#tent courts

[ecoterrorist-katara]

Honestly 80% of the reason I ship Zutara is because I believe both Katara and Zuko deserve simps, and they both are simps. Simp x simp supremacy

[muffinapologist]

Hey, hey, look at me. Look me in the eyes. Listen.

Ace Attorney au where everything is the same up to Turnabout Sisters at which point things go wildly off the rails and Redd White succeeds in getting Phoenix convicted for Mia’s murder

And theoretically Edgeworth should be satisfied another criminal in prison and his record is maintained. But something keeps bothering him about the case. And he convinces himself it’s the motive, they never figured out *why* Phoenix Wright would kill Mia Fey. (Spoiler alert it’s actually bc deep down he knows Phoenix didn’t do it and he’s got, you know, unnecessary feelings)

So he goes to visit Phoenix in detention, to ask him what his motive was. And Phoenix is like"You want my motive?" "yes?" "i'd love to tell you, really I would, but since I didn't fucking do it; that's kind of a tall order"

But Phoenix is also kind of in a bind because he’s in prison and Redd White isn’t and now White knows that Maya knows who he is. And Phoenix is worried she’s going to be his next target.

So he strikes a deal with Edgeworth. Edgeworth investigates Redd White (not for Murder but for his many financial crimes) and Phoenix will give him access to his entire life basically, his apartment, Mia’s office, etc, so that he can figure out Phoenix’s motive

Featuring (but not limited to):

Edgeworth’s slow descent into a morality crisis as he realizes Phoenix is innocent and White isn’t; therefore also throwing his previous cases into doubt

Maya and Miles worsties to besties with Maya helping Miles with his investigation with the goal of helping Phoenix and eventually bonding with him through their shared family trauma

Guilt nightmares and general spiraling

“Everything I’ve learned about Wright has been against my will” -Edgeworth, lying

Phoenix’s depressing personal life and Mia being Important

Edgeworth having Phoenix consult on the Will Powers case while in prison and Phoenix of course finding the key contradictions

Demon prosecutor Miles Edgeworth breaking his own perfect record by helping Phoenix file an appeal and being a proxy in his retrial

A surprising amount of April May character development as she turns on White and testifies in Phoenix’s retrial

Eventual wrightworth because you know how I be

[leclerrari]

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Charles Leclerc during previews ahead of the Grand Prix of the United States on October 19, 2023 (Photo by DPPI Media)

[eliotquillon]

yeah yeah something is very clearly Up with jeremy and his family and knowing how this usually goes he’s probably gonna have a secret dead sibling or a something but wouldn’t it be nice if it just turned out his family were regular assholes instead of straight-up evil. Wouldn’t that make a nice change

[mayusz]

the terrible throuple (and hickey!)

[news4dzhozhar]

[frankensteined]

quick rook ideas + tag dump to get this outta my brain and somewhere concrete

listed in tentative order of playthroughs, but after my first one i'll probably have a better idea of which character i really want to play after tess.

thérèse "tess" de riva - human - antivan crows - rogue

- the "do you want me to kill them for you? :)" @ a minor inconvenience friend

- born in orlais; her father was a judge and her mother an anti-imperialist gossip girl

- someone hired a crow to get rid of them; thérèse wasn't supposed to be there, but she came across the scene and the crow ended up taking her with him back to antiva, rather than kill her too (the contract didn't say anything about kids!!)

- basically that "killed the monster, only to find out that they had a kid nearby" rpg staple, except for the protagonist

- trained to be a crow; made friends with some other kids in the same boat as her, until one tried to kill her in order to advance in the ranks. she nearly killed her bestie back. thanks to SOMEONE killing off crows elsewhere, rather than getting rid of the two troublemakers, they were separated and thérèse was taken by the crow who'd brought her there in the first place, training her on the road with him.

- returned to antiva in her mid-20s and made peace instantly with her former bestie, who outranked her by a country mile at that point; thérèse (who was going by "tess" at that point for ease of being hired) was a-okay with this. tess kept a low-profile, taking on jobs that wouldn't make her too important, but became very fond of staying in treviso whenever she could. naturally, the entire business with the antaam marching in there was something she took personally, and she struck out not out of a desire to advance her position, but merely to protect her home.

- and then the backstory blurb happened.

best friend predictions: harding, neve

romance predictions: lucanis

caius mercar - elf - shadow dragons - mage

- the "i haven't had a day off in eight weeks" friend

- taken in by the mercar family after his mother, a freed slave, was fatally wounded during her escape attempt. the family's official story was that he'd been a foundling, but they'd been actively helping his mother, caia, in her escape efforts, and honored her after her passing by naming her son after her

- trained in swordplay along with his adoptive siblings, as the family's military standing was reputable and he was eager to follow in their footsteps. when his magic manifested, he was young enough to adapt to it without missing the blade too much, but he's always looking to incorporate it into his battlestyles anyways

- while he loves his family dearly, the knowledge of his origins had always spurred him toward a very specific vision of justice and right/wrong, and he fell into the arms of the shadow dragons pretty much as soon as he was able. he views tevinter as it stands at present as the cause of his birth parents' deaths, and wants to dismantle it, or die trying.

- takes himself very seriously, almost to a comical degree. like, to a batman level of taking himself, justice, and his Brand seriously

- and then the backstory blurb happened

best friend predictions: neve, lucanis

romance predictions: harding? taash?

dulcea laidir - dwarf -lords of fortune - warrior

- the "hey, watch this!" friend (said ten seconds before disaster)

- her family backed the wrong would-be-king in orzammar, and intentionally fled to the surface to avoid retribution, having previously been part of the warrior caste. dulcea was about 13 years old at the time, so she remembers bits of orzammar, but not enough to miss it with a lot of sincerity.

- while her family members remained deeply rooted in maintaining their yearning for their former-home, while she took to wandering and being enraptured with everything that she could discover on the surface. for years, she worked hard to support them, but one day she caught wind of a trader heading to rivain, and she left in the dead of night to travel with her. her parents woke up to a chest of gold and a silver goblet, with a note simply saying "More where this came from! -D"

- she remained a fish out of water for the entire trip. if she wasn't so good with her own weapon (a hammer she named "finesse"), she'd have been mugged and swindled more times than she could count. eventually, though, she caught the eye of a ship captain who needed some extra muscle for a job he was running, and dulcea was hired on.

- the ship nearly went under during a storm, and she almost drowned because she couldn't swim. at first, the crew teased her about it, but when she started to actually cry over it, they realized how terrified she'd really been and all rallied together to teach her how to swim (wholesome!!!).

- now, she's 110% comfortable enough in the water to do cannonballs in search of lost treasure. as a member of the lords of fortune now, this happens often.

- and then the backstory blurb happened.

best friend predictions: TAASH

romance predictions: bellara

castor thorne - dwarf - grey wardens - rogue? warrior?

- the "am i the only normal person here?" friend

- surface dwarf, worked as a stablehand in south reach until the fifth blight rolled around. survived, but hid through most of it and never forgave himself for being a coward while so many tried to protect their home and died.

- following this, he went to amaranthine to pledge himself to the wardens, feeling that he owed someone something. along the way, he met a fellow recruit: an elf named "thorne" who spoke frequently about leaving his clan to become a warden. they became fast friends, and trained together often. neither of them had combat experience, so it took them a while before they were skilled enough to undertake the joining.

- thorne always assumed that castor was a dwarf from orzammar, and he'd never corrected him. the night before the joining, though, castor revealed the truth, embarrassed at his own weakness yet again. thorne laughed, revealing that he wasn't dalish either - he was just a city elf, wishing he could have had a stronger connection to something greater than him. they agreed that, as wardens, they'd both finally have that, and pledged to serve as brothers, going forward.

- castor survived the joining, but thorne, unfortunately did not. devastated to have lost his first brother-in-arms before his service had even begun, castor took on thorne's name for himself, so both their names would be recorded in weisshaupt eventually. has faithfully served the wardens ever since - diligent and reliable, never hiding again.

- and then the backstory blurb happened.

best friend predictions: davrin, lucanis

romance predictions: neve? emmrich?

hector ingellvar - human - mourn watch - mage

- the "friendly reminder (shares some sorta horror)" friend

- intentionally not going into how he ended up in the grand necropolis as an infant. that's either gonna be the one story that he'll never know, or it'll have to be something that the game itself gives to me, because the big ol question mark that that provides at present is too much fun for me to want to crack open for him.

- he tells himself that he was made inside the tomb, most likely. that the undead just put him all together, bones and then organs, and then skin, and pretended that they found him. that is, of course, ridiculous, and he knows this, but will tell that to you with a straight face anyways. it's as likely a true story as having parents out there who care about him still, after all.

- very much a "child who was never really a child", he grew into adulthood without fanfare and has never really understood why some of the other necromancers have looked at him sadly over this.

- and then the backstory blurb happened

best friend predictions: emmrich, lucanis

romance predictions: davrin

basil aldwir - qunari - veil jumpers - rogue? mage?

- the "i didn't do it" himbo friend

- the son of a tamassran who escaped the qun with an elf that she'd fallen in love with

- his mother had been pregnant with him when she and her love fled, using an attack from tevinter as the perfect opportunity to disappear unnoticed.

-the pair eventually found the elf's clan, and it was only through his faith in her that they allowed her to stay. when her son was born, she took her husband's surname and gave it to the baby as well; they called him "hallan", after the halla (the only other horned members of the clan, aside from them)

- he was raised amongst the clan's children and didn't worry too much that his grey skin and horns made him stand out. he was always able to reach up high for his friends, and he made for an excellent beast to be slain in their games together. he was happy, if not a bit mischievous, and daring to a fault. his mother taught him discipline, and his father taught him to appreciate the beauty of nature and the beauty of a heritage that wasn't really his own, but he valued it as if it was.

- eventually, he encountered the veil jumpers and offered himself as "a noble sacrifice to their cause". he mostly just acts as a distraction, because he's very distracting.

- along the way, he cheekily adopted "basil" as a moniker, enjoying the slight jab at himself, for how the qunari would look at him, and how it was easier for humans to say and accept.

- and then the backstory blurb happened

best friend predictions: bellara, the bestie

romance predictions: tremendous wildcard at this point, will circle back to this one day.

[moonshine-nightlight]

Poll Time - Setting & POV

I have been seized by a story idea. it's gonna be a modern short story about a human and a dragon, likely from the dragon's POV (not to be confused with my other modern dragon pov idea i have knocking around)

the setting is one where mythical creatures are known, but can hide themselves

so the question is: is the dragon known as a dragon (aka half transformed with horns/wings/tail out all the time) or secret dragon (mysterious, probably not human, but not sure what, how long exactly have they worked here)?

also, while we're at it, from dragon POV - 2nd or 3rd?

They work in a science lab, if that helps. The story centers around hoards and the human being oblivious and the dragon pursuing her and dragon courting rituals.

[itspileofgoodthings]

I love cowboy like me so much 😭😭😭😭

[mathlann]

Semi-Connected Cas Thoughts

Casimira is extremely harsh with disciplining her nobles, and dealing with them is usually where she can be considered her most "Dogmatic". An incompetent serf isn't that big a deal (they'll be punished, but not necessarily killed), but an incompetent noble affects the whole planet and it makes it more likely she'll have to get involved in the cleanup. Unfortunately, as the old guard quickly learned, Cas doesn't hold much esteem for pedigree or tradition so she's not shy about the occasional bout of (lethal) discipline when she deems it necessary. The only family of Theodora's nobles to make it out unscathed were the Werserians for a reason, and any post-game nobles that rise after the old learn quickly to keep a close eye on their holdings.

Insofar as other bits of Court Conduct, Cas also runs on Rule of Annoying, where essentially: if made to deal with a situation or person that's otherwise unpleasant but not actively dangerous, if she can take a course of action that can selectively piss off someone around her that she dislikes without being too obvious, she'll try and do it. She would say it's to test limits, but in reality, she can nearly match Marazhai for being an emotional terror to others when she wants to be. She ends up surprisingly adept at the subtleties of court life because "managing to fuck over or provoke someone else without the matter being obviously readable to outsiders or turning violent" was a big part of why she was chosen for her pre-Rogue Trader course of work. On the other end of the spectrum from the above, one of the few instances where she will insist on following tradition or the courtly way of doing things to the letter is with nobles she doesn't like. Both sides know she doesn't care, but the right slip up can reveal a lot.

Also post-game musing but under the cut because I may change my mind about it later

So as to "how much of Cas' personal life is public knowledge" irt Marazhai, while I know the epilogue says their Feasts and stuff are pretty legendary, I don't think your average Joe on the street would be able to factually tell you "Rogue Trader von Valancius has a Drukhari consort." This run we are going for peace with the Eldar so on that front her fondness for Xenos is pretty public. But insofar as specifics, while she'd never deny him, I think their relationship is pretty "their business" in the sense that there's no point in explicitly showing out about it. The exception being the above, RoA, in which case "implying something going on to the right person for the kick of it" is fine (ie, Winterscale/Chorda/Kharael), especially because the person being provoked probably already doesn't like her and can be discredited anyways? But I mean, neither one of them is big on emotion or being especially lovey, and post-game they live apart so, idk I think it's entirely possible they can sit in the same room together for hours and unless someone observing knows them nothing would be especially amiss? I see it as essentially, most of their time together isn't planetside, so word of what goes on there doesn't reach the wider populace for the most part? Like at most, Her Ladyship has a fondness for Xenos, has a favorite Xenos mercenary (what odd Rogue Trader doesn't?), and perhaps some disgruntled nobles or former officers may allege improper relations but its hard to prove, y'know?

[gyroshrike]

Lois couldn’t believe that Brainy would only bring Clark flowers and not her and Brainy said she made a very good point

So today he’s got two :3c

[this-love-is-delicate]

Also if I don't have at least one flirtatious tension filled bonfire night this fall I think I'll actually lose it

[yanny-77]

Sweet Waters of Spring

SJM Romance Week Day 7: Free Day

Summary: Rhysand asks Azriel to escort Gwyn to the Spring Court where she can connect with her river nymph heritage. Sparks fly and Azriel finally admits the truth to himself. Features some of my favorite tropes:

Friends to Lovers

Only One Tent

Everyone Knows but Them

Fated Mates

SJM Series: ACOTAR

Primary Ship: Gwynriel

Rating: Explicit

Chapters: 1/2

Word Count: 2,781/?

Notes: I ran out of time to finish this one, so it got split into two parts. Smut is coming in part II. This was supposed to be a fluffy river-side picnic but the plot got in the way. Sorry. This was originally going to be part of the “feelings realization” prompt, but I’m a procrastinator. I typically don’t write the ship war couples, but because I wrote Elriel earlier this week, I wanted to try my hand at Gwynriel too.

Excerpt:

As they ate, Gwyn kept glancing toward the tent. Azriel knew she was worried about it.

“It’s okay,” he said, after the fifth time he caught her looking that way. “You can have it. I can sleep anywhere.”

She frowned, causing the ache to return to Azriel’s chest. He tried to ignore the fact that seeing her unhappy made him feel so hollow inside. He’d figure out what it all meant later. “It’s your tent.”

“I’m not letting you sleep outside Gwyn.”

Gwyn smiled, saying to Azriel, “Then it’s settled.”

“Good.” He leaned back, satisfied that he’d won.

Her eyes flashed at him. “We’ll just have to share.”

My beta for this one isn't on tumblr so no one to tag 😢

Read now on AO3

@sjmromanceweek

[rainforestvag]

Summer TBR (so far)

A Court of Silver Flames (ACOTAR series) by Sarah J. Maas

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she's struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can't seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it. The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre's Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta's orbit. But her temper isn't the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts. Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other's arms.

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City series) by Sarah J. Maas

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night-until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they'd only let it.

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood—the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of her mothers—Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah—the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through a hard-working youth, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah's story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past. Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable achievement in modern fiction: a new view of biblical women's society.

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf's Orlando 'The longest and most charming love letter in literature', playfully constructs the figure of Orlando as the fictional embodiment of Woolf's close friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West. Spanning three centuries, the novel opens as Orlando, a young nobleman in Elizabeth's England, awaits a visit from the Queen and traces his experience with first love as England under James I lies locked in the embrace of the Great Frost. At the midpoint of the novel, Orlando, now an ambassador in Constantinople, awakes to find that he is now a woman, and the novel indulges in farce and irony to consider the roles of women in the 18th and 19th centuries. As the novel ends in 1928, a year consonant with full suffrage for women. Orlando, now a wife and mother, stands poised at the brink of a future that holds new hope and promise for women.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

A memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity.

Michelle Zauner tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food.

As she grew up, moving to the East Coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, and performing gigs with her fledgling band—and meeting the man who would become her husband—her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live. It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Cunt: A Declaration of Independence by Inga Muscio

An ancient title of respect for women, the word cunt long ago veered off this noble path. Inga Muscio traces the road from honor to expletive, giving women the motivation and tools to claim cunt as a positive and powerful force in their lives. In this fully revised edition, she explores, with candidness and humor, such traditional feminist issues as birth control, sexuality, jealousy between women, and prostitution with a fresh attitude for a new generation of women. Sending out a call for every woman to be the Cunt lovin Ruler of Her Sexual Universe, Muscio stands convention on its head by embracing all things cunt-related. 

Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

"Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. Her name is Wild Woman, but she is an endangered species. Though the gifts of wildish nature come to us at birth, society's attempt to 'civilize' us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure, and muffled deep, life-giving messages of our own souls. Without Wild Woman, we become overdomesticated, fearful, uncreative, trapped."

In her now-classic book that spent 144 weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, and is translated into 35 languages, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D., shows how woman's vitality can be restored through what she calls "psychic archaeological digs" into the ruins of the female unconscious. Dr. Estés uses her families' ethnic tales, washed and rinsed in the blood of wars and survival, multicultural myths, her own lyric writing of those fairy tales, folk tales, and stories chosen from her life witness, and also research ongoing for twenty years… that help women reconnect with the healthy, instinctual, visionary attributes of the Wild Woman archetype.

Glenstone Field Guide 02 Edited by Emily Wei Rales and Fanna Gebreyesus

This Field Guide intends to serve as a lighthearted, by no means exhaustive primer for the curious Glenstone visitor. Structured as an illustrated index, it is divided into three sections: art, architecture, and landscape. Each section includes related terms and entries written by Glenstone staff and collaborators. Collectively, these voices share the multiple ideas, histories, anecdotes, and facts that make up the Glenstone story, and offer a glimpse into what can be seen onsite. Integrated throughout are statements from founders Emily Wei Rales and Mitchell P. Rales that highlight the key principles of community, sustainability, design, integration, and direct engagement, which guide Glenstone’s mission. Glenstone exists for you, our visitor, and we hope you will explore, engage, enjoy, and return often. You are always welcome.

[doctorweebmd]

MY favorite chapters of zero-sum game?

8, 12 and 19

[fell-court]

update since I haven't really used this blog for a fair while: I've just this moment finished all the patch 3.4 quests! Through some rather extensive repetition of roulettes to get adventurer in need bonuses, I was also able to push Dark Knight to level 70 (though honestly some of my DPS jobs aren't that far off of that either) - which means that I now have every job (or at least class) in the game, as well! ..This absolutely does not mean I will be using all (or even most) of these jobs, but it's a nice feeling to have them all there and unlocked anyway.

Trying to reconcile gameplay with the story of my self-insert (who I'm playing as) is sort of not always very easy, but it has still been neat to go through the game for myself and whatnot. The jobs I have played the most are Black Mage, Machinist, Summoner (at least to begin with - I haven't been able to touch it for a while), and Dark Knight, plus Weaver and Botanist in terms of non-combat jobs. I also set up a free company thanks to a friend of mine's help, which I've made so that friends I've been playing the game with can join it if they want to (and if/once they get the full game), so the current aim is working towards ranking that up and maybe getting us a house even though I'm slightly intimidated by how housing works in this game ^~^