Holy Shit OP How *dare You* Make Me Have *feelings* About This AU Again ??

So many discussions about old man Caleb ! I had to turn it into this WWDITS meme.

@flappingduster-scribbles ‘s shadowgast baby is in here, as well as mine.

YES ! That was amazing op !!! 

Hi fellow shadowgast lover ! I need your take on this : what if ann older, distinguished and grizzled Essek (like, around 500 years old or something) was sent back in time against his will / to stop some nefarious threat, and met a young Caleb ? Obviously he wouldn't want to alter the timeline, but the temptation to protect his beloved from all the pain he will go through ? The drama ? What would be Caleb's reaction to meeting a powerful Kryn wizard ? Critical Role fandom, I need your wisdom.

I was going to have a cohesive response but my brain IMMEDIATELY went on “Essek gets back to the time Caleb was in the Sanatorium, disguises himself and he’s actually the one that breaks him free of the Feeblemind” (I know it’s not confirmed but I’ve always thought that the whole sanatorium business was Caleb being Feebleminded - it’s basically impossible breaking free of a Feeblemind after it takes hold without some sort of external help)and I’m… I’m having feelings about Essek seeing Caleb again after centuries but not being able to do anything about it I’m–Maybe he protected him, from a distance, in the years before Caleb met Nott. Essek is determined and focused enough to know he cannot afford to mess up the timeline, but watching over him isn’t that, right?

I can't believe I've never showed off my wonderful Inquisitor, Oromis Lavellan. Living rent free in my head since 2014, here is the boy !

Playful and charming, his flirting is as sharp as his arrows. Beware of his frivolous manners, he's more likely to order an assassination than extending a helpful hand with no strings attached.

Bonus outfits : Haven winter coat, dalish summer, Orlesian party

I heard Comfy Matt got his nails done

So I’ve just seen Goncharov

And it was amazing, a true masterpiece. I’ve been looking at all the lovely meta people have posted on tumblr, and while some people have noted the fish metaphors, I’ve yet to find any detailed explanations for these. 

Here I come, folks.

Across the movie we can select 3 important moments where fishes have a specific meaning, and all of them are associated with Katya : 

the anchovies scene

that moment when Katya feed the goldfishes in Goncharov’s study

the scene when Goncharov is looking for his watch in the study, and where the fishbowl is pushed around

But what do they mean ?? Well, let me reframe the question : what kind of fishes are we really looking at ? 

In the anchovies’ case, it’s all about food, how you consume it, and with whom. Anchovies were at first, like many overhyped delicacies, poor people’s food. Too small to be of use for noble families, and filled up with tiny bones (truly a pain in the ass to remove) : only the common people used to catch and eat them (mostly fermented, to add some proteins to simple meals). 

Now, what does it tell us about our main characters ? Well, in that scene, Gonchariv and Katya (as mentioned by him) are pro anchovies. They are, like these small fishes, low born people full of sharp edges, and now seen as symbols of a new luxurious life-style. 

In the fishbowl’s case, you’ll surely tell me “you dumbass it’s the goldfish scene, she’s feeding goldfishes ! Who cares ?” well my friend, it is you who’s a dumb of ass. If you had looked at them closely, you would have realized 2 things : 

1. there are indeed two goldfishes in the first scene ;

2. the fishes in the second one have actually been replaced by Siamese fighting fish ;

For those who don’t know much about fishes, let me tell you a couple of things : goldfishes are not supposed to be kept in a small bowl, it’s very detrimental for their health to be kept in such a dire environment ! Wild goldfishes are actually quite big and have a lifespan averaging about 10-15 years !! Some can reach 30 years !! 

What does it tell us about Katya ? Simple : like the fish, she’s kept in a toxic environment designed to utterly destroy her, and where she’s expected to be a pretty commodity to look at.

“Wait ! What about the fighting fish ?” you’ll undoubtedly recall. Indeed my friend, indeed…these fishes are very well named, since it’s quite common to witness siamese fish fighting each other.  Actually, if you ever want to keep a couple of these beauties at home, it’s advised to keep them in separate tanks, to avoid any fights.

What’s told to us here, with this simple fish swapping, is that Katya went from being a cute dying goldfish, kept small by the world around her, to a feisty and dangerous warrior, ready to take down her own mate to control the pond.

I’m so sorry for all the angst from last week, here’s some fluffy old wizards in love

bonus : close up 

what little i can do

a/n: so uh, my hand slipped. i saw this post about time-traveling essek helping bren and i just... it all kinda wrote itself. @kurosmind i hope you enjoy this little ficlet and the pain this concept has cause me, bc i just love it so much.

* * *

he figures it out accidentally. late at night in the library, frumpkin nestled in her basket nearby, Dancing Lights illuminating his scrawling. he should be sleeping; a group of far-too-green adventurers came by to pester him today and he's exhausted.

but then he scribbles a formula and stops.

a memory flashes. a mess of red hair; sobs upon his chest. a room full of ash; his mantle heavy with disintegrated secrets.

he tucks away the writings hastily. no. he promised he wouldn't, and there's never a promise to caleb he's ever broken, not even now, hundreds of years later.

he won't use the spell.

it's been years. another adventuring party has come and gone; this one included a halfing who giddily hugged him, rambling about her great-grandmother's wild stories. she's not the first one he's met; there are many out in the world who come to him with echos of the mighty nein. if only the rest of them could see the ripple they've created...

he finds that spell when he's looking for something else. it brings him pause. he feels a great weight in his bones these days, an aching, ever-present coldness. soon he will be the final grave in the grove, he knows, buried by clarabelle clay or perhaps one of her children.

he looks at the portrait by his bedside, small and fading. he gives frumpkin an absentminded pat.

he gathers the components, letting them sit on the kitchen table for days, gathering courage.

what does he have to lose? he knows he can't alter anything, but if only he could see him-- see them, all of them-- one more time...

it would be worth it.

it will be worth it.

Afficher davantage

To all the people who had this brilliant idea

follow up from this :

 https://anne-o-nyme.tumblr.com/post/658319203995156480/but-whos-that-charming-fellow-who-flirted-with

!! please send me the link once it’s finished, op !! 

I don’t know if anyone else had this idea before (…probably) but I would LOVE to see a fic about Essek’s fake burial.

Listen, picture Verin, heartbroken, very confused about these outsiders who showed up unannounced at his brother’s funerals, claiming to be his friends (”Essek do not have friends !”), and insisting on helping him empty out his tower.

First stage : polite confusion

Second stage : passive aggressive doubts from Verin

Third stage : Verin is convinced these people are huge liars and are trying to loot his dead brother’s precious belongings.

Final stage : Verin starts throwing stuff at the Mighty Nein. Chaos ensues. They end up teleporting with Verin in the Clay’s kitchen in front of a very surprised Essek, in his lounging clothes, busy drinking tea and drawing hearts around Caleb’s name in his spell book.

Essek just wanted to get some of his stuff back.