#emil/medric

[nimblermortal]

@spiritintheteapot Is a How to Train Your Dragon AU for Elemental Logic a good idea, or am I just under the fatigue (c)?

The Sainnites would be human vikings, the Shaftali would be dragons. Medric sucks at dragon hunting because his vision is for shit, but he's clever and downs dragon (Night Fury?) Zanja. They bond while she's recovering and he winds up making her a deck of glyphs to help her communicate. She introduces him to Emil.

(The entire* point of this is to work 'when we met my enemy was a glyph...' in.)

Clement is a dragon hunter who goes after dragons with a battleaxe in her hands and Gabian strapped to her chest. (She prefers ladies but one does one's duty for the tribe in reproducing. And she's quite fond of Gabian. Maybe she has a wife! Maybe she has an ex-wife.)

Karis is a baby nest-lord that General Wossisface keeps secretly in the basement. She's never seen the sun. Gilly became crippled by virtue of being in charge of tending her since he was a child.

(Literally all of this is up for question, there are questions like 'why are the Shaftali non-human' and 'what about the Ashawala'i' and 'there doesn't need to be a reason for Gilly to be crippled' and...)

Possibly Norina is standing in as nest-lord in the absence of a ah genetically large enough one for their nest? or Mabin is? So Norina/Mabin absolutely does have to be defeated, but not by killing her because Elemental Logic. I like the idea of it being Norina because J'han feeding her would be cute.

Leeba is, obviously, a Terrible Terror.

The other big trick is figuring out a) who the narrator is and b) how do I keep this short

*well, not entire. Some of it is Tea's writing challenge to me for the year. Some of it is that I am maybe 30k shy of finishing reading a 1.7 million word HTTYD fic and it may be creeping into my consciousness a bit

[spiritintheinkwell]

Crossover Comix: The Priory of the Orange Tree by @sshannonauthor​ meets the Elemental Logic series (book 1 is Fire Logic) by Laurie J. Marks. Between the central f/f relationships, the many queer POV characters, the big worlds, and the subtle, imaginative magic systems... I just think these books should be friends. 🍊🔥⚔👭🔨🐉📚

My fifth work for A Year In Shaftal, the Elemental Logic fandom event hosted on @shaftal; prompts 33: a crossover, and 41: femslash february

I promised myself I would make this so simple, but it ended up clocking in at 26 hours, not counting research or writing 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you like this, you might be interested in my other priory art, my other elemental logic art, and my general tag for wlw book fanart.

Did you decide to add a book to your to-read list because of this comic? I would like to hear about it! Are you one of the rare individuals who has already read both of these stories? I want to be your friend!

Bonus:

Available with transcript and even more author’s notes on ao3.

[shaftal]

Prompt 42 (Seasonal): NYRs/Yuletide

Tomorrow is the beginning of the fandom nomination period for Yuletide 2022!*

Some things you could do for this prompt:

1: Are you planning to nominate Elemental Logic for Yuletide? Reply to this post with the characters you commit to nominating, so that we can get all the characters that interest us onto the list and don’t overlap unnecessarily. (Doing this WILL be counted towards your A Year In Shaftal contribution 😉)

2: The New Year’s Resolution collection remains open until October 14 (the start of Yuletide signups)--why not warm up for Yuletide by writing something for someone who requested Elemental Logic in a previous year of the exchange? I have included the requests I could find under the cut.

*Yuletide is a well-established multi-fandom fanfiction gift exchange for small fandoms, and is the source of a significant portion of the Elemental Logic works on ao3

2021:

amyezekiel I love the 'found family' themes throughout these books and would welcome more of that! Any characters

Eccentric_Hat I started reading these books because of Medric: a mostly unrelated fandom got me interested in clairvoyants, and now they're something I actively seek out. I thought he didn't show up until book 2 and was absurdly jazzed when, in the middle of book 1, Zanja found herself crashed on the bedroom floor of (I think this is the description) "a bespectacled book-hauling boy with a blue ribbon in his hair." Since then, the moments when these two characters interact have been among my favorites in the series. I love the way they trade questions back and forth when talking in fire logic to each other, the offhanded way she (like most of their family) cares for Medric and reminds him to put his glasses on, and the way he kind of wanders through their family life making himself at home while saying things people don't understand--and all of that is the surface level of a relationship built on enormous trust, intimacy, sorrow, and responsibility. Nobody but Zanja understands what she has lost, but I think Medric might come the closest to understanding her conviction of her own guilt--even while he prefers to play his own sorrows close to the chest a lot of the time. (There's mention, I think at the start of book 2, that he doesn't drink alcohol, coffee, or tea or consume sugar because those things would interfere with his visions, and much later there's an offhand comment that the Sainnites remember him as a drunk. Oof.) I would love to see more interaction between these two, whether it's an adventure, a card reading, or something as simple as a shared meal. I adore the whole family of which they're part--it makes me especially happy how, at the series midpoint, they start referring to their lovers as husband or wife, without apparently having done anything to formalize that status--and any and all members of that family and their friends are welcome to make an appearance. DNWs: sexual violence, and in general, violence exceeding canon levels--I know these characters have been through the war, I just don't need close descriptions of specific injuries. Medric (Elemental Logic), Zanja na'Tarwein

Lleu I love so many things about these books. the way gay love is so central and important. the movement from stasis and stagnation into change and possibility. I'm also obsessed with the elemental logics themselves — I would love something that explores the experience of fire logic in more detail (either Emil's insight or Medric's visions) from the inside. I also love fictional literature, and I would LOVE something that explores Shaftali literature, storytelling, glyph-writing, and similar. Letter with more details Emil Paladin, Medric (Elemental Logic)

@grimdr

spiritinthespacebar I nominated this series because it is criminally underrated, while being among the best queer fiction in print. I can’t say enough about the delicacy and originality of the magic system. I love the complexity of our heroines, and the practical, steadfast way they work for a long-awaited peace. I finished Air Logic the week before signups and I cannot stop thinking about Shaftal. Suggested prompts: I’d like a story about Zanja and Karis helping each other with a difficult problem, which could be set any time after the end of Fire Logic. I didn’t request any other characters, but I also nominated Clement and Seth--if you have read Earth Logic and like them as much as I do, you are welcome to give them large supporting roles. I’m also happy to see Zanja and Karis’s whole family in small supporting roles. Maybe Zanja must represent the interests of some Border People to Shaftal, but their needs are very different from the Ashawala’i? Maybe Karis must resolve the situation with the Basdown cow dogs? Maybe a natural disaster strikes somewhere? Global preferences: Letter with more details Zanja na'Tarwein, Karis G'deon

@spiritintheinkwell, i.e. the mod

2018:

Assimbya Zanja na'Tarwein I love Zanja very, very, very much. I love her magic and her religious faith; her tendency towards self-sacrifice and her storytelling; I love her romance with Karis and her friendship with Emil; I love her as a survivor of torture and genocide, who has lost everything she once had but keeps her faith and her sense of purpose, even when she is hallucinating or despairing. I would be delighted with a story that explored almost any part of her life (caveat because I'm not that interested in further extrapolations of the period of Water Logic), and especially one which involved some degree of Zanja/Karis, whose romance I adore. Maybe something about Zanja's recovery early on in Fire Logic, or taking place in the gap between Fire Logic and Earth Logic? Or something focusing on her religious faith? I would love to see Zanja and Karis working out the rough spaces and their relationship and learning how to be meaningfully supportive partners to one another, or something about Zanja on her own, fighting injustice or making meaning inside her own head. Letter: http://chthonic-cassandra.tumblr.com/post/179261839065/yuletide-letter-2018

@chthonic-cassandra

ofunaq Any characters I love these books, and the beautifully evocative landscape of love, relationships and chosen family. Anything you could write for these would make me very, very happy. If you'd like a suggestion, maybe Emil and Medric could go away on a camping holiday... I don't have any significant squicks or DNWs. In general, I like stories in which people are kind and thoughtful (although that doesn't necessarily preclude stories on a knife-edge of control, consent and sexual discovery...), and are unashamedly themselves.

schneefink Emil Paladin, Medric (Elemental Logic) My two favorite relationships in this series are Medric/Emil and the whole family together. I would for example love fic about Medric pre- and/or during book 1, and/or the development of his relationship with Emil, or fic about Medric, Emil, and their whole family settling down for the first time and/or having adventures, or Garland taking care of the family. See my letter for more details. DNW: very dark/hopeless stories, explicit rape/abuse, character bashing, PWP Letter: http://schneefink.dreamwidth.org/245397.html

thereinafter Karis G'deon, Zanja na'Tarwein I fell pretty hard for these books, especially Fire Logic, about which I love so many things; I feel like Marks has some kind of direct connection to my personal id. All the circumstances of the way they meet with Karis breaking Zanja out of the prison, all the h/c, all the pining and angst, all their rescuing of each other, Karis’s eventual healing of herself and rediscovery of feeling, give me an absurd amount of feelings. I also love how the books are overall about the struggle to establish and hold a peace more than fighting a war, and the fact that Karis uses her amazonian strength to be a healer and creator/fixer of things while Zanja is the fighter, and all the other opposing elemental/mystical traits that mean they are often baffled by each other.To sum up, I very much love them as a ship and would like a story focused on the two of them (Emil and Medric are fine characters, but I’d rather not focus on the whole group family; that said, if you write something that needs secondary characters, I’m fond of Norina and Clement and Seth and Garland too, and I love the ravens). Prompt suggestions: The two of them keep getting separated and almost dying or symbolically dying and then reuniting/bringing each other back. Which does work for me every time, so if you want to write something plotty that continues that pattern, I would be here for it. We’re told Karis loses her powers over water and thus avoids it, but we don’t ever see much of that; what would it be like if she had to sail somewhere? (I could see this going in a light funny or fraught angsty direction.) I’m intrigued by the implications of Karis sensing what happens to objects she forges, as with Zanja’s knife. A little mission/case they decide to handle together? There must be a lot of problems around Shaftal to fix still.  Letter: http://thereinafter.tumblr.com/post/179120480605/im-signing-up-for-the-yuletide-fic-exchange-this

@thereinafter

2017:

ofunaq Medric (Elemental Logic), Karis G'deon, Zanja na'Tarwein The characters in the Elemental Logic books have a warmth and an intensity that I find compelling, and the matter-of-fact and inclusive approach to gender, sexuality and chosen family is so refreshing and validating. But the thing that really hooked me, was the riveting, visceral description of sensations, that made touch and taste and textures come alive. Maybe an adventure story for Zanja from before she meet Karis? Or someone (Medric?) develops a giant crush on Karis, and tries to hide it, with comedic results? Whatever you write would be great: I'd be so happy to read a new story in this world.

schneefink Medric (Elemental Logic), Zanja na'Tarwein, Emil Paladin My two favorite relationships in this series are Medric/Emil and the whole family together (closely followed by Emil&Zanja and Zanja/Karis), and I would love a fic with some of both. I would love fic about Medric pre- and/or during book 1. In canon he only has very vague visions of Emil and his future family, but feel free to expand on that a little and give him more if you want. Or fic about Medric, Emil, and their whole family settling down for the first time. It would take some time for all of them to become comfortable living together, to grow from pairs and friends into a family who all love each other. I also like Garland the cook a lot, especially him taking care of the family and in particular Medric and Emil. Letter: http://schneefink.dreamwidth.org/210265.html

2016:

Assimbya Zanja na'Tarwein I love Zanja very, very, very much. I love her magic and her religious faith; her tendency towards self-sacrifice and her storytelling; I love her romance with Karis and her friendship with Emil; I love her as a survivor of torture and genocide, who has lost everything she once had but keeps her faith and her sense of purpose, even when she is hallucinating or despairing. I would be delighted with a story that explored almost any part of her life (caveat because I'm not that interested in further extrapolations of the period of Water Logic), and especially one which involved some degree of Zanja/Karis, whose romance I adore. Maybe something about Zanja's recovery early on in Fire Logic, or taking place in the gap between Fire Logic and Earth Logic? Or something focusing on her religious faith? I would love to see Zanja and Karis working out the rough spaces and their relationship and learning how to be meaningfully supportive partners to one another, or something about Zanja on her own, fighting injustice or making meaning inside her own head.

madamebadger Zanja na'Tarwein, Karis G'deon I would love a Karis/Zanja pairing fic. I'd be happy to see it set any time they're together, although I'd prefer to not see it set sometime that they've been forcibly separated.  Perhaps something set in the long period of time between Fire Logic and Earth Logic, when their household is at relative peace (even though Shaftal is anything but 'at peace')?  Or during some downtime in Travesty, sometime during Earth Logic and/or Water Logic? Or even after Water Logic.  Some things I love about them: the way Zanja's intuition and leaps of logic both conflict with and complement Karis's much more stable (and yet, often, equally mystical and mysterious) Earth Logic. Zanja's persistent trauma over the death of her people, and the way that Karis supports her without being able to 'fix' it, because it's fundamentally not something that can (or, maybe, even should) be fixed. Karis's pain over her instinctual drive to heal all wounds and her inability to do so, and the way Zanja in turn supports her. Or, for something less angsty--I'd be delighted with something fluffy and domestic, too, since so much of the series is about the importance of *building* instead of simply destroying, and many of the scenes that I love the most are small moments in the household--whether it's the household they kept in between Fire Logic and Earth Logic, or something set in Travesty as their household continues to grow. If you're not comfortable writing pairing fic, that's fine too--I'd be happy with anything centered on these two characters. I would prefer not to have them explicitly split up, though, even if their relationship isn't the focus of the story. I love basically all the characters, and if you'd like to bring in anyone else (whether nominated or not) that would be delightful to me, especially members of Karis's household, and Clement and Seth. I have no problem with kidfic, so if you're inclined to bring in the fact that Karis and Zanja are considered to be among Leeba's mothers, that would be perfectly fine with me. I would rather not see canon pairings get split up in general, although simply not mentioning/focusing on them would be fine. Letter: http://madamebadger.tumblr.com/post/151589933484/dear-yuletide-author-elemental-logic-redwall

@madamebadger

ofunaq (Same as 2017)

schneefink Medric (Elemental Logic), Emil Paladin I would love fic about Medric pre- and/or during book 1: growing up a seer in a society that hates elemental bloods, coming to terms with his visions and that he is on the wrong side, visions of his future lover etc. I like his relationship with Emil a lot. Or fic about Medric, Emil, and the others settling down for the first time and becoming a family. I like Zanja and Emil's relationship a lot, and Zanja and Karis, and Norina and J'han, and all of them together. It would take some time for them to learn how to live with each other, and they also had to learn how to raise their daughter. Or fic about Garland taking care of the family, especially Medric and Emil, while they settle into their new roles. Letter: http://schneefink.dreamwidth.org/179994.html

Toft Karis G'deon, Zanja na'Tarwein, Norina Truthken Full disclosure - I've only read the first book and part of the second. I'm planning to have read all three by Christmas, but I would like a story set in the first book or before. I'd really like something about the friendships and relationships between these three women, or between two of them. Norina and Karis have such a complicated relationship; I'd love to see something about them earlier in their friendship, when Karis was still an addict. I really like Norina as a character - she obviously makes misguided choices sometimes but she has such integrity even while she's single-minded, while her 'looking after' Karis was also a kind of imprisonment, it was also built on caring and obviously did keep Karis alive. And Karis' struggle to keep a sense of her own identity through her work is really powerful. So, I'd love to see that expanded. I'd also love something about Zanja and Karis. When did Zanja know she was in love with Karis and vice versa? I was really intrigued by the idea that Zanja can use the sword to communicate with Karis - if you wanted to explore that, when Zanja is working for the resistance, that would be cool. What are the early days like when Karis gets her feeling back? Also I didn't feel like the raven was quite enough of his own character to nominate him, but I LOVE THE RAVEN. If you wanted to write something from the raven's perspective, or about the raven, that'd be awesome.DNWs: I am really squicked by descriptions of pregnancy & danger to pregnant women. I would prefer not to have a story about Norina's pregnancy or where it plays a significant role. Letter: http://toft.dreamwidth.org/782933.html

2015:

unheroics Zanja na'Tarwein, Karis (Elemental Logic) I’m absolutely fascinated by Zanja and her function in the narrative, and by extension I am also absolutely fascinated by Karis. Such an enormous part of the books relies on the foundation of their relationship, which is wonderful and heartbreaking. So in that way, I think I’ve had enough relationship-y stuff in canon, and I’d like to see something that goes deeper into the whole aspect of the Messiah/Prophet archetype they’ve got going. In particular, the recurring theme of agency vs. inevitability of fate: Zanja is a willing prophet of her own making, but can one really consider her choices — well, choices, if she’s more or less submitting to the tidal force of some…vague idea of how things are shaping up to be? She takes her place in the world knowing that it’s part of a grand design, knowing more or less what her compliance and its lack would bring. This is fascinating to me! Dear Yuletide Author Letter: http://csoru.tumblr.com/yuletide

@csoru

Assimbya (Same as 2016)

wintersweet Karis (Elemental Logic), Zanja na'Tarwein I'd love to see Karis and Zanja together. I really don't want to see them hurting each other. Just something pleasant. Sexy is fine, cute is fine, domestic is fine.Thank you! P. S. I love Garland--it'd be extra nifty if he showed up! Dear Yuletide Author Letter http://wintersweet.livejournal.com/1810644.html

sleepfighter Zanja na'Tarwein,Medric (Elemental Logic) I am super in favor of all the fireblooded characters in the book. I want fireblooded insights, and also bonding and family stuff! I think this would be most ideal either between book one and two or book two and three, but you do you.I like Zanja slightly better then Medren, but I love Medren telling stories: do what you will with that. Dear Yuletide Author Letter: http://existence.dreamwidth.org/tag/40+watt+lightbulb+in+the+manger

2013:

nimblermortal I am not going to specify characters, but some things that would make me happy include Gilly and Garland in the same place, and Norina and children. (Air children, yes, but also normal children.) I love kids, but I also think you would be amazing if you could make the air children actually creepy, rather than simply saying they are so as Marks does. Please no romance-centric plots, and please no porn.

@nimblermortal

2012:

egelantier Zanja, Karis, Emil (Elemental Logic Series), Medric All (optional) details in the letter! (Letter has been deleted) Website/Journal/Dear Yuletide Author: http://egelantier.livejournal.com/110371.html

mayhap Zanja, Karis I would love any kind of story about Zanja and Karis, whether that be set sometime after Water Logic or a missing scene from any of the books. You could write straight-up smut (this is pretty much always an option, really, I just wanted to throw it out there), or explore any aspect of the worldbuilding that catches your fancy—I especially love the use of the quotes from invented texts in the books, the glyphs and of course the four elemental magics themselves. I love Emil/Medric and if you volunteered all characters and it makes sense to have them as a background pairing or even a co-pairing in your story, go for it! If anyone is the primary focus, though, I would like it to be Zanja/Karis. Website/Journal/Dear Yuletide Author http://mayhap.dreamwidth.org/229606.html

[thereinafter]

I'm signing up for the Yuletide fic exchange this year; looong Dear Yuletide Writer letter below.

Dear Yuletide writer, hi! This is my first time writing one of these letters, although I’ve read Yuletide fic for many years. I’m excited about whatever you write for me and I hope this makes it easier. I’m thereinafter (isyche) on AO3.

I will be delighted if you write me something shippy for characters I ship (and I’m entirely cool with that being explicit if you’re so moved), but I am also delighted by gen fic, especially building on/exploring aspects of the world or backstory. I am the kind of person who enjoys Tolkien’s appendices and songs and reads all the codex entries in video games. I’ll always love something that’s like a bit more of the canon. 

I suggested prompts in case that helps you, but feel free to mix them up or come up with your own idea. 

-----

General likes:

Canon divergence AUs

Time loop stories, and other kinds of variations on a theme, generally (I do like “five times” fic)

Casefic for canons where there are cases or missions

Epistolary or “found documents” stories

Unconventional story structures

Worldbuilding/exploration of the canon world

Stories set around holidays and festivals, and balls, masquerade or not

Relatedly, characters doing things in disguise, whether they’re good or bad at it (and bodyswap, as a subcategory of this and forced intimacy)

Heists and rescues/jailbreaks

Court plotting, intrigue, spying

Road or sea trips/wilderness survival

Forced intimacy tropes like fake dating, bedsharing, huddling for warmth, marriage of convenience

Hurt/comfort (generally in the sense of one character in a pairing enduring hurt from external forces and the other saving and/or tending them)

Swordfights, training for all kinds of fighting, feats of arms

Characters creating things for others

In-universe stories, songs, mythologies, histories

Scenery and costume porn in the “rich description” sense

Lighthearted fluff and humor

Angst with happy endings

Us against the world pairings

Pining and extended UST, especially between work partners who are busy with saving the world or some other important task

Longtime friends to lovers, old friends meeting again, old enemies who aren’t really anymore, rivals who respect each other

Ascetic/hedonist or repressed/libertine or inexperienced/more experienced pairings

Stoic women who have a lot of hidden feelings

Characters who are very good at what they do (but may be awkward or lost in other contexts)

Loyalty/dedication/faithfulness/devotion, knight/queen dynamics (either one-way or where both consider themselves the knight to the other), love conflicting with other loyalties

People who know each other so well they can read each other wordlessly or sense each other across distances

Noble self-denial and sacrifice

in sex scenes: cuddling, laughing, eroticized hands and voices, clothed/semi-clothed sex, complicated undressing, extended making out, enthusiasm/eagerness/desperation, first times or first times in a while, talking whether emotional or joking or dirty, having to keep silent or hold still, interruptions and delayed gratification, sex against walls, mutual roughness, spontaneous/informal kink, magical or magic-enhanced sex in contexts where that exists

DNWs:

Coffeeshop/high school/other mundane AUs, soulmate/soulmark AUs, issuefic, non-canonical polyamory, non-canonical nicknames, non-canonical pregnancy and kids, A/B/O, formalized D/s, sexual violence/noncon, male dominance in het ships, daddy/mommy kink, incest

----------

Fandoms I requested (in alphabetical order):

Alpennia Series - Heather Rose Jones

Barbara, Margerit, Jeanne, Antuniet (I requested all four but any one or two or three of them is also fine)

In this series I love the canon ships as they are (don’t want them broken up or reconfigured), the women finding happy endings together despite their society’s prejudices, the Regencyesque setting with balls and seasons and duels, the way the magic works (especially Antuniet’s alchemy and how we see mysteries constructed through music and art), the way Margerit’s house becomes a refuge/salon for queer and intellectual/artistic women. 

Prompt suggestions:

one of Barbara's adventures pre-Daughter of Mystery? Her first efforts at being a duelist?

if you’ve read “Three Nights at the Opera” it says it's the story of Barbara’s glorious imprudence but in fact leaves most of it untold, so you could tell me more about her affair with Jeanne?

In DoM after Barbara and Margerit kiss the first time, a lot of the romance is off-page in the same way; you could show me one of the undescribed scenes from, e.g., their time in the convent with all the feelings and details.

Domestic fluff in one of their households as of Mother of Souls? a holiday celebration? Margerit creating another private mystery for Barbara? an elaborate ball or secret party thrown by Jeanne? 

Some kind of magical accident or student mistake results in a time loop or amnesia or h/c?

A road trip leaves one of the couples stranded in the mountain wilderness (Antuniet’s harsh practicality and Jeanne being used to luxury could make this interesting for them)?

One of them is kidnapped by one of their political rivals and the others have to rescue her?

——

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe - Kij Johnson

Vellitt Boe, Clarie Jurat, Gnesa Petso, Reon Atescre | Nasht (here, I also requested all of them but you don’t need to include all of them; see prompts)

This is a novella that turns Lovecraft’s Dreamlands inside out and subverts him delightfully while retaining the weirdness/horror/atmosphere I do like about his stories. I absolutely love the setting, the descriptions, Johnson’s extension of the existing worldbuilding, and the character of Vellitt Boe herself (an older woman with a past life of adventures who leaves her settled academic life to set out alone on a new one). I’d love anything that shows more of this version of this world. If you want to bring in more elements from the Lovecraft stories and treat them the same way, fantastic.

prompt suggestions:

It seems like Vellitt and Dean Gnesa Petso have a long history, did they know each other or travel together before working together at Ulthar Women’s College? (and you could make that a romantic history if you want). Did Gnesa convince her to stop adventuring and start teaching there?

We know she used to travel with Reon Atescre before he became the high priest Nasht; I like their friendship. “They had parted ways in the infamous demon-city Thalarion for no reason but the restlessness that is in the young”—what were they doing there?

“In her far-travelling days, she had walked in god-blasted wastelands …” what did she encounter there?

Why did she finally leave Randolph Carter and what happened after she did? Why did she change her name?

One prompt without Vellitt: Clarie Jurat returns home to fight the gods; I’d love to see how she does it.

——

Elemental Logic - Laurie J. Marks

Zanja na’Tarwein, Karis G’deon

I fell pretty hard for these books, especially Fire Logic, about which I love so many things; I feel like Marks has some kind of direct connection to my personal id. All the circumstances of the way they meet with Karis breaking Zanja out of the prison, all the h/c, all the pining and angst, all their rescuing of each other, Karis’s eventual healing of herself and rediscovery of feeling, give me an absurd amount of feelings. I also love how the books are overall about the struggle to establish and hold a peace more than fighting a war, and the fact that Karis uses her amazonian strength to be a healer and creator/fixer of things while Zanja is the fighter, and all the other opposing elemental/mystical traits that mean they are often baffled by each other.

To sum up, I very much love them as a ship and would like a story focused on the two of them (Emil and Medric are fine characters, but I’d rather not focus on the whole group family; that said, if you write something that needs secondary characters, I’m fond of Norina and Clement and Seth and Garland too, and I love the ravens).

Prompt suggestions:

The two of them keep getting separated and almost dying or symbolically dying and then reuniting/bringing each other back. Which does work for me every time, so if you want to write something plotty that continues that pattern, I would be here for it. 

We’re told Karis loses her powers over water and thus avoids it, but we don’t ever see much of that; what would it be like if she had to sail somewhere? (I could see this going in a light funny or fraught angsty direction.) 

I’m intrigued by the implications of Karis sensing what happens to objects she forges, as with Zanja’s knife. 

A little mission/case they decide to handle together? There must be a lot of problems around Shaftal to fix still. 

——

Sunless Sea

Presbyterate Adventuress, Brisk Campaigner (you could focus on either or both)

I've been in love with the Fallen London/Sunless Sea world for a long time and I will adore anything you write that evokes the atmosphere of the games. I'm fascinated with the story possibilities of every port (while not having managed to discover all of them even with my luckiest captains). I'm requesting the Adventuress and the Campaigner because I’m intrigued by their possible canon relationship, but if you want to bring in other characters too, go for it. 

prompt suggestions:

Backstory! What were their lives like before they joined the crew? Had they ever met before?

Tell me about an adventure onshore when the ship is in one of the ports and the captain is busy (for one or the other of them, or them together).

Or an adventure on the zee, fighting creatures or dealing with crew madness in the dark.

Medical situations in this world could get very weird; what kinds of things does the Campaigner deal with as ship’s doctor?

Abbey Rock particularly fascinates me; you could tell me more about the Adventuress’s deal to fight the Sisters’ Adversary for them, and her battle (and leave it tragic or fix it somehow after her victory if you choose).

——

Tam Lin

Janet, Tam Lin, The Queen

I’m a big fan of the Child ballads and traditional folk/story songs in general. My favorite sung version of “Tam Lin” is probably Fairport Convention’s [lyrics]. There are many retellings, but I’d love another one or a story that spins off of it or fills in some of the blanks. 

The thing I love most at the heart of the story is Janet’s courage and steadfastness in enduring the fairy queen’s test to rescue her beloved. But I’m also fascinated by the darkness surrounding that, like the warning away from Carterhaugh at the beginning, the queen owing a tithe to hell, and the body horror of the transformations and having to hold on to these things. You could keep the pregnancy in or leave it out, whichever works best with your story.

Prompt suggestions:

An f/f retelling would be very my thing, but not required.

An AU in a very different setting, like space or virtual reality or another historical period or a culture with a different mythology around fairies/spirits (for an extra challenge, it could also be interesting set in one of my other requested fandoms, if you know them)

Something from Tam Lin’s POV or the queen’s that fills in their backstory together?

Something that elaborates more on Janet/Tam Lin’s initial and subsequent encounters between the lines of the ballad? 

Something set after the end that deals with the repercussions or further consequences? (are there permanent effects on Tam Lin? if there’s a child, is the child affected in some way?)

[spiritintheinkwell]

Sometimes a family is six adults and one baby.

My first work for A Year In Shaftal, the Elemental Logic fandom event hosted on @shaftal

Prompt 18. Visual Art: Karis’s family

[spiritintheinkwell]

Sketches of Elemental Logic characters, getting warmed up for the fandom event I’ll be running over on @shaftal

Featuring interesting shadows from the tree outside my window.

(If anyone has an idea of where in the books I might look for which side Norina’s scar is on, or any detailed description of J’han, please comment! 📖👀)

[nimblermortal]

Fire Logic

@spiritintheteapot​

Overture to Coriolan (Beethoven) The original is about one man wanting to start a war, and the people sent to stop him from sacking Rome. Harald G’deon trying to hold things together

Lookin’ for the Time (Nanci Griffith) I work this corner from eleven to five and my hands get cold around midnight / and you’re asking me if I’ve got the time? / Well I don’t know but you’re wasting mine tonight - Dinal in Lalali

Starlight (Wailin’ Jennys) I have come back to this border, take me home / And my body bears this trouble, take me home Zanja

Children’s Work (Dessa) You’ve learned how to hold your own how to stack your stones but the history’s thick / Children aren’t as simple as we’d like to think Norina and Karis, who are still children when they’re put in each other’s care

Dies Irae (Mozart) The wrath of god Shaftal, Mabin, the war, fighting...

Romans 10:9 (The Mountain Goats) Wake up sixty minutes after my head hits the pillow, I can’t live like this Medric

Buy a Dog (Luce) I had a dream, it was a good dream, you were there and so was I / I was so happy I did not want to open up my eyes the Picnic/Medric propositioning Zanja

Everything Old is New Again (Barenaked Ladies) Everything old is new again, everything under the sun All of our fears come true again, recycle reuse, resent and refuse, our parents’ ideals and views Medric and Emil, Karis and Mabin

Absolute Lithops Effect (The Mountain Goats) With a little bit of water, and a little bit of sunlight, and a little bit of tender mercy Karis under drugs, being given more time, and taking her healing in her own hands

Dear Theodosia (from Hamilton) If we lay a strong enough foundation, we’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you and you’ll blow us all away Leeba

[nimblermortal]

“I didn’t think your family would be so quiet,” Mani said after the sun had shifted noticeably in the sky. “Travesty is…” None of the people who would finish that sentence were present. Karis felt their absence in the ensuing pause. After a while, Norina said, “A center of government. J’han is there.”

my own writing. It’s Norina and Karis and Zanja and a guest traveling; all the chatty ones are back at Travesty, where they are headed.

It’s just very very cute that Norina describes Travesty, the center of government, the bustle of parliament and Paladins and Emil and Leeba and Medric talking people’s ears off - where J’han is.

[nimblermortal]

Apparently today I am finding out I misremembered all kinds of descriptions, because... nowhere does it say that Medric’s hair is red?

I could have sworn he was a redhead!

Fire Night: The man was a pale form on the other side of the room... The flame revealed a man remarkably young, dressed in a nightgown. Spectacles glinted in the light. Without the uniform, he looked no more like a Sainnite than she did... His long, fair hair was caught back with a blue ribbon... He was not much taller than [Zanja], and when she found herself caught within his gaze, it meant neither capture nor dominance, but a stare between befuddled equals.

The Picnic(TM): Medric also arrived early, carrying a basket in one hand and a book under his arm. He looked like a Sainnite today, in leather riding breeches and a shirt of bleached linen, though he wore no cuirass and carried no weapons that Zanja could see. His hair lay loose upon his shoulders and kept falling into his eyes as he studied the book in his lap. Before he started to read, he exchanged his spectacles for a second pair that he kept in a pouch around his neck. When Zanja at last decided to come out of hiding and approach him, he peered at her over the top of his lenses...

The warehouse in Haprin: And so he found a glowing nest of blankets tucked among the massive trunks. The man from Emil’s dream sat quietly beside a small brass lamp, which did not illuminate his face.

-- and I can’t check for descriptions any further because the warehouse always makes me giggle about their Enemies to Lovers Speed Run.

I guess it was the firelight of Fire Night that made my brain think orange?

[nimblermortal]

Of course [Karis will not join Death-and-Life]. They are war-mongers, and war makes her sick.

Earth Logic, by Laurie Marks

Y’know... for most of Karis’s life, Shaftal has been at war. And for most of Karis’s life, Karis has been sick, as a smoke addict. And she was not able to cure herself of that sickness until Zanja - and Medric, and Emil, and Annis - decided they would not make war anymore. And even then she was among the otter people, who had no part in the war.

I think Norina is being quite literal here.

[nimblermortal]

"What is the threat to South Hill Company? Just pick a card and let me do the thinking." She chose a card that depicted a plain box, with the lock broken, the lid half open, and the interior hidden in shadow. Emil said, "But what is in the box?" She pulled out and tossed down a picture of a burning flame. "Whose fire is it?" She lay a third card down, and cried in disgust, "That can't be right!" It was the Man on the Hill [Emil's card].

Fire Logic, by Laurie Marks

Medric and Emil are so cute and they haven’t even met yet.

[nimblermortal]

She cut herself another piece of cheese, thinking about how much more likely it seemed that Emil might accept Medric, not because of everything he had told Zanja but because he clearly was, or should be, a scholar.

Fire Logic, by Laurie Marks

A more elegant way of saying, “Emil’s going to fall for this one like a lead balloon.”

[nimblermortal]

Tea: Medric/Emil enemies-to-lovers speedrun