(based on this post, because my brain would not let me rest)
~
Maedhros had lost track of how long he hung on Thangorodrim. It could have been days, weeks, months... he would not know. He knew nothing anymore except the sharp agonizing pain in his arm and the ache of hunger and thirst. With each passing moment, he wondered how many more moments like this he would have to endure before the darkness took him.
And then he felt something else. Something new. A presence near him, in front of him, watching him. It did not feel like Morgoth. It had less cruelty than that, less desire to see him suffer. It had more of a commonality, like a kindred spirit of some kind.
Maedhros blinked in surprise as he realized it felt fatherly.
The spirit floated in front of him, burning like a white fire. It had no distinct shape, but he knew who it had to be.
"A-atar?" he said. Or rather, tried to say. His throat was too parched for words.
Nelyafinwë, his father's voice answered in his mind. This is not over yet. You are not allowed to give up.
What do you want from me? Maedhros thought then. He directed this thought more specifically toward Fëanor. Although he had never used osanwë with a ghost before, he decided it was probably a similar concept.
I want you to live, said Fëanor. I want you to exact vengeance on he who has wronged us. I want you to persevere, and lead my armies - your armies now, since I am dead - against Morgoth Bauglir the Dark Vala, and I want you to keep going until he has surrendered that which he stole from us. But you knew this already, Nelyafinwë.
Maedhros groaned. Atar, look at me. How can I do any of that from here? It's over already. I lost.
If you give up, then yes, you have, Fëanor said.
Maedhros was quiet for a long time. He tried coming up with a response to that, and he could not think of anything, so he just closed his eyes and tried his hardest to ignore his situation. The fact that his father's ghost seemed to have shown up just to criticize him at his lowest point just felt like adding insult to injury, and he did not want to face it at the moment.
His body spasmed in pain and he flinched involuntarily. Then he sighed.
Atar... I am dying, he said. I can feel it. This is more than just despair, this is... I have been too badly injured and I have gotten no relief. I am beyond hunger. I cannot speak for thirst. I do not know how much longer I can carry on like this. After a moment, he added, I am sorry.
To his surprise, when Fëanor's voice returned, it sounded softer.
I know, Fëanor said. I am trying to offer you what small relief I can.
Maedhros blinked, in confusion this time. ... What?
I am nothing but a fragment of a fëa now, Fëanor explained. I refuse the call to Mandos, for I will not be held imprisoned behind cold walls while my sons carry on the war against our enemy. Still, I would rather not float around Beleriand as a useless spectral flame, and I would rather not see my eldest son die, not when he has so much potential yet to fulfill. Not when a part of my spirit may energize him again. Give him the strength he needs to hold out.
It took Maedhros a while to comprehend what his father was suggesting, but once he did, he stared.
You want to fuse your spirit with mine?
It would save your life, Fëanor answered.
But... What was he going to say? "But that's never been done before?" Creating the Silmarils had never been done before either. "But you might cease to exist?" Fëanor was already dead, and if he truly refused the call of Mandos as he said he did, this remnant of him would fade out of the world eventually.
Why? Maedhros asked finally.
Because you are my son, Fëanor answered. He sounded confused about why that was a question.
Years earlier, Maedhros would probably have looked for some kind of ulterior motive. Only minutes earlier, Maedhros would have argued that there was no point, since he was still chained to Thangorodrim and unlikely to free himself, and his brothers unlikely to be able to rescue him. But in that moment, Maedhros realized that he had been aching to hear exactly this: that Fëanor cared about him simply because he was Fëanor's son. In that moment, Maedhros suddenly wanted nothing more than to embrace his father and ignore everything else in the world.
Oh Eru, he had been so alone for so long.
Alright, he said through their osanwë link. What have I got to lose?
Quick CW: Captivity, chains, food mention, implied kidnapping sorta (?), threat of dying of thirst
Idk man, currently obsessed with the thought of a whumpee chained up in a cold, dirty tiled bathroom. Sometimes they wake up and there’s food in there. Sometimes not. Their only source of water is what’s pooled at the bottom of the bathtub, so they have to use it wisely. It’s already almost gone. How long have they been there? The hazy blue-green fluorescents never turn off, so they have no idea.
A Hat in Time (let's face it just Subcon again) dump
Pic 1 - Just a concept for Snatcher after being brought back to life that I figured I'd share.
I wanted to be different instead of giving him the Snatcher hair shape for his hair like a lot of people, opting instead to put the shape into a cloak collar.
Pic 2 - This came to me at some point before bed when I was still thinking of Snatcher and Moonjumper's conflict in my story. Moonjumper has no idea about his backstory, but looking at the Prince, Hat Kid and anyone in her family, he feels an indescribable amount of range. So if he maybe remembered a brief piece of holding the Prince's body hostage in his past life, perhaps in this one he would believe Snatcher had stolen his life and memories.
Pic 3 and 4 - These go along with the song "Cannibal" by Citizen Soldier.
I actually drew these out near the peak of when the cist in my wrist limited me doing art and I am legit still surprised how well these turned out. Despite how uncomfortable the first image can be, for obvious reasons, I still like it and the second image a lot.
The first is pretty obvious for how we know Vanessa wasn't the greatest person to the Prince. The second might confuse people a bit. At the end of my story (that is being reworked a bit now), Vanessa is somewhat lifted of her curse because of Aura. Despite that negative aspect being essentially gone, it does not undo what she has done to everyone in Subcon and things are still tense between her and Snatcher, possibly leading to moments like this.
Lyrics for the first pic:
Carnivore
You chew me up and spit me out once more
I let you in you shook me at my core
Too weak to find your prisoner of war
I am forever yours
Show no mercy, show no love
No saving me you're out for blood
Cause you're a cannibal, a cannibal
You're a cannibal, a cannibal
Fight like hell you won't let go
You leave me naked in my bones
Cause you're a cannibal, a cannibal
You're a cannibal, a cannibal
Lyrics for the second:
You're the darkest part of me
You choke me out til I can't breathe
Oh, now there's nothing left of me
You're a cannibal
You're a cannibal
