#alas i am not longed for those crafts so writing alone it is

[kateis-cakeis]

imagine how much more procrastinating writing I could do if I learnt how to play the piano, or learnt how to draw or something

[allycryz]

Master Chouxchotement’s Illustrated Daily

News for Ishgardians of Discerning Minds and Tastes

The following articles are from MCID's FFXIV Write 9-15 Prompt: Crane. The content therein is rated M for Mature and hints at several pairings. Please direct your questions and comments to the nearest PostMoogle with our refined periodical's name.

“Artisans of Amorous Aides Seeing New Trend” by Master S. G. D. Chouxchotement

Our own Ishgard has long been home to artisans who direct their skill and expertise towards Amorous Aides. One such person has an exclusive and private clientele who pays for one-of-a-kind items as well as for her discretion. Not all people are as Modern as this paper and our dear readers, who do not shy from frank conversations about the body. Thus your understanding reporter has agreed to pseudonyms and the excising of certain identifying details.

Mistress X— crafts ingenious harnesses for those who wish to don a phallus. Her creations of leather, cloth, and sometimes precious metals are available only to those with deep pockets. Her chief delight is to create new devices which heighten carnal pleasures. I was allowed to examine one such item which uses aether to heat and pulsate in such a way as to stimulate a partner. Another allows the user to feel penetrated as they penetrate through ingenious design and not a little spellwork.

But as of late, more and more of her commissions are based upon the notion of mimicking Draconic Sex. Naturally, Mistress X— confided to me, there were products of that sort in the past. Such exchanges could only be created in the most discreet and trusted of places. I for one, dear reader, understand that one’s sensual fantasies needn’t reflect real life behavior. Alas, such was not the belief for most; and many who dreamed of such delight feared too much the Inquisitors’ sword.

In this new enlightened age, many are now free to seek aides that mimic a dragon’s ridges and scales. I am unable to describe her grandest commission as it will be so unique as to be a threat to the client’s anonymity. Suffice to say, it proves the fascination many might have with aspects of dragon procreation.

Editor's Note: I am told that dragons do not reproduce as we do and instead only bow to carnal desires simply for the pleasure of it. I suspect many believe our new allies assume they are rather like the pet lizards they encountered as youths.

Harnesses and their accompanying phalluses remain Mistress X—’s chief business. However, she is experimenting with a sleeve that may be fit to the customer’s flesh phallus, so as to simulate the sensation of a dragon member when they take their partner or partners. She has explained that such a trend is starting in other shops and she would like to provide her own version.

We will follow up, should this sleeve become a popular notion in discreet shops of Ishgard. Until then, I remain your humble reporter,

S. G. D. Chouxchotement

Seen and Heard: Dispatches from the Inner Circles of Ishgardian High Society

Item 1:

Last week, a certain lady stayed at her family’s home for a short rest from military duties. A certain young lord was seen throwing pebbles at her window at an outrageous hour of the night. No response was made until the lady’s father emerged to shoo him on his way.

Item 2:

Once again, a certain lord’s manservant is reported to have ordered enough food to serve three people. It is known the certain lord lives alone besides said manservant and a yet undetermined number of cats. Our source noted the purchase of breakfast ingredients as well as other goods.

Incidentally, it is said that a long-standing friend of this certain lord has recently returned to Ishgard. This friend, another son of our fair city, has yet to be seen by our sources but the rumors of his presence are from reputable people who would have such information.

Item 3:

A renowned Mor Dhona merchant has set up shop in Ishgard with her comely employees. The merchant was seen in a dress of brilliant honey yellow at Lord X—’s ball, dancing with every available lord and some who were unavailable. Mayhaps she shall add “Lady” to her name in the future?

Item 4:

Reports came of a famed songstress and a mistress of Thavnairian dance both visiting Ishgard. Neither seemed here to perform and so they must have simply desired to see the glorious sights of our home. They were seen dining with a certain retired lord, a widower of several years who greatly enjoyed their company. If he favored one over the other, no one was able to tell.

Last-Minute Addition:

We have halted printing to include this recent item: a certain lord and his long-standing friend were seen embracing most intimately with a third party. Details are scarce but observers agree that this third party was a Hyur man in a long white coat. Mayhaps a visitor caught the eye of these two esteemed sons of Ishgard?

Discreet Advice from M. Flauvien Fleur, Expert in the Sensual Arts

Dear M. Fleur,

I am in a predicament. My lover (a fine lady) and I (a man of limited experience) have arranged a private evening of pleasure with a gentleman of our acquaintance. She is quite excited.

As for me, I am also eager. But I have not ever been with another gentleman and do not want to burden them both with my inexperience. How shall I go about this?

-Mystified by Menage

Dear Mystified,

Congratulations on the splendid happenstance of a dear partner and a friend willing to share pleasure with you. I remember well my first menage, the glorious exploration of how multiple bodies might bring new and exciting bliss.

Everyone is a beginner in a thousand different ways. You are no burden. Rather, it seems you are extremely concerned with their enjoyment. I am sure they feel the same and would like to know how to better ease your way.

Before the evening, have an honest talk with both. If they are as kind as I hope, they will agree to ease you into the play and teach you as you go along. There are few things better than teaching a lover a new way in which to achieve new heights.

I suspect that you may like some practical advice. If you are able to get your hands either on M. Giroux's Pleasures of the Other Man or M. Etienne's Encyclopedic Guide to The Bodies and Its Senses, they will offer more mechanical details.

I suspect however, that your love and your friend will be more than willing to show you the way.

With love,

M. Flauvien Fleur

A note, from Lord Aymeric de Borel

My dear Haurchefant,

I suspect I know the answer but have you by chance taken on a second career; wielding the pen as you do the sword?

Yours,

Aymeric

A note, from Lord Haurchefant Greystone

My lovely Aymeric,

I am a man of many talents. By the by, what delights did you two get up to with Thancred and will you invite me next time?

With love,

Haurchefant

[nikkithebard]

Your Angel Ellipsis

Geraskier short fic, post S1E6, post mountain-break up, hurt/little comfort, fix-it-fic, angst, angsty thoughts, featuring HSK, open ending, 2.6k words

Rating: T (Mature language)

A/N: I am totally 100% open to fic ideas if anyone wants to share some. Feel free to send an ask with a prompt, I don’t mind in the slightest. (I have never uploaded my work here before)

The bard moved with about as much grace as a broken-legged turtle, holding his lute case close to his chest. It was the only thing around him that felt even remotely real. Everything else had faded into whispers across his skin. The wind, the dirt, the others who remained on the mountain still. The soles of his boots had been worn thin, slipping over the rocky dust of the ground. Jaskier ignored it. He was far too disinterested in anything that wasn’t the very person he was distancing himself from.

Jaskier cared for Geralt of fucking Rivia.

And all he had gotten was shouts, demeaning language, and a wish fit for a djinn.

Oh, how far he’d thrown himself into this wolf’s den. He feared he’d die of heartbreak--again--if he didn’t die from the hunger and dehydration that came with getting lost climbing down a fucking mountain. How far had he gone? Felt like he had been descending in circles rather than going straight down.

Jaskier heard his own words in his mind, reverberating.

You did your best. There’s nothing else you could have done.

Who would have known the words were better suited to him and not the witcher? But, it was true. There was nothing else the bard could have done to change the outcome of this dragon hunt. He tried to talk Geralt out of this, tried to convince him this was too dangerous a task. As per usual, Geralt cared little for Jaskier’s opinion and carried on. Was that his fault, too?

His foot slipped on a larger boulder and he fell. Catching himself before he could do any serious damage, Jaskier decided to take a seat, the sun beating down on his back. Rivulets of sweat pooled around the collar of his chemise. Opening the case, Jaskier made sure his lute was alright. Of course it was, but a peek wouldn’t hurt.

The lute, as it always did, sang back at him through its dark wood, enchanted to no end. Pointless to think it would ever break, really. He withdrew the instrument, strumming the melody he had been crafting for weeks now. It had started out as a metaphor for some sort of unrequited love. As of late, it had been slowly turning it into something much sourer. With naught but the help of a sorceress he watched portal herself away nearly an hour or two ago. Jaskier was still dumbfounded that Geralt was so entrenched in the most awful example of the fairer sex.

“The fairer sex,” Jaskier mumbled to himself, strumming to the opening melody of his latest tune. “How, when she’s as unfair as a thief? A bandit?” He tilted his head, pondering. “A crook?”

Very rarely did lyrics fall into his lap so perfectly, yet the poet learned early on in his life to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Taking out his pen and notebook, he scratched off the first line of his original ballad, writing in the better one.

Jaskier sighed, unable to keep his mouth shut even if there was no one around to listen, “Bollocks, there I go again, rewriting yet another love ballad. Not that it matters, when you spend over twenty years stooped in what others would refer to as a pile of shit, perhaps every tune comes off as identical, yeah? All the words collide and all the notes fall into unbridled repetition--” He stopped, his own voice crashing into his ears, “Twenty years? Is that right?” He scoffed, fingers absentmindedly moving over the strings of his lute, “Can’t be, I don’t even--I can’t be over forty, can I?” He tried to shake the thought from his mind, yet he simply couldn’t get away from the passage of time. The time he had spent trailing a witcher that threw him away like a tankard of spoiled ale. “What...am I doing?”

Over twenty years, Jaskier had spent chasing a man for nothing. For nothing, because there was nothing else he could have done. The years dripped into his mind, at first a simple leak. In seconds, a stream. In minutes, a broken dam of thoughts and images dancing across the landscape of his brain.

At first, he had only longed for a muse after a particular dry spell of wordless thoughts that had plagued him after he arrived in Posada all those years ago. Jaskier had been coming down from a small bout of fame he founded for himself and the money had run out too quickly. And it was then that he had caught sight of the White Wolf. Only, then, he had nary a clue of who the man was. Jaskier saw armor, swords, a very interesting shade of hair. He was intrigued. As the day passed and Jaskier crafted the song that shot both of their names into the stratosphere, he realized he cared little for the money, the recognition, the women. Yes, it was damn welcome, but he found himself missing something.

It didn’t take him very long to admit the thrill of the adventure--wanderlust, to be specific--was the answer to a question he asked himself too many times. And so, when he and Geralt found each other again, he made it a point to tag along. Geralt didn’t appear to care all that much and let Jaskier do as he pleased. Only when Jaskier droned on and on about any random crap that came to mind--which was purely to spur any sort of response from the silent witcher, he wanted to get to know him--did Geralt stir enough to shut him up.

As time went on, years apparently, Jaskier found himself caring less and less for the songs. He just wanted to follow the witcher. His friend, though Geralt refused to verbally reciprocate the fact. After a while, he only wished for his company, to hear the incredible feats and adventures that befell the witcher. It wasn’t until they started to become tight on money and ended up sharing rooms together that Jaskier realized his fascinations went beyond friendly. When they were alone, with a roof over their heads and safety in their minds, Geralt would always relax a bit. He would speak, joke, smile even.

Jaskier thought he was insane in the beginning. To think he could feel anything more than a curious nature. But, no, it became quite apparent.

Jaskier cared for Geralt of fucking Rivia.

And it had become his fatal flaw.

Geralt, it seemed, truly cared nothing for the troubadour that brought him fame and coin.

And it was painful. Of course it was. The two had fought a multitude of times in the past, but this was different somehow. To blame his own destiny on the bard that had only wanted to leave this damn mountain, to leave the witch to her inevitable demise, wanted the witcher to be safe.

Perhaps that was why he had very obviously confessed himself to the witcher. Using the excuse that he had to work out what pleased him when he had done so years before. All to stave off the knowledge that his confession had been viewed as material for his next song. That his love was nothing more than musings to be ignored.

Jaskier never thought he would be faced with his unrequited affection so harshly, though he figured it would come down on him eventually. He strummed the lute, an acute anger creeping up his spine.

The fairer sex, they often call it.

But, her love’s as unfair as a crook.

It steals all my reason,

Commit every treason

Of logic with naught but a look.

He had written a majority of it a night or two ago, when Sir Eyck had gone off to shit in the woods and Yennefer had gone off to “get her beauty sleep”. Scratching off lines and writing over them, as he had gotten so used to for a long time.

Never getting the chance to tell Geralt how he felt, what he wanted, what he needed. Came to a point where he no longer thought it was ever going to happen. Watching Borch, Téa, and Véa fall to their presumed deaths--and nearly watching Geralt follow suit--changed that. He knew there would never be such a delight as “the right time”, especially if this hunt had proven to be so deadly. Jaskier wanted to say his feelings outright, hoping a song would help him in that regard. Alas, nothing ever worked out that way.

Jaskier settled for asking Geralt to allow him the opportunity to prove himself as a worthy travel companion, stretching his tone across the word “companion” to give it a different meaning. Geralt did not catch on and if he did, made no move to show it. And he was shot down.

It made him upset, knowing he had lost the battle for the witcher’s affections long before the bard had even agreed to take part. Rigged and unjust, but he should have known better than to love someone he knew damn well now didn’t care.

A storm breaking on the horizon,

Of longing and heartache and lust

She’s always bad news,

It’s always lose, lose

So tell me love, tell me love,

How is that just?

But, Jaskier cared for the witcher before they had met the witch. And, still, he had lost. He had nothing else but their friendship, and even that was gone now. It wasn’t his fault. Not this time. All at once, everything had gone to shit, more so than it had before whenever Yennefer’s influence on Geralt made his vision turn red. Always lashing out at everyone, always angry, never ever good for him.

The lute was strummed harder, the instrument making the troubadour’s emotions known to anyone within range.

But the story is this,

She’ll destroy with her sweet kiss, her sweet kiss.

The bard repeated the line, filling the melody appropriately. There was nothing else he could do but let the song continue. He was a bard, all he knew was to let the music escape him, else he might explode. Jaskier heard rustling behind him and chose to ignore it, too caught up in his emotions to stop the tenor of his own voice. If he could just finish the damn song, he would feel better.

He wouldn’t be so angry that he had completely wasted over twenty years of his life. Destroyed his own path whilst following Geralt down his. Getting them free rooms, free meals, making him famous, helping him scrounge up coin for better armor, making him hair tie after hair tie from the leather of old strappings. Fixing baths, cleaning and stitching up wounds, sleeping in the same fucking bed together. And he still lost to a lusty bitch with a hankering for destruction.

Jaskier had lost to a woman that never spent more than a few hours with the witcher at a time. A woman that caused him pain, not healed him of it. A woman that would outlive him and still cause Geralt heartache without respite. Melitele damn her.

Her current is pulling you closer

And charging the hot, humid night.

The red sky at dawn is giving a warning, you fool!

Better stay out of sight.

The troubadour's tune faltered, voice breaking as memories of the past flooded through him again. Asking Geralt a favor in bodyguarding him while being told he was not the White Wolf’s friend, which stung despite the bard’s nonchalance. Learning that Geralt needed nothing out of life. Jaskier telling the witcher that someone--the use of a gender-neutral pronoun had been a flirt, but still remained true to his heart--may want him. “I’m weak, my love, and I am wanting.” Jaskier’s tone changed, filling with longing and desire. He knew he had a penance for lofty things. Good clothing, fine wine, upstanding company. But, he steadily gave it all up, choosing a life of grime and dirt and blood. The rustling behind him came closer.

If this is the path I must trudge,

I welcome my sentence,

Give to you my penance,

Garrotter, jury, and judge.

And his chorus repeated over and over, driving home his emotional distress at losing the one person in this godsforsaken world that was still willing to deal with his bullshit. Jaskier knew, now, that Geralt had never truly been willing and was only ever acting in line with his morals. Geralt only saved him from the djinn because it was the right thing to do. Geralt chose not to harm Jaskier out of pure annoyance because it was simply wrong and unjust.

Yet, Jaskier couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Geralt sometimes acted outside of his moral compass. The banquet, the event that had really changed the course of the witcher’s life, had been the only inexplicable act Jaskier could not explain. The witcher had helped him free of his coin, in the most minute way. Nothing in their initial understanding of the event had even the slightest to do with what was the textbook definition of a witcher.

Was it due to the fact that, even if Geralt would never admit it, they truly were friends?

Jaskier had little time to continue his reverie, a soft hum from behind breaking through his thoughts.

“I will never understand why I am oft referred to as a ‘garrotter’.” Gravelly voice, low toned, and calm. Jaskier froze, music stopping. How much had he heard? And even more, he caught on to the metaphor immediately.

Jaskier cleared his throat, refusing to look, “It also means ‘killer’ or ‘hunter’.” He said plainly. “Not to mention your name matches the sound of the word a bit.”

“Hmm.” Geralt said, “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

It was a wonder they were even speaking. Jaskier was always so quick to forgive the witcher, though. Yes, he was still hurt and angry. On the other hand, he would fight to keep their friendship and wouldn’t let their squabbles get the better of them. He would just have to bottle his pain, again. Well, maybe put the cork back on the bottle if he was being truthful. He’d let enough spill out of him over the last few days and the song didn’t help.

Geralt walked, moving in front of the bard, gear in hand, “The long way down is safer, but we have a lot of ground to cover.” Face emotionless, golden eyes stared down at the distraught bard.

The bard shook his head, not knowing how to proceed, “Geralt--”

“I’m sorry, Jaskier.” The witcher cut in before the troubadour could make a long-winded speech. His name always sounded intimate when it crossed over the witcher’s lips. Never casual, always private and personal.

Jaskier gave a pained smile, blue eyes still rimmed red with sadness, “Good, that’s all I wanted.” No, it wasn’t. He kept that bit to himself. He stood, placing the lute back into its case and placing the strap on his back.

Geralt gave him another straight look, but his eyes always displayed the man’s thoughts and emotions. He knew Jaskier was lying, especially if he had been paying attention enough to know the truth behind the bard’s lyrics, “Hmm.”

They continued down the mountain together, both silent for once. It wasn’t until they had reached the bottom that Jaskier finally fell into a mindless chatter. His thoughts were becoming too heavy and it wasn’t appropriate when he had company.

They didn’t talk about the song, not for a long time. And when they did, there was no turmoil or miscommunication on either end.

There was only an understanding.

[phoebehalliwell]

how would you rank the seasons from least to most favourite?

alright okay right off the bat worst season season 7. for starters i think this season has no staying power i mean like since i’ve been running this blog 4 so long now my knowledge of charmed is encyclopedic and insanely vast more than like it ever need be but for the longest time. i could not remember season 7. like wtf even happened there?? evidently leo became human??? cole returned? the avatars??? like all of it was just. it’s not even necessarily forgettable it’s just i straight up could not remember it for the longest time. and i’ve said it before the concept of utopia was way to advanced for a show like charmed to tackle i am not watching charmed for moral philosophy i am watching bc i love these girls ♥ hee hee hoo hoo magic adventure ✨ tho if i am to offer a single comment on utopia: it’s awfully rich for a show to go on about destiny and fate and then take a stand against utopia in the name of free will. but w/e. i don’t like leo in the avatars i don’t like his dynamic with piper in this season i don’t like whatever phoebe’s doing this season there’s like leslie?? maybe there’s someone else? boring & flavorless they should have been setting up her endgame instead of puttering around. and kyle. zoo wee mama. could have been a great antihero. morally gray. duplicitous. self serving. but no. they gave him all those traits and called him hero/love interest. s7 left a lot to be desired out of the characters and their relationships also gave us phat L’s such as the charmed ones are werewolves don’t worry about it and feminism peaked with naked women. shout out to zankou: demon, dilf, dub & the noir episode.

you know what? fuck it i’ll say it second worse season 5 genuinely fuck season five. this is probably a Very Specific beef 2 me But. i hate what they did to the charmed universe. this was the season that marked the transition of charmed from supernatural drama to campy soap which like. i love camp! i do! but fr. fuck this season and what it did to the worldbuilding. the early season have Such A Vibe to them man with warlocks and witches and just a couple niche monsters from assorted lore that the show took and made their own. season five opens with mermaids goes directly into fairytales then gives us superheros whatever the fuck was going on in that mummy episode the sandman leprechauns and nymphs. and i hate it for that. it takes away from this urban fantasy things that go bump in the night what lurks in the shadows of the back alleys of san francisco in favor of the ugliest cinderella dress ever put to television and an onslaught of horrible irish accents for a full episode. other issues with season five: cole’s still here? why? they don’t know and neither will you! we’re not redeeming him! phoebe’s not getting back together with him! yes he died we just refuse to let him go! the cherry on top of course being a cole-centric 100th episode. shout out to. hmm. lemme think about what i actually liked about this season. i like jason dean as a love interest i don’t remember what he did in s5 but i know he was there. the season finale i’ve talked about how stupid & shitty it was but idc i still love that episode and then shout out to bacarra the only original villain this season that was a proper serve. the crone gets second place.

next on this come on we all saw it coming season 8. it’s a bad season! and i get bts there was a whole lot happening budget cuts missing actor etc. but it goes beyond that. it was a bad season. billie and christie were bad. and i’ve said this before but billie in herself is not an inherently bad character. she was just the literal worst for the show. she was a dollar store buffy blonde confident cocky skilled and ready 2 fight evil But. we are not following her like we followed buffy we are following her mentors. it’s like if we had a show called giles that aired for seven seasons And Then buffy showed up. billie was insanely irritating to watch from our perspective and in general wasn’t like. well written. attempts to humanize her / give her more depth often fell flat. and then christy. oh nelly. oh my god. barely a character. not well acted but hey it would have been a miracle if she was. negatives include dumain who was a mess omg bringing back the triad bringing back the source billie & christy obvi and also involving homeland security. which is season 7′s fault which is why it’s the worst. dubs on the other hand include both coop and henry i really liked them the shoehorned love interests weren’t great but i like their characters i though the way the got rid of leo to save on the budget was really creative and gave us a great piper episode and of course the sugary sweet finale i love it i do what can i say.

yet another controversial choice aptly coming in fourth is season 4. i respect what season 4 set out to do. i think it was a good idea. long form narratives, keeping a darker tone, focusing on character-driven drama and growth. too bad it fucking failed miserably at all of this. cole as the source and phoebe as the queen of hell was just so so botched. they had a very unique opportunity following the death of prue to explore these characters and what it means to them to be charmed, to be witches. they saved the world but the cost is insanely high. they’ve lost an older sister. they’ve gained a new sister. how do you even begin to cope with all this? episodes such as hell hath no fury and brain drain fuck so hard because they work with exactly that. had the whole season been like those episode season four would sit at number one with flying colors absolutely no competition. but alas. we can’t have nice things. the show got so bogged down with phoebe & cole, in a way that was just so, so messy. for starters, whether you loved cole or hated him before, we can all agree source!cole sucked. he was such a strong 180 from what we had seen that the show had to make the source some type of possession to justify half the shit they were trying to pull. and then to pit phoebe and paige against one another over a man was just. disgusting. and the ending of course felt rushed because it was! they wrapped up that entire issue in a nice little bow much faster than they reasonably should have been able to. it could have been a great season. it was definitely not. shout out to the seer an iconic mastermind on barbas levels, as previously stated brain drain and hell hath no fury Specific shout out to piper’s scene at prue’s grave shout out to paige as a character i like what they did with her and um. yeah that’s it.

okay we’re exiting the shit tier in favorite of the good tier welcome to the upper half. kicking us off is season 6. season 6 did what season 4 could not in that it gave us a long form plot that still left plenty of room for like. normal demon of the week episodes. i love phoebe early in this season with her faboo haircut her brand new empathy power and her relationship with jason dean. obvious strikes against for whatever the fuck that baby crazy stint was and also the mata hari episode. yikes. i love paige’s hair color in this season nothing paige as a character necessarily stands out to me however i like how they seem to have hit the blend of work-magic with paige where she wants a life and career outside of magic however she still loves the craft and embraces is with an open heart and mind. season six also gives us chris who was a very fun male lead imo we really didn’t have many like him he’s bitchy. he whines and bitches a lot he’s got an agenda he’s a bit secretive but at the end of the day he just wants a family i like him. i like the character growth we see out of piper i like seeing her try to move on from leo i love seeing her get back together with leo i like her dynamic with chris and her fears about motherhood. i also liked richard but that one takes a lot of justification. L’s are witchstock hyde school reunion used karma off the top of my head also the paige/richard/addiction plotline was so tone deaf. also the girls were mean to darryl : ( he deserved so much better. dubs were chris as a character, tbh the episode little monsters, phoebe with empathy specifically saying i love you too to jason i could write a dissertation on that line alone also the courtship of wyatt’s father and i thought the reveals of evil wyatt and chris being piper and leo’s son were both fun and interesting plot twists.

coming in third is actually season 2 a season i really do love it’s just. it lacks structure. imo there is a lot to love about season 2 morality bites and pardon my past are both delightful time travel episodes we get jack sheridan and bane jessup two of my personal favorite prue love interests we get p3 h2o and a great prue plotline regarding the death of patty we get the super cute cupid episode it’s a great. collection of episodes. it’s not a great season. there’s just imo not a strong enough thread connecting the stories together it’s mainly held together by having the same characters in it over and over again i really liked dan personally but like. i knew we were wasting time there. he was just an obstacle. a super cute loving and caring obstacle who’s great with kids but lbr piper and leo were always endgame. wasting our time on dan was stupid. i do love the sister dynamics in season two “gotta hand it to those pesky little demons they sure have brought us closer together” but again. this season could have benefitted from a rex and hannah type or even like a cole or zankou. this season is less of a season and more of just like a handful of episodes, and while there are some fat dubs, there are also some definite swings & misses. shout out to the time travel episodes the prue centric episodes phoebe’s character growth and maturity throughout this season (e.g. her going back to college) and i also think the fashion got a lot more fun this season.

second place i’m saying season one season one was a really strong start and gave us these really compelling characters with interesting relationships between one another But. a lot of it just kinda falls flat. and credit where credit is due it was a brand new show getting its feet under it but the fourth sister feats of clay which prue is it anyway they just simply aren’t dubs imo. also i don’t like that 70′s episode bc again i am an asshole concerned about The Lore i can’t believe one bitch ass warlock caused the Charmed Ones to grow up without powers. it just really bugs me. all in all the plots as a whole like aren’t great imo they’re nothing to write home about (save for from fear to eternity) it’s really the characters that make this season so goddamn good.

first place congratulations to the one the only season three. this is just because it kinda hits all my requirements in that it has some banger one offs (e.g. all halliwell’s eve, the good, the bad, and the cursed) it has an overarching plot at the exact same time as the source becomes more prominent and obvi cole is also there with murderous intent i like the character growth we see especially from prue i like piper and leo finally get married overall i really like the aesthetic of this season that blends a darker urban fantasy tone with still some charmed fashion and whimsy. strikes against tbh phoebe and cole’s relationship i am insanely picky with my enemies to lovers and the do not come remotely close to cutting the mustard in fact they are almost immediately disqualified however from afar i can see and respect The Drama. shout out to recasting victor prue with pistols death as a character and shannen directing episodes

[chokemeanakin]

Would you write another fluffy Obi piece?? Cause I absolutely fell in love with your first one and that man needs more love shown to him 😫 What about taking care of a sick, tired Obi after a mission?

Thank you for the request! Hopefully it lives up to the first Obi fic I did, idk all I can say is that as an Anakin writer, I tried my best 😅. Enjoy! ❤️

WC: 2.3k

Masterlist

You Can Rest Now- Obi-Wan Kenobi x gn Reader

You had told him to bring that extra fleece jacket. And those thermal gloves, and the hat that covered his ears, and the scarf that wrapped around his mouth and nose, and the insulated boots, and the chill-resistant underpants--

Obviously he hadn’t listened to you.

You were on the rescue craft sent to pick up Obi-Wan and a few of his men, who had been stranded on Hoth after a group of Wampa ate his transport ship for lunch. A rescue had been deployed immediately-- being out in the cold of Hoth for too long was deadlier than a lightsaber through the chest. 

Maybe not necessarily that deadly… but with the way your heart was hammering against your ribcage as you scanned the snowy slopes for any sign of your Jedi lover, it might as well be.

He had been gone for little over a week now, hopping from planet to planet, trying to track down the plans for a secret Separist weapon. And although there had been times when he was gone for even longer, your pulse still jumped when you spotted the small black dots on the horizon. You could feel him, and your heart reached out for him with each second the ship grew closer. 

You were the first one down the loading ramp when it descended, still zipping up the heavy jacket as the harsh wind blew the fur-lined hood off your head. The cold was paralyzing. Just the first couple seconds of being in it was like a slap in the face, and it took a moment before you could remember how to function again. 

You and the group of medics and rescue workers trudged through the thick snow and began to get to work helping frost-bitten and hypothermic men into the ship. You twisted and turned, squinting your eyes behind people’s masks to try and find the only one you were here for--

“You’re here,” you whipped around, the voice warming you to the tips of your fingers despite the frigid cold.

“Obi-Wan!”

In the circumstance that you two were alone, you would have run to him and crushed him to you in a big hug. Alas, you were not alone, and there were eyes on you two, so you had to instead shift uncomfortably on your feet, scanning your eyes up and down his figure to search for injuries.

He didn’t seem to be sick like a lot of his men, but then again it was hard to see anything despite the layers he was wearing. All that was visible to you was a thin strip of fair skin, interrupted by the azure of his eyes. You took his gloved hand and began tugging him toward the ship.

“You must be freezing,” you stated dumbly, mind still trying to work through the sludge of ice your brain was forming into. “I’ve only been out here for a few minutes, and you’ve been here for.. what... hours? I knew you should have worn those chill-resistant Tauntaun ponchos, but no. They looked “tacky and ridiculous”. Isn’t that what you said over hologram? Only you would choose fashion over safety. I bet you regret it now, huh?”

“Does working your mouth keep you warm?” Obi-Wan quipped. There was no resistance as he let you drag him into the ship, ushering him to your personal quarters. “If so, continue on my behalf. I would hate to see you catch a cold.”

“Oh, I will,” you promised. “Just as soon as I make sure your limbs aren’t going to fall off first. Sit.”

Obi-Wan’s icy eyes glanced wearily to the couch. “I’m all wet. I’ll soil the cushions.”

“Sit.”

He lowered himself onto the couch clumsily, heaving out a breath as he did so. This worried you. Nothing Obi-Wan ever did was anything less than elegant-- even when he was beating the shit out of that four-armed robot with tuberculosis, he did so with the practiced grace of a lithe panther. 

You began with his hands, removing the multiple layers of gloves and throwing them in a wet pile on the floor. When you finally found skin, you were relieved to see that none of his fingers were black, but you still didn’t like the blue and purple tint they had to them. 

You gathered his larger hands in yours, trying to squeeze some warmth back into them, and blew hot breath into your cupped palms. Then you got to work taking his hat off, the scarves, the layers and layers of jackets… it was a process to say the least, and when you were done, you were left with a shivering Obi-Wan in nothing but a skin-tight blacksuit, and a huge pile of sopping wet clothing on the floor.

“I-in a way,” his teeth chattered as chills began to rack his body, “Being n-numb was better than… was better than t-this.”

“It’s a sign that you’re warming up,” you skimmed your fingers across his cheekbone, gaging his temperature. Still ice-cold to the touch, and the white tint to his lips was more than a little alarming. You frowned, then quickly moved away to start a warm shower in the fresher. 

You turned in time to see Obi-Wan struggle to push himself to his feet, failing and falling back against the cushions before succeeding on his second attempt. Now that his face was void of any coverings, you realized just how tired and sickly he looked.

“Did any of the medics check you before I dragged you away?” you asked, narrowing your eyes at the pale pallor of his usually golden skin. Even the sandy strawberry of his hair seemed to wilt, as if the color had been swallowed up by the stark, barren landscape outside.

“I’m alright, d-darling. You’ll come to f-find that I am p-pretty resilient.”

“Pretty resilient my ass, Obi-Wan,” you rolled your eyes. “Someday, your loftiness is going to get you into real trouble.”

“M-my loftiness?”

“And if it’s not that, it’s going to be because you never take care of yourself,” you ignore him, checking the water with your fingertips.  “You’re too damn selfless, is what you are. You don’t realize other people can wait, and don’t need your unbridled attention every second of every day. Yes, there’s a war out there, but you deserve to be saved too.”

In all honesty, you didn’t really mean to begin lecturing him. You were panicked, not liking how quiet and subservient Obi-Wan was being. There was definitely something wrong with him, and running your mouth distracted you from the possibility that maybe he was injured and was hiding it from you, or maybe something happened that triggered that glassy look in his eyes, or maybe he was actually very sick and slipping between your fingers and you didn’t even realize it…

Obi-Wan sensed your panic, too. Ice met your cheek, and he turned your face to look at him.

“Hush, darling,” his cool breath washed over your face like a gust of flurry-speckled wind. “You’re w-working yourself up over n-nothing. I’ll be alright, I p-promise.”

You zipped your mouth closed and nodded. The bags under his eyes were dark, and you were kicking yourself for adding to them. The last thing he needed on his plate was more stress, especially coming from the person who was supposed to be his oasis of love and comfort. You leaned up and placed your lips over his, aiming to kiss some color back into them. 

“My apologies,” you spoke against the coolness of his mouth. “The water’s hot. You can get in now.”

You left Obi-Wan to shower, throwing all of his clothes into the hamper to be taken away for washing. A protocol droid dropped off a new pair of loose fitting sleepwear and Jedi apparel for tomorrow, as well as extra blankets and some warm foods which you had specially requested.

Steam billowed out of the fresher when Obi-Wan emerged, wrapping him in a ghostly embrace. His skin was covered head to toe in goosebumps, and although a little color had returned to his skin, it still looked as if every step took a huge effort. He sat on the chair by the desk, a towel tied around his waist and another working through the dripping hair on his head. He shivered when he felt your hand on his back, slipping the sleep clothes into his lap.

He got changed as you made the bed with all the blankets and set out the food on a bed tray. When you turned and saw that he was all dressed, you immediately took a fluffy blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, hugging it into his back.

Obi-Wan laughed breathily, a hand coming up to hold yours over his shoulder, stroking your knuckles with his thumb.

“I appreciate the sentiment,” he said, “But this might be a bit overkill.”

There it was. The nasally sound in his voice. The bleary eyes. The slight sniffle, and the rasp of air scraping into his lungs as he breathed. The precursor to a deep, crackling cough. The bastard was sick, you knew it--

Your hand slammed into the protocol message button.

“RA-7, please send up some cold medicine. And a crowbar while you’re at it, there’s someone I need to bludgeon with it--”

“Y/n,” Obi-Wan groaned. He stood and dropped the blanket from around him like he had done with his robes before battle one too many times, turning to face you in exasperation. “I’m okay, it’s just a little cold. I’ll be better by the time we touch down in Coruscant.”

“Not if you don’t keep this blanket on, you won’t,” you retrieved it from the floor and tossed it around his shoulders again. Then you pushed at his shoulders to get him to sit on the bed, piling blankets higher and higher onto him until all that was visible was his annoyed face and the wet strands of his honey toned hair. A strand of his bangs had fallen into his eyes, so you smoothed it back from his forehead and replaced it with your lips. 

Then you reached for the tray of food and set it atop the mountain of blankets that were smothering Obi-Wan.

“I do hope you’re not planning on spoon-feeding me,” he said.

You were, but then the door buzzed,and you knew the cold medicine was here. You left the tray of food to retrieve the package from the protocol droid, and came back to find Obi-Wan sitting up, still almost being swallowed by blankets, but now carefully spooning soup into his mouth. He was taking care of himself, and the sight dissolved your panic and warmed your heart.

You dropped another roll of bread onto his tray before opening the cold medicine, shaking a couple pills into your palm and handing them off to Obi-Wan, who for once had no witty remarks. 

You sat on the bed next to him then, making sure he had the good pillows before turning to find Obi-Wan holding a piece of bread out for you. You shook your head, pushing it back towards him.

“You eat, I’m fine.”

“Y/n, my love, it’ll make me feel better if you eat as well.”

There was Obi-Wan. Even sick and tired and on the edge of hypothermia, he was still looking out for others. So selfless, so giving, so good. You took the bread and bit into it to make him happy.

Once you had finished the bread, he began passing you various other tidbits of food even though you insisted you had already eaten. Meanwhile, he could only manage half the soup before he became too tired to continue. You took the tray away and set it on the bedside table, then turned the lights down and got into bed beside him again.

“Are you warm now?” you smoothed your hands through his damp hair as he lay back on the pillows, sighing deeply at the soft touch.

“Very.”

He was still sniffling a bit, and the raspiness of his breath was increasing with each minute. But he was on the verge of sleep, and rest was exactly what he needed to feel better. 

You set your head down on the pillow next to him, ghosting your fingers over the delicate skin of his closed eyelids, down the slope of his cheekbone, caressing the downy hairs of his beard. He nuzzled his face into the warmth of your palm, inching closer to you.

“You can rest now,” you told him, and he hummed sluggishly in response.

Despite the sheer amount of blankets on him, Obi-Wan began to shiver once more. You’re not sure if the bone-deep cold was setting in again or if it had something to do with his illness, but he kept shifting toward you, yearning for more of your touch.

You took the hint, slipping under the blankets yourself and wrapping your arms around his quivering body the best you could. To see this man-- this renowned Jedi Master, General of the 212th legion of the Republic army, and prominent hero of the Clone Wars-- so weak and fragile and wilting under your touch… it broke fissures into your heart. You tightened your hold on him, crushing him against your body like you could absorb all of his pains and woes and replace them with warmth and comfort instead.

You felt down the length of his arm, up and down, up and down, and with each pass you tried to memorize every dip and curve of his body beneath you. You were hoping to rub some warmth back into him this way, or at least soothe him to sleep if all else proved fruitless, and it seemed to be working. After a while, his shivers subsided and the fingers clinging to the shirt on your back relaxed, as did his face.

He was peaceful now, breathing deep and even as he got the rest he rightfully deserved. You held him close to you, wishing for time to slow so that he could stay with you like this forever.

[rosesnink]

The Cursed Heiress, Chapter 1: A Father’s Legacy

A/N: After a long time I’ve finally updated despite have written more than I appear to show, and it haves a reason! I have put myself a strict rule while writing difficult fics to write and craft: For a big idea I have, I must write at least the first three chapters to have a good, unforgotten plot and follow it, and for every new chapter I finish writing, I publish the ones who await in my WIPs. With this rule I have a better organization and I don’t confuse you guys and the plottwists make more sense when explained. Also, in this series you people get to decide what might happen or who we trust, hang with, where to travel... But it will all start soon! Right now it’s all peaceful, but in Chapter 4 things will get heated enough. Now, I’ll leave you alone and enjoy the chapter! 

Summary: Joanna arrives at Edgewater after a week of mourning and burying her mother and in there she meets two particular people and shares a heart-to-heart with her dear father. 

Word Count: 1954 

The carriage bounced once again as Joanna looked at the countryside. She was now headed to the Edgewater Estate, with her best friend Briar beside her. She caressed her gloved hands thoughtfully, wondering when would be the time to embrace her mission. She knew she’d be acknowledged as a bastard, but she knew she was more than that. She was a cursed heiress, daughter of one of the Five Sins in the supernatural world.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Briar’s words awakened her trance.

“Just wondering how he will be and if he will… accept who I am” Joanna said, still caressing her gloves.

Briar kneeled to her and caressed her wrists “Joanna, don’t be scared! He’ll love every inch of you, the good and the bad. What kind of father wouldn’t?”

She smiled at her and hugged her “Oh, Briar, what I would do without you?”

“Not much” She teased.

“Briar, I-“

“I know, Joanna” She said.

Long ago, Joanna was told by her tutor, Elias, that she could never love a mortal too much or she’d lose her immortality and would twist her powers. Like her mother.

She died with a very pale skin and black hands, showing off her twisted power. Mary never used magic when Joanna was young because she was fearful of how it would affect to their lands. Briar knew that they were different, somehow. Neither of the Dalys were stupid, but always awaited them to tell the truth. Joanna tried, but her mother always stopped it and erased Briar’s memory of that. That was the only magic that was innocent and never had consequences. Briar accepted long ago that she could never know what was with her, just accept it and love it. And with that, accept that she could never say those three words. But they had each other and always got each other’s back.

When they stopped to that shop, Joanna saw that purple and blue-ish dress and knew she’d have to try it on. She fixed her long, red hair and adjusted her birth locket, courtesy of her grandmother. She put on a hat to avoid the sight of her birthmark and said “Well, let’s go”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Estate was grand, flourish and breathtaking. She took all in as she let a breath get out. Humans knew how to do a big house huh. She discreetly made some leaves fly around them both as she gazed upon the sky, feeling her mother’s smile upon her.

Oh mother, you sly devil, you made of me a rich maid

She saw how a figure approached her. She was kind of old- not as much as the high witches, but kind of old human-.

“I take you’re Miss Joanna Mills? I am Dowager Countess Dominique Foredale, your grandmother.” Her gaze traveled upon her body “I have to say you have a good taste indeed. I can see my Vincent in you” She studied her further “Hmm, good looks, seems to have manners… dear, could you twirl for me?”

“Oh! I, um, sure” She twirled and her grandmother smiled

“We can make of you a lady yet”

She was about to reply when a scoff interrupted and a blonde woman with blue eyes that seemed younger than the dowager looked at her up and down.

“That’d be like trying to make a monkey a civilized dog”

Joanna looked at her, scowling. How dared that mortal to call her a monkey? She wish she had as good shape as the elderly witches she knew “Excuse me? Are you really talking to me?” Her voice was wary and she wish she could hurl her to a tree with a flock of her wrist, but she remembered she was above that. Alas, she could humiliate her in worst ways. And very cruel ways.

“That’s enough, Henrietta!” Her grandmother glared to her, then looked apologetically to Joanna “My dear, allow me to introduce you to Countess Henrietta Foredale, the current countess of the Estate?”

So that failure made of weak bones is the one who rules this estate? No wonder why you called me, she’d take it to ashes. She stinks to bad try of cruelness, she wanted to say. But again, she’d have time to make her know her place. She had her immortal life to torment her.

“Pleasure to meet you. I guess you’re my… step-mother? She almost puked those words.

“Hmmph, I guess so. Now, if you excuse me”

And with that, she left.

She looked at her grandmother and shrugged. Ugh, mortals are something else.

They kept chatting when a tall man appeared upon her eyes… and she froze. That tailcoat, that hair, those eyes… It was him. Not just the man he almost tampled and called him a careless and idiotic mortal, but also drew in her prophecy cards. He was The Punished.

“You” She said, breathless “It’s really you”

Her grandmother was confused “Are you two acquaintaned already?”

The man seemed taken aback by her reaction but kept his composture “No, my lady, we are not”

She also recomposed herself, but could see it: grieving his parents and one woman, letting go someone he loved, betrayal, lies… a big scar. She could see why he was punished. His punishment was grief, regret and tragedy. She would be the one taking away that.

“Joanna, this is Mr. Ernest Sinclaire of the Ledford Park estate. He is a neighbor of ours.” She whispered in her ear, a knowing smile on her face “He is also one of the most elegible bachelors and wealthiest man”.

She nodded and tried not to roll her eyes. Sigh, of course this was all about money and power and not about wisdom and responsibility.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir. I may admit that you’re quite dashing” She said, a small smirk on her face.

He blushed a little as he composed himself “And you must be Miss Joanna, the earl’s… natural daughter”

Oh, he just didn’t called me that. She tried not to lift her hand and turn him into a sensapead to then crush him.

“I am, indeed” She was composed, better than him, but her eyes were pure fire, with the desire of burn him alive and he knew.

“The Sinclaire family is close to ours. In fact, his grandmother designed our gardens herself”

“A woman with nature wits. I have to respect that” She admitted.

“Mr. Sinclaire! Why don’t you show Joanna personally the gardens? Since it’s your family’s work maybe it will be a rather fruitful tour because of the connection you have with them” Her grandmother estated.

Please say no.

“I don’t know, only if that’s the lady’s wish”

Crap, now I have to happily obligue.

She looked at him and nodded “It would be my pleasure to have that tour”

He offered her his arm and she accepted it, both of them now headed to the gardens. Joanna was mildly impressed by the human’s hand with the nature. Pretty sure some upgrades of hers would make it even more charming.

“This is rather beautiful, your grandmother haves a great taste in nature matters”

“She was very fond of the nature, yes. She also designed the gardens of my estate” He observed her “You seem to have some knowledge on the matter, too”

“I studied the arts of the nature and how to cure someone with them. My mother was an expert on those and knew some sewing, too. She was a very accomplished woman, even in her poor state. And the wisest woman I’ve ever met. She was a quick study and very determinated woman. She never wavered, nor hesitated. She always knew what she wanted and faced the consequences fearless and never let the others whispers to destroy her” Joanna explained. She bite her lip “She was the best”

Mr. Sinclaire seemed to feel her pain “She sounds like she was a very inspiring woman”

She scoffed “Don’t pity me. It’s disgusting to gain someone’s respect because of the pity and relationship with someone”

“I’m… not sure I follow”

She faced him, a fierce stare on her face “You talk to me and respect me because I am my father’s daughter and you pity my current state. A dead mother and no one else than my father to help me”

“That’s not true, my lady. I respect you for who you are. I am fond of your father and forever grateful to him, but that’s not the reason why I respect you. And I don’t pity you, I share your pain for your mother’s loss. I, too, lost my mother long ago. I was very close to her.” His eyes saddened and Joanna felt bad for him. He seemed to tell the truth.

“I- Apologies, sir. It is the first time I experience grief and it’s not going well. I should have never questioned you like that”

“I owe you, too, an apology for what I called you before. It was very ungentlemanly of me and I am aware of how much it offended you”

She chuckled amused “So the stone man can actually redeem himself. You men impress me everyday”

Mr. Sinclaire arched an eyebrow “I take you haven’t got male figures when you were raised?”

“Not at all. The only man I ever grew up with is my tutor, Elias. And he is way older than me. You’d be surprised of his age, but he knows how to hide it”

Mr. Sinclaire seemed quiet, observing everything but her.

“You’re a rather quiet man. Men usually are all talk is almost annoying. Well, not almost. It is annoying”

“I am not a man of idle chat. I value my time, my lady” He scoffed

“Funny, so do I. You’re not that special or important. You do not need to be a cad so I can take you seriously” Joanna snapped, sick of his act “You rich men are something else”

She stared at him, long and fierce and he maintained the glare.

“The tour is finished” She spitted, never leaving his gaze and turned back to the door, where she entered the manor without observing her grandmother or the guilty face of the man. She was about to look at the stairs when someone tampled her. She grunted and looked at the woman who nearly threw to the floor… and got quite impressed of her looks. She was the same woman that in her cards. She just tampled The Masked.

“Apologies, my lady. I did not see where I was going! Did I hurt you?”

“Not at all. Don’t worry about my conditions, I am well”

“So you’re the earl’s daughter? Pleased to finally meet the mysterious woman”

She nodded at her and was about to take the stairs when Countess Henrietta talked again “Good luck up there. You’ll need it” She smirked.

She looked at her as her hypno magic worked on her gaze “Let’s do one thing, Countess Henrietta. Why don’t you leave me alone until tomorrow dawn? I have better things to do than listen to your bitter, jealous self”

Henrietta was paralyzed, the hypnosis working on her “A-alright”

With that, she turned to the stairs and knocked the door. It was big and elegant, but simple.

“Come in!”

She crossed the door… and saw him. Vincent, the Heartbroken.

“Joanna… at long last I reunite with you” He hugged her tightly and she froze in place.

It was happening, she was hugging her father who truly lived. She hugged him back and tighter, feeling his blood on hers, intertwined no matter what the stupid mortals said.

For a moment, everything was just fine in the world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tagging

Speficic Tags: @ziva-sayeed​ @choicesbyjade​ @missameliep​ @allaboutchoices​ @lovemychoices​ @darley1101​ 

Perma Tag: @mrsbriarmarlcaster​ @hellospunkiebrewster​ @mrsnazariowalker​ @isabella-choices​ @desiree-0816

[putschki1969]

Hello, Sara. My name is Claire and I am also a huge fan of Kalafina. In the light of their disband (I dont wanna use this word this makes me sad :( ), I still listen their music every single day. With all my Kalafina enthusiasm, your detail information about Kalafina was really helpful and cleared few things up in my mind. While I have been reading your posts, there are a lot of your thoughts and feelings toward Kalafina that I agree with. So I do appreciate your effort and kindness.

Okay, this is my first time I am using tumblr. didnt know they have limited number of words. So my question is that I know you posted that why Yuki Kajiura left Space Craft due the change of her manager if I remember correctly. And the manager did not allow Kajiura to make music in her own preferences. Do you think this intervention affected Kajiura’s work afterwards. Because when far on the water was released, I thought the way she composes music was a lot different than before.

Hello Claire!

Yes, disbandment does sound very final so it’s really not a word I enjoy hearing in relation to Kalafina. However, I understand why Space Craft decided to use that term. It was time for them to make a clear cut so they could move forward.

No matter what, I am positive that one day they will stand on stage together (even if it is just for a single reunion-live). It will probably take years but it’s definitely going to happen.

Just like you I still listen to Kalafina and their solo projects regularly. I know some people find it painful to relive the old days but I personally find nothing but joy diving into Kalafina’s world again and again.

I am really glad my posts have been helpful. After all, spreading Kalafina-love is the sole purpose of this blog.

Yeah, sorry, Tumblr has quite a lot of character-limits when it comes to asks/messages/replies. Unlike many other social media platforms, Tumblr has not been designed with a focus on interaction (which is probably one of the reasons I chose to create my blog here XD).

Yes, Yuki’s long-time manager Mori ended up leaving Space Craft which in turn led to Yuki ending her contract as well. He had always given her some measure of free rein to do what she wanted. Generally speaking they have always been pretty close. In many of her old and new interviews Yuki talks a lot about wanting to have full control over what she creates. Which is why she was super excited to get the Kalafina project for Kara no Kyoukai. Space Craft put their faith in her and as we know, Yuki spun them gold. That’s not to say that she had control over everything. Creatively speaking, yes, I think she was allowed to make whatever she felt was best. However, the concept of Kalafina as we know them is almost entirely Space Craft’s brainchild. Yuki never meant to form a group with steady members and she definitely did not intend for the singers themselves to have so much spotlight. Let’s not forget, for Yuki, vocalists are really nothing more than human instruments. That’s totally fine of course but Space Craft knew that Kalafina wouldn’t have had a long life expectancy if things had gone according to Yuki’s vision. As a business-minded agency they naturally decided to use typical idol marketing strategies to promote Kalafina. It started with little things but gradually Kalafina became more and more “commercial” if you will. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not a bad thing. Good music alone unfortunately isn’t enough to survive in the Japanese music industry, you have to cater to the masses. And that’s what they did. Endless photo-heavy merch, lots of mainstream anime tie-ins, more elaborate stage productions, tons of appearances in popular events/TV programs etc…It’s those things that made their fanbase grow considerably which eventually led to them being able to perform THREE times at Nippon Budokan.

So yeah, what I am trying to say is that while Yuki gradually lost control over Kalafina as a “product” I don’t believe she ever yielded an inch when it came to her creative process. All the music she wrote was written because she wanted to write it, I am convinced of that. She doesn’t strike me as the type of person to phone in her work. Yes, her style has undergone some changes throughout the years (which weren’t always met with appreciation by fans) but for the most part I would say she has stayed faithful to her unique style (which most gifted composers do).

When “far on the water” was produced and released back in 2015 Mori was still Yuki’s manager and everything was perfectly fine. Any changes you might have noticed were absolutely on purpose. No one made Yuki do anything or guided her in a particular direction. This album is entirely her own vision and she loved making it, she has talked a lot about that in various interviews. She was also brimming over with further ideas for a new album which she was eager to produce (but alas, that never happened).

Things didn’t start falling apart until early 2017 when Mori left Space Craft (things didn’t seem to be perfectly peachy in late 2016 either but that’s reaching a bit too far). The changes from then onwards were very visible. Mori stopped being featured in the FictionJunction Club newsletters, the launch of Kalafina’s very own fan club Harmony was announced, all sorts of YK Lives went on hiatus, Kalafina’s 6th studio album which technically would have been due that year was never made, all focus went into increasing Kalafina’s live activities. I cannot say if at that point everyone had already predicted Kalafina’s fate and Space Craft were just milking the cow for all it’s worth or if that was a genuine effort to keep Kalafina alive as long as possible. I am leaning towards something in the middle of these two options. I think everyone involved had hoped for a better ending (or rather - no ending at all) but along the way (autumn 2017 I would say) it became clear to them that it wouldn’t work out.

I never outright said that the new management didn’t allow Yuki to do her own thing. Honestly, I have no idea if whoever replaced Mori was planning to take control of Yuki’s music. I suspect however that the new management might have wanted to take more of a lead which definitely would have put off Yuki… While tabloid articles have talked about creative differences between Yuki and the new manager, Yuki herself has never confirmed that that was the reason for her leaving (not that she ever would even if it were true). Yuki did however confirm in one of her FictionJunction Station newsletters that she no longer felt comfortable going on tour since she didn’t have the people around that she could trust. Maybe for a similar reason she didn’t feel like making a new Kalafina album which is why they had to focus so heavily on live activities that year.We are all creatures of habit. Yuki seems to only feel comfortable with Mori around. That’s fine. The only logical thing to do for her was follow his lead and leave Space Craft. Unfortunately she couldn’t take Kalafina with her so they ended up being collateral damage…*sighs*

And here we have another essay, sorry about that. it wasn’t my intention to write so much. My point is that I believe that in her time with Space Craft nothing/no one affected Yuki’s creative work, from the very first song “oblivious” right up until “Tombo” all songs are 100% Yuki and they were written/composed with much love, effort and dedication. Fans may not like everything she has created throughout the years but that’s just how life works. They have a hard time computing the fact that their favourite composer might have changed to an extent that they can’t appreciate anymore or that they themselves have developed different preferences. In such cases fans are eager to find someone to blame for that. Since they would rather not blame their idol Yuki they resort to blaming Space Craft. Space Craft have certainly done a lot of shitty stuff throughout the years but it would never cross my mind to make them responsible for Yuki’s music because that has always been under her control. 

Really, you shouldn’t be blaming anyone. These things happen, people change, people fall out of love with something. It’s easy to complain and lament the old days but what you have to do is just accept it, move forward and find something else.

[fortunatelylori]

Why the Jon/Daenerys romance doesn’t work (Part 1)

Are D&D really idiots?

Disclaimer: So ... my experience with Tumblr is veeeery limited ... as in this is my first post on here so if I fail to link things properly, give credit for gifs, caps or other people’s creations in an appropriate manner, I apologize in advance. Please let me know if you notice something like that and I will change things accordingly.

I have been scrolling around the site for about a week now, after having revisited season 7 of GOT. I will freely admit in advance that I ship Jonsa. However, for what it’s worth, when season 7 first came out, I was more than ready to abandon my Jonsa dreams and get on board with the Jonerys love fest, since everyone around me assured me that it was the end all be all of romance. After seeing the episodes for the first time, I was completely underwhelmed but I ignored my gut feelings because well ... everyone assured me that Jon and Dany were oh, so meant to be. Who am I to fight fate, I thought?!? So I just shrugged and moved on with my life.

However, part of the problem with this ship is that the more time passes, the more people like me, who actually enjoy watching and rewatching the same thing over and over again, start to see the cracks in it. I don’t mean to offend anyone that ships Jonerys, even though I probably will or anyone who likes Dany. Personally, I’ve had a whole host of problems with her character but I will refrain from commenting on my issues with her in this series and just give an opinion on why this story has the deepest scent of red herring since the invention of red herrings.

Before I get into it, I will keep these metas mainly focused on the story from a scriptwriting POV, since that was my job for a time. This series will be less focused on visual cues, camera angles and such. People with far more patience and experience have already done this so I will focus my observations around my area of expertise, such as it is.

In this first part I will try to dispel a few notions about  David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and their writing crew.

One of the common defenses for Jonerys, is that the creators of GOT are simply not every good at their job. They are unable to craft a decent love story for these two characters.

So the guys who created the most popular TV show on Earth, a show that HBO has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into, are hacks. Ok … 

Why do people believe that? Well, for a number of reasons:

1)      The show does not have the thematic scope and wealth of characters that GRRM included in his series

This is true. From the direwolves, to the missing characters, to entire plot threads, prophecies and themes upon themes, D&D have significantly simplified GRRM’s work.

But I would argue this is not because they don’t know how to do their jobs, but rather because they do know how to do it.

GRRM’s himself has said that he started writing ASOIAF out of sheer frustration with being a scriptwriter. Writing a book IS an extremely liberating experience after writing scripts. Why? Because words on a page cost nothing, aside from time and creativity. The sky is the limit.

The sky is absolutely not the limit when you’re a scriptwriter. You are constrained by all sorts of things like: money, sets, weather, daylight vs. night time, actors ‘availability etc. You’re always looking at what you can condense, tighten up. You’re always cutting words out of lines to make them sharper, regrouping scenes so you can maximize your locations, cut out all the fat so you can get an episode that is the required length.

And then there’s the all important element: the audience. People have different reactions to reading something vs. watching something. You read to get lost in a world, the journey is the main entertainment. In contrast, you come back week after week to watch a TV show to see what your favorite characters are getting up to.

Considering all of this, is it really surprising that they would cut out things like the young Griff or fArya from the show? Does anyone believe that the general audience out there cares about them? No. They want to see Jon, Arya, Tyrion, Dany … And they also want to see progression. A season of Tyrion on a boat thinking about stuff is not an option.

Also, GOT has quite a reputation for having a hellava lot of characters. Just watch the honest trailer that Screen Junkies have done:

At around the 3:20 mark they point out all the characters whose names you remember and all those you don’t. And it’s hilarious. Why? Because it’s true.

By season 3, people were still struggling to remember Littlefinger’s actual name. How do you think they’d fair with all the Greyjoys that pop up in the books like mushrooms after the rain?

So yes, D&D and their team cut out themes, characters and storylines for the sake of brevity. That’s what scriptwriters have to do, as sad as it may sound. That’s not to say they do everything right but by and large they’ve done a decent enough job for me not to assume they can’t write a proper love story for 2 characters that they’ve been working with for 6 seasons.

2)      Emilia and Kit have chemistry in real life so if that didn’t translate on screen, it’s because the scriptwriters were doing a terrible job at tapping into it

See, I would almost buy into that if it wasn’t for the fact that their scenes aren’t poorly conceived but rather are actively undermining the budding romance. You never get a sense of completion, of certainty from any of them. I will go through every scene in my next post, but for now, I’d just like to draw your attention to this moment:

(source: @dreamofspring )

We’ll leave aside character motivations on this for now, but if the script writers put that line in there to further advance the Jonerys romance, then they shouldn’t be in charge of writing commercials, let alone multimillion productions.

Are we to assume they simply forgot the other two instances where this line was used?

They revisited the Tower of Joy this season but apparently no alarm bells went off in the writer’s room at this:

(source:  @dreamofspring​)

They paralleled Jon’s arc this season to Mance Rayder’s but nope, simply forgot about this:

This script went through a dozen rewrites and probably 100 hands by the time it made it to the screen and yet at no point did anyone think: “Hey guys maybe we shouldn’t have Jon say good bye to his lady love by quoting Mance right before he was burned alive.” Those silly, silly writers.

3)      The show has taken a dive quality wise since they can’t follow GRRM’s source material any longer

There is some validity to this, I will admit. This season we’ve seen the likes of Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger lose some of their vital energy and characteristics that have made them such interesting, fun characters to watch.

The Littlefinger plot, in particular, was poorly executed. In their desire to leave us in the dark about what was happening in order to have what amounted to a cheap twist at the end, we were given a convoluted, clunky mystery plot where everyone was playing everyone else but not really. While I’m glad, on principal, that the show established the Stark sisters coming together as a unit against a common foe, giving Littlefinger such a stupid ending left a bitter taste in my mouth. Not a worthy completion to the arc of one of the best players of the Game of Thrones at all. So yes, they dropped the ball on that one.

Tyrion and Varys are a different matter. The main reason why they’re rather ineffective and sidelined is because they probably shouldn’t be there in the first place. That’s because their entire vision on life, justice and good kingship comes directly at odds with Dany’s “Fire and blood” policy. They are just now starting to worry about this predicament but they’re both far too smart not to have noticed until now. The woman brought 3 dragons and a Dothraki horde into Westeros. What did they think she was going to do with them? Play boggle?!?

If I try really hard, I can find an explanation for Tyrion. I think, probably, he’s still reeling for the trial and murdering dad so he’s not in the best state of mind.

Varys however? He definitely shouldn’t be there. He should be with young Griff which makes much more sense since it’s very likely there is a deep, personal connection there that would make the usually cynical and skeptical Varys trust that the person he is actively supporting is actually best for the realm. But alas, young Griff doesn’t exist so he’s stuck with Dany, until he finally turncoats and gets burned alive. So brevity is at fault here.

All that being said, I think it’s unfair to assert that the show runners have dropped the ball. That’s because the more I think about it, the more season 7 looks like a part of a whole, instead of an arc on its own. There are too many open ended questions, too many character choices that don’t make sense (particularly Jon who is, by far, the central character this season) for it to feel complete.

Season 7 is like the Infinity War part 1 of Game of Thrones. You can analyze it on its own but you can’t really determine its true quality or meaning until you see Part 2.

I know this got very long so thank you to everyone that had the patience to read until the end. J

[crowwingedangel]

My vacation, Part 2: Colossalcon!

This is for everyone who keeps asking me how my time going home/at the convention was. Actually, I’m not very good with talking about my emotional reactions and things on the spot… I’m a writer. I do much better writing it out. So that’s what I’m doing now! If you’re one of those people who wanted to know, or are just curious, feel free to look under the cut!

Below is my experience at the convention! It’s long and will have photos, so check it out! 

Wednesday 

So I got to Kalahari around 5 and parked my car. It was still pretty early, so there was plenty of parking around. I went to check in, only to learn that my room was fairly close to where I parked my car! SCORE!  

I then spent some time making trips to the room with my stuff... I brought a bunch of food, since I knew con food is really expensive, and the room itself was a lot... and I had a VIP pass, so this con was costly enough already. Heh... Luckily though, I got all of my stuff in just before the rain showed up!

My friend I was sharing the room with wasn’t going to arrive until Thursday afternoon, so I had this night to myself. I went and registered for the con and got my pass, then I proceeded to walk around... get the layout of the land, as it where. Alas, my phone was pretty full, so I didn’t take lots of pictures of everything I saw... In fact, I only took a few the whole weekend. But a lot of people took photos, so check out the colossalcon tag if you want an idea of what I saw!  I wandered around for a while before heading back to the room and deciding to spend the night chilling... I took a nice bath in the giant tub, then spent the evening making a semi-update for Crimson Wings. That mutant class update? Yeah, I made it during this down time. Eventually I went to bed, knowing I’d have a long day following. 

Thursday 

The con officially began! I took my time waking up in the morning, and decided to explore for a while, waiting for my friend to arrive. I didn’t wear any cosplay that morning, wanting to save it for when she got there, and wanting to look at everything for a while as myself before I changed...

So I went! Not knowing what to do other then look around, I guessed. But luckily, I came across the usual “I need friends” signs that happen at cons. So, seeing as I was alone, I decided, “why not?” I approached, and made some new friends and we all hugged sexy Jesus (yes you just read that). You may have figured out by now that I don’t really like using people’s names on the Internet so... I’ll just say that the two girls had the same name and the guy’s name was my middle name! There, now some of you may know one of their names...

We hung out for a while and met up several times throughout the con! I’m very socially awkward at making friends, so I’m kind of proud that I managed it... But two of them were dressed as two of my favorite twins when I first saw them, so that helped! We went to the game room and played things for a while, mostly team music games. One of them was like a master at them, but we did pretty good as a team! 

Eventually went to the craft fair and saw all the cool stuff people had made and were selling. Eventually my friend arrived and we had to split up, but like I said, I kept in contact with these guys after!  

So I met up with my friend, the one who basically functions as my editor for my writing... Did you know my writing has an editor? Well, now you do. I helped get her stuff to the room, and while she got settled, I changed into my Edward Elric cosplay. I don’t have any pictures of this cosplay, but a bunch of people took photos of me, so if one turns up, I’ll put it here!  We wandered about and I showed her around. And we finally started buying stuff. I got an Non-binary and an Ace-ace patch. I don’t know what I’m going to put them on, but I liked them! I also got one of those ironed-bead sprite Mad Dummy and a small fox pattern pouch... But then of course I finally found the plushies in the dealer room. And there... was a chubby lucario. I made him mine. ...Well, he was always mine, wasn’t he?! He’s actually under my arm right now as I type this! He’s some comfy! Oh, I can take a photo of him right now, can’t I?

Here he is! My fat boi! So chubby and cute, I love him! 

Eventually my friend and I made it back to our room and chilled for the rest of the evening, eating snacks and reading webcomics. I’m pretty good and getting my friends into more webcomics, I think... I had her catch up on a pretty long one that night while we listened to the sounds of party around us.

Friday

Friday, oh boy what I day. It was certainly fun and interesting! So, I (and my grandma, she did the sewing part) worked very hard on a cosplay of RGB from The Property of Hate by @modmad. 

I think it turned out very well, and you can see more pictures in my post here. But, being summer and all, it was very hot and the head was pretty much and oven. I could only wear it for bursts of 20 minutes to half an hour at a time before I’d need to go back to the room and rest. I still think it looked cool though, and some people recognized who I was so mission accomplished I guess! But also... @modmad, is his vision really as limited from that screen as I could see? Because there is no peripheral vision at all, someone get him a seeing-eye hero!  

I wandered about the convention a lot that day sans the head so that I could... be alive, haha. But I bought myself some manga and ordered a commission that I will probably fill you all in more on later once it is made! ;3 (It’s Crimson Wings related.) It’s by the same artist I bought some buttons from a few years back... And I bought more buttons, of course! I needed my snoot-snoot seal!

In the evening, I had my VIP autograph session... I had brought something for most of them (at least the ones I had stuff for, unfortunately I didn’t own anything to bring for the two ladies :C). I knew I was going to be meeting Steve Blum, so I switched into my Terriermon outfit I had made with my grandma. At the session, I met up with the trio of friends from the other day (I had met up with them earlier that day too, but only for a few minutes). We talking in the lines and such while we waited! I got to meet a few awesome people, including Chris Patton, who I caved and bought a Greed poster to have him sign... I love Greed, you guys... I also met Vic Mignogna and had him sign my FMA Brotherhood DVD set, and met Steve Blum and had him sign my Digimon Tamers DVD (he also kept talking in Guilmon’s voice and I was losing it.) My friends also had Vic do the coffee scene from Ouran which you can see on one of their instagrams here! I also got photos with Vic and Steve because I am weak.

Awesomeness.

Then later that night my editor friend and I went to the Kalahari pool for the after hours time we had! We went nearing midnight, and did stuff like the wave pool, the hot tub, and the lazy river for a while. We were about to leave when I ran into the friend trio again, so we went back into the wave pool for a while before finally heading back to the room. It was like 3 in the morning and I had an early Nintendo photoshoot I wanted to get to!

Saturday

Saturday I cosplayed as Pit the whole day. Nintendo had an early photoshoot that day (well, early considering how late we were up that night and how it’d take a while to get dressed. We’re still waiting for all the photos to come out from it, but it’s page is here. And one photo is out at least with me and the other awesome Pit in it! 

It was a lot of fun, and all the smash brothers poses and things were a blast and I hope more photos show up soon! Like we beat up Sandbag and there was the smash ball and-... lots of playing around, I hope they turn up. Unfortunately the Zelda shoot was at the same time, so no Zelda or Link for us... what’s up with that? 

Anyway, after that my friend and I hung out in the room for a while, needing to relax after being up so early... I showed her some youtube videos and made her laugh so hard she fell off the bed. Good times! Then we headed back to the con and did more shopping around, smaller things like charms and stickers now, and went to some panels. I said good bye to my new trio of friends who were leaving that afternoon, and hopefully they are doing well! 

By the evening I had to go to the room a while because I wasn’t feeling great... I actually bought some actual food at the con because the food we had was basically running out and I needed something to settle my stomach. But when we grabbed food we headed to the Masquerade (The skit / cosplay contest) and watched that! I still chuckle that Tony Stark was the host. It was a lot of fun, and the skits were fun, including some really good singers and a Nurse Joy who wanted to become a trainer (that one had some very clever props, just saying). And those cosplays were amazing. Much appreciation. The halftime show was hilarious, our side’s champion two girls beating the other side’s two men at a blind-folded donut eating contest-... It’s a long story, and this is long enough as it is, haha.  

After it was over, my friend and I headed back to the room and ended the night watching some youtube.  

Sunday 

Alas, the con was basically over. I wore my Terriermon cosplay that day since it’s the simplest and isn’t hot. We had to check out by ten, and my friend had to leave at ten, so we basically got up in the morning, packed my car, and parted ways as she was picked up. I stayed a little longer to check out the flee market. I found some good stuff and spend more money (of course! More pokemon plush for me! ...And some really old digimon toys. Nice.) Once I felt I had checked everything out and had basically spent the last of the cash I had brought with me, I headed back out to my car to start my drive to my parent’s house...   I arrived, and then had dinner with my family, including my aunt and uncle at a restaurant, then turned in for the night, having to catch an early flight back down here in the morning... 

AND that was the con, everyone! It was a lot of fun and I tried to sort out as much as I could here! I hope that helped answer the basic question of how it was! If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask! 

[tumultuoustuna]

Hey hi! :) For the writing prompt maybe Shidge 16? .- @quinzak

16: Things you said with no space between us

Shout out to @orcaspanielmermaids for helping me edit this tiny monster; I love you bro!

Also, warning, it’s v long. the keep reading is there so I spare others from having to scroll for so long, I swear 

Training is always close quarters, whether it be slashing and dashing away from the training sentinels or taking on a fellow Paladin. Today it was the latter for Pidge.

Shiro was a brutal opponent. Yes, she had defeated him before, but that was when he was under the influence of mind-controlling mushrooms. Now with Shiro as a true opponent, Pidge could only repeat one thing to herself as they brawled.

“Shit.”

The Black Paladin launched forward again, speed unparalleled to any of the other Paladins. Pidge took advantage of her jetpack yet again. Shiro hadn’t managed to catch her yet, but Pidge was counting. She just knew sooner or later he’d grab her.

She aimed her Bayard at the ceiling and pulled herself up. She planted her feet on it and looked down (well up from where she stood). 

Waiting her turn to spar Allura was off to the side. She snorted, amused at Shiro’s frustration.

“Training usually consists of actual fighting last time I checked Pidge. You know, actual fighting?” Shiro called. Pidge smirked in return, putting all of her strength into keeping herself from falling.

“Pidge, come on,” he yelled. Pidge shrugged.

“Pidge!” 

Pidge’s eyes narrowed. “Game point.”

To say the least, it surprised Shiro when a ninety-five-pound, green torpedo dropped on top of him, crushing him flat.

“I win,” grinned the torpedo.

Allura introduced the Paladins to the very, very overdramatic Altean soap operas one night after Coran had gone off with Slav and Matt to a planetside bazaar.

According to Slav, the planet was too liable to the shenanigans of the Paladins (”In 57% of most realities The Blue and Red ones get into a massive fight that ends with fire and the Castle crashing onto the planet.”). With that information and with it being a fact that Lance and Pidge found ways to be gremlins in short amounts of time, Allura agreed it was a good idea to stay on the ship and land it.

As they watched, Keith was overly confused, Hunk tried making hands-or-tails of the dialogue, Allura sighed dramatically at the idiot characters, and Lance was laughing at the jokes that broke through the language barrier and matched his style of humor to begin with.

With that said, Altean humor is actually just a bunch of memes and k-drama tropes.

It amused Pidge.

A lot.

Shiro too.

And while Matt would’ve been amused as well, he also would have tried to worm out Shiro’s secret meme humor, more to humiliate him then to laugh along with his friend. As it was though, Shiro was holding back making any remarks.

But alas Pidge knew better.

Coran, Slav, and Matt return shortly, gaining Lance’s and Hunk’s attention. Seeing the items they had procured were food based, said Paladins got to cooking. Matt, in favor of cooking, took Hunk’s place on the couch next to Keith.

When the credits started to scroll, Allura tossed a slim remote to Shiro so he could scroll through the channels on the holovision (Pidge’s genus name for the holographic tv) and find something to watch. “You need this,” she had smiled, leaving the room to watch Hunk work.

Shiro’s choice was a technicolor kid show. It starred aliens as the leads, who resembled cows. They were reciting what Pidge could only guess to be some sort of alphabet.

“What the fresh fuck, man?” Keith whispered slowly to Shiro, sounding genuinely concerned for his mental health. 

Matt doubled over in fits of laughter. “Yeah! S-Shiro, buddy, what the heck?”

“What? Can a grown man not enjoy a colorful kids’ show with deer as its main characters?”

“Those are cows,” Pidge chimed in. “And you’re only two years older than me buddy, I assure you there’s nothing grown about you maturity-wise.”

“Guilty.”

Pidge made a grab for the remote.

“Pidge no. Let me have this,” Shiro pouted, shoving the shorter Paladin away by the shoulder.

“No, this is for your own good,” Pidge insisted, ducking under his arm and crawling over to snatch the remote.

“Get ‘im!” Matt encouraged.

Pidge squinted ever so slightly and pursed her lips. “Game point,” she muttered before making one last sitch effort to free the remote from Shiro’s grasp.

It all ended with Shiro more or less sitting on Pidge. And as massive as a fail it was, Matt sure got a kick out of it.

“I win,” Shiro smirked.

Pidge, with her head in the cushion, flipped him off

Matt was wheezing on the floor.

“I’m done with all of you,” Keith sighs, and leaves the lounge in favor of starting a food fight with Lance helping cook.

Shiro had issues sleeping some nights. It led to him wandering everywhere, even in the other Lions’ chambers. This led him to also find out what his fellow crew members did if sleep didn’t come.

Coran occasionally stayed up to see Allura to her room and that Allura often cried, away from eyes other then Coran. 

Keith, even though he was a sucker for sleep, would be found in the kitchen. He stared wide-eyed at food rotating in the machine equivalent to a microwave when he had something on his mind, weighing him down. 

Often he’d find Lance staring at maps on the bridge, looking at Earth. Tears silently rolled down his cheeks. Shiro often wanted to reach out and comfort him. Most of the time he had no idea how.

Hunk fiddled with random pieces of metal, crafting and welding together beautiful sculptures; he said it was because he loved the Balmera’s crystals, wanting to replicate them artistically.

Matt, upon coming back and plagued with nightmares, sought out Shiro some nights to talk. 

Slav never slept, Shiro was certain.

The Blade members… He wasn’t sure what they exactly did. Played card games? Strategised? 

Pidge was one he often didn’t see around the Castle. He had, more or less, seen everyone at one point doing their own thing at night, but Pidge was the odd one out in this format.

So seeing her in Green’s hanger actually took him by surprise. He blinked, shook his head, did a double take. Yep, it was Pidge.

“So uh, what brings you here? Come here often?” Shiro asked. It sounded too loud.

“I would hope so,” Pidge remarked.

“Uh, yeah.” Shiro scratched the back of his neck. “A better question I guess I should ask is why you’re here now?”

“Green’s cloaking device. It uh, broke.”

“How?”

“Might I remind you of Lotor’s last attack?”

“Oh, right.”

“It’s okay. We were all very… stressed. I don’t expect anybody to remember anything, let alone Green getting hit so precisely her cloaking device was damaged.”

Shiro’s brow raised. “This much apathetic salt leads me to believe you need some sleep, Katie.”

“Probably, Takashi.” Pidge yawned.

Pidge didn’t protest when Shiro scooped her up into his arms and started towards her room. She snuggled into his solid chest, glasses off and in her hands.

“I really wish Zarkon could be changed by just the power of friendship. It would make things so much easier,” Pidge muttered about halfway through the trip.

Shiro laughed softly. “Right? Lotor at least.”

“I mean, he has a bunch of generals. I’d would assume they’re friends.”

“The one named Ezor seems like she is.”

Pidge smiled sleepily. She had fought Ezor once, and she couldn’t stop talking to her the entire time. Sure, it was a serious fight, but what was a better catharsis to war than casual banter with the enemy? Ezor was actually quite fascinating and Pidge hoped they would meet one day on better terms, like the mall, and be able to talk even more casually.

“Yeah, she seems to be.”

Shiro opened the door to her room and set the small Paladin down as gently as he possibly could. He tucked her in, earning a look.

“I’m not five, Shiro.”

“I know, but I’d think anybody likes feeling like a kid again. That and I feel like you’d fall asleep without actually having blankets on yourself and freeze yourself.”

Pidge snorted. “Dude, how tired are you?”

“Very, if I’m gonna be honest.”

This gave the small girl an idea. “Why not stay here tonight?”

“What?”

“You kinda wander aimlessly in the halls and I worry sometimes. Maybe instead of being alone, you could stay here tonight,” Pidge nonchalantly laid out. 

The Black Paladin looked over at the door for a moment. What would the others think?

“If you’re thinking what Matt would think, I can assure you he wouldn’t ask. Come on, give yourself more credit. You aren’t a sleazy guy.”

“It’s… okay.”

Shiro discarded his shoes and carefully removed his arm, putting them off to the side.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you without that honestly,” Pidge said in almost awe, staring at the now still appendage.

Shiro blushed. “Well, after I figured out how to turn off a lot of the nerves I took advantage of it. It was really painful to take it off at first. Enough so that I’d just scream.” He paused and sighed. “Your research helped a lot with that.”

“Well I mean, I’m glad I could help.”

“Me too. We’d be screwed without you.”

“Meh, your leadership holds us all together, not my skills.”

“Pidge, you’re the only way we have access to the ships’ computer systems and survive.” Shiro put his hand on her shoulder. “You are the reason anything gets done, ‘nough said.”

It was Pidge’s turn to blush. “I mean, yeah, but what I mean is that I’m not… Eh, how do I put this? Not the most approachable person? I mean, compared to Keith I’m a stellar example of extraversion. But I’m not the ‘team glue’ if you will. That goes to Lance.”

“Yes, but that’s not my point. Pidge, can you not just accept my compliment?”

“No. I must push away all forms of kindness and connection if I want to reach extreme levels of edgy-ness.”

“I am more than positive you got that from Keith.”

“He said it to Lance once; it was quite clever.”

Shiro grunted a ‘yes’ and fell silent. Others might have found it awkward, but the two Paladins stared into each other’s eyes for quite some time before Pidge smirked and said, “So are we going to sleep now?”

Shiro smiled, eyes drooping. “Uh huh,” he replied, mouth closed.

As Shiro drifted off, probably for the first time in a few days, Pidge grinned and wrapped her short arms around him as much as she could. Game point, she thought. As he snuggled closer, Pidge smile turned fonder as she said, “I win.”

“So did I,” muttered a half-conscious Shiro. 

Hope you enjoyed!

[swordarkeereon]

21 Things You Need to Know About Writing as a Career Before You Quit Your Job. #amwriting

I know – I know! Geez, Steph, way to piss all over someone’s dreams. But I don’t think people really understand what it actually takes to sell and THRIVE as a self-employed writer, and a lot of that depends on your personality, your productivity skills, your strengths, your motivation, your weaknesses, and whether or not you have someone to support you. A lot of people THINK they want to be career writers, but mostly because they think it’s fun and easy. Sadly, a lot of people will publish books, get nowhere, and give up. Or writing and publishing will be a hobby and nothing more — and that’s okay, too.

Being a writer full-time is cake-walk when someone else is paying the bills. But alas, most of us do not have that luxury. We are either self-supporting (meaning if we don’t work we don’t get paid, and we don’t eat), or our income, combined with our partner’s income, is required to keep us afloat. Long gone are the days when a single income could support more than a single person, and hell — oftentimes single incomes can’t even support a single person these days with the price of everything through the roof.

Do I make a full-time-living from writing. Well, yes. But also no because aside from the publishing company, I help to run our family business, and it bounces me around like a yo-yo, while at the same time helping me be the sole income earner for my family. But the bulk of my income, about 80% of it, comes from writing.

Do I love the writing life? Absolutely. I love spending time alone. My time really is my own. Aside from days I spend at the family business doing payroll, accounting, and HR, I can pretty much do what I want, when I want. I can sleep in. I can go for a walk in the middle of my day. I don’t have to punch a time clock. I can take time off whenever I feel like it. Sounds great, right? But I also work, on average, about 70 hours a week. Even if I didn’t split my time between our other business and the publishing company, I would likely work the same number of hours because for me, it would mean more time for writing.

Career writers work LONG hours. If you expect to have a ton of free time, career writing may not be for you. Sure, I may take a day off to read, but I always split that reading time between a marketing or craft-of-writing book, and something I want to read for fun.

Career writers never really take vacations or time off, even when they do. If you like the 9-5 and being able to leave work at work — forget it. You won’t get that being a career writer. Every shower, every walk, every trip to pick up groceries, every vacation — I’m thinking about the book, article, or story I’m working on, different marketing strategies, or my to-do list when I get back.

Career writers have to think long term about their schedule, their savings account and budget, and their marketing strategies. If you’re bad with marketing, scheduling, or budgeting, writing may not be for you. Writers often get paid upon publication, once a month, or every 3-6 months. You don’t get weekly or bi-weekly paychecks like a normal job and you have to adjust to that. I already have books/projects scheduled into 2022, advertising scheduled a month or six in advance, and I keep the savings accounts as full as I can just in case I have a shitty month. It sometimes happens and writers have to be prepared for that. You should probably be good at juggling your finances.

Career writers have to be self-motivated and somewhat disciplined. There isn’t a boss to give you direction, or a co-worker to really help you when you get stuck (that’s what writing groups and research are for). I make a choice every day about being a full-time writer. I can either wake up and binge watch Netflix, or I can get up and sit my ass in front of my computer and work on the current project. Be honest with yourself. Are you self-disciplined enough and self-motivated? This doesn’t mean you need to write every single day. I don’t. I only write 4-5 days a week. Others do write daily. But when I do sit down to write, I can often produce 3K to 5K (or sometimes more) in a day.

Career writers must be prolific. No one ever made a career on a single book alone. So if you only have one book in you, a career in writing may not be for you. If you want to do well** at this gig, you need to publish a new book 2-6 times (minimum) every year just to keep yourself in front of readers.

Career writers must be tech-savvy. In this day and age, not being tech-savvy is a huge handicap. You need to be comfortable with computers and adaptable to changing technology and a constantly changing publishing industry. The more tech-savvy you are, not only the more time and money you save, but also the easier it is to deal with things like updating your website, running a newsletter, or automating your social media.

Career writers may sacrifice certain things to make their dream a reality because the reality is we each only get 24 hours in the day and sometimes you can’t FIT everything you want into that 24 hours. So you have to give something up to have time for the thing (writing career) you want. One of the things I often sacrifice in favor of my work is house cleaning. If it were just me, it likely wouldn’t be so bad and I could call in a housekeeper once a week. However, it’s me, my husband, and three very messy cats. While day-to-day like laundry, dishes, wiping down frequently used surfaces, cooking, and litter tray cleanup is habit for my husband and me – vacuuming carpets, scrubbing tile floors, dusting, and deep cleaning is not something done on a regular basis. I usually take a day off each month just to do those deep cleaning chores.

Career writers often have a lot of things on the fire for different income streams. They write fiction. They write articles. They may be contributing to anthologies. They may write company policies on the side. They may be ghost writing on the side. They may also write non-fiction on top of the fiction. They may teach classes or sell items related to their books. I have yet to meet a career author who doesn’t have some kind of side income related to their writing that isn’t direct income from book sales.

Career writers often don’t live glamorous lifestyles full of parties and social events. Most of your working time will be spent in front of a computer, writing. But – what about all the cool travel, conventions, and conferences? You have to remember that conventions and conferences may be “fun” and “educational” for attendees, but for the writers who are speakers, presenters, or vendors at these events – it’s part of our job. We’re not there to have fun. We’re there to work. That’s not to say we can’t have fun doing our jobs. I have a lot of fun at Denver Pop Culture Con because that’s my scene and those are my people. It’s one of the reasons I do that con year after year. If we have fun while we work – that’s a bonus. Let me just say that some events are more fun than others. So it may look like we’re just having fun all the time, but never underestimate the pain of a solid conference crash that keeps you from writing for days when you get back home. Outside of conventions, conferences, or writer events – I don’t attend parties or social functions outside my small group of friends. I haven’t done that since I was 21, back in 1993. So if you’re looking for the party life, a career in writing may not be your thing.

Career writers must be able to work alone for long hours After all, writing can be a very solitary career. If you’re a person who needs other people around or you start to go a bit stir crazy, you may not be prepared for the long hours spent alone with yourself. I’ve never found this to be a problem. I love being my own boss and spending hours alone with myself. I’m a natural introvert. That’s not to say I can’t be extroverted. I go through phases of wanting to be social. But I am quite happy nestled in my office working. I also have a group of supportive author friends who I get together with through video chat on a regular basis. That’s enough to satiate my need to hang out with others. Only you would know if that would be enough for you.

Career writers can fail, even after they succeed. So if you think once you succeed you’ll automatically be a billionaire, being a writer may not be for you. This can be a feast or famine career (which is why the most adaptive authors diversify their income by doing different types of writing or working as a writer for hire). It’s not like if you have one successful book you’ll be set for life. Unfortunately. If traditionally published, your traditional publisher may not offer another contract after you work out the current one. Meaning you have to go find the next contract, just as if you were starting all over again. If indie published, your last series may have sold like hotcakes, but your current series didn’t go over as well with readers, and is barely moving. I’ve had each of these scenarios happen to me and somehow, by the grace of my readers and my muses, I’m still here.

Career writers must be persistent. See #11. If you give up or get discouraged easily, a career in writing is not for you.

Career writers must have thick skin. If you fall apart at the first sign of criticism, writing is DEFINITELY not for you. There is no such thing as an author that every reader, everywhere, will love. There’s always going to be that one reader who hates your work and is going to share that in a review. Career writers don’t let the haters get to them. It’s part of the job. And if you’re saying, “But Steph, I have nothing but good reviews!” — then my response is — you haven’t had a book that sells well enough to get bad reviews yet. Or your work isn’t visible enough yet. Give it time. Eventually you’ll get *that* review, and when you do, you’ll know that people you don’t know are actually reading your work (or that you have haters, which means you’re visible at least).

Career writers may eventually have to hire support staff. If you’re a control freak or don’t want to run a business, being a writer may not be for you. Because you can’t do everything and still be able to focus on the writing. I resisted hiring help for years. I’ve had a personal assistant for a few years to help me deal with websites, emails and scheduling, but he wasn’t able to help in areas I really needed help. Just this year I finally hired a person who manages my social media, and that freed up my time to write considerably. Does it cut into my profits? Yes. Unfortunately. But it was worth it to me because I need to be writing — not looking for memes and articles to post on my author pages. Just like I hire editors, cover artists, attorneys, and accountants as needed, because I don’t possess all the skills to do all the things, plus I don’t have time to do everything.

Career writers have deadlines. If you don’t work well under pressure, a career in writing may not be for you. I’ve always excelled under the pressure of a deadline, but not everyone does. Now, I can’t say I’m fond of pre-release pressure (since that comes with a penalty for non-compliance), but I know what I want to get done and I bust my ass to meet those particular deadlines. I’ve always been that way.

Career writers must be organized. There are a lot of dates that need to be coordinated with marketing, release dates, beta reader copies, editors, cover art, contract deadlines, etc… in the publishing world. So if you’re disorganized and you start missing deadlines, it’s going to throw your life into chaos and you’ll be racing to get things done, or losing contracts as a result. Or you may over schedule yourself and find yourself sinking. Been there. Organization is still something I struggle with, but I am getting better at it.

Career writers must have some self-confidence. A lack of confidence can greatly hamper your career by keeping you from doing the things you need to do to make that career work. So if you’re going to go for it, I want you to start working on your confidence now. Even if you don’t feel confident, learn to fake it. From pitching a book to a buyer (whether reader, editor, or agent), to doing an interview or podcast, to just casually chatting with folks at events – a little self-confidence makes the job a lot easier.

Career writers can’t afford to care what others think (unless they’re paying you a hefty sum to write what they want you to write). This means that your stories are your own and readers, friends, family don’t get a say. Writers who care too much what others think are likely to balk at sending stuff out, or publish something different. They’ll play it safe for the sake of not upsetting anyone, or to please a certain person or group. This can kill your career faster than you can read this article.

Career writers must be able to focus and finish. To sell your work, you have to be able to write, and finish, a completed manuscript. This means there’s no time for hemming and hawing and edit-forever syndrome. If you’re a perfectionist – start working to get over it because nothing is perfect. If you are having a hard time focusing on finishing your creative work, writing as a career may not be for you.

Career writers love to read and read often. If you don’t like to read, you definitely shouldn’t attempt a career at writing. I’m a slow reader and even I manage to read 30-50 books a year (not including my own or the books I read for my publishing company by other authors). I’ve always loved to read and have been a voracious reader since grade-school. Most of the successful authors I know, when they’re not writing, they’re reading.

Career writers are business owners. You are basically self-employed and have to keep receipts, hire/fire people, pay your quarterly taxes and any sales tax from events etc…, and pay all your writing related bills. You have to collect on contracts, stay on top of your sales reports, make sure everything goes out on time, coordinate your team of people. All things anyone running a business does. So if you don’t want to be a business owner, career writing is not for you.

So think carefully when it comes to your choice to become a career writer. Be honest with yourself. Career writing is not for every writer.

**As in $40K + every year. I say that because a lot of writers can make $10K-$12K a year writing. As a matter of fact, $10K-$12K is what a good majority of traditionally published writers make after the IRS get’s their cut, the agent get’s their cut, and they’ve paid for all their convention stock, marketing, and travel expenses. Ouch!

[the-yugioh-theorist]

Snow (a parody of the famous soliloquy from Hamlet)

A few years ago I made a post on Facebook lamenting the lack of any snow on the ground. As a kid I was always excited to see snow covering the ground, and could hardly wait go outside and make snowmen and snowballs and snow angels and all those other things. Although I am now 24, my inner child still enjoys seeing snow on the ground as a sign of winter and the impending holiday season - but for the last several years Christmas has been very green.

When I first wrote about it on Facebook, I’d only composed it as far as “trampled grass”, but this time I decided to challenge myself to see if I could write it about as long as the actual soliloquy it’s based on, from Act 3 of Shakespeare’s well-known play Hamlet. It ended up being even longer than that. Shakespeare, eat your heart out!

To snow, or not to snow, that is the question:

Whether ‘tis preferable to cover the land

In a large blanket, glistening and white,

Of snow and frost and ice that chills the flesh,

Or leave the green of autumn well alone,

Thus lengthening the visibility

Of many fallen leaves and trampled grass?

The moment that is dreamt by many kind

Of rising to the sight of heaven’s frosting –

Not smooth like cream, but soft and crystalline –

Doth bring a promise, with profound elation,

Of once-impossible activity,

Engaging in the crafting in the streets

Of cold and round projectiles, and elsewhere

A frosty new companion. But alas!

The longer-tempered souls are not so keen

To the impending labour and frustration

That this unseemly substance dares to bring:

The toil of its manual removal

From paved domestic entrances with shovels!

And locomotion doth become a chore

Whene’er the particles are densely packed

Into a sculpture, thick and coarse, like clay,

That hinders rolling wheels; or, perchance,

The pathway might become so slippery

That traction and control are luxuries!

And who, with welcoming anticipation,

Would consider such a vile sensation

As having it behind the cloth-clad ankles

Against the inner lining of the boots?

The chill that must pervade the wintry air

For its accumulation to occur,

Implies, regrettably, an obligation

Ere exiting the comfort of the home,

To wrap in numerous bundled layers of armor

That protect from the air itself; and then,

When winter’s harshest weapon is confronted,

And one is soaked and frozen nigh to death,

Such care is taken on each article

Ere inevitably ‘tis used again!

‘Tis madness in the worst sense, verily;

And yet the notion would give us such pause

That these pragmatic, practical desires

Would supersede the urges of the soul.

Perchance ‘t would be of greater importance

For old and younger fellows to unite,

Embracing heaven’s gift with gratitude,

And showing all the willingness to bear

And brave the stings and wounds that it delivers,

And subsequently heal them with a cup

Of heated cocoa with sugary croutons;

And for the soul to soothe, a warming fire.

For all its trials and inconveniences

That would inject embattled souls with strife,

I stand to welcome gladly nonetheless

The fun and joy that snow can bring to life.

[richardjamesbenbow]

Art and Ideas blog post part 1

My intention within the makeup of this piece of writing is to deal on the face of it with three seemingly basic philosophical questions or ideas. Firstly, what is art? A broad and to all intents and purposes an unanswerable question; but none the less one that I feel can be tackled in a thought provoking way. I intend to talk about the ideas, philosophies and cultures which art has developed within historically and prove beyond doubt that artists do not operate within a cultural vacuum but indeed are sponges that soak up contemporary information, ideas and philosophies from their given society. 

Art can be many different things to many different people. Art is an object, it can be a drawing, a painting, a sculpture and arguably many other things. What art cannot be is an object alone. It needs an underpinning story or theme, it has to say something in order to give it value. Art is usually found in houses, offices and especially galleries were the object has been validated as a piece of art by the artist themselves, their contemporaries, art dealers, gallery owners and curators. 

So how do these people know what art is? Do they have special abilities that us mere mortal do not, alas no! These people have simply spent years and often many decades studying, validating and giving credence to the artist, ratifying their product. Yes, art is a product. It is produced or at least made using craft, skill and artistry. These curators and gallerists are often artists themselves; therefore they know what is required and the time, commitment, effort and intellectual ability to create art. 

The problem that exists in defining art is that the word ‘art’ is loosely banded about and used in many contexts. For example – The art of cooking – Indeed Gordon Ramsey will probably tell you, ‘my fucking plate of food is fucking art!’ Ill at ease of disappointing Gordon, I am afraid food is not art. The chef may share some of the skill sets of an artist – attention to detail,  dedication, long working hours. However his lasagne does not tell a life changing story of the twenty first century.  

Art can be beautiful, it can be expressive; It can be wholely representative or hyper-real; however it can also be none of these things. In his book ‘The Gentle Art of Making Enemies’ James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) – American born, British-based artist went on to say  “The imitator is a poor kind of creature. If the man who paints only the tree, or flower, or other surface he sees before him were an artist, the king of artists would be the photographer.”

It has been said that art is a relatively knew phenomenon and is still only in it’s infancy. With all the technological advances it has made it possible for artists to endeavour on new art practices that previously were not even dreamed of especially relating to computer, video, sound and digital art. 

We can look far back to when early man produced paintings on walls within the caves in which they dwelled. Was this not art; an anthropological study of time and place, did they not have something to say culturally or was it purely a record of how many bison they had killed during a specific time. 

Throughout history great cultures have sprang up such as the Greek and Roman societies with their complex rules, sophisticated buildings and social hierarchy.  Within these cultures great monuments and artefacts were created. However what makes this different to the great works of today is that the creators, rather than artists were artisans who were commissioned by their superiors to commence on projects that were wholely designed by those with the ideas rather than the artist or in this case artisan themselves. 

It Was much later that artists themselves gained notoriety and value within society as the artwork was almost always seen as having greater value than the artist themselves.

This has changed considerably if you look at modern day artists such as Damien Hurst or Grayson Perry who, still relatively young are capable of creating many artworks of financial and cultural value within their lifetime. Their life insurance premiums must be high! 

 In the world in which we live today and especially in western society and the likes of Britain what is the modern day role of the artist? Louise Bourgeois - a French/ American artist whom died in just 2010 states “ an artist can show things that other people are terrified of expressing.”

My believe is that in this interconnected society with all it’s platforms for communication it is impossible to not be influenced by what is happening in the cultural/ political climate. Issues such as Brexit, Donald Trump’s Presidency, Equal rights for women and those of different ethnic cultures, LGBT rights, war, terrorism, the big mental health crisis. All these are contemporary issues are being tackled by artists today. 

A contemporary artist does not work in isolation, they are often multi-facetted, highly skilled intellectuals whom have the power to change the world and create shifts within culture; often highlighting political issues, giving credence to causes and holding the rich and powerful decision makers in our country to account. These are the big ideas in art today. Paul Gaugain, a nineteenth century French painter associated with the Impressionist period once said, “I shut my eyes in order to see.” It is only by meditating on our future and thinking about the big ideas, closing our eyes and using our imaginations that we can harness what is needed as artists, to do what is needed for wider society in this era. 

To sum things up. I would like to look at the key debates again. What is art – A transient practice that is ever shifting, gathering momentum to change the culture we live in. Simply a force for good. The big ideas of today, in the culture that we live in must be discussed by the artist in collaboration with others, because it is often through cooperation and working together that a significant cultural shift could occur for the common good.

[beauty-and-the-bookish]

First Up is a Q&A with Valerie Bowman!!!

Q&A with Valerie Bowman

1.    What is your favorite scene in Never Trust a Pirate? 

I truly do love the whole book but I think everything that happens after they get on the ship is especially fun. The book is sort of pre-ship and post-ship.

2.    What's your favorite underappreciated romance novel?

One of my favorite romances ever is Dark Future by KC Klein. It’s a futuristic scifi romance, which is not normally something I gravitate toward (I like to read historical romance!) but I picked up KC’s book and couldn’t put it down. It’s fantastic. She also has me reading contemporary cowboy stories.

 3.    Are you methodical in your writing, certain hours of the day, certain rituals you may perform before you sit down? Or are you one of those writers who binge write when the mood is upon you? 

I’m a binge writer, but it’s not about the mood striking so much as it’s about having more time to write on the weekend because I’m not at my day job.

 4.    Are there particular tropes you are fond of using? 

My favorite trope is probably reunited lovers or old friends who fall in love. I love the brother’s best friend trope, too. I’ve used all of those and am currently writing a story where a married couple (who haven’t seen each other in ten years) are forced to work together again. Of course hijinx (and romance) will ensue!

 5.    What lead you to writing historical romances? 

My love of reading them. I read them a lot as a teenager. They made me so happy.

 6.    How would you describe Never Trust a Pirate using only three words? Racy Regency Romp. That’s how I describe all of my books, actually.

 7.    What is your advice for other writers? 

Write! It’s simple. I see a lot of would-be writers taking classes and reading books about writing but the best thing to do is just write, write, write. Worry about the mechanics later. You do need to study craft and learn the business but you’ve got nothing to improve if you’re not actually writing.

 8.    Do you, or your publisher decide on your beautiful covers?

 If your publisher, do you have any input? My publisher makes the covers for the books and I love them. They send them to me for input but it’s usually quite minimal. They are gorgeous! I’m very lucky.

 9.    Why this setting and why pirates? 

Inquiring minds want to you, or me anyway. I unabashedly love pirates! I love to read stories about them and when I was a kid I wanted to be one. Of course I get horribly seasick and am about the least adventurous person you’d ever meet. Swashbuckling would stress me out. I guess that’s why I have to write about it instead.

 10. What do you do to relax, after a day of writing? And how, do you set your writing day in order to achieve your goal of a certain number of pages?

 My favorite way to relax is to take a nap. I should have been born in a country that embraces the concept of siesta. That’s where I belong. Ha! I don’t count pages so much as I count words. So if I have to get twenty thousand words (about ¼ of a novel) written in a weekend, I would need to write about 6,600 Friday night, 13,000 on Saturday, and 6,600 on Sunday. I have a day job so weekends are very important to me as far as hitting my word count goals.

 11. Another inquiring minds want to you, approximately, how long does it take you to write a full length novel?  How many books can you write in a year? 

It takes me about two months to actually write the novel (working mostly nights and weekends around my full-time job) but it takes months to plot and think about the novel which is why I only write two novels per year.

 12. Which     Hollywood stars would you like to see as the main characters in NEVER     TRUST A PIRATE?

 I actually have a Pinterest board set up with my idea of who all the main characters in the Playful Brides series look like. For Cade Cavendish and Danielle LaCrosse it’s Chris Pine and Zooey Deschanel. You can find the board at: https://www.pinterest.com/valeriegbowman/playfulbrides/.

13. Do you write full time? 

No and I actually have a theory that if I did write full-time I would get much less writing done. I think having to be so disciplined about my writing time forces me to focus. At least that’s what I tell myself.

14. Twitter or Facebook? 

Both!

 15. Favorite TV show? Of all time?

 Gilmore Girls. As for what’s on today, I love Homicide Hunter: Lt Joe Kenda. I’m a sucker for true crime.

 16. Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend? 

My book boyfriend is Jason Fielding from Judith McNaught’s Once and Always. Talk about the perfect tortured hero!

17. What are you reading right now or what’s on your TBR? 

I’m currently reading Kerrigan Byrne’s, The Duke, and I can’t wait to dive into Anna Bennett’s, I Dared the Duke!

18. 2017 Movie you’re most looking forward to? 

I just saw a trailer for Dunkirk and I got goosebumps! I can’t wait. I love WWII-era history almost as much as the Regency.

19. Give us the “elevator pitch” for your new book. I call Never Trust a Pirate: The Scarlet Pimpernel meets Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in Regency England.

20. Series or stand alone? 

 If series do you already have a set number of books that you plan to write? Series. When I began to write the Playful Brides series, I planned three books. I’m happy to say it’s going to be eleven altogether, plus a novella. Plans change!

21. If you could change anything in your past, what would it be and why? 

And how do you think it has affected your writing. – From Judy at Long and Short Reviews, she says hi! Was in a writing group in FL that you spoke at! I would love to go back to my twenty-two year old self and tell her to start writing romance novels right away. Alas, I have no time machine. Frankly, I don’t think my twenty-two year old self had the confidence or the patience to do it. I think life unfolds the way it’s meant to in due time. (Hi Judy!)

22. What literary pilgrimages have you gone on? 

I’ve been to Bath and seen the Jane Austen museum there. Does that count?

23. What are your future project(s)? 

Right now, I’m editing book 8 in the Playful Brides series. It’s called The Right Kind of Rogue and comes out on Halloween. I’m also writing book 9 of the Playful Brides series. And I’m always plotting future books in my head. In this case I’ve already got a lot of ideas for how I’m going to end the series with book #11 (Delilah and Thomas’s book) in Spring 2019.

24. For novices who haven't read a novel of yours what is it that they will find unique in your work?

 I hope they will find a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is filled with humor and heart. Above all, I just want my stories to entertain. I’m not here to give anyone a history lesson. I just want readers to smile and sigh.

25. Do you find that you base any of your characters on people in your life? Have you gotten any inspiration for scenes in your novel from things that have happened to you in real life? 

The entire Playful Brides series was conceived based on my friend’s terrible boyfriend. She wouldn’t break up with him and I kept telling her to let me call him and break up with him for her (I was kidding, sorta). On a drive home from dinner with her one night, after she’d filled my ear yet again with a bunch of stories of the awful things he’d done (forgot her birthday, asked her to pay his cell phone bill), I started thinking how funny it would be if there was a service that you could call to break-up with your boyfriend for you. The opposite of Cyrano de Bergerac. I decided that would be great story and immediately began to think about how I could set it in the Regency. That was the idea for The Unexpected Duchess, the first story in the series.

26. Are there any books or authors that have really influenced you and made you want to write? What about those authors inspired or influenced you?

 Lisa Kleypas was a huge influence on me. I was snowed in at an airport in 2007 and picked up Scandal in Spring. Many hours later (I couldn’t put the book down) I considered giving romance writing a try. She is a brilliant writer and a lovely person both inside and out.

27. Have you read anything lately that you loved? 

Julie Anne Long’s The Legend of Lyon Redmond was sheer perfection if you ask me.

28. Do you usually work off of an outline while writing or do you tend to just start writing and see where the story takes you?

 I don’t have an outline per se, but I sketch out a few sentences for each chapter in my Word .doc so I know where the story is going. I’ve been working lately on making my stories more character driven so I may change this up a bit.

29. What other books or movies or music influenced this novel? 

As with all of the stories in my Playful Brides series, Never Trust a Pirate was inspired by a play. In this case it’s The Scarlet Pimpernel. I loved the concept of a character with dual identities.

  31. What advice do you have for pair wanting to get into the writing field? If you want to write romance, join Romance Writers of America (RWA.org). Hands down it was the best thing I did to learn how to write a romance novel. Leslie Wainger’s book, Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies, is also fantastic.

[anitabyars]

Q&A with Valerie Bowman 1. What is your favorite scene in Never Trust a Pirate? I truly do love the whole book but I think everything that happens after they get on the ship is especially fun. The book is sort of pre-ship and post-ship. 2. What's your favorite underappreciated romance novel? One of my favorite romances ever is Dark Future by KC Klein. It’s a futuristic scifi romance, which is not normally something I gravitate toward (I like to read historical romance!) but I picked up KC’s book and couldn’t put it down. It’s fantastic. She also has me reading contemporary cowboy stories. 3. Are you methodical in your writing, certain hours of the day, certain rituals you may perform before you sit down? Or are you one of those writers who binge write when the mood is upon you? I’m a binge writer, but it’s not about the mood striking so much as it’s about having more time to write on the weekend because I’m not at my day job. 4. Are there particular tropes you are fond of using? My favorite trope is probably reunited lovers or old friends who fall in love. I love the brother’s best friend trope, too. I’ve used all of those and am currently writing a story where a married couple (who haven’t seen each other in ten years) are forced to work together again. Of course hijinx (and romance) will ensue! 5. What lead you to writing historical romances? My love of reading them. I read them a lot as a teenager. They made me so happy. 6. How would you describe Never Trust a Pirate using only three words? Racy Regency Romp. That’s how I describe all of my books, actually. 7. What is your advice for other writers? Write! It’s simple. I see a lot of would-be writers taking classes and reading books about writing but the best thing to do is just write, write, write. Worry about the mechanics later. You do need to study craft and learn the business but you’ve got nothing to improve if you’re not actually writing. 8. Do you, or your publisher decide on your beautiful covers? If your publisher, do you have any input? My publisher makes the covers for the books and I love them. They send them to me for input but it’s usually quite minimal. They are gorgeous! I’m very lucky. 9. Why this setting and why pirates? Inquiring minds want to you, or me anyway. I unabashedly love pirates! I love to read stories about them and when I was a kid I wanted to be one. Of course I get horribly seasick and am about the least adventurous person you’d ever meet. Swashbuckling would stress me out. I guess that’s why I have to write about it instead. 10. What do you do to relax, after a day of writing? And how, do you set your writing day in order to achieve your goal of a certain number of pages? My favorite way to relax is to take a nap. I should have been born in a country that embraces the concept of siesta. That’s where I belong. Ha! I don’t count pages so much as I count words. So if I have to get twenty thousand words (about ¼ of a novel) written in a weekend, I would need to write about 6,600 Friday night, 13,000 on Saturday, and 6,600 on Sunday. I have a day job so weekends are very important to me as far as hitting my word count goals. 11. Another inquiring minds want to you, approximately, how long does it take you to write a full length novel? How many books can you write in a year? It takes me about two months to actually write the novel (working mostly nights and weekends around my full-time job) but it takes months to plot and think about the novel which is why I only write two novels per year. 12. Which Hollywood stars would you like to see as the main characters in NEVER TRUST A PIRATE? I actually have a Pinterest board set up with my idea of who all the main characters in the Playful Brides series look like. For Cade Cavendish and Danielle LaCrosse it’s Chris Pine and Zooey Deschanel. You can find the board at: https://www.pinterest.com/valeriegbowman/playfulbrides/. 13. Do you write fulltime? No and I actually have a theory that if I did write full-time I would get much less writing done. I think having to be so disciplined about my writing time forces me to focus. At least that’s what I tell myself. 14. Twitter or Facebook? Both! 15. Favorite TV show? Of all time? Gilmore Girls. As for what’s on today, I love Homicide Hunter: Lt Joe Kenda. I’m a sucker for true crime. 16. Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend? My book boyfriend is Jason Fielding from Judith McNaught’s Once and Always. Talk about the perfect tortured hero! 17. What are you reading right now or what’s on your TBR? I’m currently reading Kerrigan Byrne’s, The Duke, and I can’t wait to dive into Anna Bennett’s, I Dared the Duke! 18. 2017 Movie you’re most looking forward to? I just saw a trailer for Dunkirk and I got goosebumps! I can’t wait. I love WWII-era history almost as much as the Regency. 19. Give us the “elevator pitch” for your new book. I call Never Trust a Pirate: The Scarlet Pimpernel meets Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in Regency England. 20. Series or stand alone? If series do you already have a set number of books that you plan to write? Series. When I began to write the Playful Brides series, I planned three books. I’m happy to say it’s going to be eleven altogether, plus a novella. Plans change! 21. If you could change anything in your past, what would it be and why? And how do you think it has affected your writing. – From Judy at Long and Short Reviews, she says hi! Was in a writing group in FL that you spoke at! I would love to go back to my twenty-two year old self and tell her to start writing romance novels right away. Alas, I have no time machine. Frankly, I don’t think my twenty-two year old self had the confidence or the patience to do it. I think life unfolds the way it’s meant to in due time. (Hi Judy!) 22. What literary pilgrimages have you gone on? I’ve been to Bath and seen the Jane Austen museum there. Does that count? 23. What are your future project(s)? Right now, I’m editing book 8 in the Playful Brides series. It’s called The Right Kind of Rogue and comes out on Halloween. I’m also writing book 9 of the Playful Brides series. And I’m always plotting future books in my head. In this case I’ve already got a lot of ideas for how I’m going to end the series with book #11 (Delilah and Thomas’s book) in Spring 2019. 24. For novices who haven't read a novel of yours what is it that they will find unique in your work? I hope they will find a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is filled with humor and heart. Above all, I just want my stories to entertain. I’m not here to give anyone a history lesson. I just want readers to smile and sigh. 25. Do you find that you base any of your characters on people in your life? Have you gotten any inspiration for scenes in your novel from things that have happened to you in real life? The entire Playful Brides series was conceived based on my friend’s terrible boyfriend. She wouldn’t break up with him and I kept telling her to let me call him and break up with him for her (I was kidding, sorta). On a drive home from dinner with her one night, after she’d filled my ear yet again with a bunch of stories of the awful things he’d done (forgot her birthday, asked her to pay his cell phone bill), I started thinking how funny it would be if there was a service that you could call to break-up with your boyfriend for you. The opposite of Cyrano de Bergerac. I decided that would be great story and immediately began to think about how I could set it in the Regency. That was the idea for The Unexpected Duchess, the first story in the series. 26. Are there any books or authors that have really influenced you and made you want to write? What about those authors inspired or influenced you? Lisa Kleypas was a huge influence on me. I was snowed in at an airport in 2007 and picked up Scandal in Spring. Many hours later (I couldn’t put the book down) I considered giving romance writing a try. She is a brilliant writer and a lovely person both inside and out. 27. Have you read anything lately that you loved? Julie Anne Long’s The Legend of Lyon Redmond was sheer perfection if you ask me. 28. Do you usually work off of an outline while writing or do you tend to just start writing and see where the story takes you? I don’t have an outline per se, but I sketch out a few sentences for each chapter in my Word .doc so I know where the story is going. I’ve been working lately on making my stories more character driven so I may change this up a bit. 29. Where did you get the inspiration for your main characters? 30. What other books or movies or music influenced this novel? As with all of the stories in my Playful Brides series, Never Trust a Pirate was inspired by a play. In this case it’s The Scarlet Pimpernel. I loved the concept of a character with dual identities. 31. What advice do you have for pair wanting to get into the writing field? If you want to write romance, join Romance Writers of America (RWA.org). Hands down it was the best thing I did to learn how to write a romance novel. Leslie Wainger’s book, Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies, is also fantastic. Author Bio: Valerie Bowman grew up in Illinois with six sisters (she’s number seven) and a huge supply of historical romance novels. After a cold and snowy stint earning a degree in English with a minor in history at Smith College, she moved to Florida the first chance she got. Valerie now lives in Jacksonville with her family including her mini-schnauzer, Huckleberry. When she’s not writing, she keeps busy reading, traveling, or vacillating between watching crazy reality TV and PBS. She is the author of the Secret Brides series, starting with Secrets of a Wedding Night, Secrets of a Runaway Bride, and Secrets of a Scandalous Marriage.

[youaremynewdream]

OC Interview Meme

1. Pick an original character! 

2. Fill in the questions/statements as if you were being interviewed for an article and you were the character/muse.

3. Tag people to do the same: good god I’m actually the worst at tagging people uhhhhh @the-queen-of-thedas, @jxhniarty, @anders-needs-to-chill​, and shit i don’t know, @vivemarco​ is barely on tumblr anymore but you should do this with taahavi. Anyway, anyone else who wants to do this as well please do I’m the worst at remembering tumblr urls, I wish I could search people by like, THE ONE BLUE LADY WHO ALWAYS HAS NICE TAGS you know?

My Inquisitor - Alyndria Lavellan

sorry my pics of her aren’t the best, but this is what I got.  Also I’m basically having this take place pre-temple of mythal.  1. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

Alyndria of Clan Lavellan. 

2. NO SERIOUSLY WHAT IS YOUR REAL NAME?

She looks confused for a moment, but shakes her head anyway

Er... my friends sometimes call me Lindy? Sera tried to call me Al once... it didn’t quite work out... But Alyndria is my name at birth. And I’m not counting Inquisitor as a part of my name.  I hate titles... 

3. DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU WERE CALLED THAT?

She squints her eyes for a moment

Er.... sorry it’s been a while but I think it had something to do with like “The blood of the earth” or something... But not exactly that.  I’m not sure, if you ask my father I bet he could give you a novel on why he named me that.  I just never really gave it much thought I guess. 

4. ARE YOU SINGLE OR TAKEN?

She smiles, looks down for a moment, a bit embarrassed

I am happily taken at the moment.  We try to keep our privicy but we all know how well secrets are kept these days, so yes I am quite content with my current er... romantic life. 

5. DO YOU HAVE ANY ABILITIES OR POWERS?

I’m a damned good hunter if that’s what you mean.  I do a mean backflip.  I once managed to jump over both The Iron Bull and Blackwall in one fell swoop without hitting anyone! That’s talent. 

she looks at her hand for a moment

Oh yeah I also got this mark that lets me close rifts so that’s a thing

6. STOP BEING A GARY STU.

...she blinks

I’m sorry... what? 

7. WHAT IS YOUR EYE COLOR?

A light teal. I chose this vallaslin color to match them, it makes me happy I guess. she shrugs

8. HOW ABOUT YOUR HAIR COLOR?

A sort of light red, strawberry blonde I guess. Or “a squashy orange” if you ask Sera.  Just... word of advice, don’t ask Sera anything about me. Please. 

9. HAVE YOU ANY FAMILY MEMBERS?

She nods, starts using her fingers to count.

Well there’s my father, Sovenal, and my mother Melania, though she passed when I was very young.  And then I have five older brothers, Bearach, Torin, Shay, Riordan, and Mi’Inan.  I know I’m a blighted cliche but I can’t help it. Torin is actually the first of my clan, though the rest of us don’t have any magic.  I’m by far the best hunter though.  Creators know they didn’t help me learn how to use a bow. 

10. I SEE… WHAT ABOUT PETS?

An evil looking grin reaches her face.

Let me tell you about the beauty of domesticated nugs-

After several minutes of nug talk, the interviewer insisted they move on.  Leliana could be heard laughing somewhere in the background. 

11. TELL ME ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DON’T LIKE.

If every spider could just disappear I would fight twenty more dragons. At once. Right now. 

12.  DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES/ACTIVITIES YOU LIKE DOING?

Yes! I sing actually! I swear if I was born an orlesian human I would have been an amazing bard. Alas... Oh also I like to paint and craft.  I make all my own bows, and I love decorating and making clothes and sometimes I help Solas paint his murals.  It’s nice. 

She smiles

13. EVER HURT ANYONE BEFORE?

she blinks a few times.

I’m a hunter. An assasin hunter. Do you think I’ve lived this long with this mark on my hand by flirting alone? 

she whispers under her breath Maker knows I’ve tried... 

14. EVER…KILLED ANYONE BEFORE?

I... was I not quite clear in my previous answer? I’m a trained assassin. I mean, I don’t always take pleasure in it, it would be lovely if the world could be changed without bloodshed.  But sometimes you have to make decisions that save more lives in the end.  It’s about survival. 

15. WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL ARE YOU?

I’m an elf... but if you mean what animal I feel most like... probably a Halla. I almost chose Ghilan’nain’s vallaslin actually. Beautiful, strong creatures.  Such good friends. 

16. NAME ONE OF YOUR WORST HABITS.

She takes a look at her hands. 

I am absolutely the worst at keeping my nails long. I keep picking at them all the time, I guess when I’m anxious. Josephine is always bugging me about getting manicures and I don’t have the heart to tell her I barely have anything there to make look pretty...

17. DO YOU LOOK UP TO ANYONE AT ALL?

Of course! I look up to most of those around me for different reasons.  Cassandra is strong and gives great advice, Josephine always knows the right thing to say, Solas has so much knowledge and intelligence.  Cullen, Iron Bull, Leliana, Varric, Dorian, even Vivienne I all look up to.  Everyone has something that makes them extroridary, and I can learn from all of them.  

She laughs

Yes, even Sera. She teaches me all the time, I have to remember to let go and put people first.  She may get on your nerves, but the girl has a great heart, and I admire her for it. 

18. SEXUAL ORIENTATION?

Yes. 

She pauses for a second. 

Okay I mean, if you have a brain and walk on two legs I’m probably attracted to you. I’ve been with human women, elven men, I’ve had a fling with a few dwarves once. Can’t really remember that one too well, there was a lot of ale. But gender isn’t really important to me.  Everyone is so beautiful, if your heart matches your beauty then why should I not be attracted to you? 

She winks at the interviewer and laughs

19. DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL?

Well... the Dalish don’t really have “school”. You learn every day, from the keeper, the elders, each other, nature.  We do learn to read of course, and study a lot of history.  You can learn a lot from nature, and when that’s your whole world... you don’t really need much else.  

I will say, however, that the Inquisition has given me a lot more chances to learn than I did alone with my clan. The library is huge! and have you met Dagna yet? If you can stand listening to her for a few hours on end she really knows her stuff. 

20. DO YOU EVER WANT TO MARRY AND HAVE KIDS ONE DAY?

She shifts awkwardly for a moment

I can’t say I haven’t thought about it... but right now with the world on the brink of ending it’s a bit hard to think of anything outside of the moment. 

But... yes.  Someday. It would be nice to at least have the option. 

21. WHAT ARE YOU MOST AFRAID OF?

She lets out one sarcastic laugh

Can I say spiders again? she sighs. I guess... being alone.  Like alone alone. she shivers.  Can we move on? 

22. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY WEAR?

If I had a choice, I’d wear my clan’s typical light hunter gear.  It’s swift and allows me to pass through places easily.  But... Josephine Leliana and Vivienne have all insisted I keep up appearances, so people don’t see me as “savage.” She scoffs.

It’s stupid, and I don’t listen sometimes... but I have gotten more into fashion and I will say... I’m pretty fond of my fancy Inquisitor uniform.  It makes me feel more confident. Hehe...

But screw smallclothes I'm not about that life you can't convince me otherwise. She winks again.  The interviewer isn't sure whether they are attracted to her or intimidated.  They continue.

23. DO YOU LOVE SOMEONE?

Yes.  I love my... er I hate labels.  Can I just call him my Solas? Is that weird? He's not Dalish so I don't think he'd really appreciate being called my bond or anything.  But yes I love him very much. Very very much.  He's mine don't you take him. Unless you ask kindly and I'm allowed to be there as well.

she leans into the interviewer and the interviewer coughs. writes something down. Blushes.

24. WHAT CLASS ARE YOU? (HIGH/MIDDLE/LOW)

I'm an elf. a Dalish elf. I'm barely a step above a slave from Tevinter so I'll let you put that together yourself.

25. HOW MANY FRIENDS DO YOU HAVE?

Ah! Yes! Here we go! she cracks her knuckles and scoots closer to the interviewer and pulls their shirt front to stare directly into their eyes

I love my friends more than myself. I would kill for them. I have killed for them.  Dorian is my soul and Cassandra is my bow arm and Varric is my tongue.  Cole is... i'm not sure, my mind? And bull is my foot.  I kick things very hard with that foot. And if you mess with

any

of them, you will die.

She releases the interviewer and scoots back into her seat. Takes a swig of her drink.

So yeah I guess I have like... 6 friends? Idk I lost count everyone's my buddy. My pal.

interviewer exhales again and makes mental notes to maybe stop flirting with the Iron Bull

26. THOUGHTS ON PIE?

Ugh... Only thing they are good for is throwing at people with Sera.

The interviewer frowns

Oh come on don't look at me like that.  It's like liquid fruity cake... I'd rather just have cake! Fluffy happy delicious cake

27. FAVORITE DRINK?

Wine. I'm a sucker for that shite. I sold so many furs to buy it from human villages back when I was with my clan, but now I can get the good shite.

she raises her glass, the interviewer clinks them together and they drink

28. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE?

Forests.  The Emerald Graves especially. I swear I would die happy if I could just live back in the forests someday.  Ugh, just drown me in green light and the smell of elfroot. Please!

29. WOULD YOU RATHER SWIM IN THE LAKE OR THE OCEAN?

Hmm... Ocean.  Though I'm not a huge swimmer, I'd rather just stare at the waves.

30. ARE YOU INTERESTED IN ANYONE?

She downs her glass and pours herself another glass.

Okay love, I get it.  If you want to tumble around with me I'm not going to say no, we just have to ask my love if it's alright first okay? I'm sure he'll be fine as long as he's allowed to join.  You in?

Interviewer blushes, swallows, looks around for a second, nods very fervently. Blurts out the next question...

31. WHAT’S YOUR D.CK SIZE?

Alyndria bursts out laughing

Now THAT's what I'm talking about!! Alas, I'm lacking in such an appendage.  But if you're interested in my offer, you won't be displeased by the other party I'll give you that....

32. WELL, WHAT’S YOUR TYPE?

Sweetheart you just want me to say that it's you, so I will. I mean it's not a lie, I do enjoy works of art.

She winks. Interviewer keeps writing, faster now.

AND WHAT ATTRACTS YOU?

Eyes. Hair. Or lack there of... arms, laughter, intelligence... I'm not sure... I like arses?

33. ANY FETISHES?

Alyndria spits out her wine and laughs

Wow you really ARE interested aren't you? Well darlin, you'll have to find out that one for yourself.  

she pours more wine in the interviewer's glass

Drink up love, you might not last this interview if you keep blushing like that.

34. SEME OR UKE? TOP OR BOTTOM? DOMINANT OR SUBMISSIVE?

I... is that Rivani or something? But I can be both dominant and submissive.  I like to take turns.  

35. CAMPING INDOORS OR OUTDOORS?

Outdoors.  I love the stars, the smell of the earth, the feeling of life around me.  I crave it.

36. ARE YOU WANTING THE QUIZ TO END?

Alyndria laughs as she stands up with glass in hand.

Not as much as I'm sure you are, love. Come on, let's go inquire Solas about my offer.  Bring the wine, he might need a glass or two.  

She kisses the interviewer on the cheek and laughs as she walks away.

The interviewer smiles as they grab their writing materials and wine and hurry after the inquisitor.

- Thanks to @elven-sidhe for the tag!! This was super fun and i didn’t expect it to go the way it did bahahha

also lawl @chelleinhelle you should do this for someone this was hilarious