#one-sided inkblade

[your-enby-antihero]

An Oracle and Her Shadow

Summary: A companion piece to Aelwyn Abernant Might Go Blue Dragon(born) Hunting from Oisin's point of view as he grapples with liking a girl but having maybe convituted feelings about her because of rage and obsession.

Also available on Ao3

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Sometimes you like the pretty elven girl from your History of Glyph class in freshman year. You like that her hair is the colour of gold, you like that when you see her smile (which is rare) she is like the golden light of day, she’s so smart and so intelligent and the best wizard probably ever and she’s so cool, her friends are so cool. 

Sometimes that like turns into a crush that Ivy teases you about for practically all the way through freshman and sophomore year. Little jabs that she sends your way, things like ‘you ever think an oracle would divine anyone as lame as you’. Ivy was- is your best friend and she could be relentless.

Sometimes you get a rage crystal buried into your chest by teachers that were one thousand percent manipulating you and that crush turns into an obsession. Like a dragon that covets treasures for its hoard, you want to be near her, to be the only one around her, to keep that golden light all to yourself. When she smiled at you and said you were great at that party at the beginning of the year and somehow that obsession doubled because maybe she liked you back and you could make her so happy, so so happy. Happier than any of her friends or her sister or her family, happier than anyone.

Sometimes you get maybe a little too into when she’s competent, like when you see her sitting at a desk aceing the Last Standard Exam while also turning missed attacks into hits and summoning gigantic magic hands to punch purple worms or when you see her shoot one of your ancestors out of the sky and then proceed to punch one dead. Yeah maybe you shouldn’t have wanted to lick your lips when you saw the blood spray across her face or bite the inside of your cheek to calm the roaring obsession in the lunch room so all you can get out is a sorry. Sorry that you looked at her and thought about her joining you in the final battle filled with rage, oh how beautiful she’d be bursting with rage. Yeah, maybe that’s too far. Reel it back in Hakinvar, you might be obsessed with the girl but you don’t want to be a creep about it. Come on, pull yourself together. 

You feel vitriolic hate for her party because, in the final battle, you have spent so much time planning for, the girl that consumes every waking thought that you’ve had for the past like year, isn’t the one to kill you. Maybe you wanted her beautiful blue eyes to stare at you with hatred. To feel her battle weary hands plunge that sword into the cold gaping wound in your chest. To look at you at all you, to feel the warmth of her gaze on you and only you, no matter if it’s love or adoration or hate or spite or just anything that isn’t ‘I have never taken a class with you’ or ‘yeah Thursday mornings were rough for me’. Just anything that says I’ve seen you before, I know you. 

Well, you were revived and not immediately expelled for Aguefort in some divine miracle done by the new student body president Kristen Applebess. You feel really fucking embaressed at most of the thoughts that still linger in your head about her. Because despite you being completely normal instead of being in a heightened rage-fuelled, base emotion-driven place at the time, even though you're back to normal you maybe still want her to maybe step on you with her incredibly scuffed boots. Is it so wrong that your face goes purple when she says that you are a piece of shit? Oisin didn’t think so. 

So when he was mandated to take remedial lessons by Arthur Aguefort to pass Junior year, after his group succeeded the Last Stand, he didn’t make a fuss, not like Kipperlilly anyway. Was it even better than Kristen Applebees suggested that The Bad Kids tutor The Rat Grinders and out of all The Bad Kids who could have and did refuse (of course Riz had been hesitant to partner up with a girl who wanted his life was reasonable, even Oisin could see that) the radiant Elven Oracle had said to meet at her house on Wednesdays in the afternoon, side quests permitting, to say he was over the moon was an understatement.

He had made sure to bring his best spell ink and the most expensive paper he had to the first tutoring session. As he walked up to the creepy haunted mansion that his oracle resided in he straightened his shoulders and knocked on the door. 

The sounds of crashing and shouts, the sound of teasing and jeering but with no undertone of venom (not like how Ivy and Kipperlilly teased and mocked each other). Adaine opened the door, radiant as ever.

“Glad you could make it, follow me,” she offered, leading him up the tall stairs to a wizard's tower, with bunk beds.

As he took stock of the room, the many papers and books scattered about, drawings and doodles and a massive pile of scrolls. The last thing he noticed on the ground, painted in dark ink, were runes. A massive spell circle with unknown rune work that set Oisin’s tail on guard. Adaine was wonderfully gracious with her knowledge and her time, teaching him about ranges of spells and the optimal ways to be out of counterspell range to best support the party. He listened with wrapped fascination, so aware of how she moved her hands like she was doing somatic components of a spell as she explained. Eventually, he got her talking about the creation of her own spells, how she had modified the incantation for conjure minor elementals to give the Dry Guys more vibrancy. He was surprised that the elementals that she conjured were the ones with the podcast. The window they had set for this session was rapidly reaching its end but as he observed Adaine he saw that she was wrapped up in correcting some of the glyphs on his spell work, clearly not paying attention to time. ‘It's perfect’ he thought to himself as he soaked in her presence as much as he could. When she finally realized they had gone long she had sheepishly apologized and sent him on his way.

“I hope this was helpful,” she supplied as she led him to the door, “Adventuring is hard but if you learn to trust your party I think you’ll get through the Last Stand just fine. See you next week.”

Oisin smiled back, his heart was ablaze, he’d see her next week for sure and maybe if he played his questions at the right times and let her get lost in glyphs and scrolls he could be by her side for just a bit longer. 

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Oisin was annoyed, very annoyed. He had been making so much progress, not only in his tutoring but also in getting closer to Adaine. At first, she seemed a bit on edge, tip-toeing around him with her words. Every detail about The Bad Kids was omitted from the conversation and nothing drifted from the spellwork in front of them. He had managed to get the session to run about 30 minutes longer, as Adaine became more comfortable she would veer off on tangents allowing for Oisin to stay by her for just a while longer. In fact, she had actually opened up to him a bit, forgiven him for his actions.

“I’m so so sorry Adaine, that rage crystal really just heightens everything. The rage was just so all-consuming. I can’t make up for trying to kill your friends or end the world but I can apologize for how I treated you.”

She had placed a reassuring hand on his, “I get it Oisin, you guys were manipulated. You were children being coerced by grown adults. I forgive you.”

But here was the problem, well the problem was actually named Aelwyn Abernant. She had taken to interrupting his time with his oracle. The annoying elven woman had started crashing their tutoring sessions. Even if she wasn’t there Adaine would suddenly get a text and turn to Oisin saying that she had to step out for a moment. He also was unable to drag out his sessions because Aelwyn had a killer sense of time.

“Oh Adaine, I believe that all the time you set for tutoring today.”

“We wouldn’t want to keep him late now would we.”

“I’m sure what you’re learning is riveting but I ask that you wrap it up, some of us have jobs.”

That lingering feeling in his chest screamed, maybe a side effect of the rage crystal, he wanted to sink a claw into Aelwyn’s throat to keep her from interrupting, to cast a permanent silence spell on her so that he would never have to hear her voice again. He wasn’t afraid of her, not in the slightest.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

 Oisin was so afraid of Aelwyn Abernant. Maybe he would ask Adaine if she could meet at a different location because the woman may have wanted him dead. ‘Not a good look Oisin not when you want to date her sister’ he thought to himself as he walked home from potentially the most threatening interaction he has ever had, ‘Gods she was literally arrested and sent to federal prison in her home country. She was extradited and she will use that nemesis ward on me even if I’m not even doing anything at all.’ He had seen the power flow through her eyes and travel to the ward, abjuration wizards were freaky. Maybe he should call Adaine and ask if they could meet at his house not just because seeing her in his hoard sated a deep part of his brain that he so desperately wanted to suppress but also so he could get out of the gaze of a very protective older sister.

[calciumcryptid]

Wow, Dimension 20 really told InkBlade shippers we were focused on the wrong reptilian the whole time.

[hidingfromsav]

Sav. Sav, I don't feel good. (inkblade headcanons will cure me, please. I am not above begging)

if it is inkblade headcanons you want, then inkblade headcanons you shall get!!! no begging necessary!! ✍️

- since aelwyn was working for klck and knew about oisin, i'd like to imagine he asked so many questions about adaine under the guise of 'getting to know the enemy' and failed terribly at being subtle about it which is why aelwyn was teasing adaine in episode 11 asking if there was anyone cute in her life 🤭 (a sister's intuition dare i say)

- 100% was mesmerized when adaine one shot punched that dragon in episode 18. could that've been a distant cousin? maybe, but who cares because that was incredible and she's incredible and oh shit-right the name gotta get the name-

- was definitely playfully teased by his party in earlier years about his little crush on the elven oracle, imagine a young oisin trying to work up the courage to talk to adaine in class 😭 so much buildup just for him to ask for a pencil, but he's so proud of himself and hey, next time will be the one where he finally introduces himself properly, right?

- the banter, the banter, the banter!!! i think it's safe to say that ivy and oisin are the 'mean/gossip girls' of TRGs, (their separate text chain is so funny to me) but also as we've seen, adaine can also dish out insults like nobody's business so i imagine that their banter with one another goes crazy, the most creative jabs thrown back and forth they can't help but be impressed with one another before they remember that they're on opposing sides and snap out of it :')

- kinda piggybacking off of that last one, adaine can speak draconic so imagine oisin saying something in draconic to/in front of her, not expecting her to know what he's saying and being completely fucking flabbergasted when she starts speaking draconic back to him, like oh i'm sorry what did you say? was that an insult or a compliment? meanwhile he's standing there bug-eyed because wtf just happened: (i've been calling her cute in draconic for weeks and she knew the whole time???????)

(i also lowkey live for the idea of them talking shit together in draconic like..i love the messiness of it all so much)

this is my first time doing something like this so i hope you liked them anon!!! (i let my delulu take over for this one) i have quite a few little hopes and dreams for inkblade that are outside of the main story timeline as well :) although things look..grim for TRGs atm, i'm curious to see if they'll stay down or if they'll have more interactions with TBKs..i guess we'll see on wednesday ! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[splattales]

[This plotpost was created to elaborate upon splattales’ cross-blog relationship with @octowussabi . It strays far into blog-canon in contrast to game-canon.]

“Pansy, I’m not going to let you brush me off anymore,” Brine demands, folding his arms. He’d come to visit the ex-detective with a clear goal in mind. “I need to know what happened between you and Octavio. The tension between you and Dr. Takowasa may have completely blown over, but I’m not going to let you forget that you said you’d tell me.”

“Hm? I’d forgotten all about that. Busy with all the adoptin’ and datin’ and bein’ squidnapped,” the firefly squid retorts, staring up at the ceiling.

“You’re trying to change the subject again! I won’t stand for it!”

“Then sit for it,” Pansy shrugs, pulling out a chair for him. “It’s going to be a long talk.”

Brine obediently sits down, trying to hold a stern expression. Was she really going to tell him?? … It takes her awhile to sit down too, as she busies herself by making them both a cup of tea, postponing the inevitable.

“So, me n’ Sabi, right? How much d’you know about the guy?” she begins.

“You brought him to live on the surface, and ... well, your boss didn’t like that, and that’s why you were fired. I get the impression you saved his life?”

“Close,” Pansy takes a sip of her tea. “Let me be plain – Sabi is a clone of Octavio.”

“He’s what? So he’s – he’s royalty?”

“I guess, yeah. Point is, Sabi wasn’t the only clone. He was one of the closest attempts to a success, physically, but … well, he didn’t make the cut. Personality’s so meek he was deemed unfit to rule, and he was starting to panic more often. So they were gonna kill him.”

“Wh- bh- why would they need a clone to rule anyway?”

“Oh right, you wouldn’t know– so, Octavio doesn’t have an heir. No partner.  Tentacut kids are a thing Underground, but Tavi wanted to go one step further – he wanted an exact clone of himself. No Octotroopers, it had t’ be an Octoling, and a copy right down to the memories. Senile and a bit of a narcissist; convinced he’s the best ruler they’ve ever had, might as well always be."

“Wait, go back, you said memories?”

“Shared memories. Ones that were put in their heads. It’s like … Sabi’s whole childhood is built on the emperor’s past, so he kinda thought he was him back when I helped him escape. I don’t know the sciencey details, but I think it’s got something to do with memcakes. Like, lots of ‘em. Memcake-only-diet. Removing any real ones. Messed up, and very illegal.”

“So this clone project must be the case you were looking into back then. … Without permission. Not that I blame you, but – anyway, so that’s why you’re mad at Octavio?” Brine tilts his head quizzically. It seemed fair enough to be angry on those grounds, but it felt like something was missing. “No, wait… you said something at the canteen about him trying to kill you?”

“Yeah. Both of us. And not just splat us. Tavi wasn’t happy I tried to crash his party, so to speak, and went full-on murder-mode. I have proof,” she raises her trouser leg to reveal a scar – a remnant of a deep gash sliced by an inkblade. “Runs across both my legs. Don’t bring a splatling to a swordfight, heheh. It sounds like you’d have the high ground, but that old codger was surprisingly nimble.”

“…why the legs?”

“He’s a showman at his core. Wanted me to kneel first,” Pansy stares ahead for a moment, eyes unfocused, before hopping right back into it. “But hey, if he hadn’t, I might not be here. Left an openin’ for Sabi to shove him off the platform we were on. I’m still proud of him for doin’ that, he’s never shown such reckless bravery since.”

“Oh. Um. Sorry. I think I understand the whole story now. A whole lot went down. But at least you ended the project and everything is alright now—”

Pansy laughs emptily.

“I lost my job, fry.”

“Wait, so – Octavio–”

“Could very well still be makin’ clones, yeah. I’d like to think I interrupted his work enough for him to rethink it, but there’s no way for me to be sure. Spent the next three years gettin’ drunk in Deepsea.”

“But – but what about now?”

“I don’t know. Sabi’s started to check stuff, but a government conspiracy is good at covering its tracks. Haven’t even found out if the current Emperor is the same guy, or if he died an’ the project was a success. I’m sure you can understand me hesitatin’, but… if something came up, if there were leads…” she sighs, draining her cup. “Nah, I just don’t know. It’s been ten--eleven years. I’ve let it be. Wouldn’t know what to do, got no endgoal. Can’t imprison Octavio, especially if I find out he’s dead. ‘Sides, I saved the one guy, and you can’t save everyone.”

“Well… thank you for telling me, Pansy.”