#face of the moon chapter 9 excerpt

[stillbeatingheart]

Face of the Moon excerpt Chapter 9: Name

My mother named me Tilde because she liked the way it felt in her mouth, she liked the way her tongue and lips moved around the consonants.  In mathematics it means negation.  In English it’s most often used in place of about, it’s an approximation.  And in some languages it’s used to note a change of pronunciation.  

Truth is, she was probably high when she was filling out the papers.  And in the years since, she probably felt some need to explain it when people asked, when people wanted to know why she named her kid the title of a squiggly line.  

Amory’s not a word either, but at least it’s unfamiliar enough that most people think it’s just some creative forward-thinking name, some play on amour or something clever.  It’s not clever, it’s a town in Alabama that Mom passed through once in the passenger seat of an 18-wheeler while she was hitchhiking across the country.  Yes, hitchhiking.  How times have changed.  In not so many years.  Maybe we just think times have changed because it’s not romanticized anymore, it’s something for bums and junkies, not for hippies and broke travelers.  Now that the gap year has a name and only rich kids get to do it, it’s not about finding yourself.  It’s about losing yourself, or getting lost in the process of becoming an adult.  

Mom got lost.  And no amazing grace was about to save her.  Peyote either.

I never really thought about my name.  Only when kids teased me about it being a girl’s name but that didn’t last long when they realized I wore girls clothing too, and owned it.  I’d never be one of those kids that apologized with my stance or by trying to blend in, I always knew who I was and what I liked and it didn’t matter to me if others didn’t get it.  It wasn’t up to them to understand.  It never will be.

People say they just want to be understood.  They just want to be around people who get them.  Maybe that’s how it was with Jacy.  We spent our separate childhoods orbiting the same monsters with different faces, we knew without having to speak any of it.  Maybe that’s what it means to be understood.  To have the silence and know what it means.

Could I live without it?  Yeah.  Of course.  I’d lived without it before him and I’d live without it after him.  The problem is that once you have something for the first time, a part of you awakens.  Turns out, that part is hard to kill once it’s come to life.

Ebook available on B&N

[wackus-bonkus-maximus]

lies of attrition update

summary

The trust between Ladybug and Chat Noir is stretched to breaking point when a new butterfly holder emerges in the wake of Monarque's defeat. Chat Noir doesn't know who to trust until Chrysalis confronts him with a truth Ladybug had tried to bury: Monarque made the Wish—and she wants Chat Noir’s help to undo it.

excerpt

When she landed on the rooftop, she found herself alone.

The sun hadn’t fully set, but it was far below her now. The sky was cast in the somber blue haze of dwindling daylight; light as quiet as the lonely roof and just as unsettling.

The moon was faint and not yet full, but looking up, she could see it was intact, and took comfort in its polished edges.

She let her gaze fall from the sky down into her palm, where her yo-yo still glowed with Chat Noir’s coordinates. He was there, somewhere in Montparnasse, but the echo of her footsteps on the rooftop remained unanswered. Something almost forgotten stirred in the depths of her stomach, and the taste of ash filled her mouth.

Something’s wrong.

She stood silent in the twilight fog, listening for danger and praying for a glimpse of her partner.

When she finally spotted him, though, a shadow at the edge of the world with his back facing her, she only prayed harder.

“Chat Noir?” she called out like an invocation.

He turned, but the evening was already too dim to make out his features. “Hello, Ladybug.”

She couldn’t read his expression, but his voice was flat in a way it had never been, and it should never be.

Something was wrong. She was sure of it now, but the moon was still whole and hearts were still unbroken.

chapter 9 of my and @ladyofthenoodle's collab is up!

[captainblou]

I'm curious. What's your fav scenes you've ever written?

Ooooh thanks for the ask Anon I love that 🥰🥰

Alright, so, I see that you have written "scenes" plural sooo... I'm gonna indulge haha

I really really love the whole cottage chapter in Thank you for the Thorns. But I especially love the part with Ezra quoting the Poem of Ecstasy by Scriabin. The whole scene is so flirty and they come sooo close...

Little excerpt?

“Been thinking, angel… did you really tell me that your go-to music for your period of debauchery was some classical piece?”

Crowley grinned over his glass of wine, mischief sparkling in his eyes. Ezra rolled up his eyes, focusing on the pepper he was slicing. He'd swapped his waistcoat for an apron and looked like an absolute - if adorable - dork.

“I don't recall calling it my period of debauchery…”

“But that's what it was, right? Only instead of dancing to Madonna, you touched yourself listening to some epic classical poem?”

Ezra turned red, making him burst in laughter, and threw him the first non-harmful object he could find. Ducking to dodge the rubber potholder, Crowley kept laughing, burying his face in his hands. When he looked up, Ezra was lost in thoughts, dreamily smiling. “I think I still know some parts of the poem itself…” He said. “And I'll have you know that it was very erotic, for its time.”

“So you did touch yourself to it!” Crowley's bark of laughter earned him a chuckle in return.

Second scene? Second scene. There's a fight scene I love in Drive me to the Moon, it hits SO hard... its in Chapter 7 (well, 9. The chaptering is weird because art) i'll let you discover it if you haven't already!!

Thanks again for askiiing 💛💛💛

[demonicputto]

Excerpt of chapter 9-

“Once more unto the breach, eh, my dear?”

Very slowly, Crowley turned his eyes from the road to Aziraphale’s face. It was difficult to tell, even after 6,000 years of knowing each other, whether he was being completely earnest or playing up the dorkiness to get under Crowley’s skin. In either case, Crowley stared at him flatly and said, “Oh, lay off.”

They had just pulled up in front of the Franklin-Jay residence, for the second family dinner in as many days. Yesterday had gone about as well as could be expected, but that made no guarantees for today. Maddy Jay knew Crowley best, out of all the humans, and that made this by far the strangest encounter that awaited him. It would have been nice to sit in the car and build his courage up.

[anoelleart]

Find the Word Tag

I haven't posted in a while, so I'm jumping onto a tag game that I wasn't tagged in please forgive me

thanks @saintedseraph for the words: dark, light, dawn, and dusk!

tagging: @broodparasitism, @anyablackwood, @lynsterswritingblog, and open tag!

your words are: stand, mist, insist, and court!

dark

The shadows lengthened here, making the dark lion appear as though he was lying in wait of something – of what? 

[The Protolith: Chapter 2]

light

When he watched her, he would lounge, his shoulder slouched and his arms on either armrest. Sometimes, the stranger would lead forward, and the candlelight made his angular face harsh.

[The Protolith: Chapter 3]

dawn

She watched his chest rise and fall and how the lavender light of dawn fell across his face. Her chest ached in that moment, wondering perhaps where peaceful mornings had been all her life.

[The Protolith: Chapter 6]

dusk

The sky was purple, with stars just starting to peek through and the moon hiding behind blue clouds. They were barely out the door, when Byron pulled her aside. Facing him now, Charlotte’s nervous energy escaped her. She’d been holding her breath, but when she exhaled, she exhaled a smile.  “We can go wherever you want,” he told her.

[The Protolith: Chapter 9]

apparently I never say dusk in 100,000 words so here's an excerpt of me describing dusk...

[bluemoonperegrine]

Chapter 9: Redux

It's up! I'm excited! *bounces*

Since there's a boatload of spoilers, I'll put an excerpt after the cut. You probably can follow the plot without reading the previous chapters. The chapter is titled "Redux" for good reason.

-----------------------

Huge frikkin' spoiler: Thanks to time travel shenanigans, Jack isn't a werewolf.

After stowing the rest of the gear he’d bought in Phoenix—brass knuckles and two mini-bombs—in pockets, Jack ate some beef jerky and washed it and four Tylenol down with water. By the light of the moon he applied black and white face paint in a simplified calavera design. It didn’t work as well with his beard, but that didn’t matter. The only things that did were reuniting with Elsa and saving Ted.

Not grinning as he strode up to the guarded entrance to the temple took willpower. Focusing on his perennially unhappy joints helped. The guard at the door wearing black paramilitary armor glanced at the iron cross on a ribbon round Jack’s neck and waved him inside.

Jack was halfway down the hallway with the hideous, violent murals when voices behind him stopped him cold.

“You’ve got some gall showing up here.” The man’s American-accented baritone dripped disdain.

A impatient huff carried down the hall. “Whatever,” Elsa drawled, and Jack’s breath caught. He willed himself to not run to her, but turned in her direction. Neither she nor the man she spoke with were visible. “He’s my dad too,” she added, sounding bored. “Was.”

Jack blinked rapidly. Her brother was here? Elsa had said little about Cullen in the time they’d been together. How would this affect the hunt? Jack gulped as worry overtook the nervous excitement that had filled him since entering the manor’s grounds.

“You don’t deserve the Bloodstone,” Cullen spat.

Jack could practically hear his mate’s eyes rolling. “Not your call, dear brother.” Light footsteps sounded, and Elsa’s willowy silhouette appeared at the end of the hallway. 

After beaming at his mate, determined and graceful and fierce in her leather jacket, pants, and boots, Jack forced himself to turn around and continue to the rotunda. Elsa’s footsteps continued and were soon joined by heavier ones, surely Cullen’s.

Read the rest of chapter nine of "Past Is Prologue."

[cosmicdreamt]

Excerpt from Chapter 1: New Moon - The Fool

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8 || Chapter 9 || Chapter 10 || Chapter 11

Therapy rooms are weird. It’s like entering a portal to some unknown space where there’s an attempt at a sense of familiarity and comfort but you still know. You know it’s a room of business and profession and picking at your brain. What you’re there for and what the room tries to be just don’t match up.

It’s a strange feeling for her no matter how many times she’s been there. Even if she can sit on that couch with one of her legs tucked under her and her torso draped over one of the arms as she awaits her therapist to arrive at their session - being too hyper aware of the room gets her mind going. As her hand reaches up for her to rest her face against it her pinky finger starts tapping at her cheek. Sure, they can make you wait all the time in the world but God forbid you make them do the same.

The door finally opens and the man walks through, an action that has her finding herself sitting up straight once he places the folders on his desk and sits across from her in the other chair. 

“Good morning! Sorry for the wait. Thank you for coming today, Neff. How’ve things been for you lately?”

The dissociating feeling from earlier dissipates now that she has other things to focus on. How have things been lately? A lot better than they were that’s for sure, thanks to him of course. She was lucky to have found a therapist that works well with her after ones before didn’t quite work out. She’s been seeing him since right before she started college and now she was twenty-three. 

His name being Dr. Kruger is one for the books, though.

“Uh….well it’s been alright. A normal amount of stress, no mental spirals or breakdowns, usual depressive episodes but the meds have been helping with those. I’ve been able to keep up with work - I’m still at the cafe, working full time now -  and my art business has been doing well. I feel like I’ve been able to function well enough in society lately. Things have been fairly steady and consistent.”

She gives a slow nod and shrug of her shoulders as if to say ‘yeah, that’s about it’. He nods in response, taking a few notes down before continuing.

“That’s good to hear then. And what, to you, is a ‘normal amount of stress’?”

To that her eyes glance up and to the side, thinking for a moment before pursing her lips.

“Work stress, mostly. Making sure I’m doing all my tasks and doing them right. Making sure customers are satisfied. Dealing with the ones that come in and are unreasonable. My bosses say I’m doing fine and I know they mean it, but you know how my brain works by now. I’m always double and triple checking and just still have that lingering worry. Outside of work it’s just making notes of payments I need to make, making sure I have enough groceries, making sure I’m cleaning on time, giving myself time to relax so I’m not burning myself out. Things like that.”

“Not trying to take on more than necessary just because you think others have it worse?”

“I think you’d beat my ass if I did that. So no. Not this time.”

She can see him attempt to stifle a snort, the corner of his lips betraying him by curling just a bit before making more notes. He tries his best to remain professional but his mistake was encouraging her to be as raw and real with her feelings as possible. He wasn’t immune to her dry humor. 

“Hopefully not any time, either.”

“Can’t make any promises except I’ll try.”

[iammistressofmyfate]

Rating: Mature

Relationships: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish

Tags: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Meet-Cute, Or Maybe It's a Meet Ugly, You decide!, New Relationship, Dating, First Kiss, First Date, Falling In Love, Bowling, Ronan Lynch's Hand Kink, Ronan Lynch is clumsy, Accidental Voyeurism, Accidental Mooning/Flashing, Fluff and Humor, Ronan Lynch Loves Adam Parrish, Adam Parrish Loves Ronan Lynch, Grad Student Adam Parrish, Art student Ronan Lynch, References to Depression, References to grief, Drinking, There is much discussion about butts, Bisexual Adam Parrish

Summary: Adam can see directly into his neighbor's window. Normally this isn't an issue but during a late night study session he gets more than he bargained for when his neighbor comes home from a late night workout sess.

Excerpt:

Adam looked at Ronan as they crossed the street, heading toward the bowling alley. He looked sharp and dangerous and impossibly handsome in his leather jacket and tight jeans that left so little to the imagination. 

But Adam liked that Ronan was smiling and laughing and teasing him. He was very different when he opened up and Adam found himself liking both sides of Ronan. Adam felt that he was much the same. There was the face he presented to the world and then a truer version of that that only people he liked and trusted got to see. 

[Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9]

[skywalker-swift]

I posted 14,471 times in 2022

104 posts created (1%)

14,367 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@howlscastle

@mari-wrongway

@krysten-knitter

@reputation

@eclipsedsuns

I tagged 1,526 of my posts in 2022

#star wars - 325 posts

#taylor swift - 202 posts

#marvel - 93 posts

#luke skywalker - 75 posts

#dinluke - 67 posts

#mcu - 63 posts

#din djarin - 58 posts

#ofmd - 55 posts

#tbobf - 54 posts

#tbobf spoilers - 48 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i hope it's a test to show grogu healthy attachment and like show grogu that he can have a relationship wiht his father but still let him g

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

some of these reactions to Midnights tells me that some of you really have a narrow view of what music can be and what genre can be. i see so many people saying it's a pop album so this lyricism is too much, which is just... weird cause a pop song can have depth??

19 notes - Posted October 21, 2022

#4

swifties i am giving you all hot chocolate!! with marshmallows, would you like sprinkles?? we have red and green and blue and white, which ever you prefer :) if you don't like hot chocolate, we have some tea!! would you like milk and sugar??? anyways stay warm and cozy :) ly

19 notes - Posted November 18, 2022

#3

Chapter 9 of wreck my plans, that's my man is out!

Summary: Luke Skywalker-Naberrie is sent on a diplomatic mission to Mandalore, on behalf of the Republic. He plans on getting the work done and leaving as soon as he can after the two years is up, but that was before he meets the Mand'alor.

Excerpt under the cut:

“We’re getting married,” Luke whispers, unable to hide the joy in his voice.

A laugh escapes Din, who nods his head, saying, “Yeah, we are, we’re getting married.”

Luke pictures a smile pulling across Din’s face, with soft rosy lips being at the center of it all. Tears prick his eyes when he realizes that the moment is coming when he’ll get to look into Din’s eyes, pick out every shade that swims in those depths, trace his fingers across his cheekbones, and eyes running over every piece of the man he loves. He’ll commit it all to memory, Luke swears to it.

“I love you,” Luke says, and Din brings a hand up to the back of Luke’s head.

23 notes - Posted March 6, 2022

#2

Out of curiosity, are there any songs off Midnights that you're feeling for any Star Wars characters and/or ships?

i love u anon, i am giving you kisses for asking me this question!!

here's a list from my like two listens:

you're on your own, kid IS a skywalker song, all of the skywalkers, anakin, leia, luke, rey!!! all these orphans but like yeah

i feel like luke and leia would probably relate to anti-hero!! especially luke and he probably thinks about vader, but i don't think it's a vader song, I think it's an anakin song if that makes sense

lavender haze is a dinluke or an anidala song, ESPECIALLY anidala, from padme's prospective

vigilante shit is the song of the rebellion idk if that makes any sense but also it is a fennec song i can't explain it

Mastermind is all the couples bc how cute

Sweet nothing i feel like is a Main Couple Song, like anidala, hanleia and for me dinluke!!

Im sure that Rey relates to would've, could've, should've bc of her and kylo BUT also i don't like ben, so I view their relationship differently then some people, so if you do, please ignore this! i am not a hater

Bejeweled is for my girls Leia and Padme because of how sparkly they are and how they know they are the shit while also having a breakdown

that's all i have for now, please ask me again in like a week because I have only had the chance to listen to a lot of the songs once or twice and i was EXHAUSTED! but i love this album it is sparkly and dreamy and dark but it's is a mirrorball album, it is sparkling in the night sky, my moon. i love it! thank u for the ask :)

24 notes - Posted October 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

what i love the most about The Seven from D20 is that you can just feel the love the characters have for each other and how unabashedly like... feminine?? 'i am like other girls', it feels you know? like all the maidens are different from each other but they all just care about each other. I have only seen that kind of friendship in female friendship???

153 notes - Posted January 31, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[crtalley]

EXCERPTS FROM BEARSKIN: The Prince of Always Night

The moon peered over the edge of the world like an omen. Winter fluttered as a white-winged gull into the upper halls of his silent palace. His shape was fluid and well-adapted to change; he paced, brisk and nameless, through the chill halls in many forms. He was a dove and the cat that hunted it, a deer and the fox that gnawed at its ribs, a prince and the exile he had made of himself.

→ chapter 3

The Prince of Always Night raised his eyes to the grand carved doors of his throne room. A deadly grin cut across his face. Feodor’s sister had been furious at just the sight of him. Her breath smelled of blood and frozen decay, and her eyes told the story of what she wanted: to break free. To discard any semblance of humanity. To pry his ribs apart and rip his beating heart from his chest, because that was the only way she could be certain he was dead.

→ chapter 6

Why did the spirit despise this hunter so? Was it because she was the last vestige of warmth in this place? Was it because life reminded the dead of what they were missing? The emptiness under his skin ached at the thought. Life belonged to the living, not to half-dead gods guarding the end of the world.

→ chapter 9

general taglist ;;

@metanoiamorii @glitterandstarshine @crookedwritings @seasteading @avi-why @hekat-ie @localdeadlylaser @jadeywrites @aubergineanathema @quadraphonictypewriter @kudzupocalypse @lasbrumas @cheshawrites @eloquenceandemphasis @asablehart @arctic-stars @worldbuildng @dovebeast @uppoffringar

bearskin taglist ;;

@veneritia @alternativeforensicscientist @starsfallings @quilloftheclouds @youareshauni @writingbyjillian @soul-write @josephinegerardywriter @write-the-stars-and-shadows @ladywithalamp @endymions @romantic-antics @serpentarii @llesbianwrites @limpid-liar @magic-is-something-we-create @peepos-prose @maskedlady @berinswriting @jaimistoryteller @pen-of-roses @snowinks @yuriperhaps @socialmediasocrates

[even-love-unreturned]

Meanings behind Chain of Iron chapter titles (part I, Ch1-15)

1. The Bright Web

From Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s sonnet “Body’s Beauty” (1866), alternatively titled “Lilith”, written to accompany his painting Lady Lilith.

Of Adam's first wife, Lilith, it is told (The witch he loved before the gift of Eve,) That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could deceive, And her enchanted hair was the first gold. And still she sits, young while the earth is old, And, subtly of herself contemplative, Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave, Till heart and body and life are in its hold.

2. All That Turns

3. Bitter and Sweet

4. A Good Name

From “This Marriage” by Rumi, date unknown.

May these vows and this marriage be blessed. May it be sweet milk, this marriage, like wine and halvah. May this marriage offer fruit and shade like the date palm. May this marriage be full of laughter, our every day a day in paradise. May this marriage be a sign of compassion, a seal of happiness here and hereafter. May this marriage have a fair face and a good name, an omen as welcome as the moon in a clear blue sky. I am out of words to describe how spirit mingles in this marriage.

5. The King is Dead

“The King is dead, long live the King“ is a well-known traditional saying, and is the first thing that comes to mind, though I’m not convinced that this is the particular source for this title.

6. Things To Come

There are way too many possibilities for this one to narrow it down. I’ll put two of them here:

One the poem “The Flesh and the Spirit“ by Anne Bradstreet, published in 1650. An excerpt:

In secret place where once I stood Close by the Banks of Lacrim flood, I heard two sisters reason on Things that are past and things to come. One Flesh was call’d, who had her eye On worldly wealth and vanity; The other Spirit, who did rear Her thoughts unto a higher sphere.

And the other is “Frost at Midnight” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1798. An excerpt:

So sweetly, that they stirred and haunted me With a wild pleasure, falling on mine ear Most like articulate sounds of things to come! So gazed I, till the soothing things, I dreamt, Lulled me to sleep, and sleep prolonged my dreams!

7. Tread Lightly

Perhaps “Requiescat” by Oscar Wilde, written in the 1880s. In the poem, the speaker speaks of and to an unnamed woman, who is buried and cannot hear.

Tread lightly, she is near Under the snow, Speak gently, she can hear The daisies grow.

All her bright golden hair Tarnished with rust, She that was young and fair Fallen to dust.

8. To Bring a Fire

Most of the references I can find for this are Biblical passages, but none exact.

9. The Scars Remaining

Most likely from “Christabel”, an unfinished narrative ballad written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge from 1797-1800. The ballad focuses on a young lady named Christabel and her encounter with a strikingly beautiful stranger called Geraldine, who claims to have been kidnapped from her home. Christabel takes Geraldine in to share her bed, and they spend the night together. The story also involves Geraldine putting a spell on Christabel that leaves her unable to tell anyone about what they do or what Geraldine’s “true form“ is.

Brings to mind a certain other strikingly beautiful character in TLH who also does spells to a similar effect, doesn’t it?

This excerpt that includes the phrase “the scars remaining”, however, is about Christabel’s father and his long-lost friend with whom he had a falling-out, but who also turns out to be Geraldine’s father.

They parted—ne'er to meet again! But never either found another To free the hollow heart from paining— They stood aloof, the scars remaining, Like cliffs which had been rent asunder; A dreary sea now flows between;— But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder, Shall wholly do away, I ween, The marks of that which once hath been.

10. The Damned Earth

Likely from Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, “Lenore”, published in 1843.

Avaunt! to-night my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise, “But waft the angel on her flight with a Pæan of old days! “Let no bell toll! — lest her sweet soul, amid its hallowed mirth, “Should catch the note, as it doth float up from the damned Earth. “To friends above, from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven — “From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven — “From grief and groan, to a golden throne, beside the King of Heaven.

11. Crowns and Pounds and Guineas

From an untitled poem (but often identified by its first line) by A. E. Housman, included in his poetry book A Shropshire Lad, published in 1896. According to Wikipedia, this collection sold “slowly at first, it then rapidly grew in popularity, particularly among young readers. Composers began setting the poems to music less than ten years after their first appearance.”

When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and pounds and guineas But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies But keep your fancy free.” But I was one-and-twenty, No use to talk to me.

12. Requiem

A requiem is a mass for the repose of the souls of the dead, or a piece of musical composition in honor of the dead. It’d be impossible to narrow this down to a specific quote, though.

13. The Wintry Wind

Likely from “The Withering of the Boughs“ by W. B. Yeats, published as part of his poetry volume In The Seven Woods (1903). Each of the three stanzas of the poem ends with the following two lines:

“No boughs have withered because of the wintry wind, The boughs have withered because I have told them my dreams.”

14. The Flaming Forge

From “The Village Blacksmith“ (1840) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem makes use of the image of “the flaming forge“ twice.

And children coming home from school Look in at the open door; They love to see the flaming forge, And hear the bellows roar, And catch the burning sparks that fly Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

[…]

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend, For the lesson thou hast taught! Thus at the flaming forge of life Our fortunes must be wrought; Thus on its sounding anvil shaped Each burning deed and thought.

15. Walk by Daytime

From poem V in “A Dark Month” by Algernon Charles Swinburne, written in May 1881.

Dreams that strive to seem awake, Ghosts that walk by daytime, Weary winds the way they take, Since, for one child's absent sake, May knows well, whate'er things make Sport, it is not Maytime.

Part 2 (chapters 16-29) here.

[singingvio]

LEGEND OF MANGA LISTS: Top 5 SADDEST Moments in the Zelda Manga Series!

((NOTE: Twilight Princess mangas and the Skyward Sword excerpt in the Hyrule Historia are excluded from the mangas considered in this list.))

1. Volvagia’s Demise (Ocarina of Time part 1)

In chapter 3 of Ocarina of Time, part 1, the story depicted is titled “An Old and Beloved Friend.” This chapter mostly depicts Link and Volvagia’s fight, along with their backstory depicted solely in the manga and not in the game, as it isn’t canon. The chapter starts with Link’s bow out, a single arrow ready to be embedded in Volvagia’s skull, only for Link to falter. The dragon burns Link and nearly kills him, only for Link to be healed by Sheik.

Link insists to the Goron Link that he can’t fight Volvagia. Sheik makes a fairly robotic comment while playing his harp that the only way to subdue Volvagia is to kill him, and Link loses it, yelling at Sheik, “That’s easy for YOU to say! There must be some way to make him remember me!” Sheik shows him exactly what disasters are happening due to Volvagia’s tantrum, Kakariko and Goron villages close to destruction, and Link sadly recounts the story of how he and Volvagia met before his inevitable battle.

Link saw him as a baby, locked in a cage with a price of seventy rupees in Castle Town. Link bought the dragon and set him free, only for Volvagia to bite his hand and burn his hair with his flames. Link tries to ignore the dragon later, when it follows him, but then Volvagia ends up burning a Stalfos that had been sneaking up to kill Link. Link then befriended the dragon, and Volvagia said his name aloud, and the memory fades as Link is brought out of his story by someone warning him that the volcano is about to erupt.

Link, in a futile, heartbreaking effort to make Volvagia remember him, yells out, “It’s me! Link! Remember me!” Seeing as this does nothing, Link drives his sword into Volvagia’s flesh, beheading him. At his final moments, Volvagia remembers Link and starts to cry, calling his name out one last time to an expressionless Link as he dies.

2. Ghandi’s Defeat and Link’s Following Despair (A Link to the Past)

In Act 3 of A Link to the Past, Sacrifice, Link and Ghandi (a character created to be Link’s friend and travelling companion exclusively in the manga) travel through the Dark World, saving its inhabitants from fates worse than death to pay for their sins. When Link talks to a gossiping monster of a swamp, it is revealed that Zelda is at Turtle Rock, and Link heads there immediately. Ghandi, however, stays behind.

Ghandi claims that a bandit can’t risk her life just to save someone else, and Link argues that he only got this far because of her helping him. They inevitably split up, and Ghandi worries silently about Link and confesses to herself that she’s had a crush on him and can’t bear to see him reunited with Princess Zelda, as he clearly loves her instead.

Meanwhile, Link makes his way to Agahnim at Turtle Rock, to free Princess Zelda. Agahnim calls on a giant, firebreathing hydra to stop Link from saving Zelda, and Link, thinking nothing of it, defeats the monster with ease. Link comments on the monster’s strength, saying, “It’s kinda weak, for such a big…” and then he realizes. The monster vanishes into smoke, revealing the broken body of Ghandi, who isn’t dead, but very close. Link is heartbroken, and immediately hatred fills his heart as he turns on Agahnim for making him fight Ghandi.

Agahnim points out what Link is becoming, a hateful wolf, and Link watches his own body transform in horror as he cries out in agony. Zelda  manages to break free of her crystal cage, and heals Link from his beastly form. Together, they manage to heal Ghandi before she dies as well, and the two are properly reunited.

3. Pirate Captain and His Lady (Oracle of Ages)

In chapter 7 of Oracle of Ages, The Pirate Captain, Ralph and Link are stranded in an unknown body of water on a raft, trying to get back to the mainland to rescue Nayru. They’re rescued by the Pirate Captain, a man worn away to only soul and bone, as is his crew. Ralph and Link ask him how long he’s been sailing, and he replies that he doesn’t know and is very tired.

The Captain and Link discuss Link’s sword and its fine craftmanship, and then the Captain notices Ralph holding the Harp of Ages, and asks for a song. Ralph obliges, playing a traditional waltz, and the captain is happily lost in the memory of when he was in Labrynna, dancing with a fine lady under the stars. He says, “I remember this song from when I danced with her! We were in love, and the world was ours. Until it ended, and I set to sea to forget. But I could never forget… not her.”

He then makes a bold declaration, one soon revealed to be one of many when Link reads his logbook, that he will make it back to Labrynna to reunite with the lady he still loves to this day. As the ship is caught up in a horrific storm, Link gets his hold on the Captain’s logbook, reading in horror the logs there. “Day 23: set sail for Labrynna. Encountered a storm. Day 145: Storm. Day 317: Storm… They’ve been stuck in this storm forever!”

Link and Ralph attempt to escape the ship in their fear that they won’t be able to, and the Captain attempts to stop them. Link manages to tell the Captain that if he lets them go, he can fix things for him and his Lady, and the Captain, on the brink of tragedy as he lets Link and Ralph go, his final words are a request to Link. “If y’see this lady on your journeys, lad, tell her… the Knight who set sail… will love her for all eternity.” He shows Link a picture of Queen Ambi, and with that, he disappears without a trace, and is never shown again.

4. Shadow Link’s Final Stand (Four Swords part 2)

In chapter 12 of Four Swords part 2, The Four Sword Forever, we see the Four Links’ final stand against Vaati in order to save Zelda. Previously in the manga, Shadow was resurrected using the power of the Dark Mirror after a crushing betrayal from Vio, the smart, collected side of Link he’d thought to be his friend before his temporary defeat. The Dark Mirror is the source of all dark magic, including his life force. Shadow was resurrected right in front of Zelda, who was staring sadly at him, and he yells at her angrily to not take pity on him, as he hates it.

Zelda is then enshrouded in a dark cloud, and Shadow panics, asking Vaati what’s happening to her. When he realizes Vaati is going to kill Zelda, he completely breaks down, taking a quick detour to help the Links by disguising himself as Vio before going back up and grabbing a chair Zelda had been sitting in prior to her slow poisoning in the cloud, throwing it at the Dark Mirror with a scream and breaking the center of it.

Finally, in the final chapter of Four Swords part 2, the Links are almost where Shadow, Zelda and Vaati are. Shadow is incredibly weak, putting almost all his weight on the side of the Mirror. Vaati panics, yelling at Shadow that if he destroys the mirror, Shadow will die too. Shadow grins at Vaati, before saying, “That’s all right. I came out of the Dark Mirror. And with it’s power I woke you. How fitting that I use it to destroy us BOTH!” And with that, he shoves the mirror to the ground, successfully killing Vaati.

The other Links find his body lying next to the mirror, thanking him, and Shadow starts to close his eyes when Vio yells at him to “hang in there!” Shadow then calmly recounts what his life is like as Link’s shadow. “A shadow… usually only ever follows its body. It never gets to lead the way. Today I faced the enemy… on my own. It felt pretty good, but that still doesn’t make me… part of the body.”

Green (the leader and most ‘Link-like’ of the four) tells him the opposite, telling him that he’s their friend, and Shadow, with newfound energy, gets up and reaches towards the other Links, only for him to fade into the light and disappear, dying permanently and for the last time as the other Links stare at where he once was.

5. Skull Kid’s Backstory (Majora’s Mask)

In chapter 9, Fierce Deity Link, the Moon is stopped by the four Giants in Termina. Link sees Tael and Tatl reunited, and notes how sweet it is before thanking the Giants and joking with Tatl about how long it took for them to arrive. Skull Kid, meanwhile, shakes in the background, knocked to the ground and not getting up. In a moment of clarity, the mask not having control on him in his moment of emotion, Skull Kid despairingly recounts his tale.

Skull Kid sadly says that he didn’t mean for this to happen, only wondering why the Giants left him. A flashback is then shown from Skull Kid’s point of view, the Giants getting ready to leave as Skull Kid desperately tries to hold them back. “Why?! No! No, you mustn’t! Hey… Wait! I said wait! Don’t go! Hold on! I said wait! Don’t go! Can’t you hear me?!”

He cries out, many times, sometimes even trying to forcibly hold the Giants back and failing drastically. He ends up falling off a cliff, still trying to catch up with the Giants as he’s battered and bruised, still crying, “Don’t go!” He’s then seen travelling across the desert, tripping and folling multiple times, when he accidentally steps in a bird nest. The birds immediately attack him, yelling at him to watch where he’s going and that it’s fun to hurt him by pecking him.

Skull Kid shakily reaches a hand up to keep going, but gives up as rain pours down on him, tears pouring down his face as he stares at the ground in defeat. The flashback fades out, as Skull Kid says a truly heartbreaking line before being taken over by Majora’s Mask once more, initiating the final battle. “I guess… we never really were friends… after all. They didn’t even say goodbye. Nobody likes me. But with this… Everyone will do what I want! This MASK is my only friend!”

RUNNER UPS

Mask Creations (Majora’s Mask) - The deaths of Darmani, the Goron, and Mikau, the Zora, when Link dons both masks to fulfill their final wishes. Darmani, to see his son again and make the child happy, and Mikau, to spend at least one more concert with Lulu and the other members of his band.

Great Mayfly Fairy’s Transformation (Minish Cap) - The transformation at the hands of Vaati of a lovely singing fairy, with a beautiful voice. Link wistfully mentions that she looks a little like Zelda and Vaati, in a fit of mild hysteria at this point, transforms her into a horrible moth creature. Her transformation is shown to be painful and heartwrenching, as is her defeat.

Deku Tree’s Death (Ocarina of Time part 1) - The famous death of the Deku Tree, in manga format. Link is told of his quest by the Deku Tree, and that the Deku Tree is going to die in the next few minutes. Link cries and even punches the tree in a fit of anger and sadness, crying that the Deku Tree can’t leave him until the Deku Tree inevitably dies and Link must leave on his quest.

Green’s Defeat Against Vio (Four Swords part 2) - When the four Links are finally reunited, Green, Red, and Blue face Vio and Shadow in a battle to the death with Green fighting Vio. Their battle comes to a close as Green falls to the ground, seemingly stabbed through the gut as Vio walks off victorious. Red and Blue yell at Vio and cry over Green, until it’s revealed after Vio and Shadow leave that it was all a ruse and Green was only knocked out.

Zelda and Link’s Meeting (A Link to the Past) - Link finds Zelda in a dungeon, and Zelda tearfully recalls how she had almost given up hope of rescue, stating that she thought she had been all alone until Link had finally found her. Link then embraces her, stating that he heard her voice and she was never alone.

[radbutsafe]

ALL FUCKIN 35 OF THEM SKLNWESDJFPXO

I SHOULDVE EXPECTED THIS FROM YOU

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

A three! I think I’m mid range cause I ain’t terrible but there is still shit I gotta improve and grow in my writing

2. Why do you write fanfiction?

to manifest what canon won’t give me and to write more! (though yes it is mainly about the smooching and the— I’ll stop there LOL)

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

Hm! My weird research details? I’m that “fun fact, did you know...” in my fics sometimes LOL! I plan on giving a penthouse for erina in a fic and I went through penthouse listings in Japan for floor layouts and locations💀 my research gives me inspo and depth to stuff I think I lack in comparison to others sometimes.

4. Are there any writers that inspire you?

In terms of fellow fic writers, one of them I can’t name here but she’s an inspiration with her exceptional gift for prose period and her lovely skill at comedy! I want to be as funny as her when I write, I love her ironic situational humor. Other fic writers are @takoyakitenchou, @royaldragonsevgisi15 who I always love sharing ideas with and motivate me to create more! For non-fic writers it would be V.E. Schwab, Leigh Bardugo, Oda, and Horikoshi! The last two may be mangaka, however they are writers as well to create their stories! The depth these creators have given their worlds and interesting characters theyve given life to are all what I aspire to be like!

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

so far uh?? hm everything I’m currently writing are wips lol!! im proud of my wip that has been nicknamed ‘soma panics’ that is a multi-chapter fic that spans like probs 20 plus chapters maybe

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily?

dialogue! it’s so much fun! and character thoughts. I’ve said to people I may be better suited for script writing

7. What element of writing do you struggle with most?

I think it’s description, of like setting and showing action. also an expansion of my vocabulary LOL

8. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write?

erina! I think it’s because canon has shown us many of her different faces and range of emotion.

9. Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write?

SOMA!! chill ass mofo whos more carefree compared to the common shonen protagonist! for other shokugeki characters I’m not sure just yet because I haven’t flexed my fingers enough for the rest of them.

10. What’s your favorite genre to write for?

I guess I should say romance cause that’s what I mostly write LOL!

11. Who or what do you find yourself writing about most?

sorina and I try to get them to smooch eventually KEK and yeah it’s..usually romantic fluff lmao

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about.

HONESTLY ALL OF THEM but “soma panics” is my brain child

13. First fandom you ever wrote for?

pretty sure it’s digimon....

14. What’s your favorite fandom to write for?

currently shokugeki no soma!!!!

15. What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve ever written for?

uhhhh I guess SNS? LMAO fandoms...all have their quirks to them.

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

characters cuddling!!!! or getting the urge to smooch!!!!

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for.

unrequited love GOOD FUCKIN BYEEEEEE

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

I have plot ideas thst can be wild potentially but so far nothing fits this criteria so far that I actually have written.

19. Do you prefer canon-compliant, AUs, or something in-between?

depends on the fandom, but if written well, all of it!

20. Gen fic or shippy stuff?

shippy 100% like I said I like smoochin

21. Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

romantic is...*drumroll* SORINA! platonic, soutaku and erina and alice!

22. Do you listen to anything while you write?

Sometimes! There are times songs will be on loop and times I just shuffle a playlist. and if I’m writing in random bursts it’ll be with no music but it really does depend lmao I think music is when I’m forcing myself to write?

23. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

completely independent ideas, I’ve realized in the past prompts shoot me in the foot often unless I luckily figure something out. but I’m often driven by my own sporadic self interest with shitty ping ponging attention

24. One-shots or multi-chaptered works?

multi-chap I guess cause I can post without being finished LOLLL but tbh can I really answer? I haven’t finished anything.....

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

I can’t answer this question imo because I haven’t finished a fic yet so technically stuff could all fit in the one fic?

26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

MYSTERY AND CRIME! I love the genre and I have plot ideas once a blue moon but I can’t dive in because I want to make details that work and reduce plot holes where suspension of disbelief isn’t as needed. I need to study it more (I need to study all the details for any of my fics imo to be confident sometimes LOL)

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

I don’t think I can say one comment was the nicest because I’ve gotten comments that have given me quite the smiles to my face many times! I know this is a cop out but it’s true!

IS WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY UNTIL REINA SENT ME THE FOLLOWING ON DISCORD LIKE TWENTY MINS AGO:

and also rad. i am never this vocal about my emotions like EVER but this needs to be said your fics are obviously far from perfect, as are mine and everyone else's. but the thing about your works is that they're so well-sanded that it's impossible to find any rough edges or faults in them in terms of cohesion to a plot. your cast is never OOC and the amount of effort you devote to developing your takes on the characters as accurately as possible is unimaginably awe-inspiring.

BITCH I WANNA CRY 😭

28. How well do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing?

I’d like to believe I take it often well to try and improve because that’s always my goal. if someone is rude lol that’s not constructive snd is unhelpful. If I disagree with criticism I’ll explain why !

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

Not yet, but I have some plot ideas I think will let me test this.

30. Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst?

F L U F F.

31. Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them!

elliott fuji, a japanese-american award winning photographer who is erina’s boyfriend in ‘soma panics’ which..causes soma’s panic LOL he’s 30 with slightly wavy black hair. I still haven’t pinpointed his personality just yet...he kind of humble brags for sure an artsy fucker and flirts maybe I’ll make him a lil shy though. he teaches sometimes, and becomes an adjunct photography professor in Tokyo so he can be with erina.

32. Summarize a random fic of yours in 10 words or less.

a cook is unfashionably late in realizing his feelings.

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

I am a slow. so slow. motivation who is she? I also write out of order, unfortunately a bit too often.

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of.

this should be for the fic ‘soma panics’ it’s either megumi or satoshi talkin to him rn, I’m leaning towards satoshi

“You thought she would always wait for you, didn’t you Soma-kun? To always welcome you home.”

Soma drags his palms down his face and groans. He doesn’t like this at all. He doesn’t shy from confrontation but this is a whole different ballgame. Soma doesn’t play any ball.

“I guess..?” Is his reply, because he thinks he isn’t sure how to answer that.

“You guess?”

Just being questioned again is enough to crack Soma’s pathetic facade as if it was dropped chinaware and he lets out the longest sigh.

“No.”

Coming home means coming home to Nakiri Erina too.

Nakiri Erina is his forever.

this is @takoyakitenchou’s excerpt she’s most proud of that I’ve written, which is also from you guessed it, the long fic soma panics

SOMA: I am, I mean I will be, I swear I will always come home to you, not spend as much time abroad, once I’m done with work I’ll come right back. I’ll make sure to message you. Nakiri, I’m in love you with you. Maybe for a really long time. You know how I say I dedicate my food to you? My dad—my dad said that the key to become a good chef is to find someone to dedicate your cooking to. A special someone. For my dad it was my mom, you know? For me it’s...

(this is a good piece of dialogue tbh so I am also proud of this)

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

I’ve mentioned it throughout this but the WIP I’ve nicknamed ‘soma panics’ is something I’m super excited to write, but it’s going on slowly...and almost completely out of order. out of all of my writing it showed off that particular habit of mine, along with “what is this, a shoujo manga?!” though the latter is currently being written chronologically now that I’ve posted chapter one and is pretty solid in direction. it was originally supposed to be a one shot but I got impatient and wanted to post at least something for the sorina / soueri fandom.

however, because ‘soma panics’ (I won’t call it that LOL) is my baby I want to keep true to my rule of refusing to post it until I have a draft of the entire fic finished and I’m satisfied with the main points pretty much. due to my writing out of order, I’m worried I’ll change my mind about scenes or want to reflect things in earlier chapters for later ones etc etc

I joined the SnS fandom extremely late, as season five was airing. I was a fan of the manga five years ago and dropped it because I forgot to check for updates when I caught up 😔 I really want to bang out the different fics and aus for sorina that I have before the fandom fizzles out entirely but tbh I’m writing for myself, I’m manifesting what I want to see and I’ll just share it with all my friends to read if no one else will. cause I’m slow broski I dunno what writing fast even is like LMAO I do really want to write faster though, so I can contribute more and let the words free from the discord dms....

[linkedsoul]

“If anything happens to you,” Áed says, “I will be bored again. That’s all there is to it.”

It strikes her like a kick in the stomach that he was worried about her. He sent her friends to her because he was worried. Worried about what, she doesn’t know. She doesn’t even know why, or how he could be worried about her; but no matter how hard she tells herself she must be mistaken, she cannot convince herself she is.

And he knows it. They both know it.

Áed looks at her with what looks like annoyment but is surely embarrassment, and she must have turned red again. The silence between them is awkward. She shifts on her feet and clears her throat several times, pushes the bundled clothing up her chest to hide her face behind it. Gripping her own wrists, she rubs her thumb against her wristband.

“If you want to change topic,” she croaks, “no problem.”

“I’d have done it without you asking,” he grunts, although he seems clearly relieved she wants to avoid the topic of him being worried about her as much as he does. Teasing him is fun until it turns against her. “What’s that thing you’re holding?”

She looks down then looks up at him again, smiling brightly. “A present!”

That was the last thing he expected, and it shows. He doesn’t even bother hiding it. Maybe he can’t. He runs a hand through his hair before his lips draw an easy smile, as if she’d never taken him aback.

“An offering? Interesting. In the past, humans used to worship us and make offerings in exchange for our good will. It’s been a long time.” His smile turns a little crooked. “If you want to do it properly, step into the færie ring.”

She gives him a pointed look and hands him his so-called offering. “That last part is a lie. Just take it, alright?”

He laughs, wild and free, and their hands are barely inches away when he takes the bundled clothing. He unfolds it in one swift movement and holds it in front of him, and she doesn’t think she’s ever seen him making that kind of face - surprised and amazed and pleased at the same time.

“It’s a cloak,” he says, stating the obvious. “You offered me a cloak.”

“You remember that design I made?” Of course he does, but she feels the need to check anyway. “When I was at Dad’s village, I made three prototypes before making the final version. I was planning on giving two of them to Sellin and Anemar after adjusting them a little, but I didn’t know what to make of the last one.” She fiddles with her fingers nervously. She took her decision about that last prototype after the wolf attack. “I thought I’d give it to you.”

He unclips the broach that closes the cloak and wraps it around his shoulders. As expected, prototype or not, it fits him perfectly. She is convinced there is nothing that doesn’t look good on him.

He puts his hands on his hips, smirking. “Are you aware I don’t really need one?”

Right.

He controls fire. He stands barefooted in the snow. Why would he need a cloak?

“I-- I thought--” She panics, gripping her sleeves. “I mean--”

But then he’s laughing again, softly, almost fondly, eyes in crescent moons and freckles like miniature suns, and her confused words die in her throat. It might be rude to stare; but she doesn’t manage to tear her eyes away from him.

“Thank you, little one.”

She hopes, one day, she will be able to receive his kindness and sincerity without feeling the need to run away.

- Stories of Qelt, Chapter 9 (excerpt)

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

House Fire | Writing Update

Hey People of Earth!

Today I’ll be sharing an update for chapter ten, called House Fire, from my novel Moth Work. 

I wrote this chapter in a bit of a funk between coasts. The first half I wrote toward the end of my semester that just ended, and the second I wrote back home in Toronto. Despite how disorienting the writing process was as I made my way back home, when I got back to the chapter and sunk my teeth into it, I managed to create something I *don’t* dislike!

This chapter is a bit of a bridge that covers many *large* events, and I believe clocks in at the longest chapter in the book (about! 6300 words). The chapter takes place a few hours after the ending of Beautiful Place (chapter 9). Here’s a breakdown of what it looks like so far (CW: drug use/addiction for all of this):

Scene A:

Not a full scene, just a short beat that describes Lonan and Eliza’s (drunken) attempt at getting back to her apartment

Here, they come across a familiar fountain in front of the house Lonan wandered into in chapter 6 (Holy Queen)

Scene B:

Clearly this house has something Lonan wants (and that something is Harrison’s iconic jacket + guardian angel necklace that he got stolen in chapter 6 ahahaha)

This is then intercut with a memory he’s reminded of (that I wrote about a year ago and cut out and reinstated in this chapter) regarding a fire him and Harrison start

This reveals Lonan’s fear of houses (particularly referencing the cabin they’ve been staying at)

When we’re brought back into the fictive present, Eliza’s walking toward the house (stealing that shit backkk) and Lonan can’t remember if/what he’s asked her to do

Scene C:

Lonan sees Eliza taking prescription sleeping medication in her room and this image sorta sticks with him (he’s been dealing with an on-off addiction since about book 3)

This scene is then intercut with his hypothetical of what happened when she went into the house that at the time, was hosting a party 

He then goes to her room in hopes of finding that prescription and we shall! leave! it! at! that! Things occur! There are many descriptions of traffic light on faces! Apparently I just describe that a lot!

Scene D:

In the middle of the night, Lonan finds that prescription and heads back to the “beautiful place” in the previous chapter. This is the only location he’s felt grounded in and heads to it hoping to “unground” himself/hopefully fall asleep as I think the last time he slept was about five books ago he’s coming out as a vampire!

What he does with the sleeping pills is unclear. The reader is supposed to feel disoriented though I probably haven’t hit that mark exactly right. What you need to know: He doesn’t end up taking anything and heads back to her apartment. 

Scene E:

Eliza is waiting up for him by the time he gets in. She knows he’s taken her prescription (she suspects this early on as she is a mental health professional!!), and this leads to the first time Lonan ever really readily accepts help

I didn’t fully finish this scene and I do think it needs some fleshing out!

Looking back on it, I think this could be a great place to put/flesh out a breaking point, but I’m kind of over writing Lonan having a bad time so I moved on (though I will come back to this)!

The entire chapter has a sleeplessness I quite like (and hope to push more of in edits)! I’ve found myself losing the purpose of POV in this book recently, but I think I managed to rekindle it a bit in this chapter (I’m a hoe for third present I will say). 

Excerpts:

Here’s a descriptor of this party (hypothetically):

Eliza stabilizes them both against a lamppost, and links their fingers together. A couple walks past them and through the gates, iridescent steel and dauntingly pretty like Peter’s. He imagines what it’s like to be in the belly of that house—what happens at parties in Vegas mansions. Drinks the colour of washable markers, artificial women like wolves in nice dresses. Starry photoflash, a bad smell like fruit punch and bile somewhere in the bedroom. Something in the air is bitter, and it’s not the leftover wine on his tongue. It tastes richly alkaline. It tastes like sucking on a quarter.

This excerpt delves a bit into the core of Lonan’s headspace, almost like the thesis of his character in this particular story (aka it’s superrrr angsty also so much bi energy) (CW for dissociation):

“Where did you go?” she asks after a moment. Her gaze remains fixed on the window, the flutter of traffic blotting her ceiling. She holds herself up by the elbow, and every few minutes, it trembles. Something unfamiliar to him, something haunted and blurry, passes over her face; cars whirl over pavement below, a man shouts for a taxi, a dog barks something hungry, something that makes him think it should be a wolf, and her expression remains the same. Makeup creases under her eyelids, forks at the corners like kohl lightning. He’s tempted to smudge it away, to see what that would look like, when she says, “Tell me it’s someplace nice.”

Lonan blinks. He doesn’t know where he goes, he should say. He doesn’t go anywhere, but goes everywhere, he should say. He goes to a church sometimes. He meets a woman sometimes. He goes home with her sometimes, drinks her wine, memorizes each stitch in her skirt, forgets himself there, sometimes. He’s in the middle of the water sometimes, with a boy sometimes, rowing to the horizon, because moonward is the only direction he knows. He adores him sometimes, he dreads him sometimes, he hurts him sometimes, he sinks his wolf teeth into his mouth sometimes, because there’s nothing else to do when he feels this way; unloved, sometimes. Maybe just unlovable. 

This is a bit of a nod to the title (also I just like the idea that houses are deadly?):

He thinks of houses. How deadly they are. He thinks of fires. How maybe Eliza is one. 

And here’s a final line about me just hoeing it up for the moon this is a complete self insert line (also excuse me using blots multiple times as a verb I ran out of words in my brain and am currently reloading):

The moon is a pretty woman, he thinks. The moon is a pretty woman carved out of alabaster. Ahead, in the stone’s clearing, calling for him, something tempting. Water guzzles through his ears until the ocean blots them of sound, and the whir matches the movements of the moonlight—cutting his chin, his eyes. 

So that’s it for this update! I was going to update on chapters eleven and twelve as those are basically ready to go, but I haven’t named either as of yet, and am still tweaking! However, I hope y’all enjoyed this one!

--Rachel

[thewarinourstarwars]

hopeless fountain kingdom— Chapter 9. The Dragon’s Lullaby

Inspired by @kylorenvevo‘s saga. Allana Djo is on the edge of nineteen and the entire Hapes Consortium is starting to take notice. But the Chume’da has no interest in the young men the nobles are throwing at her feet. 

Since her last heartbreak at seventeen, Allana has filled her time with treasure-hunts, missions for the Jedi Order to retrieve artifacts of immense power and ensure that they do not end up in the wrong hands.

 It is on a mission to recover what was lost in the Valley of the Jedi that Allana encounters a dark Jedi— one who claims to be a part of a greater organization. Reports of dark Jedi fly in from across the galaxy, as well as strange occurrences in a space station far into the Outer Rim. 

With the aid of a mysterious Sith ghost with vague ties to the cult of dark Jedi, Allana investigates the mysteries of the Force— the most powerful being the matters of the heart. 

hopeless fountain kingdom is a ghost story and an Indiana Jones-style adventure set in the universe of landscapes with a blur of conquerors.

Excerpt

Anakin sat in the middle of a pale pink rug knitted by craftspeople from one of the moons orbiting Madrassa,  lifting little models of X-wings, TIE fighters, and Hapan battle dragons into the air, controlling them with a move of his chubby little fingers. The battle dragons were crafted from wood and painted by artisans to mimic their traditional ships. The TIEs ad X-wings were newer, made from hollow and lightweight casts of durosteel and were far shinier and only a few steps above those mass-produced for children in the Republic or First Order territories. These were a little more worn, too, for they had been introduced by Teneniel and Isolder for their little Kira Ka, as a way to memorialize the twins who had brought them together.

Allana herself had once played with these same toys in a similar way as a child.

Anakin, however, had something close to an actual military strategy set up, compared to the chaotic and flashy games Allana and her siblings played when they were at the same age. He would pause, eyes darting from side to side as the battle would remain frozen in the air as he developed his strategy. Then he would execute, sometimes with uncanny knowledge of battles that Allana had seen recorded in history holos— holos that Anakin had never seen.

Allana looked around— the most recent toy had been a new model of a children’s datapad, meant to teach the basics of coding and slicing through games. With the bright and heavily protective case and the large, easy to manipulate controls, it was nothing like the sleek models Allana and her siblings were granted once they were at least adolescents. She supposed her parents were a little softer with their presumed-to-be-last child, spoiling him a little with privileges that the rest had not been so lucky as to receive. From what she understood, this was one of Anakin’s favorite toys, and he enjoyed learning how to use the computers.

Allana set the datapad in a drawer of one of the higher tables in the nursery and looked to Anakin. It appeared the Rebels were winning— but the Hapans were lurking, ready to strike and take down both sides when the time was right. It was a little too Hapan for her liking.

“Nik, dënës,” Allana commanded in a gentle voice. “It’s time to go to bed. Let’s put the toys away, alright?”

Anakin looked at his toy battle in the air, then back at Allana with his wide blue eyes.

“It’s time to go to bed,” Allana repeated firmly.

Anakin nodded. “Okay.”

Then with a loud crash, all of the toys fell to the rug. Allana winced— although the sound was muffled a little by said rug. She turned and opened the snow-wood toy chest, starting by picking up a chipped battle dragon.

“You’ll have to be more careful with your toys,” Allana chided gently. “You have to be gentle with the Force. Do you understand?”

Anakin slowly nodded, a solemn and almost fearful look on his face. “I know. I’m sorry.”

Allana shifted, thinking of what to say— she recognized the look. “You’re dreaming of him again, aren’t you?”

Anakin did not need to say it. If Allana closed her eyes, she could hear the infamous breathing anyway.

Darth Vader.

Previous Chapter | Back to the Beginning