#fate go tristan collection

[ladyjuquia]

My Tristan Bed is now complete and whole! ⸜(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)⸝ ♡

I am so proud to share the results, I am genuinely so darn happy how it turned out! It’s so fluffy and soft… 💕

In addition, a picture with the veil of my four-poster bed curtain, just as it would normally look!

[dailyfatefigures]

Nendoroid #2480 - Baobhan Sith by Good Smile Company

[lupusfloslunae]

Right, i forgot to update!

No, no Mordred yet , but!

Boy is lv 100!

Me, September 16th, 2021: Nah, I don't like Fate that much. I play Grand Order because the game is fun!

*Camelot Movie blu-ray get released*

*There is various characters in the banners*

Meh, I have Sigfried np3 and Artoria, I don't need another Saber. But there is Leonardo Da Vinci! I could try for her.

*rolls and gets Bedivere*

Ah. He seems to be the protagonist, well he is 3 star, I will keep him there.

*goes doing mission so can get more quartz. Tries out Gawain as support*

nice buster.

*pulls for Gawain. Get Medusa Lancer on last day of banner.*

*grows obsessed with Gawain and the round table*

*has Bedivere lv70 with np3*

*has Lancelot Berserker lv80 np5*

*still hopes every gold Archer is Tristan but it's just Atalanta and Emiya*

*hopes to find Saber Lancelot*

*hopes to find Percival but still not farming nor saving for him*

*wants to Grail Gawain and has material for enhancing his skill at 9 and doesn't use them on other Servants*

*throw 900 quartz in Castoria banner. No Castoria, no Rounds, just 5★ CEs*

Welcome to my gatcha hell.

[serenpedac]

2024 Writing Roundup

Thank you @lykegenia for the tag <3

words posted: 28703

additional words written: Around 40000 words, most of which are for the poly AU and Ava's car racing AU.

grand total of words: ~69000

fandoms: The Wayhaven Chronicles, one Dragon Age oneshot, and some writing for Yael for our GURPS campaign.

highest kudos: Tales of Fate and Fortune, though that's ignoring the oneshot collections, as well as 'when words', since those only had parts added this year and it's impossible to separate the kudos.

highest hit oneshot: featherstone. Again, this is without counting the oneshots in collections (I know it's not ideal to put those into a single work, but it's better for me).

new things I tried: At first, I wanted to say it was writing Adam/Nate, but since I wrote them specifically for the polymance AU, I'm going to say writing a poly-relationship. Relationships in various forms have been on my mind a lot this year, and I think that's reflected in my writing.

fic I spent the most time on: Including words that are not yet posted, it's the poly AU main fic: touching, tangling, intertwined.

fic I spent the least time on: For Gold and Glory (and Good Wine) --- Just a silly little fic about my Warden and Rook meeting.

favorite thing I wrote: The latest chapter of when words fall silent. It's a scene that I've been thinking about for years, yet putting it on paper was quite hard. It feels good to finally have it written down, though. The writing itself may not be my best (I'm finding it very hard to judge this chapter), but each and every part is there for a reason, and I just have a lot of feelings about this chapter. Here's an excerpt (cw: mention of death):

Dappled sunlight plays across the ground, creating patches of light and shadow and everything in between. A few early butterflies flutter between the tall grasses in splashes of citrine and dusky orange. Nate’s sigh is carried away by the wind rustling through the birch trees scattered across the land, their leaves a soft, light green against the silver of their slender trunks. The place is beautiful. What he wouldn’t give to not be here. His hand goes to his chest, inadvertently, finding the ribbon pinned there. Its frayed edges brush against the tips of his fingers, a reminder of the life torn away before it had a chance to be lived.

favorite thing(s) I read: Since the Friday rec lists focused on Wayhaven, let me put down some other things here:

before you can kill the monster (you have to say its name) by @/inquisimer --- A rewrite of the DATV quest with the Gloom Howler. Isseya is such a fascinating character and Veilguard's handling of her disappointed me, so I'm very happy to get to read this fic that focuses on giving her nuance!

Rosemary and Citrus by @/lykegenia --- Lykegenia's writing is always a pleasure to read, and this Rook/Lucanis fic is no exception. It's wonderful to get to dive deeper into the characters.

Number 5 by stardust_and_sunlight --- A Doctor Odyssey fic set the morning after that one night, with the Max/Tristan content we deserve (also looove Avery's role at the end here).

Remembrance of Earth's Past (The Three-Body Problem trilogy) by Liu Cixin --- Putting these books on here, because my summer was defined by them. As frustrated as I may have been with some parts of it, it's a story that had me in its hold for months and left its mark on me.

writing goals for 2025: Finish 'when words'! Getting better at finishing longer fics in general, tbh. I tend to start fics and then abandon them, which is something I want to work on.

new works:

Farah/Gabi

Meet-cute Neon Pink Tulsi Yellow Like the Summer Sun

Yael/Nate & Susan/Nate (how did I write/post so little Yael/Nate this year?!)

Stockings Tales of Fate and Fortune

Poly AU (Yael/Nate/Adam)

written by your hand featherstone let me show you touching, tangling, intertwined

Other

Metamorphosis A Touch of Friendship For Gold and Glory (and Good Wine)

Tagging forward anyone reading this! And also (no pressure): @evilbunnyking, @nerdierholler, @wayhavenots, @nat-seal-well, @nsewell, @itsmistyeyedbi, @serial-chillr

[mermaidsirennikita]

I’m a WHORE for bodyguard romances but I haven’t read them in a veeeeeerrrrrry long time.

Any recs???

Absolutelyyyy

Princess by Gaelen Foley. A newer all-time favorite of mine, the ultimate bodyguard book imo. He was raised by her parents after the age of 13, she's a princess, he feels unworthy as hell but is also an ELITE killer.... She wants to be with him so badly and puts her entire back into trying to seduce him. He gravitates between going "GET OFF ME" *shakes leg she's currently clinging to* and "you're a bad girl huh" because he's so trying to resist but is also desperately in love with/horny for her. Alternates between perfect angst and perfect hilarity. He fucks her while probably bleeding internally. *chef's kiss*

Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt. No bodyguard romance rec list can go without this one! He's a retired captain of the guard, she's a duke's sister who's recently lost her vision. He's suuuuper into her but is all "I'm OLD, and she's a DUKE'S SISTER". But then some motherfucker tries to kidnap her (future hero of another book, naturally) and they have to go on the run. There's only one bed (and one of the best dry humping scenes I've ever read) ensues.

The Duke Identity by Grace Callaway. This one is a lot of fun because she's an underworld princess, and he's actually working for the feds, but he's undercover as her bodyguard and she's actually a nightmare woman who one day decides she must have him and doggedly pursues him like her life depends on it. Also, he wears glasses.

A Fated Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen. A fantasy romance based on viking culture; the heroine is coerced into marrying this gross old man because of a prophecy, but he really has zero interest in her sexually. And then he's all "POWERFUL STRONG MEGARAKE SON OF MINE, YOU SHALL GUARD HER WITH YOUR LIFE". Not realizing that she met the son first and they had a Moment. Has a scene where he fingerbangs her in the furs~ with like, seventy people including his dad sleeping nearby.

The Professional by Kresley Cole. A Russian mafia book; the heroine turns out to be the secret daughter of a mob boss, and the hero is sent in to collect her/protect her. Verrry kinky, very hot, very fun.

Joss and The Countess by S.M. LaViolette. Joss is technically Alicia's footman, but she's actually employed him to be her bodyguard while she (a widow 12 years his senior) bops around town trying to find a lover now that her husband is dead. Joss.... is a former gigolo.... and knows EXACTLY what she needs. Which is a dom. A dom who will toss her about the bedroom.

Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster. Paranormal historical, a fluttery debutante type girl gets involved with some undercover mission stuff. The hero, a virgin werewolf, is assigned as her bodyguard. The problem: he can't have sex with her, because werewolfitude is passed through bodily fluids!!!!

Moonglow by Kristen Callihan. Another paranormal historical werewolf book, the hero is the heroine's unofficial bodyguard because someone is trying to kill her. She's a witch, he's a Scottish werewolf rake, he's also recently had problems getting it up... But those problems sure don't seem to be an issue around HER...

Temptation of the Highlander by Elisa Braden. The heroine fled England because someone was stalking her, and the hero is a massive Scot who's been enlisted to protect her. You know how it goes.

Knockout by Sarah MacLean. Blueblood Imogen keeps getting into trouble because she blows things up. Detective Tommy gets hired by her family to protect her; the family does not know that Tommy and Imogen have been circling each other for mONTHS.

Waiting for a Scot Like You by Eva Leigh. A widow on her way to an orgy (because she can finally have fun now that her husband is dead) enlists a Scottish veteran as her bodyguard. He's very grumpy, and also very dominant.

The Lyonesse Series (ongoing) by Sierra Simone. BUT OF COURSE. Tristan is hired as the bodyguard for Mark, who he begins a sexual relationship with... only to find out that Mark is engaged to Isolde (they have an agreement, it's not really cheating). And when Mark sends a heartbroken Tristan over to collect Isolde for the wedding... shit goes down.

(He goes down.)

Lord of Danger by Anne Stuart. Anne Stuart usually has primary and secondary romances in her historicals. The primary romance doesn't have a bodyguard thing (though it's delicious) but the secondary one does. And it's GREAT, because the hero is a knight sworn to celibacy, and the heroine is a beautiful flirt who drives him INSANE.

[herwritingartcowboy]

Chion Is The Reincarnation Of Ludociel

Okay I know what you all might be thinking, What? Well I put together this little fun theory.

And before I go on 1. Spoiler Warning 2.This is for fun.

First Reincarnation isn't really talked about in depth in the original series so I am going of by what I know.

So We all know how Ludociel died towards the end of Seven Deadly Sins.

So I think Ludociel came back as Chion and here is what I collected.

From what we can gather about Reincarnation in Seven Deadly Sins is that is can come due to a curse (Elizabeth), or a promise (Rou), or a grace (Derieri, Probably?). And we know when they are reincarnated they have no memories of their past life or they do, honestly reincarnation isn't really touched on too much in the series.

So I do believe Ludociel maybe even Sariel and Tarmiel must have gotten reincarnated.

So here is what I gathered.

Personality: This one is small but if you can compare the two characters personality together they do seem a bit similar. Mostly for the ego and how they view others seeing themselves and the others they associate are better than others.

Relationship To Margaret: So in Seven Deadly Sins Ludociel does posses Margaret and does fight along with Gilthunder, Hendrickson, Merlin, and Escanor. Again reincarnation isn't touch enough for this but maybe by choice and fate he becomes her son. Already being part of her one why not again.

Looks: Yes we all saw the color sheet we know what the main crew looks like but do you guys remember Liz? The Elizabeth before our Elizabeth the Elizabeth with pink hair even though Elizabeth originally has silver white hair. So it is possible to be reincarnated and have a different look. And also Chions hair we see it covers his right, it can be a hair style choice but Elizabeth had her bangs covered her left and we soon find out that it was covering. When the bangs are covering the hair like that is has to be a tease, I know Gilthunder has his bangs like that but Nakaba drew a shadow of an eye showing readers that nothing to traumatic happened during the 16 year time skip. Cause we all know that something happen to Chion sometime during off screen maybe it was the mark of the goddes clan cause when they do talk about goddesses they are still seen as holy blessing figures. That can also explain how Choin thinks the Tristans Platoon can defeat King Arthur without the four knights.

Honestly that is all I have, thank you all for listening. I know there are some wholes in this theory but I was thinking about it and it sounded cool and interesting.

So that was my theory.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

TOP 05 SELF CONTAINING IDW PUBLISHING GHOSTBUSTERS COMICS

@bixiebeet @professorlehnsherr-almashy @spengnitzed @janeb984 @slimerspengler @amalthea9

So, over the years, there have been several comic series based on the GHOSTBUSTERS franchise, mostly based on THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS cartoon. In 2008, IDW Publishing acquired the comic book rights to the franchise, primarily focusing on the original films.

Written by Erik Burnham and illustrated by Dan Schoening, the series are littered with plenty of callbacks for long-time fans of the franchise to spot. The comics and their volume collections often feature supplementary material, such as the P.C.O.C. pages by Tristan Jones. Before a full crossover happened, some issues of the comic also had backup stories set in the continuity of THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS.

The main 2011 series is long, takes a lot of time to get invested and after 2014 its has been primarily focused on multiverse crossovers rather than moving the character development forward. Fortunally, if you want to enjoy the characters adventures in a comic format in a short period of time, there are miniseries and one-shots with a self containing beggining, middle and end, some made by the team of Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening, others made by different creative teams.

Here, I will present a recomendation list of five self containing IDW Publishing GHOSTBUSTERS Comics that can be enjoyed and understood on their own:

05° GHOSTBUSTERS YEAR ONE

Published in 2020, this minisseries focuses on a series of interviews made by the journalist Rebecca Morales, who is working in writing a book about the GHOSTBUSTERS and their battle against Gozer. It follows their everyday lifes in the weeks after the defeat of Gozer, and flashbacks of dealing with haunting cases that didn't appeared in the work days montage of the original movie, including exploring how was Winston Zeddemore's proper beggining as a team member.

04° GHOSTBUSTERS 35º ANNIVERSARY

Published in 2019, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original movie's release, this minisseries follows the four hero's in an adventure to discover the mistery of a strange artifact connected to the literary narrative of Atlantis.

03° GHOSTBUSTERS 35° ANNIVERSARY: THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS

The second comic released during the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the original movie's release, this time set in the universe of THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, it follows the four hero's investigation of a rival company called Spooks Away that is misteriously stealing their cases away.

02° GHOSTBUSTERS: DEVIATIONS

Ghostbusters: Deviations is a one-shot comic book which takes part in a five week company event in March 2016 spotlighting what-if stories at pivotal points in a franchise's history. In a world, where on that fateful day in New York, the Ghostbusters did NOT cross streams, and were thus unable to destroy Gozer or close his portal. Now, 31 days later, NYC has descended into chaos and ruin, ruled by the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and the GHOSTBUSTERS have to find a solution to go back in time and save the City.

01° GHOSTBUSTERS: WHAT IN SAMHAIM JUST HAPPENED?

What in Samhain Just Happened?! is the fourth one shot in a series of holiday-themed Ghostbusters comic books by IDW Publishing that released in October of 2010.

Television producer Artie Lester is haunted by a pumpkin-headed ghost and tries to hire the Ghostbusters to capture it. The Ghostbusters refuse when they learn Lester plans to film the bust and make it a television special. However, Janine secretly tries to capture the entity to earn the fifty thousand dollars Lester promised. 

[lordofthestrix]

house rules for leah & tristan <3

Send me a URL and I'll post 10 house rules their muse and mine would have if they lived together Warning: I'm writing this under a severe lack of sleep. It might require a rewrite later. Okay so...Surprisingly enough I can actually see it happening. One of the two sees a property they like, the other decides to be a taunting pest about it and in a quick exchange of pens and bitten real state agents, they somehow end up owning a place together. Leah probably returns there once every decade and so does Tristan but...It exists.

Leah is not allowed to threaten, harm, inconvenience or be overly critical of Aurora in any way, shape or form.

Tristan is not allowed to plot, scheme, or device nefarious plans and tortuous fates for Elijah.

If one of them is going to take advantage of the long periods of absence the house endures to convince some amusingly gullible humans the place is haunted, it is in good manners to invite the other to participate in the vampires impersonating ghosts fun.

Collecting a great number of owls, dressing them in tuxedos and telling the other his friends came to visit isn't a fun prank and the responsible deserves the quick cuts near and to the eye she got for four seconds or so from the rebelling birds.

Tristan's witches inviting themselves to the greenhouse and messing with the plants at their whim isn't perfectly fine and acceptable just because they can make them more poisonous.

Leah will give a real chance of enjoyment to the elaborated who's done it mysteries Tristan prepares for game night. Real murder might or might not occur.

Making her best and most exaggerated Sherlock Holmes impression won't be considered a form of cooperation, Leah.

Tristan will give a real chance of enjoyment to Leah's suggestion of modern activities she perceives Tristan is refusing to offer a fair try to.

Wearing a cravat and getting one of his old walking sticks for such excursions won't be considered a form of cooperation, Tristan.

We don't talk about the house when we are not inhabiting it. The house is a strange, confusing concept that implies Leah sometimes can be comfortable staying with someone for more than five days or that Tristan can occasionally enjoy living with a Mikaelson. The house only exists when we are there. @troubleah

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Mad Women by Amanda Tisevich

BELOW: First lines of my reviews for the four books in this series – still remember them and highly recommend this book if you like dark twisty psychologically intriguing tales.

THE KEEPER’S CLOSET: dark, chilling, psychological thrill-ride that explores a rather warped interconnected collection of people and their interactions with one another.

THE LIE BETWEEN US: First words thought at the end of the book…OMG…Twistily Twisted! Couldn’t put it down and had to find out what would happen next.

THE WIDOW OF WEEPING PINES: Wow...talk about a riveting read with some crazy people doing crazy things.

THE RAVEN’S WIFE: Dark, gritty, intriguing story with twists and turns aplenty – a great GOTCHA moment and much to ponder after reading this.

A thought-provoking series with stories that drew me in, wouldn’t let me go, made me wonder, and left me happy I could close the book and not have to deal with the madness except through words that may linger after having been read.

5 Stars

BLURB

Four women, four “deliciously dark thrillers with jaw-dropping twists.” Book One: The Keeper’s Closet - In this house of glass, looks can be deceiving . . . Book Two: The Lie Between Us - This detective's secret will follow her to the grave . . Book Three: The Widow of Weeping Pines - Obsession turns deadly in a sleepy coastal town . . . Book Four: The Raven’s Wife - Julia Klein killed her husband . . . Or did she? 🖤 What readers are saying: 🖤 “Crazy twists you won’t see coming …one of my favorite reads of 2022!” ★★★★★ – xobookfairy “Absolutely brilliant, one of the best books I've read.” ★★★★★ - PsychoThrilla Books “A thriller that kept me hooked the entire time.” ★★★★★ – TikTok, City Vein Lights “A complete and utter brain-melter!” ★★★★★ – NikkisBookNook “OMG – WHAT TF DID I JUST READ?” ★★★★★ - Goodreads Review Don’t miss out on this binge-worthy box set! (Seriously, it’s the perfect weekend escape). Each story is a complete standalone – no cliffhangers. THE KEEPER’S CLOSET: Lavinia Greer is at the end of her rope. She’s lost her job, her friends, her home. Desperate to pick up the broken pieces of her life, she finds herself on the doorstep of a successful author who has hired her to care for his ailing wife. Tristan Carrington is perfect. His house is immaculate, his career booming, his body ageless. Looks, however, can be deceiving. Just ask the housekeeper, the ex-wife, or the shadow lurking outside the window. THE LIE BETWEEN US: At three in the morning, Detective Ame Bassette receives a panicked call from her sister Delphine who has just killed her drug-dealing boyfriend. Ame makes a snap decision—to risk everything to save her sister from spending life behind bars. Together, they go on the run but quickly discover that some secrets will follow wherever you go. After hours of driving, Ame finds herself lost in the dangerous swamplands of south Louisiana, where she comes across Gramarye Lodge, a run-down hotel with a sordid past—that may be connected to a horrifying cold case Ame once investigated. Soon after checking in, it becomes apparent that someone doesn’t want Ame to leave. She begins to question who she can trust… and if it isn’t only her sister’s secrets that are coming to light. THE RAVEN’S WIFE: On a frigid winter night, Daniel Klein was stabbed to death in his penthouse suite by his wife, Julia. At least that’s what the police report reads. The truth, however, is far more sinister. After relocating to a remote cabin in the middle of the mountains, Julia’s only goal in life is to piece together her broken past. But questions about that fateful night arise when Logan, Julia’s brother-in-law, shows up on her doorstep—with evidence that things are not as they appear. It soon becomes apparent that someone else knows the details of that night, and they will stop at nothing to ensure what happened in the dark, stays in the dark. THE WIDOW OF WEEPING PINES: Therapist and struggling author Betty Lou Abbott has a secret, one she keeps locked in the basement of the historic mansion she inherited from her late husband. Her fiancé, Ian, also has a secret: he is having an affair with one of Betty Lou’s clients. She thinks so, anyway. As Betty Lou’s life becomes intertwined with the beautiful, successful Carmen Marquis, her intention to expose the affair turns into a dangerous obsession. Especially when she learns there is more to Carmen than meets the eye. Caught in the middle of this cunning pair of women is Nicholas Stahl, a crooked detective who is determined to prove the truth—that one of them is a cold-blooded killer.

[victoriadallonfan]

Well I mean, I think Ward shows that Victoria has some flawed perspectives such as her issues with pedestals, self-harm, and dealing with her feelings on cape culture. She’s not perfect by any means, and she messes up a lot like her handling of Kenzie in some cases or not properly taking care of Tristan.

The fact that she’s ultimately a good person, a heroic person, does not change those struggles she had. Nor does it detract from the fact that her bias against her rapist is well-founded (due to being, well, a rapist).

I think it’s more that… well…

Sorry for the long post below, but I think it’s unfair to say WB didn’t track her character. He did. Her character makes sense and I love her for it. But the issue is far more simple: Glory a Girl was not a fully fledged person in Worm.

Interlude 2 was over 6 years before Ward. He grows and changes as a writer and he was still figuring out perspectives, word count (chapter 1 of Worm was a mere 3k words! That’s puny for WB!), and how interludes should function (again, see interlude 3 for weirdness). He hadn’t even decided if he was going to kill off Taylor yet.

And as much as I love Victoria… let’s be honest. Glory Girl was barely a secondary character in Worm. She had a total of like… 5? Five moments of on-screen time. Maybe 6 if we count her voiceless appearance at the gala fight. 7 if we include her cameo in Leviathan.

And while WB does try to hint at her broader character (she’s smart enough to have college courses, she’s super protective of Vista, she defends Weld against Dennis), the fact remains that she was pretty clearly not important for Wildbow in Worm. He set up seeds for if he wanted to use her as a protagonist like in Guts and Glory down the line, but other than that, the Chicago Wards have more screen time and character exploration that her.

The Chicago Wards! Most people don’t even remember their names! And yet they still have more words to page about them!

The fandom perception of Glory Girl was, essentially, made up whole cloth. This is where bad fanon came in (Victoria beating up people for being ugly, Victoria abusing her aura at school, Victoria not knowing how to fight despite being a cape for 3 years and feared by villains etc etc) and the fandom made her into Emma 2.0. Pushback against this only really happened like a year before Ward came out.

And yeah, of course Victoria in Ward feels different to Glory Girl in Worm. Not only because of in-universe reasons (half of her family dying, being eaten by acid, kidnapped/mutilated/raped, trapped in an asylum for over two years, dealing with therapy, used as a meat shield by Khepri) but out of universe ones too: Wildbow became better at writing characters who feel 3 dimensional and the “Glory Girl” most people thought of was a collective headcanon based on people who only remembered her appearance at the bank job at most, because she was such a minor bit character in Worm.

If Worm had been GG pov, and we had this asshole Skitter running around in the background with a barebones interlude and 5-7 small moments of screen time with tiny hints of her real personality, she would have suffered the same exact fate.

I reread interlude 2 yesterday and noticed more 2011-isms

also personally I feel that the "beautiful" and "gorgeous" dichotomy was invented by the same guys who suck dick and cock

[ladyjuquia]

At last! Tristans Chickens (John, Tarou and Pierre - formerly known as Mordred 1, 2 and 3) arrived today and joined my Tristan Collection! 🐓❤️

After struggling for so long they finally arrived. Actually they should have been here since November last year but the mail delivery service lost my package unfortunately </3 But I am glad they are finally here, safe and sound and they look absolutely gorgeous!

Big thank you once again to @glacescup for providing me with different sketches so the Chickens would turn out as accurate as possible! I am a bit sad that the brown chicken didn’t got more of the brown colour but overall they turned out so accurate?! It’s stunning!

I ordered them once again via Budsies where I also got my Takeuchi based Tristan Plush and my Vlad III Scape Goat (Valentines Return Gift) from!

[dailyfatefigures]

Tristan by Soft-shell Crab

[gemlua]

After months of waiting, Bedi finally arrived home today!

My collection is slowly growing, yep

[charliehearted]

Charlie had escaped. He always seemed to escape, and this time the fickle winds of fate saw fit to pass him by, preferring to turn their talons onto others. It was a truth universally known that when things went wrong here, they went catastrophically wrong. His lack of injury was a miracle, but it didn't mean anyone else had escaped in tact.

Rising from the semi-squat he had found himself in as he'd taken a moment or two to collect himself, the first thing he saw was Hook, tearing off a portion of his own shirt and looking about two rope pulls away from collapsing entirely. "In the holiest name of the sea and sky," Charlie barked as he practically ran over to the other man, "sit down. You look like you just got keelhauled." Resting his hands on the man's shoulder, Charlie gently pushed down in an invitation to get the man off his feet.

"You're so lucky I am more focused on all this than your state of nudity," Charlie muttered as he gently tugged the fabric from Hook's hands to unwrap it and get a look at the injury himself. "Seriously, this is more than I ever wanted to see." Frowning at what he saw, Charlie fixed Hook with a hard look. "Stay here. I'm going to go grab some of that swill you all want to pretend I don't know about to clean this out before rinse it, wrap it, and send you off to Tristan. Because," Charlie sighed, 'I'm assuming you haven't seen him yet, right?"

closed for @charliehearted

Hook had somehow made it back to the pirate camp, relatively unscathed. But the events that took place only made him worried for the rest of the crew. He was tired, and a little bit hurt, but his mind was elsewhere. He kept pushing himself to keep moving until he started to recognize where he was. At that point, he took a moment to at least attempt to treat his wounds the best that he could. He didn't bother caring about decorum and ripped a part of his shirt to wrap around his bleeding wound. He looked around, eager to tell if anyone else had suffered the same fate he did--or worse.

[pridepages]

Tangled Web: The Atlas Paradox

I just finished The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake. I have some thoughts...

Here there be spoilers!

Poet Walter Scott was the first to write “Oh what a tangled web we weave / when first we practice to deceive.”

The residents of the Alexandrian Society manor house spent all of their first year together weaving their deceptions. Now, in Olivie Blake’s followup The Atlas Paradox, all six initiates must face the reckoning of their choices--and find themselves and their affections more deeply entangled than ever.

Many fantasy trilogies tend to suffer from sophomore slump. Often, the second book is the weakest of the lineup. Fair dues to Blake: Paradox is in many ways a stronger novel than The Atlas Six. Firstly, the world-building is much more clearly shaped. Why did our wizards have to murder one of their own to join this academic cult? Because, apparently, the library is a malevolent, sentient force that thirsts for blood. Better still, the disappearance of Libby Rhodes will not suffice. The archives are wise to such cheats. In fact, when Atlas Blakely’s class tried the same thing by disappearing Ezra Fowler, the archives took vengeance: each of the remaining members of the class were eventually killed except for Ezra (bouncing around the timeline) and Atlas (remaining to be fed upon by the murder books). Similarly, we watch as the remaining members of Atlas’s Six begin to fall apart in different ways: Nico sickens, Reina obsesses, Parisa sours, Tristan sulks, and Callum drinks. All of them are still being puppeteered by Atlas, who reveals that his Master Plan appears to be to use the collective gifts of the Six to find a door to a wider multiverse. Meanwhile, Libby has been stranded in 1989. To get home, she will be confronted with the ultimate moral choice and will face her own fall from grace.

Blake has described this book as the characters experiencing their quarter-life crisis. And it shows. Admittedly, it’s a bit aggravating to hear almost all of them repeatedly telling the reader about how life and the world are pointless because Alexandrians all have power and can effectively do nothing to change the world, their individual fates, or otherwise find happiness. But, much like the grating nobody-understands-me adolescent phase, it is a stage that any thinking young adult has to go through. And the characters are charismatic enough that you want to stick with them.

As in the first book, the Six find themselves navigating tangled relationships. Initial attractions are complicated by the choices that each has made and the ways they have hurt each other. The question posed to all of them is: Where do we go from here?

An early question answered (yay for being right!) was about Reina: “she never thought of anyone sexually.” So her arc is all about her friendships. “She developed a talent for isolation,” Reina reminds us early. But the problem with that is that she resents being overlooked. And although she can identify moments when she’s being unfair--expecting other people to reach out to her or praise her or admire her despite the hostile demeanor she radiates--she can never quite get over her own pride enough to try to reach out for the closeness she wants.

Meanwhile, we rejoin some of the couples facing the immediate consequences of their actions. Callum knows that Tristan tried to kill him at the suggestion of Libby Rhodes. Callum also knows that Tristan and Libby slept together. Therefore, Callum concludes, “This was who Tristan had chosen over Callum...He hoped it would pain Tristan for the rest of his life.” A vengeful Callum is perfectly in line with the person we know. Most of book one we were exposed to Callum’s vanity to the point where whether he was interested in other people beyond manipulating them was debatable. But here we see a softer, truly wounded Callum: “Tristan might have betrayed Callum, but he wasn’t the bad guy...This was just the world. You trusted people, you loved them, you offered them the dignity of your time and the intimacy of your thoughts and the frailty of your hope and they either accepted it and cared for it or they rejected it and destroyed it and in the end, none of it was up to you. This was just what you got. Heartbreak was inevitable. Disappointment assured.” 

And then there’s Tristan, who shows perhaps the most maturity out of any of the characters in this book when he finally says to Callum: “This--between us--it was real for me. You can pretend that it didn’t matter. That I was the one who wronged you. That you had no hand in how things happened. That I made a choice based on nothing, based on my own insecurities and flaws. But I am not such an idiot--I’m not so devoid of feeling to not be perfectly aware that you and I had something rare and difficult and fucking significant, and in the end it only broke because I broke it.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t make things right between them. Callum is still in deep pain and lashing out because of it. He cannot see that there is a way through the mess between them: forgiveness. But forgiveness takes courage, and more than just recognizing your flaws. It takes accountability for your own imperfections, taking responsibility for your actions both in the past and in the future. Tristan, by actually putting out there that he wronged Callum, was building a bridge that Callum has refused to cross. For all its failure, Tristan’s maturity in trying deserves a gold star.

Another way Tristan has changed is leaning into his affection for Libby. For most of the first book, Tristan was cold, reserved, apparently off-put by Libby’s earnestness and sensitivity. But secretly, he seems to have found it rather attractive. He sets Libby up in his mind as a kind of hero archetype, a contrast to how much he hates himself. But Parisa cautions him: “You like her because she’s innocent...because she’s moral. Because she’s good. Because she represents something to you that the rest of us no longer have, because we came here. And because we made choices. But she made a choice too, Tristan. She knew what the consequences were. Libby Rhodes is not your goodness, Tristan. She’s her own open flame.” Tristan is certainly in danger of idealizing Libby out of existence, fictionalizing her in his head--which is easy to do since she is absent from his life for most of the book. But, in the end, Tristan determines he’d “rather have whatever version of Libby she had become than face the prospect of having no Libby at all.” Whether he will be able to live with the reality of that choice will remain to be seen in the next installment.

Similarly, Parisa’s journey is one of identity. Parisa has been repeatedly accused of being unable to love. Parisa finally refutes this misconception: “Of course she loved...to her, sex and love and desire and affection were different things--some of which she needed or wanted, and some she firmly did not.” Parisa knows who she is. However, Parisa learns that book one paramour Dalton Ellery is not who she thought he was. She was previously aware that Dalton’s consciousness had been split. She now learns that Dalton split off a part of himself that he did not like--his ambition--in order to both make himself safer to handle his power in the world and because it would allow the archives to trust him with more information for his research. Parisa ultimately contributes to reuniting Dalton’s consciousness, but a ‘healed’ Dalton is a new Dalton: “She realized that without the entirety of himself--with no ambition, and indeed, no formulation of the future, which was a thing she thought they had in common until she realized that, actually, his version of a blank page was wildly different from hers--she had never seen the other intricacies of him. His dreams. His longings. His fears.” Their arc is particularly fascinating because it invites the discussion: would you change what you perceive to be your worst qualities? If you did, you would be a different person. If you were, would you still be right for the people who love you now as you are? Perhaps it is different when life changes who we are gradually, as it inevitably does. But neatly removing one element entirely does not make you a ‘better’ version of yourself. It just makes you different.

Speaking of differences: wow, Libby Rhodes! I admit, I had a pet theory about Libby Rhodes. Part of it arose from the kind of way she spoke about Ezra (like he was a box she was ticking off, like she was acting in ways a good girlfriend should, the way she seemed to easily resent and want to ditch him). I was just getting big closeted sapphic vibes off her. Then, of course, she had threesome with Tristan and Parisa in book one. This at least suggested queerness to me, but still felt unconfirmed...until we get this gem in Paradox: “I’m a time traveler from the future...who maybe kind of slept with one or two of my coworkers, whom I would also (maybe) like to sleep with again.” Them, plural, as in she was into Parisa. But, then again, who isn’t? Firmly orienting Libby with the sapphics is that she gets a crush on a fellow medeian academic during her sojourn into 1989: “a cautious kiss from Belen’s careful mouth, was riotous with sensation. The hint of pressure was like a spark to Libby’s imagination, igniting something dormant in her chest as a purr of satisfaction slipped from her parted lips into Belen’s smiling mouth.” Libby is at first her typical unsure self in this moment, feeling “the kind of weird that preceded a cliff’s edge, a sharp drop. A sip of absinthe and a first kiss.” A sip of absinthe. The drink she shared with Parisa before their tryst. Not to put to fine a point on it, “Libby reached for her...and heard the vestiges of Parisa’s voice in her head: Have what you want, Rhodes. Take it.” Big. Gay. Vibes. We love to see it. But it’s unclear whether Libby is meant to end up with Parisa, Tristan, or anyone else. All we know is that “All this time she’d been desperate for help, for someone else to reassure her, for some form of comfort, or anything that could make her feel she wasn’t alone--but she was alone.” Being cast out on her own forces Libby into a reckoning. Because, for her, companionship has always been about tacit acceptance or approval. Libby has needed to be constantly reassured of her own worth. But now she’s growing beyond that. “She was no longer desperate for the crutch of someone else’s faith. For the first time...she would not presume herself to be deficient. She would not doubt the power in her body. She would not question what was earned. She would do this, and she would do it alone.” If we’re heading toward a Libby who needs to forge a future standing completely alone, uncoupled to signify that she is finally emotionally self-sufficient, wouldn’t hate it. But it would be better if it were gay.

So, thank goodness for my absolute favorite arc in the novel. In book one, an obvious romantic connection to me from the beginning was Nico and his friend Gideon, the one who he claimed to come to the Society to help. The one who he does so much to protect. The one he worries about constantly. It could not be clearer as their interactions pile up in Paradox that it’s two-sided: these idiot boys are so in love. And just when you think they’re never going to do anything about it, Gideo takes the leap: “Relief, that no one had put a stop to that arrogant laugh...some madness in Gideon’s chest made up his mind for him. He leaned forward and caught Nico’s mouth with his in something of a punitive force, a captive blow. More of a gasp that anything else, really. Although technically, it was a kiss.”

Thank you, God. Finally. But these characters are unpredictable. Nico has shown attraction to women before (well, Parisa, but again--who hasn’t?) and maybe we were heading for another heartbreaking twist:

“Gideon felt Nico’s breath catch on his tongue, an audible hitch of surprise, and then Nico pulled away and Gideon thought no, no, no-- ‘Oh, so it’s like that?’ Nico said. His eyes were searching and bewilderingly, confusingly bright. In response Gideon felt unopened and raw, like he’d cracked his chest in two and presented the evidence for Nico’s evaluation... ‘Yeah, it’s like that.’ Nico’s smile broadened. ‘Good.’ Nico caught him by a fistful of his t-shirt, tugging him in again.”

Good. Just good. For so long they struggled with their words, struggled to articulate even to themselves what they are. But at last, they chose to take a risk: no more deceptions. No more tangled thoughts, fears, self-consciousness, or denial. Instead of deciding to stay caught in the web, they tore themselves free. 

I think we all have a tendency to overcomplicate our relationships. It’s easy to pull strands of negative thought. We tease out all the reasons that we can’t be happy with someone else: our sense of our inadequacies, our obligations, our histories, our resentments, our fear of risk--and we weave them into nets that keep us trapped. But we have the ability to make new and different choices. In the grand scheme of things, maybe choosing to pull ourselves out of our misery webs may seem like so much wasted or pointless effort. But if this life is all we get, and all we can control is ourselves, then maybe there is something worthy and heroic in setting ourselves free.

[millenniumdueled]

Shadow Games Log pt 3

part 1 | part 2

11. Mokuba Kaiba - Capsule Monsters Chess

Background: after a long day in class, Yugi decides to stop by the local convenience store for a treat on the way home, only to find the doorway blocked by a group of rowdy young teenagers crowding the gachpaon machines. when Yugi approaches and asks what's so exciting, he's recognized by Seto Kaiba's younger brother. held at knifepoint, he's lead to the warehouse district and challenged to a game of Capsule Monster Chess by Mokuba, who threatens to cut off one of his fingers should he lose

Shadow Game: Mokuba rigs the gachapon machine to give himself only high level monsters and Yugi the lowest possible. however, Yugi is able to lure Mokuba into aligning his pieces diagonally, allowing Yugi to use his low level monster's special ability to attack all of them at once.

Fate: "Time Out!!" - Mokuba is imprisoned within a dark, cramped, illusory Capsule Monster capsule for several hours, leaving him with permanent claustrophobia

12. The Real Zombire (/Part 2)

Background: Yugi, Joey and Tristan are invited to their pal Hanasaki's house for a sleepover, where they're introduced to his favorite American comic franchise, Zombire. they meet his father, who goes over the top to feed his son's interest as a way to make up for working overseas so often. but no one realizes that Hanasaki's father will even go so far to pay thugs off the street to pretend to lose a fight to his son in Zombire cosplay, letting him feel like a true superhero. the plan backfires the next day when the gang sends Hanasaki a ransom note claiming to have kidnapped Yugi to draw him out and extort more money from his devoted father.

Shadow Game: Yugi takes the can of spray paint and challenges the gang to a simple game of tag. as he runs back and forth across the fenced in area, he leaves a trail of wet paint behind him, drawing a maze on the concrete. When the path finally crosses a still burning cigarette butt left by the gang, the maze is set alight, forcing the assailants to throw themselves into the harbor.

Fate: No one's seriously hurt, just some minor burns and an embarrassing dip in some dirty water. Hanasaki keeps calling his friend a hero, but Yugi isn't so convinced. this is the first shadow game that he's not just aware of, but that he actually witnesses from inside his soul, and he's starting to wonder if maybe all the weird stuff that's happened recently might have more to do with him than he thought.....

13. The Love Meter

Background: A week before Valentine's Day, Téa gives a keychain "Love Meter" as a present to Yugi. their information doesn't seem compatible, a disappointment to Yugi, but he decides to keep and cherish the little game anyway. until the campus guidance counselor, Tsuruoka, annoyed by the gang's low grades and antics on campus, confiscates the keychain. If he can't find it in two hours, he'll be expelled.

Shadow Game: Yugi and his friends race across the campus, searching in vain before Yugi has an idea. he asks Téa for her love meter, changing the information to correspond with his. the group of friends barge into the guidance counselor's office, causing Yugi's love meter to react when they get close, exposing the hiding spot under Tsuruoka's hairpiece.

Fate: Yugi gets to stay in school! and Tsuruoka gets exposed as a baldy. it's pretty light!

14. Nagumo Koji (/Part 2)

Background: Monster Fighter isn't a new game, Yugi had already popularized it on campus a few weeks ago, but after it gets big on TikTok, the games are impossible to keep in stock. Seeing a chance to make an easy buck selling these hard to find collectibles on the black market, Nagumo Koji begins challenging other students and taking their platform and figures when he wins. he challenges Yugi, who naively believes he's playing just for fun. but when Yugi is just about to win, Nagumo throws a sucker punch that knocks Yugi clear off his feet. With his game stolen, Yugi makes the decision to ask Joey to borrow his set, with every intention of handing control off to his other self. for the very first time, Yugi himself makes the conscious choice to let Yami start a Shadow Game.

Shadow Game: Yugi challenges Nagumo to three rounds of Monster Fighter, with one little twist: the player takes the damage of their monster. Yugi wins the first round with a punch that leaves Nagumo's jaw cracked, and though the damage is only an illusion, the pain is very real. the second round starts, and once again, Yugi seems to be unbeatable. but he's so focused on their match that Nagumo sees an opening to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick to Yugi's side and knocking him off his feet. the bully uses the opportunity to deliver his monster's finishing blow and before he can even recover from the kick, Yugi receives three sharp, bullet-like blows to the chest.

undeterred, he stands up once more for the final, tie-breaking round. but first, he warns Nagumo. now that he's cheated, the shadows will only choke him harder. the air gets heavy, and Yugi urges him to quit now as he pushes his other, kinder self out of his awareness of the situation. but Nagumo persists, and again he's no match for his opponent. but this time when he goes to cheat, Nagumo finds himself unable to move. he looks down, only to see the figures he's stolen from other players climbing his legs, holding him in place, preventing him from physically striking his opponent once more. distracted, he can't counter the finishing blow that knocks him backwards, splitting his head open on a bookcase behind him.

Fate: Deceased. and though Yami waits until he's reunited with his friends to return his partner's consciousness and control, word eventually makes its way back to him, leaving Yugi to wonder. did he really make the right choice? and can this other side of him really be trusted?