#ascension of a book worm

[aweebeing]

FERDINAND IS MYNE'S WIFE AND I WILL HAVE IT NO OTHER WAY 🗡🗡🗡

[rubireads]

the well of ascension by brandon sanderson

3.75 stars

the second book of the mistborn trilogy is a relatively slow-paced one with a powerful climax sequence that is typical of most fantasy series.

the story takes place a year after the conclusion of the final empire, centring on the difficulties involved when attempting to rebuild a empire whilst facing multiple external threats - one being elend’s own father. because of this, the well of ascension is a plot of political intrigue that admittedly became tiresome in some parts. however the mystery of the mists were still very much explored through vin’s pov, with exciting new characters and metals being introduced.

i liked the focus on vin and elend and how everyone deals with the aftermath of the first book in their own way. whilst some actions i found frustrating, my brother highlighted to me sanderson’s insightful way of representing certain characteristics and emotions in such a realistic way. alongside this, sanderson has a great talent of shattering belief systems, making the reader wholeheartedly believe one thing whilst hiding the true facts until the very last moment.

unfortunately the conclusion of the book felt quite unfulfilling as so much had been discovered in the last climax yet i still felt as if i knew nothing. however, i assume that will all be forgotten when i read the final book in the trilogy which promises to contain revelations abound, connections of early chapters clicking into place and surprises, as satisfying as they are stunning, blossom like fireworks. just this description is reason enough to build up hope for the hero of ages.

[sistersorrow]

Back in July, I had a problem: I had finished Nona the Ninth and realised I had no idea when Alecto the Ninth would come out

I didn't feel like picking out a new novel to read every 10 days or so, so I decided I'd pick one very long book and hope it tided me over until a release date was given

So on the 19th of July 2024, I started reading Worm, and a bit over three months later, I read the final line of the final chapter on October 23rd

I have had many thoughts about this book while reading it, and since I haven't had access to the internet for the last two week, I've also had many thoughts after reading it, mainly thoughts where I was drafting this post (despite thinking about my draft for five days, now that I'm finally writing it, I can feel the whole thing fading from my mind)

TL;DR: I genuinely think the ending didn't happen

Yes, the whole "It was all a dream/purgatory" angle is very cliche, but it's a very common theory in the Worm fandom for a reason (one of those reasons being Wildbow jokingly saying Taylor's in purgatory)

For me, that reason is that Taylor is way too okay with the state of her life after Golden Morning

Throughout the book, Taylor has a consistent pattern of behaviour where she sees a problem or has a goal, decides on a means of realising that goal/fixing the problem, with anyone who attempts to get in her way being treated as part of the problem, allowing her to more easily justify using ever escalating acts of incredible violence to terrorise them into either helping her or getting out of her way

Taylor, by her own admission lives for conflict because for her things make the most sense when she has a very clear target to oppose and doesn't have to think past the near future because in the present the target is actively trying to kill her, and there are people who simply refuse to listen to her when she talks about ways to deal with the problem

Her, I dunno, ascension(?) to Khepri is just that pattern of behaviour taken to its logical extreme: the problems are Scion and people refusing to fight Scion or not working together, so she resolves the issue by resolving the issue of their free will and makes them fight in concert to bully Golden Space Jesus into killing himself

Despite the Speck arc being 174 pages of Taylor's brain being formatted by a fragment of an alien god as it remove any aspect of her personality that doesn't either facilitate acts of violence or think of new ways to commit acts of violence, Taylor has never been more herself than in that moment, hell, when she finishes scouring the multiverse for capes to turn into superpowered people puppets for her slave swarm and faces down the most powerful being to walk the earth as she realises she's beginning to forget where her mother's grave is, she stops to think about how nice it is that everyone is finally working together for once, just like she always wanted

The kind of person who does that to herself and others simply is not going to be able to adjust to civilian life, where she's going to continue to be exposed to the systemic failings that frustrated her into being Skitter in the first place only now without the tools or resources she used to effect change back on her Earth

At best, Interlude: End Taylor would be horribly depressed, and at worst feel like she's been placed in her own personal hell

For this reason, I genuinely think Contessa realised there was no coming back from what Taylor had become and decided to end her there, with the final interlude being a dying dream cooked up by her shard or something just before their connection was fatally severed, and honestly, I'm completely fine with that cause it feels like a natural conclusion for her arc, even if dream theories are always a bit contentious

[growsgardengrows]

Thinking about how in the books of sorrow Oryx says that the worms have power over the hive because their gift was given and not taken, and how that condemned them to an eternity of struggle and ever-growing hunger

Thinking about how this season Eris doesn't merely accept or resign herself to the role Savathun chose for her as a "child of the hive" but instead takes her ascension of her own volition and thus let Savathun have no more power over her

And by thinking i mean going absolutely insane in the head about it

[battle-of-mid]

iwould like to hear your rant about lmk wukong's character assassination. In detail. if possible. please

(takes long drag of cigarette) it really did all start with the show itself coming out. see, after ROTTMNT came out, i don't think we could really expect flying bark to be "faithful" to its IPs and while whether that was a good thing for the TMNT franchise is absolutely something that can be discussed by people that aren't me, it's a whole lot more sensitive when you're handling a show based on a cultural treasure -

LEGO's line of toys dedicated to a sort of journey of the west spinoff is, in my opinion, an objectively good idea. other than boosting sales it feels kind of inevitable considering just how much LNY stuff they'd put out already, you know? to put it simply i don't have any problems with the lego monkie kid IP in concept, just with the way FB decided to run with its execution -- which ended up landing it squarely in "hot mess" territory.

basically - and i promise that this is relevant to wukong specifically, bear with me - i think that the first red flags were the fixation on their rendition of the six-eared macaque: a character that they've changed from being a single-use "evil twin" character that served the original Journey to the West's allegory for enlightenment (ie. that he was a manifestation of SWK's worst impulses) and then immediately fucking died when the situation called for it. he didn't show up for more than one storyline. they retcon a looooot of SWK's actual backstory as detailed by the book itself in order to make room for sadboy LEMH content so the writers could get their shipfix for him and SWK (which is annoying on more than one point, if you remember what I said about the evil twin thing. if you catch my drift. average flying bark moment)

but to put it simply i genuinely think they just made him... way too much of a lazy fucking self absorbed asshole? the beginning of the show has this which feels like a one-off gag but they double down on it later which makes they didn't write sun wukong -- this is after he's supposed to have ascended to victorious-in-strife buddha, mind you, and it ends up feeling less like sun wukong at any point in the storyline and more like... well, goku. from dragon ball super. which is its own, mostly unrelated can of worms in and of itself.

the thing is this is a character that's been used historically as an allegory, as representative of the people, objectively a cultural icon no matter where in china-influenced asia you find yourself (fantastic analysis of the problem with the way LMK pays homage to that allegory here), and also used in reference to, like, diaspora kids. this is a character that baaasically any chinese person with any kind of connection to the culture is going to see themselves in - especially in his reckless identity and subsequent ascension, you know?

and the main problem here is essentially that when you do this with a character that exsits as part of a media franchise... it's fine? it's whatever. people can just skip that. but when you are doing this as an attempt to adapt a piece of historically and culturally important literature - one that is made for children, one that is infinitely more accessible to diaspora children of that culture than any other adaptation that would be directed towards their age demographic, it feels like a punch in the gut. it's a level of disrespect that just really really hurts, all because the people in charge of it feel like they have to flanderize their characters for their fandom or they'll, like, die.

this isn't exactly organized nor is it every thought i have on the matter but basically tldr they forgot they were writing sun wukong and not their oc

[resquices-of-godhood]

I swear I have more in the works that is not world building, but there are still some more concepts that needed to be addressed.

Grimoires:

Every true crown bearer and disciple (and other rare exceptions that are beyond the scope of this post) is able to manifest an unique grimoire, which holds not just information on doctrines, rituals and everything else to do with the day to day of cult management, but also curses, blueprints, tarot cards, and even small artifacts and forms to change new followers during indoctrination, though only bearers can access anything beyond the very basics.

Grimoires are large tomes, roughly the size of a book of prayers of a church, though with an uncountable number of pages contained within. The appearance of the grimoires are as unique as their accumulated content or owner.

Anyone who owns a grimoire is able to bring it into and out of existence as easy as one reaches for a book on a shelf, except there's no shelf or book until the grimoire is manifested. Crown bearers also have an additional way to access their grimoires: the crown can take its shape at any time.

In fact, every crown has a grimoire of its own, with all the informations regarding the crown's domains, which then is copied to the bearers' as they grow in power. Those grimoires rarely get manifested due to the power required to do so. There were very few crown bearers that ever managed such a feat, and each was feared by their peers for the power they held.

Information can be copied from a grimoire to a scroll or another grimoire as easily as pulling a page out of it, and can add new pages just as easily by placing a scroll with relevant information between its pages, which is how pantheons shared knowledge between members quickly. The metaphysical nature of such tomes mean that it doesn't matter where you insert new pages, they will always be sorted into place by the next time it is needed. Doctrine and forgotten doctrine tablets are also valid ways to add more to the grimoire, but those are destroyed in the process of adding new doctrines.

Followers:

Beyond just people, followers are mortals that have gotten indoctrinated into a crown cult, becoming a crown's belonging in body and soul. The only way to break away from one crown's influence completely is to be indoctrinated into another's cult.

During the process of indoctrination, a soon to be follower can be, at the discretion of the crown bearer, reshaped into a new form, changing anything as small as fur color and pattern to things as drastic as species or physical sex. It is possible for a follower to adapt their gender to their new sex, but it is not a guarantee. Defining mental characteristics are not able to be changed at any time besides the very conception of a baby. It's also during indoctrination where a new follower may be given a new name or be allowed to retain their old one to be used by the cult from then on out. What forms a new follower can be turned into depend only on the ones the crown bearer has in their grimoire.

Usually, cults end up themed around their crown bearer's preference (like Leshy's being mostly burrowing worms of some description to keep him company). Reindocrination is possible, but require accumulated sin for that, as well as all the infrastructure for that.

indoctrination requires a crown bearer to be performed on new followers.

Children of crown bearers:

The ascension process does a number to the crown bearer's body, some of which effects persist even after losing their crown. At that point, their DNA is basically non-existent, with their reproductive cells replaced by raw energy, as they can hardly be considered similar to mortals anymore.

Because of that, when current and former Bishops end up having children with mortals, they come out deformed, to the point that they probably would not survive outside of the controlled setting of a crown cult. Of course, in a cult this is just an inconvenience, as a new form can be assigned to the child once they come of age and are indoctrinated into the cult proper. Despite their origin, children conceived in this manner are only special due to their lineage, but are otherwise normal mortals.

Children between bearers, on the other hand, is a much more complex subject. Without any genetics to even begin with, it's not possible to conceive without something extra going around. For such situations, a special ritual is required, by which a new life is shaped into being from a mix of devotion and sin. Such children are truly special, bearers of no crown, yet bearing Resquices of Godhood by the circumstances of their conception. The ritual in question is not set up in stone, nor does it have a defined name, but it usually involves a night of carnal passion, though not always.

That is not to say bearers are safe from unplanned children. While the ritual allows for any two bearers to have children and with controlled results, when these bearers are fairly close and share a particularly intimate and passionated (lust is not a requirement) moment, they may find that a child popped into existance near them. The wording is intentionally vague, as what constitutes intimacy and passion can vary wildly between different beings. What could be considered a night of extreme passion for someone might be just a quick romp for another.

An example (while dropping some spoilers, so readers beware) of the later is a ShamGoat child. Because the goat worships Shamura so completely and Shamura respects the Goat so deeply at the point this happens, they ended up spawning a child while wrestling (actual greco-roman wrestling, get your minds out of the gutter) in preparation for an upcoming fight pit tournament after the Goat had ascended. Since both were the bearers of the purple crown at one point, and deities of War tend to see wrestling as the most intimate and passionate way to fight... Well, you can do the rest of the math here.

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

i'm going on a VERY fun rabbit hole with this life series/hermitcraft/empires blaseball au thing, so have the next installment, the hermit blaseball au! this one is a lot easier to understand if you don't know anything about blaseball, because this is Much more "i've just put them into the plot of blaseball, they're just hanging out in there". my empires blaseball au can be found here, and the third life blaseball au will be linked here one i finish writing that up.

also, a few of my choices for teams i am not... particularly confident about (namely xisuma, bdubs, hypno, and tango) so if you have a better suggestion for them please pitch it.

Grian: Batter for the LA Unlimited Tacos

Scar: Batter for the Miami Dale

Mumbo: Batter for the New York Millennials, Siphon

Cleo: Pitcher for the Kansas City Breath Mints

Ren: Batter and team captain for the San Fransisco Lovers, Charm

Bdubs: Batter for the Hawai’i Fridays

Impulse: Batter for the Hellmouth Sunbeams

Pearl: Pitcher for the Houston Spies, Precognition

Gem: Pitcher for the Kansas City Breath Mints

Xisuma: Pitcher for the Philly Pies

Evil X: Pitcher for the Hades Tigers

Wels: Batter for the San Fransisco Lovers

Hels: Batter for the Baltimore Crabs

Hypno: Batter for the Mexico City Wild Wings

XB: Batter for the Atlantis Georgias

Beef: Pitcher for the Dallas Steaks

Keralis: Batter for the Core Mechanics

Joe: Pitcher for the Kansas City Breath Mints, later batter for the Seattle Garages

TFC: Coach of the Ohio Worms

Doc: Pitcher for the Core Mechanics

Jevin: Batter for the Charleston Shoe Thieves, Flinch, later rerolled into Reverberating

False: Pitcher for the Tokyo Lift

Stress: Batter for the Tokyo Lift

Iskall: Batter for the Breckenridge Jazz Hands

Tango: Pitcher for the Chicago Firefighters, Fire Eater

Cub: Batter for the Charleston Shoe Thieves, got Flinch from fighting god and got it rerolled into Debt

Etho: Pitcher for the Canada Moist Talkers

Zedaph: Pitcher for the Yellowstone Magic

Wormman: Pitcher for the Ohio Worms

This AU is, even more so than the Empires part of this AU, just me shoving the Hermits into the Blaseball universe and letting it happen.

The only people who are even sort of replacing an actual Blaseball player are Cleo, Joe, and Gem.

Cleo is our Jaylen. She pitches for the Kansas City Breath Mints, and is the best pitcher in the league, and when the Forbidden Book opens, she dies. Her intended replacement is False Symmetry II, aka Empires!False, but when the Forbidden Book is opened in the Empires, Hermitcraft, and Life Series universes all at once, everything gets a little muddled, and everyone comes out of it a little muddled. The biggest change is that Cleo is instead replaced by Gemini Tay, the newly generated player from the Empires world who was meant to replace Xornoth. 

When she is resurrected at the end of season 6, Joe goes into the Shadows in exchange. Within a few seasons, he is able to leave the Shadows and bats for the Breath Mints for about a season, afterwards he is transferred to the Seattle Garages, where he stays. I am not putting him back in the Shadows because it makes me kind of sad.

Cub and Jevin are both players for the Thieves, so they get cursed as a result of the boss fight against the Shelled One. We will resolve that later. Hels, despite being on the Crabs, does not get cursed, because he doesn’t join the Crabs until after they return from ascension.

Other than that, the Hermits are just sort of Existing in the world of Blaseball. Evil X and Hels are both created in similar ways to Evil Twin and Bontgomery Mullock, which is to say, Blessings break and accidentally clone a guy, so we just slightly edit one of their names and keep going. Don’t worry about it. 

At one point during Expansion, while the Reroll Will is still in effect, fans of the Thieves attempt to reroll the Flinch modifier that Cub got as a side effect of fighting god and losing that one time. It gets rerolled into Debt, in a similar vein to what happened to Silvaire Roadhouse, but because he’s on the Thieves, he actually gets to kill people. Good for him. Jevin’s Flinch modifier also gets rerolled, but he gets Reverberating. Good for him, but in a different direction.

[bobcalzone]

We're halfway through the year, so hey, may as well post a mid-year update on my book tierlist :v S+: The Kingkiller Chronicle (Patrick Rothfuss) S: S-: The Green Bone Saga (Fonda Lee), Shadows of the Short Days (Alexander Dan Viljálmsson) A+: Sun Eater (Christopher Ruocchio) A: Good Omens (Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett), Ascension (Nicholas Binge), City of Bones (Martha Wells) A-: The Jewel of Seven Stars (Bram Stoker) B+: Imperial Radch (Ann Leckie), Dracula (Bram Stoker) B: The Complete Tales and Poems of (Edgar Allen Poe), Dracula's Guest & Other Stories (Bram Stoker) B-: State of Fear (Michael Crichton) C+: The Grace of Kings (Ken Liu) C: The Lair of the White Worm (Bram Stoker) Series detail under the cut

The Kingkiller Chronicle: I first read The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear back in 2021, and it was completely unsurprising they both made S+ on a reread (my only rereads so far this year). This was my first time reading The Slow Regard of Silent Things, which made S, and The Narrow Road Between Desires, which made S-, both pleasant surprises; I expected to enjoy them, but not quite that much since they were under two hours of reading each. The Green Bone Saga: All three books made S-. Jade Legacy in particular was a standout, given how structurally different it is to the other two, but along with Jade City and Jade War they were all greatly enjoyable in the same way. Sun Eater: The first novel, The Empire of Silence, ranked at A, but the other five main novels placed at A+. The novellae, The Lesser Devil and Queen amid Ashes, both made A-, while the side novel (The Dregs of Empire) and all three short story collections ended up at A. Despite greater than half of the individual entries placing lower, I gave the overall series A+ both because the main novels comprised the majority of the reading time and because even the relatively weaker parts served a much more intriguing whole. Imperial Radch: This one is interesting, as the first entry (Ancillary Justice) made B+ while the other two in the trilogy both made A- since they were noticeably better reading experiences. But despite two of the three entries ranking higher, it didn't seem to carry a coherent thread that justified it actually being a series, beyond literal story elements. I enjoyed Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy, but the trilogy as a whole felt like less than the sum of its parts.

[humanmaybe]

Tagged by @neighborlyarson (hehe ily)

Last song I listened to: THE SAME WORMS THAT EAT ME WILL SOMEDAY EAT YOU TOO

Last show I watched: Gf and I are watching The Last Of Us as it comes out but we haven't seen past the first episode LOL, still it looks so so so good so far and I'm loving every second (and crying)

… The real answer is that we're also trying to watch that Demon Slayer anime. I like the artistic choices, the plot is interesting/cute, but oh boy. I know I'm picky about anime but there are just certain tropes that get on my nerves and listening to that orange guy scream and whine all the time makes me want to just stop watching purely bc of him LMAO. The Annoying Coward Character Trope ruins most shows for me dfgsjdf but I'm trying to push past it

Last movie I watched: Knives Out with my dad, we still need to watch Glass Onion and I'm excited for it! I love a good detective story and Knives Out is a very fun one :3 We also watched The Menu, definitely more of a horror/thriller story but I liked the commentary and it was actually pretty funny sometimes. Definitely creative and a new fave!

Currently reading: … Technically I'm still reading the book about wetboys SHFGDKJ but I don't see myself continuing that any time soon (for those curious: it's the first book in the Night Angel trilogy. It fucking sucks, it contains a lot of pedophilia actual child R*PE, general shitty transphobic/homophobic/misogynistic/racist subtext, and its not even written well. It feels like the author played assassins creed and skyrim and then wrote shitty fanfiction about it. Idk why my friend gave this book to me. Don't read it.)

Current obsession: Besides my own custom blorbos? The Magnus Archives. Finally a podcast I can listen to without being so very bored. But if we talkin' MY blorbos *Microwaves The Lord & Lady of Ascension In My Brain*

Tagging: @kenjiyoru @hydepotions @skullpill

[fictionadventurer]

Scattered thoughts about the remainder of The Return of the King:

Most of my opinions about the book boil down to: Anything about setting up the battle = eh; Scenes of valor, triumph and victory = amazing, astounding, superb, 10000000/10.

Pippin became one of my favorite characters. He's so innocent and inexperienced, but conducts himself so well. Like, his first instinct on meeting Denethor is to pledge himself to his service, but he doesn't hesitate to incite his guards to mutiny when Faramir's life is in danger.

It is pretty clear that Tolkien intended to kill him off in the final battle, and his method of sparing him was pretty lazy. He could have put in a bit more effort than, "Gimli happened to come by and see him."

I'm fascinated by the prince of Dol Amroth. I wish he'd gotten a bit more focus--we don't really get to know him as a character because he doesn't get a proper introduction to the hobbits.

Imrahil coming up to Eowyn's funeral procession and going, "You guys know she's alive, right?" was a favorite scene.

Also fascinated that Eowyn gets saved by four princes: Imrahil, Aragorn, Eomer, and Faramir.

I still loved the scene where the black ships unfurl the king's banner, but it didn't have as much impact knowing it was coming. The moment that stood out more this time was Aragorn coming out on the field of battle and immediately becoming brothers-in-arms with Eomer and Imrahil.

Eomer in battle was also pretty awesome. "Ride to ruin and the world's ending" was pretty hardcore and has been running through my head for days. Major "Ballad of the White Horse" vibes surrounding everything involving Rohan, especially because their banner is literally a white horse on a green field.

I already talked about how Faramir and Eowyn are the main love story of LotR, but Aragorn and Arwen's wedding is a nice complement to it. The first one is the tale of great healing after the horrors of war, but the second is the triumph after long years of planning and preparing for war.

Gandalf leaving now that his mission is over had major Ascension vibes.

I had remembered that Saruman destroyed the Shire, but I hadn't remembered that most of the damage had been done before he got there. Even hobbit hearts can be corrupted, and even their simple, petty greed can do a lot of damage.

The War of the Ring ended with a pun! Saruman is killed when Wormtongue, who he calls Worm, finally snaps under his mistreatment and kills him, making it a literal example of the phrase, "Even a worm will turn."

The bountiful year of 1420 was a wonderful epilogue. Especially the mention that everyone was happy with how well everything grew, except for the people who had to mow the grass.

"Well, I'm back," was the perfect ending line for a saga that started out with a book subtitled There and Back Again.

[plumblossomcafe]

Voice lines:

Hello:

Hello, my name is Y/n. Nice to meet you. Um, I'm glad you decided to let me join you on this journey, I promise I'll work hard and protect you to the best of my ability.

Chat: Concern:

My biggest concern is being around tall men, men with blue hair, or a combination of both. It gives me bad memories of when I was still being used as an experiment by The Doctor

When it Rains:

I love the rain. It's fun to play in, but let's not play in it for too long, or else we'll get sick

When Thunder strikes:

Ah!!! That was a loud one. I don't like it when thunder strikes, so when that happens, I always hide under the blanket and hold onto Bybbles.

When it's snowing:

Quick, let's make some snowmen and snow angels!!! It'll be fun, oh, and we can catch snowflakes on our tongues or have a snowball fight!!!

When the sun is out:

I like the sunlight, hey, since you're free, why don't we make some flower crowns, or relax?

Good Morning:

Morning *yawn* I slept well last night, the first time in a while, actually. It felt nice.

Good Afternoon:

Lunch was nice. It wasn't fancy or anything heavy. I liked it.

Good Evening:

Hmm, what should we eat for dinner? Sweet Madame? Sakura Tempura? Adeptus Temptation? Oh, what do you want to eat? Tell me what you want to eat and I'll make it for dinner tonight.

Good Night:

Good Ni-, oh? You want to sleep with me? Why? Oh, you're worried about my sleep? Alright, I hope I won't disturb you when I wake up during the night due to my nightmares. Sleep well.

About Y/n: Book worm:

I read all the books in Mondstadt's library, well minus the scary ones. I'm interested in reading different genres, so if you have any recommendations feel free to let me know, minus the scary ones or the ones that "rot my brain" according to Lisa and Jean, I don't know which ones they're talking about but you could ask them.

About Y/n: Pampering:

After spending some time in Mondstadt after I was saved from the Fatui, I didn't really talk to that many people, so I always stayed quiet. Though I still talked to Diluc, Jean, Lisa, and Amber and they always like to pamper me, especially Jean, Lisa, and Amber. I always tell them to stop pampering me, but they don't listen, and I gave up in the end.

About us: Trust:

As a friend, I trust you enough, meaning that I put you all of my trust. But please don't take advantage of it.

About us: Journey:

I've been enjoying this journey so far, and I get to meet new people that I know, along with meeting old friends and making a ton of friends. I always write letters to Papa, Dad, Jean, and Diluc explaining all that happened!!!

About Vision:

A vision is like a medal that the gods give you for all the hard work you've done or because of how strong your ambition is that makes them believe that you deserve your vision.

Something to share:

I remember that when I first learned how to cook, it was a disaster, Kaeya said as a joke that I could defeat my opponent easily just by cooking a meal for them. I gradually got better, and now I make the delicious meals that you know and enjoy.

Interesting things: animals:

I like animals, I also like researching about them and I especially enjoy learning about new animals that I've never heard of.

Interesting things: medicine:

I'm somewhat good when it comes to the medical field, but I'm improving. Soon, I'll be capable of healing serious injuries and making medicines to cure patients.

Receiving a Gift I:

Delicious!!!! Can I have seconds, please?

Receiving a Gift II:

Can I have the recipe? I really want to try cooking it myself.

Receiving a Gift III:

Down the hatch... hehe...

Birthday:

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Traveler. Happy birthday to you. I hope all of your dreams and wishes come true!!!

Feelings About Ascension: Intro:

Amazing.

Feelings About Ascension: Building Up:

I'm still getting used to this much power.

Feelings About Ascension: Climax:

Your going through all this just for me?

Feelings About Ascension: Conclusion:

Wow, I didn't know, I made this much of an impact on you. I'm very grateful, in the past, others told me that I didn't matter even if my back at the Knights of Favonius, Diona, and Diluc told me otherwise, but now being with you on this journey makes me happy. Is it fine if I give you a hug? Thank you.

[aweebeing]

Ferdinand: I gave you my name i am NOT taking it back it is NOT my problem anymore TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY LIFE

Myne: Ferdinand!

Ferdinand: It might be my name, but it's YOUR problem now

Myne: FERDINAND!

Ferdinand: Don't you DARE shriek away from your responsibilities *pinching her cheek*

[neutralevilslayerofevil]

Verdance my necromancer

Not neccessary to read this... but if you want context for my Tav posts you can

There's some spoilers. Its also long

Personality: Neutral evil b/c she's a power hungry necromancer; but hates oppression/inequality so she's basically good aligned even if her execution is lacking.

Rejects the tadpoles, malevolent entities (hags, devils, etc). Wants her power to come from her own efforts and doesn't trust them at all. Disdainful of "higher powers"/authority figures

Style/Gear: Dual daggers, lots of poison. Summoning and necromancy are her breaad and butter, those she's great with evocation too. Fully read the necromancy of thay.

Her hair starts of a vibrant green, but the more forbidden knowledge power she unlocks the more it turns the color of dead and dry foliage. Has heterochromia due to how she originally learned necromancy. Starts with a normal brown eye and the one with a black sclera and a sort of brightish green iris. After completing the necromancy of thay the iris turned orangeish.

Her tattoos/curse markings shift as well.

Origin:

When she was younger, her village was destroyed. She was trapped under a tower with only a magic book. Taught herself magic... didn't know what she was doing but figured it out. Unfortunately by the time she freed herself everyone was already dead and she managed to create some necromancy spells. But all she made was some very weak zombies. Eventually some late Fists found her and took her to Baldur's Gate where she grew up as an orphan refugee. She kept teaching herself magic and eventually got really good at it.

Before the abduction:

strongish necromancer with a small army of beasts, elementals, zombies etc getting ready to march on Baldur's Gate when they all got jacked by the illithid. Got nerfed by the tadpole.

She probably would of got her ass kicked and sent to a supermax prison or something; but her primary goal was getting ingredients for a lich potion. Becoming a lich is basically her goal for act 1, until Wyll worms his way into her heart

Interaction with other characters:

Wyll: Her beloved. Thinks of him as her lighthouse and herself as the gull sheltered by his light. Wants to protect him and frees him from his 360 deal with mizora. Loves how pure hearted and heroic he is and tries to make herself as vulnerable. Basically the do it for her meme.

She has an idealized view of parents and can't understand why Ulder would cast out his son. (Resents Ulder on Wylls behalf. <Would her parents resent who she's become as well>)

Laezel: Her bestie. Give each other the go ahead to do evil aligned shit. Will help her free Orpheus and her people. Have nicknames for each other.

Karlach: Doesn't care for Karlach. Sends her out to tank hits and then gets annoyed when Karlach is injured. When she found out about the infernal engine thought it would have been better to have just died to Wyll but kept quiet.

Astarion: Mostly ignores him. Kept him alive with the hopes of getting his sires blood since she still wanted to be a lich when they met. Did not force him to give the blood mage his blood. Now doesn't really know what to do with him, but he's on thin ice. Especially since he keeps wanting to make deals with devils and eat tadpoles. Left the brain jars at camp, so he could eat them if he wanted, but laughed in his face when he asked for the necromancy of thay. Since they don't talk will end up destroying Cazador and his chance at ascension unknowingly.

Gale: Initially disdainful for his love of the weave and Mystra, but fully supports him once he gets the whole crown of Karsus idea in his head. They did the tower puzzle to find their gated knowledge together and now he's her wizard bestie. Wants to learn his weave. Kinda jealous, but figures the realms got enough supreme necromancers

Halsin: Doesn't really understand him. Her perception of druids was tainted by her initial interactions with Kahga and the rest, but gained a lot of respect when he went into the shadowfell alone. Was annoyed when Orin kidnapped him, and wonders if the confession the night before was actually orin.

Shadowheart: was annoyed by her dramatic secrecy. if she'd kept her secrets in silence probably would have been more ambivalent. Unfortunately she fell on Verdance's dagger during her try to kill Laezel event. Thought the Shar thing was weird but wasn't really judging. Though secretly was glad she didn't get trapped with a shar book or something worse.

Jaheira: Likes the old lady. Will help her free her friend. Wonders if her harpers could have saved her village

Minthara: Died during the goblin incident.

Barcus: She will protect and keep him alive.

The tieflings: Saved each and every single one of them. Wants to see them all happy. Killed Lorrakan on sight. Mainly for Rolan (also for aylin). Hopes Zevlor can forgive himself one day. Loves the kids, knows Mol doesn't know better but for some reason wants to discipline her anyway. Was glad when Arabella got powers. Confused when she didn't want her to leave on her own, when *she* turned out just fine on her own.

[sigmaelxgr]

"I remember the time I used to be in the Mage Guild. We were young and naive, both fascinated and repulsed by the great elves that, with many disgust, granted us lessons. Auridion was full of those "Altmers". We shared the same traits except our skin; their is from an immaculate gold I used to be jealous of. How can you be so tall your own body becomes one with Magnus..? Envy, because we were so dark, so coal, we only were made of soil and ashes. At least, our eyes were like stars in the deepest blackened sky. We followed one of our favorite Altmers all around Auridion; Cyriel. He used to be our beacon in those troubled periods...

Yet, as I grew up, I discovered ourself to be gifted enough to concern those Altmers. Cyriel, who was as sunlike as we were still storm incarnate, used to carefully manage us - worried about ideas he made himself regarding our nascent aptitudes, he wanted to bridle them "to preserve us". He was deeply concerned about what was coming from Oblivion, as many of his kind usually are, but his first reaction has been to try in vain to shift our interest towards something else to study; Alchemy.

And you know what..?

The more he cancelled my lessons, the bitter I grew. I wanted more, because I knew that I could do more and was so eager to get at least the slightlest of recognition from the golden elves that I became elusive once again. I fled other Mages like their opinion became a jail then left the Guild when I understood that they could not and would not take a moment to listen to the painful babblings of an uncivilized ashlander like me (I barely knew how to write at the time). They had no hope for me, for I was not capable to speak a decent Tamrielic. They maybe thought I'd be the stupiddiest s'wit they would ever take advantage of. They, even, were not expecting me to become someone more than just an assistant. Assistant is the Altmeri polite way to call a pet, whose social ascension is but impossible. And, years before the Aldmeri Dominion forced the Altmers to express their disgust for lower races in private, we became to their eyes even worst than a rat. Nebarra is the equivalent of N'wah, including the slave aspect; because only were given to us the tasks no other people would have accepted.

When I got in touch with what will become our next guild, years later, I acknowledged how much the Mages had restreigned me to forms of teachings that were not absolute. Whole parts of our understanding of the Mundus and further were severed. The nature of godhood. The truth behind myths. The blood of Nirn. They did not tell me about the Flesh. They did not tell me about the Breath, about the Bone, that will become my specialty. They hid those unwanted subjects and researches behind a convenient veil of both silence and disdain. They did what they could to never make of me something else than an alchemist, only good at harvesting and purchasing powders, salts and mushrooms (because Altmers thought our Dunmeri features made us capable to detect fungii), whereas, within the Worm I used to visit from time to time, I was just about to become a promising Conjurator. The Mages astreigned me so much that this single shred of acknowledgement in my researches unleashed my frustration and precipitated me into what you would smugly call desastrous decisions without even having the slightest idea of what you are talking about.

This is why, with all due respect I today may have for you as the sorcerer I became, Archmagister, you should think twice before censoring whole aspects of Magic. You create your own enemy doing so.

The Worm Cult alone is the only place you could really meet interesting individuals, where books were in fact secured and preserved even when their content was not appropriated with traditional religions (it is my role), real places with scholars entertwined in the same hunger for science and truth, pushing themselves forward again and again... Yes, we practiced necromancy. But how many discoveries could change surgery for ever into safest options and better understanding of flesh and bodies without the Worm to initiate the movement? How many of our newcomers emerged from your Guild and only expected support and companionship before you expelled them into our arms, like you did for me when I was still, to your opinion, barely able to babble correctly and so, I guess, vaguely sentient? How many despaired souls just wanted to feel relieved and became outcast because of how strictly you bend them in a new shape, that suited better your own culture? You, too, have comitted many sins. Do never forget them.

I have the gut-feeling that our dearest King may have taught you this lesson already. Don't try to trap minds you can barely reach...

Once yours, back then, - Xangr"

Do you think it would be possible at all for someone to attempt at changing your views on what could be considered necromancy (it's just a form of restoration honestly. Just a little bit... late?). Because I look up to you I really do (I suppose considering the time period it would make sense you would have your reservations) BUT if one makes a mutually beneficial agreement with the deceased it couldn't be all that bad! Ethically sourced necromancy is possible! Not all necromancers are evil!

Absolutely not!

There is, without a doubt, no such thing as “ethical necromancy”! Not only that, but to relate such a vile and twisted study to the arcane art of restoration is an appalling sentiment to be sure! There is nothing similar between healing one who is injured, and wrenching a soul from its body, in order to raise its mindless, deceased corpse under your own control!

I once had an old Psijic peer of mine attempt to argue for so-called “ethical necromancy”, as well. She believed that if a necromancer only used previously deceased bodies, it wasn’t doing any harm! She forgot to take into account the ethical boundaries that would need to be crossed in order to even attempt to desecrate a grave or tomb! Do the dead not have the right to their rest, after they have gone? What about the families of those deceased? I, for one, know full well what it is like to see one close to you risen as a shambling, rotting thrall, their lifeless eyes glazed over and their skin like leather. There was nothing ethical about it.

Or perhaps we should speak on her sigil geodes, instead! Modified soul gems that were created specifically to trap a soul for a short period of time, so that one may speak to it after death. What she regrets to mention is just how traumatic soul trapping is for its victim— and yes, they are victims— no matter what method is used. These souls must be torn from their newly-deceased bodies, must be confined in a miniscule crystal prison, inside which has been stated by released souls to be “worse than Oblivion”.

While not every man or mer that practices necromancy may be doing so for the sake of “evil”, death magic is a slippery slope into madness. The study corrupts your mind, winds its putrid tendrils around your very thoughts and constricts until you are suffocated, until there is nothing left of you but a husk of your former self. There is no way to practice “ethical” necromancy, or “safe” necromancy, or anything of the sort.

Leave the dead to their rest. Study something else.

[ivemanifest]

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[kettlequills]

The Vestige fails. Molag Bal is slain, and the necromancy cult made newly devout by the ascension of their King of Worms floods through the faction war, uniting sundered Tamriel against their predations on mortal souls. Vanus Galerion raises his guild of life-loving mages and lamp-light knights and flings them into the fray, and war consumes them hungrily. However powerful the Worm God of Schemes is, he is only one Prince against an entire world. The anchors are struck free, the wormgates sealed, and the necromancers driven back to their tombs and their rituals. For a time, all is quiet.

But then the whispers start.

-

"O Great Mage," the Lord of Domination purrs, the first time. His voice is sickly-sweet, overwhelming, and utterly inhuman. Inhumane. It rattles around his skull like a curse, refusing to give up its icy echo. Vanus stands stock still with his lunch tray in his hands and feels the chill of Coldharbour creep down his neck. Someone, somewhere, moans long and low in terrible pain.

"No," he says, briskly, and strides into the sun.

-

"Usurper," the King of Worms hisses, next, some weeks later. He has made some effort; the voice that comes across is sibilant, silky, but might have been a man's, once. It is accompanied not by clashing chains but by the prickling sense of magic being gathered, raising the hairs on his arms, itching the backs of his teeth. It feels like a magic duel, of possibility, of beginning; the sort a young Vanus would have cut his teeth on back in those long, summer days, when he filled his days with study and his nights with company, company with long blonde hair like silk, eyes of ice, and a hunger for all the dark mysticism Vanus avoided. He sleeps alone, these days, and his days are spent grading essays and signing papers.

Vanus eyes the dark space of the cupboard he is stacking books into. Even after all these years, it never feels right to lock books away. But these, the journals and research of a woman whose mind has been plundered by the Prince of Madness, deserve better than public display.

His teeth grit. Did so many need to be lost to Daedra and power, from one man's greed?

"Absolutely not," he snaps, and slams the door firmly shut.

-

"Vanus," murmurs his once-lover, and Vanus closes burning eyes.

The stars are the only light, and his chest and cheeks are wet from tears and sweat. The nightmare lingers at his lips, along with the taste of the sweet Psijic wine on an old lover's lips.

His heart squeezes with a great and unbearable ache. He is so tired, of being the one who survives, carries on, forges ahead.

Why couldn't any of them listen, when he warned them?

"I can't help you, Mannimarco." He sounds tired, to his own ears. Old, and wearied, worn thin. A weak man, a mortal man; nothing of what the Worm Prince has become. "You did this to yourself."

"Vanus," comes the voice, so nearly what Vanus remembers, if he ignores the sulphuric, sepulchral echo of a thousand thousand screaming souls lost to the maw of power-lust.

But that is the difference between them, Vanus does not ignore, does not put aside or reject what he does not wish to hear. Not now, when it is too late to save Mannimarco, and not before, when Vanus believed he still had a chance of softening his heart with love alone.

So he hears it, he hears it all. The agony of all those torn and sacrificed souls, the torture of Coldharbour's miserable existence, the dying bellow of its former master bleeding out his death-wound to a lich's curse. *The* lich, for there has never been, and never will be again, someone quite like the man Vanus loved, in all his terrible beauty. And he hears the pain in Mannimarco, the edge of loss to his plea, his desperation, his longing.

His fear.

His love.

Vanus strikes harshly at his tears, and forces himself not to turn back. There is nothing he can do, now.

-

For a time, he believes it. For a time.

-

The necromancers are turning up dead. This, in of itself, would almost be a good thing, were it not for the state of their bodies. Perfect, not a death wound on them. But, of course, for the stitches.

VANUS, the thread spells, in shaky, wobbly lines, halfway up the orc's ashen thigh. THE REVENANT MOON, reads another, adorning the back of a svelte Nord. ARTAEUM. MARUKH. TRECHTUS. MANTELLA. VANUS.  *VANUS.* There are more, in Daedric lettering, harsh and spiked, that Vanus refuses anyone permission to translate. They burn the bodies, hot enough to reduce bones to ash, and shatter every purple soul gem they see, cropping up like corpseweed between the tower steps.

It does not stop the whispers.

-

Vanus leaves the Mages Guild. They don't need him, not anymore, and the politics, the lies, the manoeuvring and the paperwork and the endless, endless stares, get to him. He takes up a quiet house tucked out of the way and occasionally, a student or two. Most of his days are spent disgustingly ruggedly, wearing his horse's shoes to the thinness of copper and himself to exhaustion chasing more worms. There are always more, writhing wetly under the soul, dark students suckling for the power of their master. The Three Banners war has ground itself into steady progress, crushing the weight of bodies and souls uncounted. Cyrodiil is a plane of hell beyond reckoning, with soldiers fighting in the streets and spilling blood for a moment's recognition, an hour's glory, before they too are cut down. The Princes are astir, reaching lightless fingers through the weave of the worlds to cause trouble; Nocturnal, Mehrunes, Meridia. Mannimarco.

It is not, strictly, his job. But as Vanus sets his staff into the ground and conjures fire, fire, more fire, enough to burn bone to ash - even bone carefully carved with an imp's claws to read his name in a thousand texts, a thousand languages - he knows he is not foolish enough to pretend, any longer, that it is not his problem.

-

His first breath drawn in Coldharbour, come the end, seems inevitable.

-

Vanus' back hits the ground and his breath is driven from his lungs - in the same heartbeat, Mannimarco has his wrists seized in one vast claw and another frantically searching for the buckle of his belt.

"No," gasps Vanus, and Mannimarco pauses.

His cold, cruel eyes search Vanus, burn him, like a beacon. He has never liked being denied, Vanus thinks he likes it even less, now he is Lord of Domination.

But he is not Molag Bal.

Mannimarco releases him and stalks away. Heart pounding, Vanus feels a jolt of sickness at the tail that swings behind him as he goes. He is not Molag Bal. But for how much longer, Vanus wonders, will he be Mannimarco?

-

"If you grab me like that again," Vanus gets out as steadily as he dares - which is very, he is surprised to note - "I will leave. Do not touch me without my consent."

"So dramatic," says Mannimarco, with a swish of his forked tail. But he doesn't step closer, doesn't break the invisible ring of space around Vanus.

"Of course," says Vanus with all the pique and exhaustion this nonsense has rightly deserved, "You, Mannimarco, King of Worms, would never once stoop to indulge drama."

That earns him a silky laugh, delight brightening in those marshfire eyes. "My friend, you know me so well. Are you so confident you can truly leave, so easily?"

"Why, do you plan to try keeping me here?" Vanus shoots back, and Mannimarco's insectoid gauntlets curl around the head of his wormstaff, and his laugh around the point of Vanus' ear.

"Do I need to?" Mannimarco replies, and that smirk - rogueish, slanted, sly - is just the same, just the same as it was a lifetime ago on those summer shores, when he used it to win sweet kisses and sweeter nights. Why, why, are the gods so unkind as to let him keep this, when so much of him is washed away?

He still makes Vanus burn.

-

"Why did you do it?" Vanus asks. He sounds more hopeless than angry to his own ears, spiteful when he tries to rally. "Why couldn't you just..."

"-Be content with a small life?" Mannimarco looks sidelong at him, the flaming pits of cold blue that dominate his eyes flaring. "Were *you,* O Great Mage?"

"I didn't ask them to call me that," but the heat is in his cheeks, and he can't deny the small kernel of pleasure that still burns like an ember there, in the hollow void where spite at a dead man who thought to take books from children and light from lives still thrives. No, he didn't ask - but hadn't he still gone, raised a Guild with himself at its head, permitted their adulation, for a time, only a time? "That's not the same, and you know it."

He is no self-denying Psijic monk, not anymore, but there is a fair distance between that and a Daedric Lord.

Mannimarco puts a great hand down. Vanus feels the icy heat burning from it like a physical wall, and has to swallow around the strength of his response; wordless, trembling in its immensity, utterly unnameable. Mannimarco's nails are claw-tipped, his fingers elongated and spindly, the pads stained purplish with soul-essence. Faint scars silver in the misty blue-black light line the delicate forking where veins would be, on a mortal man, like his skin is nothing more than a shroud pulled over rot and scale and the monster beneath. A caricature of a necromancer's flesh, of *his* flesh.

"I do," he says. "But I have faith in your capacity to understand, Vanus."

Side by side on the rail, the space Mannimarco leaves between their hands throbs like a wound.

-

After some deliberation, Vanus starts talking to the Daedra. There are some, he finds, who are freer with their tongues than others; for a price. Lyranth Fool-Killer takes one look at him and demands a fellow daedra's heart. When he queries her, she scoffs.

"Bleeding heart," she says. "You want to *save* them, all the souls here? I can open a portal for you, wherever you think's better than here." Her voice drips with sarcasm, like he is suggesting something very small, very stupid, and very mortal.

"Fine," says Vanus, and gets his staff.

-

Mannimarco joins him in killing, sometimes. Sometimes he watches, one ankle cocked insouciantly over his knee, a smirk on his proud, thin lips, like Vanus is performing a show for him alone. He stands only when Vanus has finished wiping the sweat from his brow, and summons to his hand a staff as twisted as it was once familiar.

When the next wave comes, the Worm Prince is no gentler to his own subjects then he was with the innocents of Nirn. It is sickening, fighting alongside him, what he has become.

Yet, it is also ... familiar, and even, sometimes, a little fun.

Covered in blood, his fine hair matted with it, his horns glittering and his eyes alight, he is diamond gorgeous, arrogance streaming off him beautiful and perfect and cold. He smirks at Vanus, and he doesn't say a word; he doesn't need to.

Vanus doesn't want to think about what that makes him, either of them, that he knows just why Mannimarco smiles.

-

For a time, he will manage it. For a time.