#frostmantle

[ficbrish]

WIP Whenever

Thank you for the tag @tragedybunny 💖

I'm also trapped in my little cave drafting my big bang fic, which is a modern "90s" Baldur's Gate ice skating au. Enemies to lovers.

Cw - Smoking, Astarion is a bit misogynistic

"You didn't get their webmail?"

"Email," Vistri muttered. No matter how many times she corrected her, Jaheira refused to call it anything but, webmail.

"The hells is a webmail?" Astarion scowled.

"Email!" Vistri repeated, a lot louder.

She swallowed, knowing it had been a mistake to make herself known again.

Astarion took a long, gloating drag on top of that zamboni. Crossed his legs. Looked her up and down.

Despite his apparent ire, he answered calmly, "No, I did not receive any… emails."

His gaze lingered loosely in Vistri's direction.

Jaheira pinched the middle of her brow and cursed before muttering, "If this turns out to be some bullshit I don't get paid for…"

Vistri couldn't understand why Astarion was taking such issue with her presence. Maybe she was wearing something offensive? She tried her best to dress conservatively enough for an initial meeting. Pants and a sweater. Sure, she was wearing a leather jacket, but then so was he.

Vistri looked herself up and down.

Maybe the red boots were a little much…

"Perhaps it got lost in the mail," Astarion suggested.

"Lost in the…?—Vistri!"

Jaheira turned to her, as she always did for technical advice. Not that Vistri was an expert or anything. Just that, well… She wasn't ancient or one of her many children, all of whom had smart mouths and long memories. Qualifications which were good enough for Jaheira as far as technology was concerned.

"Yes?" Vistri dreaded to ask.

"Can that happen?" she gestured vaguely, "Webmail getting lost, just like real mail?"

"Uh…"

Once again, Vistri didn't quite know what to say. Picking up on a strong sense that any hesitation was unwelcome, she settled on the truth, "No? I mean, not really. It—It doesn't work like that. It's data. Like… Like bits of information! Can't really chuck it in the bin or drop it anywhere."

That bitch!

Astarion thought that the message getting lost was a perfectly reasonable explanation, but then that purple-blue priss went and blew his cover! Oh, Vistri was exactly as he thought she'd be! An overrated, sniveling tart.

"You're sure you gave them the correct information?" Jaheira asked.

Sure, he gave an email to that urchin who invaded his flat the other day, but it wasn't a real one. And he wasn't going to make one either!

"Yes," Astarion answered, grinning through his teeth and a cigarette, "I'm quite sure."

"Fine then," she sighed, letting it go, "I'll let them know to send it again."

"Cheers," he muttered, ashing the remainder of his cigarette against the side of the zamboni.

Vistri stared at Jaheira, eagerly awaiting her reaction. The woman furrowed her brow for a moment. Then said absolutely nothing.

Keenly aware of Vistri's expression of surprise and disappointment, Jaheira frowned and turned on her.

"You!"

"Me? What about me?"

"You're late!"

Vistri shrugged, "I'm here though, aren't I? We got there in the end, love."

Tagging: @pickel182 @binaryjayne @frostmantle @cinnamontails-ff @maladaptive-menace @acciokaidanalenko @vorchagirl @keriweird @normalguy2022 @chrysalispen @shockdowndefiance

[sayonaramidnight]

@orime-stories threw this cute dollmaker at me and everyone knows I've only got, like, three pairings in my life, so :3

Tagging: @frostmantle, @rannadylin, @ainyan, @whispering-jabberwocky, @siliethstuff and anyone in a romantic mood!

[toxinfox]

THANK YOU SHIFTING PATH!

Happy Calibration/Exalted Secret Santa 2023!

I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm astonished you've been organizing this event (aka herding internet art cats) for so long. I know this nerdy little community looks forward to it every year.

This year, in honor of the milestone, I wanted to acknowledge your efforts in a bigger way, and I got almost all of this year's participants to join in. Thank you to everyone who let me put your artwork in Path's little art gallery there, and thank you extra to the folks who left messages as well!

I hope the new year is treating you all well, but no matter how it's going, at least we've got this little community here, and I think I speak for many of us when I say I value that a great deal. Here's to the next 15 years!

@shiftingpath

@butch-king-frankenstein

@caprichista

@delvesdaily

@eatenbyfaeries

@fiontan

@fourwillows

@frostmantle

@fullmoonspecial

@gforceworks

@grimmjowjaegerjaquez

@hamsandlich

@heedra

@keirangoldenwatch

@kessinder

@maribunart

@mechanicalriddle

@moonstar-mush

@paint-lady

@skarchomp

@sly-works

@sondersonne

@thedashingduke

@theuncrucified

@woolymonster

(Disclaimer: I didn't know until AFTER I drew this that someone else started this and that Path took it over after year one, but I'm still giving Path the credit for *getting* this event to the 15-year mark. That is still one hell of an accomplishment.)

(To fullmoonspecial: I couldn't reach you to get your consent before Path put up the post-event wrap-up, but if you'd like me to add your art to the gallery wall there, I still can.)

[shiftingpath]

Exalted Secret Santa 2023 Complete!

Thanks for another excellent year, friends. This year was actually tied for most participants to date, to the point of having some trouble formatting this post. (tumblr fears our power.)

Thanks are in order to many: -to @theuncrucified for her work boosting on discord. All my thanks for spreading the word! -to @delvesdaily for pinch hitting, and to everyone else so quick to volunteer. -to @mechanicalriddle, my second-in-command and second set of eyes. -to our longterm participants who return year after year, I am always happy to see you back. -to newcomers who've only just arrived, you bring so much fresh life to this event. thanks for trying something new! -to those who don't participate, but still find time and interest to comment on the pieces!

I hope we can see you all next year!

Please take the time to check out the submissions; the characters are always so cool and the art is consistently amazing. Thank you all for the hard work. Happy Calibration!

-Path

to @butch-king-frankenstein from woolymonster: Meteor King Rahu

to @caprichista from maribunart: V'neef Runai and Salu

to @delvesdaily from grimmjowjaegerjaquez: Pretty Boy

to @eatenbyfaeries from delvesdaily: Vervain

to @fiontan from frostmantle: Gale

to @fourwillows from shiftingpath: Kifimbo

to @frostmantle from hamsandlich: The Sentinel of Blasphemous Covenants Sealed in Silence

to @fullmoonspecial from fiontan: The Phoenix Knight

to @gforceworks from delvesdaily: Laughing Sister

to @grimmjowjaegerjaquez from fourwillows: Cold Fire Hunter

to @hamsandlich from paint-lady: The Seraph of Promised Silence

to @heedra from sondersonne: Daia Shan

to @keirangoldenwatch from moonstar-mush: Seren Witt

to @kessinder from sly-works: The Cultivar of Bloodied Sunsets

to @maribunart from toxinfox: Lei-xin, Ivy, and Kilani

to @mechanicalriddle from eatenbyfaeries: Pleione

to @moonstar-mush from fullmoonspecial: Spears-to-Billhooks Nazmiya

to @paint-lady from theuncrucified: The Marionette Dancing on Bloody Sinew

to @shiftingpath from caprichista: Flame-Eating Moth

to @skarchomp from keirangoldenwatch: Candor That Draws the Horseman's Blade

to @sly-works from heedra: Exquisite Toffee Spinifex

to @sondersonne from thedashingduke: The Brigand Queen of the Western Wyld

to @thedashingduke from mechanicalriddle: Komoh

to @theuncrucified from gforceworks: Kalara

to @toxinfox from kessinder: Anjali, Kaveri, and Malati

to @woolymonster from skarchomp: The Left Hand of Hell

[hamsandlich]

@shiftingpath here's the secret santa for @frostmantle, The Sentinel of Blasphemous Covenants Sealed in Silence. At first I thought making him Astarion, but after the ref pics came out I settled on posing him like Lord Strahd

[pickel182]

WIP Wednesday

Hell must be about to freeze over because I actually made it in time to do one of these 😂

A convo about fake dating headcanons came up with some friends about how and why our Tavstarion ships might have to pretend to be dating and end up falling in love. This is a snippet of my version of that HC turned fic! It’s tentatively titled, Two truths and a lie.

Thank you @inkymoonbunny for the tag!

No pressure tags

@ficbrish @acciokaidanalenko @frostmantle @shockdowndefiance @mj-bites @tragedybunny @tallymonster

[did-you-reboot]

wip ask game

In a new post, list the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

thanks @yunyin for the tag!! <3

I do WIPs slightly differently (maybe?) for my longfics and stick bits into one wip doc and I’ll pull from it when I’m ready for it. The headings include:

The check marks are for fragments I’ve pulled into the fic, and the X is for stuff that just won’t work at all but I am keeping for posterity.

But I also have some actual single docs of wips, with names such as:

Rejoined AU

Some Before Time Shit

Random shit not in any fic (with the following headings: “what happened to you?”, “a kid tho???????”)

Post ME3 (mass effect fic)

Ser DRK

I don’t have this many people to tag lmao so how about: @frostmantle @quinnthebard @smitten-miqitten @silverstreams

[chrysalispen]

well.

surprise! i moved again!

just to allay any fears: it's not for bad reasons, quite the opposite in fact-- missus frost and i were able to save up over the last three years to restore our nest egg from surgeries and student loans to have a down payment on a new house. we are once again homeowners, sticker shock aside (seattle has a stupid expensive market sighhhh), and hopefully it's the last move we make for a long long time

anyway!

as you might guess, moving has left me with very little time to write (and that will be the case probably through into october so ffxivwrite isn't looking super likely this year either. which is just as well since i haven't even touched dawntrail LOL), but i'm hoping to return to pale dawns once the dust settles and i've finished cleaning the rental i was in so i don't have to pay both a mortgage and expensive rent on a vacant house

see yall on the other side of all this, hopefully with an update ready to go lmao

-frostmantle

[starrysnowdrop]

7 Comfort Movies

Post 7 comfort movies and tag 7 people!

While some of my choices may not seem like “comfort” movies, they are to me for one reason or another, be it nostalgia or a favorite actor, or whatever. With that, here’s my choices.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, AKA: The one with the whales! Honestly any Star Trek film can be a substitute here, because my other top fandom besides FFXIV is definitely Star Trek. But this one film in particular is just really good, and it makes me laugh to no end.

Total Recall, the original not the crappy remake. Why? Because I love Arnold Schwarzenegger, it’s so incredibly nostalgic for me, and this film was my introduction to Philip K. Dick’s works, which I went on to do my Master’s Thesis on one of his novels.

Demolition Man, where all the restaurants are Taco Bell! This one is because of nostalgia and because it’s absolutely hilarious.

Blade Runner, because I love this movie so much, I did my Master’s Thesis on the novel that the movie is based on. It’s what made me fall in love with the cyberpunk genre.

The Matrix, mainly the first one, but I do love them all, oddly enough. Keanu Reeves is one of my all time favorite actors, and once again, cyberpunk for the win!

The Mummy, because come on, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are absolutely amazing in this film, and it’s SO GOOD!

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, because yes, my favorite Indiana Jones movie is the oddball second one where they pull out people’s hearts in sacrifice… yeah, I’m weird, okay?

Tagged by: @frostmantle Thank you so much for tagging me sweetie!!! 💖

Tagging: @meepsthemiqo @traveler-of-light @reikatsukihana @faerieearthangel @otherworldseekers @cygnus-exul @mimble-sparklepudding

[aspectedstar]

What does your heart look like? || Ruhania

a compass that doesn’t waver

You are someone who is certain of what you want. Maybe you always have been, or maybe you made a discovery that you haven’t been able to tear your eyes away from. Your heart is set and certain. You fight endlessly for your goals. Above all else, you know who you are and what you are trying to achieve. Just be careful not to tear yourself or others apart in pursuit of your ideals.

Tagging: @porta-decumana @cassandra-wol @lavenderrosewrites @bnuuywol @frostmantle @captainkurosolaire @mages-ballad + whoever wishes to do this!

If you did it already, disregard the tag!

Quiz is here!

[porta-decumana]

Alea Iacta Est - Chapter 15: Dread

Featuring @transcendentafflatus​’s Ruhania and Listelle and @frostmantle’s Aurelia.

tw: emetophobia 

“There is a missive from Werlyt.  It says there has been movement from the VIIth Legion.”

When Tataru announced it, Kaida knew without doubt what that meant.  The next Weapon would be nigh upon them and there was hardly any time to delay.  A ferry to Terncliff would need to be booked, one to bring as many of them as possible. With things calming down in Norvrandt and all of the missing returned to their corporeal forms, there had been enough of a lull where Kaida had gotten comfortable enough to sleep in and even have a mug or two of ale before sunset.  It was incredibly lazy of her to do—noticeably so (G’raha and Tataru had commented on it) but beneath her eyes hung lingering shadows that spoke well enough for themselves.  Kaida Asagiri did not often feel burn out but she did lately, her mind both hazed in a layer of molasses-like fog and constantly flitting about in an unfocused manner.  It was hell, the Raen thought, but it was the result of the too many things that had happened lately.

Kaida drank deep of the mug she had secured from F’lhaminn, setting her mug down with a clunk and a sigh.  She stood up, knowing that eyes were on her as she did.

“Off to pack,” the Raen announced half-heartedly to her peers.  “I suggest you do the same.”

She had a set of quarters in the Rising Stones—they all did.  Kaida blinked and the next thing she knew, she was in the doorway, staring at her room.  A numbness had taken to her arms and legs, pinning her to the spot.  There was a rise in anxiety from chest to throat, bubbling and frothing like a geyser.  She realized a bit too late that it was vomit and another blink later saw her bent over, the ale from just a few minutes ago emerging in a fashion that looked not entirely unlike how it had gone down.

“I am tempted to forbid you from going anywhere,” Aurelia’s voice came from behind and Kaida winced as she rubbed away some of the lingering droplets from her lips.

“Must have not settled well—the ale, I mean,” Kaida tried to evade but she felt the disapproval radiate from behind.  She turned and saw the others standing there—the disapproval slowly melting into awkwardness.

Listelle stared at her with concerned abundant in her mismatched eyes. Ruhania tapped her chin in thought and scrutiny.  Aurelia had a distinct frown about her lips.  

“Don’t look at me like that,” Kaida finally said after a moment, feeling so hollow that her words seemed to echo out, as if they belonged to another.  “I will clean it.”

She set about her work with a mop and a bucket a few minutes later, full of thought and yet so empty feeling.  She tried to dissect why she was feeling this way because she knew it was most certainly not the ale.  And after some debate, the Raen came to the conclusion she had likely known all along but did not want to admit—the thought of going back to Werlyt mortified her.  That sad town on the cliffside, the feeling of melancholy in the air, knowing what could very well happen if they were too slow once more…

The Raen thought she was going to be sick again, grabbing at the base of her neck. But that was when her fingers skimmed over something cool to the touch—something she had forgotten she had been wearing.  Kaida clasped the crystal Gaius had given her and she prayed silently that her fears would be assuaged.  She would be enough this time.

“Are you praying to a mop bucket?”

Her eyes opened and she looked over her shoulder to see a familiar face.

“Ah- E-Eirian!” Kaida rose to her feet quickly and turned, nearly knocking the bucket over with her tail.  “You’re back from Bozja, I see!”

The viera blinked at her, olive eyes moving from the mess on the ground to the Raen. Their pensive expression made Kaida’s face warm all the more.  She made sure the crystal was tucked under her shirt.

“A momentary respite,” Eirian replied.  “You seem…” There was a drawn-out pause.  “… up to something.”

[chysgoda]

Post 7 comfort movies and tag 7 people

Tagged by the wonderful @dragons-bones

So I should mention that my definition of comfort movie is something I can have on while sewing.

And with that strap into the Studio Ghibli film festival!

My Neighbor Totoro

Nausica and the Valley of the Winds

Robin Hood (the old Disney one with the animals)

Castle in the sky

Spirited away

Casablanca

Howls Moving Castle

Let’s hear from

@frostmantle @matrixdragon @koosei @starswornoaths @beetlebrownleaf @voidsentprinces @ivalane

[sayonaramidnight]

@calico-heart tagged me to show my desktop and I swear I didn't wait all day for this specific image to appear ^_^

(I have a slide-show of wallpapers and they're all from FFXIV, I'm fine and life is beautiful).

Tagging: @frostmantle, @rannadylin, @starlightcleric, @drekkarstar and @ichithecupcake <3

[ecosystem-administrator]

WIP tag post!

Make a new post and post your latest line from your WIP & tag as many people as there are words.

thanks to @msviolacea for the tag! I see your devious plot to make me actually get some writing done with like, accountability and stuff. And as it happens, the result is leading up toward spicy:

He was certainly no stranger to the comforts soldiers offered one another far from home, but it had been so long since he was among his own people, and he hadn’t been expecting any such proposition from an Eorzean.

I could tell you about it, but I'm really more curious to see if anyone guesses what's going on here. Unfortunately, I do tend toward the wordy, and even without counting words I can tell you I don't know enough people to tag that many.

@elizabethrobertajones, @starsandauras, @frostmantle, @brosnyaa, @traveleorzea, @tehjai, I don't even know which of you might have WIPs going that you want to share, so feel free to ignore this tag if you'd rather not. And you, person reading this who hopes someone might tag you, there are 33 slots left and they definitely haven't all been filled yet, so now you are also tagged, go post. Any fandom or original, just because I only really write for FFXIV these days doesn't mean you have to be limited to that. Have fun!

[shiftingpath]

Secret Santa 2023 Updates

Hi folks, here is where we are standing currently:

these people are CONFIRMED for Secret Santa and have put their journals up. you do not need to do anything else until I send you your assignment within the next few days:

@butch-king-frankenstein, @caprichista, @delvesdaily, @fiontan, @fourwillows, @fullmoonspecial, @gforceworks, @grimmjowjaegerjaquez, @hamsandlich, @keirangoldenwatch, @kessinder, @mechanicalriddle, @moonstar-mush, @paint-lady, @sly-works, @sondersonne, @thedashingduke, @theuncrucified, @toxinfox, @woolymonster

the following have EXPRESSED INTEREST but not uploaded journals! please confirm you are still interested and try to get your journal up as quickly as possible, or let me know if you won't be participating after all:

@eatenbyfaeries, @frostmantle, @heedra, @maribunart, @zukapony

(also me)

IF YOU ARE THINKING OF JOINING but haven't rsvp'd yet: hurry! the deadline is tonight!

IF YOU ARE IN A GAME WITH ANY OF THE PARTICIPANTS LISTED and you would prefer not to draw for them (probably on account of doing so a lot already), please drop me a line and let me know. there are a lot of new people this year, which is exciting and wonderful, but also i don't know you all yet ;)

EVERYONE please take a look at your journals and make sure any links work and that you have clearly listed the exalt type (etc) of all your characters, and anything else that might seem intuitive, but might not to someone unfamiliar with them. thank you!

Messages will go out in the next few days with your assignments! I will also collect all the journals in a post so they're easy to find, once they have all been posted. thanks for your patience and your interest!

-Path.

[aethernoise]

rest prompt: moonlight. trying to stay up until a loved one comes back home. :3c

Alyx may have already gone to bed, but she clearly had no immediate intention of sleeping. The lamps were lit, and she was sitting mostly upright on top of the covers rather than under them, propped up by multiple pillows. Evidence she had been reading lay beside her--a book still open but clearly set aside on purpose rather than dropped. She was in a state of in-between, not yet dressed for bed but clearly undressed for comfort: tights and socks still on, skirt hiked comfortably up her folded legs, and the high collar of her shirt drooping wide. 

All of these details were, in Aymeric’s mind, familiar, and rather unremarkable (assuming it were possible to claim anything about Alyx was unremarkable). But as he approached, wincing all the while at that one particular floorboard’s announcement of his arrival, he was struck by a detail wholly unfamiliar and quite remarkable indeed: she was wearing glasses.

He had never, ever seen her in any kind of spectacles, nor had he ever known her to require them. These were subtle, nearly rimless, as un-encumbering to her features as was likely possible for such an adornment to be. Aymeric felt then as if he had stumbled not upon a common scene, but a glimpse of a carefully guarded secret.

Another familiar detail: Alyx was almost immediately awake upon his entrance to the room. Even without the traitorous manor floorboards, it was nearly impossible to sneak up on her. She perked up with a sharp inhale and blinked furiously into the scene she had woken into, reaching first for her book, and then, instantly, for the glasses.

Aymeric said nothing, just smiled at her in triumphant glee.

Alyx snatched them from her now deeply-reddening face.

“Not a word,” she threatened groggily.

“Not even one?” 

Her energy snapped back from dozing in the form of an extremely rapid defense: “I only wear them occasionally because sometimes I get awful headaches if I’m reading when I’m tired and ever since I came back from the First it’s been happening a lot more and I needed to do something to--”

“Adorable,” Aymeric said through a chuckle, “If I am to be limited to one word.”

Alyx groaned, rolled her eyes and frowned all at the same time, which produced a result arguably more adorable than the glasses.

“I am not teasing!” Aymeric realized it was difficult to convince her of such when the claim was made through laughter, “Truly, I think they look quite fetching.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled, still pouting, still blushing, still gods damned adorable, “Welcome home.”