#talvos

just picture it: talvos sitting in the window of his tower, talvos carrying his braid in a basket on his hip as he tends to his plants, talvos re-reading a few carefully hoarded books, talvos who has never seen more of the world than the view from his window. and then into his life flits a fae who goes wherever the wind takes him but who keeps returning to visit again and again, a fae who brings gifts of plants and stolen books and suncatchers he makes for talvos and no one else; a fae who teaches talvos that there is a life outside of his tower and that he can want it.

Ezra: he listens to his favorite songs - the ones he knows in his bones, he's listened to them so many times. he has a playlist that's about half an hour long, and he's always out before the end of it.

Talvos: he looks up at the stars, if they're sleeping outside, and remembers the stories of the constellations that he was taught how to pick out as a child; sometimes he grooms Iesin's wings, which is very relaxing for both of them.

I do enjoy a female whumper, it must be said. This one is by @wildfaewhump​ aka the Monarch of NAMES I DON’T KNOW HOW TO PRONOUNCE. Or spell. Every time I’ve written “Essylt” it’s been copy pasted. 

I should clarify: I love the names Vic creates and they fit so well within the Universe! I just don’t know how to pronounce them. “Eeesalt”, “Esolde”, “Ees lit fam”.

I know I already posted a blue and white whumper moodboard but I liked how these colors tie in with Iesin’s wings just in a less glamorous, darker, and almost fabricated way. Like Iesin’s wings are natural colors and less garish and in your face. Versus this moodboard which almost seems toxic, over the top, and manmade. I didn’t really change the colors either other than to change the tally mark picture black and white instead of yellowish and white. (I didn’t touch the colors on the house, the picture is just that intense)

Speaking of the house, that one is probably the most obscure. It’s meant to represent Essylt’s estate(s) and the Victorian style fits into the urban fantasy setting that the story takes place in

The tally marks are for her secondary whump thing: cutting tally marks into people

I know I have a lot of medical stuff in this one which kinda seems like overkill, but for these Halloween whumper moodboards I’m trying to think of the whumpers outside of the capacity we know them in. You get the sense that Essylt has been experimenting on victims for some time now, Iesin’s just the latest victim. Thusly, there’s no nods in this moodboard to wings or drowning or the fae, just nods to medical whump

The scalpel isn’t just a nod to her chosen medical whump but is also acknowledgement of her thing with cutting tally marks into people. 

It’s noted a couple of times that Essylt is writing in a notebook while conducting experiments, hence the medical journal.

It’s also mentioned that she has and regularly uses an operating table. 

The bandages and brain scan, I’m gonna admit, I just liked having them in there. I know she doesn’t personally bandage her victims and she’s not a neuroscientist but I thought they were neat. Also, is that not a super cool brain scan picture?

The white vials can be anything. They can be a subtle nod to Iesin or any other victim with differently colored blood. They can be some sort of drug. They can simply represent what most people think of when they think “lab”. They can be....milk? I purposefully chose white vials to leave that up to interpretation of whatever Essylt might have going on. 

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Be sure to check out @wildfaewhump​ ‘s writing! They so clearly put thought and love and work into their writing, it’s a joy to read. This is the first thing I’ve posted around Vic and honestly, I should sing their praises more. I’m a particular fan of the way they portray thoughts and memories. Unless there’s a flashback or switching between POVs, thoughts and memories aren’t italicized and you almost don’t see them coming. Stuff like this: 

“He blocks it out, doesn’t want to hear ‘hold it still’ or ‘raise up its wings some more’ or 'interesting, Talvos come look at this’ ever again.” That’s so specific! The rule of three is brilliant here! (and it’s not just a rule for comedy, folks). The extra backstory and character/worldbuilding in just one sentence!

“It’s useless, pointless, why does he even have wings, he doesn’t deserve them, he can’t take care of them – feathers drift to the floor, flurry gently downwards from his yanking, twisting fingers – if he can’t fix them, he won’t have them, he’ll get rid of every single feather”  The actions mixed in with thoughts! The rapid spiraling illuminating a shaky mental state, the frustration, the pent up adrenaline!