#things i completely forgot were in my drafts part 1

[helaenatargaryens]

You've kept me honest. You made me a whole person. I owe you everything, Scully, and you owe me nothing.

[elswing]

i hate posting discourse it's pointless and doesn't do anything for me except prolong my annoyance but i'm Tired™ and feel like shouting into the void. apologies to my beautiful feanorian mutuals please look away i love u

i neeeeeeed everyone to stop claiming they like elwing if their characterisation of her is completely made-up biased bullshit that paints her as an immature and disdained ruler (?????) who couldn't balance her responsibilities with the husband she married too young (at 22. practically a child bride honestly) and the children she never wanted (where. where does it say this). she's clearly such a bad mother that she abandoned them at first opportunity (she knew the feanorians were more than capable of killing a pair of twin boys because they literally already did that. that's very much a thing that already happened. to her brothers) and it was her selfish nature that made her soooo eager to flee (she had no reason to think ulmo would save her it was literally a suicide attempt. she wanted to make sure the deaths of her people and presumed deaths of her sons weren't in vain by ensuring they never obtained the silmaril)

like i'm gonna touch your hand as i say this. it's okay if you hate her! just don't pretend that you weren't thriving in the 2016 era of silm fandom where everyone pushed all their male fave's negative traits onto any other woman in a 5 mile radius to grab Poor Little Meow Meow status for war criminal #1 #2 and #3 to then turn around and spout the exact same (factually untrue) sexist rhetoric concealed under seven layers of buzzwords just because it's the year of "unlikable and complicated female characters" like buddy who are we talking about here. have you perhaps considered making an oc?

and i'm NOT saying i want the whole fandom to mimic my exact opinions and thoughts about elwing i realise that one of the best parts of the silm is how divisive it is and how you have so much wiggle room to come to your own interpretations because of how VAGUE the source material is but i'm genuinely convinced everyone's just parroting shit they saw in ao3 fanfics where maglor is secretly lindir and the premise is elrond sneaking him into valinor and elwing yells at him for slaughtering her people. TWICE. and this is framed as a category 5 Woman Moment so elrond disowns her and calls maglor his real dad

(eärendil misses this entire ordeal because he went on a voyage to save the world that one time and no one's let him live it down since because the whole fandom as a collective decided he did this because he's a terrible dad and not because the whole continent was at war and about to be wiped out and maybe he came to the unfortunate but reasonable conclusion that leaving is the best thing he could do for his family if it meant there was a chance his sons could grow up safe in a world that wasn't ruled by Fucking Satan so now his whole Beloved Sacrificial Lion: The Thin Line Between Doomed and Prophesized Hero™ shtick is tossed out in favour of.... *checks notes* Guy Who Forgot To Pay Child Support? oh and they're a lot louder about this because he's a man so no one can call it misogyny that's why no one ever goes the #girlflop #ILoveMyBlorbosNastyAndComplicated route with him and he gets dubbed as that one asshole who just wanted fame and glory even though that goes against the general themes for tolkien's hero characters. and tolkien loved that dude to bits that was his specialist little guy so you can't seriously tell me you think that's what he was trying to portray???????? is that seriously what you think he was trying to portray????????? babe????????????

also there's a BIG difference when it's a character that's only named in one draft and doesn't exist in the rest or gil-galad who has like three and a half possible fathers but ELWING??????? the only possible way you could be coming to these conclusions is if you read the damn book with your eyes closed. FUCK.

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies.

Case 1: How to Soothe Gilbert When He is Upset

Gilbert: "Is that all everyone wants to say?"

All the important officials in Obsidian were gathered in a large conference room.

At the gathering where military personnel of all ages and genders were present, Gilbert, seated in the upper section of the room, was clearly seething with anger.

(I'm not surprised.)

The reports and agendas they were discussing were all filled with an unbearable stench of corruption.

It wasn't because the officials were lazy or incompetent; it was because of the corrupt practices deeply embedded within Obsidian.

(Every time I see Gilbert fighting alone like this, it feels like my heart is being crushed.)

Gilbert: "I'm getting nothing but half-baked progress reports. What do you expect me to do with this?"

Gilbert: "Your job is to complete the tasks assigned to you. If you can't even do that, then you're neglecting your duties."

Male officer: "With all due respect, Prince Gilbert, the issues we're dealing with are一"

Gilbert: "If they don't change their attitude, then it's better to introduce a new system. You just need to create a draft proposal for that, yeah?"

Male officer: "You're right, sir."

Gilbert: "Why do you impose restrictions on yourselves, calling things impossible and reckless?"

Gilbert: "There is not just one way to achieve a goal."

Gilbert: "If I believe I can accomplish something, then I surely can. You people just lack the capacity."

Gilbert: "Those filthy trash are probably laughing while you all remain at a standstill like this." **

Gilbert: "You know what will happen the next time you give me a report like this, right?"

He got up from his seat with a smirk, and all the soldiers stood up in unison, saluting him.

The tension was so intimidating and overwhelming that I almost forgot to breathe.

Gilbert: "Well then, let's adjourn. Good work, everyone."

He swiftly walked away.

As one of the attendees, I bowed to the military officers and quickly followed after Gilbert.

Emma: "Gil."

Gilbert: "What is it?"

When I called him, he stopped and turned around to face me.

Despite the tense atmosphere, his smile, which contained all the pent-up tension and hostility, was as refreshing as ever.

(But he still seems tense.)

He probably wasn't aware of it, but his eyes weren't fully smiling.

(I think he's planning to inspect the military exercises next.)

(If he goes in this state, everyone will undoubtedly feel uncomfortable.)

(Now that this happens...)

Emma: "Watch this."

I took a coin from the pocket of the dress he had prepared for me.

Emma: "Right now, the coin is in my left hand."

Gilbert: "I can see that."

I tightly gripped my hand, hiding the coin.

Emma: "Which hand do you think the coin is in now?"

Gilbert: "You want me to say it's on your left, right? But unfortunately..."

He gently grasped my hand and rolled up my sleeve.

Emma: "Hey, that's unfair!"

Gilbert: "You're just inexperienced."

Despite discreetly hiding the coin in my sleeve, Gilbert saw through it instantly.

(Performing magic tricks is really difficult.)

(Or maybe it's because he's my opponent?)

He took the coin from me and flicked it into the air, catching it in his hand.

Gilbert: "Where do you think the coin is now?"

Emma: "I'm pretty sure it's neither in your right nor left hand."

Ignoring his clenched fist, I searched through his sleeves but found nothing.

I tapped various parts of his uniform that seemed like they could hide something, but there was nothing.

(Huh?)

Gilbert: "The answer is..."

He opened his hand, and I saw the coin sitting on his palms.

(I fell for it.)

Gilbert: "Haha, you're too easy."

Emma: "You usually do something crazy."

Gilbert: "Are you disappointed?"

Emma: "A little."

Gilbert: "You're so honest."

He clenched the coin in his hand once again.

Then, when he opened it, there was nothing there.

Emma: "Huh!?"

Gilbert: "Little bunny."

He pointed to the pocket of my dress with his finger.

With trembling hands, I reached inside and felt something hard.

Emma: "Wow!"

I pulled the coin out of my pocket and gasped.

(I don't understand what's going on, but he's really something.)

Gilbert: "You always react like a child."

Emma: "I can't help it. It's just amazing!"

He chuckled, his eyes reflecting that sentiment.

(I'm glad. Even though the magic trick failed, it seems like he calmed down.)

Gilbert: "But was it really that obvious?"

He seemed to have understood the meaning behind my actions.

Emma: "Yeah."

Gilbert: "Fufu, I'm hopeless, aren't I?"

Emma: "Isn't that why I'm here?"

Emma: "So that you can have some peace of mind?"

As the number of times we attended official functions increased, this feeling only grew stronger.

Gilbert: "You're so efficient."

Emma: "!"

Suddenly, he leaned in and pressed his cold lips against my cheek.

His red eyes reflected my profile with affection.

Gilbert: "I'm counting on you."

Emma: "Leave it to me!"

(Lately, I've been thinking that maybe I'm the only one who can make him happy.)

Masterlist ╎ Next Part

[vickyyoon]

Professor hyunjin (pt-2)

A/n: This was in my drafts for so long after an anon asked for a part two 💀 I guess I get too into my requests! But anyways here's a part two!!!

Genre: fluffy smut, ( tinge bit of angst in the beginning)

Synopsis : your professor comforts you after you cry assuming he's been with someone else.

Pt-1 <- here

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Regular attendance to his extra classes, you were obsessed with him and he was obsessed with you, gosh you font think you could find someone else. You had to get married to that man at this point, I mean if he could fuck you dumb once a night, he could definitely keeping fucking you till you die, this man has stamina and he's never denying to wreck you even if he's tired and exhausted.

He is just as whipped for you as much as you were.

But recently you've been noticing him with anither female student, complimenting and flirting even in the halls, your blood started to boil, what now? Was this chick his second extra class student? You were burning each day.

You got so mad that you stopped attending his extra lessons and he had to call your mom. You were furious, you didn't want to talk to him now. You thought you two had a thing, and he was really into you, that you were his only one at the moment.

The way he touches her shoulder, sometimes hugging her intently, the way his tucks her hair behind her ear. You couldn't help but fume in jealousy.

.

You tried to look patient and unfazed but behind that exterior only fire burned inside, you couldn't stop thinking about it, was he really doing this? Was he really fucking her too?

One weekend he finally payed you a visit at your dormatory, you opened the door, you looked tired and drained from stress.

" Why haven't you been answering my calls?" he asked politely and genuinely but you only gave him an annoyed look.

You were about o shut the door when he blocked it, the more you pushed the more you fell back, it was easy for him to block such an attack after all he's much bigger than you.

" just answer me. Did something happen? Did I do something wrong? Did you get pregnant?" he was rambling the worst thoughts right now.

" did you do something wrong? You're flirting with other girls while you fuck me every night? What now? Is she your new student? Does she feel much better than me? Does her walls feel better -" he shut you up with a kiss.

" Baby please what are you saying? Is this what you really think of me? Do you really think I would do that?" he asked you with a dissapointed face.

" of course you would! There's so many pretty girls lining up to get in your pants, and you only play with pretty bitches like them, I probably meant nothing!" you were tearing up as he hugged you tight.

" please calm down, you mean alot to me. You just don't see it."

After you fit rage, you head rested on his chest as he rocked you side to side, your hand gripped onto the hem of his shirt, the shirt you gifted him for passing the mid terms.

" you want me to make you feel better?" he whispered kissing your head. And you slowly nodded.

He pulled out of the hug and wiped your tears with his thumb kissing your stained face.

.

He slowly undressed you, hugging you while u clipping your bra, taking in the scent of your body spray and shampoo that drives him crazy. He was very in love with you but he never showed you that.

It shows indirectly by the way you would've completely failed those exams but he still tried to sum up your score to a bare pass so you wouldn't fail or like the time you forgot to bring your wallet and he paid for what ever you asked for.

You just couldn't see it, and you'll never get it too because you're not him, he might love you more than you love him but that's debateable.

His hand trailed down your side and he picked you up kissing you deeply, he lead you to your bed and slowly pulled your pants off, every time he tasted you, he swore he could never find the taste enough, it tasted so good he just couldn't describe, it was like his favorite dish he claimed.

Licking you and tasting you while staring at you the whole time. Your thighs locked his head in place as he gripped them, he tasted you till he couldn't breathe, his fingers pumping in and out and curling right there and you stained his face. He put his neck right against your pussy and hummed, sending the biggest vibrations against your core and had you squirming.

He put you to subspace and watched your post orgasm phase while resting his head on your thigh, admiring from down there.

.

After gaining back your consciousness he unbuckled his belt and pushed his clothes aside hovering on top of you, he likes to see your face when he fucks you, to him it's the most beautiful thing in the world, it's feels more intimate and romantic, he also likes to paint your face everywhere and send you pictures of them. On clay vases, canvases and even his walls . He likes the way your body jolts each thrust and your dazed off high face.

He stared at your face just taking in how you look.

" gosh you're such a beauty, so pretty." he whispered before kissing you on your forehead. This was so pure and platonic, it felt like a soft real fluttering love feeling.

You wrapped your arms around his neck before pulling him into another deep slow kiss filled with lust and passion.

He slowly entered inside softly holding your waist while pushing in, his face turning red every time he does this, no matter how many times he's entered you, it just feels so new and too good.

" Don't look at me like that" you grinned at him, it wasn't your fault for being so tight like a virgin every time he fucks you. Softly grunting and moaning every time he pushes further in, it was just so big and it hurt you too but the pain was so sweet and promising.

You'd rather tear those walls with his mister of a dick than mope around feeling empty, he was hugging you praising you for taking it so well.

" you're such a good girl, so pretty, no nice, so soft, so cute, so unworldly gosh you deserve everything."

His praises made you arch your back, truly whenever he fucked you, it didn't really always seem like he was fucking you, if felt like he really loved you and was making love to you.

You wanted to enjoy this bliss day and night even if you were sore from each round, you just cannot think about not having that dick inside you or him not loving you. The truth was he could never love anyone else and you too could not live without him. You often think about how you're still alive not having him inside you or around you.

The pace was slow but this was soft and passionate sex, it looked like he couldn't risk hurting you but still if you were anyone else he would take down all the restraints he had on you and probably rip your pussy.

" you're my princess, no one's better than my princess, I only love my princess." he kissed your forehead.

" if there's something I'll never do, that would be thinking of someone else, or being with anyone else. I hope you love me as much as I love you." he whispered in twining his fingers into yours.

He thrusted a bit faster now, losing self control over your lewd moans, his mouth latched into yours to muffled the sounds and to devour those sinful lustful noises leaving your mouth.

His thumb rapidly rubbing your clit to stimulate you, your walls were closing in on him too tight, he might not last longer especially before you.

" gosh why do you feel so good and tight, l-loosen up baby." his thoughts were trembling and his hips were faltering, his mind was going fuzzy and he was babbling things.

" won't you let me fill that pretty cunt of yours and make it mine?"

" b-but it's already yours shit, I-I'm already yours."

And there you two were moaning and crashing on your highs, your sheets were soaked in sweat and cum, you held him down, hugging him while he was still in you.

" stay like this for a while, please." and he kissed your shoulder.

.

After pulling out carefully, hyunjin cleaned up everything because he knew you were sore and tired at this point , especially after crying.

He grabbed a wet towel and wiped you off, kissing you in the forehead. You got back up and went to the bathroom when you realize that your newest underwear was missing. You bought it just a week ago.

You peeped out the door to see it in his little bag, you smirked to yourself, this man will never get over his habits. What was he even gonna do with these?

.

He left when the entire hall was empty and no one saw or heard a thing.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

[ghostinthegallery]

I can't believe The Silence and the Storm is over a year old! The first anniversary was May 27th (yes I missed my own fic's birthday in my defense I was traveling and forgot how time works).

I'm trying to compose my thoughts because this sure feels like a time a blog post would be fitting. However, my engrams are scrambled because...wow do I have too many feelings.

As some background, I've been a writer for a long time. And I've written 3-5 books (depends on how you count "completing" a book but it's 5 full drafts, 3 of which were heavily edited). I wanted to be a trade published writer (still do) and for a while I was feeling good about my chances! I got lucky and received some wonderful professional mentorship (and met one of my best friends during that program!). I took that guidance to query agents (a necessary step for access to most big/medium US publishers). I knew it would be hard and take time but...4 years later all I have to show are a few requests, hundreds of rejections, and one agent who asked me to rewrite my entire book only to reject me anyway (me, bitter? No not at all nooooo).

I'm a creative person and sharing my work feels like sharing a part of myself. Something that is not easy for me to do. After a while I just assumed I was missing something necessary. My work didn't resonate, but I didn't know how to fix it. I’d never reach anyone in the way I so desperately craved, and it was my fault for not being good enough. I felt broken.

During one of many major depressive episodes my spouse bought me a copy of The Infinite and the Divine. That book has changed my life. I was never much of a fanfic writer before. Either I thought the original work was too good and I didn't think I had anything to add or it was too bad so why would I bother with it when I could just go read/watch something better? 40k inspired me though. The ideas are incredible but underutilized enough that I felt like I had something to add.

So I started writing necron fic because why not? There wasn’t enough for me to read, and I needed more robot stories. Maybe I could rediscover my love of the craft, make some friends, make some robots kiss. Distract my mind from the horrors. So I posted a little OC fic and actually got some nice comments. Hey! Positive reinforcement! Hadn't had that in a while.

Emboldened, I continued in the most normal way possible. Going from a 7 chapter OC story to a giant civil war epic including every named necron character I could find with 6 (then 7...then 9) POVs. It was the type of grand space opera I've always wanted to write but never did because I didn’t think I had the skill and it's harder to sell. Luckily AO3 is free. Ain't no playing to the market there!

Now, a 40k necron civil war space opera is...niche. So I wasn't expecting much. I would have been happy with some kudos, some comments. Fan art felt like a pipe dream, but what are writers if not dreamers? The main goal was to enjoy myself. It was low pressure fun, I love the characters, what could go wrong?

Nothing, but I was wholely unprepared for things to go as right as they did. Y’all have been amazing. So many great comments and ideas exchanged, gorgeous art, fun asks, a lot of screaming (it’s fine probably don’t worry). I’ve never had such a strong outpouring of support for my work. It feels incredible. But also sometimes confusing. I’ve trained myself so well to handle rejection that I kind of forgot how to handle acceptance. Especially for something so personal. This is a weird story about undead space robots, there’s a lot of politics, sometimes the robots have sex. It’s got out there head canons, and 99% of the tyranid parts are pulled out of my ass because nobody knows how the space bugs work okay. My weirdness being embraced on this scale is one of the greatest feelings of my life. But it’s also new, and way out of my comfort zone. I’m being seen and adjusting to that.

Still, writing in this space has been one of the most consistently joyful things in my life for…well, over a year now! It’s changed how I view my art. I actually can create stories that touch people and make them feel things. I can take risks and have them pay off. I know not everyone will love this, but some people really seem to love it. That is mind blowing to me.

It’s making me reassess a lot about how I approach my art. Writing and other. I still plan to pursue publication. I want to get paid for my work, but this is making me consider alternate paths that might fit my style (and psyche) better. I don’t know what the future holds, but if you’d told me a year and a half ago that a big part of it would hinge on an AO3 gay robot skeleton space opera…I would have thought you were nuts, but also hoped you were right because that sounds rad as hell.

So in conclusion, thank you all so much for reading <3

[blues-valentine]

Honestly I think hsmtmts s1 started with very typical idea of Ricky and nini being the boy/girl next door, Childhood friends that date kind of thing. With Gina and ej being the mean, scheming counterparts. It was so obvious from the posters and their costumes. But I guess none of the writers anticipated what a force sofia Wylie would turn out to be. She has a presence that just demands attention. She's the best actress of them all, best Dancer and her chemistry with Joshua is on another level. Plus the character of Gina turned out to have fascinating layers. All this combination outshined nini. Nini and Ricky were originally supposed to be main characters and though Ricky stayed a main character throughout the show, nini, never felt like a main character to me, even in season 1. She was sweet and good and had a straightforward arc that wasn't nearly as interesting as other characters. Plus she had no flaws. Ricky had issues, he had flaws that made him interesting. Same with Gina and ej.

And I feel the same with rini. They were sweet but kinda bland. Portwell were much better, interesting and deserved better treatment from the writers. And rina is rina. Sizzling chemistry. Best ship.

This is no hate to olivia, my problem is with nini. Honestly I completely forgot she was part of this show in season 3 until she showed up in last episode.

I had this in my drafts and I remember responding to it but forgot to post it.

I think the show marketed themselves as very typical Disney in the way that you could kind of tell what narrative archetypes the original core 4 were supposed to be, especially if you relate it to the movies. Nini as the girl next door with so much talent but didn’t believe in herself until she’s suddenly the star of the show. Very girl underdog narrative. Ricky as being her first love and the cute dorky guy that doesn’t put effort but somehow is magically talented, plus the network promoted them as their “Troy and Gabriella” so the audience was supposed to believe they were their rightful successors. Even some of the posters promised that “love triangle” between EJ/Nini/Ricky as a relevant plot and we know that wasn’t the case. And just by the posters and trailer you could’ve guessed Gina and EJ were the “antagonists”. But as I said, it was a marketing tactic because tropes and love triangles sell, and I was also a bit too skeptical but ended up genuinely surprised.

I definitely agree Ricky and Nini’s romance was very bland and I was not rooting for them at all even on Season 1. I found them so cringy, very Disney cooking cutter and they were clearly not right for each other. I was attracted to Gina’s arc from the start so imagine my surprise when she went the opposite direction of what she was marketed as and then developed a way more interesting character arc. However, I do think the show failed Nini because she could’ve been more interesting. I liked her but I agree her arc was too straightforward and a bit too boring at times only saved by Olivia’s voice but there’s a lot of people that still don’t get her arc at all, which is why they still ship her with Ricky even if it was literally against Nini’s character growth.

Funny enough, when I watched 105 I ended up feeling like Ricky and Gina had so much potential and their chemistry was interesting but I wasn’t sure if the show was going to follow that up because it wasn’t very Disney like. Very rare do Disney shows follow the second lead romance pipeline. And I am so glad I was wrong because Ricky and Gina elevated the show by having them develop a very tension filled arc and it did felt very much 00’s coded so I ended Season 1 feeling like they had to go there at one point because it would be a wasted potential. By Season 2, I was sure they were endgame. No questions or doubts. The narrative made it very known and I never doubted that for a moment.

So, PW was just as bland to me, the narrative was forcing them badly with obvious and cringe dialogue. It lacked subtlety, it was very much in your face. As if they wanted you to ship them so hard and were overdoing it. But not even in a good way – there was not care or thought put into their scenes. The music, the implications. It was not done in a way that screamed endgame. And them also being a thing when Ricky and Gina were not speaking was a plot device to keep the endgame in the won’t they/will they situation-ship. I still believe it was a mistake to put them together because it was clear it wasn't going to last and their dynamic worked best as platonic. EJ worked better when he wasn’t put into a situation to be Gina’s plot device. PW was a mid-game ship and was treated as such. The narrative wasn’t hiding it. It was there for Gina to experience her first relationship before she gets with Ricky since their build in narrative has always been about second chances, the right timing and opportunities. I think they deserved a better closure on Season 3, but I am glad they eventually got it on Season 4. However, they were always meant to be a plot device and I didn’t expect anything else from it. The people convinced they were endgame clearly didn't want to see the show for what it was saying.

Rina just had the it factor to me. It was very reminiscent of the old ships in which their story line wasn’t too straightforward and it was told by the parallels and foreshadowing which is a huge factor as to why Ricky and Gina had such compelling arcs individually and together. Ricky being the stability Gina needs and Gina being the person that pushes Ricky forward by taking him out of his comfort zone. They give each other what the other needs and wants. That’s what their storyline has been about since Season 1 and nothing compares to their chemistry. It was undeniable since the start even when some people wanted to deny it.

[ceescedasticity]

fic: not titled yet but it's another absence of evidence thing, part 1 out of probably 3?

At Narvi's usual greeting question at their monthly meetings — "And what are you working on today, my friend?" — Celebrimbor made a face.

"Something that does not agree with me at all," he said. "I have been writing."

"But you draw runes so beautifully!" Narvi replied, mock-shocked.

"Very funny." Celebrimbor slumped back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "It has occurred to me that if I am going to put my grandfather's star on my city, I should make sure our history has a better account of his descendants than Loremaster Pengolodh has thus far written. Perhaps my father and uncles do not deserve it, but my cousins and my sister do."

Narvi blinked. "I… did not know you had a sister?"

"It seems most people do not. You would think they would deduce I had a mother, but for some reason people seem surprised when I mention her, too. Never mind— Actually, would you mind reading some of my drafts?"

"Not at all."

"I mean to show the finished work to Lady Galadriel, but not… this." Celebrimbor opened a desk drawer — one of the ones with a puzzle-lock — and drew out a sheaf of messy papers. "Here, here's what I have for my mother and sister—"

Curufin wed the jeweler Maltarainë Maltataniel Maltraen Maltheniel Maltwegiel.

"I forgot for a moment that that grandfather did live long enough to take a Sindarin name… We did see him occasionally in Beleriand, but he fell out with Atya — I think Atya made some insensitive remarks about my maternal uncles — and went to follow my uncle Caranthir instead, so we were not close."

Narvi raised his eyebrows. "If I recall the history correctly, the Lord of Thargelion was, ah, not particularly known for sensitivity himself…"

"No. I can only assume my maternal uncles never came up in Caranthir's presence."

As one might expect of the woman Curufin wed, she was a skilled artisan and entirely loyal to Fëanor, as were all her nearest family. Maltraen carried the feud where Nerdanel was unwilling to, among the noblewomen of Tirion. She was as disrespectful to Indis and Anairë as she could get away with, and actively pursued rivalries with Edhellos and Elenwë. Even when there was friendship between Curufin and Angrod, Maltraen and Edhellos remained at odds, though some said there was a kinship buried under the rivalry. And when distance grew between Fëanor and Nerdanel, Maltraen turned against Nerdanel as well.

The paragraph had been written out and struck through twice. "I gather you're not sure about this part?"

"It seems… sordid, I suppose. Like something that would be included to make people think worse of her. It's just so… foundational to how I remember Amil that I don't want to cut it out completely." Celebrimbor sighed. "I don't think Atya even knew how she got about Grandmother in Formenos. She never did it in hearing of him or my uncles — or my grandfather. That would have gone over poorly. Grandfather didn't always speak well of Grandmother, either, but he was the only one permitted to do that."

Narvi would have liked to attribute all this to elvish dysfunctionality, but it strict honesty there were dwarven houses nearly as bad. (Nearly.) Instead of trying to unpack any of it, he asked, "Were Angrod and Edhellos married? I'm not recalling those names."

"What? Oh, yes. Angrod was one of Lady Galadriel's brothers — not Felagund, she had two others — and Edhellos was his wife. They were also Gil-galad's grandparents." Celebrimbor reached for a pen. "I'll at least put in the rivalry with Edhellos. And I should mention Indis and Anairë."

Maltraen carried the feud where Nerdanel was unwilling to, among the noblewomen of Tirion. Her rivalry with Edhellos wife of Angrod was a regular fixture of Finwe's court. Even when there was friendship between Curufin and Angrod, Maltraen and Edhellos remained at odds, though some said there was a kinship buried under the rivalry. Nor was Maltraen a friend to Indis or to the wives of the house of Fingolfin.

"How's that?"

"Easier to understand," Narvi agreed. "Only the wives?"

"She wasn't trying to pick fights with Lady Galadriel or Aredhel Ar-Feiniel, no."

Curufin and Maltraen had a son Celebrimbor; much has already been written of him and he dwells yet in Middle-earth. But they also had a daughter, Heledhwen. She was the delight of everyone in Formenos.

"Not a position I envied her."

All who knew Maltraen wife of Curufin would have predicted she would be among the first to follow Fëanor on his quest, but she was not. Like many of Fëanor's followers, Maltraen was in Formenos when Morgoth came; like all others in Formenos save Finwë himself, she fled from Morgoth's approach. After Morgoth left with the Silmarils, those who had fled dispersed in various ways. Some went to inform Fëanor; some went to seek help; some set up temporary camp. Maltraen was one of those who ventured into the holdfast to see what had happened there. They confirmed Finwë's death and the ransacking of the treasury.

"Where were you, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Not at all. I was wasting everyone's time trying to convince my uncle Amras that I was old enough to be part of the perimeter they were setting up."

"How old were you?"

"Old enough, but Amras was the baby of the family and took being older than me very seriously, so he would never admit that. Hence it being a waste of time."

While more messengers went forth, Maltraen remained inside Formenos, to tend to Finwë's body. She was aided by others, some of whom had dealt with bodies before in Cuiviénen or in the aftermath of accidents, but she was there the entire time until Fëanor returned, in near-darkness, in the wreckage.

"I'm not sure I'm… conveying properly, the bravery it took to do that, under those circumstances. The Darkening— Well, I'm not the only one who struggles with that."

Fëanor arrived and screamed wailed howled keened already in the deepest grief and the heights of rage. All heard his cries, but his words He spoke It has not been reported what he said then, to his sons or his law-daughter or the Valar to anyone else.

"…Another difficult paragraph here?"

"Everyone knows he was — very, very affected. I don't want to go on about it unnecessarily, but it was significant… I'm not sure I should use that exact wording, either, because I'm not certain it was never reported. I haven't seen any record of it and no one would report it to me. There were arguments among my uncles over whether he had meant whatever it is that he said, but no one ever told me what that was."

…Ominous.

What is known is that when the Noldor were regrouping in Tirion, Maltraen was overcome with horror: of Morgoth, of the Darkness, and of Fëanor. She could not bring herself to go nearer to any of them.

Celebrimbor's eyes were haunted. "What I was most struck by even then was that my father did not try to argue with or reproach her. I think he knew that if something had happened sufficient to rattle her faith, there would be no mending it with words. Her brothers tried. It went badly."

"These would be the same brothers who your father made insensitive remarks about later?"

"Oh yes."

Maltraen proposed that Heledhwen should remain with her. Curufin might have agreed, save that he felt that darkened, near-abandoned Tirion under the dubious protection of the Valar was surely no safer than the heart of the Noldorin host.

"She didn't ask about you?" Narvi asked. "I suppose being older, and a man…"

"I think she would have wanted me to stay if I had been as young as my sister. As it is… I do not believe anyone ever questioned whether I would go, not even I."

So Curufin brought both his children as the host marched, and after the fighting died down they were called forward to ride through the charnel-house made of Alqualondë's piers to the bloodied swan-ships. Celebrimbor bade Heledhwen close her eyes, but she saw enough to be frightened.

"This leaves out the part where my uncles Amras and Amrod continued to treat me like a child, so I sat with Heledhwen outside the city the whole night instead of finding out whether I had it in me to slay kin."

Narvi didn't think there was anything to say to that, so he patted Celebrimbor's hand and read on.

Maltraen's brothers Maltaparmo and Maltayondo were slain by the defenders of Alqualondë, and their father Maltweg was very wroth.

"The brothers, I see."

"Maltatan was angry about them dying, angry that neither they nor Atya had gotten Amil to leave Tirion, and very angry that Atya said they were asses who'd had one job and botched it."

"What did they do?"

"I never had the nerve to ask."

[kattythingz]

YJ x FMA Pt. 4

Yeah. Another one.

I am so sorry Solaris 😔 You'll have my love again when Jinx is done betaing your shitty first draft. No, I swear!! Really!!!

Anyway some of y'all might've missed it in the tags of pt.1, so I'm putting it here again just in case, but edling are about 20 (turning 21) in this au! Three years post-canon of my magnum opus, Ed keeps his alchemy, blah blah usual crossover indulgences.

🧡 Pt. 1 💛 Pt. 2 🤍 Pt. 3 🩵

They’d admittedly lost track of time following that previous conversational note.

Robin had been bursting with questions since Ed confirmed Kaldur’s theory about his powers—alchemy, Ed stressed, a science, though Robin called bogus—and Ed was really no help with how receptive he was to each follow-up. Ling was a pretty chatty guy too by nature, but he’d gone comparably silent listening to his fiance talk, watching his face the entire time and laughing when his hands flailed like the sight would disappear from him if he strayed.

If Robin were immature, he would’ve feigned gagging at that. As it was, though, everyone understood Ling’s feelings. And they were all pretty curious too.

So, you know… It was kind of too late when Robin finally remembered.

“OH, CRAP!”

Mt. Justice was clear in sight now, so his abrupt exclamation startled the team and Ed. Superboy, who’d been suspiciously silent and brooding in his corner, turned to raise an eyebrow at him.

“What?” he said, which still sounded a little like a demand, but that was okay. He’d gotten much better as of late at measuring his tone. This was improvement. 

That unfortunately did nothing for their current dilemma.

“What do you mean ‘what?’” Robin said, totally calmly, thank you very much. “Aren’t we forgetting something major here, guys? Something giant and looming, maybe?!”

It took them all a second.

“Oh,” Ling said, then, way too cheerily, Robin was punching him, “oh! That’s right! Your—”

Megan gasped. “Oh my gosh. I completely forgot—!”

“BATMAN!” Wally cried like it was already his funeral—which it admittedly was. “Ohhhh, crap. Crap! We are so dead, guys—”

“What? Why are you dead?” Ed interrupted. His brow had been steadily furrowing since Robin’s initial panic, and he looked properly annoyed now. He directed the look at Ling, scowling. “Ling, what are they on about?”

“Batman, dude!” Wally reiterated. “He’s only our fricking boss and the scariest Leaguer to have glaring you down!” Ed raised an eyebrow, not getting it, and Wally groaned. “This was supposed to be a recon mission. Only a recon mission. And we completely ditched that to rescue you instead!”

Wally hadn’t meant it like that, but Ling still frowned. “This isn’t Ed’s fault. It was my purpose to begin with. If it’ll spare you the grief—”

“No,” Kaldur interrupted, dragging the focus to him. He sat up straighter. “I am the leader, and I approved this diversion myself. I could’ve controlled Ling, but I made the active decision not to. If this is anyone’s fault, it is mine. I will explain to Batman.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

It was Ed’s sharp interjection that shot first, taking them all aback.

“You couldn’t have stopped this idiot if you’d knocked him out and tossed him in a ditch without his sword,” he continued, and Ling nodded vehemently. “I couldn’t stop him on a good day, forget one of you guys.”

“That’s great and all,” Artemis said darkly, “but Batman won’t take that excuse so easily. Especially after our last mission…”

Robin grimaced at the reminder of Doctor Fate. He hadn’t been part of that mission himself, but, from what he’d heard, things hadn’t gone so smoothly. Wally had taken an unnecessary risk putting on the helmet, and Bruce—Batman was furious. For good reason, considering what that helmet did, and it had nearly gotten his best friend…

But, still.

Today hadn’t just been an unnecessary risk. It was a loud one. Those scientists were sure to bolster their efforts now, knowing the Young Justice were on their tails. This might’ve painted a greater target on Ed and Ling’s backs too.

Batman had every right to scold them for this.

Robin’s stomach twisted, and he swallowed.

The group was silent as Ship brought them inside. Ed didn’t voice his reactions like before as the path lights sparked in tandem to frame the hangar ahead.

Kaldur led them out with his back straight after landing.

Ed couldn’t quite muffle his noise that time as he disembarked last with Ling. He tossed a quick “thank you” to Ship, who beeped in affirmative delight, and ogled around the vast space with an echoing awe.

“This place is huge,” Ed gasped from the edge of the landing dock. His eyes drew high and low but ultimately lingered on the underwater entrance of the place. “What is this, exactly? There’s a generator and a pool…”

“This is the hangar,” Megan said, livening up a little at the opportunity to brag about her current home. Then, remembering last-second, “Oh, that’s a space where we park aircrafts and stuff. I guess you really don’t have that back in your world, huh?”

“Nope. What’s with the pool, then?”

“That’s for submarines. Those are—”

“Oh, you’ve got those here?” Ed’s eyes lit with understanding when he turned to her floating next to him. Catching her “manners” at that, Megan made a small noise and lowered to her feet. She was still laughably taller than Ed like this, and, oh, wow, now that Robin noticed it—

“Holy crap, wait,” Wally suddenly snickered next to Robin too, much worse at masking his amusement. “Dude, now that I’m looking at you—”

He cut off on a high yelp before Ed’s glare even reached him.

Ling pulled back his slanted hand from where he’d subtly jabbed Wally, striding over to Ed with a grin. “It is a fascinating space, isn’t it?”

Ed narrowed his eyes between the two of them before letting it go with a huff. “Yeah. I thought for a second that they might’ve developed air travel instead of ocean, like a parallel balance kind of thing… but I guess not.”

Ling started him down the stairs, and it didn’t escape Robin’s notice that Ed was leaning slightly into Ling’s side as he descended. Ling, for his part, didn’t say a word on that and kept a hand hovered low over Ed’s back. 

So it wasn’t an injury, Robin mused as the rest of the team followed downward. Ling had made a pretty big deal earlier of checking Ed’s burn from the inhibitor collar under his turtleneck, and he’d completely ignored the team was watching when he wiped his fiance’s scratches tenderly before Ed had seen fit to remind him with a violent blush.

A bad leg, maybe? Or…

Megan took over leading them around the place again, slipping easily into the comfort of playing tour guide. When they reached the mission room, she quieted some, anxious as the rest of them.

The room was thankfully empty for now. Though, Robin would’ve preferred if they’d just rip off the Bandaid now. He hated the slithering feel of trepidation under his skin.

“And this… is the mission room,” Megan said with less pizzazz. “This is where Batman gives us our missions, and where we do our training with Black Canary! Although, I don’t see any of them here yet…”

“Yeah, thank god,” Wally muttered. “Give us a second to brace ourselves.”

Robin snorted. “You mean the thought of having your soul judged live doesn’t fill you with excitement? Fake, dude.”

“Says you, you little jerk. If anything, won’t you be scolded the wor—?”

“So, what was that about a training room?” Ed’s loud voice cut him off, though Robin couldn’t figure why he cared to keep things light. Batman was going to be disappointed one way or another. There was no avoiding that. “Seems a little barren for one, don’t you think?”

“Do you really have room to speak, darling?” Ling chuckled. “You were trained in a backyard, weren’t you?”

“A backyard?” Artemis said, and someone—Superboy, probably—snorted loudly in the back. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am!” Ling said. “Though, I’m leaving out the part where it was sometimes a butcher shop too.”

“Yeah, and you’re too scared to step foot in either of those places,” Ed shot back, crossing his arms. “Which reminds me. I contacted Teacher while you were gone—”

“Pardon?”

Several eyebrows shot up at Ling’s honest-to-god squeak.

Ed’s grin stretched slow and vicious. “Well, I needed help understanding the unknown transmutation circle that you touched. You know, considering it was an instantaneous reaction. And I had to be careful.”

Three strikes in one. Ouch.

Ling winced, recoiling slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “R-Right. Of course. And… what did she say, by any chance?”

“Oh, nothing! She just asked me to give you a little something.”

Nobody saw it coming when, in a split second, Ed shot out to grab Ling’s arm.

Ling didn’t even cry out before he was tossed completely over Ed’s shoulder. He met the ground with a belated yelp, then another when Ed stuck a boot on his chest and tightened his hold ruthlessly.

Robin cringed along with everyone else at the brutal angle.

“OW! Okay, okay, okay, I plead! Ed, I’m sorry—!”

“YOU BETTER FUCKING BE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SCARED SHITLESS I WAS BECAUSE OF YOUR STUNT?! I spent an entire week figuring out that damn circle! And then I had to come after your stupid ass myself, because of course you didn’t even have Mei around to supervise! Just what the hell were you thinking? Were you thinking at all?!”

“I already told you I wasn’t! Have mercy on me for once, you know I won’t do it again—!”

“DAMN RIGHT YOU WON’T! If you ever—!”

“What is the meaning of all this ruckus?”

A reverberating metallic voice from above interrupted the team’s badly muffled amusement, and Ling’s misery.

Ed looked up with them scowling, an irritated question on his tongue, “Who—?”

Megan exclaimed over him, darting forward, “AHHH, that’s Red Tornado! He’s our supervisor around here. Hi, Red Tornado!”

Red Tornado lowered from the center of the ceiling, and if androids could raise an eyebrow, then Robin was pretty sure his had disappeared far past his hairline. He paused on Ed to obviously scan him, and Ed didn’t even twitch under the scrutiny, holding steady on poor Ling.

“You are not a resident of this mountain,” Red Tornado said. 

“Yeah, no shi—”

“But you carry the same energy as Ling Yao, and you are here with the team.” Ed’s mouth snapped shut, annoyed and put off by the very-much-an-android stopping before him. “Am I to assume you arrived with them the same way from their mission?”

“You are exactly right, Red Tornado,” Kaldur spoke up hastily, deflecting the attention to himself for now. “In fact, we were hoping to report our findings to Batman as soon as possible, so we may swap information. Do you know where he—?”

“I’m right here, Aqualad.”

Robin tensed at his mentor’s voice. He wasn’t shocked enough to spin to him like the rest of the team, but he did take a quick breath before facing him.

“I guess I don’t need to ask how it went,” Batman rumbled, emerging from the shadows of the next hallway over. “Considering what I’m looking at right now.”

Ed squared his shoulders in the corner of Robin’s vision, releasing Ling notably gently and—in a feat of audacity Robin had never witnessed in anyone before—scrutinized Batman right back.

He stopped dead at Batman’s eye, neither speaking first.

The atmosphere stretched distinctly like ozone, discomforting everyone as they stood still in place of anxious shuffling.

Finally, something breached the surface.

“Well, I don’t need to ask who you are,” Ed said blandly.

Batman’s frown didn’t twitch, but Robin had a feeling that wasn’t the best first impression Ed could’ve made on him. “I can’t say the same for you, unfortunately. Are you from Ling’s world?”

“Obviously. Are you the boss around here?”

“Obviously,” Batman returned, and stood taller, then. “How did you get here with the team? Who are you?”

“I came through a satanic circle.” Wally didn’t quite muffle his choked noise at the deadpan tone. Ed continued, “Shouldn’t you check on your troublemakers first before interrogating me like this? Seems like the greater priority right now.”

The words struck something in all of them, Robin thought—but himself most. He couldn’t stop his gaze from darting to meet Batman’s—no, Bruce’s, in time.

His heart skipped a beat long after the glance-over passed.

“The team knows how to handle themselves,” Batman’s voice returned to douse the mood. “It’s not surprising that they came back okay. It’s what they’ve been trained for. You’re the only hanging question currently.”

It was so messed up that Robin’s chest warmed at the indirect praise. A quick glance at his friends told him they shared his mixed feelings.

“You’ll really be disappointed, then,” Ed snorted. “Not much to me that I can answer. I got here through a circle, I broke myself out of the jail your team just so happened to be scouting, and I found my idiot fiance with them. I basically forced them to bring me along at that point.”

“That is so not what happened,” Wally whispered low in Robin’s ear, echoing the thought he hadn’t voiced. “What the hell is he—?”

“The team discovered you were being held captive and, due to your connection to Ling, deviated from the mission to rescue you.” Batman’s accurate conclusion overrode the conversation again. 

He didn’t… sound overly disappointed, Robin didn’t think. Not moreso than usual. He wasn’t surprised, at least. 

That was usually a good thing, in Robin’s experience. But still, this entire atmosphere was weirding him out. What was Ed doing?

He got his answer when Ed’s voice went steely, saying, “Actually, I was already planning on breaking out myself. It was lucky timing that they decided to help me, otherwise that fancy lab would’ve been rubble after I was done giving those scientists a piece of my mind. You should thank them, really.”

Robin’s eyes widened, understanding dawning on him at last.

He turned to Ling, who’d manifested as silently as ever at his and Wally’s side, and he’d already been looking at Robin.

Ling’s lips curled at a corner and he shrugged. Smiling: That’s how it is.

Bafflement struck everyone’s faces that’d peeked over.

This was actually happening, then. Ed was actually protecting them from Batman’s ire. Lifting the brunt of the judgment from their shoulders onto his own.

Forget audacious. This guy was outright crazy!

Robin’s startled grin at the realization threatened to break his mask before he put it away swiftly.

It nearly surfaced anyway when it looked like Batman was considering the defense.

He must’ve had a million demands in his mind; paranoia, however cruel at times, had served him, and Robin, and several other superheroes, extremely well. Paranoia was the reason Gotham was still deemed safe enough to live in. It was Bruce’s best kindness to their city, sometimes, and to the team whenever survival was up in the air. It meant he cared about the outcome and the consequences, especially on their team.

As it was, though, the only question he repeated was, “Who are you?”

There was no doubt he was an emperor’s partner when Ed lifted his chin with an imperial hum and said, “Edward Elric. I hope you don’t mind I’ll be staying here a while.”

Batman gave a vague affirmative that might’ve been amused elsewhere in a manor. “You’ll have to be thoroughly interrogated.”

“I’d be insulted if you didn’t plan on doing that.”

The spell broke seamlessly with those snorted out words, somehow, and Ling pulled a face as he stepped forward first. “Your idea of a compliment is still so skewed,” he said exasperatedly. “Would it kill you to accept passivity for once?”

“Maybe when I’m dead,” Ed humphed. He turned back to Batman. “So, we interrogating or what?”

Bruce’s lips quirked.

<- previous ◆ next ->

[circus-mcgurkus]

yap sesh about the best game to ever exist on Roblox: pokemon brick bronze

okay so. as a child without access to a 3ds and an unhealthy obsession with Pokémon, my only available options were listening to my 2 friends (only one of which actually had a 3ds) talk about Pokémon and role play and stuff. whatever. but ROBLOX!!! hell yeah. brick bronze was built to be an actual, fully developed Pokémon game, FOR FREE (with slight exceptions for game passes such as shiny/legendary hunting boosts). Even with these things that cost money (or robux, whatever) they didn’t actually impact the game that much. Shinies have no difference to their normal counterpart other than color, and they can of course be hunted with normal methods at standard odds. Legendaries had incredibly small chances to appear in any wild encounter, usually only after being "released" by completing a puzzle related to them. However, these puzzles very rarely ended without an encounter — you usually got one guaranteed shot at catching the pokemon, which you could save before hand to get as many chances as you'd need. Point being that the game is 100% enjoyable without spending a cent. (Don't talk to me about Ash Greninja.)

When it comes to the plot and story, perhaps my vision is blurred by the past and being a naive child, but it was amazing. You're a child of two archeologists who seal off a tunnel due to dangers, but that's not too important. You and your best friend Jake embark on your very own pokemon adventure: you are allowed to pick any starter from generations 1-7, and Jake always ends with an Eevee (Bastard - I wanted an Eevee). Before you leave the lab, your parents give you a parting gift: A Bronze Brick, attached to a necklace, for good luck. After leaving town, you’re almost immediately called back, with news that your parents have been kidnapped by the evil Team Eclipse. Cypress, the Pokémon professor, advises you to take the Bronze Brick to one of his associates in the next town over, to see what the last thing your parents left you was. You do, but the girl reveals herself to be a member of Team Eclipse, and runs off with the brick. You chase her down and get it back. Fast forward a while; you run into some more Team Eclipse shenanigans in the cities of gym 2 and gym 3; they’re trying to harness Groudon and Kyogre. You shut those two plots down, and meet the other rival: Tessa. The plots great, but I’m bored now.

The most interesting things are the small side things you can do: there isn’t a quest system in game, but there’s always little things slightly off the beaten path that you can find by exploring buildings and talking to NPCs. Chief among these are Legendary and Mythical encounters. Many, many legendary Pokémon are sprinkled throughout the world, for those brave enough to find them (or those smart enough to open the Wiki). Three legendary Pokémon live in one volcano: Groudon, who is encountered

Forgot I had this draft laying around. You guys can have it. I’ll do more PBB ramblings later

[tjemegames]

HSR: 2.3.2 MoC, 2.3.1 AS, & 2.2.1 PF Recaps

I definitely forgot about drafting up the latter part of this post when it was more relevant so excuse my lateness. HSR has a lot of endgame content these days and keeping up with it across multiple different servers is a self-inflicted thorn in my side. So, without further ado, let's get into my yapping (under the cut because this post is long one)!

Apologies in advance for any image distortion: Tumblr doesn’t appear to like long photos.

2.3.2. Memory of Chaos

Dissipation of Dreams dropped yesterday morning and I had been impatiently waiting for it so I could get the Nameless Honor points for getting 15 stars; which, I was informed yesterday, can be earned off of stages that have already been completed. Do you know just how many times I missed out on those stupid xp points back in the early days because I couldn't even get 15 stars in the first place? Would've been great to know about back then, but I digress.

Anyway, as I said, DoD dropped yesterday, and I was fully expecting it to be a bit of a rough time because of how badly it was being dragged in one of the HSR discords I frequent. Much to my surprise, this was the easiest time I've ever had running MoC.

There were a few things that made this MoC easier for me:

The enemy lineup on stage 12 was almost the exact same as the 2.2.2 MoC; they swapped out the elite mob in the first wave of 12-1 for a different one, then flipped the challenge order of 12-1 (The Past, Present, and Eternal Show) and 12-2 (Argenti) so that they were inverted. This meant that I didn't have to think about who to run, and I could just refer to the previous challenge records for guidance. I was able to save myself about 18 wave resets because of this.

I got e5 Gallagher, giving myself a better Boothill team member and freeing up Aven as a secondary sustain for my opposing team lineup.

I've been farming relics like an absolute mad person for the past few weeks to fix some of my builds. Relics make up such a large part of character performance and I could truly feel the difference in the damage output for those I've been able to improve since the last MoC (see new builds below).

I'd rate my enjoyment of this MoC at 4/5 stars. Overall, it wasn't too terribly difficult and went by much faster than any of my previous attempts. This was both a positive/negative for me; while I was glad to have done well and efficiently so, it was very strange not to have to think too much or come back to retry the challenge over the course of a week. I’ve become so used to stopping my runs to farm relics/make team adjustments that it was a bit jarring to finish everything in one sitting. At the end of the day, I got my 800 jades for 36 stars so that's good enough for me.

2.3.1 Apocalyptic Shadow

Stormwind Knight was the integral AS stage, and this one took a bit of finagling to get the final star for 6600+ points. I can't give you an entire rundown on my thoughts as it's been a couple weeks since I finished the challenge, but I vaguely remember having to consult the discord for advice because my brain was not braining with team comps and I had been trying to beat the stage for multiple days.

However, I can tell you that super break Jing Yuan is a meme of a team that I've been using to fight "Harmonious Choir" The Great Septimus since 2.2 when the boss first came out. I don't know what compelled me to do that in the first place since lightning is one of the weaker break types, but here I was using it on stage 3 before having to switch it out for something more effective.

I should also note that, during this challenge, DHIL was on an absolutely trash 2pc/2pc atk% build, making it take far too many tries to get to 6600 points from all his missed crits. Gallagher was also freshly pulled and severely lacking in break effect. Additionally, Aventurine was still running 4-star planar ornaments and half of Tingyun's relics were still 4-star pieces as well. I briefly considered going back into the mode now that all of them have been improved to see how much better of a score I can get, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the effort.

2.2.1 Pure Fiction

The Lexical Enigma PF was interesting to say the least. I don’t usually play past the second stage of this mode due to my lack of useful units; I’m still Himeko-less and my duke farming hasn’t been going very well, meaning that Herta is still benched. Hopefully the Navigator will bless me with her presence via standard banner in the near future.

Fortunately for my lack of stellar jade savings, this patch I was feeling especially motivated to have a queen sweep of all the endgame modes; I spent way too much time and put in far more effort than I usually would to get all 12 stars. It was actually my very first time since PF released so yippee! We love progress.

I almost gave up a few times, my pride was hurt, and extreme sacrifices were made to get this finished. If you aren't aware, I have a special amount of spite reserved for Serval; I have nothing against her character (I actually loved playing through her companion mission and using her before version 1.4 came out) I'm just frustrated by the sheer number of times I've pulled both her and her signature light cone since the game came out. S15 Make the World Clamor is ten too many copies of that goddamn lc and I wish I could erase its existence from the game at this point.

That being said, finally releasing Serval from her lvl 70, 5/8/8/8 trace, 4-star relic wearing purgatory was what ultimately led to my success (see build below). Even though it wasn't the best build I could've given her, I'm hoping that it was enough to lift the Serval-based curse that had been placed upon me. And if not, y'all will be hearing about it.

Anyway, that's the extent of my yapping about the endgame modes for now. I'm going to try to put these out after every challenge cycle runs its course so that I'm not making an excessive number of posts about them. I apologize in advance for the impending long posts, but I'd rather not blow up y'all's feeds with separated iterations of my nonsense if I don't have to.

The schedule will still be a bit off for the next one of these recaps since I decided to include the current MoC but not the most recent PF. I'll do my best to get that sorted out asap.

Sheesh, I really rambled my way through this one, didn't I? Fun fact: a severe storm passed over my city while I was writing up this post, causing me to lose power, and I had to rewrite the entire second half of it because auto save wouldn't work without internet access. Don't you just love to see it?

Anyway, thanks for sticking around if you made it to this point! I'll catch y'all later.

[heiayen]

EXTRAS #1: MOVIE PREMIERE

a/n: oooh okay. more honkai cameos! the last batch of cameos for this smau. ok and now for all the things that didnt made it to the final cut for various reasons:

mona at first wasn't meant to work with yae and her role in the smau was smaller buut. things happened! for the better

otto was meant to kick yn out of the movie completely but thanks to my friend i changed that! but maybe in the longer run it would be better for yn to get kicked out...

yn was meant to find the photos of themselves but NOT opened doors in the first draft (chapter 20). it was an idea that just came to me mid writing and i decided to stick with it

kaveh was supposed to be yn's friend from the beginning but... i wasnt sure where to put him in a way that would make sense

at first the photographer (alicia) and cadence (user @/dumbidumbi) were... meant to live in the same building, next to lumine and aether. cadence was supposed to recognize the place. i dropped the second part

overall cadence and jen were supposed to take bigger part in finding out alicia, but i decided to drop it too

kazuha... was meant to be just scara's friend. nothing more. they text few times and that's it BUT MY FRIEND HAPPENED and now kazuha has a whole character arc and the next extra will be all about him! <3

MAIN POST. previous <—> next

taglist: @snobwaffles @soleillunne @ilyuu @lxkeeeee @haliyamori @yinyinggie @sakiimeo @supernova25 @cloudycloudd @d4y-dr3am3r @flompblomp @lahsram2201 @ynverse @niiheng @gekkow @naheana @kiyomi-hoku (comment or whatever to be in the taglist, IF i forgot someone which might happen dont hesitate to remind me)

[charlottedabookworm]

Dawntrail Day 7+8 (part 1/2)

spoilers up to: lvl100 msq quest Dawntrail

original draft date: 4-5/7/24

scheduled release for: 31/7/2024

working on day 7 so i’m merging these. since i’ve only got a couple hours i'mma do my tribals on picto and then do the instance i stopped at yesterday, hopefully get close to a dungeon/trial unlock but really not got much time. day 8 i'm finishing up msq 100% no matter how long it takes me and then hopefully doing the two optional dungeons!

*

…completely forgot that zoraal ja gave the order to kill all the civilians in solution nine

nice way to start the morning

*

“I have no more use of you, begone”

hmmmm thats an odd thing to say considering you were claiming he wasn’t your son before

fingers crossed nothings up with gulool ja

*

annnnd fade to black with the echoing sound of an execution shot lovely haven’t heard that since shadow ringers

*

pfft that last one!

except i really don't care what sphene thinks ngl

*

otis is back!

yes!

really didn’t want to kill him

*

damn

he was a good guy

*

okay but-

where is erenville?

they wouldn’t kill him off offscreen i know that much but we’d better not find him dying i swear to fucking everything I will-

*

*stares at crying child*

fuuuuck i really hope you're not a trap

*

oh thank fuck he's alive

also sorry your mums dead and has been a probably a long time mate

*

huh

he didn't mention it

why didn't you mention it erenville, what are you thinking rn?

*

no, please

this actually is important information to have

considering your mum is possibly the same sort of endless otis is and she had to end up that way somehow

*

love looking at this ngl

so much easier and nicer doing it as you progress through the zones

*

i made it to the fifth dungeon unlock but since there's almost certainly a trial afterwards and i have barely enough time to do the dungeon if i zoom through it, i'mma wait and do it in the morning

soooo wondrous tails time for picto ig

*

oh

thats just rude we didn't need that

*

ayyy alphi esti and shtola!

only reason theyve shown up just before i should be unlocking a trial is cos it can be done in trust? maybe? pls?

*

fuuuck that looks like a voidgate to me

zoraal ja wtf have you been doing

*

oh?

could it maybe lead to whichever reflection the alexandrian's are from

final zone in another shard? maybe?

*

so ig it’ll be like ‘we beat him he flees we chase’

boom final zone and trial and dungeon?

either that or sphene will actually be the final boss which still wouldn’t surprise me

*

the framing reminds me of hades ngl

like it tho

*

i know you're having a crisis but has it occured to you that you were born because your dad liked kids? like i know your entire existence is like. a miracle and gulool ja ja didn't know he could have bio kids til you were born but that man obviously lived for being a dad

*

this music-

just gonna sit here and listen to this for a bit before i enter the trial lol

*

genuinely forgot that y'shtola used to run around as a conjurer

it feels like so long ago now lol and i half expected them to have rdm healer ali again

*

okay his second phase actually looks cool

and isn't a massive floating head sitting at the edge of the arena which gives many bonus points

*

zoraal ja looks pretty dead to me and we still have a dungeon and trial to go so-

sphene, cachuia, or some third unknown threat? taking bets now

*

yeah it’s sphene 100% isn’t it

‘deliver my people’ huh

*

yeahhhh there we go

*

once again, i agree with ali

how many will you slaughter, sphene, so that your endless (yourself included) will live another day

how many children will you sacrifice so that your may live your hundredth lifetime

*

but they aren't remembered

i'm gonna scream how dare you say that when your system removes the memories of a deceased person from everyone who knew them

how dare you-

*

how dare you bring his mother into this

his mother, who everyone from his village has forgotten because of your system-

i-

*

don't worry koana, it's not the first time

this is basically a tuesday for me i'll keep your sister safe

*

i love him he's so sweet

i'm so glad gulool ja didn't turn out to be a trap

that probably would have broken my heart

*

that graphics update really looking peak on the af gear

wow

look at that metal

(now to time glam back over it)

*

so thw question is

another dungeon immediately?

huh nope

*

ooooooo it so pretty

it has canals

*

cachuia i'm guessing

i see where erenville gets the pretty from

*

oh

oh erenville love you're not going to take this well

your mother is dead and alive (did she get a choice? did they just pluck up her memories adn make her endless?) and she wants them all to die again

*

i love this

but also raha breaking my heart every expansion he's in

love him for that

*

oh so we're continuing to traumatise both erenville and wuk lamat i see

great

wonderful

thank you very much for that square

*

screaming crying throwing up why are you doing this to me

*

"I'm put in mind of Lyhe Mheg"

a tribe quest reference? in my final fantasy 14 msq?

*

this cutscene is legit one of my favourite parts of the expansion

sure we gotta shut down the memories of all these kids but we'll give them something nice before that

*

ayo wtf

those are kriles bio parents

so i see we’re spreading the trauma to krile to join with erenville and wuk lamat

glad she can maybe get some closure tho

*

love raha running up to krile and her parents and just chomping down on ice cream to break the ice between her parents

he’s such a good friend

*

....oh i hit the image cap.

alright part 2 incoming

[space-station-collective]

How did you come up with your system name?

i hope it's alright that i'm answering this publicly! (and also my gods this took a while, i started it then drafted and completely forgot, apologies for the delay on it!!)

i think our system name choosing process was actually quite funny!

we changed it to the current one (SSC, or Space Station Collective) back around in July, so actually quite recently!

first, though, we need to cover our original system name: the Solar System!

for some context, well before our syscovery, and when i/we believed that i specifically was the One Singular Functioning Part (false), i had several friends who were plural! one of them in particular was an online friend, and as such called me by my online name (of which i won't be sharing what it is, but it was very space related, the name of a space thing)

this friend, a couple times, joked that if i ever realized i was a system, i would simply have to use the name the Solar System, because of how integral space was to my entire personality and brand

lo and behold- queue syscovery, and we had the Solar System!

we did quickly realize, though, that that was a very very very common system name, and while it is by no means a bad one, we wanted something unique (and also something we could use as a username for things like this blog which didn't exist yet)

we spent about a month thinking and brainstorming different things, and also asking a couple friends if they had any ideas or thoughts

eventually, one of us (i don't remember who) came up with something fun- the Space Station Collective! a couple headmates were in the fronting area at the time and all seemed to like the idea, so we set up a little thread in our private discord server to take the vote! (it seems to have been deleted by now, I can't find it, but I remember it existed

i believe it was at 13 votes for yes that we officially changed it! (at the time, we had much fewer headmates, and that was much the majority)

we told our friends, changed our simplyplural and pluralkit to be updated, and here we are now! we're all still very happy with the name, and we've still got a little piece of that original name, as our collective name in spaces we're out as a system in tends to be Solar

thank you for your ask! and apologies again for how long that took, i hope the answer is to your satisfaction after all that wait! (for anyone who isn't the person who sent this ask, this draft was started on Oct. 18 and i'm finishing/queueing it Nov. 1)

-the host (he/they)

[canadiancryptid]

So, I did a poll like a month ago seeing if people wanted to know a little more about me, and then I forgot to actually do anything with it. Completely forgot what sort of things I was going to say but I have a couple things here.

9 People I'd Like to Know Better Game!

@msbadatnamingthings tagged me in a "get to know you better" game like 2 months ago that I kind forgot about. I had a few questions answered and then it just kinda got lost to the void of my drafts pile like so many other things. Sorry about that, but I'm remembering now!

last song: Deltarune the (not) Musical - The Field of Hopes and Dreams

favorite color: purple

last movie/last tv show: just finished The Ghost and Molly McGee :(

sweet/spicy/savory: savory

relationship status: single

last thing i googled: I think it was something about how the education system works in Minnesota. Trying to work on a fic around a certain character. Probably not hard to guess which one.

current obsession: Infinity Train never went away and likely never will, but I've recently been obsessing over Deltarune again

I also got a couple questions on the original poll from @keliana856! Finally getting to them! Whoo!

1: Lake and the entire concept of the Mirror World. The entire concept is so interesting to me, and I feel like it really doesn't get talked about enough. We get the basic premise of how it works in Book 1, but other than that, most of it is left unexplained. We learn some more from Lake when she's talking to the Flecs and answering some of Jesse's questions, but that's about it. We don't even know if the existence of the Mirror World is connected to the Train or not. Its such a cool concept and I love thinking about it.

Lake is my favorite character in the whole show, BY FAR. Her story is amazing, her dynamic with Jesse is incredible, and her introduction and entire first episode were one of the best things I've ever watched. I love thinking about her complicated relationship with Tulip and what might happen if they ever saw each other again. The finale of Book 2 was the first show that made me immediately want to go on Ao3 just to see more of her adapting to life on Earth. I already loved the show, but Lake and her story were what cemented it as my favorite show.

2: I've always been a fan of the supernatural. Fantasy, Modern Fantasy, mythology, and to some extent Sci-fi. (Still love it, just think I generally prefer the other stuff) It's a lot of fun to think about and see explored in fiction. I was a huge fan of mythology and Rick Riordan's books as a kid, so seeing Percy Jackson being adapted into a show has been AMAZING. The movies were frankly terrible, but that's a rant on its own. Outside of that, I like stories with a mystery to solve and twists that you COULD have seen coming with what was provided but probably didn't. It's fun seeing how communities can come together to find secrets and discuss things. Found Family is another one of my favorite themes. Not sure I need much of an explanation there. It's just an amazing trope to see.

When it comes to video games, I love RPGs, metroidvanias, platformers and puzzle games. I play a lot of different types of games, but those are my favorites. I don't talk about it much on here, but I'm a programmer. I'm still learning, but making games is my DREAM. There are so many ways to tell a story through the medium that you can't get anywhere else. The interactive nature of a game allows for so much exploration of the characters and world at large, and I love it. Rather than just watching the story play out on screen, you get to be a part of it. I love games that get a little meta. Games that make the player a part of the story like Oneshot, Deltarune and Undertale. I like games that take the established mechanics of a game and make it a part of the world. Underhero is a game that does this well. Pretty much every part of the game has some in-universe explanation as you progress through the amazing story. The game is incredibly underrated; I highly recommend it.

So, yeah. When it comes to games, I love stories that embrace their nature as a game and make it a part of the world. Video games are truly unique among storytelling mediums, and I love seeing it used as such. You don't really see any other mediums doing things like that, but it's always cool to see.

In no particular order, some of my favorite stories recently have been: Infinity Train, The Owl House, Steven Universe, Gwenpool, Nimona, Spy x Family, Spiderverse, Fionna and Cake, Oneshot, Undertale, Deltarune, Underhero, Epithet Erased, and the Percy Jackson series as a whole.

I think that's it for now. If anyone has anything else they'd like to hear me talk about, my ask box is always open!

[wireless-telegraph]

3 and 12 for the book ask! ✨

3) Top 5 books of the year? (ah shit I actually read a ton of very good books this year, going off my 5 star ratings)

1- Lone Women by Victor Lavalle

2- Summer of Night by Dan Simmons

3- House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski

4- The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine by Lindsey Fitzharris

5-The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

Honorable Mentions: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio, Let's Go Play at the Adams by Mendal W Johnson

12) Any books that have disappointed you?

There were a few horror books I read this year that felt way over hyped for the quality of writing/story actually given.

The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste won the Bram Stoker award, but to be honest I have no idea how. The story felt confused in how it wanted to deliver information. Either the main character (who is supposed to be the bystander POV) would always learn information second hand word of mouth or come to conclusions without anything to back it up but still treated as fact (is: Rust Maidens motivation despite never having a proper conversation with them). I feel like the story was not in its final draft upon publication and the main character was the wrong choice for POV.

Plastic Monsters by Daniel J Volpe. It's my first attempt at reading extreme horror and likely will be my last. The misogyny in this book made me roll my eyes so hard at parts. It wanted to be something adjacent to the plastic surgeon in BioShock but fell flat. It villainized and punished the female lead but completely ignored her surgeon who has arguably done worse things than she did. Female lead was obviously written by a man, and his perspective in the pressure of looking perfect heavily tainted the message I felt he tried to portray about vanity. I feel like in theory, especially the summary concept, the story could be a great over the top interpretation about the horrors of societal pressures when it comes to appearances but he was not the person to do it.

(And both books had a tendency to write sentences like 80s horror blurbs as emphasis when it came across as silly to me).

If you want a well written fucked up book with a message attached, Let's Go Play At the Adams is a better pick. It explores biases (both age and race), says ACAB, and is unapologetically grim. Not for the faint hearted and cw for practically everything tbh (I added it in for Does the Dog Die).

Edit: I forgot the Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. I got Freuded out by the time I got to it in my list of horror classics, and I am not very interested in detective-related horror, so it was more of an incorrect target audience than anything else. The best part of it for me was the slow decay of my book's cover as I read it (I got it second hand and by the time I finished it had no cover left).

[silverloreleysfanfics]

As promised, here’s a sneak peek of the Encanto/Descendants fic that came out this headcanon and this discussion with @dragoneyes618.

Actually, I decided to put two. It’s all still in draft form, mind you, so no polishing nor grammar check or else, and full of holes I have to fill.

First bit is a companion piece of the first part I wrote, same day, Carlos’ fifth birthday, but on the Isle.

The second is a part of the first discussion between Carlos and Bruno. In my fic, Cruella kicked Bruno out when Carlos was small, but Bruno decided to stay in the secret passageways and rooms of the mansion, earning the fame of “the Green Ghost of Hell Hall“. Carlos had no idea until after Ben suggested the VKs to look for relatives who could legally take custody of them in Auradon and Cecil, Cruella’s brother, decided to tell Carlos about Bruno and how to find him. Hence the first proper conversation between father and son. Also, in my ‘verse, Encanto is in Avalor, so the people of Encanto were running from Shuriki’s soldiers when the Miracle happened.

It’s long, so, all under cut:

bit 1

Carlos would turn five the next day.

If they had been at Casita, he'd have his gift ceremony that night. A new outfit sewn for the occasion, music and special food, lights and flowers and then his own room, big and spacious, filled with anything he may need, and a gift, a magic of his own that would make his life brighter.

As things were, Carlos never had a single piece of clothing that had not belonged to someone else or was the result of recyclying, the food he'd eat would be the same as ever, unhealty and moldy and rotten, flowers didn't grow on the Isle and under the Barrier there was no magic, so it was unlikely a gift could show up.

Oh, Bruno was praying for it to come all the same. For anything. A small thing, even one like his, seeing the future could actually be useful on the Isle, he could threathen people with it or skirm out of danger if he knew it in advance. Or one like Pepa's, being able to control even a bit the weather could make him needed and dangerous both, and if he got one like Julieta's even the inedible food would heal him and keep him healthy, the Lord knew the boy needed it. Growing plants like Isabela's could be good for defense and growing food and he was almost sure Luisa's must have had to do with physical strenght, that would be optimal on the Isle, but really, anything would do.

As long as something came.

As long as the Miracle could get there and protect the - currently - youngest Madrigal child a little bit.

As long as gifts weren't restricted to children who lived inside Casita because, sure as hell, Carlos couldn't be farther from Casita and a room of his own and the ceremony he should have.

Because he should have one. He should have a good gift and his own room in a good home and get it all that very night.

But life can be unfair. It surely was to the Isle kids, who more who less.

Instead of having a party, even a meager one as there could be one on the Isle, Carlos would spend the entirety of his fifth birthday alone, dragging around his malnourished body, his mother's screeches would bring tears to his eyes, and he'd end the day lying on the floor of a fur closet riddled with bear traps without even the small comfort of a pillow, like any other day in the little miserable life of an Isle Kid.

Unfair.

But, as it often happened, bad things could get worse.

In fact, Carlos had been a little sluggish for the better part of the day, and it was sheer luck Cruella was having a creative fit aka the only time she left the kid alone and completely forgot the rest of the world. It also meant she didn't bother giving him food, but Carlos was smart enough to get some himself, thanks the Lord.

It was in the late evening, while mending a hole in the old robe he found in the abandoned chest in the attic, he guessed one that used to belong to one of the previous de Vil masters if not to Baron Hellman even, that Bruno was alerted by the rats who jumped up and down to get his attention. It didn't seem it was because one of them had had a skirmish with Beelzebub, Carlos' kitten he received when he attended the Evil Queen's daughter's birthday, but something just as urgent. Something involving Carlos, for sure.

Bruno immediately dropped everything and ran to see what was the matter. The inside of the closet was dark, Carlos must have not dared to turn on the light, but Bruno had no doubt the boy was crying. He had become far too accustomed to the sound of his son's tears for his liking to mistake it.

It broke his heart every time and tonight even more so, knowing what a special day the following would be. Perhaps Carlos knew too and that was the reason of his despair.

But no, there was something wrong in his crying. It was hoarse, riddled with small hiccups and moments when it seemed he was out of breath, peppered with tiny coughing fits.

Something was very wrong.

His eyes accustomed to the darkness enough to let him see Carlos' eyes were completely shut so he risked to stick his head a bit out the vent to get a closer look. It didn't take an expert to figure out the boy was both feverish and out of consciousness.

With less hesitations, Bruno climbed down. The fur closet was a bit cramped with all the bear traps riddling the floor and he had to manuever himself quite a bit to go check Carlos' temperature without setting any off.

The boy was sweating and burning, his nose was runny and there were some spots on the side of his head, next to his ears.

"Oh, no" Bruno thought as he crossed his chest thrice "Nonono, this can't be" He had heard of it from Horace and Jasper, who were discussing it a few days before: the Isle was swept by an epidemics that hit mostly children. It was as well as harmless for adults but could be very bad for kids. Jace, Jasper's son, had gotten it and they suspected Harry, Horace's son, did too, so the two brothers had been kicked out the respective homes to get supplies to aid. Of course, the two had ran to Cruella to inform her and ask her help, she had ordered them to keep their "furless mutts" away from Carlos, least he caught that too and couldn't do his chores. So much for motherly concern.

Clearly, it had not been enough. The symptoms, especially the blotched spots near his ears, were unmistakable, Bruno was sure Carlos had contracted it. He didn't know what to do. Julieta had always been the one with the remedy for any ailment, he couldn't remember what did the family do before she got her gift. Bruno tried to reign in his panic. If he panicked, no one would help Carlos, he just knew, at least until Ella came out her creative fit she would not react even to bombs, and there was no way to know when that would happen.

"Focus" he scolded himself.

Carlos was ill, ill people needed care. Doctor, he had to find a doctor. But on the Isle of the Lost, who could be trustworthy? Medicines, then. There was none in Hell Hall, but if the illness was spred to all the Isle, there had to be someone out there who'd have something.

So there Bruno went, setting foot outside the walls of Hell Hall for the first time in two years, with no little amount of knocking on wood and finger-crossing and so forth, hoping and praying he could go back without troubles with the cure for his suffering son. § Dr Facilier wasn't a real doctor, but he was the closest thing the Isle had besides the witches - and Bruno wouldn't go anywhere near the witches - and the only one who required a fair enough price for his expertise.

Not to mention, Faciler was a father, and one of the few ones around there who actually cared for his kids: when the epidemics started, Faciler started to work on a cure, afraid as he was he could lose his daughters to it, and now he had perfected the only effective treatment of the whole Isle of the Lost.

It had been Will Baker to tell Bruno that much, two of his kids had taken it and were now better, both Anthony and Ava had recovered at good pace and even Drusilla, the newborn of Drizella, had been miraculously saved by the concoction the voodoo master sold, after the witches had told them there was nothing to do for a child this small.

[...] "As for the payment..."

Bruno hesitated for about two seconds before pulling out the ring from his pocket. It was a real emerald, as far as he knew, one of the few real jewels left in Hell Hall. He knew it was techically stealing - he begged the Lord for forgiveness and promised he would make penance - but on the other hand, wasn't he using the family fortune for one of its members? Carlos was a de Vil, technically the heir of the family, that was for him. Bruno was only a proxy, and for a good reason.

If Cruella wouldn't move a finger for her son, so lost in her own mind she didn't even realize Carlos was ill, he would.

Facilier's eyes narrowed at the gem, studying it "May I ask where did you get this from, my friend?"

"It's my wife's" not a lie, Bruno was already committing enough sins to add lies to the pile "Is it not enough?" he worried, like an afterthought.

"It's adequate" Faciler replied, holding out his long fingers to get the item. Bruno took it back, clutching it to his chest "The cure first"

The other man rolled his eyes "Of course, I am a gentleman. My deals are always paid for on both sides"

His hand's shadow detached from the wall and brought a little vial of opaque glass in which it could be barely seen the slushing of some dense liquid.

"Two drops thrice a day for a child, five for an adult. Only one if the child is younger than two" the Shadow Man recited, the tone of one who repeated the instructions ad nauseam.

Bruno looked at the vial, offered by the unbodied hand, then took it and gave it the ring in exchange "Thank you"

Facilier laughed, the shadow put the piece of jewelry in his pocket "It's been a while since I heard that last. You must be a slow learner, Mr de Vil"

Bruno jumped in his skin "How...?"

"From a future-teller to another, let me give you some free advice: don't show how meek you are, unless it's to deceive others. Kindness is weakness down here. Now go, your boy's waiting"

[...] Carlos didn't get a gift, not that night nor the next, but Bruno wasn't thinking about that, not while he was far too busy keeping his boy alive.

The illness could have claimed his life. Any illness could. Carlos was underfed, underweight, had too many chores for his age and a mother who didn't know how to be one, nor cared to learn.

And yet Carlos survived not only that night, and the next, and the whole week, but also the following months and years.

Whether it was thanks to Facilier's medicine, to Bruno's secret care, or a combination of both, he recovered in full. And he kept on living.

And he didn't get ill again, never that badly. Not even when another epidemic swept the Isle a few years later, not when seasonal flues came, or a particularly late barge left the islanders with food even more rotten than usual and accidental poisoning was rampant for a few weeks.

Bruno wasn't sure if he had to thank Facilier, or God, or the Miracle that had somehow found its way to Carlos. He was thankful Carlos was on his way to grow into his teen years, as long as health was involved.

He was still growing slowly, thin and a tad on the weak side - which Bruno blamed on genetics and too little food - but he was growing. And that, on the Isle of the Lost, was a bit of a miracle in itself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bit 2

Carlos tried to remember if he ever saw him. His father had to be really good at disappearing, but...

There were many times Carlos fell asleep before he could finish the chores Cruella gave him, only to find them done in the morning. Times his mother hid the key of the pantry to deny him food and he found some stashed in his closet-room even if he didn't remember leaving it there. Times he got hurt and wasn't sure his bandagings or self-medications were done right, yet discovering with relief they were more than fine after some sleep.

Long nights being ill and imagining someone gave him water and medicine and sang to him now felt a little less fever dreams and a bit more real instances. Pieces for his tech he needed being in the toolbox when they definitely hadn't been there before.

Little things. Silent, almost invisible signs of something - someone - taking care of him despite everything.

He had tricked himself thinking it had been his mother, doing things for him when he wasn't watching, tough love or something, or maybe pity from Jasper and Horace.

This... made more sense.

"I'm not a good father, I know. I'm not good with kids, or with people for that matter, and I didn't know how to live alone out there, just me and you. I always had mamà and Casita and mi hermanes, your aunts, I wanted to take you away when your mom got worse but I didn't know how we would have survived, just the two of us, without help, assuming she would have let me keep you, so I had to let you stay here and this caused you pain, I know. I'm sorry, Carlos"

"You spent years in the walls of Hell Hall just for my sake?"

"Well, after you started going to school I went out a bit too, while you weren't home, mostly"

[...] "What do you even do in here all the time?"

"Lots of things, actually! I sew, clean, do repairs, and I have free entertainment! I write ratanovelas and plays. I used to say my gift was acting, but I'm good with playwriting, if I can say so..."

"You write what?"

"Ratanovelas. Mr Ratigan jr is my top actor, and I'd have more talents if Beelzebub didn't chase away most of them"

"But animals can't speak under the barrier"

"They're very expressive though"

"You've been alone for too long" Carlos smiled "And yet you're still more sane than mom"

"That's not so hard" Bruno grimaced, then flailed his hands "Nonono, forget I said that, I shouldn't teach you to disrespect your elders, especially your mother" Carlos didn't think that respect for elders should mean to never tell the truth, but it was a thought he held deep down, bottled by years of receiving beatings from older kids and adults for running his mouth too smart.

"I don't understand"

"Uh?"

"I mean, you are so... nice. What did you see in mom?"

"I, uh, was among the last to be brought to the Isle, you see. Mi familia did what they could to keep me there as long as possible, but..." he shrugged "I was in the same boat as your uncle Cecil and he said he was going to not be separated from his family, especially his sister. He was fine with me following him and introduced me to many people once here, and talked so highly about his sister I had no reason to think badly of her. We didn't get many outiside news in Encanto and there were lots of people more or less innocent thrown in the last barges. When I met her she was... less bad than now, you know? in the head" he tapped his temple for emphasis "And they made me think her crimes were, like, illegal business practices, I thought that meant tax evasion or fraud, it wasn't that bad compared to murderers and evil magicians. I saw a large familia like mine and they're nice enough when they try and Ella was, uh, she could be be really charming when she wanted to"

"You still call her Ella, like uncle Cecil does" Carlos noted, not without a bit of surprise.

Bruno smiled a bit and lowered his eyes with a tiny shrug "She was my only one, you know? I never had a relationship before, or after. In a way, she'll always be my one, or the woman she was back then will be. I told you, she was different when I met her, a different woman. I thought she loved me"

"Yeah, me too"

"I wish I could say she loves you in her own weird way, but..."

"I know. It's fine, really. I have known for a while, the most precious thing in her life are her furs, not me"

"If it helps, you are mine"

"Your what?"

"Most precious. Person, not thing. Important. Loved. I'm terrible at this, I know..."

Whatever remained of Carlos' anger flew away at that.

[...] "Okay, hear that, Ben asked us if we had more family in Auradon, to get custody of us VKs so we can stay out there without coming back here for holidays and stuff unless we want to"

"That's good! It will do you well. You're already so much healthier since I last saw you, and Julieta's food will do you plenty good..."

"Yeah, but..."

"Oh, no. No, you don't worry about it. Or me. Mi familia, our familia, they'll greet you with open arms. Julieta, tu tìa, will for sure, you can ask for her. Pepa will need a bit to come around but Felix will..."

"How can you be so sure? They sent you away"

"Err... The fears of the villagers sent me away... well, technically the Security Services did, if we want to be precise. Maybe Pepa was still a little upset for the hurricane during her wedding, but I know how much she thundered when I was taken away. Mi familia wanted me to stay and they'll want you too, I saw it!" "I think I missed something"

"You don't know about Encanto?"

Carlos shook his head "I knew nothing about you at all before today"

"Oh, it's, well, it's all about the Miracle. The Miracle made Encanto what it is, it protected our people when they were running from Shuriki's horsemen, you know, Avalor's usurper, by raising mountains around the valley and giving us a safe place to live, and then it made Casita, our magic home. And the same Miracle that makes Casita special gives a gift and a special room to each Madrigal child for their fifth birthday, so we can help the village more. I got visions of the future, Pepa can control weather, Julieta's food can heal next to anything"

"Whoa"

Bruno nodded "I'm not sure what all your primas' gifts are, I'm sure Isabela had to do with plants because in my visions she was always surrounded by flowers and vines, and Dolores has something like good hearing or mind reading? and I think Luisa has strength? I'm not sure about the rest, the visions about Mirabel were, uh, it doesn't matter. Oh, you could get yours too, once there! Or not, I don't know if it could happen only on your fifth birthday..."

Carlos shook his head "That's a lot to unpack"

"Ah, yes, sorry" he seemed to shrink back, the little enthusiasm elicited by talking about his family dissolved in a hearbeat "Anyway, Casita is a great home to live in, you'll be cared for in there"

"If they'll want me"

"They will. They didn't want me to leave, mamà, your Abuela, wanted to have the family close at all times, having you around will make them happy. And I saw it, I saw you in Casita! It was my first vision since I got here, it happened when the Barrier opened during the coronation. You'll be fine, mijo"

[...] "I don't understand" Carlos took one of the props made for the small rat-scenery and twirled it in his fingers "Why are you even here? What did you do to end up on the Isle?"

"It's a bit, uh, complicated. It wasn't things I did on purpose, but people thought I did. Could. It's complicated"

Carlos listened him explain the gift and its working and why the Safety Services decided his place was on the Isle. Too dangerous to be left free.

"But if you can't control the visions it means you're just a spectator, not a wrongdoer"

"That's what I tried to explain! But they didn't listen, they had already drawn conclusions and got King Beast to sign my sentence papers. They also said Pepa's gift was dangerous too, but if I left and the others kept her in check they'll let her off the hook since she could control herself and I couldn't"

"They threathened you?"

He shrugged "It was either just me willingly, or both of us by force, and Dolores was just born and then there would have been no Camilo and Antonio, Julieta and mamà would have been devastated, I couldn't destroy the family by being selfish. I, uh, I love my family"

"You sacrificed for them?"

Bruno shrugged again "I'm just me. The brujo, the black sheep, the useless one. I could foresee things but not how to prevent them, I brought nothing to Encanto. I tried to make myself useful but at the end I gave them only grief. I'm sure they're better off without me"

[...] "No one thought anyone would ever get out the Isle a year ago, and now there are VKs roaming around in Auradon. Have some faith"

"I don't think I would have survived here without faith. I'll hold on, don't worry for me" Bruno shrugged and put something in his hand.

Carlos looked at it and frowned.

"It's salt. You throw it behind you, to ward off bad luck" Bruno explained and proceeded to demonstrate it with a pinch of his own.

"Oh" Carlos scrunched his nose but replicated the gesture.

"Some sugar too would be good, but that's hard to find here, you'll have to make do with salt. I'll keep my fingers crossed"

Okay, maybe he had overestimated how sane his father was.

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