#one is widomauk of course lol

[thebest-medicine]

I finished 2 more tickletober fics today! they’ll be up in the next day or two

[august-anon]

Hey! I just started watching critical role and im lowkey obsessed. If you like the idea, can i please request #9 “Hey, cheer up” with Molly and Caleb (romantic or platonic)? And no pressure since you said you were hesitant about writing for that fandom. thanks!!

no longer taking these prompts, just catching up!

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Of course of course!! It's been a While now since I last watched an episode, so hopefully this isn't too OOC lol -- hope you enjoy it!

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Cheer Up

Fandom: Critical Role: Mighty Nein

Ship(s): Widomauk (can be read as platonic or romantic! or pre-slash lol)

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Caleb/Ler!Mollymauk

Word Count: 455 words

Summary: Caleb seems a bit sour after things don't go his way in a magic shop. Mollymauk endeavors to cheer him up.

[ao3 link]

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“Hey,” Mollymauk said, bumping their shoulders together. “Cheer up. We’ll find another magic shop. Spells galore.”

Caleb stared down into his untouched ale. “I am not upset.”

Mollymauk leaned over the table and slid into Caleb’s vision, just for Caleb to be able to see him raise an eyebrow.

“I am not.”

Mollymauk hummed, sitting up and downing the last of his ale in one smooth motion. He shoved Caleb’s full drink in the direction of Nott. “Mind swapping roommates for a night?”

Nott narrowed her eyes, but they were hazy with the alcohol she’d already consumed that night and they were quickly drawn to the fresh tankard slid in front of her. Jester jumped in, nearly knocking over Nott’s chair.

“Ooh, we can have a girl’s night! Beau, Yasha – what do you think?”

“What, and Fjord gets a room all to himself?” Beau’s outraged gesture went wide, nearly knocking Caleb in the nose if not for Molly pulling him back.

Instead of listening to the ensuing argument, Caleb found himself tugged out of his seat and toward the stairs. Mollymauk kept a firm grip on his wrist, even as he unlocked the room he decided would be theirs for the night.

“What are we doing?”

“We are going to get a smile on that face if it kills you, which it just might, I’m not sure – when’s the last time you smiled?”

Caleb gave him a flat look. Mollymauk gave him a salacious grin that quickly fell into a wince.

“And then, we are going to get some real rest. Seriously, you look like shit. Have you been sleeping at all?”

“And how exactly do you intend to get me to smile?” It felt like the less loaded question of the two. “I don’t suppose you know any good jokes.”

“Oh, I know plenty. I lived in a circus, after all.” Molly guided him towards a bed, pushing him to sit at the edge of the lumpy mattress. “But I have a much more foolproof method in mind.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”

Mollymauk lit up, his tail twisting into mischievous curly-cue’s behind him as he raised his claws to wiggle in the air between them. Caleb felt all his air leave him in a rush and desperately hoped the flush rising to his cheeks would be hidden by his beard.

“Tell me, Mr. Widogast – are you ticklish?”

Scheiße.

“Mr. Mollymauk–”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

As Caleb was tackled back onto the bed, he spared his last coherent thought to hope that they didn’t get a noise complaint. He wouldn’t want to explain to the rest of their party why he and Mollymauk had gotten kicked out of the inn.

[gaawachan]

Discord Convo: Yasha, Essek, Culture, Shadowgast Ramblings

Me: Man I wish Essek and Yasha could have - nvm I'll finish that thought later.

Sibling: I KNOW. I ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SAY AND I WISH YASHA HAD BEEN MORE PRESENT IN THE STORY

Me: Stop doing the hive mind thing. it's invasive. i feel violated.

Sibling: I can't help it.

Me: But yeah Essek and Yasha. I find it very interesting because there's actually a lot of crossover in their temperaments, but in terms of physical presentation, they couldn't be more different. They both came from completely different sub-cultures in Xhorhas, and it's like... that temperament among the Rosohna Drow. It makes me think that they learned how to like... Okay hang on this is hard to put into words... Right so from a meta perspective, it reads like Matt took Yasha's basic temperament and applied it to other people of Xhorhas.  Like Yasha was a broader expression of typical mannerisms of Xhorhas (except that Yasha was no longer bound by the modesty of the cultures there, and having been exposed to Molly, was freer with her sexuality after it was stifled in the Wastes in her youth). Right? So with that thought in mind, look at Essek. Essek doesn't have the same trauma Yasha has so he doesn't have the same sort of dysfunctions, but when you first meet Yasha, she does display a casual arrogance/confidence about her power, and Essek has the temperament, but what he lacks is the freedom from modesty. He's extremely withdrawn.

Sibling: Are you saying he's going to become an e-boy? Because there's no promises that under that cloak, he isn't already one lmaoooo

Me: Well, I think it's interesting because this is actually one underrated area where I think Caleb would actually be really good for him and vice versa. It also says a lot about the odd intersections of culture in Xhorhas, because in old drow society, sex was uh... you know, let's not go into that.

Sibling: Just all of the nasty tags from AO3

Me: but my point is that it makes sense that the Kryn dynasty would be heavily influenced by and adopt a lot of the mannerisms and cultural relations from the people of Xhorhas because... they would be trying to distance themselves from the violence of their past by integrating stuff from the cultures they colonized. It makes sense that maybe the nomads of the wastes would impact their mannerisms and dynamics, though you can see echos of old drow culture in the dynasty, of course, with the dens and all.

Sibling: They're doing what the pirates from Wind Waker did once they found New Hyrule lol. "Yes, oh yes. We love technology"

Me: Yeah. So anyway, Yasha and Essek would have been interesting to have more interactions with.

Sibling: I mean, both are good characters? They just didn't have a lot of screentime, and it didn't really seem like Ashley was super interested in exploring her past. It doesn't help that Yasha was essentially silent for all major character interactions lol.

Me: They are both socially awkward, with casual confidence in their skills, and somewhat similar mannerisms, but Essek is very modest but manipulative, and Yasha is very upfront/blunt, and both of them have the guilt thing going on. Going back to Essek and Caleb. I think that their immediate positive effects on each other are obvious, but on this topic specifically... Caleb's only ever hesitant with his affection because of his trauma, really.  You get the distinct impression that he used to be a lot more touchy feely (just look at his early game dynamic with Nott), and while he is usually very polite, he has no problem with being blunt about his sexuality when he thinks he can get away with it. At the same time, Caleb's history with sex and relationships is really twisted and complicated, so he needs a partner who is respectful of boundaries and willing to check what is going on at any given time. In other words, he needs someone who is not like Molly (no offense to widomauk shippers).

Sibling: I mean, that was the primary problem with Molly. They had no sense of boundaries and that was good for someone like Yasha. Not so much for people with trauma related to lack of boundaries.

Me: (text dump) No, Molly DID have a sense of boundaries; they deliberately crossed them in order to make people uncomfortable. THAT was my biggest problem with Molly. Molly knew exactly what they were doing. Taliesin said as much. It's why I never shipped widomauk, because it’s yet another relationship where casual disregard for Caleb's comfort is present. It's why if I had shipped Caleb with anyone other than Essek, it would have been Fjord or Caduceus (but he's a disinterested ace and I respect that) or Yasha (but she's gay and I respect that) simply because they were clearly the ones who appeared most cognizant of Caleb's social comfort levels and such (so basically widofjord is what I'm saying, lol).  This isn’t a widomauk hate thing; it’s just not to my taste because I relate too much to hating having my personal boundaries deliberately treated with disrespect. That's going off on a tangent, though.

Essek, in contrast, needs someone who he can let his hair down with comfortably. Essek seems to only really feel that way around Caleb and Jester. Caleb's the only one Essek really initiates touch with. Caleb's the one who gets Essek to swear for the first time, like Caleb swearing gave Essek permission to do the same just for the hell of it. Caleb and Jester, more than the others, made it clear that he's allowed to be goofy when he's with them.  The two of them joking around with Immovable Object (and Caleb openly participating in that clownery with Seeming and such when he and Essek have so much in common) makes Essek feel comfortable with exploring not having a stick up his ass 24/7, which is exactly what a clearly extremely repressed person like Essek could benefit from in a partner, a person who he can relax around and vent with, because he's very obviously never had that before, or at least not consistently. And how did he get to that point?

It's from a thing about Caleb that is extremely underrated. Caleb, be it from his natural personality or that coupled with his training, knows the value of being openly vulnerable.  It's very clearly NOT something that Trent specifically taught him.  Caleb recognizes that the best way to manipulate people is to be sweet and earnest and awkward and TRUTHFUL about his beliefs and vulnerabilities, but this pays off in ways unintended. Caleb expects it to just be transactional, but people end up genuinely forming bonds with him because of it, and what's more, that he does that with such regularity results in other people responding in kind (which is the goal).  Someone as reserved as Essek could only stand to be vulnerable BECAUSE Caleb made HIMSELF vulnerable first. I think the best thing Liam ever did for Shadowgast was make it clear that everything he said to Essek may have been manipulative... but every word of it was also true, because Essek is clever enough to recognize that honesty.

The most underrated line in Essek's growth as a person doesn't even come from Essek, and it doesn't come from Caleb talking to Essek. I think people forget about this, but during the final conversation with the scourger, which Essek was present for... the scourger asks Caleb why he's bothering with her. And Caleb says (paraphrasing) "I think that I hoped if I could see one hint of change from you, I could believe that we aren't both damned." Imagine being Essek and hearing that. It recontextualizes everything about Essek's growth. The rapid change between the boat scene and Aeor isn't just because Essek wants to be a better person. It's because he wants to prove to Caleb that Caleb isn't damned, because no one has ever done that for Caleb. Caleb is so obviously drowning in his past during the Aeor arc. That sort of hope is something he desperately needed. It's one of the few things about the Aeor arc that isn't botched by the rush to end the series; Essek's consistent determination to be a positive influence on Caleb, for Caleb, was gold from start to finish. Remember too that by the time of the boat scene, Caleb had already met with Astrid and had that disheartening conversation. Essek's efforts to become a better person feel like he's trying to almost unknowingly undo the damage that the recent interactions with Astrid and Trent had done to Caleb's psyche.

... tldr, Caleb is going to teach Essek how to be a manslut... in private... jk but not really.

Sibling: I SAID THAT EBOY ESSEK LOL! Ugh... that final epilogue screwing over my favorite MLM ship... It's not canon. They went and made their own school, and lived forever in disguises to keep the scourgers coming after them.

*That was the end of this part of the conversation.  On reflection, I ought to have noted that Essek’s modesty might not be so much a cultural thing as it is an “Essek trying to keep people away from him like a prickly porcupine” thing, but you never know.  If it is cultural, that may be the result of the dynasty trying to distance themselves to the practices of those who worship Lolth, but I don’t know that Exandria lore has ever said anything about this?  And if it is a cultural thing, is it limited to the nobility, like Essek? One could also argue that the cultural practices of Yasha’s people, with the arranged marriages and such, may have influenced the dynasty’s own cultural formation, but I feel like I didn’t make that clear enough?  Anyway, that’s why it’s a ramble.

[puwumats]

Ship asks! Caleb/Molly 🪄🗡️ annnnd Briarwoods/Vax 🧛‍♂️🧛‍♀️🧝‍♂️

widomauk

i think this was one of my first m9 ships? (aside from beauyasha of course lol)

and although it kind of fell to the wayside as the series continued (bc you know... the death) it would have been really interesting to have seen how that dynamic progressed if molly didn't cark it early on (rest in piece king 😔👑)

briarwoods/vax

>:3c

(sometimes we can have a lil "briarwoods seduce vax into being a third". you know, as a treat.)

[mybuckystar]

Chapters: 1/7 Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast Characters: Mollymauk Tealeaf, Caleb Widogast, Jester Lavorre, Nott (Critical Role), Beauregard Lionett, Fjord (Critical Role), Yasha (Critical Role), The Gentleman, Original Characters, The Mighty Nein Additional Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fake Marriage, Mutual Pining, Undercover, POV Alternating, Fluff, Sharing a Bed Summary:

Caleb and Molly are sent on a mission by the Gentleman to spy on a rogue agent in a high-end tourist town. With little to no spy experience and zero plan, they have no choice but to improvise... and end up spending the week posing as a newly wed couple, all the while secretly harboring feelings for one another.

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YALL it’s happening! i have taken the next step in my crit obsession and written a fanfic! widomauk of course because i’m incapable of shipping things that don’t cause me pain. but this fic is shockingly painless! (ikr, the angst queen is writing fluff, i’m as surprised as you are).

and don’t worry if you’ve been waiting on more of my wip finnpoe fic, the rest of that is coming. i’ve just been struggling with writer’s block that is very specifically targeting the next chapter of that fic.

anyway, enjoy some crit role cuteness! i’ve got this fic basically finished, so i’ll be able to do regular updates instead of the uncertainty i usually leave y’all hanging in lol

[laudnagirlfriend]

What Friends Are For

Chapter 6: Mollymauk

read on AO3!

well this chapter came at the absolute least opportune time. That’s alright. I changed it from its original version. It’s very soft, with a little widomauk thrown in for flavor lol.

(Molly and Caleb have a late night chat)

Hope you enjoy! <3

It was late, Caleb knew that much. In fact, it was almost exactly midnight; even sitting here at a table in an almost empty tavern for hours on end didn’t distract from the steady, comforting ticking in his mind. He was transcribing spells, smiling to himself at the smell of fresh ink and new paper. It always smelled like home, but in a hopeful way.

He had just set aside a finished spell, careful not to smudge the ink, when he reached for a new piece of paper. Caleb gave a little hiss of pain when the paper sliced the flesh on his hand, leaving a sizable paper cut on his index finger.

“Fuck,” he muttered. For a second, he stared at the blood slowly starting to trickle from the cut, mesmerized.

“You alright there, Caleb?”

He looked up, startled, to find Mollymauk smiling down at him. Caleb might have been imagining things, but it looked like he was even flashier than usual. Maybe that was just his eyes adjusting after staring at blank paper for so long.

“Ja, I’m fine. Just a paper cut,” he said. He resisted the urge to stick the finger in his mouth to clean off the blood.

“Well, you don’t want to get blood all over your ~high quality paper and ink~,” Molly said, still grinning. How did he find the energy to grin like that so late in the evening? The thought only made Caleb frown harder than he already was. “I’ll be right back.”

While he waited for Molly, Caleb let the blood slither it’s way down his finger, across his palm, and toward his his wrist. It was just threatening to drip onto the table when Molly returned with a small bandage.

“From Jester,” he explained. Caleb stared, not speaking, as Molly wiped away the snake of blood that had formed and wrapped Caleb’s finger carefully, so carefully. Molly’s grin never faltered.

“There we go, all patched up and no longer threatening to ruin all your spells with your blood!” Molly exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Caleb expected him to leave after that, and waited for a moment before realizing he was forgetting something.

“Ah- thank you, Mollymauk.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. Was that what he wanted?

“Well, can’t have you dying in battle because your spells are all bloody and illegible.” Molly leaned back, putting his arms behind his head. He didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Molly seemed to notice Caleb’s hesitation, because he laughed. “Go on, then. Keep on writing away.”

But Caleb found his focus waning. He let a smile creep onto his own lips as he said, “you are... a bit distracting, Mr. Mollymauk.”

Molly laughed again. “Oooooh, Mr. Caleb, I didn’t know you knew how to flirt!”

Caleb felt his face go absolutely beet red. “Ah- nein. Sorry, I-“

“No, it’s okay, it’s cute.” Molly was still smiling, and Caleb thought that smile must have been glued onto his face permanently. It suited him, though. Caleb could barely imagine his face without it.

“What are you doing, anyway?” Molly asked. Caleb silently thanked the gods that he had changed the subject. “I don’t really understand all this magic stuff. With Fjord he just, ya know,” and Molly mined a shooting motion with his hands, probably mimicking Fjord’s eldritch blast.

“Fjord’s magic is different than mine,” Caleb explained. “I do not know exactly how his works, but my magical abilities all come from what I have learned in books. Even with my almost perfect memory, I have to write down my spells so I can read them exactly as they are written, or else they will not work. That is why when I learn a new spell I have to write it down so I can use it in battle. The words themselves hold power that the caster simply harnesses when they speak the words in the correct way, with the correct intonation. The innate power of the words and the will of the caster combine into one thing, stretching out from the caster's hand, and the result-“

Molly was staring at him, and Caleb noticed a smile had stretched its way across his own face to match Molly's, without his permission. He let it drop and cleared his throat. “Ah, you know... this magic stuff can get a bit complicated. I... like talking about it, though.”

“Oh, I can tell,” Molly said. He was absolutely beaming. “You get this look on your face when you talk about magic. It looks... well, I would say ‘happy,’ if I didn’t know any better.”

Caleb looked at Molly quizzically. “I do?”

“Yeah!” He laughed, and his face was lovely when he was smiling like this. “You look like a child who just got a new puppy.”

Caleb laughed too, at that. “Magic is... incredible. There is so much more to learn, so much more I could do-“ with a start, he looked back down at his paper. He was getting distracted. He was behind. Caleb sighed, then squared his shoulders. “I should... I should finish this.”

Molly’s smile dropped a bit before tilting back up into its proper place. “Of course.” He pushed away from the table and offered Caleb a small salute.

“Don’t stay up too late, Mr. Caleb,” Molly said. “Can’t have our wizard incapacitated tomorrow.”

Caleb nodded, and swallowed down a yawn that was threatening to creep up his throat. “Ja, okay.”

With that, Molly sauntered up the stairs, leaving Caleb with his thoughts and his paper.