#tbh i've got all the bits that really interest me already covered in other projects

[kradogsrats]

tumblr user @raayllum is a HUGE enabler so here's some "Harrow and Viren are married and raise Ezran as their son" AU garbage

After Ezran is a year or two old, Sarai returns to her full-time military career (which was put on hold after Callum's father died). Callum is raised alongside Ezran, but is always hyper-aware of their difference in status, which makes their relationship a bit less close than in canon.

"Your highness." "Callum, you know you can call me 'Ezran,' or even 'Ez.' We're brothers." "Half-brothers, and you're the prince."

Viren does intend to teach Ezran magic, but Ezran ultimately refuses to learn (to varying degrees, depending on whether it's ultimately important that he NOT be susceptible to Aaravos's control). He also doesn't believe Ezran's explanation of his ability to understand animals, and is hurt and resentful of what he perceives as personal rejection. Harrow has to intervene and it's a big point of contention in their relationship.

Viren also has a deeply toxic rivalry with Sarai because, being hyper-aware of status dynamics, he's insecure about not being Ezran's "real" father and that tends to manifest as him being extremely possessive of Ezran and trying to drive a wedge between him and Sarai. Sarai, for her part, is very protective of Callum in that she trusts Harrow to ensure he's taken care of in her absence, and... tolerates Viren, at best. (She definitely looks at the royal portrait of him like "I've had enough of this dude".)

This is important because it's Callum who Viren winds up training in magic, because Ezran refuses but Callum is open to it. Ezran went through a phase before he began outright refusing lessons where he demanded Callum be present for them, so Callum learned enough to be interested and also demonstrate that he's potentially very good at it. He may not be a prodigy like Claudia, but he's desperate for something to be good and useful at, which is both deeply resonant with and exploitable by Viren.

Since Soren never exists, Kpp'Ar doesn't have his major falling out with Viren. @raayllum wants him to be around as a grandfather-like figure to Callum, which I acknowledge would be awesome. However, I am a bad person and want him to stop Viren from riding out after Neha and Annika during the Titan Heart expedition like "your son needs you, mine no longer does" and go himself.

On the geopolitical front, a mage king in the human kingdoms is a big red flag for Xadia. Without Sarai (and Sarai's early death) as a moderating influence on Harrow, tensions continue to escalate on both sides, to the point of actual dragon attacks on Katolian border outposts and settlements.

Sarai is killed(?) during one of these escalating skirmishes. (I say ? because it would be kind of fun for Callum to have Rayla's "my dead parent is alive" arc.)

Out of both genuine feeling for Callum and also knowing a golden opportunity, Viren convinces Callum to provide the blood and hatred that will kill Thunder. (The spell here would have to be tweaked a bit, since Sarai's last breath is not available, but I don't think that's insurmountable.)

Killing Thunder at a point where open warfare is basically already beginning is less out there than randomly showing up to do so in peacetime, but it does kind of complicate stealing the egg. The problem here is that either the egg still needs to be stolen, or there needs to be something else that convinces Rayla to not go through with the assassination mission. Coming up with a way for the egg to still be stolen is probably the easier option, but I'd try reeeeally hard for some other Rayla pivot point just because it would be a lot of fun to have her character dynamic also changed by the fact that her parents are still alive and not disgraced. Maybe something to do with Ezran's abilities?

Either way, Zubeia's reaction is basically "This was Avizandum's war, not mine. Fighting it won't bring him back. Cut off the head of Katolis and end it." She gives the order to assassinate the entire royal family--the blood king, the dark mage, and the heir. Series plot kickoff ensues. (OR maybe the directive is to kill the kings and capture/kidnap the heir, since that uncertainty would be even more crippling to the kingdom than a decisive end to the royal line.)

Who goes after the prince(s) and egg if Soren and Claudia don't exist? Well, I think it would be fun for novice dark mage Callum to have to face off against one of his teacher's powerful spells, and for Rayla to have to fight her lost comrades, so--shadow assassins.

Where's Aaravos? Shhhhhhhh. I want him to get to Callum first.

[marlowethelibrarian]

Writeblr Interview!

tagged by @saturnine-saturneight [here] !! Thanks for the tag!!

Short stories, novels, or poems?

I've written short stories and I'm working on a novel!! I think my short stories have all been pretty ass tbh. I think most of the ones I wrote were trying to be novels actually. I think I should read more short stories before I write them.

I'm not a super poetry person though lol

What genre do you prefer reading?

I read a lot of fucking fantasy. Other fiction too, but fantasy is pretty much where I sit in the readersphere.

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

I think I'm a bit more of a write as I go kind of a person in that my best ideas tend to pop up in the process of writing though I usually have a larger structure I'm vaguely following.

I've done enough reading that I think I've internalized some things about pacing and story beats that it just flows out.

What music do you listen to while writing?

Villain playlists on youtube. I don't really think about the songs too much in general tbh, I just want a catchy beat.

Favorite books/movies?

Stuff that makes me think!!! I love a good grip on character and an examination of why people Do That. The locked tomb book series is such a vibe for me rn, and I really liked Everything Everywhere All at Once. That shit laid me right out.

1000x Resist is also a video game that has it's fucking grip on my soul rn.

Any current WIPs?

I've got Project Cannibalism and the summer leagues OCT right now! I'm playing with some other ideas rn but that's just play atm.

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you what would your standard outfit be?

Wizard outfit.

I do, in fact have a wizard outfit I made myself, because I'm a huge nerd and a LARPer. It's why my little sphere self has a wizard hat. It's because I'm a wizard.

The wizard hat is a brown wool with a gold hat band and gold bead and chain dangles from the brim. The hat is a long maroon red duster with gold embroidery on the cuffs.

Create a character description of yourself:

Marlowe's round, expressive face grins wide and laughs a touch too boisterously, the short floppy crop of black hair bouncing over the brow framed lenses.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

Not on purpose! I often feel like I am exploring a type of person as I write a character and trying to portray someone I know already from the outside in feels counter productive to that.

Are you kill happy with your characters?

There's more interesting ways to make characters suffer than killing them.

Coffee or Tea while writing?

I just forget to drink, honestly.

Slow or fast writer?

As it turns out, I write pretty damn quickly.

Where/who/what do you draw inspiration from?

I think I draw a lot of inspiration from going like wouldn't be fucked up if a guy hit another guy with a rock?

Also tbh from rps I've had with my partner, books I read, questions I have about life, or people. I like looking at the natural world and being like wow how about that thing no fantasy author would have made up in a million years that actually exists in our actual factual world?

But sometimes it really is just

wouldn't it be fucked up?

And to explore the implications out from there.

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Wizard!! We've covered this, I'm a little wizard guy. I'm a library wizard. Wizard is my gender, I'm a wizard.

Most fav book cliche:

Idk, usually i prefer execution over cliches. I do enjoy a good enemies to lovers though.

Least favorite cliche:

Right now I'm pretty tired of reading about revolutions ngl. I think it's overused, especially by people who don't actually understand what it means to do a revolution. Especially YA revolutions where it's like some kind of metaphor for finding yourself and the evil government is like wantonly murdering their own subjects because they "failed at their jobs" or whatever.

1000x Resist managed to do a revolution I wasn't immediately rolling my eyes at though, possibly because it was a story about a revolution and not necessarily a revolution about other things. It was rooted in real life politics and it didn't pull its punches, didn't romanticize the idea of revolution.

1000x resist is honestly so good everyone go play it.

Favorite scene to write?

I really like writing scenes that make me cry and will hopefully hurt any reader's feelings ngl. I also quite enjoy a fight scene!

Reason for writing?

Idk I just do. I like to write and I've been writing since I was 10, typing my first self insert naruto fanfiction out on word and being excited that I was the one who was making the characters do things. I'd been a voracious reader since even before I could read myself, bothering my parents to read me books constantly. Trying the magic myself seems kind of inevitable.

I'd like to be published some day though! I'm hoping to shop Project Cannibalism around to publishers though I'm not opposed to self publishing either.

tagging: +open!!!