#thalia vandalyn

[luckywolfsbane]

I love <3333

You mentioned wanting to give her a pup-cup. I hope you enjoy this short comic. It was a lovely exercise 💚

She was thrilled by the idea of a pup-cup, so here we are lol

#cal! #achievement unlocked: ask box #the islandian chronicles #side chats #original art #pup cup #jack raider #thalia vandalyn

[luckywolfsbane]

My hand is covered in white ink, but it was all worth it. Thalia looks so pretty here. I was so glad to have a chance to show off her choice of protective style in her updated portrait.

#the islandian chronicles #thalia vandalyn #original art #oc art #original character #original story #for the archive

[luckywolfsbane]

Thalia: So why aren't we using portals to bypass land travel?

Jack: Well, aside from being incredibly draining on the caster, they're wicked dangerous and take a lot of skill to successfully form.

Lyris: Not to mention somebody -- ROMAN -- has a magic tracking chip that alerts Keres when he uses fully magic travel.

Roman: It's a ceremonial rite tattoo, and I didn't have a choice!

Lyris: Well excuuuuse me, princess; but it's still a pain in the ass.

Roman: First of all: rude. Second, Alex has it too.

Alex: I what now?

Thalia: Something tells me he didn't know that, Sunshine.

Roman: How did you not know about that?

Alex: How did you not tell me sooner?!

Roman: Touché.

#the islandian chronicles #jack raider #side chats #lyris valorios #thalia vandalyn #roman castello #alexander akalon

[luckywolfsbane]

[On a train & sleep deprived]

Jack: This trip hasn't been all that "chugga-chugga."

Lyris: You're right. It seems to be missing that vital "choo-choo," as well.

Roman: You little fucks. Don't try to sound sophisticated. Trains don't do that anymore.

Alex: ... chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga choo-choo...

Thalia: Oooh, I think Alex might be going off the rails.

Jack, snorting: And Roman's all steamed up. He might blow his top.

Lyris: I guess you could say he wasn't "all aboard" for this.

Roman: [trying not to laugh]

Roman: Please tell me this conversation has reached the end of the line.

Thalia: Nah, we've only just started down this track.

#the islandian chronicles #side chats #jack raider #lyris valorios #roman castello #alexander akalon #thalia vandalyn #trains #train puns

[luckywolfsbane]

The last 15 years have featured at least a dozen drafts and about 6 or more drastic cast changes. I thought a drawing with a positive energy would best amplify this milestone. As bittersweet as it is, as difficult as the road has been, I don’t think I'd change a step I've taken thus far.

#the islandian chronicles #jack raider #lyris valorios #alexander akalon #thalia vandalyn #original art #author art #t.i.c creator post #milestone

[luckywolfsbane]

Thalia: Jay, have you ever Googled the word "Himbo?"

Jason: What's that?

Thalia: Just use your phone.

Jason: What does calling someone have to do with a "Google?"

#the islandian chronicles #jason allister #thalia vandalyn #side chats

[luckywolfsbane]

Thalia (17, natural hair). More under the cut

She’s a hetero-chromatic, cursed-to-be wolf-shifter whose birthright magic is an innate control over plants.

She can cause any plant to sprout and grow without need for seeds or cuttings. She just needs to have handled the plant she's attempting to grow at some point in her life. It's considered a rare type of plant magic.

She's introduced while stuck in her wolf form. She's bad at being a wolf. It's very obvious she's not actually a wolf.

#the islandian chronicles #thalia vandalyn #original art #oc art #original character #original story #for the archive

[luckywolfsbane]

[T.I.C Real World Modern Au]

Thalia: Hey, Jack, you're a nerd, right?

Jack: [holds up the manga he's reading in his spare time]

Thalia: Ah, sick! Okay, so One Piece, you follow me?

Jack: [sets the manga aside.]

Jack: I'm decently familiar.

Thalia: Lyris.

Jack: ... What about her?

Thalia: Well, if we assign kins, you're obviously Robin. Or Law.

Jack: ... I want to argue with that, but I can't think of how I would. Go on?

Thalia: Lyris is kind of our unofficial ring leader, right?

Jack: You mean the girl who unconsciously calls all the shots and everyone seems to follow her without a second thought? I couldn't possibly know what you mean.

Thalia: Right. Which, in this context, would make her our captain.

Jack: ... But as chaotic as she is, she's nothing like Luffy.

Thalia: Could you imagine if she was?

Jack: We'd probably still follow her.

Thalia: That should concern me, but that's not where I'm going with this.

Jack: Well, let's think. She's into competitive fencing and goes to L.A.R.P events just to fight with a foam broadsword... That could land her as Zoro.

Thalia: Oh, absolutely. But she's not that dense and she has an impeccable since of direction.

Jack, hums: True. Also, her temper is cold and quiet. Zoro gets loud.

Thalia: Right! Making the swordsman thing a weak argument.

Jack: Does she even fit any of the Strawhats?

Thalia: Nami?

Jack, laughing: Fuck no.

Thalia: Not Chopper.

Jack: Usopp isn't even close...

Thalia: Definitely not Franky.

Jack: Or Brook.

Thalia: Jimbe isn't too terribly off.

Jack: ... eh. No. I see what you're saying in theory, but it falls apart in practice.

Thalia: Well, she's not Sanji.

Jack: Oh, definitely not.

Thalia: Maybe she fits a Warlord?

Jack: Which one?

Thalia: ... Touché.

Jack: ... Wait.

Thalia: What?

Jack, wheezing w/ laughter: The fire thing. The Flame Bearer thing. She's rude in the nicest way. Do we know where she is? No, but she can be found. And she's always narrowly escaping trouble.

Thalia, suddenly horrified: Are we following an alternate version of ACE?!?

Jack: Well, I don't think Sabo is much of a fit!!

Thalia: Oh noooooo.

Jack: Are we... [nervous laughing] Are we like... all part of the Whitebeard Pirates now? Is that how this works??

Thalia: If she gets arrested, we're all fucking screwed.

Jack, swatting playing at her: That's not funny!

Thalia: You're still laughing!

#the islandian chronicles #side chats #t.i.c real world modern au #jack raider #thalia vandalyn #lyris valorios #(mentioned) #i'd tag OP but i don't want people confused

[luckywolfsbane]

Thalia: Why are you called "Fire Heart" if you're just the gods' favorite fire user?

Lyris: It's the permanent heart burn.

Alex: NO, IT IS NOT!

#the islandian chronicles #side chats #lyris valorios #thalia vandalyn #alexander akalon

[luckywolfsbane]

[While camping on the road, just after finding a strange wolf(Thalia)]

Alex: I read somewhere once that dogs will gently handle any egg offered to them.

Roman: That's a wolf.

Alex: ... Are you sure?

Roman: Mostly sure.

Jack: It should happen the same either way, shouldn't it?

[Lyris passes Jack a cool hard-boiled egg and neglects to mention that it's not raw]

[Jack innocently offers the egg to the wolf(Thalia)]

[The wolf(Thalia) takes the egg in her mouth and holds it for a beat, making eye contact with Jack.]

[The wolf(Thalia) eats the egg.]

Alex: NOOOO!

[Roman laughs gleefully.]

[Lyris only just realizing what she's done, breaking down laughing. The egg was not meant for that.]

Jack: ... well, I guess she has her priorities. Good for her?

#the islandian chronicles #side chats #jack raider #lyris valorios #roman castello #alexander akalon #thalia vandalyn #t.i.c b1 party

[luckywolfsbane]

Roman: Which one of you put an egg in my bedroll while we were packing up camp this morning?

Thalia: That's an eggcellent question.

Jack: You won't get me to crack.

Alex: Come on, guys. This isn't the time to be yolking around. He's clearly upset.

Roman: Conspirators.

Lyris, walking over and seeing Roman holding the egg w/o context: Oh! You found it!

Roman: You did this?

Lyris: Well, duh. I don't see anyone else toating around provisions.

Roman: Why did you put it in my bedroll?

Lyris: Everyone knows playful enrichment can help a senior citizen's mind stay sharp.

Roman, freshly 21: I am not old. This is bullying.

#the islandian chronicles #jack raider #lyris valorios #thalia vandalyn #alexander akalon #roman castello #side chats #eggs puns

[luckywolfsbane]

[Roman watching Jack and Lyris make morbid jokes]

Roman: No one has enough money for the therapy those two need.

Thalia: We're just as expensive.

Roman: That's the most uplifting way to say "we're all fucked up" that I've ever heard.

#the islandian chronicles #side chats #roman castello #thalia vandalyn

[luckywolfsbane]

An amputee, a traveling artist, a wolf(?), a knight, and a missing person get lost in the woods together. Chaos ensues.

#the islandian chronicles #jack raider #lyris valorios #roman castello #alexander akalon #thalia vandalyn #t.i.c art #original art #digital art #t.i.c author posting #new stories #for the archive

[luckywolfsbane]

Thalia: Me and you. Cooking contest. We'll finally settle who's the better cook.

Jack: Do I have one hand tied behind my back? Because that's the only way that's gonna be fair.

#the islandian chronicles #side chats #jack raider #thalia vandalyn #this was a conversation between me and my brother this morning #he was the challenger #i brought the sass

[luckywolfsbane]

Oooh, are we sending asks now? I want to ask a question!

If your ocs had only one day to live, what would they spend it doing?

Ooooo, okay, this is a tough one. I'll try to be concise. I took this literally. Like if they found out they were dying during the story. I'm making this assuming certain curses are broken, so...

Jack: Frantically plans so no one has to do anything for his funeral, burial, or anything else. This makes it so they can all grieve without making hard choices. This little fucker arranges every last detail of his funeral, including flowers. It's his final act of love, a way to take care of his people one last time. He knows he'll be reborn, so he'd decide to make sure to reincarnate asap. He makes and gives Lyris a charm that'll allow her to find his new incarnation if she wants to, so she can check on his next life or be a friend/mentor to him as he grows up. This way, she can choose what her peace will look like.

Lyris: Laughs at her impending demise because, of course, she'd have to anticipate her death rather than fall in some spontaneous blaze of glory. She's going to try to go out in a big way. She will not go quietly into that good night. She's inacting as much massive, positive change as possible before her heart stops beating. She'll take at least one power-hungry monster with her if she gets her way. If there's no massive memorial statues in her honor after she's gone, then her name will live forever in infamy, and she's good with that.

Alex: Goes fishing. I'm not kidding. He's already made peace with his end by the time he gets the news. He just smiles, passes his bear amulet to one of his best friends, and hops on a fishing boat. He's seen enough terror. His impact on the world will come from those he leaves behind. He's just looking forward to joining his previous party and his family in the underworld.

Thalia: Writes down all her secrets and final wishes/will in a locked journal and leaves instructions to find the key. Her loved ones have to go on a scavenger hunt in order to read any of it. Why not break it open, you ask? Because she embued it with her magic. If they break the lock, the pages sprout and grow, destroying the words. She does this to force her emotionally inept friends to lean on each other and accept her absence in order to honor her properly. She knows for a fact they'll do it; that's just who they are.

Roman: Cries for about an hour, then goes to Jack for help. It doesn't matter if they're in good terms, he knows he can go to him. With his help, Roman returns to his hometown to visit his mother and only remaining sister so he can be with them in his final hours. He also wants to be buried in his family's cemetery alongside his siblings and cousins. He hands Jack his personal manifesto after a full day with his last two loved ones, entrusting all his goals and final will to Jack.

Jason: Goes through the stages of grief in near perfect order in only a couple hours. He does so much in his last day, but he doesn't feel it's enough at any point. He already lost so much time, having been asleep for a decade. He cheated death once, but he can't cheat it this time. None of it feels fair. Nearing his last hours, he lands on using himself as a bargaining chip to get some sort of leg up on the BBEG--who has wanted him in their control since he woke up. Against everyone's wishes, he offers himself up in trade for something vital, kisses Jack and Lyris(everyone else gets forehead kisses), and walks into their clutches in an effort to make his death mean something. And it will. No one will let him die in vain.

(Bonus)

Felix: Takes five seconds to bask in the irony, then makes a focus object to allow him to appear in astral/spirit form in the mortal plane. He throws his mortal body back in between life and death and then moves on as a living ghost as if nothing happened.

Okay, so I really hope I don't ever have to use any of these bc they make me so sad.

I haven't deleted any asks! I'm working on the others as we speak! 💛💛💛

#cal! #the islandian chronicles #achievement unlocked: ask box #jack raider #lyris valorios #jason allister #alexander akalon #felix akalon #roman castello #thalia vandalyn

[luckywolfsbane]

Whumptober day 7 Alternate: Body Modification.

The first morning after escaping the Palace of Avalon, Jack has spent the night watching the secluded swamp where their safehouse rests. Joined by Thalia at the break of dawn, Jack suddenly decides to do something for himself. He'll just need a little help to get it done. Day 7: Alternate: Body Modification POV: Jack Word count: 2,293 TW/CW: References to torture; references to imprisonment; references to physical, mental, and emotional abuse; psychological whump; mention of physical state of a character's body weight/condition/health; aftermath of a traumatic event; piercings; needles; snakes; swearing

Read on Ao3

Watching the coles of last night’s fire glowing their last, Jack found himself rubbing at the bands of scar tissue around his wrist. Under the last bit of moonlight before dawn, resting outside an old cabin in unfamiliar woods a world away from his worst nightmares, reality settled in to roost.

Jack survived. When faced with death a thousand times, he’d held his ground and called their bluff. They hadn’t exactly spared him, rather they’d simply failed to kill him. There was victory in that.

He listened to the birds waking the world with their song. Fog drifted tall between the trees as first light broke over the horizon. Jack watched through the shallow hills and trees around the swamp. Frogs croaked, dodging into the water as a fox padded through in search of an early morning meal–apparently it hadn’t had much luck in the night. A clever hare poked its head from a particularly thorny bush once the fox was clear, lying it wait for it to disappear.

All of this would have occurred whether Jack had lived or died in what had once been the Palace of Avalon. Nature didn’t care about the tide of mortal lives. Even then, they lived because of nature, not in spite of it. How lucky was he, now, to be in such a remote area of the world?

The cabin door opened behind him and shut softly. Careful, yet heavy footsteps padded across the weather worn porch. He didn’t even need to look up.

“Morning, Thalia,” Jack whispered in the hush of the dawn.

She hummed and settled beside him. Her warm mahogany complexion shone like a dark star under the early light. Her micro braids fell over her opposite shoulder, leaving her sleepy expression in full view.

“Morning yourself, Pretty Boy,” she yawned, “Did you even sleep?”

“Did you?”

“Touché. I’ll drop it if you do.”

“Deal.”

Thalia plucked a leaf off a nearby plant and rolled it between her palms idly. She pursed her lips and looked off into the swamp.

“Lyr cried herself to sleep,” she muttered, “I tried to comfort her, but… Well, after seeing what you’d been dealing with, she blamed herself for not protecting you.”

“That’s bullshit,” Jack grouched, “I handed myself over to protect her. If anything, I should be apologizing for the extra stress she’s dealt with these past few months.”

Thalia eyed him for a beat. “I thought it was over protecting the guardians.”

Jack cracked a smile. So that lie hadn’t been second guessed? The immortals really could be dense.

“It did look like that,” he admitted, “But it wasn’t. You and Alex, you would have been fine. Honestly, you probably would have saved the remaining six guardians without my help. I knew that, protecting you or anyone else would have been a fool’s move. Especially considering Alex is always good for about one fight and you… Well, Thal, you can kick my ass without breaking a sweat.”

She hummed. “So that’s the excuse? You decided to handle things before we could wipe the floor with them? How noble, Princey.”

Jack elbowed her. It lacked any real impact, but the motion was enough. “You know what I mean. Especially at the moment, you’re physically stronger than me. By a lot… Anyway, Lyris had just been struck by lightning. She was still unconscious. If they’d had time to realize she was alive, they would have killed her right then and there.”

“So you fell on your sword?”

“Nah, that would have hurt less.”

“Comparatively?” Thalia looked him up and down before grimacing. “I agree. You should have just fought back. Look at you now. Jack, you’re skin and bone, and most of that skin is scar tissue. This is ridiculous. You should have stalled. We were coming, we would have helped.”

Jack raised his brow quizzically. “Stalled how, exactly?

“I don’t know. Maybe you should have done a card trick?”

He laughed at that. Imagining standing in front of Artisan, asking him to “pick a card” with a straight face, had him nearly rolling. What an idea, to give the card mage more ammunition.

As soon as he caught his breath he found her smirking at him.

“On the brightside, your laugh hasn’t changed.” Thalia paused and tossed her half mangled leaf at the ground. “I hope you know I missed you.”

Jack bit his lip. “I missed you, too. I missed everyone. Fuck, I even missed the immortal guardians after a while.”

“It takes months of imprisonment and torture to make you miss them?”

He considered that. “The experiences were surprisingly comparable, in fairness. Maybe it was nostalgia.”

Thalia stopped, recoiling in shock as if he’d tried to smack her. “Excuse me?”

Jack lifted his gaze to meet her terror-stricken expression. Slowly, he understood why she looked so scared. He supposed he’d neglected to talk about that little detail.

“Oh, right.” He cleared his throat and twisted the hem on his shirt. “You guys knew I spent time with them. Didn't I tell you?”

“You said something about knowing them previously, but nothing else.” Thalia snapped. She quickly recovered and apologized. “I don’t mean to yell, Jack. Really, I don’t. What happened?”

Jack wondered for a beat if he should really tell her. The concern and anger in her eyes made it clear: the damage was already done. If he wasn’t honest, she’d fill in the gaps with assumptions much worse than the truth.

“Lyris mentioned a few times that I went missing for a couple years, right?”

Thalia nodded. She turned to face him fully, watching him  closely as he spoke.

Jack tried not to let it unnerve him. “Well, I was… for lack of a better word, I was kidnapped by the guardians when I turned 15.” He looked away, watching a turtle climb its way onto a log. “They uh… They kind of made it seem like no one wanted me, and my family and friends had sent a request for them to take me and keep me away from them. It was crazy. They even faked a few letters for it. I bought it hook, line, and sinker; so I’m not exactly innocent in it all. I definitely should have asked more questions, or even tried to go home or get a letter out. I was so stupid.” Jack laughed dismissively.

Thalia’s concern had melted into stunned horror. Her silence spoke volumes.

“It wasn’t malicious,” Jack continued, trying to recover the guardians’ image for them. “They needed to make sure my magic was up to par. Alex had just failed to defeat Keres. Of course, they didn’t tell me that; but that’s why they took me. It was purely to train my abilities as the Shadow Prince. They were worried, that’s all. The last–I don’t know–20 or so Shadow Princes have died horribly before they could fully awaken. They were just looking out for me.”

She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Jack… You were a kid.”

He laughed again. “And?”

“And?! You were a fucking child! Did they hurt you?”

Jack shrugged. “I mean, they were literally training me.”

“So that’s a yes.” She rubbed her eyes. “Was Everos there?”

“Yeah.” Jack chewed his lip. “Actually, Everos and Robin were basically my best friends at the time. They didn’t let the others treat me roughly when they were around. Robin snuck food to me when I didn’t do well in training. I had the chance to reach out to my family with letters through Everos. I didn’t, cause I felt abandoned and all that teenage angst shit…”

“Note to self, Robin and Everos are the only two guardians with redeeming qualities.” Thalia looked ready to cry or yell. Jack couldn’t tell which. “That’s it! I’m glad Katya is dead, cause I know that they did all of that on her orders. They admitted that they never did anything without her say-so. They isolated and abused you for some magical fucking destiny that you were too young to handle.”

Unable to actually process her words, Jack sat still for a moment with an open mouth. “Oh.”

“Can I hug you? You need a fucking hug, Jack. The last three years of your life have been a nightmare.”

Numbly, Jack nodded. Thalia pulled him into her lap, hugging him tight enough to pop his aching joints. He’d deny it later, but he melted into her arms, nestling his face against her neck. She smelled like vanilla and blue lotus. He wouldn’t have recognized the scent if she hadn’t threatened to spray him with her perfume a few times.

She rubbed circles in his back, scratching his scalp through his hair. Biting back tears, he allowed himself to silently enjoy the contact. 

A stick snapped. He jolted and tore away, searching the trees. A yulen picked through the underbrush, its four antlers twisting in a pair of spirals into the air. He didn’t know what he thought it would be, but he hadn’t expected a non-threatening animal.

Gathering his bearings, he realized why he’d been so easily startled. How much could one person take before they snapped, really? He needed a way to break the stress. Some way to signify what everything he’d been through was done and anything that happened from there on was a new experience.

An idea struck him. When he’d turned 13, he’d gotten his ears pierced in accordance with typical tradition. He carried one achievement piercing from when he’d been 14, his left orbital. 

“Can you help me pierce my ear?” Jack blurted.

Thalia furrowed her brow. “Do you even know what you want? Isn’t this sudden?”

“I survived,” Jack continued, “Nothing about that is sudden.”

She was silent for a moment. “What were you thinking, then? I think Lyris has a hollow point needle in her first aid kit. Depending on what you want, I can lend you a stud until it heals.”

Jack chewed his lip. “A double piercing of some kind. For both the kidnapping and the palace.”

Thalia glanced back toward the cabin door, then refocused on Jack. “Let me see your ear. I need to check something.”

Holding still while she took his ear in her fingers and tugged gently at the cartilage, he couldn’t stop biting his lip. It was that or twist his hands, and he was too afraid to move.

“You’ve got the right anatomy for an industrial, like the one Jason has,” she went on, “I can either put it on the same side as his, or opposite your orbital. However, unless he has a spare bar you can borrow, I’ll need to put in two studs–and you’ll have to keep an eye on them.”

“He has a spare,” Jack said, surprised he remembered, “It’s… It’s purple. He got it cause it’s my favorite color. We–uh–we were talking in secret, when he got his mind back and figured out how to fool his handler.”

Thalia’s eyes grew wide. “You’re explaining the whole mind thing later.”

“Is it mandatory?” Jack whined.

“Do you want me to ask the big guy?”

“No! I’ll try to explain. After my ear is done.”

Thalia stood, leaving him on the steps. “I’ll go grab the needle and ask Jason for that bar. Sit tight.”

Jack worried his lip, nodding as she slipped back into the cabin. He touched his right ear, staring at the ground for a while. A snake slithered across what had once been a cobblestone path. Jack winced and pulled his feet up on the steps, watching it move until it disappeared into the swamp. After that, he couldn’t stop looking for snakes around him until the door opened again.

Thalia stepped back out, whispering something to one of the others before shutting the door between them. She sighed deeply and sat down beside Jack.

“Which side?” she asked, running one of Lyris’s alcohol wipes over a long, hollow point needle.

Jack swallowed nervously. “Is that one of her suture needles? I hate that thing. It’s massive.”

Thalia pinched down her smile. “Do you want the bar or not?”

He huffed, shifting awkwardly. “I want the bar.”

He watched silently as she laid a hand on the porch. As she moved it back, a plant sprouted, bloomed, and bore fruit before his eyes. She plucked the fruit and snapped the plant off at the base before tossing it into the yard.

“Which side?” she asked again.

“Right,” Jack finally replied. He closed his eyes, letting her crouch beside him.

Something slimy coated his right ear. He yelped in protest at the chill, until his ear took to buzzing with pins and needles. Realizing the fruit she’d summoned must have been a numbing agent, he settled some of his nerves.

She waited for the fruit to fully numb his ear before getting to work. Jack barely felt it. The first part was nothing more than sharp pressure. The second left him swearing despite the numbing agent, but it wasn’t much compared to pain he’d recently endured. Then she pushed the bar through after the needle, removing the first jab as she slipped one end of the jewelry in place. As soon as the second side was in, she fastened everything and washed his ear with a small bottle of saline from the first aid kit.

Jack unclenched his jaw and let out a sigh of relief. It was final now. That chapter was truly behind him.

Thalia braced his shoulder, smiling gently. “Get talkin’, Pretty Boy. What’s this about Jason’s mind?”

“Dammit.” Jack glanced sidelong at her, giving her a tired look. “I don’t even get to see what it looks like first?”

“No,” she retorted, “that wasn’t the deal. Explain.”

#the islandian chronicles #t.i.c whumptober 2023 #jack raider #thalia vandalyn