Thinking tonight about Caelus, and the nature of his loss and his grief after the Everything that went down in Penacony during 2.0.
Because Acheron, Black Swan, and Misha kind of knew of Firefly, they at least met her, but they didn't like really know her, and Caelus never even got the chance to introduce her to the rest of the Astral Express Crew. The only person who would have talked to her much was Sparkle, who is. Probably not really someone Caelus is interested in grieving with skznmsks
Anyway, all this to say, I like thinking about how alone poor Caelus is in his grief, because he was the only one who knew Firefly. He's the only one really mourning her. There's no one to talk about her with. There's no stories to trade or memories to reminisce with anyone over. It's not as though he knew her for long, but still. No one else knew her at all.
And I love the thought of all of this coming bubbling up, hot and acidic and bitter, during a conversation with Sampo, who Caelus just so happens to run into in the Golden Hour. Poor Sampo is kinda blindsided, he knew shit was going down in Penacony, but yeesh. And he just. Isn't quite sure what to say about it all, because he's never really encountered this before. His feelings about the Masked Fools are...a mixed bag, but he's been a part of them for a very long time, and when you're with a close organization like that, it's hard to feel alone, in grief or otherwise.
So Sampo sits there on their little bench that the two of them have occupied, and he thinks of his old friend April, how she'd died in his arms cackling and spitting her own blood after a heist gone wrong, and how after he'd dragged himself back to the World's End Tavern they'd all held a Fool's Funeral- which is basically just a big party where everyone gets really really drunk and reminisces and toasts the dead and celebrates their life.
He still thinks about her a lot, and he remembers how the time he'd most keenly felt her absence was on Jarilo-VI, the one place where he couldn't talk about her because he couldn't say anything to give himself away as an alien. The Fools still tell stories about her every time he goes back to the Tavern. His first toast of the night is always in her name. Even now, all these years after she'd died, Sampo is still learning new things about her. He's never had to grieve her alone.
Caelus doesn't have any of that.
He might never have that. As they speak, Caelus has no proof that Firefly was even her real name, or if she dreamt with her true appearance. He might not ever find out who she even was.
And just imagining that kind of loneliness hollows out a strange little pit, right behind his sternum, deep between his ribs.
So Sampo claps Caelus' shoulder and offers him a deal. Come find him outside of the dream. He knows a guy who can get them a lot of beer for really cheap-
("Is that guy you and your five finger discounts?" "Whatever do you mean, dear friend, I don't even know the meaning of the phrase, hehee.")
-and they can hole up in a bar or a hotel room or something, and get completely shitcanned. Tell him all about Firefly, tell him everything, and he'll tell Caelus about April and everyone else he's ever lost. Sampo will carry Caelus' memories of Firefly with him, and at least this way, Caelus will be a little less alone in remembering her. And the next time they cross paths, Sampo will be the one to bring her up, and to tell her stories, and Caelus can get to be the one listening. He won't have to be the only person to talk about her anymore.
Caelus rolls his eyes when Sampo avoids another remark about sticky fingers, but...ok, yeah. That sounds good. Nice, even. Thank you. Caelus bumps his shoulder against Sampo's. Sampo bumps back.
(They find each other again the next day, and true to their word, get themselves completely and utterly shitcanned. Caelus talks more than Sampo has ever heard him; every minute detail, every word choice, Firefly's every odd little mannerism and habit. Because Caelus wants to make sure this will outlive him, that even if the Stellaron dwelling within him finally burns him to a crisp and he really does up and kick the bucket, or even, godforbid, if he forgets, he wants to make sure someone remembers her. She deserved that.)
((And it takes quite a while, after that. Caelus doesn't see Sampo again until after everything has settled down. On his last day in Penacony, he finds the guy slinking out of a seedy back alley and all but runs right into him. Sampo happily leads him to some dive bar in an even seedier back alley that Caelus has never even heard of, and Sampo raises his glass. "To Firefly! Who sounds like she probably would have hated me at first, but I would have liked to have met her anyway."
And Caelus stares at him, almost looking startled, long enough that Sampo worries that he's read him wrong and brought this up too soon. He's halfway into planning how to talk himself out of this situation when Caelus finally throws back his head back and laughs, tells him that yeah, Firefly would have politely called him out on every lie he told, and all their conversations would take twice as long with the way Sampo is so full of shit.
And he can see it, the same way he watches and sees through everyone, that Caelus' eyes have a tightness to them, his knuckles are nearly white around the handle of his mug. But he smiles. He hits his glass against Sampo's far too hard and throws it back and gets foam everywhere like he does every time they drink because the guy's about as elegant as a raging bull, but those things don't lessen the genuineness of his smile.
The grief is there, but so is the elation, and those emotions aren't a sliding scale between one or the other. It is all of both and both at once, and that's what contents Sampo enough to throw his own mug back when Caelus makes a toast of his own, "to April!!".))
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Targent Elite Emmeline Altava!
So I was thinking about where I’d want to slot Emmy into the Layton bros au because I wasn’t entirely keen on just having her being a spy for Targent hanging around both Des and Hershel because:
A) Des is an extreme loner when it comes to cases he wouldn’t enjoy the constant company nor would he hire someone off the street regardless of how much they tried to assert themselves
B) Hershel isn’t an archeologist so it’s not like they’d be getting any cool Azran hot tips right off the press
And while I don’t put it past Bronev to send a spy out purely for personal reasons, overall Emmy’s purpose I felt was better allocated elsewhere to make things more interesting.
Since Descole is no longer the main antagonist through the prequels I pushed Targent to the front to being the main conflict, but still felt as if I wanted a constant face for both Hersh and Des (and Luke) to constantly run into during their adventures. I considered Rachel (because she is alive in this au) and Leon both being that face for Targent, but decided against it when I realized I could have Emmy fill that antagonistic role instead.
It’s a bit of an interesting little trade off because while you get less Emmy content in the prequels due to her villain status, I’d want to give her a redemption arc and have her be with the main gang for AL and then be around for the og trilogy.
Personality wise she's definitely still Emmy, everything she does just has a sinister edge to it. You don't wanna be on the other end of her wrath because you'll be scrambling away with more than just a broken nose.
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I've heard that artists often call the characters they invented their "children", it turns out that Henry is in some sense your father, as your creator. So, do you have any family photos? Can you show them? Which one is your favorite? And I'm sorry if the question could be repeated
Yup! Here's my favorite one! This was taken years ago, but every now and then I like ta look at this picture and remember the fun times we had. We took this a month or so after we left the studio and got settled into Henry's place. I remember we were goin' out ta eat a restaurant. The food was pretty good! I still go there to this day. I guess there's nothin' too special about this photo, but I still like it.
Even after the horrible stuff that's happened, we ended up together and happy. After the ★#!& I did, and even what I was still goin' through, we still stuck together even 'til this day. I like to look at this photo and think ta myself, "Bendy, yer alright. Yer family still loves ya even with that power of yers. Don't forget that." I'm much better off now but this reminds me of how much I've grown with my power. Heh, alright now that's enough 'a me bein' all sappy. This is my favorite picture and that's all ya need ta know!
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