#between wind and water

[wirlibirb]

a short work that i made feverishly after reading the echo garden twice in a row

i wanted to make something that represents a main melody, layered over by warmer, drier (?) feeling tones.

[ph4nt-mp]

I see your Scottish pirate-accented Wind, and I raise you my hawaiian pidgin english-accented Wind

[lyculuscaelus]

Just some silly thoughts

(Feel free to ignore me but here’re some ideas for a 600 Strike AU and ofc they’re based on LotR what else are you expecting)

And six hundred strike sounds more like “six hundred, strike” then they’re up and off and away they go against Poseidon

[enchi-elm]

On this day, September 5 in 1779, the historical Benjamin Tallmadge and Caleb Brewster were briefly united in person—a rare event, contrary to their portrayal in Turn: Washington’s Spies. The occasion was an attempt to oust a nest of Loyalist marauders—privateers—who were menacing the northern coast of Long Island in the very area where Abraham Woodhull was conducting his spy activities. The Loyalist “freebooters”, as Tallmadge describes them in his memoir, were encamped near a fortified post, the garrison Fort Franklin, on a “promontory or elevated piece of ground next to the Sound, between Huntington Harbour and Oyster Bay”. The site is known today as Fort Hill Estate.

Tallmadge and Brewster and their men (a detachment and Brewster’s whaleboat fleet) arrived on Lloyd’s Neck at 10 pm after a five hour row across the Sound and set about attacking the encampment. Tallmadge’s plan was to take them quietly—without a single shot fired—so that once the marauders were dispatched they had a clean shot at the nearby British garrison. They captured almost the whole band, with only a few escapees, one of which fired a shot that alerted the British—their chance at the garrison was foiled. Still, Tallmadge, Brewster, and their prisoners departed quickly after destroying all the boats they could find. They rowed back to Connecticut (presumably another five hour row, argh) and arrived before sunrise without the loss of a single Patriot.

244 years later, on this day, September 5 in 2023, I finished my Tallster fanfiction “You’ve Caught Me Between Wind and Water”. I did not include any pirates, to my great regret. This story is my longest project to date and one that’s very dear to me.

I was pondering its 1-year completion anniversary—today, September 5, 2024, and whether I should write an epilogue for the story. What would they be doing a year after the events of Wind and Water? Bonus, what would they have been doing in that September of 1779 specifically? Imagine my tickled surprise, dear Readers, when the historical record delivered such serendipity. (Big BIG thank you to @ollieoliveoboelo22 for giving me photos of Tallmadge’s memoir and Alexander Rose’s book on the passages in question).

Of course they’re together in real life. Of course they’re ousting pirates. Of course they’re performing a raid.

And—the garrison! As readers may or may not know, taking down a garrison head-on was the planned finale for much of the time I spent writing the story. (It’s not subtle, there are a lot of hints.) In the end, I ended up shifting the focus to taking down a bunch of marauding Loyalists who were terrorizing the country-side and hassling Patriots. That fictional raid ended up being a major reconciliation for Ben and Caleb, who were on the outs.

So to go back in time and read about the events of September 5, 1779, and find out that Ben and Caleb were brought together in real life to take down a garrison—and failing that, settled for taking down a bunch of marauding Loyalists who were terrorizing the country-side and hassling Patriots… well, it must be some sort of divine sign.

[atwhughesversion]

i thought there was a plane overhead but it turns out it was just the wind gotta love west coast november weather

[pluviophile-who-likes-coffee]

Life isn't black and white. It's not shades of gray, either. It's an endless array of colors. Some dark, some light, and everything in between. We have to hold space for all of it.

Hidden Waters by Catherine Cowles

[yukyunotabibito]

[ Romanesco Smoothie ] - A sweet milkshake with a pretty green color. The whipped cream and fruity taste mask the fact that half of this was made with broccoli and other vegetables. Good for sweet tooths who refuse to eat their greens.

Azama takes a long, pointed sip. If that isn't enough to make his presence known, then there's the omnipresent jingle of bells.

A moment passes in which one might wonder if he's actually going to say anything at all.

Nasir is not so lucky.

"Hey, you."

Azama offers a thin smile.

"You stole a dance from me," not the full truth, really, given it had been a fast paced affair full of partner swaps, but whatever, "and neglected to leave so much as a name or token..."

His bells jingle again.

"So which is it going to be?"

Honestly, Azama isn't sure which he'd prefer: the name of this handsome stranger, or those pearls of his.

He doesn't know the man well enough to place a bet, either. Tragic.

"Oh did I now?" Nasir chuckles softly to themselves. They had not been expecting to ever see the strange spiky haired man again after sweeping him into a dance during the heat of the moment. It was the nature of this strange ball, they supposed.

Things were sure to happen, time was sure to be stolen away for but little moments.

Did it matter? Perhaps. Or perhaps not.

Either way, they can't help but to be surprised that he would dare to approach them again after they had so callously left him in the dust. How interesting. Beorc truly did tend to be the strange sort. And some laguz too. Nasir was all but proof of that fact.

"Would you care for both?" They pluck a single pearl from their chain, grabbing the man's hand and dropping it into his palm, "There's that. And the name is Nasir, if you care to know."

[impossible-rat-babies]

what gets me sometimes w the idea of the calamity is that there are probably places in the deserts of thanalan where the fire of bahamut turned the sand to glass and it’s just. a few handfuls of sand there are layers of glass

[kitkatt0430]

I've never liked the ReDead. Creepy, screaming, undead things. Though making them dance in Majora's Mask always amuses me. But. Ugh. ReDead.

The Gibdo were slightly better. Less creepy design, though if I'm remembering correctly they could have the bandages burned off and reveal the ReDead underneath in some of the games. Yeah.

But there's something particularly unnerving about the Gibdo in Tears of the Kingdom. The design is distinctly ReDead-esque, occasionally with pretty moth wings thrown in. And the hive-like behavior is unsettling. They're evil insects that either infest dead bodies or evolved to look like dead bodies. And both ideas are fascinating, but...

It is not making it any easier for me to navigate the poorly lit Lightning Temple when the Gibdo are smacking my 'creeped out' buttons. At least these guys don't scream. They just... unnaturally elongate their spines as they get closer to a victim.

Of course its the temple that actually looks like a real Zelda dungeon that has the horror elements in it. *sigh* Careful what I wish for, indeed.

[fourswords]

someone mentions the four sword around me and i start vibrating out of my skin with my ideas concerning it

[chronicles-cc]

so, like... i'm thinking that binaries/couplets/duos are important to general mythology ? (in cc). like everything has a counterpart...

like, the big boss god (the one of balance) is composed of two halves. there's a binary between those who can naturally use magic (elementals) and those who cannot (people, everything else). and things like that

at the same time, every binary has a third/overlap? a bridge that can be crossed between a pair. the god previously mentioned is an embodiment of this, as it's a pair that fuses into a larger thing. and crystals + partnerships (familiars) bridge the gap between those who use magic and those who don't. and things like that.

[theinfinitedivides]

my f*cking God he's done it again!!!!!!

[enchi-elm]

did you know wind & water is 251 pages as a pdf? INSANE, what an investment & labor of love. i personally just had the scare of my life trying to find it bc your account was showing only 5 inception fics and i thought you'd taken it down, only to realize my ao3 got signed out and so it wasn't showing your works. so anyways, now it's on my phone, just in case, and for easy access!

This makes my heart sing. I was just thinking today how precious that story is to me, and to know someone else was trying to track it down while I was feeling so tender about all the work I put into it is a lovely feeling of harmony :)

And yes, sometimes I forgot that it's a book-length story XD I can still barely take that in and I know exactly how long it took to write it. Never fear! That story is never coming off of AO3 and if you ever do lose access to it for whatever reason, please reach out to me! I keep back ups!

And hey -- as a treat for being lovely, please enjoy four of sixteen unreleased chapter covers I designed for the story. I've been wondering how to release them -- maybe for the anniversary of its completion? -- but I haven't come up with anything good. So here -- for you and all!

[griddlegold]

am i stupid or is the sage of spirit both functionally useless and the only one that doesn't match their name

[yukyunotabibito]

[ Goddess Tower ] - Who says you have to wait until the end of the night to see whether or not the myths are true? Love (and/or rejection) waits for no one!

He didn’t climb to the top of the tower last year, out of courtesy for the myths that surrounded it. He does so now, at least to enjoy the view before the inevitable couples will climb to its top to speak their sweet words of confession. He would not lie and say he was not hoping for solitude.

Sephiran looks over the monastery, the place he lived in for almost a year, that he abandoned when he flew too close to the sun, craved too much connection. Wrought too much destruction yet again. He hears another set of footsteps approach him- alone, not here for a confession unless they were far too early.

But he recognizes the scent of dragons. Dragons of Tellius, not any of the other dragons he had met nor heard of in his time in Fodlan. He does not need to glance behind to guess at who it was.

“How ironic that we meet atop a tower again, Nasir. Have you something to say to me, or have you come to enjoy the view as well?”

The last person that Nasir would have expected to see all the way up here - how sacrilegious of their dear Sephiran, to climb the stairs of a tower dedicated to a different goddess - was Begnion's former prime minister.

They scoff, letting their hand fall from where it had been clutching the fabric of their skirts to prevent them from tripping over the hem as they climbed, "I didn't expect to see you up here, Lehran. I... I simply wanted some peace and quiet. You know how beorc youth are, sometimes they get far too rowdy for an old man like myself."

They observe the heron carefully, deep blue eyes boring into his soul. There was a far more selfish reason they had come up here as well, but to say it to Sephiran of all people...

The monastery sprawls out below, grand buildings made minuscule by the heights they now reached. It almost made one want to reminisce on the past, of what had once been before being swept away by the sands of time. The rumors surrounding this tower, of love and confessions, Nasir cannot help but to think of love they had once had. To think of a woman who was long gone but had shone brighter than anyone else they had ever known.

"I will spare you from vitriol tonight, Lehran. But allow me to ask a question: do you wish for someone you once loved to be standing here now? I'm sure you can understand, the longing for someone who will never breathe again. Can't you?"