#i had a lot of fun with this and especially love essek's jacket

[gemstone-art]

family portrait for @essektheylyss fic heir to the devil's fortune 'cause it's been living in my brain

image ID: two almost identical traditional drawings of a family portrait. the only difference is that the first one is greyscale and the second is yellow toned and slightly more washed out, like an old photograph.

each picture shows marion lavorre, sitting in the center, a pregnant jester lavorre, standing to her left, and essek thelyss as fortune lavorre standing to her right and holding a champagne flute.

marion lavorre is a gracefully aging tiefling woman with long straight horns, long black hair, and a kindly smile. she is wearing a black dress with a long slit, showing off her criss cross sandals that go up to the knee, and a black choker with a gemstone pendant. she is sitting with one leg over the other in an ornate lowbacked chair with seashells on the armrests.

jester lavorre is a tiefling woman with curled horns, chin length black hair, and rounder features than marion. she is wearing a floor-length dress that gets lighter near the floor. the shoulders and cleavage area are covered with a semitransparent fabric section and a decorative collar. she is holding her pregnant belly and smiling.

fortune/essek is a tiefling man who is taller than jester. he has light, curly hair and slightly curled horns. he is wearing star and moon earrings and a black, sleeveless, high collared jumpsuit that goes to his knees underneath a gauzy floorlength coat with star detailing, held in place with a wide cloth belt that comes down in front. he is smiling slightly and ironically.

end image ID.

[pixieposts]

Dice Prompt

Today I was rudely woken up at 4am so I decided to use the extra time to write.

I rolled a 10!  Our prompt is: “Can we please stop running?  I think I am dying”  Enjoy!

AO3  

Fjord sighed as he watched the bartender walk back over with his beer, muttering a quiet thank you as he took it.  He hated being the first one to arrive when the Nine met up, especially when it involved a bar that he had never been to.  But it had been another week from hell at school, with mid-terms coming up and extra holiday shifts at the garage... he was wiped out.  A night out with friends was exactly what he needed.  

“Fjord!  Fuckin’ bus was late again”  

He smiled as he heard Beau’s voice ring out behind him, only to have the smile disappear immediately when he heard another join her

“Fjord?”  

He turned on his barstool, disbelief filling his mind as he caught sight of not only Beau, but the person who had walked in with her.  Slim, with long ginger hair tied loosely back, dressed in worn-out jeans and a dark grey cardigan... It couldn’t be him.  

“Fjord Stone?”  

It was definitely him.  

Fjord had never heard anyone else say his name the way he did.    

“Caleb Widogast” he breathed, trying to change his shocked expression for a smile and failing miserably.

Big blue eyes stared at him, blinking in matching disbelief before turning to Beau with a pointed look.  

“This is why you wanted me to come out so badly?  You could have just said--”  

“It’s more fun if it’s a surprise dude!”

“More fun for you maybe”

Fjord watched them argue until his heartrate had slowed back to normal, then cleared his throat.  They both looked over sheepishly, seeming to realize that they had all but forgotten he was there.  Honestly, it was kind of cute.  

“You mad?” Beau asked, going for her usual nonchalance but giving herself away with a nervous frown “I thought it would be fun”  

“I just don’t understand how... what?” he turned to Caleb “I thought you were still in Xhorhas training with that Essek guy?”

“I... I decided I wanted to branch out a bit”  

Beau tugged Caleb over, all but shoving him onto one of the stools next to Fjord before taking one herself.  She waved down the bartender and ordered two beers before turning back to them.

“I can explain this one” she thanked the bartender, handing a beer to Caleb with a nod “Cay here is in a couple of my classes, we’ve been hanging out and working together since last year” she took a sip “he starts telling me about this guy, this old friend that he hadn’t been able to get in touch with right?  And I’m like thinkin’, y’know, the city is huge so that makes sense”  

Fjord nodded along, despite having no idea where this was going.  

“And then like... two months-ish ago you” she pointed at Fjord with her beer bottle “mentioned the same thing.  Old friend, couldn’t find him online, hadn’t seen him in years yadda-yadda" she waved a hand dismissively “so I start doing a little poking around right?  Looking at old year books and talking to my connections at the Xhorhas Soul... and what do I find?”  

She reached into her jackets inner pocket and whipped out a piece of paper that looked like it had been torn directly out of a book.  Caleb glared at her, grumbling under his breath about damaging books that weren��t your own.  She shushed him, laying the paper out and smiling brightly when they both leaned in.  Fjord felt warmth bloom in his chest when he realized what he was looking at, it wasn’t just some scrap of paper, it was a photo (albeit a photo she had definitely ripped out of a yearbook).  In it were young Caleb and Fjord, dressed in outdated clothes with Fjord’s arm wrapped around Caleb’s skinny shoulders.  Fjord was beaming at the photographer while Caleb looked up at him, a fond smile on his face that sent Fjord’s stomach into summersaults.  Caleb looked nearly the same, but without the scruff and with his hair cut to just above his shoulders.  Fjord could just barely see the tips of his still blunted tusks poking out in the smile... so they had to be nearly graduated.  He hadn’t stopped filing them until around then.  Caleb had convinced him to stop, now that he thought about it...

“So, I find this, and it just confirmed what I was already pretty sure about” she tapped the photo triumphantly “you’re welcome, assholes”  

Fjord tore his eyes from the old photo, looking up just in time to see Caleb do the same.  For all the other ways that age had changed them... his eyes were just the same.  Deep ocean blue and far too clever for his own good, and Fjord couldn’t help but smile.  

“Thank you, Beauregard” Caleb said quietly, without looking away “this was very kind of you”

“Yeah, thanks Beau”  

In his peripheral he could see Beau looking between them with her eyes narrowed in the way that he knew meant she was making note of something.  The growing sense of joy in his chest distracted him enough that he really didn’t care at the moment.  

“Are you two about to get all gross and sappy?”  

“I cannot make any promises to the contrary” Caleb shrugged, still smiling as he took a sip of his beer

“Nope” Fjord said with an exaggerated pop “I can’t either.  We got a lot of years to catch up on”  

“Ugh, this was a mistake”

“Are you sure?  I have many stories about high school Fjord that I know you would enjoy”  

Fjord shot him a glare without any real menace behind it.

“Two can play at that game, should I tell her about the time you blew up the chem lab?”

“Only if you want her to know about the time you flooded the entire gym”  

Beau was smirking now, looking from one to the other mischievously.

“Okay, I take it back, this was a great idea and I’m a fucking genius”  

They spent the next thirty minutes going back and forth with stories of their high school years, and all the ridiculous teenage stuff they had gotten up to.  By then the others had arrived, and Fjord was shocked to see that none of them were confused by Caleb’s presence.  Somehow, through the last two years, Caleb had managed to make friends with all of Fjords friends... and they had never run into each other.  He supposed it wasn't THAT strange, Caleb had never been one for parties and had always put more of his focus into school than socializing... but still.  Once the whole group was here, the conversations shifted to more general topics, like mid-terms and work and petty grievances (those were mostly Molly, admittedly).  Caleb and Beau swapped seats at one point, so the Beau could flirt more directly with Yasha and Jester, and Caleb turned to him with a small smile.  His cheeks had started to colour from the beers, giving him an endearing blush.  

“Hallo again”

“Hey” Fjord smiled back, fondness softening his expression

“You have grown out your tusks” Caleb mused; head tilted slightly “they suit you”  

“Same with your hair” Fjord reached out, tugging lightly on a loose strand before tucking it behind Caleb’s ear “you look good Cay, happy”

“I am” he laid a hand over Fjord’s on the bar “I am happy, things have been good I just...” he paused, and the tips of his ears went pink too “I have missed you.  Very much.”

“You’re not an easy man to find” Fjord turned his hand over, pressing the scars of their long-ago pact together “but I’ve missed you too, the city’s felt weird without you around”

“I have been around”

“Apparently, still can’t believe we haven't run into each other before this”  

“It certainly seems strange does it not?”  

They sat that way for the rest of the night, catching up at first, talking about what they had done in the 5 years since they had graduated high school.  Caleb told him about Xhorhas, how fascinating the country was, how strange it felt to be one of the very few humans on the school's campus there.  He had learned Undercommon out of necessity but ended up loving the language itself very quickly.  In return Fjord told him about the garage where he had met Yasha, and her convincing him to apply for school.  About meeting Caduceus not long after and his shift into following the Wildmother.  Caleb had never been religious, but he beamed and gave Fjords hand a squeeze when he talked about the peace she had brought into his life.  

Eventually, they were pulled back into conversation with the others, but Fjord's heart swelled when he realized that Caleb wasn’t pulling his hand away.  They stayed that way the rest of the night, Caleb interlocking their fingers when they all got up to stumble towards the bus stop.  Caleb leaned heavily on him as they waited, the others were trying to decide who’s place to head to for the rest of the night.  Fjord tugged him in close, leaning his head on Caleb's when it landed against his shoulder as the others settled on Molly and Yasha’s place.  The ground started to walk, since the little rental house was off campus and the weather was still reasonable.  

There was something so wonderful about how easily they had slipped back into physical touch.  It had taken Fjord years to break down Caleb’s walls enough the first time, and part of him had worried (however briefly) that it would be like starting over.  

Instead, it felt like nothing had changed between them, like the last five years hadn’t happened at all.  

“Last one there has to clean the dishes tomorrow!” Jester shrieked, starting to sprint off in the direction of the house.

“Fuck that!” “No fucking way!”  

Fjord smirked down at Caleb, tightening his grip on the other man's hand before he gave chase along with the others.  Beau had taken an obvious lead but had slowed down slightly to stay close to Jester and Yasha.  Molly and Jester were cheering and swearing and laughing interchangeably into the night as they ran, and Fjord found himself laughing along.  After a few blocks, when his heart had really started to pound and he was beginning to regret that last beer, Caleb tugged his hand.

“Can we please stop running?” he panted as Fjord slowed “I think I am dying”  

Fjord chuckled as he slowed more to a walk, then stopped completely, watching Caleb press a hand to his chest.

“I am dying, definitely”

“No, you’re not” Fjord chuckled, joy and adrenaline making him brave as the sounds of the others faded into the night “c’mere, look”  

He moved in close, pressing the tips of his fingers to Caleb’s neck and feeling the thundering pulse under his skin.

“See?  Perfectly fine, very much alive”  

Caleb looked up at him now, cheeks flushed dark with exertion and hair a wild mess... Fjord wondered when the tie had come loose.  

“Are you sure?” Caleb's free hand came up to rest on top of his “I am not convinced”  

Fjord's cheeks heated up past the point of the run as Caleb slid their hands down from his neck to rest on his chest instead.  Fjord could feel his heart pounding in time with Caleb’s as his voice dropped nearly to a whisper.

“I missed you very much Fjord” his tongue darted across his bottom lip and Fjord’s eye followed the motion “I always... There were so many things I never managed to tell you; I have regretted it ever since”

“Tell me now then Cay, it’s just us”

“It has always been us Fjord” he took a deep breath “It has always been you for me, all this time away I—it was always you”  

“Caleb--” Fjord's heart leapt “Fuck, all these years and we’re just now...” he trailed off with a smile, bringing his hand from Caleb's chest up to cup his jaw lightly “Can I kiss you?”

“Gods yes”  

“Finally.” Fjord teased, leaning down to lock their lips together.  

Caleb sighed happily into the kiss, tilting his head to get a better angle as Fjord walked them off the sidewalk and pressed Caleb’s back to a large tree.  How long they stayed that way, trading kisses and whispered words of endearment, he couldn’t say but eventually (far too soon) the sounds of their friends had completely faded and they knew they ought to continue on their way.  If they didn’t someone was sure to come looking, and they would never hear the end of it.  The others wore knowing looks when they finally got back to the house, hands locked and faces flushed.  Beau handed Caleb a new hair tie and a drink, but nothing was said about it for the moment, and Fjord was grateful.  The evening wore on, with more drinks and stories and games, and with Caleb curled up against Fjord’s side.  

Come morning, tired but content, they stood shoulder to shoulder at the sink, and Fjord couldn’t help but feel like the evening had definitely been worth the wait... and doing the dishes.  

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E91 (Jan. 21, 2020)

Good evening, everyone! Sorry about missing last week; @eponymous-rose​ was out of town and I had some other commitments. Regardless, here we are! Brian is looking handsome and cold, as are Sam & Travis on the couch. Everyone is wearing coats. Is the heat broken?

That said, tonight’s guests are Travis Willingham & Sam Riegel.

Brian starts us off asking Sam if he’s remaking the Wire in Beverly Hills. Sam basically embodies that hello fellow kids meme tonight in a hand-knitted beanie from his wife, a bomber jacket, a yellow tee, and skinny jeans. They quickly photoshop in smoke trailing out of his mouth. We’re just a few minutes in and this is off the rails already.

Announcements: The next issue (#5) of Vox Machina comics comes out Wednesday, Feb. 19! It’s also available online at Dark Horse Digital and Comixology. And that’s it! Huh.

Episode 91: Stone to Clay

Brian tells us this is the first time ever to have Sam & Travis alone on Talks. I’m stunned and so are they. Sam says, “between me, Brian, Dani, and Travis right now, there’s four tens on this show right now.”

We’re already into questions less than ten minutes into the show. Truly this is a remarkable night.

63 in game days and 21 episodes passed between Caduceus’s first mention of Stone (episode 71) and Fjord connecting the dots. Travis blames the internet connection and his really bad ADHD night, as that was the night he and Laura remoted in from the hotel.

Brian tells us that when Ashley used to skype in, she could only see Matt & couldn’t see or really hear anyone else.

Travis says there was a huge delay for him between mouths moving and the audio coming through, and then that audio was pretty distorted. Laura could handle it okay, but Travis just heard a jumble and couldn’t parse it.

Sam took a CBD bath the other day and found it exactly as relaxing as a normal bath. Sam & Travis commiserate about taking baths only to have their knees pop out of the water. Tall people problems smh

Caleb & Nott completed the spell in less than a week, including dealing with the Angel of Irons & brokering peace treaties. Travis though the laughter was going to be Helas.

Travis says he definitely didn’t hear the name the first time (he remembered dust but not stone from the lava pits). “Look! Yes! No, I was not listening before! Thursday nights are my times to enjoy my friends and food! Marisha is an amazing note-taker; why would I ever take my own? This is how I got through college!”

Sam says he keeps a mission checklist in his head and has for ages. He has a page in his notebook labeled “To Do” that includes things like visiting Kiri or Shakaste, in case they have downtime and need ideas.

Travis asks if he continues writing in his (apparently) very small handwriting, and Sam says he has to leave room for Laura to draw all her dicks. They all marvel that she is actually a very good artist.

Travis honestly still thinks the Stone name is a huge coincidence, especially since Taliesin didn’t have access to Fjord’s last name when he created Caduceus’s last name and backstory. Sam challenges Travis that even if that were true, doesn’t he think Matt will find a way to tie it together?

Travis says Fjord doesn’t want anything to do with the last name and it’s not even his real name. He’s not convinced this isn’t a coincidence.

Travis did a lot of research into orphanage naming conventions when coming up with Stone. He does have a backstory as to how the orphanage manager picked Stone as his name.

Travis thinks Matt would have emphasized the Stone name more sooner if it had been a true connection and not coincidence.

Brian: “He does like to take credit for coincidences, doesn’t he?”

Nott didn’t think there was a catch in the ritual; Sam was more surprised they were allowed to achieve the milestone at all. He was shocked it happened so soon in the story and that the spell is relatively easy to cast.

He didn’t know it would fail, but there was a moment when he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through with it. Travis agrees everyone was shocked when it didn’t work.

Fjord’s current stance on faith and destiny hasn’t changed since the last time he discussed it. Faith is a slow thing for Fjord and he really does think the name is a coincidence.

Sam as a player is excited to see what comes next for Nott; “if she had been transformed into Veth at that moment, I would have been excited to see what comes next. The fact that it’s still Nott makes me excited too. I’m excited to see more of Nott since she’s the best character in the M9.” He also confesses he was a bit relieved, in part because it’s delayed the inevitable. At some point she must decide if she is going to stay or go with the M9.

Cosplay of the Week: @kajicosplays​ on instagram of a lovely lady Percy. Brian: “Isn’t it fun when Taliesin’s characters live?”

Deep down, Nott knows she will do the transformation at some point, but at that last moment where she had to make a decision she had to check in with herself to make sure she was ready. Sam Riegel as a D&D player also knows that you have to trust your DM and make choices.

Brian misreads the word “ribbing.” Sam teaches Travis what rimming is. We all learn a lot about each other.

Sam thinks Fjord can realize when the time comes to set jokes aside. He thinks Fjord was very respectful. Travis has honestly forgotten that the conversation took place.

Travis has Dani answer from Fjord’s perspective. It’s actually pretty insightful, talking about how Fjord recognized someone hesitant to give up these newfound powers that have become intrinsically tied to self-worth.

Fjord has always been loyal, and Travis sees his protectiveness of the M9 as a logical extension of this.

Right now, he has found some agency & self-direction and is hopeful to share that sense with everyone else (he especially mentions Yasha).

Sam & Travis start quoting from Half-Baked. This is chaos.

Nott does want to stay with the M9, but she also wants to go home for sure, both of those things. The kiss with Caleb wasn’t necessarily a goodbye; it felt like the closing of a chapter. It felt like something to mark the end of the experience.

Now they’re quoting Beverly Hills Cop. Oh, boy.

“You look like you wrote Pitch Perfect.” When did this turn into a roast?

Fjord has no memories earlier than the orphanage (The Driftwood Asylum). There were a couple dozen kids there aside from him; Travis thinks some of them might have been named Stone. It also operated as a small child-labor workshop for carpentry & woodshop stuff. “It was a terrible place all around.” He has no images of parents or being dropped off.

Sam thought the Nott transformation would be more endgame, though he feels it makes sense that it’s not. “While Nott transforming into Veth was my original goal, what’s great about these long games is that your goals can change two or three times before the end. Now I can explore all these other things: does she want to go back and be a housewife? How does she rectify her obligations to her husband and child to the life that she’s made with the M9? It’s so exciting and interesting.”

Brian asks a hypothetical: if she could transform back but lose all Nott’s memories, would she do it? Sam: “Oh, that’s tough. I don’t know.”

Fanart of the Week: a lovely piece by @pen_draws with everyone in the hot tub.

Travis is very trepidatious about returning to the open ocean after rejecting Uk’otoa. He wants to make sure the third temple is sealed. It feels like it would be too easy for someone not to come and try to collect the job he left half-finished. He also wants to go back to Darktow.

Sam doesn’t know if Nott is still in love with Yeza, although she definitely still loves him. He’s playing with the idea of a high school sweetheart being exposed to the world and then going back home. But Yeza’s amazing, a great guy, perfect. “I guess we’ll find out when/if she turns back into Veth.” Sam feels guilty talking about him. “He’s a fictional character and I feel guilty that he might be watching the show.”

Neither Nott nor Fjord trust Essek. Travis: “He just went from being cold and aloof to being really warm. I know there’s been time and he’s lived an isolated life, but...time will show if he’s being genuine. All of our haunches were up. All of us were on level five alert.” He’s being so helpful that Travis doesn’t trust Mercer with him.

Fjord never ever considered becoming a paladin of the Traveler. “No. Fuck no!” The Wildmother reached out and directly intervened to save him. Travis gets super creepy bad vibes from the Traveler’s relationship with Jester (Sam agrees).

Nott feels more pressure when her own problems become the focus. It’s hard for her to open up and talk about her feelings. She’d rather pick up on other people’s problems. Sam also acknowledges it’s more pressure on him (and anyone) as a player when the whole table is looking at you.

And that’s that! Is it Thursday yet?