#fourth position

[lyctorism]

#they really did that

[iva-the-diva]

in case anyone needs to hear this

a dragon would totally bond you. you're worthy as fuck

[skyfallscotland]

Feeling like I kicked the hornet’s nest with that post. To be clear, I enjoyed the chapter, it was fun, anytime we see Liam again is special. I just don’t think it should be above criticism. Its entire purpose is to make them (author, editor/publisher) money. Do not get that twisted. It's eighteen months later, they are asking you to buy another copy of the same book in order to receive this content. Will RY post it on her website later? Sure, but that doesn't negate the fact this 👏 chapter 👏 is 👏 to 👏 make 👏 them 👏 more 👏 money.

You don’t get to feed into the capitalistic marketing machine and then sit above criticism 🤷🏼‍♀️

It’s so, so easy to read over your previous work to check for inconsistencies, doubly so when you have someone literally employed to do it for you. We do it all the time. For free.

And if this particular inconsistency in question is on purpose, the ensuing narrative doesn’t really make sense, so in my opinion that makes it lazy worldbuilding. We can enjoy something at face value and say that at the same time. This is not a cult 😭

I like the chapter. I like the books. I just disagree that they’re an absolute masterpiece and every little tidbit is said for a reason. We can like things and still point out where they’ve gone a little AWOL.

Ok,

[themratts]

A Surprise For Papa

[ A mysterious 'gift' arrives at the ministry, addressed to Copia, and he's not quite sure what to make of it ]

Rating: Teens and Up (May be subject to change)

Chapter One • Delivery (word count : 2.3K)

—— 🍼

It was easy enough for Papa to get into the zone when it came to his ministry work. Despite how tedious and time consuming it could often be, by now, at his age, he was more than familiar with the grind and it came simply enough to him every day.

He’d sit, at his usual deskspace with his usual documents and reports and church budgets and he’d scribble away at them for as long as he had to. The trick was not to get knocked out of his focus once he was already in. That in itself, was the hard part. As he set his coffee mug down, three sturdy knocks met the door of his study, and when the Ghoul’s voice followed, Papa knew he was in for a long day.

“Hey,” Before Copia could even respond, the door was being opened and his eyes were greeted by the sleek and feisty figure of the fire ghoul. Dewdrop leaned against the doorframe, he told him, “Something’s here for you,”

“What?” That was odd. Not that things - fanmail, letters, whatever else - never came for him, but they were commonly delivered to his personal chambers. The odd part was the way Dew had shown up just to tell him about it, “Here for me?”

“Yeah.”

“What is it?” He asked but the ghoul only shrugged.

“Haven’t opened it. But it’s weird.”

Copia wasn’t sure if he was more curious, or worried. He turned in his chair now, papers forgotten for the moment. “Weird how?”

“Come and see for yourself,” As he left, Dewdrop flicked his tail and then it disappeared into the hallway. Papa knew he shouldn’t. He needed to stay, to get things done. Yet, he couldn’t help the urge to follow him. As if something was pulling him from his chair. Copia rose to his feet, and made his way after the ghoul in the distance.

He led him through the hall and down the main staircase. Before turning, and gearing them into the ghoul livingspace. A widened room with separate halls that would lead to ghoul dormitories, but the open area served as a nice space for them to hang out. Ahead, Papa could see two ghouls crowded around a small table. And when he got closer, he recognized them to be Aether and Swiss. Aether was especially close to whatever was on the table, nose twitching when he sniffed so curiously. Dew stepped to the side, hands on his hips.

“Guys, move.”

The other ghouls looked up, and backed away when Copia approached. Now that he could see what they were looking at, he was even more weirded out. A basket, it looked like, covered by a lumpy, stuffed-in sheet with a single folded piece of paper sat atop. A note, it looked like. It simply read “Papa” on the front. Copia’s brows furrowed, creasing the paint on his forehead. He looked at the mysterious package, to his ghouls, and then back down.

“Where did you get this?”

“It was left at the gate this morning,” Swiss answered, crossing his legs where he sat on the other side of the table.

“The gate?” Copia almost laughed, “This isn’t a prank, is it?”

“Nope,” and Dew shoved his clawed hands into his pockets, “Although that’d be hilarious.”

On the other side of Papa, Aether was taking another step back. He shook his head and crossed his arms, “It smells so strange,” He noted, tilting his head, “You should open it.”

“It smells strange? What does it smell like?”

All three ghouls exchanged a look. A hard to read expression, but it was enough to creep Copia out. He shivered, and when none of them answered, he reached instead for the note that was laid atop the blanket. It was written in unfamiliar handwriting, on thin, ordinary lined paper. He scanned the front and the back, before flipping it open. In big letters on the inside, the words read,

“Your problem now.”

Disturbing. A deeper confusion coursed through him and Papa turned back to his ghouls, “you are sure this isn’t a prank?”

“Not a chance,” Dew raised his hands innocently. Feeling defeated , Copia once again forced his attention back to the basket. He was almost scared to open it. He felt a pressure in his chest, an uneasiness. The circumstances were just so weird. But what choice did he really have?

“Alright,” He sighed. And Copia let his gloved fingers grace the edge of the basket. He hovered there for a second, before moving again. And when he did, he jumped backwards. Something inside the basket had moved, too. “Wh-what the hell!?”

“Dude,” Dew pushed him forward, “Open it!”

“What is it!?”

“We don’t know any more than you do.” A blatant lie.

Papa grumbled. He went to push and rub at his temples but halted when he remembered his face paint. He had to resort to a groan instead.

The thought that whatever was in the basket was alive was both alarming and very concerning. His hand crept forward to the blanket again, as he decided not to waste anymore time in getting to the bottom of it. Carefully, he removed the sides from their tucked position, and lifted the blanket from the basket.

It was barely in his hand for a second before he’d dropped it in shock. Papa gasped, stumbling backward and letting his mouth drop open. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to be inside- but it definitely wasn’t that. A tiny, wrapped up, sleeping little baby.

“What-what the fuck!?” He yelled , slapping his hand to his head. Way, way too startled to care about his paint anymore, “what.. what!!?”

The ghouls were looking at each other, but none of them seemed as surprised. They’d known, of course, what was in there the whole time- from the moment they’d picked it up, the sound of the infant’s heartbeat had been a giveaway.

Copia spun around to them, “what is the goddamn meaning of this!?”

But Dew shrugged, “I feel like we should be asking you that,”

“che cazzo vuoi dire!?”

“I mean, it’s pretty obvious,”

“No it isn’t!?”

“Well,” Swiss leaned forward on the table, “it must be yours.”

“My…..” Copia felt like he’d just hit a brick wall. His stomach absolutely dropped, and he stared blankly at the small baby in confusion and disbelief. “..it… n-no, it can’t be. It can’t be,”

“Why the hell else would it be here?”

“It-It’s not mine.”

“Dude-“

“It isn’t!” Stressed, Copia’s fingers raked through his hair, “It-It just can’t be!”

“Hey, Relax,” Aether placed a hand, soothingly to Copia’s back. Well, about as soothingly as pointed claws can manage, “we’ll figure this out,”

Inside the basket, all the commotion had begun to rouse the sleeping infant. Its hands grabbed weakly at the sheet it was swaddled in , eyes barely opening. Copia just watched. He could hardly breathe.

It… it couldn’t be….

..Could it?

Dew’s tail thumped against Copia’s leg, “why the fuck would someone leave you with their baby if it’s not yours?”

“Can you, please…” Papa groaned. He pulled a chair out from the table and slumped himself into it. “I need… to think for a minute. I just… oh my god…”

Swiss leaned a little closer. Nose angled toward the baby’s hair, “little thing’s super fresh too,” he said, then looked up, “what were you doing nine months ago? Or. I guess. Who?”

Copia remained slumped against the table. He shook his head, “how-how should I know..”

“Nine months ago… nine…” Aeth suddenly snapped his fingers, “We were still out on tour nine months ago,”

The realization settled in on all of them, and all three ghouls slowly turned their heads toward Papa. He was staring blankly at the table, unmoving, stiff as a board but the piercing red that painted his ears was a clear indication that he was in fact, still listening.

“..So, did you..?”

“-on tour?”

“I mean, that’s about right, but-”

“Please.” Copia groaned and leaned back in his chair. His head was pounding, even as he tried to think back to however many months ago, just entertaining the idea that this baby was somehow his had him shaken. What were the chances of this!? He felt… extremely unprepared. “Just… just let me breathe for one moment..”

The ghouls managed to silence themselves, and exchanged looks instead. They weren’t entirely sure how to feel, either. As humorous as it partially was, this was also a very, very serious deal. If this was, in fact, the child of an Emeritus.

The baby made a small, fussy noise and flexed its little hand again. Aether reached forward, allowing it to grab hold of his claw. He smiled, “Cute,”

“Do you think it came from on tour?” Dew asked, and leaned forward on the table beside Papa. The man was quiet for a second, mind running a mile a minute. It was moments until he answered. Quietly, palm against his forehead.

“It’s… it’s not impossible,” he groaned, “but-but unlikely, no? This wasn’t.. I mean, I..”

“I guess you’re a father now,” Dewdrop suddenly slapped him on the back, “Congratulations,”

“Fermare, we don’t know that,”

“There is literally no other reason this baby would be here right now,”

“You know, it’s addressed to ‘Papa’ and not to ‘Copia’, notice?” Aether pointed out, then. He picked the card up, and flipped it around on all sides, as if in search of a clue, “Maybe it came from someone inside the ministry? You know, a congregational member?”

Swiss shrugged, “Yeah, but on tour?”

“Those Sisters who come along and help out backstage?”

“Ohhhh,”

They both looked to Copia, awaiting an answer or reply but he just sat there, blank look on his face. His eyes descended toward the baby in the basket, who was looking at him now, too, and smiling. His heart felt a million things at once, “I can’t believe this..”

“What about a DNA test?” Aether suggested with a shrug, “You know, just to make sure.”

“Yes,” Papa swallowed. It was almost like the reality had started to settle in, and the longer he gazed upon the infant the realer it started to feel. Was it true? Was he really a father now? And if that were the case… who the hell was this baby’s mother?

He felt regret, fear and uncertainty. Guilt. Copia leaned forward, exhaling deeply and covering the upper part of his face with his already paint-stained gloves. He shook his head, mumbling something not quite audible. The ghouls looked at each other. And Dew took a step back, “I’m gonna go get Sister,”

“No,” Copia lifted his head, “Please, per favore, she cannot know about this!”

“What?” The ghoul let out an amused hiss, one of laughter, “You expect to hide an entire baby from her?” He could practically see Papa sweating.

“we-well… eh…”

“They’re gonna know about this one way or another.”

He knew they were right. Groaning again, Copia just shook his head and slumped back in the chair. He didn’t notice when Dewdrop turned and left the room, but even then, he didn’t care. His body felt numb, and he stared and stared at that little bundle on the table. How could something so small carry such a heavy weight of responsibility? He couldn’t even imagine what this would do to his schedule. To his… everything. Copia trembled.

“I.. I-I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby,” And Aether placed a hand on his shoulder, patting it there.

“It’s alright,” He did his best to comfort, “You’ll figure it out,”

“How could this have happened…” Papa shook his head, slowly. And when he turned, and looked up at the ghoul beside him, his eyes appeared damp, “How could I be such an idiot?”

“You aren’t an idiot,”

“The thought of..” He paused, and his lip quivered. Copia turned his head away, emotions hitting him somewhat suddenly. He told him, “...the thought of someone, someone carrying my child, while I am far away, with no idea, no way to care for her, to be there or to help… that breaks my heart,”

“Hey,” Aether continued to pat his shoulder, “Hey, It’s alright. And… besides. She seemed to know where you are, yeah? She left the baby here. So.. if she’d wanted you for anything, don’t you think she’d have reached out?”

Papa hung his head, low. The words weren’t nearly as comforting as they might’ve sounded. Whoever this woman was, she likely wanted nothing to do with him. Nor with the baby, apparently. The longer he thought about it, the sadder he became.

Copia rose from his seat. The baby gazed up at him, eyes wide and curious, and made a small babbling sound. The man sighed, “I don’t know. I don’t know.. where this came from, or what’s going on here, but. We certainly aren’t going to leave it here, and certainly not without a home.”

From the basket, he lifted the little baby, still wrapped and swaddled in its blankets. It was warm, precious, and when its little head lay against him he felt himself melt. He mumbled quietly, “You are certainly adorable..” And brought one finger up to let it grab. The baby giggled, gently when it did and Copia couldn’t fight his smile. “I wonder if you have a name,”

“I guess you’ll pick the name,”

“I guess…” Papa sighed. He only watched, still and mesmerized by the tiny being in his arms, how sweet and sound, and resting on the possibility that this baby was his own. He just couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t. It had been so quick, so sudden. And yet.. after only ten seconds in his arms, Copia knew. If this baby was his… if it was really true. He wouldn’t stop at anything to be the best, the best Papa that he could possibly be.

[idk1027]

imagine if Basgiath was a preschool…

I don’t even know how my brain came up with this but imagine nap time.

Violet: *in the corner furthest from the teacher whispering with Rhiannon* Did you see, today at snack time Xaden gave me his apple juice and during recess he said I could join his game of tag

Xaden:*Closet to the door with all of the marked ones* Ok, here’s the plan when I say go Bodhi will go and wake up Dain then while he distracts the teacher we all run and meet up at the swing set

Bodhi:*pouting* why does it always have to be meee? Butttt fineeeee

Dain:*near the teachers desk, wakes up hearing Violet and Rhi talk*ExcUSe Me, Mr PaNcHEk BuT I sIMpLy caNNoT SLeEp unDEr tHE-*Bodhi runs up screaming and jumps on him, the marked ones run out the door violet and this following cuz why not*

Panchek:*crying* Fuck, not again I cannot deal with this again, I quit, I’m done, never again

Ridoc: *Holding a plastic microphone like a reporter* And the race begins so far the marked ones are in the lead, mr panchek is still at his desk and has yet to inform anyone but that doesn’t mean the marked ones are safe yet, more at 6

Bonus

In Principle Sorrengail’s office

Lilith Sorrengail:*pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing* Violet I honestly expected better of you, your my child and yet you won’t even follow the rules I put into place, as for the rest of you I get that nap time isn’t very exciting but you cannot just run away every time, O’ve already had to replace your teacher’s aid once please don’t make me do it again

*the kids not listing at all*

Lilith Sorrengail: great don’t do it again I’m tried of see your faces, even yours violet, get out.

[chromanebula]

I have Thoughts about Lando blowing up the second Death Star.

This is a man who, from what we see, is new to the Rebellion. He has a background as a scoundrel (just like Han), but ever since he took over on Bespin he's been keeping his head down to avoid the wrath of the Empire. He likely passively supports the Rebellion, but he can't afford to involve himself or the people he is responsible for. When the Empire comes, they hold Cloud City hostage to force him to betray his friends, his friends' friends, and his own heart. Yet the moment Vader alters the deal - the moment he realizes the Empire had no intention of sparing the friends they promised to spare, and almost certainly never had any intention of sparing his people either, making the whole deal for nothing - it's hero time. This is a man who knows now that there is One Way Out. Playing by the rules won't save anyone, because that's how fascist systems operate. They don't care if you comply. What do you want to bet that Chewie was really enraged with Lando for foolishly believing Vader's promises (and, ultimately, with the Empire itself)? What do you want to bet that Leia told him, in mutual reflection, how Tarkin dealt with her and her people?

For Lando, that second Death Star absolutely represents the Empire. But it also represents his second chance to stand up and fight back after checking out of the struggle for so long, just as the mission to rescue Han from Jabba's palace represented his second chance to reject cooperation with crime lords while staying loyal to the friends he made along the way, even at risk to himself. He may not have been there when Luke blew up the first one, but he'll sure as hell be there now. He will deliver a blow right to the heart of that horrible explosive transmitter for the whole galaxy, ready to fire despite any deals struck, despite any military targets given, despite any friends and allies betrayed. He's not sitting around in his own territory - he's taking the fight right to Palpatine's throne room. And when that Death Star is shown to be already operational, when he notices the defenses and realizes immediately that the Empire was prepared for them, he doesn't miss a beat. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. There is no shame on him anymore, if there ever was. Like his friend Han, he has grown into the hero he was always meant to be.

[neptunesailing]

enstars x hq au inspired by @/echopaulens' drawings

[everykabuto]

[insecthusbandry]

The lamp here is terrible for taking photos but here's a lil sketch of the zoophagus patient.

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Riot Kings, page 138

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[uncanny-tranny]

Sending so much respect and love to people whose English is "broken." Whether that is because of disability, immigration, age, you haven't been studying long - it doesn't matter why your English is the way it is.

The best thing about language is how versatile it is - that means there are an infinite number of ways to express yourself. Your broken English is beautiful! It is a vital part of the English language. It doesn't need to be "perfect" to be valuable. There are people out there who will put in the work to make sure both of you are understood, just like you are putting in the work to communicate 💐

[ae-neon]

Fourth Wing

Chapters 1 - 3

Disclaimer: Much like SJM, I have no love or like for RY, they get no money or support from me for reasons I feel are obvious

Here's the good, the bad and the complicated

The good:

I didn't have high expectations, I know what this book is, I know almost all of the plot of the two books released so far via spoilers in general bookish spaces and it's...doing what it does.

I'm not a dragon enthusiast but they're a welcome element to the story.

Mira is hot. And caring.

The bad:

A little more editing might have been needed. Already made posts about "The Continent" and "The parapet"

RY is more concerned with info dumping Poromiel geopolitical trivia than making the immediate setting feel real, I spent so much time trying to understand the map and it turns out North is at the bottom? Like who does that?

Authors who include drawn out wars in stories please realise countries cannot afford to let candidates and cadets die willy nilly and that many more people should be reproducing to feed the war machine. Sparta failed, stop gloryfying them.

Authors of romance, romantasy and especially "enemies to lovers" please invest in suspense and character building. We do not need to see the mmc in the first chapter when we hardly even know the fmc 😭

It would have been more impactful if Dylan started killing people out of desperation than to have both Dylan (a walking death flag) and Jack (a cartoonishly evil person) be exactly what they looked like at first glance.

The complicated:

On the topic of Violet's disability and how that's incorporated into the story

I wanna say that I don't have EDS, I cannot understand the disability rep to that extent. That being said, I have a weak lung and some issues with my autoimmune system which really impacted my school life and experience with exercise.

I'm worried, given things I've heard about the story, that it is not about dealing with disability but escaping it.

Violet is especially sensitive about being perceived as weak but it doesn't seem like RY is gonna make her confront the reality of that or circumvent it, since we're told Violet lives with disability but we're also told Violet is almost exceptionally fast and agile. (both of these require muscle strength so...)

She climbs 70+ stairs holding a heavy backpack and acts like being winded is "proof" of her physical condition being worse than others but that seems completely normal?

Again, I could appreciate Violet's complicated feelings around Mira and Dain's concerns if I was sure the story was intentionally going to address this - as part of the frustration and other mental processes of dealing with a body you feel you cannot use the way everyone else does - but so far Violet's experiences seem so dimished.

[soupmanspeaks]

headcannon michael was a tinkerer in general, but more so understress (hence Helpy, PanManStan, #1 Crate, Mr.Hugs, ect) so whenever Glamfreddy's circuts are a bit overworked he'll go to his greenroom and just start building stuff lol

[sieglinde-freud]

been thinking about the tharjabelle family unit a lot. i think maribelle spent five thousand years scraping through ye olden baby names textbooks in her family’s library and was like “We shall name our daughter Noire! It’s a lovely name, a reference to your love of the dark arts and [wikipedia etymology section] while still being classy. Just gorgeous. Now, what shall we name our son?” and tharja goes “brady.” mari’s like ???? fym brady what the hell is that and tharja goes “oh its traditional plegian” “Oh, really!? 😄” “no”

[stories-by-rie]

how to feel excited about my own projects again

[kindaorangey]

i feel like it's impossible to watch andy in alien romulus without the 'black character dies first' trope in mind. from the get-go, he's an android whose stated main function is in service of the main protagonist. he's treated as a second-class citizen by the government and harrassed because of this status. the only reason he's brought onto the mission is because his programming grants the other characters access to the ship. everything, everything about him screams "support character who will die once they've served their purpose". and then it's revealed that raine intends to leave him behind once she gets out of the mining colony. he is definied, clearly, as expendable. and when he gets his new chip, he saves everyone - he performs and even greater service - and then he has to start making hard decisions for the crew's survival, and they treat him like a heartless monster. as soon as he stops being in service of them, they turn on him. and he doesn't even do anything evil - every "heartless" decision he makes is one where the whole crew is about to be killed, and so he elects to save some of them and leave those he can't. his curse is making the rational decision in a horror movie and being demonised for it.