#(DDD is the second story in a trilogy so the title had to include ''Mindquest Trilogy II'' as well as ''Dove's Dark Discovery''.)

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

You ever read your own story and remember how GOOD it is, actually?

(hi i'm gonna ramble about ddd for a minute here.)

I always forget how SMOOTH the escalation in DDD is! It starts out as ''Dove's not disciplined enough in training so she can't get her powers to work right'', then "oops she keeps breaking things with her powers because she can't get her emotions under control", and evolves into "animals get hurt", and then ''she's murdering people", but even the murders have escalation! Starting off with one that's so nebulous she thinks it was probably a dream, until her emoticlone is like ''No, that was real." And at the chapter I'm reading now (15 or 16?), she's VERY present in the moment and very consciously Making It Sadistic and Having Fun.

Also, the TAKEOVER! She starts out denying anything is wrong, then kinda being like "Okay SOMETHING went wrong there but it's fine, it's over", and then "oh god I hope that doesn't happen again" and then she's desperately trying to STOP it but she doesn't know HOW. And then later she's going to lose all hope and stop bothering to try because she can never win, anyways.

Also, the murder scene with the children is like. Almost indulgently heavy-handed with how it characterizes her mindset so DIFFERENTLY. Even the word-choice and things she's paying attention to, the things she dismisses. Her confidence and pride in the demon mindset comes through so CLEARLY! You really can tell something's VERY DIFFERENT about her!

And the conflict with Raven! It starts out with Dove feeling embarrassed because she can't do what Raven's instructing her in training, and it starts escalating with "now she's losing control of her powers and Raven is frustrated because Dove's not doing what she's telling her to", and then Raven starts picking up on clues that Something's Very Wrong. And tries reaching out. Tries asking about it. But Dove clams up and won't tell her what's going on because she can't bear the thought of Raven being angry at her, or disappointed. Which of course only frustrates Raven further. And Dove can tell. And the shame makes her withdraw even harder, which makes Raven more suspicious, and it's just this vicious downward spiral.

Like! I often get caught up in "holy shit I wrote a story where people get murdered by an absolute pacifist" but it's ACTUALLY really well transitioned? All those hours I spent reading and re-reading the individual scenes before putting them in order, re-organizing them, and making sure it made sense and transitioned from one phase to the next as smoothly as I wanted... It Worked. It really, really WORKED.

(Also, I really like my version of Raven, okay. She has the impatience and brevity of the cartoon version, but the concern and compassion of the comic version. Her powers have the distinct creepy visuals of the cartoon but it's described with the mysterious power of the comics. She's every bit as reticent as the cartoon [which she also is in the comics, let's be real] but also every bit as invested as she is in the comics. She CARES, but she doesn't really know how to show it. I Love My Raven So Much, Guys. She's a custom blend specifically to please me, really, but I am SO VERY PLEASED.)

It starts out seeming like it's just minor everyday hassles and evolves into DOVE IS KILLING PEOPLE.

This fricking story, guys.

I'm so proud of DDD.