#it doesn't know how to make more of them since dorian was the only one who knew their composition. and so blamore only has a limited amount

[lususnatura]

OOH... i might have just come up with a new plot-line for blamore, and it is kind of diabolical, NGL 👀

[wolfstarshipping]

wolfstar wips

So I'm using the @hprecfest day 12 prompt "a WIP you're following" to post a short rec list of WIPs that has been sitting in my drafts for so long now I even had to remove a fic that had been finished in the meanwhile!

Something rotten in Grimmauld Place by @plecotusauritus (8,802 words, Hamlet AU) This is a wolfstar Hamlet AU, need I say more?? I've never much cared or thought about Hamlet since I read it in school but this fic (almost) makes me want to reread Hamlet and I can't wait to see where the story goes next, I love the atmosphere this fic captures, the lovely writing style and just seeing all these characters we know so well fit into the plot of Hamlet is so, so cool!!

the oldest recipe for parsnip soup by @eyra (10.639 words, modern AU, christmas fic) Getting another fic by eyra for the holidays has been such a wonderful treat! I love the whole setting and the characters of this fic so much already, especially Sirius!! And the writing and all the descriptions are so, so beautiful, as always, highly recommend checking it out!!

Welcome to Aphrodite by @de-sire-blog & @rhabarberjunge (18.957 words, magical AU, secret identities) this is one of those fics I've read a while ago, but I keep thinking about it because I loved it so much. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but the premise is Sirius finding a hidden, adults-only club that makes people's secret desires come true, and of course Sirius's secret desire is Remus... It's hot, it's fun, and it's incredibly angsty, I love it.

Stitched into My Skin by @squintclover (19.297 words, canon divergent AU, memory loss) I love the heartache and all the bittersweetness that comes with memory loss fics so much already, and I am so obsessed with the way it's been done in this fic. The premise of the fic is Peter casting a memory loss charm on Sirius on October 31st 1981, which leads to Remus raising Harry and randomly coming across Sirius years later, only Sirius doesn't remember him. I'm so intrigued by the first few chapters already and can't wait to see where the story goes next!

Marauder FM by @hollyivydruzy (26.402 words, modern AU, radio AU, enemies to friends to lovers) I know I've recced this fic before but I will never shut up about it because I love it, and especially this fic's Remus so, so much! It's an iconic, funny radio AU set in London, and I wish the radio shows from this fic were real because I would listen to Sirius's radio show every morning if I could. I just love the vibe of all of them working at the radio station together and the slow burn enemies to friends (to lovers) is so delicious!

The Patchwork of Us by @tracingpatternswrites (27.502 words, modern AU, enemies to lovers, co-parenting Teddy) This is such a lovely fic about Sirius and Remus navigating the difficult situation of co-parenting Teddy after Tonks dies, I love the domesticity and the enemies to lovers vibe of this fic so much!

The Picture of Sirius Black by @lynxindisguise (30.049 words, Dorian Gray AU) okay anyone who has ever seen my blog knows how much I love lynx's writing, which is why I am also obsessed with this fic, even though it's a genre I'm usually not that familiar with. It's a Dorian Gray AU, it's gothic horror but especially the first few chapters are also giving victorian romcom with murder sideplot vibes (and I mean this as the biggest compliment), this fic will make you laugh and cry and want to murder some of these characters yourself maybe.

Only Fools Are Satisfied by grumposaur (@pancakehouse) (38.353 words, modern AU, tennis AU). I really love the exploration of Sirius's family dynamics in the context of him being a professional athlete in this fic, and Remus with his tanlines and freckles is everything!!

Neon Moon by @krethes (47.698 words, modern AU, cowboy stripper Remus AU, Las Vegas) I didn't know how much I needed Remus to be a stripper and a cowboy before I read this fic, but now I do and I love him!! The whole premise of them meeting at a strip club while Sirius is out on James's bachelor party is so iconic, and the vibes of the fic are just overall excellent, highly recommend checking it out!

on another ocean by @colgatebluemintygel (118.148 words, modern AU, backpacking/interrail, friends with benefits) Where do I even start? This is an incredible fic, one of my all time faves, I've reread some of the chapters several times now and am so obsessed with this fic's Remus in his socks and sandals, driving Sirius crazy with lust. Also I will not spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but the scene in the budapest chapter in the club bathroom features one of my favorite Sirius moments of all time, across all universes haha.

marginalia by @spindrifters (266.547 words, magical AU, canon divergent AU - Grindelwald won, slavery AU) I'm having a hard time trying to put my love for this fic into words in just a short paragraph. This fic is so unique in its setting, and it's so beautifully written and asks & answers the question "what if Grindelwald had won?" in such an incredible, highly political and also very immersive way, if you haven't read it already I really recommend checking it out (as well as the already complete Tedromeda spinoff set in the same world, history books!!!).

Staying Strangers by 3amAndCounting (319,368 words, modern AU, texting fic, university AU). This is one of my comfort fics, I love a good texting AU, this is quite a popular fic anyways but if you haven't read it and like modern AUs & texting fics (though it isn't all just texting) go check it out!

[adoribullpavus]

EXCITING NEWS GUYS

i have started development on my first ever renpy game. i'm so excited since this is something i've wanted to do for a while now, but renpy always kinda scared me. but i've finally put it into action and i'm really looking forward to the journey ahead.

the game is still in extremely early development, but i have planned an outline of the plot, written some scripts, and have come up with so many ideas i want to share with you all.

as you can see, it is a dai fan game. if anyone knows if i can get sued for this, please let me know lmao

i don't want to give too much away but here are some features i'm planning to include:

you can choose from 17 different characters to play as (12 will be available straight off the bat, and 5 will be secret routes that are unlocked via other routes). these are all characters from inquisition.

you get to decide who your character ends up with, or even stay single if you want to be.

you can end up in a polyamorous relationship with (almost) free reign as to which characters that relationship includes.

no two routes are the same. each route will have the same plot but you can make it your own through your choices. remember; just because picking option b worked for your dorian playthrough, doesn't mean it'll work when you're playing as cullen.

there are a LOT of choices that genuinely impact the direction of the story.

each character has a bunch of different endings and they're all carefully tailored to your decisions.

as the game is still in early development, with only a faint outline holding it together, plans can change. however, as far as i know, this is how many endings each character can have:

the dorian route has 8 endings and 7 secret endings.

the iron bull route has 11 endings and 6 secret endings.

the varric route has 10 endings and 6 secret endings.

the cullen route has 10 endings and 5 secret endings.

the sera route has 6 endings and 5 secret endings.

the leliana route has 11 endings and 7 secret endings.

the cole route as 3 endings and 4 secret endings.

the josephine route has 11 endings and 5 secret endings.

the blackwall route has 10 endings and 3 secret endings.

the cassandra route has 9 endings and 6 secret endings.

the solas route has 10 endings and 3 secret endings.

the vivienne route has 3 endings and no secret endings.

i have tried to provide as much freedom as possible when it comes to pairings, but there are a few exceptions:

dorian and sera are still gay/lesbian and can only be romanced by characters of the same gender - so naturally they will have less endings as their options are restricted.

cole doesn't have a lot of romantic endings as there were only one or two characters i felt comfortable writing him with (so far only dorian has a cole romance ending, and cole has three secret romantic endings). this could change in the future but definitely not for characters such as varric and solas who cole shares a very parental relationship with., or for vivienne due to the power difference between them that would make me extremely uncomfortable to write.

vivienne also doesn't have a lot of romantic endings but that's more to do with the fact i struggle to write her in romantic scenes. again, this could change.

the rest are all free to romance whoever they want. cullen can romance a man (or two or three). cassandra can romance a woman (or two or three). basically there's no such thing as straight in this game. go nuts.

i will keep you all updated as i progress. the game will take a long while to create and i would appreciate any advice/help/suggestions etc to make it enjoyable for everyone. i would also appreciate the support from you guys as i dive into my first game making experience.

but just remember i am a single 20 year old girl who's doing this in her free time. i don't have a huge team behind me so the game is going to take a lot of time and effort to become something playable.

follow the tag ' #the dai kissing game ' if you want to keep updated on the game's progress.

thank you guys!!

[brakingpoint]

i missed your answer but happy day of the lord i'd love you to rank drivers by hotness because i think you're hilarious

you know what it's been like three days of the lord since you sent this but i've finally got bevved on one of them so let's go. i do not believe in rankings so i will instead be offering my commentary in current drivers championship standings order

max verstappen - i wont lie i know he's not everyone's cup of tea but i do find him quite sexy. do not understand the overwhelming tit hype on this website because this man would have to clench for his life to fill a victoria's secret training bra but it's fine because his beautiful autistic rizz and enchantingly bold nose make up for it. points deducted because i can tell his skincare routine is dish soap

lando norris - 2019 lando norris is like, i am honestly too old to have found him sexy if i'd been into f1 at the time bc even though we're only like 2/3 years apart in age he looks about 5 years younger than me. but i can completely get how if you were like 16 at the time he would seem like the cutest boy on the planet. like up all night era one direction vibes you know. unfortunately his 2024 styling with the weird desperate attempt at facial hair makes him look like a man who uses snapchat for evil

charles leclerc - objectively beautiful man crafted by the gods themselves but i can't honestly say he makes me feel anything carnally. i look at him as i would a marble sculpture in a museum

oscar piastri - he is not a bad looking guy but he does nothing for me. partially an age thing and partially his complete lack of rizz. he doesn't have time to be sexy he's got a job to do and that job is scaring the pants off lando norris every time he's within DRS range

carlos sainz - sometimes i think he is one of the top 10 sexiest men ever to exist on the planet and sometimes i think he looks like that really angry eagle off the muppets. he's got to work the right angles

lewis hamilton - much like charles leclerc he is someone who is so deeply objectively sexy that it almost reverts to me feeling nothing wait a second somebody just beamed psychic images of those interviews from like singapore 2019 where he had his hair up but with a couple bits framing his face so gorgeously and now i can't form words or think of anything else

george russell - the thing you have to understand is i went to oxford and i went clubbing a lot in oxford and so i have made out with a number of george russell lookalikes that is easily in the double figures. and i have zero regrets

sergio perez - he's not sexy he is like a cabbage patch doll whose nose i want to boop so fondly as i very gently whisper in his ear to DRIVE FUCKING FASTER

fernando alonso - i don't find him sexy but at the same time i can understand why lance stroll does

nico hulkenberg - i feel like you either have to be a really really straight woman or a really really gay european man to find him hot. and i am unfortunately neither

lance stroll - i'm refraining from answering until he grows his hair back out. at which point i will still refrain from answering but moreso for my own dignity

yuki tsunoda - we must not underestimate the rizz of a man so short he could be a back up dancer on sabrina carpenter's short 'n' sweet tour. i can unequivocally say i would

alex albon - you see physically he is not really my type but being engaged in conversation with him for more than five minutes would have me so horny i can barely breathe. i just love a dork yknow. i feel like i'd match with him on tinder by the strength of his bio even though his selfies are a bit shit and then i'd be actively drooling throughout the entire date

daniel ricciardo - in 2018, yes. in 2021 onwards, no. was he in some sort of reverse dorian grey situation where his portrait has gotten both hotter and attained better f1 results? who knows

pierre gasly - if he brings back the long swoopy hair with the frosted tips we are back in fucking business quite frankly

ollie bearman - i know he's technically an adult but he looks so young that even including him in this poll as an aside feels noncey to me

kevin magnussen - i have nothing to say. next

esteban ocon - he's tall, i suppose

franco colapinto - once again it's an ollie bearman situation where i can objectively acknowledge that he's a handsome lad but i've been following him since he was 19. i CANNOT see him that way.

zhou guanyu - i feel like his inherent swag is wasted in f1 i'd probably fancy him a lot more if he was some rando catwalk model i saw reblogged onto my dash precisely once when he was walking the runway in dior's latest collection at paris fashion week or something

logan sargeant (rip) - i really can't knock the people who fancy him because i feel like if you're american making out with 5000 guys who look just like him at college parties is my equivalent of making out with a ton of george russell impersonators at oxford. but thus i cannot see it due to our vastly different life experiences

valtteri bottas - he's hot in the way that like i walk into a gay bar and see the posters of men in leather jockstraps plastered around the place and go you know what this is not targeted to me but i can see why this is hugely titillating to the people these pictures were actually put up for. he's the closest to 1980s gay porn we have on this grid and i have to hugely respect that even if he's not my personal type

bonus liam lawson round - he looks like he was meant to debut in a boyband circa 2014 but accidentally got locked in a portaloo before their first recording session and they just kind of forgot about him there and he's just stumbled out into the daylight right now for the first time in 10 years and he's a little startled and hasn't learned about modern fashion yet but he's still kind of hot to people who would have desperately fancied luke from 5SOS were they above the age of seven at the time that band debuted

[queentala]

Random small headcanons for my fav SJM men

Those are totally random thoughts I had and just kept collecting, also I'll be adding new ones when I'll come up with something. Feel free to reblog and add yours <3

I think Gavriel can draw really well, especially with pencil. Like, you know, he's a really precise and detailed guy, plus thanks to his soldier skills he has really stable hands, and it just sits right with me

Azriel loves when you paint his nails black. Also once you made him wear eyeliner and he actually really liked the results, so now from time to time he lets you do it

Aedion has his ears pierced but doesn't wear any earrings (it was probably a dare, even more likely he was drunk then)

Ruhn likes to have a small, faint lamp put on when he sleeps. It looks like a white sparkle and doesn't cast much light but having it next to his bed makes him feel somehow more safe and comfy

Also, he loves being held while sleeping. When you let him snuggle to your chest and hold him tight... It's his paradise, he can stay like this for eternity

Cassian is very ticklish (especially on feet). It's actually his secret because, come on, he's the Lord of Bloodshed, how can he be ticklish? And of course you fully respect that, not wanting his reputation to suffer, however, when it's just the two of you... Let's say Cass has to be pretty alert most times as you love to take advantage of that

Fenrys always brings you a plushie from his travels to foreign countries. Actually, he brings you many different things like jewellery, dresses, combs, mirrors, gems... everything. But a plushie, is a must. You have a whole collection of small cute stuffed animals (mostly wolves) from different parts of the world. Every one of them has a name, personality and a back story which you and Fenrys always come up with

Aedion is a horse girl. He rides so well and just loved being around those animals since he was a little boy. Often he takes you on all day long trips around Terrasen. Also he has few of his favorite horses and he spoils them so much, they're just his babies.

He also probably has like six dogs and wants to adopt every one he sees on the street

Lorcan most of the times either doesn't cuddle or is the big spoon. However, after really hard day he loves to fall asleep with his face in your breasts and his hair stroked

Sometimes when Rowan is engrossed in his work, he hums songs mindlessly

Fenrys talks in his sleep, and this goes to the point where you can literally argue with him or have a whole conversation as he's asleep

Aedion swears a lot. Gavriel doesn't swear almost ever and his face when Aedion starts throwing curses he could never imagine is just priceless

However, Gavriel knows many langues. So, whenever he's angry and finally hit his breaking point, he starts shit talking and insulting everyone in a foreign langue no one knows (just imagine him aggressively talking to himself in Spanish while walking around and throwing hands in the air lol)

Cassian always sleeps naked and refuses (will literally get offended) to do otherwise, even if there are different people sleeping in the room (read: Azriel)

Dorian baby talks to his dogs. Sometimes when he does this he forgets that he is a king and then have the whole castle talking about it for the next week (people find it adorable though. some of them at least.)

Rowan always has some blades with him. Always. Dude could be standing in the room only in his boxers and still proceed to pull out a knife from gods know where

Also, he will never admit it but he has some of his favorite blades that he had named. But if you'd ever done this he would laugh at you

Once you've gotten Ruhn a bracelet for his birthday that was a guitar pick of his favorite guitarist on a black string and from then he doesn't take it off. Ever.

We know Ruhn has this very rare and useful ability to speak in people's minds, however his favorite way to use those abilities is to make the dumbest jokes in your head in the most random moments and watch you burst out laughing around all those strangers that have no idea what is going on

GAVRIEL HAS DIMPLES

AND SO FUCKING DOES AEDION

(he also got the big d genes from him but it's the topic for other post)

So, Fenrys is a master at coming up with the weirdest nicknames for his loved one, however, no one compares to Cassian in this matter. His creativity sometimes is more than flesh and blood can bear

Lorcan is actually the biggest girl dad

Let's be honest, Dorian has better skin care than any lady in the whole sjm universe

Cassian loves being called your pretty princess

Azriel loves puzzles. And Legos! There's no better way to spend your day off than building castles and forts, and then having an actual battle between your kingdoms

Bat boys are not really fond of thunder... I think they have bad experiences with flying during storm and it haunts them to this day. They always want to be the little spoons and be cuddled when there's a storm outside

Azriel has bat slippers and Fenrys has wolf or bunny slippers

Dorian loves wearing sygnets. He has so many and you're simply obsessed with them. He's a king, he has to look decent, you know, but Dorian loves wearing them even if it's just the two of you snuggling or sitting in the library reading. Or when he fucks you and you can feel them dig into your skin when he grabs your ass..

Lorcan enjoys having his hair combed. He just melts when you do it. And if you do a little braid somewhere on his head he will keep it and wear it for the next few days

Gavriel is the best dancer you will ever meet. On the balls he can easily make everyone's attention turn to the two of you. But he also likes to dance with you in your house or chambers, where there are no people or music, and to be honest both of you like those moments much better

To be continued....

[fleouriarts]

time for a jamie and co LORE POST!!!! here's them with their (immediate) families. all the actual lore and such below

JAMIE: only child with a single mom. since furries in this universe can only have kids within their taxonomic families, adoption is really common among smaller families like prionodontidae. however jamie's mom erica really wanted a bio kid, so she ended up marrying another linsang who she liked... well enough, but not that much. they get divorced when jamie's a little kid. she had jamie at an older age; by the time he's in college her markings have already started greying, which is why she looks a little dull next to him. nowadays she works as a teacher and she loves her son vewy much :3

SANTIAGO: santiago is the only one in the main cast with different species parents. cross-species kids are just the species of either parent with a 50/50 chance cus i don't feel like dealing with hybrids... HOWEVER sometimes genetic fuckshit happens. because of said genetic fuckshit, santiago grew to a cow size instead of a sheep size. i couldn't fit all the family relations shit on the actual image but emilio is santiago's OLDER brother (hes 25) but people always assume hes younger because santiago is a giant. magnolia and amapola are twins and both 8. mariana is either a teacher or a librarian (haven't figured it out yet) but she used to paint when she had more free time which is how santiago got interested in painting and eventually went into fine arts. jorge is a plumber and emilio is a graphic designer. santiago is the first in the family to leave their hometown (key west) for a degree (emilio went to a local college) and his mom + sisters were SOOOOOOOOOO SAD so he comes home to visit as often as he can. also since he is in family bovidae he has several cousins/aunts and uncles/etc that are different species. all i know for sure is that one of them lives near jamie and co's college and is some sort of antelope (leaning towards bongo bc i like them). also using this poast to announce that i changed santiagos outfit here is his new cute flowers and bees sweater look

JOHNNY: her family works on a chicken (and other assorted birds) farm, the chickens are for both eggs and meat while the other birds are just for eggs. this is actually a common set-up in the dorian furryverse, it's hard to farm livestock as a carnivore (because all the livestock are deathly afraid of you) so herbivores usually do the job even if they can't actually eat what they farm. johnny's parents are sorta "confused but got the spirit" about her being a butch lesbian. jimmy is an ass about it but he gets better. shoutout to this horse color calculator for helping me figure out which coat colors were plausible for them

NULL: null has an older brother and does not talk to their parents. sakichi is six years older than null and they were never very close; their parents treated sakichi as the "successful" child and null as the "problem" child. they're also quite conservative. null realized they were agender in high school but stayed closeted at home, they planned to come out to their parents immediately once they got to college and were able to support themselves. something happens that instead makes them come out a few days after their graduation and they get kicked out. null doesn't know where to go and ends up living at johnny's farm for the summer before college (sakichi lives far away doing some tech job and so can't take them in). the clantons are basically null's family at this point. once null legally changes their name they remove their last name entirely (it probably says X on their documents just cus there has to be SOMETHING there). sakichi and null see each other very occasionally, and sakichi still talks to their parents, but only when absolutely necessary. it's not malicious, he'd just feel too guilty cutting himself off from them completely

ARGYLE: argyle is an only child with well-off parents, his mom is a lawyer and his dad is a quirky ancient history professor. his parents are like EXTREMELY doting so they were secretly kinda glad that he came back home so they could see him more often. argyle was really scared that they would hate him for going into a less stable field, but his parents love him to death and are ready to support him in whatever. suzanne was probably a nightmare at pta meetings i'll be so real

[minty-mumbles]

Shifting Hues (Ch. 5: Pink Blush)

Summary: In all the eras of Hyrule's history Wild has travelled to with the heroes of courage, red is considered a feminine color.

Wild likes the color red. 

Or: A fic that follows Wild’s journey to discover themselves

A/N: Hi It's been over a year since I last updated this fic 😂 😭

(Read fic on AO3)

~~~

Wild is glad to be back in their own Hyrule. They had missed the wild and unexplored land. The other eras they’d visited were each beautiful in their own ways, but nothing would ever compare to Wild’s homeland. 

But most of all, they had missed the people from his era. Especially Riju and Zel. They miss their other friends too, but the easy acceptance they’d found in Riju and Zel was something that Wild longed for every day.

The heroes exit the latest portal near the end of the Lanayru Promenade, and it takes them less than an hour to reach Kakariko, passing by the great fairy fountain and the shrine that overlooks the village. Wild makes sure to keep a careful eye on Hyrule as they walk through the forest, making sure that the traveler doesn't stray from the path. Wild knows if Hyrule finds his way to the fairy fountain, there’s no way they would make it into town tonight.

They enter the village quietly without any ceremony. Wild can’t help the smile that creeps onto their face as they move further into town. This has always been one of their favorite places in Hyrule. Nothing could beat Hateno, which would always hold a special place in their heart, but Kakariko would always be a close second. It had been the first populated place Wild had stumbled across after they’d come back to life, and the people here had welcomed them with open arms.

By the time the group of heroes got to the village proper, the sun had already begun to set, bathing the whole town in a golden glow. The only person still lingering in the town square beside the guards is a single child sitting next to the communal bonfire that burned around the clock in the town square. Soft flute music drifts toward the group from the child’s direction.

The child’s playing is calming as it echoes around the quiet village. It isn't anything remarkable- only a simple melody- but the notes were clear and even. As the group moves closer, Wild realizes that it’s not just any child playing, but Koko, Dorian’s daughter.

Wild smiles at the sight of the young girl, noting that her playing had improved incredibly since the last time they’d heard her practice.

Wild’s had a soft spot for Koko ever since they’d helped her learn how to cook a few dishes when they’d first come to Kakariko. That had been back at the beginning of their journey when they’d still been relearning how to function. Both Wild and Koko had grown a lot since they’d met, and they’d both taught each other many things, even if Koko’s lessons tended to be less intentional, and more along the lines of social norms that Wild picked up by observing her.

Wild veers off the path they had been taking to Impa’s house, and the rest of the heroes followed him curiously. Koko doesn’t look up as they approach, focusing intently on her music. Wild stands next to her patiently, content to wait until she either stops playing, or recognizes them. 

They can tell the moment Koko realizes who’s approached her. Her music, previously calm and steady, squeaks horribly as her even breathing turns into a yelp of excitement. Wild’s ears instinctively pin back under the assault of the piercing noise.

“Link! You’re here! Zel said you might come but she didn’t know for sure.” Koko’s enthusiastic greeting is muffled as she jumps up and shoves her face into their stomach, hugging them tightly. Wild can feel a bright smile creep across their face as they hug her back. 

She quickly pulls away, completely ignoring the other heroes, who are now milling around behind Wild aimlessly as they wait for them to be done with their chat. She lets go of the hug, but keeps a tight grip on their hand. 

“Are you going to stay for a while? Cottla missed you! Koko missed you too. Koko wants you to teach her more recipes!” Wild smiles. Evidently, the girl hadn’t dropped her endearing habit of referring to herself in the third person yet. It wasn’t anything to be worried about. The Sheikah language didn’t have an “I” pronoun- everyone just referred to themselves by their name. It made sense that Koko, learning Hylian as her second language, would have trouble remembering that.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how long I’m staying this time,” Koko pouts at that, but perks back up when Wild says, “But I’ll make sure to come visit you again before I leave if you’d like.” 

She bounces excitedly. “Yes, yes! And teach Koko recipes?”

“And teach you recipes,” Wild agrees. Koko beams impossibly wide at that, and Wild’s heart flutters with joy. They’ve always liked kids. Wild is too rambunctious and travels too often to consider having children of their own- and they’re too young for that anyway- but all the children they’ve met on their journey seemed to love them. It probably helps that Wild’s a little loose-handed when giving out honey candy behind their parents’ backs. 

“I don't want to interrupt your practice for too long, I just wanted to ask if Zel was here or not. But it sounds like she is?” They hadn't really expected that. From their conversations with Zel the last time they saw her, they’d half expected her to stay in Hateno until Wild was back from the adventure permanently.

Koko nods. “Yeah! She’s been here for a week. She tells great stories to Koko and Cottla when Daddy is working.” Wild has to suppress laughter at that. Zel had never been a particularly skilled storyteller. The “stories” that she was telling the children were likely simplified versions of popular novels Zel had read before the Calamity. But they weren’t going to ruin Koko’s fun by telling her that.

Instead, they ask, “Do you know where she is right now?”

Koko obliges, pointing up at Impa's house. “Probably up there. She’s been staying there.” Wild squeezes her shoulder in thanks and gently tugs their hand out of her iron grip.

“I need to go talk to her, but I’ll see you again before I leave if I can, alright?”

“Okay! Bye Link!” She chirps in farewell and settles back down where she had been sitting previously, picking her flute back up.

Wild smiles at her, and impulsively says, “My name is actually Wild now.”

“Oh, okay!” Koko nods enthusiastically, taking it in stride. “Bye, Wild!” 

Wild turns to finally walk to the big house, and they hear Koko’s playing pick back up. The sound brings a smile to their face.

Wind jogs to walk next to them as the group crosses the town center to the stairs up to Impa's house. “She was cute!” He enthused. “What’s her name?”

“Koko,” Wild replies. “I’m friends with her father.”

“That’s nice,” Legend inserts himself into the conversation from Wild’s other side, but it seems he has another topic in mind as he immediately asks, “Why did you tell her to call you Wild?” 

Shards of ice form in the pit of their stomach as dread starts to build inside Wild. Legend continues, apparently oblivious. Wild wonders if the veteran is actually oblivious, or if he can tell Wild is uncomfortable and just doesn’t care. “You don’t need everyone to call you Wild. Other people can still call you Link, you know. We only call each other nicknames because it’d be confusing otherwise.” 

Wild takes their time answering, taking a moment to gather their thoughts before they speak. Their name is something that they’ve spent a lot of time thinking about since their conversation with Zel.

It’s not that they hate the name Link. Wild told Zel they didn’t like it, which is partially true, but they really have nothing against the name itself. It’s just that Link is an undeniably masculine name, and Wild wishes they weren’t so undeniably masculine to others. When they introduce themselves as “Link” it feels like somehow they’re only confirming people’s first impressions of them.

But even when Wild puts aside the gendered association of the names, ‘Wild’ is still their favorite of the two. ‘Wild’ is a name given to them by people they know, care for, and love. The name carries more of their heart with it than ‘Link’ ever will. ‘Link’ will only ever be the name given to them by their parents. Their parents, who had likely never known that Wild wasn’t the man they thought they were.

The name “Link” carries too much heartache for Wild to bear.

All these thoughts flit through Wild’s mind in seconds. Wild doesn’t necessarily want to tell Legend all of that though, and they wouldn’t even know where to start if they did, so they eventually settle on telling a partial truth, trying to be nonchalant. 

“Well, I like the name Wild. It suits me a lot better than Link ever did, I think. I’ve decided to keep using it even after we part ways, so I might as well start telling people now.” 

Legend is stopped from any further questioning by the group’s arrival at the stairs up to Impa’s house. The two guards stationed there cross their spears, stopping them from climbing the steps. 

Normally, they would let Wild pass without question. Everyone knows who the hero is, after all, even if Wild didn’t know all the guards by name. But with such a large group trailing after them, Wild isn’t surprised they’re stopped for questioning. 

They’re also glad they’re stopped. The guards’ questioning gives Wild a reason to stop their conversation with Legend.

~~~

Their reconciliation with Zel is short and sweet. They can talk more later when they don’t have a whole group of people watching and they have some privacy. Impa, Paya, and the other heroes don’t need to see a long teary reunion. The group came here for a reason, and Wild won’t waste their meeting time with Impa by being distracted by Zel.

After they share a short embrace, Wild kneels on one of the floor pillows set in front of Impa’s seat. Zel takes another, kneeling next to them. They can hear the rest of the heroes follow suit, likely at a loss for what else to do. 

Wild winces internally, and silently apologizes to the other heroes for their knees. Wild and Zel had taken the only two available floor pillows, leaving the other heroes to kneel on the bare hardwood flooring for however long this meeting would take. Especially Time and Legend, the two members of the group that had the biggest issues with their joints. Wild would have to put the cookie recipe Malon had given them to good use as an apology. 

But respect must be shown to elders, regardless of any potential pain, so Wild does not stand again as they wait impatiently for Impa to address them, carefully restraining their fidgeting. 

Impa takes her sweet time getting a good long look at all of them. She eventually speaks, sounding exasperated. “And what have you done this time, hero?”

Wild sputters in protest as chuckles come from those sitting around them. “Me?! I didn’t do anything! It’s not my fault this time.” 

Impa hums dubiously, but there's a glimmer of amusement in her eyes that tells them she's only messing with them. “This situation is something that exceeds even my understanding. The goddess’ intentions can be difficult to comprehend, but I believe there must be a good reason for calling you all so far from home.” 

The implication that Impa knows who Wild’s companions are does not surprise them, even though they know Zel wouldn’t have told the elder anything without Wild’s permission. Impa always seemed to have knowledge that she shouldn’t. Either that or she was very good at pretending to understand what was going on when she didn't.

Impa lets silence fall over the room again. Wild is too respectful to break it, and the other heroes, thankfully, follow their lead. Wild would consider Impa their friend, but kneeling before her while in her house and seeking her council, they can’t help but fall back on politeness.

As Impa considers the group, Wild lets their eyes wander.

Paya is standing silently at her grandmother’s side, her eyes downturned modestly. Wild hadn’t gotten a chance to say hello to her yet, eager to talk to Impa first. They would have to catch up with her later. 

Paya gives no sign that she is confused by her grandmother’s words, simply standing quietly to the side. She looks unassuming, and if Wild didn’t know any better they might assume she was simply Impa’s handmaiden, but they do know better. Paya is Kakariko’s next chieftess and the Champion of their people. She may look timid, but Wild knows she’s anything but. They wonder what she thinks about this situation they’ve found themselves in. 

A glance to Wild’s side leaves them suppressing a smile. Zel is also staring at Paya, though not for the same reason Wild had been. Zel is too well-trained to let her expression so on her face but though her expression is stoic, there’s a light flush over her cheeks. Wild files that information away for later.

“Who else knows about this?” Impa eventually asks. Her expression and tone of voice still give no hint to how she feels about any of this. Impa is Wild’s friend but her scrutinizing stare makes even them feel uncomfortable. They can’t imagine how the others must be feeling.

“Riju knows,” Wild says. “We spoke to her briefly the last time we were in this era,“ That finally gets Zel to stop staring at Paya, and turn her head slightly to look at them. 

If she hadn’t been to visit the chieftess in a while, she probably wouldn't have known that Riju was aware of Wild’s situation at all. It wouldn’t be the kind of information Riju would have been willing to send to Zel in a letter. Though the mail routes had vastly improved since blood moons started growing increasingly rare, the risk of interception was still too high.

“And the rest of the Champions?“

Wild shakes their head. “Only Riju. We haven't had time to visit the others in person, and it’s not something urgent enough to go out of our way for. There’s nothing they can do to help us. I thought Zel could explain at the next council meeting.”

Zel interrupts. “The only reason I’m in Kakariko at all is to meet up with Paya so we can travel to Zora’s domain together for the next Council meeting. It’s only in a few days.” 

Wild can hear Warriors mutter behind them. “That’s good timing.”

Zel continues. “It’s a good thing you showed up when you did, Wild. The meeting wouldn’t be the same without you.” She sighed, a combination of exasperation and fondness. “As much as I love the rest of the Champions, the meetings can get a bit drab. If I must find a positive side to Hyrule being destroyed, it’s that I don’t have to sit through meetings like that all the time. There are only five council meetings a year, and they never last long.”

Wind interrupts. It earns a hissed reprimand from Warriors, which Wind ignores. “Why would Wild go to these council meetings?”

Zel’s lips twitch down, but she’s too well trained to let her emotions rule her face completely. “Why wouldn’t Wild attend? Wild is the Champion of Hylians. You know this, correct?” 

There’s a murmur of agreement from the heroes. The group even used ‘Champion’ as a nickname for Wild quite often. Wild only now realizes they had never really explained what that actually meant. If they had to guess, the rest of the heroes had assumed that the duties that came with that title were similar to how the position of champion had operated before the calamity- primarily as a liaison to the ruling Hylian monarchy. 

“Then why would he not be allowed into the Council of Champions?”

“I think we were all under the impression that the title of Champion was largely ceremonial.” Warriors offers.

“If you had asked me a hundred years ago I might have agreed with you…” Zel trails off regretfully before continuing. “I’m sure Wild and I can tell you more about his duties as Champion later. For now, we should see if your travel plans will even allow you to accompany us. If not, I will be able to take over your duties, Wild.” 

Zel continues to talk, but Wild quietly checks out of the conversation as their mind strays toward the preparations they would need to make before they leave town. They know Zel will cover for them in the conversation if any questions are directed toward them.

Zel had spoken so smoothly that Wild hadn’t even processed what was wrong with her words for a moment. They aren't a he. They aren’t a man. Zel knows that, so it hurts a little to hear her call them that. 

But then Wild remembers their audience. They aren’t alone here. Of course Zel would call them a he. They had asked her to keep quiet about what they had told her, so she would honor their wishes, and that includes using the wrong words to talk about them in front of other people. 

It still hurt for some reason. 

Wild twists their hands together in their lap. They usually habitually refrain from fidgeting like that. Even though they’d lost their memories of standing perfectly still in countless meetings when they had served as the princess’ bodyguard, some habits remained. But sometimes, like now, they just couldn’t be bothered.

When Wild zones back into the conversion, they hear Zel continue to talk. While they hadn’t been paying attention, the conversation had clearly moved on. 

“-When it’s the Domain’s turn to host the Council, they often throw a party to celebrate the continuing good relations between the peoples of Hyrule. I’m sure King Dorephan and Prince Sidon wouldn’t be opposed to a few extra Hylians tagging along, especially if he knows you are Wild’s companions. The two of them are rather good friends.” 

Wondering how they had even gotten on the topic of the celebrations Sidon liked to throw when the champions were all gathered in the Domain, Wild gently lays a hand on Zel’s shoulder to interrupt her. Sometimes she didn’t realize when she was taking over a conversation, and even after a hundred years and the system of government changing significantly, very few people were willing to interrupt the former princess of Hyrule when she spoke. 

Impa and Paya are at least used to it, and watch her with fondness in their eyes, but the rest of the Links look a little bit like they had been run over by a horse.

Zel meets their eyes and flushes when she sees the quiet amusement directed at her. “All that to say,” she says, addressing the rest of the heroes and waving her hands sheepishly. “I’m sure you will be welcome in the Domain. There is no need to worry about anything like that.” 

Oh, had that been a concern? Maybe they should have paid a little bit more attention to the conversation. 

That particular worry would be something to address at a later time, though.

Impa speaks for the first time in a while, apparently done with letting them talk. “Zel, my dear, why don’t you escort our guests to the inn? I’m sure they could use something to eat and a comfortable bed for the night, and not all of them are needed to explain the strange happenings of late. I will fill Wild in about the meeting while you do so. When you return, the two of you can tell me more about this situation that our dear Champion seems to have found himself in.”

Ah, right. They still haven’t plainly told Impa exactly what was going on. She clearly has an idea, but whether it was accurate was up for debate. 

Zel stands, and the other heroes follow her lead, clearly grateful to get off the wood floor. Wild remains seated. Zel nods down to them and rests her hand on their shoulder for a moment, giving it a squeeze. 

She spins around, ushering the rest of the heroes out of the house. Before they’re even out the door, Zel is already chattering away excitedly with Sky, no doubt interrogating him about the founding of Hyrule and what his Zelda was like.

The other heroes look a little steamrolled as they file out, but Wild’s come to find that’s a typical reaction to meeting Zel for the first time. She was a rather intense person and could be frazzling to be around with how enthusiastic she is about almost everything.

Gods, Wild loves her.  

Impa sighs, but it sounds happy, not like the stressed sighs they’re accustomed to hearing from her. Wild tilts their head. Impa notices their questioning look and says, “She’s certainly relaxed since she first came to stay here after the Calamity was defeated. I barely recognize her as the quiet and reserved princess I knew a hundred years ago. It’s truly been a pleasure to see her so carefree.”

Wild doesn’t respond, only contemplating that for a while in silence. They suppose it’s true. Zel has changed a lot, and mostly for the better. Many people they knew from before the calamity had, including themselves. 

“You’re a lot like that too,” Impa continues after a few moments of silence. “You’re not as chatty as she’s become, certainly. It’s not in your nature. But you're much happier now than I ever thought you could be. I’m… grateful to have lived to see it.” 

There’s a look in the elder’s eye that says that she has much more to say, but instead she sits up straighter, shaking her head. “Ah, you don’t want to listen to the rambles of an old woman. Now tell me, young hero, about this new quest you’ve been sent on by the goddess.”

~~~

The talk with Impa and Paya takes a long time. Zel finishes settling the other heroes into the inn, and returns shortly. Impa and Paya grill the two of them for details about the black-blooded monsters, the portal, and the shadow for nearly an hour. By the time the two of them had finished asking questions, it was dark out.

Impa offers to ask Dorian to host Wild for the night, but they insist that isn’t necessary. They don’t say that they would be sharing the guest room Zel had been using, but they’re pretty sure Impa got the message.

Impa and Paya bid them both a good night, then disappear to speak to the other elders of the village about the news Wild had brought. Wild trusts them to be discreet about it. The general population finding out about the shadow would only lead to widespread panic.

Wild and Zel don’t head to bed up to their room immediately, instead leaving to sit by the fire outside. It’s a nice place to spend some time relaxing before heading to bed, with the smoke keeping any bugs away. 

Koko has long since abandoned her previous position, no doubt being called inside by her father. In fact, aside from the singular guard at the entrance to the Impa’s house, the two of them are alone. Everyone has gone inside to get ready for the night. It leaves the pair to enjoy in blissful silence alone.

Zel takes a seat on one of the simple wooden benches arranged around the fire. WIld heads over to the small pile of firewood stacked nearby and grabs a few logs. They toss another log of the fire, flames licking eagerly at the new offering, then head back to sit next to Zel. They forgo the benches and sit directly on the ground in front of her, leaning back against her legs.

They sigh, forcing any lingering tension from the day to leave their body. Zel’s hand soon finds its way into their hair, as they knew it would. Zel loved playing with their long hair, and would get her hands on it given half a chance.

It takes nearly half an hour of silence and descending darkness before someone breaks the peace.

It’s Zel, and she says, “I’m not a woman right now.” 

Wild sits up a little straighter. This would be a conversation that required a little more focus than the doze they’d been in for a while. They’d half been expecting this after the conversation they’d had the last time they’d seen each other. Wild shrugs. “Are you a man, then?”

“No, I’m not a woman or a man. I’m not either.”

Wild nods thoughtfully. Zel tugs on their hair lightly in admonishment, seemingly having moved on to actually braiding their hair and not wanting Wild to mess it up. Wild huffs in indignation at the pull, but Zel hadn’t pulled hard enough to hurt so they didn't say anything. 

“So what should I call you?”

Zel is quick to answer. “Call me they, like I call you.” 

“And your name?”

Wild can feel them shrug. “Zel is fine. It’s not very feminine. Not like Zelda is. It’s why I decided to go by it in the first place. It still suits me, even when I feel like this.”

Wild agrees, verbally this time, so as not to incur Zel’s hair-tugging wrath. “Got it.”

When Zel finishes with his braid, she snaps a band around the end of it, ensuring it would stay neatly pulled back, at least for a while. She pats their shoulder, letting them know she’s done and they can get up now, but they don’t. 

Instead, Wild tilts their head back until their head rests in Zel’s lap, peering up at them. Zel looks back at them, happiness and relief dancing in their eyes. Their posture is lighter, less burdened than it had been before Wild had gone on this latest quest.

They’d missed Zel, but maybe having some time away from each other to figure themselves out had been good for both of them. 

~~~

Early morning sun shines through the large open windows of Kakariko’s training hall, built in to allow fresh air in so the building wouldn’t become stifling from dust and the fighters’ body heat. The sunlight illuminates the dust that had been thrown up in the air by their fight.

The two of them are the only ones in the hall right now, so it’s almost peaceful. Usually, it rings with the sound of clashing blades and thwacks of bo staffs hitting each other.

Paya smiles at Wild and congratulates them on a good fight as she leads the way off of the sandy-floored sparring ring. 

Her smile doesn’t shake anymore when she looks at them, not like it had back when Wild had first met her. Back then, she had jumped at every little movement they made, and could barely talk to them. Someone had once told Wild that she had a crush on them, but personally, Wild couldn't see it. She had acted more scared of them than anything else. Thankfully, she seems mostly over it- whatever it was- by now. 

She still stuttered, but Wild had come to learn that that wasn’t because of them, but that she naturally stuttered when she spoke. It had lessened quite a bit, but never gone away completely. 

Absolutely demolishing the famed hero in the sparring ring would make anyone less scared of them, Wild thinks, and Paya’s beaten them more than enough for that.

The last spar with Paya had gone well. Wild’s sweaty and covered in sand, and they're pretty sure they're going to be sore tomorrow, but they're satisfied. They hadn’t won, but they’d lasted a significant time longer than they usually did. Paya stops before they reach the training mats that cover the floor in the front part of the hall. She takes a seat on one of the benches separating the sparring ring and practice mats. Wild sits next to her, gratefully taking the water skin she hands them. 

Wild takes a breath, letting the adrenaline drain out of their body as they calm down, letting their muscles relax. They see Paya doing the same, and take the moment to examine her.

Paya doesn’t carry the same worry and tension in her as she used to before Wild helped Zel defeat the Calamity. It’s a trend Wild’s noticed across all of Hyrule. Everyone is more relaxed now, as if their biggest worry has been solved. Wild supposes it has been, with the defeat of the Calamity. 

The change is even more pronounced in the Champions and rulers of the different tribes of Hyrule. Some of them have more personal reasons for the change, like Wild and Zel, but for most it’s simply the burden of constant anxiety being lifted. Some of them had never known a world without the Calamity.

Paya was coming close to taking up her Grandmother’s spot as leader of the Sheikah. She had been slowly taking on more and more of Impa’s duties lately, including the title of Champion of the Shiekah people.

The Sheikah being excluded from having a Champion to represent them in the first place had been a mistake neither Zel nor Wild had let stand when the Council of Champions was being formed. There might not be a Divine Beast for the Sheikah Champion to pilot, but their tribe had been the ones to build the machines in the first place. And anyway, they weren’t going to let who got a spot on the council to be determined by what a ten thousand year old civilization thought.

There’s no way they could exclude an entire tribe of people from the council. The Council met several times a year to discuss issues, broker trade deals, and secure alliances. Leaving the Sheikah out of that would be idiotic.

Becoming the Sheikah Champion isn’t the only duty Paya was starting to take on. More and more everyday duties around the village fell onto her shoulders. Impa still served as one of the Village's elders, but Wild wouldn’t be surprised if she named Paya the Sheikah’s leader soon. The twenty-one year-old is more than ready for it, in Wild’s opinion. She would make an excellent leader.

She’s proven herself in battle as well, if the battle scars littering her body indicate anything. Paya currently only wore pants, sturdy shoes, and a tight sarashi for modesty- typical training clothes. Her clothing leaves plenty of her skin exposed, and shows off the numerous scars scattered across her body.

Not all of them are large- some are simple nicks that came with living a working life. But some are more jarring, and tug on Wild’s heartstrings. They hate to think of the pain that must have come with gaining the larger scars. 

Wild wears the same clothes. Men usually wear the sarashi around their waist, or go completely shirtless, but Wild is pointedly wearing it around their chest as women do. Technically, they don’t need to wear the sarashi. They didn't have anything that needed to be covered for modesty, after all. But they liked wearing it anyway. 

Paya finishes with her water, and meets Wild’s gaze. Wild’s ears perk up. The cool-down period has finished, and now comes the instruction. Paya dives straight in. 

“You’re light on your feet, Wild, which can b-be an advantage in s-some fights. But I think you sacrifice your s-stability for speed. It m-makes you a formidable opponent, but one- one who’s easy to get off balance.” 

Wild nods, and Paya continues. “When I wen- went for that low swing, I was able to m-make you stumble. I could have taken you to the ground then, but I didn’t want the fight to en- the fight to end so quickly.”

Wild acknowledges her advice, the slightest bit sheepishly. “A lot of people say I’m too flighty for my own good.”

Paya smiles and continues. ”Then you know it’s something you n-need to work on. You n-need to- need to learn when to focus on s-s-speed and when to be more grounded.” She looks at them with a challenge in her eyes, and Wild knows that she’s about to invite him to spar again.

“Zel said I might find you here.” 

Warriors’ voice startles Wild, who had been solely focused on the Sheikah in front of them. Paya- who had been facing the opposite direction with a clear view of the open door- doesn’t flinch, so Wild knows she had seen the other hero enter the hall. 

After their heart stops pounding from the combination of their leftover adrenaline from the spar and Warriors’ unintentional jumpscare, Wild internally glows with joy at Warriors using Zel instead of Zelda to refer to their friend. Of course, they hadn’t expected anything else from him. Warriors was observant, and would have picked up on everyone calling them Zel, and he would understand better than most the importance and meaning of a name.

When Wild turns to look at him, they see Warriors standing behind them, dressed in only his tunic and pants. He’s missing his iconic scarf, along with his chainmail and armor. He’s holding one of the Bo staff that hung on the racks scattered through the hall. “Are you still up for another round?” He gestures with the staff over toward the center of the fighting ring. 

“Which one of us are you talking to?” Wild asks, despite knowing full well that Warriors had been talking to them and not Paya. They smirk internally. It would do Warriors some good to fight an opponent who’s an expert with a weapon that Warriors isn’t as proficient at. 

Or at least, Wild’s pretty sure Warriors isn’t very familiar with the Bo staff. They'd never seen him use one before, at any rate. Warriors, along with the other heroes, mostly stuck to swords. 

Sure, Sky was extremely efficient with his whip, Hyrule used his magic on the battlefield to great effect, and Legend was surprisingly deadly with his hookshot, but for the most part, the other heroes only use their swords. 

Wild likes to get more creative. They have to be more creative. With how easily they tended to break their weapons, it would be foolish of them to rely on only one method of defense. They couldn’t tell you how often they’d found themselves with nothing to defend themself with but a branch, or a farmer’s hoe, or- on one particularly memorable occasion- a cooking ladle. 

When Wild had woken from the shrine, they’d discovered they had a passing knowledge of how to use swords, shields, spears, bows, and even boomerangs. The shrine may have stolen their memories, but Wild still had the muscle memories from their time as a knight to guide them as they got used to wielding those weapons again. 

However, those weapons are about as far as their ingrained skill has gone. Apparently, the military hadn’t valued other types of weapons enough to train with them. Or at the very least, not often enough to leave Wild with any instincts on how to use them. 

Since they first stumbled out of the shrine, Wild has learned how to use tree branches, axes, clubs, sickles, farming tools, and yes, even cooking equipment, as weapons.

Wild has gotten lessons from the Champions on how to use more regional weapons too. They’d learned how to excel with tridents from Sidon, and been taught how to use stone smashers by Yunobo. (Or at least as well as they could, as a Hylian. Hylians typically had a bit of trouble wielding the heavy weapons, and Wild was no exception. They’d given it their best shot, though.) They’d joined Riju’s lessons on the art of sword dancing, and Teba had even shown Wild some Rito techniques with the bow Wild hadn’t known. 

Wild wouldn’t claim to be an expert with any of these weapons, except the bow and the sword, but they were at least proficient with them.

Although Wild’s one of the best fights in their era, most of the other heroes could easily beat them easily in a sword fight. Being the best among normal citizens doesn’t make you the best among Hylia’s chosen heroes. The nine of them were on a completely different level of expertise than most Hylians. It’s a perk that came with having the Hero’s Spirit. 

When compared with many of the other heroes, Wild’s strength in battle lay in keeping their distance and being creative. ‘Jack of all trades, master of none,’ or so the saying went.

But that’s why they were trying to gain mastery of more kinds of weapons, which included the Bo staff. Paya had been their teacher this morning, but at this point Wild had spared with everyone in Kakariko Village who knew how to use the staff. They’re getting better, but they still lost to Paya more often than not. Wild suspects the only reason they were learning fast enough to win against Paya at all was the Hero’s Spirit they carried. It made it easy to learn new skills related to fighting. 

At any rate, Wild was getting better, but they aren’t an expert with the staff. Of the three people in the training hall, that title went to Paya.

Warriors blinks at Wild in confusion, before turning his gaze toward Paya. He smiles at her, and although he does let his gaze rake up and down her form, he keeps any comments about her state of undress to himself. Wild’s glad for that. The Sheikah are a lot more casual about showing skin around the opposite gender than Hylains were, at least in certain contexts, like bathing, fighting, and sparring. Wild doesn’t want this to get awkward, and Warriors had a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth.

“Well, ladies first, of course.” Warriors winks at Paya, gesturing for her to step into the sparring area with him.

For once, Wild doesn’t feel any irritation at being so clearly categorized as a man. Even if Warriors thought Wild was a woman, they aren’t sure he’d call Wild a lady. They think that they’re a bit too feral for that particular title. Paya was much better suited to being called a lady. She was much more refined than Wild ever would be, woman or not.

[cringefaecompilation]

One of the things I don’t see getting brought up enough is that, yes, you have some members of Bell’s Hells, like Ashton and Dorian who are “Team Chase Off the Gods” and besides the fact that the Archheart cannot offer them a guarantee that the gods will actually run… and less of a guarantee that Predathos will not destroy mortal life in its wake… the fact of it all is the only person we know for a fact that even can be a vessel for Predathos that isn’t on Ludinus’s side is Imogen. Fearne isn’t exalted… and while she’s been brought up as maybe being able to team up with Imogen… that’s directly opposing what Zathuda and Ludinus implied with Fearne… that she’s “useless” to them because she isn’t exalted. So realistically the only person who will actively make the choice to run the gods off… is Imogen Temult. Or Lilliana, if Imogen can sway her in the moment.

So Ashton and Dorian.. have an opinion. Like everyone else on Exandria. So I don’t get the assertion that either one of them are “evil” for it. They can’t chase off the gods. Or kill the gods. They’re just in closer proximity than most to the one who can.

And Imogen… doesn’t want to lose herself. That’s been her whole goal this entire campaign. She wanted to figure out her powers and her dreams. She’s far more likely to launch negotiations with the gods than to willingly run them off.. especially since we don’t know if the body Predathos passes through… becomes Predathos or is just a conduit or if it destroys the vessel after it passes through the cage.

So many possibilities man! Cannot wait to see what they do.

and besides all that, you wanna know the number one craziest thing about us heading up to ruidus to use it? nobody fucking knows what predathos is. nobody's seen it.

all the gods saw was a red light and two of their friends vanishing. ludinus doesn't know what it is; that wizard's a fucking poser and he got embarrassed for it. imogen and liliana don't know what it is; they're operating on vibes alone. the same can be said for the rest of bh who are either guessing or hoping they're right. even the reilora have no clue what it is!

what is predathos? why is predathos? and how will the discovery of this creature or entity or even person help them go forward with the choice they're gonna make?

[kirkwallguy]

it's kind of strange how much GBF woobified Dorian is (I love him with all my heart) cause he's just so cancelableqmhelwhs i mean he fucks up in conversations so bad you just go "honey i know you don't have a bad intent but please shut the fuck up 😭" this is not a dorian bashing tbh i think his character writing makes interesting points to think about!!

coming across to this from solas point of view or lavellan is a whole another thing like imagine a guy from rich magister parents who of course benefit from labour of elves, whom his country enslaved then steal and appropriate a shit ton of their culture and civilization, just starts talking like this (the way he does in solas party banters or weird defensiveness whenever slavery topic comes up. idk if it was writers who fucked it up though. They just didn't do arguments well in that game tbh...)

BUT one thing about that is that i love how Dorian's character shows a person of high class that benefits from exploitation, colonisation etc. can be. Like he's denied all of that he's progressive and thoughtful and a really caring person but just can't shake off the drops of elitism. It really puts a perspective that if you don't question things you can't face them and therefore don't change (i think his defensiveness on slavery came from that because defensiveness as an act in general can be something like that psychologically)

i love them both so much but i think solas deserved to stuck that wand up to his ass the way i think merrill deserved to do it to fenris for their own party banter at some point 😭😭😭

honestly the gbf-ification of dorian is kind of predictable since he's the only gay man (they just pretend the bi men are straight lol), and by definition gbf-ification strips a character of all their personality in order to make them a cute accessory. but it really is SOOOOO funny. girl your designer purse dog is justifying slavery and biting the rest of your companions PLEASE reign him in.

tbh i think dorian sucking is realistic and makes sense, the thought process behind it is really good, but it just doesn't work in dai for so many reasons. you can't meaningfully challenge his views and when you DO attempt to you get disapproval (which just feels like a punishment/setback since the only way to really progress with companions is through approval. even the same feature in dao felt more balanced since you could be strategic with your gift giving), companions get one quest each so no chance of meaningful exploration there, and ofc banter is broken so any character development there never triggers. AURGH. he could've been so interesting

[butterflydm]

more cr103

The fact that the group that has the least exposure to the gods and the least understanding about them is the one that is sorta incidentally saving them while doing something else is... I guess a vibe, lol. But I really do hope that at least some of them take advantage of being in Vasselheim to do some godtalking and at least get even a fraction of the understanding and knowledge that VM or MN had about the gods.

It isn't necessarily all that important for the plot - 'Stop Ludinus' is the plan whether or not you give a shit about the gods, and that motive has been baked into Orym's backstory since day one - but it just feels weird that the party that knows the least about the gods is the one given the most power over their fates.

So it seems like we could end cr3 with a few different possibilities:

a. Bells Hells succeeds; Ludinus is defeated and things go back mostly to normal

b. Bells Hells fails; Ludinus succeeds to a certain extent and we end up with another calamity and cr4 is a post-apocalyptic campaign in some fashion, with the gods either eaten or chased away (Chetney brought this up in the episode, iirc)

c. Bells Hells succeeds but only after the Divine Gate gets torn down for some reason (either by Ludinus or by the gods to fight Predathos), thus leading to a world that is more like the one pre-Divergence (honestly, this one would be kinda funny if only because of how much Ashton would hate it).

I do think that the recording wouldn't have as much of an impact on faith in the gods as Ludinus thinks that it would -- everyone who knows about the Calamity already knows that 'the gods destroyed Aeor', or at least I believe that's part of the established history/lore of the series; and we see two of the gods (Everlight & Dawnfather) actively seeking to not have to destroy the city the entire time that they're there.

It would make some people lose faith, but it would also endear the gods more to others (like it has done for Launda). I just... given how wide-spread faith is irl without anything like the pluses that faith-based people get in Exandria, I would just find it unlikely that the orb would have the impact that Ludinus wants. We've seen that the only people it really 'convinced' were people who were already inclined to be unhappy with the gods (Ludinus himself, Dorian, and maybe Ashton, but I think Ashton just dislikes any kind of authority/structure and I'm not sure if the orb actually had an impact on that one way or the other)

But, of course, if the world doesn't immediately agree with him, that only gives Ludinus more reason to invade and conquer and destroy, because now his pride will be hurt over the fact that people aren't listening to him ("I am talking!").

As someone who isn't a believer irl, my main feeling about fantasy gods tends to run along the lines of "are they more helpful or more harmful?" and the Exandria gods as a whole have shown themselves to be more helpful than harmful over the course of the three campaigns (*cough* defeating Vecna *cough*), so I'd like them to stick around (since they've shown that they can mostly keep the betrayers in check with the Divine Gate in place). There are fantasy worlds where Ludinus might well be doing something heroic by wanting to take out the gods... but I don't think Exandria is one of those worlds.

Exandria is a world where the prime gods were willing to take a hard look at the consequences of their actions and do something to prevent more harm in the future, even at the cost of losing something incredibly important to them. As far as fantasy gods go, they're pretty nice! Especially the ones we met in Downfall, I feel very fond of them.

[andreal831]

I feel guilty: In some ways, I feel Hayley and the Mikaelsons set up Hope to fail. Now, with canon included, I think Hope did find her way - but ironically feel like her story should have been "Klaus, Hayley, and Elijah are what the remaining family tied to Hope but with the three dead - Hope is on her own, and having to navigate a world where she loves her dad but everyone is just as entitled to hate him and come into conflict with that". (Sorry, that's a long one). Basically because of how morally dubious the TVD gang (+ Dorian) could be - it makes sense that they know to separate Klaus's actions from Hope - but what about those who did not have that luxury and only remember a monster that was Klaus? I would use Tyler's story, but in a vague gesture: Hope needs to earn someone's trust after her father (or other relatives) brutalized them and has no way to defend or justify it. Essentially getting someone's trust for her as "Only Hope" and not the surname she's connected to. Or the more common arc, Hope realizing just because she loves her family doesn't mean she can overwrite the centuries of cruel history they left behind.

I'm not saying the Mikaelsons didn't love Hope, but Hope is unique (not just as a tribrid but the only living blood relative who hasn't been alive for a millennia) and had pressure on her that shouldn't be there. Hayley loved her, but should have warned her that living in a town that still had - living - people her dad fought with and hurt should have taken precedence over keeping a torch lit for their relationship. Klaus had his chance to be someone in this world, now Hope has to live in it and make something of herself - in his name or by herself.

(Sorry if this comes off anti. While I have anti thoughts and do like Hope, I think she could have stood to have a better characterized arc.)

I'll start by prefacing this and say that I haven't seen much of Legacies, I only know a lot of the show from edits.

But I agree that the show did a pretty terrible job with really diving into the cycle of trauma and pressures that were put on Hope since before she was even born. They were so focused on making Klaus redeemable and centering Hope around Klaus that they didn't allow for her character to have the development she needed.

I really like what I know about Hope's character and I even look past the wild hoops the writers had to jump through to make her existence possible. But for a show that centered around a magical, miracle baby, they sidelined her character a lot. The writers were so focused on setting up Legacies that they forgot to give the characters the development that was necessary for it to get there.

People love to say that Klaus broke the cycle of abuse with Hope, but he didn't. It just manifested in a different way. He never physically harmed her, but he neglected, abandoned, and emotionally harmed her repeatedly. This trauma is something that Hope doesn't even get to work through.

Hope at 7 years old seems more or less well adjusted. I think Hayley did a good job protecting her from everything. She missed her family in an abstract way because she didn't truly understand what she was missing. She had Hayley and Mary. Klaus allowing himself to be captured and held prisoner was the best thing he ever did for Hope. She was able to live for seven years safe and loved. I may get hate for it, but Hope was better off living as a Marshall away from the Mikaelsons.

I don't necessarily think Hayley was wrong for letting Hope grow up believing the best in her family. At that point, Hope was very isolated. She deserved to have a childhood without it being taken away by the Mikaelsons. But I do think Hayley should have had more conversations with her as she got older, especially if she was going to a school where it was likely to come up.

As soon as she is back with the Mikaelsons, her life once again revolved around what she can do for Klaus. I'm not saying they all didn't love Hope, but she was never allowed to just exist. The fact that she used to keep points when she was "good" or "bad" shows just how much she felt it. She had to be perfect because if she wasn't, she wouldn't be worth their sacrifice or Klaus might slip back into a terrible person.

I've talked about it before, but sending Hope to the Salvatore School made no sense to me. She was safer in New Orleans. She had her mother's pack, he vampires would protect her for Josh and Marcel, Vincent wouldn't let anything happen to her, and she had her mother. Hayley sending her daughter away to boarding school for most of the year made zero sense. I watched the first few episodes of Legacies before TO and I genuinely thought they all died when she was a child because of how she acted with Alaric and the twins. She desperately wanted a family, something Hayley had done a great job providing in the past, but sending her away to school made Hope feel neglected. She was already being neglected by Klaus, she didn't need to feel abandoned by both parents.

And, as you said, she is sent to a school that is run by a man who hates her father, in a town full of people who hate her whole family. She had to listen to people talking about how awful they were, and it was all warranted, which makes it worse for her. She didn't get to attempt to process that on her own. She had to do it while constantly being compared to her family. Alaric was always using it as a way to punish her. The adults clearly were not mature enough to separate Hope from what her family did and they had no business being in charge of her.

The entire terrible legacy of the Mikaelsons was put on Hope's shoulder and the show just ignored that trauma because if they didn't, they would have to admit that Klaus wasn't redeemed, everyone just moved on. So then the people who didn't just move on look like the bad guys. Alaric had every right to hate Klaus, Tyler would have every right to hate both of Hayley and Klaus. They don't owe the Mikaelsons anything, but it is also not fair that Hope has to take the brunt of their anger because Klaus died and got away with literal murder. Hope was a child and shouldn't have had to work to prove herself. She deserved love and support and understanding, like every other child. She deserved to have the space and support to sort out her feelings toward her family, the good and the bad. She deserved to yell at Klaus for abandoning her, to be angry at Elijah for putting that pressure on her, to be angry at her aunts and uncles for abandoning her after her parents died. She deserved to figure out who she was outside of the legacy of pain and torment her family left behind, but as far as I can tell, she is never given that time. All of this would have given her character more depth. Coming to the realization that her family were terrible people but she still loved them is a hard pill to swallow, but it was something she needed to come to terms with. Glorifying Klaus and erasing Hayley, did very little for her development except to play on Klaus' popularity for views.

I love the Mikaelsons but each and every one of them were terrible at being family and terrible people. Hope suffered because of this.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry if I just went on a tangent and didn't fully answer your question.

[dareactions]

Ohh it's so nice to see you back! I always loved your writing and why not celebrate with a little angst! A spin off of the young inquisitor where they are child of Cassandra! Child of her and Galyan, having to give them away due to her duties to the divine and the seekers and him being in a circle. Cassandras and all the other reactions if you don't mind terribly

Cassandra: The only thing that enters her mind is the word 'no'. Over and over again. Last time she saw them, they were so small. Tiny little hands gripping onto fingers and the cooing sounds that would melt hearts. It's gotten worse- how much they look like Galyan. Before it was just that they had his eyes, now it's the same smile and her nose. She wonders if he'd be proud of their child, the way they keep their shoulders square as they stare her down. It feels even worse knowing they don't even realise who she is. And then she gets angry- she gets furious. Because her child was there, her child was at the conclave and could've died with Galyan in that blast and it's just- it's all too much. And too little. And she feels upset at herself as much as she does the world. It's a fragile thing, trying to rebuild a relationship with your child. But it's all she's got now, and she'll have to take the yelling and justified tears at the reveal because it's what allows her a chance at this again. A chance at being mom. It doesn't fit her- she doesn't think it does. But now they're in front of her and they look so much like herself and so much like Galyan all at once it hurts and she just can't not be there.

Blackwall: He doesn't realise at first. Not until they're standing next to Cassandra, and the two of them wear the exact same expression and it clicks. Blackwall doesn't say anything; It's not his place. He just helps deal with the aftermath that inevitably occurs when Cassandra has 'that' talk with them. He glances up as the Inquisitor stomps out from Haven into the snow and he is still there when they inevitably shows back up and sits down outside to try and calm down. They'll talk, he'll offer his own admittedly useless advice and then that's that. He feels for Cassandra- he really does. He can't imagine the choices that had to be made there to get to the point they're at today. He isn't sure if he is in the position to really judge or have opinions about the matter so he just keeps his mouth shuts and keeps moving forward.

Cole: They're hurt, he knows they are, and he understands it. The hurt has settled by the time he meets them but even so it's there. Like a bruise just barely healing. He listens to hurt ranting and offers odd comments of advice and support. Cole doesn't quite know what he is expected to do but apparently it's helping since the Inquisitor keeps coming back to him for it. He wonders if they know they look so much like their mom when they're angry though.

Dorian: Well, at least he isn't the one with the biggest mommy and daddy issues anymore, he supposes. He'd spotted the resemblance instantly- and the tension almost faster. Dorian tries to not meddle but well, it is Dorian we're talking about. He listens to angry ranting and even more so to the excited stories that keep slipping in more with time. Talks about how Cassandra helped them with this or that, how she is teaching them how to hold a shield properly. It's the oddest family bonding he has ever seen but it works. The fact their father is a mage fits, it makes sense to him honestly.

Iron Bull: Well- for a guy who doesn't really understand normal human family dynamics to begin with; he is confused initially why this is a big deal. But he also spotted that they were related instantly. He knew it from the fact they carried themselves the same way. Bull is mainly there to let the kid blow off steam whenever they need to kick a log a few times to feel okay about the very understandable turmoil that comes from meeting your parent for the first time.

Sera: She could care less honestly- finds it a bit weird Cassandra just gave the kid up but she also doesn't entirely care to try and understand the reasoning behind it either. She has a complicated relationship with just about every adult she grew up around; so she gets it. Sometimes you need to throw a few rocks through someone's window to feel better you know?

Solas: Well. His theory that humans are physically incapable of being messy remains intact. Solas doesn't really see what the big deal is entirely. He gets it but he also doesn't - he feels like there are bigger things to focus on than this. He does feel a bit scared, for just a second, realising what he has done towards Cassandra's child. That seems almost more terrifying than anything he has done. A mother's wrath, and all that.

Varric: Oh, wow. A lot more makes sense about Cassandra now that he thinks about it. He knows the situation is delicate and he knows to not get in the Seekers way of doing this. He's there when the initial conversation happens and is the one who helps Cassandra pull her head out her ass long enough to realise the kid has a right to be frustrated. He is also the one who has to help the Inquisitor calm down- Varric is starting to realise he is the Pentaghast family therapist at this point. He doesn't really mind it, the Inquisitor looks so much like Cassandra sometimes though, that it sort of scares him. they've got the same nose, the same glare and the exact same share of black hair.

Vivienne: She is more worried that Cassandra will be unreasonable than she is about any emotional turmoil that might be going on. Parents protect their kids first, that's the point of a parent. Vivienne does have to mull on it for a while, she can't imagine choosing her duties over a child but at the same time she entirely can. She's there to offer advice, to be the mediator whenever needed and even goes so far as to ensure that Cassandra actually talks about Galyan to them.

[justalittleprince]

I just came to remember The Grays from Netflix ig??? while I was taking a bath after work and I was like

Like I know maybe not many people are talking about it now but I haven't complained about anything today and since I can't be happy, here I go. Because oh boy, I have A LOT of things to say about this

Starting with the modern environment. I know, the story could work in a modern environment because of the context of the whole story and it's meaning. But I can't help but think in a more superficial way (which I KNOW they are) the portrait itself doesn't work... Internet filters, Photoshop, PLASTIC SURGERY IDK. There, problem solved. I'm just saying incoherent stuff at this point bc I want to complain about something. But going to the thing that actually matters...

Dorian's and Basil RELATIONSHIP. Who tf told them it was a good idea to make them siblings??? SIBLINGS.

They're ruining their complete relationship, Basil's whole character arc. They're changing it completely and I don't like it. His own thoughts about Sybil Vane. There was a scene in the book that broke me, where Dorian, Henry and Basil are on their way to the theater and the absolute heartbreak that was reading to Basil's thoughts alone during the whole ride, it's something I won't have. THE LOVE CONFESSION.

That is such an important piece of the story, it's indicative for Dorian that he has power over Basil. Of course, that was also changed in that weird movie back in 2009 (the only piece of cinema I've seen because I cannot find the others 😞) but at least personally I liked the kiss part, idk.

I just DON'T LIKE WHAT THEY'RE DOING

And like, 2 things came to my mind, one more possible than the other

1. They're gonna do really weird stuff

2. The most probable one, they are literally changing things so much that at this point it won't be The Picture of Dorian Gray, it will be just a random story with their names on it (except for Basil my poor baby doesn't deserve this)

And last but not least... Henry. What are they going to do with him, what are their plans? I am not really informed what the whole thing is going to be, but I don't know what's going to be with Henry. Modern environment, knowing how Henry is the minimum thing he would say and he would be absolutely BLASTED in social media, cancelled on Twitter and all /j

Or, just my thoughts I really don't know, but seeing how things are going they could change his character so much he wouldn't be Henry Wotton and would be more like Enrique Waton

Anyways, I finished rambling now, imma disappear for another fifty centuries

[utilitycaster]

My biggest complaint about last night's episode was the tonal dissonance between the two halves (thought admittedly I only partially understood the Opal/Ted thing, and will have to watch the VOD on Monday to fully parse it). I find your Hamlet/Sheer Madness metaphor incredibly apt.

During the episode, I wondered if there was going to be a longer wait until we returned to the Hells, and if Aabria and the Crown Keepers had been brought in to fill space while the main cast or parts of it were unable to follow their regular filming schedule.

If that were the case, then I thought that ending the Bells Hells portion of the episode where they did the right choice, and made sense from both a narrative perspective (once the Hells arrive at the encampment, they will report to Keyleth and begin planning for their next steps, thus entering the next arc of their story), and a characterological perspective (they are still fresh off the fight and the loss of FGC, their intial feelings have been established, and while I'd love more rp, I think the next step of actually proccessing it and letting it propell them is more likely to be tied to their next actions/mission). Liam also provided a lovely button with his call to Dorian, and ending it with his call yet unanswerd increases acticipation. It felt very much like the last beats before intermission in a play, or the last episode of a tv show before the mid-season hiatis. I was therefore willing to be more generous. While the tonal dissonance was incredibly jarring, and ultimately I feel did both halves a diservice, I could understand them wanting to a) end on that beat, and b) keep to the usual length of their episodes.

Now that I know we are getting the Hells back presumably sometime after break next episode, I am not only feeling less forgiving, but also rather confused. I can't think of another reason to split the episode beyond shock value, and also can't help but wonder why they didn't just bring the crown keepers in during the second half for what I am assuming is the reunion we will be getting next episode, and have all of the

Opal/Loth stuff happen in a flash-back one-shot at a later date. While the Crown Keepers and their earnest slap-dickery were bound to change the tone regardless due to their nature, I feel that would have at the very least mitigated some of the emotional whiplash.

If you were to speculate, why do you think they made the choice to split the episode this way?

Also if you had to bring the crown keepers into the main campaign, how would you do so while maintaing narrative integrity and emotional tenor? (Or not, sometimes crack is fun, and if you have alcohol induced ideas, I'd love to hear them as well).

I truly do not know why they made this choice. The only thing I can think of, since it doesn't seem to be related to personal life reasons nor giving Sam more time to work on a character since functionally it's not more time than finishing out this episode with Bells Hells and airing a Crown Keepers episode for 93 is the surprise factor. And I'm going to be honest: I know this is something that is fun when you are at the table and so I think the "it's their game and their table" rule applies* but more often than not these surprises end up kind of sucking as a viewer.

I'm going to be honest but very vague re: bringing the Crown Keepers into the main campaign because I am waiting until after next C3 episode, and probably a bit after that, before I say anything more specific, but. I probably wouldn't. I liked the Crown Keepers well enough when they aired, but a lot of the generosity I extended at the time to the rougher patches is something I've since had second and third thoughts about. I would do another Kymal-style two-shot and then I'd have Dorian come back into the main campaign.

*just as a note: It's their game and their table means they get to make the decisions that they want to make and acting entitled and as if you deserve the outcome you personally want - as people did, for example, when Molly died - is, well, entitled and not something you have a right to ask for. It does not mean you can't say "I disliked this choice greatly."

[3584-tropical-fish]

hello i would like to know about medieval chants since you keep mentioning them

YAYYY okay buckle up because ive got A Lot that i've learned and i need to prep for an exam

so, in the middle ages you have a lot of monks following the rule of st. benedict, which (among other things) instructs monks to partake in some type of work, and to read sacred texts. Benedict doesn't specifically instruct monks to translate and preserve these texts, but the way he worded it means that a lot of them take it to mean that part of the work they should be doing is translating these old texts.

Particularly, they're translating greek scholars, and the guy important to medieval chant is Ptolemy. Ptolemy basically took a lot of earlier theorists works and modified them to fit his system, but the main things to remember is that ptolemy discussed:

pythagorean tuning (presumably developed by Pythagoras, based on ratios of string length to determine intervals)

the "perfect" intervals that result from this (octaves, fourths, and fifths)

Various modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian). we don't know what these modes were, but we do know that they existed

and monophony (multiple voices (both actual voices and instruments) performing the same melody and moving at the same time)

So these are the ideas that early medieval monks are basing their music off of. They're also not writing it down early on, and just sort of making notes in their hymn books. These early notes are referred to as "neumes", and we dont really know exactly what was meant by all of these. They seem to give some general indication of pitch, though.

I'll also say here that there wasn't any pitch standard at the time. People started at a note that worked for their voice, and then they just sand from there and improvised what sounded nice.

In the middle ages, monks also adopted the ancient greek modes. Since they didn't know what these modes were, they made up their own definitions. So, each mode was assigned a series of tones (/whole steps) and semitones (/half steps). So, dorian was T S T T T S T. The four that were taken from ancient greek theory are known as the "authentic modes", and when they're used in a chant, the chant tends to stay above the finalis (the finale note of the chant, which is specific to which mode a chant is in). Medieval theorists also introduce plagal modes, where the chant tends to dip lower than the finalis. So, dorian tends not to go below a D (its finalis), but hypodorian will.

(though again, pitch standard wasn't real. a medieval d would not be the same as a modern d. and tuning was different back then).

you also get early staffs! these use ligatures, and are written on a four line staff. The clefs are movable, and you have three of them (F, C, and G. These eventually become our modern bass, alto, and treble clefs).

^^ this is an example with an F clef (also this is on a five line staff! So it’s probably later Middle Ages). So, that middle line is F, and if we assume this page to be the full chant, the finalis would be D. As it rarely goes below that D, this chant is in dorian mode.

In this example, you can also see an example of note-syllable relationships. Most syllables on here only have one note attached to it, so this would be a syllabic chant. When a chant is or a more important day or in praise of someone more important, they tend to get more ornate, and that's when you get neumatic chant (each syllable has a couple notes sung on it, which you see in this example occasionally), or melismatic chant, where a single syllable will be embellished extensively.

Here's a good example of a melismatic chant! It's for st. michael's feast day, so it's very important and very ornamented. The video includes medieval sheet music, and you can see how "alleluia" is incredibly intricate from the get go.

Also worth noting is the way they taught this! in the modern day, we have our solfege systems, which started as the hexachord, a series of six notes taken from "ut queant laxis". If you were learning chant in the middle ages, you'd use "ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la", and when you needed to go beyond six notes, you'd mutate into a new hexachord. Hexachords came in three varieties: the natural hexachord which started on C, the soft hexachord which started on F (and included a Bb), and the hard hexachord which started on G (and included a B natural). Bb is the first accidental because it was used to avoid tritones. Again, still no pitch standard, so these notes were kind of whatever you wanted them to be, but what was important was knowing where the intervals between them were.

As time passes, people in certain areas began making their chant more complex. This is where organum comes in. Organum simplum is when you'd have two voices moving at the same time, in harmony. They'd tend to keep the voices a fourth or a fifth apart, and that results in stuff like this:

Then they add more voices and things get MORE intricate. Monks will take pre-existing chants and create elaborate ornamentation on top of it. the original chant becomes a drone underneath this ornamentation, and is known as the tenor. At this point we’ve moved away from monophony and entered heterophony (one main voice and several derivative voices), and even polyphony (many unrelated voices)!!

This also is a good example of rhythmic modes! you can hear the almost swing feel, which comes from the se rhythmic modes tending to break down into out modern day 6/8 sort of timing. I won't elaborate on this because im just now learning more about this so im not confident on my knowledge about it.

And there's also the english method that emerges later, which changes the tuning of a major third, and then bases their chants around that instead of fourths and fifths!

I am uh. realizing just how much i wrote. so im gonna say that's a good overview of fun medieval chant stuff, but i hope this all made sense!! you'll probably hear a lot more of this once i get around to composing "sweet dark mouth - chant style" though :) thanks for asking and giving me an excuse to ramble about it!!

[professionallydeadinside]

The apprentices of the head curators for my Teeth universe! Should I have probably done the masters first? Yeah! Did I? No! Anyway more about them under the cut sdfghhgfd

Btw side note any person in any guild can take an apprentice. A majority of apprentices just apprentice under anyone that will take them. However apprenticing under the head Curator of the guild is veryyy special as whoever the Curator takes as an apprentice has basically a 90% chance of becoming the next head (they still have to prove themselves but their chances are a lot higher).

And also a little thing but the apprentices are usually allowed to dress however they'd like as long as they have one item that corresponds with the color of their guilds designated gem. "Usually" as the master has the final say on what their apprentice is allowed to wear.

Luka Finchetti: Idk why I originally gave him a different last name that didn't make sense considering Giles adopted Luka when he was a baby so I changed it ANYWAY You all know Luka!! Sweet little guy!! He's very happy-go-lucky and looks up to Giles as both a father and master. Although coming off as innocent, he's not necessarily stupid and is capable of doing hard work (even if he acts like a wuss while doing it). When he's older, he still holds onto his childlike optimism and believes a good attitude is needed to work well with the dead.

Shane (Cassandra) Conroy: When Cassandra came out with orange hair that seemed to match the Amber color of the Life guild, Cain (her uncle and head curator of the Life guild), took that as a sign that she would be the apprentice for him. But his brother (Cassandra's father) and his sister in law seemed to have different ideas, wanting Cassandra to chose what guild she wanted for herself. Naturally, Cain murdered them both and raised Cassandra, or, Shane as his own. Shane is sarcastic and even though she's not the eldest, she's seen as an older sister by most. The Life guild has definitely left a bad taste in her mouth, but her desire to protect Luka has her curious about the Protection guild.

Dorian Laurent: Dorian is an apprentice that is truly and thoroughly in love with the guild he's in. With his strong people skills and ability to know what customers want before they even know they want it, he was practically made to be the new head of the Textile guild. He is a little bit stuck up and hoity toity, but only to those who are willingly ignorant. If you ask him to explain something, he gladly will. But he hates people talking nonsense about clothing. He has strong opinions on fashion and a small pet peeve of his is the fact his master doesn't actually wear emerald green. (She's the one that made his suit because "he looks so handsome in it!" but the color disgusts him. He rebels in his own way by wearing a tie that is the correct green).

Bedelia Smith: The problem with being the only normal girl surrounded by apprentices that are riddled with litanies of issues is that relating to your peers is surprisingly hard. People have always told Bedelia that she was so mature and motherly for her age, so naturally she took to the Cooking guild, making her abilities known before eventually being taken apprentice by Bubba. Secretly, although she's very happy in her guild, she'd like to be known for something more about her rather then her skills. (Although the Cooking guild's gem is Citrine, she wears an orange bandana because her father worked for the Life guild)

Hyacinth Ferris: Hyacinth is one of the many apprentices who came into the care of their master unwillingly. When caught out in a snowstorm, Hyacinth was cornered by Ishmael who was in a feral haze and in order to save herself, she cut off her own arm to satiate him, giving her time to escape. Afterwards when he came to his senses, he offered a spot as his apprentice as an apology. She felt like she couldn't refuse but has since become intensely loyal to her master and feels a kinship with how he's isolated from others. But this isolation causes her to struggle to make friends with the other apprentices.

Edward Lich: No matter how much he wishes he could just disappear into the background, Edward's shockingly tall stature always brings eyes on him. Which is why he found solace in the quiet of the Horticulture guild. Kinda like Hyacinth, Edward doesn't have the easiest time interacting with the other apprentices. But unlike her, Edward has no problem verbalizing what he thinks. This is entirely to his detriment as he's gained the reputation of being rude when in reality he's just painfully blunt. (Ex: if a boy he liked *cough cough Apollo* touched him on the arm. He would say "Don't touch me." when in his thought process would be more of "Wow I can't believe he's touching me! But he's making my stomach feel fluttery! I can't handle this!) If you give him time to apologize and clarify what he means, he's very sweet.

Ginny Waslin: As her parents were both polite, prim and proper Textile workers, they were greatly unprepared for the storm of energy their daughter was. So they practically begged anyone to apprentice her so they could get her out of the house. Claudia thought she could put Ginny's energy to good use and took her in under the Construction guild. Ginny often acts like a brat when she doesn't get her way and has a strong need to always be in charge. Much of her "bad" behavior comes from the fact that she's desperate for attention.

Apollo Bellerophon: Coming from a long line of head curators of the Protection guild, Apollo is obligated to do the same. However, what his family just doesn't seem to understand is that he doesn't have the physical strength or stamina to keep up with the needs of Protection guild. He has chronic fatigue and other ailments that his family ignores. Those who are patient and understanding enough to stick around know Apollo as a dry humored and quick witted young man. He'd much rather be in the Textile guild if you ask him.