#but at least in the case of a one-off it would be an interesting achievement everybody else has a chance to do that over some time

[elodieunderglass]

It’s a good question but not set up to be the case in the canon material! Obviously we are having fun, but it’s backed (at least in my own contributions) by the genuinely interesting public health problems and ecological implications of hobbits.

A few reasons, behind the cut because I’m conscious of having contributed TOO MANY WORDS across various iterations of this post already:

1. Tolkien provided a lot of extensive hobbit family trees, often with birth and death dates. These indicate large families produced by - this is important! - the same mother. Conclusions: mothers weren’t frequently dying in childbirth, and early deaths aren’t often recorded on the family trees. (Possible explanations you could invent for this could include things like “children only being recorded on family trees if they reach a certain age/milestone.” But then you’d be doing the same thing as making them all poly - adding your own imagination!)

One of the longest family lines is the lineage of the Old Took, who sired twelve children and was a shared ancestor of Bilbo, Frodo, Merry and Pippin. In addition to having “three remarkable daughters” including the adventurous Belladonna Took, some of his kids met such unusual fates that they were included parenthetically next to their birth/death dates. One of this generation Took siblings actually went to sea once (but came back and lived to be like 100), one never returned from an adventure, one had no children at all (!!!) and one, Hildigard, “died young.” Hildigard’s birth/death dates aren’t given, but she was clearly old enough to have been named. Dying young was clearly significant; perhaps on the same level of notability as dying childless or dying on an adventure. However, the Old Took was famous and influential, so it’s reasonable that there be more interest in his children’s fates than usual, and that Hildigard’s early death is recorded for those reasons, while perhaps working-class hobbits would have just lost children without recording them.

There is only one “working class” hobbit family tree, and that’s Sam’s.

And while it doesn’t have death dates, we do see that they all started having kids in early adulthood, around the age of 40. Sam’s parents had 6 kids over an 18-year span (!). Of those, 4 achieved adulthood as indicated by marriage or career updates. Again, there might have been dead ones left off the family tree/dying unnamed, if we use that theory I came up with. or this might genuinely be all the kids Hamfast and Bell had, and Daisy and May might have died. But we’re still seeing a general pattern of couples producing more than 2 living kids.

2. The statement in canon is that hobbits have notably “large families”, implying both lots of (living) siblings to be observed, but also something especially worthy of comment. The historical 30%-or-whatever mortality rate could certainly reduce numbers of babies like anything! but there would still have to be a LOT of siblings and cousins and big kids knocking around to create the apparently-accepted canon cultural truth of “hobbits have large families.” Then consider if they were living in a setting where it was normal for all families of all races to be affected by the same problems; they would have, say, five children, of whom two would survive early childhood. If that was expected and natural, those other people still have to turn around and point to hobbits, saying “THOSE little buggers have REALLY big families.”

Fold into that the fact that hobbits are (for their own reasons) living in extremely functional and prosperous 1700s-1800s England, with plenty of food and tea and biscuits, and a functioning postal service - while everyone else is living in various times of antiquity, and constantly getting mown down by raiders. and it seems like it should be backwards; humans should be having huge families with a few survivors, while hobbits should only be having a few kids. What the HELL are they doing over there -

3. We do need something to actually kill off the kids. We do need some cause or factor to do it. The absolute best thing is disease, especially infectious diseases! Especially since we’ve shown that we aren’t seeing family-tree indications of bearers and children dying together in childbirth, which was a formerly popular way to go - let’s go for the next best thing of preventable infectious diseases! And the tricky thing about disease is that the patterns here would have to be continually carrying off medium-sized children and young adults. This would crop the population like a mown lawn, constantly picking off people before they reproduced, while allowing the overall impression of “big families.” But this would have to be an infectious disease that somehow isn’t captured in family trees. And doesn’t stop mothers from bearing kids regularly. And doesn’t follow cycles of epidemic or pandemic (all the families all losing cousins at once in the same year etc.) so their most impactful diseases would have to be things like consumption (tuberculosis) where plenty of people can live as carriers, everyone has different levels of resistance, and they succumb to the disease at different times. I am quite happy for the Shire to have a lot of tuberculosis knocking around. Crammed full of TB. It doesn’t ever make a huge dent on the population, but it definitely hits constantly.

4. We could expect that non-infectious diseases - cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc - should be constantly and continuously wiping out a decent number of adults - although those normally don’t interfere with reproduction and don’t solve our problem. But hobbit life histories as recorded in those stupid family trees are VERY annoying. They’re so annoying with it that in a 2022 paper intended to teach evolutionary biology to kids, authors analysing hobbits had to conclude that hobbits were probably just resistant to disease and cancer. Those stupid birth/reproduction/death dates indicate a life history slower and more resilient than humans. There probably is a decent amount of this happening anyway, but to the adults, not so much the kids. The family trees definitely and continuously imply an absurdly resilient race that really should have a huge population.

5. Kids should definitely be dying by accident a lot - drowning, falling down stairs (admittedly their architecture has few stairs) and so on. However, the culture seems to suggest that it would have to be quite a subtle continuous attrition of children. Disasters, accidents, attacks and famines are all so rare in the Shire that people literally still talk about interesting deaths a generation later. Frodo’s parents were considered completely unhinged for dying of drowning. The Fell Winter, in 2911/1311, was legendary for being difficult - in the Unfinished Tales Gandalf says:

“They (the shire-folk) were very hard put to it then: one of the worst pinches they have been in, dying of cold, and starving in the dreadful dearth that followed.”

The Fell Winter caused a drop in population, and it’s possible that they hadn’t recovered from it by the time of the books; but everyone had a lot of kids since then, and it’s still a huge legendary outlier and the worst thing that every happened to their species.

Notably there weren’t many deaths in 1311 recorded in the family trees, which is obviously due to Tolkien not matching stuff up (this whole situation is about him not matching stuff up, and us filling in the gaps). But the point I wanted to make here is that disasters are rare to hobbits.

6. A possible theory is that every hobbit even tangentially related to the Fellowship hobbits has possessed a disproportionate share of luck and fecundity, so their family trees are absurd, and everyone else is just DEAD.

7. To be fair we do see a LITTLE political impact that could be attributed to having more young people than old ones. In The Hobbit, the middle-aged Bilbo is extremely conservative and concerned with reputation and respectability; the Shire is openly prejudiced against other races. But by LotR we meet a younger generation of hobbits who are very different. Some of this is possibly due to Bilbo having changed the culture a little bit (and that’s Gandalf’s own hope and meta-explanation*) but some of it could be because of the population effect I mentioned way back - constant, ever-growing new generations being (theoretically) ever-harder to control through cultural expectations, and therefore being ever more progressive and flexible.

For this we can see Fatty Bolger - a friend of the Fellowship hobbits, who is presented as the least brave and progressive of them all, therefore elected the one staying home as a decoy while the rest of them trot off happily on a high-risk quest. Fatty casually achieves some impressive feats without worrying at all about respectability. He agrees to be a living decoy for the Nazgûl, escapes them on foot and raises the alarm, and later is a rebel leader in the occupied Shire. The Bolgers are in a reasonable approximation of the same social class as the Baggins family, and Fatty did this while being younger than Bilbo, but Fatty is seemingly willing to go into ride-or-die mode. Bilbo’s constant personal worries and fears about “hobbits don’t do that, hobbits do this” and “is this respectable” don’t seem to form part of the Fellowship hobbits’ mental landscape, and even the most cowardly of the young generation is shown being active, brave, and taking initiative. By the time of Fellowship, a working-class hobbit openly declares his desire to observe other races (Sam’s fascination with elves), young hobbits apparently normalise far-ranging camping trips all the time, Gandalf is a frequent Disturber of the Peace, dwarves come from all over to help out with a birthday party, and Frodo’s four best friends plan a journey outside the Shire in a spirit of helpful mischief. Culturally, they’re more open and responsive than Bilbo portrayed them.

So it’s possible that the Shire is in a constant state of ongoing exponential growth and development and progress, and is just so obscure that nobody has noticed that yet. And THAT could be why they’re reasonably technologically advanced and so on. Which slightly changes the flavour - but once again requires the reader’s input and imagination and research and three different sources to bring to light. So we might as well just have whatever fun we like, right? The ultimate answer is that Tolkien didn’t think about it! and meanwhile he made so many statements of such confidence and such implications that they created huge numbers of attractive fanfic gaps, in which fans can nest, like cliff swallows.

At any rate, it’s all provocation and good fun. You might as well announce that hobbit family trees are a mishmash of kinship types that conceal a truly goofy amount of polyamorous activity, as try to work out why kids aren’t dying more, when they really should.

* in the Unfinished Tales, Gandalf tells Pippin that he chose a hobbit for Thorin’s company partly because he foresaw an apocalyptic world war coming and wanted hobbits to survive it: he picked Bilbo to be a social catalyst to change their culture and increase their likelihood of surviving it. the Unfinished Tales aren’t 100% canon, but it does seem to have worked.

Every time Sean Astin makes a statement on whether or not Sam and Frodo were indeed gay for each other in lord of the rings he’s always like “well we have to acknowledge that attitudes around sexuality have changed dramatically over the past several decades and since authorial intent is only up to speculation, the story is open to multiple readings, some of which might have different significances for different groups of people also they kiss on the lips because I said so”

[hereforthefunnyguys]

Being really passionately into your own genderbend au is all fun and games until someone has a different completely harmless headcanon about something you happened to have an extremely strong-set belief in and oh no it appears i have written a small essay in my tags on marik ishtar gender identity. How did that get there

[radrobotz]

if we combined the worst parts of every retelling/adaption of jason todds death + red hood we could make the most traumatizing version of the story ever

[narcjsistx]

𝐕𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐇𝐂𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 | sae, shidou, rin (part two)

𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ; take a look, trust me!

— sae itoshi

✶ Sae seems like someone who actually likes to wear bracelets, rings or necklaces, but can't wear them often due to the matchs he plays, where he would risk breaking them. going back to the basic concept, his gifts would probably be matching jewelry, especially rings... so, in case you were someone who wears them and rarely takes them off, he would try to do the same thing. during matches he would hang the ring on a string that he would put in his pocket or around his neck, kissing it before starting the match or squeezing it after scoring a goal

✶ I don't know exactly why, but beyond the canonical fetish for the ass, I see him as someone who would aim to have a partner with well groomed hands, like nails with polish, smooth and without calluses. he's not a big fan of PDA, the only thing he would do is hold your hand and occasionally leave a prying kiss on the back. in private he is certainly more open, and one thing he loves is massaging his partner's hand; it's a gesture he now makes almost unconsciously

✶ Sae didn't have instagram until he met you, you practically forced him to create an account! he resisted his manager telling him to do the same for a long time, but for you it was only enough once. he just put a profile photo, you had to do it for him the bio and some highlights, about past or future matches. a few days later you opened instagram and noticed that his account had a highlights that you hadn't created, entitled "her": you opened it and there were some photos of you, the ones that Sae considered most important (even if he loves them all). needless to say, your heart was about to explode

what would he post on socials ↓

✶ as a child he may have thought about it a bit, but after joining ReAl he didn't have the time to think about it again. he wouldn't mind having a family sooner or later, but probably after winning the U-20 world cup. two children would be fine, possibly a boy and a girl. he just knows that in some way his children would remind him of him and Rin as lil kids

✶ jealosy level: 5/10

✶ flirtiness level: 7/10 (let's specify, ABSOLUTELY NOT in public, but in private maybe he would indulge in some jokes)

✶ pet names: "amor" / "y/n" / "pretty"

—————————————

— ryusei shidou

✶ even if it doesn't seem like it, Shidou is relatively a normal person as a boyfriend... is there a concept of personal space? not that, but otherwise it's normal. the only "flaw" he may have is that he must CONSTANTLY have his hand touching you when you're together, whether it's a hand on your thigh or an arm around your shoulders: he simply needs to feel you. PDA is no big deal for him: he want to kiss you in front of everyone? he will do it, whatever the cost. if you say he can kiss you after winning a game and it's live nationally, why can't he do it in front of his group of homies?

✶ Shidou seems like someone actually very deep, or at least that seems to be described in some parts of his character sheet. Late night chats are literally the level of mental intimacy he hopes to achieve with his partner... he's someone who doesn't sleep much, so he has a lot of energy and hardly gets tired even after hours of talking. You and him tightly hugging on his bed, lights off and just everything that goes through your head... doesn't everything seem perfect?

✶ you know very well that every time he has a match he makes comments that, let's say, put him in a "bad light", or in any case make him seem less interested in you. before being with you he didn't mind saying things like that on the field, and more or less the same thing has remained since you got together as a couple... BUT THERE IS A BUT! every time, once the game is over and above all won, he makes sure to run to you before even celebrating with his teammates: whether you are in the VIP area or not, he will come to you to kiss you with all the passion he has. let's say he uses his method to reconfirm to the people that he is happily taken

what would he post on socials ↓

✶ GET MARRIED AND HAVE MANY CHILDREN AS POSSIBLE? YEAAAAH. no okay maybe not like that, but on the issue of children he doesn't lie... certainly with the career as a striker he has, he has no problems with money, and therefore with maintaining kids. let's say that for marriage it's different... he doesn't find any sense in it, in reality, he only sees it as something superficial: if he loves you and you know it, why have such a ceremony?. so let's say it's 50/50: he would do it if you asked him but at the same time he wouldn't mind not being married

✶ jealosy level: 1/10 (he trusts you too much to even think about it)

✶ flirtiness level: 10/10

✶ pet names: "doll" / "darling" / "love"

—————————————

— rin itoshi

✶ Rin hides under his serious and calculating gaze a boy who simply needs to vent after everything that happened with his older brother. Before being together as a couple he would never have expected to be able to cry in front of someone, but with you it was all quite natural: it took months and a lot of patience to show him that you really cared about him and that you wanted him to feel comfortable with you, but in the end he let himself go and was finally able to tell someone what not even he himself could explain. he'll never admit it but he believes that was the moment he realized how important you really were to him, and how much he simply wanted someone who could understand him

✶ He has a sort of fetish for seeing you in his clothes: it doesn't matter if the clothes are tight, big or the right size, just seeing you in that black sweatshirt of his or in his PxG uniform is enough to send him into crisis. he can't even explain to you why he likes it so much, but the fact that you're wearing something that smells like him is definitely a valid reason. you once surprised him by showing up at one of his matches wearing a jacket with "rin" written on the back, and we can say that he appreciated it to the point of having to prove it to you in some way: that time the match ended 9-0, goal all marked by him

✶ He may be one of the best if not the best, but after finishing the practice he simply needs to rest with you next to him, even more so if the coach was more unpleasant than usual or he simply did a lot of things wrong due to distraction (which is impossible considering it's Rin). Whether on the couch after cleaning himself or in the shower, while you rub shampoo into his hair it doesn't matter, he just needs to feel your presence

what would he post on socials ↓

✶ as a child he often saw other children playing at being married, but he was never actually interested, also because on the one hand it disgusted him to think of having to be tied to a person forever and kiss them on the mouth. as he's grown up he's changed his opinion, he's definitely the marriageable type and he'd actually like to get married as soon as possible: what's the point in leaving you legally free if you've stolen his heart?. let's say that he has a fairly positive opinion about children, he just knows that they arrive after a certain amount of time after marriage: he would like to have two girls... growing up as one of two brothers, both boys, he knows how boys are more problematic than girls

✶ jealosy level: 6/10

✶ flirtiness level: 3/10

✶ pet names: "y/n" / "love"

[robthegoodfellow]

Comment Bingo

Very simple rules: connect 5 squares in a line by completing the task in each square

Very simple goals: encourage readers to comment on fics; encourage fandom writers to KEEP WRITING

STEPS:

Download Bingo Card HERE (png) or HERE (jpg) or HERE (pdf)

Complete the tasks on the card, marking off each as you go, until you've completed 5 in a line (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal; NO double-dipping; kudos ♥️ is a free space)

REBLOG/POST your winning card (or list your filled squares) and tag @feedthefandomfest! Glory in your victory.

PROPOSED REWARD:

Bingo Badge!

@ihni and I thought it'd be fun to receive something commemorating a win (who gets bingo first isn't the point—ALL BINGOS are wins), in which case, there could be different tiers of achievement:

Bingo Badge (one line filled)

Double Bingo Badge (two lines filled)

ELITE Bingo Badge?? (ALL squares filled—for the ambitious, or at least for @ihni who will prob eat this card for breakfast)

I can make a badge with my limited Canva skills, but we thought it'd be cool if fandom artists came up with different designs? So if any artists wanna contribute, let me know.

If enough people are into this, I'm open to planning a more organized event, but figured this would be fun to try out for now.

no pressure, just tagging anyone who seemed interested: @sanguine-tenshi, @adelacreations, @redfeathered, @heartbreak-sandwich, @magniloquent-raven, @sepulchralsmile, @inquisitiveadventuress, @mrprettywhenhecries, @1jet2unknown, @iravenish, @six-demon-bag, @billyharringson, @suometar, @tciddaemina, @phoenix-burns-wildly, @lafey, @doctor-of-war-and-heartache, @supercomplicatedperson, @g-arya, @hesitantsorrows, @soap-lady, @fan-written, @we-want-mini-mini, @komatsuna-yuki, @calico-kiwi, @pinkittwice, @puppylove24680, @starcourtjesus

P.S. To facilitate unhinged liveblog comments, install the AO3 Floating Comment Box!

if you have any questions/concerns/suggestions, let me know! 💛

[raguiras]

What's this?! Spade of Storms is canon in the game now?! /j

Finally finished this Spade of Storms WIP from early June 😅 Click for better quality!

Reblogs are very appreciated ~

「 Bonus versions & ship ramble below the cut! 」

♤ More Deuce x Allen: ♤

SHIP INTRO: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

OTHER ART: 1

Ship blog: @spade-of-storms

♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤

♤ Ship ramble ♤

There are many reasons why Allen and Deuce are perfect for each other (list), but a fair share of said reasons are rooted in or can be traced back to one massive, highly important core point: these two have extremely similar experiences in a reversed order.

Said experiences shaped their personalities, goals, insecurities and "masks" — all of which are highly important factors for Deuce and Allen's relationship development.

So today, I'll be talking about how their backstories influence Allen and Deuce's relationship.

Something I noticed is that if Spade of Storms weren't dating, they'd pretty much end up experiencing at least parts of each other's backstory... and end up in a super miserable state.

Allen is a former honor student who overworked himself to the point of burning out, all because he was a people pleaser and his stellar grades still weren't enough for his teachers who expected nothing but the absolute best from him. Additionally, he had to suppress his true self and interests because he was expected to be a model student in every single way, and anger was something only "bad" kids felt.

Sounds familiar? Deuce is unknowingly on the path to end up in the same situation, except in his case, the fact that he can't seem to achieve better grades no matter what causes him even more distress. If he actually ended up becoming a honor student, Deuce would experience a ton of additional pressure, not to mention that he's already struggling to hide the delinquent tendencies that are a fundamental part of his true personality... Sure, "honor student" sounds like a nice and admirable title to have — but the reality behind it is cruel, and Deuce isn't aware of that yet.

Which is why I gave him Allen.

A large part of Allen's trauma is rooted in his past as a honor student and the crushing expectations people (including himself) threw at him, and he desperately wants Deuce to watch out for himself and approach his goal of becoming a honor student carefully and logically rather than bite off more than he can chew and end up drowning in even more pressure, self-suppression and insecurities. Allen doesn't want Deuce to experience all the negative sides of being a honor student and instead supports the Heartslabyul student's goals by working towards them with a pace appropriate for Deuce, helping him study through actually unique methods specifically tailored for Deuce, and — most importantly — giving Deuce a safe and healthy environment where he can be his 100% authentic self and learn how to properly get his impulsiveness under control at the same time.

And the other way around? How does Deuce's past help Allen?

Deuce quit being a delinquent because it not only disappointed his mom, but also caused him a lot of trouble and massively stained his reputation. While Allen can handle his own delinquent tendencies just fine on the outside, his anger is actually much worse than Deuce's, not to mention that he has incredibly violent fantasies about the people he can't stand...

So far, Allen hasn't done anything bad. But Deuce, despite being a delinquent at heart himself, is able to calmly remind Allen to not do anything he might end up regretting or that might stain his reputation, especially since this is a major fear of Allen's. Deuce's worries and loving way manage to keep Allen in check, no matter how strong the Ramshackle student's hatred for society grows.

♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎

Now, HOW exactly are they able to help each other grow? WHY did they form intimate levels of trust to begin with? And especially, why can Allen actually efficiently help Deuce in the first place when nobody else can?

All will be revealed in the next issue Spade of Storms explanation post >:)

[dduane]

The first part of that last message got me curious -- given how long-running of a series YW is, how do you keep track of All That when writing a new entry? Copious amounts of notes? Re-reading the entire series backlog? Keeping a fully-functioning simulation of the entire YW universe running in your head with perfect accuracy? (only mostly joking with that last one)

And somewhat-relatedly, did you have any plan or idea when you started for how long YW would run? Or was it more of a "I'll keep writing about this universe until it stops churning out ideas," type of thing and that point just (very thankfully!) hasn't happened yet? I know for per-book purposes you're a proponent of outlining (I swear I'll try writing to one one day Q_Q) but do you also apply that to a series as a whole?

Let me take this backwards, as it may make more sense that way.

Particularly when doing series work, outlining is more vital than usual for me. (Which is saying a lot.) Some of the most basic reasons for this are laid out over here.

The simplest one, though, for series outlining, is logistical. Without having achieved a sense well in advance of what events (or effects of events) are going to be most formative or important (or both) for the characters in a series, you won't have allowed yourself time to think about them enough. And to fail to spend enough time on this is to cheat both yourself and the books in the series. (And your readership.)

If you're smart, you learn very early on that attempting to save time by shortchanging or omitting the planning stages is potentially profoundly destructive. You need to have a plan... and you need not to let anyone make you ashamed of needing one. Putting off your detailed character-interaction and event planning in the name of some magically occurring fit of inspiration, or theoretical bid toward creative spontaneity, will serve neither you nor your creation. You can throw "Hail Mary" passes all you like... but you'd better be damn sure there'll be someone in the end zone to receive. ...If not Herself.

...And just in case you're worried, your initial plans can be really loose! They don't have to jump out of your head full-formed like some local war goddess after somebody hits her dad in the head with an axe. The plan for the Middle Kingdoms books—after The Door Into Fire dumped me gasping by the side of the road and left me a few minutes to breathe—was nothing more than "Now that his boyfriend's finally upped the ante beyond all expectations, Freelorn finally gets off his feckless Would-Be Robin Hood shit and gets to work becoming king." I then spent the next decade thinking purposefully about how that was going to happen, and writing the second book in the series—while sufficiently working out the fine details of the climax (and beyond) to then be able to get busy executing the third book. Even though there was a change of publishers between the beginning of that series and the end of it, the basic dead-simple MK plan from a very early stage quickly became detailed and robust enough (because the series was short enough) to withstand the change. Not least because I'd been thinking about it in a general way since the early 1970s... and continue to do so, pretty much daily. The Door Into Starlight is still hanging fire...

YW has been a different story—quite literally—because the only plan extant at the start of things was, "Everybody slowly gets older (and slowly closer)." I always knew there were going to be more than the original three: there was way too much interesting ground to cover to just stop with those. (I've never yet succeeded in finding out who started the rumor that there were only going to be three books. Over time it's become one of those things you just shrug at and move on.)

(Adding a break here, because this does go on a bit. Caution: contains publishing skullduggery, plans ganging aft agley, approximate word counts, software recommendations, and value judgments.)

("Now wait just one minute. 'Feckless would-be Robin Hood shit'? Can she just say that??")

The circumstances surrounding the writing of Deep Wizardry and High Wizardry, though, made it plain to me that I was not going to be at the then-publisher (Dell) all that much longer. By the time HW came out, they were already starting to pull away from midlist books and authors in order to spend that part of the budget on best-sellers... so it became plain to me that attempting to construct a long arc with/at that publisher would have been folly. Because who could be sure what was going to happen next, and blow everything I'd built to smithereens?

Sure enough, when I finished A Wizard Abroad, Dell declined to pick it up (even though the books had been selling steadily and increasingly strongly in paperback). This annoying validation of my concerns—and my shiny new agent's—made it plain to me that further books in the series were going to need to be thematically driven, rather than mostly character-event-driven, and almost entirely capable of being taken as standalones. Any long arc was going to have to be one that could be suspended, or reworked, with little warning. Because what happens to you once, in publishing, doesn't at all mean you're immune to it after that.

It wasn't until the YW books were picked up by Harcourt in the mid-90s, with a strong editorial team behind them, that I felt confident enough to start building longer-arc material into the books, beginning with the arc that kicks off in The Wizard's Dilemma and more or less completes in Wizard's Holiday and Wizards At War. There is a secondary (and I assume, generally less obvious) arc that picks up material still unhandled in the "War Arc," and deals with it in A Wizard of Mars and Games Wizards Play. But plans for those stories' management were already nailed down in electrons as soon as 2001, because I had made some early choices about where I was going with the characters and their situations; and as new books came out, my editors agreed with me that the choices had been sound, and should remain.

I'll say this only because I've said it before: there is one piece of business planted in So You Want To Be A Wizard that has never been explicitly dealt with/followed up on in any of the books, and is at the core of YW #11. For the moment, it's safest merely to say that I do not willingly leave loose ends hanging. Beyond that, I'll leave you all to your own deductions.

...Now. How do I keep track of all this stuff? (The urge to mutter "With great difficulty" and run off into the wings is strong. But never mind.) :)

The question's fair, as there's a million-plus words' worth of it in the series at the moment. ...Mostly my guide remains the books themselves, in ebook form (in their NME versions. If I need to, I refer back to the traditionally published versions as necessary). I normally have a general memory of where a given event happens or where a given issue comes up for handling. I then pull that copy of the ebook(s) in question, and do a search on various useful target phrases until I find what I'm after, and where it leads.

For new work, or stuff not yet committed to what passes for canon, I do have lots of notes. Some of them are actually out in public, at the currently-being-revised Errantry Concordance (though they're not in any form that anyone but me will recognize). Others are tucked away in the notes sections of pertinent Scrivener files—this being one of the most valuable things about Scrivener, as far as I'm concerned: the ability to store project notes in the project itself as opposed to "all over the damn place." Others yet are in my iPad, as either typing or dictation, and get transferred to other files/formats as necessary.

But the very first thing that happens, when a new work comes into train, is an outline. Sometimes a hilariously simple one, sometimes one with more detail in the middle than at the beginning or the end. Doesn't matter what shape it starts in. All notes, scraps, prose chunks, random thoughts, and midnight cogitations, get slotted into place in this until it's ready to be organized and sent off to an editor. And this outline—no matter how fragmentary or how polished—remains ready to hand at all times until I've finished with correcting the book's ARC and am looking at the release date.

And then I zip it up and put it away where I can find it later if I need to... because some other plan, still in the building stages, may need something in that one that never happened, but now has its chance. Because in YW, as everywhere else in my work, it's so often about the things that have always almost happened... until they do.

...Anyway: HTH!

[twistedwonderlandimaginesblog]

Falls First, Falls Harder [Scarabia & Ignihyde Edition]

Kalim Al-Asim

Falls First: You

Falls Harder: Kalim

Kalim has always extended a hand to you, being kind, open, and an overall ray of sunshine on a rainy day. You’re surprised he doesn’t have more people totally in love with him all things considered, as you weren’t exactly a special case. His overly friendly nature extended to everyone which left you with your crush on him feeling a little pathetic. For Kalim, the realization that he has romantic feelings for you is a slow burn, the flame slowly moving down the fuse until it suddenly reaches its conclusion and explodes into a cloud of emotion. Getting jealous when others keep your attention at event he invited you all to was one sign, but the impulse to invite only you was the real impactful point. You could just be living your very normal life as an NRC student, strolling to class when Kalim makes you very aware of his feelings, his confession loud and incredibly embarrassing if you’re the shy type. Now that he finally understood what he was feeling he can’t help but want to explore more experiences with you alone, eager to show you the beauty of the world and all things in it (and wanting to see what you could show him as well).

Jamil Viper

Falls First: You

Falls Harder: Jamil

The king of ignoring his feelings, there’s no chance in hell he’d indulge his own whims with all that he has going on. There’s a deep-seated fear that stops him from getting too close to you, one that whispers like a snake in his ear that he’ll never be enough. So, he decided he does not see you in this way, though it irritated him that Kalim always wanted you so close. It’s hard to ignore your feelings for a person when you were forced to see them every day, and while his constant babysitting of Kalim bred contempt, it’s not quite the same for you. While he did try his best to maintain that distance there’s something about fate that has you chained together, and it agitated him to no end when he thought too much about it. He can’t help but reach a boiling point when the obvious is pointed out to him so many times. So what if you love him? So what if he loves you back? What could you possibly hope to achieve by loving him? There’s a possessive side of him, one that wants to steal you away for himself. His dreams are filled with simplistic yet meaningful things; cheering him on during a basketball game, complimenting the sheen of his hair, laughing as you confessed you wanted his food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He was in too deep once those daydreams hit, the weakest points of his emotional barrier crumbling the more fate wrote in the stars that you were meant to be.

Idia Shroud

Falls First: Mutual

Falls Harder: Idia

The first time you’d ever noticed him was when you were at the opening ceremony, noticing a very interesting looking boy peeking at you from under his hood. When he noticed you staring he immediately tried to hide himself but you’d already caught a glimpse of blue flame and even bluer lips, so how could you possibly ignore him? You knew he had a bit of regret about drawing attention to himself, even from you, but you made it a goal to befriend the loner who’d rather immerse himself in technology than speak to an actual person. He made his pining worse when he tried to avoid you but your persistence paid off when Idia officially labeled you as a friend, seeming shocked you even wanted to earn the title. You at least find that Idia made time for you when you asked (which was for very select situations to not stress him out too much) and though he dreaded it, you being the one to invite him to school activities or social situations made it hard to deny. He still would on occasion but he at least balanced it out by inviting you to just spend that time with him in his room, the gentle pink glow the tips of his hair emit after realizing what he said leaving you with a bright smile as you wondered what it would take to get the full length of his hair to glow like that.

[taradactyls]

More Bennet Family finances discussion - Ch26 end note of Trying to Tread Water

For those of you interested in the financial elements of Austen’s books, that statement of Mr Bennet’s about how much it would have taken to give their daughters £10,000 apiece is accurate. That’s more than they would be expected to have, as the general rule about ample dowries appeared to be about 3x the father’s yearly income, a number which certainly seems supported in the case of the Darcys and Bingleys (keeping in mind the late Mr Bingley must have had £140,000, if the daughters each had £20,000 and Mr Bingley has about £100,000).

SO, if we go by that rule and aim for each of the Bennets to have £6,000 (as Mr Bennet’s estate is £2,000/y) invested in the 4% like their mother’s settlement is, how much WOULD Mr and Mrs Bennet have had to be saving?

We can assume by the end of the book they have been married at least 23 years (and they should have been saving from the very beginning, regardless of their hope to end the entail), which means that if they’d reinvested the interest of Mrs Bennet’s £5,000 and added £450 a year, they would have £28,802 about when Jane, Elizabeth, and Lydia got married. Even if they were given a dowry immediately upon their marriages (meaning £18,000 is subtracted) it would only take two more years for the account to be over £12,000 again, ensuring all five daughters would have at least £6,000 after their parents were dead. (If it were invested in the 5% bonds, these savings go up to £34,001 after 23 years, and to get £29,858 after 23 years they would only need to be depositing £350).

But say that level of saving isn’t desired, as Mrs Bennet doesn’t want to live off £1,550/y. They could live off the £2,000/y estate and save only the interest of her £5,000 settlement (the £4,000 dowry plus additional £1,000 from Mr Bennet) and, in 23 years, have grown those savings to £12,324 (£15,358 in the 5%s). Which means that if Mr Bennet were to die tomorrow the family would still feel they were in genteel poverty, but would be more than twice as rich as they are in canon which is a DRASTIC difference. For context, in Sense and Sensibility, Mrs Dashwood and her daughters are living off the interest of about £10,000 and it seems Mrs and Miss Bates in Emma have interest from about £2,000-£2,500.

If they had saved even only £100/y on top of that interest the number shoots up to £15,985 (£19,501 at 5%), £200 saved becomes £19,647 (or £23,644), etc. It really wouldn’t have been hard for Mr and Mrs Bennet to save enough money so their daughters (and Mrs Bennet, if she’s the survivor) needn’t fear genteel poverty when the estate passes to Mr Collins. Catherine Moreland (of Northanger Abbey) is one of ten children whose father is almost certainly not as rich as Mr Bennet, but she has a dowry of £3,000, so there’s no reason to think Mr and Mrs Bennet couldn’t have achieved that. When Mr Darcy and the Bingley sisters are mocking the Miss Bennets’ wealth at the start of the book it’s not just the number they’re judging, but what it reveals about the priorities and fiscal savviness of their parents. Imagine if you knew a 1%er family who were constantly flirting with bankruptcy and 2/5 of their children were barely educated – you wouldn’t be wrong for assuming there were some drastic faults within that family. Mr Darcy and the Bingley sisters were horrible snobs about it, but it actually was a massive lapse of Mr and Mrs Bennet’s duty and they’re rich enough that there’s no excuse for it. After all, Mr Darcy is about five times richer (Mr Bingley is two or two-point-five times richer) than Mr Bennet, yet Georgiana is THIRTY times (and Caroline and Lousia twenty times) richer than the Miss Bennets. I know it’s easier for someone with Darcy levels of money to save, but wow is the failure drastic when you compare it directly.

[remotepixel]

Hi! I love your writing!!! Is it okay if I request yandere plantonic Tony stark for the reader and Peter Parker who are siblings? Like Peter is Tony's intern and then he one days meets the reader at like a dance recital or something. Sorry if this is too specific.

Hi!!! I'm so happy you like my writing and thank you for requesting! Don't worry about being too specific :)

TW: yandere themes

-Tony is a jealous person, so he doesn’t really like how happy Peter is when rambling about you during the lab sessions - blood-related or not, Tony wants the attention on himself. However, he’s able to get a rough picture of you thanks to all the information being thrown at him, and, despite his possessiveness, he is very slightly inclined to like you, even if it’s just due to Peter.

-It wasn’t until Peter was practically begged him to come and watch your dance recital though did he properly meet you. You were sweet, and watching you interact with your brother, who he was already viewing as his own kid, brought up the same parental instincts.

-If you share the same intelligence, he’d offer you a place at Starks Industries as well. It means he can keep you safely in his lab, right to him, and gives him a solid way to bond with you. Plus, as much as he won’t admit to his selfishness, it does keep you dependant on him - after all it’s a sure-fire way to get recommend to a good college, and a future job at SI; you wouldn’t want to go against him if it could mean this much.

-If not or your interests lay outside of tech (e.g. dance), he’ll be a bit disappointed, but otherwise invest in making sure you get the best opportunities through his various networkers and whatever else you need to achieve those dreams.

-He feels out of his depth whenever he tries talking to you about it. Sure, he spent hours educating himself and could probably act like he understands, but he doesn’t like not knowing things, or feeling unsure of himself. It won’t be until you confirm he’s correct or compliment him for knowing so much that he feels more comfortable, practically preening under your gaze (he’ll immediately get flustered if he’s wrong though).

-It’d be a lot easier if he could just talk about the mechanisms of his new suit or impress you with his amazing ideas involving complex physics equations he knows at least Peter would love to hear about.

-Though, if it’s for you, he’d happily sit and watch your every competition. He’d probably record it too, adding it to his ever-growing folder, and brag about how talented his kid you are (he gets irritated if they seem too interested; he doesn’t want anyone stealing you away).

-His biggest form of showing he cares is gift-giving. He can’t give you a new suit or webshooters to win your favour, so it’d be more personalised based on what you like (e.g. a show or hobby). As well as that, he’s giving you a stupid - maybe a bit mean - nickname. It’s in his blood to do so, he won’t apologize (he would. One tear and he’s backpedalling like crazy).

-He’s already gone through the motions of putting trackers and overprotective security measures on Peter, so it’s pretty easy when he does it for you. Obviously he doesn’t need to stress about you getting stabbed in alleyways unlike a certain spider, but his paranoia still remains.

-He likes keeping logs on you - where you are, with who - just in case he needs to swoop in. Since he’s your brother’s boss (and you probably heard all about his habits from Peter before anyways) you probably shrug it off, thinking he’s just trying to keep you safe due to your high-profile connections rather than out of an obsessive need.

-In general, it’d be hard to get away from him or his tendencies. You don’t want to upset Peter (who’s likely still slightly blinded by his hero worship) so you go along with it as well. Even if you do somewhat ignore Tony , he would likely bring it up in a lab session, leading to Peter bringing it up to you, and just making it the same situation as before.

[akutasoda]

Hey I know i do a lot of request but I can't help it since your writing is so good.

Could you do bsd x feisty female reader who wears their cape/coat. Like they went on a date and while coming back, reader felt cold. So they offer her their cape/coat only because they want to tease her over how small she looks in their clothes. But she ended up looking so cute that they started hugging her and trying to steal kisses while she is aggressively trying to get away (although she secretly likes it). Please do Ranpo, PM!Dazai, Ada!Dazai, Chuuya, Jouno, Nikola and Fydor or any other character you want. Thank you! <3 <3 <3 Take care of yourself ♡

frostbitten kisses

synopsis - on a cold walk home after a date, they offer you their coat but they simply can't help but smother you in affection

includes - ranpo, dazai, chuuya, fyodor, nikolai, jouno

warnings - fem!reader(no pronouns mentioned), fluff, teasing, slight crack, wc - 2k

a/n: this was so adorable! take care of yourself aswell <3

ranpo edogawa ★↷

dates with ranpo were interesting to say the least. most of the time, home dates were the favourite as ranpo could be quite lazy when returning from a day at the office. however you knew that if you asked ranpo wouldn't turn you down for any ideas you had for a date.

and so when you told him briefly you wanted to go somewhere sometime for a date, he wasted no time in planning it all out and telling you to be ready. your dates with ranpo were always going to be interesting, but it was that sort of charm he had that made it all the more enjoyable.

and even on the walk home you found yourself already missing the previous couple of hours. but your mind was quickly sidetracked by the cold night air that crawled under your attire and made you shiver. noticing your discomfort, ranpo immediately shrugged off his cape like coat and wrapped it around you, he didn't really carre about the cold.

but he still didn't hesitate to tease you about you not being prepared, however he couldn't keep his eyes off how cute you looked all bundled up in his cape like coat. and so his words died down and he tried to smother you in affection, but you simply avoided him.

this then spurred him to wrap his arms around you and tried to press kisses ylto your face but you kept squirming and turning your head. however you did enjoy the affection he always showered you in, so eventually you caved.

osamu dazai ★↷

to absolutely nobody's surprise, when dazai got himself into a true relationship he would act more upon his lovestruck feelings - and that included traditional dates like the romantic he truly was. in addition, dates with him were actually very frequent and always memorable.

but he would be up to any kind of date, whatever you named he'd gladly try his hardest to achieve it for you. but if he wanted to surprise you with a date it'd most often be either at a bar or a traditional fancy restaurant. and tonight it was the latter.

he had been waiting for you the minute you finished work. escorting you home and patiently waiting for you to get ready no matter how long you would take before escorting you arm in arm to his chosen location. just as always, the date had gone by too fast and you sere already anticipating the next one - even if you were just walking home.

but you both underestimated the time you both would begin walking home and so the night air had become especially chilly. but you were determined to not let it ruin your perfect night out even if you couldn't stop shivering.

dazai noticed how this became the case and with a wide smirk he took his coat off and wrapped it around you. he started feigning how he had become your 'knight in shining armour' but before he could start teasing you more he took a moment to take in your form.

seeing you huddled in his coat made his heart swell and instead of teasing you he became draping his arms over you and pressing kisses to your face. you immediately shoved him off and tried escaping his grasp but you were both aware you enjoyed his affection. and so he continued and you let him.

~ 15!dazai

and if you were lucky enough to know him before, he'd be no different.

he'd either of taken you to lupin or some arcade but the result was still the same. after taking in your shivering form, he'd take his coat that hung loosely on his shoulders and wraped it around your form. but now he was slightly more discreet and teased you longer before wrapping his arm around your waist and leaning his head against your shoulder.

chuuya nakahara ★↷

dates with chuuya were always elaborate. he was yet again another traditionalist - arguably the most. he believed heavily that the dates he would take you on would work toward showing how much he adored you and so no expensives would worry him. and while he did prefer those more traditional dates, who was he to say no when you wanted something different?

and so when you planned a date and swung by his office to inform him, he could only smile with a love struck expression. at the end of any date all that really mattered was that you both had a good time, and you always did. normally chuuya would drive you to your dates but because you had chosen somewhere not too far from his residence, he didn't mind the walk.

except the weather wasn't really in your favour and the cold started nipping at you through your attire. chuuya noticed immediately and without thinking he placed his coat over your shoulders to allow you to warm up. he wanted to tease you, to comment or your lack of preparation but all words died in his throat at the sight of you huddling into his coat.

so instead he settled for instead trying to give you a kiss. but your feistyness could rival his own, so you avoided him and only smiled back. he would always know that you loved his affection and so he tried again and again until you finally allowed his to press many kisses to your face.

fyodor dostoevsky ★↷

dates with him were rare but they were more rememberable. the reason was that he was very busy and disliked going out unless he really had to, but when it came down to you he'd be more willing to take you out for the night.

unsurprisingly he was also traditionalist at heart, if he planned the date he'd take you to a fancy restaurant. more surprisingly was the fact that he'd normally spring them on you a day in advance. randomly seeking you out during the day to inform you of his plans to take you out the next night. however he would be open to going to places you'd like to go for a date.

but this time he had yet again sprung another date on you with no prompting on your end. the evening had gone just as charmingly as it always did and noe it was time for the two of you to head back. but it seemed you hadn't picked an outfit that withstood the cold night air and unconsciously wrapped your arms around yourself in an attempt to conserve warmth.

fyodor had noticed immediately and in a rare case he swiftly took his coat off and wrapped it around you (it would've been his cape but you insisted he wore something else for your date). he had half a mind to make a snark comment about how you should come nore prepared but the words died in his throught and one look at you gave him the uncharacteristic urge to hug you.

oh the things you do to him. never in his life would he have thought that someone would render him to a lovesick fool, yet here you were. he subtly shifted closer to you as you two walked side-by-side and you didn't fail to notice his arm sneaking round your waist.

you swatted him off and looked at him while he just said something about you now having his coat to keep you warm instead and he was cold now. you only smirked at him and told him he gave it to you. it took s few more attempts of him trying to sneak closer before you gave in and pressed yourself into his side.

nikolai gogol ★↷

dates with nikolai could be 50/50. sometimes he was simply too busy or he just preffered to stay at home with you for night, other times he wanted nothing more than to sweep you up in his arms and take you on a date.

and when he did it was always a new experience. never once had he given you the same date twice, you often wondered how long it would take for him to run out of ideas. the only time the date was the same was if you suggested a date or asked for the same one.

but today nikolai had found a bar that he now wanted to take you to for your date and while the date had gone by enjoyably, it was time for the walk home. now, you were fully aware of nikolai's ability and how walking home wasn't really necessary, you both agreed that walking home was more enjoyable as it was a form of stretching out the date for as long as possible.

even if the night air granted you with an uncomfortable chill. nikolai noticed your slight shivers and continued talking about whatever subject he had brought up as he whisked off his cloak and wrapped it around you.

he had originally done this to then tease you about, comment on how unprepared you were and how you're lucky he loves you so to brave the freezing night air for you. but he truly couldn't resist the sight of you bundled up in his cloak and instead opted to stop dead in his tracks and start peppering your face in kisses.

you tried your best to shrug him off, quickening your pace as you attempted to get away from his constant affection. but you still loved it and so you allowed him to catch up to you and do it again.

saigiku jouno ★↷

dates with jouno were also quite rare. and if you ever complained he'd remind you that you knew and understood the effect his role as a hunting would have on your relationship. but he would always make sure that if he did take you out, he'd do it properly.

he would always prefer a date in the comfort of either his or your residence. it was much easier on his enhanced senses and it didn't prove to difficult after a long day at work but if you insisted on going out he would also oblige - especially if it was an anniversary or some celebration.

and this was exactly what this was. it was yet another anniversary of your time with your lover and thsi time he'd surprised you and informed you of his plans to take you out to a proper restaurant. he wouldn't admit it, but he always did enjoy these dates with you - no matter how much he grumbled about certain things around him.

luckily the restaurant wasn't too far from his residence, it was walking distance and since your practically lived at his place you both walked back there together. but you both had underestimated how cold the weather would turn by the time you both walked back. and your shivering didn't go unnoticed by jouno who also was getting pretty effected.

but even if he was feezing he still didn't hesitate to take his coat of and hand it to you. you gladly took it and wrapped it around yourself but almost immediately he was regretting it as he got impossibly colder. and his solution came in the form of him wrapping his arm around you instead of the simple hand holding you previously did. this way he could seek out your warmth but you more than happily shoved him off and complained about how comd his hands were and how he handed you his coat.

his lips pressed into a thin line before he tried again, he was met with the same fate. eventually you caved as you did enjoy his affection even if you played this little song and dance.

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

The scene where Xander stabs Teruko is like, hands down one of my favorite scenes in the entire series so far. Can I like, talk about that for a bit? It is genuinely such a god-tier setup for not only the themes of trust and deception in DRDT, but how it sets up one of my favorite things about the writing of DRDT as a whole. That is: how painfully aware DT-Dev is of how the standard Danganronpa tropes affect how us as audience members and fans (former or otherwise) of the canon series read and interact with fangans.

lets play spot the komaeda

()()()()() is like the byakuya/nagito/kokichi of the cast

I just hope ()()()()()() doesn't go crazy and kill in chapter 3. that would be way too predictable

()()()()() will obviously die in chapter 5

I think this scene in the LGI MV is the most upfront example of this (and though I won't get too into it because this post isn't about the David MV, I do think it's particularly interesting to note that this scene is in David's MV. Y'know, the liar character. The character that is known to put on a metaphorical mask to hide parts of himself.) And what I love so much about this is that DT-Dev uses these preconceived notions we've gained from our experience with the canon games, and uses that experience to enhance the themes of distrust and deception that are so prevalent in DRDT's story. Enter: Our lovely british boy.

this picture choice has nothing to do with the analysis by the way, I just think it's cute :) Xander is set up throughout the prologue and the first half of CH1 as Teruko's support character, presenting a very similar role to Sayaka Maizono from the first DR game, or Kaito Momota from NDRV3. Kind, upbeat, and supportive, so much so that David basically praises him for it

David: You're always full of energy and bravery to achieve your goals, no matter what they are. Yet at the same time, you're a compassionate person who takes the time to help others.

At the same time, he is by far the most mysterious character at this point of the story, due in part to his missing eye and the knowledge that it was uninjured before the events of the death game. This factor of early-game mystery also brings up some parallels between Xander and characters like Ultimate Impostor and Rantaro Amami. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think anyone was expecting Xander to survive. Given the similarities he shares with first victims of the first game I'm sure a lot of people suspected he would be the first victim of DRDT, and if not that, most likely die in Chapter 5 due to canon danganronpa's self-fulfilling prophecy of killing off the support characters in the fifth case (Chiaki, Kaito, and Kyoko if we're counting DR1's bad ending.) And this is the thing that really makes me go insane. The way DT-Dev subverts these tropes that we've grown accustomed to is by taking them and spinning them on their head. Usually giving us the same, or a similar ending to these tropes, but twisting the execution in ways that leave us surprised and second-guessing what we know. But DRDT doesn't do this immediately. In fact, the first ten episodes of the series follow a very similar formula to the danganronpa games, even having a very similar motive to the first chapter of DR1 in the form of loved ones being threatened. That is, until the end of CH1-5, in which you are hit with this.

Xander: Sorry for this.

This scene makes me go insane. Apart from being wonderfully animated, executed, and amazing for both Teruko and Xander's arcs, it is also the first clue to us as an audience that this is not an ordinary fangan, and that fully putting our trust in the knowledge we have from the canon danganronpa games is a mistake. Because that knowledge will be used to deceive us when we least expect it to. In simpler terms: All that glitters is not gold - not everything is as it seems.

[spot-of-tea]

Okay headcanon time.

So for ages I’ve always wondered whether magic can be inherited or not. So like if your parents are powerful wizards chances are you’ll be one too. So the main reason I've always thought this is due to the fact that whenever you see a powerful character and are then introduced to a family members of theirs, that family member is as powerful or more so.

And I have examples. But I am gonna put a read more cause this is gonna get looooooong.

There's also gonna be spoilers beyond this point if you haven't watched the anime or read the manga.

So first off Laxus is a powerful wizard, he's an s-class wizard at a young age. While you could always say that that is due to his lacrima, I've always believed him to have the potential for powerful magic but because he was born sickly he could never fully achieve it. But then you look at his family and both his dad and grandfather are both powerful wizards. I mean Makarov is a wizard saint, not many get more powerful than that. Even looking back further, while we don't see the full extent of Yuri's magic in action he does appear to be somewhat powerful from the get go.

Then we move onto Cana. Guildarts is considered the most powerful member of Fairytail, the top ranked S-class mage who was even allowed to try a 100 years quest. Cana has shown multiple times how powerful she is, she's the only person in the guild whos been able to wield fairy glitter.

Then we have Erza, now from the very beginning Erza is shown to be an absolute powerhouse, from meeting her it would be easy to assume that she gained her power through grit and determination. However, we are then introduced to one Irene Belserion. Now Irene is cast as a pretty badass person from the start so you can definitely see where Erza gets parts of her personality from. Magically speaking Irene is said to be one of the top members of the spriggan twelve. Now when we first meet a member of the spriggan twelve we meet Brandish who is most likely one of the less powerful ones, but still her magic is described as overwhelming, so Irene's magic must be even more so.

Now Lucy is an interesting case, while Layla did in fact open (and likely closed) the eclipse gate on her own when it required both Lucy and Yukino to do so later, she (if I remember correctly) also had a pre-existing condition which made her magic less powerful? That being said it's shown that she was already a remarkable wizard and even held the respect of Aquarius who seems to have taken her death very hard. Going further back though we also have Anna Heartfilia, Lucy's ancestor. She's described as being one of the most powerful celestial spirit mage of all time.

Now finally while we don't ever learn about their parents or see if either was canonically powerful. I feel it's safe to assume that at least one of their parents was quite powerful. Natsu and Zeref are revealed to be canonically siblings. Now before we get this reveal you would assume that Zeref is only that powerful because of how long he's been alive for and has accumulated that power over the centuries. But we can then assume that he was already pretty powerful at a young age, I imagine had things worked out he would've used the eclipse gate himself instead of teaming up with Anna. We also see that Natsu is already one of Fairytail's powerhouses (honestly why he's not S-class yet is something I'll never understand). So I can imagine that the both of them had the potential for being powerful wizards long before either of them cast their first spell.

Whew. okay I'm done, I'm sorry this got so long, it's been bugging me for so long. I do want to stress that this may not be 100% accurate but this is just my own interpretation and headcanon.

But yeh let me know what you think and if you want to add anything else to this go ahead, I'm always interested to hear what others have to say.

[m-says-hi]

Hello!

I have more sampo thoughts! Surprisingly, not about the recent event but an old event. Or not even the event itself, but something from after it

The memory bubble you get after Aetherium Wars.

Couple of things about memory bubbles before I bring up Sampo or this particular bubble’s contents. After some (admittedly brief) research on bubbles, I’ve learned they’re created by Memokeepers to preserve memories and are usually stolen from the original memory holder. In the game there are 21 memory bubbles. 20 of them belong to Herta and can be found around the Space Station. The last one is the one from after Aetherium Wars and is found on Jarilo VI.

I haven’t interacted with any of the memory bubbles myself, but I have read through all the dialogue and descriptions on the wiki. The 20 belonging to Herta all seem to put you in the pov of the memory holder. It tells it more like a story, kinda similar to Simulated Universe?

But the Aetherium Wars Bubbles only gives dialogue (very similar to Sampo’s character stories) making us more like an observer and not part of the memory. Unless we’re watching the memory of someone who was watching the conversation, but I feel like there’d be more description of the setting if that were the case.

I could go on about the content of the conversation, but I think we’ve all read through it multiple times. What really caught my attention was the beginning and end dialogue of the bubble.

(taken from the wiki. I haven’t done aetherium wars yet ;-;)

Four things stick out to me right away:

The game/The trailblazer’s thoughts notes this feels different

As I mentioned before, there is no description of the scenery showing up before you, but just two figures. My guess as to why is that this bubble wasn’t created by a stolen memory, but was made by the memory holder (or at least the memory holder was involved in the process). The memory holder being Sampo

2. There’s an implication that this bubble was left on purpose

This only adds to the point above. There’s a strong implication that Sampo left this for the Trailblazer to find. You also get an achievement for finding this bubble called Confessions of the Mask which. That kinda says it all.

But now I have two questions, the first being how? It's not said explicitly, but in a conversation with Herta it's implied that Memory Bubbles are only made by Memokeepers. So, if this was left by Sampo, either he got a memokeeper to help him (extremely possible) or he has the power to do it himself (extremely interesting)

My second question is why? 

Why would he tell us? Why is he telling us in this indirect way? My guess is it has something to do with his mask. The conversation in the bubble mentions Penacony and Sparkle. So,this was probably around the time Sampo started planning to go to Penacony to get his mask. I discussed this with a friend, and she suggested it might even be some sort of warning, which is why it’s done with a memory bubble. 

That sort of reminds me of the recent event, where Sampo spills a lot about the Fools and the Tavern, information that you would only really know as a Fool, but said it in a way that implied he wasn’t a fool. That he heard it from somewhere else, someone else, not that he knew it first hand. I wonder if his mask is sort of.. Making him unstable? (He grew increasingly dark every day) And the 7 day event was another warning. Warning of who he might become when the mask fully takes hold and a warning to not become like him

3. The game/the Trailblazer’s thought recognizes that there are multiple mysterious things about Sampo

Maybe this isn’t as important as I’m making it out to be. After all, we all know something is very Off about Sampo. But the Trailblazer recognizing it feels significant to me. It feels like further confirmation that eventually we will unravel these mysteries. Eventually.

4. “When talking to one who wears a mask, always keep your wits about you.”

This. THIS. This statement has been driving me mad since I first saw it. When I read those words I immediately thought of the translated statement from Topaz’s trailer:

“One who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions”

(if you have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s one of my first posts)

The statements are not the same. But they feel so strongly similar, like they go hand in hand. Both are warnings. Both tell you to be careful about people who are not how they appear, people with masks and people who are falsely sincere. Both are talking about Sampo. Looking into this made me realize just how many times we've been warned about Sampo. Half of those times being Sampo himself

Something about it just makes my brain light up with possibilities and I feel like I keep pushing the statements together waiting for something to make sense and explain everything else, but I’ve yet to figure it out. So I’m left here just kind of going insane

But that’s all I have for now! Maybe someone else will have something

[mysumeow]

Tighnari NSFW Alphabet pt. 2 ⊱☆⊰

warnings: afab genitals. gender neutral pronouns. mentions of breeding, scenting, marking, and usage of aphrodisiacs on this post.

a/n: i didnt think i would post this today but here we are. i hope the food is good

PART ONE

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Breeding, scenting, marking is pretty much a given at this point. Sprinkle in a tad of having a thing for using particular medicines that could either heighten one’s sensitivity to stimuli, or mess up with someone’s arousal levels, increased fertility rate, etc. Plants truly are a blessing from the heavens! You can come up with so many combinations that can give interesting results during sex. Tighnari is knowledgeable when it comes to these types of liquids. Of course, all of this requires prior mutual agreement.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Usually prefers the comfort of being in private. As long as it's inside his home or yours, he’s in. If you go overboard with your teasing while he’s on patrol, and you both are deep in the forest’s innards, there’s a chance he might give in. However, he must be borderline pent up for that to happen.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

You being near this man is enough for him to think...stuff about you. First, he perceives your voice from a great distance, his tail is already wagging happily, as embarrassing as it is for him (he can’t control it). Then, your scent. You smell nice; he can’t help thinking as he greets you with a smile. He’s chatting away with you, and next thing he knows; he’s already craving more of your touch and body.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Sharing you with someone else. During sexual activities, the only ones involved should be you and him. No one else. Not because he’s incredibly jealous…but because his nature just doesn’t allow him to. He could consciously agree to it, but in the actual moment, he’ll feel uneasy and end up opting out.

On a more humorous note, if you were to crank up a bad joke during the deed, he’ll go soft.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Giving.

He'll enjoy it as much as you. Though he might lack experience, there's something about your natural scent that gets him going, to which he sucks and licks you with such fervor, experience can get overlooked in this case. It all ties down to scenting: he's constantly thinking of opening your legs and burying his face between them. 

"You smell so good, please let me suffocate in the middle of your thighs" he thinks.

(I'll elaborate a little bit more later on.) 

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Starts slow and gentle, taking his time with observing your reactions, where he achieves the most delicious reactions from you, enjoying his time with you... He'll keep his pace moderate and constant. He'll go faster if there's a lot of teasing on your part. Much faster. He almost seems like a different person, pushing you against the mattress, restraining your arms behind your back, and just bullying your poor cunt with his pounding. Oh, and your clit, of course. His fingers aren't leaving that place anytime soon.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

With his busy schedule, there's barely any time window for him to engage in a quickie. He prefers waiting until night so he can take his time with you, but in the event there's a opportunity for a quickie, it has to occur in a private area. Or semi private at most. 

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Everything's fair game as long as it's done in privacy. He's most willing to take a risk in public if it's done in the middle of the forest, where he's 130% sure no one's on patrol near that area. 

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

If he's not making you cum at least twice that night, you're not escaping from him. If you're in an interesting situation in which he proposes some aphrodisiacs and one of you or both are under the influence, you're going to wake up covered in love bites and bruises all over your body. 

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

You'd have to be the one to introduce them. With you, he's very lenient on what you want to try out in bed. 

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

If you've been misbehaving (a.k.a been teasing him too much), he'll return the favor tenfold. Fox boy is generally good natured and patient, but even he has a limit. He can get real mean about it if you surpass it. 

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Whines. He attempts to keep his voice low, and if he's going at a moderate pace, you'll be rewarded with his soft moans and heaving breaths. On the other hand, if he's overstimulated and going fast, he won't be able to hold back his small whines. They're small, but constant. 

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He has a big thing for your fluids. Your cum, specifically. Every time he goes down on you, you must push his head away because otherwise he's going to keep licking and sucking your pussy even after you climax, which ends up overstimulating you. And he always has this dumb, messy look on his face: tear-prickled eyes, blush all across his cheeks, and his tongue out, from where an obscene mix of his saliva and your cum drips. There's just so much of it, and he seems so satisfied with himself afterwards when he makes you squirt or cum so hard that it takes a whole minute to come back to your senses.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

We all saw it coming. One word: knot. 

When you hold it, your middle finger and thumb never touch, and you must take deep breaths when you have it in your mouth. It’s so heavy on your tongue, too. And don’t even try to pull yourself off his knot before it’s calmed down, you’ll hurt both yourself and him.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

It’s consistent. He wants to have you at least once a day, but he can control himself when there’s too much work piling up.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

After he makes sure you’re all taken care of, he’ll cuddle up and wrap his tail around your leg as he keeps you company until you fall asleep. Once he sees you’re off to dreamland, he follows you.

[majokkid]

Familiars and Magical Guides

One of the most enticing aspects of being a mahō shōjo is arguably having the aid of an adorable sidekick. Mahō shōjo media is full of examples of mascot characters who are dedicated, at least in part, to the magical growth of its respective protagonists.

Though, these cuddly companions are not always what they seem. By understanding the intentions of the entities we are working with, we can get a better idea of what we can expect out of our relationships with them.

Note: While I am using terminology utilized in traditional witchcraft here, this is not a direct reflection of those practices. I am merely trying to contextualize these ideas within the work of magical heroes.

Magical guides and familiars are independent and conscious entities concerned with your magical work and growth as a magic user. As such, they desire for you to be the best magical hero you can be.

While the line defining the difference between guides and familiars can get blurry, I think this passage from Devin Hunter’s The Witch’s Book of Spirits explains the distinction well:

Familiars are spirits who intimately work with us. Not particularly invested in the enrichment of our souls, they are more interested in being friends and partners in crime. On occasion, […] these allies can start off as guides and then over time move into the role of familiar. Guides are rarely permanent fixtures and have a tendency to come when needed and then exit the stage once the job is done. Sometimes you make friends, however, and they stick around, dropping the formality of mentor and guide and sliding into a much more intimate partnership of equals.

Devin Hunter, The Witch’s Book of Spirits (Llewellyn Publications, 2017)

If we operate with this understanding, both magical guides and familiars are invested in your growth but possibly to different ends. For example, a familiar would readily help you with magic concerning matters of the heart, acting with your best interest in mind, but a magical guide would not (unless they had some ulterior motive linked to the conditions of your magical growth). Magical guides are purely focused on helping you achieve greater magics and are not concerned with the human conceptions of morality that come with that territory. In either case, however, guides and familiars can act as intermediaries between you and other spirits, translators of psychic information, and can reveal to you magical insights.

This post is part of my Magi Praxis series. If you have any suggestions for future topics, or you have attempted anything I have shared and want you share your experiences, please send me a message! I am always happy to go back and provide further explanation as well. ☆