Fire Writes

A fanfic sideblog for Firefright. Fic updates, recs and general writing thoughts. Sidebar art by Saturdaysky.

[mllekurtz]

A 13k words shadowgast fic about several relationship milestones in the Rexxentrum house, by @firefright, @kmackatie, @lakrisrot, VillainIHaveDoneThyMother, and yours truly.

No archive warnings apply.

Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Developing Relationship, Post-Canon, Trans Essek Thelyss, Dom/sub Undertones

“Every room is the sex room.”

With art from @notsoangrybabsarts AND EVENTUALLY @zmeess too!

[notsoangrybabsarts]

made this art for this lovely fic written by some lovely friends ♡

[j-plash]

I'm sure I had things to do today but then @zmeess posted this and what is one possibly supposed to do but furiously fic about it? I don't know what this says, it fell out of me like a possessed thing. High-level spoilers if you've not watched the wedding. Thank you zmeess for taking over my brain.

*

When the hand-shaking and back-slapping is all done (for now, for now), and Jester’s skirts have been thoroughly checked for rotting inter-dimensional plant matter—when the sun is a brand at the edge of the sea and the first guests are trickling off in the direction of the Chateau for the reception—when there is a moment, it seems, between the surreal duties of love and friendship and family—Essek touches the small of Caleb's back, and tilts his head toward a quieter spot at the edge of all the pomp and circumstance, just a little way along the cliff. They slip through the well-wishers with nods and glib promises to speak tonight (“Oh definitely, we’ll see you there, ja, ja” ... “who was that?”).

Caleb sinks onto the little bench, tucked discreetly behind a few conjured pink trees, with a sigh that he feels in his terrible, creaky, forty-two-year-old joints. It has been a day. It has been, perhaps, more like at least three days packed into one.

Essek joins him; he is quiet. Watching. He worries, of course.

Caleb brushes a knuckle over the pristine silk of Essek’s trousers, pulled taut over his knee. “I’m alright, Schatzi. We came through fine. I promise.”

Essek catches his hand, softly.

Caleb looks up; it’s enough to make Essek smile, a little.

That’s enough to make Caleb smile a little too. “How are you?”

Essek’s arched eyebrow is a scold in itself. “You are incorrigible. I am perfectly well. I was not abducted by a mad hag in the past hour.”

He is impossibly beautiful in the dying light (he is always most beautiful when he is just a little cross…or when he is reading, or when he is terribly focused in the garden, or when he is casting, or when he is tangled in Caleb’s sheets with a little sweat on his brow and his dear lips set open, panting softly; Essek is beautiful rather a lot of the time, is the thing).

Caleb raises his other hand to trace the plane of skin between Essek’s sharp collarbones and lush pink silk. “I like this.”

Essek’s eyebrow arches further. “The place I’m not clothed?”

Caleb grins. “Always, dear.” (Essek glares, with no affront at all.) Caleb inclines his head. “No. No, the outfit is beautiful. You did a wonderful job.”

Essek smiles properly at that, small and pleased; he has fretted over the outfit, Caleb knows.

“I have not seen you in this neckline outside the house before. It’s a beautiful top. You pull off the pink better than I do.”

Essek scoffs. “It’s a ridiculous colour. But you look lovely; we both did very well.”

Caleb runs his pointer finger where Essek’s thick glut of pearls touches his throat. “Hoarding all our components?”

“Don’t you dare.”

Caleb grins.

Essek smacks him where their hands are still joined. “Terrible man.”

The last sun makes amber of the pearls in his elegant hair and spangled over his perfect, ostentatious shoulders; catches the silver at his eyelids and puts fire in his ringlets and all the pale edges of him. He has always been a creature of magic to Caleb: a powerful, dangerous thing that Caleb really shouldn’t touch and does anyway, again and again and again. He looks like it, here, now, even soft-eyed with relief and concern and pleasure in the moment and the elation of the day.

Essek reaches a little awkwardly with the wrong hand to brush the huge, blousy flower tucked behind Caleb’s ear; he is not moving his other hand from Caleb’s. Murmurs, “I’d say I can’t believe you accepted this, but—Jester.” His fingers pause a moment...then trail decisively down over Caleb’s jaw, a proprietary path through his beard.

Caleb lets himself be pulled closer as Essek’s fingers catch beneath his chin. “She is a hard lady to say 'no' to.”

“Mmm.”

Essek’s lips are cool and sweet and very slightly sticky with cosmetic.

Caleb shuts his eyes: the easy fire of the last sun over the ocean; Essek’s fingers curled into his own, oh so gentle but decidedly not letting go; Essek’s index finger sweetly directive at his jaw; the quiet breeze off the water, easing the humid heat of the coast; Essek’s kiss, familiar and undemanding, banked warmth and welcome.

Maybe tonight, if he’s not exhausted and/or intoxicated beyond capability, he’ll chase that warmth: Essek is exceedingly lovely today, and he was terribly flirtatious this morning, and there is always something in the relief after surviving, and well, weddings and all that.

For now, he deepens the kiss just a little, just enough to properly ruin Essek’s lip gloss, just enough to let him know: they are here. They survived, as they do. The world is good and they are in it together. Essek breathes in like surfacing from sleep; his mouth tastes like cinnamon and promises and home.

The sun sinks into the water; the clouds are co-operating with Jester’s terrible colour scheme.

The world is good, and they are all in it here together.

Caleb clasps Essek’s hand.

Everything is right with the world.

*

[saltytothecore]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Rating: M

Relationship: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast

Tags: Post-Campaign 2 (Critical Role), Pre-Campaign 3 (Critical Role), Torture, Modify Memory, Chronic Pain, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Whump, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mutilation, Gaslighting, Hostile Work Environment, Unreliable Narrator, Brain Damage

Summary:  

Essek is lucky to be alive. It can be hard to believe, with the scars he now bears. The Mighty Nein turned on him at the close of the war, and he barely escaped with his life. He defied fate to be here. At least, that is what Ludinus Da'leth told him, when he offered Essek shelter in exchange for his particular expertise. Essek’s own recollection is— Fraught.

[saltytothecore]

IT IS FINISHED

[ocslostinthelixeira]

some lovely ocs from friends that I posted on my bsky they belong to @augentrust, @kmackatie, @zmeess and @firefrightfic

[firefrightfic]

Hey everyone. I wish I was here to post a fic update today but alas, my brain is still resting on that. I just wanted to notify everyone that after the latest round of AI scraping that happened on Ao3, and a lot of debating, I've decided to lock my fics to be accessible to members only. It may be just one small defense against the AI nonsense, but even the smallest barrier is better than nothing.

I wanted to let you all know so that if there are any readers who don't have ao3 accounts and want to save a story of mine offline, they can. Right now I'm aiming to lock my account down whatever time I get up Wednesday, so that's two full days at least.

Thanks for your understanding!

[firefrightfic]

I just reread "All Things in Perspective" for probably the fifth time. It's one of my favorite Essek/Shadowgast fics (your omegaverse is also right there at the top), and I absolutely love Essek having the nickname "Essie" -I fondly think about Caleb picking it up as an actual cute nickname for him, and the thought makes my heart feel like exploding lol.

Ahhh thank you! I love hearing people reread my stuff. Also yes, haha, I like to thing Caleb brings it out to tease him with occasionally when they're having friendly couple arguments or something, and Essek for the most only pretends to be annoyed about it.

[cr-aspec-fest]

CR Aspec Fest - Info & FAQs!

The Critical Role Aspec Fest is a month-long fanwork fest (with a prompt for each week) celebrating aromantic-spectrum and asexual-spectrum experiences!

Schedule and Prompts

WEEK 1 (Feb 1st-7th): Aro-spec

WEEK 2 (Feb 8th-14th): Ace-spec

WEEK 3 (Feb 15th-21st): Unconventional relationships

WEEK 4 (Feb 22nd-28th): Free week! Whatever your heart desires.

FAQs

(if something isn't answered here, please feel free to send an ask or message!)

Can I make something about a character being demisexual or demiromantic or (insert other label)? Can I make something about a character who's straight?

Absolutely - please do! Aspec is a very broad umbrella term, and this event is all about celebrating a variety of experiences that aren't well-represented in media. If it feels right to you, go for it. I'm not going to exclude any works from the fest just because they aren't relatable to me.

What types of fanworks can I make for the fest?

Anything! Be that fanfiction, fanart, meta, gifsets, edits etc. - everything is welcome! If you're writing fanfiction, you're encouraged to post to the AO3 collection here.

Which Critical Role characters can I make fanworks about?

Anyone in anything they've streamed - so the main campaigns, EXUs, Candela Obscura, Daggerheart or other oneshots!

Do I need to be aspec to join?

Definitely not, as long as you're coming in with the mindset of being respectful of our experiences. For one, I'm aromantic but not ace-spec - so making works about ace-spec experiences is naturally going to be more difficult for me, but entirely doable with a little bit of research! I think it's a great way to learn about others.

Why February? Why a whole month?

Yes, there are plenty of aspec weeks hosted in other fandoms, which are great and the inspiration for this event! But personally, I am both slow and busy, so making just one thing per week is much more achievable for me. I chose February because Aromantic Awareness Week is the week after Valentine's day, and this fest was originally going to take place during that time. I'm also unaware of any other fandom events happening in February (although please let me know otherwise, just for my own interest!). The fact that February splits so nicely into 4 whole weeks is an added bonus!

Would you like people to share around the existence of this fest?

(Okay, maybe this one's a bit of a cheat.) Yes please! Even if you don't plan on taking part, getting eyes on the existence of this event would be wonderful. This is the first fandom event I've ever hosted, and I don't have a huge platform among fic writers, who are likely the largest contingent of nerds (lovingly) who'd be interested in taking part in an event like this.

Other Rules

Please don't bash any ships or headcanons you don't like! Part of the fun of fandom is seeing the broad range of possible interpretations, and I'd always rather foster a sense of community rather than opposition.

Suggestive, NSFW and whump content is fully allowed, but must be tagged correctly for whatever platform you're posting on.

Fanworks should be focused on aspec experiences or characters, but other topics or characters can totally be included, and these experiences don't have to be super clear or well-labelled in-text (gods know that real-life experiences are often opaque and confusing) - it's your intention that matters. This is up to your discretion, really. As with the rule of thumb for AO3 tagging - if someone was viewing this for aspec content, would they be disappointed? If so, you can always rework it, or post it outside of this fest.

This account will be reblogging every fanwork made for the fest - just remember to tag us, and use the #CRAspecFest tag! If you don't have a tumblr account and want a post about your work to be included, send a message.

There'll be more posts on this account with ideas for how to approach the prompts, plus reminders at the start of each week, tagged #CRAspecFestPosts. All submission reblogs will be tagged #CRAspecFestWorks.

[callingvoicemail]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Rating: T Relationships: Essek/Caleb Words: 1.4k

“Caleb,” Essek asks in an undertone, as they walk away from one window, its festive display festooned in so many colorful sparkling lights that the very sight makes Essek’s eyes water, “if there is something you want to buy, then why not just buy it?” “Too expensive,” Caleb demurs, the denial so prompt it cannot be anything but reflexive. “Besides, I don't need it.”

[firefrightfic]

I never read beyond the first murderbot novella but i'm suddenly very taken by an adaption where everyone is muppets except for murderbot who painstakingly looks like the most ordinary human you ever saw

[firefrightfic]

Verin Thelyss sensitive soul who like poetry is 100% the correct direction, I don't how we didn't predict it like everything else

But I will have that he absolutely does write his own and Essek was subjected to so much baby poetry where Luxon was somehow rhymed with buxom now, thank you Mr. Mercer

[firefrightfic]

Popping in to say i love ur omegaverse series!!

Thank you!

[roundandtalented]

Sour Cream, one of our 5wk old foster kittens, has had an upset tummy for a few days, and hadn't been wanting to eat, so @Xagave and I had been tube feeding to make sure she didnt lose weight. Aaaand last night, this spiteful little baby said 'fuck your milk, AND your tube'... and ate the whole entire feeding tube. (She ripped it off, bite guard and all!)

She now needs an endoscopic retreival to fish the tube back out, because it will not pass through her on its own. The emergency vet tried inducing vomiting, and just fishing it out, but neither worked. Because she is so tiny (1lb!), surgery would be risky, so this is the safest option.

The vet initially quoted us 2k, but was able to knock off some of the cost. A dear friend (who runs a senior dog and stray cat rescue!), Sandy, temporarily spotted us 1k so that Sour Cream can get the endoscopy today (as a baby, she needs to eat often, and CANT right now. So its urgent).

I hate asking for money online, but i would hate for this tiny baby to lose her life even more. If you are able to help us with the cost, even a little, my KoFi is the same as my username here, and I have a cash app:

Or, you can help us pay back Sandy:

here are more pics of Sour Cream & the Nachos 🥺💙 in case you want ur babby kitty fix.

[firefrightfic]

Hey friends, I don't normally reblog stuff like this but Cake here does fantastic work caring for so many fuzzy babies, and if anyone among my followers can spare anything to help them save this silly little goofball, please do consider helping them out!

[firefrightfic]

to anyone missing my writing please know i am also missing my writing

[firefrightfic]

Every time this gets a fresh batch of notes I'm just like, solemn nod. We're really all in this together huh

[firefrightfic]

Can't believe that four years after I wrote a Slade-as-a-viking fic DC publishes a Slade-as-a-viking comic. Smh. Tom Taylor's Ao3 account where

[firefrightfic]

Heads up for this one, I'm asking this without the desire to pressure you or bother you because I know you are not having a good time in your life (and I hope you get better soon <3 )

I just would like to know if the fanfic "Brother mine" is abandoned or if you have future plans to update it? I love your writing! and that story is my favorite. I just bumped up with some of your work and I'm really in love with everything so far <3

So yeah, that's it! If the answer is no that's okay too, don't worry. I know sometimes we don't have enough inspo or grow out of certain things :) I just wanted to know.

Take care!

Thank you for the lovely message! I really appreciate it <3

Honestly at this point all I can say is I would like to finish it, the same as I'd like to finish all my fics. However, I'm very sure that it won't be any time soon. One day the Jason bug will probably bite me again, but not right now. Best bet is to stay subscribed to the fic and hopefully one day you will get that magical email in your inbox ^^;;;

[firefrightfic]

to anyone missing my writing please know i am also missing my writing