#feels like a while since I've drawn the him (it has in fact been Twelve Days)

[glorious-blackout]

Introduce yourself! What’s the story behind your username/what should people call you? 

Picked the username Gloriousblackout for my fanfiction.net account at the age of 15 because those were my favourite Muse songs at the time. Twelve years later, I'm simply too attached to bother changing it 😅

(I also answer to Rachel)

How will you be participating in the Shadowmonkeys Big Bang 2024 (e.g. organiser, artist, writer, artist, reader etc)? 

I'll be a writer, and also looking forward to taking part as a reader 🥰

What are your favourite fic tropes? 

I'm a sucker for a good 'Friends to Lovers' fic or anything with a 'Sharing a Bed/There was only one bed' trope... I also just love angst and hurt/comfort in general more than I should.

If you’re a writer/artist, what’s your favourite piece of work you’ve created for this fandom? Feel free to link it! 

It's been a long time since I revisited it so I'm not sure how well it's aged, but I'm still very proud of my 'You've Always Been Here' series for being my gateway into writing for this lovely fandom and for marking the first time in many years where I was writing a fic purely for sheer self-indulgence. The fact that other people seemed to like it was a lovely surprise 💖

What’s a fic/piece of art in this fandom you’ve loved recently?

I absolutely adore 'Four Walls' by @uhbasicallyjustmilex which I recently binged while stuck in bed for a few days with a chest infection - it was a beautiful, gorgeously written distraction which I was very grateful for and can't wait to read more of 💖

Can also highly recommend 'Maybe Tomorrow' by @applysome which is the most recent fic I read - it's such a beautiful little piece 🥰

Do you prefer reading/writing from Miles or Alex’s POV? 

Don't have a strong preference! I have more multi-chaptered fics written from Alex's point of view so I suspect I'm more naturally drawn to him, but I've finally broken that pattern with my Big Bang fic 😅

What’s an album that you love reading/writing/drawing to? 

'Songs of Leonard Cohen' was an album I kept revisiting during the writing of my Big Bang fic, but my writing playlist changes with every fic. 'Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino' has been an endless source of inspiration in the past and I find classical or instrumental music quite helpful as there's no lyrics to distract you from what you're writing.

Here are some of the songs I listened to on repeat or referenced during the planning/writing of my Big Bang fic 💚

If you’re a writer/artist, what do you struggle with most in your creative process? Is there anything that helps? 

Mostly just motivating myself to write that first paragraph - honestly that stage alone can take months. Once I've gotten over that hurdle I tend to really enjoy the planning and writing process and working through the first couple of drafts is enormous fun. The stage I'm at right now (i.e. the final few edits) are when it starts to feel a bit like a chore - the novelty's worn off and my eyes are more drawn to the flaws in the text rather than anything that makes it good 😅 Chatting with other writers certainly helps me though, as does creating a good writing playlist that fits the mood of the fic.

Have you participated in a fandom big bang before? 

I have! I wrote this fic for the last Shadowmonkeys Big Bang which was immensely rewarding, not least because it inspired the cutest artwork ever from @rock-n-roll-fantasy:

On a scale of one to ten, how excited are you for the Shadowmonkeys Big Bang 2024?

9/10. I'm docking a point for the fact that I'm also a little nervous after working on my fic for so long and the fact that the week I want to start publishing it is a nightmare in terms of my work rota 😅

✨ SHADOWMONKEYS BIG BANG GAME ✨

As we're now officially into the second posting window and the gloomier half of the year, we thought we'd share something hopefully a little fun to keep everyone feeling motivated!

If you're taking part in this year's Big Bang in any way (whether that's as an artist, writer, beta-reader, or just as someone who's going to be reading and supporting the collaborations when they're posted!) and feel like sharing a little about you and your relationship with fanfic/fanfart then please reblog this post with your answers to the questions below 🥰

Introduce yourself! What’s the story behind your username/what should people call you? 

How will you be participating in the Shadowmonkeys Big Bang 2024 (e.g. organiser, artist, writer, artist, reader etc)? 

What are your favourite fic tropes? 

If you’re a writer/artist, what’s your favourite piece of work you’ve created for this fandom? Feel free to link it! 

What’s a fic/piece of art in this fandom you’ve loved recently?

Do you prefer reading/writing from Miles or Alex’s POV? 

What’s an album that you love reading/writing/drawing to? 

If you’re a writer/artist, what do you struggle with most in your creative process? Is there anything that helps? 

Have you participated in a fandom big bang before? 

On a scale of one to ten, how excited are you for the Shadowmonkeys Big Bang 2024?

[chiropteracupola]

too bad! you're going in the lake

[fourswords]

starting sketching out light and like. HES 12??? like I get it- he's about to be 13- And knight is the oldest at a grand total of 15 but like-

BRO DOESNT EVEN HAVE AN ATTENTION SPAN YET???

like I know they're dumb in the manga but 😭 every 12-13 year old I've ever met is like a certified dumpster fire, which you might wanna consider in his character lmso

but I just feel like after the manga it wouldn't even matter that he saved Hyrule, he's just getting grounded until he's a legal adult 😭

like azure THATS A BABY- Aint no way he's smart enough to have even survived half the manga even with his dumb luck!

im crying please add like one year to all their ages im on my hands and knees is your goal to give this tiny child some form of PTSD because he is IN CONSTANT DANGER.children need to have a sense of safety (and their stupidity doesn't count, blue got swallowed alive and frozen, vio was lying to SAVE HIS LIFE, green was straight up about to kill vio and had to deal with attacking another knight, and couldn't bring himself to attack their own dad, and then red got chased by an angry mob and then lost all will to LIVE with blue in that one temple-) 12 is barely even conscious and self aware 😭

like I know 12 year olds have complex emotions and can handle abstract concepts and start getting into deeper moral understanding- but my human of earth the self awareness is either ONE THOUSAND OR ZERO AND THERE ISNT A BETWEEN AT THAT AGE-

im sorry if I sound rude or something btw I'm mostly just joking and I tend to overdramatize for comedic effect but I genuinely cant wrap my head around him being just 12- like at least 14??? maybe bump knight to 16 while ur at it? ?

also I'm gonna figure out some way to incorporate the different colors into his hat probably, its big so its like a bag lol since in the manga blue just shoved his whole hammer in there I'm pretty sure

smithy will be extremely small without complaint.

feel free not to take my words seriously tho lol I just cant imagine a 12 year old going thru the manga, like look me in the eyes and tell me a 12 year old-

if I misunderstood anything lmk lol I am a lil stupid sometimes

HAHAHA YES HE IS IN FACT TWELVE. The Legend of Zelda is a series that's all about "yeah let's hand this child a sword and let him go nuts" (to use a popular example, BOTW Link being canonically handed a sword at age four and is said in Mipha's diary to have been able to best grown men in fights: "At the request of Hyrule's king, a group of outsiders came to greet us at the domain. One of them was a Hylian child of only about four years of age. His name was Link. He made quite a first impression. He was curious and full of energy, with a ready smile. Are all Hylian children that way? One thing that surely sets him apart is his swordsmanship, which I hear is exceptional. He has even bested adults. He must be somewhat reckless, however, as he was covered in bruises.") and I absolutely intend to lean into that as much as possible. Light's age comes mainly from comparing Akira Himekawa's designs for Links of varying ages side-by-side with each other; for example, you have Minish Cap Link, who's very obviously drawn like a young child:

You have Twilight Princess Link and Ocarina of Time Link, both drawn to look like older teenagers (and we know OOT Link's older age is 16-17 depending on who you ask):

We have Skyward Sword Prequel Link, who is a fully-fledged adult (his other panels illustrate the difference more sharply, but this is what he looks like, so):

And then we have FSA Link in the manga, who is drawn to be VERY visibly younger than OOT, TP and SS Prequel Link, but is definitely visibly older than MC Link (he's got the rounder face + eyes, the shorter stature, and it becomes even more visible when compared to the knights in the FSA manga itself):

His maturity level also does, to me, match that of an average 12-year-old nepo baby (which he really kind of is)—kid who thinks he knows everything & that he's hot shit but is kind of a giant train wreck internally.

All three Four Sword heroes prior to him were explicitly stated to be "young boys", and FSA manga Link is really no different in that regard—in the context of my own AU, he's actually the one who went on his adventure at the oldest age (with Smithy going on his around 8-9, Four going on his at 10, and Knight now going on his at 11). It's just been a shorter time since his adventure than it has been for the others ^^;

[bywordofaphrodite]

Book Reviews 5&6: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan & Alpha Force: Survival by Chris Ryan

This review’s theme is action and adventure ! audience age range: roughly 12 and up !

For this review I’m using the first book from two action/adventure series, featuring the only male authors I've selected of the ten books chosen for these posts. Both are action-packed books with ensemble casts featuring boys and girls, though the similarities mostly stop there.

As a lover of Greek mythology and fantasy in general, Rick Riordan’s sarcastic and upbeat hero of Percy provided a hilarious new way to look at the more serious myths concerning the gods and enemies of Mount Olympus (his slightly inaccurate retellings made acceptable because the series was made for a younger audience, not to mention it’s funny so who cares).

Alpha Force is firmly set in the real world, no magic to be seen, just hardened survival skills that seem more sitting to the SAS than a bunch of young teens- but with the author Chris Ryan being a member of the SAS himself, it’s exactly what you’d expect.

Nostalgic review

Rating: ★★★★★

Percy Jackson is one of those famous book series in a long list of teen/YA fiction that has gripped teens by the throat on its basic lore alone. During class my friends and I would go on Tumblr and Pinterest to pass time, and as readers we always ended up on That Side of Tumblr- yes, the side filled with cheesy edits of all the popular main characters of the time: Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games, Clary Fray of The Mortal Instruments, all the usual squad, and of course Percy Jackson himself. In a sea of lead female characters, Percy was a fun male lead to throw in the mix. It felt special too, that Riordan continued to write Percy’s story ageing him up as the books went on. We grew up with Percy too. I still keep collect the series even now; my brother’s gift to me for my 21st birthday was the Heroes of Olympus collection, though I haven’t read the older books in several years. I’ve always thought Riordan’s writing style not only improved over the years, but also adjusted well to writing for an older audience in the newer books, which was impressive. Additionally, Riordan listening to his fans and adding in more and more representation through great diverse characters definitely sweetens the memories attached to this series.

Alpha Force is just so good. And so underrated. It was between Alpha Force and Alex Rider for the second book in this review, but ultimately I decided enough people know Alex Rider (there’s a movie and a new series about him, go check the series out, it’s great!) and Chris Ryan’s hidden gem was something I wanted to discuss more. I went through an Extreme Survival Adventures book phase during early high school, devouring all kinds of action from deep-sea diving to climbing Mount Everest and every shipwrecked story on the shelves. I’ve always been a huge fan of the ensemble character groups where everyone has a distinct role that no one else can fill; I find it prevents boring main character syndrome where one singular person never needs any help and therefore has neither character development nor conflict. The Alpha Force series managed to deliver fantastic action sequences, smart yet surprisingly realistic characters and somewhat rarely in my experience- incredible female characters who actually had real personality and arcs that belonged to themselves and not the male characters. Honestly, this assignment has been a great excuse to make myself read these books again!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Review

Post-read: ★★★★

Synopsis: when struggling student Percy Jackson’s pre-algebra teacher transforms into a monster on school grounds and tries to kill him, Percy runs home to be told the truth by his mother about who he is: a demigod, and upon his arrival at the safe haven for demigods- Camp Half-Blood- Percy discovers he is the son of Poseidon, with water powers to boot. With the help of a satyr named Grover and daughter of Athena, Annabeth, Percy sets course for the Underworld to prevent a war breaking out on Mount Olympus.

(I wanted to make this four and a half stars, but I am incompetent at adding in the half, so if you’d kindly just imagine it is there that would be great.)

Okay! Let’s get into it!

With the first chapter titled ‘I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORISE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER’, I think the tone for the story is established rather immediately. The first-person narrative allows the character of Percy to talk to readers directly, and it creates a very easy feeling of Percy recounting his feelings and adventures as if in a one-on-one conversation. I felt just as drawn in rereading as an adult as I did when I was in school. Percy doesn’t fit it in at any schools and has been kicked out of six when the first chapter begins. His ADHD and dyslexia make concentrating and studying hard, and he’s always restless. The only people he feels are on his side are his friend Grover and his Latin teacher, Mr Brunner, who seems to be the only teacher who doesn’t have it out for him.

As it turns out, neither Grover nor Mr Brunner are people! Grover is a satyr sent to watch over Percy until he reaches Camp Half-Blood, and Mr Brunner is the immortal centaur Chiron and the activities director at the camp, also watching over Percy. When the Fury Alecto- disguised as Percy’s pre-algebra teacher Mrs Dodds- tries to kill Percy on a school field trip, the satyr and centaur jump in to save him. Later at the camp, Percy continues to stay fast friends with the two and confides in them while they teach him everything about his new world. Percy meets many more kids at camp, all of whom struggled in the human world before finding their true capabilities upon discovering their status as demigods. Annabeth is one such kid, the daughter of Athena who is cold to Percy at first, out of loyalty to the history between Athena and Poseidon, but who ends up becoming fast friends with him, and later his girlfriend throughout the series.

Riordan’s writing is fresh, engaging and fun at every turn. His modern takes on the gods and their ancient stories and riddles makes for a terrific adventure, and the ‘quests’ undertaken by the demigods mimic the old mythology in a palatable way for young readers to digest easily and understand what exactly is going on. The best part about Percy Jackson for me isn’t the monsters and battles, but rather Riordan’s intentions when creating the series: he wanted to give his dyslexic son a hero he could relate to, and since the first set of books Rick Riordan has gone above and beyond expectations to create demigod heroes for kids spanning many different ethnicities, genders and disabilities. Of the many series popular among young people, I’m especially glad that this one full of so much representation is maintaining the hype it deserves.

Characters who aged well: Percy! At twelve years old in this first book of the series, and just the right combination of witty, kind, hot tempered, brave and cheeky to make a believable and lovable young protagonist; his diagnosis with ADHD and dyslexia not being portrayed as a weakness but rather a part of him makes Percy a special hero to neurodivergent readers. Annabeth, too, remains a great character, she’s intelligent, logical and ambitious in a positive manner, and never falls into the trap of being ‘not like other girls’.

Characters who aged badly: nobody! All the side characters are great, and even the villains are entertaining, especially alongside Percy’s ridiculous commentary. The gods are portrayed rather mockingly, which is a kindness really, compared to the awful acts they commit in the original myths.

Favourite scene/quote: ‘Deadlines just aren’t real to me unless I’m staring one in the face’ – I first read this book years ago and it’s still relevant. I can’t even be embarrassed to relate to it at this point.

My favourite scenes both centre on Medusa- or rather, her severed head. Furious with the gods- namely, Zeus, Athena and his father Poseidon- for sending himself, Annabeth and Grover on such a dangerous quest so quickly after his first day at camp, Percy stuffed Medusa’s head into a package and wrote the address of Mount Olympus on a delivery slip, ending with ‘best wishes, PERCY JACKSON’. To Grover’s distress at Percy’s being ‘impertinent’ to the gods yet again, Percy simply responded ‘I am impertinent’. 10/10 big mood.

The second refers to Sally explaining to Percy that she can take care of herself, and, leaving Medusa’s head in her fridge, Percy exits their apartment just as Sally’s abusive boyfriend walks in. The last thing Percy sees is his mother, ‘staring at Gabe, as if she were contemplating how he would look as a garden statue’. It’s a nice moment between mother and son, followed by Percy understanding the strength his mother has and how much she does for him.

Alpha Force: Survival Review

Post-read: ★★★★

Synopsis: Five teenagers end up stranded on a desert island after their sailing ship goes down at sea. Enthusiastic Alex, reluctant Amber and Hex and practical jokers Paulo and Li are all part of a ‘working eco-voyage’ that quickly falls apart, leaving them to survive on their skills alone against komodo dragons, sharks and modern day pirates somewhere on the Indonesian archipelago.

The story begins with Northumbrian boy Alex- the closest to a main character out of the five- scrubbing the deck of a ship called the Phoenix and lamenting the fact that he’s been lumped in with four people he would never have chosen to be in a watch with. Assigned to A-Watch by their mean supervisor Heather, Alex finds himself the unofficial watch leader… and the only person who really wants to be there. Also in A-Watch is Amber, the daughter of African-American software billionaires who recently died in an accident and left her the sole heiress to the fortune. Amber, still hurting from her parent’s death, is furious to be on board the eco-voyage organised by her Uncle John, who believes she needs to move on in a place outside her comfort zone. Amber spends a great chunk of time antagonising English hacker Hex, who was sent on the trip as a punishment by his school for ruthlessly hacking into the accounts of a teacher who bullied his younger brother. Rounding out the group are Paulo and Li, both of whom are very athletic and thrive in the outdoors, but also uninterested in doing any real work aboard the Phoenix. Paulo is a charming ranch hand from Argentina who loves food and flirting; Li is the Anglo-Chinese daughter of zoologists who enjoys testing out her martial arts on Paulo.

After an argument with their supervisor Heather, Amber decides A-Watch should steal food and relax in a small boat beside the ship to thwart her- a fine plan at first, which goes haywire after the rope frays and they awaken to find themselves in the middle of the Java Sea with no one knowing they’re missing. Tensions rise between the teenagers as they panic over food and safety as they work to survive. Hex just barely survives a Komodo dragon attack, and their hope for help in spotting a family aboard a yacht goes down the drain when it becomes clear they are hostages of modern-day pirates. Luckily, for the family- the Larousse family who were friends with Amber’s parents, no less- the members of A-Watch manage to put aside their differences and put together their skills to save the day.

By the end of the book, the group have outwitted the pirates, saved the Larousse family and successfully sent an SOS signal leading to their rescue. During their recovery in hospital, Amber learns the truth about her parents: behind their billionaire software company her parents worked as undercover agents around the world, fighting against corrupt governments, powerful cartels and other dangerous ventures. Amber’s Uncle John agrees to let the five carry on her parents work as a team, noting that five teenagers could easily slip into situations that adults can’t. Hex then announces he has a name for the five: Alpha Force, taking the first letter of all their names and representing the new beginning for Amber to move on from the Omega (ending) necklace she wears round her neck to remember her parents.

Characters who aged well: all of them!

Alex’s love of the outdoors is endearing, and he never underestimates anyone else’s skills despite being the most prepared for struggles in the outdoors; he is fairly introverted and thoughtful without being boring, I think he’s very sweet.

Amber’s presence as a billionaire black girl with great navigational skills was a fun subversion of the unfortunate stereotyped roles black characters are given; she has great character development without losing her sharp-witted personality and she’s very funny.

Hex plays off Amber’s banter with ease after their initial clashing, and I like that, though he loves his electronics, he never lets the team down by adapting to the outdoors.

Paulo is just adorable, a charming boy from a ranch who likes to flirt with the girls he likes but always respects their boundaries. His positivity is also very uplifting.

Li: ahh my cool favourite Li. Not just providing Asian representation, but also mixed representation, which I was very pleased about as a kid, and still am. Similarly to Amber, Li subverts a stereotype of her own- she’s knowledgeable about things without being a nerd, and gets to be the most playful character alongside Paulo. In my experiences with male authors, the girls rarely get to be the ‘funny’ character so I always enjoyed this!

Characters who aged badly: no one!

Favourite scene/quote: “‘Or was Heather right? Are you too good for us, Alex?’ said Li, slyly.”

This quote signifies when Alex properly commits to being a part of A-Watch, going along with Amber’s plan to ignore Heather’s disciplinary instructions in favour of ‘stealing’ food. It’s the first time the group work as a team, and his hesitation gives way to helping his new friends even though he never does anything against the rules. I also just enjoy Li’s sneakiness at any time, really. The following scene where the five relax under the stars eating food and getting to know each other before all hell breaks loose is nice to read, and all the action sequences are really great, especially Amber’s dive with the sharks while escaping pirates.

Overall verdict:

I wanted to give both of these books four and a half stars, so let’s pretend I figured out how to do that. The only reason they both don’t get five stars is because the following books in their respective series improve after the first ones- both in writing style and character development- and I’m allowing room for that.

Starting off with The Lightning Thief, the headlong dive into action from chapter one was so fun, and learning about the monsters and mythology in time with the main character is always a welcome addition. As someone who read the original myths before any Percy Jackson novels, hearing them retold from Percy’s humorous perspective is very amusing. Anyone familiar with Percy Jackson knows that the movies released a few years ago were kind of a major letdown compared to the books, so the fact that Disney+ has now taken the series on board and begun casting (worldwide!) is super exciting! In line with Rick Riordan’s mantra of inclusivity, anyone of any ethnicity or gender can apply for the roles, which I think really fits the concept of what Percy Jackson represents.

There were very few reviews for Alpha Force due to how underrated it is, and all I could find was a few comments on Goodreads. One person mentioned that they felt the beginning of Survival was slow. I personally don’t know what ‘slow’ refers to in this case, as I felt the introductions and set up all very natural and in a way, necessary before the serious action kicks in. However, I tend to enjoy a few quiet scenes focused on character development that might not be for everyone. I’m still pretty sad there’s literally nothing else about this series on any fandom pages or anything, but I suppose I’ll just have to resign myself to just me and my brother talking about it!

In the case of both books in this review, my memories of these series were not simply clouded by the rose-tinted lenses of nostalgia. I remain just as impressed and in love with the worlds and characters within the stories, and I hope other people enjoy them as much I continue to.

[worldwalkernovel]

so i've been doing that boycott thing and just got back, and the whole time i was sort of thinking about the part in the ladyhawke au where crispen introduces himself with brenneth's last name. i was wondering, in a normal au, would they get married? what would happen with last names? on a slightly different note, what are wedding traditions like in alleirat, and do either b or c want to or really not want to marry the other? what are their general attitudes on marriage? nice to see you back!

Crispin’s deepest most secret most denied desire is to marry Brenneth and has been since he was twelve years old send tweet

Brenneth doesn’t have any Emphatic feelings about marriage one way or the other, but Crispin wants nothing more than to be able to call himself Brenneth’s husband and, while he very much assumes for a majority of his life that it’s wildly out of the question, he doesn’t care about how it’s done, where it happens, or who’s in attendance.  If Brenneth wandered up to him in her worst, rattiest clothes with soot on her face and ash in her hair and informed him that they were going to be sworn to each other in front of the gothed and five street urchins, he would be Absolutely Fine with that.  They don’t legally have last names in Alleirat (worldwalkers are identified as “of Alleirat” rather than by family name or city of origin), but in another universe, Crispin would be more than glad to do whatever Brenneth wanted with their last names--probably leave them alone.

As for Brenneth, like I said, she’s not strongly invested in marriage as a concept, particularly not to Crispin.  As far as she’s concerned, she’s more tightly bound to him than she ever could be to another living being, any ceremonial recognition of that fact is merely a formality.  She’d propose if she knew he wanted it, though, once they’re together.  (Someone eventually tips her off that he might enjoy being married properly--he’d never propose on his own time because he’s such a trainwreck of a person.)

Marriage in Alleirat is similar to marriage in, say, the 1300′s, by which I mean that there’s a distinction drawn between a legal status between two people which recognizes that their material possessions are being merged into a single unit (more common in the upper classes) and an emotional bond being recognized publicly (more common in middle and lower classes).  Generally speaking, arranged marriages are done for business dealings, as nobility isn’t hereditary, but there have been cases of trying to keep a line of powerful magic workers “pure” by arranging marriages to the same class of worker over the generations.  This does not always work--magic is generally loyal, but might occasionally decide to jump the tracks and give you a water worker after a hundred years of steel.

In terms of the wedding itself, attire and preferred season are heavily regionally dependent, largely because most Alleirai weddings happen outside--so, in the northern mountains, summer weddings are standard, whereas in the south only Bona Fide Idiots get married in the height of summer heat.  Some rich folks or Politically Important Folks (like, for example, Brenneth and Crispin) might get married in a ballroom or even in the audience chamber of the gothkenla, the city center, but most of the time marriages happen outside.  Weddings NEVER happen in temples--it’s considered bad luck to hold a wedding in a temple, for two reasons.  

First, while most people pray predominantly to one or the other god, it’s usually viewed as tempting fate to so obviously favor one over the other as to hold a wedding in a temple.  This general wariness is related to the fact that one time the gods got mad and fucking obliterated each other and also a whole continent.  

Second, while upper class and political marriages follow slightly different rules, most people consider it bad luck to turn people away from a wedding!  It’s widely believed to bring a marriage full of dissatisfaction and conflict if you actively turn someone away from an Alleirai wedding celebration.  This doesn’t mean you need to invite the whole town, you invite whoever you invite, but if other people show up it’s expected that you welcome them, give them alcohol, feed them, the whole nine.  While most people don’t bother to show up uninvited to a wedding for people they either don’t know or don’t like, this has led to the tendency to hold weddings outside where you don’t have a functional limit on space.

Most weddings are done by the town magistrate or some other person who is generally agreed to be a local social authority--a small enough town might have one of the local elders perform weddings, a large enough city generally has dedicated civil servants who act as officiants--although two especially devout people might have a priest of each god cooperatively perform the ceremony.  At bare minimum there are two witnesses in addition to the officiant and the couple

There’s some variation in the ceremony itself, but there’s always a handfasting element in which the couple clasps their hands together and have some form of liquid poured over their hands.  It’s usually water, although the extremely devout of the Wanderer sometimes use wine or even honey, and the extremely devout of the Lady of Stars will sometimes use silver ribbon or cord left to soak in cold water instead.  This is because the Lady is traditionally offered an empty cup at meals and associated with permanence and death, thus something that can be kept, and the Wanderer is traditionally offered a full cup and associated with wildness and life, thus wine and honey.  Gifts are sometimes exchanged after the handfasting, but it’s more common for the couple to be given garlands of flowers as a way to mark the end of the ceremony, and the couple usually gets some kind of matching indicator eventually (like rings or necklaces or tattoos or whatever), but it’s not strictly associated with the ceremony proper.

.....Brenneth decides that for once in their lives she will be the romantic one and gets proper gold rings to exchange during the ceremony, like they would have had if they got married on Earth.  The only problem with this plan is that Crispin bought rings, like...literally the second Brenneth assured him she wasn’t joking.  So they end up with two rings each.