#jestrid

Hello my friends! Some of you may recall that just about 2 years ago now, I ran a series of polls for ships from Campaign 1, Campaign 2, and EXU Calamity that were not together at the end of their respective series. I excluded any Campaign 3 and modern era EXU ships, since at the time, those storylines were still open; Imodna weren't even together at that point. However, now that C3 has reached it's conclusion, I thought it was a good time to revisit the concept. I also didn't feature M/F pairings last time around and now is a good time to make that right too.

So! Let's get into the rules and paraments parameters:

The phrasing "non-endgame" was chosen as certain relationships present were together at some point in canon but are not longer (ex. Blumendrei) or there was an either mutual or one-sided attraction that did not result in a relationship (ex. Widojest). It doesn't feel right to me to simply call these ships "non-canon", though they are featured alongside plenty of purely fanon ships (ex. Verinwulf), so. Non-endgame. It's a little clunky, but it works.

I've reincorporated pairings from the first poll that lost in the very first round, potentially giving them an opportunity to shine further! Any ship from the first poll that made it further than that is not present this time around. These pairings are: Widofjord, Fjordwulf, Vaxmore, Fjolly, Jester x Reani, Polynein, Vexleth, Perc'ildan, Beaukeg, Vexahra, Beastrid, Beaureani, Polymachina, Beaujester, Lucigast, and Widomauk. Please do not ask me where they are.

Almost every ship will feature fanart of the characters in question, included of course with permission from the artist. Links to the original posts will be included and I highly encourage giving them some love if you vote! Any ship that doesn't have a piece of fanart has a little tableau designed in HeroForge by myself. Grogleth is the only exception, with a still from TLOVM.

This bracket is for fun. Ship hate will not be tolerated. You will be blocked if you act poorly in the tags.

Block “cr non endgame poll” if you don’t want to see this further!

Voting will begin this Friday, February 14th, at 3pm CST. All polls will run for 24 hours. The first round will take place over two days, split into Parts A and B.

Matchup links and breakdown below the cut.

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today we have eight fics in modern settings for you all! Have a look at them below the cut and if you end up checking some of them out on ao3, please don’t forget to leave kudos and comments! 🩷

aka THE SPECIAL CRITMAS EDITION. This was the stuff I started in November for Critmas and can finally reveal. I wrote a gift for every single participant because... I don’t know. I wanted to be nice since it was my first time participating??? I’ll never do it again because it was very difficult, but it was still fun.

from planting to harvest, from flower to frost. (G). 1618 words. Caduceus reflects at a winter solstice party.

it’s all swords and spades so cut me slowly. (T). 1071 words. Zahra/Kash. Zahra saves Kash, and the rest is history.

‘cause you’re the only one i wanna fool (T). 1608 words. Molly/Caleb. Four times Molly tried to get Caleb to notice him and one time he realized why it wasn’t working.

tested and tried in the spray and the thunder (T.) 1089 words. Kingsley is, above all things, a creature of midpoints.

ours is a song of cycles and seasons. (T) 1328 words. Dorian/Dariax. D&D share a moment before Dorian leaves for Zephrah.

born for the scythe and the thorn. (T) 840 words. When Jayne Merriweather was four years old, she witnessed her first sacrifice.

do not hunter, do not need (they grow strong on human greed). (T.) 1352 words. AU. Lucien as a Champion of Vecna.

there are heroes on both sides of a war. (T) 2231 words. AU. Expositor Beauregard seeks out a secret liaison within the Volstrucker.

you’re gonna need a lot of luck if you’re ever gonna catch the fox. (T) 2226 words. AU. Vax/Keyleth. Vaxleth Modern meet-cute at a farmer’s market.

give me a man ripe for a breakdown (and i’ll end the world for you). (T) 445 words. Jayne Merriweather and the Creation of the Angel of Irons.

you never get replacements for a broken heart. (G) 1643 words. Jester and Caduceus share an emotionally vulnerable moment in the Xhorhaus.

cups and hearts and we’re still holy (G) 1740 words. Caduceus and Calliope, some sibling bonding, and some wisdom.

i thought the wood and the world were connected. (G) 1104 words. Caduceus copes after the burning of the arboretum.

once you see the midway, you’ve already lost. (T) 1972 words. Jester/Artagan. Artagan, Jester, a Feywild carnival, and lots of feelings.

life is not a game that has a clear and present winner. (T) 2141 words. Molly realizes there are occasionally consequences to his actions.

cut my teeth on the bread of pure temptation. (T) 2017 words. The last temptation of Essek Thelyss in Eiselcross.

remember me as something bigger than i was. (T) 1882 words. Yasha tells Kingsley about Molly precisely how Molly would tell it.

we don’t need questions, so it’s better not to ask. (T) 812 words. Ashton and FCG discuss faith.

where the waves hold cool dominion, sand and stone can catch no claim. (T) 9037 words. AU. Molly meets Lucien’s twin brother when the Nein arrive on Darktow.

don’t be chosen- make the choice to choose. (T) 1954 words. Kingsley gets life advice from Orly.

these are the threads we weave on the way. (T) 1985 words. Ashton and Laudna pretend to date and cause chaos.

all actions and reactions. (T) 2879 words. Jester/Astrid. AU. Pre-law student Astrid Beck is having a bad time. A tale of school stress, loneliness, burn-out, meet-cutes, and scones.

maybe it’s madness, but what’s wrong with madness. (T) 2048 words. After the incident in the Ass Sailor, Jayne makes a decision.

we are what we are, and we will never mourn. (T) 4295 words. Evil AU. The Dark Nein gather together to stop one of their own.

give me black ravens to kindle the sun. (G) 1064 words. Kiri grows up.

Jestrid apocalypse is set in an alternate timeline where Cognouza got free of the astral plane and caused an apocalypse in Exandria. Jester is flung back into the material plane and finds herself returning to a very changed Nicodranas, where her mother is holed up not just with others from the Chateau but also a very familiar wizard...

Anyway, I have around 7,200 words of this and I really want to finish it! I got to do a lot of fun worldbuilding around what Exandria would be like after such an event, and Astrid and Jester just have such a [chef's kiss] dynamic, it's so great.

Here's a snip!

“Shh,” her mother whispers. “It’s not safe. Follow me.” She leads Jester to the darkest corner of the cellar and glances her over. “My darling. How many do you have?”

Jester’s heart sinks like a stone. “How many what?” she asks, aiming for bright and landing completely off the mark.

Her mother rolls back her long, lace-covered sleeve to reveal a red eye on her forearm, the pigment just slightly off from her normal complexion. “Do you have less than five?”

Jester stares at the eye, her stomach filled with lead. “Yes,” she says in a hollow voice. “I have four.”

“Come on, then,” says her mother, and leads her to an empty wall. She pulls her past the wall into a space that should not be there, and it takes Jester a moment to realize it is an extra-dimensional portal, similar to when Caleb used to cast the Tower. Someone has cast their own variant of the Magnificent Mansion here in this basement, and they are using it as their base.

It’s very smart. Jester doesn’t let herself think about Caleb.

They emerge into a pristine foyer, the floors made of wood that echoes under Jester’s heels. There is no sign of personality in this space; it is nothing except a room.

“I’m sorry, my darling,” says her mother. “We will have to confirm your number of eyes before I can show you more.”

Jester is familiar with this routine by now; she begins to unlace her bodice, pulling her skirts free and dropping her petticoats right there in the foyer. It is only her mother, after all; her mama has seen it all before. She unlaces her boots to remove the tights that cover her legs and reveal the first of the red eyes, broad and lurid on her thigh. The second is on her hip, cresting the curve of the bone. The third sits upon the back of her neck, as though it is staring behind her. The fourth is on her palm; she removes her gloves to reveal it.

Her mother waits until she is completely disrobed before looking her over with a clinical eye, having her lift up her arms so she can check under them, walking in a circle around her. “Just four,” her mother murmurs. “We are all fortunate, today.”

“Very fortunate,” says an accented voice. To Jester’s astonishment, Astrid Beck steps out from behind a hidden panel in the wall, her eyes narrowed in distrust. She looks similar to when Jester saw her last, when she allowed them to escape Yussa’s tower. Her hair is a bit longer, as though she hasn’t had time to bother to cut it.

Jester is hardly one to be bothered by nudity, but she wouldn’t be herself if she didn’t say something. “Astrid!” she gasps. “Did you want to see me naked?” Beside her, her mother snorts a soft laugh and hands her back her skirts.

Astrid doesn’t seem to know how to react to this question; she opens her mouth but says nothing. The tips of her ears are red – light-skinned humans blush so easily. Jester grins at her in a way that doesn’t quite reach her eyes as she shimmies back into her skirts and laces her bodice up. Astrid seems to finally find her voice. “I did not—we are not here for this,” she says. Jester has never seen her flustered before.

Jester tells her about her pets and her favorite pastries. Astrid doesn’t say much at first, but eventually she starts responding with some cool new spells for jester to try. Jester can’t always use them, so she makes Veth learn them instead or asks Caleb to show her them.

Jester sends her a basket of cupcakes and other pastries. Astrid enjoys them and tells her the best Zemnian pastries. And where to buy them.

When they visit again, they’re more cordial, but not by a lot. Then they get out of Ickythong range and Jester starts talking to her like crazy.

“I brought the pastries you recommended they’re so good! Not Nicodranas good, but pretty close! It’s so nice to talk to you face to face! Did you change your hair? It looks really nice. For real this time.”

At one point they break out a secret handshake they memorized over sending. Both Caleb and Eodwulf are slack jawed, Caleb slightly less so (he knows Jesters power).