#fragments of them!

[vinyls-and-valentines]

Another Girl headcanon, but I think she has really good memory, except rather than the stereotypical "being able to remember every detail, even the ones you weren't paying attention to" good memory, her memory just allows her to remember the things she pays attention to for much longer than any normal person would. Like, no, she doesn't remember where she put her bag 5 minutes ago, yes, she could tell apart Party Poison's mask from later reproductions based solely by feel and color beed because she got curious about it 10 years ago when she overheard Chimp and Pony complain about the items that had come into the Zones lately feeling "cheap". What about it?

[sonadowcentral]

Sksnsksnakansnzkajqiqgja

[shadowmystpines]

Heart or Head?

(I've been meaning to draw these two for a while but I didn't really get to it until tonight I hate it and was hesitant to post it but hey I finished it so I figured I might as well)

Characters belong to @sonadowcentral’s epic Fragmented AU I'm sure you've heard of it

[lenowom]

Typical Lester family breakfast

[geopsych]

“You have to find this stuff, you have to find things, these fragments that you hold to yourself. They become like a life raft, especially as time goes on. As I've got older I've realised there is a thin line between surviving this life and going under and the things that keep you afloat are these fragments, these things that are meaningful to you. And what's meaningful to you will be not meaningful to someone else.

But whatever it is that matters to you, it doesn't matter what it is, go and find them and find some way to hold them close to you. Go and get it. Because those the things that keep you afloat.”

—Michael Sheen

[1ncend1ary]

cubism

inspired by that one alpha edit on here + tiktok. lives in my head rent free.

[crovvrr]

JUST REALIZED I FORGOT TO POST THIS

From this comic by @ fragmentedtale-official-blog

Anyways he looks like a grumpy lil cat and I love him

[roses-and-revolutions]

DC x DP Prompt

To the delight of Gotham's citizens, and the dismay of her criminal underbelly, the GCPD has a new specialized unit that ACTUALLY apprehends criminals and brings them to justice!

It's a relatively small squad of mostly young adults, who looked fresh out of their teens. But age didn't matter once they got the work done. And they did, as they've already got criminals like Penguin, Riddler, and Bane behind bars for what looks to be 'for good'.

No one besides Commissioner Gordan knows anything about the squad as they operate as a mostly separate entity from GCPD. It was rare to see any of them, and any photos taken were unusually blurry. They are also extremely secretive; if you exclude their social media which are usually just shit posts, memes, and thirst edits of the Wayne family.

They were a total mystery. Almost as mysterious as Batman.

But those who have seen/worked with the squad before all had the same thing to say about them. They were cool. They had an unusually effective method. And their leader is a menace. With his sharp teeth and pointed smile. And bright blue eyes that spoke to your soul. It was a pleasure to see/ work with him, it really was. But they weren't planning on doing so again for a long time.

That being said, Gotham had been quiet for a while. A bit too quiet if you ask anyone, especially the Bats. Strangely, it didn't feel like the usual calm before the shit storm. The instinctual pit in their guts that usually formed just wasn't there. This was different. This wasn't the calm before the storm. This was the ocean receding. But no one seemed to realize it yet.

Not until the tsunami came crashing down on them.

The GCPD special unit accounts that had been inactive for the last three months suddenly pinged to life. Everyone who followed them clicked the notification almost immediately. With this unnerving calm surrounding them, who the hell didn't want to see what batshit crazy statement they would make after three months of radio silence.

What they didn't expect, was to see a crystal-clear picture of justice finally being served.

The picture was a selfie, taken in an abandoned warehouse. In the middle of the dirty floor was the Joker. He was tied up and his head hung low. You could see how beaten he was, his clothes torn and bloody. His face paint was also coming off, revealing pale blotchy skin. Reminding everyone that, he was still human, just like the rest of them.

Behind him, all lined up with smiles on their faces, was Team Phantom. They were a bit bloody and bruised as well but overall in much better condition. They weren't wearing the normal GCPD navy blue uniform, but black and white ones. All stylized to fit the wearers taste. They all looked so young, but their eyes looked like old tired eyes, finally getting some relief.

From in the corner was their leader. Only part of his face was in the picture. One glowing blue eye, and part of his Cheshire smile. His hand making a peace sign next to the Joker. Even with only part of his being shown, everyone could tell he was relived as well.

And while the picture itself was shocking, the caption was what really got them. The top was what you would usually expect from the team. A big bold 'GOT EM' ' at the top. But at the bottom in small, almost unnoticeable text was:

"He will face his punishment. We will get our retribution. May we finally rest in peace."

[corafriend]

sae is definitely someone who loves you more and more through every stage of your relationship. he loves you even more when you’re engaged than when you were dating, he loves being married to you and growing old with you. he loves watching you grow as a person. watching smile lines and starlight grey hair settle into your image, sees it as proof that he made you feel happy and loved. loves the thought of knowing he was there before and after it

it’s such a beautiful and honestly rare thing to have someone who’s love only grows for you with every milestone and who feels like knows everything about you by heart whilst simultaneously feeling like he’s rediscovering you over and over again.

[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments - episodes 65-70 author notes

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned! 

These two are so entrenched in the yapping sesh that, when Thancred interrupts it, they only spare him this quiet glance before going back to their bs. Sorry, Thancred, you’re so irrelevant in their microcosm. They’re even physically separate, standing far away from the Scions.

Makes an argument against being petty, proceeds to be petty when Emet touches a nerve.

Episodes 64-65 are the long-awaited return of the ratman who’s previously appeared only in episodes 44-45. He thinks some thoughts and makes meaningful faces here, but I decided not to show his thought bubbles yet, inviting the reader to guess and speculate. This tactic mirrors the way Emet intrigues the player ingame, but offers very little dialogue, very little tangible stuff to sink your teeth into. I’m learning the storytelling tricks from the best :> Obviously this comic’s about him as much as it’s about Raha and Vivi, he WILL get more screentime and you’ll see plenty of his thoughts later on, I just wanna build up the reader’s interest.

I’m planning to have Emet call Vivi a few specific words throughout the story, and I’ll try to be poetic with it. Annoying is the first word x’D Thancred seems to... Agree? At least he finds this amusing. Him and Alisaie actually laugh at Emet’s jokes.

Emet starts to take up more visual space in the frame, pushing Vivi out, showing the shift in control. Boy does Vivi hate losing control. It must be his, always, at all costs.

Since the ARR episodes there's a recurring visual theme of reaching your hand out or failing to do so, Emet reaches casually, with no hesitation.

This gesture was probably meant to be the Evil Chin Grab as Emet doesn’t even wrestle control from Vivi, he effortlessly takes what’s his, cements his superiority in this strange mix of an unarmed conflict, petty rhetoric and silly dance, but Vivi refuses to play the part of a trembling victim. No touchy.

“Why are your eyes like this?” and the certified haver of lively expressions goes poker face. Still he can't control his pupils narrowing in displeasure, fear, or some other sort of a negative emotion. His comebacks lose quality and morph into lowly insults, you've gotta be wondering WHY he's lost composure. The record amount of angry/loud speech bubbles also indicates that something went awry, normally he doesn’t raise his voice too much.

To us, with the foreknowledge that the ancients had colorful, vibrant eyes, the answer’s clear, and so it is to Emet, but Vivi has no such knowledge, and can only assume things that make sense to him at the moment. He concludes that Emet merely insults his appearance (and he’s quick to conclude this, he even uses the word “wrong” before Emet does, maybe the pale color of his eyes is a personal insecurity), proving to Emet that he doesn’t remember anything about his past lives. Another disappointment. 

Even more disappointment follows as Vivi rags on Emet’s garlean appearance, his slightly racist missiles ricocheting at the nearby Thancred and Ryne lmao. TO BE COMPLETELY FAIR, in episode 45 Emet calls Vivi’s ears antennae.

Vivi gets mad at ascian, 26 dead, 135 injured, excluding the ascian. Vivi doesn't know what kinda shit to throw at Emet in order to hit where it hurts, while Emet has a rough idea how to get under Vivi’s skin. It’s the same stuff every incarnation, the sundered are mind-numbingly easy to predict. Emet gathers enough info from this encounter and retreats before Vivi does something even more stupid.

More under the cut~ 

You may have noticed that Vivi earned less style points in this banter than, let's say, in banter with Alisaie or Ardbert. He does feel uneasy and out of his depth. This encounter's supposed to invoke the feeling of disconnect, like something went slightly off kilter. And, lo and behold, keikaku doori, this’s precisely the impression Emet wants to make on Vivi. Make him wonder what's wrong. Make him hear, feel, think, or something.

When Vivi finally meets Y’shtola, he wants her expert opinion on the freshly developed spell of his. Thancred’s just sorta hanging around and flinging a casually mean comment at Vivi, but you’ve gotta interrogate it from this angle: why does he feel like being casually mean? Maybe there’s pent-up disappointment and frustration. Vivi doesn’t seem to take this too seriously, just waves him off.

But also. That line. “It doesn’t seem to do anything other than look pretty”. We know that Y’shtola’s the truther, albeit a harsh one, and she’s damn right here as well :’> Vivi shows no interest in taking initiative and leading everyone. Why’s he like this, the bearer of the most important title in the world. Why can’t he be more... Useful. Perhaps Y’shtola also wishes that their hero was more heroic, and vents that frustration in ways typical to her.

Just go back to episodes 37-38, how big and important that feels, how profound it’s for Vivi and Titania, and then someone who wasn't even there calls it A PARTY TRICK, and delivers it with this face:

Not counting Y’shtola’s solo “interview” in episode 12, this’s the first interaction we see of these two, and neither seems to enjoy it. I’ve gotta be upfront about my plans and the amount of screentime given to characters: there’s very little for Y’shtola, I’m just trying to mention that her and Vivi don’t mesh well at all, and move on.

I wrote another deep dive on this starry spell and what it meant to Vivi and Titania and why it worked when it technically shouldn’t have. It’s a good post I prommy, go read it.

He probably had this reaction locked and loaded. Or he has a particularly short fuse when it comes to dealing with certain Scions.

Someone on patreon whipped out an incredible analysis of this encounter. I can’t believe how blessed I am to have readers like this.

The adult Scions (Y’shtola, Urianger, Thancred) are displaying this tired toleration towards Vivi, once again hinting at the events of ARR-SB that I prefer to omit for the time being. They’re really just stuck together, trying their best to keep this garbage fire from completely blowing the place up.

Remember how I spoke about withholding Emet’s inner pov and thought bubbles until a later time? I did the same with Vivi at first, but by now we get more and more exposure to his inner workings. This’s deliberate. Several years ago, when I was just drafting the comic and the transition between ARR and ShB, I’d planned to dump a lot of Vivi’s angsty thoughts in order to quickly explain the state of affairs in ShB. It was gonna be his pov recap of the canon events that we skip in the comic (ARR-SB). Then I realized that it might be boring. I think you need to want to learn about the character. If you’re given answers before you have questions, that’s lecture, not entertainment. So I opted to give the reader relatively little info to work with, to drip feed it in order to create a better pace and a more natural understanding of Vivi’s character. I took my sweet time with this approach, but finally the reader’s primed for a closer look. The romance’s about to start romancing in earnest, it’s time. Back to the current moment, though, the events that are about to unfold are canon-divergent, the reader’s pov’s glued to Vivi’s as both are on the equal ground information-wise, no one knows what’s going on.

The Night’s Blessed are a famously silent people. What could possibly make them scream out in the open like this?

Tiny thing that tells us about Vivi as a hero: he overhears this convo, but doesn’t volunteer to go back and look for the missing husband, he’s more concerned with getting himself to safety under the shield.

Canon’s more gentle about it, wol overhears Y’shtola and Urianger talking about the Light corruption, but here our twink gets gratuitiously obliterated. I lovingly titled this episode “in which Vivi gets hit by a realization”, I mean, if we can turn his reality check into something physical and dramatic, why not. There had to be a sharp change in his perception of the First and his new role, as we’re building up to wolemet.

Crystarium: Exarch’s friend? welcome! Il Mheg: one of us!!! Rak’tika: not one of us...

The way Vivi currently feels about Rak’tika reflects his “warm friendship” with Y’shtola, he doesn’t have a good time anymore, it’s been left behind in Crystarium and Il Mheg and before Emet showed his ugly face. The colors and general tone have also shifted. Vivi’s initial impression of Norvrandt was rather pleasant and hopeful for his own, personal reasons.

What do we usually associate with rain? Calm, comfort, cleansing, nourishment, renewal. Following the overarching ShB theme of flipping things upside down, I’m introducing you to the concept of the light rain, literal death pouring from the blazing heavens. I was just wondering about the lack of weather until you progress the msq, does it mean that in-universe the weather’s always the same for an entire century? Or should we ignore it and assume that the weather and seasons still change? I chose the middle ground: the elements move slower since they’re overaspected with light, you never quite see the violent storms, hot summers or cold winters anymore, but the weather still changes, lowkey, sluggish, as if reluctant to happen. And on a particularly unfortunate day, as Thancred put it, man’s worst fears are made manifest. The water in the sky absorbs too much light. And, of course, with the wol-typical talent for being in all the wrong places at all the wrong times, Vivi gets to enjoy the worst possible weather condition right as he sets foot in Rak’tika.

Speaking of flipping things upside down, I’m pretty damn happy with these visuals as Vivi stays on the ground and indifferently looks up at the scared npcs that surround him. The status quo isn’t the same anymore. Things have changed. You don’t know shit actually. Wake up. LA HEE (sorry)

This also tells something about him. He doesn't swat the hand away or ignore it. He accepts it, whether because he likes and trusts Thancred, or something else, remains to be seen. He pities himself, he wants compassion and pity, and he gets at least one of those. If Y'shtola started some crazy shit (citation needed; at the moment Vivi thinks that she didn’t let him inside the shield because she hates him) and Thancred offered help, Vivi might as well make him work to undo the mess. “I'm the poorest, saddest guy in the world, took you long enough to notice and do something about it”. Maybe I’m too mean to my own guy, of course he just got hit by an equivalent of a moving truck, so even if he CAN walk, he deserves to get that piggyback ride.

Thancred literally holds him as he winds up to deliver the terrible news. He’s being very gentle and patient. This could be delivered with cold, professional indifference, but Thancred tiptoes around it and makes sure to leave room for doubt and, of course, hope. If only he was so gentle with Ryne and himself.

He’s lowkey the logistics guy in Vivi's life. He makes sure that Vivi doesn't completely fall apart and gets to the next quest marker, even if that requires physically dragging or carrying him. Happened at least twice on-screen already, Il Mheg and now here.

A lowkey acknowledgment that Vivi may have been delusional about this new world, that he doesn’t know much about it, yet decided to stay here when Feo Ul asked him if he wanted to.

The tree visually separates Vivi and Y’shtola. He took his sweet time between Il Mheg and Rak’tika, just arrived here, but he’d rather be anywhere else. Nothing about this feels right or comfortable. Now that the troubling, mildly put, news dropped on everyone’s head, things are ought to get even more fun. As I’ve already mentioned, this’s buildup for wolemet. Panic, uncertainty, despair, this isn't gonna fucking work, what do we do, do we still trust Exarch, no one trusts anyone, perfect chaos for Emet to enter the stage in earnest.

And so he enters the stage, but in a different place since he isn’t fond of getting dispersed by the concentrated Light that currently pours down on Rak’tika. Time to annoy the other guy.

LOOK AT HOW POLITE HE’S BEING. But also like, unhurried and neutral, taking in the atmosphere, gauging Exarch’s mood.

He’s being overdramatic just for the hell of it, mischaracterizing Exarch, or, perhaps, gaslighting him into having missed the ascian. Right? Unless...

Episode 69 has limited camera movement/angles not only to make it possible for me to draw such a massive episode in 2 weeks, but also to invoke the feeling of stillness. This convo happens in the middle of a who-knows-how-many-years-long stalemate.

Trying to recreate the nostalgic, long-lost pattern of refusing something and getting lovingly convinced, ASKED to do it, but Exarch doesn't play into it. 

“Why don’t you just do it the way I need. WHY DON’T YOU JUST ASK ME ONE MORE TIME. I’LL ACCEPT. JUST. ASK AGAIN. TCH!!!!!”

Their backstory in a nutshell: Emet randomly appears, devours all the sweets and snacks, calls Exarch a bitch, disappears for an unknown number of years again. It just so happens to resemble Azem's behavior back in the day, minus calling Emet a bitch maybe.

It makes no sense to me that Emet and Exarch had never met pre canon. Emet visited the First AT LEAST ~20 years ago during the Vauthry stuff, how would he miss/ignore the existence of THE Crystal Tower, HIS tower, and a massive city around it as well. So I gave these two a backstory. It’ll trickle in during 5.0, and after, when Emet’s gone, when Vivi and Exarch reminisce about him. They never shut up about him actually.

Episodes 69-70 stand out in many ways, it was a fun exercise to condense as much info and food for thought as possible while retaining the natural flow. Yes I told something about Emet and Exarch in the present by telling about the past azemet. Emet sees himself in this grumpy Exarch, and decides to be nicer to him. This’s the closest it ever gets to therapy for him.

Bearing in mind the foreknowledge that this’s a (somewhat closed) love triangle, that Emet gets to fuck Vivi first, and practically in front of Exarch, I think it'd hurt much more if Emet and Exarch's relationship was more than just enemies. Warmer, weirder. Not quite lovers, but- It's easier to recover from an enemy's betrayal. Let’s not make anything easy for them.

The colors in these episodes make the Ocular look like the temperature there is below zero. Exarch’s being moody. Emet never gets greeted with warmth anymore. His memory is perhaps the only warm place left in all of existence.

Did you notice that Hyth's smile drops? The smiler and bullshitter acts serious. He tries to protect Emet from Azem, to fix this relationship, or at least keep it from completely falling apart and destroying them all (sit tight, you’ll learn about it eventually) but he's not enough, he's never enough. I only hope that the visuals manage to convey it, but Hyth physically stands between the careless Azem and the distressed Emet in the other room. A gentle shadow trapped between two lights. And Emet’s trapped in the window and in the sunlight. He could walk away at any moment, from the light, from this relationship, or ask Azem to leave since he’s the one causing problems, but it’s Emet we’re talking about. Physically incapable of letting go. And... How many other people does he actually have that care about him, even if this care comes with a fine print?

Even this short convo should give you an idea of what kinda person Azem was. So immersed in his own life and job that he's blind to how much damage it does to his closest people. A guy so self-sufficient and independent that you wanna ask him "why are you even in a relationship". And one can’t really be mad at him, this’s just the way he is, a sun shining equally for everyone on this star. He laughs at Hyth’s genuine disappointment like “you know me and how I am, what else did you expect”.

Back in the present, the way Exarch “greets” him by remaining cold and silent makes Emet feel bad for his overlong absence, or, more likely, feel bad for his past self that was hurt by Azem in a similar situation. Projection or not, by being nicer with Exarch he tries to tend to his own old wounds.

This’s the kindness, the free info that Emet decides to give away in order to make it up to Exarch. “Will you keep the same composure when your hero grows a pair of blinding white wings? Or a dozen...” shows that currently he’s indifferent to Vivi's potential fate. “Yes, yes, of course he will...” mocks Exarch's blind faith. Just keep this in mind for when the thick plottens.

Exarch doesn’t need to explain anything to Emet. The act of taking off the hood means that his mood softened. He shows his face (remember what such thing means to the ancients) with zero fanfare, it doesn’t come off as novel or surprising to either party, indicating that this has already happened in the past. My reasoning’s quite simple, it comes from closely scrutinizing the canon.

“But it plainly concerns you. Which is why your heart is ready to burst out of your chest. Despite the raging tempest in your bosom, however, you have never once opened up to your young charge. Now why would that be? Love...?”

Aethersight, soulsight, Emet has every flavor, it seems. It only makes sense since he’s such a talented mage and a literal god of death. To perceive the dead you’ve also gotta be good at perceiving the living. So, this god of death comes to the First, finds the Crystal fucking Tower where it clearly isn’t supposed to be, goes on to investigate, meets the strange miqo’te that for some reason wears a hood and acts like he’s mystery personified, and he doesn’t beat around the bush, he helpfully points out that he can see his catboyism, if that’s the concern. But, since he’s so nice and polite (don’t underestimate your enemy, conquer him through kindness, that’ll get you much further than cruelty) he doesn’t spill Exarch’s secret to anyone. Yet, maybe? That’s an ace he tucks in his sleeve. Just between us, he never ends up using it, the emotional advantage this card gives him over Exarch is already enough while the card remains unused. I’ll show this in the comic a bit later.

Seeing the cat ears, however, doesn’t give Emet much to work with. I might be wrong here, but during the events of ARR Crystal Tower he was too busy dying from depression in the old Solus’s body (while ViviRaha frolicked around, smooched and blew things up in Mor Dhona), he could’ve as well stayed oblivious to what happened and who went to sleep in the Tower. I don’t know if this’s confirmed in canon, but even if not, this’s Fragments canon. So Exarch doesn’t tell him his real name, and Emet simply doesn’t know G’raha Tia. 

But oh, isn’t it nice to be seen properly, even by Emet-Selch. This face says “I missed you”, or at least “I’m glad to have someone with whom I can afford to drop my customer service sona and be a little bitch for a moment”.

It felt amazing to draw this panel knowing that it'll haunt people.

This kupo bit, the chuckle, the tiny moment of emotional relief for Exarch is still fully controlled by Emet. Emet chooses to share, to give him this laugh. And notice the tiny tilt of Emet’s head upwards in the third panel, I wanted to make it look like he sighs in exasperation at this hero.

Episodes 69-70 have been received so well, that Emet and Exarch are old good enemies is probably the biggest twist so far. I only started writing their relationship sometime in 2024 after getting obsessed with Emet and deciding that Fragments must have some wolemet as well. I had to choose the flavor of a love triangle, and I went for the one that’s not quite fully closed, these old men never kiss or anything, but the weirdness makes up for it. They don’t need sex, they’ve got something much more cosmic going on. I’d like to be transparent so that no one acts like they’ve been baited by the promise of exselch, of course people are free to ship them, but as far as the Fragments canon goes, this ship never sails, this’s just a lifebuoy tossed at Exarch that he opts to ignore.

This’s all I’ve got for now, thanks for reading till the end! If you’ve got more thoughts or observations, feel free to share, I’m always excited to chat about anything related to these guys.

[mi-spark]

pokemon center put the vulpix sitting cuties back in stock so i could finally reunite them <333

[starlight-eclipsed]

A place to rest.

[sonadowcentral]

I haven’t drawn them in a while so I made a new banner 💋

[geniemillies]

@tamlinweek day 2: dark spring

"and ance it fell upon a day a cauld day and a snell, when we were frae the hunting come, that frae my horse I fell, the queen o' fairies she caught me, in yon green hill do dwell."

SORRY IM LATE UHM... i think dark spring.. and think abt dark times with amarantha mhm mhm and i think mythology i thought of the ballad of tam lin more like folklore-and my first idea was TAPESTRY so i make... tapestry.. 🤲

[spookberry]

magical embodiment of sapphic homoerotic friendships gives you magical girl powers, what do you do?