#also I wasn't sure where to go

[thedivergingpaths]

Priest of the North

Mycen takes the young Prince Alm, but he eventually gives the baby to Novis Island.

He can come back and train the boy to be a wairror, but he isn't a father figure.

(He doesn't get the chance to come back)

Alm grows up on the sea, saying prayers and beating back pirates. His strength is unmatched even by the mecenaries who come and pray to the Mother Mila.

Silque is assigned to follow and train and hold back the force that is Alm before he is ready to be loosed on the world.

She is, in all ways but blood, his big sister, but she does not hold him back.

As piracy becomes more normal around Novis, Alm takes more and more to the sea. As his skills in battle and the stern improve, he takes companions to fight against villains and protect those he loves and the innocent.

Alm is eventually sent on a quest to check on Mother Mila, his big sister Silque in tow along with the acolytes Mae, Boey, and Genny. Alm has never been particularly skilled with magic, but he can do basic healing and serves as the tank of the group.

Further south in the nation, a rebellion against a coup is growing stronger around a mysterious mage called Celica.

Alm goes on his quest against pirates, but notes the growing rumors of Zofia lost and regained and of growing Rigelian agression.

Alm readies himself to fight, and decides to go forth and meet the liberator of Zofia, Celica.

(He feels the call of trouble at the Temple of Mila)

(He is troubled by dreams of mad dragons and a dying Duma and Mila)

When Alm and Celica do meet in a palace Alm has never seen, it is as strangers. But they feel like they know each other.

Celica was raised and trained far to the south in little Ram Village, and her closest allies are her friends who followed her into the Deliverance. Alm knows he has never been there, but he recognizes the mark on her hand as a blessing of the gods.

He departs before either can figure each other out. Alm heads for Mila's temple to unroot that problem - but he is pursued by his unknown heritage, by the Rigelians who birthed and hid him.

Destiny comes for all in the end.

-

Check out the previous installments of Fire Emblem AU ficlet/ideas at Birthright in Conquest, Time is Not Linear and Macedon's Twist of Fate

** DO NOT USE AI ON MY WORKS **

[egophiliac]

GET LOVED, IDIOT

GET LOVED SO HARD YOUR KIDS HOLD HANDS AND POWER-OF-LOVE YOU BACK TO LIFE

sorry guys, this is just my brain now. this is going to be the only thing I think about for the next week at least.

oh and also this

FIVE YEARS IN AND IT'S FINALLY CANON 🎉🎉🎉

WE DID IT

[starry-bi-sky]

I am loudly pushing the batdad agenda i am loudly pushing the— DPxDC Prompt

“Woah. You look like shit."

Granted, that’s probably not the first thing Danny should be saying to the guy that just bit the curb, but in his defense; he’s not running on 100% right now either.

The man -- tall, towering, and broader than Danny is tall -- whips around on his heel, black frayed cape flaring out impressively. Danny would've whistled in appreciation, but he takes the time instead to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood running from his nose across his cheek.

"Sorry." He blinks widely, not even flinching as the man with the horns zeroes in on him. "That was rude of me. I have a really bad brain-to-mouth filter; Sam says its what always gets me into trouble."

And she's not wrong either, per say. His smart mouth is what landed him in this situation -- with blood blossom extract running through his veins and cannibalizing the ectoplasm in his bloodstream. Thanks Vlad.

The man grunts at him; a short, curt "hm" that shouldn't make Danny smile, but he does because he's somewhat delirious and probably concussed. The man keeps some kind of distance, sinking towards the shadows of Gotham's alleyway like he dares to melt right into it.

If it's supposed to scare Danny, it doesn't work. Danny's never been afraid of the dark; he's always been able to hide himself in it. He blinks slowly at the mass of shadows.

"You look hurt." The shadows says, blurring together around the edges. Danny squints, and licks his lips to get the blood dripping down his chin off. Ugh, he hates the taste of blood.

"I am." He says, "My godfather poisoned me. M'dying." The agony of the blood blossom eating him from the inside out looped back around to numbing a while ago, so all he feels is half-awake and dazed.

"Hey," Danny stumbles forward towards the man, a bloodied hand reaching out to him. "You-- you're a hero, right? You're not attacking me; which is more than I can say for most costumed people I've met." Maybe it's a poor bar to judge someone at, but he's already established that Danny's not in his right mind.

The man makes no change in expression, but Danny realizes blearily that it's hard to tell with the shadows on his face. He stays still long enough for Danny to latch onto the cape -- stretchy, but almost soft under his fingers.

He looks up blearily into the whites of the man's eyes. "Can you help me? I don't-- I don't wanna die." Again. He doesn't wanna die again. He blinks slow and lizard-like. "I mean- I'll probably get to see mom and dad again, but I told them I'd at least try and make it to adulthood."

There's a clatter down the street, and Danny's ghost sense chills up his spine and leaves a bitter, ashy taste in his mouth. He immediately knows who it belongs to even before the deceptively gentle; "Daniel?" echoes down the way.

"Daniel? Quit your games, badger, Gotham is dangerous for children."

Danny's mouth pulls back, and blood spills against his tongue. "Please." He rasps, and grabs onto the shadow's cape with both hands. "Please. He's going to kill me. Please--"

"Daniel? Is that you?"

His lips part, dragging in air to plead with the darkness again. He doesn't need to, the whites of his eyes narrow, and the cape whirls around him before Danny can blink. Soon swaddled in shadows, the Night lifts him up, and steals him away.

[xxdrixx]

❥ Countdown to Daredevil: Born Again - 8 days left Frank being harsh vs soft with someone

for @ohdrey89 💕

[booasaur]

Renegade Nell (2024) - 1x06

[aquanutart]

desert flygon

[cecoeur]

How do you sleep at night? No one to hide behind Betrayed every alibi you had You had every chance to make amends instead you got drunk on bitterness And you still claim that you're innocent, it's sad

[essektheylyss]

Finally made the Den Thelyss stew and it does in fact live up to the hype. I wasn't questioning it anyway but Essek is confirmed valid for his favorite food if this is what his family was serving for special occasions.

[thebramblewood]

The old Helena can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, because she’s dead.

Previous / Next

Thanks to @pxltown for the Social Bunny template I used as a base! HQ under the cut because I had to scrunch the dimensions a bit for the screenshot.

Julia: What am I supposed to tell Mom and Dad?

Helena: Whatever you want. I’m sure you’ll think of something.

Julia: You can’t just run off without telling them goodbye  — or telling me where you’re going!

Julia: [between sobs] Am I ever going to see you again? Will you at least call me? [sniffling] I’ll miss you, Helena. If either of them dies, I’ll never forgive you. But I’ll always love you.

Helena: I love you, too. And I’d do anything to take it all back. But I can’t, so I have no choice but to go.

[r0semultiverse]

How Homestuck Beyond Canon Candy Timeline has/will have parallels with Homestuck proper around and during the events of [S] Game Over

Jane Crocker heavily aligned/influenced by with Crocker Corp. Notice how her neck accessory looks very similar to the Crocker computer tiara. There's also the circuits surrounding the button, which are reminiscent of Crockertier Jane's visual mind control effect by The Condesce.

Jane also kind of looks like The Condesce with how she's silhouetted here.

The head of Crocker Corporation on a large Crocker space ship. A ship which I would like to point out looks eerily similar to the ship that The Condesce flies around in except the forks/sporks are facing the opposite direction and it's got black on it instead of mostly red.

Jake dying at the hands of Crocker influenced Jane and coming back to life parallels with this Jane coming close to killing Jake, but stopping right before death. Same green text too.

The cast of characters surrounding this time in the comic are also similar.

We also got the whole Crocker laser beam of death being hinted at which we've absolutely seen before.

I talked about this in one of my previous theories, Jake is getting a better grasp of his hope powers; so, I think we could see another hope explosion again in some capacity out of Jake's concern for Tavvy.

I could also totally see Jake being held hostage by one of the Crocker Clones A.K.A. the Brig Boys and Kanaya cutting them up with her chainsaw (hopefully avoiding Jake).

This is more of a little side detail, but Vriska is once again on the sidelines while this massive important fight takes place because she's trapped in her own personal Hell this time.

CHARACTER DEATH FLAGS - I don't know how to organize this post and there was a lot more potential evidence to this than I thought there was going into it.

Let me preface this with the fact that the existential split between Meat and Candy sometimes seems to try to course correct itself and much like certain peoples DNIs, it doesn't want any doubles. We see this with Dirk, Dave (he died even if he ascended to ultimate self afterwards), June/J/John, Terezi(seemingly), Meenah (her other self is in the black hole with Lord English so we can't necessarily confirm death but yknow), Aradia (is just Aradia), Gamzee, Calliope (that is a whole complex situation), and Rose (if her future sight is correct, but we'll get to that). Those are the only examples I can think of at this time, but it's absolutely a repeating pattern of the universe sort of course-correcting to have only one of each of our main characters exist at a time. This, at least in the cases of Dirk, Dave, & Rose seems to be related to the ascension to ultimate self, but we can't really say if that's why the other characters only get one existence at this time.

Karkat has has at least 2 deaths from around this time, one involving Crockertier Jane as well which could be a sign of things to come.

Rose's death flag is that she has literally foreseen her death in her future sight. She is thinking about Kanaya and Roxy in the same thought process while seeing her own death, feeling full of regret (even though she's trying to repress her own feelings) about her relationship to Roxy and Kanaya. Very similar to her being regretful as she was dying in Roxy's arms. I'm also guessing the bullet that hits her will be from Jake's gun, just throwing that out as a possibility.

ROSE: What... ROSE: Happened to me? ROXY: the witch got u ROXY: with her fork ROXY: but youre gonna be ok ROSE: Oh. ROSE: That's nice. ROSE: *Cough.* ROXY: maybe you uh ROXY: shouldnt try to talk now ROSE: You saved me, didn't you? ROXY: ... ROSE: Thanks. ROSE: But, ROSE: She's gone, isn't she. ROSE: For good, I mean. ROXY: ? ROSE: I saw her die. ROSE: And. ROSE: It's a shame how... ROSE: *Cough.* ROSE: A shame that I never even... ROSE: Got to tell her... ROSE: I loved her. ROXY: who?

ROSE: Kanaya. ROSE: But... ROSE: You too, mom.

Kanaya also has a death flag here in getting hit by The Condesce's laser beam of death, but it's more of a maybe given that we see Rose's future vision of Kanaya holding her body in her arms. Keep in mind though we also had this bit of dialogue about the reliability of future sight right before we saw that vision.

JADE: dont forget im more than a little versed in future sight myself ok JADE: i dont care how credible it seems, you cant depend on that information!

Jake and Jane are also on the chopping block potentially, but I can't think of a way at this time, unless Kanaya mistakes Jake for one of the clones amidst her rage and ends up cutting through him along with the Crocker clones. The one pictured below was done by Aranea who is out of the story. Maybe Meenah's trident hits Jake somehow or something, I don't know. We also have meat Jake and Jane who are doing more okay.

On top of the parallels to the doomed timeline that was [S] Game Over, we also had Vriska say that this reality was fake and didn't matter. I'm paraphrasing and I don't know if we'll get a doomed timeline situation yet with the 4 kids still in it, but I just thought the amount of parallels was interesting & worth pointing out.

I also wanted to get this out before the next update in case it's related to the flash animation and any of my predictions come true.

Alternatively I think the flash animation will be Ultimate Dirk kick starting his SBURB home brew session on Deltritus. He probably has all the tech and narrative powers to do it based on what we've seen, they just need a species they'll both be satisfied with as the players for the session.

[kickedin17]

Okay hear me out (other people have basically already said this but hold on this is my post)

We're getting very clear messages that indicate something might be... wrong with Clancy. During the US leg via the FPE letters we heard a lot about how Clancy was inspiring the masses, and now it kind of seems to be the opposite. Torch explicitly saying we destroyed them so we didn't become them.

Plus Tyler now wearing black shirts, with imagery that seems to relate to Blurryface songs. The occasions last tour where his "Clancy" shirt was black text instead of red. The Blurryface account tweeting again this tour. The bishops taking over the Judge that one time, trying to hijack a moment that celebrates the clique (irl banditos). Paladin Strait, which apparently is not supposed to sound like an ending, which concludes with Clancy being named explicitly by Nico, and which shows a version of Tyler in the mv literally sitting above it all & seemingly mirroring people's movements from other shots.

I see your "Clancy becomes a bishop" theories (I love bishop!clancy to be clear I think it's awesome) but I think that might be too esoteric to end up being the explicit canon (I could also be wrong and it will be, but functionally the rest of the point here is the same). The thing is, Clancy is pretty simply intended to be a version of Tyler that extracts and represents certain traits, just like Blurryface. We know Blurryface to be insecurity. Clancy has never been said explicitly afaik but I think it's clear he represents Tyler's drive to create things that inspire people (despite crushing obstacles like mental illness - Dema and the bishops, and especially with the help and inspiration of others - Torchbearers and the banditos (us)). Which we know can be incredible, but can also become self-destructive. We were introduced to Clancy at first cryptically through his personal writings, and only explicitly after a long time (and after being told he'd "died" by the characters that represent Tyler's mental health struggles, which, depressed creatives iykyk) because I think owning your creativity and ability to inspire others is a much more arduous journey than being controlled by your insecurity. But Clancy was never intended to be a different type of character despite all that. He is a version of Tyler.

And just like Blurryface he gets his own namesake album. A lot of people have pointed out how the Clancy and Blurryface tracklists can actually be read to mirror each other. As the lore progressed Blurryface became Nico (and the other 8 bishops) battling against Clancy, but they're all abstractions from Tyler's mind. Both literally, in the sense that he is literally the one coming up with the story, but we're also reminded of this on both Bandito and Overcompensate with the "created this world" bridge. I believe this is also what we're seeing represented in those shots in the Paladin Strait mv. There's also the fact that the Clancy era is extremely extremely red - this in lore represents Clancy's process of reclamation as well as his (violent) uprising, but in tøp's wider context it is kinda just The Blurryface Color along with black.

Blurryface turns 10 immediately after the Clancy tour ends. We know the Clancy tour to be the reflection of "someone's life flashing before their eyes" and that this album was supposedly meant to wrap up the Dema storyline. I do not think this means Clancy dies. Because he is Tyler, and he cannot die, because for that to happen I think Tyler would have to never write or make anything again. And we also know this to be a cycle. I think what's happening is what's always been kind of obvious, and inevitable. I think Clancy is going to become Blurryface. I think he's already been Blurryface this entire time. They're the same person at different parts of the cycle, and I think we're going back to the start of it.

[d8tl55c]

oh boy !! ! ! ! !!! ! thANK y0u all for the kind words on my last art posts. you all get it and i was/still am so happy about it

as promised, here's some close-ups of the comic for image quality's sake, and other screenshots i rescued from the community whiteboard (and something else)

first up another sketch of mystery gender-ambiguous being. (please send me more name ideas for them if you got one- i like to hear em! (reminder it's the side character that appeared for <10 seconds in AvM Ep. 30))

a few fav scenes

emotional support cwab

they weren't meant for this purpose exactly, but i do have countless "fluffy sticks" loose in my notes and homework sheets from the school years.

papery critter.

even when i wasn't confident in fur or feathers, they helped me practice posing and create some satisfying gradients/flowing poses. (im a sucker for good tail poses) (oh yay! i found a good pic...)

and finally, little sneak peak for you for reading so far ;3

i realized that whiteboardfox is pretty great for my working needs. simple and to the point and all. feels nice with the mouse and the tablet.

so i started hashing out a big project idea just to see if it holds up and

[

several hours later ...

]

oh

oh man

it's a little bigger than i expected

<next>

[diazley]

So hear me out...imo Tommy is the perfect person for Buck...on paper. Like, we don't really know that much about him as in like does he want to get married? Does he want kids? etcetera etcetera but let's say he does want all that and Buck wants all that and Tommy is sweet and caring, is better to Buck than any of his exes were to him and he is a firefighter so he understands the work and the hours and how important the job is to Buck and he fits in with his found family and is friends with his best friend Eddie and gets his relationship with Chris, and is basically the whole damn deal okay? Let's say he's the person Buck has always dreamt of being with one day. But here's the thing...

This would've all just been the perfect premise for a happily ever after but, BUT!! Eddie.

Eddie Diaz exists. And he just doesn't exist, he exists as a huge part of Buck's whole damn world. They are best friends but they're also so much more than that. If they were normal about each other and if they haven't gone through a whole lot of shit together and haven't shared their best parts and worst parts with each other and if either of them loved each other any less, then Buck could've made Tommy his happy ever after, but alas! Eddie Diaz exists and that's why perfect on paper doesn't matter cuz Tommy Kinard will never be Eddie Diaz.

[swan2swan]

Jurassic World + Disabilities and Limb Difference

[pathological-runaway]

“Tell me, Nesting Guide,” the mothling says, rocking back and forth on a chair that is standing a little too close to the counter, “Who’s that in the painting that you keep staring at when you think you’re alone?” Nesting Guide turns to look at the picture hanging above their working table. Their gaze lingers on it for some time, and they let out a quiet sigh. The carpenter isn’t even sure if it still makes sense to have the painting here in the workshop, after all this time, but they think they’ll never bring themself to take it away. For some reason, be it sentimentality or something else, they can’t.

you can find the fic here on ao3 or below the cut

“Tell me, Nesting Guide,” the mothling says, rocking back and forth on a chair that is standing a little too close to the counter.

The carpenter waits for the continuation and, when it becomes evident none is coming, puts down their tools.

“What is it?” they ask, throwing a quick glance at the child. One simply can’t leave them unsupervised for more than a couple of seconds: they’ll surely grab something that shouldn’t be grabbed or eat something that shouldn’t be eaten. Kids are tricky, and Nesting Guide isn’t sure they like them at all.

Normally, they would be against any child being so close to them while they’re working. Unfortunately, this child in particular saved them from their imprisonment inside a stone husk, and they kind of owe them for this little favour.

“Weeeell…” the kid twirls their hair and smiles in a way that makes the carpenter suspect they’re plotting something, “Who’s that in the painting that you keep staring at when you think you’re alone?”

Nesting Guide turns to look at the picture hanging above their working table. Their gaze lingers on it for some time, and they let out a quiet sigh. The carpenter isn’t even sure if it still makes sense to have the painting here in the workshop, after all this time, but they think they’ll never bring themself to take it away. For some reason, be it sentimentality or something else, they can’t.

But their thoughts are going off a tangent. Time to come back to reality.

“Don’t you mess with me, kid,” the carpenter replies sternly, “you know perfectly well who that is. What are you plotting?”

“I’m not plotting anything!” they say with fake outrage, yet the spark in their eyes proves that they are, indeed, up to no good.

So young and already so dramatic. Must be Nesting Guide’s neighbours’ fault.

Valleyers, they think, slightly annoyed and not endeared at all.

“Put the chair back,” the carpenter instructs, “if it moves one more inch towards me, you’re banned from the workshop for a week. And you can’t bribe others into getting stuff for you. Or complain to Steward. You heard me.”

The Moth grunts as they move the chair. Nesting Guide does not find this little sound adorable. Tries not to.

When the chair is finally at a reasonable distance from the tools that could harm the child and the sketches that could be harmed by them, the mothling stares offendedly anywhere but at their interlocutor.

“You’re being rude!” they announce.

Nesting Guide chuckles and returns to their work — fixing the clock that doesn’t want to be fixed for some reason.

In the few weeks they’ve been around after being kindly brought back to life, or rather to existence, they’ve come to understand this little kid as well as many others. Most of them, including this one in particular, don’t really like sitting in silence with nothing to do. They may pretend to be annoyed, but they end up cracking in a minute or two.

It doesn’t take long for the Moth to drop the act and blurt out their plans.

“Fine, I know that’s the Forest Elder. But,” they add, leaning towards the counter again, which Nesting Guide doesn’t even need to see in order to know (most children have this annoying habit of crossing the only boundary existing in this workshop), “I don’t know why they’re here. Did you two know each other?”

The carpenter pretends they didn’t hear, but the cracking sound behind them suggests the mothling is trying to get behind the counter.

“This is no place for a child!” Nesting Guide admonishes and takes the intruder by the scruff of their neck.

Put on the carpet in the middle of the workshop, the kid pouts.

“That’s not nice! I don’t want to talk to you anymore!”

And after this, they walk out.

Nesting Guide sighs and gets back to work, which ends up being more challenging than they’d like it to be, their thoughts wandering and distracting them from the malfunctioning clock.

***

The mothling comes back the very same evening, and the carpenter isn’t surprised when they do.

They haven’t made many advancements with the clock and haven’t eaten since this morning, and little does the return of the young meddler help with improving their mood.

“Flight Guide told me,” their guest announces, moving the chair from the corner towards the counter, “they were nice and told me.”

“Congratulations,” the carpenter mutters.

The room is silent for some time, the only sound being the quiet singing of birds outside. It’s a lovely sunset, and one can’t blame them for enjoying it.

The kid hums some sort of melody as if copying them.

“Flight told me you used to be the Forest Elder’s apprentice. Flight’s actually a lot better than you,” they point out, “they answer my questions, offer me sweets and let me sit close to them.”

“That’s because they don’t work with hammers, dumbo.”

“And they don’t call me dumbo.”

“Well, it’s not my fault you’re one.”

“Wow, didn’t know you’re so great with kids,” a new voice appears as Rhythm Guide enters the workshop and looks around, a sly smile on their face.

And the carpenter thought the day couldn’t get any worse.

“Urgh. Moth, make them go away.”

“Excuse me? I wanted to see how my clock’s doing! You’ve had it for ages!”

“Your clock’s doing well,” Nesting Guide replies reluctantly, “now go away before I smash it.”

“C’mon, you can’t still be mad at me for the curtain! It was an accident!”

Nesting Guide stops and puts away the gear wheel they have been tinkering with to glare at the newcomer.

“Thanks for reminding me about the curtain — now I am mad at you! Go. I’ll send someone with the clock when I’m finished. Go.”

Rhythm Guide mutters something about foresters being a pain in the ass and leaves. Nesting Guide curses in forester and calls their neighbour a ruffled penguin. For some reason, the insult doesn’t have the rewarding effect it’s supposed to.

They adjust their glasses and return to the damn clock.

“Anyways,” the Moth continues as if nothing had happened, “since you two were pretty close and you keep going to the Garden to pick up sticks and stuff, wouldn’t it be cool if you met and rekindled your friendship? I could help.”

The carpenter puts their screwdriver down with a loud thump and straightens their back.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to.”

“But-”

“I said no.”

“But-”

“And we weren’t friends. Stop calling every relationship friendship.”

“Bu-“

“Leave. The conversation’s over.”

The workshop is silent for a minute or so, and then there is a screeching noise and annoyed muttering as the child moves their chair and begrudgingly leaves the shop.

The carpenter can’t focus on the clock again and goes to bed instead.

***

“Nesting Guide!”

They almost choke on their drink.

“Nesting Guide!”

“What?” the carpenter asks sternly as they put their mug on the table. The reason why they went to the café so early was precisely because they didn’t want anyone screaming while they’re having breakfast.

Turns out they miscalculated.

“Just wanted to say hi! Long time no see!”

“’s only been a couple days,” the carpenter says.

“It felt like forever! I missed you!”

Nesting Guide smirks and sips their coffee.

“Oh really? I barely noticed your absence.”

The kid gasps in shock, and the carpenter laughs at their ridiculous face.

“They’re laughing at me! I said I missed them and they’re laughing at me!” they complain to Tea-Brewer.

“Don’t take them too seriously, sweetie. They’re just joking.”

“Their jokes are rude!”

Tiptoeing Tea-Brewer looks at the carpenter and raises an eyebrow. Nesting Guide does the same at them before getting up and bringing the now-empty mug to the bar.

“You should be nicer to kids. This one’s not the first to complain,” Tea-Brewer notes with a frown.

“They just don’t get jokes.”

“And this is exactly why you should be nicer to them, sweetie.”

The carpenter considers their words for a while before answering.

“Don’t you sweetie me. I’m older than you.”

“Oh really? Haven’t noticed.”

The mothling snorts, and Nesting Guide gives them a glare.

“You think you’re so smart?”

“No. But I think you’re silly.”

The carpenter finds the kid both utterly ridiculous and awfully cute and has to turn away to hide their smile.

Tea-Brewer notices and smirks before turning away and walking to the oven.

“My friends took me to meet up with Tinkering Chimesmith,” the mothling says out of the blue, “they told us a lot of fun stuff and even let us sit close and watch them work. And they work with hammers, too.”

Nesting Guide hears the unsaid question and avoids the kid’s eyes.

“Why don’t you-“

“Because I like it when everything’s organised and quiet and you lot jump and fly around and make noise,” they reply hastily without letting the Moth finish.

The child eyes them with interest.

“I won’t make any noise.”

***

That was a lie. That was an absolute lie.

While the kid did spend a whole thirty minutes not saying a word, they kept making the chair they were sitting on screech and crack, and their clothes were rustling all the time as they changed their position on the chair every two or three minutes.

Nesting Guide puts down their hammer and takes a deep breath in order to calm down at least a little.

“Okay, kid, that’s it. Time’s up.”

“What?” the Moth sounds incredulous, “You didn’t say anything about time!”

“I didn’t, but the condition was that you keep silent. And all you do is moving around, which is annoying and distracting.”

They regret turning to see the child immediately: the mothling looks heartbroken.

“But I-”

“Yes, you tried. I know. I also tried, and both of us failed.”

The carpenter’s words come out harsher than intended, but they don’t really feel like sugarcoating it.

The child looks down at the counter, drawing invisible circles with their fingers on its surface.

“I’m sorry, Nesting Guide. Do you want me to leave?”

The carpenter hears someone chatting excitedly outside and knows that most people are already up, and customers are likely to start coming soon. And customers mean more curious children who shout and accidentally make things fall. This thought alone makes the carpenter shiver.

“I guess so.”

But, before their guest is gone, they get an idea.

“And tell Rhythm the clock will have to wait! A bunch of mothlings want new beds, and Enchantment Guide says they’re out of free shelves in their shop.”

Seeing the kid light up stirs something in them that they weren’t sure was even there. They don't know if it’s a good thing or not.

***

“Do you really not want to pay Teth a visit? We’re right next to the Temple.”

The Moth tagged along to the Forest Garden with them. They’re out of materials, now that a lot of kids decided to renovate their nests with brand-new furniture. The shelves for the Enchantment shop took a lot of wood, too, and they barely have anything left for the upcoming projects.

“I told you. I don’t want to see them.”

The kid doesn’t say anything in response, picking up sticks from the ground silently. Nesting Guide would never have thought that they would have literal children help them with this task, but it turns out that they’re actually quite good at it. Physical activities, the carpenter noticed, are a great solution to keep kids busy.

When half of your clients are so young, it’s not the sort of thing you’d neglect.

“Why though? I like visiting my friends. We have fun and they help me with Wasteland or Eden. That’s what friends are for.”

Nesting Guide rolls their eyes. Here they are with their friendship again.

“Me and Te- the Forest Elder aren’t friends, kid. Never were. I mean, we did have a nice mentor-mentee relationship, but that’s all,” they explain, “I have no reason to go to see them. It’d be weird.”

The mothling comes up to them and places their sticks near the pile that Nesting Guide has collected. Their own may not be as big or as useful for bigger projects, but it’s still a valuable contribution.

“I don’t understand why it’d be weird,” the child admits rather shyly.

“Well, I’ve never seen any of the Elder’s previous apprentices show up. Didn’t hear much about them either,” they shrug.

For the Moth, it seems to be a revelation.

“There were others?!”

The carpenter picks up a thin branch and examines it. Having found it unsuitable, they throw it away.

“Of course there were. Teth’s an Elder, they’ve been around for ages,” they look wistfully at the Temple walls, “wasn’t the first one, wasn’t the last one. Funny.”

“What? What’s funny?”

They don’t really know it themself.

“Do you ever happen to feel like you’re very small in a very big world?”

The kid looks up at the tops of majestic ancient trees disappearing in the thick clouds above and contemplates them for a short while.

“All the time.”

***

“I told you that I- What’s that face for?” Nesting Guide asks and frowns.

Their guest sits down and puts their arms on the counter, resting their head on them. They move slowly and look either tired or bored. Maybe both.

“I don’t know what to do,” they mumble without lifting their head.

Nesting Guide throws a glance at the sketches that are now trapped under the mothling’s elbows and thinks about reprimanding the kid for disregarding their instructions. Yet, it doesn’t seem fair.

“How come? The weather’s nice. Go wherever you want and do whatever you wish. Budge up a little though, I need those.”

The child lifts their arms, letting the carpenter collect all the papers, which they don’t really need at the moment but don’t want to leave next to the kid, and put them on a shelf above their desk.

“I wanted to go to the Forgotten Ark and do some stuff there,” the mothling says unenthusiastically, “and then I wanted to get black die for my shirt.”

“And?”

The kid sighs and puts their head on the counter again. Nesting Guide wishes they didn’t, wishes they stopped bothering them and went away, but this one’s quite stubborn. More stubborn than others.

No threats are enough to pry them away from here.

“My friends changed plans. They’re helping some Moths instead.”

The carpenter hums as they put a stool and a box of nails on the desk. Repairing a broken stool leg isn’t something that requires that much concentration compared to most other things they’ve been doing lately, so they’re not against some chit-chat while they’re at it, especially since the kid seems not to be in the best mood.

“Those Moths probably really need help, then.”

The child whines.

“I need help, too!”

Nesting Guide chuckles. So dramatic. They wonder how they even stand having them around.

“Well, not as much as them, probably. You’ve already got ten stars. You’re practically an expert now.”

“I’m not!” the kid protests, but their interlocutor manages to hear that the compliment pleases them.

“I’m being serious, by the way. If you really want to, you can always go by yourself. Maybe you’ll find someone there or manage to do it alone.”

“But what if I don’t? It’s dangerous and scary out there…”

Nesting Guide writes down the measurements and begins looking for a suitable piece of wood. The broken clock sitting on the shelf nearby catches their attention, but they don’t really have time for it now, so they look away. Their eyes settle on the painting: their own faceless silhouette, the Elder standing by their side. The trees look a lot younger and thinner in the picture than they do in real life, especially now, after all the years that have passed.

“Well… No one stops you from trying anyway.”

The child doesn’t say anything, but when the carpenter turns around, they see the visitor’s eyes studying the painting, too.

“Your hair looks longer here,” the kid comments.

“Decided to cut it later on,” Nesting Guide explains, going back to the stool, “I thought it’d suit me.”

“It does.”

A pause.

“Do you think I should cut mine?”

The carpenter smiles at the spontaneity of the decision. It reminds them of themself, in a way.

“If you want to,” they say, “and if you do, tell Rhythm I’ll go back to the clock next month. Steward says the Concert Hall needs a renovation. The tables there are falling apart.”

***

“I helped out a mothling! Can you believe it?” the kid shouts as they jump excitedly.

“Huh, good for you,” Nesting Guide replies and yawns. It’s been a long day �� a long few days, even. Or weeks. Or months.

It’s a very long life.

“They were kinda lost in that tube thingy — I’ve told you about it — there are krills everywhere and it’s hard to understand where to go — anyways, I took them by the hand and guided them! Didn’t even get attacked!” they are pacing and flapping hands, and Nesting Guide wonders how they still have so much energy, “they ran off somewhere after the Point of No Return, but we met again in Orbit! They said they hated Eden, but I explained them stuff and I’m planning to take them to Valley and introduce them to Dreams’ child! I’m so excited!”

The carpenter ruffles their hair on their way to the exit. The child may have just got a boost of energy from having their body’s age reset to zero, but Nesting Guide didn’t, and they really need to eat something.

“Where are you going?” the kid asks.

“The café. I’m starving.”

“Can I go with you? Or are you the leave-me-alone kind of starving?”

Nesting Guide shrugs.

“Nah. Come along.”

Tea-Brewer makes a funny face upon seeing the two enter exactly at the moment when they were going to close the café but still gives them a piece of pie and some tea.

“Oh, long time no see!” Tea-Brewer says excitedly despite being visibly tired, too, “Is that a new cape?”

Nesting Guide feels a ping of shame for not noticing the change. But to be fair, they’ve spent so long working today that they probably wouldn’t even notice if someone painted their workshop a different colour.

“Yes!” the child beams, “I decided to try something new in this life. I’ve actually never worn pink before! Do you like it?”

“It’s really lovely, sweetie!”

The kid swings their feet happily as they eat their bun.

The carpenter’s mind starts to clear up a little after getting some food, and new questions start popping up in their head.

“I thought Eden was planned for tomorrow? Or have I lost track of time?”

“Well, it was originally planned for tomorrow, but then a friend of mine said they couldn’t go fishing, and Angler decided to postpone it, so I kinda had nothing left to do today. I thought of going to Sanctuary and helping clean up the darkness, but it’s been really busy there for the last couple of days. I needed to clear up my mind a little, and Eden’s perfect for that.”

Nesting Guide feels like, no matter how much time they spend with this kid, they’ll never understand children of the light at all. How could you ever understand someone who treats a gruesome death like meditation?

But maybe they don’t really need to understand them. They don’t understand Flight’s love for sports or Enchantment’s fear of jellyfish, but it’s never stopped them from enjoying their company, after all.

Eden seems more complex than sports and jellyfish, but perhaps its mundaneness in sky kids’ lives is one more thing Nesting Guide will never get.

“And what of your other friends? You told me last week you wanted to meet up with them again to celebrate your friendship anniversary.”

The child’s excitement suddenly fades away. They look at the window, eyes unfocused and dull.

The silence in the empty room is uncomfortable. Tense. Crushing.

Nesting Guide puts their cup on the table and leans slightly towards the kid.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” they reply, still not looking, “no. I’ll tell you later.”

***

“There was no anniversary. They’d decided to join the stars,” they explain on a quiet afternoon, sitting on a chair too close to the counter while snow is falling outside and the carpenter is reassembling the clock.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Nesting Guide says as they look at the kid with round eyes.

“No, it’s alright. I’m sure they’re happy there.”

Nesting Guide doesn’t really know how to comfort a crying child, so they give them some hot cocoa and a warm blanket and tell the most ridiculous stories from their youth that they can think of.

***

“I think I’ll just ask you to make me a new one, at this rate,” Rhythm Guide says jokingly, “I’d almost forgotten what it even looks like.”

The carpenter cocks an eyebrow in an attempt to convey the wide range of emotions they’re feeling now.

“Did you wait for Days of Love just to tell me this?”

“Mate, I can’t know if it’s Days of Love or not. I have no clock to check the bloody time.”

“I told you to trust the process!” Nesting Guide tries their best not to start criticising the awful joke.

“It’s been months! Almost a year! Why is it my clock that has to wait and not all other stuff?”

“Probably because your clock’s pretty weird. And all of your neighbours have clocks for you to look at whenever you want,” the child points out.

“I can’t believe you’re on their side! What happened to you?”

“Your clock will be ready by the end of next week, I swear. Now leave us alone. If you keep distracting us, the kid will cut off their finger or something.”

Rhythm rolls their eyes but leaves, leaving the two sitting in silence for a while.

“So, what do I do with this part?”

“Well, firstly you don’t touch anything and just look. Then you answer my questions and if you make a mistake, I’m never letting you go behind the counter again. Capiche?”

The child scrunches their face in thought. A moment later, a mischievous smile appears on their lips.

“Deal.”

***

“Tell me, Nesting Guide,” the child starts, looking at the draft in their hand.

“What?”

“Do you still miss them? Because I catch you looking at the painting sometimes. And you look sad.”

The carpenter doesn’t reply for a minute or so, and the kid waits patiently for them to speak up.

“Just nostalgic, I s’pose.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Nesting Guide continues tinkering with the tile on the wall. There is something in it that is bothering them, but they can’t quite put their finger on what exactly is wrong.

“Can I ask you one more question?” the child looks up at them with curiosity.

“Fine, ask away.”

“Are you avoiding the clock on purpose?”

***

“I met my old guide this morning,” their apprentice announces, “they didn’t recognise me at first, but then they were happy that I was doing well.”

“That’s lovely,” Nesting Guide replies without looking up.

They don’t really need to to know that the kid is watching them work, noting the movement of their hands and the position of their fingers. They’ve been doing it a lot lately, and the carpenter is glad they’re taking their time to observe and learn. Nesting Guide was afraid, at the very beginning, that the child would give up or burn out soon after starting.

But they didn’t.

“The funny thing is,” the child continues, “I wasn’t that happy to see them. I mean, it did feel good at the very beginning. But then we just… had nothing to talk about. And went our separate ways. Is it strange?”

“Nah, that’s normal. Means you’ve both changed.”

Their apprentice doesn’t say much after that, sitting in silence instead.

When the carpenter is almost done, the child does ask them one more question.

“I’ve seen so many people come and go ever since I fell here. How can I make sure that those I care about don’t leave?”

Nesting Guide’s lungs refuse to work for a solid moment, and the weight in their chest suddenly makes it hard to speak.

“That’s the thing. You can’t.”

The kid hums in response.

“That’s good to know. I thought I was doing something wrong.”

“You weren’t. ‘s just how life works.”

“Life sounds really silly,” they reply, pensive.

Nesting Guide chuckles.

“Mate, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

***

“I can’t believe you really did it. I’d forgotten I had a clock.”

“Just shut up and take it. Didn’t come here to hear your soliloquies.”

***

The child is away guiding a few mothlings through Eden, and Nesting Guide has to go to the Forest Garden alone.

As they gather their things and get ready to leave, they catch a glimpse of a tall figure standing at the Temple gate, too light to blend in with the wall, too dark to really stand out.

They bow almost instinctively, and the figure nods at them.

Back in their workshop, they stare at the painting for a long while before finally deciding to take it down.

***

After a month of two, they still glance up at the empty space from time to time.

***

After a year, they get a new one.

***

And after a decade, there is a mothling rocking back and forth on a chair too close to the counter.

[ahollowgrave]

Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

][Tagged by:][ @verysmallcyborg @cosmicharm @chadhunkler and @thefreelanceangel <3 Thank you all!!!!

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Three Ships I Like: - Gideon/Harrow (obvi) - Glinda/Elphaba (orz) - Fornax/Ryss (heeeh) First Ship Ever: ... it was self insert ship with Hiei and Kurama from YuYu Hakusho.

Last Song You Heard: A alt-country cover of Dirty Little Secret by MackMartin. From a release radar! It is doing things to my brain.

Favorite Childhood Book: The whole Tortallan universe from Tamora Pierce. Devoured every book of hers I could as a child!! Currently Reading: What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher! Anything by T. Kingfisher is worth reading but especially her horror retellings.

Currently Watching: My husband and I are caught up on Abbot Elementary so we've switched over to Creature Commandos right now!

Currently Consuming: A cold, crispy pop. As a treat!

Currently Craving: The chicken katsu and sushi we'll be ordering for dinner.