#It was iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia again

[helshollowhalls]

Portia: I want to feed you pasta

MC: What if I don't want to eat pasta?

Portia: Why? Are you lack toes and told her aunt?

Asra: Is MC what now?

Portia: Lack toes and told her aunt?

Julian: Yeah, the thing where you can't have milk

Nadia:... Do you mean lactose intolerant?

[paperstarwriters]

Rain

Muriel x Reader

Warnings: Rain, Fluff, Muriel is needy for physical contact and keeping you warm.

Summary: Its cold and wet outside, but you don't seem to mind. Muriel on the other hand, worries. Partly about the possibility for sickness, and partly about what it means to be loved by you and how he loves in turn.

[a/n]: I wrote part of this when it was still a rainy season where I live (It is now horrible sweaty hot season aka summer) but I was inspired by @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia's thunderstorm headcannons to finish the fic so here ya go!!

(I sill kinda feel like it's unfinished tho. Maybe I'll write a part 2? No promises tho 😅)

Masterlist | The Arcana Masterlist

Word count: 2,821

𓋼𓍊𓋼𓋼𓍊𓋼𓋼𓍊𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓋼✧𓋼𓍊𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓍊𓋼𓋼𓍊𓋼𓋼𓋼

Under the grey curtain of rain, you dance in the puddles. Running and jumping and laughing, splashing mud and water into the air and onto your clothes. To anyone else it'd look like a mess, but to him? You're dancing. It's a more beautiful dance than the measured steps in Nadia's ball rooms, and filled with a deeper beauty he could never explain. You're relishing in the coolness the summer storm brings, and with every step and twirl, and smile towards the sky, he feels your relief and glee. It's infectious. You're infectious.

A cruel irony, he knows, and yet it's true. When you're calm, it calms him, when you're sad, he can't help but follow suit. And when you're happy...

If he closed his eyes, your laughter alone would be enough to spread your glee. You're bright in every connotation, and while the sun's light is dulled as it hides behind clouds you only seem to glow brighter. He loves you. So much. He loves you and he respects you so he takes care not to look at you as water seeps through your clothes, making them translucent, clinging to the planes and curves of your body. No matter how much he wants to, he doesn't look... Not directly at least. He stares at your rippling reflection in the puddles you run through, catching glimpses of your smile before they're warped into obscurity beneath the water's ripples. It makes him feel so distant from you all over again. It makes him feel closer to you than ever before. Like he's watching a secret unfold behind closed curtains.

Another splash and the image of your laughing face, your clothes wet and clinging to your body. Even if he can't see it from the angle the puddle provides, he's sure water clings to your skin, dots your lashes and your brow, trickles down your cheeks like tears... He wants to join you, cradle your face in his hands, swipe rainwater from your cheeks as if they were tears, brush water from your lips with his own... He wants to join you, soaking wet under scrutiny of the rain, even if he knows you'll both fall sick in the end. He wants to join you running very nearly bare around the forest, mud clinging to your legs.

And he wants to hold you, soaking wet under the rain.

He wants you, so badly, so fiercely. He wants you in any way he can have you. Even simply glimpsing your reflection in muddy puddles. He'll take that. As much as he wants more, he'll take that. He always wants more anyways. When it comes to you, he'll always want more of you.

The splashes still for a moment, and you grace Muriel with an almost clear and bright reflection of your brilliant radiance though still only slightly disturbed by the rain. He can see how your arms lower from the way it was once open to the sky. He can see how you turn to follow your attention, face it with your whole body and stare at... Stare at...

At him.

"Muriel," you call, and instinctively, he looks up.

He can't help it, not when you call him and stand awaiting so expectantly for his attention. He'll... He'll just skim over your body, drag his eyes up quickly to meet yours. He'll skip past your legs, all wet and muddied, past your thighs splattered with mud, covering you more than the translucent fabric... Or the way your hips are so much more visible now that the fabric clings all the more tighter to your skin. Or your stomach and chest, the curves and planes of both almost clearly visible under the wetness of your clothes, allowing him to delight in just looking at your beautiful body and...water clings to the columns of your throat, dripping down from your face and feeding the wetness of your shirt, and... And he was right, falling from your lashes, and dripping down your cheeks, rainwater runs rivers down your face like tears. Though, the trails of water dripping down your eyes stand out no more than the rest of the droplets of rain, caressing your face on their trip down to the ground.

His face is flushed red by the time he can manage to reach your eyes. He knew what he had done, and from the delighted glimmer in your eyes you knew what he had done as well. You know, but the delight all the same remained. Smiling under his scrutiny, stepping closer towards him, you reach out towards him. Open, inviting. Warm, even from afar. Even amidst the cold rain.

"Care to join me Muri?"

And you say it in that voice, a voice that you only ever use for him, all sultry and soft and inviting and patient. Curious and wondering rather than demanding and expectant. It's an open invitation that he's welcome to deny, and that only makes it feel harder to ever deny you anything.

His eyes dart down, following the trail of water pooling momentarily by the collar of your shirt as it seeps into the fabric, or even under the fabric and—

Up, up, up. His eyes snap up, higher and higher until he's staring at the stormy gray clouds through the deep green trees that loom above and around you. Trees that have hidden him far from the hands and eyes of anyone else, and trees that, right now, kept you hidden from everyone but him. A fat dollop of water, falls from the tree that grows over his humble hut, landing flat against his cheek. It makes him flinch and step away, but it also makes his attention snap back to you. Makes him meet your gaze, already softer than the pillows and beds at Nadia's palace, somehow growing softer still, threatening to swallow him up whole.

"You're going to get sick," he says. "Standing out in the rain like this is going to make you sick."

He wants to join you. So badly. So, so badly. He wants to keep you warm out here in the rain, press his hands against your waist, and let you feel the warmth of him protecting you from the cold winds, only heightened by the wetness. He wants to trace his lips against the rivers that run down your throat and chest, drinking from your skin. He wants... He wants...He wants you. He always wants you. He wants to join you.

And yet....

You smile, all tender all gentle and he can feel himself already beginning to sink. Sinking as he leans forward and steps out into the wetness. Sinking as his arms begin to rise, already ready to conform to the shape of your waist.

And yet....

"That's fair. I suppose if we're both sick..." He was about to relax, welcome you into his embrace, where it was warm and dry, and you weren't practically naked under the water's ministrations, but your eyes light up with a glimmer worse than Asra's and Muriel finds himself hopeful rather than worried in the face of it. Hopeful that you'll drag him out there with you. Hopeful that this wouldn't be making you sick. Hopeful that he'd be able to enjoy this with you. "Well, if we're both sick we could just spend the day in bed together... couldn't we?"

That.. that was a good point. You could. And you could work together to cook maybe? Or maybe before you went to sleep tonight he could cook a big stew in the cauldron, make sure you have enough for tomorrow. The coldness could help it keep and you did recently buy salts at the market so....

"Plus," you continue, unaware of how deep he has already sunk, how pliable he had already become, "if we dry ourselves off well and warm up by the fireplace before we get too cold, we shouldn't get sick, right?"

Muriel remembers that reasoning from somewhere before, whether from Asra or his own mind he can't tell, and even more, he can't remember whether or not that had worked. He feels like it did, but you could say nearly anything with that tender look on your face and he could suspend his disbelief for however long you wanted.

So, even if you'll get sick, even if you're practically bare for his eyes to see, he nods and hums, and sinks deeper and deeper with every step he takes through the mud, and when his arms settle against the familiar shape of your hips he finds no hope of escaping again. He settles his face against the top of your head, and for the first time since you had begun to prance around in the rain, Muriel can finally breathe.

You sway around him stepping to an unheard rhythm to the sounds around you. Following your lead, he finds himself taking familiar steps along your muddy dance floor. It's a waltz of sorts, or, he thinks so at least. One similar to the one you danced with him at the winter festival and at the Masquerade all those years ago. It's sloppier than the other dances you've shared before. It's better.

Up, up, up, his hands trail against you, brushing water soaked clothes from your body, to trace patterns directly against your cold skin. Ice cold really. Telling by the shudder that wracks your body, and how you melt against him quickly after, his warmth is more than welcome against you, and so he allows himself to indulge a little more. Higher, his hands rise until it's pressed against the flat of your back, between your shoulders and pressing you closer to him. It makes your shirt to ride up a little in the front, letting your belly press against his, skin-to-skin. The feeling makes him greedy. Makes him want to have your shirt off entirely, and press your cold bare chest against his, skin-to-skin. In his own mind he reasons feebly that he needs to keep you warm. As desperate and hungry as he is right now, he still recognizes the idea as the unreasonable thought it is. So he only raises his hand a little higher, just enough that his fingers can trace the bottom of your nape, and so he can cradle you in a way that gives him access to those rivers he's been longing to drink from.

His hair is soaked now, wet enough to stick to his skin, and wet enough to stay out of his face if he sweeps it back, giving him full unobstructed access to your tender throat. He acts before he can even think, licking a hot stripe up against the coldness of your skin, and finds, several kisses later, that you've stopped moving.

Worry guides him to retreat from his haven against your skin, check your own expression and your own thoughts on the matter. Are you feeling cold? Sick? Do you just want to stop? Or are you....? He's met with a half-melted expression adorning your face, lips parted, and eyes half-lidded, leaning in close and just about to kiss.

Despite the coolness of your skin, your breath is still warm as it fans against his lips.

Despite the closeness, and the tenderness of your expression, he still wants to be certain.

"We..." You sway closer for just a moment, and Muriel can't tell if you're teasing, or you're already dizzy from the rain or the clash of warm and cold around you. "...We stopped dancing."

You hum drowsily, and press your lips against his. It's wet—both your lips and the kiss—and under the cruel grasp of the elements it feels colder than it should. A lock of hair slips from behind his ear and gently smacks your cheek as he melts against you, but with the taste of your lips so sweet on his tongue, Muriel finds every error and every twinge of discomforting cold drowned out by the warm feeling of you against him, pressed wetly against his skin, your warmth highlighted in the cold that surrounds you both.

And then you pull back, smile, and confess, "I...I think my legs stopped working when you brushed your fingers against my neck."

Muriel checks, momentarily, even knowing that you were over exaggerating. But it's a reason to look at your hips , your thighs and muddied calves, trace the shapes highlighted by the cling of your clothes. Greedily, he'd take any excuse you give, any chance you'd offer. Still under the guise of checking your legs, he traces his free hand—the one not caught under your shirt—down your hips to rub warmth into your trembling thighs. He'd never confess it aloud, but most of the time, his worrying checkups are just an extra excuse to feel you or look at you, all while also ensuring that you're okay. You roll your eyes and shake your head at his worrying, and seem so oblivious to his wandering eyes or hands. No knowing smirks or coy grins, that make him burn bright red, just his hands and your body. It lets him appreciate your body without worrying that he'd need to explain something to you somehow, or make him feel like he's trespassing into your space. There's a perfectly good reason why he's holding you.

And, of course, you rewarded him every time with your tender sighs, and soft kisses trying to dissuade his concern.

Perhaps if you didn't want him to worry so much you could stop rewarding him for it? Maybe....? Who knows? He's certainly never going to bring it up to you.

He slips his hand lower, feeling your flesh grow colder the further he got from your chest. He thought you were cold as ice before, but your legs, beneath the mud, felt almost frozen. His eyes flicker up, worried and concerned but the path to your face is blocked by other enticing sights and Muriel finds himself having to tear his eyes away before they linger far too long.

"You're cold," he mutters eventually. "We should get inside. You'll freeze if you stay out here any longer."

Up, up, up, your hands catch his before they slip away, leading his eyes to the points where he had held you, along your waist and your neck, and to the sight of your body under pouring rain.

"but you're so warm... just stay, hold me. Tighter, like this." your cold hands snake down his warm body, wrapping tightly around his torso to pull him flush against you. His body becomes warmer at the touch, through of no control of his own. Burying your face against his skin, what once was a waltz takes on a new form.

Beneath the hiss of the rain, and surrounded by the forest, shuddering violently under the downfall, you and Muriel take languid steps from side to side, idly dancing—if he could even call it that. All you were really doing was swaying side to side, trying to keep your body warm through the movement.

For a moment, Muriel was tempted to compare the little sway to your ballroom dance once more, he wanted to say that for whatever tiny little steps you were making, the both of you were dancing better than any dance he's seen in those extravagant masquerades. He'd say that it was the best dance in all of Vesuvia, it was probably better than dances in Prakra, or even in Nopal, and it was all because you held him in your arms, and he got to hold you back.

He could praise your little dance for eternity within the safety of his own mind, but in truth, he didn't really care about the dance. He's never really seen enough dances or danced enough to make the comparison meaningful in any sense, and if he got to dance with you, he didn't need to dance again anywhere else, let alone see some other strangers dance.

All that mattered in the freezing cold, as you stepped side to side, was you, warm in his arms, and the ever so slight shift of his steps luring you closer and closer back to your home.

Home. Your home.

If he were not already melting in your embrace, under the scrutiny of your stray kisses and wandering hands, Muriel would have begun to melt at the thought alone.

Little by little, in a way he hopes is subtle he lures you back inside. Small steps angled towards the golden light that spills from the cracks and crevices of your shared home, he begins to bring you back. Back where it was warm, back where it was dry. He could probably lift you up and carry you home, but you had wanted to dance and enjoy the rain, and enjoy the feeling of him holding you.

He wants to let you have that. As much as possible.

[e1i-neverrests]

We’ll Be Okay

Small headcanons for Vesuvia Weekly prompt “How to Comfort your Loved One” featuring Lys and his dears! It’s good to be back and writing again

Further inspired by @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia 's headcanons: How the M6 cry and how MC comforts them How the M6 get panic attacks and how MC comforts them M6 have a nightmare of MC dying

Asra

Pulling Asra into his arms is second nature to Lys

He makes sure they’re both comfortable while also making sure that Asra can hear his heart beating loud and clear

They both stay like that for as long as it takes, with Lys running soothing fingers through cloudy curls and offering reassurance and assistance

“Can you feel me breathing? Can you breathe with me? There we go, I’ve got you. You’re safe, we're okay.”

When the worst of it is over, Lys is quick to offer a change of pace, usually in the form of tea and a snack

But of course, how could he possibly let Asra go?

Lys bridal carries Asra into the kitchen, lifting him up like it’s nothing

He keeps them as close as possible, letting them rest their head on his shoulder

When he inevitably needs his hands to make tea, instead of letting go Lys just shifts his hold, supporting Asra on his hip with an arm around their waist

Seeing the way Asra smiles at being carried this way is always his favourite part

Muriel

Lighting at least two myrrh incense sticks is the first step

Next is asking about touch and whether or not it’s what Muriel needs

If it would help, Lys is planting himself right in front of Muriel and carefully, oh so carefully tracing gentle patterns into his skin, using the feel to bring his attention back to the moment

If it wouldn’t, Lys is sitting beside him, not quite touching but just close enough that if Muriel wanted to, he could lean to the side and Lys would be right there

Talking out loud, making observations of the room to try and bring him back to the here and now

When reality is established, Lys will start spouting absolute nonsense

If Muriel’s brain wants to take him away, then Lys will clear a path so he’s thinking about something less traumatic

“Have you ever seen a chicken do a headstand? How many rocks do you think Innana could balance on her nose? We should paint the house pink.”

If he gets an answer, that’s great!

If not, that’s perfectly fine

For Muriel, Lys has all the patience in the world

Lys

Similarly to Muriel, there are two ways to handle comforting him based off of how much contact would help or hurt

It usually helps

Just being held, knowing he has someone who’s there for him, who won’t suddenly vanish and can protect him

That safe touch the only thing Lys needs most of the time

Of course, a few reassuring words is still always a good idea, and Lys is usually the one asking questions

“You’re real? I’m okay? You’re here, you’ll stay? Please stay.”

But sometimes things get bad, and even the slightest brush has him reeling

He’ll still need the physical reassurance, and he gets that by lacing his fingers with whoever is helping him through it

That way he knows where everyone’s hands are

No risk of sudden surprises while being able to hold on as much as he needs to as he works through what caused the situation in the first place

[the-exhausted-dumbass]

Hello everyone. I am the man that you all know as Panda. I ran the pandasanddragons blog. Most notoriously, you know me in association with “Rai” who is now going by Kip and by he/him pronouns. His tumblr blogs, as far as I know, are notaguyrai, slaps-and-scribbles, volcanic-penis, and terracotta-crockpot. He also made an Instagram account at one point. I don’t think he uses it anymore but it is boopyboopcoup. I have been able to prove with certainty that me and Kip are not the same person. I had a voice call with @theintrovertbean who had been in voice calls with Kip and was gracious enough to join me in one so that I could prove once and for all that we are different people. @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia was present during the call as well to serve as a mediator and can also confirm this information.

If you are not familiar with the situation, the original callout post is here.

I want to say that I am so sorry for everything. I let myself get caught up in all of this. I let Kip do horrible things, and encouraged him. I helped him, and I am deeply, exceptionally ashamed of that. I know that nothing I do can ever truly fix what I’ve done. I know that I messed up. I have no excuses for that. It was more terrible than I have words for. You don’t have to forgive me, I don’t expect you to either. But you all deserve a real apology. Not the fake bullshit one I had originally made.

Those posts original apology posts I made were made to try and cover things up, and to try and work out ways out of the whole situation. Those posts were also in some ways an attempt to pull all the blame onto myself, and take it off of Kip so he could keep doing whatever he wanted to do.

This did all truly start with a miscommunication, I vented to Kip. He decided he needed to do something and eventually we both got called out for that in August. Even before that, though, I had started to resent him. Afterwards, it all got worse. If I wanted to talk about it, he would brush me off. He would tell me that since it had already happened, there was nothing to talk about. And we started to argue more, I started to get more distant and he got angry about it.

I also want to apologize for my old blog. I originally made it so that I could make a post about my own opinion/analysis/whatever of Asra and Julian. I didn’t expect to get any attention and I hadn’t even planned on making more than one post. Kip encouraged me to keep posting, he helped me with the blog a lot. But I never wanted to just be a hater or be inflammatory with that blog. And so I am sorry for everyone who I hurt or upset with those posts.

The rest of this post discusses Kip, what he’s done, and my experience with him. Some of it is…a bit graphic and absolutely disgusting. But I feel it’s important to put it all out there. This is the last post I am going to make. After that, I’m leaving this fandom entirely and completely.

Recently, Kip has become active again, trying to cause harm to the Arcana fandom. This had brought attention to me, and to old posts I had made to vent about the situation and lead people to believe that the account was Kip and the source of the harassing messages.

I have decided to come forward with what I know about Kip and his current whereabouts, little as that may be. I do not want to run away from this situation anymore and let him have continued power over me.

I had at one point believed Kip to be my best friend and so I trusted him. I vented to him, I confided in him. I now believe that he saw me as not a person but as a toy. There were times when he would ask me to send messages to people, usually harmless. But he would also ask me to harass people on his behalf. When I expressed that I wasn’t comfortable with that, he would often call me a coward. I told him I sent things so he would leave me alone. He would even get angry with me for not wanting an ongoing conflict with someone I had had a slight miscommunication with. He was always pushing me into things because he “stupidly believed” that I was finally gaining confidence

Kip heavily manipulated me to believe that he was right, that he cared about me, and that anything he was doing was for my honor, as he put it.

He would often belittle me, implying that I was stupid or inferior to him, and also often ignored my boundaries. Much of this came in the form of talking about our OC’s. Often times, Kip would tell me that he was horny. He would then proceed to write about how his OC would assault mine. I participated and I wish I hadn’t. Because it was horrible and I never actually enjoyed it. Kip viewed my OC as his own personal sex toy. He wanted to write “dead dove” content about my OC. I had expressed not liking an idea he was writing out, and he ignored it and kept going with the scenario. I even framed it as my OC’s boundaries but it all went ignored and he would continue. I would try to steer it in a more palatable direction. But that turned into Kip wanting my OC to assault his.

After a creator was sent suicide bait, and a different user, wanting to defend them, came to my blog saying it had been me, I panicked. All I knew was that I had not sent anything like that, and I wanted people to know. It was then doubled down that I did it, with reblogs stating it, several non anon asks, and several anon asks. I couldn’t take it anymore, and I wanted to just delete the blog and be done with it all. Kip, however, told me that many people loved that blog and I should leave it up so they could revisit if they wanted to. So he offered taking it so that I could have some peace while everyone else got to still have access to the blog as an archive. After that I had no control over or access to that blog. In some respects, Kip had access over all of my socials, or at least my tumblr blogs. He would tell me to send asks to people, and I would as long as it was harmless. I never sent anything that would have been harassing or cruel and he called me a coward for it.

Kip often edited my posts, he had access to them before they were posted, he read pretty much anything I posted before I posted it, and put his own suggestions into them.

Some of these images may be a bit blurry, but I needed to put them together since I’m on my phone. These images are from the discord server that me and Kip shared. After the initial call out post, I deleted my old account and joined the server from a new account. So the “deleted user” is me, and I took screenshots from the new account.

This group of images is Kip describing how everyone has always been nothing it a social experiment to him, myself included

This group of images is how Kip liked to abuse my OC. Mostly starting with things like “Your OC is afraid of [x] right? So what if…” it got intense and this is the most mild of it all.

This one is specifically something Kip came up with because both me and my OC share a fear of being pregnant

These images are of Kip…generally manipulating and guilting me. And getting upset that I had wanted to apologize for everything

Kip guilt tripping me, riling me up, and just being awful in general

More guilting, and mistreatment. Things that hurt, and in the top left corner, when this all started. And I told Kip to drop it all. And of course, that he was angry with me for making amends with someone immediately instead of holding a grudge and being mean to them.

These last two are our last conversations. I was angry at him and I finally confronted him about everything. And of me having had doubts, having been disgusted with myself about everything that happened and Kip telling me that we were doing the right thing.

[themushroomgoesyeet]

It's time ladies and gentlemen

Arcana characters as Disney's Hercules

I promise not all of these are gonna be Disney themed lol I'm just a Muriel simp (if you couldn't tell) and when I originally came up with the Disney princess idea Muriel as Hercules started rotting a hole through my brain so here we are! Also, we're gonna get some side character/familiar action here as well, yay!

Asra, Nadia, Julian, & Portia - the muses

Are there other characters that these four could fit? Probably

Am I going to fit them there? No

Someone needs to be the muses, and I choose these 4

From left to right (since none of the muses are named) Portia, Julian, Nadia, & the last two get subsumed into Asra

Idk I think they'd have fun jamming out & watching Muriel do his thing

Lucio - Hades

Oh god I can hear the Lucio simps screeching at me in the comments already

But consider: am I wrong tho

Let's face it bro is the villain in every route but his own and the cynical, "better than thou" personality that they both share just fits so well

Plus this version of Hades is a Satan analog who makes binding deals with others for his own benefit, and doesn't that sound like a certain devil we all know?

Not to mention both of them are trying to escape the realms they've been assigned & make themselves god king of everything

Two words: ✨anger issues✨

Morga - Phil

And now we get to the fun characters outside the M6

I will admit, Phil is a lot nicer than Morga, but jaded older mentor figure trying to make up for failed prodigies fits

Plus, Morga was Muriel's mentor in his route

I feel like both also fit into the role of proud parent figure by the end of their respective stories

And both are disapproving of their pupil's romances lol

Inanna - Pegasus

Admittedly Inanna is a bit more no-nonsense than Pegasus is, but she can still be goofy and fun when she wants to

Incredibly supportive of their human companions, important assets in battle, their appearance started the main character on a path for a better and more fulfilling life

Not much else to say here it just works

Vlastomil and Volta - Pain & Panic

Honestly idk if I can fit Vulgora and Valdemar into the Hercules narrative, but at least I could get these two in here

Vlastomil is Pain and Volta is Panic; I realize both could probably fit into Panic's role as they are the more timid and mild mannered courtiers, but I've chosen things this way because Volta is a little bit more flighty and afraid to commit crimes like Panic, where as Vlastomil is a bit more bold (when he's allowed to be) and better fits Pain

There's also the whole shape shifting deal they can all do

Khamgalai - Zeus

This one.....is a bit weird ngl, I'm still not quite sure about it

Honestly this is the ONLY time I will conflate someone so near & dear to my heart with Zeus

Mostly this all fits into the "detached/secret family member" archetype

And....I mean Zeus in this narrative at least is actually very kind & caring, as well as a proud dad which is similar enough to Khamgalai to work ok

Plus they both act as a guide for the main character when they're trying to find/drifting away from the plot a little bit

Merf (my MC) - Meg

Ok

I know what you're thinking

And I'm going to state once again that I am a huge Muriel simp

My MC is also a self insert, and for as long as I can remember I've always identified the most with Meg, more than any of the other Disney women

Anyone who has read my fic, seen the stuff I've posted about my character either on this blog or others, or even just talked to me on the arcana discord started by @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia can probably see that our personalities are very similar

Meg is very special to me as a character and I'm literally writing a post about mashing together my beloved and one of my favorite Disney movies, I'm not apologizing for conflating her with myself

[dolceaspidenera]

Vesuvia Weekly: Apprentice and LI Dynamics

Decided to throw my hat in since I came up with so much material in my head about my apprentice, Venere, and then realized I never posted anything, poor girl has been sitting on the bench for so long like “Am I a joke to you?” 

@iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia Thank you for coming up with these prompts, I had fun doing this!

(I also mixed a bit of poetry in these hcs because I love it so much. Unfortunately, I suck at it, so don't mind too much of what I call my wordy farts)

VENERE x JULIAN – In a nutshell? The overly flirty, bisexual disaster that we all know meets a very practical and unimpressed girl (also, tall lanky man x small menace). What could go wrong?

A whirlwind. She’s swept away by it. Masks and play, it’s easier that way.  A feverish dance, a push and pull, like sea waves.  Backtracking, pacing, restlessness. The mind never stops and thinks and thinks and thinks. Where do you see value? You should leave but you are under my skin. Chasing shadows, facing gallows He can only be a martyr, the guilt takes its toll as the bell tolls  The rope is made of faults and the executioner is called love.  Now there are more hurts, and another love turns into flaming anger. How can she make him see? Gentleness, understanding, calm. We are in this together. Always.

Julian enters her life like a hurricane and turns it upside down. She is swept off her feet by his energy, but she is also sharp enough to see through him. 

They have a rocky start. Julian is kind of intimidated, kind of intrigued, obviously his answer is to double down on the flirting.

Venere is… You guessed it: unimpressed. Don’t be fooled though, she is actually quite charmed, she likes Julian, but she needs her time to feel comfortable around new people. In the meantime, she has one of the biggest resting bitch faces ever.

Most of their early interactions involve Julian aggressively flirting and Venere blushing internally while exteriorly maintaining a deadpan expression.

Julian inevitably starts to question everything; does she find him so ugly? Does she find him annoying? Should he hide in the hole and never come up again? The poor man doesn’t know what to do.

Once they clear the air and Venere feels more comfortable, is when her true character starts to shine. She is passionate and has a fiery temper, which is good most of the time, but also means she tends to react with anger to upsetting situations. Julian is much better and practiced at controlling his anger and is a good counterweight to Venere.

This is also when the table turns and Venere starts shamelessly flirting with Julian. The poor doctor is a blushing mess.

She is ready to give him an earful whenever he is acting foolish, and she is not afraid of calling him out on his bullshit, but she also learns to be very patient with him. She is determined to make him understand that he is loved, and she is always there to remind him of what an incredible, beautiful man he is.

He teases her about her magic jargon, calling it her whimsical gibberish, she teases him for his medical fancy terms and most of all his unreadable writing. 

When it comes to their respective work fields, they had to learn to communicate effectively; Julian is more comfortable with tangible and concrete things, while Venere tends to think in more abstract ways. Over time they learned to come together and communicate clearly.

They are actually a very good team. Venere is trying to implement Julian’s extensive knowledge of medicine with her magic, making medicines more effective and trying to come up with spells that can accelerate the healing process.

She is much more introverted than him, so she is always happy to let him handle social situations and let her full glorious resting bitch face shine while he charms his way out.

Their differences in social battery also mean that Venere needs her moments of solitude to recharge. The first few times it happened Julian panicked; was it something he said? After a much-needed conversation, he understands. Now, when she needs time alone, he goes to the Rowdy Raven or stops by to see Portia and Mazelinka.

Venere loves singing and dancing and Julian often accompanies her with his vielle. There's always music in their home.

After a period of travel, they settle down in Vesuvia and adopt a dog. Venere takes over her magic shop and Julian opens his clinic.

Their favourite moment is in the evening when, after a day of work, it’s finally time for a long, relaxing cuddle session. Julian wraps his arms around Venere and gives her one of his all-encompassing hugs and they snuggle on the sofa. They always say they’ll go to bed early but end up falling asleep like this.

RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER CHARACTERS:

ASRA 

Complicated. Abandonment. Hurt. Mistakes. Easier to run, easier to avoid. She doesn’t understand. He doesn’t know how to explain.  The past is a heavy burden of memories forgotten and others that would have been best to let rest.  Only a half of what once was whole, but what has been broken cannot be repaired, you learn to live with what remains. You learn to live again.

Her relationship with Asra is very complicated.

There were a lot of hurt and misunderstandings. He kept disappearing without explanation and she never understood.

But the truth runs way, way deeper.

After everything is out in the open, they have many conversations.

After clearing up everything they share one of those incredibly rare and deep friendships.

They are family. They will always be there for each other and always root for each other happiness.

NADIA 

Loneliness. The princess is trapped at the top of the tower, but the dragon is in her head, the dragon is everywhere around her. Judging eyes, power struggles, impossible expectations, who can you trust? Elegance, perfectionism, strength, intuition. She is many things, but most of all she is Nadia. Most of all, she needs someone to see it.

Nadia is… Well, she is Nadia! She is awesome!

Venere’s first impression was of someone very lonely. Although a bit intimidated, she took a liking to her very quickly.

In time, they cultivate a very profound friendship.

They chat about magic, and Venere always knows who to ask for fashion tips. 

Most of all she knows who to turn to when she needs sound advice.

She has deep admiration for Nadia, she doesn’t know how someone can always look so perfect and in control and make appear so easy everything she does. But she is also there to remind Nadia that it’s okay to slip occasionally, and letting go sometimes feels good!

MURIEL 

Gentle, coy, reserved. Violent scars on a delicate soul. Does a tree make noise when it falls in the forest? It’s easier to forget but if everyone forgets, were you even ever there? Long silences can become deafening in loneliness. And yet, when you start to listen you realize there is so much more life around you. Small details you usually don’t catch. It’s always in the details.

Muriel and Venere have one of those friendships that don’t require many words. They are content to spend time together, enjoying each other company in a relaxed silence.

When Venere needs some reprieve, she knows she can accompany Muriel on his walks around the forest and she loves being immersed in nature.

Venere adores Inanna, she gives the best belly rubs to the best of girls.

They spend time enjoying the quiet of Muriel’s hut and he allows her to feed the chickens! One of Venere’s favourite activities.

If someone bothers Muriel, despite Venere being much, much smaller than him, she is the one to fly into a rage and put the offender in their place. Has anyone never told them not to provoke a magician?

Venere often comes to visit him and brings him lots of baked goods to taste. She is still learning to cook decently, so not everything comes out exactly as intended. He still eats everything without batting an eye, probably to be polite.

PORTIA 

Bubbly energy. Movement, flow, a tidal wave. Hunger for adventure, but she is always left behind. There is worth in the work you do but sometimes the work becomes all you are worth. There is more under the surface, you are allowed to slow down. You always have value.

Portia is Venere’s adopted little sister. She loves her energy and positivity and is always happy to pass the ball when Julian needs a good kick in the shin.

They have a book club now. They take it very seriously and religiously make time each week to sit down together to discuss stories and characters.

To the delight of Julian, Venere teaches her magic. He has a small panic attack when she accidentally sets a tree on fire. Luckily, Portia is an eager student and recovers very quickly without further fiery incidents.

In return, Portia tries to teach Venere to bake, with varying degrees of success. She is trying, okay? Luckily, most of her culinary experiments are still appreciated by Julian, Asra and Muriel.

When Portia feels like going on an adventure, she always knows who to call for. 

LUCIO 

Cold metal spikes all around. Hurt others before they can hurt him. Mistakes, regrets, there’s much to learn. Pride is always the mask shame wears, covering itself with sparkly meaningless. 

Let’s say that she doesn’t take well of Lucio hurting her loved ones. When she discovers what he did to Julian she is furious.

In an alternative universe, she would be more than happy to be his friend. She believes in second chances and respects his willingness to be better.

Lucio ends up relying a lot on her when he makes an “Opsie” and needs someone to help him fix it.

With time, he gets better at handling his mistakes and learns how powerful accountability can be.

She isn’t one for big parties, but the rare times she needs some tips on the subject she can always count on Lucio.

When she needs to let out some steam, she knows he is the guy to go to. He has always a good monster on the list ready to chase, or some other adventure to go, Portia can come too!

[fox-daddy]

Hey, so I've been thinking and decided I should just ask the community.

I've had this screenshot saved from 2020 it was about how they would react to finding an injured Mc. To be Frank Ive been looking for this since I joined tumblr. The search for this is how I found @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia @fluff-n-fic and @xaharadesert and many more who do/did arcana Hc's. I have NOT been able to find it. I think it might either be on amino(maybe deleted) or tumblr (also maybe deleted) it could also be on any platform I used to google the arcana Hc.

If you know where I can find where that came from please let me know or better link it. I tried google image search, I've tried spending hours scrolling through the arcana Hc not that I wont do that again when it's found. I just really want to find it if it's still out there.

[theintrovertbean]

My statement about the drama

Hello!

This post will be about the whole Rai drama that they orchestrated against @asrabounding. But first, I would kindly ask anyone who hasn't read the post by @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia, aka brainrot, to do so. It can be quite triggering, so please, be mindful of that and make sure to put yourself first. The same warning applies to my own post.

First, I want to apologize. I did bad stuff, and I've been doing my best to mend my mistakes. I'm very sorry about the things I've done, but especially about the things I could have prevented. My friends got hurt because of something I was a part of and could have avoided if I wasn't scared to stand up for others and myself.

This is going to be a long post. Sorry about that too, but this whole drama was simply a lot.

Brainrot's part perfectly sums up what happened, but since I was there from the beginning of the drama, it would be fair to add some things from my own POV. It isn't nearly as professional as brainrot's statement, and it's more about my personal experience, which I think shows how this drama affected the well-being of the people involved. Again, this is my experience, but we all share the feelings.

The first time I posted from this account on Tumblr was in July 2022, and Rai reached out to me on November 1. Apparently, I was too intimidating, but as it turns out, Rai just needed me (and other people) for their plans. They specifically wanted to involve mainly Nadia fans, so it was only a matter of time before they messaged me.

Why Nadia fans, you might ask? Well, we could sit here all night and take guesses because no one knows for certain. Rai only pretended to like Nadia (because wanting to kill her is enough proof that they didn't like her), so their reason must have been something psychological. But again, we can't know for certain. Sadly, their actions put us Nadia fans in a bad light, and their friendship was never genuine.

I have a guess that Rai had been stalking a few bigger creators for a while and just waiting for one of them to make a mistake. Asrabounding (AB from now on) happened to be the unlucky one.

Honestly, I didn't know AB at all. We never interacted, and the first time I ever heard about him was through Rai. At the beginning of December 2022, Rai told our server about AB and how he and his girlfriend were harassing their "boi," Panda, who was completely incapable of taking care of himself, at least according to Rai.

I spoke to Panda a few times during the drama; he is nothing like Rai described, which You can tell by the screenshots as well. He is overly friendly and tends to overshare, and I would say he is pure evil, but that adjective would be far too generous in his case. I also have to add that there is no evidence of Rai and Panda being two different people. I've looked through my DMs, and a few servers that Rai is/was in and found zero traces of them ever having a conversation. I also asked around, and no one has ever seen these two interact with each other. Once, we even asked Rai to invite Panda to their server because we all wanted to get to know him, but they immediately refused, saying he is too soft and all kinds of weird things to say about one's partner. I suppose it would be hard to text from two accounts simultaneously.

The private server that Rai created was made in November, around the time when the drama began. It's crucial to mention that none of us knew AB. This allowed Rai to portray AB however they wanted.

There are screenshots in the pdf from the DMs between Rai and me. They told me quite a few things but purposefully left out important details. The screenshots Rai sent me were always sent in a way that would make AB seem like the worst person to ever exist. I (and the server) also received altered versions of AB's art, which were edited in a way to make it seem like AB was making Asra whiter or orange. Additionally, Rai maliciously gathered personal information about AB and his loved ones, which is both legally and morally wrong.

The call-out blog happened and didn't gain much attention, which was quite disappointing to Rai, but failure didn't stop them. They recruited more people for the sole purpose of hurting AB. We retreated to Rai's server until the previous drama, where Rai popped up every once in a while to stir up our anger and disturb our conversations.

Then we arrive at the latest drama. Rai's efforts paid off. One of our friends did a call-out post, and things went crazy. I don't have to describe what happened because it's in brainrot's statement, but there is one thing that I really want to highlight. Rai did nothing. Everything we did was because of them and their "boi," and they just watched us all get burned.

At some point, brainrot presented us with an opportunity to make peace with AB. Two of us even volunteered to talk to him, myself included. Rai didn't even react while everyone else was looking forward to ending the drama. Actually, Rai was unusually quiet. They gave us an excuse for being less active and just left us to deal with their mess.

When brainrot left, I almost immediately reached out to him for two reasons. 1. He is my friend. I was concerned about his well-being and wanted to make sure he was alright. 2. I was physically and mentally sick of the drama and considered leaving the server myself. There were days when I could barely function because of the anxiety I felt. I was a mess. Everyone was, but never Rai. I felt like I was in the middle of a battlefield, watching my friends get slaughtered while the person behind it all, Rai, was having the time of their life far away in a luxury tent. I desperately wanted to end that.

On multiple occasions, I muted the server for hours and sometimes even days because I could not deal with Rai. There was a clear hierarchy, and Rai would constantly try to compete with us and bring us down. Everyone else was behaving like normal human beings, and then Rai would randomly show up to pollute the air with their "hee hoos" and disturbing stories they claimed were true.

The same person who said they were gathering courage for months to text me never showed any care, remorse, or fear during our nine months of "friendship." Also, the very same person would go around texting random people on Tumblr, checking how intelligent and "mentally stimulating" (they said that, not me) they are, and trying to figure out if they hate Dorian and/or Asrabounding. They were also looking for people in a more vulnerable position, such as those who were new to the fandom and/or lonely. When everything on the list was ticked off, Rai invited them to their server. For privacy reasons, I'm not going to say an exact number, but about ten of us were "recruited."

Brainrot and I talked a bit, we both vented, and we eventually reached the point where I said that I would talk to AB just to end this madness. And so I did with brainrot's help, even though it horrified me, but I knew I had to do it for others. I expected AB to be just as Rai presented him to us, but he wasn't. The AB I was talking to was kind, understanding, cooperative, and tired of everything that had been going on. It often made me wish I met AB sooner than Rai. Our conversations with AB were and still are civil and friendly, and I am nothing but thankful to him. We compared our notes, then brainrot and I went back to DMs for a while to discuss everything.

We realized that 1. Everything Rai said about AB was a lie, and Rai just wanted to hurt him. 2. Rai lied to us and used several manipulation tactics on us. 3. Our friends were unsafe.

To include a lie, once, Rai texted me to ask if I wanted to know their legal name. They told me that they were named after a character from an anime. Later, I found from a friend that Rai told her their name too. It was from the same anime but a different character's name. This was just one example.

So we made a plan, and we had to act fast. I quickly gathered a few screenshots from the server that we could use, then we texted everyone involved about the news. Thank gayness, everything instantly clicked for the vast majority of our friends. It was tough, exhausting, and very emotional. Being betrayed by someone we considered a friend was no joke. Honestly, have never felt so much anxiety in my life. It was suffocating.

Then, three of us deleted every channel in Rai's server (every member had maximum permissions). In the meantime, we made a server of our own, a safe place where we could heal together, continue our friendship, and discuss what we were going to do next.

And that's how we got to brainrot's post. I created a document and put in whatever screenshots I had from Rai's server and my DMs. Then I asked everyone to send me all the screenshots they wanted us to include, and I put those in too. That pdf is the fruit of multiple days of work and immeasurable disgust. Even putting it together almost made me throw up more than once. It was available to everyone involved (our friends and AB as well) from start to finish. They were all free to make edits, give suggestions, and add screenshots if they wanted. AB added the anons he received and a bunch of other screenshots. Brainrot wrote his statement, and I did the group's, which is one of the reasons I didn't want to make another one. In the meantime, we found out more about Rai, and it was not pretty; the screenshots prove it all.

This wasn't the first time Rai tried to take someone down, and they bragged about it multiple times. They were also quite proud of how they were able to manipulate people. I mean, just look at what they said about how they got together with their "boi." We know of two people in the fandom who were hurt by Rai. From what I know, unlike AB, they weren't content creators. My assumption is that doing the same thing over again wasn't giving Rai the same thrill anymore, so they wanted to target someone bigger. Bigger drama = more pleasure for Rai.

There was one person who got kicked from the server because they didn't hate Lucio. Rai provoked them to make them act out of character, which resulted in a kick and ban. There were others that Rai wanted to kick out but didn't because they were still needed for the drama.

The things Rai sometimes said about characters and the people who like them were sickening. They constantly described Lucio as a mass murderer and a r*pist and harassed anyone who didn't agree with their opinions. Rai also headcanoned that Lucio SAd Nadia during their marriage. And a lot of other things...

We had to tiptoe around Rai all the time because being kicked out of the server wouldn't have been a big deal, but being separated from our friends against our will was not something any of us wanted. That small but loving community we created for ourselves (Rai excluded) was why we stayed on that server in the first place.

But also, we were scared. Whenever Rai was present, they turned us into an angry mob. I don't know when we started to feel this way, but we were uncomfortable and wanted out. However, when we looked at each other, the angry mob was all we could see. Even when an individual was in doubt, the others still put on their angry mask, and that one person felt alone. I often felt like that too, but we all knew what Rai was capable of. We were already hurting, and we didn't want to unleash the angry mob against us. If Rai were to come after any of us, they would most definitely twist everything in a way to make themselves seem like the victim(s).

Soon after the server was gone and I was no longer talking to Rai, I realized that the hate I once felt wasn't my own.

Once again, I'm sorry about what happened. We all are. I apologize for the hurt I caused to everyone and take full responsibility for my actions. I never intended for things to escalate things this far, and I regret everything I've done. The things we did were not done with a clear mind. If it wasn't for Rai and their mind games, none of us would have done anything like this.

And Azi, I'm especially sorry to you. Despite everything we've done, you treated us with kindness and worked together with us to make the fandom a safer place. You have no idea how much this means. I'm thankful for the chance of getting to know the real you.

I also apologize to my followers for bringing drama onto my blog. While I'm open to questions about what happened, I would like to get back to writing my silly little headcanons like I did before. I'm an open book, but simping for Nadia is why I made this blog in the first place. The good thing is that now I'm able to do the things I've always wanted without Rai constantly reminding me why this and that is so bad. And who knows, maybe you'll see me bring some Nadia content to a different platform as well...

Our friend group, I apologize to you as well because I didn't protect you when I could have. Things would have been different if I wasn't so scared.

Azi, Brainrot, and friends. Thank you for everything. Your support and cooperation helped all of us through these hard times, and I hope we can continue to heal together.

I don't expect forgiveness from anyone because what happened is truly horrible. While countless lies and manipulation were involved, a simple apology won't undo the harm we caused. We have been doing our best to make up for our mistakes and will continue to do so in the future as well. However, please, please be careful. Rai is still a threat, so if you see them anywhere, just run. Protect yourselves and, if you can, others as well. Please, stay safe and learn from our horrible mistakes.

-Eszter

[mermaidchan05]

Vesuvia Weekly: "Not How That's Supposed to Work"

It's fluff time let's goooo!

In which Julian tries to be helpful and ends up causing a bit of a mess, but it all works out okay in the end. Featuring Julian, Malak, my apprentice Damian, and a cameo by his familiar Oswald the bat. And once again partially inspired by another amazing headcanon from @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia

About 2650 words. No warnings, just a whole lot of fluff and Julian being the amazing drama king he is.

___________

If that night proved one thing, it was that Julian should never be trusted with cleaning up the magic shop. 

Particularly not with sweeping.  Sweeping things only ever led to disaster.

True, Malak was partially responsible for the latest disaster.  But Julian would never blame him.  Not when it was his own move that caused the current catastrophe.

All Julian had wanted to do was attempt to be helpful.  His work had—blessedly – ended earlier than expected.  But, as was the way of the universe, he had wound up stopping by Damian’s shop at almost the exact moment that Damian was on his way out.  So while Damian was off getting more stock for the shop, his trusty bat Oswald along for the ride, Julian took it upon himself to do the one thing he truly could do to make Damian’s job a little bit easier.  Cleaning up a bit, he thought, would be a simple but important gesture.  

And something that he couldn’t possibly mess up. 

He was right.  For a little while.  Julian was able to sweep up the actual shop floor without too much trouble.  It helped that Damian always kept the storefront clean.  But their shared living quarters upstairs were an entirely different matter.    

In their shared quarters, Damian had a shelf full of little treasures that he had collected over the years.  Some were Damian’s own finds or creations.  Others were gifts: Asra’s finds from his travels, gifts from Nadia, little abandoned things that Portia had found around the palace… things of that nature.  Julian always had to be careful when dusting these shelves.  One false move would lead to something crashing to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. 

Which was exactly what happened. 

One of the trinkets was from a young woman who Damian had once sold a good-luck charm to.  Julian had been rather perplexed and incredulous at the idea.  Luck couldn’t possibly be altered by magic.  It was too great and powerful of a force. 

Julian had expected Damian to argue with him.  But he’d actually agreed.  Good-luck charms, Damian had explained, were far more often protection charms.  They simply worked better if the person wearing the charm believed they would be lucky. 

That hadn’t exactly clarified anything for Julian, but he was starting to learn to roll with it.  Mostly. 

Either way, the charm had apparently done what the young woman had wanted it to do, since she had thanked Damian with a handmade little porcelain animal: a striped orange cat playing a guitar.  How she had found out that Damian liked cats in the first place was simply one of the universe’s great mysteries.  Knowing that Damian played guitar was far less confusing, since he and Julian had done a few impromptu performances together, particularly in places like the Rowdy Raven.  Whatever the case, Damian was certainly enamored with the trinket.  Julian couldn’t help but agree.  He loved the silly little cat guy. 

Of course, that was exactly what the broom handle knocked into.  

Malak had chosen the exact wrong moment to try to steal something shiny.  Admittedly, that was a near-constant hazard when doing much of anything upstairs.  Though by now Malak had learned which things his chosen human would be actively angry or upset about him stealing, he still tried to scoop up a few other things.  And Julian’s retaliation was instinctive by now.  He whirled around and started shooing Malak away.  And that was when the broom handle officially got out of Julian’s control. 

Julian dropped the broom the moment he heard the crash.  And he swore when he saw the mess that he had made.  The poor little orange cat was headless now.  And the arm or paw or whatever-it-was was nearly halfway across the room.  The guitar had snapped so convincingly that Julian was almost surprised he hadn’t heard the twang of broken strings.  The poor cat’s tail was in four different pieces. 

“No, no, no, no, no…” Julian blurted out.  “Oh, Damian’s going to be heartbroken…” 

Glad he was still wearing his leather gloves, he scooped all the pieces up as best as he could.  Then he stood, carrying the shattered remains of Guitar Cat, and looked helplessly around the room.  

“I have to do something about this…” he said to no one in particular.  “He can’t see this mess, he can’t… aha!” 

The first thing his desperate search found him was the wardrobe.  It was a rather small wardrobe, and felt even smaller with all of Julian’s coats taking up more than half of it.  So cluttered that it would be very hard to find some pieces of shattered porcelain.

He quickly stuck the broken pieces into a pocket of one of his coats.  He practically slammed the wardrobe door behind him.  And he leaned against it, letting out a long sigh. 

Now what? 

Guilt was starting to creep in before Malak cawed reproachfully.  Julian was still getting used to listening to the weird magical voice in his head that was apparently Malak just talking to him and not imitating words like corvids could do.  But the message was clear enough this time. 

“Gah, you’re right, that was a stupid, stupid plan…” 

Still in pure panic, Julian tossed the wardrobe door open and fished the remnants of Guitar Cat right back out of his pocket.  Then he returned to frantically pacing around the room in hopes of finding a solution.  Perhaps by some sort of divine intervention.  That seemed the only way to solve this at the moment. 

Especially with Damian bound to be home any minute.  

“Maybe… maybe we can fix it,” he rambled at last.  “Damian has thousands of magical things down there, one of them has to put things back together…” 

Malak cawed again.  Another very clear message. 

“Right… right, glue of course…” Julian mumbled.  “But, gah, there will still be cracks everywhere won’t there?  It won’t look nearly as wonderful, and Damian will find out that I made a mess of things, and—” 

Another caw from Malak.  Julian stopped in his tracks. 

“Uh, yes, right, of course,” he blurted.  “Fix first, worry later.” 

Without further ado, he sped back down the stairs and started looking for some way to piece Guitar Cat back together.  

He didn’t find much.  Not much that he actually knew the function of, anyway.  He’d had one too many instances of accidentally causing large problems by touching Damian’s alchemy stuff to risk doing it again.  Particularly in the midst of an entirely unrelated crisis.  

So Julian resorted to trying to stick everything together like a puzzle.  Maybe that would buy him some time, at least. 

He was so focused on fitting all the tiny pieces together in any way that he could, that he didn’t even register the fact that said pieces were actually staying put.  He didn’t notice the little sparks of magic trailing from his fingers.  He didn’t see the way the cracks and shattered edges all sealed up.  He was that lost to his own guilt-stricken panic.  

Malak, on the other hand, saw it all very clearly.  And if Julian had been paying attention, he might have seen the decidedly smug pose Malak had taken up. 

After a few more minutes of frantically sticking Guitar Cat back together, Julian was abruptly brought back to reality by a now-familiar hum.  Damian was using his magic to open the shop door.  Julian’s usual teasing about simply using a key without all the other fuss was far from his mind.  He whirled around, paler than usual with guilt, instinctively attempting to hide Guitar Cat behind his own form. 

The door clicked open.  Julian’s heart seemed to shoot to his throat.  There was a familiar little squeak as Oswald flew in first, immediately dangling from his favorite rafter.  Malak fluttered up to perch right above him.  Julian was sure they were engaged in some silent conversation between familiars.  Probably laughing about how stupid Julian had just been.  But he couldn’t afford to focus on that. 

Not with Damian walking through the door. 

“I’m home,” Damian called. 

The adorable habit would have made Julian smile on an ordinary, non-disastrous day.  And he would have responded with a “welcome back,” and then an increasingly elaborate story about his day.  But this time, entirely different words flooded out of him.

“Oh, Damian, my love, my light, please forgive me.” 

Damian paused halfway through the door.  He raised an eyebrow at Julian. 

“Okay...” he said slowly.  “Forgive you for what?” 

A dagger in the gut would have been less terrifying.  And more deserved.

And of course, Julian immediately proceeded to do an absolutely terrible job of explaining the situation. 

“I was only trying to sweep the floor,” he rambled, “and Malak swooped after something shiny-- but no, no I can’t blame Malak, and please don’t be mad at him, this is my fault entirely...” 

“What’s your fault?” Damian asked.  He was starting to look a little alarmed.  “Julian, whatever you did, it can’t be worse than the glittering slime incident, can it?” 

Julian flushed.  “Ah... well... the mess caused by the glittering slime was at least fixable...” 

“You broke something?” said Damian, more trying to solve the puzzle than accusing Julian of anything. 

Julian let out a sigh.  He stepped aside, head bowed. 

“I’m sorry, my darling,” he said soberly.  “My foolishness led Guitar Cat to a terrible fate.” 

Damian walked right up to the shop counter.  His shoulder brushed against Julian’s.  Julian had to fight the urge to hurry away.  Or to cry out that he was undeserving of Damian’s touch.  Neither would be helpful, but both felt appropriate in the moment. 

Damian hummed thoughtfully.  “He looks fine to me.” 

Julian’s chin dropped.  “Uh... what?”  

Damian picked up Guitar Cat.  Julian’s heart skipped a beat.  He instinctively reached out to catch the pieces that were absolutely not attached to each other in any way and were sure to plop right back to the counter.  But somehow, like a miracle, Guitar Cat stayed whole.  Damian even twisted Guitar Cat around to give it a full inspection. 

“He looks fine,” Damian repeated.  He looked up at Julian, confused and slightly skeptical.  “Did you drop him on the carpet?  Does he have a chipped ear or something?” 

It took Julian a full three seconds to form words.  And even then they were far from coherent. 

“I... wait, wait, no, this is not... this isn’t possible,” he stumbled.  “It shattered.  I saw it.  I was sweeping upstairs, and I hit it with the broom cabinet, and... I decapitated Guitar Cat!” 

Damian’s eyebrow crept higher.  “Sounds a little extreme, doesn’t it?” 

“Damian, I swear to you, with Malak as my witness, that Guitar Cat was headless before you walked in,” said Julian.  “I almost hid his remains in the wardrobe!  Malak talked me out of it, and then I tried to fix it, but I didn’t know if there was anything like glue around here, so I started piecing it back together in some vain hope of--” 

“Love, you’re rambling,” Damian said gently. 

Julian instantly snapped his mouth shut.  A blush crept all the way to his ears. 

“Uh, sorry...” 

“It’s alright.”  A hint of a smile tugged at Damian’s lips.  “This is a mystery, though... let me test something.” 

He must have been testing something with magic, since Guitar Cat was covered with a faint glow.  When the glow vanished, Damian gave a rather firm nod, as though the entire mystery was solved already. 

“I thought so.”  

“You, er, you thought what?” Julian asked. 

“You fixed it,” said Damian. 

Julian could only blink at him.  “I...?”

“You used your magic,” said Damian.  “I’d know your handiwork anywhere, Julian.  I’d guess your doctor instincts kicked in.  You were so determined to save your porcelain patient that you used magic without thinking about it.” 

“I... that’s... but, uh... that isn’t...”  Once again, Julian’s words utterly failed him.  He shook his head and made another attempt.  “But that’s not how this works.  That’s not how magic is supposed to work!”

“Actually, that’s exactly how this is supposed to work,” said Damian. 

“But... but there wasn’t any spell circle, or incantation, or fancy hand gesture, or magical regents, or... or anything!” 

Damian slowly put Guitar Cat back on the counter.  He turned to face Julian, looking him directly in the eye.  Julian started blushing again.  

“Julian.” 

“Y-yes, love?” Julian stuttered. 

“What am I always telling you about magic?” said Damian. 

Oh no.  He was using his Teacher Voice.  Julian had absolutely zero defenses against his Teacher Voice.  The only thing he could do was attempt an answer, even if he had no real idea what that answer was.

“That... you have to be careful what you wish for, because of what it will cost to get it?” Julian said hesitantly. 

Damian’s smile crept higher.  “No.  Good job remembering the first rule of magic, though.  What’s the other thing I keep telling you?” 

Julian was absolutely certain his face had actually caught fire at that point.  But he tried again.   

“That... magic comes in many different styles and it’s alright that I don’t master every single one of them?”  

Damian laughed fondly.  Julian adored that sound.  He found himself smiling, his expression equally fond. 

“Closer, but no,” said Damian.  “At its core, magic is all about intent, remember?  You must have really wanted to fix Guitar Cat.  I’ll bet that was the only thing you were focusing on.  And your drive led you to using your magic.  Even if you didn’t notice it.”

“I assure you, I did not,” said Julian. 

Malak cawed from the rafter, startling Oswald.  The poor little bat nearly lost his grip.  Damian made sure that Oswald was happily dangling again before speaking up once more. 

“Malak clearly noticed,” said Damian.  “And I noticed.” 

Julian couldn’t help it.  He tried to protest.  “But I can’t...” 

“You can,” said Damian.  “And you did.  Look at it this way.  Fixing things is similar to healing, isn’t it?  And your healing magic has grown in leaps and bounds since our first lesson.  It’s even better than mine by now.”

Julian ran his hand through his hair.  “I’m, uh, not so sure about that...” 

“I am,” said Damian.  He caught Julian’s hand.  “Julian, for as long as I’ve known you, you’ve wanted nothing more than to fix things in any way you could.  No matter what that meant you needed to do.  And it looks like that meant doing magic you’ve never really done before.” 

Julian tried to argue with that.  He couldn’t.  So he sighed instead.  “You always did see the best in me, Damian.” 

“That’s because there’s a lot to see,” said Damian.  He kissed Julian’s cheek.  “Come on.  Help me put all this stuff away, and then we can have another magic lesson.  I want to see if you can fix that old pot we keep meaning to replace.” 

Julian grinned like a little kid.  He playfully saluted Damian.  “Yes, sir!” 

Oswald, watching the proceedings, shook his head at this familiar banter.  Malak still managed to look very smug, almost as if he were about to launch into a very long I told you so to Julian. 

But Julian was thoroughly distracted by other things.  He did actually help put Damian’s things away.  And then they both tackled that ‘fixing magic’ again.  Julian struggled at first.  He couldn’t stop getting in his own head, and trying to recreate the panic that led to the resurrection of Guitar Cat didn’t work. 

Then Damian tried motivating him with cheek kisses.  That turned out to be the best teaching method yet. 

By the end of the night, they had a perfectly pristine pot, a very smug looking raven, and a thoroughly embarrassed little bat.  

And Julian was thoroughly looking forward to his next magic lesson.   

[sweetestlittledarling]

The Most Dangerous Game

Part of @monthly-challenge 2024 | Take a nap

Rating: PG

Pairing: AsraxRobin (He/him Apprentice) but mostly Asra and the three Apprentices

Summary: When their master is tired, three apprentices take it upon themselves to make sure that he takes a much-needed nap...

(Inspired by @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia and their post about how the M6 would be if they were overly tired. If you want to know what Asra might be doing with the banana you should go check out their post.)

“Okay people,” Robin whispered, his voice filled with urgency and worry, “we are about to face an elusive beast that is dangerous and will attack if provoked.”

              His sister Sparrow narrowed her eyes to him. “Come on now,” she said, her voice hushed but not quiet so extremely as her twin, “it’s not as if we are facing a wild animal here!”

              “You say that, but did you see what he did to that lady who came into complain earlier?” Lark asked, “She was lucky to made it out alive!”

              Sparrow rolled her eyes. “But this is Asra we are talking about not a wild cat! All he did was insult her clothing and her hair really did resemble Lucio when he was a goat.”

              “He might not attack physically but snarky words still hurt,” Robin admitted, “and as we know Asra on no sleep is probably the snarkiest creature there ever was. One wrong move and he will make you want to bawl your eyes out and eat all the nearest sweets you can find.” A sudden sound made all three apprentices jump. They had taken cover behind the counter but that didn’t mean they were safe. They carefully peered over the glass to see Asra, large circles under his eyes, doing something weird with a banana.

              “What is he doing?” Lark asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

              “I am not sure, but I think it’s time to put the plan into motion,” Robin ordered. “Everyone remember your jobs?”

              “I got warm and soft things, like pillows and blankets,” Lark said, giving his brother a bad salute.

              Sparrow nodded. “I got sleep time tea.”

              “And I will- “Robin began.

              “You will be his beloved Robin and cuddle the heck out of that snake man,” Lark joked with a wink.

              “Thank you, Lark,” Robin coughed, his face turning bright crimson while trying to ignore Sparrow’s little giggle, “now that we are clear on our jobs, let us put Asra to bed. Ready…set…break!”

Not too long after…

              “Aw, he looks so cute when he’s asleep,” Lark mused as they watched Asra snooze against Robin’s chest, all snuggled up in blankets and about every pillow they could find in the shop.

              “Yeah, you would never know there is a beast under all that fluff,” Sparrow laughed softly.

              Robin smiled as he kissed the top of Asra’s head getting a contented sound from his former master. “I figure we’ll close the shop early and let him get some rest, what do you guys say?”

              “Sounds good,” Sparrow said, “I think I will go to the clinic and see if Julian has had lunch yet.”

              “And I think I’ll go and pick up some stuff for dinner up at the hut tonight,” Lark said. He gently patted Asra’s head, again causing a contented sound from the fluff. “Get lots of sleep Master Asra.” he whispered.

              “Sweet dreams!” Sparrow added, as they both walked quietly out the door, closing it softly behind them.

              Robin sighed happily as he settled in, pulling Asra close as he closed his eyes. It really was a good day for a long nap.

[helshollowhalls]

"Here you go, the Celestial Serenity Parfait you ordered. And let's not forget your complimentary oyster fork~!"

Parfait stims & oyster forks

Does this count as an OC stimboard lol

🍴 | 🍨 | 🍨 🍨 | 🍴 | 🍨 🍨 | 🍨 | 🍴

@jeschalynn & @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia

The oyster forks. They're here. They're coming for you.

This is a threat. /lighthearted

I can and will shitpost in every medium available to me. And if you thought I'm not mentally unwell enough to do this, think again. Can you tell a certain reaper lives in my head rent-free?

[rubinaitoart]

Gravity Falls is also steadily creeping into hyperfixation territory again but we’re mainly on Merlin.

Tagging:

@scribblespirit @tater-tot-jr @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia @blu-raes @xen-blank @thatskeletonbitch @imjustfloatingaway @teatime-athome @korrantly @elainethecoolest1 and anyone else who wants to join in.

cute thing im coming up with

this picrew of yourself and your current hyperfixation !!

no pressure tags @pearlzier @julesssyy @reidsfavoritegirl @whitney23317 @willowsblanket @flowercrownsandtrauma @rottenletter

[paperstarwriters]

The Arcana Masterlist

The Hollow Apprentice

[Asra x Reader / Apprentice oc idea] What if amidst the things the apprentice forgot, feelings were one of them?

Together at the end of the world

[Muriel x reader— reversed ending slight rewrite] You're still together, at the end of the world

The Hermit’s Route (Series–incomplete)

[Muriel route rewrite - Muriel x reader] If cannon leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, then the logical next step is to kill it and start anew. So let's try it all again, just a little to the left. » Kinda abandoned....«

Kidnapped (drabble)

[Muriel x reader- romantic/platonic; angst with a slightly happy ending] Muriel's self-deprecation puts you in danger.

The Worst Kind of Riddle, and the Best Kind of Debt

[Muriel x reader - romantic; angsty and slightly suggestive at the end (not really though)] If he could answer the riddle, he could pay you back. He never seems to get a chance to tell you though. It's a pretty bad riddle too, the answers keep changing

Honeyed Lips

[Muriel x reader - romantic; fluffy with kisses.] You had an awful tendency to chew your lips. Muriel has a solution, but it only tempts you to bite your lip even more.

Your Enemy

[Muriel x Reader – Romantic; fluffy cuddling and slightly suggestive at the end (again, not really but just in case)] Julian and Asra have become temporary enemies and have looped their friends onto their side for their petty challenges. You're on Julian's team with Portia and Muriel is on Asra's. When you end up "captured" by the enemy team, Muriel plays the role of your guard, and you try to sway him to your side.

Baking drabble

[Muriel x reader – romantic; fluffy baking together. Slightly suggestive(?)] Just baking with Muriel.

Keep me warm please

[Muriel x reader – short drabble, fluffy] I was just in a bit of a bad mood so I wrote something kinda self indulgent and soft. Something to keep me warm…

Betwixt Your Lips and My Dreams

[Muriel x reader – romantic; fluffy] Muriel really likes kissing you. He also really values your consent.\\

Muriel & Body Heat

[Muriel x reader – platonic/romantic; LI headcannon] Just thinking about how warm Muriel probably is and how nice it'd be to hug him.

A Little Game of Tag

[Muriel x Shy!Reader – Romantic; fluffy, kinda silly] You want to get used to kissing Muriel so you aren't blushing like crazy next time you do. It takes a little practice but it's slowly evolved into a game

Physical affection headcannons

[Muriel x reader] – romantic Just some thoughts about Muriel & cuddling & kisses.

Two Birds on a wire

[Muriel & Asra] headcannons – Angst "two birds on a wire.... one tries to fly away and the other..."

Rain

[Muriel x Reader] — Romantic; fluff Its cold and wet outside, but you don't seem to mind. Muriel on the other hand, worries. Partly about the possibility for sickness, and partly about what it means to be loved by you and how he loves in turn.

Sleep

[Muriel x Reader] — Romantic; fluff It's late. You're tired, and Muriel is too. All he wants to do is bring you to bed.

Inanna Headcannons

[Inanna; with Muriel x reader on the side] What if Inanna was also the name of his mother?

Lucio and Muriel Parallels

[Lit-Analysis; approx 3k word Essay] Despite often being on opposing sides of conflicts, with LOTS of Muriel fans hating and loathing Lucio for what he did to Muriel, I think there are some fascinating parallels between Lucio and Muriel and their respective routes.

To Eat from the Same Plate

[Muriel x Reader; headcannons/drabble — Romantic; fluff] Muriel doesn't really have more than one plate in his house, and even when he does, It's never really used.

Modern Roommate Muriel

[Muriel x Reader short drabble — platonic/romantic; fluff] You come home exhausted after a party, practically ready to collapse. Muriel finds you, and helps to tidy you up. You didn't know he knew how to do that so well...

Muriel Chicken Heart headcannon

[Muriel x Reader short drabble; tag team with @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia & anon— platonic/romantic; fluff] You & Muriel set up elaborate tricks to profess your love

A Flower a Day Keeps the Lonely at Bay

[Muriel x Reader; Request — Romantic; fluff] Muriel befriends a florist in the market who gives him flowers every time he visits. Only issue is, they don't remember him, and he hasn't paid for his flowers

When Things Go Wrong (Feat. Inanna)

[Muriel & Inanna & Reader; — Platonic, though Muriel & MC can be seen as romantic; Hurt comfort, fluff] Inanna makes a small mistake, that leaves a bigger wound than expected. She tries to fix the mess she's made, even if it's a bit difficult.

Billowing Fabrics

[Muriel x reader — Romantic; fluff] You've accidentally made one of your sweaters a little too big when you were trying to make it bigger and slouchier for yourself. Muriel finds your work and takes it upon himself to fix the worn down sweater. Not for any particular reason no, no... he just found a sweater that seemed to fit him....

Abyssmal

[Mer!Muriel x Reader — Romantic; bittersweet] You want to protect Muriel and his fellow Mer-folk from getting caught in traps, Muriel wants to protect you from getting murdered by the people with harpoons sent by those same wealthy billionaires. Unfortunately for you Muriel has more of an advantage in keeping you for himself safe. He's trying to keep you safe.

Small Talk With Wood and Carving Knife

[Muriel x Reader; Knife & wood — Romantic; Different POV] Beneath a tree, beside a fire, a Knife begins their conversation with a block of Wood.

Muriel With a Face Full of Kisses

[Muriel x reader — Romantic Drabble] You surprise Muriel by slipping into his lap and kissing him over and over and over and over again

Nadia as a Mermaid

[Nadia x Reader — platonic (first meeting) drabble Mermaids only appear when the water matches the colour of their hair. One day the water turns purple, and a strange mermaid comes bearing threatening gifts.

Yandere Muriel is a Haunted House....

YandereMuriel x Reader — Romantic drabble; Character analysis] There are a lot of ways in which a haunted house begging you to stay, and Muriel as a Yandere can be very similar.

[sweetestlittledarling]

Devotion

Part of @monthly-challenge 2024 | Moral Support/Night Out

Rating: PG

Pairing: Julian/Sparrow (She/Her Apprentice)

Summary: They were each other's support, no matter what...

(So I am woefully behind, mostly because I got food poising last Friday and well that kind of put a damper on my weekend. I did manage to write though this was originally going to be for another prompt, but I figured it kind of fit both of these so yeah. It's once again inspired by headcannons by the ever fabulous @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia because I have read through all their work and love it all. It is off the headcannons of the helping one of the M6 through a panic attack and the M6 helping MC through a panic attack. I tried to read up on panic attacks since they are not usually my form of anxiety, so I tried my best.)

It had been a rather busy day at the shop. Sparrow had been so busy she had hardly noticed that it had become evening. She sighed thankfully as she blew out the light at the door, ready for a restful evening. She was kind of surprised actually she hadn’t seen Julian yet. He usually would have closed up the clinic by now. She really hoped he wasn’t pulling a late night again. A sudden loud cawing brought Sparrow’s attention to the sky as Malak flew circles overhead. Sparrow felt a growing sense of worry as she recognized the raven’s warning cry. Something was wrong. Malak glided down to perch atop the sign of Julian’s clinic, once again letting out a loud caw. Had something happened? Had she been so focused on work she missed something important? She quickly made her way over to the clinic, opening the door and stepping inside. Everything looked in to be in place, though there was no doctor anywhere to be seen. “Julian?” Sparrow called, stepping more inside. No answer.

Could he have stepped out for a house call? No, he would have never left the clinic unlocked and Malak was clearly pointing here. Sparrow hurried to the back where Julian’s office was. She carefully opened the door and peered inside. Like the front it was as it should be with a desk full of papers and…Wait, what was that? Sparrow listened carefully and could hear the sound of labored breathing. She peered under the desk and pressed up somewhat uncomfortably with his long legs was Julian, still in full doctor gear. He was paler than usual, and his breathing was shallow. She noticed the very familiar panic in his eyes as he muttered softly to himself. Sparrow’s heart broke seeing him like this. She moved the desk chair away so that she could sit next to him, her eyes focused on him. “Julian?”

At the sound of her voice his eyes turned to hers and she could see the recognition there. “Sparrow,” he said, his voice raspy. She could hear the love and need in his voice even if he didn’t say the words.

She nodded, giving him a comforting smile. “Is it okay if I touch you?” she asked. He nodded and she carefully reached down to take his hand. She removed his glove and gently placed his hand on her chest, allowing him to feel her heartbeat with her hand resting on his. She could already feel him relaxing a little just by touching her, but she knew he would need more. “Okay, now let’s take some deep breaths okay,” she instructed, “breath with me.” He did as instructed, soon their breathing was in sync as he looked thankful into her eyes.

“My darling Sparrow,” he said, voice wavering a little, “always coming to my rescue when I need it the most.”

“Always,” she said, “now would you like to come out here with me and be a little more comfortable?”

He nodded, carefully starting to untangle himself. He did almost hit his head but managed to make it out unscathed. They didn’t stand yet, instead remaining seated on the floor with him wrapped around her, his face pressed into her neck.

“It’s okay Julian,” she said rubbing his back. “Just take your time. I’m here and I won’t leave you.”

“Thank you,” came the muffled reply, which she felt against her skin, “thank you Sparrow for all of it.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Julian sighed as he seemed to pull her closer, holding her as if she was his lifeline on a very rocky sea. “My last patient today,” he explained, “complained of a persistent cough with some flecks of blood in the mucus. It wasn’t so bad until I looked into his eyes and saw…” Julian paused his body beginning to tremble.

Sparrow reached up and gently cupped his face in her hands. “It’s okay,” she said, brushing his cheek with her thumb, “take your time. I’m here. You are safe.”

“You’re here,” he repeated back, his eyes transfixed on hers, “you’re here and I’m safe.” He repeated it a few more times before feeling able to continue. “I looked into his eyes, and I saw…I saw red. His eyes were red. Not completely red but I could see blood and then all I could see was…the plague…” His voice started to get more hectic as his eyes became distant. “All I could think about was what if I was infected? And then all I could think about was being sick and brining it home to you and then you being sick and me not being able to help you. And then others getting sick…Pasha, Mezalinka, Asra and your brothers…” His breathing started to pick up again and Sparrow was quick to take his hand again, placing it gently on her chest.

“It’s okay Julian,” she assured, “it’s okay. Take your time and breathe.” She was thankful as he did just that, his breath coming in and out as he carefully worked his way down. As his breathing calmed, she gently kissed his forehead, allowing him to sag against her using her strength to hold him up. There they remained for a long time, before she gently pulled away to look at his face. “Do you think you are able to move?”

He nodded.

She got to her feet and then helped him to his, allowing him to lean against her. “We are going to go upstairs now, and I will make you a bath,” she said, as she carefully helped him to walk, taking most of the weight upon herself. Luckily, she was pretty strong and although he was gangly, he was pretty light. They walked up the stairs together and she did as she said, helping him strip his clothes, giving him a quick cool down with a face cloth before settling him into the bath. She gathered his favorite calming smells, including his shampoo which she used to do his hair, gently massaging his scalp with her fingers in the way that she knew he liked. He said nothing though she felt the tight ball of nerves begin to unwind. He didn’t speak again until she had put him into bed and his eyes met hers.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

She smiled as she leaned in and kissed first his forehead then his lips, gently brushing his hair as he pressed his face to her collar bone. “I love you,” she murmured to him, then beginning to hum as she helped him slip to sleep.

…

Sparrow’s emotional control was something Julian had always greatly admired. She was calm, cool, and poised on every occasion. But there were some moments, though far in-between, that he was reminded that she too needed his strength. One such occasion happened at a function at the palace. It had been quite an evening with people from all over coming to enjoy the city's sights. Julian was thoroughly enjoying himself, dancing with Sparrow, telling tales, and generally feeling like a hero. He had mostly kept to Sparrow’s side but had foolishly stepped away to get them drinks and then had gotten caught up in another conversation. It was Malak who had caught his attention again, the bird giving his worried caw which Julian of course ignored at first but when the bird began to tug at his ear he could no longer ignore it. That’s when he noticed that he had lost sight of his beloved. He looked around the room, but Sparrow was nowhere to be seen. His heart sank as he instantly felt something was very wrong. Forgetting the drinks, he quickly began to follow Malak who was swift in his flight. It was at first hard to keep up with all the party goers but as they slipped out into the garden Julian was able to move quicker. His heartbeat quickly as his mind whirled with thoughts of a million different awful scenarios. Malak led him to the back of the garden and there he found his songbird, though the sight of her in her current state made his heart stop for a moment.

She was dressed nicely for the evening, having done up her hair as well as dawned more make-up than was the norm. But where he would normally find her cool and collected, he found her pacing and trembling with tears at the corner of her eyes. Having had a few of these himself he instantly recognized the panic as her cool blue eyes met his. “I’m okay…I’m okay really…” she said, though her voice did not convey the same idea as her words. “I’m okay, I just…I Just…”

His mind sprang into action as he remembered who he was and who he was dealing with. He approached carefully holding out his hand. “Sparrow, my love,” he said, voice calm, “can I touch you?” She hesitated, her eyes looking from his hand to his face. Then she nodded, reaching out and taking his hand. He could feel how badly she was trembling now and if made his heart ache. He led them over to a nearby bench and placed her hand on his chest. “Now, breathe with me,” he instructed. He focused on taking deep breaths as he watched her face. She focused on his chest a moment, watching as their breathing slowly began to sink up before closing her eyes, her shoulders relaxing. He is there to catch her as she slumps against him, his other arm pulling her close.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

He calmly stroked her back. “For what darling?”

“We were having such a wonderful night and I thought I could handle…” She sighed as she held onto his lapel with one hand. “I thought I could handle this, but it just got worse and I’m sorry that I ruined the evening.”

“Oh, my beloved songbird, you have ruined nothing,” Julian implored. “As one who has felt this way before I know that sometimes these feelings can be overwhelming, and one might need someone else’s help. I believe that you taught me that, and with such a great teacher allow me to put some of my lessons into practice by helping you.” When she didn’t answer right away, he allowed her some time to breathe, still stroking her back and keeping her close to protect against the night’s chill. “May I ask what brought this on?” he asked after a bit. “You don’t have to tell me of course if you aren’t ready but I have found from experience that talking does seem to help.”

Again, she hesitated, and he wondered if he had pushed too much but then she spoke: “I was waiting for you to get back when I overheard someone talking. They were talking about the…” There was a pause and then another sigh. “They were talking about the Lazaret and if there were any plans for it. I don’t think they were from Vesuvia, or they wouldn’t have been so willing to talk about it, but they went on about all the people that died there, and it was like…it was like I was suddenly back there. I couldn’t fully remember it, but I felt such a feeling of dread and fear that I…I just wanted to escape. Like I was trapped. I know it’s just a place and there is nothing there anymore but…I don’t want to go back there. Please don’t make me go back there.”

“Never,” Julian said, his voice clear, “I would never want you to go back to that place nor would I want you anywhere but here with me. I am here and you are safe.”

“You are here, and I am safe,” Sparrow repeated, snuggling closer. “You are here, and I am safe.”

Their mantra seemed to put the same ease into her as it did him, as he watched her body relax a bit more. He smiled as he removed his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. “Now my dear, I leave the decision up to you. Do you wish to return to the party, or may I suggest that I walk milady to her door and then make her some tea with an extra doctor ordered cuddles?” Her little bit of laughter made his heart pick up and soar. He felt her lean against him, allowing him the honor of being her support.

“The second does sound kind of good right now, especially with the way my head is starting to hurt just a bit.”

“Then my dear,” he said, taking her hand in his, “let us away to home where I will dote on you hand and foot.” But as they started to walk away, he felt a slight tug as she stopped.

She looked at him with concern. “Are you sure that I’m not ruining the evening?”

He smiled as he reached up his other hand, gently cupping her cheek. “Sparrow, my love, my songbird, you and your well being will be more important than any party could ever be.” She smiled and he felt his own calm returning. He truly did love her and by all the magic in the world, she loved him as well. Later as she lay with her head on his shoulder, he heard her murmur:

“Thank you.”

He smiled as he gently kissed her head, pulling her close. “I love you.”

[theintrovertbean]

@iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia thank you for tagging me, friend! I'll try to answer this as best as I can!

@fox-daddy is partially right, it's not because of Valerius. The Hierophant keeps him in check and Nadia is like, "If he lets the city fall to ruin again...Well. Make sure he doesn't." It gives me a very threatening energy, that Nadia would do something to Valerius if he screwed up again. He can't make mistakes, or else the Devil herself would deal with him. He also became the new Count and Nadia seems alright with that, so she doesn't really care about being Vesuvia's ruler. However, Vesuvia itself still matters to her.

Why exactly Nadia, the Devil, would go back to Vesuvia is not entirely clear, but I have some ideas I can share, and she certainly doesn't want to visit just to have an afternoon tea at the palace one last time. I didn't see anything being mentioned explicitly in her reversed route, so we can only guess and make our own headcanons about it.

Here are my ideas:

The previous Devil wanted to merge the realms together. Now, we could argue that Nadia would never, but she's still the Devil, is she not? Perhaps she wouldn't have such ideas at the beginning, but, as time passes, she might become even more corrupt. That could lead to some evil ambitions that would make upright Nadia cry. We don't know how much time passes before Nadia and MC leave her realm, so it could be a part of a very devilish plan, a simple visit, or they were just sick of being trapped.

It could also be that she wanted to intimidate people and make sure they were doing things the way she wanted. Reversed Nadia is the embodiment of "I have to do this myself because I can do it better than anyone else" when it comes to pretty much everything, so it would be in character for her to oversee everything personally. She still cares about Vesuvia and wants to make sure that things run smoothly. And with the Devil peeking at everyone's shoulders, you can bet that even Volta wouldn't eat all the food in sight.

So we know that people can make deals with the Devil. They can go to her realm and stuff, but with the previous Devil, I think he could appear in the real world and make deals there. If Nadia stays trapped, she can't do that. So maybe she just wanted to make some deals with a few unfortunate souls.

And my strongest opinion is simply about power. As the Devil, Nadia seems like she developed a hunger for power, but not as much as the previous Devil. She takes matters into her own hands to make not only Vesuvia but the entire world, including the magical realms, a better place. She even intends to make a "Council of Arcana." Our girl wants to do it all by herself. And she can only do so much while she is trapped. However, as soon as she's no longer bound to her own realm, there's no stopping her.

In conclusion, Nadia seems like one strict Devil. There are many possible answers, but we don't find out the truth from the game. It's all up to your interpretation, but I hope I managed to help.

Hii so I've been watching the M6 reversed ending playthrough (bittersweet ending my beloved)

And I watched Nadia reversed ending, and at the very end both Nadia and MC go outside to the real world? Or mortal world? Human world? Honestly idk. and what made me asking is that why is Nadia and MC go to the human world?

Does Nadia and MC already bored living in the demon realm? Does Nadia and MC want to assert dominance and control the world? Does Valerius slip out so badly that Nadia has to step out? Is Vesuvia in danger? Why???

(Or maybe the reason why they go out is already in the route but I forgot because I watched the playthrough like a weeks ago)

Hey snowman anon friend!

To be honest, I'm not as familiar with the reversed ends beyond basic character study because I write almost exclusively for the upright endings - however -

I happen to be friends with a Nadia expert, so I'm going to tag them because I know they'll be able to give a much better answer than me ^.^

@theintrovertbean take it away, Esz! :D