⋆｡°✩ harp-er ⋆｡°✩ @harp-er - Tumblr Blog

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so the Bells Hells live show means everything to me

#critical role #jesus CHRIST. robbie daymond you know what you did #said positively

ccattnipp

give me an elf and i’ll turn him into a dress-up doll

#essek thelyss #the mighty nein #critical role fanart

aromacaque

It is kind of amazing to me how strongly social conventions, heteronormativity, and amanormativity have such a strong hold on people that even a relationship between a canonically polyamorous man and a demiromantic/demisexual elf who will outlive him by centuries doesn't shake away the specific construct of marriage being the "ultimate perfect idealized romance everyone desires/deserves/wants" idea to some.

Liam says Essek and Caleb never marry, and some people find that disappointing because, I don't know, we're told marriage is the end-all-be-all of a longterm relationship of any kind. Or they'll only accept this by saying they're married in spirit/unofficially because their unconventional approach to romance feels lacking without calling each other their spouses regardless (when they do not refer to each other as such in canon).

Liam says that at some point they "break up," but they remain very close for the rest of Caleb's life. And this is somehow... unsatisfying? Like friendship is a downgrade? As if friendship, or any platonic relationship, is a Specific Thing just like marriage looks and behaves like a Specific Thing (despite the fact that friends can kiss, or possibly share a living space, or do anything a romantic relationship traditionally does and have it still not be inherently romantic). Some think it's stupid because it feels meaningless, but even if shadowgast decided to change up their boundaries near the end of Caleb's life (which they would inevitably have to do this at some point when his health starts to deteriorate) it doesn't suddenly mean Essek can't help take care of him or anything. And they used to be romantic, so their relationship will always have a little bit of that.

Circumstances out of their control, Caleb's polyamory (even if he never gets with anyone else other than Essek), and Essek being aspec makes their relationship very unconventional and dubiously queerplatonic in nature. And somehow the end result of that is... less valuable in the long run? How? Why? Why would a polyamorous man or someone who is aspec subscribe to those social beliefs and systematic structures anyway??? Genuinely?

They don't need to be married to know they love each other. I personally think marriage is the disservice and less valuable direction to take their characters. Why would they ever get married? Why would you think they need to?

#op THANK YOU #as an aroacespec fella i feel so seen by the nature of their relationship #and when liam mentioned they were never married i was like yesss that’s exactly how i pictured them. never married #and genuinely i don’t even think their relationship after breaking up would be that different in terms of vibes #like yall it’s okay for two queer characters to not get married that doesn’t invalidate them at all #especially when it doesn’t suit their personal character arcs #this might be a hot take but i genuinely wouldn’t be mad if essek took another lover in his own later life #he learned happiness from the nein but he doesn’t have to let it die with them #ALSO important distinction #i love seeing shadogast wedding stuff #this is about people criticizing the actors for their canonical choices. do whatever you want in fandom that’s what fandom is for #and fandom is great! there should be a space for that!#it’s okay to wander away from canon. absolutely. shoutout wedding stans. and if you picture them getting married i want to see fanart #however #if you start arguing that their queer relationship won’t feel devoted or validated or set in stone because they AREN’T married #and you feel the need to “fix” that…. buddy i have some news about ananormativity and acrophobia for ya #they are gay. they are queer. and guess what they’re also poly and arospec and ppl ignore that aspect of them far too much

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

“Have you thought about it?”

It takes a moment for Essek’s brain to recalibrate from historical theories on Pre-Divergence transmutative equations to the question he’d been asked. “What?”

“Where you are to go, after this.”

____________________________

When faced with the choice of where his life is to lead him after Aeor, Essek goes to visit Jester.

(aka I finally wrote a cr fic)

#caleb widogast #essek thelyss #shadowgast #critical role #the mighty nein

vokhaz

in which everything is exactly the same, except everyone but essek is a muppet

hiveswap

big fan of when you peel back all layers of a character and at the bottom of it there's love

hiveswap

why are they doing this? because they loved someone so much it caused the plot to happen. Grief counts btw

hiveswap

ESPECIALLY a big fan of when this isn't enough to make them a good person

saturdaysky

when you (120, nerd) find your boyfriend (33, nerd) stayed up too late studying and it's real cute

#essek theylss #caleb widogast #shadowgast

furthermuchmore

#empire kids!!#this is so beautiful #critical role #the mighty nein #caleb widogast #beauregard lionett

kurocyou

what if we were soft wizard husbands and we danced on a beach

prints

#essek thelyss #caleb widogast #shadowgast #critical role

the-caleb-widogast

reality tv shows i think the mighty nein would win

beau - survivor. she can live through anything: poison, hunger, dehydration, etc. i think the challenge for beau would be to not kill the other contestants for being annoying to be honest.

jester - love is blind. she's gonna charm the pants off of everyone, win the season, drop the ball and use the money for her and fjord's second honeymoon

caduceus - masterchef. moves the slowest out of everyone yet still manages to finish on time. refuses to cook any meat or fish and uses substitutes but still doesn't get eliminated because his food tastes so good.

fjord - big brother. he can do well in the social aspect of the game while also being physical enough to win the challenges. he'd never get to be head of household though. will kill a man to win a phone call with jester.

yasha - great british bake off. she might try to add some bugs but with her charm and skills, the judges don't mind at all. bakes her winning creation for beau when her wife returns home

caleb - who wants to be a millionaire. the only game where the only thing you need is smarts. uses his one phone to call to essek to talk about tonight's dinner plans then wins the million.

molly - drag race. would do a killer impression of the ruby of the sea for snatch game. sewing skills unmatched. delivers it all during the rusical. queen.

veth - taskmaster. the quickest with the tasks and finds every loophole there is. somehow every item she brings is something that embarrasses fjord.

essek - the traitors. easily fools the rest of the residents. but secretly throwing up in anxiety every other day. makes it to the final three then forfeits himself out of guilt. fan favorite.

flyingcrepe

My intentions were never good, they were important.

#essek thelyss #cr fanart

i’d like to think essek rarely laughs aloud, partly because he was socialized to keep his expressions fairly minimal and partly because he has a very specific sense of humor. i’d also like to think that once caleb figures out what makes essek laugh he tries to do it as often as possible

#the mighty nein #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #shadowgast #tm9 fanart #tw scars