#anyways have a fascinating worldbuilding detail

[marlynnofmany]

"You need necromancy to fix a rotten board."

Highlight from a conversation about airship mechanics, and the way you can't just remove rot the same way you'd remove paint or bloodstains. See, rot isn't so much a thing that befouls a surface so much as a sign of what has occurred. Like burn marks.

You gotta regrow the damaged area, and we all know what branch of magic handles regrowing dead material.

("And that's above my pay grade," says the mechanic. "Or above board, if you'll pardon the pun.")

[slitheringghost]

Lily Evans Fic Rec List

Part One: Blood Magic

These fics incorporate a Lily who did intentional magic to defeat Voldemort rather than the "it was Love" explanation. If anyone has more recs along this line, please please leave it replies/reblogs, I'm always looking for more!

the stranger in the shell of a lover by @slashmarks (Snape/Lily, 11.3k, T)

Rec: Slashmarks writes my favorite Lily of all time, and this is the literal best concept - Lily as DADA teacher who breaks Voldemort's Defense curse, with a hilarious and compelling Snape/Lily teacher romance.

This was very like Sev. He was good and he was bad; she loved him and hated him and it was simply a coin toss which would come out on top at any given occasion. He was her first best friend and the closest she had ever had, the boy she had snuck out at night to meet and whisper about her fights with Tuney and who had in turn muttered recalcitrant confessions about his parents' fights. They had made up spells together, learned about illegal magic and acquired the first gasps of the skills they would use in the war: Sev to kill and Lily to save. He was the only person she had ever let read pieces of her diary. He had spent years helping torment her muggleborn friends until finally she had refused to let him make her an exception, and then she had been included, too.

The Art Of Dying by The_wig_is_a_metaphor (James/Lily, 11.4k, M)

Rec: I love the magical worldbuilding details in here, Lily’s dynamic with Dorcas, and conflict with James over Dark magic.

“Lily—it's not a waste of time—the power of names—” “Is a superstition, like everything else—like your fear of me, and of what I'm doing—oh yes, you think I haven't noticed?” Lily sneers, and it's a strange, ugly expression that makes her face look wrong and unfamiliar. “You think I haven't noticed how you avoid me? How you can't stand to touch me, or my son? How you hate me for what I made you watch—what I made you do? So reluctant to contribute even a moment of pain for the safety of my son—” 'My son', again. Not 'our son'.

where dust was once a man by slashmarks (Lily/Narcissa, 3.3k, T)

Rec: A Lily Comes Back Wrong/is semi-resurrected fic - the writing is stunning and it utilizes the parallels between Lily and Narcissa, and Lily and Voldemort, so well. Plus there's a great Narcissa and Bellatrix dynamic.

"Poor Narcissa Black," said Lily Evans, mocking, from her bedroom inside Malfoy Manor. She spoke to Narcissa by the name Narcissa still called herself in her head, the unmarried youngest Black sister forever in her mind. "You have what you wanted, don't you? Your pureblood husband, your ancestral manor, your pureblood son. You have your sister back, the only sister you deign to acknowledge, and you have your service to a Dark Lord, but it isn't what you thought it would be, is it? He's going to take your son, the same way he tried to take mine... But you won't do what I did. You can't do what I did, but I don't think you'd want to anyway."

we’re already in the aftermath by slashmarks (Sirius/Lily/Remus, 15.8k, T)

Rec: Master of Death Lily grappling with her and Harry surviving post 1981 and magical Britain's reaction to her post defeating Voldemort, with a dark and fascinating spin on James/Lily.

Lily had been dead for months in a very literal sense. She had planned for this, of course; planned and calculated and bargained for Death to take her place and leave her waiting, asleep more than gone. She hadn't known what it would feel like: the waking, the return to life, the horrifying, nauseating fear and the relief and the guilt. Harry was alive. Harry was fine. James was not, and it was her fault. She had planned for James's death and accepted it as a part of the price of her bargain with Death. If James had been willing to go along with what she was doing, to hear about it and help and participate, she might have saved him. She might have tried to persuade him anyway, but of course she had seen his horrified objection to even so much as she had to do for Dumbledore to break Voldemort's curses and had known better.

defector of a kind by slashmarks (Sirius/Lily, Lily & Marlene, Orion & Sirius, 7.8k, T)

Rec: A fic about Lily getting involved in the political situation during the First War, with really fascinating Orion characterization.

Voldemort was supposed to have mastered death, and bragged about it constantly. Lily was going to beat him at his own game – but first she had to understand it. - Sirius sighed. "Did you really write to my cousin and tell her she and the – and Voldemort screwed up a curse analysis?" "Yeah, I really did. Fifth year." "Jeezus," Sirius said, imitating Mary – not Lily. She had known she needed to blend by the time she started first year, from Sev. It was a strange kind of caution that had governed her cursing and her clothes, even the length she let her mother cut her hair as a child, but hadn't told her not to write letters correcting the leaders of a fascist revolution in their intellectual endeavors.

Lily Potter & the Lightning Bolt Scar by rosestone (Sirius & Lily, Harry & Lily, 15.5k, T)

Rec: Lily is resurrected by the Golden Trio; absolutely fantastic Lily characterization. Rosestone also wrote the fic Cure centered on an OC which incorporates Lily deflecting the Killing Curse intentionally.

"You're probably thinking about that time I booby-trapped that old Order safehouse before the Death Eaters got there." Sirius scoffed as he shoved a pile of blankets away.  "You booby-trapped it while they were blasting the wards down!  You almost killed yourself doing whatever that ritual was you made up on the bloody fly - and wasn't that a nice thing to discover while I was trying to drag you out, that you were playing with magic the Ministry outlawed for a damn good reason like it was Baby's First Potion-Making Kit -" - Magic surged around Lily, dangerous and wild and full of possibility, and she laughed.  Maybe this would go wrong.  Maybe she'd drag her own soul out alongside the horcrux.  But right now - right now, with magic curled around her like a lover's caress, she wasn't sure she believed anything could go wrong ever again. Voldemort wouldn't know what hit him.

The Recruitment by silenceinwinter2019 (James/Lily, 8.4k, T)

Rec: This explores Voldemort recruiting Lily to the Death Eaters. I adore the interactions between Voldemort and Lily, and Bellatrix and Lily, in this.

She barked out a laugh. “Am I supposed to kiss your feet with teary thanks now? Singing thank you, my lord for letting me live over my son’s corpse? Geez, what kind of fucked up family did you have?” Those red eyes were unreadable, but his magic closed in on her, and it smoldered, turning oppressive. “If your mind is made to die with your spawn, I will not waste my time convincing you otherwise,” he said. “Let your foolish Gryffindor honor serve you right then.”

Part Two

Groundhog day by @artemisia-black (James/Lily, Harry & Lily, Harry & James, 900 words, G)

Rec: A beautiful snapshot of the Potter family with such vivid descriptions.

And as a squeal of Harry's laughter washed over her, her heart beat a rhythm of contradiction—each beat a testament to the love that overflowed for the small, fragile life they had created. Yet, each beat pulsed with an undercurrent of fear so palpable it threatened to consume her. The love she held for Harry was a fierce, enveloping entity; it cocooned him in an embrace so tight that the thought of anything piercing that cocoon sent tremors through her. 

but tonight your hand is steady by @broomsticks/leftsidedown (James/Lily, 1.8k, T)

Rec: "Five times Lily walked away and one time she stayed" - a wonderful character study.

That first night she thought she’d be able to appreciate forever how this new world sparkled—its floating candles and starry-sky ceilings and the talking paintings and walking suits of armour—but a week was all she got. She’d been so focused on getting to her next class—left around the marble bust of Warwick the Whatever, up two flights of stairs��or was it just one? What day of the week was this again?—that she registered the hard shove against her shoulder only when she hit the ground, quills snapping and inkpots shattering.

Stay Close by @turanga4 (Lily & Harry, 389 words, T)

Rec: A evocative and heartbreaking mini fic about The Forest Again.

Her beautiful boy, resting in her arms in the place where she belonged. Her brave, gentle son, laying murdered on this ground. It wouldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t hurt. But the idea of it pierced her more keenly than even her own death had, more even than meeting his starved eyes through the Mirror. Time must have meant something. Pain must have been possible. She remembered that she had wept as she beamed at him, and he’d seemed to do the same. Seeing, now, her child grown up and standing in the Forest, she found herself longing for a thing that she recoiled from, and felt herself caught between the sadness and the joy.

three knocks upon the door by @lunapwrites (Lily/Tonks, Sirius & Lily & Remus, 6.9k, E)

Rec: A Lily/Tonks casefic that sold me on the ship, and I especially love Lily's dynamic with Sirius and Remus in this. These characters are all feral and wild and in love with each other.

No, it was rather more the fact that Lily Potter had emerged from thin air behind her with the unconscious body of the real Ministry official Tonks was impersonating and dropped him at Lupin’s feet like a fresh kill. It was the fact that at a nod from her, Black and Lupin both fell upon him like a pair of starving dogs.

wrest up by the root by leftsidedown (Lily/Astoria, 200 words, M)

Rec: The rarepair I never knew I needed, and such an effective fic in so few words. These lines absolutely haunted me:

Shouts in the distance, but she heard only a whisper: “The only perfect mother is a dead one.”

flowers kiss and miss by leftsidedown (Lily/Narcissa, 1.4k, T)

Rec: Stunning writing and characterization through several mini fics weaved together.

That redhead Gryffindor who hangs with that Snape boy — Evans — has some awfully odd ideas. She thinks mermaids are red-haired. She thinks they sing. She thinks they’re beautiful.

some such trouble cling like vines by slashmarks (Snape & Lily, Lily & Harry, Lily & Mary, 3.4k, T)

Rec: An HBP canon divergent fic where Harry finds a box of Lily's letter in Snape's office right after Snape kills Dumbledore. The Lily voice in her letters is so wonderful and accurate to canon.

I've had about a million ideas for that potion we were working on. They're attached but promise me you won't try them until I'm back at school! First of all I'd never forgive you if I didn't get to see how they work out, but second you know it's not safe to experiment alone. Especially with a potion you'll be trying on yourself. Really, promise me - I enchanted the letter so once you get this far you have to promise me out loud or it'll all go blank, including my notes...

Defying Divination by shaggydogstail (Lily/Alice, Lily/Narcissa, Lily/Rosmerta, Lily & Sirius, Lily & Severus, T, 32k)

Rec: A lovely weaving in of tarot in this, and includes some of my favorite Lily femslash and Lily and Sirius friendship. Shaggydogstail writes an excellent Lily in general, reccing all their fics with her!

Professor Dammerall was a nice enough man, made bearable by the fact that he didn’t seem to take his own lessons too seriously, but Lily still found it difficult to concentrate on the meanings of shapes in tea dregs or crystal balls. There seemed to be an extraordinary number of rules, all of them fuzzy and indefinite, and she never could quite absorb them all. Underneath it all, Lily resisted the idea of Divination, of a future mapped out and governed by the fates. She never had much liked being told what to do.

a meeting of the minds by slashmarks (Sirius/Lily, 3.6k, E)

Rec: I've recced this a billion times but it remains a fave.

"Merlin, you're gorgeous," Sirius said, once he had her bra off (with minimal fumbling, but then he had dated the muggleborn Valerie Webster last year before her whole family was killed, so this was no large surprise). "Sweet of you," Lily said cynically but she also took his hands and put them, lightly, on her chest, so it had worked well for him. "You can touch, you know," she said, and was unable to keep it from coming out shyly. "Thank you," Sirius said, sincerely - she could really see why half of the school was in love with him, damn it -

[the-au-collector]

Four is Jesus (Part 2)

@not-freyja I did not forget about this! I just had too many incoherent thoughts I needed to sort out, but now I have some more thoughts for my whole “Four is Jesus” headcanon.

What roadblocked me a lot was that the religion of Hylia is already very heavily based in Christian motifs and symbols. So I really want to shout out @trash-aged-like-fine-wine for their reblog of my post (read it here seriously) which helped me figure out some things like:

pre-four swords era = the old testament

Four sealing away darkness = "dying for our sins"

the Palace of the Four Swords = the cave Jesus was buried in

So with that out of the way I had to figure out the details of Four's sacrficie. Since the religion is Christian-like and idk if crucifixion would fit into Legend of Zelda, I don’t want Four to just get crucified but I also didn’t know how to make him sacrifice himself in a way that could somehow create a cross motif. Then I thought about getting stabbed/sealing yourself in a sword. It fits for sacrifice. And swords kinda look like crosses. The idea is that over time the religious motif of a sword simplified into a cross shape.

This is the direction I think I want my Christian-like religion to go. It’s a split from the normal Hylian religion, kind of like how Christianity split from Judaism. So Hylia is still the main god, but some subset of Hylians decided Four was somehow related to Hylia. Those details are still in the works. I’m thinking maybe he was brought down from the sky or something since he’s the Hero of the Minish and the Minish reportedly came from the sky. Religion does have an element of truth to it (spiritual religions are based in nature, most polytheistic gods have something to do with natural forces, Jesus was a real person who existed. This is the sort of thing is what I’m talking about), but the thing that’s really fascinating to me is how humans interpret it into being divine. So I’m both focusing on the real thing that happened, and how people would later interpret it.

Which brings me to Four’s sacrifice. Most of my fics and worldbuilding overlap, so I’m going to just *nabs my idea for Ruthlessness from my Cost of Courage/Epic AU*. Four sacrifices himself for Shadow by either being killed by a powerful foe (no it’s not Fierce Deity like in my Epic AU that detail might be changing anyway) or, more likely, sealing himself into the Four Sword to save Shadow (which I said in my previous post could be interpreted as saving everyone, since the idea is that people believe Shadow is the manifestation of our sins.) This is seen as the Ultimate Sacrifice. This opens up very valid beliefs of a second coming. It also can kind of explain the cross motif without making Four have to get crucified. And best yet, it’s at least semi-canon compliant.

I know Four’s games (and I think he’s also merged with the Hero of Men from Minish Cap’s opening???) can somehow be interpreted as religious stories. Especially with the light force thing going on, and literally killing a demon thing. And I know I’m also going to pull stories from my Lorule worldbuilding (it’s coming! It’s coming!), so I think there’s enough there to theoretically make a religious book promoting similar ideas to Christianity. I cannot stress enough that I’m aiming for Christian-like instead of “hey let’s dump Christianity with no extra thought into LoZ for the fun of it.” Most of things that make Christianity Christianity don’t even exist in LoZ!

But uh yeah. Here’s more thoughts on that. Lorule stuff will come in a part 3… eventually.

[another-lost-mc]

I love how you did a better job with the worldbuilding than solmare ever did. I’m literally still interested in this game because of your blog. I had a discussion with my sister about how annoying it is that some characters always behave the same, like beelzebub being hungry all the time. I dislike how solmare didn’t put a lot of effort into understanding the sins. They were just like, 'Oh, gluttony? Let’s make this demon hungry all the time' while the actual sin is more about overconsumption in general. So, I was curious how you felt about that lack of depth. Like for example when you write about your oc’s or other characters where the sins play a role, do you have like solmare’s version in mind or do you go think deeper than that?

Oh, that's such a nice compliment that you enjoy some of the world building nonsense I like to ramble about. 🤗 I can literally talk about this stuff all day.

The upside to Solmare's neglect of those nitty-gritty details is that players have more room to explore the other possibilities. I love how everyone in this community has their own headcanons and beliefs to shape their view of the game world and its characters. This community is so creative! I've read so many other ideas that are fascinating and more in-depth than what Solmare have written themselves, and while my ideas won't appeal to everyone, it's nice to have this space to explore them anyway.

When it comes to my personal worldbuilding, sins are really important to fleshing out all the different motivations and goals characters have. I agree that a lot of the characters have the odd moment to shine, but otherwise are lumped into the lazy stereotype of their character. It's really annoying.

Part of the problem with having so many characters and trying to give them screen time is that none of them get developed beyond easily recognizable traits: Beel eating nonstop, Satan being obsessed with cats, Mammon complaining about being broke, Asmo's narcissism and flirtations. Even with the events, some of their choices are missed opportunities to highlight characters in ways we don't normally get to see. Beel being the highlight character for a Fangol or sports-themed event? Nah, throw Barbatos in there because Beel can show up when there's food around. Like yes, okay, we get it. But what else is there? If Solmare won't explore beyond the bare minimum interpretation of their sins, the players just have to do it themselves.

My personal solution for that is two-fold: assigning a secondary sin for each character to add more nuance/depth to their view of the world and their place in it, and expanding the interpretation of their sins beyond the literal meanings. Demon royalty, as leaders of the Devildom and the most powerful embodiments of sin, may have multiple sins that influence their leadership styles and priorities.

(I have some ideas for angelic virtues and elemental alignments, but that's a subject for another post.)

Some other ideas tied to my headcanons about sins include:

Demons have extremely long life spans and I think it's natural for their secondary sins to shift over time as their environment and circumstances change. (I think in extreme situations, a demon's primary sin may also change - this is something I imagine happened with Diavolo's father.)

Certain types of demons are naturally drawn to one sin more than others. Crow demons, as a part of Mammon's cohort of demons, tend to be Greed-aligned. Not all Lust demons are incubi, but all incubi/succubi are Lust demons. Lesser demons - the ones that make up the foot soldiers of the Devildom's legions, tend to be aligned with Wrath or Envy which empowers their capabilities in times of war with the angels/other realms.

Demons that are exorcised and respawn later may have different sin alignments than their previous incarnations.

Fallen angels demonstrate early "warning signs" of their sin(s) at some point prior to being cast out of the Celestial Realm. Their natures truly manifest once their transformation from angel to demon is complete after falling to the Devildom.

The canon cast and OCs all have designated primary and secondary sins. I know some of the combinations for the OCs in particular might seem a little...odd...but that's because the interpretation of their sin goes beyond "greed = money-hungry" or "gluttony = over-eating". Some of the sins have some overlapping tendencies too. Here are examples of how the OCs' primary sins manifest for them:

Karasu & Greed - Karasu might not appreciate spending or earning money the way Mammon does, but he appreciates wealth of all sorts. Not only money, but knowledge. His nest is a hoard of the riches he's accumulated over his long life, earned through his lifetime's work. Other hints of this sin peek through in his romantic relationships: he wants to be praised, to worship and be worshipped, to have his lover's time and attention and focus solely on him. He gives all of himself in return - an equal exchange, but not one made lightly either.

Azra & Lust - It's not just about sex, but it does play a significant part in how his sin manifests. After a long list of poor choices made with good intentions, he ultimately fell from the Celestial Realm because what he wanted - his relationship with Meta, one that he didn't think was possible if they remained angels under Father's strict thumb - outweighed everything else in his mind. When he fell, he became an incubus, and in a way it damned him to a life where he is forced to feed his sexual appetites with anyone but the one person he desired most.

Tenebris & Gluttony - He was obsessed with finding ways to make himself powerful and worthy in the eyes of the nobility and his father. He embarked on a very selfish and relentless pursuit of knowledge and power that would enhance his naturally gifted magical abilities. Those efforts led to him gorging himself not on food but on humans. Not just their souls either, but their flesh and blood and bones - all harvested without guilt or shame, to be used for his magical experiments and to fuel his spell work. He nearly killed himself in the process but he justified it in his mind as necessary. It was only his indirect involvement in Bathin's exorcism, and the shame and guilt that came after, that finally convinced him to stop and reflect on what he had done.

Related world building posts:

Primary and Secondary Sin Alignments

Demon Royalty & Sin

Diavolo's Father: Sins of the Demon King

[sere-ness-ima]

Arguments against giving personifications a universal language (or another method of communicating with each other immediately and without any problem)

(Ok, this was a little clickbaity. First of all, I absolutely don’t intend to say that whoever does it is wrong. Like everything in Hetalia worldbuilding, it’s a matter of personal preference and goals we set for our story. Additionally I absolutely think that heavy focus on this matter would be detrimental for the story and unapproachable by audience other than a couple of crazy linguists.

Unfortunately I happen to be a crazy linguist, so here’s what I actually mean by this post:)

Fun linguistic things to consider in the context of Hetalia :D

Now, personally, I feel like the universal language takes away from the naturality of their relationships, *especially* so-called “first contact”, but not only that. Language is an enormous part of international relationships through the ages and removing this part from the equation results in the personifications not experiencing this side of their people’s history.

Sometimes in a story you don’t want two nations to understand each other. It happens. I’d much rather have choice than create a rule that takes this possibility from me.

The question of “which languages these two characters share” is interesting; it silently reminds of their history and points to cultural circles they belong to, as a subtle storytelling tool. (Other than that, deciding that is insanely fun, but this might be a linguist thing?)

Languages can be symbolic for other details of relationships. Think Lithuania speaking outdated Polish, from 19th century at best, because he didn’t have many opportunities to catch-up with the living language after that, now they’re not together with Poland anymore. [/personal hc, but even if they were, I think he’d still lag behind].

Another case, think a weaker country speaking the language of the stronger country, never the other way around, indicating a power imbalance between them.

Think a weaker country [personally I’m thinking a friend’s Serbia] absolutely refusing to speak the language of the stronger country, forcing them to seek compromises or use an interpreter or more drastic measures.

The lingua franca, whatever it would be, automatically carries a huge cultural and social influence with it. I believe the personifications should be prone to it too.

Another linguist thing, but I find communication struggles fascinating and endearing. There’s so much cultural exchange to be drawn from a second language user: which parts of learning are difficult for them, which are easy; what mistakes they make and how are these influenced by their native speech; what words do they choose to use, what do they think a chair’s gender is, do they sound soft or harsh or have an accent? If two Slavs talk to each other in English, is it correct English or do they use Slavic pronunciation and grammar to make it easier for themselves, causing a distress for each anglophone that hears them?

Another linguist thing, but a lot of pairs of countries that technically don’t have a common language can probably communicate with ease anyway. I want to see them go wild. I want to see them make a mixtape out of their French and Latin to talk to an Italian, I want distant Asian countries to talk to each other in English that no actual English person would understand, I want to see Latin America NOT understanding each other despite theoretically all speaking Spanish. And I want to see two distant countries find out that their only common language is something completely unexpected they’ve studied out of boredom.

I want to see the poor couple of nations without decent linguistic skills SUFFER.

Some of you speak like not having a common language was an unconquerable obstacle that would destroy all the fun and be a giant problem in the storyline. But I don’t really see how? Our ancestors did it. They travelled, they met other nations and they had to learn how to communicate with them. Some of them saw the opposite thing happen: they used to understand their neighbours without problem, but as the nations found themselves under different influences, the languages drifted away from each other until the similarities became unrecognizable. People across the ages have been learning languages, travelling and communicating. There are teachers, translators (my friend Laurynas says he’d like to see translators acknowledged), interpreters, etymology, lingua franca and body language all for them to use. I am not 25 yet and I speak 4, with a certain pain I can communicate in 6, and I could probably visit 100 countries of the world without worrying about the language issue at all. My nations are 100 years old. I just don’t think they need additional help. They'll slay :D

There were a couple ideas I’ve seen pro-universal language that I liked, so thought I’d share:

One, as beetroot said, being able to communicate with one personification doesn’t mean the countries wouldn’t have to learn languages, as the rest of the society wouldn’t be able to understand it. Therefore, most of these “fun linguist things” would appear anyway, just not between personifications. For me it’s a bummer, although acceptable. For someone else it can be more than enough.

Two, a quote from my friend Huku:

“Universal language is also a thing that helps them identify each other, which is a cool trick. It explains why, upon finding a personification in a swamp, the nation knows that this child is a personification and not some random mortal. Besides, nations from distant cultures also find it hard to communicate initially, because maybe the language is universal, but the context is foreign, the metaphors unreadable, the wording strange.”

Three, at first I didn't like morgenlich’s version that the language “can’t be written down because of magic”, but after seeing a suggestion that it wouldn’t be an actual language, just a mysterious way of understanding each other, the idea sounds more approachable to me. Cheers!

[liesmyth]

"I have thoughts about what the consumer needs market looks like in the Houses but nobody needs to hear that." i need to hear that 👂

(original post with headcanons about the Nine Houses economy)

It's just musings! Mostly, I'm fascinated by how the Nine Houses go hard with their nineteenth-century aesthetic, and seem to view what we'd consider "technology" as pretty outdated and kind of silly. At the same time... they have space shuttles and the like. But also, their space shuttles probably run on thanergy to some extent alongside fuels, and the steles have to be bathed in human blood. I wonder what their manufacturing industry looks like; do they even have a concept of mass production? We know they have mining operations and automated systems, but... what if their automation is just constructs?

So basically, I think their "luxury" / "consumer goods" market relies heavily on craftsmanship and artisanal manufacturing, even for items that aren't necessarily luxury. I'm curious about how widespread that sector of the economy is -- I could see it going both ways; maybe there's actually a thriving consumer good economy in some Houses, where people actually buy new clothes with a lot of frequency even if they aren't that well off, a whole class of professions we don't get to see from Gideon and Harrow's POVs. OR it's a very tiny part of the economy: maybe there are only a few craftspeople on Trentham who make clothes that aren't Cohort-issue, and getting a new dress is kind of a big deal, and most items are passed down or handmade or otherwise refurbished. The second one is my guess because it fits with the general aesthetic of the series + the general idea of a society stretched thin for resources. After all, they live in mostly very unhospitable situations. But also! Maybe the Seventh House make their living exporting beautiful things, and the Ninth can't afford any because they're poor as dirt.

Anyway. The Ninth export lace. I know this in my bones

I hope this all makes sense! Basically I love to overthink the everyday mundane details of TLT worldbuilding

[altraviolet]

'remembered how he used the groundbridges on the Nemesis'. any chance you still remember/have the notes for whatever slice of detailed sciencey explanation worldbuilding you came up with? that sounds interesting, pls elaborate. what do you meaaan :D

I didn't worldbuild anything sciencey for it, but I can talk about it a little bit

here are the times it's mentioned/hinted at in the fic (that I can find easily/remember atm):

The ability to summon/make space/ground bridges is a fundamentally powerful one. SW associates it with his "mythological" self- his hypercompetent self on the Nemesis. So when you trace this thread, you will find it's interwoven with how SW regards himself.

First mention/hint in Ch 4:

Soundwave had never made a habit of sleeping... 2) it contributed to the mythology the crew of the Nemesis developed about him...

That mythology was based in truths. No, Soundwave couldn't read minds. But he could patch into any part of the Nemesis to access its audio/visual feeds. ... And, no, he couldn't generate his own ground bridges. He wouldn't have been stuck in the shadowzone for years if that were true. But he had been able to direct the Nemesis's considerable power for that purpose- a feat undoable by any other.

Soundwave is a master at information manipulation, but masters work better with tools: Soundwave was a master, but masters needed tools to reach their fullest potential. The Nemesis had been his finely crafted tool. He used the Nemesis to create ground/space bridges. He did this in the show several times- even sending Airachnid REALLY far away into space. This is an incredible power. In order to nerf SW for the fic, I made it so he specifically needed the Nemesis to do this. And also, wouldn't he have gotten out of the shadowzone, if he could do it himself? So yeah, it's not explicit in the canon, but I think he needed the Nemesis. It's not a thing he can just do on his own. But! It implies that he knows how the bridges work, and were he to get the right materials, he could build/use bridges again.

Anyway. He almost spills this secret (that he can make ground/space bridges, (with tools)) to Rodimus in Ch 21:

[Rodimus] "So, mythological Soundwave. What... what did you do?” “Complete access to all communications.” “Oh.” “Complete access to all security systems.” “Ah.” “Complete control of deep space navigation and sp- other technology.” “What other technology?” Soundwave said nothing.

"sp-" is "space bridges" cut off

The concept goes away for a while as Soundwave turns into a person.

Then in Ch 37 SW remembers he was able to do the groundbridge thing. This part also mentions Astrotrain's song! which we touched on in your last ask.:

Not to mention the other part of the mythological Soundwave. How could he have forgotten it? He had been too focused on his previous areas of competence: the all-seeing optics, the all-hearing audials. But face to face with enemies, those things had never been his greatest asset.

Astrotrain's song brought that which simmered at the back of Soundwave's processor to the forefront. A fascinating possibility. Not the focus of his great work, but a diversion that would serve him well nonetheless. If it manifested beyond the theoretical.

The other part is using the Nemesis to create ground/space bridges.

the but a diversion part is literally Soundwave thinking on the possibility of making a portal to return to 0001

I didn't spell it out because I didn't want to be too blatant with where the story was going -> that SW would build a portal to return to 0001.

Actually wait yeah, here we see that Astrotrain's song helps nudge SW's old Nemesis-bridge knowledge back to the forefront of his mind, and therefore he goes "oh! I can do my great work, but I could also make a portal"

yeah yeah. it was there in the fic. I remember having a hard time keeping everything in my brain, so yeah, sometimes things are a lil nebulous. but it's there xD

Sooooooo yeah! That's all I can recall at the moment. Going back to your original question: If I had written "SW makes the space bridge" in the story, I would've used music as an abstract way to describe it, as Soundwave does with other things.

It's really good people are asking questions about this now because I'm sure eventually I'll forget all these little details xD we're only a few months away from it having been finished for a whole year! wrow :u

thanks for the ask :)

[pantalaiimon]

I've seen dune part 2 twice now (both within a 24 hours interval lol)

the expectations were humongous, the hype was real

and at first, I was a bit thrown off by how much it veered away from the book compared to part 1 - so much so that I was thrown off the pacing of the movie and had trouble getting into its rhythm (because i kept thinking back to changes from 5 minutes before), anyway that first viewing experience was a mess for me

now that I've had more time with it, I can safely say I love the movie. I think I prefer part 1 in some ways (I prefer contemplative & moody to action-packed & drama), but I also love how part 2 leans even more unapologetically into the utter weirdness of the source material, and how cinematic it is

it looks gorgeous (even moreso than part 1), the acting is good to superb, but the dialogue could be better (compared to the books and to part 1), and hans zimmer recycled the first score which I found to be a real disappointment: even though it's still good, it's too repetitive

now unto specifics (incl. potential spoilers):

I am 100% harkonnen trash (which could mean anything, as paul states quite clearly he's harkonnen too, so...) (but yeah i'm harkonnen trash as in I absolutely loved the whole giedi prime sequence, and have soul-binding devotion to & utterly unhinged sexual desire for Feyd-Rautha (yes, even bald and less scheming than in the book), because boy is he twisted in interesting ways

Alia was robbed of a lot, BUT I love the fucked up deranged codependant mother-daughter relationship she and Jessica have got going. actually i live for it, for the abomination. bring it on. Also Jessica, who was the most OOC character to me in part 1, switched to being the most IC in part 2 and i couldn't be happier?

more desert lore, from details like wind traps, to weather & travel conditions, to hints of the sandtrouts, and the whole ecological system linking spice, worms, desert & water. yay for fascinating and immersive worldbuilding (that movie makes you feel the desert, unlike the first one)

more charlotte rampling is always a good move. also sets up dune messiah beautifully. on that note, irulan was well paced, that is, she's allowed to stay muted and observant rather than front and center, again, setting her up nicely for dune messiah. however, stilgar's arc was pushed way ahead and it displeased me, because I feel it lessens the mourning and regret I remember feeling reading the books as he evolved, and how tragic his changing was (highlighting through him, that of his whole people, and their downfall into fanaticism). if the movie rushes to the end result, I care less about that change, for i can't realise and mourn for what was lost along the way. on a similar note, as they played paul as more moral at the beginning of his journey (to make him more likeable), the switch to his mahdi era was a bit jarring. so yay to mohiam & irulan character arc pacing, nay to stilgar & paul.

chani was also allowed more breathing room and dimensions/depth/inner life than in the books, and as I remember finding the book lacking in that respect, can't fault the movie for fixing this.

the ruthlessness of the politics of the landsraad and the intricacies of the manipulations by the bene gesserit were perfectly show-cased. The commentary on the dangers of messianic religions and its melding to politics was too overt for my liking. especially at this stage of the story, it's less of a warning to the insidiousness of fundamentalism if there are glaring neon signs at the onset of that path telling you "do not go, there be dragons"... I know villeneuve wanted to set up herbert's course-correction from dune messiah earlier, but it's too much too early imo

anyway, to conclude, i'd like to lick feyd-rautha's abs

[yinyuedijun]

hii I’m the anon who requested for the bluebird post!

Im so sorry to hear about the discourse surrounding it, I had absolutely no idea. It’s definitely one of the best works out there. I appreciate it really so much. All my friends are tired of me talking about it so much and everytime I pass a can of spam in the grocery store, I stop and grieve.

I understand that you might feel burned out from all the discourse and hate (which I don’t understand why it exists in the first place?) but I just wanted to let you know if u ever decide to pick it up again, I’d be here waiting for quite literally forever. I read it almost half a year ago on ao3, so I suppose I can live off the crumbs.

I am just so fascinated and impressed by how you write the whole deal about the aftermath of the Gun devil attack. The gymnasium, the rations, the orphanage, the caseworkers?? It is so detail that it quite literally blows my mind. I genuinely can’t put in words how much I love it.

So please if you do ever end up working on it, please let me know. In the meantime, I’ll be waiting and refreshing your blog ever so often for a silver of hope.

Do you mind reblogging the chapter 1 too? :( I have searched high and low for it.

Big fan of bluebird and your love for aki <3

Thank you so much! Lots of love :3

OHHH ANON T_T this is the sweetest message ever, thank you!!! not the spam in the grocery store gdldhaksuaja I'm sorry for ruining your shopping trips 💔 it actually means a lot to me that after so much time, you still remember so many details about the fic LOL and now I do feel kind of wistful about it!!! because I really enjoyed working on all that world building!! It makes me happy to know that it left such a lasting impression on you 🥺💗

the discourse was so silly, it wasn't over bluebird specifically but just over dark content as a whole, which I have since gone back to writing anyway because I have deranged writing tendencies and I'm a glutton for punishment 💀 I guess I could just post chapter three this weekend since it's already written and I've been saying I would anyway. a lot of it is SUPER awkward because they're teenagers (lol), but I promise that toward the end it returns to that sweet traumatic worldbuilding 🫡 SO I'll try to get that up if I survive the work week!!

thanks so much for sending this msg 🫶 I reblogged chapter one earlier today also, hope you enjoy!! sending you love!!!! 💖💖💖

[daily-midori-posting]

Shadow & Claw (and why you NEED to read this book[s?])

Im gonna do a bunch of spoilers so just uhh read the book and THEN come here and read my super cool ideas please?

There are many, many reasons this book is excellent. When im reading, one of my (personal) favorite things is worldbuilding. For some reason, seeing the inner complexities of an unfamiliar but consistent world is just so fascinating for me, and Wolfe DELIVERS. The sci-fi/ fantasy fusion environment is so engrossing, and trying to reason out what Severian is actually seeing is consistently entertaining. But thats not the only reason that this book stuck with me. There are two scenes that are truly very special to me, because they feel to me so HUMAN in a way a lot of other media i interact with doesnt. And HUMAN in such a pinpoint accurate way i feel like it calls me out. I need to write this for myself, because i fear otherwise this book wont leave me. I doubt it will even if i do.

The first 100 or so pages of this book set up Severian's background and conflict. As an apprentice torturer he is assigned to care for a chatelaine, Ostensibly a form of noble women. She is sent down to the torturer's dungeon as a result of conflict between a rebel and the king, and so although she is innocent she currently sits as a pawn in said dungeon in an attempt to lure out said rebels. She believes that she will be let out when its over. Severian knows better but doesnt say. This is the conflict that comes to define Severian and the chatelaine's awkward relationship. Severian falls in love and comes to greatly value the time he spends with her, but also knows how this will end. This culminates in a scene i empathize with in a way i havnt really seen otherwise. The chatelaine is being brought to be tortured. Severian and the head torturer are to bring her up. The whole walk, Severian (or the Severian in the future writing this) thinks on how to save her from the awful fate about to befall her. Hell use his knife, hell kill his friends. hell brake her out. Itll be a rough time, but its worth it. She is put in the device. He tells her that it will kill her in 30 days. He lets her kill herself to avoid that slow creeping death. This action gets him expelled, and so in the end he still loses his friends and home. It was for nothing, and he knew that.

Severian always knew more. She may have been older, and wiser, and had more knowledge. But Severian always knew more. He knew how this was going to end. And he pariticipated in it anyways. The cognitive dissonance with the scene in which he contemplates her freedom only to kill her is an example of something i so often feel i do. Its something ive never seen put into writing well. Its beautiful.

The second scene that made me fall in love with this book is much later. And really, its two scenes but you cant have one without the other. The first is a fascinatingly surreal piece of worldbuilding, and its done very well. Severian consumes something which gives him every memory that the chatelaine he loved had. And this recreates her, in a sense. Severian gains ALL of her lived experiences, and he becomes her. We are no more than what we have lived, and so Severian is now two people, at least for a while. He describes with lurid detail how he and the chatelaine love and interact and are together, not as one mind but as two now one, and that it didnt make sense and that they didnt care. It was also beautiful. This is not the scene that stuck with me, however much i liked it. No, my favorite scene in the book comes later as a result of that. As time passes, the chatelaine's memories fade. Severian becomes Severian again, more or less. But as he sleeps in a dungeon in the palace that the chatelaine grew up in, he experiences a "state posing as sleeping". This is not a dream. The chatelaines memories are the only ones present during this time. And so she begins to wander around the palace, baffled as too where she is. She describes the environment differently, given she understands it in a way Severian does not. She looks at her hands. They are wrong. She comes to the lock and realizes shes in the dungeon (she does not call it the dungeon) when suddenly. ... Severian looks around. There is a little girl there. She asks where the women went. She tells Severian that she knew there was a women by the way she walked, which was all she could see in the dark. Severian realizes what has happened. He leaves.

I cant explain how much that scene spoke to me. It is so BRILLIANTLY crafted, this smooth transition (no pun intended) from Severian to the chatelaine's perspective is so well done, the mild confusion but not outright horror as the reality of the situation has not set in for the chatelaine, the realization and acknowledgement but no direct confirmation by Severian. her hands. She just couldnt understand what was wrong with her hands. Sometimes i wish my self to be like the chatelaine, but in know myself to be like Severian. Knowing, but never changing, never acting.

I have a lot of thinking to do. This book makes me think. And i love it

[nihilnovisubsole]

Hiiii since I'm incredibly curious - what is the workflow process at your job? As in, when you get assigned something to write who does it come from, where does it go, what details do you get about it, and do you get to go wild with it or are you given rules or parameters to write in? I'm of course not asking for secrets or names, just the general process because it's really fascinating to me! I'm a long, long, long time follower and wanted to let you know it's been an honor to go from reading your FNV fanfics to seeing you work for the company itself. I'm extremely proud of you!

do you reckon it would be weird if i re-polished that FNV fic and posted it on ao3. i think about it in the shower sometimes

anyway! my workflow depends on a lot of different things. unless i have a large writing assignment that takes me a long time, it's rare for me to do the same tasks two days in a row. i write a lot, but i spend at least as much time editing, fixing bugs, or helping another department solve a problem. the "pitch an idea" stage is short.

when you get assigned something to write, who does it come from? either a producer or someone from the nebulous cloud called "leadership," like the game director or my narrative lead. sometimes it's a direct request, or sometimes they'll say "we have this thing that needs doing," and i can volunteer if i have time. like a lot of studios, we have an online work inbox - producers assign tasks through it, and i close them when i'm done.

where does it go? if you mean "where it goes in the game," pretty much anywhere. one day i could write dialogue. one day i could name items, or something like that. once i'm done, it gets handed off to another department to implement in the game itself. many NDs have to touch their game's engine. i don't, thank god!

what details do you get about it? this one depends too, because i've done work that's wholly mine, and i've also written on assignments that were someone else's first. sometimes an ND writes something, but when we revisit it months later, they're busy with more important work, so i need to pinch-hit for them. or they leave, and someone needs to take on the work they left behind. either way, i try to retain as much of their vision as i can. technically, they forfeit ownership of that writing if they leave, and i'm not beholden to them. but i don't like that, so i keep them in mind anyway. i just know i'd feel bad if someone took one of my characters and turned them into something that flouted all my principles.

if i'm starting from scratch, i'll definitely get parameters. they're vague ingredients that have to inform the ideas i pitch. for NDA reasons, these aren't specific examples, but it could be like:

"we need a guy in X Area so players will talk to him and find the item we hid there."

"this quest needs the player to do something in X Dungeon."

"this encounter needs to teach the player to use a special ability."

"this quest needs to teach the player about a conflict between two groups."

"this character should introduce X Worldbuilding Concept."

"we want to give the player X Reward."

they sound utilitarian, but they don't have to be. i can still go wild as long as i tick the right boxes. they're more guardrails than anything. in game writing, where you have limited assets, you have to be careful not to get out ahead of your skis and pitch something the team can't make. you also don't want to put the player in a situation you haven't taught them how to handle, or confuse them with your world. i mean, they're still confused sometimes, but... you know!

[definitelynotshouting]

Hi!! Hello!! Your worldbuilding has once again enchanted and fascinated me! But I have no one to talk to about mcyt-related worldbuilding so I’m just going to (definitelynot) shout (ha ha. I’m funny.) at you if that’s ok!!

Ever since I found this fandom I’ve been fascinated by how to deal with video game mechanics in writing, and I’ve found it a very interesting ongoing puzzle, to come up with worldbuilding or lore to explain the more mechanical, coding-based stuff and cover up the fact that the characters are in a videogame. I think that’s part of why I love your worldbuilding so much, because you went in completely the opposite direction, and made Code the base, the reality-fabric, of all the rest of your universe! It kinda blew my mind!

Anyway, the player inventory and in-game chat are two of the most glaringly Video Game mechanics, and two of the first that I came up with explanations for, which is why I (like Tango) latched onto those few lines and details about them in chapter four. For me, they’re both explained by the very flexible fabric of reality inherent to server-words. Because reality is so easy to manipulate (and be manipulated without breaking down) in these worlds, it’s easy for Players to simply open a small personal pocket dimension they can store stuff in. (The same way it’s easy to make something float by just leaving it there and taking away what connects it to the ground) the chat happenes basically the same way. Server-worlds allow for a very shallow telepathic link across all players that everyone experiences a little differently (you might see it scroll across the inside of you arm, look at it in the corner of your vision, actually hear it quietly in your head, etc.)

But that’s a lot of My Ideas, I am, in fact, here because of Your Ideas. Because I’ve alway seen them as sperate things, and I am So Curious about how you’ve linked them. The chat being on external comms on a watch or phone-like device seems pretty common in the fandom, but linking them the way you have — in that you can’t have an inventory without a comm — raises so many questions!! (/pos) how do they work? Are they mechanical? Magical? Natural? Bio-magical? If they were something that needed to be invented, who invented them? How long have they been around? What did people do before then? How does a new player get their first comm/inventory? If comms can comunicate across worlds, could they theoretically take their inventory across worlds/servers as well? Is cross-void trade a very dangerous, but lucrative, profession? Do they have to exchange comm-phone-numbers or can they immediately contact anyone they’ve ever met? If you have stuff in your inventory and you loose your comm, do you lose the stuff too? Or does it transfer like an ender chest? Could someone else steal your inventory by stealing your comm? Does a player have to attune to a comm like a dnd magic item? How common is it to have to build a new one?

I’m gonna stop now because this is really long, it’s 11, and I Will just keep thinking of more questions. I’m so intrigued by this!! Those few little lines have completely captivated me with their potential!! I’m excited!!

(Sorry if this had a bit too much of my own personal worldbuilding ramble, I just really wanna talk to someone about this stuff!)

Ive been 👁️👁️ at this ask since you sent it in and first of all im so sorry the autism won for a bit and kept me from answering your questions, second of all i think your worldbuilding is SO NEAT :DDD this is SUPER COOL i love your ideas, comms being a telepathic link is so interesting to me!!! Also, im intensely flattered that you like the direction i took with hunger au's worldbuilding so much!! I've been having a lot of fun sorta marrying biology and irl physics with computer programming-based building building blocks for this universe, to the point where im actually starting to put together a legit glossary in my masterlist doc to keep it all straight in my head 😂😂😂 it's an interesting challenge for me to try and meld all these things together so i can make something that feels completely different from our world without losing its relatability, so im super glad you're appreciating it!!!

These are a lot of questions im gonna try and answer all at once, so i'll put it beneath the cut so it doesnt clog people's dashes LMAO

So firstly, the way i view communicators is,,, okay dont laugh too hard but i literally just visualize them as pip boys from fallout SKDNJWNDJS for some reason ive NEVER been able to shake that mental image, so ive just sorta accepted that into how i view them for hunger au. Personally, i see them as sort of a... mishmash of the bio-mechanical, something that isnt QUITE a direct part of them but is very much attached and integrated with their code. So its not like an organ, but an interface, i guess-- comms are how you can access an inventory, which is basically just hammerspace the way you've already described it, and where you can change your own surface code, and its also just... the way Players are able to interact with the worlds around them.

You also send messages with comms, but instead of there being anything like phone numbers, you're forming a direct link between your comm and someone else's!!! Not telepathic the way you've done with your worldbuilding, but because i see comms in this universe as something that latches onto and interacts with your code, its still a very important connection. Once connected, you can talk to that person all the time through your comm, even if they arent currently on your server-- although I do think that this only extends to when youre within the same server cluster.

As for how Players get them in the first place: for spawned Players, they just spawn in with them. Thats where the bio part comes in i think, and its a little hard for me to explain the way i view it, but its something like... i guess a bit like when moons form around planets. The code of an entity has a certain weight to it, and when a Player and their singleplayer world spawns in, the comm does with them, already attached and integrated with their code. For birthed Players, its very different-- they arent born with a comm, so they need a comm made, and then integrated with their code by a skilled code wrangler. It is VERY tricky to make a comm-- theyre incredibly fiddly, super hard to code without mistakes, and they take an extraordinarily long time to put together, let alone integrate properly with someone's code. Im not sure the word dangerous is the most accurate term here, but there are potentially harmful consequences if you integrate a poorly made comm with someone's code.

As for inventory transfer, i think you can bring stuff in your inventory from one server to another. This is mostly used for personal items or gifts, i think-- Player culture and attitude generally emphasizes fun, and whats more fun than giving someone something special that you made/got for them, or bringing a little memento with you from an old world you want to remember?

Theoretically, im sure there are Players who bring supplies or previously used tools with them to new worlds, but i think most Players like the excitement and challenge of starting fresh. It all depends on the person and the community culture surrounding that server if its a multiplayer. Cross-void trade is probably definitely a thing, but i dont think its necessarily very dangerous, just something more personal that you'd do for yourself or for a friend rather than any kind of business model.

As for someone being able to steal a comm, i dont think you can if its attached to the Player it belongs to, because at that point its basically a part of them. They can take them off, though, so someone could potentially steal it then, but unless theyre a skilled code wrangler and can crack into it, i dont think it would work for them or let them access that person's inventory. It would, however, be an incredibly effective (and cruel) way of controlling someone's actions and where they can go/who they can talk to.

This is why, ultimately, lost comms are a huge deal; losing your comm is literally losing access to pieces of yourself, your world, and your community. And while as a Watcher, Grian doesnt technically need a comm to access his code or enter other servers, he does still need it to keep in touch with other people and facilitate those community bonds, as well as keep an inventory. So yeah, Tango fretting over Grian losing his comm was very much warranted.

AAAAAAA THIS WAS VERY LONG i hope it was worth the wait!!! I know you sent another question but im gonna answer that one separately later since its about a different subject, and this is already SOOOO MUCH RAMBLING on my part. Thank you for sending these asks, and you are absolutely welcome to ramble at me as much as you want!!! :D

[butterfly-apocalypse]

Hi, I saw your reply on one of my posts and if it's not much of a hassle i wanted to ask if you can reccomed some Bill x Dipper fanfiction from Gravity Falls. This is my first time doing an Ask so forgive me if I'm doing something wrong.

Anyways thank you and have a nice day.

I would LOVE to recommend some Bill x Dipper fanfiction!!!!!

I’d like to preface this by saying that there’s a lot of fic for them that I doooon’t particularly care for so I don’t have the most extensive list in the world, and they’re mostly from the top page by kudos so you could find them by yourself, but I highly, highly recommend the ones I love.

Faking It by BunerAccount is my all-time favorite BillDip fic, and maybe even fic in general.

It’s a sort of urban fantasy AU where magic is a common part of everyday life. Dipper has always had much weaker magic than other people, which is embarrassingly highlighted by the fact that he doesn’t even have a familiar. When he decides to perform a ritual to create an illusion of a familiar, things go Very Wrong and he finds his soul inextricably linked to a certain demon we all know and love.

The characterization is delightful and @tswwwit has SUCH a convincing Bill. His motives are solid, his character arc is very believable, and his voice is spot-on. Dipper is a really fun protagonist to follow. He’s very, very human in a way that plays so well with how inhuman Bill is. Their banter is top-notch and even when they’re sort of, kind of indirectly forced to admit that they care about each other, their weird romance never gets in the way of their antagonistic relationship.

Honestly, anything by BurnerAccount is top-notch!!

If you want something a little shorter and fluffier, Always Watching is very cute!!! It’s Triangle Bill handling the experience of “feeling emotions” kind of like a cat. Mabel is the MVP!!

All That Glitters (complete, orphaned) is a HOOT! Bill is an exotic dancer, Dipper is his nerdy, homely neighbor. It’s been a hot second since I read this one so  I don’t remember a lot of specific details but I remember being pleasantly surprised by how much depth was in this fic.

I also have some darker fics that I adore!! Both of these have unhappy/dark endings, fair warning if that’s not your cup of tea:

This is one of my bestie’s fics!! It’s dark and whimsical and creepy and fun!!  

Electric Feel by @roboticspacecase!! MIND THE TAGS on this one!! It DELCIOUSLY dark a la Hannibal. Depression, suicidal thoughts, murder, manipulation, noncon, all that jazz. If you enjoy some psychological horror, you will probably enjoy this. If any of that sounds not super great to you, steer clear.

These next two fics are ones that I haven’t finished reading personally, but still want to recommend.

Conspiratheory by LCypherED (INCOMPLETE) Slow, slow, slow burn with mystery and cool worldbuilding with LOTS of action!! I didn’t finish it because I got busy with school and never came back to it, but it’s well-written and very enjoyable.  

At My God's Feet, I Show My Devotion by ArceustheOriginalOne

This one is FASCINATING. It’s a very unique AU and if you’re here for a…normal…(?) relationship? This might not be your cup of tea. But if you want a really cool, unique story? This one is great. Bill is an ancient god dragon and Dipper is a sacrifice that was made to him. I stopped because Bill speaks in cipher and I did not have the time or energy to deal with that asdfasghj The aesthetic is So Cool though!!!

[ariapmdeol]

Pale (arc 2)

this is my liveblog post arc 2 thoughts and rambles! I took longer to read this arc (alas. IRL things meant i took a break in the middle), so thoughts are more scattered. Hopefully I get through Arc 3 faster? Tucking it under the cut for length, Spoiler warning!

this arc was fun!! the faerie are FANTASTIC and i love the traps. I think the whole... pulling strings to lure the story in a direction that you find interesting. All of that is SOOO fascinating to me because yes! Otherverse magic system is STRUCTURED around this... kind of half meta way of magic working. The Spirits make things stronger when they're narratively significant. Three is a powerful number and makes things STICK. If you break your oaths after you've sworn that the spirits can trust you (Awakening) then the story isn't fun anymore, and you're forsworn. Symbolism implies things both in a Narrative sense AND in an Other sense. I'm having fun :D

I like how much the Kennet trio feel like teenagers. The awkward dancing around romance and relationships sticks out to me in particular. Very 13 year old and very cute!! Their dynamics with the other kids in their grade are really interesting; I like how they have history with them. Mentioning Gabe only to have no one recognize his name is SO fun too. It separates them from their Innocent friends. I wonder how this will get worse as the story progresses? As Avery, Verona, and Lucy get more involved on the Other side of things, they'll leave the Innocent side of things behind... That division is present in Lucy's family relationships too.

Lucy's struggles are REALLY interesting. I like the layers. A bit of the way she talks makes me feel... I guess she feels very firm in her convictions. In Justice, in an Eye for an Eye, almost. Maybe not quite that extreme because. She's 13. but it's there!

Verona wanting to become an Other... Searching for an escape from the life that she's expected to live. Leaving the mundanity of ordinary life to experience something more interesting. Reading her thoughts on it during the Cat chapter was kind of bittersweet? She doesn't want to grow up or change. She'd rather have sleepovers forever.

Victor of the hungry Choir! Victor of the Hungry Choir! I have nothing to say here, I'm just really excited.

SNOWDROP. I've seen that little critter around and i love her,, I would die for her.

Interlude chapter was FASCINATING. GOD I love how the interludes so far are pushing things forward, giving insights and outsider POVs of the girls! It's so so cool!! I love how the Augurs don't know what's going on with the Kennet Trio, too. Very Very fun to Know things that the characters don't, and seeing them try to puzzle it out was fun. Nicolette doesn't know how to handle this at all! I love how fleshed out her life is too-- A lot of really fun worldbuilding details. This is typical of Wildbow's writing, but I love how many moving pieces there are.

Alexander.. This is the Augur who got Charles forsworn, right? (no need to confirm/deny this, i'm just thinking out loud).

anyways! Yeah. Pale is fun <3

[ethanhuntfemmefatale]

I feel like you’re the only other person in the world who is as intrigued by the ethan/claire/jim dynamic as I am. It drives me crazy! I love that ethan, who is portrayed as a pretty flawless guy (he just cares TOO much) in the later movies gets this like crazy quirk of being in love with his father figure/boss’s wife and I love that you’re not always sure how much is manipulation and how much is genuine every time they interact. Severely underrated. Anyway loved the fic!

anon i am so so glad that you loved the fic and i am so glad to hear from another person fascinated by the ethan/claire/jim fuckery. (incidentally being a fellow ethan/claire/jim interested individual entitles you automatically to friend status should you so desire)

your ask touches on some things and it's giving me the urge to rant so please forgive me cause im probably about to get very off topic. I just love your point about the way that ethan (who is so steadfastly heroic in later movies!) starts out with this massive, like, to lean into the MI1 religious imagery, sin. And that sin isn't resolved in any satisfactory way--both of the people involved die, and no one is left alive who even knows what really happened, and this makes me feel rabid to think about. (Luther saw the cheek kiss, but has no context for it, and I feel strongly that Ethan has never told him anything else about that. I really think Ethan never breathes a word to anyone about Jim, Claire or Max. Kittridge is probably the closest to being able to infer some of the details, he knows Ethan loved Jim, he knows about Max's "entrapment," but he's too much of a self-absorbed bureaucrat to give a shit.)

But back to the point about the sin. For my money, Ethan's sin is the heart of MI1. The movie tells us that Ethan's sin is being in love with Claire--but in a queer reading of the movie, it's easy to read into Ethan's interactions with Claire and Jim and infer that his real sin is being in love with both of them, a sin that Jim will never openly acknowledge, but that all three of them are aware of to some degree. Ethan's sin is also portrayed as being...not actually his fault. He doesn't participate in any of Claire's "seduction moments," although from his expression after the cheek kiss IMO you can see that he has strong feelings about them. Ethan's sin is something that is done to him, and regardless of whether or not he wants it, regardless of whether initiates or even participates, he is corrupted by the experience. He's only (to some degree) cleansed by the death of claire, jim and krieger, the only people who knew about what happened.

(one of the reasons I drew from gawain and the green knight in the end of the fic is because--beyond the parallels of jim as the lord going hunting in the woods, claire as the lady going hunting for gawain, ethan as the knight just trying to make it out alive--that's a story that deals heavily in impossible moral tests and loss of agency. And Gawain emerges from it 'fey-touched', fundamentally changed despite the fact that most of what happened to him was unwanted and unavoidable. That's how i feel about ethan at the end of MI1)

It's important to note briefly that I actually don't think of the Claire/Jim/Ethan thing as his only sin in the movie. It's the only one that's remarked on directly, but the whole thing with Max feels like it's presented too similarly to ignore. It's another situation of power differences and emotional and sexual manipulation where Ethan is put in an impossible position and emerges morally corrupted (by the rules of the movie), but victorious.

In a lot of ways, I feel like the sin itself almost serves less as an indictment of Ethan and more as a worldbuilding device. MI1 establishes the world of the IMF really vividly without showing us hardly anything about it! we don't even know what the IMF is really, it doesn't have a headquarters, we don't get to know any other teams outside of the one that dies in the beginning, but the movie renders the world of the IMF through Ethan's relationship with Claire and Jim. I've talked before about the "sea of lies." The thing that made me love MI1 so much in the first place was the specific feeling that is so beautifully evoked, of gradually realizing that everyone you have ever loved wants to use you. That's the IMF! That's spywork, baby! Ethan doesn't realize it in the beginning, but he sure figures it out by the end. it's impossible for ethan to make it out of MI1 without becoming part of the corrupt world of the IMF, the real IMF that Claire and Jim and Kittridge are in, not the fantasy of the team in the opening. (to go back to the green knight metaphor--he has to take the sash in order to live--and even though that means compromising his morals, he's blameless. Corrupt, forever, but blameless.)

despite that--ethan is not the IMF. He believes in Claire. He believes in Luther. He avoids killing. he has an honor code that he sticks to even as he gets deeper and deeper into the sea of lies. that's what makes him the guy we see in the rest of the franchise, that at arguably his most vulnerable point, his most corrupt point, he believed in the people he loved and tried not to hurt anyone. The point of the sin, to me, is that Ethan is forced into the deep end of the murkiest grey moral waters and held underneath, and in the process he sacrifices moral purity for moral integrity and makes it out alive. and the movie doesn't hate him for it. He's a hero.

lots of thoughts for this ask lmfao thank you very much anon for indulging me. and thank you for reading the fic. i am so glad you liked it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ileniagennari]

Oh goodness, I'm glad you have a tumblr. Hello! Recently found and read The Lady in the Snow. Every page is so breathtaking to look at, seriously, the wardrobe for even the background characters is AMAZING and the magic being almost like electricity is a fascinating detail already. It's got a wonderful amount of silliness and heart to make it all come alive in everything from its dialogue to expression to furby painting LMAO... and it's only just beginning! The tidal wave of people and chaos you drew in the newest page was so FUN, I had to come say something because that did not look easy to do. Anyway!! All the best! Cheering for you on this project!! (And don't forget to stretch your hands and rest omg. the Power...

Hy hypegengars! Thank you so much for your kind words!! I'm so happy my work is being appreciated in such a genuine way! It's very fun to draw all the background design and to bring some character on the setting but yea it's kind of time consuming ehehe! Are you referring to the Atlas aren't you? Yes that chapter took SO LONG but big cities are roaring in my worldbuilding! So expect a lot of people living in Moscow yet again! (with Gerda's disapproval!) I'm drinking a lot and doing exercises! A well rested body and mind are active ones. xoxo