only one willing to physically fight against the Somnovum alongside the Mighty Nein, but he has yet to actually prove himself on the battlefield alongside them. His arc might go in a very similar direction as Artagan's or it might not. Either way, the similarities so far are fascinating.

[tasberry]

If Laudna's subclasses change upon her resurrection, I think that either wild magic or storm sorcerer would be fitting thematically.

Wild magic would be neat because of all the fey shenanigans going on already, obviously....but it's also just the whole embodiment of chaos, change, and unpredictability.

...I can totally see a child struggling with random wild magic surges to be picked on or avoided.

If she was a storm sorcerer before though:

Being able to control weather could be very helpful for her parents who had a farm, right? Also, I cannot imagine a scenario where random thunder, lighting, and levitating wouldn't be spooky themed, you know?

I think her mirroring Imogen with storms and navigating the turbulence with one another would be wonderful but that's another post entirely

In either choice, it would make a lot of sense why she would've wanted to hone the abilities, in addition of her desire to move on from Whitestone.

As an added bit because I JUST realized this:

Lunar sorcerer from the upcoming Dragonlance book! That is also perfectly spooky, moon themed, and could be really fitting for Laudna as well.

I think it would be really neat if Laudna's powers were originally drawn from Catha. It feels...right? It just tickles something in my brain. Laudna having Catha moon powers, while Fearne and Imogen were affected by Ruidus. The witch trio having moon powers in common, but it not being a rehash of someone drawing power from this malevolent source.

The commandments of the Moonweaver also feel like they could relate to Laudnas character and her growing as a person? The more I snoop the more I feel like if any change is going to be made to her subclass, this will be it.

The odd and wonderful irony in having a celestial being watching over her, that's typically worshiped in elven culture and is associated with lovers ontop of all that? My brain is just rolling around in this idea. I kinda love all of it?? Lunar sorcerer/celestial warlock...?

......Is it Thursday yet?