#an enigma

[pittrabbit]

writing pope is kinda hard cuz sometimes he's incredibly stoic and monotone and then sometimes he's just whimpering

[power-handmaiden]

most absurd thing about my brain is that sometimes I'll be like UUUUUGH IM OVERSTIMULATED I NEED TO CHILL OUT and my answer to this is thrashing around and air drumming to power metal and somehow this IS actually helpful

[jeschampe-vidroth]

As the Shal’dorei adjusted his tie, he looked at himself in the mirror, unsure if what he wore was right for a Sin’dorei memorial. Should he have chosen black? Was there some unspoken expectation of red and gold, or perhaps something more symbolic, rainbows or ritual adornments? Either could be true, given how his people’s allies handled such things.

He would have texted Iren, but his friend was in the depths of his mourning. Jes respected that. Grief deserved space. In their last exchange, when Irenthalas had invited him to his wife’s burial, Jes had asked how Nahilvi was. Iren had answered that he wasn’t sure. It was an odd response. If anyone would be able to leave someone guessing at her emotions, it was the Banshee.

Jes had his own secrets, important ones, the sort that could reshape how the Shal’dorei leadership of the pre-Legion era was remembered, but even so, he felt more open with his emotions than the lovely performer ever was. Nahilvi remained an enigma. No matter how long he watched her, listened to her, tried to read between the notes, she was never someone he could figure out. He might have texted her directly about Sin’dorei funerary customs, but she was likely overwhelmed already. And he did not know if Irenthalas had told her that he had been invited at all.

Reaching into his jacket sleeve, he tugged his shirt cuff down until the sapphire cufflink winked in the light, then repeated the motion on the other side. A deep blue suit, pristine white shirt, and grey tie would have to suffice.

Using the coordinates Iren had sent, Jes adjusted a portal near and stepped through. His polished black shoes landed quietly on a walkway of crushed shells. Ahead, people gathered along the path, and he fell in step behind a couple walking toward the house, yellow and red roses cradled in the woman’s arms. Ah. People brought flowers to these funerals. Too late now. Besides, he had known the deceased only through her husband’s fond recollections over long lunches.

Nahilvi’s violet gaze landed on him as she greeted others. Confusion crossed her features, followed swiftly by anger, quickly masked beneath a warm, welcoming smile, as she thanked the woman before him for the flowers and asked if she would lay upon the coffin.

Jes barely heard the exchange. His attention lingered on Nahi herself. There were shadows beneath her eyes. Charcoal grey was not her color, though the gold and red accents she wore made her look like the inside of a jeweler’s display case. He wondered if she had eaten. If she looked thinner. It was difficult to tell, and he was far too wise to comment on such things even if he knew.

When it was his turn, he caught the stubborn tilt of her chin, the one that always preceded frustration with something he had said or done. Irenthalas stepped forward, and Jes turned from the near glare Nahi fixed upon him to clasp the man’s hand.

“Thank you for coming, Viscount,” Iren said. He rarely used Jes’s rank, but today he kept things formal. When Iren looked back to Nahi, Jes saw a flash of understanding and she dipped her chin in a greeting, Nahi’s eyes found Jes’s silver gaze, and her smile warmed. Even drawn with grief and sleeplessness, he was pulled in by her. “Jes. Thank you for coming. I’m glad you’re here to support Iren.”

Nahilvi drew in a steadying breath as she set her focus on the people that arrived behind him. An older Sin’dorei man approached, accompanied by a younger woman whose pinched expression suggested she had swallowed something unpleasant. The woman stared daggers at Nahi. There was an expression on her face that made him  want to pull her free from whoever stood behind him. He would have, if she wanted that. But he knew she didn’t. 

“I’m glad to be here for you both,” he said. This was not a day for anything but quiet presence. Still, he would not let her believe for a moment that he did not care about her grief as well.

Iren guided him past Nahi, leaving her to greet the newcomers. Jes watched carefully. The normally loquacious beauty offered only a short, polite greeting before stepping aside to let them approach the plot as they wished. There was a resemblance between the older man and Nahi, subtle but unmistakable. Another man approached her, murmuring something low. She placed a calming hand on his arm. He rubbed one hand over the other, fingers pausing at the faint indentation where a ring had once been worn long enough to mark the flesh. He, too, shared Nahi’s features.

At last, Nahi moved to tuckher arm through Iren’s and murmured that it was time. The four moved to the grave’s edge. A blonde woman took Nahi’s free hand and squeezed gently.

There were not many in attendance. Most formed lines along either side of the coffin. Jes positioned himself behind Iren and Nahi, where he could watch, where he could protect, whether or not it was needed. His attention did not linger on the casket, instead he watched those who attended. 

Most of the mourners were openly moved. The final two arrivals were not. Years of navigating social arenas had sharpened Jes’s eye; he could tell immediately that they felt nothing for Nahilvi’s mother’s passing. The woman stared openly at Nahi and then the man  ahi had calmed. The older man surveyed the grounds when he could, appraising, or else his gaze rested on Nahi, cold and measuring.

When Nahi stepped forward to sing, all attention settled upon her. From the first note, Jes was lost. The song itself was beautiful, but it was the emotion threaded through it that captured him. He could not say what happened among the others; he could not tear his eyes from her. He had always enjoyed her performances, but this, this was different. This was a masterpiece of a song, sung with a voice filled with.

When the final note faded into the breeze, no one moved. Silence held, reverent and fragile, unwilling to intrude upon what she had given them. Jes did not fully return to himself until they reached the patio.

Iren spoke with a physician he had once worked alongside, who he had introduced Jes to. Nahi made polite conversation with those who approached her but she was not his focus. Jes lifted his drink and watched the oddly acting pair  over the rim of his glass. The man remained calm, eyes roaming the estate and gardens. The woman kept her attention fixed on the man Nahi had soothed earlier.

Without knowing who was who, Jes observed and prepared to act if it was needed. Eventually, the woman crossed the patio and confronted the man who was her focus. Their argument grew heated, voices rising. When Nahi’s name carried across the space, Jes’s attention shifted to her.

To her credit, she ignored it entirely, turning instead to speak with another guest before moving with them toward the buffet.

The older man intervened, diffusing the confrontation. The arguing pair departed shortly after. The man she had confronted stormed off around the manor house, which appeared far more neglected than Jes would have expected of a noble estate. There was a story there. Likely several.

As the gathering dispersed, Jes made his way home, wisps of curiosity weaving through his mind. There were pieces yet uncovered, threads that might, if followed, draw him closer to the delightful, elusive Banshee at the center of it all.

(Mentions of @nahisummerhold)

(Final piece of the Last Rites of Acenadalia. Nahi’s Story Hoovanil’s Story )

[spillingsguts]

"i did what i had to do and i'm not goin' to apologize for it ." / @cherishluvs

[agendratum]

do we think i should start posting about advance bravely again now that several years have passed and i gained followers and mutuals who have never been there for this era? do we think this is a good idea? i think it's a brilliant one

[flowerstofeastupon]

2025 Harry Bingo Card

HS4 to be teased late summer, for a fall release. (I believe this.)

Harry meanwhile lives in Italy, holidays in Japan. Cherry blossom season. Bell features. (I believe this too.)

First HS4 article is an interview in Decanter. You can bet that guy has an Italian vineyard somewhere (and why not?). "Like the singer, his single varietal Sagrantino is laid-back, delightfully chewy, and ages perfectly with Style(s)." Harry is accused of promoting alcohol to children.

New emotional support necklace features an owl pendant, and nobody knows why. He never explains it, of course. Alessandro posts a cryptic Instagram story. Larries find footage of Louis hooting like an owl once aged 19 and this is enough to revive their nonsense for another year.

Legacy contacts get promo interviews: Roman Kemp via Instagram, Nick Grimshaw on his Dish podcast (what's the best kind of potato? being a question Harry deems uninteresting enough to answer with unusual clarity), Dermot O'Leary on Radio2, Stern maybe not this time round (post-Liam's death), Zane Lowe of course as a sycophantic and safe pair of hands. Nobody new.

Goes blond, at least in two blurry fan photos. Internet goes wild.

Starts wearing glasses. Huge ones.

'Olivia' (the tattoo) is covered up with a merman. Internet loses it.

Ed Sheeran finally takes off the mask and goes full snide about Harry. Fandom reacts accordingly.

Daily Mail runs a full series on his Hampstead house renovations with drone shots, complete costings and testimony from irritated neighbours.

Pleasing collab with James Corden.

A lot of lurex. Maybe we finally get eyeliner.

That's it. Add yours?

[actuallylemon]

Carlos’s pasta is laid out like that bc it’s drying bc it’s HANDMADE. can you believe the day he had and he went home and rolled and cut his own pasta??

In relation the Carlos’s spread for the post-shift dinner in 2x08

Wait wait wait… He HAND MADE pasta but he used canned sauce?

Gif by @jamie-tartt

WHO IS THIS MAN???

Or is that just, like, the canned diced tomatoes or whatever but he made the sauce? That’s seems like a LOT of diced tomatoes. Cc’ing @liminalmemories21 for cooking intel. What is going on here?