Post-vacation clarity in the form of... word vomit? Sure!

First: so very lucky. So very fortunate. Grateful. That I FINALLY got to cross off a bucket-list vacation and see some massive trees and beautiful mountains. Everything I could have imagined! And it's definitely worthy of a re-visit, once time has passed and I've recovered financially.

Second: I'm so amused that my slight trepidation regarding the potential for "culture shock" was unwarranted. See, if you're a rather unsocial midwesterner schooled in the ways of "Minnesota Nice" aka Advanced Passive Aggression, you might be worried about venturing into more direct/easygoing/outgoing cultures. I was delighted to take a vacation from blatant pettiness and passive aggression during my time out west. And honestly? I miss it. San Francisco was pretty agreeable, all things considered, and I will make a point to revisit.

Third: I loved taking the train! And at the same time, I'm heartbroken for the way passenger trains have to operate in this shithole country. Please. I just want so many trains. At all hours, in every direction. And, if it's NOT TOO MUCH TROUBLE, for assholes to not drag enormous tractor tires onto the tracks. (Fuck you, Utah.)

In conclusion: I'm so happy I went, and now I have to go through my photos while I reluctantly pick up where I left off here. And yes, California, if I can, I absolutely will be back. Thanks for having us.

this is so kh1 soriku tbh (esp with the 'please baby dont go' like AUGH)

Thinking super normal thoughts about these two (Zulay and Wyrd) the absolute OG/top tier old people ship I have

JUST. TOP TIER. I love them an aggressive amount.

girl help why am i thinking so much about a troll au but it's Basically Paranoia the ttrpg

like imagine how discrepancies between someone blood color and their clearance level can be handled (like a cerulean that's orange clearance or a rust that has indigo clearance) and how much that can vary from interaction to interaction (and potentially be seen as something treasonous!)

the high programmers could be fuchsia clearance instead of ultraviolet and the Computer could be the Empress or smth (serving roles as direct advisors to the empress instead of having access to the computer's codebase but ultimately both serving the same function)

Everyone's A Mutant And Everyone's A Traitorous Secret Society Member And It's Your Duty To The Empire To Report These Traitorous Scum

buying your way up to the next clearance level and then having to hemofake as the corresponding blood color lest you be ousted as being the traitorous bastard you are :)

R&D being just as batshit insane as vanilla paranoia but with more biotech involved

it could work so well to the point that it would not at all surprise me if paranoia was a big source of inspo for trolls and their society

Discworld/Good Omens parallels ramble

Exactly what it says on the tin! These are some fun little Discworld/Good Omens parallels that my brain picked up on at various times (usually 3 a.m. or thereabouts... Thanks, mum, for the persistent insomnia...)

Mild-to-moderate spoilers for Wyrd Sisters, Lords And Ladies, Men At Arms and Carpe Jugulum below the cut.

In A Life With Footnotes, the official biography of Terry Pratchett, Rob Wilkins mentions that when he was in school, a young Pterry wrote for English class a story (sadly lost to the mists of time) about orcs attacking a vicarage in full Jane-Austen-spoof fashion. Now, given how the Whickber Street Shopkeepers' Ball turned out, it seems reasonable to assume one of two things: a) Neil Gaiman did not know about this story when writing S2 and the parallel is an ineffably delightful coincidence (a bit unlikely) b) Neil Gaiman *did* know about this story when writing S2, and the nod to Pterry happened to work really well with the plot (seems a bit more likely). Either way, the parallel is there and giving me all of the warm fuzzies <3

There's an idea in Discworld, forming a significant part of the moral backbone of the series, that's very succinctly summed up by Granny Weatherwax in Carpe Jugulum: "[S]in [...] is when you treat people like things. Including yourself." This is absolutely at the core of what's wrong with Heaven and Hell and God and Satan in Good Omens; the leadership and culture of both organisations/cults treat everyone -- angels, demons and humans alike -- as disposable things to be used and toyed with and discarded or destroyed if they start having the temerity to be imperfect or form opinions or thoughts of their own.

There're two characters in Discworld who parallel Aziraphale surprisingly strongly: Magrat Garlick (of the Lancre witches) and Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. -*Magrat is viewed as a bit of a soft, soppy 'wet hen' by the other witches, but she is still a witch, with all that that implies. She also has at least one scene in every book in which she appears where she does something extremely badass and witchy; for example, turning an ancient wooden door back into a tree, or (very pertinently to GO) delivering a literally iron-clad punch to the face of a villain who's mentally torturing her with her own insecurities. Likewise, Aziraphale seems to mostly be viewed as a bit dull and wimpy by the other angels we see (though Magrat still has the genuine respect of her witchy peers) but he is still an angel -- a Principality -- with all the powers, steadfast guardianship and bloody-minded stubbornness of that rank. The Metatrash might not be vulnerable to iron in the same way as Discworld elves, but you can bet that his attempt to break Aziraphale and bring him into line is going to backfire just as spectacularly! *For the parallel between Aziraphale and Captain (well, Corporal, at this point in the Discworld timeline) Carrot, the novel I have in mind is Men At Arms. At one point, Vimes is being held at crossbow-point by a villain, and has a bout of internal monologuing about how, if someone has you at their mercy, you'd better hope they're evil, because that way they'll take time to gloat and mock you so you'll have an opportunity to think of a way out; a good man will kill you with barely a word. Carrot does exactly that at the climax of the plot, putting his sword through the villain and the stone pillar behind said villain without saying a thing. Now, Aziraphale might not quite have Carrot's 'incorruptible pure pureness' tendencies, but he is -- for all his flaws -- a good person. If he knows that something needs to be done to prevent an evil outcome, he will DO it without hesitation. He knows how to use a sword, too, and if That Frickin' Elevator Smile Of Tranquil Fury is any indication, the Metatrash is in far deeper doodoo than he realises! Related to the above, The Smile also reminds me of the old adage, "beware the fury of a patient man." (Well, man-shaped being in this case...) Very appropriate for our careful, thoughtful angel -- it would not surprise me (much) if Metatron were to depart the plot of S3 with a flaming sword pinning him to one of Heaven's columns (probably won't happen, but I can dream, eh?)

Hope you enjoyed reading all that :D

Artfight may have ended, but I've got a boatload of attacks and revenges still to post! Hope you enjoy them while the lovely mods tally up the scores and we wait for a winner to be announced! (Like we don't all already know hahaha)

Artfight Attack #17 for @wyrdle of their despairing dragon Wyrd! Their backstory really gutted me so I went a bit wild with this one! Don't ramble too near to his crumbling keep...

Happy WBW! What are the sacred professions in your world? I don't necessarily mean religious-- but of course they can be. Just what are the high ranking, prestigious, and/or powerful jobs?

Oh this is the perfect opportunity to ramble about The Astrals' Weapons in Stained Integrity! >:} (I'll also talk about Master Alchemists because those are pretty important too.) Thank you for the ask!

So, in the world of Stained Integrity, there is what is literally known as "the faith" because it's so widespread. The Astrals are the main 3 that are prayed to (and The Wyrds are the ones you plead to).

There is one specific being that is known as the Diviner, who delivers The Astrals' Will to the three beings that are known as The Astrals' Weapons. A lot of people refer to the Diviner's power as "seeing into the future," although it's a bit more complicated than that.

(CW below cut: mention of death, mention of poison)

The Astrals (Méni Lune, Heló Sol, and Aura Stell) each have one Weapon that they are the benefactor of. There's Lune's Blade, Sol's Bow, and Stell's Spear (AKA the Moonblade, the Sunbow, and the Starspear). The purpose of the Weapons is to carry out The Astrals' Will, which is usually just a specific task told to them by the Diviner.

For context, these are the only beings that are bowed to by kings, queens, sovereigns, and other leaders of the skylands. That's how important they are. They each have very specific cloaks that they wear at all times, which makes them easily recognizable.

The exciting part about all this is how the successors are chosen. The Diviner will receive a vision about the successor, and the Weapon is then sent to find this particular individual to train them as a successor until they die. (Yes, they basically get their impending death foretold, although they aren't told how or exactly when they will die, just that it's going to happen.)

Once the Weapon's thread is cut, their literal weapon (the sword, bow, or spear) basically dematerializes and reappears in the Diviner's shrine, which is where the new Weapon will travel to retrieve the weapon and be given their first task from the Diviner.

Each Weapon is also given a specific power by their benefactor that is tailored to their own personal abilities. In the current timeline, Malina (Stell's Spear) has the ability to sense magic and trace magical residue back to its caster, which is in tangent to her ability as a practitioner to sense the presence of souls. She also has heightened healing powers, since stellar magic is based around healing.

At the start of the story, the current Moonblade (Jeyen) has the power to polymorph natural materials into different natural materials (so he could literally turn lead into gold) for various periods of time. The current Solbow (Tache) has the power to augment their own strength to a certain degree, which means pretty much what it sounds like it means.

And I'm going to shamelessly self-promote because I've drawn Malina and posted it here, and I've also drawn the new Moonblade that is Jeyen's successor.

Okay, now about the Master Alchemists!

Basically, the Master Alchemists are those that have learned every single recipe that there is to learn. The reason this is such a feat is that, by law, an alchemy apprentice must ingest anything that they learn to make, before they learn to make it. This includes poisons, potions, and more. The only exception to this is tickerbane, since the poison is so powerful that there is no lower dose that someone can take to make it nonfatal. All other poisons are either diluted or given in a small enough dose that it's just really really painful instead of deadly.

In the current timeline of the story, there is only one Master Alchemist left, since no one has wanted to take on such a difficult apprenticeship.

That's all from me! Thank you again for the fun ask!

Occult October!

Sp00qy season is upon us! This month we want you to make or rec fancreations that involve Bond characters and anything that’s uncanny, wyrd, monstrous, magical, or spooky. (Or, you know, anything that has to do with the characters celebrating Halloween or related holidays.)

We challenge you to create sp00qy content using less represented "halloween monsters" like swamp monsters, mind flayers, and any other eldritch beings that catch your fancy.

As always, all ships, gen fic, and genres are welcome!

Trick-or-Treat Mini Event

From October 24th to October 31st, we’re asking you to choose a specific 48 hours to do your personal comment-a-thon. The idea is that you’ll be passing out comment goodies just the same way that people would pass out Halloween candy! But we know that not everyone has the 48 hours around Halloween free, so we invite you to comment on the days that make the most sense to you.

What counts as a comment? Positive comments on AO3, kind words directly on tumblr reblogs, or happy rambling in tumblr tags. Publicly visible tweets and comments on other social media like Facebook and Instagram are also great for our participants on other platforms.

When your 48 hours are finished, you’ll fill out a Cafe form with your total number of comments and we’ll update the running Cafe total!

We hope you’ll have your own personal goal, but our fandom goal is to pass out at least 107 comment treats during Halloween week!

Last Drabble Writer Standing has begun!

Each week, for four weeks, we will be sending out a specific prompt to our LDWS participants. Prompts include a topic or image, a word count, and sometimes a genre or an extra challenge! Each writer creates a drabble inspired by the same prompt, and then those drabbles are posted anonymously and voted on/given feedback by amazing readers! 

In addition to the weekly rankings throughout October, there will be one final drabble writer at the end who has the top number of votes overall--the Last Drabble Writer Standing! 

You can read and vote for the first round of drabbles by following this link here!

Saturday Cafe: October 7 and October 21

Come join us in the fandom Slack as we write, draw, sprint, plot, brainstorm, cheerlead, and generally have a good time trying to get things done together. If you’d like an invite to the Slack, go ahead and message @castillon02 or @spiritofcamelot!

Long Fic Readalong (spooky one shots), Saturdays at 9pm ET

Join us in the Discord while we read a fic together. This is a chance to enjoy the fun of reading a chaptered work in weekly installments with all the laughter and shared suspense that that involves. The group is reading spooky oneshots this month, in addition to each week's LDWS submissions.

We’d love to see you there. You are welcome to listen if you don’t or can’t read aloud!    

When: Saturday, October 1st at 9pm eastern/6pm Pacific (your local time here)

Where: We’ll be reading on discord in the readalongs channel. (Invite to discord here)

Please join us to read, to just hang out and listen, and to generally enjoy a good story together!

Weekly events:

WIP Wednesday: You can post an excerpt of your WIP on our post or make your own post and mention the @mi6-cafe. Either way it’s a fun way to show people what you’re working on, Bond fandom or otherwise.

Weekly Bond movies: Hosted by womble every Sunday at 8am Pacific time, join us in Discord to watch one of the Bond movies. Keep an eye on the watch party calendar linked below for updates.

Want to host your own event in the Discord or elsewhere? Let us know about it so we can add it to the calendars!

Calendars

Watch Party Calendar MI6 Cafe Calendar   If you need help adding these calendars to your personal one, check out this post.

I hesitated asking to participate in the Yuletide game you proposed, but I mustered up the courage to just go for it. So here goes nothing...

Hi, Nox!

I would like to start off by thanking you for providing the astro-community with this opportunity. This is a really sweet and thoughtful way to kick off the year. May '24 bless you with more opportunities to teach, learn, and mingle with more folx in this community and beyond. Admittedly, your blog is intimidating because of the vast information held within it. The information you provide is masterful, well researched, and well organized. Because of this, I think I am looking forward to what other topics you'll bring to the table. I've noticed you speak more on Raider-Waite tarot in relation to astro charts and the web of wyrd.

i. If you haven't already, I would love to see you speak more on the origin of the images on each card. I had a dream last night about the game being played with tarot cards, and wondered why each illustration is drawn the way they are drawn.

ii. 🕊️ S.N.

I felt called to choose the Animal Spirit deck over the tarot deck, but I don't have much of a question per se, more of a request.

I'm lost. If that isn't enough to go off of, I would like some guidance or motivation or some kind of sign that my Life is meant to be more than what it is now. I'm at rock bottom and I don't want to give up, but I am losing hope. I pray that maybe, this game can provide some clarity.

Excuse my rambling, I hope I've touched upon everything in the game. Thank you again for this opportunity. Best,

gift no. 32

i appreciate how sweet you are when talking about my blog - i am going on 2 years in 2024! there will definitely be more tarot and more astro ahead! i did start breaking down the imagery of the cards a while ago, but unfortunately it never really took off, so i reallocated my energy on the blog...

i am sorry to hear about how lost and low you feel. i truly hope i can help you out with this reading.

positive moth energy: "the grass is greener on the other side." don't get distracted by "easy solutions" - the moth tends to get distracted by any source of light. the more you focus on things that seem shiny and new to you, the more you are likely to feel disappointed and burnt out. a great lesson of a moth person: ITS AN ILLUSION. no one is exempt from trials and tribulations. practice seeing life as the mystery it is - stop wishing it was easier or different.

negative lizard energy: you aren't experiencing life with all your senses - see what is yet to manifest. stop focusing on what is happening around you. by focusing too much on what's around, you might find yourself over stimulated. it might also be time for you to return to your inner artist.

negative crow energy: crows are one of two symbols: magic or death. i think you are looking too much at the negatives and not enough at the positives of your situation. the crow can see all three realities: past, present, and future - open your eyes to all three. practice some meditation!

shufflemancy: "blue christmas" by elvis presley

-a.d.

what i read in february 2023 📚

1. teatro grottesco by thomas ligotti - ★★★★ - picked this up because i randomly read one of his short stories on a train once and was so enamoured ... a short story collection centered around a subtle existential sort of horror that is less about gore and violence and more about something unknown but dreadful lurking in your peripheral vision . some of these, especially the ones from the deformations section, felt very welcome to night vale . delicious . makes you feel like a kid listening to scary campfire stories . i enjoy hanging out in the world created by this narrative voice so much

favourites: purity, the town manager, the clown puppet, my case for retributive action + in a foreign town, in a foreign land

2. the raven and the reindeer by t. kingfisher - ★★ - i think what im doing here is trying to read a fairytale retelling every month 👍 ... this really did not work for me though . the writing style felt so childish ( this could have been a book for twelve year olds ) + the story did not go anywhere and stayed extremely surface-level throughout the whole book . yeah sure there were lesbians but no actual substance whatsoever . the reading process was somewhat enjoyable because the humor was alright, but thats pretty much the only redeeming quality

3. the world keeps ending, and the world goes on by franny choi - ★★★ - i believe this is a case of ‘its not you its me’ because even though the way the author plays with language is straight up fascinating something about her poetry never clicks with me . i had the exact same issue with soft science as well - there is a certain detachment and coldness to her style that doesnt allow me to properly process the poems on an emotional level . still, i really liked the fourth section, it was so imaginative and full of the kind of resilience that is only born out of utter hopelessness

4. the passion by jeanette winterson - ★★★ - unfortunately i have the same issue here as with franny choi - something in me just always refuses to click with jeanette winterson . the author is trying to lead me somewhere by the hand but she is always slightly out of reach . this is my third book by her and while i can see and appreciate her craft it just never leaves a lasting impression on me its so strange ... i enjoyed the imagery + the philosophical ideas about love and passion but the story itself ... i dont know

5. the sandman: world’s end ( vol. 8 ) by neil gaiman - reread - i am not rating these god bless and putting them in the review post is probably not a good idea either since i ramble about them enough as is . what can i even say about a series that pretty much formed the way i understand the world and the human condition . stories within stories within stories . the foreshadowing here is insane and probably unnoticeable unless you are rereading . its hard to say what the writing process here was actually like perhaps it was way more spontaneous than i imagine but it all seems so meticulously and purposefully planned its just stunning

( + two books i left unfinished last year because of my broken ebook reader and decided to finish this month: )

6. wyrd sisters by terry pratchett - ★★★ - ( looks above ) my reading order here is very ‘frequently bought together’ ‘do not separate them’ huh ... this was very shakespearean which was fun but not ideal for me personally because it means some things definitely flew right over my head . i think i enjoyed equal rites a little more ? however at the end of the day its just your typical discworld novel i laughed i witnessed some well-written women and losermen i laughed some more . what else could i ask for

7. when i grow up i want to be a list of further possibilities by chen chen - ★★★★ - wonderfully heart-warming and radiant and witty and has the power to restore your belief in love and tenderness at least for a moment . this kind of literal and confessional american poetry usually isnt for me but miraculously chen chen made it work ! basically the hype is well deserved

up next: im actually not sure im trying to slow down since i need to get through some college textbooks 💔 ... + im sure want to finish the sandman which is really enough for the next one thousand years . considering mrs. dalloway by virginia woolf too someone called it a spring read once and ive wanted to read it during this season ever since

anxiety / nervous / uncertainty: they bubble beneath moon's surface. long fingers lace / unlace, as the animatronic folds in on himself. nerves / apprehension: it bubbles in his chest, wires fizzing as he searches for calm.

then: his sun! moon sees his ( other half ) best friend, and it is ( second ) nature to reach for him, long fingers grasping / holding the other robot's hands. " i... " a pause: a buzzing of circuits as moon searches for words. " do you tire of-- me? " he asks, words soft, quiet, almost a whisper.

moon worries: sun is! certain, he is constant! he is always-always-always bright! but moon... sometimes: there is an ebb, a flow, a change! what if-what if-what if! what if sun grows tired?

a folding of a moon's figure: a bending, a bowing, a waning. he folds in on himself, angles swallowed by his thin frame, even as he grasps and sun's hands. he aches, parts of him feeling wrong-wrong-wrong, but words fail. " please, " words are hummed-whispered quiet. " ...it hurts. "

@wyrding // random asks, always accepting!

sun was practically prancing around their shared room above the day-care, excited as ever, while he readied himself for the day ahead. he wonders what sort of fun things they'll get up to today, finger-painting? charades? the possibilities really are endless!-- 🌞‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ he's rambling to moon about the latest staff gossip he had heard the day before too, while he smooths out his ruffles. he adjusts his ribbons and frills, golden bells lightly jingling with movement. 🌞‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ " and, oh my stars, did you hear what she apparently said to-- " but, then. sun's darting eyes suddenly settle on moon, he notices how his other half sits at the small vanity they share, slouched, hugging his knees. sun freezes, and mechanical gaze widens slightly as the realization dawns on him, that moon was upset for some reason. 🌞‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ oh no, no, this just won't do at all! he's at his side all at once, plopp -ing himself down on the empty section of the vanity's bench. sun fidgets as he thinks for a moment, about what to say, what to do... 🌞‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ " hey, hey, what's wrong? you know you can talk to me, r-iiii-ght? " moon is casually reaching for him now, and sun, of course, grasps his slender hands in his own. sun's head tips, curiously, absentmindedly. 🌞 ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ 'do you tire of me?' the moon asks, the sun replies, " what!? no, no, i could never get tired of you! never ever! " he's shaking his head as he speaks, side to side, quick. he leans in a little closer, squeezing hands. 🌞‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ " what makes you say that? was it something i did? or, did someone say something? because oh, if it was that, then i'll...!!!-- " a beat, a pause. sun realizes he's getting worked up again, and tries to settle. 🌞‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ " sorry... uh, i just--i care about you so much, moon! and, i'll tell you that, as much as you need to hear it, okay? we're a team, aren't we? and i don't like it when you're sad, it doesn't suit you. " 🌞‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ " ...poke, poke, poke! " sun's hands pull back for now, so he can instead playfully begin poking the other in the side. 🌞‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎

#-1: info

main: boomingsmile || fandom: Hogwarts Legacy || ao3: legowhiskors 25 | ravenclaw | intj & робеспьер | they/them & he/him | name's J. / kagor; I'd call this blog mainly SFW but occasionally I post / rb text NSFW.

More info about this blog and my HLMC is under the cut:

BYF: 1. I ban bots, dress up your profile a little pls or I'll take you for one. 2. sometimes I type in pure vodka aka я умею и по-русски, и думаю, что умею хорошо. 3. I don't seldom post #Sebastian Sallow or #Ominis Gaunt. 4. Things I'm interested in: wlw ships, lore, and history. 5. In the Shadow Of... quests are my least favourite in the game.

Hello and Welcome, I'm J and you're welcome to explore about my whimsy! ^ ^ Each post is tagged (see below) but I must warn you: older posts may be harder to read, especially those concerning my HL MC Julia Wright, as I wasn't as fluent in English as I am today. I'm still learning, so if appear weird, that's why. .-.

Originally, Hogwarts Inquires was a designated name for my passion project of documenting the in-game events and trivia but now, I tag every lore-related post/rb with it for easy navigation. I don't abandon my project, however, I will continue posting it in Russian exclusively for… reasons; these being I started it as a note-gathering for the upcoming fic about my MC, it's vital I keep them in the language I can immediately understand. But you're always welcome to Deepl them or hit the mail box to send me an ask for the translation! ^ ^

DM & ask box are open 25/8, too, feel free to send an owl whenever!

Tags of Interest:

to posts: #eng tag - rambles and talks || #damn wright (en) / #that s wright (en) - hlmc and hlmc's-related shitposts || #reblog

to fics: #днявочка: фанфики! || #utlitd brainrot (mentor!sharp fic)

to HL: #Hogwarts Inquires (ru) || #днявочка: hlegacy || #шарповедение || #screencaps || #hogwarts did-you-knows

Posts of Interest:

link to the masterpost: my fav posts || #793: HI MASTERPOST (ru)

Ships & Favs:

OT3: Imelda x f!MC x Poppy

OTP: f!MC x female characters ; Imelda x Poppy

<3 hl girlies <3

Aesop Sharp

Garreth Weasley & Andrew Larson & Leander Prewett

wyrd shenanigans currently existing in my head only

Ramblings on Arc 1 Spring, as usual not very articulate. (spoilers below cut)

The first couple of episodes introduced the characters so well, and I love that it feels like we're starting their adventuring careers with them, but not their stories. They've all lived their life before and that's really highlighted through the letters, memories, and the trip to Chasiana.

The party has this i-would-die-for-you energy but none of them knew each other much before they had to fight scary plant ladies, and they haven't really formed a deep connection/friendship. We see that their difference in morals/priorities/goals puts a lot of stress on the group at the end of Spring and I'm really interested in how that will affect their relationship in the next arc.

[Here would be thoughts on the PCs but my brain can't do that right now, but they're all super cool characters]

The whole situation with the tachinid is horrible and you get the sense of oh shit this is what they have to deal with and they have no idea only to be transported to the Wyrd Sisters like no this is the level of fey shit they have to deal with and they have no idea. If the Wyrd Sisters or a fey sovereign made a move against the mortal realm how totally fucked would they be?

Love that everyone's arcs and heroic destinies happening simultaneously, and the solo episodes are really fun. Beasley and Lorenzo were awesome (couple goals), and it's a cool way to involve the other players but not their pcs

Obviously, I adore Rook. She feels kinda like a pc, and she feels like a member of the party. We sort of know what her deal is, but i feel like there's some darker secrets she's hiding.

I'm really interested to see where the Whistler plot goes, because the Consequences could be so dramatic

One-shot/fanfic/something/anything about Grandmother Filthrot binding Gordon to the house. I want to hear that story.

Spring was awesome, I love all the fey stuff and the worldbuilding, excited to get back to the mortal realm for Summer

Al! Hello, hope you are doing well! I was curious, what are things you like most about the discworld books and/or Terry Pratchett's work in general?

Hello to you Silver! Hardt? Preference? Whichever hello! I’m doing well thank you for asking. But as to the question proper there’s a bunch of stuff I like about Discworld and Terry Pratchett’s writing in general. Probably some stuff I’ve forgotten. The following words will likely devolve into rambles, and I’ll try my best to avoid spoilers but I make no promises Silver. No promises.

Outside of Discworld and that collection of essays I’ve only read three other Pratchett books. Good Omens (love it!) Dodger (quite enjoyed it), and the Long Earth (which shockingly I just…couldn’t get into)

In general I would sum up my favorite things of Pratchett’s work is A) Laugh out loud humor. B) Stuff that seriously makes you think (the Hogfather bit people always quote) B.5 with the addendum (this might be the first time I’ve used this word ever?) that as either Pratchett or Neil Gaiman said (I forget which) funny is not necessarily the opposite of serious. Now, with that preamble on to Discworld!

THE WORLD BUILDING! You’ve got the importance and power of Belief from things like Hogfather or Small gods. Or how Light on the Disc moves slower than here because of the magical field. The societal stuff with Dwarves which better people than me have expounded upon. The way the guilds of Ahnk Morpork (spelled something wrong there) work. Or the tiny things like those Grapes that grapes you plant but you harvest before they’re planted! It’s just all amazing!

THE CHARACTERS. You’ve got Death, Granny Weatherwax, Vimes, Moist Von Lipwig, Tiffany. Great characters all around. Building up from tropes and using them as foundation and scaffolding to make something amazing. Vetinari I love. But one of my absolute favorite characters….is none other than Magrat Garlick. I love Granny and Nanny but Magrat’s whole thing through out the Witches books is just great to read. Love it.

The References. Like with CotIG when you get a reference you can’t help but smile a little and perhaps chuckle.

Just the Jokes in general? I think some of my favorite bits come from Wyrd Sisters (me loving a book taking cues from Shakespeare? What a shocking development!!). Two in particular. The build up of the storm. Through out the book we keep getting glimpses of this storm practicing like an actors first big night as the lead in What you will (not necessarily Twelfth night. I mean what play you will care to say is this big one. Richard the Third perhaps) and it’s all leading up to name dropping joke of The Tempest!

Or one of the best moments being when Death finds himself on stage for a performance (makes sense in context) and ends up getting stage fright because he’s not used to so many people seeing him. Seeing him in that moment due to the context of the stage and the expect to see him, when ordinarily he’s only visible to Wizards, Witches, the Psychically inclined…and cats! Oh what am I missing what am I missing….Death, Moist. Humor, heart, hearty humor , humorous heart…oh dear I’m becoming Polonius. Back on topic!! Oh! Oh! Tiffany! I forgot the Tiffany Aching books with some of my absolute favorites bits. Everything concerning “boffo” the literal cold opening in Wintersmith that a laughed a good long while about when I realized…and…other things.

While I’m at it Silver, in the event you’ve not read Discworld, allow me to make some recommendations of where to start. There’s the Witches books (I’d personally start with Wyrd Sisters and read Equal Rites at some future point. But ER before I Shall Wear Midnight of the Tiffany Aching Books!). The Death Books (starting with Mort) and…I’m going to go against what seems to be commonly suggested and suggest you can very well start at the start with the Color of Magic and the Light Fantastic. People say it’s terrible to start there…at least it seems people say it? Or say people say it…but to the Dungeon Dimension with that ! It was the sky one adaptation of CoM/tLF that introduced me to Discworld (and no matter what I can’t imagine Rincewind being young despite all the art. I just can’t. David Jason is just always Rincewind to me) and it was those two that I first read followed by Mort.

I hope that answer was sufficient Silver. In the event it wasn’t, feel free to ask another question to make up for it.

Make of this What you Will. Al, the Chronographing Cottager and Prince of Naming

“The high priestess walked onto the stone platform and raised her hands above her head. The folds of her midnight blue gossamer robe fell around her, and her white hair was long and unbound. An eight pointed star was tattooed on her brow in a shade of blue that matched her gown. Its sharp lines extending to her hairline.

“Welcome all and may the blessings of the goddess and all her gods be upon you”

- chapter 38 of Throne of Glass

(if anyone has the page number be a legend and lmk im listening to the audiobook for this) ((yes i paused after every sentence to get this right if its not the exact quote please dont yell at me im trying my best here)

BIG ASS SLEEPY RAMBLE UNDER THE CUT WITH SPOILERS FOR ALL SJM BOOKS

Uhhhhh 8 pointed star, blue priestess robes AND a goddess figure that has been described earlier as coming to this world through the wyrd to shape it. (Also possibly had been referred to as the mother but again sleepy and audiobook)

So this is the yulemas ceremony in the first tog book, iconic scene, buuut ive never seen anyone bring up this exact description before. Now i know its easy to just make connections out of nothing and who knows sjm might just really like 8 pointed stars and the colour blue but i kinda really hope that now tog and cc are confirmed to be connected (the og shifter world AND lidias heritage) that there will be more development.

Caaaaauuuuuuuse i want to know if the valg were asteri or if they were like diet asteri, i want to know how the mother connects these three worlds cause it absolutely is the mother that is mentioned as the goddess cause who the fuck else is it??? Most of the other gods and goddesses are mentioned by name and are actually from a different world (i also want to know more about that, what world did they come from are THEY the asteri????) i want to know more about the 8 pointed stars and how it fits into the tog world, we know the sisters both made the stars in cc and acotar worlds respectively but HOW DID IT GET TO THE TOG WORLD??? I want to know more about world walking, it was mentioned in lidias exposition dump about her lineage so that makes me think that aelin mastered it somehow and taught her descendants and lidia is a descendant but that also raises questions cause if i remember correctly (and im tired so im probably not please feel free to correct me) aelin closed all the connections to other worlds but then bryce was able to open a portal to prythian. BUT theres also the thought that lidia is from a different branch of aelins family tree that split off at an earlier point in time, but they also wouldve had to master world walking for it to be passed down in knowledge to lidia. (I personally think lidia is aelins descendant cause she gave the ring to the twins that is the ring aelin picked out i think….lot of potential misremembering here but i think the ring aelin picked was an emerald and i think thats the ring she gave the twins) I also want more information about the barrowhite becoming the underking, like how the fuck did they end up in CC and how the fuck did they end up in such a power position and just what??? ALSO the witches??? How are they so different in TOG and CC??? Unless theyre from different worlds but like where did the cc witches come from? Did they come from the ACOTAR world?? But still the description of the witches in acotar is so different to the cc witches and i just need more information. SJM please help i need more information i am begging im going insane i need MORE LORE!!!!

idk its all very confusing i really need to start taking notes when i read these books cause either im a dumbass and can’t remember or understand what happened or sjm has rewrote history and logic and honestly both could be true simultaneously. There’s probably more but like i said i sleepy and i have so much uni work to do and im on the first book, thank you for reading this if you got to the end, think i might crack out the conspiracy board over summer as a way to cope with finishing uni forever and becoming a real adult. ALSO if you read this please gimme your thoughts and questions to add to the conspiracy board that i absolutely will make but may just end up being in a sketchbook cause i have hundreds of them and boards are expensive

Oh also i think the single goddess figure with other gods below her is only mentioned in this book, i could be wrong (again i can only apologise i am ✨tired✨) but it had also been mentioned a few times in the og tog book

The leash wasn't the same like the others. This one wasn't a simple torque of wyrdstone, it was a Wyrdkey. A thing so powerful it felt like holding a peice of the universe.

A weapon crafted from the Soul of The Wyrd itself. Silver eyes and a willing body, that was all that was required. That and the three Wyrdkeys.

One to control its will.

One to control its bloodlust.

One to control its madness.

------

Thurr and Fion stood on the edges of Parthos, the Lost Kingdom of the Daglan. The city was rubble, the very earth was tainted by this dark madness.

The thing sat in the grass, fingers twirling a flower in its fingers. It gazed up at them, silver eyes blazing brigther than the sun.

"So when will I be released?"

That was the bargain to do what it had. Thurr smiled and held his hand out to it.

"We shall gather the other keys and do as we swore."

------

"You know we cannot Thurr."

"Obviously Fion. We get the keys, lock it away. Maybe Kavalla whose going to search there for it?"

Fion frowned, he twirled his ring. They both knew the path they walked would have ramifications. But they'd be fine, wouldn't they?

------

The gates closed, Thurr looked to the skies, calling on a storm. His mind was hazy, spinning. Reshaye had not taken kindly to the betrayal - he could still feel his father's pulse under his hands as he'd squeezed the life from him.

His entire family dead, cousins, siblings...parents.

"You think me a monster Thurr? Shall I show you what type of monster you could become?"

Those last words before he'd been possessed and done those unspeakable things. Let Terresan burn, let it stay broken and uninhabited. Whatever taint Rehsaye had left in his soul didn't deserve to settle in Terresan's soil.

He stared at his hands, barely feeling Fion drag him back from the doors. His dark eyes fierce, just like his father's.

"Don't you even thinking of deserting me. I swore you would have a place in Sive and I's council. This changes nothing."

"I am cursed Fion. I can't -"

"Fuck that thing, it's locked away, its conduits lost - let it rot. I won't let you throw your life away because of it. You're coming with me or I refuse to leave."

That made him laugh, he felt like he hadn't laughed, taken a full breath in weeks.

"Sive will have my head if I don't take you back."

"Then you come with me...what do I tell Sytha?"

He looked away, his jaw clenching. His thoughts matching the thunder and rolling clouds above the prison.

"There's nothing to say -"

"Don't be a fucking fool Thurr. You're not stupid, don't start now."

Thurr looked to his eldest friend, courts, balls, wars and he wouldn't have changed anything. War demanded sacrifices and he'd have payed them again. Maybe his family would find peace, maybe he could atone.

Maybe he could live for the good now.

Finally.

He exhaled, gripping his shoulder.

"Let's go home then Fion. Before you waste away from being such a lovesick fool."

------

Sebastian tilted his head, Ilyas odd little ramble sometimes didn't make sense - especially now.

"The fuck is a Wyrdkey? And why would I search for it?"

Ilyas frowned at him, it was like being surrounded by death in this nightmare made him sane.

"It's in the fucking name Sebastian. Natalia said you were smart, it's a key. Presumably, the key leads to a lock that we can open and get out."

A key that they could use to get out, was such a thing possible? Could they finally be free after everything they had been through, after every ounce of torture. Sebastian weighed out everything he knew, weighed out the information that was being provided to him. A key, a key they could use.

He pushed down the urge to want to run and tell Natalia, to yell at her that everything was going to be good. Yet he knew what she would say, he knew she would look at him and call him stupid. Especially when they didn’t have it, why get your hopes up yet?

He folded his arms. “Okay, and how do we get this Wydkey?”