#I'm in love with the worldbuilding i put into it
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considering doing a MASSIVE lair purge in flight rising just because i'm not in love with my lore anymore
#walls do talk#I'm in love with the worldbuilding i put into it#but like#I miss sinner's bane#I miss having a story I wanted to tell in dragons#duelbell is a really good idea but its one ive ported to original work now.#i need to rework my lore. go slowly this time#I will be keeping the demon lore. please ask me about flight rising demons.
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A Linked Universe meets The Dark Crystal AU! I don't even remember what started it at this point. I remembered that the Dark Crystal and Age of Resistance are things I like, blinked, and woke up three days later with an AU and a bunch of art.
The designs and the story are a wip and for fun so expect a lot of variation! (I have a few different beginnings, ideas for different designs, etc)! :D
In addition to #linked universe I'll be using the tags #the dark crystal lu au and #courage of the dark crystal!
#linked universe#tdc aor#the dark crystal lu au#courage of the dark crystal#lu au au#lu legend#lu hyrule#lu four#lu wind#I've made an au of the au I've gone too far help help-#I gotta get better at drawing gelfling! Their facial structures are very distinct#ALSO I went really big with the ears here lmao#the hugest ears ever seen on gelfling#TRANS ROOLIE TRANS ROOLIE TRANS ROOLIE YIPPEE!!!!#I drew this last month (except for Four) sO HAPPY PRIDE! Roolie gets WINGS! :D#I'm SO pleased with Wind's design! he's a lil fishy! and Four with the horned headband/armor in place of the lil ups in his bangs#gonna try to put the aureyal or symbol of the conjunction and triangles on all of them#IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AU PLS ASK THEM#I'd love to tackle some worldbuilding mayhaps?!#I'm thinking of placing them somewhere before the first battle of stone-in-the-wood in the arathim wars#or after the events of the comics with Kensho and Thurma somewhere#and just figure out another reason for the crystal to be shattered. so many possibilities!#where's the crystal shard this time and how can I split it between them? >:3 niiiiine shards made whole >:3#quest for the ~~triforce~~ crystal#Hello from summer camp also! Lots of shenanigans!#I'm surprised I was able to draw Four at all last weekend I've been so busy!!!#having fun tho!!! we're having a lunch cookout at archery and campfire is tonight!!! It's going good! see ya!!!
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you're not allowed to watch any more dungeon meshi until you've finished your work you're not allowed to watch any more dungeon meshi until you've finished your work you're not allowed to watch any more dungeon meshi until you've finished your work you're not allowed to watch any more dungeon meshi until you've finished your work you're not allowed to watch any more dungeon meshi until you've finished your work you're not al
#ramble#it's so good i can't binge it i have to savour it#yes i could put it on while i'm working but it needs my FULL ATTENTION#someone help#i love the concept i love the worldbuilding i love the characters i've only known them for 30 minutes but i love them
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2024 reads / storygraph
Asunder
slow-paced high fantasy
a woman who has a contract with an eldritch entity allowing her to see the dead & survives by taking various jobs
when a job searching for stranded smugglers in a cave goes wrong, she ends up with the soul of a dying stranger bound to her shadow
along with a scholar and her old childhood friend, they travel to his home country to find a way to unbind him and save them both
dark fantasy world with gods, demonic entities, arcane magic, and semi-sentient beasts used as transport
#asunder#kerstin hall#aroaessidhe 2024 reads#okay SUPER fascinating worldbuilding with some very visceral creatures and biological constructs and interesting magic systems.#many things I like. A great cast of characters. Honestly I could read tons more stories set in this world.#it’s very slow building and meandering narratively; focusing on the complex journey of the main character#didn’t love the audio narration tbh - it felt like some lines are read with the wrong emphasis or tone? but I got used to it after a while#So this has one of my absolute favourite tropes (bodysharing.) unfortunately it turns it into a romance which is. well.#it just doesn’t hit the same if you make it romantic!! so that kinda made it change traintracks from being on a direct line to#potentially 5 stars to a whole different station where i do not live. lol.#I SUPPOSE it’s a well developed relationship and I’d prefer romances more like that than instalove I guess.#I did love their dynamic; too; but suddenly realising it was romantic threw me for a loop. I had put him in the annoying dad category.#I do also feel like we didn’t get quite enough of him as an individual person and characterisation - which obviously makes sense to an#extent; but I felt like I only got to see more of him in the brief time around his father.#Also he was surprisingly chill and nice to her immediately considering he was essentially her hostage???#Anyway I did enjoy a lot of it; it just suffers the unfortunate tragedy of#[literally my favourite thing made for me] [turns that thing into literally my least favourite thing i hate]#but also -random dude you’re bound to being overly protective and considerate despite barely knowing you (platonic/familial vibe) - yeah!#random dude you’re bound to being overly protective and considerate despite barely knowing you (romantic) ehhhh…idk.....#(to me personally. i'm sure people enjoy that. whatever)
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"But I can't know God's intentions... How could it depend on my decision... Who made me a judge of who shall live and who shall not?" - Crime and Punishment
#oc: sophia a. naumenko/sonya#I'm back with another moodboard for another little girl#i usually call ocs my daughters dont ask why#she's a rather old oc way pass 10 years old but i love revisiting old characters and give them a little upgrade bc my writing at the time#was shit or i didnt do enough research for them#i'm actually quite proud of myself she's the only oc who's over 30 years and was married#and divorced lol#her lore is crazy around those years#and she's my second jewish character#the pastries at the bottom left are hamantaschen they're served on purim and she was born during purim katan#i found this out yesterday when i checked the calendars but i'm happy with that detail she deserves to be born on a joyous holiday#although she's a hellsing oc her story is set during the dawn timeline bc as a history nerd i cant keep myself away from ww2#and the cold war#at least i have reasons to research the 60s and the 70s more#and since deep down i know that the dawn will never be finished i got a lot of room for worldbuilding and headcannons#bc i'm not that tied to cannon events#the old version of her had some supernatural abilities but now I decided that she'll be a regular human who's just a damn good sniper#it's way more fun to have a mortal character thrown into this story and setting and see how she interacts with all the stuff going on#and this also means she had to keep her involvement with the organization a secret to her ex-husband#i'm gonna put her in the tags yall have some damn good and pretty ocs out there its like releasing your child at the playgrounds#hellsing oc#my moodboards :3
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I have a big google doc thing where I keep track of media and stuff (putting everything in loosely ranked categories), which is mostly just for my own reference so I know what tv shows I've already seen before, etc. and I never really look back through it, typically just a quick "okay, watched two movie in the past 8 months, need to quickly slap them somewhere in the lists. okay. done. save document. exit". But today I was actually reading through some of the old notes and there are like... MULTIPLE places where my comment is basically "It would have been good if it were about elves" or "I wish there was a fantasy show made in this same style" or "It's well made, but I just keep thinking about how I would like it more if everyone was an elf or was in old 1700s costumes" or etc like...... lol.... Most biased media ranking system on earth blatantly made by someone with an extremely hyperspecific range of narrow interests. It'd be like if a food reviewer only had 5 foods they actually liked, so they'd just go to a pizza place and be like "eh, the pizza was okay, but I just think it would be better if it was cereal instead. :/ ...2 out of 10"
#Which.. I mean... I am allowed to be biased because literally it's just for my own personal reference (or occasionall#y to send to friends or something if we're discussing the topic) so like.. nowhere am I saying 'I am the god of perfect taste and these#rankings are objectively the absolute truth and everyone should have my same opinion' or anything#BUT still.. it's funny to me sometimes#'Succession would be 100x better if it had the same cast/character quirks and shaky camera style and#acting choices/weird dialogue and general concept etc. EXCEPT it takes place within an elven noble family or something#managing the family business and everyone is in fantasy costumes now'' like.....okay...... but it's NOT that way..soo... thats not the show#''I like the acting style/general tone of Fleabag but i don't care for any of the characters or any of the subject matter and I wish it was#set in the 1800s and had vampires and was about magic instead'' okay..... again... you are making up an entirely new show in that case lol#OR my other beloved typical complaint ''The concept is good but theres too much plot and action and not enough people just sitting#around doing nothing and exposition dumping world and character lore'' ''this needs more goofy sideplots and filler episodes''#''this Drama was too dramatic I think it should be more lighthearted & people need to sit around doing nothing just being weird more often'#''the Action Movie was ok except for the action scenes - which I skipped through all of- but I liked the costumes and worldbuilding'' etc.#ERM sorry your plot has too much plot. also elves have to be included somehow. bye#BUT SERIOUSLY!!!!!! I literally genuinely believe that any show I like (or even dislike) could ALWAYS be improved greatly by#putting people in fantasy or historical costume/setting/etc... why the FUNK would I want to see bland jeans and cars and cell phones#when I could see elaborate velvet cloaks and fantastical landscapes and interior design and innovative takes on historical or#magical technology or etc. etc. etc. I LIVE in the modern day. I see it all the time!!! BORING! stinky!! boo!!!#ANYWAY... another social divide for me.. People love to bond by discussing media. which is hard when I'm like#'I literally will not watch something at all unless it fits into one of these 10 extremely specific categories which are all i care about i#the entire world''.. I say this and yet I still dislike most fantasy or historical things I've watched lol. ok TWO main criteria then!!#it must 1. be in a different world or time period. 2. be goofy silly. Nothing ever has BOTH. It's always overly serious boring drama action#fantasy/history stuff OR it's comedic lighthearted but with modern day characters... WHY.. anguish and woe and so on..#ANYWAY jhjnk... at least I can make that divide. Some people seem to project their own personal preferences and get really emotionally#defensive if you say you didn't like something - as if the fact that they DO like it is some Objective Truth or something rather than just#opinion/preference based. I can still easily say ''this is well made/well written/acted/good in a technical sense/has a lot of#points of appeal that most people would be drawn to/etc'' and admit that it's a GOOD show probably. I just PERSONALLY think its#bad because my tastes are very narrow. Some things ARE actually made badly but. things are not bad INHERENTLY just bc they dont suit ME lol#Better to recognize/accept whats odd about you and be peacefully aware of it than just being mad at everyone all the time for not fully#agreeing with you even when you're the one with the Weird opinion in that case lol.. I am right though :3 but.. lol... still. i get it
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just rewatched sunshine (2007) after a good long few years and man...... one of those scifi movies that make me feel like a pressurized cooker of creeped out anxiety and existential dread while somehow simultaneously also melancholy throughout yet also make me want to rewatch them immediately after finishing. @ danny boyle & alex garland pick up the phone i just wanna talk
#the visuals!!! the editing!!! the sound design!!! the soundtrack!!!! the worldbuilding and set design!!!#the symbolism & foreshadowing & self-fullfilling prophecy & utterly horrifying violent beauty of it all!!!#'KANEDA WHAT DO YOU SEE'#I'm so unwell over this movie#anyway.#i love you existential space movies i love you care and thought put into filmmaking I love you confusing offputting genre switches<333#even when some of it fails<333#I think. I need to make some edits. and also immediately go rewatch tarkovsky's solaris#max.txt#and yes yes also cilian murphy playing a tortured physicist<3 excellent and beautiful as always but also the entire cast was great#also. chris evans was younger than me when this was filmed????? horrendous. absolutely illegal.
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salut pia!
ive been wondering? how do you handle/change modes when you’re writing across AUs/fics? i mean not only the personality/attribute changes (like role reversal with ef and gwyn) but also change in…oh how do i say this..when a character is a MC in one but side/minor in another? bc they are different devices to different stories, how do you keep an overview of how much you reveal, go into so as to not side track from the main story or change the “flow”. example: whenever theres mentions of gender identity and betas somethin somethin feeling like omegas somethin somethin comes up “casually” sirens go off in my head and then i realise wait faber is NOT the MC in this story this is not about him him but its a little bit about him him. and then i feel like im standing behind a glass wall looking from Utb/Utg to Utr screaming at faber but he is a NPC here so we dont know whats going on in his head. that scene with ef and him eating carrots?…. i would give my right foot and skin tone copic markers to be a fly on the wall in fabers POV (the timelines probably wont align for it to happen but would you ever consider sth like this?? a scene overlapp across stories i mean?)
i’ve mostly read within that universe but ive also read spoils where your characters have completely different..positions? roles? weight? than in rainbow. so yeah how do you keep it all “appropriate” or “fitting” for their roles in different stories. like a puppet master
cheers xx
Hi anon,
So this is going to be not very helpful, but I don't write this stuff down for the most part.
This is the stuff I find so easy that this is why this is my job, in a way. I don't have a list of 'different Efnisiens' to keep track of, or 'different Gwyns.' They become themselves within the story. If I read a chapter of the story I get back into it (actually often I just need to listen to a song or put on the right playlist). Every version of a character is kind of there right now. I know how each would respond to something, and how those things would be the same or vary based on life experiences and the question etc.
I don't do really much at all to change modes. I just...do. There is no overview. It's all in my head. I'd say some of this goes down to how long / how many years I've spent studying character and dialogue overall. But even when I was younger I found this pretty easy, and transplanting characters into different situations to see how they'd react similarly / differently was one of my favourite kinds of exercises even when I was a teenager.
Some of it is knowing focus. Faber's side story is interesting, for those who like Faber and/or Underline the Red, hints about his gender struggles are fascinating, but they can only ever be hints, because I'm mindful that many readers aren't interested in Faber except as a minor character, and haven't read Underline the Red.
The focus is always Efnisien and Gary. Other characters can have their own lives and motivations, but it won't be more than that in the main story. Though I can go into a bit more detail because of the length of the story which is really nice for building out side characters / ensemble cast.
As to crossover perspectives, I don't know! I know we'll see some of Faber's perspective of Efnisien arriving at Hillview in Underline the Red, but obviously things impact characters differently at different times, I don't know what will be most important by the time we get to Faber's side of things. I used to write alternative perspectives as side chapters for Fae Tales though, and that could be a lot of fun.
so yeah how do you keep it all “appropriate” or “fitting” for their roles in different stories.
I saw a video by Hank Green I think once where he said the reason sportspeople are so good at their sports is in part because they're physically often the best at that sport anyway. Like, ballerinas have a certain build, swimmers have a certain build, and any training they do works to support that and make them better, but they were 'built' out for those sports in the first place. Some people have yoga bodies. I have a swimming body and swimming shoulders.
And I feel like this is true sometimes with writing. I don't try to keep it appropriate or fitting, I just know that the ensemble characters can't matter as much as the main characters in the course of the story. That's what a story is. That's what a main character and an ensemble character is. I would say years of experience has made this part of writing mostly easy and fun for me, so I don't have to think or overthink about this stuff anymore. At worst I might think 'was that too much Faber? Eh, it's helping Efnisien, it's still important to the plot and his character arc.'
I'm 'built' for writing big worlds with big ensemble casts where all the characters are important but where the focus is only on a couple of main characters per story. I'm built for character-focused stories and seem to be very built for transplanting characters I love into different worlds (and different roles) to see how that changes things. I started wanting to write these kinds of worlds and characters when I was 10 years old, and had my first sprawling ensemble fantasy series started by the age of 11. By the age of 15 I had a 3 novel fantasy trilogy built out with about 20 significant characters, and it was ridiculous and silly but that was what I wanted to write.
And I guess you could say I haven't really changed, I've just gotten better at it. I hope to keep getting better at it! The challenge now is to figure out how to break down some of these skills so I can share them with others. But...I do think there's an element of 'this is just what I love, it's a special interest, I don't know how to convey that I have 30 years of special interest in reading, writing, and studying this thing across television, manga, manhwa, fanfiction, AUs, and fictional series.' There will be teachable skills in that, but I don't know how much osmosis / absorption / and being obsessed with entangled tapestries of stories makes up what I do.
In some ways it would be 'better' if I was built for more conventional storytelling. My bank account might like that more! BUT, I'm doing okay where I'm at, because I love it, and I try to share that with other people and see if I can tell stories that resonate with them too.
(There are aspects of what I do that are very hard for me - timelines, aspects of worldbuilding, pacing in the first arc, and so on, but the actual characterisation part, and creating multiple versions of the same character is as easy as breathing. I could give you four more different versions of Faber in an hour. Maybe even twenty minutes. It's not hyperbole, it's just...how I daydream, what I think about. And it's fun!)
I'm very very very lucky that other folks are willing to read the same characters across different narratives, because it's a very strange thing to do in writing outside of fanfiction, case in point being that we almost never see any other professional authors doing it with their original works. x.x
#asks and answers#pia on writing#pia on worldbuilding#pia on characterisation#pia on fanfiction#i gotta put shoes on and i gotta gooooo#it's mum's birthday dsklfjas i'm heading over to hers#and bringing birthday Toby lol#apologies for any typos or incorrect word usage#i didn't have time to reread#the TL;DR is - i'm obsessed with this and love it and it's a special interest#and in the last 10 years this is the easiest kind of writing for me#it's easier than oneshots sdlkfjas
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just watched Elemental and I am severely thinking of Bokuaka (no spoilers dw!)
Akaashi being severely stressed with this aching fear of letting people down and not living up to their expectations, he feels indecisive of the future. Constantly fiddling with his fingers and letting his doubts fester over his future occupation.
Then comes Bokuto Koutarou one encounter later and slowly but surely Bokuto guides Akaashi, clearing up all the worries in his head and lifting him up when he needs it most. There’s also so much admiration and built up love Bokuto starts to grow for Akaashi when he sees how determined he is to do good for his loved ones, wanting to ensure he’s a great son.
The two of them bond and though Bokuto tries to make numerous advances, trying so hard to reach Akaashi. Akaashi always has him left hanging, not because he doesn’t want it.
He does.
He wants to be by Bokuto’s side more than anything else. He wants Bokuto more than anything else.
But he doesn’t feel as though he deserves it.
This kindness? This love? Surely it’s something he doesn’t deserve.
He doesn’t quite know what choice to make
And as more obstacles come there way, they’ll find each other at the center of it all, reaching out to hold the other’s hand and laughing to the steady beat of their own hearts.
They have quite the perfect chemistry after all.
#Elemental was so cute idc TvT#I love the story along with it's animation and worldbuilding#it was so cool#either that or I'm easily endeared by things :'DD#but I swear that movie was so heartwarming and sweet I love it!#and now I am putting Bokuaka into the scenario because yes#is this an au? m not sure but simply Bokuaka would fit sm <33#also as I said dw there's no spoilers <33#it's just loosely based on the plot of Elemental!#bokuaka#bokuaka fluff#bokuto#akaashi#bokuto koutarou#akaashi keiji#haikyuu!#haikyu!!#haikyuu#haikyu#hq
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i'm watching carnival row right now and honestly, i think it's really good but i only have a few episodes left and i know in my heart it's not going to end with polyamory even though it really should end with polyamory
#carnival row#vignette stonemoss#rycroft philostrate#tourmaline#darius carnival row#like why establish polyamory is common in fae culture#and make philo's central character arc about realizing he does not need to choose between the two sides of his heritage#and then not let that progress to it's natural conclusion?#idk i've heard people don't like the ending and i don't want to be spoiled but honestly i'm really enjoying it#i was put off by the trailers that made it look kind of soapy#but the story is a really compelling mystery and the worldbuilding is really good#also hi! if you like this show and want to talk about it i would love to chat :)
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@ensnchekov explores: ‘ if you don’t believe then there’s nothing for you to be afraid of, right? ’
BUZZFEED UNSOLVED SENTENCE STARTERS. always accepting.
"See, you say that, but..."
Actually being here, though, is a whole other thing. Not like he was going to tell Pavel that, though. He really, really wants the other boy to think he's cool, especially because he's pretty sure Pavel is the coolest person he's ever met (coolest person under sixty, anyway). He's sweet, and smart, and actually likes hanging out with him for some reason. Even if Dipper's definition of 'hanging out' sometimes means going into some abandoned building or corner of the forest that may or may not be haunted by some unspeakable horror.
"... Either way, it is pretty creepy in here," he eventually settles on, readjusting the straps on his backpack. "So, where do you wanna go first?"
#ic.#answered.#ensnchekov#pavel tbt.#verse two.#[ooc] i'm not sure if dipper has a friend crush on him or a *crush* crush on him but we're in for a ride either way#[ooc] i would've put more worldbuilding / vibebuilding in here but my brain kind of died midway through sdfkljnwerknsdkjlfns#[ooc] please know i love you though!!!
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Baizhu’s Room
(note: this was written without any leaked spoilers or lore in mind)
Genshin 3.6 finally gave us access to the back room in Bubu Pharmacy, in anticipation of Baizhu’s upcoming release and story quest. And I have to give all the praise to the designers and developers here, because this small room has some of the best environmental storytelling I’ve seen in a game in a while, with only a few simple details. Today is Baizhu’s birthday, so I wanted to talk about it a little 💚🐍🌿
Nothing in this room is neatly in its place. The chairs aren’t in position, everything on the desk is messy and strewn about, and some of the drawers are left open. There’s a pillow on the desk, as well. Baizhu is quite frail and sickly, so this all paints a picture of him constantly looking for things and working, both as a doctor and frantically on his research into immortality, without having the energy or care to keep everything neat, and probably often falling asleep at his desk out of exhaustion (hence the pillow, though admittedly it could be for Changsheng, but I kind of doubt it).
There’s medicine on the bedside tables, which is probably just as much for Baizhu as it (and all the other medicine in the room) is for his patients. The bedside chair indicates he likely sits with patients there a lot so as to be as comforting as possible, but again, it’s also likely for people like Gui and Qiqi, when Baizhu is the one in bed. The sole small washtub thing stuck in the corner behind the screen... just makes me sad. I don’t know why in particular... it just does.
All of this, combined with the lighting, and the new, unique song, creates a room that manages to feel both warm and welcoming during the day, but solemn, lonely, almost suffocating, and unbearably sad at night, completely befitting the person who practically lives here, and the two very different sides he has. I say “practically”, but we have no indication so far that Baizhu actually does live anywhere else -- with his low energy and poor health, and all those damn steps leading up to the pharmacy, I’m fully convinced now that he does live here full-time, after seeing the state of it, which is... heartbreaking. He puts on a smile for everyone around him who are relying on him to care for them (and he loves his job, he truly does!), but his tiny, cramped patient room seemingly doubles as his living space, and even though Baizhu may lie and try to hide his own suffering... this room itself does not lie, and said suffering is bleeding from every corner here. The music is elegant, gentle, comforting, and soothing, but also delicate, weak, mournful, and again unimaginably lonely...... just like Baizhu. 💔
If you haven’t been here yet in the game, I highly recommend you visit it at least once; the atmosphere is simply unmatched. I can’t wait to see what happens here in Baizhu’s story quest, and how it will wreck our hearts even more 💚💔
#genshin impact#baizhu#meta#i guess it's meta#me posting non-bsd meta? it's more likely than you think#I too live in this room now ever since I discovered it...... it makes me FUCKING cry 😭💔 I love it so much even though it hurts :' )#it's so beautiful..... and so sad...... ugh my heart#i need him now!!!! it's only one week now but I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER AUGHHHHHHHHH BAIZHUUU *sobs*#he is going to ruin me and he's already ruining me#just from his description and a damn ROOM#been dutifully logging out here every day I play as part of my good luck ritual#and will definitely do my wishing here#he Will come home (with Qiqi's help)#there's so much love put into this room i am just so happy and emotional over it#so much care is put into genshin....... yes not always but a lot of the time#in the worldbuilding and in little details like this#baizhu..... :' ) 💚💔#i will say though that aside from this room there's a new house on the edge of Qingce Village#that has some medicine packs on the ground around it like in the pharmacy room#i'm pretty sure it also is related to his story quest just like this room#but regardless i don't know if that may in fact be his house instead#we'll just have to see
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2023 reads / storygraph
The Poisons We Drink
YA urban fantasy
a girl who brews powerful potions is coerced into making potions to interfere with D.C.’s most influential politicians in an attempt to stop a dangerous Witcher Registration Act from passing, and will do anything to protect her sister after their mother is killed
bi MC, nonbinary love interest
arc from netgalley
#The Poisons We Drink#aroaessidhe 2023 reads#this is…….a lot of cool ideas but also so many elements and high stakes that i kinda lost track of them#the pacing is weird. the worldbuilding is random?#why is brewing SO overpowered & risky for her but the other powers seem to have pretty normal low-scale risks?#it’s definitely ambitious and has some cool ideas and also some great characters just. didn’t execute as well as I’d like#as much as we’re told the main threat is the government trying to put through a Registration Act#most of the actual antagonism we see is from other Witchers?#like the systemic discrimination got a bit lost in the witcher family drama and murder politics#important things to say about oppression and police violence but like....idk#she has this ‘deviation’- essentially evil sentient magic inside her head (and you KNOW I love that trope)#but it’s barely explained and very underutilised? other than helping her get out of bad situations you could take it out & would barely#change anything#also it’s explained at the start that she’s an empath but other than the very occasional mention I kept forgetting#will also note that I bumped this up my tbr because I saw the author talking/promoting it as the MCs sister being aroace but no mention#maybe it’ll come up in a sequel (there weren’t really any places where it would have made sense to bring it up here) but idk#(just the way the author was asking for advice on how to write an ace character and stuff you’d assume that they’d….put that in the book?)#not really a critique of the book itself but anyway. I really wanted to like this but the way it was put together just did not vibe with me#edit: I saw the author say on twitter that the version used for ARCs was before ace stuff was added and that there's other signif changes?#so perhaps that will be there! i'm not sure if I want to read it again but might skim just to see what that's about
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19 for the worldbuilding prompts + Torr?
the profound quiet of a small settlement at night
North Eastmarch is freezing cold all over, but it wears different outside the city than within.
Torr would never call Windhelm warm – not even in summer months, no matter how used to it they are – but what little heat it has it clings to with great determination. The walls huddle together, trapping the air so that it’s either still and muggy or a howling wind, like each close-knit house is breathing in tandem. The heat of the people run up and down its streets, blood through its knotted stone veins. The city is alive, an ecosystem unto itself; its snow, dark with footprints, runs sludgy down the roads; a fireplace is always burning somewhere.
Outside of the walls, surrounded by nothing but empty air and snow-laden trees, a slow-moving stream running with barely a burble – it feels dead, in contrast. Silent. Branches reach needle-sharp across the blue-black sky, the ground is gleaming white and undisturbed by anyone else’s footprints, and the nearest fire is the barely visible gleam of the Kynesgrove mining camp, up the hill and through the sporadic spindles of the trees. The breeze ghosts past Torr’s neck and whips the mud-stained snow into a flurry.
In the city, Torr’s comfortable sleeping almost anywhere – as comfortable as they ever get, anyway. Some of the buildings have great gaps under the porch where the snow can’t reach and no-one ever finds them; there’s places in the nooks of the walls, and sheds built into the side of the house that people don’t lock, and Torr knows a few people besides who don’t mind him kipping on their floor every now and again, as long as he doesn’t ask too often. The outside isn’t like that. There’s not many places to go. He’s lurking around Kynesgrove tonight – on his way back from a quick venture out to get some things done that pay better than running errands around the markets – and there aren’t many options. The inn, which he can’t afford – the mine, which would be warm but is very guarded – the miner’s encampment or someone’s house, both of which would most likely result in being chased off. Besides, there’s a performative element to meeting people, especially adults, in strange places, and Torr’s not in the mood to play to strangers. So much of his being is caught up in Windhelm’s grimy alleys, tangled in the hair and fingers of its discarded children; he doesn’t know how to be himself away from it all.
But they don’t have to, seeing as there’s the rickety old sawmill on the edge of a stream feeding into the harbour. It’s not bad, as shelter goes; no walls, so the wind rubs its fingers wraithlike down Torr’s cheeks and tangles them in his hair, but at least there’s a roof. It looks newly thatched, too, the floorboards free of rot, the water-wheel still chugging creakily along. There’s no wood to cut here, all the nearby surrounding trees too scraggy to be worth the bother. The only big ones are part of the grove up on the hill. There’s no point in keeping the mill running, but Torr is glad it is; he watches the distant firelight flickering through the scrub, and listens to the splashing of the wheel. It’s proof that people and the things they make do still exist – if not necessarily here.
It really feels dead, out in the cold, with the leafless trees and the wind that doesn’t even whisper. It always does. It’s a bit discomfiting, which is maybe why Torr doesn’t go on out-of-city endeavours as often as perhaps he could; but really, there’s not work out here enough to make it worth it. There’s always problems with bandits on the road, but Torr’s not a good enough fighter for bounty work; there’s collecting plants and things to sell Nurelion, but that’s easy enough to do on a day trip. (And, really, it’s more for Torr’s own enjoyment, besides. They never even venture far south enough to get to the sulphur pools, which is where the more interesting things grow.)
This trip, though, is an outlier. Unusually efficient. Just a quick job for Niranye, scouting a merchant’s cart on the road – almost definitely for something shady, but that’s not Torr’s business, and it was too much money too easy to turn down. And then – just earlier today, foraging out in the wilderness as best as Torr (a distinctly urban animal) knows how – they’d come across a giant’s corpse, stiff and white as the snow it lay in. Torr’s no master alchemist but they know the value of a cadaver when it comes to brewing alloys and admixtures, so they set to with their blunt-edged dagger and now they’ve got a sack full of what may as well be gold. (Long as it doesn’t start to rot before they can get Nurelion to preserve it, anyway.)
Torr’s going to be rolling in it when they get back to Windhelm. They could use that money for nearly anything – pay off a few things they borrowed, new warm things now that winter’s coming back strong, bedrolls, waterskins. Endless options – which, strangely, is more exciting than it is burdensome.
It’s all the sort of decision that would ordinarily feel life-or-death urgent but right now feels – not small. Not insignificant, not at all, but distant. A choice to be made at another time, by another person.
(Torr’s whole being belongs to Windhelm’s back streets. They’re someone else, away from it all.)
That’s the other thing about leaving the city, spending time in the discomfiting slow-paced ghost-world outside. It’s quiet. Torr sits surrounded by the wind in the trees, the lazy murmur of the stream, the creak of the water-wheel, and nothing else.
He’s been called a worrywart (mostly by Griss in a strop) but to tell the truth he doesn’t think that’s true. Torr doesn’t fuss for the sake of fussing, he just doesn’t like to leave things undone; can’t stop until he finds a solution. Out here, alone, in the empty cold, there are no solutions to find – same old problems back home, he knows, but no steps he can take at this time to right them. That’s never true while he’s in the city, so he can never stop thinking about it, every choice and action accompanied by a buzzing background chorus of everything else he really should be doing – that really should have been done by now – that should never have been left undone this long, what was he thinking? Everything is urgent when it’s doable. But here and now, there’s nothing to do.
So Torr sits hunched on the board floor of the ramshackle watermill, huddled among their heaps of bags and blankets, and thinks of nothing at all.
Not strictly true. They think of supper – haven’t eaten since an apple this morning, except for some snowberries they found around noon, and it’s been a long day. They nabbed some turnips from the garden of the Kynesgrove inn on their way to the mill. They’re fresh, if nothing else – also covered in dirt, so Torr rises reluctantly from their pile of stuff to crouch on the banks of the stream and dip the vegetables in to clean them off. It aches like hell, the frozen water turning their joints to ice – they almost drop the turnip they’re washing, so they scrub it as best they can with the frigid pad of their thumb and whip their hands out of the water soon as they’re able. They stick their fingers in their mouth to warm them back up.
Even after all that time spent warming up their hands, arraying all their belongings back around themself to conserve body heat, the turnips are still cold enough to hurt Torr’s teeth when he bites in. He eats them anyway, relishing a little in the unearthly silence and the aching of his lips and palms. They taste delicious.
With nothing else to do after, the gnawing of his stomach sated, he wraps himself in his shawl and stares up the hill at the camp’s fire until it goes out. The stars wink into brighter being. The wind whistles through the whip-thin branches of the trees. The water-wheel creaks.
Torr sleeps, but he feels like he hears it all – a silent observer, an echo, a beginning – until morning.
#I considered doing something with post-questline torr for this#but it would have been so fucking sad#and I didn't want to write something that was so fucking sad!#I'll post about torr after the horrors eventually but Not Today.#this was also initially supposed to be an exercise in writing something short that focused more on a distinctive atmosphere#than a scene or character study as most of my pieces are.#oops.#snowballed into an absolute monster of a ramble.#maybe sometime I'll use these prompts to write Actually Short pieces with more of a focus on the worldbuilding aspect...#would be good practice. everything I've written lately has been a thousand words minimum.#I could write about my minor characters or npcs with it too... yeah I think I'll do that at some stage#but. anyway. I quite like this piece as a sort of study#I fucking love writing characters who are having a nice time. with just a hint. just a whisper. of the problems#I enjoyed putting in the reference to the alchemical giant's toes especially because that is an allusion no-one but me understands#to a line in one of my very bad very early pieces on torr#it's not well written but I loved that bit because it's such a wonderful microcosm of the way torr is even before the murder cult thing#Yes he's the busiest most hardworking caretaking boy in the world taking trips into the wilderness (comparatively) to feed his family#and Yes his first instinct on seeing a corpse is to cut it up and sell it for parts#(he's done this to human bodies too but only in extremely specific circumstances. the risk of legal repercussions is too great otherwise)#I'll make a post rambling sometime about torr's ethical system because I'm so obsessed with them and their unhinged point of view#Anyway#done rambling#my writing#fay writes#oc tag#torr#the elder srolls#tes#skyrim#tesblr
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How's the writing going? Well I've written over 2000 words and I'm questioning if I'm spelling "our" correctly, so you know
#original#going pretty great!#stories are always so hard to write but this is a reference document for a concept thing#what thing? don't worry about it#(it's goo)#idk if reference document is the work i'm looking for#basically i'm taking all the little facts and details about how it works and writing it all down#i love making documents like this#it comes so naturally to me! i just gotta write all the things i know about it from the Thoughts i've been having!#just infodumping onto notepad#also something funny is that i have a main section at the top with all the important rules and details#and then a bonus section with random stuff that i wanted to write down#and the bonus section is twice as long and still growing#this is so much fun#it's been done for like an hour but i just keep going#i've written all my thoughts and now i'm just typing the new ones as i think them#if i liked worldbuilding i would do so much of it#but my interest lies in Systems#that's why i'm interested in programming#so much so that i put programming in this system#(the system is goo)#you can write code for goo#using a Goo API#to run programs on Goo OS#just make sure you don't download a goo virus. into your goo.#<- literal actual things in this system
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I love the apocalypse genre, not for the gore and stuff but for the little details and stuff, especially in games
Like you get to collect a bunch of stuff, weapons, food, scraps, first aid kits, things like that
I love looking at rundown and broken abandoned buildings, overgrown and covered in vines and moss, like it's being taken back by nature
I like the fact that there are multiple roles people can play, there's a huge list of roles you can be and each of them is important
I want to be able to write, draw, or play with these things and it's so upsetting that there aren't that many games I find that satisfy me with this
Most of them focus on the fighting, which makes sense since it's the apocalypse, you gotta kill a few things to survive, but I also want an equal focus on the other stuff, searching for food in a store that looked like it just got robbed and blown up, looking for scraps in broken vehicles, turning a building into shelter whether it's just one or few of the floors or the whole building, finding other survivors and offer them a place to stay and some equipment or get them to join your group
I want these things, I NEED these things, and it's so so disappointing that I never can find one
At the very least, I want to find people who like the same things as I do and we can do something about it. Discuss it with each other, roleplay, play games that are close enough to what we want, all that
#wil-rambles#one of the reasons i like genshin impact is because i get to collect things#i also really like the details in the landscape and buildings and the little things#this is also why i really love stray#i have never played the game before but the details are just so good#there is also this one game in roblox where i find a little bit of that#just a little bit#it's called disaster city#and there was that one game in minecraft a youtuber i used to watch played#i don't know what it's called and i can't find it but it was the closest thing i have ever gotten to this#even if i'm not playing it#watching it is also really fun#there are a bunch of things i find here and there that are close#but i want more#i want to write it all out but i have no idea how or where to start#there are a lot of things i want to put in#i love worldbuilding too#WRITERS. where are you i wanna do this.
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