#quil's queries

[bookwyrminspiration]

The reason there were gay people in Unraveled was all set up for the reveal in book 10 that Sophie's father is actually another woman

Shannon's barest mentions of gay background characters has already pissed off every single conservative parent who loved the series for their kids she should go big. the pages of the next book should be rainbow. bronte and fintan should lick each others' tongues on page

[bookwyrminspiration]

Does Keefe smoke weed?

I don't think he smokes on account of unpleasant associations with fire (plus lung health), BUT! He has set a precedent of irresponsible behavior regarding drugs (fathomlethes, sedatives, etc.)

so what i'm saying is he downs edibles like fruit snacks

[bookwyrminspiration]

mayhaps can you post this toddler toy pic for the insta-less people?

tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this tumblr let me post this

[bookwyrminspiration]

do you ever think about how pissed alvar was that fitz stopped pressing buttons

I haven't yet, but do you ever think about what, exactly, Alvar was yelling while he pounded on the glass? Because Fitz didn't specify

Was he furious at being imprisoned, enraged they stood by and watched? Was it because he was trapped or was it because it was them, his baby siblings, who had done it? Was it because it was just another example of the young being "better" than the old, or was it because deep down part of him wanted them to join him, to follow him, for there to still be something there, and this was a betrayal to that secret wish

Or was he desperate? Was he pleading, beseeching, imploring? Scared and screaming as the goop poured in hot and thick, yelling to be let out, to be saved. Did part of him, deep down, still believe that they would? That the family he'd scorned and disowned still meant something? That though he'd set the bridge on fire with his own hands, his baby siblings would reach out theirs?

What was he yelling, Shannon?

[bookwyrminspiration]

i'm sure i can guess, but. thoughts on the kotlc smut debate? do you think it's appropriate?

I'm not interested in getting into discourse, so I'll try and keep this short and sweet (also, none of this is angry or targeted at anyone and I’m fine talking about it—I’m just not interested in senseless, unproductive arguing!!)

As the subjects are fictional, I don't care. They aren't real people. Smut written about them does not impact or hurt them in any way.

What someone chooses to write about and why is not my business. If it's smut written by teens about teens as a means of exploring sexuality, if its a means of processing experiences or abuse, if its for fun--whatever it is, that's their business. Including for adult authors. They can have just as valid motivations, not that they need to justify themselves. They literally cannot hurt these characters

As for real people, such as fans, no one is forced to read it. If you find yourself in the middle of something that makes you uncomfortable, you can stop reading and walk away. And yes, there may be initial discomfort as you realize--for which I am sympathetic, but it happens and that is on you to manage, not the author.

Authors are also not responsible for rule breakers who access sites they're not old enough for. We're responsible for tagging and adhering to the rules of hosting sites

Also, smut as a whole is a valid form of writing/creation. Sexuality is a normal (note: I am not saying it is the ONLY normal. ace here), widespread part of life, and sexual gratification and enjoyment are morally neutral

Am I personally gonna write any kotlcrew smut? No. Am I gonna read any? Probably no. Not my kind of kotlc fic. I by and large don't enjoy it. But fic writers who chose to engage with the subject here are not writing about real people, and not responsible for real people's comfort with their work beyond tagging.

Smut is always going to exist. It is safer for all parties if it is freely allowed to exist so no one has to disclose potentially very personal justifications (e.g. processing abuse/experiences), and so it can be properly tagged and avoided by those who want/need to--otherwise individuals will not tag appropriately in the interest of not being taken down, and that helps no one.

and since this was brought up last time: this is my stance. I can't tell you how to think, and I don't decide for anyone else what is right from wrong. i can only share my reasonings

Oh also: I don’t hold it against anyone who’s disgusted or uncomfortable with it! That’s fine. I don’t enjoy it either! Valid! But that doesn’t mean we can say it shouldn’t exist or harass people who write it (not saying anyone has, this is just addressing the broad question)

[bookwyrminspiration]

your krocs post inspired the cursed idea of kunglasses (keefe sunglasses). anyway uh. dumping this idea at your feet and hoping you draw it i guess

wake up babe new keeper merch idea just dropped

[bookwyrminspiration]

QUIL! For April Fools, they made your cheese update. Aggressively click the cheese button, and post is covered in cheese.

Adding the photo from the other ask as requested!

I see! I see the update! God I can't let this be my magnum opus now I have to go out and achieve more in life or something, I can't believe tumblr would do this to me.

Anyway, I think of all the posts on this site the cheese one being covered in cheese is very fitting :). Thank you for instructing me on how the cheese function works, because I probably would not have intuited it otherwise!

[bookwyrminspiration]

Hello,

I hope you and your family are well and in good health😃.

I am writing to kindly ask for your support in reblogging my pinned post on my page❤🙏.

It details my struggle and the hardships we face in Gaza😥, especially the dire conditions we are enduring in the hospital where I work as a doctor😣💔.

Your assistance in spreading this message is crucial to raise awareness and garner support for our cause✌💚.

I sincerely appreciate your help and look forward to your continued support🥺❤🙏.

Thank you very much.

Dr.mohammed aldeeb from gaza

Of course--I wish the same for you and your family.

This fundraiser has been vetted by multiple people, linked on the pinned post here, which also has more details about their situation.

Additionally, here's a direct link to their campaign:

As of July 11th, they are at €23,338 / €30,000 !!! These funds will go towards evacuating and reestablishing themselves in Egypt.

Donate if you can, and share if you can't

[bookwyrminspiration]

RUTHLESSNESS IS MERCY UPON OURSELVES

well that came back to bite him in the ass now didn't it

[bookwyrminspiration]

i deeply appreciate the summary you did of the q&a with shannon and because i am me i got to the part where shannon talks about names and my brain went "oooh transgenderism" so now i am looking at new names for the blorbos that have the same meaning but a new gender

I am at your service, my liege. You can never go wrong transgenderizing the blorbos <3

i have a proposal for transfemme fitz

[bookwyrminspiration]

After everything you’ve done, how will you sleep at night?

what it felt like listening to 600 strike:

[bookwyrminspiration]

Dear/Dear

After Greetings,

I hope you are well and in the best condition. I am Ahmed, and I am writing to you today regarding a topic that is very important to me and my family. We are currently facing difficult circumstances that need the support of the community and good people like you.

I have written my story detailing my family's current situation and our urgent need for financial assistance. I would kindly ask you to help us spread this story as widely as possible. Reposting my story will go a long way in raising the funds we need to support my family during this difficult time.

I know your time is valuable, but your help in this matter will make a huge difference to us. If you can post the story on your social media platforms or share it with your friends and acquaintances, I would be very grateful.

Thank you for your interest and time. Your support gives us hope and strength to face these challenges.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-want-to-evacuate-my-family-from-the-gaza-strip?utm_medium=social&utm_source=whatsapp&utm_campaign=p_nacp+share-sheet

With sincere regards and appreciation,

[Ahmed]

---

I hope the same for your family tenfold.

This has been verified by el-shab-hussein and is #161 on this spreadsheet. Here is a direct link to their campaign:

As of July 13th, they've raised €10,279 / €100,000, which will be used to evacuate their family of ten to Egypt and reestablish themselves.

Donate if you can, and share if you can't

[bookwyrminspiration]

Hey quil, I trust your book taste, can you give me some reccs perchance? I’m not picky, whatever your faves are

of course! you'll have seen some of these before in my dragon recs list, but I'll throw in some other ones too :)

A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons; My favorite book series of all time. I can't tell you what it's about because discovering that is part of the plot. Genuinely changed how I think about fantasy and writing. This post goes into a tiny bit more detail but I cannot stress enough it only covers like 2% of the story it makes me FERAL you just need to trust me and stick it out through the confusion (trigger warnings)

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by RF Kuang; young Robin is taken from his home in Canton to England when his family dies, his knowledge of Cantonese invaluable in a world where language, via silver bars, can literally become magic. The British Empire is working to collect all it can for its own gain, but as Robin grows up and learns more of how the world works, how it wants to use him, the more he finds it shouldn't be this way. A beautiful story on loss, oppression, imperialism, injustice, and language's role in identity. I cried.

The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan; Isabella, now an old woman, recounts how she became the most renowned dragon naturalist in the world--overcoming misogyny, maneuvering through politics, and more. Follow her from childhood to present day around the world, studying dragons in the field. This story has wonderful characters, critiques the "not like other girls" trope, has beautiful relationships (including platonic!), a lot of action and intrigue alongside the fascinating science, animalistic dragons, and!! SO many pictures! the artwork it's seriously incredible. Love this series

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones; around Colbren, the dead don't stay dead. Ryn, a young gravedigger, agrees to take the mysterious visiting mapmaker, Ellis, to the abandoned castle, because she needs the money to support her two siblings and in hopes of stopping the worsening curse. Ellis, found near the woods as a babe, hopes to find some remnant or clue to who his family was, who he was. together, they must face the walking dead, find the abandoned castell where this all started, find the answers, and find themselves. I adored it's tone, characters, how it handled death and grief, everything. it reads like a fairytale in the best way

The Martian by Andy Weir; Mark Wattney's an astronaut on Mars when a storm hits, forcing the mission to return to earth prematurely--but he doesn't make it to the shuttle in time, they presume him dead, and leave devastated. now alone on Mars, Wattney's got to figure out how to survive--and how to get in contact with earth and let them know, hey, uh, I'm still here guys. one of my favorite hard sci-fi books of all time. Wattney is such an entertaining, intelligent guy; he'll have you laughing, then on the edge of your seat as Mars tries its best to kill him. this one also comes with a movie :)

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn; Bree's in an early-college program, grappling with the very recent death of her mother. when she stumbles into creatures that shouldn't exist, magic, it starts to look like her mom's death might not have been an accident. she finds a secret society of the descendants of king arthur + the round table, inheriting their powers to defend the world from a different plane--and Bree needs to find out what they know. but getting in is difficult as a Black girl, especially when their guard dog is convinced she's a demon. a beautiful story on grief, Black generational trauma, racism, identity, and more. we're eagerly awaiting book three this spring <3

The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir; of course I had to include this one--tonally similar to ACOD in that you WILL be confused <3. The Emperor Undying needs necromancers; Gideon doesn't give a shit, but the girl she's been raised alongside, Harrowhark, the heir of the house on their far away planet, doesn't give a shit that Gideon doesn't give a shit. She contracts Gideon to serve as her guard, her cavalier, as Harrowhark travels to the Emperor's planet to compete to become one of his right hands. Except as the competition progresses, something's...wrong. fatally, lethally wrong. people keep turning up dead, and if they don't figure this out, they could be next.

I'll stop there, but I hope you find something you like on that list! If you (or anyone else) have any more specific requests or guidelines for recs, feel free to send them :)

[bookwyrminspiration]

if i may ask, who the fuck is fitz vacker?

This is a delightful ask to receive as someone known for being vocally unwell about and obsessed with Fitz

For those new/following for other things, a fair chunk of my blog is dedicated to the Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger, a middle grade sparkly elf dystopia series that crawled into my head when I was 12 and still holds me hostage. I've literally been called a walking kotlc encyclopedia on multiple occasions

One of the main characters is Fitzroy Avery Vacker (official art linked), a teenage telepath from the secret elven world's most prominent (but not royal, that's not a thing) family. He's known for having teal eyes and the MCs undying ardor, which she conceals not at all.

He's the golden boy--top of his class, incredibly rare ability (the telepathy), charming, handsome, prestigious family, the works. But! He's also been sent on illegal missions to the human world by his father since childhood, looking for the MC.

Throughout the series he's drawn further into rebellion, following the MC as she uncovers the dirt under the shine of their "utopia." But even amongst friends, that Wonderboy status continues, creating this tension between the prestige he's been showered and burdened with his whole life and its slow unraveling. What worth does being golden have if the whole system's rigged? But how can he let go of all he's ever been?

And how the hell do you process that? He's got an incredibly strong sense of justice, values trust above all else--and his world and the people close to him are breaking it. How can he do anything but lash out, desperate to recenter himself?

To the point the Golden Boy, who bakes for his friends and has a sparkly red stuffed dragon he can't sleep without, nearly kills his traitorous brother with a knife to the throat. To the point when his traitorous brother is trapped behind glass, suffocating liquid pouring in from Fitz's frantic smashing at the control panel, Fitz deliberately steps away. Because he knows one of the buttons probably opens a drain, and he's choosing to let him die by his doing. Even though it wasn't on purpose. even though elves cannot abide violence, and risk shattering their sanity even witnessing it

GOD I love him. he's everything everyone else wants to be, he's deeply jealous and constantly fighting it, he's sweet and thoughtful, he's full of a rage so profound he can't think straight, he's putting his life on the line to better the world, he can't quite let go of what he thought it was, he's everything 2 me.

[bookwyrminspiration]

ok not to alvar post in your inbox again but liek.

“You want to talk about being left for dead?” Alvar lunged forward, but Sandor and Ro shifted their blades to block him. “ I was left in a pod of orange goo while my brother and sister stood by watching! The same brother who threatened to carve me up with a knife earlier that night! The brother who stopped pressing buttons to try to save me as the pod filled up—did he tell you that? He let the tank fill, waiting for me to drown” (632).

this excerpt makes me want to eat concrete in a good way. we love to talk about fitz stopping pressing buttons, but the way alvar is angry at fitz for stopping isn’t really talked about as much as it could be i think.

i always thought it was so funny because alvar was given the chance to change and come back from what he did throughout flashback. and when his memories came back, he made his choice to turn his back on his family, but he’s mad when said family turns their back on him in return. but i rlly wanted to hear your thoughts on this because you’re one of the most ardent buttonsposters on this site

this is FASCINATING. Okay, so. Looking at Alvar's familial feelings, a lot of his hatred is centered on his parents. He felt drowned in unrealistic expectations he could never live up to as the only Vacker kid, and saw Fitz as a replacement, his parents saying he'd never be good enough. Whether this is true isn't really relevant, as it's how he took it

Fitz ends up in a weird cross section here where he hasn't actually done anything to Alvar but exist. Alvar hates Fitz for replacing him, but it was their parents that chose to have him. Everything Alvar hates about Fitz is a manifestation of his resentment for Alden and Della.

Fitz is the perfect golden boy. A telepath like their father, the youngest to naturally manifest at that. Replaced Alvar in looking for Sophie--actually found her when Alvar passed her by. Fitz enrages Alvar for being everything he thinks their parents wanted that he wasn't

But Fitz doesn't have to be. I think that's key. Fitz could throw it all away, stop being perfect, drown under the pressure like Alvar did, and join him. And I think Alvar wants him to. Then he wouldn't be replaced, and instead Fitz could serve as evidence of how horrible their parents were. If Fitz breaks, too, then the problem wasn't with Alvar

And yet he isn't. FItz is choosing, again and again, his family. His parents. To be on the opposite side. Which means he's now making an active choice to become the replacement he inadvertently always was, proving the problem's with Alvar. Which means Alvar can hate him for being himself now. He's just like them, and he's turning their sister, too. The little sister who was the most likely to get him--so when she doesn't? They're blinded, representing everything wrong with their world. The expectations, the indoctrination of the next generations, everything

Alvar is desperate to be the one hurting. He grew up incredibly privileged and only talks of the burden it was. Keefe said Umber was left for dead and he immediately lashes back with this quote, talking about how he's been hurt just as much if not more because he got gooed. And not only that, his family gooed him.

Which reveals he does value family to an extent. If it's worse to be hurt by your siblings, it's because they matter more. Again, everything Alvar hates is centered on their parents. Fitz and Biana were supposed to choose him, to see his pain and understand him, leave their parents behind. They're siblings, even if they're bratty and naive.

We see that in the repetition of brother before each point; he's highlighting the connection they should've had--and blaming its dissolution on Fitz. A little on Biana, but mostly on Fitz, as Fitz was the replacement and the spark to the fuel of Alvar's suffering. The last straw. He's furious. And frames everything as if its unbelievable.

Which implies, potentially, that he wouldn't do the same. That he wouldn't take a knife to his sister, or watch his brother drown. That for all his talk, he sees them as different from their parents and that they matter, deep down.

I think Alvar is desperate to have his pain acknowledged, to be seen and understood, which is a valid desire. But he has blown it entirely out of proportion in his quest to be seen--and his siblings were his main hope. Who better to understand what being a Vacker kid did to him than the other Vacker kids? But because of that blowing it out of proportion, even though they're all Vacker kids, they can't understand. Because Alvar's reaction is illogical. He's in the wrong, and he refuses to understand or realize that because there's kernels of validity to his feelings.

so he's simultaneously furious at Fitz for replacing him, being everything he wasn't, and not choosing him, and desperate to be seen and acknowledged and understood by him and Biana.

basically Alvar's a clusterfuck of complications of a man

[bookwyrminspiration]

i’m sensing . . . that you might . . . be thinking . . . about fitz vacker . . .

@lemontarto's art has me by the throat