#its been floating in my head

[florelia12]

Naturally, I was thinking about florelia and their backstories (what else am I supposed to do with my life?)

I was also reading dramione fanfics (again) and it got me thinking abt 6th year Draco being asked to assassinate Dumbledore…

Did I find a way to turn that into a Helia backstory? Yes. Yes i did.

So, I started thinking about first-year, fifteen year old baby Helia being sent to kill Saladin. Going undercover as a Specialist in Red Fountain.

And it’s got a bit of Necromancer!Helia in it. So CW for child abuse, DV and death.

I’ve had this headcanon that Saladin wasn’t always a cheerful/understanding old man. He used to be rather fierce and unforgiving, emotionally detached and tied to duty. I think it’s also canon that he left his ex-girlfriend because she went into the dark arts.

Something consistent in all my hcs about Helia is his parents straight up being on the dark side and working with Valtor (maybe inspired by that one scene with Valtor and Helia). So, Saladin’s son kind of turns on him and the light side and joins Valtor.

This would result in Saladin disowning his son in an effort to remind the rest of the Company of Light where his loyalties lie. Saladin has shown that his reputation matters highly to him so i think this would be fairly in character.

Even go as far as to killing his own son during a battle.

At this point does Saladin know he has a grandchildren? Nope.

So out of fear of Saladin and a new hatred for Valtor for letting her husband die, Helia’s mother takes her kids and goes into hiding. She turns to her family who are Necromancers, begging them to bring back her husband. She’s too weak to do it herself.

Her family was once on the dark side but turned neutral after realising that the Company of Light might actually stand a chance at defeating Valtor.

So they refuse at first but they know that after the battle is over, the light side will shun them out or even prosecute them so having power over Saladin’s grandkids might come in useful one day.

They bring Helia’s father back to life but he’s not the same since bringing back the dead will always have consequences. He’s more evil than before and swears to take revenge on his father. Kind of loses his mind a little from spending time on the other side. Since it took some time, his body also kind of stays in a half decayed state. for the creepy effects..

After watching Vox Machina I can’t help but think of Helia with a twin sister. However, in the case of twins in my hcs is that one of them (the healthier one in the womb) will end up absorbing magic from the other one. So only one twin can use magic while the other can’t, basically making them a human.

Helia is the one with the magic potential, twice as powerful since he absorbed his sister’s magic as well. Also he ends up inheriting the necromancy magic.

Helia is raised and trained by his father to kill Saladin while maintaining the cover that his father is dead.

They both grow up with his mother’s family but they don’t know about Helia’s father’s plans.

Helia of course doesn’t want to kill anyone, but since his father is crazy atp he uses his sister and mother to threaten Helia. Goes as far as to torture his mother to keep Helia in line. But, mostly ignores his sister because she’s useless to him.

He also leeches off of Helia’s powers to keep himself alive that makes Helia rather weak and sick at times, resulting in him having to visit Linphea to get help from the healers. Kind of makes sense for necromancers to work with Healers so they’ve got big connections, aka the royal palace where he meets Krystal. (Trying to tie it all in is tiring but fun)

Helia has a close relationship with his sister. She knows he does his best to protect her but she’s also treated badly for not having any powers. There isn’t any animosity between them but she does envy him. A lot. She won’t be able to fulfil the ‘task’ since she doesn’t have powers and can’t be a Specialist either which she finds extremely unfair.

She kind of has to become a caretaker for their mother who refuses to leave their father because she knows the man he once was but her health gets worse from the torture. Especially since their guardians, their mother’s family, doesn’t know what their father does to them.

So once he turns fifteen, he ends up in Red Fountain, just like any other Specialist. Saladin of course takes note of the resemblance and his magic signature but once he looks into Helia’s background he doesn’t find anything suspicious.

Maybe his records show that he was an orphan. Taken in as a ward. Still ironing out that part.

Helia is of course canonically one of the best students. Catching Codatorta’s and Saladin’s attention. This gets him closer to the professor and they end up sending him on more espionage missions that makes him a better spy. He then uses his advanced spying skills to plot out the best way to unalive saladin.

At some point, Helia starts to remind Saladin of his son before he turned dark. This kind of brings out the guilt he always felt for killing his son without giving him a chance to redeem himself.

The normally strict, fierce and commanding headmaster starts going soft on Helia.

This of course confuses Helia because isn’t this the man ruthless enough to kill his own son? How is he supposed to kill him now?

Codatorta on the other hand is extremely suspicious of Helia and he is the one who figures out who he truly is. But, when he tells Saladin, Saladin decides to not let Helia know that he knows.

When the time is right, Helia is supposed to carry out his plan. But when he does, Saladin is just there waiting for him. He offers to take Helia in, even pardon his mother and do his best to protect him they way he couldn’t protect his son.

Helia is torn and doesn’t know what to do. He wants to keep his family safe and he is terrified of what his father will do. He breaks down and tells all of this to Saladin.

Codatorta thinks it’s all an act but Saladin chooses to believe him. To end the cycle.

Helia realising he actually wants to stay at Red Fountain and that he can be something other than a murderer. That he can actually protect people, be a hero and all that.

Both Helia and Saladin take a leap of faith. Helia accepts.

Helia’s mother is first rescued and sent to Lightrock where she can safely serve her time since she too has started to deteriorate from the torture.

His father is arrested and sent to the Omega Dimension since they can’t actually kill him again.

His sister is missing at first but she finds Helia and is angry at him for betraying their family. She’s mad at him because they took their mother away and no matter how much Helia tries to reason with her, she refuses to listen. She says she would have gone through with the assassination but he couldn’t.

Then she abandons him and disappears.

The news breaks out that Helia’s Saladin’s grandson causing uproar and rumours that he purposely hid Helia’s identity to prevent nepotism accusations.

Having learned his lesson and in an effort to be a better grandfather, he publicly claims Helia as his grandson.

This backfires on Helia who was once respected by his fellow specialists but now they hate him for lying. It caused a lot of issues for Saladin as well.

Helia who is exhausted from everything that has happened and doesn’t know what to do with his newfound freedom, decides to leave and explore the world.

Saladin respects his decision but Codatorta wants him to stay because he’s grown fond of Helia.

Of course, Helia leaves for art school in the end, renounces his magic because he is so done with that shit and then the rest is history.

Phew…

Now ive always wanted to write a fanfic about Helia’s first time at Red Fountain but it always turns into this complicated mess of angst that I decided to just ramble.

If there was ever a sequel it would be about Helia’s sister coming back after years and she’s evil now (maybe even breaks their mother out of prison) but Helia tries to save her and all that. Or his father got out of omega dimension when Valtor broke out. So much familial angst.

Anyways that’s all for tonight. Thanks for tuning in.

[heartorbit]

if we could stay connected, just like this

[teaboot]

Sometimes at work it's not my place to tell people the things I want to say, and I find I often go home at the end of the rougher days to stand blankly in my shower and tell myself over and over what I wish I could pass on.

This accomplishes very little, and mostly just gives me a tension headache, but through it all I think I've narrowed myself down to a few solid things I'd like to tell people the most.

You can't change people. Not permanently, not for anythig. You can support them, encourage them, love them, give them tools and opportunities and resources, but you can't make them change. They can change themselves if they want to, but they have to want to, and they have to want it for themselves, because they're the only one that's certain to be with them forever.

For better or worse, you make your own choices, and blaming bad choices on others doesn't only work to absolve you of responsibility- it also robs you of control. Because if you say you only did something because I did something, then you arent only shifting blame- you're admitting that you cannot control yourself, that you cannot truly make choices for yourself, that other people can control you- and as long as you truly beleive that, you'll keep facing the same problems over and over. You'll keep letting others dictate your choices, because you'll beleive that they can, and you'll never be free.

White knights on horseback are from fairytales. Nobody can help you if ou're not willing to help yourself. To try, to put the dirty work in, to belive you're worth that effort- Act as though nobody is coming to save you. From a struggle, from pain, from bad relationships, from yourself. And when you do save yourself, because you will, because failure here isn't an option if you want to survive, you'll never find another dragon that can keep you prisoner.

Don't say anything to anyone that you wouldn't want them remembering forever.

Doing the right thing in bad circumstances is hard. It's the hardest thing. But if you make the choice to do that hard thing anyways, despite your fear, you'll go on the rest of your like knowing that you're the sort of person who did something.

The present only seems the hardest because the past I over and the future hasn't happened.

There's so much joy ahead of you, the kind you can't possibly understand until you see it yourself.

The responsibility of consequences is often disguised as the power of permission. "I won't do this if you help me", "I'll work on my anger if you do this for me", "I promised you I'd quit, but can I have just one?". The unspoken question is, "Can it be your fault if this goes badly?"

You cant make someone love you the way you need to be loved. Someone can love you very much and still be bad for you, even if you love them very much in return. Two people can love each other very, very much, and try their very best, and still be wrong for each other.

Sometimes being near to someone changes you, even in good ways, and the people you become don't fit together as well as the people you were.

Caring takes work. Even if it's real. Especially if it's real. And the most important gestures aren't the grand, poetic, songs-and-flowers-and-tears moments; they're getting out of bed even though you don't want to. Paying attention to things you don't enjoy. Scrubbing pans, or opening a window, saying "thank-you", or helping carry groceries into the house. The small things fill the big things- without the small, boring, mediocre things, big things feel hollow.

Thrre is honour and dignity in humble work.

If you are a cruel and spiteful person, then you will find every place you visit to be full of the same cruel, spiteful people. This is not because the world is as cruel as you, but because everywhere you are, you will be disliked. This is the curse that comes with being persistently cruel and spiteful.

If you are a kind and ppsitive person, you will repeatedly encounter kind and positive people, because as they grow familiar with you, they will be happier to have you near. This is the reward of being a kind and positive person.

When splitting paths with loved ones, briefly or forever, aim for your last words to always be "I love you".

[ivytea]

may-bells cuisine

[anemonet]

[Outtake from iterator Prosperity of Populace final speach to her citizen before its disassembly.]

[arsenicflame]

It's a time-honoured tradition- every time Sam comes across Izzy (and Ed) in their travels, he asks Izzy to marry him. And every time, Izzy turns him down.

At this point, Sam is asking more for the sake of it than any belief Izzy will ever say yes, a remnant of childhood dedication touched with 30 years of heartbreak and regret- though even now, a small part of him still holds out hope. Sam's promises have only got more extravagant over the years, from a job as his first mate, to a captaincy, a fleet at his command, a whole fucking island if that's what Izzy wants- but he knows it isn't though, not really. If Izzy was ever going to agree to marry him, to leave his life and go with Sam, it wouldn't be for anything Sam could offer him. Izzy never did care for flashy shows of wealth, for a ship or to be captain. The only thing that ever mattered to him was loyalty given, and loyalty shown in return. 

It all comes to a head after Stede left and came back, after Izzy lost a toe, lost his leg. Sam hasn't seen him since before things with Ed started to really slide off the rails, before stress permanently set into the lines of Izzy’s face. So, when he sees a dishevelled man with a hoof for a leg in a no-name port, he doesn't even consider the idea that he might know him. It's only when he turns towards him, and Sam catches a glance at those oh too familiar tattoos, he realises this is Izzy, his Izzy, that stands before him.

Knowing Izzy's discomfort with pity, he doesn't treat him any differently than he would in years gone by, positioning himself in Izzy's line of sight before approaching and sweeping him up into a bone crushing hug. 

“Israel-goddamn-Hands!” he exclaims, as Izzy grumbles back a begrudging “Samuel-fucking-Bellamy”, a tradition almost as old as their friendship itself. Izzy might not hug him back, but he can’t keep the corner of his mouth from twitching, just for a second.

(If Sam holds Izzy a little tighter and a little longer than usual, well. That's his business)

By the time Sam lets go, most of the crew has appeared in the town square, drawn in by the commotion. They may have given Izzy his leg and welcomed him as one of them, but still there’s an underlying tension, with nobody quite ready to set aside everything that happened before the Kraken. Seeing him cosying up to an unknown man sets everyone on edge, unsure whether to come to their first mate’s aid, or to assume that they've been betrayed once again.

When Ed sees that the yelling was Sam, his hand goes tense where it's held in Stede's. He knows the routine, has seen it more times than he can count, but as he watches them part he realises that this is the first time in a long time he's unsure of what Izzy's response will be.

Knowing that something’s different, knowing that Izzy's feeling vulnerable already, Sam doesn't go for the same flashy proposal he’s been giving for years. He doesn't promise Izzy the world, he doesn't cause a scene (or, any more of a scene than he already has, anyway). He looks at the fractured man in front of him, takes his face in his hands, and says the exact same thing to him he said when they were little more than boys. “Israel, I have to ask you. I know what you'll say, but I have to try. Come with me. Marry me and sail away with me. I'll keep you safe”

And Izzy… hesitates. He glances over at Ed, at Stede, and says to Sam “...We’re staying in port for a week. Ask me again then”

That's the moment Sam knows there is something deeply, horribly, wrong. He's not just looking at an Izzy who got seriously injured in a fight and is struggling to cope, this is something so much bigger than that- and that Ed has something to do with it. Izzy wouldn't even be considering leaving if he didn't. Whether it was negligence or something more sinister, Sam doesn't yet know, but he intends to find out.

[22bananapudding]

we need to team up and beat him to death with hammers

[xanfeursel]

I'm going to be honest I think what frustrates me the most about there being so much content about notorious child hater astarion being a parent in a nuclear family unit as opposed to literally any other character is because like. wyll literally becomes a canon father in one of the epilogues. besides laezel he's the only one to do so. how much dad content have you seen for wyll compared to astarion or even laezel. I had some people I've talked to not even KNOW wyll becomes a parent like. come on. come on

[peppiemezzie]

Valentino fans really simping over this

[unriding]

hi evie !! how have you been ? :33 i hope you dont mind me borrowing you and moze for something ehehe <3

[cicicolorao]

Happy Halloween month have autism themed lesbians

Cowardly silly butch needs her stonefaced girlfriend to hold his hand while going through a haunted house

[cleromancy]

"tim needs to get a new mantle he didnt steal from his siblings" wrong. Say hello to the new huntress

[spearxwind]

Hi this is where I talk a bunch about ocs :D

I dont have a lot of time lately to talk abt lore but i still think abt my guys whenever i have some chill time to myself, so here's some patch notes. This is also just me thinking out loud haha

CD:

ive been playing w some changes for CD and seeing if they stick :] gonna make the story slightly more complex and the sides of the conflict also different (for example I am going to make hades and talas full on enemies at first along with connon, caval and silas >:3 (and I am also making silas and his monster form two separate characters so the lion (hal) is now a mount instead))

Specifically what I've been thinking about is making Hades either a ship captain or a first mate for a rogue ship. The deal with Hades is that he comes from a renowned family from Redbridge and is a disgrace to them. In previous versions of CD they were artisans but that never rly clicked for me, and recently I have been reworking Redbridge into a naval empire to add some 🤏spice 🤏to the world, which would mean Hades' family is actually a naval captain family putting him next in line to be one of them but since his thing is being a disgrace he takes off and becomes a rogue. And instead of hating leviathans he fucking hates hunters instead. Conversely, I think with these changes Talas would also NOT be inclined to kill hunters (or at least not as often as he currently does). He'd pick fights with the naval fleet and other similar factions instead which is more like his character.

I also wanna try and bring back an older concept I had where connon's ship was able to both become fully submerged (like the subs in sunless sea where her character originated from) and this other idea I had where a ship could split in half into two smaller ships. Like if a catamaran could split into two and flank a vessel on both sides. But we'll see if I can make this work x)

Dragons (broken horizon + extinction):

I vaguely mentioned this a while ago as well but I've also been thinking abt my dragons and how I kinda want them to all be in one world/setting, which includes both my broken horizon guys (cer, jarek, octane, etc) and my extinction guys (alex, c, orion, etc) but I dont know how to deal with all of the conflicting lore and themes.

Because for extinction the big theme is there are people who can turn into dragons, and technically all of the dragons' powers are based on energy (for lore reasons). Meanwhile for my other dragons I have a few different elements or other ways of using fire (eg instead of using straight up fire/energy, my oc Jarek can breathe out gas only and ignites it with his mandibles).

I miss all my dragons a lot so I kinda wanted to make a world for them where I could have them Vibe and do different stories in so I thought about having a dragon-only universe but unfortunately Extinction has a pretty huge human element that I cant just eliminate.

It feels counterintuitive, i know the first logical choice is 'just let them be different things' but I genuinely feel like the right choice is to put them both together so the characters can interact and the whole story can be deeper because as it is both are really shallow and I would really like for them to work together so that's what I've been picking at for some months now (it's um. been real slow)

For these two stories I do have two different vibes though that I've been wondering how to weave together nicely bc they overlap for some characters. For broken horizon I had flying and aerial racing as a big theme (and some of the chars in extinction would be rly into that) and for extinction I had dragon arena fights as a big theme (and some of the characters in bh would be rly into that) both of these is another of the reasons why I wanted to put them both together bc it feels like they can fit very well I just have to find the right idea for them to click and then itll be smooth sailing -w-

I also wanted to talk abt this in hopes that talking abt all the dragons gets me to think more about them as well

I wanted to make this post bc I've been really busy lately and rly absent from here in general and I don't have as much time to draw (or even think abt ocs) anymore but I still wanted to keep posted about what's been going on in my head and hopefully get some eyes on it and maybe even some feedback if anyone is so inclined

If u read this whole thing thank u i owe you my life fr I hope u enjoyed reading abt my patch notes :D and hopefully sometime in the future I can get back to drawing concepts and stuff or maybe even writing stuff

[drakon-star]

i'm only a beginner at photoshop but i thought it'd be fun to make a movie poster for a movie that definitely doesn't exist

instagram | my website

[macdenlover]

i Will write a several page long detailed analysis about the role of order and democracy within in the gang’s dynamic and the strings of distorted logic and reasoning that glue them together i WILL write it i WILL WRITE IT (i’ve been saying this for years and i still haven’t done it)