#The Ice Plague

[not-poignant]

Hey!! I love allllll the angsty boys so much but also want to give recognition to Julvia. She’s so amazing! In the Ice Plague she is constantly gently guiding individuals and the group as a whole. She is an expert at asking the right questions or making helpful comments at the right time. Thank you for writing someone who is so powerful and impactful because of their softness and gentleness. So cool!

Ahhh thank you so much, anon!!

Ngl, I am so soft for Julvia. When I was planning out The Ice Plague I knew I wanted her to have a more important role. I loved the idea that Gulvi embodies this slightly more masculinised, violence-seeking power, and that's how she rebels from her family, but then we realise that Julvia (and her family by association) still embody an incredible amount of power, just...not through violence.

I loved her for her clear communication, her quietness around Mosk as she tried to understand someone who hated her for a long time. I loved how she leaned on Ash for support (physically and emotionally) frequently, or her exploration of her grief alongside Eran's grief, and how they got to share that together and be vulnerable together.

And the moment Ondine takes her hand and realises she's going to fall in love with Julvia, and sees it, and Julvia sees it too, through Ondine's reaction to it, and she's already fully open to the idea of it.

I also love - randomly - that she's a top, lol. Good for Ondine.

But I like to think she gives the best hugs, and the best closeness, and she's a lovely confidante, and a treasure in the crown of the Unseelie fae. She had wisdom where so many other characters had intelligence, and she got a lot of that from her mother.

I also love her and her sister sniping at each other lol

Anyway, yes, I'm always so happy to see Julvia love! She's such a sweetheart :D What a good swan maiden she is.

[mythoughtfulwindow]

Stertes from @not-poignant’s beautiful story!!

[haennsche]

the Aur forest

It looks so much better when you don't have instagram cropping everything

Anyways, here is my first attempt at painting the Aur forest

I'm really proud of it but I wish it looked more... ancient? magical? Idk but something is missing, like, rn it's just some random, kind of magical forest (that is still pretty!) or maybe this is just a part of the Aur forest I haven't yet explored in my mind, who knows..

[brilalalane]

I’m not as happy with this one, not quite what I had in mind, but I’ll just try again tomorrow when it’s not so dark and stormy 😣

Eran (I luv u Eran) from @not-poignant’s The Ice Plague! Slowly going through everyone hehe

[flameunquenched]

found the most relatable paragraph of the ice plague so far lmfao

After two days of walking, they spent the next day resting in an empty field after Gwyn requested permission from the farmer who owned the fenced land. In the neighbouring field, goats with the most amazing horns Mosk had ever seen played and made mocking sounds at each other. They bolted around with bursts of speed that made Mosk momentarily jealous that he wasn’t a goat living a far simpler life than the one he was currently living.

like. same mosk. same.

[a-chaotic-dumbass]

im a sheep and i love cat's acts of violence through out the books. she has hate in her heart and blood on her hands and thats exactly why ned and everyone else is so down bad for her,, she fights off the catspaw smashes a guys head in with a rock shanks a guy with a knife and her ghost is now on a murder spree,, if u do not see the appeal in the milf of all times consider urself dead

[thetempestechoes]

No none/I don't play option, so that results aren't skewed. Please only vote for the flight that you are currently in!

[incorrectguardiantalesquotes]

[thedarkbluevoid]

Pathologic 2 (2019)

[dollsinvogue]

Rainbow High Gabriella Icely » Claudia Schiffer in versace f/w 1994

[not-poignant]

I was surprised to hear that Ice Plague is a lesser read story from you! It’s one of my favorites and something I re-read often. I treasure that little family. I’ve never loved these particular characters more, they’re all my favorite versions of them. It’s such a beautiful and brilliantly plotted book!

Oh thank you anon!!

Tbh I think there were a few things working against it:

It came at the end of an already long series and there's more drop off the longer a series goes for, because it can only keep the people reading it, and doesn't attract new readers (though it attracted a few who didn't like Gwyn/Augus!)

A lot of people just didn't want to leave Gwyn/Augus behind and/or didn't like Mosk/Eran (I learned my lesson there)

It was actually written a lot more like a book series because I was writing them with a view to publishing down the track, which means of the whole Fae Tales Verse series, The Ice Plague is the one most ready to go directly to paperback/hardback etc. But I actually think that style of like epic fantasy storytelling is a bit less compatible with AO3 serials.

I wrote less cliffhangers. I now write a lot more cliffhangers (for all people hate them, they just do create more connection to a story as long as they're breaks and it's not constant).

I still love The Ice Plague. At the time I got really disheartened with it, and then I reread it and I was like 'wait this is fucking good though???' - I also think this and the final epilogue give Gwyn and Augus the happiest ending they could ever hope for.

In terms of writing quality, it's the story I'd publish first in the Fae Tales Verse even if it's out of order. It was the thing that was like 'shit, I can do this, and I can do this pretty well actually.' But I didn't know that at the time, because I was watching like... every metric of engagement dwindling over the years.

I'm afraid of this happening again with Underline the Red and Underline the Silver, but...I'll just have to suck it up and figure it out if it does happen! And in the meantime, I don't regret writing those stories, I'm just sad that it all fell out the way that it did. There are some of us who really love TIP, and I toast to like all of you, because whether you found it during the series or after the series, it's kept me going! <333

[not-poignant]

Thinking of himst today

This is @not-poignant’s character Mosk from their Fae Tale’s verse! It’s my very new favorite story and everyone should go read it on ao3 right now ✨

[haennsche]

Finally a new painting!!

I'm so glad I finnaly got around to painting Eran again, I love him so much and this is a hell of an improvement to the last time I painted him.

The ice plague is just one of those stories that will forever have a very special place in my heart and whose characters wander around my mind quite frequently...

Wishing you the best <3

[xxdemonicheartxx]

Most common funerary burials by flight:

Putting this one below the cut due to death mentions and burial descriptions I understand this can be a topic of discomfort no matter how vague one is when speaking on it <3

Arcane: opalization, the body is taken and layed in the shallows of intensely magic rich pools in a resting position, where it will rapidly opalize in a matter of weeks or months due to the volitile arcane energy of the land, sometimes individual scales are opalized instead and the rest of the body is cremated to be scattered amid their favorite place of study

Earth: mummification, the body is taken and embalmed, richly doused in spices, oils, and linen wraps, the organs removed are in canopic jars that resemble the dragon's own visage. Some earth mages practice petrification of the body as well upon request. Another practice is glass blowing cremated remains into colorful works of art, often colorful globes of glittering glass or glass sculptures of the deceased's visage

Shadow: the body is often cremated and the ashes greatly compressed into logs or bricks, before being soaked in spores and water to allow the mushrooms the the tangled wood to reclaim them and take them home. Other practices include burials or creating wrought iron burial markers. Celebrations of life are held around these burial sites

Light: due to the.... emperor problem.... graveyards have rapidly been destroyed and the fear of merging with Luminax sits like a stone in the heart of every imperial. Cremation is the most common practice as of now but celestial burials used to be common practice where the sun would always be able to touch you even in death (also known as sky burials) a new practice adopted from the earth flight includes taking these cremated remains and turning them into glass suncatchers

Plague: plague dragons believe that returning to the land you've survived is a must, dying of old age is a great achievement!! Often the body is returned to the land, buried or laid to be reclaimed by the ecosystem. Some more sentimental dragons or close loved ones will save scales or tan parts of wing membrane to carry close to their heart

Nature: burials are the most common practice, continuing to feed the shrieking wilds, some pathways have small markers or idols where loved ones frequent so that they can continue to pay homage in the labyrinthian jungle

Ice: ice dragons actually do not freeze their deceased, instead they take parts of membranes and tan them before tattooing a depiction of their loved one into their own hide, complete with a name, date of birth and date of death, its too cold to dig in this land so they cremate the remains and scatter them amid the tundra so in spring they can help the flowers return. The tanned memento is kept with a clan's priest, shaman, or spiritual leader with the rest of them, under expert care

Fire: forge pyres, often when fire dragons die their own heat resistance can make cremation a difficult process. So their remains are given to forge masters who are capable of reaching intense heat, working bellows and feeding the flames until the body is reclaimed by the flames. Other practices include caldera funerals, where the body is taken to be sunk in the lava of volcanoes or lava floes. Sometimes blackened skeletons can be reclaimed by loved ones in doing this

Wind: sky burials. The body is taken high up and laid under open sky for the sun and the wind to reclaim, it is believed that in doing this their spirit may continue to soar. Also refered to as celestial burials

Water: sinking of the body in designated graveyards is a common practice, often referred to as a burial at sea. Tiny tiny fragments of the dragon are often kept to be artificially put into oysters so that a pearl can be formed from their loved one's remains. Another practice is water cremation or Alkaline hydrolysis is another practice that is starting to gain traction

Lightning: the desert sand is not suitable for proper burials and grave markers aren't reliable in the shifting expanse, often the body is dehydrated first before undergoing electrical cremation, with no fluid the body will burn rapidly, the ashes then mixed with sand are placed amid one of hundreds of electrical storms with a tall metal rod in the center of the remains. To be struck by lightning turning them into "fulgurites" or "fossilized lightning" these unique and intimate structures are then returned to loved ones to be kept similarly to an urn

There are always exceptions to funeral practices. Dragons like obelisks and imperials often require additional care in the event the obelisk returns to stone or cremation is not an option for the imperial but these are the common or most popular practices in each region (non cannon)

As always I'd love to hear your own headcannons and takes too!!

[snnyleo]

its been a while since I last drew the thing