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He thinks maybe it should make him more frightened, that he should worry about the liabilities he has allowed these people to become. It does nothing to temper the joy of being trusted, of being someone worthy of friend. It does nothing to diminish the memory of Caleb’s spellbook in his lap this morning, its owner sound asleep before him; the sweet press of concern behind Jester’s words in his mind the night before as she reached out with sending.
A rabbit walks into a snare. The snare closes around its throat, killing it. What is responsible for its death, the stupidity of the rabbit or the viciousness of the snare’s purpose?
The Shadowhand of the Bright Queen walks into the T-Dock, he thinks, and feels sick.Two months after surviving the ruin of Aeor, Caleb and Essek return to tie up loose ends.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 282,898
- Chapters:
- 43/43
- Comments:
- 322
- Kudos:
- 487
- Bookmarks:
- 145
- Hits:
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Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
15 Apr 2026
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The first letter Essek receives from Caleb Widogast is secreted into his pocket at some point during a tense interview with the Bright Queen. For the life of him, Essek cannot figure out how it was done. He doesn’t recall so much as brushing against the other man as he escorted the Mighty Nein out of the Lucid Bastion.
Yet when he returns to his office, there it is, tucked into a nearly invisible pocket in his mantle — a piece of subpar parchment folded to vaguely resemble a cat’s face with tiny pointed ears.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 61,367
- Chapters:
- 14/14
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 319
- Kudos:
- 887
- Bookmarks:
- 264
- Hits:
- 14,414
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
07 Apr 2026
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I’ve known the warmth of your doorways by lakrisrot (enheduane)
Fandoms: Critical Role (Web Series)
16 Aug 2023
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Essek knocks on the door of the Xhorhaus in a thinly veiled panic, seeking Caleb’s aid. Jester begins to fear that Essek is keeping an ugly secret from them all.
(A different take on the Essek reveal)
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
04 Apr 2026
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relativity, noun. 1) In physics: the degree to which a phenomenon’s perception differs between observers based on their independent reference frames; 2) In philosophy: the belief that there is no absolute morality existing beyond the conditioning of the individual.
The return to Aeor is a crucible of sorts- all that they have this time is each other, which is both electrifying and terrible in near-equal quantities. Two wizards in one place is trouble, but when they're Caleb and Essek it's a match to acetylene.
(Or: how it falls apart and comes back together.)
Series
- Part 1 of cascading phenomena
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 30,812
- Chapters:
- 10/10
- Collections:
- 3
- Comments:
- 161
- Kudos:
- 776
- Bookmarks:
- 190
- Hits:
- 11,900
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
03 Apr 2026
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An elderly Caleb receives an unexpected visit from a time-traveling Essek, also in his twilight years. A conversation on love, death, and grief ensues.
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
02 Apr 2026
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"Caleb, are you alright? The tunnel must have collapsed. I made it out with a few scrapes, but I can't find you."
The words come through Caleb's mind in Essek's voice, smooth, controlled, delivered by magic.
There is no echo of a physical voice to accompany. Essek is too far away to be heard.
"I am .. I'm alive. Currently pinned under some rubble. I cannot move, see, or cast. Breathing is difficult. Some broken bones. Please come quickly."
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
28 Mar 2026
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both our tender bellies wound in baling wire by lakrisrot (enheduane)
Fandoms: Critical Role (Web Series)
29 Mar 2024
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Essek has lived in Caleb's home for months. He still dreams, but of the wrong things.
[can be read as standalone]
Series
- Part 2 of what our ghosts will say
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
24 Mar 2026
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we'll undress beside the ashes of the fire by lakrisrot (enheduane)
Fandoms: Critical Role (Web Series)
27 Nov 2022
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Essek has been a guest in Caleb's home for a week now.
Series
- Part 1 of what our ghosts will say
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
23 Mar 2026
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we never do go over (we always gotta go through) by Chrome
Fandoms: Critical Role: Campaign 2 - The Mighty Nein (Web Series), Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series)
06 May 2021
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In the last fight with the Tombtakers, Essek Thelyss bends reality to keep them all alive and pays the price. As he copes with the aftereffects of his own magic and the party takes the long journey back to the surface, Essek and Caleb finally confront what they are to each other.
or,
Five times Essek woke up with level(s) of exhaustion and one time he didn't.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 17,169
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 228
- Kudos:
- 2,881
- Bookmarks:
- 740
- Hits:
- 27,644
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
23 Mar 2026
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“I am pretty fucked, Essek.”
He doesn’t intend to let the spell go, but it unravels along with his concentration as the pain becomes overwhelming. Wincing, he lets his arm fall back to the ground. He’s been trained to take this. Nothing ambitious for a moment. Just breathe.
Prompt: Caleb and Essek are separated in Aeor and Caleb gets blinded.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 6,024
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 50
- Kudos:
- 892
- Bookmarks:
- 182
- Hits:
- 4,822
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
22 Mar 2026
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Footsteps pad down the hall and past the stairs. Actual footsteps. Verin can’t remember the last time he saw Essek walk on his own two feet. He feels a twisted knot form beneath his sternum; something isn’t right.
Thinking only of justice and restoring his family's honor after Essek's betrayal, Verin Thelyss finds something he never expected, an Essek he never expected. A mission for justice turns into a race against time and a family finds their world upended.
Series
- Part 1 of Lay Your Bones
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 53,587
- Chapters:
- 7/7
- Comments:
- 301
- Kudos:
- 2,172
- Bookmarks:
- 533
- Hits:
- 28,387
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
21 Mar 2026
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Six months ago, Beau adopted a teenager who loves the Cobalt Soul, but can't stand her. Ten minutes ago, Caleb accidentally summoned his own teenage self into his living room. So you know, they're both going though some shit.
At least Caleb's got experience befriending novice monks with attitude problems. And Beau's got experience befriending Caleb.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 103,670
- Chapters:
- 24/24
- Comments:
- 1,009
- Kudos:
- 993
- Bookmarks:
- 281
- Hits:
- 19,264
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
18 Mar 2026
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The empire slaves have been given to Essek, because obviously he doesn't have enough to do. He doesn't particularly want them, doesn't need the extra hands in his household, but he doesn't have a polite way to refuse them that won't land them somewhere worse. He shall simply have to make the most of it.
Series
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 27,318
- Chapters:
- 13/13
- Comments:
- 374
- Kudos:
- 958
- Bookmarks:
- 165
- Hits:
- 12,207
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
16 Mar 2026
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eleventh hour by mllekurtz (TheKnittingJedi) for toneofjoy
Fandoms: Critical Role (Web Series)
23 Jul 2022
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“You know what, Essek,” Jester said, “you should just kiss him and see what happens.”
“Absolutely not,” Essek said reflexively, so righteously affronted he hadn’t even blushed.
But they're at the Mighty Nein Goodbye Party. What if this is his last chance? What if it’s now or never?
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
13 Mar 2026
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soft driven slow and mad like some new language by mllekurtz (TheKnittingJedi)
Fandoms: Critical Role (Web Series)
16 Feb 2021
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“Well… I’m interested in everything, at least in theory,” Essek says cautiously.
At that, Caleb raises his glass. “And I as well. Although…” The wine sloshes, ruby red and glinting, as he sets the glass down and rises from the floor. “Maybe it’s not just the theory I’m interested in, right now.”
As Essek starts going on adventures with the Mighty Nein, his relationship with Caleb has still a few kinks that need to be ironed out.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 6,475
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 77
- Kudos:
- 1,096
- Bookmarks:
- 154
- Hits:
- 9,805
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
13 Mar 2026
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only code it knows is rote survival by Chrome
Fandoms: Critical Role: Campaign 2 - The Mighty Nein (Web Series), Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series)
01 Apr 2021
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Summary
Essek clung to her; his fingers gripped the front of her coat. He looked small in a way he never had before, frightened in a way that Caleb hadn’t fully processed he could be. It wasn’t Essek’s nervousness, the anxiety of a brilliant man who could see danger all around him, who could see the falling dominoes and the way the web he had woven had entangled him. It was the fear of a small child, or indeed, a stray cat—the fear of a creature trapped in a terrifying world it did not understand.
Essek, brilliant Essek, Essek who believed he could find the answers to everything, unable to understand a thing—the thought of it stabbed at Caleb’s heart.
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In a world where Trent makes it back to Eiselcross before the Nein do, Essek spends a night under the effects of the Feeblemind spell. Caleb undertakes a duty of care, and the Nein learn how Essek feels about them beneath everything.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 12,637
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 252
- Kudos:
- 3,814
- Bookmarks:
- 727
- Hits:
- 28,918
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
28 Feb 2026
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There's something in Caleb's dreams. It wants him to know that he's not alone. It wants him to know that he'll never be alone again.
Elves don't dream, so all Essek can do is watch.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 215,726
- Chapters:
- 23/23
- Comments:
- 2,337
- Kudos:
- 3,255
- Bookmarks:
- 864
- Hits:
- 97,955
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
26 Feb 2026
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Summary
Caleb and Beau find themselves back in time after the events of the Apogee Solstice at the Malleus Key. Everyone is confused. Beau and Caleb are too old for this.
Early days Mighty Nein meets Beau and Caleb post campaign.
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
24 Feb 2026
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Caleb and Essek are fleeing, separated from the Mighty Nein.
Desperate and almost beaten, Caleb grabs a trinket and his friend and Teleports them to safety. Except the destination they land in is not the one he had chosen.
And for a second he wonders whether he sent himself to hell.
Written for Shadowgast Week 2021!
Day 5: Ashes & Artifacts- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 29,285
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 168
- Kudos:
- 887
- Bookmarks:
- 158
- Hits:
- 8,917
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
19 Feb 2026
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Summary
When Bren Aldric Eremendrud was a boy, whenever he felt small or lonely, he’d look up at the stars, wondering if there was life up there. Turns out, he was looking in the wrong direction. When alien life entered our world it was from the deep beneath the Lucidian Ocean, a fissure between two tectonic plates. A portal between the dimensions, a breach.
To fight the Kaiju wreaking havoc on the world, mankind created monsters of their own. The Jaeger Program was implemented. Jaeger. Zemnian for hunter. Monsters designed to put these otherworldly abominations back in their place.
One pilot couldn’t handle the neural load to pilot the Jaegers alone, so a two pilot system was implemented, one on the left side, one on the right. The two pilots had to link their minds to work in perfect synchronous harmony to ensure that the mechs could run properly. With technology being advanced from cooperation and a worldwide ceasefire to stop this problem, the Pan Lucidian Defense Corps was born.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 60,266
- Chapters:
- 24/24
- Comments:
- 568
- Kudos:
- 700
- Bookmarks:
- 129
- Hits:
- 14,312
Bookmarked by TellNearaToWrite
19 Feb 2026