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literaphobe · 1 month

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hmmm is there any specific analysis of tvl youve been dying to share but havent been asked about yet?

ok. there’s a lot. but some I don’t want to do right now for SPOILERY REASONS. some of them are as follows:

- the fundamental misunderstanding that passively occurred between tvl ladynoir for most of tvl

- the way tvl chat noir ‘tests’ ladybug throughout the story and why he does what he does and why he behaves in seemingly ‘bizarre’ ways

- a lot of the others r um. I can’t even share the topic regarding it bc you guys haven’t gotten to whatever chapter it’s linked to yet (feel free to ask any questions tho! be it now or after future chapters. that’s usually what awakens the intense TED talks I give about tvl to myself in my head)

right now tho? I want to pick apart tvl adrien being an actor and why that is and why that’s sad and how it came to be

-> like with many parts of tvl! adrien being an actor is sort of thrust upon readers. it’s a story that places a Huge gap between canon and the tvl timeline, and some details can be inferred, but loads of stuff aren’t things a reader can know for sure

-> also, due to the set up of the story, most of the tiny teased bits of info regarding tvl Adrien’s life leading up to and At 23, is largely fed to readers by tvl marinette, and not tvl adrichat himself, despite most of the story being his pov. but the scenes he is allotted are largely those where he Interacts with ladybug, and when he is with her, he doesn’t think of much else, unless it’s specifically relevant (like the love marks conundrum)

-> he just doesn’t unpack his past in his thoughts very much. however much it pains him. because it’s not something he’d prefer to unpack is how ladybug is making him feel and how he feels about her bc she’s Right There and she has this Hold on his heart that he can’t help but fixate over

-> but what you can tell is that he doesn’t really want to be doing his job… rather he sees it as a means to an end. and also an inevitability in a sense 😔 very. You Can Take The Man Outta The City Not The City Out The Man core. it’s. the ones who abuse us can leave but the effects of that abuse aren’t as easy to shake. it’s also. sometimes we wind up doing what we ran away from but we pat ourselves on the back saying it’s different bc we chose it, or it’s not the same because we wound up in a hole two steps away from what we were originally doing and that’s a different hole so it’s okay maybe!. its. was this too hard to break away from? or was it just too easy to go back to because its all we were ever taught?

-> because imagine ur tvl adrien in uni and your friends have always had passions for things that are vaguely related to industries that you suffered in as a kid. your best friend wants to be a dj but he also loves directing and talks so passionately about his favorite films and DREAMS of making One Of The Greats one day. his gf who is also one of your best friends is into journalism and your ex gf who is also one of your best friends loves designing and fashion. and you used to be a model but don’t want to be a model anymore. u make some small movies to help your best friend with his projects for film classes. they’re so fun! you love how it brings you and your friends together. your ex who you never really got over helps make costumes, shyly puts makeup on you, your best friend’s gf promotes it on her massively successful blog. the public mostly cares about it because you were in it and you’re the kind of famous that doesn’t ever go away. you WISH it would go away. but then you try to see the bright side of it. your best friend is so happy people like his short film. he gets an A for the class. you accidentally get another friend even MORE heavily considered for the job she’s been talking about non stop all week because you mentioned knowing her. you get pressured into doing a film because they say they’ll give your best friend an important role on the crew. little by little it all builds up and this is just your career now

-> but you find little ways to take control. you realize you get to decide who works with you and for you and you see your Good Best Friend Ex who just started complaining about how little the internship she’s doing pays. you think you could take away her pain so easily. and it makes it all less painful for you. it’s such an even trade. but then your Partner Against Magic Crime starts taking up more of your time and you realize you WANT all the time that you can get, and having Something To Do In The Day becomes an absolute chore again, and maybe you don’t care how happy it could make the public and how Excited your fans will be

-> this manifests in all the little asides you see in tvl where he Suggests quitting his job all the time and Thinks about it a lot

-> At the same time. who doesn’t wanna quit their job. he’s just a little guy. surely he’s worked enough for several lifetimes

#ask #tvl #ALSO SORRY TO THE PEOPLEBWHOBI SCARED IN MY LAst post #ILL BE MORE CATEFUL W HOW I TALK ABOUT NEW CHAPTERS I LROMISE

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lizardkingeliot · 5 months

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Hello, my loves. It's been a while since my last WIP Wednesday post so who wants a lil preview of chapter 4 of until i come back from the dead for you? Once again I'm sharing a snippet of a mosaic scene because those always feel less ~spoilery I guess lol. And while I keep insisting to myself that this isn't a mosaic fic... lbr it's also lowkey a mosaic fic.

Anyway, as usual I have no clue when this one is going to be finished and posted, esp with this month being soooo extra busy for me, but keep your fingers crossed it isn't too much longer. And pls excuse any typos I didn't have much time to read this over lol. 💖

*****

Quentin made a sweet little sound. Eliot felt it pulse inside him sure as the beat of his own frantic heart. Breathy fit of laughter tinged in a moan that pushed from the dark of his belly. “Hey, you know, uh…” Quentin gave Eliot’s hair another tug, slowly drawing his gaze upward. The smudge of his face blushing and gorgeous in soft slats of afternoon sun. “It’s, like—really stupid that you aren’t kissing me right now. Just saying.”

Eliot’s face softened at once with a smile. But down in his belly—deep, dark fits of anxiety refused to let him go. “Sorry,” he said with a sweet little hum. Pulling back and rising up until he towered over Quentin again. Pressing both his hands inside the open front of Quentin’s shirt. “In my defense your nipples are very distracting, Coldwater.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Quentin laughed softly, drawing Eliot in with two big greedy hands wound against the back of his shirt. And in his mind’s eye, Eliot could see it—the way things were going to be on the day they were finally finished with the puzzle. After they had the key, after the year and change they’d spent in this place was finally behind them. They’d go back to Brakebills. They’d finish their quest. Inevitably, Eliot figured, this thing that had sparked between them in their isolation would be over. Quentin would get back with Alice. He’d want to. He’d have choices then. It was the natural order of things.

“Oh, you are more than forgiven.” Eliot’s stomach was tight as a fist pressed under his heart. Squeezing and squeezing. He knocked his forehead against Quentin’s, nuzzled the ends of their noses together. “And for my terrible sin of neglecting your smart little mouth for thirty whole seconds, I think I know a way I can make it up to you.”

#the magicians #queliot #otp: proof of concept #myfic

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mashithamel · 8 months

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Episode 3 spoilery thoughts below (lots of spoilers for the books).

I really love how, even though the show is so changed from the book in many ways, it also feels so true to the books.

- I am really looking forward to the soundtrack release. Amazon will take all my money.

- I didn’t mind “be steadfast” not being included? I noted it, but didn’t really care?

- Nynaeve’s parents!

- Crinsomthorn again, huh. Gonna be a repeated motif this year?

- This has shades of Aginor and is a horribe touch (affectionate)

- Elnore is awesome! As I would expect!

- How on earth would she manage to memorize that long Old Tongue passage after hearing it once?

- Elnore watching her daughter as she is brutally stabbed to death is really overkill. My sister is invested in watching now but can’t handle, like, any violence, so I have to tell her when to turn away. I’m going to have to mute this bit—even I have a hard time with it, and I’ve enjoyed GoT and a couple seasons of Vikings.

- I kind of like how shocking the water dumped over her head is everytime they use it. It seems as much a violantion as the arches themselves. And “washed clean” just seems like wishful thinking.

- Tam!

- Nice to see Natti sober. She’s speaking all of Nynaeve’s worst fears right now.

- I forgot Nynaeve had seen Healing and that it’s been established she can copy any weave after seeing it once. Of course, she isn’t upset enough right now to channel, but it was also spelled out she wouldn’t be able to channel anyway in the arches. I am so ready to see Nynaeve the Healer.

- “How is Rand?” Knife straight to the heart. Invited to stay with Tam until he dies. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see your face.” Wisdom Nynaeve was pretty cool too.

- The fact that she sees the arches as a means to get her people a cure—she isn’t choosing the Tower over them, just what they can do. But Tam calling after her to not leave is even more poignant than Marin in the books, imo.

- Zoe going into the third arch 😭

- This is very a very trippy scene. Rosamund says they are filming something really psychadelic for S3. That’s gotta be Snakes and Foxes, right?

- The lines from Lan here are my absolute favorite from that passage. The “I will hate the man you choose…” is fine. But telling someone she’s as beautiful as a sunrise, as fierce as a warrior? I am fully swooning.

- Red is just not Nynaeve’s color, I think. (Zoe can rock anything, but Nynaeve is not going to wear much red ever)

- Just how empty “you are washed clean of your sins” sounds. “It’s alright, the blood isn’t yours” is not exactly what she needed to hear. It’s properly horrifying.

- A bloody hadori

- I don’t blame her for walking out at this point, and I would have been disappointed if she hadn’t.

- “You’re going to be a woman who’s actually worthy of that title.” Not a fan of book Egwene (actually, she’s my least favorite character—the fact that we share many traits in common has nothing to do with it, I’m sure!), but I look forward to seeing show Egwene come into her own.

- How hard must it be for her to return to the Two Rivers, without any of the kids, and no ability to use Healing?

- I love that Daniel likes filming Lanaeve as much as i enjoy watching this.

- I’ve watched this scene obsessively through gifs as soon as they were available

- “I could come with you.” Taken right from TSR, with the response we’d all like to see in an AU

- They way he holds her, and she just relaxes into him, and he rests his cheek on her head. Swooning some more.

- The pitchers are white, black, and swirl

- See, Darkfriends aren’t entirely evil. They feel bad about things too.

- Aww, Liandrin is legitimately upset. I think she sees a lot of herself in Nynaeve and wanted a mentee.

- They named the girl who gets dragged away by the Seanchan. So we’ll see her in the future?

- The Southern accent is amazingly good. Also some of the soliders have baseball bats as weapons. Will they do anything else to drive home the colonizing invaders are American?

- I wonder who this Seanchan guard is who selects Uno? Egeanin, maybe? I mean, they didn’t have to show her face. Maybe she is a named character?

- UNO!!!!!!!!!!

- The side shot of Uno impaled is deeply disturbing. They split the skin from his lips almost to his ear, and both his mandible and maxilla are fractures. It’s accurate, but holy cow that’s intense.

- I didn’t remember Logain had the Talent to see ta’veren, so it doesn’t bother me at all that he can tell men can channel. Quite frankly, it’s a good excuse for him to be out of the Black Tower later, recruiting.

- Again, I like Rand seeking out help wherever he can find it (Errol with the sword, Logain with the OP). I mean, what else is he going to do?

- Gleeman in a cloak! Branding! Hunt for the Horn!

- Lanfear is remakably up to date on the local lore for someone who was asleep for the last 3000 years. Does Ishy have a crash seminar for them on waking?

- “Your grief is your own.” Too bad the only psychiatrist in the series is evil.

- “Someone I respected.” Liandrin does feel guilty.

- I look forward to Mat rising up and proving Liandrin wrong about every word.

- “It’s not always the most powerful women who write history, it’s the ones who survive.” Ooo, chills. This show is actually going to make me care about Egwene isn’t it?

- The Cairheinin party! I love they included this, and the invitations, and him burning it! And, of course, the red coat.

- This hunt for the horn lie is a great way to showcasse just how horrible upper Cairheinin society is. “One less poor mouth for the rich to feed.” I remember the Tairan Lords are terrible toward poor people, but geez, these guys too!

- Naturally, Selene finds this plot amusing. At what point do you think he’ll catch on that she’s evil?

- Asmodean is going to teach Rand, that’s my prediction. But that doesn’t mean Rand has nothing to learn from Logain. He’s willing to learn from anyone who can teach him, no matter how unconventional.

- Ishy kept trying to get the boys to drink in TAR, right? Is this referrencing that?

- Ishamael making Perrin afraid of the wolf side is genius. A much better reason to be reluctant than in the books. “The more wolf you are the more you’re mine.” Chills.

- Hopper!

- I don’t have a problem with Min being made to work for Liandrin. She’s clearly reluctant. She also has no reason to care about Mat, really, and at least show Min comes across as someone who does what she needs to do to survive. I assume the EF5/Rand will eventually show her something worth staying and fighting for.

- Oh, she is crazy crazy.

- I like how they show the taint on the male weaves.

- And the inn gets set on fire too. They did read the books! Guess that’s the end of the red coat, huh?

- I am in love with Elayne. Seriously, how did that happen??

- I note Nynaeve is wearing mostly blue and green. Lan’s favorite colors on women.

- Fancy Mat and happy Perrin!

- Also nice that it seems Lan may do most of the cooking? Wise choice.

- That hair is…um…a look.

- Mat’s left eye!

- I love that Nynaeve saves herself.

- What more can be said about that ending? Definitely more devastating than in the books. Zoe is amazing. All excellent changes to make sense with the show story/character and move her along, give her the “why” she needs to be at the Tower. Amazing and such great storytelling.

#wheel of time #wot spoilers #wot on prime #wot show spoilers

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sovvannight · 3 months

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WIP game: The Sex Talk

So, I have no idea why I don't actually have an Ask option on my Tumblr, and I looked around and don't see an obvious way to turn that (back?) on. Shout-out to @onlygenxhere for figuring out how to request a few titles anyway. The rest of you, IDK, send me a carrier pigeon or message me on LinkedIn or something.

The Sex Talk - may not be what you were hoping for - there is a Julie & Ray talk later in this season but the entire context for that talk is so spoilery I don't think I could share it if I wanted to. This particular scene is willex:

Alex felt like he was losing his mind, it felt so good, and he never wanted it to end, he wanted to stay right here with Willie sucking on his chest, Alex’s hands tangled in his hair.

And then there was the sound of a key rattling in the front door. Willie lifted himself up a few inches, eyes huge. “Who—”

“I’m home,” Ray yelled. “My client canceled.”

The sound of footsteps grew closer, and Alex hissed, “Get off me!”

“He can’t see us—remember?”

Alex had, in fact, forgotten. He was fully in ‘parental figure is about to walk in on me making out with a guy’-panic mode. If he had a heart, it would be pounding in his chest, and as it was, he felt sweaty and was starting to breathe more quickly (although part of that was from his activities with Willie, surely).

Willie, meanwhile, got up off the couch entirely, giving Alex room to swing his legs back down so that he was sitting normally and there was room for Willie to sit next to him.

Willie grabbed his hand and squeezed it, but Alex was too petrified to look at him, fully focused on the doorway, which Ray walked through a moment later.

“Huh, the guys aren’t watching TV, either.” He set his laptop down on the desk, and Alex thought he might leave the room, but then he stopped and took a few steps toward them, looking down at the floor.

The floor, where two t-shirts plus Alex’s pink hoodie had been tossed in the heat of passion.

#julie and the phantoms #willex #my writing

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paper-lilypie · 2 years

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Oh also I have a question, no worries about answering it if you feel it’s spoilery.

I was just a bit confused about how Sun and Moon communicate with each other in your fic. Sun said Moon didn’t know where he was when he woke up and he was scared. But, then later Sun says Moon said ‘thank you’ (referring to the hat gift) Also Sun retells a few other statements from Moon.

I just wanted to know if they can talk back in forth with each other in their headspace. Or are they completely unconscious when they go off line? If so how would Sun know Moon said thank you and that he as great full for y/n’s effort)

(Side Note, I really love the way you represent the way Y/n talks to themselves in their head. It is very realistic, idk just reminds me of myself when I have doubts)

oh no worries! sure I can explain :))

Sun and Moon when taking the backseat aren’t aware of their surroundings. (Think of it as being in a dark limbo, if you will) but they CAN still talk to each other. (Though it takes a bit for them to be able to do so just after waking up in Chapter One. If you want a direct time stamp, they started communicating when Sun locked himself in the garage in Chapter Two!)

I’ll use these to bits from the hat scene as an example:

its important to note that there will be moments in the story where Sun and Moon will be communicating away from Y/N’s ears and this is one of those moments! Keep a lookout for lack of moment or reaction, and there’s a good chance the boys are talking and exchanging information :)

If we took the bit from the right, we can concur something like this happened:

[Sun: Moon, they’re serious.

Moon: they are?

Sun: yeah. I don’t… what do I do?

Moon:

Sun: Moon?

Moon: Take it.

Sun: … Are you sure?

Moon: yeah. I’m… yeah. Yeah, I’m good. I like that.

Sun: alright.]

And in those moments where they don’t feel like sharing information each other (see: Moon keeping Sun out of the loop about Y/N not knowing about his little “Bear” jab), or can’t (see: Sun being unsure whether Moon was happy or not after meeting the kids due to him being too overwhelmed to tell him himself) they can still garner one another’s emotions!

They’ll be more hidden exchanges like these in incoming chapters! Hope this helps :’)

(also Y/N’s inner monologues are based off my own daily thoughts whoops glad it translates well :’D)

#aaaaaaa I hope this all made sense somehow!!!#if you’re still curious feel free to keep asking!#fnaf #post fire au #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #ccrt #ask lily

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generic-whumperz · 7 months

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Not much has been revealed yet about The Aid's backstory, but you mentioned in your intro that he chose to sell himself into domestic slavery due to a family tragedy, which is deliciously intriguing. Can you tell us anything else non-spoilery about his background and his life before? Bonus: Does he have a name? Did he have one?

Omg, thank you so much for the ask and interest in this little story of mine! 🥹

I’m so glad you found that bit about an undisclosed family tragedy deliciously intriguing, that’s exactly what I was going for!

Yes I can elaborate ! So I don’t know how much of his previous life he remembers yet or how much I will explore his past since he basically has trauma brain and had blocked a lot of his past out. That, and well, his “before life” was basically when he was just a kid and teen. But before all the drama and misfortunes, he came from a really good solid family, with married parents, an older sister, and a younger brother. He had a good childhood and was a very happy, well-taken care of kid.

(More background about his life before below)

School: He was a straight-A student, had a solid friend group and was a nerd. He never had to try really hard, things came to him naturally and he was one of those infuriating people that never had to study for a test and just had a knack for remembering information. He was also a theater nerd and loved working on props and setting the scene. He also strikes me as someone that was in some school clubs and helped put together fundraisers for underfunded school programs. He was in sports and did track & field, basically he’s like a “cool nerd” type because he kinda rubbed shoulders with everyone.

Social life: I don’t know much about D&D, but he gives me the feeling that he was his friend group’s DM and hosted all the games at his house or did thematically coordinated outdoor sessions (he may have even LARP’ed too close to the sun 👀 was that a thinly veiled hint that partially led to the tragedy he blamed himself for?)

His nerdiness does spill over in his adult life in the form of his love for board games that he likes to play with Madame Sullivan, or his interest in trivia games or trivia game shows.

He’s a very neat and tidy person and loved to put up seasonal decorations and set the ambiance in Madame Sullivan’s home. He loved to play host when Madame Sullivan had over guests and he was known for his hors d’oeuvres and deserts. He’s used to be being well-liked and appreciated, it also doubles as his character flaw since he’s constantly seeking approval from those around him and thrives off of external validation.

I would consider him more of an introvert than an extrovert, but he is very extroverted and enjoys company. But he also doesn’t have a problem with being alone since he always finds away to make himself “busy”- in whatever way that may be.

Career: He chose his slavery position based on his natural talents and his already chosen career field which was going to be something in medical/ nursing or social services/ non-profit outreach. He knew he wanted to help people, so that’s why he chose the Domestic In-Home Care Aid position. He isn’t big and tough nor does he have a desire for romantic intimacy or serving as a personal companion for to someone who would probably want more than he would be will to give, so he felt that he really only had one option anyway.

Character traits in the story: So obviously he had a very nice and fluffy life and even got lucky with his first posting and developed a familial relationship with his master. Bad things aren’t supposed to happen to people like him- only they do.

We have a good sense of who he used to be, but he starts to loose himself even before he sells himself, but he is desperately holding on to his former self while in service under Madame Sullivan. Which I would like to point out is the child-version of himself. His young adult years are obviously very strange, but in a way he gets to prolong his youth because he’s living with a maternal figure and doesn’t have to deal with any really adult-life things. He’s kinda infantilized himself in a way (he later realizes this and sees how problematic he was, but also he was dealing with trauma and was young so we can’t hold it against him) which stunted his own personal growth, but he also uses this as a method of self-sabotage because he doesn’t think he deserves to live a free, happy life.

This story is about a lot of things, but his character journey is at the heart of it. He has to grow up, face and make peace with his past, heal his inner child, confront his current tormenter, survive and recover, (and escape?!) and decide who he is- not what he is to other people. I guess in a way, it’s a fucked up coming of age story and maybe even a cautionary tale. And with undertones of commentary on the patriarchy and failed capitalist society that turns humans into commodities, of course.

Name: Yes he has a name! Ironically I kinda tease at the idea of him having a name or not in the next part (that I still haven’t finished and posted💀), but I think it will be awhile before we learn his real name. Wyatt just calls him “Mutt” or “Aid,” or whatever rude/derogatory term he can think of on the spot.

#whump stuff #The Aid #Generic Writez #whump drabble #whump oc #oc background #oc backstory #whump writing #whump blog

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mareastrorum · 7 months

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The Fool and the Soldier: Chapter Commentary

Chapter 5: Gift & Debt

On off weeks, I’ll be posting some commentary on the prior week’s chapter. Since this is a longfic, I expect that it will be helpful for keeping track of stuff, plus I might mention something you missed. Of course, this will include spoilers, so continue with that in mind.

These aren’t meant to be comprehensive! There is so much more going on that I’m not saying. Feel free to ask questions too, either in replies or asks. If it’s too spoilery, I’ll let you know. I’ll add them to the body at the bottom as I receive them.

See the directory for other meta posts.

Gift & Debt

What’s this?! We haven’t seen this card! But no worries, Jester makes the card about halfway through the chapter.

There’s a lot of toxic fandom discourse on what characters “deserve” and that eventually culminated into an intent to explore that in the story. This chapter juxtaposes a lot of the characters’ worldviews on what must to be earned/paid versus what should be given freely.

Luctus

The first thing I came up with for Luctus was the sensory perception: pain. It immediately came to mind when I looked up the latin word luctus, which means grief or sorrow. I didn’t feel that I needed to iron it out further for the emotion, so this was an easy fit.

Next was the school of magic. She wasn’t encountered in the stream, but her ability during the Lucien fight was a Slow spell with a dexterity save instead of the usual wisdom save. This wasn’t the only eye that had slightly different effects than a normal spell—Vigilan’s anti-magic cone dispelled magic rather than suppressed it until it passed out of the field (at least, sometimes).

Slow is an interesting spell. It’s transmutation, which is all about changing reality (and I had already decided on another Somnovem for that school). It affects a specific number of targets in a space. According to the PHB, wisdom is about being in tune with the world, particularly with perceiving it. Thus, a wisdom save for avoiding a Slow effect makes sense if the point is to resist a change to one’s own perception of the world. After all, if it was actually changing the space itself, then there wouldn’t be a limit on the number of targets, and it would be avoided or exited by leaving the area. So it changes the target, not the world. Makes sense for a level 3 spell.

But Luctus’s Slow required a dexterity save, which is the score for agility, reflexes, and balance. Dexterity saves are usually for dodging an ability, but not all the Somnovem’s abilities used that save, so it wasn’t about avoiding an eye’s gaze. There’s a couple ways to interpret that, like maybe it’s a stronger transmutation of the same effect, but it affects everything in that area, so it has to be dodged. However, Matt didn’t pull out any AOE measuring props to see who else he could get; Luctus looked directly at Fjord in episode 139, then Veth in 140. Matt also didn’t describe a beam or any projectile. They both felt a wave of grief and sadness, which imparted the effect. So I don’t think it was about dodging so much as it was about the character’s general speed and agility.

So I chewed on that for a while, until it suddenly clicked: dunamancy. Dunamancy has both chronomancy and graviturgy specialties. It would totally track to have either of those require a dexterity save rather than any other stat to resist a slowing effect. Once I had that, I came up with Luctus’s role.

And as I thought that over, I also had my fix for why Molly survived at Glory Run Road: Luctus used Cognouza to alter the timeline.

You might wanna check out those first two scenes in chapter 1.

Pieces

The first draft of this scene didn’t have the funky kerning and formatting. It was going to be very brief, only giving the reader a vague sense of what had happened to Lucien.

However, once I got used to testing out different types of formatting quirks, I decided to use that here to emphasize how disorienting it was for Lucien. Since this was third-person limited perspective, and his perception of the world would have been shattered, the text was as well.

Gems

I wanted to do a check-in with Nott because she spent so long in the early campaign keeping her backstory to herself, and she’s in the background for a lot of Fjord’s arc. Much of her dialogue makes more sense in a second watch of the campaign. She projected a lot of her issues onto other people, and she used that lens to decide what she should do for herself.

The actual events of the scene weren’t that important though. I almost cut it entirely and added a scene for Nott elsewhere, but I wanted Nott’s canon dialogue about not being good yet, but trying to do good. It’s such a big part of who the Nein are at every point in their story. Thus, I kept it.

Debts

This scene was so long originally. I think it was nearly 9,000 words at one point. Then I cut it, then it bloated again, then I cut it more, etc. I think this is the 5th or 6th major version of it.

I chose Fjord’s POV for this because his arc is coming into focus next and I wanted to lay some ground work about where his head is at. There’s also a lot of parallels between him and Molly that will come into play.

Gustav’s bail was always going to be a big scene in the early chapters because Molly would have been there to realize that Gustav knew about Kylre. However, then the origin comic came out, and I was like, wait, was Kylre the reason Lestera died? She wasn’t that old—no gray hair, no signs of illness, no weak constitution, etc. There’s no way to confirm it, but considering that nergaliids can passively feed off people, then Molly would have thought that was a possibility. No reason to be extra upset about it… unless Gustav knew all along.

Molly’s only really gotten angry a few times in canon, typically when other people are getting hurt. He didn’t show anger if people disagreed with him over plans or anything. In the comic, he dealt with his anger through choir practice, and that was honestly more fun for him than anything else, with his anger showing before he came up with an idea of what to do. He wasn’t even that angry at Kylre when he chased him down with the Nein.

But Gustav was supposed to take care of the carnival, he brought Kylre in, and he knew what was happening the whole time. Kylre’s betrayal was more straightforward, and it didn’t really harm anyone at the carnival (other than possibly Toya). It’d be like being angry at a wolf for hunting a person instead of a sheep. Instead, it seemed like Gustav put people in danger for coin, after all the lessons and mannerisms that Molly picked up from him.

So, yeah, Molly was pissed.

I also wanted to explore the Nein’s various moral leanings and perspectives of the world. Fjord and Caleb are more on the end of earning what you have—there’s an expectation of behaving a certain way under threat of punishment. Fjord would have gotten that from his time at the orphanage and as a sailor. Caleb learned that from growing up poor in a totalitarian regime and then training as a Volstrucker. It took a long time for both of them to shake out of that mindset in their respective arcs.

In comparison, Jester and Caduceus have kinder outlooks. They didn’t let outrage override their sense of fairness. It wasn’t like Gustav or the carnival had been rolling in funds, so it couldn’t have been just about money. So they stood up to the others and asked questions to get at the heart of why Gustav had done it in the first place.

Nott and Beau struck me as somewhere in the middle. Beau rebels against authority and has a powerful curiosity, so she’d be wary of the idea of meting out justice without knowing all the facts. Thus, I had her stop Molly (to protect him from getting arrested for murder) at the start, then hold him back until they got answers. Nott backed up Caleb, of course, but after the scene she just had about trying to do good, she’d feel uncertain about it while she does it. After all, how many people did she help torture and kill because she was scared of what the goblin tribe would do to her?

Taliesin said in a Talks that his concept of Molly was an unaligned character that broke traditional D&D alignment. Thus, Molly is not a good person. That doesn’t mean he’s evil, lawful, chaotic, nor neutral. He’s unaligned. He thinks he’s a good person and tries to do good—when he feels like it. He has a code that no one actually understands, but it makes sense to him, so who knows if he follows it? He likes mischief and causing chaos, but also wants things to make sense. He does what he feels like when he thinks he should, sometimes. Unless he doesn’t. But there’s rules to it. Maybe.

In short, he’s a two-year-old adult. Two. Years. That is not a lot of time to come up with a comprehensive, consistent view of what the world is, what it should be, nor how he should handle discrepancies. That doesn’t mean Molly isn’t capable of acting rationally or being persuaded to do something he doesn’t initially want to do. He listens to people, and even if he talks back, he’ll go with the flow.

That resulted in this scene, with half the group wanting to kill Gustav, and ending with them letting him go.

Easter egg: I had Molly’s swords get caught on the coat because it was Lestera’s. As discussed in the next scene, she wouldn’t have wanted him to kill Gustav, so that was added here as a symbolic show of her interference.

Stories

Molly drank alone to panic after he first got his Rite of the Dawn unlocked in Alfield, so I figured he’d try to isolate after what happened. Maybe he would have sought some comfort with Yasha because she’d trusted Gustav too, but she’s unfortunately not there.

Jester to the rescue! This provided exposition about Molly’s thought process through the prior scene, and it showed just how much it rocked Molly’s view of a few things. Even so, he’s not angry at any of the Nein, nor did he hold what they did against them. His emotions were just running high and he’s having trouble keeping a grip.

I wanted to explore Molly’s and Jester’s relationship a bit. In all honesty, their personalities are very well suited to each other: they like having fun, they understand each other well, they’ve got each other’s backs, and they both prioritize helping people at their own expense. They also enable each other to their detriment, and their maturity is a bit stunted because of that. That said, Jester’s a romantic and Molly’s a hedonist. They have very different views of what relationships should be and what they’d want out of it, so the scene doesn’t stray from a platonic feel. Thus, I had them order different drinks, and neither would ever order the other’s for themselves. Despite that they showed some physical affection and even got caught on each other’s horns, it’s all in silly fun.

This scene also gives a lampshade to the naming convention to for the fanfic (which was discussed in a prior meta post): each of the chapters is named after one of the cards, and the reason is that they’re conveying a theme through a story rather than saying something outright. However, it’s not just for the readers. The characters also refuse to acknowledge certain truths, so they cope by telling stories (Caleb’s book, Molly’s cards, Cad asking Gustav for his story, etc.). Heck, even Molly does it, by telling stories about his time at the carnival instead of answering Jester’s questions outright—but it’s not Jester who doesn’t want to hear the answer.

Worries

Time for the terrible spellcasters to be terrible together. At this point in their arcs, Caleb and Fjord are also enablers for each other. The worst thing is, they rationalize their decisions as being best for the Nein or the world generally, not just themselves. Yes, they’re worried about Molly, but there’s also that tempting blood magic that might be useful somehow, plus whatever happens to Molly might affect their aspirations, etc.

I went with Caleb’s POV because he would be having a rough time with the events of the day. This was basically sandpaper on an old wound. He betrayed his parents and murdered them for the Empire. He betrayed Astrid and Eadwulf by attacking them and then by fleeing the Sanatorium without seeking them out to tell them the truth. Ikithon betrayed them by altering their memories and warping them into weapons for the Empire. Caleb’s only just started to truly grasp that he’s been fed Imperial propaganda his whole life. He’s been wrestling with the idea of whether his own judgment can be trusted and whether he can or should try to do anything about Ikithon or the Volstrucker. Then the group decided to let Gustav go when he wanted to kill Gustav, and it hit him fairly quickly that he’d made a rash decision that was rightfully overruled.

He’s a mess.

Then, along comes Molly (also a mess) to ask for a silly favor to borrow Frumpkin because he can’t sleep. That manages to pull Caleb’s head out of his own butt long enough so that he can get to sleep too.

It’s almost like they feel better about their own bullshit when they help other people…

Zoran Kluthidol

The first part of this scene about the hounds was in one of my earliest sets of notes from August 2022. It was one of the first scenes I wrote for the Tombtakers. I’ll discuss more of Zoran’s backstory in a separate meta post, but the key thing for this scene is that goliaths travel in herds and are fairly isolated from other communities. A lot of this scene came from my brainstorming about what sort of goliath would leave his tribe and wind up at the Claret Orders.

Once I came up with the basics for both backstories, I considered what Zoran would have thought about Lucien. Timing wise, I figured that Zoran would have already been at the Orders for a while when Lucien joined, and Zoran would have joined as an adult (because that’s when he would have left his tribe). Lucien would have joined as a pre-teen. Thus, Lucien would have been a tiny brat compared to Zoran, a fully-grown goliath.

Then I thought, what sort of person would Lucien need to be for Zoran to respect him enough to take up an offer to form a mercenary group and leave the Orders? (Reminder: Lucien died at 23, after the Tombtakers were active for at least 5 years—so he led them away when he was no older than 18!)

A fucking brawler, that’s what. Someone who could kick his ass when he had no right doing it. This scene helped me flesh out both of their personalities in that respect.

Thing is, an introductory scene can’t just be about the character getting his ass beat by a mostly-dead antagonist if the point is to show he’s not a pushover. Thus, there’s some bits to show that Zoran specifically enjoys hunts, not just fights, and he doesn’t care as much about the outcome as Lucien did. It also shows that he’s still someone to be feared and does as he pleases because of it.

(And captainsparklefingers nailed that Zoran snagged a bottle of Lionett wine from the storage room!)

Zoran is the other Ghostslayer of the Tombtakers, so his POV gives insight into that as well. He immediately clocked how fucked up it was for Cree to make Lucien an undead, and he’s intuitive enough to recognize several implications that stem from that. He also doesn’t take what Cree and Otis say at face value; he recognizes their biases and takes that into account. Finally, he’s got some reservations about the Somnovem and the Pattern, even if he enjoyed how it felt at the time.

But Zoran’s not the schemer. As fucked as the situation is, he’s more comfortable following the others’ leads. So, for now, he’s settling in for whatever insanity Lucien’s going to lead them into, and he’s well aware it’s going to be messy. That’s what’s fun, after all.

Senses

Another check-in with Lucien. There’s some subtle hints of what the Somnovem are up to. I also included a demonstration of Luctus’s ability to warp time. As she mentioned in her later scene, she had to “undo” some things, so the reader gets to see an example of that here.

Dream: Bait

The introductory poem is “To a Squirrel at Kyle-Na-No” by William Butler Yeats, an Irish poet and politician. He’s a fascinating historical figure that turned to some seriously questionable views about how the world should work in his later years, and I thought that was perfect for including here. I’m being vague about it because I think you should read it up yourself—and you’ll hopefully get a sense of why I thought, of all the poems I could have chosen, his poem about trying to pet a squirrel was appropriate here.

It’s fairly obvious that the overarching theme of this dream is bait. I had considered including scenes where Lucien hunted for small animals, but honestly, that would be a terrible idea for kids in the Savalirwood. Fishing would have been safer, and it gave an opportunity for some exposition from an adult.

Every other scene in the dream includes an example of using bait to lure someone to or from something. First was Cree distracting guards while Lucien snuck out of a house he robbed. (There’s a clue as to whose house it was…) Second was Lucien trying to bait the goliath into harassing Cree instead of him, but it’s too tempting to bother the tiefling that’s already so close to the water. Third was Lucien distracting vendors so Cree could nab wares at the market, plus acting as lookout for Greytraders that might have caught her otherwise.

Fourth was an unfortunate example of Lucien leading some thugs to his group when they were looking to snatch orphans and sell them off to the Mardoons or Jagentoths—slavers. The fisherman mentioned three sets of three are extra special: Lucien’s red eyes, purple skin, and horns (as noted when he spooked the baker); Cree’s a “half-beast” girl with gold eyes; and the half-orc is also a “half-beast” girl, but with blue eyes. Being good bait isn’t always a boon.

And now, look back at that poem. Hmmm. HMMMM…

The rhyme in the market scene is the last verse of a popular Irish song, “Molly Malone.” Cockles are a relatively easily-foraged shellfish that are a common street food in coastal towns, and they’re often used as bait for fishing. Mussels are another shellfish, found both at sea and in freshwater. While Shadycreek Run is a fair distance inland, it’s also a trade point between the rest of the Greying Wildlands and the Empire. While I doubt there would actually be hawkers wheeling barrows of shellfish to sell in the Run, there’s some obvious puns and references to prostitution in the song, which was also a thriving business in town. Plus it’s totally the kind of place that would have rumors of a ghost trying to sell wares.

Gifts

Then we go to Molly, who, as expected, is doing his best to not deal with what happened and is instead fixating on his name. Identity was a big thing for him, so it makes sense that he’d focus on that rather than process his feelings about Gustav or mourn Lestera a second time.

I figured Fjord would be optimal for that conversation because Fjord was the one who wavered about his last name, Stone. Vandran had argued to him that it was a good name, which tempered his distaste for it. However, once Fjord learned about Vandran in the stream, that threw it all into question again. Thus, of all the people in the Nein who would understand, Fjord’s best suited.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a heart to heart with Molly without a +0 to Charisma moment like him insinuating that Fjord should have seen Sabian’s betrayal coming. That said, Fjord is dense sometimes, and even then, he’d be used to Molly’s brand of arrogance to know better than to take it at face value.

I can’t recall the exact context (I’ll update this if I ever find the quote), but Taliesin once mentioned that he expected a party pet to “make an alligator so happy.” I immediately thought of that while outlining this stretch of time and saw that the pet vendor would be dealt with here. I planned to include it as Molly’s dialogue for one of Jester’s pets, then realized that she would probably goad him to buy the peacock, which he would definitely decline. Molly had also mentioned that the carnival had named a horse Winter’s Crest because that was when they planned to eat it if it lasted that long. That evolved into this section where Jester bought him the peacock and he suggested the Nein eat it instead.

Jester had more gold to spend at this point because Molly pitched in to buy Nott’s cloak and for Gustav’s bail. The Nein also had more coin overall because more guards had been killed at the Sour Nest. Thus, while Jester is still pretty broke, she’s doing a little better than she had been in the stream.

Bruises

Caduceus is still taking it easy, but he’s learning to enjoy the trip. I wanted to include a POV for him because I thought he would do a half-apology to Molly, and it’s fun to explore their relationship since it was a blank slate. We also got to see that Molly’s doing better after a few days.

More cards for Molly’s deck! These will absolutely be chapter titles in the future.

Tyffial Wase

Tyffial was the last of the Tombtakers that I fleshed out. It took a while to come up with her backstory, but once it clicked, everything fell into place rather easily.

In the Critical Role artbook “The Chronicles of Exandria - The Mighty Nein” there is a blurb about the Tombtakers based on Beau’s notes that were submitted to the Cobalt Soul, and Adon Zeenoth personally crossed out Tyffial’s name. I took that to mean that Zeenoth must have known Tyffial somehow. They’re both elves, but there was no indication about their ages in canon. But why would he personally censor records naming her? There had to be something he didn’t want people to know about her, but I had to come up with what that would be and why he would do it unprompted.

First, I tried to come up with what Tyffial would have been doing before she joined the Claret Orders. Nothing really came to mind, so I thought instead, why would an elf with a long lifespan join the Order of the Mutant and then defect to follow an 18-year-old (or so) to form a mercenary band? I had considered the route grayintogreen took where Tyffial was also from Shadycreek Run and grew up with Lucien and Cree, but I wanted to do something new. There’s not a lot of takes on the Tombtakers, so there’s a lot of possibilities that hadn’t been done yet.

Then I thought, well, what if she was bored? Elves live a long time. What if she joined the Orders out of boredom? Then she’d leave once she was bored of that, too. That would make sense, especially if Lucien comes up with exciting jobs, and we (the audience) knew that eventually took the Tombtakers to Molaesmyr. But a young elf wouldn’t get bored that quickly. Their sense of time passing would be about the same as a younger race until they started getting up there in years.

So Tyffial is fucking old. The Order of the Mutant makes sense because then she can adjust her abilities and her looks using mutagens. And that gave me a reason for her to know Zeenoth, an Archivist at the Soul: he’s covering up her tracks when she comes up with a new identity. He’s taken bribes before, so a bribe mixed with threat of violence would certainly keep him acting on Tyffial’s behalf.

Tyffial’s backstory will be explored over time in TF&TS, but there will be hints aplenty about just how long she’s been around. For example: what names does she use to refer to certain places?

I’ll note that I came up with this before it was revealed that Ludinus Da’leth was artificially extending his lifespan. I was so hyped when C3 started exploring that. More things to chew on.

Lucien & Luctus

Yet another look into Lucien’s relationship with the Somnovem. I don’t want to point out too many hints, but there were several. Is he needlessly paranoid or rightly distrustful? Time will tell.

Now Lucien has a body! Kind of. Curious that the Somnovem did that after he was defeated on the Material Plane…

#TF&TS #TF&TS meta #chapter commentary

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loneamaryllis · 10 months

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Thinking of Precious Horcrux and I have two questions.

If Harrie called Voldemort my Lord, Master or Voldemort in bed would he absolutely lose it (in a good way 😉) Which one does he like best?

I also wonder how he’d react to Harrie calling him 'dear', using the word bitterly and mockingly.

I wonder about the Elder Wand. I usually assume for Voldy Wins fics that Harry consciously gives up the ownership of the Elder Wand by surrendering to Voldemort since Voldemort is not mentioned to any longer have trouble with the Elder Wand in most fics.

On that note, I loved the scene where Voldemort gave his original wand to Harrie during training. From what we understand of the magical world, it's a very intimate gesture.

So, is the Elder Wand completely Voldemort's in PH? Or is it still Harrie's and both of them are ignorant of the fact?

Of course, if any of these are spoilery questions, you don't have to answer them. I just thought of them while thinking about Precious Horcrux.

I am so anxious about Harrie visiting Hermione and Ron. She’ll either try to:

a) bargain with Voldemort for their release or that they get a pardon

b) have to leave them but try to come up with a plan to break them free

c) Ron will punch Voldemort in the face if Voldemort hints at what he's doing to Harrie and if Voldemort insults Hermione which will end up with Harrie having to make sure there aren’t lasting consequences

d) Golden Trio suffering and me bawling on the floor bcs they're babies and they deserve to be happy, somebody help them 😭😭

Sending love 💖💖

Oooh, he'd be absolutely delighted to hear her call him either my Lord or Master. Less by Voldemort, but those other two, yeah, he'd go feral.

Harrie calling him 'dear' would leave him amused but not much else because he'd understand she doesn't mean it. Unless it's in public, and then he'd probably tease her about it.

Yep, the Elder Wand is fully Voldemort's in PH. He got ownership of it when he beat Harrie in duel, the Wand considered its allegiance won. He has the Cloak, too. And, well, you'll see. :D

The visit happens next chapter and those are very good assumptions! One or more is true.

Sending love back <3

#precious horcrux tag

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starsarefire824 · 2 years

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Do we think Will isn’t shown in the trailer much because his scenes that aren’t things that have already been shown by pictures/ snippets are too spoilery? Or do we think they might fuck this up? I’m still on the ‘Will has powers and that it’s’ all connected’ train. But also…………

Tell me your thoughts!

#byler #stranger things #will byers #will byers has powers #mindflayer #Vecna #upside down

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docholligay · 1 year

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Misty: Ep 2

Hello! This is about up to Episode 2 of Yellowjackets, and ONLY episode 2 of Yellowjackets. I have not seen beyond the second episode, at all, and know NOTHING about this show. Please do not spoil it for me. Things that are spoilery in nature, for me, include: saying things like “Just wait!!” confirming or denying anything I put forward, outside information about the cast interviews or creator statements, leading questions like “Do you think “blank moment” means anything?” etc. Remember that Y’ALL HAVE SEEN THE SHOW AND I HAVE NOT. This informs the way you talk about things relating to the show. Just be really careful is all I’m asking. Also: If there is LITERALLY any stance I could take on this show or character that would make you upset, please just fucking block the tag

If you WOULD like to discuss the show and my takes on it, the Discord is right here! I don’t go there, so it’s a great place to get every emotion out.

Please thank @sailorsunspot and @moonlight-frittata for backing this odd way of doing a liveblog, and remember my tip jar is always open!

One of the major victories, so far, of this show is the way it handles Misty. Misty is both a victim and a villain, and that is one of my absolute favorite places for a character to be. They also really avoid the “poor, beleaguered nerd cri cri” that I am so opposed to in fiction.

Don’t misunderstand me, I feel deeply for Misty in that opening scene with the phone call, because I was her, minus that fact that I most definitely did not have my own phone line*. When she talks about Plato and opinion being the wilderness between knowledge and ignorance, but she’s so socially uncanny she has no idea how to respond to the girls on the other end of the line without playing more into their trap, I cringed because that could have described me PERFECTLY from about the ages of 7 to 13. When i was little, it was basically decided by my classmates that no one was going to attend my birthday party, and so, not a single person showed up. I am not unsympathetic to what this shit feels like.

So I LOVE how the show goes, “Oh, you feel for her, but as an adult, you also would find her offputting and unlikeable” and they throw us into this date situation where Misty is being unspeakably weird, and not understanding how the social game is played. There are many, many of us who were Misty as children, and grew up to learn how the game was played. I learned it so well I actually became a mean girl human nightmare from about the ages of 15 to 22-23. Calling it a game is even a touch dismissive. We are pack animals, and understanding how pack communication is done is a life skill.

Misty is, even as an adult, unlikeable. Part of me wonders if she, too, is trapped at 17 the way I’ve accused other characters of being. Did it have to be this way? Might her life have changed if she went to college, was able to reinvent herself? I mean, we aren’t really given anything, but in that opening scene, I can see she has a very nice room, with her own phone line, and nice clothes. It SEEMS like her parents care about her at least to some degree. And that is, I think, a major part of resilience. What might Misty have been if she wasn’t out in the wild? Who might she have become, and would it be a more socially appropriate person than she is now?

Because she found a part of herself out there that I think she’s still clinging to.

There are people who are born for certain situations, and certain moments. People who are incredibly good in a crisis. I may be an abrasive piece of shit in my day to day life, but I also am fairly good in a crisis. There’s Winston Churchill. Anyway, Misty is also one of those people who is great in a crisis. From the word go, she manages the situation with a very clear head, bracing herself as the plane crashes, immediately looking for the emergency door. She has excellent first aid skills--though I scoff at her having taken babysitter first aid, I have taken wilderness first aid, and that is shit from wilderness first aid and even a bit beyond--and proves herself invaluable to the team.

All of that is fine. All of that is great, actually.

But what this leads to is her manufacturing a crisis--well, that’s not fair, let’s instead say prolonging a crisis--so that she can continue to be liked and useful. When I saw the end of t6he episode, I was appalled, but I wasn’t SHOCKED. I think that’s a credit to the writers, who have shown us time and again how a REASONABLE person could not like Misty or find her offputting. This is the first time in her life that people have had nice things to say about her. She helped someone in need.

And so it doesn’t surprise me that she went into healthcare, and I am 100% sure, though please, don’t tell me, that she wrecked Nat’s car. That’s why she’s joined up with the citizen detectives. Misty has CONTINUED to find ways to make herself the only one that can help. She has continued to chase that high of being in the woods and being the only one who knows what to do and it wouldn’t surprise me if she continued to either manufacture or prolong crises in order to maintain that position of usefulness. If the girls can’t LIKE her, they will NEED her.

#Doc watches Yellowjackets #Yellowjackets S1 E2

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sweatandwoe · 1 year

Note

Have to say the entirety of "timeless" is what comes to my mind.

God this made me go look st my outline for it. I know I always say SI is my arcane baby but Timeless was something special to me. When I think about writing Arcane again, I do think of that fic more, just because the plot was so carefully planned and then I just stopped it. I had scenes and quotes all written up for certain chapters too so I'll share a vague spoilery one below as a treat cause I really like it.

“It hurt. Dying, I mean, it hurt a lot.” The teenager whispered, blue hair grazing your cheek. Something warm and wet hits your shoulder, quickly followed by more. Your hand steadies on her back. “It hurt so much. I can still feel it.”

You hold her gently, and let her cry. She can soak your shirt with the essence of her pain. “Do you know where I can find you?”

There’s another laugh. Sadder this time, as it breaks into a sob. And Jinx feels small in your arms.

And then smaller, and smaller, and smaller. Growing tinier, younger as you continue to hold her until there is a naked, wrinkled babe in your arms, with a soft but thin blanket against her back. Too small still, her skin held too much of a red hue. Your lips move, eyes remaining on the babe held in your arms, realization striking you. “You aren’t born yet.”

Large pink eyes stare up at you. A tiny mouth opens to reveal a full set of teeth, grinning like a wolf, as Jinx’s voice still booms from the babe’s mouth. “Nope.”

And then she is gone. Her blanket the only thing left in your hands.

#timeless #sweaty asks #i woke up and had a bad dream enjoy aome rare arcane writing cause I went through my asks #and got emotional over timeless #arcane #i wrote this like a year ago wanna go back to this style

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larkral · 2 years

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Hello friends, and thanks for the tags @cutestkilla, @ileadacharmedlife and @artsyunderstudy.

This week has been a bit fraught for writing, because I’m having a chronic pain flare up, and my hands and wrists are bearing the brunt of it. I’ve ordered a very fancy ergonomic keyboard (my paid work is like 80% typing, so it’s not even slightly frivolous, is what I’m telling myself) which maybe will help. We’ll see, I guess.

I wrote a fight/battle scene this week and WOAH it was fun. Too spoilery to put here though, sorry! Turns out most of the things that aren’t spoilers are either VERY INTENSE WORLD BUILDING or just like, feeeeeeeelings. I know what you want, so here’s a section of intense world building. JKJK, it’s feelings.

It’s been three days since I’ve seen more than Baz’s back as he rounds the corner up the stairs for breakfast. I even set up a trip spell on his door last night and the night before so that I could catch him on his way to the bathroom this morning. I slept in my shoes (I always sleep in my clothes) so that I could follow him immediately. But when I woke up to the pulling feeling in my chest telling me he’d opened his door, and still all I’d see was his back up the stairs.

It doesn’t make sense how bad I feel about it.

Except also, it was nice, being on the same side. It felt good to help him. And not in the same way I’m used to. Not like helping a sophomore whose only friend ate some infested injera and keeled over mid-meal. Not like telling the third formers to leave off the littler kids once I was the biggest boy in the children’s home.

I help Penny all the time, though, and it didn’t feel like that. It felt like a gift he was giving me. A glimpse into the soft places underneath his shell. The ones I would never have said existed before last week.

Lest you weren’t sure, this is obviously from my obsession/only fic, the @carryonprompts Carry On/Scholomance AU fandom fusion (whatever you want to call it): A Dangerous Affinity.

Feels very likely that some of y’all have already done this, but I’m setting a trip spell on your door: @raenestee @katmiscellanious @bucketfishy @facewithoutheart @cutestkilla@hushed-chorus @sillyunicorn @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @basiltonbutliketheherb @asocialpessimist @bookish-bogwitch @aristocratic-otter @captain-aralias @petedavidsonscock @takitalks @yeonjunenby @carryonvisinata @takenabackbytuesdays UNLESS what you need is a big ol’ hug, in which case, I am sending one your way.

#intense world building #SIMON SNOW #the feeling you're feeling #it's romantic love #get your act together #you want to kiss him #it's all you want #wip wednesday #snowbaz #carry on #the scholomance #A Dangerous Affinity

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elmendea · 2 years

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“I don’t speak firefly...”

Okay. I’ve got control of my feels and now I’m ready to talk about the first two episodes of RoP. Spoilery stuff under the jump, so be warned!

I’m going to get what I didn’t like out of the way first, because it’s a much smaller list than I thought it would be. Some of this is very, very nitpicky/from the perspective of a linguist, so YMMV. And that’s all cool!

Finrod’s hair. ugh, just. UGH. way, way too modern. broke my immersion immediately. Elrond’s and Celebrimbor’s hair I can learn to tolerate, but Finrod looked like he stepped out of a primary world hairdresser just last week. odd.

the introduction to the Harfoots was a little bit on the cheesy side

the whole “these warriors have earned their passage back to Valinor” thing was a little...I don’t feel it was extrapolated enough? After the War of Wrath, the ban of the Valar was lifted for the Noldorin exiles and Valinor was open to any of the Eldar who wished to leave Middle-earth. There was no ‘earning’ involved with it. Now, because the Professor umm’d and ahh’d about Galadriel’s personal ban, it could possibly work for her, earning her passage, but I think it would have been a little closer to canon if the warrior elves had been presented as choosing to go to Valinor, as they felt their personal duties on Middle-earth had been done.

the way the warrior band stood on the boat as it sailed. Did they...assume that position for the whole trip? I just. *gigglefit*

also puzzled as to why everyone apparently is required to wear white while in Aman...

me getting my linguist on: Poppy using the word “okay”. that jolted me out of immersion; “okay” has only been used in the primary world for the last couple of centuries; it’s distinctly modern and it’s so weird to hear it in a world where it wouldn’t even exist.

I still don’t like the costume designs for the elves (although in the series they admittedly look much, much prettier than in the trailers -- you can see the details of the fabrics and the accoutrements much better), Celebrimbor especially (I just...why would you want to make such a stately character look so dowdy? Especially if they’re being played by Charles bloody Edwards, for goodness’ sake!). And while I don’t have a problem with the design of the Southlander’s apparel, some of it -- especially Bronwyn’s (gorgeous) blue dress -- doesn’t look at ALL worn enough, and seems too bright. The Southlanders aren’t rolling in money or culture, rich fabrics should be out of their price limits, so to speak.

Now. WHAT I LOVED.

that cinematography. This series isn’t even eye-candy, it’s eye-HEAVEN. Everything is so gorgeous and sweeping. I’m incredibly partial to the elven places (someone take me to Lindon. NOW.), but holy crap Khazad-Dum was amazing, too! The look on my face during that entry scene was exactly the same as Elrond’s!

THAT. SCORE. Bear McCreary is a force of nature and criminally underrated.

I’m still not sure why, but the boat coming to Valinor (or approaching its borders, technically) scene made me tear up something dreadful. It was just...so beautiful. The music, the golden light, the birds that swirled around the ship, the parting clouds...

Elrond. Elrond, Elrond, ai, meldenya Elerondo. Robert Aramayo played him to perfection. You can see his youth and inexperience, but you can also see hints of the mighty elf lord that he will eventually become. And he really does seem as kind as summer, too! And...SO ADORKABLE. The way he lit up when he was told Galadriel had arrived. Their friendship is EVERYTHING. (So yeah, haters, he talks to her very directly because they’re close and he cares, so can we just let all this “how DARE he speak to Galadriel like that!” claptrap die already?

Galadriel. Holy crap, Nerwen, my beautiful girl. I love how we can see the side of her that Tolkien wrote about in Unfinished Tales, that fire she has in her belly, that horrific knowledge which will eventually be tempered into wisdom. Morfydd Clark’s performance was absolutely astounding -- how she managed to have that utter longing and yet tearing hesitation in the Valinor scene is beyond me, and it’s wonderful.

Celebrimbor. I just. Charles Edwards nailed him, his enthusiasm and his longing to do something of consequence -- not for himself, but for Middle-earth. Also, his whole “I like people who create things, I don’t care what race they are, I just wanna see the awesome” is just...so...pure. And that guarded sort of look he had when Elrond was admiring Fëanor’s hammer, like he’s quite conflicted about his heritage...goddamn, man. He has my whole damn heart and he can encase it in silver filigree and keep it forever. ♥ ...oh I am gonna be a frickin’ MESS by the end of this, aren’t I.

The Harfoots. I was so prepared to hate them, but I was so pleasantly surprised -- they’re just like the hobbits of the Third Age, simply nomadic. There’s still that sense of family and community, the little sparks of adventurousness here and there, and they’re honestly adorable.

Nori. I was actually positive I was going to hate her and she’d annoy me to the sky, but she’s so cute! A cute, determined, scared but brave, wilful little sprite of a hobbit. There’s definitely something Tookish about her.

Dísa is A M A Z I N G. She’s warm, personable, friendly, bold, brash, larger than life, heckin’ gorgeous, and oh god I ship her and Durin so hard. Their relationship just...*clutches heart* I really get that their relationship is solid enough for her to be able to tell him in absolutely no uncertain terms that he’s being an ass, and she does NOT approve, but this doesn’t change her love for him remotely. (I wanna see the wee dwarves, too! More of their family in later eps, please please please!)

Oh, Arondir. He tries to remain so stoic, but his sorrow and worry is heavy around him like a cloak, and how Ismael Cruz Cordova managed to show that is just great. Also, him and Bronwyn! They barely held hands in either episode but it’s so obvious they’re helplessly in love -- emphasis on the helpless; they both know it can’t happen. But they love, love, love, they can’t help it. I have way too many feelings about them, way too many. (...they’re gonna break my heart, aren’t they? Well, I mean, technically everyone is going to, because, uh...Second Age and all, but.)

speaking of best mama bear Bronwyn: I love her hair, the braided-in-kerchief thing. I’m gonna try that on my own hair, I think.

loved the little name drops and hints here and there -- Elrond mentioning Fëanor, Durin and Dísa mentioning Aulë, etc etc. If you don’t have the rights to film it...just mention it! (So yes, the writers have delved into the lore, after all!)

Overall, 8/10. And I’m just. I’m so happy to be back in Middle-earth. The trailers and teasers don’t show how good it really is. I have never been that happy after finishing a TV episode of anything before in my life. I’m so looking forwards to the next five years! ♥

#RoPspoilers #rop spoilers #salt-free RoP #Rings of Power #The Rings of Power #tldr; I loved it #C E L E B R I M B O R #gimme back my HEART #that was absolutely unexpected

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awritingcaitlin · 1 year

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Caitlin's Writing Snippet Roundup 2022

Caitlin, what did you spend Christmas Eve doing? Surely it wasn't several hours creating a bunch of snippet canva slides and then putting them into one master image for the purposes of doing a 2022 "art" roundup but make it writing?

(Yes, audience, that is exactly what she did.)

So basically, I tracked down a scene I wrote each month in 2022 and pulled a short snippet from each. Since I know that's not easy to read, I'll be posting individual images in the thread! I've written a lot this year and am really proud.

This is from CureWIP back in January.

This is from CureWIP in February! Finally these two admit it.

CureWIP in March. Let me tell you, finding a snippet from this late in the WIP got difficult. So once again, I am using these lines because I am *completely normal* about them.

From ViolinHeist in April!

ViolinHeist in May. A little nod to my own allergy to adhesive.

ViolinHeist in June! (Writing the heist!) (Okay, heist 1)

Also not Lelia multitasking like a bamf.

ViolinHeist in July! This one was rough to not get a spoilery section, so have this wonderful exchange about KnifeWife Riela.

Spoilers, she has more than three.

From SiegeWIP in August! Siege was a rewrite so I was hunting for either a new scene, or a massively overhauled one, which is what this one is.

From SiegeWIP in September! All of my new scenes written in September are also massively spoilery, so I grabbed this one instead.

From SiegeWIP in October. This was an old scene that got cut, then reworked and put back in!

From ViolinHeist Draft 2 in November. This was a reworked scene, with more details added!

And lastly, ViolinHeist Draft 2 in December. This is a new scene!

Unfortunately, I do not have a template or anything. This was me bullying Canva, taking screenshots, throwing it into PowerPoint because of the grid-system (I'm on my tablet with no art programs), and then taking more screenshots. But if you'd like to do this too, go for it!

Longer snippets under the cut:

JANUARY

“So let me get this straight,” Private First-Class Tim O’Brian, the assistant, asked Riela. “You come immediately to the kitchen after coming out of the safe room, clear up the dead bodies, and throw on three pots of food.”

“Yep,” Riela replied.

Rinnie opened one eye. Riela was currently hovering over some pan that smelled like garlic. Rinnie might have some of that too if it finished fast enough.

“And you have no military training?” Tim pressed.

“Look,” Riela said, brandishing a wooden stirring spoon in his general direction. “Where I come from, there’s not a lot of mages, especially not theramancers. But it didn’t take me very long to put together that something as simple as a bowl of rice was the difference between a man bleeding out and walking five minutes later.”

“Theramancers aren’t that good,” Tim argued.

“She is,” Riela said, pointing the spoon in Rinnie’s direction.

Rinnie felt her face flush. She put another bite of pasta in her mouth and pretended, with absolute futility, that she hadn’t heard.

FEBRUARY

“Oh fuck you bitch,” Taryn said.

Rinnie paused, actually taken aback.

“I’m covering your ass,” Taryn continued. “My orders had no expiration date and so far, I haven’t gotten new ones. So as far as I’m concerned, I’m still your bodyguard. I have just as much right to be there as Kanjo does.”

Rinnie swallowed. She had no grounds to tell Taryn not to do something stupid when she was literally in the same position.

“As afraid as I am that something is going to backfire on us spectacularly on this one,” Rinnie said. “I’m glad you’re going to have my back.”

Taryn smirked. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

Rinnie felt blood rise to her cheeks and she was glad the relative darkness of the courtyard with only the truck’s headlamps providing light. “You know, no one’s ever told me ‘fuck you’ in such an affectionately derogatory way before.”

“Don’t tell me you’re getting feelings over that?” Taryn teased.

“Taryn, I think it’s time we both admitted that there’s feelings involved.”

MARCH

Kanjo knew that Killian could not have known exactly what he was doing when he told Rin to go after the Queen. Killian could not have known that this was the kind of shit you had to do to keep an oracle out of trouble. Self-inflicted or otherwise.

Maybe he did know.

Maybe he had known that Rin would follow those orders to a fault.

Kanjo didn’t know jack shit about what was afflicting the Schmiedish monarch, but he did know how to handle a tired and weak mage with a migraine. He looked to one side to ensure Taryn had Rin, since she’d frozen for half a second. Telepathic migraine backlash most likely.

“Keep an eye out for the battlemage,” he told them.

Rin looked like she’d collected herself again. Good.

They got to the table and hunkered down underneath. Rin grabbed the Queen’s hands and was probably doing something with theramancy. She’d done that with Ilani when she was a child.

Suddenly, a roaring wind whipped through the room. Kanjo looked out to see the battlemage in the center of the spell. He forced the wind through one of the windows, breaking it. The smoke began to thin. Reflexively, Kanjo put a shield around the five of them.

APRIL

Em couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

“Wait, so you’re suggesting he steals a violin out of a museum?” she flat-out asked, her words leaving her mouth a surprised hiss.

It seemed the absolute irony that she’d spent the better part of the afternoon convincing herself not to just go steal another violin and here were two guys talking about it like it was a standard trade agreement.

Which, technically, many heists were just that.

The gentleman turned to her, seemingly unsurprised at her interruption. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about thieving, would you?” he asked.

“And if I do?” Em asked, choosing her words very carefully.

“Perhaps you could help.”

MAY

“It will need pressure right here,” Lelia said, pointing to the separation. “If there’s not enough for it to affix properly, it will start pulling apart.”

“I can make that happen,” Verity said confidently.

“Well, it’ll save me from getting epoxy all over my fingertips,” Lelia said. “And I probably shouldn’t do that because I’m allergic to it.”

At this, there was a rustle of papers and Lelia looked up at Em, who was, in turn, looking at Lelia over a set of schematics.

“You’re allergic to the epoxy that you’re using to jury-rig my violin back together?”

“Only if it touches my skin,” Lelia said casually. “Not that big of a deal.”

“Oh my gods just let Verity do the thing with the telekinesis,” Em said.

“That’s what we’re doing,” Lelia assured her.

JUNE

Ronan stood guard, but Em could tell much of his attention was on the Fiddle in the case.

“Focus on keeping an eye out,” she hissed.

“I’ve got a ward over all exits,” Lelia said. “I’ll know if anyone crosses them before any of us can see anything.”

“Why wasn’t that mentioned as part of the plan?” Vinny asked.

“I just thought of it,” Lelia said.

“How many spells are you running?” Ronan asked.

“A few.”

Em frowned.

JULY

“Riela, how many knives do you have?”

“Three,” Riela said, nonchalantly.

She was wearing one of her usual skirts, which Em supposed she had at least two hidden in. Her sleeves were loose which could conceal another. Or perhaps she had one tucked into her bodice. She almost wondered if she should suggest that Riela change into pants. All the other girls were wearing pants. But Em had also not seen Riela wear anything else and it was clear she could move around in them easily enough.

Mama Cass gave Riela an approving nod.

AUGUST

“I am ordering you to stand down, Colour Sergeant,” Risingblock said. “You are to report back to medical and remain there until you are fit for duty.”

Risingblock was trying desperately to control a situation. Kanjo wasn’t playing by the rules.

“With no due respect, sir, kiss my ass.” Kanjo replied. “I’m going to find Rin.”

“Pardon?”

“You heard me. Respectfully, your excellency, Sir, fuck off. I’m going to find Rin.”

Before Risingblock could argue again, Kanjo left the room. He needed to find that Sergeant.

“That sounded like it went swimmingly,” Kiyo said, standing as he walked back into the lobby.

He rolled his eyes.

SEPTEMBER

Rinnie nodded then yawned loudly.

“When was the last time you slept?” he asked, knowing the answer.

“When was the last time you slept?” she countered. “I’ve had some of Mica’s awake serum.”

“That I think you’re coming down from,” Adler pointed out. “And you’ve been casting left and right since we started this whole escapade. You’re gonna burn yourself out.”

“What do you know about mages?” Rinnie pouted.

“I’ve seen battlemages and theramancers and loads in between,” Adler said. “They are generally the most well-protected people in an entire company.”

Rinnie nodded, slowly.

“You need sleep,” Adler repeated. “You’re crashing.”

“But there’s still…”

Adler wasn’t arguing with her any longer. He looked up, trying to find Skythorn, but the man must’ve gone to relieve himself. Lodgepool stood against the wall, looking more alert than he probably was. Adler went over to Killian.

“Sir, the mage is tired and belligerent.” Adler jerked a thumb at Rinnie.

OCTOBER

Rinnie saw herself in this girl and she was already running to join the fray.

“She’s a theramancer!” Rinnie interjected. “Don’t give her a sedative, a non-narcotic painkiller will do.”

“And who are you?” asked the older of the two doctors.

“The theramancer from South Town,” Rinnie said dismissively. She turned her attention to the girl. “Have you fixed things before?”

The girl nodded and her face scrunched up in pain.

Rinnie took a second to see exactly how much power the girl had. The answer was a lot. She was still young enough for her power to feel raw and largely uncontrolled. However, if she’d practiced healing before, her body would start healing itself before the bone was set.

“We’re going to help you set your bone, okay?” Rinnie told her. “We’ll get you some painkillers and if you want, I’ll let you help.” The other two doctors spluttered. Rinnie ignored them.

NOVEMBER

Something had gotten fucked up. One of her spells must have failed. She’d pulled a loop too early. Or her redirection of the wards on the case hadn’t been good enough.

Knowing full well she was not going to be able to move down the stairs at any acceptable speed, she slid back out of the violin case.

“Go,” she said, handing it to Em. “Get back to the car and don’t wait for me. I’ll find my own way back.”

“Are you sure?” Em said. “What about the crystals?”

Lelia grimaced. She should have left the ones by the stairs until they’d been sure. “We don’t have another option,” she said. She’d fucked that one up at the very least. “I’ll try to get suspicion off of you if I need to.”

Her mind raced, still trying to figure out where she’d messed up in the exhibit. She was better than this!

Em didn’t argue further. She took the violin case from Lelia and slid into it.

DECEMBER

“So what is it you do?” Em asked.

Izzy’s eyes brightened.

“Oh no, you don’t want to get her started on that,” Lelia said.

“I’m sure it’s interesting!” Em insisted. “Like listening to you talk about emergency procedures for power generators.”

Lelia glared at her, but that was all the ammunition Izzy needed to launch into what she was studying in school.

Somewhere in between genetics and mage birth rates, Lelia realized that getting Izzy to talk about herself meant she wasn’t asking questions to Lelia and Em. Which had been Em’s plan all along.

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