#trent ikithon

[khalliys]

We're not so different, you and I. Part 1, Part2

From Critical Role C2 E92: Home Is Where the Heart Is

[venndaai]

Trent threatening Essek in Echoes of the Solstice.

[vethbrenatto]

^that meta i wrote but in gif form

[itseghost]

no idea if this has been done before when they went from rping chill garden conversations to joking about feeding trent mushy peas post capture i could not get this out of my head lmfao

original beautiful post that this is inspired by is under the cut

[ariadne-mouse]

I think something I enjoy about all of this is that Ikithon was already defeated. When he escapes from prison a withered old man, hiding behind trees, ineffectually trying to leverage the trauma of a man who has already done so much healing and grown beyond his poison, then losing his treasured mind into the body of a Calamitous relic creature who is just mindlessly rampaging ("Ikithon is not home"). He was causing damage, he was pushing on old wounds, but his power is long gone. The victory is sweet, but it's the cherry on top of a larger fight already won.

[essektheylyss]

Because I'm going to be thinking about this forever, I do want to talk about how Caleb speaks, because I think there's something to be said for how his protectiveness (in general) actually presents itself.

Caleb uses epithets and allusions a lot. He refers to Nott as "my goblin friend," to Jester as "my blue friend," to Yasha as "my barbarian friend." Yussa is at one point "our wizard friend," and Essek is "my Kryn friend," in the two-shot.

He is also, notably, paranoid about being surveiled. He wears the amulet of nondetection for most of the campaign, and it's not unwarranted, given that Trent locates him and nearly burns down the Blooming Grove the moment he's able to get a lock on them. Trent in fact has been shown to use any and all information he can get ahold of about or from Caleb against him, to a truly extreme level. His seemingly single-minded goal is expressed to be to ensure that not a single aspect of Caleb's life and loved ones is safe at any moment, to perpetuate the threat of harm from any direction in order to essentially control and monopolize Caleb's every thought.

In Echoes of the Solstice, Caleb does suggest that he is not concerned with Trent being able to surveil him any longer, but Trent is not the only threat, and, timey-wimey plot nonsense aside, the Hells' inability to scry on him since then suggests that he is likely wearing an amulet at least by that point in the timeline.

The extent of Trent's focus on him and his ensuing paranoia is extreme, and even beyond when he may no longer feel that Trent is a threat to him, he seems unwilling to allow him to pose a threat to others, and people he cares about in particular.

Within that context, it's not difficult to read his use of epithets, particularly in referring to people who are not currently present (rather than using their name aloud), as a form of protection. Some of his manner of speaking implicitly or explicitly presumes that he is being surveiled, even outside of the context of protectiveness; after Vess Derogna's death, he frequently refers to Lucian only by epithets, most often, "our old friend," and at one point establishes "Lady D," (to Jester's glee) as a code name for Vess Derogna for the specific purposes of countersurveilance.

This method of protection, I would imagine, goes double for Essek; not only does Caleb have the habit of worrying over those who would use his loved ones against him, which is of course borne out in Echoes of the Solstice, but he also must consider that Essek has his own enemies, and a stray mention of his name in the wrong company or setting could get his partner killed. It seems even in that gifset, when Caleb says, "I am worried for Essek," after the encounter with Trent at Vergessen, that he first considers obfuscating, stumbling over allusory phrasing before acknowledging that Trent already has the information he needs, and at that point Trent is their only real concern about who might care, given Lucien is far too focused on reaching the Astral Sea to worry about hostages.

When Caleb answers Jester's, "And he's going to hurt Essek," with a silence and an oblique reply, it feels most to me like a further measure of protection, knowing that knowledge is power that can be used against him and his loved ones, and silence is the weapon he has against it.

[tatersdoesstuff]

♟️Empire Pawns♟️

a silly thought experiment/au on how a traitorous shadowhand, a leashed attack dog, a desperate alchemist, and an underpaid mercenary may meet differently through a series of unfortunate circumstance and timeline fuckery

[fatally-addicted-to-fiction]

My favourite Caleb Widogast moments:

"I was so sure. I was SO sure... Until I wasn't"

Caleb interacting with Lucien

Caleb being taught spells by Essek

Essek saying "They need you" when we all know it was an "I need you"

Trent using sending on Caleb after they escape

Molly kissing Caleb on the forehead

Yasha shaving Caleb

(Liam physically scratching his arms to show us Caleb's nervous habits)

When Essek (A WIZARD) pulls a HUMAN (Caleb) out from under a BUILDING

Look, his whole personality of a singed cat (similar to wet cat, slight difference) just makes me so interested in his character i focus on him for weeks at a time then forget abiut him for a month

[danikatze]

[ID in alt text]

They used such nice and dramatic camera angles and zooms during the show for this scene.. It got stuck in my head and I had to draw it

[jolyneart]

here are my villain illustrations for Critical Role’s CLUE! 

I’m very proud of these, because unlike the Mighty Nein, there weren’t set-in-stone visuals of them at the time, so I got to be more creative with my designs. I hope you all like them! ☺✨

[merlevum]

Finally finished this piece!

[blorbologist]

[venndaai]

I do not trust- working with that man.

[saturdaysky]

so, sometimes when you draw the indulgently evil shadowgast art lurking in your daydreams, said art turns into a full-on homicide scene. what can i say? it's fun to watch the blorbos put other people in blenders for a change.

A close-up:

More sketches and other things under the cut.

The sketch from way back when! I free-handed some of the anatomy here, and it got me into trouble later. Don't be like me; use references.

And of course, our WIP bean buddies, plus another silly sketch that happened along the way. "Sky, what are they thinking about?" What, indeed.

Cheers, all 🧡

[ariadne-mouse]

with Trent saying the M9 are "a little late" for the encounter I can only assume he WAS expecting them the day before and had to awkwardly wait around in the illusory house with two undead corpses just like. sitting around tapping his foot and minutely rearranging the plates