Hey....cursed Thought But...do Long Essek See Shrimp Colors ??

I cannot stop thinking about @foxqueen-katarian ‘s amazing AU, where Essek is the Luxon’s champion, who somehow got a physical child-like body and keeps following him around like a little duckling.

I guess they just floats around, shining like a cosmic diamond, and live their best life (?)

You can find more about it in this thread : 

https://anne-o-nyme.tumblr.com/post/663251925576368128/part-of-me-is-in-love-with-the-idea-of-essek

Caleb and Essek discuss children, of all things.

--

"Aren't you worried?" Caleb asks softly, his voice full of concern as he holds Essek's hand in his own. "About outliving them?"

It wasn't a topic either of them had brought up: instead, Beau and Yasha has approached them about it, offering to be surrogates should they desire a child of their own. A very sweet offering, but one that prompted a discussion.

Outliving your child was among the worst things most parents could think of.

And yet.

"It is a concern, yes," Essek confesses, giving Caleb's hand a gentle squeeze. "I will not pretend it is not. But...I am a drow. I will likely live for centuries more, unless my own foolishness catches up to me. And you won't be there, because you are human, and if we were to have a child, they would also be a human, or perhaps a half-elf," he presses the gentlest of kisses against Caleb's temple. "And I would outlive them as well, and it would be hard. I'm not pretending it wouldn't be."

He pauses for a moment, taking the time to brush a stray ginger lock back behind Caleb's ear before he resumes speaking. "But if I am lucky, I will live to see our child marry, and have children of their own. And their children will perhaps have children. And five or six centuries from now, we may have great-great-great grandchildren, and one might have your hair, or your eyes, or your nose," he kisses the nose in question. "And it would remind me of you, long after you are gone. I could think of no greater gift you could leave to me than that."

There are tears welling up in Caleb's eyes, but neither of them acknowledge it. "Ja, okay," Caleb nods, and kissed his husband. "Let's have a baby. Let's leave a legacy."

what little i can do

a/n: so uh, my hand slipped. i saw this post about time-traveling essek helping bren and i just... it all kinda wrote itself. @kurosmind i hope you enjoy this little ficlet and the pain this concept has cause me, bc i just love it so much.

* * *

he figures it out accidentally. late at night in the library, frumpkin nestled in her basket nearby, Dancing Lights illuminating his scrawling. he should be sleeping; a group of far-too-green adventurers came by to pester him today and he's exhausted.

but then he scribbles a formula and stops.

a memory flashes. a mess of red hair; sobs upon his chest. a room full of ash; his mantle heavy with disintegrated secrets.

he tucks away the writings hastily. no. he promised he wouldn't, and there's never a promise to caleb he's ever broken, not even now, hundreds of years later.

he won't use the spell.

it's been years. another adventuring party has come and gone; this one included a halfing who giddily hugged him, rambling about her great-grandmother's wild stories. she's not the first one he's met; there are many out in the world who come to him with echos of the mighty nein. if only the rest of them could see the ripple they've created...

he finds that spell when he's looking for something else. it brings him pause. he feels a great weight in his bones these days, an aching, ever-present coldness. soon he will be the final grave in the grove, he knows, buried by clarabelle clay or perhaps one of her children.

he looks at the portrait by his bedside, small and fading. he gives frumpkin an absentminded pat.

he gathers the components, letting them sit on the kitchen table for days, gathering courage.

what does he have to lose? he knows he can't alter anything, but if only he could see him-- see them, all of them-- one more time...

it would be worth it.

it will be worth it.

Afficher davantage

Give me more Shadowgast Baby !

Don’t think about Caleb lecturing a hall of students with a tiny baby strapped to his chest, occasionally pausing to adjust them to a more comfortable position.

Don’t think about all the speculation about which of his revolving door of lovers got knocked up (the prevailing theory is the purple Tiefling who disappeared after only a month; the slightly pointed ears, pale hair and lack of horns do nothing to deter this theory).

Don’t think about Caleb tucking his chin and whispering in Zemnian with a awestruck expression, before returning to the lesson at hand.

Don’t think about soft new parent Caleb.

So I’ve just seen Goncharov

And it was amazing, a true masterpiece. I’ve been looking at all the lovely meta people have posted on tumblr, and while some people have noted the fish metaphors, I’ve yet to find any detailed explanations for these. 

Here I come, folks.

Across the movie we can select 3 important moments where fishes have a specific meaning, and all of them are associated with Katya : 

the anchovies scene

that moment when Katya feed the goldfishes in Goncharov’s study

the scene when Goncharov is looking for his watch in the study, and where the fishbowl is pushed around

But what do they mean ?? Well, let me reframe the question : what kind of fishes are we really looking at ? 

In the anchovies’ case, it’s all about food, how you consume it, and with whom. Anchovies were at first, like many overhyped delicacies, poor people’s food. Too small to be of use for noble families, and filled up with tiny bones (truly a pain in the ass to remove) : only the common people used to catch and eat them (mostly fermented, to add some proteins to simple meals). 

Now, what does it tell us about our main characters ? Well, in that scene, Gonchariv and Katya (as mentioned by him) are pro anchovies. They are, like these small fishes, low born people full of sharp edges, and now seen as symbols of a new luxurious life-style. 

In the fishbowl’s case, you’ll surely tell me “you dumbass it’s the goldfish scene, she’s feeding goldfishes ! Who cares ?” well my friend, it is you who’s a dumb of ass. If you had looked at them closely, you would have realized 2 things : 

1. there are indeed two goldfishes in the first scene ;

2. the fishes in the second one have actually been replaced by Siamese fighting fish ;

For those who don’t know much about fishes, let me tell you a couple of things : goldfishes are not supposed to be kept in a small bowl, it’s very detrimental for their health to be kept in such a dire environment ! Wild goldfishes are actually quite big and have a lifespan averaging about 10-15 years !! Some can reach 30 years !! 

What does it tell us about Katya ? Simple : like the fish, she’s kept in a toxic environment designed to utterly destroy her, and where she’s expected to be a pretty commodity to look at.

“Wait ! What about the fighting fish ?” you’ll undoubtedly recall. Indeed my friend, indeed…these fishes are very well named, since it’s quite common to witness siamese fish fighting each other.  Actually, if you ever want to keep a couple of these beauties at home, it’s advised to keep them in separate tanks, to avoid any fights.

What’s told to us here, with this simple fish swapping, is that Katya went from being a cute dying goldfish, kept small by the world around her, to a feisty and dangerous warrior, ready to take down her own mate to control the pond.

Come and see the most adorable half drow babies cuddling from the amazing @flappingduster !! 

The cuteness is killing me TT u TT

@anne-o-nyme reawakened my babygast feelings and I couldn’t resist the quick sketch of our two shadowgast kiddos🥺

Caleb being the Gordon Ramsey of the Soltryce Academy, where he is very soft and gentle with his younger students who are just starting out, but getting into knock down drag out fights with other professors and older students over obscure details and ethical quandaries.

!! please send me the link once it’s finished, op !! 

I don’t know if anyone else had this idea before (…probably) but I would LOVE to see a fic about Essek’s fake burial.

Listen, picture Verin, heartbroken, very confused about these outsiders who showed up unannounced at his brother’s funerals, claiming to be his friends (”Essek do not have friends !”), and insisting on helping him empty out his tower.

First stage : polite confusion

Second stage : passive aggressive doubts from Verin

Third stage : Verin is convinced these people are huge liars and are trying to loot his dead brother’s precious belongings.

Final stage : Verin starts throwing stuff at the Mighty Nein. Chaos ensues. They end up teleporting with Verin in the Clay’s kitchen in front of a very surprised Essek, in his lounging clothes, busy drinking tea and drawing hearts around Caleb’s name in his spell book.

Essek just wanted to get some of his stuff back.

Essek has a 400′s life crisis and goes back on the road with a party of young adventurers. He, of course, brings Caleb with him.

all credits for this amazing idea goes back to the great @flappingduster-scribbles

They're both highly ridiculous prople but somehow it's working to their advantage