#toganniversary

[moldy-mold]

“Every gald goes straight to the equipment budget!”

Tales of Graces Week: Hubert Oswell (Diligence)

[sora-g-silverwind]

So despite my best efforts, I am late for Graces Anniversary Week, which Hubert would likely be none too pleased with me with, but on the other hand I kinda overachieved by doing art and writing, which he would probably mostly approve of. But then I didn’t get to overachieve as much as I wanted because the thing I wrote was meant to be a podfic (hence the particular quirks of the piece) and that definitely didn’t happen, so ultimately...I guess I’m a disappointment to Little Bro??? Well, a lot of things disappoint him, so that’s nothing new.

Lessons Learned — There were many things your father taught you. Your only father, of course, for what other father did you have? What other father mattered?

-

There were many things your second father taught you.

He was not a teacher by nature. He had little patience for those who could not keep up with his machinations. You, in spite of your youth, did not number among those. So he shared what he knew with you, though he was not a sharing man by nature, either.

Not all of his lessons were intentional on his part. Sometimes, they were little more than crumbs tumbling to the floor, unnoticed or unregarded by him. He was more careless than he believed himself to be — that was one thing you learned this way. But you also learned that he was more careful than you expected.

When your life fell to pieces, with the wreckage shipped off to this desert land across the sea, your second father set forth to rebuild it for you. His tools were both blunt and precise, a needlepoint sledgehammer carving away the coarse clay of your former existence. His blueprints were cold and exacting, from which he would brook no deviation. He was the carpenter, the sculptor, the architect of you.

In this way, your second father taught you that your life no longer belonged to you.

***

Before your second father taught you to discard unprofitable things — before you learned better — you wrote a letter to your brother. You were desperately homesick, but the words you spewed revolved around summery days, exotic novelties, and elegant cityscapes. You didn't want your brother to worry about you. In your foolishness, you feared that if he learned how miserable you truly were, he would do something you would both regret.

But the days passed. The weeks stretched. A month went by, with no response at all.

Then your second father explained that your brother had, in all likelihood, forgotten about you, and suddenly the pieces snapped into place. Of course your brother had forgotten about you! Of course you had slipped his mind, now that you were out of sight. Many things had a tendency to slip your brother's mind: like caution, like prudence, like sense. All these things that you clung so dearly to, he brushed them aside like cobwebs in his way.

Was he happier without you? you wondered. Did he consider himself better off without the bonds of blood holding him back?

Well. If that was the case, then two could play at that game.

And you were going to win.

So you worked, and learned, and worked some more, because — as you learned from your second father — anything else was pointless and childish. (And really, weren't those almost the same thing?) Those around you saw you rising high and bright like the midday sun. They thought that the light they saw in you was your potential to be a legend.

But it was only your bitterness burning sharp and sour in your heart...as though you were trying to set fire to the land you once called home from across the sea.

***

There were many things your father taught you. Your only father, of course, for what other father did you have? What other father mattered?

Once upon a time, there was a man in a sylvan border town with whom you shared a bloodline. Once upon a time, this man provided the meat and bones of everyday living for you, alongside a woman with whom you also shared a bloodline. Once upon a time, this man gave you a box filled with little bits of wood and metal and twine that would — with patient, careful hands and a cautious eye out for reckless brothers — become a miniature facsimile of the very thing that would take you far, far away from him, where he could never see you again. You wish that he could.

Oh, but you have no desire to see him again. You would be perfectly content to live out the rest of your days without ever having to share even the same continent as him.

But you want this man from that sylvan border town to see you — reconstructed, resurrected — and you want him to regret sending you across the sea to this desert land that drained your tears dry. You want your brother, frivolous and forgetful, to remember you long enough to know the misery of choking on the dust forgotten from your boots. 

And you want them both to bleed on the honed edge of every lesson you learned while working day and night in the shadow of your only father.

-

❤︎ Like what you see? Commission Me ▪︎ Buy Me a Ko-Fi ★ Find more of my work at deviantArt! ✦ Check out my Twitter for exclusive art and other things.

[starrisunset]

Last but definitely not least, Day Seven with King Richard!!!!!!!!!

This is my fav pic of the batch, and he’s one of my fav characters of all time. He really comes alive in the F arc but he’s an icon. I need to give him more attention in my fanworks, so I hope to fix that for next year

THANK YOU TALES OF GRACES I LOVE YOU

[xenomalenifica]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

What could he possibly do to save him? Richard was fighting with Lambda in a battlefield he could never hope to reach, and every scream that tore from the broken king’s lungs was another lash against a power too strong for him to defeat alone. No matter how he wished, how he hoped, Asbel couldn’t run to his side and protect him from the battle raging inside himself. What good was he if he couldn’t help him when he needed him most?

Day 1 of Graces Week, for Asbel & Loyalty!!

I could lovemail asbel all day long but the richass really slipped out on this one oops!!! but come check it out I'll be here all week 👌

[starrisunset]

Day 2 of Graces Week!!! Sophie’s turn for the spotlight!

Truly the heart of Graces’s story. Her character growth is so sweet and powerful, just like she is. She’s also a beast to play as: I love speedy brawlers!

I’m going for a different theme for my drawings of the girls vs the boys!!

[starrisunset]

DAY THREE!!! GIVE IT UP FOR DAY THREE!!!!

I gave up on drawing details on his dualblade, and how on earth do you do his hair? anyway Hubert’s a badly-dressed beast, no matter how many times he died in battle i STILL played as him whenever i could!

[sora-g-silverwind]

So I was working on a TOTES SUPER SRS Hubert piece for Graces Anniversary Week, but then I tried to make a joke about Richard’s Lambda-given abs being “Lambdabs” and then I got the mental image of Asbel trying to teach Lambda how to dab and I asked myself who the hell let me in this goddamn fandom — 

♛ links to Ko-Fi, deviantArt, Twitter → here

[xenomalenifica]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

The king watched the celebration of his people from above, leaned over the balcony of the ballroom’s second tier. He watched as they sang and danced with one another, an unwelcome feeling lurking in his heart as such joyous sound filled his mind. Behind him he could hear his friend’s voices, each one bleeding into the resounding chorus from below in an indistinguishable melody.

And in a grand finale, It’s Richard time!!!!! I put my heart and soul into this one so I really hope yall enjoy his chapter, and happy Graces Week!!!! I’m so glad I participated in this, it’s been a blast!!!!!!!!! 💖💖💖