#Stratagem (short story)

[robot-roadtrip-rants]

So like…he fucked Aeonid after that, didn’t he? Like. We all agree that Aeonid was out of his power pants 30 seconds after that delicate fade to black. We can all assume that Guilliman was specifically inspired to perform cataclysmically good head. What I mean is, the work Guilliman’s plans to do involves serving on the back, and the blowing out thereof.

[augustinajosefina]

A request

Please suggest books to me! Preferably in the glove kink/lesbian space atrocities, urban fantasy or dark academia genres but I'll happily try any SF/fantasy at least once.

So far I've read and loved:

Before 2023

The Imperial Radch (Ancillary Justice/Sword/Mercy) - Ann Leckie

Jean le Flambeur (The Quantum Thief/The Fractal Prince/The Causal Angel) - Hannu Rajaniemi

The Windup Girl/The Water Knife - Paolo Bagicalupi

Memory of Water/The City of Woven Streets - Emmi Itäranta

2023

The Locked Tomb (Gideon/Harrow/Nona the Ninth) - Tamsyn Muir

The Masquerade (Traitor/Monster/Tyrant Baru Cormorant) - Seth Dickinson

Teixcalaan series (A Memory Called Empire/A Desolation Called Peace) - Arkady Martine

Machineries of Empire (Ninefox Gambit/Raven Stratagem/Revenant Gun/Hexarchate Stories) - Yoon Ha Lee

The Murderbot Diaries (All Systems Red to System Collapse) - Martha Wells

The Broken Earth (The Fifth Season/The Obelisk Gate/The Stone Sky) - N. K. Jemisin

Klara And The Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro

Xuya universe (The Citadel of Weeping Pearls/The Tea Master and the Detective/Seven of Infinities plus short stories) - Aliette de Bodard

This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

The Goblin Emperor/The Witness for the Dead/Grief of Stones - Katherine Addison

Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh

2024

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V. E. Schwab

The Craft Sequence (Three Parts Dead/Two Serpents Rise/Full Fathom Five/Last First Snow/Four Roads Cross/Ruin of Angels) - Max Gladstone

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution - R. F. Kuang

Dead Country - Max Gladstone

Hands of the Emperor - Victoria Goddard

Read and liked:

The Moonday Letters - Emmi Itäranta

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke

Great Cities (The City We Became/The World We Make) - N. K. Jemisin

Autonomous - Annalee Newitz

Dead Djinn universe (A Master of Djinn/The Haunting of Tram Car 015/A Dead Djinn in Cairo/The Angel of Khan el-Khalili) - P. Djèlí Clark

Even Though I Knew the End - C. L. Polk

Station Eternity - Mur Lafferty

The Mythic Dream - Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe

Shades of Magic (A Darker Shade of Magic/A Gathering of Shadows/A Conjuring of Light/Fragile Threads of Power) - V. E. Schwab

The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling

Last Exit - Max Gladstone

The Stars Are Legion - Kameron Hurley

Ninth House/Hell Bent - Leigh Bardugo

Machine - Elizabeth Bear

Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield

She Is A Haunting - Trang Thanh Tran

Sisters of the Revolution - Jeff & Ann Vandermeer

Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel

Nettle & Bone - T. Kingfisher

Monstrilio - Gerardo Samano Córdova

Was uncertain about:

Light From Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki

The Kaiju Preservation Society - John Scalzi

Paladin's Grace - T. Kingfisher

The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune

In the Vanishers Palace - Aliette de Bodard

Uprooted - Naomi Novik

What Moves The Dead - T. Kingfisher

All The Birds In The Sky - Charlie Jane Anders

And read and disliked:

To Be Taught, if Fortunate - Becky Chambers

A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon

The Calculating Stars - Mary Robinette Kowal

The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson

How High We Go in the Dark - Sequoia Nagamatsu

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

The Passage - Justin Cronin

In Ascension - Martin MacInnes

(My pride insists I add that I have, in fact, read other books as well. Just to be clear.)

[sincerely-sofie]

Embracing my inner Cringe Queen by dumping some Among Us OC art here. Meet Annings the Cyan Crewmate, Soot the Black Imposter, and Robin the Cyan Mini Imposter! Bonus context is under the cut at the end of this post, but you can enjoy the jokes and stuff in this without it! All you need to know is that Annings is a medic and Robin is her adopted daughter.

(This one is a gif, but might not load until you click on it!)

(Story summary / teaser below!)

Annings was the sole survivor of a civilian cruiser that was boarded by imposters when she was a child. She became a bit of a poster child for the war efforts against the shapeshifting alien rebels MIRA worked so hard to stomp out, despite never once voicing a similar opinion. After she grew up on Earth, she decided for take a MIRA flight back into space— this time as a medic instead of a civilian— seeking closure from her traumatic experience on her last flight.

Instead of closure, she was granted custody of an orphan whose mother was ejected on suspicions of being an imposter. Annings didn’t believe the accusations, and returned to earth with her newfound ward, Robin, whereupon she realized that most toddlers shouldn't be able to split down the middle and swallow their lunch whole, plate and all.

Robin's health began to fail not long after their arrival on earth, and Annings was forced to choose between her fear of meeting another hostile imposter and her fear of losing her daughter. She chose to return to space, taking as many jobs on MIRA flights as possible so that she could increase her odds of encountering an imposter who might know what was wrong with Robin and help her fix it. It took long enough that she began to fear whether Robin would make it to the next flight, but eventually she found one such infiltrated flight--- and the freshly deceased captain had named her his replacement in the case of his death.

Annings puts her knowledge of imposter stratagem to use in order to minimize the threat of continued deaths, and confronts one of the pair of imposters she picked out amongst the crewmates. This imposter, who used the human name Soot as part of his disguise, was fully prepared to kill Annings when she proposed a deal where he'd help her and she wouldn't reveal his true identity to the crew... But when she told him about Robin's wasting away and how she didn't know how to fix it, and he realized she had set up backup after backup to ensure he wouldn't find an alibi whenever he had the chance to kill her, he learned he was doomed to become a walking childcare manual for her.

Long story short, Soot ends up getting attached to both Robin and Annings, and when disaster strikes and threatens the lives of those they hold dear, he throws everything away for the human and child he's come to care for. Meanwhile, Annings has to reconcile her trauma with the bond she's forming with this new imposter and her fear of ending up just like the massacred civilians of her childhood flight.

Robin, meanwhile, is just chilling throughout the story and wondering why all the grown-ups are so angsty all the time.

[stickyspeckledlight]

Honkai: Star Rail (Last Updated: 12/18/24)

May this journey lead us starward.

Aventurine, the Daring Gambler of Stratagems

Series:

Destroyed Onset [Yan!Aventurine x GN!Reader]

A fic series starring Yan!Aventurine and GN!Reader, as they find themselves crumble into pieces, and start to supplement them with fragments of one another.

The Sun, Benevolent & Cruel Dictator [Yan!Aventurine x GN!Reader]:

Shorts, drabbles, etc. based on or related to Destroyed Onset. However, everything here can all be read as standalone.

Drabbles:

Boop! [Yan!Aventurine x GN!Reader] (753)

You jokester you; coming up with such a brilliant plan! Let's just hope it doesn't backfire, yes?

The Lady and the Tramp [Yan!Aventurine x GN!Reader] (1.5k)

Aventurine has a snack he wants you to try with him!

Musings:

Aventurine likes holding you when you sleep

You and Aventurine set the thermostat low

Blade, Shadow of Yingxing

Musings:

Blade getting horny over threats from local human equivalent of a wet towel

Boothill, the Vagabond Ranger

Drabbles:

Twine Half Full [Yan!Boothill x GN!Reader] (805)

For my 2024 Interaction Prompts Event: “Fuckin' hell— Boothill— just what the fuck was in that dr-drink... Are you trying to poison me?!”

Fics:

Pardon My French [Yan!Boothill x GN!Reader] (2.2k)

You fight back in the one way you can, or, at least, you try.

Dan Heng, Imbibitor of a Reborn Moon

Drabbles:

N-Not That I Mind, But, Um... [Yan!Dan Heng x GN!Reader] (533)

For my 2024 Interaction Prompts Event: “Dan Heng, kind of a funny story. See, I happened to come across an entire detailed folder based on me in the data bank. So….thoughts??????"

Dr. Ratio, Doctor of Ignorance

Drabbles:

Apprehensive Tutoree [Yan!Dr Ratio x GN!Reader] (415)

For my 2024 Interaction Prompts Event: “Ratio, please please please help with math…PLEASE Im litterally begging at this point. I know I still did fail that last exam but PLEASE help me with math again”

Madam Jade, the Moneylender of Bonajade Exchange

Drabbles:

The Price of a Voiden Heart [Yan!Jade x GN!Reader] (716)

In your heart, there is a void.

Jiaoqiu, the Medicinal Chef of Miracles

Drabbles:

Kindness: The Greatest Placebo [Yan!Jiaoqiu x GN!Reader] (503)

He’s the kindest man you’ve ever met.

Unique Gastronomy [Yan!Jiaoqiu x GN!Reader] (289)

For my 2024 End of Year Prompts: “Jiaoqiu… the meat in this dish tastes kinda weird.. what is it?”

Musings:

Yan!Jiaoqiu with a darling that loves his food; maybe a little too much

Natasha, the Good Doctor

Drabbles:

Doctor's Orders [Yan!Natasha x GN!Reader] (681)

For my 2024 End of Year Prompts: "Natasha, I told you many times that I'm feeling much better! Please, get me out of the hospital!"

Sunday, the Orderly Head of the Oak Family

Drabbles:

Lullaby [Yan!Sunday x GN!Reader] (567)

You can't sleep, when your mind pangs with his emotions.

Record Scratch [Yan!Sunday x GN!Reader] (635)

For my 2024 End of Year Prompts: "Sunday… I know this is a lot to ask for, but can you bring some of my favorite music records back? Or at least play them on any instrument? I’ll even let you teach me if you have the patience for it!"

Fluttering Wings [Yan!Sunday x GN!Reader] (317)

For my 2024 End of Year Prompts: "h-hey man, can you stop -ffuhh- stop flapping your wings in my face...!"

Can You Even Spread Those Wings? [Yan!Sunday x GN!Reader] (1.7k)

For my 2024 End of Year Prompts: “Sunday, I’m thinking of leaving Penacony. Of course I’ll be back one day! It’s just… both you and Robin have become so incredible, and it seems I’m the only one who hasn’t changed… I want to do more too, it doesn’t seem fair that I’m always relying on you.”

Topaz, Relentless Pursuor

Drabbles:

All Bark, No Bite [Yan!Topaz x GN!Reader] (134)

For my 2024 End of Year Prompts: "Topaz, get off this stupid collar from my neck!"

Games!

WhoDrankIt? KFC! (~30k)

Unfortunately for you, thanks to the shenanigans of eminent domain, you have been left without a house. However, luckily for you, local bourgeois Senator Sunday has offered you his home. Seeing little choice in the matter, you take up his offer...

[mylittlemenandme]

A QUICK BACK AND FORTH

What better time to have a brief look at what I got up to in the past year? And see how that matched up to my plans from the end of last year, and to make some (hopefully achievable) plans for the year ahead.

Firstly though, this guy:

My fantastic Secret Santa gift, a converted Primaris version of the original Iron Priest model. I love it so much, I've shared it everywhere else so why not here as well?

And now, the round-up...

2023

The year was basically spent seeing out the end of the ninth edition of 40k. A good meet-up at the beginning of the year which included some Boarding Actions action, and then on to the local Crusade league again, although one that was ultimately cut short with the release of tenth edition. At this point ninth was starting to feel a little stale, and very bloated rules-wise - I think I already made the point about the sheer number of stratagems I was juggling by the end.

And with tenth edition coming out, I ended up organising a weekend for people to play some games of it in the first week of its release. I was pretty proud that I managed to pull the event together, definitely a highlight of the year. I even managed to enjoy it over the persistent level of stress I felt! Turns out it's a good set of rules - I certainly enjoyed playing it in the second half of the year in the new Crusade league, as well as writing the short stories to go with my league results submissions.

RESULTS?

So how did I do with my plans for 2023? I got a few models built and primed (around 2000 points worth), including the Impulsor I wanted, plus a bonus Repulsor. I got a chunk of Phobos models painted up too, including one of my Invictors, but sadly the Storm Speeder and Hammerfall Bunker I mentioned last year are still waiting.

Transfers are still pending too, but I have got a row of spare shoulder pads ready to be tested on before I move on to actual models.

I also got all the Death Guard I built over the previous Christmas break all primed up, but no further. Like the Death Guard themselves, there's no rush, it's purely inevitable. No other projects got a look in really, but I did manage to build six Thunderwolves so there is a chance to do something a bit different (albeit more Space Wolves!).

No other projects sadly also includes the Sylvaneth. No games, nothing new painted, I will definitely change that this year.

2024

So what do I want to achieve this year? It's possible the Space Wolves codex could arrive in the second half of the year, so I can't see there being any new models I'll want to buy before then (bold words). From what I do already own it'd be nice to get the things I have nearly fully built to a primed state (the aforementioned Storm Speeder and Bunker, plus a Drop Pod), and some of the primed bits moved to the painting desk and hopefully to the gaming table as well.

On top of that I have a Brutalis Dreadnought I want to get built (at the very least), and then I'd like to work on my Erik Morkai conversion a bit more, maybe some terrain too. It'd also be nice to get the Thunderwolves and Wulfen ready for the table since it's impossible to tell what the new codex will bring in terms of units and models coming or going, so it'd be good to get some game time out of them before then.

Sylvaneth, simple - play (at least) one game, and it'd be nice to get one of the primed units I have painted up (Tree-Revenants, I'm looking at you).

Other than that, it's very much wait and see. Legions Imperialis I could be very tempted by but I'll wait to see how it shakes out in terms of rules and models, as well as uptake in the community. Epic is where it all started for me, so I can't imagine I'll hold out for long however.

Oh, and maybe more than 3 posts on here this year? I guess I'm already 33% of the way there at least! Happy New Year!

[lucascecil]

Tenth Doctor - Project: Blue Box

TV Stories

◆ The Christmas Invasion

◆ New Earth

◆ Tooth and Claw

◆ School Reunion

◆ The Girl in the Fireplace

◆ Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel

◆ The Idiot’s Lantern

◆ The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit

◆ Love & Monsters

◆ Fear Hear

◆ Army of Ghosts/Doomsday

◆ The Runaway Bride

◆ Smith and Jones

◆ The Shakespeare Code

◆ Gridlock

◆ Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks

◆ The Lazarus Experiment

◆ 42

◆ Human Nature/Family of Blood

◆ Blink

◆ Utopia/Sound of the Drums/Last of the Time Lords

◆ Voyage of the Damned

◆ Partners in Crime

◆ The Fires of Pompeii

◆ Planet of the Ood

◆ The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky

◆ The Doctor’s Daughter

◆ The Unicorn and the Wasps

◆ Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

◆ Midnight

◆ Turn Left

◆ The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End

◆ The Next Doctor

◆ Planet of the Dead

◆ The Waters of Mars

◆ The End of Time

Audio Adventures

- 10th Doctor Adventures

◆ Technophobia

◆ Time Reaver

◆ Death and the Queen

◆ Infamy of the Zaross

◆ The Sword of the Chevalier

◆ Cold Vegeance

◆ No Place

◆ One Mile Down

◆ The Creeping Death

◆ Out of Time

◆ The Gates of Hell

◆ Wink

◆ Expiry Dating

◆ Precious Annihilation

◆ Ghosts

◆ Buying Time

◆ The Wrong Woman

◆ The House of Kingdom

◆ Cycle of Destruction

◆ The Trojan Dalek

◆ The Lost

◆ The First Son

◆ The Dalek Defence

◆ The Triumph of Davros

◆ Splinters

◆ The Stuntman

◆ The Quantum of Axos

- 10th Doctor Chronicles & Donna Noble: Kidnapped & Short Trips

◆ The Taste of Death

◆ Backtrack

◆ Wild Pastures

◆ Last Chance

◆ Out of This World

◆ Spinvasion

◆ The Sorcerer of Albion

◆ The Chiswick Cuckoos

◆ The Jago & Litefoot Revival

◆ The Shattered Hourglass

◆ Fear of Flying

Books

◆ The Stone Rose

◆ The Feast of the Drowned

◆ The Revolution Casket

◆ The Nightmare of Black Island

◆ The Art of Destruction

◆ The Price of Paradise

◆ Sting of the Zygons

◆ The Last Dodo

◆ Wooden Heart

◆ Forever Autumn

◆ Wetworld

◆ Sick Building

◆ The Pirate Loop

◆ Peacemaker

◆ Wishing Well

◆ Martha in the Mirror

◆ Snowglobe 7

◆ The Many Hands

◆ Ghosts of India

◆ The Doctor Trap

◆ Shining Darkness

◆ Beautiful Chaos

◆ The Eyeless

◆ Judgement of the Isskar

◆ The Slitheen Excursion

◆ Prisoner of the Daleks

◆ The Taking of Chelsea 426

◆ Autunomy

◆ The Krillitane Storm

◆ Shroud of Sorrow

◆ In the Blood

[jasonsutekh]

Hercules (2014)

The famed son of Zeus is recruited, along with his comrades, to defend the kingdom of Thrace from insurgents.

Although the plot is fairly basic and saves time by drawing on a story most of the audience will already know, it still has enough twists to remain entertaining in the gaps between fight scenes. The references to the original myths are muddled somewhat which is in keeping with the oratory nature of the stories and the many versions that are recorded today.

There are no actual monsters which is a big let-down, they’re just cut-aways to stories or hallucinations, the rest is just a fake up but it’s interesting to see how they bring some aspects into the real world of the film. We see very little of the revolutionaries after their capture which is disappointing, one would expect some development from them. It’s never made clear if Hercules is really strong or not as he manages superhuman feats but it’s not specifically remarked upon.

The effects are all good quality, most notable the monsters which makes it all the more of a shame that they get so very little screen time. The choreography of the battles is at least interesting as some real ancient stratagems are used and there are some traps too which keep it engaging. Some of the actors also work out well in their roles, nobody falls short.

Much of the run time is taken up by long action sequences that barely even need any dialogue and only provide superficial entertainment. The universe in which the film takes place is a sadly dull version of Ancient Greece, eradicating much of the culture apart from columns. We see none of the beautiful lettering, the birth of democracy, or the attitudes towards sex and relationships that was arguably more modern than today's view of it.

3/10 -This one’s bad but it’s got some good in it, just there!-

-The wirter died the year of the release after having disowned the movie, despite this, condolences were still used as a way of advertising it.

-The original Greek name of the character was Heracles, Hercules is the Roman version of the name.

-The Trojan War is referenced as a past event, but in most myths Hercules died before the war.

[fuckyeahhistorycrushes]

Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916) - Polish novelist, journalist, short story writer, the most popular Polish writer of historical fiction. He is best known for his "Trilogy" ("With Fire and Sword", "The Deluge", and "Pan Michael") - a series of historical novels about the 17th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (a period rich with hussar motifs), and "Quo Vadis?", set in Nero’s Rome.

In 1884, with a Byronic suddenness, he became recognized in the eyes of his country and later in the eyes of the whole world as the greatest Polish writer, and there was a period between 1895 and 1910 when he won a world wide popularity unprecedented in the history of literature. Some commentators even suggested a cult of the author. In Italy, in France, in America, in Russia and in England, this success was so intense that it was referred to as the "epidemia Sienkiewicziana". In the United States "Quo Vadis?" was the most popular book of 1898 and William Faulkner was one of Sienkiewicz's fans. The names of the heroes of "Quo Vadis?" were given to race horses in Paris; pantomines, ballets, plays, and movies were based on his novels. Belgium smoked Quo Vadis? cigars, there are still restaurants in the United States called Quo Vadis?; and some Russian anti-Polish books were published in France under the title of "Quo Vadis, Polonia?". French and Italian publishing companies made enormous sums from the works of Sienkiewicz which outsold those of all other authors. In 1905 Sienkiewicz received the Nobel prize for literature.

Stanisław Tarnowski tells us that "at the time when the Trilogy was appearing (in the Illustrated Weekly) no conversation failed to begin and end with it; people spoke and thought of the heroes of the novel as of living persons; children in their letters, after giving details about the health of themselves and their brothers and sisters, told what Skrzetuski had done or what Zagloba (heroes of the Trilogy) had said; young girls wrote or planned to write to the author asking him for Heaven's sake not to kill Skrzetuski; mothers and grandmothers prayed tearfully that the sons of their sons might have souls like that of Skrzetuski. A well-known gentleman in Kraków, Henryk Wodzicki, was saying a prayer for the soul of Podbipieta (a hero of "With Fire and Sword") and only in the middle of it realized that he had in mind a fictional death and a fictional soul.

Only a very great genius can unearth the dusty chronicles of past centuries, and make its men and women live and breathe, and speak to us. The warriors fight, love, hate; they embrace each other; they laugh; they weep in each other's arms; give each other sage counsels, with a truly Homeric simplicity. They are deep-versed in stratagems of love and war, these knights of the seventeenth century! They have their Nestor, their Agamemnon, their great Achilles sulking in his tent. Oddly enough, at times they grow very familiar to us, and in spite of their Polish titles and faces, and a certain tenderness of nature that is almost feminine, they seem to have good, stout, Saxon stuff in them. Especially where the illustrious knights recount their heroic deeds there is a Falstaffian strut in their performance, and there runs riot a Falstaffian imagination truly sublime. A vast, moving panorama is spread before us; across it pass mighty armies; hetman and banneret go by; and Polish women with white souls, and fair, flowerlike faces. The scene is full of stir, life, action. It is constantly changing, so that at times we are almost bewildered, attempting to follow the quick succession of events. We are transported in a moment from the din and uproar of a beleaguered town to the awful solitude of the vast steppes,--yet it is always the Polish Commonwealth that the novelist paints for us, and beneath every other music rises the wild Slavic music, rude, rhythmical, and sad.

Phelps says justly in his essay on Sienkiewicz: "Sienkiewicz is indeed a mighty man-someone has ironically called him a literary blacksmith. There is nothing decadent in his nature. Compared with many English, German, and French writers who seem at times to express an anemic and played-out civilization, he has the very exuberance of power and an endless wealth of material. It is as if the world were fresh and new. And he has not only delighted us with the pageantry of chivalry and with the depiction of our complex civilization, he has for us also the stimulating influence of a great moral force".

[fairlyabookie]

Growth

Author's Note: The following has been inspired by Sebastian Yatra's "Dos Orguitas". Enjoy!

Epel’s aspirations to be a young, dependable man can be noted as a lofty goal, a value many saw as impossible due to his short stature and effeminate features. However, these limitations didn’t quell the fire burning in Epel’s little body; rather, it fueled more motivation to prove everyone wrong. He’ll do everything in his power to work hard and have everyone acknowledge him as capable as a student and as a man.

The day when Epel would prove his worth was when a Magishift club skirmish had gone wrong. [Reader] and Grim were helping the club members practice maneuvers and stratagems when a disc had toppled [Reader] from their perch. The creature barely held on to the groom, but the Ramshackle prefect was not as unfortunate, falling from a high height.

With quick reflexes, Epel ascends to the skies, his small body providing extra benefit to the increasing velocity of the broom. He hopes he’ll make it to [Reader]. “Just a little more.” He prays, extending his arms out to catch them. Suddenly, a heavy weight nearly topples him off-balance. “Whoa!” [Reader] exclaims in his arms. Epel could barely make a grunt when he asks, “[reader], are you alright?!”

“I’m fine!” They respond, tightening their grip onto Epel as he tries to descend to the pasture below. Most of the Magishift team had gone down to check for injuries, while Leona and Ruggie watched for Epel as he made his descent. “Quite the catch there, herbivore.” Leona growls in greeting as Ruggie snickers. “Didn’t know you’ve had the strength to carry someone in midair, but nice catch!”

A red blush tinges Epel’s cheeks at the banter, but he quickly apologizes to [Reader] who then dismantles from him. For a moment, Epel was grateful for those days helping his family with the farm, years and years of strength befitting of this moment. Had he become a man after this? Not yet, he stipulates. Yet, he spares a quick glance to [Reader], their unscathed form flashing smiles to the other club members.

Just as the young man was about to go help his superiors, a gentle tap on his shoulder startles him. “Thank you, Epel, for saving me from a scary fall.” [Reader] smiles sweetly at him, a grateful smile that almost outshines Kalim’s smile for a brief moment. “O-o-oh no, it’s no big deal.” The first year flusters, his cheeks scarlet from the gratitude. “No, really. I was terrified. I honestly thought I was going to die at this moment. But, thanks to you, I’m here in one piece. Thank you, Epel.”

A smile from [Reader] was enough to cause a stir within the young man - He could only fathom a shy smile to them. “Not a problem, [reader].. I just saved you, that’s all..”

“Come on, you practically caught me mid-fall there, give yourself some credit! You even carried me down here too!” [reader] chuckles lightly. “Hey, pipsqueak. Just take the compliment. You’ve proven yourself out there, and I’m sure your superiors in Pomefiore would be more than happy to hear your little story when you return to your dorm tonight.” Leona grumbles, gesturing the first year to Ruggie for injuries.

“No! Don’t tell Vil or Rook about this!” Epel panics. “Oh, they’ll find out, alright.” The third year scoffs, leaving the first year scrambling to his senses as he follows the second year to the infirmary.

Riddle was always a stickler for rules, even if it affected his daily life. The Red Queen always enforced the rules, all in the matter of order, and it was Riddle’s responsibility to enforce them. One had to ensure that all rules were followed as the Dorm Head, lest the whole dormitory would be in chaos. The responsibility was heavy, but he could manage..

The day when these rules were challenged had been the day Riddle feared the most - this meant that he had no way of controlling the situation as a Dorm Leader or as a student. The chaos that unfolded was a pandemonium of Heartslabyul residents questioning the purpose of the dorm’s numerous rules. Sure, a few students had forgotten a few rules here and there, even Trey had his fair share of forgetting, but to outright question such rules were treason.. With more students questioning the very foundation of the dormitory, it became clear that the students were losing sight of their own sense of “order”. The second-year tried to lend his aid to the students struggling for their sense of “order”; however, it became evident that this was beyond his control.

“Burnout” was perhaps the more appropriate element to label this phenomenon, an aspect Riddle wasn’t too familiar with but had encountered at least once or twice in his lifetime. With the advice of others (mainly Cater and Trey), Riddle consented to allow a break for the Heartslabyul residents, a day when they can follow the rules of the dorm whenever they wished. This proposal came from Cater, an idea Riddle thought preposterous out of all the suggestions he had consented to from the two in the past. However, this meant for the good of the dorm and as a means to aid the students’ in their journey of reason. Yet, he would be one of the few who would still continue the numerous regiments.

Maybe I was too harsh on them, the second year fretted as he continued his day, following all the rules imposed in the dorm. Had he said something that offended them? An inquiry worth pondering… “Oh, excuse me!” A familiar voice anchors him back to reality when he had bumped into someone. “Oh, my apologies!” He frets once more, quickly picking up fallen books and pages from the floor. “I should’ve paid more attention to where I was going.” “Oh no, oh no! I was carrying more than usual. Don’t worry about it!” [Reader] counters, gathering their materials in their end. The pair tidy up, eventually splitting half of the burden. Was there a rule concerning this? Riddle noted as he helped his fellow student.

Perhaps there was since the rules were meant to be followed anyway. “Thanks for the help, Riddle. I appreciate it.” [Reader] bids as they place the materials in the library. “Not a problem. Are these study materials for Trein’s upcoming exam?” [Reader] nods. “If there is anything I could help you with, let me know.” What the dorm leader had proposed was a tutoring service, a tangible notion to compensate for his clumsiness earlier. Rule no. 239: ‘If one were to bump to someone, one must compensate their action by acting more formerly.”

The thin line between acting formerly in front of [Reader] seemed odd, in fact, the Ramshackle student was knowledgeable about Riddle, and it would be strange if he were to engage in a more formal, stiff manner. Yet, if he were a different Heartslabyul student instead of a Dorm Leader, punishment would be immediately imposed with no question. Riddle considered [Reader] a good friend, but would he be willing to break out from the norms of Heartslabyul just to ensure their friendship?

Needless to say, the response [Reader] gave him was a gentle smile that fluttered his heart. “Thank you, Riddle!” Just when did he foster feelings for [Reader]? What an unexpected turn of events.

Trey has had his fair share of moments when he invests more time baking goods than watching over the Heartslabyul students, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he was being negligent. On the contrary, Riddle and Cater would have the students under control while he just watched him proceed to the rules. He didn’t mind students coming to him for help or as a proxy between them and Riddle - in fact, he didn’t mind the unofficial job anyway. As a third-year, being an advisor or a trustworthy figure was associated based on seniority.

The third-year was quite used to the numerous students coming to him, yet he was not the type to get thoroughly annoyed by this. There were a few times when his advice didn’t exactly click with the students, mostly due to the fact that his analogies of cake and reality were a bit off base. These analogies weren’t exactly wrong, but it was how he managed to learn and ascertain logic to some degree. Whenever the student couldn’t understand, Trey could refer them to Cater or Riddle for a brief explanation of the topic at hand. It was easier to have someone else to talk to them rather than having to clarify what he meant.

The others didn’t mean this at all, since each person would compensate their weaknesses with their counterpart’s strengths, quite befitting and complementary for the trio as the Heartslabyul superiors and leader.

Yet, with significant relationships and friendships, it would seem that Trey’s understanding of such would not easily translate to baking analogies and anecdotes. On the contrary, this meant he’d have to take different approaches to these moments and act accordingly. Things were not meant to be simple in the first place, huh? He grumbles to himself. Patience is key, a notion he heard too much. Alas, what could that possibly mean when dealing with people?

Upon a thought, Trey pursued a significant endeavor: invest more time in his relationships. He had been meaning to get along with [reader], but he didn’t know what else he could do with them in terms of forwarding the relationship.. Maybe baking more cakes? No, he probably overbaked a lot.. What else could he do?

Such a question prompted the summoning of Cater and Riddle who were more than willing to help him with this predicament. The both of them suggested he should ask [Reader] for time away, perhaps a stroll around the courtyard after classes for a little hangout. The third-year hoped he was doing this right with the hangout - nothing too fancy or anything, but the time between friends was a luxury after all. It was the least he could do with [reader] - besides, he couldn’t fight the yearning to see them again every time he saw them.

On the day of their hangout, Trey found himself enjoying their time together, a rarity since he preferred to be in the kitchen working and refining recipes for his family bakery. He genuinely showed interest to [Reader]’s conversations and often bantered with them.. How long ago since he had done the sort of thing? As Cater had put it, Trey just needed that fine “balance” between school, baking, and social life in general - as a third year, it was very important to have that balance, especially when he’d have more opportunities out there in the future.

With that in mind, Trey cherished his time with [reader], smiling in a carefree manner and eventually fostering more friendships and relationships.

[ladymirdan]

Its Ultramarines, there is no escaping the bolter 😅

Exept maybe one, The Aegidan Oath - its about a team of Ultramarines trying to “clean up” after Imperium Secundus.

If you want some Inquisition antics Calgars Fury - a lot of bolter-porn in this one, but there is also a lot of conspiracy and stuff that is fun. It shines in moments but are also kind of dull in parts where nothing happens. But mostly I think it suffers from being the followup from Calgars Siege, which is 225% bolterporn, but also very very good. A ton of politics, but not necessarily Space Marine politics.

The Dark Imperium series is fantastic as well. Lots of Ecclesiarchy shenanigans.

Last Blood - is a short story and it is absolutely horrific, fuck the Inquisition 😅

The Laurel of Defiance - Some bolterporn, and unfortunately very dull and boring bolterporn. But an Ultramarine goes to a party and gets hit on by a lady. He handles it awfully.

Armour of fate - Guilliman has to deal with the two most annoying and cryptic people in the galaxy. Hilarity ensues.

Stratagem - short story. Aeonid Thiel and Guilliman being cute.

all my feeds are covered in SM2 posts, just miles and miles of Macragge Blue and nobody shitting on us. It's beautiful 😍

[king-crab-speedruns]

Hey turns out I’m incredibly lazy so I haven’t finished my translation yet but here’s a translated opera from the same channel I got my untranslated one from. This is relatively short compared to a lot of other ones. This is The Empty City Stratagem (空城计 [Kōng Chéng Jì]). This is the second part of a three part opera called 失空斩 (Shī Kōng Zhǎn), however it stands on its own and doesn’t really need the other parts to completely understand. This story comes from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the most famous work of Classical Chinese literature. The story is about the strategist Zhuge Liang coming up with a plan to prevent general Sima Yi from capturing the city of Xicheng. I won’t spoil the idea he comes up with but you can probably guess it from the title. If you’ve got a spare 50 minutes and need something to watch I highly recommend this opera. It’s one of the many I’ve compiled into a playlist on my YouTube channel that’s linked in my bio.

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Although I have loved and enjoyed all of TJR's books, I think Carrie Soto Is Back may be her best yet. My particular favorite. Call it her GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), if you will.

As a former athlete myself with a dad-coach who was always in my corner even when he was he running me ragged with drills, goals, strategy, and pep talks, there was something about this book, and Carrie herself, that resonated with me deeply.

We--well, we understood each other. We CONNECTED.

Carrie's comeback story felt familiar to me, almost personal in a way. Despite never having swung a tennis racket in my life, let alone never having played in a high-stakes professional match to uphold a Grand Slam record, either, I could still relate to all the time, effort, and drive Carrie poured into her sport. Into becoming - and remaining - the greatest player tennis has ever seen.

I could understand why she was considered a force. A battle axe. A bitch. (While men with her same focus and attitude were looked on favorably.) I could see why she not only wanted, but needed, to win. I also know what it means to chase after medals and titles and accomplishments that, if you won them, would leave the whole world cheering your name forever. Just like I know the gaping pit of despair that waits for you if you believe you'll fall short of your goals.

(I was an athlete once too, after all. I had similar dreams, I faced similar obstacles to success.)

So although you don't need to have a sports background/interest to be enthralled by this story and its characters, that aspect, that competitive "gotta be #1" ambiance and energy, added something extra for me. It made it easier to be submerged in the narrative, to be consumed by it. I could slip back and forth between engagement and reverie--reading, remembering, re-living.

Suffice it to say that I lost no time at all before I was swept up in Carrie's ambition and ruthlessness to succeed at almost any cost, with the odds against her notwithstanding.

She was such a bold and unapologetic character. Stubborn, too. I couldn't help but root for her to reclaim her title from upstart, Nicki Chan.

There's a hardness about her though, I won't lie. There's a toughness that takes time and patience to penetrate. Forged like she is from the fires of drive and determination, she is not the type of personality to bend or swerve with delicacy, not even with the people she loves, but I think therein lies her true beauty: She's tireless. She's tenacious. She's a force to be reckoned with that is made of the solidest stuff there is, and because of that, you'll never be able to forget who she is.

The name Carrie Soto will forever tumble from people's lips in awe, in respect. It will go down in infamy.

She is a character who is impossible to forget.

That said, what I loved most about this book was how I could slip on competitiveness like a second skin and live in it. I was able to see the tennis world through Carrie's eyes, yes, but I also could peer backward through my own mind's eye to re-visit some of my own sports-related experiences.

There were so many times while reading when I could taste the sweat, feel the twinge of Carrie's tired, burning muscles. Moments when I could smell the grass and clay beneath her feet as she trounced another opponent to dust, the thunder-roar of the crowd like that of a drug that adrenalizes the heart to keep an ailing yet agile body moving. There were times of triumph and failure. There was frustration, felicitation, stagnation--all of it culminating in a flurry of conflicted emotion that grew more intense with every turn of the page and begged readers, as well as Carrie herself, to ask, "Is there more to life than winning? Is being the best the only thing that matters?" There were even a few occasions when a father-daughter stratagem felt like it'd been ripped out of my own life's playbook.

What else is there to say except I was held hostage by Carrie's comeback? I was riveted, ensnared. I disappeared into the game, the stakes, the outcome, as if I were there. I let the characters tie me into knots every step along the way: striving with them, playing harder against them. I won. I lost. I felt hope swell in my chest as well as deflate. In short, I fell headlong into the nail-biting, ball-bouncing, heart-rate-spiking suspense of it all.

Chapter after chapter, I would close my eyes and sink down deep into old memories, into old feelings that arose while I competed in my own youth, back when I was still kicking up dirt, two French braids flapping against the white numbers on the back of my shirt, and it was like I was right there playing alongside Carrie for all the marbles--in the moment as well as in a memory.

It's rare to find a book that lets you live in it twice. But in this one I did: once as Carrie Soto, the other as myself. It was as vicarious a read as a reading experience can be. So for that, top marks all around!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

5/5 stars

**Follow me on Goodreads

[aarcanespikes]

Updates

Hello I know some people are waiting on an update for Their Ghost and I promise it’s coming but something has come up and it’s not great news sad to say.

This Wednesday just gone my grandma passed away suddenly so I’ve had to put on hold my big stories because I just can’t write them while I’m like this so as you’ve seen I have been writing a mix of shorts called Stratagem to get my mind off it all.

1. Their Ghost Ch2 is currently being written but is on pause until I am able to finish it

2. I have decided who I want the other spy to be in Their Ghost :) I think I’m gonna keep him a secret and your only hint is that he has something to do with MSBY Black Jackals obviously 😂😂

3. Yurei Nakano is her real name, she always uses her first name unless it’s for some big shot hits who would recognise her but her last name pretty much always changed even when she went to Inarizaki

4. Love interest is pending it could be the other spy, someone on the team, Kuroo etc idk you guys let me know your thoughts

5. Stratagem is going to be a little… interesting 🧐 I’m going to incorporate an idea from one of my favourite Tv shows into it and I want to see if anyone guesses it before I tell anyone what it is

6. My only clue is that it’s Supernatural in nature (no it has nothing to do with the show)

7. Emi Akiyama is our main oc for this one and she’s always tired and loves the cold. Haruki - the other manager might stick around or leave I have yet to decide

8. I’m considering the Suna route for Emi love interest wise but hmm who knows

[dreamsatdusk]

On Sartorial Choices

I mentioned this on a Discord server a while back, but realized I don’t think I ever posted about it here.  So!

*

Hexarchate Stories; “Omens”:

(Jedao’s mother preparing for a first date with Jedao’s father.)

So Ledana donned a tasteful necklace of onyx and black pearls that she’d inherited from her gran, matched it with black pearl earstuds, and slipped into a dark gray dress with a diagonal slash of lavender.

Hexarchate Stories; “Honesty”:

(Jedao as a child.)

The slight figure in a lavender jacket belonged to her brother.

Hexarchate Stories; "Silence”:

(Jedao on a visit to his family while on leave.)

Jedao’s shoes were decidedly unmilitary lavender loafers.

(snip)

Right now Jedao was wearing informal civilian garb in violet and gray, a loose, short-sleeved tunic over well-tailored pants.

Raven Stratagem:

(Cheris, in the scene where she reveals to Brezan and Khiruev that her calendar reset is going to happen in fifteen days.)

She had changed her clothes:  an unexpectedly festive lavender dress and a raven pendant, the one Khiruev had seen once before when she played dangerously with her gun.

*

When I first read Raven Stratagem, I thought the dress mention was very interesting, mainly because I wondered why Cheris made that choice at this point in time.  But after reading the various short stories about Jedao, I came to think the colour choice was even more interesting. 

Did Jedao grow up liking lavender and gray because his mother did?  Perhaps she selected that jacket for child-him even. 

Did Cheris decide to wear a fancier outfit on the eve (or near to) of a triumph over the hexarchate that Jedao had been working toward for centuries and combine a colour choice significant to him, along with her own raven luckstone?  Jedao’s mother was murdered after Hellspin Fortress.  Cheris’s mother had just recently been murdered by the hexarchate, along with a great many of her people.  Her outfit selection here calls back to both Ledana and Dzera.

[lucascecil]

Décimo Doutor - Projeto: Caixa Azul

TV Stories

◆ The Christmas Invasion

◆ New Earth

◆ Tooth and Claw

◆ School Reunion

◆ The Girl in the Fireplace

◆ Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel

◆ The Idiot's Lantern

◆ The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit

◆ Love & Monsters

◆ Fear Hear

◆ Army of Ghosts/Doomsday

◆ The Runaway Bride

◆ Smith and Jones

◆ The Shakespeare Code

◆ Gridlock

◆ Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks

◆ The Lazarus Experiment

◆ 42

◆ Human Nature/Family of Blood

◆ Blink

◆ Utopia/Sound of the Drums/Last of the Time Lords

◆ Voyage of the Damned

◆ Partners in Crime

◆ The Fires of Pompeii

◆ Planet of the Ood

◆ The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky

◆ The Doctor's Daughter

◆ The Unicorn and the Wasps

◆ Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

◆ Midnight

◆ Turn Left

◆ The Stolen Earth/Journey's End

◆ The Next Doctor

◆ Planet of the Dead

◆ The Waters of Mars

◆ The End of Time

Audio Adventures

- 10th Doctor Adventures

◆ Technophobia

◆ Time Reaver

◆ Death and the Queen

◆ Infamy of the Zaross

◆ The Sword of the Chevalier

◆ Cold Vegeance

◆ No Place

◆ One Mile Down

◆ The Creeping Death

◆ Out of Time

◆ The Gates of Hell

◆ Wink

◆ Expiry Dating

◆ Precious Annihilation

◆ Ghosts

◆ Buying Time

◆ The Wrong Woman

◆ The House of Kingdom

◆ Cycle of Destruction

◆ The Trojan Dalek

◆ The Lost

◆ The First Son

◆ The Dalek Defence

◆ The Triumph of Davros

◆ Splinters

◆ The Stuntman

◆ The Quantum of Axos

- 10th Doctor Chronicles & Donna Noble: Kidnapped & Short Trips

◆ The Taste of Death

◆ Backtrack

◆ Wild Pastures

◆ Last Chance

◆ Out of This World

◆ Spinvasion

◆ The Sorcerer of Albion

◆ The Chiswick Cuckoos

◆ The Jago & Litefoot Revival

◆ The Shattered Hourglass

◆ Fear of Flying

Books

◆ The Stone Rose

◆ The Feast of the Drowned

◆ The Revolution Casket

◆ The Nightmare of Black Island

◆ The Art of Destruction

◆ The Price of Paradise

◆ Sting of the Zygons

◆ The Last Dodo

◆ Wooden Heart

◆ Forever Autumn

◆ Wetworld

◆ Sick Building

◆ The Pirate Loop

◆ Peacemaker

◆ Wishing Well

◆ Martha in the Mirror

◆ Snowglobe 7

◆ The Many Hands

◆ Ghosts of India

◆ The Doctor Trap

◆ Shining Darkness

◆ Beautiful Chaos

◆ The Eyeless

◆ Judgement of the Isskar

◆ The Slitheen Excursion

◆ Prisoner of the Daleks

◆ The Taking of Chelsea 426

◆ Autunomy

◆ The Krillitane Storm

◆ Shroud of Sorrow

◆ In the Blood

[ao3feed-izuku-midoriya]

Todoroki's Stratagem

Todoroki’s Stratagem by TowerofBabel

A short story of Todoroki and his rivalry with Midoriya (season 1)

Words: 735, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Other

Characters: Todoroki Shouto, Midoriya Izuku

Additional Tags: Todoroki's Stratagem, Strategy & Tactics, Todoroki Shouto is Bad at Feelings, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has One for All Quirk, Pro Hero Todoroki Shouto

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35223199