#still think the e spelling is superior

[cangrellesteponme]

so i was inspired by Accepting and Not Replacing (by dear mutual @bapydemonprincess <3) to draw my favourite t4t couple just being cute after having these heavy conversations you know

oh to be either of them.

[freyjas-musings]

so i keep seeing e/riels saying that they want a romance that triumphs the mating bond and i have few problems w that

for az & elains romance story to trumps the matin bond, azriel shouldnt have to believe that the cauldron was wrong. his idea of love IS his mate. he thought mor was his mate for 500 yrs & now all of a sudden, his brothers are w the 2 archeron sisters & theres a 3rd one so ofc hes gonna jump ship & think she’s his mate when mor cont rejected him throughout the yrs (i def think he wouldve never even thought of elain if mor given him a chance). so i think the bonus chpt kind of crushed that “romance trumps mating bond” bc if thats how it started, w him thinking elain is his mate or that the cauldron is wrong, then idk how that would work if u want to discredit the mating bond

not to say there isnt failed pairs, but we’re talking about main characters here. why would sjm write failed pairs w mcs when she loves the idea of 2 ppl being made exactly for one another. also the idea of mates is not only romantic but its also powerful imo- 2 ppl that are exactly equal to one another in both power & title. idk how azriel could ever treat elain as his equal when he is so overprotective of her to the point where he’s almost diminishing her strenggh in acosf. even amren had to say “dont underestimate her”

and also elain- if she wanted to be w azriel, she can just reject lucien, which he has already said in acowar that he would let her go if she was happier w someone one else. BUT SHE STILL HAS NOT DONE THAT. this story could easily be resolved w just that mating bond being rejected alas, we’re here theorizing about forbidden romance & evil lightsingers & “random redheads who r also red herrings to the superior elain and az’s love story”. to me, the e/riel story is so simple. nothing is complicated if she just rejects the bond.

i think the perfect romance story for azriel is for him to fall in love w someone and not even think of the mating bond but then later on finds out that that person is his mate. i think he needs to accept & learn what true love is first before the mating bond can snap for him.

Hi Anon ,

I agree with all the points you have made and logically at this stage it won't be rejecting one bond but two pairs of mates and I simply don't see sjm doing that at all. As far as the other side is concerned they have been so hell bent on refuting Gywn and Az are most likely mates because they know it was game over for Elriel the minute the bonus was released.

There is literally no way anyone will be convinced about Gwyn and Lucien being rejected without a proper reason and that's the thing , this is a fictional story ... SJM could have shown a deterioration in the equation between elain and Lucien but they remain stagnant instead ... meaning it's not still time for their story.

The thing about Elain and Az .... we clearly know Azriel's feelings weren't that deep. We know he hadn't planned past pleasuring himself to the fantasies ... now that in itself spells doom. And this isn't about who is more deserving or anything it's just a clear case of two people with a toxic equation ... neither of them is undeserving of love or healing ...

The fact remains they are just not good for each other . They are NOT how SJM writes her couples .

They will each get their own story and HEA. I see a lot of people adding a healthy dose of ego into it about wanting Elain to reject Az ... but its really not an ego thing ... yes Az rejected her first ... she also gave back the necklace and rejected him back ... I need people to just stop self inserting and acting like jilted girlfriends being bitter about Azriel... its most likely he will get his story and HEA first and That is OK.

[bayofwolves]

thinking about a harry potter au for the spirit animals gang... what if they were wizards and got into shenanigans

the sorting hat declares conor a hufflepuff with no delay. conor is more than happy to be in the house of the just and loyal, though befuddled as to how a lowly muggle-born like him ended up at such a school at all. he misses his family's sheep, his dogs, the rolling hills of scotland, normal things, normal life.

abeke's house is a little less clear. the hat figures she would make a good hufflepuff, but ultimately decides she's bound for ravenclaw with a mind and soul like hers. she still writes unanswered letters to her wizard father and non-magical sister, unaware or perhaps unwilling to accept that they were glad to be rid of her.

meilin gets sent to slytherin, which she is quite pleased at. it's the superior house, really. her pureblood status and wealthy upbringing gives her a judgemental outlook on the rest of her peers until she befriends conor, rollan and eventually abeke. disturbingly, as the school years drag on, she begins to feel less and less in control of her own body. she is susceptible to long blackouts, and awakes in unknown locations doing unexplainable things. she fears she may be losing her mind.

rollan is a gryffindor through and through. he was held back a year at one point (becoming so preoccupied with a friend's deteriorating health that he couldn't properly attend to his studies), so he ends up in the same year as conor, abeke and meilin. he still doesn't do so well at school because he's spending most of his time flying on his broom. he is the first one to catch on to the trouble brewing in their midst, though, intuitive as he is.

shane is a textbook slytherin (clever, resourceful, ambitious, good leader) so he's with meilin, albeit two years above her. he... seems okay. he's decent, knowledgeable and kind. there's just something unidentifiable beneath the surface. something dark.

devin/worthy is a gryffindor, something that only makes sense after his journey of self-improvement. as devin, he is simply insufferable. rollan and conor's worst nightmare.

shane and abeke, despite their different houses, become the best of friends. in fact, they are each other's only friends for quite some time. shane teaches her how to fly, and abeke teaches him how to handle certain magical creatures. shane also spends a lot of time teaching abeke various spells, some more questionable than others. abeke tampers down her doubts about these. she trusts he is good at heart.

lenori, the divination professor, takes an interest in conor for reasons she won't say. conor has cryptic visions from time to time, about a serpent in the dungeons and a boy in a mask, but he tries to keep those to himself.

the plot twist is that shane was delving into the dark arts all along and is growing to be a powerful dark wizard. he's working for someone who needs his skills...

his followers (the conquerors, in canon) are the death eaters and they all bear the mark. despite this, they are all under a foul imperius curse -- and no matter how total shane's authority seems to be, they whisper he is under the very same enchantment.

meilin's increasingly odd behaviour reveals that she is a victim of this curse as well. the worst part is, no one knows who casts it...

all of this is happening when the gang are like. 13-15. the four really only became friends in their third year, and that was when things started to pick up speed.

the great beasts keep their canon forms in this au. they're like their own class of magical, god-like beings. some have closer relations to wizarding society than others. gerathon has lived underneath hogwarts for decades (taking the place of the basilisk).

the people who eventually form the redcloaks (shane included) are animagi gone wrong, i.e., they did the process incorrectly and ended up as wonky half-human, half-animals with no ability to transform into either form. the whole lot of them were secretly death eaters who sought to master the skill to disguise themselves, but they failed. miserably. tragically.

and naturally, the characters' patronuses appear as their spirit animals! except they have more agency and sentience as patronuses. the four are the only wizards whose patronuses have taken the form of the great beasts who died in the first wizarding war. it fulfills a prophecy. briggan, uraza, jhi and essix are gone from the world, but their spirits live on in the four heroes' patronuses.

if a character is not marked in spirit animals canon, then either the spell is too advanced for them to perform or their patronus is incorporeal... with a few exceptions.

for years, shane can only produce a silver wisp of a patronus. it is only after his betrayal of abeke, during the war of his own making against the rest of the wizarding world, that his patronus takes shape -- and he is humbled before the familiar figure of a leopard.

[tiffanylamps]

I had a dream that Juwon was partnered up with Jihwa (who was in Manyang somehow) instead of Dongsik and uhhh this absolutely breaks the plot. But also. It's interesting to think about how Juwon would have approached his Dongsik investigation if Nam Sangbae didn't make them partners. (And also fun to think about how he and Jihwa would work together as police partners lol, especially since she's Dongsik's friend so maybe Juwon would try to take advantage of that somehow.) Anyway. I had to tell someone because once I woke up my brain went brrr

Anon, this is actually pretty genius! I ended up getting carried away and writing a load of gibberish lol

I have always felt like ji hwa and joo won reflect one another within the story*, as they often share the same beliefs regarding their role as officers of the law (and the fact they're the two "obvious" love interests for dong sik 😂). ji hwa and joo won believe that they are cops first, whereas dong sik doesn't hold the same attitude (which makes total sense for the narrative/themes of the story + the character's history). I think, if BE were a normal cop comedy/romcom, ji hwa and joo won would make pretty good partners because they're both very intelligent and diligent workers. They also can play to each other's strengths: ji hwa's experience and leadership skills versus joo won's attention to detail and tenacity. Plus, joo won respects ji hwa more so than the rest of his superiors, so, I think (once he gets passed his jealousy and mistrust) he would listen to her (and learn a lot from her). But... BE takes place during an unusual time period due to the cold cases/serial killings. So, the plot needed joo won to become dong sik's partner because I don't think the story would have progressed as quickly as it did, otherwise. Plus, ji hwa would have reported joo won for his involvement with lee geum hwa and would have never gone along with his brilliantly batshit crazy plans. jwds work perfectly with one another because they're on the same level of E x t r a- anyone else would get extremely tired of joo won during this era of his life (he needed dong sik's patience/different perspective on life). Having said that, let's indulge in the possibility for a sec... I don't know if Joo Won would have been able to play it cool if he were ji hwa's partner, instead of dong sik's. He's obsessed with the guy, so you know he would be constantly asking questions (which he thinks are super sly but are actually SO obvious). ji hwa would totally be like "do you like him or?????" 😂 We would have had more scenes of joo won in the butcher shop, as it would be the more reasonable way for him to interact with dong sik... but... he still would have found a way to get into that basement. The guy was so desperate for an excuse to engage with his new favourite person suspect. Oh my god, imagine ji hwa, joo won, dong sik, and ji hoon meeting up on their lunch breaks and joo won is just staring at dong sik the entire time 😂 ("Yah, Ji Hwa, tell your partner-" "-tell him yourself, Dong Sik. he's right here-" "-to stop staring at me. Otherwise, I might get the wrong impression 😏" "That's unprofessional, Assistant Inspector Lee 😑" "So is staring at a colleague." "I was not-" "He does have a point, Han Joo Won-ssi..." "See? Ji Hoon-ah thinks so." "Yah, Dong Sik-" "Assistant Inspector Lee, I don't know what you're implying-" "Do you need me to spell it out for you?" "Aigoo, stop it. Both of you. I'm trying to eat my lunch without vomiting.") There are so many fun possibilities! I love this option if BE were an (obvious) romcom! Anyway, yeah. I got carried away there. Sorry for the rambling and corny dialogue. This is a super fun ask, thanks for sharing it with me 😊

*and dong sik and jae yi reflect one another: victims of corruption. super clever, cunning, and able to see past people's bullshit.

[indecentpause]

Hi, Pause!! Happy WBW from @magic-is-something-we-create!!

In one of the excerpts, Rakhee from The Princess and the Pirate was talking about how e can talk to animals, and Savitri seemed surprised - is eir talent unique to em, or are there others who can speak to animals, too? Is it something to do with eir family, or just em? Did e have to learn, or is it instinctual? And does it work with every animal, or just a select few kinds??

I hope you have a lovely rest of your day!!

The answer to that is layered and varied!

Firstly, Rakhee is born entirely because of magical intervention. Both eir parents were previously sterile and eir older sister is adopted.

Magic can be intrinsic or external. Grandmother Alta used both, and she used external magic (charms etc) to channel the magic she was naturally born with. She comes from a long line of magic and her family primarily used it in the way of like. Local cunningfolk. And because of that, they gave their patrons physical enchanted objects as a sort of 'proof' that the spell had been done, as well as to give the magic a little boost.

But items also have their own magic! It is on the same level as intrinsic human magic, in an animist way, only rather than a soul, everything has an essence, if you will. So if you can combine the two, your magic will be even more powerful.

Animals, also, have their own little magic ways in their own little communities. They can also speak to humans, but often they won't unless the human has proven themself trustworthy, and worthy of their time and energy in general. Could the animals talk to Savitri? They could certainly try, but Savitri has no magic of her own, and probably wouldn't understand them, or at least wouldn't hear it in any of the human languages (like, she'd hear a cat purring and not realize they were trying to communicate).

Animals tend to keep to their own. Some have co-living situations among their little communities, but they tend to shy away from humans because humans are too wrapped up in thinking they're superior, so what positive reason would they have to speak with a little mouse?

Back to your actual question: because Rakhee was born entirely due to magical intervention, there are remnants of that magic in eir blood. While e wouldn't have magic as strong as Grandmother Alta's, who comes from a long line of people (of all genders, not just women), e has eir own in eir own ways. Grandmother Alta can speak to animals! We don't see it, but she asked the horses to make a fuss when Rakhee and Savitri were trying to escape the palace. We hear the clatter and the noise, but we don't see her asking. But that's what happened!

The main thing, though, is that the animal has to choose you. If one animal has chosen you, they leave kind of a magical mark on you, a little sticker saying, "Mouse-approved, you can trust this one." The very first time you speak to an animal, the animal has to approach you. They have to choose to initiate to 'awaken' the bits of magic floating around inside the human. And if that human initiates later, the animal can refuse to speak, and the human wouldn't know any better than to assume they simply couldn't. No human can speak to every animal, and even the wisest still have their own biases, and often assume.

The snake could have easily chosen not to speak to Rakhee. However, since e had intervened when another human was trying to take his life, and already had the magic seal of approval from the Queen of the Mice, he knew he could do so safely. A lot of the reason animals would choose not to speak is safety. Humans can be selfish and greedy beings. They can be cruel in a way their societies are not. They may want to try to take advantage of it. A human may try to take you for a pet, or for their own amusement, and keep you caged. So it's a big sign of trust for an animal to speak to a human, and, if everyone involved is very lucky, the human will be able to understand and speak back. Nergüi, who cannot speak, can still be spoken to, and Captain Daoyun can't speak to animals, but she knows Nergüi can understand them, which is why neither of them is surprised.

Thank you for the ask!! This was super fun to do :D

[thesylphroad]

Inner Monologue Shitpost Breakdown A.K.A. Review of Chapter 1 of "A Court of Thorns and Roses"

Everyone on TikTok is going batshit crazy about this book series, so as a very late-to-the-program sheep, I must join the wave. My credentials are that I'm obsessed with faerie lore and I read a lot of AO3 fanfic so I'm pretty well qualified to review what I am assured is "faerie smut." There better be faeries and fucking or I will sue.

Commence Chapter One.

We meet the book's narrator, Girl in Forest. She has wandered too far into the forest (which, like, never a good sign in fantasy). Her family is starving, so she is hunting for deer. We get some ominous foreshadowing about both giant wolves and the supernatural ilk that seems to freely wander out of Prythian, which is the name for the "faerie lands." Right away it sounds like this world will adhere to a physical barrier between realms (thank god, I hate that dimension jumping bullshit). Kudos to the author for spelling faerie with the "e' because that's obviously the superior way to spell it.

Anyway, moving on, this girl is cold, and she tells us as much, and then immediately launches into an existential follow up: "A shudder skittered down my spine at the thought, and I shoved it away, focusing on my surroundings, on the task ahead. That was all I could do, all I'd been able to do for years: focus on surviving the week, the day, the hour ahead." Immediately I'm like, okay so I think she has BPD. Anyway narrator is simply a girlboss, in what almost seems like a Hunger Games type backdrop. Girls just wanna survive their dystopian medieval-esque? era frozen hellscape. Please god don't let this be a YA series. Anyway, author maybe forgot the "show don't tell" rule, but I'm full of forgiveness so I won't hold it against her.

Narrator reminds us (me?) she is in a tree, which is good because I'd forgotten that detail. Never mind, in the next sentence she informs me she is getting off the tree. We already know she's like, survival-centric, which gives us a good idea as to her social status (and thus her likely financial class) but she adds in a detail about her fraying boots so we know for sure she's no uptown girl. Protagonist is probably like, humble and selfless and all that.

Okay, so she's got a few hours of daylight left and now she's really harping on the giant wolves rumor, and like, how they're traveling in groups (as wolves are wont to do). But more sinister still, she shares this little detail: "Not to mention whispers of strange folk spotted in the area, tall and eerie and deadly." I have bad news for the narrator after reading the follow-up sentence: "ANYTHING BUT FAERIES." I have a sneaking hunch it might be faeries, since like, this is the forest and the forest leads directly into the faerie lands as aforementioned.

We get some lore for the road, about "long-forgotten gods," whom the hunters are still praying to, for some reason. I guess when you need a crutch you need a crutch, right? She goes on to explain that she's actually a couple of days away from the "immortal border of Prythian," and this is why they've been "spared an attack." I will assume these are hostile invader faeries until otherwise advised.

Oh no, narrator's family finished their last loaf of bread yesterday, which means they are really banking on narrator to come through with a kill. Narrator is like, the breadwinner, except instead of bread it's deer. Which, like, not to be rude but this is fatherless behavior, where is the dad who's supposed to be crunching through the snow with her right now? Narrator is like (paraphrasingly), "But also I'd rather starve than be wolf food. Or faerie food." OK, DO THE FAERIES EAT HUMAN FLESH? More on that later, I trust she will not forget to expand on this detail, as author is very good at expanding on…every single detail. "Not that there was much of me to feast on," narrator adds (coyly).

Note to self: narrator is a skinny legend.

Okay, homegirl definitely has some self-worth issues to work through here, which furthers my BPD suspicion. I mean she's like, traveling deeper into the forest, and the whole time she's playing out this scenario where she comes back empty-handed and her family is like, disappointed or angry or something. She's in the winter of her life, and the wolves she meets along the way are her only…I can stop.

Moving on, narrator is waiting and hoping. Good to hear she still has hope, because she definitely just told us she didn't exactly have that. Interesting detail to note is this sentence where she's like "Too many families had already started begging for me to hope for handouts from the wealthier townsfolk." Book world is presumably also in a recession, and they're probably relying on the same age-old trickle down politics pyramid scheme.  I'm on page 19 and protagonist is getting deeply troubling in her existential inner monologue. Like, not only is her life kinda crappy, narrator actually feels like her world has no color. She is in her 2016 Tumblr era. She cannot stop listening to that Arctic Monkeys album. Like, not only is the landscape bleak (could be a little bit of seasonal depression rearing its ugly head here) but this also applies to like, the luxuries of jeweled brooches and expensive silk fabric. I think this is meant to imply that she maybe at one point enjoyed these luxuries, like maybe she is New Poor. You know how there's New Money and Old Money, and there's also New Poor and Old Poor. I think this lifestyle is newly acquired, if that makes sense. She cranks it up a notch by telling us she sometimes "would even indulge in envisioning a day when my sisters were married and it was only me and Father, with enough food to go around, enough money to buy some paint." Okay, okay, actually this makes sense: narrator is an artist. A real Barbara Ross with the paints, if you will; so it makes sense that she sees the world in terms of COLOR. It's interesting to consider that, in these sort of unspecified back-in-the olden days societies there was probably a good deal of like, inter-family resentment when parents just kept popping out kids they couldn't feed, and we see that evidenced here. Narrator resents her sisters, and since she mentioned they're both OLDER than she is and neither one of them are traipsing through the forest with her right now, I can kind of sympathize. I also just randomly remembered that part of this book is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and those old fairy tales love a good "shitty sibling" or "shitty step-parent" motif, so this tracks. 

Narrator admits that, while she hasn't admired any beauty in the world in like forever, she is currently admiring this beautiful winter light on the snow even though she is super miserable and cold (also starving). Narrator is a real contradiction. We get a cute little tidbit about some guy called Isaac Hale (they fuck). She's like, a cool girl, though, so it's more like romps in the decrepit barn, and not anything serious. "Hungry and empty and sometimes cruel, but never lovely" is a real as fuck way to describe a no-strings hook-up. I like that. 

"The howling wind calmed into a soft sighing." Okay, back to that "show don't tell" rule, because I'm bored of the snow at this point. I have some serious questions about the editor who let "the lethal, gentle beauty of the snow" slip through to publication, but carrying on. We get this recurring reminder that the protagonist is "peering through thorns" which seems relevant since it ties back into the title and all, or maybe it's just an allusion to the thorny lifestyle girlboss leads, I don't know yet. Will follow-up on this. 

FINALLY a wild plot device appears, and a deer spawns in the clearing ahead of narrator. Deer is eating tree bark, narrator is like "This deer is not too scrawny to kill." Narrator should remember the old adage "Beggars can't be choosers." She also adds that this deer could sustain her family for like a week, probably. I'm not a hunter myself, so no comment, but I believe her because why would she lie? Protagonist really puts off the whole ACTUALLY firing the arrow process, distracted by her maladaptive daydreaming about what she's going to do with all the meat and the deer hide if and when she ever shoots the damn thing. She's also like, "One of my sisters needs a cloak and the other sister is an if u got it I WONT it type of girl" which, like, stay focused girly, the deer is STILL ALIVE. 

Fuck, okay, now there's some golden eyes shining across the way. This is probably because you took so damn long to kill the deer, and now there's one of those tall faerie things in the bushes!!! 

Nobody panic it's just a wolf. Fun fact: more people get attacked by deer every year than wolves. Wolves are super non-aggressive towards humans, unless they're cornered or feel threatened. Just keep that in mind if you're going to develop a fantasy RPG and wolves are one of the hordes of monsters you include in the wilds.

OK never mind narrator is like, "He was enormous--the size of a pony." CUT THE TAPE. CUT THE FUCKING TAPE. Does…does the author know how big ponies are? Ponies are just small horses, okay, some ponies are like 14 hands high at the shoulder that's almost five feet tall. THAT'S ALMOST FIVE FEET TALL THAT IS TALLER THAN ME. Holy fuck pony-sized wolf is "unnaturally stealthy." Who buffed the wolves in this world? Okay, is it a werewolf? I thought this was a faerie book.

I actually hadn't considered that the wolf might be a faerie, but she suddenly foreshadows that this is a possibility, and I get the feeling author isn't super great with subtletly, so I'm thinking there's a good chance it's a faerie. A wolf faerie. Equine-sized. 

"If he was a faerie, I should already be running" okay how do we know it's a boy wolf? Note to self: wolf faerie is obviously packing. I'm sorry I still can't get over the size thing, like I'm just imagining a pony-sized wolf, and all I can think is that you should absolutely be running at that detail alone. Like, this is clearly some kind of fucked up, genetically maximized wolf. 

Narrator has just explained how she's kind of really alone in the world and her family sucks and the rich people won't help the begging poor folk, but now she's like "Should I help my village and kill this big wolf?" Um, how about no? How about you're the only bitch in this forest right now and are you forgetting that this thing is the size of a small horse?

Girlboss…proceeds to waste an ungodly amount of time wondering whether the wolf is a wolf or something more than a wolf, but the point here is that SHE THEN EXPLAINS SHE ONLY HAS THREE FUCKING ARROWS AGAINST A WOLF THE SIZE OF A SMALL HORSE. Okay, so, I took a deep breath. I am putting my trust in the assumption that narrator is wearing plot armor, but the odds are SOOOOO not in her favor right now.

We learn that the girl has 2 regular arrows and 1 ASH arrow. Ash is supposed to be a faerie killer, according to the narrator. Which is interesting because in Celtic faerie lore ash is actually one of the three sacred trees of the faerie folk, but carry on. Okay, so I'm learning that ash trees are rare in this world. I'm writing that down. This is gonna be the dragonglass of this book series, isn't it? I'm calling it now.

 So it's not that I'm not intrigued but the author is really telling way too much and showing way too little. Protagonist proceeds to like, wonder whether her ash arrow is even REAL. Because like, the counterfeit ash market is a real problem in the village. It could be fake, she's had it for three years, why the fuck has it taken you 3 years to use one of your 3 arrows? I just…never mind. She finally draws the arrow like 8 paragraphs later, but even as her chest starts to ache, she's like, I should get sidetracked again wondering whether this big ass giant ass horse-sized ass WOLF is alone. Girl, I am praying to the forgotten gods for your ass that it IS.

Oh my god, I can't believe I'm typing this but narrator goes on another side quest explaining how she's never faced a wolf before. She seriously needs an Adderall prescription this is insane. "I'd thought it made me lucky--even blessed" GIRL BLESSED BY WHO YALL DON'T REMEMBER YOUR OWN GODS. Jesus. Now she's like, lol idk where to HIT IT. Just hit it. For god's sake. Hit it already. She reminds us one more time she only has the one ash arrow. I think I have to kill the wolf myself at this point. 

Protagonist has already decided for herself it's an animal and not a faerie, but now she's suddenly like, "oh no what if there IS a faerie heart pounding in there?" It will die of old age before you shoot the fucking ash arrow, so I would not worry too much.The wolf is like, unnaturally stealthy but then two paragraphs later it snaps a twig but it's okay because the deer is stupid and just looks in the other direction. How fucking long has this deer been eating bark off this same tree? I feel aged. I feel evolved.

"If I judged wrongly, my life wasn't the only one that would be lost." What the fuck does that mean? Like, if you shoot the wolf and don't kill the wolf it will probably kill you, and if you sit here and wait for spring to come the wolf might kill the deer. What does this mean? I am so confused. I am so overstimulated. Help?

Finally, at long last, can we get a round of applause, narrator shoots the wolf. She waits for the wolf to kill the deer first. She did a lot of deliberating about where to hit the wolf only to hit it in the side, which…statistically speaking that's not one of the more lethal regions to puncture, but that's okay because this is her first wolf, remember? I would like some sort of compensation for having to read this sentence: "He barked in pain, releasing the doe's neck as his blood spewed on the snow--so ruby bright." So ruby bright?????? SO RUBY BRIGHT??????

Ugh.

I really do wanna like this book, okay, did I mention I spent $84 for the hardcover boxset of this series at Target? Okay, well I did, so I'm going to be really disappointed if they suck, because like, TikTok girlies put me on. But I have to be honest this chapter reads like a first draft.

Next up the wolf is just standing there, looking at the narrator. The ash arrow is "protruding so vulgarly" from his side. Gods help me. Okay she is definitely starting to think the wolf is like, sentient. But in a human way. Or like, does that mean a faerie way? Are we sure this isn't a werewolf? She fires a second arrow through his eye, which like, cheap shot considering but go off I guess. Now the wolf is finally laying down. He's still like twitching and whatnot, and the narrator is like "Impossible--he should be dead, not dying!" Well dying is a process, okay, and isn't this your first wolf? Don't get cocky. She describes the blood on the snow some more, and then wonders whether dying from an arrow through the eye is super painful, or maybe he's just trying to "shove death away." My guess is probably yes. Yes to both. The snow is continuing to fall. She decides once more that he is a wolf. Not a faerie. She's honestly just trying to convince herself at this point, I don't even care anymore.

She starts thinking about how another predator could smell the blood while she's cleaning her arrows off, and I'm praying to the forgotten gods that this doesn't happen because at this point I know it has to be dark because it's been several hours in the forest and PLEASE JUST GO HOME WITH YOUR WOLF AND YOUR DEER. I just remembered she has to carry these two carcasses back home and she's just a skinny legend as we learned earlier in the chapter. How is she gonna do that, I wonder? Okay, so the answer is she skins the wolf pelt and just carries the whole deer carcass. Girlboss moment. As she's leaving, she's like "wow really wish I could feel sorry for this wolf" even though she kind of already did wonder whether it was in pain or not that was a whole thing like 3 paragraphs back.

I actually really like the closing sentence, "But this was the forest, and it was winter." It hit me right in the "But winter is coming" feels.

Um, overall, I have to say, well I have to say what the fuck but I'm going to keep reading because I heard there was gonna be fucking. So um, yeah. Stay tuned I guess if anyone wants to read my chapter 2 review.

[justinforprez]

Bethesda Technical Incompetence

Its incredible that Bethesda's game engine gets LESS capable with each release. They admit to remove features but its baffling.

In morrowind the game can detect if an arrow hits a shield but shields have NO IMPACT on ranged attacks

The skyrim version of the engine wasn't able to render fast enough so they cut speed and athletics. Nothings to do with balance, roleplaying or streamlining. The player Moves at 400 units/sec, horses and werewolf are 450 units and the game can't render more than 500 units/sec

Incredible

They used SpeedTree for Oblivion. There were a total of 13000 trees patched out of the game after release because they were underground, flying, clipping through rocks, etc. You can make scripts with rules in SpeedTree to avoid this from happening. Which is how they fixed it. They didn't manually remove them. They used the built in script to detect if a tree isn't touching anything to get rid of flying trees or trees under the terrain.

Scripting bugs are really not that bad since morrowind. The one Oblivion thieves guild quest is game breaking. But this is better with each game. good job boys

But as a result many of the scripting options are removed making quest and world design simplified and streamlined. there are far fewer quests that interact with the world. Assassination in morrowind would still succeed if you got someone else to kill the target but in oblivion it will prevent you from getting bonuses that you should earn but I could see how those lead to bugs. it just makes me sad that they chose bland quests over interesting buggy quests or fixing the bugs

They removed spears, crossbows, and thrown weapons from oblivion and honestly I think that was just time saving not technical. 3D models means whole day busy and animation cost many money

According to most of the Bethesda haters they removed teleportation and levitate because of quest designers inability to account for those things. this also means the level designers added no verticality even though with high acrobatics you can just out of some traps and dungeons. The reason why I think it might ACTUALLY be a technical issue is because they HAD game mechanics that prevented levitation and teleportation in places they didn't want them. As far as I know fast travelling indoors uses the same code. Thats weird. sure the lazy dev thing is true too but they had a solution to that. "oh we trapped you with a spell that block mysticism magic" cheap and corny but fine. Not that hard to implement when it was already in the engine

I already posted about how there is actually one lockable object i Oblivion. I can't remember if it actually locks when you press E or just closes. But honestly its an odd thing to cut when its already in the engine. it wasn't buggy and the vastly superior AI might have actually been able to deal with it but that would take more work.

[liopleurodean]

Season 11, Episode 1: Out Of The Darkness, Into The Fire

Whoa, spooky

There she is

What's up with the horn?

That's one way to fix it, I guess

Where's Dean?

Oh, is this a dream?

Uh oh

A memory, then

Sleepy

Pretty place

Great question

Sam, it's not like he ran off

Whoa. Weird

You don't want to know

Saved you from what? Herself?

Ooh, new title card!

Probably about how it sounds

Freaky

For setting her free?

But he had the Mark

Something like that

Yup

Probably a lot, actually

Yeah...

Baby!

Wow, that's mean, Sam

Cas!

Oh yeah, the spell

Nice

He poofed

Oh boy

Yup, figures

He looks like Walker Scobell

Someone get this kid out of there

Oh, Cas

Run, kid!

Those won't hurt him. Not anymore

Oh boy

That turn signal is gonna kill me

Poor guys

Aw, not the kid!

Uh oh

He looks... infected

She's spooked

Dean.

She needs to sit down

REBAR

What kind of hostiles?

Poor girl

Something's off here

Superior has one, I think

What the heck?

That's really funny. I did a search for Nuckolls County because I didn't recognize the name, and I guess I don't know Nebraska as well as I thought I did. I know about Superior, but it's not even the county seat

Yeah, fair

The car is special, so it makes sense

It's plausible

Croatoan?

Someone should answer the phone

Don't split the party

Spooky

Horror movie time

Aw, not a baby!!!

Best supplies he's ever had

There's nothing she could've done

Sometimes it's hunting things

Oh, Dean...

What does that mean?

Weird

This is freaky

So eventually it kills them

Yeah...

Oh, poor guy

Heh. Nice

Interesting

That poor family

Wow.

This is horrifying

I wanna bleach my eyes now, thanks, if you have to say h-e-double-hockeysticks you should not be talking about a foursome

Yeah

Oh no...

Something like that

He's infected.

You can see it on him

I doubt there's a cure

Oh, Cas...

Poor Cas

I don't think there's anything that can be done

Dean...

Of course they'll help the kid

I don't think she's prepared for that

Poor guy

Oh no

Preparing

It's not doable

Dean, no...

Cas, you are not okay

Yeah, it's gone

Because she's here

That's a DEFCON 1 situation

Pfft. Yeah

Angels.

What's new, pussycat?

Of course he joined in first

Yeah

Okay then

Of course not!

As he should 😂

Absolutely

I think Dean's right on this one

What does that mean?

It's what they've always done

He is trying to save someone!

The bunker is the best place for that, Sam. You won't find answers where you are

Sam...

Codependency.

Sam, no.

Sam, you just saved Dean, do you really think he'd let you die?

Here we go

Oh boy

So they still have some intelligence

Uh oh

Oh great, he's probably infected now

Yup.

Well now they're definitely gonna find a cure

Kill him!

I don't think he can

Amara! He knows her name!

Wait, but he's talking about the baby?

Poor guy

Thank goodness, the other Crowley was weird

Oh boy

Yup!

Um...

What.

Probably Michael, but Lucifer isn't out of the question

Poor Adam

Good idea

Yikes

Great

Everything

Yup

Aw, Dean...

Oh, not with a kid. Joy does not come in mornings

Hey, pie!

Well that's good

That's a great way to put it

Sam...

Freaky

This is weird

Dang it, Sam

Awww

THATS AMARA??????

SHES A FRICKING BABY?????

[cangrellesteponme]

Maybe “ who were you before the nights when madness plagued your soul? ” for Sebagrelle? Only if you want to, of course! 🙈

took me some time to get to this one! of course i'm always ready to write some sebagrelle as we all know, favourite ship and all that. here we are, post-canon... ish. nicer than canon. we have established, healthy (as healthy as it can be. so not really but they make it work) sebagrelle. character study vibes.

let's go :)

There are times when we lose our anchors, and the present is no longer holding us through its firm grip on our feet — suddenly the hands of time are ghostly, ticking back with a haunting sound: the sound of screams, of wails, of muffled sobs. The sound of pain.

Sebastian has seen it, heard it, in Grelle before. She’s exuberant, then suddenly dull. Her body, once animated, strong, and oddly alive, reverts and devolves and atrophies itself into a quiet and dead shell — it is not present anymore. It’s a mass of dead matter, a misshapen cell trapping her in a past unknown to him.

He doesn’t know who she was, barely knows who she is. And he can’t pull her out, but he stays — nurses her back into the present as one would nurse a feverish child back to health. He holds her until she — Grelle as he knows her — holds him back.

It is one of those accursed nights. Though sunlight alone does not keep the past at bay, and Grelle falls out of time at any hour, there’s something particularly awful about it happening at night — and the frequency of those nocturnal attacks.

Sebastian has thought about what this could mean, and how Grelle must have lived a life of constant pain, years ago, if even the hour of sleep does not come with the promise of safety. What kind of horrors could follow her into the night? What kind of person would she have been for the echoes of it to hurt her so?

Who were you before the nights when madness plagued your soul? Sebastian thinks, but doesn’t say. He tells himself he doesn’t want to bother her when she’s finally drifting into sleep. But the truth is, he’s confused.

He doesn’t understand her.

She’s not human anymore, hasn’t been in a long time, but even beyond the veil of death she still tries to catch glimpses of what once was, she clings to these vanishing shadows even though her fingers won’t catch anything. She clings, still, to the intangible remains of this painful past. Sebastian, who has been many things and has let go over every single one of them, simply does not understand the point of this attachment.

When he asked, Grelle once said it’s self-love in a way, that even in the pain, there’s healing, that she loves herself but refuses to ignore the past. No matter how much it can hurt. And in the end, it feels like she’s still herself as she might once have been, simply… dead.

As she holds him in her fitful sleep, Sebastian — with his name that grows too old — starts to get it.

[luesmainblog]

Time for your daily dose of Rebecca Hawkins propoganda!

1. Found out that Yugi's grandpa had the blue-eyes white dragon card(extremely rare and powerful) that used to belong to her grandpa. Assumed this MUST mean that he STOLE the card, and heads directly to japan to get it back. she is american. in the dub she is eight. the FIRST THING she does upon getting there is going straight to the game shop and waiting for him to show up so she can yell at him. 1.5. notably, she does not initially explain this: she calls it HER card, since it belongs in a top deck and she's the #1 duelist in america, and when corrected on this, she says he stole it from her. her grandpa does not come up for several scenes, as if it doesn't occur to her that he's important in this. 1.55 literally needs it spelled out to her bit-by-bit by her grandpa, who had to COME TO JAPAN CHASING AFTER HER, before she accepts that yugi's grandpa is not a thief. 1.555. To be extremely clear: She equates stealing from her grandfather and stealing from her as the same thing. 2. this little lady is R U D E, i know that can be a negative stereotype but let's be honest, a lot of us were rude as children. she has that Gifted Child superiority that's more over-praised than math nerd. 3. constantly carried a teddy bear despite being 12 years old, only for it to never be seen again after we next see her. during the time she was carrying it, she pretended to speak with it and relay its messages to the others, completely uncaring of how that looked. 3.5. she uses this to explain her card effects, a bit that is vital to tournament play in the game and HAS to be done.

4. after getting schooled in a cardgame, the thing she is gifted at, she decides she must be in Love with Yugi and is not quiet about this at ALL. she pays no mind to any discomfort anyone shows about it, and is either unaware he doesn't feel the same or just assumes he eventually will. 4.5. this eventually ends in her fighting over him with a grown woman. 3.55. it is only after this that she stops carrying the teddy bear, as though she decided that Now is the time to grow up. raise your hand if you can relate!

5. I can't emphasize enough that she named her horse Copernicus. as in she looked at this horse and said "you know who you remind me of? The guy who figured out that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun." And yes, she does wear full a full cowboy fit to ride the horse. boots included.

Let me be more general here. Yu-Gi-Oh was all sorts of hyperfix representation for a LOT of kids in its height, and despite the fandom paying her so little mind, rebecca was a big part of that. She only really gets to shine in two of the arcs that people have a habit of skipping because they weren't canon to the manga, meaning she's hardly ever given a fair chance for people to like her or remember anything past her little teddy bear. and on a more personal note, i think a lot of us can relate to what the sub did do her: it saw this 12 year old still clinging to her teddy bear and acting like a brat, and it made her 8 instead - as though it was inconceivable that someone that old could still be acting like that. I can think of few things more autism than that, especially for those of us who were Gifted or Smart For Our Age in same way. Please, vote Rebecca!

Autistic Girlies Bracket: Round 1, Side A

Matchup 8

Only your vote can determine which of these autistic girlies will move on to the next round.

REBECCA HAWKINS MASTERPOST STERIS HARMS MASTERPOST

[Image ID. Image with a purple to pink gradient background that is split down the middle by a jagged white line. There is a purple 'VS' symbol in the centre. On the left of the image is Rebecca Hawkins from Yu-Gi-Oh!. On the right of the image is Steris Harms from The Coppermind. End ID.]

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

Weekly reflection started 4/9/2023 but I forgot to click 'post now' before I went to a different tag and here we are

On writing: My freewrite came and I'm starting to use it. It's nice to just write without getting distracted by my spelling and grammar errors. I also like that the e-ink display is easy on my eyes. Whenever I get into a hobby I tend to go overboard and spend money on things I don't need. For example, I could buy about $500 worth of editing software just to have it. But knowing me if I get bored then I wasted the money. That's in addition to the cost of the freewrite. So I'm making a deal with myself. I won't buy anything until my draft is 75,000 words long.

On Cybersecurity: My exam was scheduled for the 17th but even with my superior procrastination skills, I know I won't be ready. I didn't want to go through the hassle of navigating center city just to fail a test. Instead I've rescheduled for May and I'll take it at temple instead. I'm using a security+ guide to study. I've read that the ISC2 materials may not be enough to pass so I'm using the guide. I'll also use it for the actual security+ exam. I think I'll take that no later than August.

On Work/Training: I can see that I've learned a lot since I've started and that's great. Still dealing with a general apathy about everything. I can't let that get to me. The plan is still to grind and then coast until December. Then take at least 3 months, but ideally a year off to recover.

On Mental Health/Med Side Effects: It's been a mixed bag but positive overall. I like that I'm alert within an hour of taking my medication. I've been able to introduce caffeine and it's a nice buzz without anxiety. Provided I don't overdo it. So no more than 300mg throughout the day. I'm still apathetic about being alive, but at least the voice telling me to kill myself over minor inconveniences is leaving me alone. And I'm glad I'm not laughing one minute and crying the next or having angry outbursts like I did on other therapies. I don't like the headaches I get if I don't get enough sleep or wake up abruptly. Thankfully they go away after taking Aleve, but I do want to avoid them as much as possible.

On Other Things: I guess I appreciate that it hasn't affected my sex drive, at least not negatively which is...fine? Prozac and Zoloft made me wholly uninterested in sex, which wasn't a problem since I was alone. But now I'm dealing with the unhinged horniness of ovulation week every day.

[teawitch]

Correspondences, covens and blinds

Correspondences, Covens and Blinds

What no one is telling you about witchcraft and magic

This is going to be a long one, so I'm dropping in a read more cut off. It's also a bit of a test to see if longer content gets any attention.

To help with this tackling this topic, I'm going to step away from witchcraft for a moment and talk about old time Granny recipe battles.

Before the internet, women would exchange hand written family recipes. But then you'd be at someone's house and you'd hear their granny say to a friend "don't bother asking Edith for that coffee cake recipe. She's changing something so what I make doesn't taste as good."

Being young, you'd repeat this to your grandmother (Edith) who would say "Hmph, if she had any business being in the kitchen, she would know." Which you would learn absolved her from all guilt so she could go to church on Sunday feeling superior.

Later in life, you might discover this whole thing came down to who used butter and who used margarine in the recipe. Because if you had any business being in the kitchen, you should know.  Or you might realize Mammaw Edith never mentioned the ginger she mixed with her cinnamon powder. Because we'll, a good cook would have been able to taste it in the cake.

That, my dears, is what a witchcraft blind is. Go back several decades or more when people started making witchcraft spells and rituals public, there was a thought that went - but what if the wrong person gets hold of this?

The answer - create a blind by substituting or slightly changing something in the spell or ritual with the understanding that anyone who had undergone proper training would recognize the out-of-place item and adjust appropriately.

But surely these aren't happening now?

Well, let's consider one such blind that's gone mainstream and probably overtaken the original associations. You may even bump into it in your reading and be a bit confused. Question -  is the wand fire and blade air or is the wand air and blade fire. That first. The one we wall see and know. That was a blind. Older traditions often still use the original alignment - wand air, blade fire.  Newer use the blind - wand fire, blade air.  Reasons can be made to justify both and at this point, both work in ritual when you've got everyone's energy behind them. It's just that for group work, you need to decide going in what the tools are going to do.

But what about smaller things? Spells. Everyone shares those these days like Edith's coffee cake recipe. Well, there was an older book of spells where the author made liberal use of lavender (and other substitutions) as part of the spells. If the reader was been trained in classical correspondences, they'd know lavender didn't belong in that spell and what type of herb should be substituted. Rather like a grandmother who can taste  a recipe and know Edith also put ginger in that cake.

But Tea -  can't people have personal correspondences?

Yes, and most witches do. But this brings me to the covens and traditions (group work) part of the discussion.

When doing group work, it's important to have agreement on what your correspondences mean in order to pull the correct energy together. Think about that coffee cake. If we start with cinnamon but someone adds rosemary (after all we've been told it substitutes for any herb) and someone else throws in oregano because that works for them, we're going to end up with focaccia instead of coffee cake. Perhaps delicious, but not what we were aiming for. We all need to follow the same recipe when working together.

Which is why a lot of older witches who came up through traditions refer back to planetary correspondences and other references for their group or public work. Or they use cultural specific correspondences where those apply.  They provide a consistent basis to work from.

You may never hear about their personal correspondences (or really deep cultural correspondences) because there is a bit of protection in keeping those secret. Or sometimes even leaving a little something out of a shared recipe. This is why it can be useful to have an understanding of classical, planetary correspondences and where they came from, even if you don't always use them. You need to be able to look at those spells people are posting and understand what should or shouldn't be there and why. Also, it gives you a great starting point to writing your own spells.

What many don't realize is that these weren't just for witchcraft. In fact, they were considered scientific and medical when they were developed. Doctors relied on ruling planets, ruling signs and the good old doctrine of signatures (If it is lung-shaped obviously it helps make lungs better) to create cures. You can find Culpeper's Complete Herbal free to read online if you want to explore this for historical purposes. This was a medical text and not only gives you planetary and astrological correspondences for herbs but sometimes recommends what astrological sign should rules the patient for the best results. (I do not recommend Culpeper as a modern medical text. Some of the cures are a bit deadly.)

Not every correspondences was simple and single focused. Or even agreed on by all parties. You'll find some plants fall under two or more planets. Or different parts of a plant fall under different planets.

Or you stumble across something like myrrh where everyone seems to have a different take. Myrrh is sun because the Egyptians used it as an offering to Ra. No, it's Mars because of the Romans. Or Saturn, associated with death and the underworld. Or Venus for it's mystical powers.

Which is why there often is no single, simple answer for "what do I substitute for (herb x)"  The answer may change depending on what the spell is for. Or, perhaps, that wasn't even the correct herb to begin with.

And now, in honor of Mammaw Edith, I’m off to eat some coffee cake.

[madamxrose]

could i request an inosuke x !idiotic reader ficlet? about the same level of stupid as inosuke, i really wanna see how this would play out, your writing is amazing!

What is Love?

♡ Pairing: Inosuke/Reader

♡ Word Count: 800+

♡ Warnings: brief mention of blood; just two idiots trying to understand attraction

❥ A/N: Thanks for requesting! I had fun with this, lmk what you think &lt;;3 I've never wrote a fight scene before so bear with me pls 

Having Inosuke run rampant in the Demon Slayer Corps was more than enough…but to have another person exactly like him? That was you.

Whenever you crossed paths, it spelled trouble: chaos and destruction were near. Neither of you could pinpoint when this competition began, but neither of you intended to forfeit either. Even the most mundane tasks served as a way to exercise your power and skills on one another.

During meals, the both of you would scarf down your portions before slamming down your tableware — a signification of who was faster. Instead of earning praise from the others, such poor manners earned a harsh slap on the back of your heads from Aoi. When stretching, there was a constant exchange of glances after each pull of a muscle. Upon seeing the other person show more of their flexibility, it added more fuel to the fire. Eventually, both of you appeared to be more of contortionists than slayers; and the others were even convinced neither of you were human — demons in disguise suited you guys much better. And especially during training, most people would rather relocate miles away than be in the same vicinity while you fought.

Due to your destructive tendencies, battles between the two of you were strictly prohibited within at least a mile of the Butterfly Mansion. Thus, you settled for an area surrounded in lush trees, but with dirt-ground. Each battle began with one challenging the other, claiming they would claim victory this time. And so, the battle commenced.

Due to the high activity, dirt and peebles contaminate the air, but neither of you are phased by the conditions. You're still charging at each other at immense speeds, ricocheting off trees and leaping around to avoid each other's attacks. The sound of swords clanging and grinding against one another blends in with the taunts and screams you exchange. The typical person would have run out of stamina long ago, but both of you are stubborn. Even when you're coughing up blood and staining the dirt in crimson, the only way your battles end is when your bodies refuse to withstand the pain and exhaustion any longer; so, both of you collapse. Luckily, the rest of the Kamaboko Squad will find your unconscious bodies — thank Tanjiro for sniffing out the rust-like smell permeating the air, and Zenitsu for hearing the drop in heart rate.

Once you regain consciousness, you're in the Butterfly Mansion's infirmary, bandaged up and blanketed in the bed's covers. There's snickering beside you, so you turn your head and are now face to face with a boar's head. You roll your eyes, well aware that he'll brag about regaining consciousness first, so you retort that you'll recover quicker. Thus, the both of you bicker over who's superior, desperately bringing up any reason to back up your claim.

After you and Inosuke exhaust all your arguments, the both of you bask in the silence. Typically, one of you dozes off within minutes of staring at the ceiling, but today was different.  

The boy beside you addresses you with a "hey" — since he's not quite sure of your name at the moment. If you ignore him, he'll repeat it, increasing the volume and irritation in his voice until you respond.

He asks whether you get this fuzzing feeling inside, kinda like there's a piglet trying to break free from your stomach. And somehow, you understand what he means; asking if it's similar to a stomach ache, to which he agrees. Then he mentions the rush he gets from fighting also happens when he looks at you; so both of you shift your gaze from the ceiling to each other — which ends up short-lived because both of you turn away to conceal the heat rising to your faces. It's quiet for a brief moment before you mumble that you also felt it.

"Monichi and Gonpachiro said it's love."

Perplexed, you suggest he go into further detail. He bluntly mentions how he dreams of you praising him, but instead of you being his minion, he's praising you in return. You stifle a laugh before teasing him.

"Maybe it means we're equals?"

So he ponders the idea in silence. You're unsure of his thoughts because his face is still masked by the boar’s head. The silence is distasteful, causing you feel a nauseating sensation in your stomach; except, it's different from the feelings Inosuke mentioned. It's an unsettling feeling — not a hint of euphoria in it, so you're mentally pleading he responds soon.

When Inosuke begrudgingly agrees, you momentarily feel a sense of relief before those feelings called “love” return. You're unsure of what to say next, but you want to keep the conversation going. So, you blurt out what comes to mind.

"I think I'm in love with you."

"Me too."

comments and reblogs are always appreciated! ♡

masterlist

[tramon81]

Berdly's New Method: Teamwork.

Welcome back paisanos! To crazed Berdly essay Monday.

Today we'll be analyzing the "architecture", so to speak, of the Cyberworld in relation to Berdly's psyche. As it is my belief that most, if not all of the Puzzles are based on him primarily. You may be surprised but this also applies to the December puzzle.

Now if you pay attention you'll see that the first puzzles are spelling ones, spelling is probably the ability Berdly exercised most after the bee, you can see that if anything his vocabulary is needlessly extense and his reading skills as seen by the "_ times" reading at the start of the chapter, he doesn't lose track even if the text he is reading is rather uneventful. Knowing which words to say in which way with rhythm seems to be one of Berdly's strengths as he still got to be a semifinalist even before he became obsessed with being smart.

Everything else from here is pretty standart but it is when we reach the Noelle triple trucies segment is when things get interesting. The mice puzzle, the laser activated tile, the December segment.

Tell me what's the main common factor in all these? I'll give you 3 linebreaks to think...

...

...

...

It's that you can't do them without Noelle. Her help is a requirement, sound familiar? Well I'll explain, as discussed before, Berdly feels dependent on Noelle, so if his Dark World takes after him, these puzzle's just emancipate that. The mice puzzle signifies how Berdly depends on Noelle's meekness to always have her as a partner in projects, the laser tiles signifies how he actually trusts her, and the December puzzle... Oh that just warrants its on section.

The December puzzle consists of two corridors with laser barriers that Kris and Noelle go through by Kris unblocking the path while Noelle steps on the tiles spelling the same word she couldn't in the spelling bee, D-E-C-E-M-B-E-R. There are various visual themes at play.

First off, Noelle is always depicted as yellow both here in the hud and in the berdly confession. One funny thing is that yellow is also the color representative of the crown placed on Berdly when he won the bee.

In his mind, I believe this means that Noelle's help means he is somehow taking advantage of wisdom not of his own, probably due to winning due to Noelle just getting nervous, the win was not earned, and the crown was stolen from someone who deserved it better.

Also, child Noelle's silhouette is used in both this scene and the puzzle. It is my belief that this puzzle represents the spelling bee, I honestly would have loved to see how Berdly and Noelle would interact if he was here instead of Kris doing this puzzle.

These puzzle's are environmental storytelling, a backing track in the background of the story Kris and Noelle are telling, but this inferiority Berdly feels, this "unearned success" is... not really true.

C'mon, how is getting a study partner make your mark on last exam any less clever? Your success any less your own? In fact, isn't asking for help just the clever thing to do?

The only thing that makes Berdly a selfish idiot is the fact that he doesn't see that he doesn't need to force Noelle into his side only to keep his progress, that if he accepted the group of three or just studied with the rest of his class, he'd be happier. If he just dropped his stupid superiority act and just was more open to the world around him.

This is what the "Mice in the basket" puzzle represents, the gang + Noelle are all working in unison as a Team. And they seem to be having so much fun, they each do their part and the workload is ways easier and even so, it's still was good job on all of them, isn't it?

If only Berdly understood that... Oh wait.

I analised this in another Berdly analysis post but, after "Susan" expressed that his stupidity or whatever when getting decision paralysis on the shape puzzle with a piece deviously similar to him in the midst of other pieces alike the rest of his "teammates". The idea that no matter what shape these are as long as they all work together towards the general solution starts to resonate with him. In fact Susie telling Berdly this is similar to how Lancer did Susie in chapter 1.

In fact, he starts to actively plan a rescue mission, a team rescue mission to save Noelle. After all this time it's time to help her out. Return the favor, so to speak. He now assumes a more equal role, he is part of a team, and that makes all of them Strong together.

And you can't say he isn't helpful, he knows a secret passage to Noelle. And with him against Queen beside the Light Nerds totally wins over the "simulation against 4". And if that's not vital enough for you how about... idk

He literally just saves the main trio from and impending death and gives them a freacking mech powered by the power of teamwork and the ultimate group project to defeat Queen?

By realizing the power of teamwork, the little bluebird who noone remembered his name became vital to sealing the fountain, on his own initiative. This is all represented by the ridiculous Berdly statue being lent everyones power like a dumb shonen manga protag(cries).

Berdly's Formula: Cyberworld.

Sooooo guess who's in the mood to get another essay on Berdly?

Now I am of the belief that somehow dark worlds have some sort of link to the chapter's main new duo, for example, Kris seems to be linked to the first one but the world seems to revolve around giving Susie character growth. The King is a representation of that as well and Lancer playing bad guys with Susie. Kris provides the theme while Susie is the focus, you can also see how everyone refers to Susie as a monster who wrecks things up, it's clear that the "Focus Character" always becomes a known figure in the Dark World they reside in.

Now onto the duo at hand, Berdly and Noelle. And their Cyberworld. Focus Character: Noelle. Theme Character: Berdly.

So let's break it down, Berdly is the Theme character not only because the world is so technological, but let's center around Queen for this post. for the lack of a better term, she's basically a reflection of Berdly while having elements potentially reflective of Mayor Holiday. Especially on how obsessed she is with "having Noelle help her with her plans" in fact she needs Noelle for it because, in Queen's eyes, Noelle is "strong".

Remember Berdly feels as if he needs Noelle's help in order to be considered a smart guy because Noelle is "smarter" than him. Berdly confessed so, that "She's... the real smart kid." it is my belief that there's a bit of idolization in that sentence as well as an inferiority complex.

They both think Noelle is strong and they need that strength to attain their perfect world.

Also, both Berdly and Queen can't detect what Noelle thinks of them Queen thinks that this new world she has planned will make Noelle happy, and after learning that it won't she admits "... Noelle... Perhaps My Computations Were Miscalibrated"

Berdly's case is different, Queen is assuming how to help Noelle while Berdly, in infamous timing, misunderstands why Noelle helps him in perhaps the most comical of his interactions with Noelle there is something very lonely about them "I know you only always helped me out because well... You had a crush on me, so..." Noelle to Berdly is the exception to the norm, the only reason people would even remember his name is because he was smart, but Noelle did so before he even became that smart kid and the only way he could explain it is the irrational, love at first sight. He doesn't understand that people just help one another (at least not until the teamwork mech) especially if they're friends.

They both thought they had a perfect formula in which people functioned, queen calculated the happiness of every Lightner, and Berdly the formula for everyone to remember his name, they were both wrong in the mere act of calculating a surefire way to those ideals.

The Calculations to a perfect World where everyone enjoys your presence and there is happiness to be found everywhere are by nature a catastrophic oversimplification.

Furthermore, there's a note to be had in that while Queen is a foil to Noelle, Berdly is, in turn, a foil to Queen. Noelle runs away from Queen runs away from "Burghley". I feel this is a reflection of how Berdly perceives how the world sees his true self. Unwanted unless proved useful. You can see how much Berdly is fighting over Queen's affection the "Gamers delight" and especially the statue, Berdly is trying to use his formula by demonstrating "I am smart my IQ is high and you can depend on me" to Queen as well as including her in the same definition.

Berdly's formula is not one that works and he is none the wiser.

Well, that's all for now, next chapter of the Berdly analysis we'll take a look at the Cyberworld's puzzles, the Positive Character arc of Berdly, and its resolution. Stay tuned to the Berdly tag gamers. "May the smarts be with you."

[exoticbabe69]

Theseus Scamander x reader

✨Love is magical✨

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6| Part 7| Part 8| Part 9| Part 10| Part 11|

“Shall we get started then?” Theseus looked at you with an inquisitive smile. “Are you kidding me? YES!” You shout back. Your aunt floats over to the golden cabinet grabbing a gorgeously decorated box from a safe she had stored away. As soon as she opened what was inside, a wooden stick (much like the one you saw Theseus with) elevated into the air and flew into your hand, a pink flash of light coming out of it. Holding the stick in your hand, it just felt right. “What is this stick Auntie?” You ask. Theseus bursts out laughing “it’s not a stick love, it’s a wand, it’s what we use for magic.”

Your great aunt starts to whisper to you “your wand is very special y/n, it is made of elder wood, and it’s core is Thestral tail hair.” Theseus’s eyes widen “that cannot be!” he gasps, “there’s no way, that’s impossible!” You didnt understand what the significance of the wand meant…..yet. Naziya continues “oh but it is my dear boy, you see after Dumbledore became owner of the elderwand when disarming Grindelwald, he paid a visit to y/n’s parents house. Y/n was only a child and with her fathers wand she disarmed Dumbledore by sheer accident. She was merely playing with her fathers wand and somehow the elderwand was knocked out of Dumbledore’s hand and floated into hers. Y/n’s parents insisted that Albus keep the wand however, he wanted my great niece to have it, you know how that man is about destiny.”

Out of nowhere you heard a loud hissing sound, a snake appeared and your great aunt was able to command it to go back to its resting place. To your astonishment you too could understand what she said to it, the snake seemed quite friendly actually. “Parseltongue” she said to you, I imagine you too can speak it. “I know what you’re thinking Theseus but we are no descendants of Salazar Slytherin, don’t you worry now” she says. You had no idea who Salazar Slytherin was, what the hell parseltongue meant and how in the world you understood what the snake was saying, but at this point nothing surprised you anymore, you were a witch after all.

Theseus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He looks at you suddenly remembering your last name from the night you first met. Of course, he says “y/n do you know what your heritage is?” “Duh Theseus I’m y/e, can’t you tell by my features?” Theseus continues “no I meant your wizarding heritage, your blood line..” Your great aunt interrupts again “is the most ancient, purest of bloodlines in the wizarding world, your family name is part of the sacred 28, you see!”

“Oh cool, I guess.” You respond not really understanding how important they thought this was. “Y/n I don’t think you understand, this means you’re a pure blood witch, and in the wizarding world most pure bloods think they are superior,” Theseus explains. “Theseus, a few hours ago I thought I was a…what was that word again? “Muggle” you say using your hands as quotation marks. Now I’m a pure blood witch, and it doesn’t change anything for me, except I have cool powers now, I’m still the same y/n pure blood or not “muggle” or not. We’re all the same really.”

Theseus smiles, he finds your charm, grace, wit, humor, and very down to earth nature so beautiful, so unique, and it made him feel warm inside. You were not like anyone else he had ever met, you had a soul, a very pure, genuine soul. “Now back to my lessons, are y’all going to teach me how to use magic or what?! Let’s get this show on the road!” You say cheerfully. You, Theseus and your Great Aunt stayed up until about 1am going over various spells and charms, typically when learning you start with the basics but Theseus thought it would be good for you to learn the 3 unforgivable curses, and disarming spell first, just in case.

After thanking your Great Aunt, Theseus and you apparate back to your home. You felt like throwing up from it, apparating was no joke. “Yeah takes some time getting used to” Theseus says trying to comfort you. “Well tomorrow I want to teach you how to make a patronus, it’s brilliant really, and it can protect you from a lot of evil like dementors.” “What’s dementors?” You ask. “I’ll go over that some other time, why don’t you get some rest it’s late.” You turn the fire place on, then you turn it off remembering you could use your magic now “incendio” you yell and point your wand. Theseus starts clapping “you are quite the fast learner y/n.”

You blush “you know Theseus, I just wanted to say thank you for coming with me today and teaching me so much. I’m happy you didn’t stop coming to my house even though I didn’t open the door for a while.” “I’d do it again in a heart beat y/n, you’re worth it.” He replies gazing into your eyes. It felt as if time had stopped when Theseus slowly leaned in for a kiss. As his lips met yours an electric feeling submerged both of you…your hands slowly reach over his shoulders and his hands gently caress your waist making their way down to your lower back, passionately grabbing every inch. Theseus was a gentleman however, not allowing his hands to go too low.

After you pull away catching your breath you say quietly “you know you can stay the night if you’d like, it is pretty late after all and we’re both tired.” Theseus’s face turns a bright red, the brightest tint of red you’d ever seen him turn. “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose. I can sleep on the couch if that’s okay,” he responds knowing damn well he wanted nothing more than to share the bed with you. “Theseus, if staying on the couch is more comfortable for you then by all means, but my bed is big enough for the both of us. No funny business though mister!” You tease.

You take his hand and walk to your bedroom. Theseus goes to the bathroom to take off his coat, tie, long sleeve, and trousers only to be in his boxers. You however stayed in your bedroom and undressed there, Theseus could see you through the bathroom door crack. He saw you changing into your pink silk night gown that was just long enough to cover your bottom. He stared at you intensely, soaking up every bit of skin you showed, your silhouette and the hour glass shape of your figure. “She’s absolutely perfect” he thought to himself. “How in Merlin did I get so damn lucky” he whispered. Once you had your night gown on you turned to the bathroom door and caught a glimpse of him. Theseus immediately looked away, embarrassed that you had caught him drooling over you changing. If you were being honest with yourself you thought it was rather cute, after all you were attracted to him too.

You both laid down for bed, he was such a cuddler. You rested your head on his chest and he held you so very tightly, like you were the only thing in the world that mattered to him, like he couldn’t let you go. Giving you never ending kisses and delicate touches. You both wanted the same thing, but you resisted your lustful urges until you fell asleep. It was as if love had cradled your souls, for what seemed to be one of the most peaceful slumbers ever.

[americancowgirl19]

Artic Hoarfrost

Summary: Bill sends a letter to his brother Charlie about a rare dragon that turns out to be more than just a creature.

Warnings: Fluff, angst

Reader: Gender Neutral Reader

Pairings: Charlie Weasley x Gender Neutral Reader

Word Count: 2,083

A/n: It didn’t turn out as romantic as I would have liked. It’s more of a platonic story but it’s still good! I hope, lol... and yes I created the Artic Hoarfrost, I think it’s a cool name.

Masterlist

Charlie was only studying in Romania for half a year when his older brother, Bill, sent him a letter. It had been a long time since Charlie had heard from him. The two brothers had been close growing up but now they were both out of Hogwarts pursuing different careers.

He opened the letter curiously but also excited. He missed his family but knew the distance would become easier with time. 

The letter started out simple. There were some casual questions and small talk before Bill got to the reason why he sent the letter. 

Around the same time Charlie was able to get a job in Romania Bill found a job as a curse beaker in Egypt. While at work Bill stumbled upon something that he thought Charlie should know.

In one of the crypts in Egypt there’s a dragon. It isn’t uncommon for Goblins to have dragons in their work areas. Charlie knew there is one in the Gringotts bank and it didn’t surprise him that there’s on in Egypt.

What does surprise him is the description Bill gives him. This isn’t a normal dragon but an Artic Hoarfrost. Charlie had thought the breed went extinct back before the first world war. To hear that there’s one captive in Egypt instantly intrigued him.

It was hard to convince his superiors to let him go to Egypt by himself. The sanctuary had just welcomed a new dragon. All hands were on deck to help the dragon integrate in the new habitat.

It wouldn’t be until another month later that Charlie was able to get some time to go to Egypt. As good as it was to see Bill again all Charlie could think about was the Hoarfrost. He had seen rough sketches of one before but to be able to see one in person would be amazing.

If Bill was right and the dragon truly is a Hoarfrost then Charlie knew he would have to convince the sanctuary to liberate the dragon from the Goblins. A Hoarfrost would slowly wither in the hot environment. 

“Why are they keeping the dragon here?” Charlie asks, following his brother through the desert to find the beast.

“Because it breathes ice and it’s hot,” Bill explains simply. Charlie sends him a look.

“They’re enslaving a dragon to keep themselves cool?” Charlie asks, not bothering to hide his anger.

“Which is why I sent the letter,” Bill says, sending him a glance. Charlie presses his lips together and nods.

“Oh, wow,” Charlie whispers, when they reach the dragon. 

The dragon is large but malnourished. After getting over the initial shock and beauty of the creature, Charlie notices injuries from the chains and the abuse the Goblins have no doubt forced it to endure.

“So, is it what you thought it was?” Bill wonders. The both of them watch as the wizard guards force the dragon to breathe it’s ice into different tunnels. These tunnels go to various work sites and buildings. While Bill enjoyed the cool air the dragon produced he would rather suffer the heat and have the dragon free.

“Looks like it,” Charlie mutters, clenching his fists when the dragon roars painfully. The wizards tasked with forcing the dragon to work used cruel spells that pierced right through it’s hide. “I want to get a closer look,” Charlie says, making a move to go closer but Bill holds him back.

“Not right now,” He says. “Those guard won’t let you close. We’ll have to wait for night fall,”

Grumbling, Charlie leaves with his brother counting down the hours until he can return. Bill did his best to distract his brother but Charlie was far too determined to go back.

He paced in Bill’s flat. His mind is reeling, all his thoughts centering around the dragon. He recalled all he knew about Hoarfrost’s, which wasn’t that much. A few things did strike out as peculiar. The dragon seemed to be half the size it should have been, which could be because of the conditions it is living in but Bill says the dragon has only been there for a few years. Such little time shouldn’t have stunted it’s growth.

Another thing that struck out to Charlie were the curses the wizards used. Those curses, while harmful, shouldn’t have penetrated the dragon’s armored hide as easily as it did.

Charlie couldn’t wait to return to the beast. He wanted a closer look. Hopefully he’d find some answers to the growing number of questions circling his head.

When Bill deemed it late enough, Charlie all but ran to the dragon. Bill struggled to keep up and was out of breath when they arrived. While Bill too deep breaths, Charlie approached the dragon.

The great beast was asleep. It’s curled around itself using their wings to cover as much of their body as possible. It’s an attempt to keep the coolness it’s body radiates to itself. While the room is cool it’s not nearly cold enough to healthily habituate the dragon.

“Charlie, be careful,” Bill warns. Charlie ignores him and continues closer to the beast. He freezes when it shifts. His heart hammers in his chest when the head emerges from under the wing. “Charlie,” Bill says, wanting his brother to come back but Charlie stays still.

A moment later it’s eyes open. A beautiful y/e/c stares right at him. Charlie waits trepidatiously for the dragon to react, to attack him, but it stays still. It’s eyes just stare and observe Charlie.

Charlie releases a shaky breath. He knew he wasn’t completely safe but he felt more comfortable. The dragon seemed calm but that could change. Charlie knew he should be cautious but he was simply too curious.

He takes a step closer but ends up stumbling backwards when the dragon’s entire body shifts. Their wings fold exposing more of the body. The tail comes around almost curving around Charlie and it’s head lifts to better assess him.

“Charlie!” Bill hisses. The dragon turns it’s attention toward Bill but remains unthreatening. Despite it’s calm composure Bill still takes large steps back.

“Will you calm down?” Charlie hisses back. “I know what I’m doing,”

“You’ve been around dragons for six months and now you’re an expert?” Bill snaps, keeping his eye on the beast.

“More so than you,” Charlie sasses.

“What exactly are you going to do?” Bill asks. “You got your closer look. Now let’s go,”

Bill had a point. Charlie got his closer look but he didn’t want to leave. This dragon was far too interesting to leave so soon.

Charlie ignores his brother and moves closer to the dragon. Bill releases a frustrated sigh. He was half tempted to go yank his brother away if he wasn’t so intimidated by the large dragon. He’s seen the beast encase more than one Goblin in ice before. He didn’t want that to be his fate but didn’t want it to be Charlie’s either.

The longer Charlie spent around the dragon the more unusual the beast seemed to be. It’s true that Charlie’s only spent roughly six months with real live dragons but he’s learned a great deal about their behavior in that time.

He remembers reading about Artic Hoarfrost’s at Hogwarts. It was well documented that their breed is territorial, aggressive and prefer their isolation. How did Goblins manage to capture and keep a dragon that’s well known for their aggression and untamableness?

Every moment spent with this dragon only raises more questions.

“Bill, what’s this collar around their neck?” Charlie asks, risking a few steps closer.

“I don’t know, probably something to keep the dragon in place,” Bill says, keeping his distance. Charlie didn’t believe that answer. Nothing is attached to the collar, it’s simply there around it’s neck.

Charlie turns his head and looks back into the dragon’s eye. There was something almost human to them.

Something human.

“Bloody hell,” Charlie whispers, his eyes widening. His heart drops to his stomach as a new theory races through his mind. “Bill, I don’t think this is a dragon,”

“What are you talking about, Charlie? That’s obviously a bloody dragon,” Bill snaps. Charlie shakes his head. “Charlie,” Bill scolds as his brother extends a hand toward the dragon.

“I’m telling you, Bill. This isn’t a dragon,” Charlie smiles sadly, as the dragon presses their snout against his head. “It’s an animagus,”

“What?” Bill asks. “You’re telling me that that’s a human?” Charlie nods his head, beckoning his brother forward.

“It’s far too small to be a hatched dragon. The hide is weaker and their eyes are human,” Charlie explains.

“How did they manage to do this?” Bill asks.

“I’m not sure,” Charlie mutters, his eyes going back to the collar. “But I think that’s how they’re keeping them,” Bill cautiously moves forward. He inspects the object.

“It’s definitely cursed,” Bill mutters.

“Can you break it?” Charlie asks.

“It’s going to take time,” Bill warns him. Charlie clenches his jaw but nods knowing there was no way around it. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you out,” Charlie promises the dragon. It huffs and curls back into itself again.

“Charlie, they’ve been a dragon for at least five years,” Bill tells him. “I’ve seen how they treat them. The transition back to human life isn’t going to be easy,”

“I know,” Charlie mutters, following him back to his flat. “Let’s just worry about getting them free first,”

“The ministry’s going to want to hear about this,” Bill mentions.

“They’ll be too worried about punishing those involved. They won’t be worried about their best interest. Let’s help the them and then go to the Ministry,” Bill nods in agreement.

Every night for nearly a month, Bill and Charlie go to break the curse on the collar. Well, Bill goes to break the curse while Charlie keeps the dragon company.

“Don’t worry, Bill will be done before you know it,” Charlie whispers, gently massaging some sensitive spots on on their head. He smiles when he hears a purr like sounds. Even Bill smiles, a bit happy to see that they’re enjoying themselves.

Charlie continues to talk softly and continues his massaging. Halfway through the night is when the collar falls to the floor. All three of them tense before Bill steps back.

The dragon slowly stands up. The sound of the chains clinking together gain Bill and Charlie’s attention. Together, the brothers use their wands to break the chains which further frees the animagus. 

Charlie and Bill both smile as the dragon stretches and tries to shake the soreness from their muscles. They both take a step back as it releases a mighty roar.

“We have to get them out of here,” Bill says. Before Charlie could agree, the guards come rushing in. The dragon glares at them and growls. They’re forced to take cover as the beast breathes a stream of ice crystals in their direction.

“We have to leave!” Charlie shouts. The dragon ignores him and continues to extract revenge. “Please! We have to go! The Ministry will deal with them, I promise! But you deserve to be free,”

The dragon turns to him. Charlie looks at them pleadingly. The dragon huffs and lowers their neck.

“I am not getting on,” Bill says. Charlie grins widely.

“Come on! Live a little!” Charlie runs toward it. Bill groans and follows his brother. Charlie holds on tightly with extreme excitement while Bill is extremely uneasy.

The dragon flies them out of the crypt. Bills screams in terror while Charlie hollers. They fly far away before the dragon drops back to the ground. Bill falls off and groans on the ground.

Charlie slides off gracefully and comes around to their face. The dragon bumps its snout against his chest causing Charlie to chuckle.

“You’re free now,” Charlie tells it. “You can do whatever you want,” The dragon looks genuinely confused breaking Charlie’s heart.

Before Charlie could say anything else, the dragon steps back. Charlie watches the beast begin to shrink before taking a human form. He looks at you for the first time.

You’re wearing a ratty shirt and torn shorts. Your legs support you for a few seconds before you collapse on the grass. Charlie rushes to you.

“Are you alright?” He asks quickly. You manage to smile at him.

“Th-thank you,” You stutter. He smiles at you. “Thank you so much,” You fall into his arms. His eyes widen a bit but he hugs you back.

“You’re safe now,” He promises. “You’re safe,”