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utilitycaster · 1 year ago

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Wizard Breakdown Tracker: Echoes of the Solstice

You know it, you love it, it may return on an as-needed basis for Campaign 3 now that Allura has entered the narrative and we know the fate of Caleb, but no promises: it's the Wizard Breakdown Tracker! As a reminder, I now include PCs because I make the rules; wizard NPCs are included on the very scientific basis of "do I have something I think is kind of funny or meaningful to say" so as always, if I left someone off, it was on purpose specifically to annoy you.

Astrid Becke: well her boss is missing, Caleb has expressed concerns in private to Beau about all of the Assembly, apparently the king is bedridden and has been for some time, and I suspect news of unsealed things being unsealed gets to her quickly; even if she isn't aware of the events in Blumenthal yet, she's about to be. Also, it's the apogee solstice. 8/10; ever the opportunist, it is a good time for her to try to become head of the Assembly, but also shit's gone real sideways.

Eadwulf Grieve: lost his title of hottest mage (men's division) to one Fjord Stone during the last Nicodranas County Fair and has been sulking ever since but more importantly the temple of the Raven Queen is doing Not Great Bob as of like an hour ago so a rare Eadwulf stress moment. 7/10.

Planerider Ryn: just lost her arm...but is unaware of it, so that's probably helping. technically cannot be calculated because she is a rock but spiritually like an 8/10 and that's only because she is remarkably unflappable; she just witnessed the Malleus Key and that should drive anyone up to a 10.

Allura Vysoren: has absolutely sensed a disturbance in the force weave and I'm sure Kima's feeling some bad vibes from Bahamut right now, but rather like Ryn she actually has some degree of sangfroid, a concept unheard of in the entire continent of Wildemount. 6/10.

Yussa Errenis: have you ever dealt with like, an ER Nurse, and unless something is actually exploding or someone is actually bleeding out they're like "yeah it be like that sometimes"? After you've been sucked into the Cognouza Hivemind while trying to do your silly little arcane investigations nothing short of the Calamity will ruffle you. He's an elf; he knows this solstice is wonky but also he knows this is Someone Else's Problem. Also Jester's left him alone for a whole 24 hours? Incredible. 2/10 and that's really just because he's still a little cranky about the disappearance of his blast scepter. As always: never change, king.

Prism Grimpoppy: by my calculations she's discovering that she's actually fucking incredible in combat right now. 0/10, she's doing GREAT.

Pumat Sol and sure, fuck it, Oremid Hass: I suspect the Zadash Wizard Contingent is dealing with some wild unsealed shit from the time of the Julous Dominion and they can't get in touch with anyone in the capital, but it's probably manageable. 4/10. On edge but not too bad.

Ludinus Da'leth: oh did your little plan to unleash the god-eater go a touch sideways? were you unprepared for the possibility of fucking all of magic? did you think it was going to be easy? did level 9 "Fuck Up Airship" and level 8 "Shield Against Werewolf" fail to save your bitch ass? As we've seen, he'll scramble and recover, unfortunately, but it's a well-deserved 9/10 right now. I love to see a plan fall apart.

Trent Ikithon: OH this motherfucker has LOST IT in prison. Like...he was able to put together a pretty elaborate situation, to be clear, but also he's gone bugfuck nuts and does not really improve. I think he's already broken down from the start having clearly been planning this exact scenario from the moment of his imprisonment honestly given that he appears to be going off of the frissons he picked up from Caleb and Essek shortly before he was captured, but regardless: he definitely ends it at a 10/10. Stuck in an egg for eternity, if he's even still a separate entity from Omentis. A well-deserved fate if ever there was one. Get fucked lol.

Veth Brenatto: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha 10/10 you know she watched Luc leap through the teleportation circle as it closed and has been shrieking loud enough to be heard at the Chateau.

Luc Brenatto: the arrogance and naivete of youth insulate him initially, but Aggy's demise probably spikes it to a solid 6 minimum and it's definitely 9 during the battle. It goes back down pretty quickly though; see Caleb's entry.

Caleb Widogast: he keeps it together pretty well, honestly! Still I have to imagine he's kind of at a 7 or so this entire time with occasional spikes to 9 (NEIN) throughout, and I wouldn't fault him for finishing up the Blumenthal Brunch and then quietly locking himself in a soundproof tower room to scream, cry, and throw up for a while. Indeed, I would encourage it; Caleb should go have a good cry and hug a magic cat for a couple hours until he feels better, and then come back down to find that everyone except the clerics but DEFINITELY including Luc has implemented Spontaneous Apogee Solstice Oktoberfest to celebrate the demise of Trent, the engagement of Fjord and Jester, and the general experience of being alive, and is varying degrees of extremely wasted. This will of course bring him back up to like 7 as he realizes he has to return a hungover teenager to Veth and then goes down to a 4 or so when he realizes the clerics can fix that and Veth will probably be so glad that Luc is alive she'll ignore the rest of it.

Essek Thelyss: Our international drow of mystery looms large in the narrative, but does not make an appearance, which makes this premise extremely funny. I assume he's feeling kind of rough given that the Dynasty wizards are well-attuned to leylines and I would imagine he picks up that Sending isn't working and was broadly aware Caleb was going into danger, so he's certainly stressed, but Trent doesn't actually seem to know Where in Exandria is Essek Thelyss and is merely threatening blackmail. Honestly while we're at it, we don't know where Essek is because I wouldn't put it past Mr. Geometer Owner to have been at a solstice nexus and to have possibly experienced his own Solstice Shunting. In fact I assume Essek is blissfully unaware of these specific goings on re: Trent and is just experiencing The Anxiety for all of the previous reasons. (1d6+3)/10.

Known Gem Wizard Hotsauce Lutefisk: Hmmm. Things becoming unsealed, you say? The uninvited guest list (The Real Gelidon, Isharnai) for The TusktoothStone-Lavorre wedding may have gained an extra entry.

#i'm gelidon i'm the real gelidon and all the other gelidons are just shapechanging #critical role #critical role spoilers #wizard breakdown tracker #mighty nein #echoes of the solstice

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aeoris4lovers · 2 years ago

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when caleb is talking to the nein about his past before the dinner with trent, he tells them that in the time he spent under trent, astrid and wulf never wavered in their dedication or willingness. after rereading his origins comic, though, i think he’s wrong. i think there was a pretty significant period of time where eadwulf specifically was having doubts about what they were doing right in front of his eyes.

exhibit a: the bodies

this is the most subtle example of it, but it’s also the earliest and probably represents the very beginnings of whatever doubts were brewing in wulf’s mind.

in both of these instances, there’s a dead or unconscious body on the ground, and wulf is staring at it while bren talks to trent. it’s hard to tell where he’s looking in the second one, but a later frame makes it clear that he’s looking in the direction of a body.

in the first one particularly, he looks to me like he’s visibly upset — his face isn’t as stoic as the others, and his body language looks uncertain, not his usual crossed-arm stance.

these were the moments that first caught my eye. they brought up questions in my mind: what is he thinking? what’s going through his head as he looks at the people they just hurt?

exhibit b: the bath scene

this comes immediately after the second body, and is what confirmed in my mind that wulf definitely isn’t entirely on board with the things they’re being told to do.

he closes the door behind them and just stands with his fist against it. none of them look happy by any means, but it’s clear that he’s upset to a point where even bren and astrid, in the midst of their own feelings, look concerned and go to comfort him.

bren in particular takes a long moment with him before the two of them rejoin astrid. i’ll get into why that — and bren’s role in general — is significant in a moment.

exhibit c: the morning after

this is the most important point in all of this, and the significance of his reaction here really can’t be understated.

in this moment, trent has just drawn their attention to their “memories” of their parents defying the empire. these are, from their point of view, very real and undeniable memories. and yet, the reaction we see here from wulf is one of explicit and absolute rejection.

and he’s not just denying what trent wants him to believe — he’s angry. he’s standing up and slamming a hand on table and raising his voice. doubt has been simmering under the surface in him for a while now, and this is the moment that trent crosses a line. trent has presented something truly unthinkable to him and despite his own memories supporting it, he absolutely cannot believe it. on a very visceral level, he knows it can’t be right.

this moment is significant not only because it confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that wulf is not completely sure of what they’re doing, but also because we literally never see another student of trent openly defy him like this, nor do we see any volstrucker do so.

let me repeat that: until caleb goes up against him with the nein, eadwulf is the only person we ever see look trent in the eye and say “you’re wrong.” even after all of campaign two, we never see someone actively working under him defy him that explicitly — it’s only caleb, who escaped his control, or people like the nein with no real connection to him. even when astrid acts against him, she does it very quietly and is clearly terrified of those actions being alluded to at the dinner. wulf is the only one we ever see who, while at trent’s mercy, dares to openly and completely reject him.

bringing his family into it was a step too far. at this point, wulf isn’t just struggling with what they’re being told — he’s absolutely not having it anymore.

so what gives?

we know that he ultimately believes trent enough to kill his parents, and is even the first of the three to do it, so how do we get to that level of agreement from such a powerful moment of anger and denial?

that’s where bren comes in.

looking back at that breakfast scene, we can also see how the other two react to their own memories coming to light.

astrid’s is one of betrayal. she’s confused and struggling to understand why they would do it, but she doesn’t deny it either.

bren’s, on the other hand, is one of defeat. he’s clearly upset, but he’s simultaneously totally certain that what they’re remembering is true. and of course he is — his memory has been impeccable his entire life. why would he start to question it now, even if he doesn’t want to believe what it’s telling him?

bottom line: while astrid clearly also struggles with it and may have her own doubts, though not as strong as wulf’s, bren takes it all in stride and never wavers.

and if there’s one thing we know about wulf, it’s that he trusts his people. throughout his scenes in campaign two, we see him looking to astrid for signs of what to do or say and deferring to her when he’s overwhelmed by or unsure of the situation at hand. when caleb takes his hand at the blooming grove, he follows, and when astrid takes his hand and leads him away, he follows her. where they go, he follows. he trusts them implicitly and he looks to them when he doesn’t know what the right call is.

so what is he going to do in that moment, when his own mind is telling him something that he absolutely can’t believe and he doesn’t know how to reconcile it? he looks to them for guidance.

astrid clearly isn’t in a place to offer much, and hasn’t been. she’s not as lost in doubt as he is, but she’s not certain enough to reassure him either. we can already see that in the bath scene — remember when i said it was significant that bren is the one to stay with wulf while astrid goes off on her own? she wants to comfort him and tries to because she cares about him, but it seems that her conviction isn’t quite strong enough to be a steady base for someone else. and in the breakfast scene, we see that again, with her not openly going against it but still struggling with it in a way bren doesn’t.

bren, on the other hand, is consistently certain that they’re doing the right thing, even when it feels bad. caleb says as much himself when he first tells beau and nott his story: “i was so sure, i was so sure, until i wasn’t.” hearing his parents scream as they die is genuinely the first time he ever has doubts. until that moment, he’s sure. he trusts his mind and he trusts trent and he believes in their cause.

so when he sees wulf struggling with it, what does he do? he offers that certainty, reminds him of why they’re doing what they do, assures him that they’re doing the right thing and he doesn’t have to feel guilty. he’s their rock, the one wulf and astrid can trust to be sure even when their faith is shaken.

and that’s exactly what i think happens in the time between that breakfast and the night they kill their parents: bren sees wulf angry and totally lost trying to make sense of the massive gulf between what he remembers and what he knows to be true, he sees astrid confused and not able to put the pieces together, and he reassures them because he trusts his mind and so do they and he doesn’t want to see them struggle.

and i think astrid needs less convincing, but once she’s sure too and it’s only wulf that can’t accept it, that’s when he starts to think that maybe the unthinkable could really be true. bren is certain of what he remembers and astrid is certain that bren is right, so how can wulf, who trusts and relies on them so much for guidance, not at least entertain the idea that his parents really are traitors? how can he deny it and, in doing so, deny them?

that’s how he can ultimately go and do what he’s told, with such a stern and certain look on his face as he does. because his people were sure that it was the right thing to do, and no matter how strongly he feels that something must be wrong, he trusts them even more than he trusts himself.

that’s not to say that his doubts are completely quelled, though, because there’s still more of this thread that we can follow.

exhibit d: the aftermath

wulf’s move to knock bren out and save astrid is a quick and decisive one in the moment, but it’s clear that he isn’t at all sure if he did the right thing. he talks to trent — explaining himself, maybe even apologizing because he thinks he was wrong — and trent has to stop him and say that no, he was right.

this is significant for two reasons. the first and more obvious of the two is that this shows he’s still in a headspace of questioning what he’s doing almost immediately after doing it. that doubt was quelled long enough to allow him to complete the “exercise”, but not by any means gone for good.

the second, which i think is the most important to the person he ultimately becomes, is that this is the first time he’s had to look to trent for reassurance.

before this moment, it’s bren and astrid who comfort and reassure him. but now, bren is lost to them and astrid is in no shape to offer any comfort, much less give him the reassurance bren might have. and she might not want to do so even if she could — she wanted to save bren, not leave him behind, and may very well be angry at wulf for the choice he made. so what choice does he have, with neither of them able to support him, but to look to his mentor for reassurance?

and what happens once he gets that reassurance from trent? before, he doubted trent and even openly defied him, but can he continue to do that now?

if he wants to be able to live with himself after, to live with the choice he made and sleep at night, he has to believe that the reassurance trent offered him that night was right — he has to believe that trent’s judgment is right. if trent is lying or just wrong, that means he did the wrong thing that night, and where can he go from there?

that night is a turning point for wulf not just because he took his parents out of the picture, but because he made a decision that ended up forcing him to trust trent to an extent that he really didn’t before.

the new eadwulf

the wulf that we meet in campaign two as an adult is a far cry from the wulf who stood up at that table and said “no, they would never.” he comes across as largely apathetic to and even comfortable with the things they do — it’s just a job for him, not something to overthink or get hung up on. as far as he’s concerned, the lives they take are unfortunate but still necessary sacrifices, just like trent always said.

and if you ask me, his journey to becoming that person, to the doubt and the fire in him being all but completely stomped out, starts with the night he was forced to give up his one source of constant reassurance and finally put his trust in trent instead. everything we see him do to separate himself from his actions, from his belief in fate and his “good soldier” attitude to the drink he has ready after spending time with trent, stems from that moment. he is the way he is when we meet him not because he simply doesn’t care, but because he can no longer afford to.

caleb says they never wavered while he was with them, but i think it’s only because his vision was clouded by his own certainty that he never saw it. he just couldn’t believe that they might not believe in their cause as much as he did because it seemed so right to him, and how could he believe that the people he loved would doubt something so important?

but they did doubt it, especially wulf, and even as an adult, little bits of that stick around in him — he immediately gravitates toward caduceus after caduceus stands up to trent, and as soon as trent isn’t a threat anymore, he’s perfectly content to just stay with caleb (and probably would have if astrid hadn’t pulled him away when she did).

i think, if bren hadn’t been selected for the volstrucker program or just hadn’t been as confident as he was in all of it, it may very well have been eadwulf who found himself standing against trent in the end.

#thank you for coming to my ted talk #this turned out so much longer than i expected i just. have so many wulf thoughts #no clue if this made sense but i needed to write it all out #sometimes you gotta just. write an essay about some shit that no one asked to hear #cr meta #eadwulf grieve #blumendrei #caleb widogast #astrid becke #bren aldric ermendrud #eodwulf grieve #blumentrio #c2 #the mighty nein #critical role #critical role meta

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critter-genfic-events · 10 months ago

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This week, we have nein lovely hair care fics! Come enjoy some tender love and care. Check them out under the cut, and as ever, comment or kudos if you like them!

Routine by RainyDayDecaf (2902,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Beau & Essek

A part of a series where tm9 find a feebleminded Essek, this fic features Beau cutting Essek's hair and giving him a sense of comfort no one was expecting

Reccer says: I adore this series in general, but this specific fic just hit all the right spots for me comfort wise.

won't you try to be kind to that wandering mind? by GrayintoGreen (2566,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Fearne & Laudna & Imogen

Fearne gets to have a little bit of girls-only bonding time with Imogen and Laudna

Reccer says: It's a great Fearne point of view, plus early campaign bonding time!

fate (is but dandruff) by Meridas (1794,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Mollymauk & Yasha

A newly resurrected Mollymauk and Yasha cut their hair together

Reccer says: It feels like healing

Shave and a Haircut (Two Bits) by MasterQwertster (1749,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Ashton Greymoore & Laudna

Laudna has a rock chisel in her hair and Ashton’s could use a… trim, for lack of a better term.

Reccer says: A fun look at taking care of crystal hair and friendship between Laudna and Ashton.

trimmed by Chanse (SpottedEnchants) (239,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Essek & Yasha

essek inspects the aftermath of yasha's help

Reccer says: It's short, sweet, and very poignant

there is no other version of this story by Otocyon (625,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Vex and Vax

Vex tries to talk to Vax

Reccer says: Lovely, lyrical and heartbreaking

With no Lapidary by Operafloozy (960,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings:

Ashton's hair requires a little extra work to take care of - much like the genasi himself

Reccer says: An interesting thought I never had before - if Ashton's hair is actually gemstones, how did he learn to take care of it?

Three Years, Six Beacons, Nein Braids by devil_seabird_king (ShaaKi) (1818,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Essek & Verin Thelyss

Verin visits Essek in prison, talks about the nein, and braids his hair

Reccer says: I liked it

tell me there's another song by yelenavasilyevna (7220,Mature) Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, discussion of child abuse (Caleb's backstory) Pairings: Astrid Becke/Caleb Widogast, Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve

A post-canon character study about the newly appointed Master Astrid Becke. Astrid copes with the political and ethical horror show that Ikithon has left for her to clean up, while reconnecting with Bren as he teaches her his transmogrification spell. Uses haircutting and Astrid's hair as a framing device.

Reccer says: Class tension, Astrid on the assembly, Astrid in the memory prison rooms of the nein-sided tower, Astrid talking to students, Astrid and Eadwulf trying to be people after a lifetime of being weapons, Astrid and Caleb doing magic together, and gratuitous use of the title "Master Becke"

This is one of our weekly communally-generated gen rec lists. Every week we announce a new theme and allow anyone to submit a fic recommendation. Please note that the summary and content notes are provided by the reccer, and may be different than what the author has provided. Please assume good intentions all around. <3

And hey, anyone includes you!

Next week, we'll be featuring Pre-Campaign fics!

Then, it'll be Crashing A Party, Calamity Focused, and then Transformation!

Any fics coming to mind? Well, then use this form to submit!If you're looking for some more, check out some fics written in the critter genfic bingo tag, or the older rec lists! Or you can request your own card and join in on the fun!

#critical role #critter genfic rec lists #gen fic #cr fan fic #hair care #the mighty nein #bells hells #vox machina #sorry for the late post!

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shadowgast-recs-weekly · 2 years ago

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Shadowgast Recs: Scourger AUs

This week we have an even dozen recs for a darker type of shadowgast - Scourger/Evil AUs!

ties that bind by wytch-lyghts (72058, Explicit) Warnings: None Mutual manipulation as both play for the upper hand, until the slow shifting of allegiances. Reccer says: It’s a great series of fics that pose interesting questions of loyalty and who holds the leash. Very enjoyable!

Birds of Prey by Mlle Kurtz (91852, Explicit) Warnings: Marked as a mix of no warnings and creator choose not to apply warnings, so definitely read the tags on each fic A series of Bren/Essek fics as they come together and fall apart, exploring trust, dependency, and delicious questions of morality. Reccer says: This is such a detailed look at an alternative set of circumstances with nuance and incredible characterisation. The writing is gorgeous, the sex is hot, and it’s worth a read!

Bound in Anticipation by AmerValk (24426, Explicit) Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Graphic Depictions of Violence, it's very dark, not really a happy ending Bren is a Volstrucker and becomes Essek's captor. Essen tries to handle the situation while Bren toys with him. Reccer says: It's a really intriguing dynamic between Bren and Essek.

darkness, walk with me by magisterpavus (18856, Explicit) Warnings: graphic depictions of violence - more specifically, torture by magic. not between caleb or essek essek is a prisoner of scourger!bren and agrees to share knowledge in exchange for bren's body/company. a little bit of torture, a lot of bratting and edging. Reccer says: i ADORE their dynamic in this and how sharp both of their minds are. they're intelligent, dangerous, and sexy, and they have the most unhealthy dynamic. 10/10 no notes

A Secret Only to Condemn by hanap (10812, Explicit) Warnings: under-negotiated kink, angst, unhappy ending Bren and Essek end their arrangement, but not before having sex one last time. Reccer says: Do you like sadness and people who have done horrible things having feelings for one another that they would never speak aloud? Because this is the fic for you!

The Altar of Verisimilitude by marsastronomica (marswithghosts) (9877, Explicit) Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings - read the tags and A/N What if Bren didn't break and Astrid and Eadwulf met Nott the Brave instead? This is a fascinating read into a Bren/Essek au that touches on some of the darker depths. Reccer says: This author’s writing is always incredibly stunning in the world-building of what is said with each line, and this one is no different interesting show-build of character moments, a richly detailed world, and snippets into seeing how out-of-his-depths Essek really is.

Wants & Needs by Cardinal_Daughter (11604, Explicit) Warnings: Creator chose not to use Archive warnings, some dubious content/nonconsent (not between Bren and Essek) Bren and Essek plan and plot how they will travel back in time and fix things Reccer says: Despite the author's own warnings, it's a very soft fic, two people in a situation they don't like actively working to get out of it.

the space in between by KmacKatie (9120, Explicit) Warnings: None Bren and Essek are in a mutual manipulation game, each trying to get the upper hand while Essek is operating with far less facts than Bren. Both are in deeper than either cares to admit. Reccer says: The shifting power plays and dynamics speak to a much wider world and history, the banter is sharp and fun, and the sex is just another card in the game that they are both playing.

A Fair Exchange by Firefright (4135, Teen) Warnings: None Bren discusses future plans with Essek after disposing of his former teacher. Reccer says: It's oddly sweet and in character, considering these are very evil versions of Essek and Caleb. They talk around their feelings but still manage to like each other.

reflections and other illusions of control by atlasarcana (15022, Explicit) Warnings: No warnings for first fic. Dubcon for fics 2 and 3 in the series, and graphic depictions of violence in fic 3. Caleb and Essek summon an echo, but the timeline they get is Bren, not Caleb. They proceed to negotiate a BDSM scene between Essek and Caleb's scourger alter-ego, like any reasonable couple who's had issues spicing up their sex life would. Reccer says: The delicious contrast between Caleb and the person he could have become, some delightful gender fuckery, absolutely brilliant writing, and a fascinating character study. Also, the rest of the series feature some very hot sex.

And then these two have two recs each!

the shadow of a truth by royalgreen (allyoop) (2184, Explicit) Warnings: Temporary Character Death, Ambiguous Ending, Dubious Consent Bren is sent on a mission to kill the Shadowhand. He ends up biting off more than he can chew. Reccer 1 says: It's a short one, but it still manages to have the power plays and competing arrogance that I love in Scourger AUs Reccer 2 says: Bren is so very confident, right until he isn't. And Essek is PERFECT, so ruthless and entirely in control of the situation.

Breaking Inertia by futureshieldmaiden (31096, Teen) Warnings: None Scourger Bren tries to use a Beacon to go back in time, and creates a time loop. He has to work with Shadowhand Essek Thelyss to break out of it. Reccer 1 says: It's a very fun read, with a couple of twists and turns. I love the use of time loops to get closer and learn about the other person, and this was a great version of it. Reccer 2 says: I love the slow burn between these two, working together on a shared goal, and how their relationship develops and changes over time. I also love it's the two of them against the Assembly, instead of Scourger Bren betraying Essek for Ikithon, which seems to be the more popular flavor for Scourger AUs.

All recs were provided by Aeor is for Lovers, an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week’s theme are fics that involve gifting, so check back next week!

#shadowgast #critical role #cr fic recs #evil au recs #shadowgast fic #caleb widogast #essek thelyss

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untamedmetablogiguess · 2 years ago

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maybe it’s just because I’m a Caleb stan in CR fandom, but I really do wish there was more mdzs fic that dug into how deeply it fucks you up to be trained to fucking torture people. Most jgy fic focuses on his many MANY other traumas, but kind of glosses over his time with the Wen, except maybe for the specific moments we saw - but those were right at the end! There’s so much more that could be made of that!

and of the AFTERMATH of that - of spending so much time so utterly isolated. The rest of their generation was bound together in a lot of ways by the common trauma of fighting together side-by-side, and jgy was, once again, on the outside of that. (Wwx was too but he spent a lot of time in the middle of people pretending that he was NOT isolated, which is it’s own flavor of trauma tbh.). Like, pulling again from critrole- even at the worst of it, Caleb had Astrid and Eadwulf. Who did Meng Yao have in nightless city? No one. Not a single fucking person. Let’s talk about how THAT contributed to his later conviction that he absolutely cannot ask for help, that keeping everything secret is the only way to survive. Let’s talk about depersonalization and dissociation and spending the rest of his life among people whose loved ones he may well have tortured or killed and what that DOES to a person. Even if you took every single other horrible thing that happened to him away, jgy would STILL be DEEPLY FUCKED UP just based on that experience.

#Mdzs #Cql #jgy #jin guangyao #meng yao #meta

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criticallybi · 2 years ago

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You know what’s something else I think about often. When the mighty nein fled from Trent to nicodranas and Astrid and Eadwulf showed up to warn the group that Trent here. Eadwulf specifically says “were not doing this for you, were doing this for him.” I don’t know why that struck me so hard. After all these years of Bren being gone and out of reach to them they both still hold this deep care for him (and him to them as-well).

I do wonder how much Trent told them of Caleb’s well-being during his years of being catatonic. Did they go visit him in the sanatorium? Were they even allowed to? Did they know he escaped? Or did they mourn him as if he were dead because they never thought they see him again as himself?

#wow I just went off on a tangent about the blumentrio #I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again #I really want critical role to make a book about thr blumentrios time with Trent #I feel like that would be such an interesting thing to go more in detail about #obviously going into detail about the horrors of icky-thong #but also the good things too like blumendrei falling in love with eachother and all that #critical role #liam o'brien #caleb widogast #astrid beck #eadwulf grieve #blumentrio #blumendrei #campaign 2 #the mighty nein #trent ikithon #icky-thong #bren aldric ermendrud

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powerpolyculeshowdown · 2 years ago

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CANON POLYCULE SHOWDOWN

this is a contest for canonically confirmed polycules or polycules that have a lot of hints to a possibility of them being canon, even if the authors might not have intended that way!

Beware of spoilers!! Some of these only become polycules later in the media they're from, and some of the descriptions describe a tragic fate for the polycule, so keep in mind there will be spoilers

rules can be found here

bracket can be found here

honorable mentions can be found here

links for all the match ups as they go live can be found in the MASTERPOST. it will be updated each round, but i will also tag every round to make them easier to find

help me w descriptions for the honorable mentions!

Round 2 part 2 finished.

Round 3 will go live on May 19th!

(#canonround2 or #pollycule if you want to search for the polls)

tags:

#canonpolyculeshowdown - for relevant updates and the polls

#pollycule - (yes double L) specifically for the showdown polls, to make it easier to find. doesn't include the prelims cause I only thought to add this after, sorry

#canonpropaganda - for, well, propaganda. ill post asks, reblog posts and maybe reblog reblogs

#honorablemention - for the ships that did not make it in (i will still make a post introducing all of them)

#tournamnt poll - the generally agreed on tag for blacklisting purposes. let me know if i forget to use it! i cant edit polls but it will remind me for the following round

#canonroundN - N being the number of the round we're in. so, for example: canonround0, canonround1, canonround2, etc. from the quarterfinals onwards, they'll also include the specific tag (#quarterfinals, etc). Check the post's tags for that ome if you want to look at all polls from that round!

list may be updated as needed.

if you submitted something that did not get in, nor was it posted as an honorable mention, and you wish to know why, feel free to send an ask.

LIST OF CONTESTANTS:

Nathan/Vlad/Ursula (Hunger Pangs)

Rilla/Arum/Damien (Penumbra Podcast)

Nathan/Gabriel/Annalise (The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself)

Ben/Ryn/Maddie (Siren Freeform)

Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot (High Noon Over Camelot)

Quanxi/Pingsti/Cosmo/Long/Tsugihagi (Chainsaw Man)

Wu Zetian/Li Shimin/Gao Yizhi (Iron Widow)

Caleb/Astrid/Eadwulf (Critical Role)

Sadie/Walt/Anubis (The Kane Chronicles)

Rajan/Wolfgang/Kala (Sense8)

Princess Glisselda/Seraphina/Lucien (Seraphina)

Tess/Jacomo/Margarethe (Tess of the Road)

Logan/Jean Grey/Scott/Emma (X-Men)

Uzui/Hinatsuru/Makio/Suma (Demon Slayer)

Megaera/Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades)

Dianda/Simon/Patrick (October Daye)

Haruka/Michiru/Setsuna (Sailor Moon)

Asmodeus Alice/Clara Valac/Iruma Suzuki (Mairimashita, Iruma-kun!)

Aizo/Yujiro/Hiyori (HoneyWorks)

Kyle/Rogelio/Lonnie (She Ra)

Dashawn/Steve/Jose/Cupe R III/Otto/Arturo/Gregory/Quackers McQuack (Bojack Horseman)

Fluorite (Steven Universe)

Miss Piggy/Kermit/Gonzo (Muppets)

Sherlock/Watson/Mary (Sherlock Holmes movies)

Ichika Hoshino/Saki Tenma/Shiho Hinomori/Honami Mochizuki (Project SEKAI)

Tree Trunks/Mr. Pig/Alien Husband (Adventure Time)

Daniel/Sam/Jack/Teal’c (Stargate SG-1)

Mukai Naoya/Saki Saki/Nagisa Minase (Kanojo mo Kanojo/Girlfriend Girlfriend)

Eddie/Venom/Anne/Dan (Venom)

Peter Quill/Aradia/Mors (Guardians of the Galaxy)

George/Gilda/Thomas (Design for Living)

Leif/Thorn/Kale (Leif and Thorn)

Kieran/Ray/Gemma (Trigonometry)

Eugene/Rapunzel/Cassandra (Tangled the Series)

Jack/August/Rina (The Wicker King)

La’gann/Coral/Rodunn (Young Justice)

Syenite/Innon/Alabaster (Broken Earth)

Enrique/Hypnos/Sofia (The Gilded Wolves)

Max/Jack/Anne (Black Sails)

Pyrrha/Commander Wake/Gideon the First (The Locked Tomb)

Neptune/Venus/Jupiter (We Know the Devil)

Quincey/Jack/Arthur/Lucy (Dracula)

Amber/Reese/David (Adaptation)

Will/Tessa/Jem (The Infernal Devices)

Kieran/Cristina/Mark (The Dark Artifices)

Winter/Moon/Qibli (Wings of Fire)

Camille/Nyra/Dendro (Muted)

Sasha/Anne/Marcy (Amphibia)

Neal/Peter/Elizabeth (White Collar)

Turtle Heart/Melena/Frex (Wicked)

Emiya/Saber/Rin (Fate Stay/Night)

Sofiane/Victor/Luisa (Mortel)

Taylor/Theo/Josey (3)

Jack/Emma/Izzy (You Me Her)

Keiko/Miles/Kira (Star Trek)

Jade/Dave/Karkat (Homestuck Epilogues)

Anzu/Kazuki/Junta (Romantic Killers)

Shikimori/Izumi/Ai (Shikimori is Not Just Cute)

Camina/Michio Pa/Josep/Serge/Berthold/Oksana (The Expanse)

Breq/Mercy of Kalr/Seivarden/Ekalu (Imperial Radch)

Roguish Semiotician/Infamous Mathematician/Player Character (Fallen London)

Alphonse/Seth/Listener (Bittersweet)

Storm/Helen/Mira (Love and Luck Podcast)

Nicky/Joe/Andy/Booker/Niles (The Old Guard)

#canonpolyculeshowdown #canonpropaganda #honorablemention #pollycule #third place

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feuerwizard · 7 months ago

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ＲｏｍａｎｃｅＨｅａｄｃａｎｏｎｓ

name: bren aldric ermendrud caleb widogast nickname: mister caleb or magic man from @notyetfixed's mollymauk gender: male romantic orientation: bisexual preferred pet names: caleb doesn't have any preferred pet names to be called, but he will frequently refer to his partners as schatz, liebling, or dear relationship status: it is completely verse dependent, but in his default canon verse he is in a relationship with @seeliecourt's essek thelyss ♡

opinion on true love: caleb doesn't necessarily believe in the concept of true love or soulmates as much as he believes that love takes time and effort. he's never been actively searching for a romantic relationship, but he is open to love if it finds him and it's the right person. to him, part of "true" love is making the active choice to have a life partnership with the person he wants to be with.

opinion on love at first sight: caleb believes in attraction at first sight, but love is something that takes time to grow. caleb can be attracted to someone but not fall in love with them. it takes him a bit of time to fall for someone, but when he does fall, he falls very hard and it's nearly impossible to ever stop caring for that person.

how ‘romantic’ are they?: he is painstakingly earnest in his affection, but if you were to ever tell caleb he is a romantic, he would probably deny it. when in reality, he is extremely romantic. he often uses his magic as a way to show affection to others and would do literally anything for the people he loves.

ideal physical traits: honestly? he really doesn't have any. he has been attracted to a wide variety of genders, species, and appearances.

ideal personality traits: he is attracted to intelligence and competency, but the intelligence does not always have to be book smarts. over time he comes to recognize that people display intelligence and wit in their own unique way. he is also very attracted to one's heart more than anything else.

unattractive physical traits: there are no specific physical traits that he would find inherently unattractive, it all varies from person to person.

unattractive personality traits: depends on how far along caleb is in his healing journey. a more good-aligned caleb would find an unnecessarily cruel person to be unattractive or untrustworthy. and any allegiance to the system or individual that abused him is an immediate no.

ideal date: creating a unique date for his partner in his tower!!

do they have a type?: wizards lol. this is not to say he is exclusively attracted to wizards, of course, but he does have an inherent attraction to them despite also being deeply mistrusting of his fellow mages.

average relationship length: long. if he is in a relationship with you, he is in it to stay.

preferred non-sexual intimacy: he likes cuddles, but really he is happy to just be in the general proximity of his partner and simply reading or talking.

opinion of public affection: he is not a big public display of affection person, but little touches or a small kiss are fine.

past relationships?: his one and only relationship was his poly relationship with astrid and eadwulf. they were his first loves. while that one did not work out for a wide variety of complicated reasons, he will always care about them. his affection for them, though no longer romantic, will always compromise his judgment just a little bit as they were both extremely important to him.

tagged: @wildskissed & @windwithinmyveins (<3 you both!!) tagging: @seeliecourt, @oathwilled, @sanguisarcana, @recitedemise, @cupcaketrickster, @notyetfixed, & you!!

#☼*・ﾟ Headcanons — ↳ caleb widogast (forged in fire)#( one of these days i am going to make a cute ship post for all of my mains that i ship with )#( one for gale’s ships as well )

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demenior · 1 year ago

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happy wip wednesday! this is not the Fealty au, but a secret, other story i've had kicking around in the dome for a while. i'm temporary calling it the 'Uk'otoa is Free' au.

two separate scenes. enjoy! --

Astrid paces the room while Eadwulf works. He sneaks glances in her direction. Her mouth is tight, lips pushed forward as if in a pout. Her gaze burns hot enough to light fires. The golds of her hair are alight with the dying sun, and he wants to commit the image to memory.

“Turn [the new assignment] down,” she announces, “you will tell Trent you cannot do this.”

Eadwulf drops his shirt, “and disobey?”

“They are calling the ‘ambassadors’ sacrifices,” Astrid draws out the word, “and you are a vital hand to the Empire! It is not disobedience to refuse to walk into obvious death!”

Eadwulf picks up his dropped shirt. He twists it in his hands. The king needs to send someone qualified at extracting information, who can also place themselves in a position to strike their enemies, with no fear of death. Volstrucker were made for this, or so Trent had explained to him.

Trent also told Eadwulf he was expendable, and a disappointment, following his return two weeks ago. He was foolish to have been caught. He let his fellow Volstrucker get captured. If she hasn’t been executed yet, she will be soon.

“I can tell them I am expecting, and you are the father,” Astrid tries.

“And what happens when you are not?”

“We… we could change that,” Astrid offers.

Eadwulf hears stitches pop as he twists the shirt tightly in his hands. He swallows tightly, around his heart in his throat. A dream bubbles up, well worn and ragged at the edges from years of use and being shoved into the small recesses of his mind. A dream of a small home, in a city away from here. Of their children, and the quiet nights they could have.

How many times has he described it to her in the quiet space between their pillows.

“Neither of us would be good parents,” Eadwulf decides to say.

“We won’t keep it,” Astrid shrugs, “but it’s a good reason to keep you here.”

“A good reason to get us both killed,” Eadwulf reminds her.

She goes quiet, continuing to think. The fact that she doesn’t have more plans to offer means she can see how tightly he’s trapped.

“I don’t think you can stop this,” Eadwulf offers her, an easy way out.

“I have to try!” she shouts.

---

Like a douse of cold water, the spell effect ends. Eadwulf’s senses return to him. He glances at the would-be assassin who has stepped up beside him. Her nose is bleeding, and she draws up a silk scarf around her face like a veil to hide it. Her hair curls around her face with sweat. She managed to resist Fjord’s compulsion, but barely.

Bren mentioned Fjord’s charm, and that it had appeared to be amplified. Eadwulf has never felt a charm so powerful before. Had Fjord directed it specifically at him, he’s not sure he could have sidestepped it as he did.

Despite the heat of the day, he is chilled to his core.

“See?” Fjord turns to Vandran, “you worried for nothing.”

There’s something on his throat, that Eadwulf can barely make out between the high collar of his coat, and the neckline of his leather armor. A tattoo, Eadwulf realizes, of a great serpent. Multiple yellow eyes stand out in the midday sun.

As Eadwulf stares, some of the eyes close, and others open. The tattoo continues a lazy motion across Fjord’s skin, diving under his armor.

“My name is Fjord, I’ll be your Captain for this duration of your trip,” Fjord turns back to speak to them.

A splash behind the [group of Ambassadors], as the body is tossed overboard.

Fjord stalks the length of the group again, hands clasped behind his back, “so long as you are on my ship, you will answer to me. And I answer to the Great Leviathan. He is happy to welcome you to his home. I encourage you to be gracious guests, and on your best—”

Like a viper, the woman beside Eadwulf leaps at Fjord. Her dagger flashes in the sunlight.

Eadwulf strikes on instinct, knocking her wrist up and off-target. He kicks out, forcing her knee to bend. She loses her stance, falls, and by then he’s twisting her arm behind her back to leverage it so he can dislocate her shoulder in an instant. Her dagger clatters to the ground.

He looks to Fjord for confirmation before he realizes what he’s done.

The compulsion was lingering at the edges of his mind. Eadwulf is trained to protect his Master from any threats. He disarmed the threat, and is awaiting further instruction.

Fjord seems just as stunned as he is.

#its not fealty i prommy #its just that eadwulf [gestures at all of him]#yeah #how many complicated relationships can i fit in one story? yes #and yes this is obviously an au or canon divergence or whatever you want to call it #its more fjords story but it framed SO nicely having eadwulf be the pov intro character #astrid becke #eadwulf grieve #fjord stone #wip #astrid is ruthless and i (and eadwulf) love that about her

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holly-poly · 1 year ago

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Nominations Open

Nominations are open, and they'll stay open through 11:00am UTC on 24 October - you can see a countdown timer at this link. You're allowed to nominate up to 10 fandoms, with up to 10 relationships per fandom. This year we have imported the tagset from Holly Poly 2022 to try and reduce the workload for us mods - please make sure to check the tagset before you nominate a ship to see if it is already included in the tagset. We recommend expanding all tagset categories before searching the page for any ships since some fandoms may not be in the section you expect due to us using slightly different fandom tags in some cases.

The tag set is located here: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/17485

In order to nominate a relationship, simply click the Nominate button located in the top right-hand corner of the tag set. If you do not have an account on the AO3, please let us know, and we should be able to get you an invite. On a similar note, if you have any questions, or if you're nominating something that you think might be confusing, please either post a comment to this post or send an e-mail to [email protected] if you'd rather keep it private.

For relationships that do not already have canonical tags, please nominate them in alphabetical order by last name (and, if they don't have a last name or multiple characters share a last name, then by first name). For example: Anders/Fenris/Bethany Hawke/Carver Hawke/Isabela/Merrill/Varric Tethras/Aveline Vallen, or Astrid Beck/Eadwulf Grieve/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, or Sirius Black/Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks.

Please don't panic if we add some type of disambiguation to relationships that you nominate. Especially for ones where the same characters fall under different fandoms (various comic fandoms, movie/TV show vs. book fandoms, etc.), as doing so helps keeps tags from wandering to fandoms where they don't belong.

This is an exchange for romantic and/or sexual relationships, not friendships, so make certain to nominate relationships that use a "/" rather than a "&". If you want to request that a relationship be asexual/queerplatonic/etc., then that's something to include in your optional details when signing up.

More fandom specific info, rules, links and contact details behind the keep reading cut.

EDIT: advice for how to submit ships with characters that are in both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been updated.

Please nominate original works under Original Work for the fandom.

Please nominate crossovers under Crossover - Fandom for the fandom. List characters in alphabetical order by last name (and, if they don't have a last name or multiple characters share a last name, then by first name), and please put the fandom or a clear abbreviation of it after the character name. For example: Thirteenth Doctor (Doctor Who)/Ms. Frizzle (Magic School Bus)/Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins), or Female Hawke (Dragon Age)/Male Hawke (Dragon Age)/Female Shepard (Mass Effect)/Male Shepard (Mass Effect), or Hal Jordan (Green Lantern 2011)/Ryan Reynolds (RPF)/Wade Wilson (Deadpool Movieverse). If you have any crossover ships that hit the 100 character tag length limit, you can abbreviate the fandom names or leave out surnames to condense it down so long as it will still be clear which characters in the fandom and which fandoms you mean. If there's any ships that are still difficult to do that for or you're not sure if it will be clear to us/others, do let us know the ship by either commenting here or emailing us and we'll try to figure out a way to condense it.

Please nominate all relationships involving characters from the MCU movies, Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, Hulu Marvel series, Netflix Marvel series, and/or Disney+ Marvel series under Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you nominate a ship with Peter Parker in for MCU we will assume you mean Tom Holland's Peter Parker unless stated otherwise. If you want to nominate a ship with one of the other Peter Parkers in for the MCU please use "Peter Parker (SM 2002 Tobey Maguire)" or "Peter Parker (TASM 2012 Andrew Garfield)" - you can shorten the fandom disambiguation in the brackets if you run out of character limit but it still needs to be obvious which Peter Parker you mean. For Peter Parker ships in crossover - Fandom you will need to state which Peter you mean in each instance, identified by the specific film or comicsverse, with Tom Holland's version as Peter Parker (MCU).

Please nominate all of the X-Men movies under X-Men (Original Timeline Movies), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), and Deadpool (Movieverse). The Wolverine movies go in Original Timeline. Any relationships featuring characters from movies that fall under different categories should be nominated as a Crossover.

Please nominate Marvel comics under the universe they belong to: Marvel 616, Marvel Adventures, MC2, etc. If you feel the specific title they're from is complicated enough that it should be listed separately, please either leave a comment or send an e-mail with more information. Characters like America Chavez who are originally from another universe but canonically spend time in a different one can be included as part of relationships requested for either universe.

Please nominate standalone Marvel movies/TV shows such as Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes or X-Men Evolution separately under the name of the specific movie/show.

Please nominate DC films set in the current movie universe (Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, Shazam!, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, and The Suicide Squad) under DC Extended Universe.

Please nominate relationships from various DC comics under DCU (Comics). If you feel the specific title they're from is complicated enough that it should be listed separately, please either leave a comment or send an e-mail with more information.

Please nominate standalone DC movies/TV shows such as Birds of Prey (TV), Gotham, and Smallville separately as individual fandoms.

Please nominate the various DC shows on The CW (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Batwoman, and Superman & Lois) under DC's Arrowverse. Relationships including characters from The Arrowverse as well as from other DC shows like Birds of Prey or Smallville who appear due to crossover events can be nominated under this umbrella fandom, while relationships solely from Birds of Prey, Smallville, and the like should be nominated separately under the name of the show they're from. Crossover relationships featuring characters from other DC shows who do not canonically appear in The Arrowverse, even if other characters from that show do, should still be nominated under Crossovers. If nominating ships where the canonical tag uses "Behrad Tomaz | Behrad Tarazi" please change the character name to one or the other to specify which timeline Behrad you mean.

Please nominate the various cartoons considered part of the DCAU (Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited) under DC Animated Universe (Timmverse).

Please nominate everything set in the Doctor Who universe under Doctor Who (including Big Finish Audios, Class, Sarah Jane Adventures, and Torchwood). For characters that have multiple incarnations, please specify which you mean by number or actor, e.g. "First Doctor" or "The Master (Simm)". If you don't mind which version, please add "(any)" after the character name, e.g. "The Doctor (any)".

Please nominate The Good Wife and The Good Fight under The Good Wife & Related Fandoms.

Please nominate Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Justice under One Chicago.

Please nominate Tolkien fandoms under Middle Earth – J.R.R. Tolkien or Middle Earth (Movies) or The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV 2022), depending on whether you want bookverse, movieverse or the new showverse. The Silmarillion would fall under the books. Any relationships featuring a mixture of movie, book or show canon (which would include anything set in the movies but with characters who aren't in them, such as Elladan, Elrohir, Glorfindel, etc.) should be nominated as a Crossover; please specify which characterization you want for any characters who are in more than one of the bookverse, movieverse or showverse, ie. Aragorn (movies)/Elladan/Elrohir.

Please nominate One Piece (TV) separately from One Piece (Anime & Manga).

Please nominate The Wheel of Time (TV) separately from the book fandom Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan.

Please nominate Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) separately from League of Legends (Video Games).

Please nominate Percy Jackson and the Olympians (TV) separately from Percy Jackson & The Olympians (Movies) and the book fandom of Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan. If you want to nominate a ship from a specific book series please add the series acronym after the ship details, e.g. (PJO Books), (THOO Books) etc.

Please nominate the Star Trek TV shows (live action or animated) under Star Trek: Classic Timeline and AOS under Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)‎. For ships that include characters that are in both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, we will assume the TOS version is meant by default - if you want to specify the SNW version please add "(SNW)" after the character name(s) to differentiate from TOS version, e.g. "Christine Chapel (SNW)/Spock (SNW)/T'Pring (SNW)". If the ship has a mix of TOS and SNW character versions, please add SNW or TOS in brackets after each of the character names that need clarification. Any relationships featuring characters from both the original timeline and AOS (other than those who canonically are in both of them like Spock) should be nominated as a Crossover.

Please nominate Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Stargate Universe under Stargate - All Media Types.

Please nominate Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel: The Series, and the assorted spinoffs (including Fray and other comics) under Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Related Fandoms.

Please nominate all of the Dragon Age video games and books under Dragon Age - All Media Types.

Please nominate all of the Mass Effect video games and books under Mass Affect - All Media Types.

Please nominate anything Star Wars related under Star Wars - All Media Types.

Please nominate Game of Thrones (TV) and A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin and House of the Dragon (TV) as separate fandoms.

Please nominate Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), The Witcher (TV), and Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski as separate fandoms. Use the appropriate names for characters based on the source rather than the longer canonical tags that include multiple names (ie, for the TV show it would be Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier/Yennefer of Vengerberg rather than the canonical tag of Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg or for the video games it would be Dandelion/Eskel/Geralt of Rivia rather than the canonical tag of Eskel/Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion).

Please nominate anything related to Once Upon a Time or Once Upon a Time in Wonderland under Once Upon a Time (TV).

Please separate anything related to the Power Rangers television shows under Power Rangers (TV), the comics under Power Rangers (Comics), and the more recent(ish) movie under Power Rangers (2017).

Please nominate anything set in Exandria under Critical Role (Web Series), including Exandria Unlimited and one shots such as The Screw Job or The Darrington Brigade. Non-Exandria one shots such as Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace should be nominated under their own names. The Legend of Vox Machina (Cartoon) should also be nominated separately.

Please nominate Yu-Gi-Oh! fandoms under their individual series names, unless you have ships that cross several series in which case you can nominate under Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types.

Please nominate relationships featuring characters from various Disney/Pixar animated titles (ie, Jasmine/Megara/Mulan or Jafar/Maleficent/Ursula) under Disney - All Media Types. Relationships featuring characters from a single Disney and/or Pixar movie can be nominated under the specific movie/movie series name (ie, Cobra Bubbles/David Kawena/Nani Pelekai would be nominated under Lilo & Stitch (2002)).

Please note that while [Specific Character]/[Specific Group of Characters] is acceptable as a nomination, [Specific Character]/Everyone is too broad.

For example: Lex Luthor/Lionel Luthor's Board Members is acceptable because "Lionel Luthor's Board Members" involves a finite group of people. The same goes for Voldemort/Death Eaters, Shipwrecked Sailor/Mermaids, and Peter Pan/Lost Boys. While Carol Danvers/Anyone and Everyone or Jack Harkness/Everyone He's Ever Met are understandable, they're too broad because it could essentially involve an infinite number of people.

If you have any questions about a relationship you want to nominate that might potentially be too broad, leave a comment or send an e-mail.

RPF characters must be 18+ at the time of nomination. Significant others/children/etc. of public figures are not permitted unless they are public figures in their own right. For smaller RPF fandoms, providing information/links to help us verify the characters are eligible would be appreciated and will speed up RPF noms.

If you have any questions about what fandom to use when making nominations, or any other questions in general - or if you find any errors in the tagset - please feel free to leave a comment on this post. You can also send an e-mail to [email protected].

Collection:https://ao3.org/collections/holly_poly_2023 Tag Set:https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/17485 Tumblr:https://holly-poly.tumblr.com/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/holly_poly_ex Google Groups - Holly Poly Updates:https://groups.google.com/g/holly-poly-updates Google Groups - Holly Poly Pinchhits:https://groups.google.com/g/holly-poly-pinchhits

#holly poly #holly poly 2023 #nominations

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burningdarkfire · 1 year ago

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@callingvoicemail king let it be known that i love it when you send me asks. i love you

(ask me about my WIPs!)

it says two on the tin but it is actually i think .. draft number #4 for the sedoretu fic that has been haunting me for the past year + some change. this is the modern AU where astrid/eadwulf/fjord/jester get deeply entangled and figure out what it might mean to be happy in your late 20s, with a specific focus on astrid/jester and astrid/wulf (sorry fjord, it's just the way a sedoretu shakes out)

i've talked recently, at length, about why this fic hasn't been working for me here!

and here's a long snippet, because i'm pretty sure this scene is getting scrapped whenever i make it around to draft #5 lol:

"We just have to decide how we're divvying up the ballroom," Beauregard said. She tapped her finger against the plan, which succeeded in gaining absolutely zero of Jester's attention, and then looked at Astrid instead.

"I don't even know why I'm here," Astrid said.

"You came here," Beauregard said. "Arrived before nearly everybody else, actually."

Astrid frowned. "I was on time."

"Five minutes early."

"That is on time."

"Nah. I arrived two minutes before Jester."

Astrid wished she could wipe the smug smile off of the other girl's face. "You were fifteen minutes late!"

"West coast," Beauregard said, as if that explained anything, and then she tapped Jester on the shoulder. "Hey, Jessie. The rooms."

She departed from her conversation with Caduceus about the food just long enough to turn back around in her seat and say, "Whatever you guys think! Yes!"

Beauregard lifted an eyebrow at Astrid as the conversation around vegan cupcakes resumed. "Well, dividing them evenly into four seems fine to me."

Astrid sighed, then sighed again. She looked at the list of events and pointed. "Make a larger room for the speakers. Make an even larger room for the games meetup. Small squares for the arts and crafts stuff. Divide it into twelfths, then section it up. Think about traffic flow. Don't put all the rooms that'll have high traffic at the top of every hour next to each other in the hardest to reach places."��

"Huh," Beauregard said, studying the plan. "I thought you were a lawyer."

Astrid grit her teeth, then scoffed. "I'm detail-oriented. What the fuck do you learn in art history, anyway?"

"How to piss off your father," Beauregard said. "Here, give me the pen."

Astrid gave her the pen. They marked up the plan together—yes, like that, no, not there—and then somehow it was forty-five minutes later, Astrid's cup of coffee was empty, and Jester was again sitting at her side pestering her to eat a donut.

"They're from the bakery you recommended," Jester said, sliding the donut dangerously close to Astrid's elbow.

"I didn't actually recommend them," Astrid reminded her as she shoved the donut back. "Did you at least try them before making the order?"

"They're good!"

The whole event was a fucking disaster, Astrid thought clinically, because Jester seemed to have no particular ability to focus on any of the details that planning such a large-scale event required. She hadn't even hired a proper event manager—which was why Astrid was here, fending off her donut-y fingers, alongside half of the Mighty Nein—and, when asked, mostly replied that it was all fine and anything they didn't get ahead of time, she and Artie would figure out when the time came.

Right. Because the star of the show and her head mod were going to be running around, the day of the meetup, trying to find the missing vegan cupcakes or some shit.

Astrid sighed. Beauregard said, "Jessie, she doesn't even deserve your donut. I'll eat it."

"You have had three already," Astrid groused, and she snatched it off the napkin and ignored Jester's triumphant grin.

#my posts #writing blogging #wip excerpt #replies

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utilitycaster · 8 months ago

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I love your thoughts on Astrid and I think a lot about whether her initial ambition to become powerful for the sake of power turned into the ambition for power so no one else has power over her. I truly do not think she begrudges Wulf his faith any more than she begrudges Caleb his new life though I would not be surprised if both are sources of some pain for her. (in a way the three of them remind me of trees. Caleb lost a part of himself but that allowed new sprouts to come forth. Wulf found faith that allowed the damage to be lessened by giving support to the damaged part of the tree. And Astrid is the one with neither who grows around the damage in the only direction she ever knew though it costs her much more in the long term than the other solutions)

Hi anon,

So I think I say this whenever I get similar asks - completely valid to have your own headcanons, but (and this is foreshadowing for the rest of this ask) I am not much of a people pleaser and I will openly disagree, as I'm about to, and this might be a conversation better had in DMs or replies or something because doing so via anon gets to be a lot of back and forth.

I really respect people who relate to Astrid as a survivor of abuse who finds some measure of peace and who simply acknowledges she, Eadwulf, and Caleb all found separate ways to move forward. I completely understand that can be very meaningful and would never take that interpretation from them.

With that said, I happen to personally prefer a view of Astrid who is capable of that bitterness. I like the possibility that she is not just ambitious (which, that on its own is often considered sufficient to lambast female characters; see the Suvi Kedberiket discourses surrounding Worlds Beyond Number) but also very angry, and at times bitter, and at times resentful.

I think a lot of fans struggle with the gray area between unambigously heroic women and unambiguously villainous ones, both because in that gray area is a complexity women in fiction are frequently denied, and also because it requires a look at specific emotions women aren't supposed to have. Women can be sad; they can be traumatized; and they've been granted such qualities as "determined" or "can use a sword" or "leaders" but I think people really still struggle with anger, and especially anger that is not specifically directed towards abusers (like Beau or Yasha or Vex) nor righteous (like Keyleth) but petty or even simply irrational.

I like Astrid as a woman who might hold a grudge she knows intellectually is unfair but who feels it anyway. I think about how she wanted to kill Trent in the moment, and that Fjord (someone whose story is very much about both forgiveness and the legitimacy of grudges and a desire for power) validates her for it even though it's true that Caleb's method of exposing Trent's crimes is probably more effective. I like her as someone who is incredibly intelligent and who probably has an idea of what the "good" thing to do is and still feels a lot of ugly feelings and possibly always will, even though she has found a much healthier way forward. I don't know quite how this interrogation will go, but it is interesting that she's in hiding in Zadash and has apparently not openly broken with the Assembly.

It's funny, because this is on some level what many people want for much of Bells Hells - they want them to be angry at the gods for neglecting them. It's just...they also want that anger to be righteous. And sometimes anger isn't. Anger is often petty and detrimental and yet still very real. What appeals to me about Astrid is that she is very much a complicated person who does straddle a line between ally and antagonist and is permitted a depth and messiness and moral ambiguity that many fans deliberately try to excise from women (and, for that matter, characters of color/in-world racialized characters and many queer characters). So I do like an Astrid who clearly cares for Caleb and for Eadwulf and does not treat them poorly, but does perhaps nurse some privately-held grudges.

#answered #Anonymous #cr spoilers #cr tag #i don't quite want to main tag this. but i kind of do #i haven't but i may rethink if it takes off

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