#but i love them all the same

[noonaracha]

STRAY KIDS X BE ORIGINAL 2023

[thewhizzyhead]

oki but like merging "Cool As I Think I Am" and "If I Loved You" in the reprise is like fucking genius tbh like I am genuinely impressed by how both of the arcs explored in both songs were summed up neatly in the reprise in a sense that Pete finds his solid sense of identity and a big reason for that is Steph loving him despite not readily admitting it LIKE "If I really really did love you, you'd have to say-" "I know." ESPECIALLY WITH THE MAIN MESSAGE OF "IF I LOVED YOU" BEING THAT OF THE TWO DENYING THEIR FEELINGS FOR ONE ANOTHER BECAUSE THEY'D MAKE IT SUPER DAMN CLEAR TO THE OTHER IF THEY DID HAVE THEM SO WITH PETE SAYING THAT HE KNOWS AND WITH HIM LETTING STEPH KNOW HE DOES LOVE HER BACK BY BEING WILLING TO TAKE THE BULLET FOR HER LIKE FJSJDJAFJSJD

[foxqueen-katarian]

Water Genasi who keeps ornamental fish in their ‘hair’ as pets.

Water Genasi whose hair turns into icicles when they’re angry.

Water Genasi whose hair acts like a mood ring.

[kepesktribe]

What kind of relationship did they have with their parents? (For Florentel and Janlenoux!)

So I am going to do Jan first followed by Florentel because I am going to give a short little fic of Ren as a child at the end under a cut. Honestly though, Jan's was a toss up and Ren's is pretty good. Thanks for the ask @morganaux this ended up longer than expected too lol.

Janlenoux respected his mother to a point, but she didn't really pay that much attention to him, focusing more on his younger siblings. She did however inadvertantly cause his love of cooking. While trying to make him productive when he was too young to start training and she didnt have the time for him with his baby siblings care, she had passively sent him to help the staff... to which they set him to work in the kitchens. Since then he had always found time to help during meal prep and cooking. Looking up to his father more than anything as a respectful knight, his father 'doted' on him the most compared to his siblings when he was home in the form of extra training and even helping in the introduction of meeting a young adelphel by way of talking to the younger's own father... a beneficial agreement for both families as a means of sparring partners to push them to achieve greater heights in training. The fact they clicked together as fast friends made it all the better, and were always happy to be placed together as knights in the future. So all in all, Jan looks up to his family and is thankful to them... even if he can no longer go and see them since he is technically dead in Ishgard.

Florentel is not only the youngest, but also pretty much died at birth. He is a miracle baby... and thus his parents, and elder brothers, spoiled him to no end. He was a good boy that listened too. So honestly, the only time he ever had a real fight with his parents was over going to the scholasticate. He absolutely refused to. It would have done him wonders, considering he had a knack for controlling aether and would have made a great priest or deacon. However, all Ren wanted was to be a knight. Like his father. Like the people he admired. Which in turn was not good for his poor health then. He pushed through it all though, even if he fell sick constantly. Ren also did it to spite his father into not letting him go to balls (for he would rather dance with a man than any of those eye fluttering women that often was paired to danced with him). Of course once his family learned of his preference, they didn't force it anymore. So other than those two times, he got along with his parents wonderfully. He loves them dearly and visits home all the time. Got to make sure his father's grave has fresh flowers after all.

~ Now time for the little fic. (Okay I put two) ~

"RAWR! I am a mighty dragon, here to shatter your pitiful stone homes!" A young Dacien mimicked as he reared up on his knees. From a few feet away, standing on one of the couches of their home, was an even smaller Florentel as he brandished a light wooden sword and shield. "Not if I have a say! I shall defend my home and those around me." Carefully stepping off the couch, Ren advanced towards Dacien. A light mock battle played out until Dacien swatted away the sword and wrapped his brother in his arms in a hug. "Ha! Foolish knight! I have you now." Dacien snapped his teeth in a threat of a bite before he stated to tickle his brother's sides. At the mercy of the 'dragon' Ren could only double over in laughter, wheezing after a few moments.

"Alright, that is enough. I thought the knight was suppose to win?"

From another room, a man walked in with wax and wrinkles all over his face. A tired but warm expression plastered in his features. Beside him little Nolanel also was covered in the rapidly or already dried mess of what they had been doing. "Not fair! I was to join in the next time you two played Knights and Dragons!" The eldest glared at his brothers, but seeing the smile on Florentel's face was enough to have any sulking stopped before it began. He turned a sheepish smile towards his brothers instead.

A small laugh greeted the four as Camille stood up from her place by the fire, the fragile woman walking over to her husband and taking his hand. Her eyes drifted over each one of them and she shook her head. "Nolanel, you can play with your brother after lunch while Dacien takes his turn in the candle room. Does that wound fair?" A happy chorus of agreement sounded, save for Dacien who looked none to happy about working after lunch, and she turned to her husband. "And you! You made a fine mess of our boy and yourself. I want the two... no four of you off to the baths before luncheon is served." Alderrique Valerient chuckled before bending down to kiss his wife. "Yes dear." Satisfied, Camille smiled and stepped back, waving her arms in a shooing motion. "Well get at it."

Nolanel was the first to act, racing over to Ren. "I call dibs!" Kneeling down, Nolanel waited as his brother climbed onto his back, not at all passing up the chance at a choco ride. Ren laughed as Nolanel struggled to his feet but then easily shot off to the bathroom with his brother. Grudgingly Dacien followed with their father not far behind.

"Honestly, what am I going to do with the lot of them." Camille laughed before heading towards the kitchen to help with luncheon.

♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧ Second fic ♤♡◇♧♤♡◇♧

Nolanel smiled at his father, pretending to listen to Alderrique as he explained the importance of keeping everything well documented for a successful business. It was not Nolanel's favorite subject, but it was the best way to keep his father's attention at this moment. Although the subject seems to captivate little Florentel's attention, Nolanel doubted his little brother even understood a word being said with how young he was. At least it kept Ren from reacting to what else was going on in the room. Across the table, Camille let out a sigh. "Dear, you know the rule about business at the table." An eyebrow raised on her calm features but she simply lifted her cup of tea to her lips and took a sip. Alderrigue frowned at his wife. "Ah, but it is so rare for him to be interested in anything other than candles." He replied to her, just barely keeping a whine from his voice. His reasoning was short lived as Dacien gave a secret wink to his twin. With a relieved, silent sigh Nolanel smiled all the brighter. "We can always continue another time father." Giving up, Alderrique reached out and took his own cup of tea. A moment later and the head of house was spitting it all back out in a fit of coughs. "Who put salt in here!" Much to his annoyance, the twins burst into laughter as camille smothered a smile behind another sip. It didn't go unnoticed. Alderrique narrowed his eyes at his wife. "Pray tell why you didn't stop them?" Innocently she gave a shrug and a beaming smile. "I only assumed they wanted to sweeten it with sugar. Why, they do it all the time with my own." As sweet as her words were, there was no doubt she knew better and Alderrique didn't believe a word she said. After a second, it was confirmed as she started to giggle. "You really thought he would be interested in paperwork?" Alderrique just sighed again, pushing his morning tea aside.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The math just adds up!

[ohnonotthehorrors]

I missed the beginning of the event so I’ve only now gone back to watch Martyn’s intro and…

I love that Martyn has like A Job; he’s doing tech and set up stuff, he’s reading the donos like a champ. Still a non-hermit hermit-friend but with Work Experience. Like someone was like ‘oh we need a dono reader,’ remembered Martyn has done it, and reached out.

Meanwhile. Jimmy is Just There.

It makes perfect sense! Don’t get me wrong! Once Grian and Martyn are in the same location there’s like a 99% chance he’ll be there too. Not to mention Ranchers, old Evo friends, and just the life series in general-

But it is incredibly funny cause it’s like:

The Hermits, their IT guy, and also Jimmy.

Who is Jimmy you ask? He’s Jimmy. What’s he doing? Being Jimmy. Next question.

[jamiethebeeart]

Lineart by @ovytia-art which was such a blast to color - I love the entire vibe of all of them hanging out together so much @green-with-envy-phandom-event

[0m3n-0f-d3ath]

Sock eye salmon

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

[beybuniki]

nosy

[dykepaldi]

homestuck was so perfect for autistic teenagers bc it took characters being sorted into categories and having Attributes to its absolute extreme. forget four hogwarts houses, every character has their associated colour their zodiac sign their associated animal their dream planet their god tier class and aspect their typing quirk their pesterchum handle their weapon their planet of x and y, as well as each of them having a handful of other very quantifiable Personality Traits and Interests (e.g. this one is a clown this one is angry this one likes fashion this one is just rufio from hook for some reason) and THEN they all also have their respective ancestors and dancestors(?)(plucked that word from my memory) who have all of those things as WELL

and god not to mention the fucking quadrant system

as a 13-15 year old autistic kid i didnt even need homestuck to have a plot i just happily made a big big spreadsheet of character attributes in my brain

[obsob]

once more around the sun!! :3

[cemeterything]

[dekariosclan]

Imagine Gale as a talented and impressive young man, able to compose the Weave at will, skilled in a way that few can match, and favored by the Goddess of Magic herself. Imagine that because of these accomplishments, he’s caught the eye of a few up-and-coming magic adepts, and he falls in love with one of them—his first real love. Gale isn’t one to toss the ‘L’ word around lightly, so when he tells them he loves them, he means it; he gives himself over to them completely.

And in return, they love him for his potential. For his status. For the magic he can command. They love the wizard they see on the surface, but not the man underneath. They are attracted to his power, but not to him.

So of course the relationship fails, after the thrill of his magic wears off. But because Gale is a resilient young man and he’s caught the eye of so many, he soon falls in love with another.

And then it happens again. And again.

And each time Gale’s heart is ravaged, his ambition to become a better wizard grows, because he’s being shown time and time again that his magic ability is all that matters.

So much so that, by the time Mystra decides to elevate him from Favored to Chosen to Lover, he welcomes her with eager, desperate arms. Because if all his worth is in his magic, and that’s all he has to offer, and that’s all anyone wants from him, who better to love him than the Goddess of Magic herself?

Except…there’s a nagging voice in the back of his head that whispers she doesn’t really love him. There’s anxiety in his heart as time passes, and he reaches both the limit of what his talents can do and what Mystra will allow him to do. And most troubling of all: a growing panic that, just like his other lovers, she will soon grow tired of him and discard him if he can’t improve his magic any further.

He tries pouting, and pleading, and begging her to let him take more power, to let him be more for her, but she refuses. Smiles patronizingly. Tells him to be patient. But Gale can’t be patient when his power is tied so closely to his self-worth; he can’t be patient when doing so in the past has only ever lead to heartache.

So he does what he believes will be a Grand Romantic Gesture, one that will finally put him on equal footing with the woman he loves. Instead, it turns out to be a folly that dooms him and destroys his talents. And just as he’d always feared, Mystra tosses him aside the moment his magical gifts are gone—because what’s left of him holds no value for her.

————

Imagine Gale in his tower, alone, afraid, the ever-hungry orb in his chest, with only his tressym there to help him. No other friends to speak of. His colleagues forced to keep away for their own safety. His magical talents utterly stripped down, so that even when he does try and distract himself with illusions, he’s bitterly reminded of what he used to be capable of. Waking every morning wondering if it will be his last, ending every day full of loneliness and disappointment.

…and then he meets Tav.

At the lowest point in his life, at his most vulnerable, when he knows he’s going to be considered a burden, he meets this stranger and their group. So he does what he can to be useful—assigning himself to be camp cook, offering up his (now meager) magic skills, turning the charm up to 11—as he desperately hopes this will somehow work out. He’s pleasantly surprised when, after providing only minor details of his condition, Tav agrees to help him. He’s even more surprised when they actually follow through.

Imagine how Gale feels as Tav treats him kindly. As he grows to trust Tav, and then grows to like them. Imagine his surprise as he opens up and shows them more and more of himself, and they don’t turn him away.

But then his condition worsens. And he has to reveal everything: the foolish mistakes he’s made, and how dangerous he is as a result. He clings to Tav’s hand as he shows them his folly. He’s at their mercy now, and he knows this might be the last time he’ll ever feel the touch of another being, if they decide—and Gods, why wouldn’t they decide?—to cast him out.

…but they don’t. They don’t. Instead, they tell him to stay.

Imagine the relief Gale feels. The gratitude. And perhaps…just a hint of something more. Something that he dare not name, but that flares to life every time he thinks of how warm their hand was in his. Something that feels dangerously close to jealousy, when he’s had too much to drink and sees Tav smiling at another…

But he knows these are all foolish thoughts, because he has nothing to offer Tav. They are wonderful just as they are, but he…he is an empty shell of a man, a discarded husk of a wizard, and while they might tolerate him, he could never believe they might actually want him.

And besides, he still thinks of Mystra. He still longs for Mystra. She who cast him out, but to whom he still feels tethered. Sometimes he needs to cocoon himself in the weave, just to try and calm his fears and bring some joy back to his life, because magic is his life. And sometimes he just needs to see her face, even though that hurts as much as it heals.

One night he’s lost in thought, having conjured Mysta’s image after settling down at camp. Thinking that even if she hadn’t ‘loved’ him—certainly not in the way he’d loved her—she’d given him enough otherwise, hadn’t she? She’d amused him and been amused by him, they’d shared countless pleasures, why hadn’t he been satisfied with that?

Gale is so lost in thought he doesn’t realize Tav has come up behind him. Until they ask a question, startling him out of his trance. He’s a bit shaken, so he tries to turn the conversation from Mystra to the weave itself. And then a wonderful idea occurs to him, something that he’d been toying with already: what if they were to conjure the weave together?

He can show Tav how important magic is to him, let them experience what he does, perhaps even impress them a bit. But most importantly, share a moment with them. As friends would do…

He’s elated when Tav agrees. He leads them through the steps effortlessly, and they’re a surprisingly good student, following his instructions correctly (if a bit clumsily). He’s as excited as they are—perhaps even more so!—when they succeed in channeling the weave.

It’s such a pleasant, familiar feeling for him, like coming home to his tower in Waterdeep. Even as the weave connects him with Tav and makes them one, he’s easily able to hide his innermost thoughts, because he’s done it so many times before.

…but he’s forgotten that Tav has not.

————

Imagine Gale knowing every romantic partner he ever had only wanted him because of how he could raise their status, or how he could amuse them, or how he could command magic for them. And, each time, he was happy to oblige them, even desperate to oblige them, because if that was the price of their love, then he was sure it would be worth it.

But it still all came to nothing.

Now imagine Gale connected in an intimate way with someone he likes very, very much—while being what he considers his lowest, most worthless, and most humbled self. As far from the powerful, impressive wizard he once was as he could ever be. And suddenly a vision enters his mind from the lovely creature standing next to him. Only, to his complete and utter shock, it isn’t one where he is providing them with a service, or wowing them with his magical ability, or granting them some kind of power from one of the spells he commands.

Instead, when he sees their desire laid bare before him, it’s a vision of kissing him. Of holding his hand. The two most basic forms of affection and physical connection. The two things that he would still be able to offer them even if every last ounce of his remaining magical abilities were stripped from him. The two things he could share with them even if he was no longer Gale of Waterdeep, and just plain old Gale Dekarios instead.

Imagine the embarrassment and trepidation he feels at first, because surely he is mistaken?…and then the elation when he realizes that he is not. So much elation that his concentration is broken, the weave dissipating as he forgets about channeling it, as he forgets about Mystra. Because all that matters to him now is the image before him—the most pleasant and welcome image he’s seen in a very, very long time.

Imagine how that would feel…and how besotted, enamored and completely devoted he’d be to Tav afterwards. To know that someone finally—finally—just wants him.

Just imagine.