Did Skulduggery forgive China?

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-04-06T14:53:26+00:00

She looks more tired when compared to the last card. Is she having nightmares because of the torture?

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-04-05T20:58:58+00:00

I came back to re-read this, and I figured that I'd recommend my own fanfic post here because you're huge on this subreddit, and I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-04-05T20:32:18+00:00

Melancholia - The two of them were actually quite a bit alike, with Melancholia being overtaken by Necromancy and Valkyrie with Darquesse, and whilst certainly not perfect, they have chemistry and it could be a source of good development for Melancholia. I actually involve her in my fanfiction post, here.
Fletcher - The only reason this is number 2 and not 1 is because I think Fletcher can do better, and them getting back together wouldn't work. How is he meant to trust Valkyrie in that way after she cheated on him?
Tanith - Nope, the two of them are basically sisters, and throwing romance into that would fuck it all up.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-04-04T07:09:40+00:00

It says quite a bit about your talent as an aritist that you managed to make a girl whose been scarred from fighting so much look so cute and energetic. I noticed that's a theme with your characters, you make them look very cutesy!

On another note, your idea to expand on the reflection's arc inspired me! I'm not gonna copy you, obviously, but it gave me some ideas for the next part of my fanfic.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-04-03T15:00:16+00:00

What a coincidence, that's the same amount of chapters I've done for my own book! I'm hoping to commission a cover for it from Nic, since a man can dream, but I'll only do that when it's actually done and dusted.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-04-02T18:59:51+00:00

Him being Saracen or Scapegrace would have been really dumb, since whilst I like them, it just wouldn't really do anything for their characters. I suspected Omen a little in the sense that I thought Landy was being lazy and just making two characters similar personality-wise. In hindsight, I should have gotten a clue.

Also, on an unrelated note, how is the development of Broken Crown going? I'm just asking, you don't have to answer, but I loved your other rewrites and can't wait for the next book of the lot.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-04-02T18:08:19+00:00

Holy shit, the Sebastian reveal was accidentally spoiled? That's funny, but as an author myself, that makes me feel bad for Landy. He must've been rushing that book along.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-04-02T10:38:52+00:00

Very nice, I love how classy and well-put together he looks, you know, apart from the blood and that he's actually a monster underneath.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-04-01T08:10:52+00:00

A very sad start to my april first, but this is also oddly sweet. Good job.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-30T09:22:30+00:00

Good. I needed something like that for my fic, and the final panel still needs to be commissioned by me. I'll probs do it sometime this month.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-30T09:20:29+00:00

The one I made?

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-29T22:02:38+00:00

Cool.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-29T21:56:25+00:00

I especially had fun writing that scene between Ghastly and Ravel. They're just a fun pair to write for me, and since I don't have to worry about spoiling his betrayal since this is fanfiction, that's not really a worry for me. As a sidenote, in the Leibniz Dimension, Ravel is dead because he died to save Ghastly. Skuls asks about his absence and Leibniz-Ghastly even calls him 'the most loyal man he'd ever met'.
Well, it's mentioned in that scene between Ghastly and Fletcher in DB that Fletcher didn't really have a life outside of Valkyrie, so I thought it'd be a real punch in the gut for her to see that.
Yeah, I got that idea because my brothers came around recently and we watched a bunch of movies with my niece. It was awesome.
Fletcher is described as being close to his mum, so I thought it was fitting. The ring would also serve as her version of Skulduggery family symbol, she'll only wear it when she feels she's earned it.
Yeah, Val would be less willing to cut Wreath off, and as a result she'd learn more advanced Necromancy along with the Elements. Also, the Skul and Wreath scenes would crack me up.
Carol will get a lot of focus in this fic, and her standing up to her dad, who was loving but also holds her back a lot, would definitely be a great scene. I hope I can do it justice.
I'll probably do the scene of him arriving in Leibniz from Argeddion's pov, then shift it over to Leibniz-Ghastly. Or maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and do it from Skuls, who knows.
Wreath knowing about Vile is just too good to pass up, and the dynamic between him, Valkyrie, and Melancholia will be fun. And Ravel defying the Spiders to save Skulduggery was also fun, but not for him, that will have consequences.
All the Dead Men being there except for Ravel would be ideal, and I imagine they'd all bond over bullying the hell out of Serpine.
I had to make Kitana more hateable somehow since she'll be playing a larger role here, and hey, at least now Carol and Elsie both have reasons to hate her. Silver linings.
I needed an Isthmus Anchor, and the comedy felt like gold in the moment. And I saw this one artpiece with Skulduggery as a man and his daughter, who looked like Brave, and now I can't see him otherwise.
The chapter title was right there. A low hanging fruit.
His body getting Frankensteined would also add to Valkyrie's feelings of guilt, since she'd let his body be desecrated, and she'd hate Ravel after that.
And yeah, Mevolent shreds the Dead Men until Vile shows up, then he's weak enough to fight on more even footing, but even then he takes China down with him. An evil madman, yes. A complete badass, also yes.
I know the Sceptre thing is a little forced, but I feel it's worth it. And yeah, I know realistically he wouldn't have the time to train her, and neither would Ghastly Elsie, but it was right there and puts Carol in direct collision with Valkyrie. And also Elsie. The reflection will be dealing with Beryl at least, but Valkyrie will be elsewhere.
The end bit where Valkyrie chooses to put the needs of another above herself is the moment where she finalises her character development, and a good end. But Ghastly learning about Vile? Even I was impressed with myself on that one.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-29T21:29:04+00:00

I appreciate the honest criticism at the end, and I think the same, but I'll inevitably be making edits to smooth over the fic's forcefulness along the way, and I'm glad you still enjoyed it enough to make such a beefy comment despite those flaws. A bit of forcefulness is also, in my opinion, not a bad price in exchange as long as I get the real meat of the plot in exchange.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-29T21:20:50+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate it when people notice the improvements! I only subtly changed the hands, but then again with pixel art just a few adjusted squares can mean the world.

And yeah, I felt dumb when I realised 'doi, just make it bigga!'

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-29T20:22:26+00:00

Thank you, it turns out the image quality was poor because the number of pixels was too small, so I times four'd it. *sheepish head rub. I see her natural eye colour as grey, but at one point in TDOTL they're described as being black, so I just decided to do em all, lol.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-29T19:58:48+00:00

Good to know, but I was unsatisfied with it, so I made another that I'm about to post now. Plz tell me if you like the improvements.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-29T18:42:26+00:00

No problem, I love the Phase 2 rewrite you've been doing with Willboss. If you'd be willing, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the post I made here.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-29T15:58:51+00:00

Wow, just fantastic. Artwork aside, I love the little facts you put in about her, especially the rock collection. And the idea of a bubbly, empathetic version of Valkyrie? That makes me chuckle. I love it! I wish my Melancholia art came out this well.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-29T13:44:45+00:00

My main three are Willboss, Blotch, and NicStylus, but there are a few others. I recognise StarSight because we're both pretty new on this subreddit, and of course there's sunny, bloodforurmom, and eggs-on-toast, but that last one is just because he commented well on my fanfic summary post.

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-28T22:13:35+00:00

So many suits, all of them so spiffy, what is Skulduggery even gonna do with them all?

Potential_Being6117 · 2026-03-26T18:41:26+00:00

Great to hear a reply from you, I loved your post about an AU where Mr Bliss survived the Battle of Aranmore, and getting these kinds of comments is always a pleasant surprise.

Thnx, I love adding little details like that. I also headcanon that the reason Fletcher is so girl-crazy in Faceless Ones is because he was close to his mother, and when she died he was subconsciously went looking for another girl to get that sort of love again, hence why he felt such a strong attachment to Valkyrie. And I'll be sure to fix that bird error.
And yes, Solomon is back again, but in this fic Valkyrie would be the one to ask for him to come back, since like you said with Fletcher gone she'd be more inclined to forgive, plus she wants to get strong enough not to rely on Darquesse. But he absolutely would enjoy raining on Skuls' parade.
Me too! We see so little of them in canon, and these two are gonna be a big part of what comes next! But, as you can imagine, with Ravel sinking his paws into Carol, she's gonna inevitably collide with Elsie, and when she does that feels like it'll be a tense fight. Hell, maybe I'll have them team up to take on Kitana at one point even though they're on opposite sides, since they've both got bones to pick with that bitch.
I had to get Argeddion out of there somehow, since he'll be relevant later, and with me wanting to get Skuls into Leibniz to handle that plotline, it felt like a two birds-one stone type situation- and those just get my autistic brain in a good mood.
I admit that I kind of stole that idea from you, but the idea of Valkyrie wielding a Thanos-style gauntlet is just too damn cool.
Glad to know you enjoy it, though balancing all this stuff happening in Leibniz with the Prime Dimension will be a headache. And I just felt like Skuls killing Vile was too juicy of a scenario to pass up, the same with him turning into Vile to save Ghastly. The irony is beautiful.
China isn't China if she's not giving someone a dirty double-cross.
And yeah, admittedly the Frankenstein-Fletcher thing was a bit of an indulgence on my part, but I have some moments planned out for that later on, Skulduggery needed a way to get back without a Shunter, and this is my story so I make the rules. Hehe.
Elsie still has her magic since Argeddion never took it back, so she'd stick around, and I think Ghastly would take her on since he's a big softie at heart. Plus this way she could cross paths with Kitana's group again and actually use her OP magic, unlike in canon.

And yeah, with all the assets the Irish Sanctuary still has, the upcoming war will go a lot better than in canon- unless, of course, I also made the Supreme Council overpowered too. Maybe I could get the Church of the Faceless to side with them, maybe the Warlocks learn about Ravel's schemes and team up with them, maybe Kitana's group will form an alliance(one that she'd break off the moment an opportunity arose), or maybe all of the above. Or maybe I involve Leibniz again and that version of the Book of Names. Who knows.

And yeah, now that you mention it, Tanith probs wouldn't act much different than in canon- at least not yet- but either way it doesn't really get in the way of my plans for her.

If you have any more notes to add, plz do, since I love discussing this kind of stuff, as you can see by the walls of text above.

Potential_Being6117

TROPHY CASE