#marius arsenault

[thenightdayblogger]

10, 25, 39 for marius & cordelia <3

I did laugh when I woke up this morning and saw all your asks. Thank you as always for indulging my oc obsession em <3

Ask game here

10. Who plays with whose hair?

Both, but Marius particularly takes any pretext to brush Cordelia's hair out of her face (so it doesn't get stuck), tuck it carefully behind her nape (so it doesnt catch on fire), run a hand through it (thought there was a leaf. oh we're indoors. oh haha must have imagined it)

25. Do they have any pet names for one another?

I think they tend to use their respective names most often (especially as that is technically more intimate, though not necessarily romantic) but they both call each other "love" on occasion, and it especially affects Marius lol.

39. Do they dance? If so, who's better?

Both dance! Marius is better trained but Cordelia has more practice, so I'd give the edge to Cordelia on it. Marius gets better as he goes out more.

Thank you for the ask em <3 (one of multiple incoming GLKSD)

[lesorciercanadien]

Bibliography of Scholarly Articles and Books

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E.I. Robson. A Guide to French Fetes. Methuen & Co. Ltd. 1930.

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Gaudet, Rose-Delima. “La place de l’Église catholique aux Îles-de-la-Madeleine” Sessions d’études: Société canadienne d’histoire de l’Église catholique 46 (1979): 99-106.

Karst, Amanda. 2010. Conservation Value of the North Ameriacn Boreal Forest from an Ethnobotanical Perspective. Canadian Boreal Initiative, David Suzuki Foundation and Boreal Songbird Initiative; Ottawa, ON; Vancouver, BC; Seattle, WA.

Labelle, Ronald. “Native Witchcraft Beliefs in Acadian, Maritime and Newfoundland Folklore” Ethnologies 30, no. 2 (2008): 137-152.

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Lavoie, Kathia, Julie Mollen, Agathe Napess, Georgette Mestokosho et Priscilla Mestokosho. "Innu-Natukuna: La cueillette de plantes médicinales par des membres de la communauté d'Ekuanitshit" Recherches Amérindiennes au Quebec, vol. 45, no. 2-3. (2015).

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Marius Barbeau. The Tree of Dreams. Oxford University Press. 1955.

Marius Barbeau. Le Saguenay légendaire. Librairie Beauchemin Limitée. 1967.

Nicole Belmont. Mythes et croyances dans l'ancienne France. Flammarion. 1973.

Niemeyer, Mark. "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie and the Ambiguous Afterlife of the History of the Acadians." Canadian Review of American Studies/Revue canadienne d'etudes americaines vol. 48, no.2, (2018).

Pearl, Jonathan L. "Witchcraft in New France in the Seventeenth Century: The Social Aspect." Historical Reflections/ Reflexions Historiques, vol. 4, no. 2. (Winter 1977): 41-55.

Pierre DesRuisseaux. Dictionnaire des croyances et superstitions. Éditions Triptyche, 1990.

Podruchny, Carolyn. Making the Voyageur World: Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.

Podruchny, Carolyn, "Werewolves and Windigos: Narratives of Cannibal Monsters in French Canadian Voyageur Oral Tradition," Ethnohistory vol 51 no.4, 2004.

Ransom, Amy J. "The Changing Shape of a Shape-Shifter: The French Canadian "Loup-garou"." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 26, no. 2 (2015): 251-275.

Robinson, James M. The Nag Hammadi Library: The Definitive Translation of the Gnostic Scriptures Complete in One Volume.

Smallman, Shawn. "Spirit Beings, Mental Illness, and Murder: Fur Traders and the Windigo in Canada's Boreal Forest, 1774 to 1935" Ethnohistory vol 57, no. 4 (Fall 2010): 571-596.

Smith, Isobel. "Man into Animal: Lycanthropy in French and French-Canadian Folklore and Literature." Thesis presented to the University of Alberta, Spring 1985.

Tremblay, Marc. "Le cycle de la chasse-galerie: Etude des variantes significatives, de la diffusion et de la structure d'un conte folklorique canadien-francais." These soumise a l'universite Carleton, Janvier 1996.

Victor-Lévy Beaulieu. Les contes québécois du grand-pere Forgeron a son petit-fils Bouscotte. Éditions Trois-Pistoles. 1998.

W. Branch Johnson. Folktales of Brittany. Methuen & Co. 1927.

Wintemberg, W. J. “French Canadian Folk-Tales”, The Journal of American Folklore 17 no. 67 Published by American Folklore Society (Oct.-Dec. 1904): 265-267.

[thenightdayblogger]

WIP WEDNESDAY

tagged by @silvery-bluish (side note i always start typing in bookish and am like 'wow tumblr search function is useless' before i realize LMAO) uhhh, you dont have to do it tonight LMAO but lets say @emeraldgreaves and @bi-stander my writing wed. buddies!! pretty unpolished bc i wrote this. today.

Anyway this is so long sorry. but marius cordelia, part of something much larger !

A slender brow arches at her words, he seems surprised to be asked to give his input. Cordelia is not, although the pit in her stomach hollows further. Cordelia was a junior alchemist, easy pickings. Bringing Marius in, and putting the emphasis on their relationship forced him to either defend what appeared at the moment to be an incorrect position, or disavow her, in which point it was easy to question his teaching. Never mind that the principums were her work, not his. Nothing of that shows on his face however, and she doubts he thinks of it at all. “If you’d like.” He says, mildly. “Although I’m not at all a principalist.” “Only a Grandmaster.” Alchemist Sable says, and if there’s a hard edge to her statement Cordelia is at loss to explain, beyond the already apparent knowledge that Alchemist Sable had disliked everyone Cordelia had seen her intact with so far. It seemed more intense with Marius, but perhaps she was just more sensitive to that—that she seemed to dislike even when he openly admitted to his own foibles. “Your opinion would be greatly desired. After all, is that not the point of these endeavors, to discuss all manner of wonder-working?” She gestures grandly to the whole of the room—the elegant bearings, the smaller groups farther off pretending they weren’t eavesdropping. “Of course.” Marius says briefly, and steps into the circle himself to get a better view. He does a brief, unselfconscious turn-around, boots audibly thumping on the ground, and Cordelia has to stifle her snort at the expression on Thornton’s face. His is a quicker turn than Benedictine, in mere seconds he is stepping out of the circle. Rather than his original place, however, he steps out toward Cordelia, drawing something from his pocket that he hands to her as he passes by. She takes it before she registers what it is—a stick of chalk. She’s only able to marvel briefly that it’s not broken before Sable’s impatient voice is cutting through the air. “Well, Grandmaster?” Marius pauses, like he’s considering his words carefully. His gaze meets Cordelia’s briefly, there is none of the pity of Benedictine, only something even-keeled she can’t distinguish before he’s looking away again, back toward Sable. “I’ve no doubt it’s possible.” There’s a visible reaction from the circle, Sable stiffens as a couple of the onlookers whisper frantically to each other. After an exceedingly stiff moment, she grinds out. “Do you have a reason for this?” “Yes.” Marius says, and absolutely nothing else. Cordelia can only avoid the slightly-hysterical wheeze that tries to get out of her by taking a quick gulp of her drink. Sable looks ready to abandon niceties and simply attack Marius with her bare hands, but manages to grind out instead— “Would you be so gracious, then, as to explain it to us?” “Oh. Yes, if you’d like.” Marius says. Cordelia bites down on the hysterical desire to laugh—from anyone else, this was probably read as an cutting rebuke of how Sable was flouting social niceties. She doubted Marius even realized what was happening. “Like Alchemist Benedictine, I do not understand how you could do the bypass without increasing the energy input to unsustainable levels." He gives a little motion toward the offending sigils. “But I have no doubt it’s possible.” “Because it ought to be so?” Benedictine says, seemingly catching on, although there’s still a puzzled note to his words. Cordelia is as well. There were plenty of patterns in alchemy, proof that principums might work even when they seemed superficially contradictory, but even as she wracked her brain she could think of none relevant here. But Marius was confident. She could see it in the way he held himself, as he had done a hundred times in her company—no pretension or pride, only the unerring calmness that came with knowing exactly what he was doing. “Which sequence would you be referring to—?” “Not a sequence.” Marius says, looking even a little surprised at the idea. “I have no doubt it’s possible because Alchemist Marchand suggested it.”

[thenightdayblogger]

7 and 10 for Esmé (and the guy she’s Weird about) and 13 and 19 for Marius and Cordelia for the couples questions? Sidebar, I keep almost calling Cordelia Cordy for some reason. Is that allowed or is she a Full Name Only type o gal

Couple ask game here (x)

7. Do they (or would they) pursue the other character’s affection, and if so, how? Do they tell the other character how they feel? Try to earn their admiration? Woo them with romantic gestures? Flirt with them, skillfully or otherwise?

oh boy GLKSDK. my fun esmé fact of the day is that esme originally started flirting with ortega to one-up him. like oh you think you're funny and charming? well i'm going to flirt better then you just to prove a point. then she caught feelings and now it's awkward smh

anyway to answer your question, she'd do anything for him but never stop mocking him for being self-centered if he said so. not quite pursuing, because it's not in expectation of romantic reciprocation, but more that, as you say, she's Weird about him and thats just how she acts with people she cares about GLKDSK. no explicitly romantic gestures, flirting only if its a bit (its not a bit). she'll say "well at least you're pretty" in a very condescending tone whenever he talks but she will shut down anything more meaningful then that so i dont blame ortega for mixed messages here.

10. What scares them about entering a relationship?

(esme voice nothing scares me im like a god). well! besides the "different sides and bankrolled by an institution im dedicating my life to toppling" i think she is really, really concerned that if this happens, she'll die for real this time and it will break his heart. opposite is not something she's scared of because she wont let him die so 👍

Cordelia is not nicknamed but is perfectly amenable to Cordy in friendly contexts. just for you bookish <3

13. What is their go-to for making a partner feel loved?

Alchemy, for both of them. It was the first thing they really bonded over, and continues to be a point of connection for them. They can go whole days just discussing some random esoteric principle and it is their primary mode of flirting.

Otherwise, independently; Marius hears about a minor inconvenience from Cordelia and comes back a day later with something he made to fix it or very thorough plans for doing so. Cordelia is very deliberate about grounding him with touch—a hand on his shoulder, or taking his arm to lead him away from the laboratory he had been standing at for the past six hours.

19. Are they okay with public displays of affection? Do they like them?

Cordelia's dislike of it stems from the whole "image" problem i talked about earlier—with that particular barrier removed, she's got no problem with it. Nothing particularly excessive, but a kiss on the cheek, or holding hands she is more then comfortable with.

Marius is more excited about the affection part then the public part. to be fair the man just hates public. he tends to defer to cordelia, but he will never say no to holding hands.

also. frankly their alchemical discussions are probably more obscene then any other way they could flirt. they are done in a perfectly acceptable manner. there is nothing that could actually be construed as flirting, only very intense dialogue about alchemy. if you wrote it down and read it you'd be like "oh what an intellectual discussion between equals", if you're there you're like "oh my god can they get a room."

Thank you for the ask bookish!

[thenightdayblogger]

3, 7, and 10 for the couple of your choosing if you’re taking these!!

thank you for the ask ken! couple ask game here (x) im using my original characters, cordelia and marius also this got so. so massively long sorry i feel like i was possessed x

3. By contrast, what was the moment that first made their ~heart~ Soft for the other person? Not necessarily a conscious realization of “I love this person,” but a moment that had them like “Oh...I adore them...”

Marius and Cordelia's early relationship took work (after a period in which they just didn't like each other), they both had to make the conscious effort at first to engage positively with the other, in a way that didn't come natural to them. I think that the first things that could be considered romantic affection rather then platonic were;

Cordelia: There's a scene I have in mind where Marius makes the assumption that Cordelia would marry for advantage, and when asked why, methodically lays out his reasoning (she's practical, she wants access to aristocratic titles and wealth, nobles often don't marry for love so she'd be able to leverage her skill to marry higher then she might have otherwise). and hes right LMAO. I think that Cordelia is both embarrassed of and fiercely defensive of her calculation, which is a little too much to get into here, but having someone not pass a value judgment, while simultaneously acknowledging her skill as an alchemist is enough for her to start looking at him in a different light.

Marius: I think their back-and-forth, argument/banter about alchemy was really what set off the whole thing, water on stone deal. that her mask slips off and she's passionate and determined and bitingly witty. either that or the first time she said something perfectly polite with a :) that just makes the entire thing extremely cutting. loved that. probably praised it on the carriage ride home.

7. Do they (or would they) pursue the other character’s affection, and if so, how? Do they tell the other character how they feel? Try to earn their admiration? Woo them with romantic gestures? Flirt with them, skillfully or otherwise?

Cordelia: related to the question below, but yeah there are a lot of conflicting factors for Cordelia. Publicly, people who know her very well are the only ones who could tell there's anything going on (not applicable to marius who has not been in enough social situations for anyone to accurately quantify if he's acting weird or not), and talking about alchemy's probably the one place she might slip. The massive class disparity is part of it, and while their relationship is one of equals/partners, she is technically his apprentice. I don't know if she flirts, per se, but she's definitely the main driver of romantic interactions. she can only handle so much pining this woman is goal-oriented.

Marius: marius figures out cordelia is in love with him when she says 'im in love with you' and kisses him. when he realized he was in love with her i think he lay face-down on the floor for eight hours, and every time he interacted with her over the next two weeks he had to take a breather after. so. no.

10. What scares them about entering a relationship?

Cordelia: relationships in general, having feigned some part of herself that makes them care about her. this relationship in particular—all her work being dismissed/insinuations cast that she slept her way to the top. Also, it going badly and losing the one other alchemist she's ever felt like treated her as an equal and someone with interesting and valuable insight.

Marius: that if she knew everything about him she'd never speak to him again

thank you again for the ask ken <3

[thenightdayblogger]

for the oc asks: 1 and 5 for cordelia, 7 for my favorite foodie terran, and 17 for marius!

Thank you for the ask em! OC ask game found here (x) it got long so under a read more

Who are they closest to? How did they meet and what do they like to do together? (Cordelia)

Cordelia is probably closest to her sisters—her intense study at the Academy meant it was hard to maintain long-term friendships, and students at the academy were generally competing against each other. Her closest friend, however, would be Brigette, a printer's apprentice who she met when their respective parents started to work together. The two of them like to read pamphlets, go to plays and walk the market at River Court together! The other possible contender is Wilhelmina Kante, a young alchemist two years her senior, but since she graduated before Cordelia and took a post up north they haven't been as close. They still exchange letters though!

5. How affectionate are they? What are their top love languages? (C)

Good question! I think that Cordelia tends to be fairly contained with her affection, learned from the sort of "courtly restraint" that defines the idea of noble standing in Deora—gracious but not earnest, warm but not effusive, funny without being jovial, organic without being spontaneous, etc. Basically you're supposed to make everything you do appear effortless and natural. I think her top two love languages are words of affirmation and acts of service.

7. What are 3 foods they can’t live without? (Terran)

yes this is the perfect question for him 😂 i had to google food to figure this out LMAO Terran has, over time, found himself interested less in the "prestige" of a dish then the quality of its ingredients, he would much rather have something simple with excellent ingredients then something very elaborate but sort of out of season. He insists he can taste the difference between alchemically-forced grown vegetables and seasonally grown.

Baked white fish with lemon cream sauce

Butternut squash soup

Bread pudding—a dish he didn't come around to until later, but one he really likes now.

17. Do they consider themselves to be romantic? Why or why not?

I think prior to Cordelia, Marius had absolutely no concept of Romance as applying to him. Like yes, other people have fallen in love and continue to do so. Has he been in love? He doesn't understand the question.

I think he would not consider himself a romantic. It's not romantic to him to call Cordelia extraordinary, or to constantly solicit her opinion/defer to her judgement, because in his mind she is extraordinary so that's just like? her due? Marius treats her with earnest admiration because that's what she deserves as someone who is incredibly intelligent, capable and kind, there's nothing romantic about it from his point of view—although I think most people would call that romantic LMAO that's just marius....

Thank you for the ask em!!

[thenightdayblogger]

35 and 45 for Cordelia, 3 and 5 for Marius, 22 and 37 for Esmé? 👀👀

hi bookish! ask game here (x)

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure?

Guilty pleasure—thinking bitchy thoughts about people she has to be polite to but doesnt like LMAO. Also, I think Cordelia is very—cautious? about hobbies and pleasures she has that could risk the "noble in all but name" vibe she's worked so hard to wrap herself in. Things associated with lower echelons of the country's society are things she's careful not to admit to lest it be used as an insinuation of "commonness". Totally unguilty pleasure, she could eat Deora into a dark chocolate scarcity.

45. How do other people see them? Is it similar to how they see themselves?

To other people, Cordelia is the consummate Deoran; elegant, graceful and perfectly polished. Very much how she sees herself, and very much on purpose.

3. Did they have a good childhood? What are fond memories they have of it? What’s a bad memory?

Marius' childhood can be divided into Good Part and Bad Part, encompassing roughly birth to age 12/13, and from then to adulthood. He has many fond memories—his brother sneaking him snacks during tutoring sessions, his sister pointing out constellations, his mother reading to him from her books. Post age thirteen, I'd say that his bad memory isn't a particular day (with two exceptions). Just feeling very lonely.

5. Do they have any siblings? What’s their names? What is their relationship with them? Has their relationship changed since they were kids to adults?

Marius had two older siblings, twins—Tristan and Ariadne Arsenault. They were five years his senior and very fond of him—Tristan in particular had a tendency to dote. When Marius was twelve, his mother and Tristan were killed in an accident, theorized to have something to do with the alchemical 'underpinnings' of the manor failing. Less then a year later, Ariadne ran away, leaving Marius heir presumptive and alone. He's had no contact with her since.

22. What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back?

Esmé is very talented at out-of-pocket insults that will rattle around someone's brain for the rest of time. i think at some point in her sidestep career she called someone a "candyland reject" and shes still pretty proud of that one LMAO. Otherwise, she's fond of a good "dumb fuck" as punctuation. i think actually she's never bitched about anyone EXCEPT for if she's done it to their face more GLKSKD like if she's saying "i hate that guy" to you, she already said it 3x worse directly to him.

37. Do they like to read? Are they a fast or slow reader? Do they like poetry? Fictional or non fiction?

She does like to read! She's a pretty fast reader, and unfortunately not really great at grasping poetry 😔 although i imagine there are a few poems that she's actually been affected by. She tends to read mostly scientific magazines and the news nowadays, but she was fond in her sidestep days of a good western.

Thank you for the ask bookish <3!

[thenightdayblogger]

Can I have Know and Meet Strange for Esmé? And For Good + For Bad for whoever from any original work u currently have going 👀 (I want to ask abt whichever project you’ve worked on most recently but don’t know which project that is LOL)

Ask game here, thank you bookish!

Know: How well does your OC know themself—their wants, their goals, their motivations? Do they engage in any sort of self-reflection? Is there anything about themself they willfully ignore?

Ooh that's a good question! I think Esmé's definitely a mixed bag. On the surface, she definitely has actionable goals that she wants to achieve. Like no, she won't tell you what they are, but she knows. However tends to dismiss her less concrete desires—for connection, affection, etc—as superfluous/self-indulgent, so they're the sort of thing that catch her off-guard more often.

In the same vein, esme is keenly aware of many of her flaws, but that's not the same thing as trying to be better ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ like 'why bother fixing what's broken beyond repair' sort of vibe. It's not quite a personality thing, but I think she is trying really, really hard to ignore the growing understanding of just how dangerous she can be. It's definitely not made her more likely to look deeply at herself.

Meet Strange: What's the most memorable way your OC has ever met a new person? Was it a good experience? Bad experience? Just plain weird? How's their relationship with that person now?

Esmé never meets people normally LMAO uh, I think Ashfall just beats out Ortega, because in my brain he was just post-dusting (aka naked). esme bodily slams the monologuing villain into a wall. stands and dusts herself off, and silently handed Ashfall a XXXL kitschy souvenir branded t-shirt. and that was just that, tbh im not even sure esme would clock it as a 'weird' first meeting. They had a very good working relationship, although I'm not sure they ever became friends they were definitely friendly.

I've been mostly working on ASAWT, so I'll answer for Cordelia and Marius! Although i need to go back to Elenah and Theoren I miss them :')

For Good: Is there anyone in your OC's life who had an undeniable positive impact on who they are as a person? How did knowing this person improve your OC's life?

Cordelia: A lot of people, but she'd probably cite Alchemist Haywell—a professor at the Academy. He really took her under his wing in a lot of ways, and he was really the first person to express a sort of expert's praise—to tell her, as a well-respected alchemist, that she was talented and smart. With that, and a few other, faintly spoilery things, she credits him with her graduating at all.

Marius: If Marius did not have Terran he would still be under his father's thumb and exceedingly miserable about it, so probably him. Others as well!

For Bad: Is there anyone who had an undeniable negative impact on your OC’s life? How did your OC deal with that change? Have they been able to move on?

Cordelia: In her class, a spoiled, unpleasant and obnoxious son of a Count. She had to grit her teeth and bear him being a fucking tool because of his status and wealth, especially compared to her—but she's since graduated, and since she was at the top of her class and he was at the bottom, it definitely helped with her 'moving on' LMAOO. Just in general I'd say it's not any specific person, but how she has to react to people as sort of a small fish in a big pond (non-aristocrat entering a much bigger world)

Marius: Oooh a complicated, spoilery and anxiety-inducing question, I love it. I think he'd say his father, which is true but not the whole picture—but yeah. his father. They rarely speak, and absolutely he has not moved on.

Thank you for the ask bookish!!

[thenightdayblogger]

16 for marius and cordelia! hard mode they can’t work on their projects together

ask game here (x) you know them too well em 🤣

16. If they had the ability to just spend free time with their partner, what would they do? Would they go out or stay inside?

I think that Cordelia would like to take Marius somewhere they would absolutely not run into any aristocrats—the merchant's quarter, or farther out from the city center, and spend a leisurely day wandering around the market before settling and doing some reading together on the river.

unlimited free time with cordelia is already marius' idea of a great time so i think he'd be pretty psyched to do whatever she wanted 🤣 definitely ditto on just sitting and reading together, preferably while they hold hands

Thank you for the ask em :)

[thenightdayblogger]

alternatively a 46 (linking arms with each other) for marius and cordelia, at a point where that is the maximum amount of contact he can have with another person without spontaneously combusting LMAO

Hi it has been near Exactly three months from this ask game and i have two more of these in my inbox. I've tried on and off again with this for weeks but now I've written this 1.8k chunk for nano and toss it completely unedited into this. Thank you for the ask em beloved <3

The sun is bright and the air is warm, and Marius is indescribably relieved when Cordelia breaks from her group to find him again, because he had been standing examining the same flower bush for fifteen minutes, and he got the feeling that was starting to look a little suspicious.

“Enjoying the flowers, Marius?” Cordelia’s voice is light and easy as he moves to meet her—some of the courtly affection of her accent slipping away in favor of amusement. Dressed as elegantly as she ever was, a fan flutters idly in one hand, just below a mouth trying not to smile. “Alchemist Pierce will be nervous about the competition.”

“No need for that.” Marius says, giving one last baleful glance back at the bush. It had served him well enough, but it could have stood to be a little taller. He had a crick in his neck from staring down at it. “I’ve literally no idea what that is.”

“So you’ve been staring at a plant you don’t recognize for fifteen minutes to avoid walking around?” She chides, no real censure to her voice. A spark of her real smile glints, bright as the water off the fountain. “Marius. Just say you're hot and go inside.”

“But I’m not hot.” Marius says, trying and failing to ignore the jolt of pleasure at her using his name. Not many used it. In Cordelia’s mouth it had a warmth to it, an insinuation of accord. Partnership—affection, even? It sets off a different sort of twang in his stomach. The sensation was bewildering—their friendship was novel still, hard-won and careful. No surprise he acted oddly to parts of it, considering…well. Everything. But he puts it aside. “It’s nice out here. I just—didn’t feel much of a desire to promenade.”

“Because you didn’t want to be accosted by someone you didn’t want to talk to.” Cordelia says, and Marius grants the point with a wry dip of his head. He didn’t mind so much with her, though. It felt less like being scrutinized, more like being understood. Her voice is gentler then, but still teasing. “So your solution was to stand in a corner and look at a bush.”

“It worked.” He points out. Nobody had blinked twice, actually, which probably said more about how he came across to the nobility of Deora than anything. Most of the crowd of nobles had been led on by Alchemist Courtlandt, loudly extolling his own virtues as he gave them a grand tour of his accomplishments—thank the Lady that Marius had managed to get out of that, because Alchemist Courtlandt ranked barely below Alchemist Yancey in people he talked to only when cornered.

“It did.” Cordelia concedes, eyes dancing. “However, if you’d like to lean a little less on your botany—?”

She holds out an arm. He stares, for a moment, uncomprehendingly.

“…what are you doing—” He begins, and then it clicks, “Oh!”

“Promenading.” Cordelia says, with the faintly pleased look she got when she felt like something had been resolved neatly. Which to be fair it had been. To not have his undivided attention would immediately decrease interest in speaking with him. By virtue of their work together Cordelia could stick close, and without a doubt deflect anyone still trying to accost him much more skillfully then he ever could.

A very neat solution. Except he is suddenly, bewilderingly aware of the fact that he had never actually touched Cordelia, beyond hauling each other up over walls and brief, fleeting pats on the back as they had squeezed past each other in the narrower parts of the lab. The sudden rush of unease roots him to the spot, startling him with his own intensity, and it takes a few breaths for him to get over it.

A few breaths too many, he thinks. He had hesitated for too long. Cordelia giving an apologetic half-smile as she moves to step backward, arm descending.

“We can also go by the card tables, if you’ve a mind to play rather then walk. I think Grandmaster Benedictine might be there—”

“Yes.” Marius blurts out, graceless and hasty, and hastily appends. “To promenading. I mean. Sorry, I was just—ah. Lost it thought.” He’s not quite sure why he is so uneasy about it, but the idea of not doing it, of Cordelia taking note and not asking again—jolts something much more unpleasant in his ribcage.

“Oh.” Cordelia says, surprised and trying to hide that she’s pleased. “Then—?” She holds out an arm again, more confidently this time, and Marius relies on momentum to slip their arms together, her hand naturally coming to rest on the crook of his. She’s wearing gloves—trim white ones that reach past her elbows—but yet somehow he thinks he feels the warmth of her hand even through the layers of fabric separating them.

They walk. It’s a little ungainly at first—Marius thinks the last time he had done something like this had been escorting Ariadne in the year before her leaving, a melancholy thought that he pushes away immediately before it can make him tenser. He focuses instead on Cordelia, who seems content to drift silently on the path for now, with the odd wry comment on this statue or that. In her other hand, her fan moves the little stray hairs that had fallen from her sleek bun and artful tendrils. This close to her, the light splays gold across the soft angle of her nose, exposing the barest hint of freckles across the bridge of it.

…This is not actually helping either, now that he’s thinking about it. He Maybe he is overtired from the sun.

“I wonder where Courtlandt’s supplied.” Cordelia says, and Marius wrenches his attention back to the matter at hand. She is looking thoughtfully at a piece of Artifice that decorated this particular part of the garden—a set of small, metallic peacocks that strutted around their assigned area, fanning out feathers of silk and occasionally letting out high, musical notes in harmony. Not faithful to actual peacocks, who Marius had seen a good deal more screaming then singing of, but he supposed it was the fashion of the thing.

“For which part?”

“The wires, mostly.” Cordelia says, moving a little closer—and by extension, Marius along with her. She doesn’t seem to notice, and if Marius wants to inform her the words stick in his throat. “Only Nadarch has consistent standards, and import taxes are such a nightmare. But I’m sure he could afford it.” She sighs, a trace of envy coloring her voice.

“Maybe a composite.” He says. “But either way, I think it’ll fail sooner then he’d like to it, so a bit of a waste. The Viscount might not be pleased that his birds stop singing so soon.” That gets her attention—a curious glance his way.

“Why do you think so?”

“The base system is trifactal.” Marius says, gesturing toward the delicate workings on the birds’ wings, triangular in shape. “But their marques are aligned at the fourth and tenth.”

“To account for the movement of the wings, no?”

“Indeed.” Marius says. “But they’re fixed to the third, and I don’t think Courtlandt’s done the appropriate amount of re-aligning on the back end. See—” He points as the nearest and largest of them, raising its head and opening its beak. For a split second, its beak jars open unnaturally, eyes unblinking, before the music whirls from its throat and it continues on its naturalistic pattern.

“Huh.” Cordelia says, surveying. “I didn’t notice. And if it’s at odds with the base system it’ll just keep falling farther out of sync.”

“Yes.” Marius says. “Not unfixable yet, but tedious and time-consuming for most, and I doubt he’ll think to worry enough to work on it until it drags the whole thing under and he’s got to go fix it himself.”

“Mhm. And are you going to offer to do it for him?” She sends him an amused glance before he can answer. “I heard the ‘for most,’ I can put the pieces together. If it takes him three days it’d take you two hours?”

“Perhaps.” Marius admits. He had begun to practice realigning when he was eight years old, so probably closer to an hour then two. It seemed maybe not the right moment to say it though, although he suspected Cordelia would just laugh. “And no, I won’t.”

“No?” She says, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “Understandable. He’s not much aligned with you, and it could be easily taken badly.”

“Yes.” Marius says, and in an impulse of blunt honesty—“I also just hate him.”

Cordelia startles—snorts loudly, pressing a crooked finger to her mouth as if to stifle the sound before she gives up and laughs. No malice, just mirth. Marius cannot suppress his own smile at the sound of it. It's a strange compulsion, to laugh when she does; he thinks it's something about the way her shoulders shake, her palm hard to her lips as she struggles to recompose herself. The way laughter lingers in her eyes, undimmed even after she drags the courtly mien back around her. Her hand briefly clasps at his arm, which seems to make her realize that she was still holding it—when they disentangle, he is struck by a sudden sense of loss he is unsure how to explain.

“Well.” She says finally, still struggling to tamp down the laughter bubbling out of her. Any anxiety that she had some sort of previously unspoken affection for Courtlandt is quashed when she bumps her shoulder against his —companionable, a darkly amused look flicked up at him from under her lashes. “Can’t blame you for that. And he can’t even fob it off on an apprentice when it’s a patron this significant—although he might try. By the blessings, what alchemists will make their apprentices do.” She laughs again—nothing of courtly artifice to it. “I light candles at devotional in thanks for you.”

“Hah.” Marius says with a stuttered half-laugh, feeling himself flush and praying it didn’t show up. If he had been given his mother’s olive tones it would be much less of a problem. “You’d be wasted on re-calibrating.”

“Doubtlessly.” Cordelia says, another faint smile turning her mouth. “Did you want to go back now?”

Marius makes to agree and hesitates. Over her head, he sees vibrant flashes of color congregating across the broad green lawn—other guests, he wagers, being plied by servants with tea and treats. He should probably suggest they join them.

“One more turn.” He finds himself saying. This time it’s him who holds out an arm. “I’ve a mind to see if he knows what a rooster looks like.”

[thenightdayblogger]

grab bag for the romance asks: elenah theoren 2 & 14, esme ortega 4 & 16, marius cordelia 7 & 22! - em <3

Ask game here (x) Thank you for this beautiful grab bag <3

2. What was the first moment that they knew they were in love with their LI? 

For Theoren: A challenge, definitely. Refusal to accept something for simply being known, demanding that he put more worth into his own choices. I think that for Elenah, it came on the heels of the first serious realization that she could lose him.

14. Is their anything they associate with each other?

Theoren associates Elenah with: Fire, spinning. Embroidery. Strong, determined hands.

Elenah associates Theoren with: Harp music, gold and sunlight. The smell of almond blossoms.

4. Their favorite physical feature on each other? 

Esme likes Ortega's eyes; especially when he laughs. Ortega likes the particular small smile she sometimes has without realizing it.

16. Jealous at all?

No, not at all. Esme was very much on the 'its not going to happen so no point in getting attached' (gets attached immediately) gamut with ortega, but even once that's settled, I really can only see her being upset over pretty obviously jealousy-inducing things. I don't think Ortega is romantically jealous either.

7. Favorite date activity? 

I won't count alchemy, their eight-hour a day date—Marius really likes when Cordelia shows him somewhere new (which is not hard). She likes to take him to unexpected spots, she likes his obvious interest in them.

22. From the outside looking in, what is their dynamic like? 

I think for anyone who has a sense of their relationship—extraordinarily well matched? They are obviously at ease with each other, with their alchemical discussions only half-verbalized because the other one picks up on what they're saying so quickly. They obviously trust, like and respect each other and have the comfort to joke around—which to people who know either of them is a surprise, albeit in very different ways (cordelia: wow she seems so unflappable and politic, she's actually at ease here versus marius: wow. he laughs?)

Thank you for the ask em!!

[thenightdayblogger]

UNUSUAL MUSE ASSOCIATIONS

Tagged by @squarelyblue, tagging @emeraldgreaves @alistairapologist @silvery-bluish and @rangerdoubt

Decided to do Marius for this, 1) because cordelia would require a "what she would say" versus "what she is" and 2) i love my boy. this is 100 percent on vibes and nothing more.

SEASONING: dried thyme

WEATHER: Overcast day, cool but not cold

COLOR: A deep rust red.

SKY: A dark, starless night with a bit of cloud cover but stars peeking out from it.

MAGICAL POWER: he's already an alchemist but. if not technopathy i'd go for the exact opposite and say something w flora/plants

HOUSE PLANT: Fiddle-leaf fig. An absolutely massive one in the corner of the room that a small child could probably build a life in.

WEAPON: lmao never.

SUBJECT: engineering but in like a steampunk way. no chrome no sleek edges this thing is puffing smoke and its entirely copper i dont care about logistical issues.

SOCIAL MEDIA: also no.

MAKEUP PRODUCT: Glittering pearlescent powder on his cheekbones/a bit smudged on his eyelids.

CANDY: Cherry cordials

FEAR: pity and fear (they know)

ICE CUBE SHAPE: nugget ice, crunch in your mouth :]

METHOD OF LONG-DISTANCE TRAVEL: Dark carriage with a velvet inside.

ART STYLE: Dark surrealist, faintly abstract. 'Dark tangling woods with a luminous lantern that exposes gleaming eyes' vibes.

MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURE: [SPOILERS]

PIECE OF STATIONERY: Extremely thin, faintly yellowing. When you hold it up the light comes through.

THREE EMOJIS: 🌱♠️⚗️ (i cant believe they have??? an alembic emoji?????)

CELESTIAL BODY: Comet

Thanks for the tag blue!

[thenightdayblogger]

22, 38, and 45 for alchemist arsenault ⚗️

Ask game here i still cannot believe there's an alembic emoji and no ginger but i guess that works for this case GLKSDK

22. What does your character like in other people?

Confidence and compassion

38. Is your character more likely to remove a problem/threat, or remove themselves from a problem/threat?

It is impossible to describe the lengths that Marius will just Absolutely Avoid a problem. Not even sticking his head in the sand, just—booking it. Leaving. You want to pressure him into alchemical "councils" that are actually thinly-veiled idea generators for the palace? you want to discuss his obligations as heir to a duchy? you want to talk to him? about his feelings? good luck. you know exactly where he is (his house) and you will still be unable to pin him down.

45. What does your character believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?

The (still unnamed) Bruntëan religon believes that upon your death your soul (the platonic, perfect "ideal" version of yourself) dwells in paradise. I don't know that it scares him, but I don't know that he believes it's going to happen either. I think Marius has vague ideas of energy dispersing back into the way it was before, but tends to avoid dwelling more then that.

Thank you for the ask em <3

[thenightdayblogger]

4 for cordelia and 49 for marius! -em

Hi em! OC ask game here (x)

4. What is their relationship with their parents? What’s a good and bad memory with them? Did they know both parents?

Cordelia's parents are both alive and well! A good memory she has is when she was seven or so—going to the park with her parents and sisters and falling asleep on her mother's shoulder in the warm sunshine. I think a bad memory is one night watching her parents stress about Academy costs, trying to see what they could cut out of their budget to make up for the deficit—they didn't notice she was on the stairs, listening to them speak. They have a positive relationship—her parents love her dearly, and she them.

49. What is their most valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to take everywhere with them?

I think Marius' most valuable object is a beautiful chess board that had been a gift to his older siblings for their birthday, set aside after Tristan's death and Ariadne's disappearance. He doesn't play much, but cares for it meticulously.

Marius is sentimental in his own way, although it's not really tied to things. He normally carries around a small leather journal and a stick of charcoal to scrawl notes in when inspiration strikes.

Thank you for the ask <3

[thenightdayblogger]

12 for marius and cordelia for two wildly different takes

Thank you for the ask em! Ask game here

12. Do they have any sense of style? Regardless of the answer do they believe they have a sense of style?

This is a really interesting question because I think my answer is "kinda?" but in completely different ways. Cordelia pays very, very close attention to fashion because it's so important in courtier circles, so she would call herself stylish because it's essentially a side hustle LMAO. She looks at fashion plates, spends a lot of time making sure her outfits are non-repetitive and in "respectable" style (which normally means doing her own tailoring and/or borrowing her family's clothing) She thinks a lot about what she wears and what people will think it means, eschewing or choosing certain colors, etc. In terms of actual enjoyment, I think she is basically as indifferent as you can get; the max that she employs thought about non-formal clothes that she doesn't intend to wear to a public social gathering is faintly favoring some colors over others She's otherwise disinterested, which is why her wardrobe has a very clear distinction to it; on one side, all the beautiful elegant outerwear that she can pierce together for any occasion, and on the other side a bunch of really old workclothes that she's had since she was sixteen, and literally nothing in between LMAO

On the other hand, Marius would never call himself stylish. Which is true enough because he currently literally owns like eight sets of the same work-robes that he wears day-to-day, under which he has similarly identical (if very nice quality) shirt and trousers. I don't exactly see him turning into a dandy, or spending a lot of time trying to be fashionable, but once he's actively out and about he'd favor styles or particular colors and gravitate toward them immediately. Cordelia is more choosy but Marius is more finicky. (thanos voice) perfectly balanced, as all things should be. I don't think either of them are really that interested, Terran is the clotheshorse here.

Thank you for the excellent ask as always!!

[thenightdayblogger]

what is in-law pit fight of politeness ghdsklfds. also. spare asawt crumbs pls

glskdksdsd god yeah i guess that might be the like. single work i haven't talked to u about on discord 😂😂 anyway brief summary

-my seven heirs oc, father of my more important seven heirs oc gets engaged to his soon-to-be-wife

-wife's mother thinks nobody is good enough for her daughter (to be fair to her she's very wealthy and important, has definitely had to beat off unworthy suitors of her daughters for a long time)

-dinner where she tries to be passive-aggressive but unfortunately he's a kind, gentle, respectful and articulate man who deeply loves her daughter and is a pretty fantastic chef :/ and he made a bunch of dishes from their home countries and has apparently been practicing to give his wife a taste of home.

-so he has to be her favorite son in law now and she's just mad about it on principle

-will that anger survive to dessert? no, it's fabulous. shes also very mad about that too

and hmm, asawt crumbs 👀 I can offer up a snippet i wrote a while ago!

“Oh! One moment—ah, here.” Marius rummages around in his pocket, eventually extracting something from the depths and holding it out to her expectantly. Cordelia holds out her hand, and he carefully presses something small into her waiting hand. His hand recedes to reveal—

“My earring.” She gasps, shocked. It lies squarely in the middle of her palm, looking none the worse for wear. “Where did you find it?”

“Oh, around.” Marius says, waving a hand dismissively. “It was very little trouble.”

“He went back to the room and picked through the rubble looking for it.” Terran says from the driver’s seat. “It took him two hours."

“Why did you tell her that.” Marius says, sounding deeply betrayed. Terran looks completely unrepentant. “Terran. Why did you say that—oof—" His next words cut off in a wheeze as Cordelia hugs him, hard