#but i think it would make an unusual and compelling book

[semperintrepida]

What I'm Working On Next

After another week of thinking about what writing project I'd like to tackle next, I've finally got a plan.

Before "The Breaking" showed up to distract me, I was four chapters into an AC: Odyssey novel with Deimos!Kassandra as the POV character. Seems I've still got the itch for this story because I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

The concept for this story makes it far more likely to be a crowd pleaser. The plot is straightforward, the story doesn't take many risks, and it also fits into some popular tropes (found family and slow burn). Look at me, giving readers what they actually want.

I plan to cut my outline so this story will fit into 75,000 words. This won't be a situation where I'm writing my way into the unknown and watching my wordcount swell like a balloon as I go along—I know exactly where this story must go and 75k words ought to be plenty to get there.

The book is called "Irredeemable." I've talked about it before. And you'll see it when I'm finished with it, because I won't start posting it until it's complete.

Stay tuned for a little sneak peek tomorrow...

[heymacy]

hi macy :) I read about your personal experience with finding yourself too invested in the gallavich fandom to the point of feeling upset about it and I have to say... that happened to me too. the compulsory need to engage even when there's no good feeling at the end of it, the constantly thinking about it to the detriment of other activities... I don't know if it's maybe because shameless and gallavich deal with heavy topics, or just one of the ways online engagement and hyperfixations can evolve, but I felt so much better once I removed myself from it, able to find joy in numerous other activities, and fandoms too! just wanted to share this - the fact that I had the same experience - and wanted to say I'm glad you're doing better now :)

hello my love! thank you for reaching out! i'm very glad that you were able to find solidarity in what i shared. re: heavy topics - i know that for myself, not being faced with content regarding my own disease on a daily basis has been a nice change of pace for me. i haven't felt as consumed by it since i took a step back. i think sometimes the content we engage with colors our real-world experiences and that was definitely the case for me. i've never been a casual viewer of media or a casual enjoyer of things so it doesn't surprise me that what happened to me, happened. i love having the capacity now to enjoy other things - and hey, i still engage with fandom here and there! i'm loving RWRB content right now (i have just a tiny bit of brain rot regarding those two) along with some jane austen adaptations and other such things! media is beautiful and transformative and i love putting stickers on the scrapbook that is my blog! thank you for your kind words - i'm glad i'm doing better now, too. it feels good. it feels healthy and normal. and i really hope everyone can find a balance if they're feeling off-kilter. also, i love you. did you know that? thank you for popping in 💛 feel free to do it any time you please, i'm always hanging around somewhere!

[maririna]

✧˚ · .Cat Got Your Tongue?

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ Dr. Ratio x Reader

> In which you bring home a stray.

Word Count: 1.7k

Mari's Note: So I had this dream with him and a cat and I felt compelled to write something with it lol. Surprisingly, it came out sorta cute than I thought <3

Dividers by @/saradika-graphics

"No. Absolutely not, I would not agree to such a proposal."

"Aww, why not?" You raise its paw waving it as if saying hello towards a certain grumpy lover while you support the feline with your free hand, keeping it close to your chest. "I think it'll be beneficial to keep it."

Minutes prior to your arrival, you had overheard high pitched whines directing from a secluded alleyway that was surrounded by stagnant puddles as a result of the dreary rain that just occurred.

Discovering the source, you were met with a surprising sight of a cat in a box, finding solace in the warmth of a battered newspaper, eyes wide and seemingly clueless from the situation it was in. You ofcourse had fallen in love and before you came to your senses, you were already in front of the door with said cat. 

It's rather unusual for you to make a grandiose request to Veritas, being satisfied with what you have and had been given, you are never used to asking for anything more. Perhaps it was intuition that struck you and you decided to stick with it.

"What a preposterous idea. I do not need some creature's mouth to feed." Veritas sighs, his hand rubbing his forehead. "Such a despicable thing would have the potential to create chaos and disruption to my work and research."

You raise your eyebrows, "Oh? Who said you'll take care of it? I'll fully take responsibility."

"Please?" You press, "The poor thing must have been starving and besides, we need a friend at home." 

"Good grief, have you even acknowledged the fact that the Felis catus species possess only an average IQ of 2?" He sighs as you shoot him a pleading gaze, the cat mewling in your arms, unaware of the doctor's insult.

With a hard look, he huffs and finally gives in. 

"Fine, only if you were to provide adequate training, necessities, complete supervision and most significantly, establish proper behavior, I may allow your preposition. However!" he halts. "If it interferes with my research and our house conditions, it's out."

You cheer, scurrying your feet to give a peck on his cheek, following with a stretch of your arms for the cat to do the same except it was met with a palm of his hand. "Oh no, no. Not the animal." 

You wont lie, having a new family to the household made things livelier, especially on the days where Veritas had been absent due to the Intelligentsia Guild. The cat had quite a calming effect, you were able to indulge into your work and daily schedule without the rush of anxiety on those same days. With dedicating your free time towards bonding and training the cat, you had also set aside its own space in your humble abode far Veritas's work desk and absolutely further from the intricate stone carvings in the shape of your lover. 

You also discovered that your new companion is a lovely and polite tom cat.

Veritas so far (and so good) did not seem to mind, letting the animal even roam around the living room frequently since it was a portion of the home that contained none of his papers and nor does he seem to mind the soft meows requesting for attention or inquiries of the food bowl being filled.

You are currently settled down on your couch with your darling joined with you. His eyes concentrate at a book on hand, the gentle sound of pages being flipped by the featherlight touches of his fingers fills the room alongside the occasional soft purrs of your feline friend who is nestled comfortably onto your lap. Its rhythmic breathing soothes you as you hum in content, nothing but peace and tranquility envelopes the space.

You were interrupted from your thoughts with the sound of Veritas’s book slam shut.

“Have you gotten accustomed to the new addition to our household? I am not one who engages nor enjoys the affection and sentimentality derived from owning a domesticated animal, however in your case, you seem to say otherwise.”

“Does it seem obvious?” 

You focus on feeling the softness of the cat’s fur as you carefully thread it with your fingers. His ears twitch from your intrusion, eyes shot open like he was not asleep just a second ago, he lets out a yawn, flexing his back into a wide stretch with a flick of a tail. He jumps from your lap to the couch, kneading it. You grin, muttering a totally unapologetic ‘sorry’.

The cat strolls over, a faint purr rumbling from his chest as he begins nuzzling against Veritas's thigh who visibly flinches. You notice his hand almost ready to raise, only to have it actually end up meeting upon the animal’s head which meows in delight, pressing his muzzle to the palm of your significant other’s hand, rubbing against it.

You see him cringe and tense up but you still credit his effort and beam at the sight. To see him be physically affectionate with the animal was unexpected, deep down you assumed he might have disliked the cat. Maybe he is still foreign with the change. 

“I guess so, the cat has been very therapeutic to me if I'm being honest,” you add.

He scoffs, "Although that is something I can never relate to," you don't see it, but his eyes soften a bit. 

A hand rests on top of your hair, "If it refines your cognitive performance and brain activity then I would have no objections and no reason not to accept the animal."

Veritas removes his hand and you almost miss the warmth. "Regardless, if he does not come aligned with my terms and conditions–"

"I know I know, geez. The cat has been nothing but a sweetheart." You cut him off and pout, "Isn't that right...?”

You pause.

“Uhm…”

Your partner raises a brow, "...are you implying you had never designated a name for him until now?"

You sweat, "...I haven't"

"Ridiculous."

"Well, it's hard to think of one!" you retort.

"Nonsense. You had already established a bond with him, although I would not necessarily care but I assumed it would have been natural to issue him a name.”

“You think of one then!” you puff your cheeks.

Veritas places his hand under his chin, absorbed in thought. Wait, Is he actually considering it?

“I would rather not. I am in no way having the slightest care over it as I deem it not crucial.”

You stick a tongue out to him, so much for having the tiniest belief from your heart in him. You can't help but deflate, feeling dejected that he doesn't fully welcome the cat as you expected.

For the next few days, you have been brainstorming, stubbornly attempting to choose a name, basking in countless research and books.

"Hmm, I don't like any of these." You groan in exasperation, rummaging through the pages of a book for a potential fit of a name, only to prove you no luck. Cursing under your breath, your face falls flat on the surface of a page.

A name is crucial for a pet, one to call out to, to get attached to, and to bond with, he deserves to have one like every other being. You have asked Veritas for any suggestions or if he can at least help but your actions bear no results.

With heavy defeat, you are forced to drag yourself towards the shelves for the cat's lunch. Geez you can't keep calling him just ‘cat’ forever, can you?

You spot the animal mewling over from the corner of your eye, trying to catch your attention to fulfill his hunger but notice something out of the ordinary.

Huh?

You see that he is wearing...a collar?

He tilts his head curiously, looking at you with doe eyes, meowing once more. You don't recall ever giving him one, only toys and cardboard boxes he seemed to like to conceal himself in all the time.

As you take a closer look, you discover something even more odd. A silver metal hanging around the edges of the leather–a name tag.

Your fingers glaze over the tag, feeling the sturdiness of the material, seeing a word engraved on it.

'Archimedes'.

You couldn't contain the smile that goes up to your face, your heart starts to race with happiness and relief. Only one person would come up with a certain name like this.

It seemed perfect for you, to think that he chose this name seems undoubtedly much like him. 

"Just so you are aware, I had scientifically engineered the collar to be a precise fit for him, including the exact millimeters alongside taking consideration of the feline's anatomy and measurements." 

Following the sound of a voice, you see the man himself, holding a piece of graph paper of what you assume is a detailed illustration of his creation as he carries himself with elegance and confidence.

"I created it to be comfortable, durable, and lightweight. In addition to that, I installed features that can accurately measure his vitals, from heartbeat to temperature with a built-in system that will notify us if there exists any malfunctions to his vitals."

As much as you are filled with joy and gratitude you couldn’t help but feel the need to go for the tease. 

"Oh? I thought you didn't want to keep him? Hm?" your tone is mischievous but playful.

You feign being in deep thought, resting a thumb underneath your chin. "Why is there a collar in him which by the way was specifically made for him by you and named him yourself if you wanted to get rid of him oh so badly?" 

"Research indicates having a feline cultivates a productive space for effective studying. I am simply experimenting with Archimedes. It would be favorable in my end to conduct my hypothesis if there is a word for him to respond to." He crosses his arms, his eyes suddenly interested in one of his many statues from the corner of the room.

"Right. Whatever floats your boat.” 

“That is known as buoyancy.”

...this man.

You lightly flick his forehead, trying to stop him from speaking any further as to save yourself from being trapped into another one of his hours-long lectures. 

“You are a dummy, y’know?” Before he could reply, you wrap your arms around him, his body relaxes, a silent invite for you to continue, feeling the tenderness and warmth of his skin. You brushed off strands of purple locks from his face, giving him a loving kiss. 

“Thank you, Veritas."

His eyes refuse to meet yours as he is rendered speechless.

"...Idiot"

"...But honestly, Veritas, you should have just opted for a normal collar."

[maximumzombiecreator]

I would actually like to know what you consider the basics of improv to be! If nothing else, you phrase these things really well and in ways I haven't heard before, and I'm also aware there's a lot of things I don't know (I'm in a student run college improv group, our theory might be a bit lacking)

Be glad to. A lot of improv stuff is just oral tradition at this point, passed down in musty school drama rooms and community centers, so everyone has to pick it up somewhere. When I've taught people before, beyond the basic definition of what an improv scene looks like, I usually focus on a set of do's and don'ts.

Do's:

Make offers, and make them good offers. A good offer should be strong and elegant, like a power lifter in a ball gown.

Broadly speaking, I'd say the strength of an offer refers to how much it establishes about the scene, and how much what it establishes is different from a theoretical "default" scene. Typically, you think about how much an offer is establishing in terms of the questions words: who are the characters, what are they doing, where are they, etc. An offer that establishes "two characters who are old friends since high school meeting up at a coffee shop to catch up" is establishing a lot, but it's still a weak offer because it's such a typical scene. You're not adding much that can't just be taken for granted.

When I say a good offer should be elegant, I mean that it should be as compact as possible while still doing a lot. The typical inelegant offer is verbose and unnatural. A character walks into a scene and says, "Hey, big brother Billy, I hope you're recovering from the illness you've had for the last six months, ever since our father died," or some other expository nightmare.

So, the best offers are both. They create a lot of unique, interesting details about the scene, and they do it quickly. Let's say you stagger into the scene, miming carrying something under your arm, and say, "Doctor! I've been decapitated again!" In five words, you've established who you and another character are, where you are, and why, and you've implied a lot of very unusual details about the scene, world, and your character's history.

When thinking about elegant offers, it's also worth noting that a lot of offers that you should be making are physical. Depending on the type of improv you're doing, you might be physically embodying objects and the environment, and if you're doing background like that you can add a ton of detail that the audience can pick up without friction. But even if you're not, you can establish location through miming actions, you can create details about your character through how you walk and hold your body, you can endow others with traits through how you physically react to them.

That brings us to the next do: make strong character choices and enhance other actors' characters. People have written whole books on what comprises a "strong character" but for improv purposes I'd focus on three details: quirks, status, and connections.

Quirks are fairly straightforward: what makes this character unusual? Establishing character quirks is the focus of a lot of improv games and exercises, and the best quirks are quick to establish, significantly inform the character, and are handled with enough sincerity to make the character compelling rather than only funny.

Status refers to how powerful and important a character is. High status characters will command the room, low status characters will be ignored or mistreated. Status might shift over the course of a scene. The sheriff is a high status character until the king shows up, for example. Status might seem like an obvious thing to figure out from a character's role, but it's useful to play with it. What does a low status king look like? What does an employee-boss scene look like if you decide your employee is higher status than the boss?

Connections refer to the relationships between characters. This is going to drive scenes more than most other character details, and you almost always want to avoid unconnected characters. Choosing a connection to an existing character is a very good first choice when entering a scene, as it should immediately suggest a direction for the scene to take. This is also a reason to favour unusual connections. If two actors are in a scene where they're arguing about a fender bender they've been in, you could choose to enter as one of their friends, but it'll be far more dynamic if you choose a more unusual connection. What if you're one of their anger management therapists? Their boss? Their dominatrix?

In addition to creating your own character, you should add to other actors' characters. The main way you do this is endowment, giving the character traits through your offers. Direct endowment is when you simply ascribe them a trait. If you say, "Bill, you've been mayor for the last ten years," then you're obviously giving them the trait of "mayor." But there's also indirect endowment, where you add something to a character through part of how you react to them. If you flinch when another character moves suddenly, you're endowing them with the traits of being dangerous and erratic. If you speak to them very slowly and simply, you're implying something about how intelligent your character perceives them to be.

Putting it all together, the last big thing to do is build up. There can be a temptation in improv to build out, to add new details to scenes that sort of sprawl outward from the original premise. Try to avoid that. When you add new details, make them ones that build on the existing details. Instead of adding new tensions or conflicts, raise the stakes of existing ones. Reincorporate and re-contextualize things that have already been established. Incorporate audience suggestions repeatedly, using them to colour other offers.

Don'ts:

No blocking. This is the one even people who don't know improv know. If someone adds something to the scene, go with it. Don't reject or ignore offers, incorporate and build on them.

No wimping. Whatever the scene is, whatever your character is, whatever offers are made, fully commit. Bring all your energy to it. If someone says your character is on fire, don't just stop, drop, and roll and then go back to whatever else was going on. That's wimping. Be the most on fire that you can be.

No dithering. When you're in a scene, always be adding to it or moving it forward. Saying something that just fills space, at best makes a joke, and doesn't add to the scene is bad form, it doesn't give other actors anything new to work with. If you're dithering, you're forcing other actors to pick up the slack. This is called "gagging" if you're being funny by not adding to the scene, and is a great way to be popular with the audience and have everyone else hate you, don't be that person.

Don't make yourself look good at the expense of your scene partners. It's okay to get laughs at the expense of other characters, but not at the expense of other actors. Help others get into the scene, develop their characters, and give them things to respond to, add onto their offers.

Related to the above, don't steal the spotlight. If there's a scene going on that you're not the focus of, you should be trying to figure out how to enhance what's going on. Everyone can tell when an actor can't bear to be in a supporting role, and it's not a cute look.

More than anything, don't betray the trust of other performers. All theatre requires trust, but improv requires so much trust. If you lose that trust, you're done, you've got nothing.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello! I am SO hyperfixated on the fact that the overblot form CAN be controlled??? That’s the case with Malleus isn’t it? And I guess on one hand I can see how Idia can control it too because of his “curse/blessing” (and sheer will and spite).

Maybe this is foreshadowing that maybe it’s possible for the other OB boys to do so as well???? I don’t know how it’ll work with them but I’m so excited. Overblot cards potential AAAH

I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on this!

[Referencing this post!}

Yeah, I definitely think that OB Idia battle segment opens the floodgates for potential SSR Overblot Troublemaker(s) cards 💀 (RIP to the OB gang fans)

As a refresher for everyone (since it has been a while), alllllll the way back in book 1, Crowley and Cater describe “overblot” as thus: “[… being] overcome by negative energy and[…] losing control of [one’s] magic and emotions,” and “evil berserk mode”.

We’ve seen many examples of these traits in the main story campaign; oftentimes, the OB boy in question is impossible to reason with and has to be subdued via battle. However, it’s important to note that while the OBs may be primarily driven by their emotions, it is not purely rage but rather negative feelings in general. Yes, many OBs (Riddle, Leona, Azul, Vil, etc.) do attack others—but other OBs demonstrate moments of calm (ie when their demands are met). For example, Jamil is tame when he believes he has banished Kalim, secured hypnotized Scarabia mobs, and reigns over the dorm as its new leader. I do believe anger is still a large component of the behavior of one who has overblotted though; that rage most certainly clouds a person’s judgment and compels them to strike out at the slightest thing.

Now, about the idea of “controlling” OBs… I don’t that that can actually be done?? We have to remember that Malleus is a VERY powerful mage—and this alone could give him an “edge” that others don’t when it comes to being fully aware while in OB (though I believe both Malleus and Vil indicate early on they notice their blot building). As Idia’s dad states, Malleus is drawing his magic from nature itself and therefore has a limitless supply it. Secondly, I wouldn’t call Malleus’s OB “controlling” it to begin with. It’s clear that he’s still running high on emotions and is unwilling to hear others out or have them interfere with his plans. These are still traits associated with OB; it’s not as though Malleus is “overriding” the unreasonable thoughts, he is still ruled by them and acts on them. I think what you (maybe?) mean is that Malleus has a much more calculating approach and more precise control over how he wields his power rather than indiscriminately smashing stuff in his path. This, again, could do with his insane power level compared to his peers. Unlike most other OBs, his goal (at least in his own framing) before he overblotted to begin with wasn’t to “take away”, but rather to “gift” happy endings to everyone. This sets him apart just based on interests alone, and that’s perhaps why he acts the most different in the lot.

Now let’s consider the circumstances under which Idia OBs a second time: it’s in a dream, meaning it’s questionable whether or not this would transfer over to real life. Because it’s Idia’s dream, he has more autonomy in it, particularly because he is now “awake”/conscious of the fact that it is a dream. Secondly, Idia bears the Shroud family’s curse/blessing, which allows him to “power up” the more blot is present, as it serves as fuel for his magic. This alone makes him a “special case” which could explain the unusual amount of control he exerts over his OB form. (Again though, I’d wager it’s mostly the dream environment.)

I do see maybe the other OB boys doing a similar “oh, lemme OB to help you guys fight” in a dream situation where there are fewer limits on what they can do, but not in a real world setting. It would put them all at risk anyway, as they lack Idia’s curse/blessing or Malleus’s fae powers. Is that worth the risk, knowing they could all die or potentially turn on their classmates?

I just don’t see OB becoming a “tool” or a magical girl transformation the characters could pull out for combat purposes in the story (though this is possible for like the gameplay outside of the story). I highly doubt OB is like something you could train yourself to control; it’s less like bulking up at the gym and more like pushing yourself to keep exercising while you’re high on adrenaline… Sooner or later, you’d burn out and injure yourself in that overexertion.

If there ever are OB cards, I can easily see them as being the type that don’t come with vignettes because… what reasonable story could you conjure up to explain the OBing again? If there are vignettes, then they most likely won’t fit into the main story canon. You’d have to frame the OB cards as “within the moment” of whatever book they OB’d in, and perhaps go more in-depth about the trauma or something along those lines.

[cal-writes]

boa and i were thinking what zoros curse would be in howls moving castle au and well

"Law." Ace's voice is unusually serious as he pieces the silence.

Law exhales loudly, fingers drumming on the table as he tries fruitlessly to focus on the book he'd been pretending to read. "What."

"Zoro is still walking." Ace says and Law's fingers freeze, index poised over the wood before he lets it fall. He glances over at the hearth. Ace is cowering amids his logs, flickering cheekily.

"And how do you know that?" Law asks slowly.

Ace scoffs. "I've been following him, of course." He says, daring Law to question him. Law feels his pulse rise and his skin prickle as his feathers threaten to burst forth.

"You-" Law stands, slamming his book shut.

"You don't understand. He has been walking. The entire time." Ace tells him.

And Law stops.

He breathes. "It's been two days since he left." Law says.

"I know." Ace replies heavily and Law's brow furrows deeply. His flame flickers unhappily. "Strange magic, I'm telling you."

Law closes his eyes, sees Zoro's bandaged feed and him devouring his first meal here like a man starving. "Stop the castle." Law says and walks towards the door.

It's raining. A thick sheet of water pours from the heavens, turning everything into a muddy gray as he steps outside. Only his enchantments stop his boots from getting stuck in the mud.

Zoro has no such advantage. His steps drag, barely lifting his feet off the ground at all. His figure is hunched forward as he keeps walking stubbornly ahead, his hair plastered to his head, shirt translucent from the rain. The castle was so close behind him it would be impossible for him not to notice it having stopped. And yet he keeps walking straight ahead as if driven forward by a foreign force.

Law mutters silently. He should have noticed it sooner. He hurries his steps to catch up to Zoro. Even if his legs are longer it's much too easy. Two days, Ace had said. It sounds impossible. Unless, of course, Zoro was cursed to walk.

Suddenly his worn down feet make more sense.

"Zoro." Law says, loud enough to be audible over the pouring rain. He clicks his tongue when he gets no response. Of course. Whichever magic compels him must have exhausted him. It's a miracle he is still upright at all. Law lifts his hand towards him, muttering a spell under his breath. The rain around them stops, redirected away.

Law's hand reaches him first, landing on the small of his back as he comes up to Zoro's side, taking his arm with the other hand. "Zoro." He says again, softer.

Zoro stumbles. He would have fallen if not for Law's hands on him. His face is tense, eye glued to the obscured horizon - a million miles away.

The breath in Law's throat catches against something. His skin itches. He flutters around Zoro until he can stand in his path and even then Zoro keeps walking, uncaringly colliding with Law's chest and trying to push further still.

Law shakes out his sleeve, his bracelets clink against each other as he lifts his hand to Zoro's forehead. The touch makes him flinch, his gaze briefly clears and for a second Law thinks Zoro finally sees him. Then his vision clouds and his feet continue to move. Mud squelching underneath his boots.

"Sleep." Law commands him. His spell rippling through the air and bursting the bubble that had protected them from the rain, dousing them both.

Zoro shudders, body fighting against the magic before his eye rolls back in his head and he crumbles in on himself like a puppet with its strings cut.

[dmmdipodcast]

Is there any obvious reason *why* McCaffrey included a second variety of female dragons (green) instead of just going with the idea that the gold dragons are female and all the rest are male? The greens are deliberately not allowed to reproduce, so unless it becomes a plot point somewhere, the only function of green dragons being female seems to be introducing the "(male) dragonriders frequently get really horny for each other (as a direct result of their psychically bonded soulmates wanting to have straight sex)" aspect that McCaffrey didn't actually seem to want and has all kinds of follow-on implications. (I suppose maybe she just wanted an excuse for *all* dragonriders to periodically get the super-horny-due-to-dragon-sex effect to drive the weyrs' unusual norms and didn't think through the genders, but that seems like a *really* big and hard-to-overlook detail when she made it literally all male riders other than for gold dragons.)

What an excellent question! The short answer is that no, there really isn’t an obvious reason to do that, and this is the kind of ANNE, WHY?? that made us want to start this podcast in the first place.

As for the long answer... I (Tequila) think most likely she had two competing narrative priorities and this ended up a sort of awkward compromise position

McCaffrey clearly wants Lessa to be the Only Gold Dragonrider circa the start of Dragonflight, both for Special Unique Protagonist reasons and because she wants Lessa to be very alone at the weyr at first so that she can triumph later. Having (almost) all male riders is a feature and not a bug.

Your point about Everyone at the weyr getting an opportunity to be horny. McCaffrey doesn’t want the mating flights to be unusual or up for discussion; she’s building them in as an unquestioned norm of Weyrs and part of what makes them notably distinct from Holds. This means she’s gotta have other female dragons.

There’s also the possibility that she felt it would be unbelievable to have such a drastic skew in gender ratio; diegetically, dragons were bioengineered, and green fire-lizards do lay eggs. It’s implied that green dragons could lay eggs, but chewing firestone makes that impossible, so Weyrs have deliberately chosen to keep greens in combat rather than have them reproduce—Dragonsdawn leaves it ambiguous but suggests that gold dragons were deliberately designed not to be able to chew firestone successfully, unlike greens. Sky Dragons, by Todd McCaffrey, does have green dragons laying eggs, and he "cowrote" it/consulted with Anne McCaffrey, so even though We Don’t Read Those it can give a rough sense of what she considered canonical.

Or perhaps McCaffrey wanted to emphasize how special and fancy gold dragons are by giving them a hierarchical advantage over other female dragons; she certainly seemed to replicate that in her writing about humans, where she frequently surrounds her compelling, complex female protagonists with cardboard cutout female supporting characters who range from “evil slut” to “mom” to “whiny gossip.”

Lleu points out that McCaffrey puts a lot of narrative focus on her central cast, especially in Dragonflight and Dragonquest, and doesn’t actually engage much with the background characters. She stated at one point (extradiegetically) that green dragons are 50% of the population, but if you count up the dragons we meet on the page they’d be more like 20% and most of that comes later in the series. So it’s not totally implausible that she really didn’t think about it until after Dragonflight and then she’d backed herself into a worldbuilding corner and couldn’t dig herself out!

More specifically, the moment that introduces green mating flights to the series is the beginning of Dragonquest. In the context of the book’s overarching plot, T’reb is being used to set up Kylara’s later transgression of not paying attention to Prideth and taking her out of the Weyr when she was close to mating. There’s also some Gender Politics at work here, insofar as the homophobia of the way this scene is handled (and for that matter some of the portrayal of green riders throughout the series) involves portraying gay men as effeminate—hysterical, in this case—and so distancing them from the “fully male” bronze riders Dragonflight focused on. T’reb works as foreshadowing for Kylara because he’s gay and so, in this homophobic schema, not-quite-a-man.

If we want to be generous to Anne, having the Weyrs be full of men having sex with men (especially introduced in this extremely dramatic way) also serves to really drive home how different Weyr sexual mores are from Hold and Craft ones, which we as readers expect will align with generic popular culture pseudomedieval feudalism (and which largely do so). The scene with T’reb and B’naj then also brings Weyr sexuality into the (commoner) public sphere (and this is I think a nontrivial part of what the Weyrleaders are concerned about), in keeping with the way the series as a whole is obsessed with the management of sexuality.

[tex-now]

SHIHOSAKI AU LIGHTNING ROUND!!! As you can see, some ideas were more compelling than others....

Added an under the cut so tou don't have to scroll too long ,:3

Shiho is like. A hitchhiker? A traveler? She basically goes around the country to different places and she never stays for long. saki is the cute girl she meets at a diner in the middle of a city she's visiting! She was only planning on staying there for a little while, but for saki, she could always stay longer....

Eventually (I don't know how don't ask) saki decides to join shiho on her journey (and turns into her peaky peaky card) :3

Saki is a budding scientist who works for a morally dubious leaning bad laboratory. One day they bring in a new subject, this big furry monster beast thingy that's clawing at its enclosure in distress and aggression, and saki feels bad for the poor thing, it must be really scared...

The other scientists are huge jerks that end up assigning saki to dealing with it (btw every person that has taken care of it has been injured in some way), but it actually goes quite well! It was just stressed out and anxious and all it needed was a little kindness :3 it's still anxious, but not as aggressive which is great!

Saki keeps taking care of the bast until it finally starts calming down around her, and they become closer. For a bit saki basically treated it like a precious pet, but it didn't seem to appreciate that ...

In fact, Saki starts noticing strange things about the beast, like how it has specific tastes in things animals usually wouldn't worry about, or how it seems like it's actually understanding what saki was saying, how it seems almost... human with its behaviors a lot of the time.

Which leads to a confrontation. One day, Saki asks it if it's really a monster, if it's understood her this entire time, and it suddenly gets incredibly aggressive, growling at her, and looming over her threatening lying, trying to scare her off, possibly? But saki stands her ground and the monster backs off wit a very human sigh.

And then it shifts. It grows smaller and more humanoid until a (not exactly) perfect human is sitting in front of her. It explains herself to be shiho, a werecreature who was kidnapped by saki's laboratory. Saki is. Well. A number of things.

Embarassed that she treated a person with thoughts and emotions like a pet, extreme attraction to said person, shame of said attraction, and most importantly absolute fury that tye lab would do this.

So furious that she almost storms out of the enclosure to give those scientists a piece of her mind, until shiho stops her. It reasons that doing that won't help and will only make the situation worse, but saki is adamant that she at least tries to talk to them about it. Shiho complies, and the next day, Saki "calmly" asks about more information on shiho's specific species. Maybe they didn't know it was a werecreature, maybe this was a misunderstanding and shiho will be released!

It was not a misunderstanding. They knew she was a werecreature. They kidnapped her anyway to do research on her since her specific species has such little known information about her. Saki, well... saki snaps I think

She loves her job but it's exhausting and her coworkers are shitheads who underestimate her at every turn, she witnesses the less than caring treatment of the other creatures that reside here, and now she's finding put that they willingly kidnapped a sentient being for the sake of research? Get that shit outta here

Okay this is long enough so lets wrap this up. she basically consensually kidnaps shiho and skips town to save her, leaving behind her job.her apartment and anything age couldn't fit in her booking for when they left. She also ends up taking a few extra friends along for the ride wink wink (honami). At one point they kiss. As you can see the romance was not the most important part mb...

Introverted mermaid meets adventurous girl with a penchant for the unusual. Their first meeting was definitely an accident, shiho got caught by saki while she was sunbathing or just wanted to come up to the surface for a bit. Shiho was startled by saki's sudden greeting and went back into the water immediately (ad probably didn't come back out for a few days). But saki is anything but a quitter, so she keeps coming back and looking for shiho when she has the chance, while shiho keeps trying to avoid her.

But like. At one point she just ends up doing it to do it. Saki's not malicious in anyway. She just comes over there and talks to the water for a little before going back home. She's never brought anyone over to try and see her, she's never tried to take photos or evidence, hell at this point shiho is intrigues by the girl and wants to speak to her properly, so shiho truky has no reason to continue this thing they have going on.

But shiho is very stubborn, so she decides that she won't just come out and show herself that easily, but when saki finally catches her, she'll emerge and actually meet her formally. In the meantime, she offers saki a pretty shell bracelet, as a sign of amicability or something.

Eventually it turns into a little game between them. Saki tries to catch shiho and yet everytime, she just misses her. Sometimes shiho is feeling mischievous and let's her have a glimpse before diving into the water again. Saki probably thinks it's a lot of fun, if not a little frustrating because she wants to talk to her so badly.

And then one day it happens. Saki is late to her usual visit and shiho is sitting there sullenly waiting for her, embarassed of her dissapointment by saki's absence, why is she even waiting here anyway-?

Saki gently grabs her shoulders from behind. Shiho shrieks and almost dives back into the water out of pure panic, but saki's hand stop her, and she stays. They have their first formal meeting... what will happen next you say? Well that's for you to (maybe) find out ;3

Cam I say it can I say it. Goth girl x pastel sporty girl... omg.... poprocks shihosaki... (only one person will understand what I mean by that lmao).

Anyway saki and shiho are very much Girlfriends <3 shiho comes up to saki's desk with a basketball in one hand and a black rose in the other shyly asking her if she wants to go to the movies and saki then proceeds to tackle her to the ground and smother her with kisses. (Saki is still very much saki here yk)

Theyre so yuriful I want to draw them...

Composer wives <3 saki is a stay at home video game Composer (like 8 bit chiptune all that shit) while shiho is a Composer for a classical choir. They collaborate a lot on songs saki forces (bribes) shiho into collabing with her on, and composing is actually probably how they first met. Hmm...

Saki LOOOVES her amazing classical Composer wife and regularly shouts her out on her channel (shiho is incredibly flustered by this) but shiho will also never fail to (vaguely) mention her wife who helped her create the music.... saki is very hapoy by this :3

Saki also begs shiho to make samples for her all the time which shiho grumbles about but does anyway because she's a dy-

Anyway I love them they're so cute

That's all folks

[mgc02]

A Day Just For Them

Blitzø sat at the table in his tiny apartment. His thoughts from the argument with Stolas still refusing to leave his mind.

Fuck it. He thought as he rifled through the fridge for his Belzejuice but it didn't turn up. He must've already drank it. Or maybe Loona drank it

Oh well, he'll just have to wallow in self pity while sober. He sat down and poured himself some cereal

The silence while Loonie slept in was usually so peaceful but now it felt so lonely. More lonely than ever before

Stolas struggled to find the motivation to get out of bed. Via was visiting today. He needed to be up and ready to greet her (and to pretend like everything was fine)

Why was Via supposed to be over today? It was the weekend wasn't it? She was supposed to spend weekends with her mother. Not that he didn't want to see her but he wasn't sure how well he could put on a happy face for her

Although that's what he'd been doing for years

Why was she coming today? His brain was so foggy and tired he couldn't seem to remember what was so important about today

He really didn't want to forget something important to Via again after Esther thoughts tears when she ran off with his book

He felt terrible that it was he who compelled her to do that

So with all the strength he could gather he groaned and got out of bed

Blitzø sat there letting his cereal get soggy when he saw Loona exit her room. Oddly enough she was already dressed

That was unusual. He didn't think much of it though

"Alright espresso depresso, get dressed and let's get going" she said as she stretched

Blitzø blinked obliviously. "Going where?"

"To your father's day surprise"

Oh shit! That's right it was Father's day!

Stolas put on his usual wear and took his morning meds. He stepped outside to see the limo pulling up.

He took a deep breath and forced a smile and waved

Via jumped out of the car and joyfully bounced over to him. She seemed to be in a good mood

Anxiety spread over him at whatever it could possibly be that he had promised to with her today and how she would take the news that he forgot

She ran into his arms

"Hey dad! Happy Father's day!"

Stolas almost tripped over his words

"Th-thank you... Via. I'm glad you're here"

Of course! It was Father's day! That's why she was here. He didn't know what they would do together but maybe it would actually be quite nice

He could use a little love today

Blitzø ran into 3 different signs and a telephone pole with his blind fold on as Loona was not putting a lot of effort into leading him

But he was actually a little excited. He could use a distraction. And it had been a while since him and Loona did something fun together

"Alright, check it out" Loona said casually

Blitzø began to take his blindfold off but as he was doing so heard a noise. A noise that sounded like a certain animal

A noise he knew anywhere

"No way! That's not what fucking think it is. Is it?" He rushed to take off his blindfold. His eyes practically bulged out of his sockets when he seen it

A ranch filled with horses

Wait! Were they in the wrath ring?

"Ta da!" She said not so enthusiastic although she was smiling at him

"It's a whole day across the mountain on horseback" she explained

He began to tear up. "Loonie you did this for me!?!" Loona groaned in an annoyed tone "don't cry" she complained

Blitzø whiped his tears away "right yeah sorry. I'm just... I needed this. Oh my God Loona you have NO IDEA how much I needed this."

Loona smiled "I think you'd be surprised. I kinda had a feeling. Now pick out your horse for the day"

Stolas had managed to find something for them to do together. Put put. Then he had decided to get them a last minute reservation at a restaurant he knew she liked. Being royalty had its perks

Via just seemed happy to be with him. "Dad you didn't have to go through this trouble. This is my day to do something for you" she spoke appreciatively as they sat down at the restaurant

"I know, I know. But nothing makes me more happy than to see that smile. That's the best gift I could get today" he cupped her cheek with his hand as he said it

"Well dad. I did get you another gift if you would like it now" she began to pull something out of her bag

Stolas's eyes lit up in anticipation.

Via reached in and pulled out a present in a box and wrapped up with a bow on it

"Oh Via you really didn't have to do this" he said with excitement as he carefully opened the present

His glee on his face fell when he saw his gift

In the box, was a book entitled "memories with dad"

He carefully opened it to see it was filled to the brim with pictures of him and Via together. A lot were taken from her hellphone. There were funny and lighthearted captions on some of them

He was too stunned to speak

"Is it alright dad? I know it's not the most expensive gift but I-" she was cut off by him hugging her as tight as he could

"This is the greatest gift! Thank you so much! I think I have a new favorite book" he said as he began to flip through more of the pages

After Blitzø FINALLY decided on a horse they were off. Blitzø decided to call this beautiful baby "little lawnmower". Loona didn't have the heart to tell him it's name was "Sunny". She picked out a big white horse with a fiesty attitude named "Phantom"

They rode up and down a windy path to the top of a tall mountain. The view was gorgeous so of course Loona wanted to snap a pic with Blitzø for Father's day

They took a photo and Loona immediately tried to post it.

"Shit! No signal up here. I guess I'll have to post it on sinstagram later" she noted.

Blitzø looked on to see two eagles building a nest together

He begins to tear up

Loona looks over "hey Blitzø I said no crying"

Blitzø tries to calm down "sorry, it's just... did you know eagles mate for life?"

"I did not know that" she responded

"Even after they grow old and get fat or ugly! They stay together. They stay together cause they want to" he broke down crying

Loona pulled him in and comforted him as he cried in her arms

"Big. Beautiful. Dumb bird!" He sobbed.

"You should talk to him" she replied

"He doesn't wanna see me." He mumbled

"I think you should still try. I don't wanna become your tissue every time you see something that reminds you of him. Now go."

She was right. He was gonna make it right.

Blitzø hopped onto Little Lawnmower and took off. He was gonna make it right. He was gonna talk about his FEELINGS like a FUNCTIONAL PERSON! And it was gonna super romantic him riding in on a horse

He took out his phone to see Loona's post finally up...

On top of the world with my dad on Father's Day

He did feel like he was on top of the world

And he didn't want this feeling to go away

Ever

[elrieldreamer]

What can happen if Gwyn is really a lightsinger? What are the possible implications of that?

Hi, Anon! Great question!

There are several possible implications in my opinion. Looking at the ACOTAR description of a Lightsinger from the Wiki, we see:

They are ethereal beings who will lure their prey to them, appearing as friendly faces when their prey is lost. Only when their prey were in their arms would their true faces emerge. They are not fair and the horror of it was the last thing their prey sees before they are drowned in the bog. Unlike other races, they kill only for sport, not food.

I first want to point out that I am not 100% convinced that Gwyn is evil, that she will be a “villain”, or that she is a lightsinger. However, there is compelling evidence that she could be a lightsinger or siren.

First, we see in canon that Gwyn has power that manifests when she is singing and causes her to emit light. Additionally, we’ve seen enough to assume that when she is singing and her breath/hair/person is emitting light, that she is able to “lull” magics and/or people. Examples include Nesta unexpectedly scrying during the religious service scene, and Azriel’s shadows behaving in a way that is unusual by not alerting him to Gwyn’s presence in the training ring where she is singing. In both of those examples we see that Gwyn is audibly singing or silent singing/music is present in her breath, she is described as glowing or having molten hair/breath, AND both entail an unexpected occurrence (Nesta scrying, Azriel’s shadows not alerting him to a presence as they normally would and behaving as if they hear silent music). There are so many great theories, but I just wanted to set up that we can at least accept the lightsinger theory as plausible before I talk about what could come of Gwyn being a lightsinger.

When I think of the implications of Gwyn being a lightsinger that could affect the next book, I immediately make a connection from Gwyn (lures and collects information) to Merrill (who Gwyn reports to, and who has wind control) to Koschei (receives information on the wind). I think that Gwyn could be collecting information (whether intentionally or inadvertently) for Merrill, who is then passing it on to Koschei. Based on our canon knowledge, I think that this is a fairly easy and very possible leap. Because Gwyn has access to the library, ancient knowledge, and members of the IC, there could be far reaching consequences.

Koschei tells Azriel that he has been “preparing for [him] for months”. Elain, our seer, gifts Azriel earplugs - a protection against sirens (lightsingers?). Could Koschei use Gwyn (directly or indirectly) to lure Azriel to him? I think it’s at least plausible!

IF Gwyn is a lightsinger, the worst case scenario, IMO, is that she is intentionally using her powers and helping Koschei/an enemy with a plan to cause harm. She could heel turn in a way that would be devastating to Nesta, and by extension the entire IC. I think it’s likely more plausible that she is either unaware of her powers, or at least unaware that she is being used to collect information that could bring harm to her friends. Either way, it could be catastrophic to the IC.

[cctinsleybaxter]

2023 in Books

I need to stop bragging that I’ve got this reading thing all figured out, because man if 2023 wasn’t a year of terrible books. I liked less than half of the 37 I read and nothing quite gripped me in the way it has in years past… but to put it more optimistically I liked a full third of what I read, and the ones I liked best were a fascinating and unexpected silver lining. Without further ado:

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, trans. Brian Hooker

Tell this all to the world- and then to me. Say very softly that… she loves you not.

I read a couple of plays this year for the first time since college and liked them fine, but there’s a reason this has been adapted five million times. Everyone go watch Megamind right now.

Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand

Of all the found footage-inspired horror fiction I’ve read this one makes the best case for existing in its chosen medium, as a 70s UK folk rock band are interviewed about the summer they spent recording what would become their final album [thunder crashes.] It reminded me of a Tana French mystery in its language and ability to make space feel lived-in; the character writing is so strong I realized that at some point I had stopped checking the interview headings to know who was speaking. Hand unfortunately distrusts her audience to read between the lines at a few crucial moments (and ruins what would have been a perfect ending and a deeply affecting scare by gilding the lily, or, in this case, photograph), but I love that she went from seemingly by-the-numbers American YA fiction to a meticulously-researched and truly unique horror novella. Puts other writers working in the genre to shame.

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin

Reminiscent of the best kind of TCM suspense thriller (and was adapted into one), but could only exist as a book for the kind of narrative tactics it employs. Levin is brilliant at setting and character; I think any one of his contemporaries would have leaned into archetypes for this sort of story, and he instead distinguishes his proper nouns in subtle, clever ways that lend them the weight a noir needs. Can’t wait to read more of his stuff!

All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva

I’d like to know why this anthology got hit with what a friend has termed a pottery barn throw pillow cover + a ‘the tiny things we know to be small’ title, because the eponymous story isn’t even called that! It’s just The Names They Used for God, and is, appropriately, about two women kidnapped by a religious extremist group. High risk-high reward; I think taken at their base premise the stories could have been insufferable and are instead strange, compelling, and fantastical. There’s a methodicalness and, I don't know, lack of whimsy? to them that’s unusual for fantasy, but also an absence of any one goal or moral in the way Le Guin speaks so highly of. It made me feel the way I did reading and adoring Kelly Link in middle school, and Sachdeva has a much different style that I guess works all the better on adults. My favorite was Robert Greenman and the Mermaid.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Lauren Hillenbrand

Someone recommended this to me via Tumblr anon over five years ago, so let me start by saying if that was you I’d like to thank you properly! This book rules! It was written in ‘99 so falls prey to a very specific kind of jingoism, but the mechanics of that are interesting in and of themself. Seabiscuit the animal is a lens through which to view turn-of-the-20th-century America written from the precipice of the 21st; his story told through the expertly-researched biographies of his owner, trainer, and jockey. Hillenbrand is not only a good pop nonfiction historian, but has been a sports writer since the 80s and I never imagined the genre could be so thrilling as I did reading her work. Horse racing is insane and no one should be riding these things btw.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

It was one of the great livery-stableman’s most masterly intuitions to have discovered that Americans want to get away from amusement even more quickly than they want to get to it.

Wharton came from old money New York*, was deeply disillusioned with it and pined for rational (i.e., even more insane) social and political scenes, had myriad thoughts about women and gender relations, and held a love for interior design. I learned all of this after reading but it’s apparent on every page; deeply funny and perceptive, fantastic use of language, the moments where it lost me completely nothing if not interesting. What sticks with me the most are a flair for the operatic and an ability to voice both the feeling and consequences of losing oneself to imagined scenarios. Read the pink parasol scene.

*Ancient Money New York; the saying ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is apocryphally attributed to her father’s side of the family

Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl by Jonathan S. Slaght

We’d return to our camp to huddle in the freezing tent and wait for our owls in silence, like suitors agonizing over a phone that never rings.

One of the better pieces of science writing I’ve read in a long time, as Slaght frames rural communities as a quintessential part of ecology rather than a barrier to it. His style is amiable and matter-of-fact (sometimes overly so; the amount of metric GIS directions, help), but he's super engaging and clearly holds just as much compassion for people and history as he does animals and natural landscapes. The Blakiston’s fish owls he’s studying are described as unreal, with hoots so low and quiet it sounds like someone has thrown them under a blanket. You can listen to them here.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Took my breath away and surprised me in a way a book hasn’t in years. I'd read Clarke’s 2004 novel when I was maybe fourteen and had vaguely positive but mostly neutral memories of it, and Piranesi being sci-fi-fantasy that came recommended by Tiktok had me very dubious. I ended up devouring it in the way I haven’t read books since I was fourteen; more of a mystery than the suspected high fantasy, with characters I would do disservice to in trying to describe in brief. While the mystery isn’t difficult to ‘solve’ (I’d argue the book also skews young!), the story ends in a way that’s both deeply unexpected and in the only way it could have.

Honorable mentions

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, trans. Peter Washington

[Jigsaw voice] Every man has a devouring passion in his heart as every fruit has its worm.

I spent so much time running my mouth about this one on Tumblr there’s really not much left to say. I think it’s a work of genius that was physically exhausting to read, and I’m sticking it with the honorable mentions mostly because I remember The Three Musketeers being the better book. If you want to read Dumas- and you should- start with that one.

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

I would’ve liked this more had I read it in my late teens/early 20s, but I still think it’s pretty good and would absolutely recommend to anyone in that age bracket. Things that normally annoy me about philosophical first-person lit fic didn’t matter under the weight of Jon’s narratorial voice. He reminded me a little of Lynda Barry’s Maybonne in his understanding and depictions of community and family; his stream of consciousness letting contradictions sit rather than trying to explain them away (Whitehead also makes sex very prosaic and pretty-sounding while still being frank and gross about it, which is a rare talent!)

The Seeds of Life: From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Sharks' Teeth to Frogs' Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come From by Edward Dolnik

This one fell in the rankings because the writing isn’t my favorite (think early days Vulture article rather than NYT), but I cannot stop referencing it in conversation. I want to read the whole thing to people and make them understand how truly unfathomable it is not only that every one of us is the product of 1 sperm and 1 egg, but that anyone ever figured out how that process works. When Western Europeans first started using microscopes they studied water; there were gross little bugs in there to watch and enjoy, so when semen was revealed to have its own bugs no one was shocked, but they also weren’t impressed. We would not see one enter an egg until EIGHTEEN SEVENTY-FIVE.  

Killer Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh

The Malaise of First Night Nerves had gripped Peregrine, not tragically and aesthetically by the throat but, as is its habit, shamefully in the guts.

Has made it into my top 5 favorite Inspector Alleyn mysteries. I’m not keen on Marsh’s theater settings (and there are a LOT of them), but a convoluted setup made this one all the more rewarding. The final revelation as to a point of blackmail is visceral and bizarre in a way I haven’t seen from her before.

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

We all have dirty hands; we are all soiling them in the swamps of our country and in the terrifying emptiness of our brains. Every onlooker is either a coward or a traitor.

Best read in conversation with other writers, I wouldn’t recommend Fanon as the end-all-be-all introduction to communist and socialist thinking (the fact that he inadvertently describes what was going wrong with the USSR at time of writing is fascinating), but he explicitly invites that conversation and the value and impact of his work really can’t be overstated. Our points of disagreement tend to be in regard to nationalism, not his condonation of violence.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Fascinating to see how Austen was thinking about relationships near the end of her short life. I laughed to see the idea of preferring your brother-in-law’s family to your own was back in full force from my own favorite Emma, as well as an eleventh-hour ‘maybe I should ship the villains??’ My biggest issue is that, like Emma, Persuasion is written in third person limited narration, but Anne is fundamentally Good™ so doesn’t need to learn anything about herself or the world; critic Bob Irvine points out that she and her dashing, misogynistic sailor are beset rather than changed by it. That said I love a people being beset by people (concussed temptresses) places (Bath) and things (cars), and Austen's writing style is really firing on all cylinders here.

[snowdrrops]

LOVE & LIP-GLOSS

FEAT: haino/cytham WC: 1.7k SUMMARY: a simple goodbye kiss leads to the most embarrassing day of haitham's life

or you can read it on ao3 here :)

Alhaitham didn't say much when Kaveh excitedly called Cyno over to his room to take a look at some of the gifts he had received from his clients for his good work. 

“My client owns a cosmetics brand, you see. So she gave me some samples to try out.”

He heard a series of gasps and 'Oh, what's this?' but paid them little mind, his attention on his book instead.

It’s only when Kaveh said, “How does he look?” did Alhaitham look up at Cyno, who had a trail of black eyeliner just above his eyelashes. 

Although Alhaitham will admit that he does think Cyno has been attractive since their schooling days, it is his mind that he fell in love with. Nevertheless, eyeliner did work its wonders on him. 

But he didn't want to admit this out loud, especially in front of Kaveh. He had no interest in dealing with the constant teasing that would follow for weeks. 

Hence, his response was, “He looks alright.” 

Kaveh visibly deflated. “Fine?! I spent a good fifteen minutes on him– how could you just say fine?”

Cyno, on the other hand, is a lot more reserved about his response. Alhaitham almost missed the flicker of emotions in his eyes before it quickly dissipated into his usual calm demeanour. 

He dismissed this thought. Perhaps it was a trick of his mind, nothing else.

Kaveh continued rambling on about his unappreciated efforts, dragging Cyno away to redo his eyeliner.

Alhaitham returned to his book.

A little over a week later, Alhaitham arrived home to find Cyno and Kaveh in a deep discussion. 

They didn't even notice him as he entered the living room. 

Curiosity piqued, he attempted to listen in. 

“I’m not too sure… this could become a problem for us and, by extension, the Akademiya.”

A laugh followed by, “You're worrying too much! He could always make up some excuse for himself, anyway.”

“Yes, but what will people think of him?”

“Are you kidding? Those Akademiya gossip mongers will never stop talking about it! Maybe people will start to like him more.”

“Eh…”

Kaveh abruptly stood up, clasping his hands together. “Well then, we should start planning how you should– Alhaitham?! What are you doing here?”

He returned Kaveh’s shock with a blank look. 

Cyno turned to face him as well, his expression sheepish and surprised. “When did you arrive?”

“Approximately five minutes ago. I didn't want to interrupt your conversation,” he said, eyeing them suspiciously. “So, what were you two so engrossed in?”

“N-nothing of great interest, of course! We were talking about…” he trailed off, giving Cyno a look. 

“A novel that Kaveh had ordered from Inazuma last week. It speaks of the struggles Akademiya scholars face,” Cyno finished for him while looking as composed as always. 

“Yeah, what he said!” Kaveh chimed in. 

Alhaitham didn’t believe them one bit, but he decided to play along. “I see. Could you give me the title of the book? I’d like to give it a read.”

Kaveh’s expression turned into one of sheer panic. “You wouldn’t like the book at all. In fact, you would hate it so much that you’d go to Lesser Lord Kusanali suggesting implementing a ban on it in Sumeru.”

Alhaitham saw Cyno suppressing a smile. 

He didn’t know what compelled him to not press the issue any further. Maybe it’s the exhaustion wearing on him, being the acting Grand Sage had its toll after all. Although it would’ve been entertaining to watch Kaveh struggle to come up with excuse after excuse, Alhaitham prefers the truth from Cyno.

Cyno was noticeably happier the next morning, 

He got up half an hour earlier to prepare breakfast: warm pancakes topped with honey and blueberries. 

Alhaitham didn’t find this that unusual, since Cyno enjoys whipping something up once in a while. It was a hundred times better than the dry sandwich stuffed with cheese that they purchased from the bakery every morning.

Still, he asked, “What’s the special occasion?” 

Cyno looked at him from across the table in disbelief. “What?”

Alhaitham gestured to their food. 

“Oh, this?” He waved it off. “Felt like doing something for you.”

Alhaitham believes that words are meant to sugarcoat the truth, and that they come at a price of nothing unless accompanied by a supporting action. Cyno causes this opinion of his to waver. His words break the barrier Alhaitham has set for himself and the fact that Alhaitham does nothing to amend this says a lot in itself.

They finish eating and washing up. The usual routine consisted of them leaving together and separating ways at the Akademiya, so they did just that. 

“I’ll see you tonight?” He said it like a question, because Cyno’s working schedule is never fixed. If he deemed a case too important, he wouldn’t stop till he had closed it. 

“Definitely,” was not the answer he had expected, but he accepted it anyway. 

Out of the blue, Cyno stood on his tiptoes and gave Alhaitham a lingering kiss on his cheek before retreating back playfully.

Alhaitham disregarded the red that had formed on his face. He was confused, yes, but he didn't complain either. Hopefully Cyno will take that as a sign. They weren’t anything close to affectionate, but Alhaitham decided he did like these simple gestures.

That day that goes by is probably the strangest one he’s ever lived.

Everywhere he goes, no matter if it was the House of Daena or the eateries in Sumeru city, people will not stop gaping at him.

After he parts ways with Cyno, he heads straight to his office to work on some paperwork. He receives a few guests, who all look equally shocked to see him. Seriously, he’s been the Acting Grand Sage for three months now. How are they still reacting in this manner?

As he leaves the Akademiya to head to the city during his lunch break, cliques of scholars whisper after him. He doesn’t bother to hear a word of the nonsense they’re sprouting, and opts to focus on his newly arrived book about psychology. 

Alhaitham heads back to his office a few minutes ahead of time, since he’s had enough of the wide-eyed stares directed towards him. Although he is aware of the fact that people did stop to glare at him whenever he passed, he didn’t realise that this many people were upset by him. 

But it isn’t as though he cared for their perceptions of him, so he goes about his day paying them no mind.

One person, however, does have the guts to approach him as he passes her along the corridor. 

“Acting Grand Sage Alhaitham,” she greets, bowing so low that it’s a surprise she doesn’t fall over. “Have you looked at yourself today?”

He doesn’t feel anger towards her. She couldn’t have meant it literally, since he did take a quick glance at himself in the mirror before leaving the house. So, what did he have to look at? His actions?

“Whatever do you mean by that?”

She looks up at his expression and bows down again. “Forget I said anything! You look as normal as always! Sorry for wasting your precious time!” 

He barely hears the last sentence as she scurries off in a hurry to get away. A crowd of onlookers are not-so-secretly listening in on their conversation, and they quickly disperse when he gives them a look of impatience.

Nothing but endless questions filled his mind, which was a rare occurrence. 

He ends the day with a meeting with Lesser Lord Kusanali, who gives him the same look he’s gotten the whole day. Alhaitham is beyond baffled. 

“Is there something wrong with my face?”

The question visibly surprises her. Kusanali takes a moment to give it some thought, before she responds with, “No, nothing is wrong with your face.”

He breathes out a sigh. “That doesn’t explain why everyone’s been gaping at me the whole day.”

“The problem lies with what is on your face,” she continues with a hesitant smile. “I don’t know if you want to see it.”

“That bad, then?” 

Lesser Lord Kusanali conjures up a mirror with Dendro and hands it over to him. 

She’s right; there’s no issue with his face. He looks exactly as he did yesterday, except for a lip gloss stain on his right cheek, exactly where Cyno had kissed him this morning. 

Now he knows why Cyno was a tad more energetic this morning. Alhaitham hands the mirror back to Kusanali as he thanks her.

Alhaitham can’t find it in himself to be annoyed at Cyno, for some odd reason. Although it would cause him a headache dealing with all those nosy people, he feels underwhelmingly upset. In fact, Alhaitham finds himself smiling. 

“You must really like him,” Kusanali says, causing Alhaitham to raise his gaze towards her.

“Pardon?”

She laughs into her hand. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

As Kaveh had predicted, this news travelled far and wide, going as far as to Inazuma city. 

It reached Liyue first, where a friend of Alhaitham's spent his time listening to the storytellers of the harbour. When he heard this piece of gossip, he merely chuckled.

Many authors of the Yae Publishing house have gained a spark of writing inspiration from this, and were fighting to see who can publish a new novel that would take the nation by storm the quickest.

As for the people of Sumeru, it's crystal clear that this would not be dying down anytime soon. The Akademiya public message board is bombarded with messages.

‘Is nobody going to talk about it?’

‘No, we were waiting for someone else to start the conversation.”

‘Now that that's out of the way, who are your best guesses?’

‘My instincts tell me it’s someone within the Akademiya.’

‘Duh. Of course the Grand Sage would have tastes refined enough to choose someone of high intelligence.’

‘How about General Mahamatra?’

‘Now that I think about it, they did go to school together.’

‘Doesn't General Mahamatra have a special relationship with a certain Forest Ranger, though?’

‘Eh?! When did that come about?’

‘Are you living under a rock?’

‘Hey, not everyone's got time for gossip…’

[miharuhebinata]

the top 6 games i played in 2023!

1. Heaven's Vault

An archaeologist uncovers a lost history in an ancient space Nebula.

I know that I said I had mixed feelings about this game in my initial review, and I'm sure if I tried replaying it right now, I still would. But honestly, I think about this game so often, I had to include it in this list. Truly such a unique experience. I'm even thinking of reading the book version.

2. Bugsnax

Catch mysterious living snacks and feed them to your friends in this unusual island adventure!

This is a great game, with fun gameplay and an extremely bizarre but interesting story, but where it really shines is its characters. You might not guess on first glance, but the character development in this game is so good and so rewarding. It exceeded all expectations in the best of ways.

3. Sable

Embark on a unique and unforgettable journey and guide Sable through her Gliding; a rite of passage that will take her across vast deserts and mesmerizing landscapes, capped by the remains of spaceships and ancient wonders.

Though it can be glitchy at times, this game is absolutely gorgeous, not just in graphics but in its story and its soundtrack as well. Very, very beautiful game. Not to mention the exploration reminded me of Breath of the Wild: you are free to do what you want, go wherever, and the ending will wait until you're ready for it.

4. Song of Horror

Fear the Presence, a mysterious entity you cannot fight: stay alert, hide, breathe slowly… Explore cursed places where unseen spirits and lost souls linger in a true horror story for the ages.

Unlike other games of the genre, in this you are completely powerless against your enemy—and if your character dies, they are dead for good. These (admittedly sometimes frustrating) mechanics make for a particularly harrowing experience, enhanced by the dark, isolating atmosphere of each chapter. A truly gripping experience.

5. A Plague Tale: Innocence

Follow the grim tale of young Amicia and her little brother Hugo, in a heartrending journey through the darkest hours of history.

The story of this was somewhat unexpected, as I was not anticipating supernatural elements in a game about the black plague, but it was so, so good. It really takes you on a journey, though the highlight of the game is obviously the characters. Both Amicia and Hugo felt not only real, they were also endearing, as were the several friends they made throughout the story. Very much looking forward to playing the sequel at some point.

6. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

A new Shogun seizes power over Edo period Japan and enforces nationwide peace. In his battle against conspiracy and rebellion, he recruits five specialists with extraordinary skills for assassination, sabotage and espionage.

I've never played a real-time tactics game before and I'm not at all good at strategizing, so you can probably imagine how frustrating this game was for me; and yet, I absolutely adored it. I found the story and the characters compelling, not to mention this game just makes you feel smart. Completing a level was always so satisfying, and it more than made up for any lingering frustrations in regards to the difficulty of the gameplay.

(Also, fun fact: one of the characters, Takuma, is voiced by the same person that voices the narrator in the Trine games! As a big fan of the Trine series, this delighted me to no end. 😊)

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/adowryofblood/716588730922745856

The answerer's points remind me of what Seth Abramson said about Alicent and Rhaenyra both. Especially the:

it was a huge mistake to reframe every bad decision rhaenyra made as a reaction to something that someone else did to her. first of all, it removes all agency from her as a character whose actions drive the plot. second, it incorrectly portrays her as 100% victim when she is very much 50-50 victim/perpetrator. the fact that the writers felt this was necessary for a woman character is so incredibly gendered. to them, a woman can only be sympathetic if she is reacting, if she is acted upon first. a sympathetic, role model woman does not have drive or flaws. feminism starts and ends with one person on the throne.

Abramson said:

I am very interested in the answerer's part here:

the writers fundamentally misunderstand that the appeal of book rhaenyra is her narcissism and impulsivity, and her character only really makes sense if she remains that way. for example, only a very specific type of person would marry their uncle right after both her and his spouses die. that's not a heroic action, but it doesn't make her an evil queen. it doesn't negate our sympathy when she miscarries or when the lords call her a whore. it just makes her a multifaceted person. same goes for alicent.

AND most of all:

the writers' intention--to deconstruct what they perceived as an "evil queen" archetype from the book--was compelling, imo

Because that is exactly what GRRM is doing w/Rhaenyra. The entire account of the Dance is green-leaning and endeavors to make Rhaenyra much worse than she actually was.

Alicent, in my eyes, was not a good person, and she, to me, is hardly a better person than Rhaenyra, and she is neither a simple character. Yet the account would have us think that as well: she is a simple, "good"/"good enough person" just like other men in ambition...is she really, though?

Alicent outwardly played by the rules of patriarchy, she is partially responsible for the war and her kids' deaths. Yet she's barely remembered at all and for being a perpetrator of this calamity. She wasn't the only or even the first person at fault for the Dance, though she is still definitely one/a prime of the persons responsible. So even with Alicent, there is some deconstruction of "evil queen" going on, in terms of what an evil queen who "seduces" (beguiles and deceives) the right men through powers of persuasion, her performing seemingly innocuous deeds that an aristocratic woman/royal woman is expected to do, and the necessary amount of violence performed by men:

She convinces a council of men [except one] to turn against Rhaenyra by making herself and her kids seem future victims of who she painted as the would-be evil queen

in the same council she doesn't have to take an oath of secrecy or alliance with the men when Larys brings it up on account of her womanhood....yet again, she's the one who brought them all together and stirred them to act in her favor

she got Cole on her side to strategize for her team (Battle of Rook's Rest and maybe more if Aemond hadn't been dumb) using his self-convinced hatred of Rhaenyra for her own needs -- her taking him in as her protector after Rhaenyra rejects him would have been seen as not that unusual because tourneys have accidents and rage-filled men maim and kill others enough times

her pointing out how Cole would "endanger" Rhaenyra's virginity (before he joined her team) makes a question of Rhaenyra's virginity and Cole's place beside her (to influence him away from her and remove that protection), while looking as if she's just concerned about Rhaenyra's well being and reputation as the Queen/her stepmother

And more. Once again, the subversiveness comes not from how we the modern audience perceive Alicent so much as from how Alicent was never viewed as the "evil queen" despite all the subtle and nonsubtle actions she took to undermine and usurp Rhaenyra. Even when she has tried to get her granddaughter to kill Aegon, the text writes her as more crazy than responsible for her actions, even expressing a little surprise (in tone) from Gyldayn and some who attended the wedding for her absence during Jaehaera and Aegon's wedding.

Getting back to Rhaenyra's characterization though, HERE is what azureflight says about Rhaenyra's womanhood within the context and perceptions and subsequent meaning:

Rhaenyra was undeniably female, in a society where being a woman was lesser. She was not someone they can put into a sterilized icon to strip from her flesh and blood humanity and she was not some “not like other girls/almost like a boy” type that they could rationalize accepting as their ruler because she “technically didn’t count as woman” due to how different she behaved.

She was the embodiment of every fear about women these people had: Powerful despite lacking traditional mastery of arms, charming and hot, making her deeply desired by men which meant she could influence and “control” them, sexual meaning they couldn’t control her, holding authority, meaning she could reject them, and cuckolded her husband, meaning she could emasculate them. Oh, and she also had a dragon so she would most definitely win if they were to ever try to assert themselves physically against her, as they would try against women like this in general.

"Undeniably female", I read--to the perception of what a woman looks like to her contemporaries--as Rhaenyra checked all the boxes of what a woman and an attractive aristocratic woman looked like and some behavior. Love it attention to clothes/beautification, not that interested in fighting like a warrior, wanting a family, being attracted or having a preference for knights and warriors, etc.

The problem for them was that she also had many other behaviors, a look (pale weird hair, rare colored eyes), and materials that made her have much more power than most men or deviated from the Andal standards of womanhood and femininity.

Rhaenyra was a contradiction, a temptation, a danger, and a "mystery" to those men and many women if they didn't actually know her. And F&B/Gyldayn/maesters/many men, after the Dance ended AND during her life wanted to reduce her into this "evil", "ugly" "WRONG" queen.

Funny how they also reduced but underestimated Alicent's person simultaneously.

[kevin--of-desert-bluffs]

Psssssst the into the mirror episode of WTNV sure would make a great paraody of TMA riiiiiiiight? /nf

Ok ok you've twisted my arm :) also remember I'm still not even on episode 30 of TMA so can only write in very early TMA style, it's not that I don't want to listen it's just execuative dysfunction kicking my ass about it for some stupid reason.

Anyway, here you go!

Statement of Cecil Gershwin Palmer, regarding an alleged supernatural experience with a mirror. Original statement given August 1st 2020. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

Statement begins.

'I grew up in a lovely little desert town called Night Vale. As you can no doubt tell by my accent when I spoke to you it is far away from here in the good ol' USA. I can't really remember how I got here from there.

No matter. I want to tell you a story - a story about a mirror. I guess it's a story about me really but it involves a mirror.

When I was a child my mother told me that she was an oracle and that I should study a book she had so that I may one day understand the messages inside. There was a table with chipped corners and a mismatched wood stain on the tiny drawer at it's center. The drawer had a tarnished yet ornate brass knob. The book was inside of that drawer and I never opened it after she put it there.

The book frightened me. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was the handwriting that matched no known language. Or was it the drawings of serpents with human faces but innumerable teeth? It gave me a feeling of disorientation - seeing these faces contorted into a scream yet their eyes expressing nothing. Maybe it was the inscrutability which scared me.

I promise that all of this is connected though even I'm not sure how. My mother said a lot of things to me which didn't make much sense. I remember once that she asked me why I was crying when I wasn't real. I don't think my mother was very well.

By far the most frequent warning she would give me was about mirrors. She warned me that one day I would die and it would involve a mirror. This statement was made all the more confusing given the large ornate mirror in the downstairs hall which faced that table. If they were so dangerous - why did we own any? I always ran past that mirror to get out.

My mother died years ago. A few months ago my sister and I finally got around to sorting through all of her old belongings instead of leaving them to rot in a storage facility.

I did not get the table, but I did get the mirror. I felt that perhaps it was time to get over my fear of mirrors. So I looked into it.

It was just a mirror of course and at first there was nothing unusual about it - nothing more than one expects when looking into a mirror. A reflection of the self staring back. No more frightening than your own interpretation of the gradual changes of your own body only observable through that reflected world.

I hung it up in much the same place as it had stood in my childhood home. Every so often I would glance at myself to check that I looked presentable before heading out for the day. What else is a mirror for? I'd had a lifelong fear of mirrors due to my mothers frequent insistence that they were dangerous. It felt good to finally get over that fear and with a mirror that I had specifically feared as a child.

There was nothing wrong with the mirror. Nothing unusual. Never had been. There was no strange noise coming from it at night, no portal to the 3rd dimension, nothing.

Until yesterday...yesterday I saw something in that mirror. Something that shouldn't have been. I was getting ready to leave the house when I looked into the mirror as I had been doing - it was becoming something of a habit in fact - when I was compelled to stop and continue staring into the mirror.

I don't know why but I couldn't draw myself away from it. I looked at myself so long that I lost my ability to understand what I looked like. I want you to understand that when I said I couldn't move away I meant it. Nothing was physically stopping me and yet there I was, frozen in front of the mirror.

Perhaps it was psychosomatic. Perhaps I was a slave to my own mind. My thoughts raced, circling around themselves like snakes, confused and sometimes unrelated to my sudden paralysis.

I started to wonder whether I was looking at myself at all or perhaps it was someone else. How many hairs did I have? How many did I have yesterday? Are they the same colour, the same length? Are they the same hairs I had as a child? Thoughts like that.

I thought - should I be high if I’m going to ask myself these questions? Can you get high by behaving high? Are you a good person because you do good things? Does a qualitative assessment mandate empirical evidence to support its truth? If I point at something and declare it good, will I be crossexamined? And if so, am I to be held in contempt for refusing to answer?

I have no idea how long I was standing there thinking like that.

Then I saw something truly frightening. First it was just a pair of eyes and the curve of a head - human shaped but about a third of the size. I stared into those tiny eyes and watched as it reached it's long spindly fingers up to touch my shoulders and I understood that whatever it was - it was climbing on my back.

I screamed and looked away from the mirror, still rooted to the spot but able to look away at least. I wanted to touch my shoulder to see whether those fingers were really there. I couldn't feel them but maybe they were there all the same but I couldn't bring myself to check. It was like when you're at an ATM and it asks you if you want to check your balance before you withdraw money. You don't want to look because you don't want to know how little is actually in there, despite the fact that not looking won't change reality.

I stood there and thought about those long fingers, that small head, that little face with it's inexpressive eyes and flat lipless mouth...it felt familiar. Was it something from childhood? Or maybe it was from a dream I had?

I was starting to forget what it had looked like exactly so forced myself to look again. It was still there. I couldn't tell if it was friend or foe. There was a flickering behind the figure. I couldn't tell if it was sunlight oscillating behind moving clouds or if the figure itself was causing the effect.

The creature was climbing up my back. It had talons and wore black rings. It had a mouth full of too many teeth and a long tongue. A cry was leaking out of it's mouth, a horrible high-pitched mewling like it was imitating a child crying. What unholy monster cries like a child?

I managed to look beyond the creature and there I saw the table. Just as it had been in my childhood. I remembered every detail perfectly and I also remembered that I did not have the table in my house. Whose house was this mirror reflecting? Who and where and when?

I looked behind me and the mirror was not in my house. It was only in the mirror, holding it's dreadful secret within that drawer.

I returned my gaze to my own reflection. It had changed. It was me, but it was not me now. It was myself as I had been many years younger. It's movements did not match my own. The creature...the creature was sinking it's teeth into the neck of my younger self. Rivulets of blood ran down my neck and shoulder.

I remember willing myself to break the mirror. To break it into many pieces. I wanted to move but I couldn't. Yet...I heard the sound of glass shattering. I closed my eyes just for a moment and when I opened them there were glass shards all over the floor. Large shards that could only have come from a mirror. Yet...the mirror. The mirror was completely intact.

Inside the mirror I could still see my younger self, now curled upon the floor, mouth agape in horror and eyes glassy. I could move again and I'm almost ashamed to say that all I could think to do was to put the entire experience behind me. I got a blanket and put it over the mirror and then I swept the shards of mirror away.

And there by the door was the small antique table with the chipped corners and the small drawer. I had not taken it home. I was sure of that. But there it was. If I'm honest - I was afraid to touch it. I'm afraid of the table and the mirror even now.

I asked my sister, Abby, about the table. She confirmed that she thought the table was still in storage and agreed to take it off my hands, as well as the mirror. When she asked me about the blanket covering it I asked if there had ever been an incident when I was young - one involving a mirror. She said that she had come downstairs once to find me passed out and cold on the ground with a wound in my neck possibly from all the broken glass around. Broken glass she'd thought was from the mirror at first except the mirror was completely fine. I'd been fine too, after a trip to the hospital - she said and asked me why I wanted to know. I didn't have a good answer and hurried her away with the dreadful mirror and table.

She hasn't reported anything unusual about the mirror and says the drawer is firmly shut - possibly even fake.

I have a small hand mirror I use. I went upstairs after she left and used it to check my neck. There upon it was a ring of scars that had not been there the week before - I swear on this. In fact, I can prove it with this picture of me on vacation with my husband, Carlos. My neck is clearly visible up close and yet there is no scar. Now the scar is here, as you have seen and is visible in the second photo. A small ring, exactly like a bite mark.'

Statement ends.

By far the most interesting factor of Mr Palmer's statement is his claim to be from the town of Night Vale, located somewhere in the USA. This town has been mentioned in a not insignificant number of other statements given by residents from there despite how far from us it is. The second most interesting fact is the book which matches a volume by Jurgen Leitner that the Institute has not yet been able to get ahold of. Unfortunately, since we are unable to locate Night Vale there is no chance of locating the book even if we could afford a trip to the States.

As for the statement itself...it sounds to me like a man who has had a significant traumatic event at some point in his life and a memory or half a memory relating to this event was triggered possibly during an episode of psychosis. Even he admitted that his mother had mental health issues and it's possible that Mr Palmer also did.

It has proven absolutely impossible to track down Mr Palmer despite the relative recentness of his statement and it's possible that he has returned as he stated to his home town which nobody seems able to locate on any map. The pictures that were previously attached are nowhere to be found. Nonetheless, an eye shall be kept on this account and all those which mention Night Vale. Archiving them together might provide us greater insight into the believability of any statements coming from residents of the town, as well as into the town itself

Recording ends.

[jerzwriter]

A Capy Ending

Book:                Wake the Dead

Pairing:            Eli Sipes x F!MC (Zoe Rivera), with Troy Hassan

Rating:             Teen

Category:        Fun Fluff

Summary:       Eli, Zoe & Troy set off for an afternoon of hunting and make a most unusual discovery. As the day continues, Troy reveals he's made some discoveries of his own.

Words:             1,677

A/N:   A while back, @missameliep and I were having a conversation about our mutual love of capybaras. It's not the most common obsession, so we were delighted that someone else shared it. As we were talking, this silly little idea was born. When I got this ask from @cariantha, I just knew how I wanted to use it. I hope you enjoy this! I write a lot of heavy stuff for WTD, so I love when I can give them little moments of levity too!

@choicesmonthlychallenge Propmts: Being Outside, Ferris Wheel, Friends, Slow Burn, Smile (Take your pick lol)

Despite their best attempts to keep quiet as they hunted one late afternoon, two things kept betraying Eli and Zoe. One: The massive amount of twigs that had fallen during a recent storm. No matter how much they watched where they walked, they still managed to crunch under their boots. 

But the second was the bigger offender, and it was becoming increasingly annoying to boot. The second thing? Troy Hassan.

Another loud sigh echoed from behind them. It had to be his tenth in as many minutes, and even though Zoe was walking behind Eli, she could feel him bristle each time the noise escaped her childhood friend. She looked haggardly between the two, knowing she’d be forced to mediate at any moment now. 

Troy was unamused. His feet were becoming more tender with each step. When he let out a groan of disapproval, Eli had reached his limit. He swiftly turned around with a scowl.

“Troy, I’m sorry. Are we keeping you from something important?”

And there it was...

“No. But I do think it's time we head back. We’ve been out here forever, and we’re coming up empty.”

“We’ve been out here for less than an hour!” Eli insisted.

“Yeah, but it’s a thirty-minute walk back to Olympus. So, we should get started!”

Zoe hated getting between the two when they bickered, but she had to agree with Eli this time. She gently tapped Troy’s shoulder, hoping she could talk some sense into him.

“Troy, Eli’s right. We need to give it a little longer.”

“Hunting sucks!” Troy whined.

“But you like eating?” Eli rebuked.

“And we will be eating! We have plenty of rations right now!”

“Right now,” Zoe stressed. “You know as well as I do that can change quickly, Troy.”

“But nothing’s biting today, Zo! And if we stay out here much longer, it will be the zombies biting us. Come on!” He smiled sweetly, employing his best puppy dog eyes to attempt to sway Zoe to his side. “Make it two out of three, and we can head back?”

“No,” she stated firmly. “You should know by now I’m immune to your tactics, my friend! We’re staying out here for at least another half hour.”

She caught the little smirk Eli shot in Troy’s direction from the corner of her eye, Troy sticking his tongue out at him in quick succession. Zoe rolled her eyes. Some days she felt more like the Colony’s preschool teacher than its leader.

About ten minutes later, they all heard rustling in the leaves, and their feet were not the culprits this time. They pointed their weapons in the direction of the noise, hoping that evening’s dinner would appear, and not a drone. That’s when the tuft of golden brown fur lurched out from behind the bushes. It stood in the center of a clearing, appearing to have a death wish or a desire to perform; either argument could be made.

“Quiet,” Eli whispered, barely audible. “I’ve got this one.”

But Troy ignored that directive entirely.

“Is that a freaking…” he exclaimed, compelling the creature to hop back into the bushes.

“What was that?” Zoe asked, perplexed. “It was too big to be a rat, but I’ve never seen anything like it?”

“It will be dinner if I can get it,” Eli stated bluntly. He nocked an arrow as the creature stepped out again. “Now, just be quiet while I….”

“STOP!” Zoe yelled as Eli dropped his bow.

“Zoe! What the…”

“Look at him!” She squealed. “He’s standing on his back legs! It almost looked like he was waving to us! Troy, do you know what kind of animal that is?”   

“It looks like a capybara,” he shrugged. “At least based on what I’ve seen in books.”

“A capybara?” Eli ridiculed. “I remember studying about them in school, but they’re not exactly native to this region.”

“You know, Eli, I bet when you were in school, undead creatures that wanted to eat your face off weren’t indigenous to these parts either… but shit happens.”  

For once, Zoe ignored squabbling. Instead, she tiptoed over to the furry creature, who didn’t seem frightened by her approach.

“Hey, little guy,” she whispered in a sing-song voice. “I’m Zoe; what’s your name.”

“If he answers you, I’m shooting it!” Eli yelled, and Zoe promptly shushed him.

The animal let Zoe rub his damp fur when she got closer, even rolling to his side with delight as she patted away.

“Oh my God, he’s so cute!” she beamed. “Carlos!”

“What?” Troy asked.

“His name is Carlos!”

“He told you that?” Eli asked with a raised brow.

“Of course not!” She laughed, “But that’s what I’m naming him.”

“Zoe…” Eli questioned. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you? It’s not a good idea to name your dinner.”

“I know that! But Carlos is not dinner!”

“That’s right, he’s not!” Troy agreed as he played with the animal by Zoe’s side. “He’s our new friend!”

Eli shut his eyes and shook his head. Zoe, too?

“Zoe,” he tried to reason. “We’re supposed to be hunting, and….”

“Eli! We have plenty of rations right now,” she insisted while Troy shot a smug grin Eli's way. “And he’s far too cute to be dinner! He’s not dinner… he’s… he’s our… our….”

“Our mascot!” Troy shouted.

“Our what?”

“Our mascot!” Troy repeated. “We can bring him back to Olympus, maybe make him some clothes! The kids will love him! He will help with morale.”

“Clo… clothes?” Eli astounded. “Did you say make him clothes?”

“I did,” Troy nodded.

“That mouth of yours does nothing but talk dumb shit, does it?” Eli asked.

“Eli!” Zoe scolded. “Be nice! You’re going to hurt Carlos’s feelings!”

Eli dragged a hand down the front of his face. “Not you too, Zoe?”

But he knew fighting this was futile; Zoe had already scooped the animal up in her arms, he was coming home with them, and not as supper. 

“Hunting’s over!” She announced. “Let’s return to Olympus and bathe Carlos before introducing him to everyone.”

“This isn’t happening….” Eli groaned. 

“Oh,” Troy smiled as he clapped his friend on the back. “It most certainly is.”

“We should have brought  Angel and Shannon along,” Eli lamented. “We need other opinions!”

“Oh, sure!” Troy laughed. “They would have been on your side! Angel would already be teaching it tricks, and Shannon would have burst into tears at the mere suggestion of making Carlos dinner.”

“He’s making sense,” Zoe shrugged.

“And that alone should convince you this is a bad idea!” Eli groaned, but he just followed behind in defeat.

~~~~~ 

Several hours later, Eli sat in the corner of the great room, still shaking his head in astonishment. The rest of the colonists had gathered, and it seemed everyone was fussing and cooing over Carlos. What's worse, the rodent simply reveled in the adoration. He returned to repairing his bow, muttering unintelligible words under his breath. But when the crowd thinned as people began to retire for the evening, Eli addressed Zoe.

“Where is that thing going to sleep?” he asked.

“Carlos is going to sleep in my room tonight,” Zoe replied, snuggling beside the little guy on the couch. “Walt and Mina said they’d build him a new pen in the morning, but he’ll be with me tonight.”

Troy, who had since joined Eli in the corner, made a poor attempt to conceal his amusement.

“I’d try to make friends with Carlos if I were you, Eli,” he jibed. “Because it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.”

Troy's laughter intensified as more garbled words fell from his friend's lips, but that didn’t mean he was about to let up on him.

“It’s OK, Eli,” he needled. “I understand. I’d be pissed if that cute little guy was getting all the cuddle time with my girlfriend, too!”

Eli turned to him slackjawed, with his eyes bulged wide.

“She’s not my girlfriend!”

“Riiiiight,” Troy hummed. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“Troy! How many times have I told you….”

“What? She’s your friend? Right? And she’s a girl? So…..”

“Does that make her your girlfriend, too?” Eli shot back.

“No, because I don’t get that stupid look that you do whenever she walks in the room. Also, I’ve never been spotted sucking face with her on top of a Ferris wheel.”

“TROY!” Eli hollered, causing the others to turn their way.

“Is everything OK?” Zoe asked.

“Peachy!” Troy saluted before smirking at Eli. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” he whispered, “but I’m not above bribery. So, get over there and introduce yourself to Carlos properly.”

“Troy… are you freaking kidding me?”

“Come on, Eli,” Troy winked. “It’s for the good of the colony.”

“Oh, for Christ's sake!” Eli stood up and walked to the couch, where Zoe remained snuggled with their new mascot.

“Yes,” she beamed at Eli.

He wouldn’t admit it, even to himself, but seeing her so happy filled him with a warmth he didn’t quite understand, and it took all he had to keep from grinning.

“I’ve been advised that Carlos is probably staying.”

“He most certainly is.”

“Then I guess we should become better acquainted.”

“Yey!!!” Zoe enthused, gently clapping her hands. She sat up straight and held Carlos out to Eli. “Come! Sit with us.”

“You’re not going to make me hold him, are you?” Eli groaned. 

“Mmmm… we’ll build up to it,” she smiled, “baby steps.”

Eli patted the capybara’s head, and a trace of a smile appeared on his lips when the creature nuzzled against his hand. 

“See!” Zoe squealed. “He likes you!”

“He… he is kind of cute,” Eli surrendered.

“Hmph! And you wanted to make him dinner!”

“Zo!” Eli quickly covered Carlos’s ears. “You shouldn’t talk like that in front of him.”

Zoe chuckled as the most enchanting grin appeared on her face. 

“Did he win you over?” She asked. “Or are you afraid he’ll come for you in your sleep if you aren’t nice to him?”

Eli was about to answer when a hand clapped him on the shoulder. “None of the above,” Troy laughed, then quickly headed toward the door. "Option number three. It’s definitely option three.”

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