#the big green book of beginner books

[thatwritererinoriordan]

[natt-writes]

~5 Writing tips that actually help~

(These tips are meant for fiction books, especially fantasy. so if you’re writing nonfiction a decent amount of these won’t apply to you. Sorry!)

Find your writing voice.

one of the biggest issues I find in things written by beginners is a lack of emotional connection with the narration. Sure the story can be great, but without personality, without looks into the characters minds, without little quips here and there, it really isn’t all that interesting. Something that really helped me to realize this was a book called the tragical tale of birdie bloom. It’s a kids book but it honestly has such a good narrator (and storyline tbh) that you can look past the little kiddy-ness. I recommend you check the book out if you’re looking for some inspiration. I will be making a post about how to develop your writing and character voices soon so if you want some extra help with that, stay tuned!

2. Get to know your characters.

I know that you all probably already know this, but characters are one of, if not the most important part of a book. Readers don’t want to read about a flat, boring character who just feels like a vessel for the horrifying amount of trauma you add to your story. They want to read about people that feel real, people with flaws and feelings and hobbies and backstories. When I wanted to develop my characters I started going through the drafts, the plot outlines, everything and seeing what the characters did, said, felt. Then I took their basic backstory and started lining things up. Like if a character decided to get into a fight with another character, I would see what had happened to them that might have caused this. Maybe they had been abused as a child and thought that any disagreement meant they had to fight for their life. Maybe this person reminded them of a former enemy. After you start to figure out what connects the characters to the big plot points, you can then start to develop subtle things. You could start writing something, realize this situation would have triggered a character, and then drop subtle hints towards them feeling uncomfortable. Go nuts with it, after all you can never over-analyze a character.

3. Describe things uniquely.

Descriptions are what help us to understand what’s going on in a scene. They can tell us about the tasty drink a character is enjoying, the slick dress that someone is wearing or the way a characters muscles tense when a certain someone enters the room. But sometimes descriptions a fall a bit flat and that can ruin the experience for the reader. Something I always try to remember is to try and come up with new words describe something, for example; “her eyes were a beautiful shade of brown.” Is a very basic and over used description, instead you could try; “her eyes sparkled as she sat across from me, gleaming a rich chocolate shade as the light from the candles reflected off of them”. This is a much stronger sentence as it gives both environment hits and a description of the eyes, all while staying away from overused terms. I often see this theme in stories written by beginners, things being described in a very straight forward manner. And of course this is ok once in a while, especially if this isn’t a very important topic, but it still sounds better when you branch away from that basic sentence structure. I always like to use descriptive sentences to push things forward. Here is another example; “she was wearing a fluffy green dress with lots of lace. She walked over to the door and opened it.” Vs “the lacy trim of her green dress dragged on the floor as she walked towards the door. She smiled wide as she held it open, inviting her guests into the building.” Making strong sentences is very important, so please toy around with different words, structures, etc, until the sentence fits the type of book you’re trying to write.

4. Make trauma realistic.

Yes, even if you’re writing a fantasy book, characters experiences have to be realistic. Something that always gets on my nerves is when writers come up with a good idea for some trauma, so they just give to a character, even when it doesn’t suit them at all. if you are going to give a character trauma you need to explain it, set it up so it actually fits into their character arc, then have the character actually be affected by it. They can’t just randomly be like “I got shot by a dude.” And that’s it if there is no way that character could have gotten shot given their life experiences. Also if you want a character to be relatively unaffected after an extremely traumatic event you have to plan it out so that they have a specific and consistent trauma response that makes them not react shortly after an event like that. Characters are supposed to be like people, and no two people react to trauma the same way, so you do have some leeway if necessary, but people also don’t just stay the same after something horrible happens, they are affected by it and that has to be accurately portrayed. This does get easier the more you get to know the characters though, as soon you will know how they react to things and how to plan trauma that suits them.

5. Make a plot outline.

I cannot stress this enough, make a plot outline. Making a plot outline literally saved my book, and they are really easy to make! I recommend you download a spreadsheet app like XL spreadsheets or Apple numbers but you could even use google docs if you want. You want to put in all the chapters and then give each chapter at least six spots to write scenes. Add a spot for adding the main event of the chapter/a summery of what you have to write. This will help you to understand what you have to write for that chapter and how it fits into the next chapter. After that you start to fill all the scene boxes in with your plot information. Having a plot outline is great as it can be super vague and messy, but still hold all your ideas. It also helps to prevent unnecessary rewrites later, as you can just edit the plot outline before you start writing the first draft. You can even make a plot outline after you’ve started writing your book. That’s what I did and I promise, it still is very helpful. (Example of a plot outline below.)

[snek-panini]

Got a bit of a different bookbinding post today. @renegadeguild got an ask from a new binder saying they were intimidated by everyone's gorgeous binds (me too, actually, some of you guys are scary good), and so they've asked people to share their first binds. And I realized I'd never even taken photos of my first one, so here it is, warts and all:

This is E.M. Forster's The Machine Stops, a public domain scifi short story that you can read for free at the link. The first reason I chose it was that it's an interesting story, and I'd bought a print-on-demand copy a few years previously that was just terrible. Baffling cover choices, basic errors in the typeset (like quotes that face the wrong way), weird size that didn't fit on my shelf; just not a good product. I couldn't do it with more indifference than the PoD people. The second reason was that I was too intimidated by the thought of asking a fic writer if I could bind their story and then producing something with a thousand sloppy beginner mistakes, and then they'd want to see photos and I'd have to show them this and it would have been mortifying, but Forster has been dead since 1970 so I could not disappoint him. It was very freeing. I bound it in 2021 as an experiment, to see if I liked this hobby enough to stick to it. The cover is green cardstock and faux leather scrapbook paper that I bought at... probably Hobby Lobby. I added the title later, as a practice project when I first got my Cricut; for the first two years of its existence it had a blank cover.

There are more photos under the cut!

In this photo we can see:

--Too much glue when attaching the leather-print paper, so it oozed out onto the cover.

--Cricut font too thin and too much heat/too long of a press, so the letters have gaps and the glue also oozed out here. It's a continuing theme with this bind.

--I tried to use a bone folder to give it a sharper hinge crease and accidentally pressed too hard and tore a hole in the paper; you can see this in the little white vertical line near the top of the hinge

The fore edge is not square. I actually don't remember why this happened. I may have eyeballed the board position when I made the case, or the paper may have slipped while the glue was wet, or I cut it crooked and didn't notice till later. Either way it's bad enough that the book doesn't stand on its own. There was a crooked man/who walked a crooked mile/and found a crooked sixpence/against a crooked stile./He bought a crooked cat/which caught a crooked mouse/and they all loved together in a little crooked house, and I bet they read this little crooked book from their little crooked library.

Top view, you can see that the case is too big and the text block doesn't sit straight in it. It has no endbands or bookmark, and it's hard to see in this photo but there's glue on the top of it, at the spine. This still happens to me but I know how to trim books now so this bit gets cut off. You can also see that the scrapbook paper has some cracks where its white core is visible. This is why I do cloth or actual faux leather on the spines now. Endpaper shows uneven trim (did I not use a ruler for this??), too much glue causing major seepage, and it doesn't sit evenly in the case. I'm not sure if this is because of the case itself being crooked, a badly-trimmed endpaper, or if the text block is also crooked. Or it may be a combination of all these factors. Unclear.

Typeset photos! Here we see:

--Title page has a page number on it. This is a pet peeve of mine and I fixed it after this book.

--There is no half title, summary, or metadata. All my later binds have these things.

--It's typeset in Times New Roman. Unlike many I don't actually hate this font but reading it reminds me of being in high school so this is the only book I used it for. Baskerville is my beloved now. The font is also much bigger than it should be. It's not huge but it's like a large print book so it feels weird for me to read it.

--Lol what are margins

--Lol what are page headers

--Actually I think I left the headers out so it wouldn't have a header on the first page of each chapter, because I knew about page breaks but not section breaks at this time.

--It's on regular-ass lightweight printer paper. There's nothing wrong with this but I switched to heavier weight paper shortly after to help with bleed-through and the light stuff feels so flimsy now.

--I didn't understand how Word's book fold worked at this time, so when I had to set the sheets per booklet and it had an option for 4, I chose that thinking it would give me 4 sheets of paper (16 numbered pages) per sig. It did not do this. It gave me 4 numbered pages per sig. So every signature is 1 sheet of paper. Every page is its own signature. I am still mad about this but it sure drove home how the setting works and also how to make kettle stitches since you make one after every sig. A book of 48 pages has 12 signatures which is just ludicrous.

--There's no photo of this but it has a piece of printer paper on the spine because I didn't have mull. I did use PVA though. Lots and lots of PVA.

--It's stitched with regular sewing thread, which means it doesn't have much swell for a book with that many sigs, but it's less sturdy and more likely to tear the paper.

And that's that! It probably sounds a bit like I was tearing it to shreds but I actually love this book quite a lot. I learned so many things that I applied to my next binds, it was an invaluable experience. It let me fall in love with the hobby so I could make the awesome things I make now. I've got those all posted on my main blog under the tag #snek makes books, or you can see them all on my side blog @papersnakepress. For a first book it's functional and readable, and still better than the PoD copy I had before. I've been thinking of doing a rebind as a sort of progress gauge, actually. Maybe next year.

[divine-crows]

A Short Witchy Gift Guide for Non-Witches

Hello! I'm a witch. I also have a partner who's... not a witch? Lol. Anyways, I was thinking about how awesome it would be if people who are supportive of their witchy partners had a guide to help them with buying gifts (and it may help some witches fill out their wishlist)!

The following information is subjective and it's going to take your knowledge of the other person's likes and dislikes to ultimately pick what they like!

Now, books can be hit or miss. You'll want to be careful because a lot of books will have the same regurgitated basic information, and it might have content the gift-receiver doesn't really care to have or might already know. For book gifts it's probably best to just ask them if they have any books they've wanted for a while, but I have some ideas on how to look for good books regardless.

1. Books

LOOK FOR. . .

- Books with exercises (even if they can't use the content they can at least use that!)

- Books that are about a topic you know they are interested in but may not have a robust knowledge in.

- "Encyclopedia" books can be really good reference guides!

- I often get books that're published by Llewellyn because I've rarely read a book published by them that I didn't like; however, it's not a die-hard rule and you can definitely look elsewhere!

AVOID. . .

- Books with reviews calling them too simple

- Reviews that point out any gaps in the material the author is speaking of

- If they're not a beginner-- books marketed towards beginners (it'll have beginner in the title, or even will have it in text on the front cover)

2. Tarot Cards / Oracle Cards

Trust me, if you're big on divination, you can never have enough cards. The nice thing about buying cards is there's a wide variety of designs, themes, and styles so you're bound to find something. I'd recommend checking out Etsy, they have some amazing creators on there that make beautiful cards.

- cards with styles your gift-receiver will like

LOOK FOR. . .

-cards based on themes they may appreciate (for example: maybe you find a self care oracle deck for them after they talk about wanting to do more self care)

- Reviews praising the quality of the cards, and the ease of understanding the cards

- sometimes you can find mini decks which are great gag-gifts or can be perfect for divination on-the-go!

AVOID. . .

- cards with a lot of reviews complaining about the cards being made with low quality materials, fuzzy images, or complaining about them being hard to read/understand

- cards that have any themes they may not like (for example: if they're uncomfortable with nudity, you might be better off looking for a deck that doesn't have it!)

- Unless they've specifically stated wanting it-- avoid getting a Raider-Waite deck... it's the 'classic' design, which can be charming, but a lot of people already have it and a lot of people would prefer a more specialized design over it.

3. Make them a Mini Altar Kit

Perfect for travel, and is easy to find ideas for on pinterest. This one is good because you can buy a lot of "applicable to all" resources and it's all easily compacted in an altoid tin. Pinterest is a great place to go for ideas!

You can buy them witchy herbs, plants they have an affinity for... so many possibilities!

4. If they have a green thumb-- Buy them plants!

AVOID. . .

- any plants that may be dangerous to pets if they have any

- if they plan on planting in the soil-- avoid invasive plants such as mint.

While not an outright witchy gift, there's something beautiful about how the glass bulbs create rainbows when in the sunlight.

4. Sun Catchers!

From the research I did, I couldn't find anything on their origins (aside from an article that didn't have any sources), and nothing suggested a connection to closed practices (if you have sources that say otherwise please correct me!), so from what I'm aware they're just a pretty decorative piece.

LOOK FOR. . .

- reviews with pictures showing the product works as intended

- I suggest checking out small creators on etsy, there's a lot of beautiful glasswork creations!

AVOID. . .

- creations with a lot of reviews talking about them coming broken

- buying similarly named dream catchers (unless supporting a native creator)

5. Crystals, Pendulums, Scrying orbs, Etc.

Trust me, you cannot go wrong with beautiful, shiny rocks!

- crystals from reputable sources

LOOK FOR. . .

- crystals you know your gift-receiver will like

- honestly if they're pretty and shiny you're probably good

- make sure you find a guide on some tells for fake crystals!

- sources known for selling fake crystals

AVOID. . .

- dyed crystals (they're all most likely quartz or dyed glass)

- if ordering online, make sure there aren't a lot of reviews talking about them coming broken/chipped/etc.

6. Witchy Candles and/or Wax melts

Etsy has a plethora of dressed candles, and I've even found wax melts! You can even diy some as a gift!

Note: please practice fire safety and watch your candles, especially if they're dressed with herbs which can easily spread fire!

LOOK FOR. . .

- colors, scents, themes they'll like

- if you're unsure about color, black and white are typically neutral colors

AVOID . . .

- getting them a candle if they're not allowed to light them

- buying them a wax melt if they don't have something to melt them with

So that's all for now, Also I'm 99% sure this isn't a new theme of post, if anyone knows a similarly done post, please reblog with it linked so people can access more ideas! Likewise, please reblog with your own ideas for gifts!

[elminx]

Witch Tips: 8 Ways To Advance Your Kitchen Witchery

Note here: as always, not all of these tips will work for everyone. Take what resonates with you and leave the rest. Where you are in life (how old you are, your budget, and where you live) will influence which of these are available. That’s okay.

One of my biggest frustrations with Kitchen Witch spaces online is that they are (almost always) simply a list of recipes or general kitchen correspondences. Sure, these are parts of kitchen witchery, but there’s more to it than that. I’ve decided to compile a list of things you can do to up the practical side of your craft. You’ll notice that these are not magical tips, per se, but tips on how to deepen your connection to the food you eat and craft with.

Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farmshare

I’m starting with the big guns here. A CSA is a way to buy a share of a local farm. You give the farmer money ahead of the season (often in the fall, but you can sometimes sign up year-round), and then you get weekly or monthly pickups of their produce all season long. There are so many ways this supports kitchen craft: you are supporting a local farm in your community, you are guaranteeing yourself local seasonal produce, and it’s a great way to save money.

CSAs tend to be a big investment up front, but the payoff is great – pound for pound, you don’t get those prices in a store. With some CSAs, you can go directly to the farm and choose some or all of what you take home, while others give you a premade box. Some deliver or have pickup points in major cities all over the country. Some come with pick-your-own herbs, tomatoes, and flowers. This is a better choice for an adventurous eater – you will encounter things you’ve never eaten! (If you’re a pickier eater, the next tip might be more your style) Some places have CSAs that include more than just vegs, too. In my area, I could sign up for a meat share, a fruit share, an egg share, and even a flower share!

Visit Your Local Farmer’s Markets

If you like complete control over what you eat but also like the idea of supporting local agriculture, farmer’s markets are a great place to start. You will find anything from in-season fresh-picked produce to eggs, meat, local honey, and more! They are also a great place to find fruit seconds during canning season. When you buy directly from a farm, the money goes into the farmer’s pockets, and the food is often cheaper without the grocer’s markup. Plus, you may get to talk to the people who grow your food, which is a big win in my book. This option is great because it does not involve a big investment like a CSA, and you can buy only what you will use.

Grow Your Own

If the above two options aren’t available to you, or you want to try out your green thumb, why not grow your own herbs, fruit, or veggies this season? I’m not suggesting starting a whole-scale garden if that’s not something you have ever done before – start small and manageable. Pick one thing you KNOW you will eat and grow that. This takes more planning because you must consider your space and time constraints. All plants need soil, light, and nutrients, but each has different needs. Most herbs, tomatoes, and peppers can be grown in containers in smaller spaces, while other plants need a lot of room to grow. A lack of outdoor space can be remedied with a few grow lights. If you’re starting for the first time, this is a list of herbs that are very easy to grow for beginners so long as you give them enough light to thrive: basil, cilantro/coriander, garden sage, lemon balm, mint, lavender, oregano, parsley, rosemary, and thyme.

This can be a really budget-friendly option, too! Many areas have active plant groups with friendly people who are very willing to donate an old grow pot and a start to a newbie gardener. Plus, if you’re growing it yourself, you don’t need to purchase it in a store.

Can, Freeze, Dry, Dehydrate, and Save

If you end up with a CSA or grow your own, there will likely be a point in the season when you have a bounty too large to consume. When we have enough, we share or save for later. This isn’t a manual on the best ways to preserve your harvest, but you definitely can preserve it for a later date. And, I promise you, nothing is more rewarding in the dead of winter than pulling out something you preserved in the height of summer. Your preservation methods will change depending on what you have an excess of. If you want to get into water bath canning, I suggest picking up any version of the Ball Blue Book, which gives you directions on safe canning methods. If you live in a dry climate, you can dry your herbs by hanging them, but if you’re like me and live in a humid zone, a dehydrator is a safe way to avoid pesky mold issues. Many fruits and vegetables can be frozen, cut up, or whole. Do some research here – you’ll be surprised by what you find.

Use Those Scraps

If you want to be frugal and more environmentally friendly, start keeping your kitchen scraps. Bones and leftover vegetable ends can be frozen and later turned into broth. Citrus peels can candied, dried, or infused into vinegar or vodka. Apple peels can be turned into pectin for jam or jelly making. The ends of tender herbs like cilantro, basil, and parsley can be pulsed into pestos and sauces. The rinds on parmesan cheese can be saved to add to soups or sauces for some extra umami. I could go on, and I’m sure there are a million uses for kitchen scraps I’ve never heard of. If you are interested in this, there are many folk magic resources about using what you already have, and that would be a good place to start. Being frugal saves money and keeps unnecessary waste out of landfills.

Compost

Speaking of landfills, how about keeping your vegetable scraps out of them altogether? Many improvements in composting have allowed it to be done in much smaller spaces. I have a postage stamp-sized backyard, but I have two large compost bins that I rotate using yearly so that one is always curing while the other is being filled up with new produce. Plus, I have natural fertilizer for my garden that came from my kitchen! If you don’t have outdoor space, devices on the market now can compost your kitchen scraps in a few hours. Some seem to be rated for bones, which is pretty cool. They still seem to be pricy, but it’s an option if you can afford it.

Make Your Own

Are you into baking? Did you know you can make your own vanilla extract by putting a vanilla bean into some vodka? It’s virtually eternally reusable because you simply refill the bottle every time you use it. (Sidenote: for a deeper flavor, sub in your favorite dark liquor for the vodka here) Now, you have vanilla extract, which is also vanilla vodka. This also works for other extracts (mint, coffee, and almonds come to mind), but you should research how long to infuse them. Do you love pies? You can make and can your own pie filling while the fruit is in season. Do you love tacos? Make your own salsa. This can really level up your witching because it gives you an extra chance to infuse your magic into your food – once while you prepare the base ingredients and again when you cook them into your meal.

Pick-Your-Own

There is nothing quite like making a strawberry shortcake from start to finish. For me, that starts in the strawberry fields. Picking the berries myself guarantees the best and freshest berries! And it creates a great link between me and the plant where it was growing. In my area, I can pick herbs, flowers, salad, tomatoes, and beans at my local farm share, but depending on the season, I can also find you-pick strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and apples. I try to take advantage of every one. This weekend, I’ll be staying near a you-pick lavender farm and will definitely be visiting there, too! Since you do the work to pick your own, the produce prices tend to be lower, too. This is a great way to get outdoors and connect with what you are cooking with where it is growing.

Wild Harvesting

This comes with several caveats: You ABSOLUTELY need to do your own research and be 100% sure of your plant identification before you eat anything you harvest from the wild. A mistake can literally kill you! If you have known food allergies, this is not the tip for you—trying any food you haven’t had before is a risk of an allergic reaction, so don’t risk it. Additionally, some wild foods are protected or endangered. Know before you harvest. Take only what you’ll use and leave some for the animals. Practice safe wild harvesting, too – avoid taking from places near major roads, cemeteries, or known hazardous waste dumping grounds for your own safety. On the other hand – harvest invasives to your heart’s content!

*************************

There are, of course, a million ways to kitchen witch and this is simply some of the ways that I like to connect more deeply with my food in all stages of its journey. How do YOU kitchen witch? I'd love to hear more about it - feel free to send me asks telling me what you like to do.

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[mariaofdoranelle]

I didn't know you wore glasses and I'm thinking normal and platonic thoughts about you right now I swear - for the drabblefest!

Thanks for the prompt!! I had so much fun writing this ❤️❤️

Short-sighted Gym Crush

Written for my Drabblefest

Warnings: Aelin being horny and everything that comes with that

~700 words

⨯ ⁺ ✦ ･ ｡ﾟ⨯ ﾟ♡ ✧* ･｡* ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

When you plan to go to the gym everyday, you need to find that thing that’ll make you get out of your house. Could be anything, from setting body goals—those being realistic or not—to getting over a heartbreak.

For Aelin, it was seeing her gym crush.

They did nothing but exchange glances across the room and take turns on gym equipment every now and then. She wouldn’t feed into a fruitless crush like this in any other situation, but having something exciting about the gym and wearing all the fancy, tight clothes she could was worth it.

Besides, the headphones helped to make the gym more bearable, but having a nice view as well was a nice bonus. A very muscled bonus, one might say. So big and spicy, he looked like a whole damn mean. Yes, Aelin liked that bonus very much.

She was doing barbell squats in the free weights area, and Mysterious Gym Bro was lifting weights not far from her. Being in front of the mirror made it easy to shamelessly ogle him without being caught.

The top, frontal part of his silver hair was dripping with sweat, and the entire length of his muscles looked shiny from it. Even fully clothed, he looked borderline indecent like this, or at least enough to make Aelin’s blood seethe.

And he was wearing glasses. She had no idea if those were new or if he was wearing contacts every other day, but Short-sighted Gym Crush looked absolutely delicious with thick, black glasses rounding his pine green eyes.

It was like he could read a book as much as he could tear it in half when he was done with it.

Aelin went down for another squat, but her eyes wouldn’t leave Oblivious Gym Crush. She knew she was supposed to watch herself doing the exercise, but he was so mouth-watering hot her knees got weak, and—

Aelin fell on the floor like a cartoon, but at least she dropped the barbell before it fell on top of her. She felt the ache of her hip and the rapid heartbeat due to crippling mortification.

As if this wasn’t enough, Hot Gym Crush kneeled on her side. “Are you alright?” he asked with widened eyes.

Was he asking about her aching ankle, or her complete humiliation after falling with her weight like a beginner? Aelin felt her whole face heating, but at least she could blame this flush on the exercise.

“Perfect,” her face was somewhere between a grin and a grimace. “you don’t need to worry about me.”

“Are you sure? Because I’m a doctor—“

“OW!” Aelin moved to get up, then threw herself on the floor. “It hurts so bad.”

He frowned, taking her state in. “Your ankle doesn’t look good, but…” Dr. Gym Bro hauled her up, settled her on the floor, and placed her arm around him so she could use him as a crutch. He offered to drive her to the hospital, then they both agreed that it wasn’t needed, so Hot Gym Crush was driving her home instead.

“Thanks,” Aelin said with a genuine—if not a little embarrassed—smile.

He squeezed her waist in acknowledgement. “You can ask me to spot you next time.”

“Really?” This was peak romance for every gym rat.

“Of course.” He twisted his car keys in his hands. “Can I get your name before I give you a ride home?”

“Aelin.”

“Aelin.” He looked down, and were his cheeks a little pink? He continued, “I’m Rowan.”

Her eyes lit up with the new information. Rowan. How fitting. Very moanable.

“Well, Rowan, I think you have to stay for dinner as thanks. I’m amazing at ordering takeout.”

Yep, his cheeks were definitely red. “That sounds nice, but I can cook if you’d like.”

She bit back a smile, but Rowan’s response made her vibrate inside. No need to go to the hospital, but Aelin wanted a deep, vigorous examination from her doctor. And if he asked her to stay in bed, how could she say no?

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[definatelymrhyde]

Intro post (late edition) because I didn’t know these were even a thing until recently

-> About me

• My name is Rowen!

• I have had a longtime interest in a concerning amount of forms of art (Theatre/Musical theatre, writing, and visual arts, both creating and observing)

•I have ADHD and if given the chance WILL monologue on about whatever I’m fixating on

•I have not too great eyesight and yet refuse to wear my glasses when writing at night (which is a lot!) so as a result we get ✨so many spelling mistakes!!✨

•A good 90% of my humour is based off of sarcasm I apologize in advance

•I’m bilingual! I speak English as my first language and French as my second, I’ve been speaking French for almost 13 years now :))

-> Things I like

•Currently Fixating on: Jekyll and Hyde!!

•Acting

•Writing (Fanfics and my own original stories)

•Drawing. Constantly.

•MUSICAL THEATREEE

•Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

•Pokémon (Samurott and Sylveon are my favorites)

•Dad jokes and bad puns

-> Boundaries n’ stuff

•If you want to draw any of my OCs or stuff feel free!! I want to see them too so @ me if you’d like to

•Just dont be an a-hole I guess 😎😎

-> Things I’ll probably post about

•Fixations! (Currently The Glass Scientists and Jekyll and Hyde!!)

•Ao3 updates

•Art

•Theatre

•My OCs

•The universe I made up in which the majority of my OCs live (Blimps Away!!Airship Services)

-> DNI

•Homophobes, transphobes, sexists, racists etc

•People who like to make fun of beginner artists (Art lore people essentially) etc

-> Other stuff

•(Sigh) I’m the HJ7 pancakes guy… I apologize for the absolute monstrosity and will enjoy making more green food to make up for it soon 😔😔

•I am also the Jekyll and Hyde experiments guy. At least I’m one of them, I was the Jekyll out of the two of us :DD

•My favorite weather is rain

•I love listening to people infodump so if you need someone to infodump to I am all ears!! Just ask me first and chances are I’ll be there soon and very willing to listen

•My favourite colour is bright green!! As well as neon indigo

•My favourite type of music is mainly musical theatre stuff but I also really like alternative music

•I got my first ever big role in a musical this year! (2024)

•Singing wise I’m a high tenor, but I keep getting casted as alto and low soprano roles because I can falsetto really high. Help.

•I can do a beetlejuice esque raspy voice without hurting myself and use it for jokes constantly

•Aspiring voice impressionist (I can do Shaggy from scooby doo, Applebloom from MLP and I’m told I can do a scarily accurate Twilight sparkle impression but I’m not sure how much I belive that)

•My dream job is to be a comic book or children’s book illustrator

•My OC universe called Blimps Away!! Airship services is a story that I’ve recently made into a webcomic :))

[furinana]

Reviewing SMT's 30th Anniversary Event in Yokohama

In 2023 (the year of Nanashi's birthday!) I spent some months in Japan so I lucked out when they announced a Megaten concert right before my departure.

This is a compilation of thoughts from tweets and messages I sent to friends that I decided to turn into a public post for archival purposes.

Disclaimer: unless stated otherwise, none of the pictures I'm using here are mine. Most of them were taken from the event's official account.

May 6th. From Kyoto (the city I was staying) to Yokohama was approx. two hours by Shinkansen. Like how a close friend of mine says, "The thing about Japan is that you ride one train and you just become the biggest car hater immediately".

[I ended up taking an overnight bus for the back trip however, took around 7 hours. Cramped on your legs but your pockets hurt way less]

How is Yokohama at the moment? A bright sunny noon and like this user illustrated, windy as hell (my cap came off once and I had to run in the middle of the street to rescue it).

[KT Zepp Yokohama]

I arrived 4 hours before the concert's schedule so I fucked around Yokohama's cozy Chinatown for a bit, among other places I don't remember. I didn't take into account that you could arrive hours prior to the event to purchase the limited merch line and stare at concept art of mainline games in an exhibiton placed in the entrance. The merch would get sold out in a matter of minutes in the gap between the opening and when the concert would start! Don't underestimate scalpers, folks.

A beginner's mistake, this is how life teaches you to be smart.

[For every 5,000 yen you spent, you got the chance of receiving a colored bookmark of one of the protagonists. A lot of items involved abysmal luck to get. Fortunately I was able to grab what I set my eyes on in the later online raffle so things turned out fine on my end (although I'm currently having to deal with a lot of dupes much to my annoyance. But hey, I have official merch of Flynn and Nanashi now)]

Regarding the exhibition: Not a lot of stuff to comment on. They made a timeline of sorts for each mainline title (except the NES games because fuck 'em I guess) and pretty much most of it was available in official artbooks published previously. Nocturne for example, they displayed the writing process & how they sketched cutscenes and attacks prior to making them 3D etc, which was no-news if you browsed the Ayakashi Monthly book before.

[We weren't allowed to take pictures so I can only show the previews from the official account. We had to stay at a long line to look at each piece in a chronological way so it felt particularly... uncomfortable. I don't like the feeling that I might be slowing down other people so I end up rushing what was supposed to be a serene activity]

The actual exclusive never-seen-before art was regarding beta character & demons concepts from SMT4A:

[Top: Drawn from memory by me. Bottom: The "mermaid" is a reference to the Starbucks logo that interestingly, is also present in Nanashi's room (which could mean there was an intention of Nanashi's only reference of a mermaid being the logo of a cafe that wouldn't exist in-universe anymore. For those unaware, the mermaid in question is actually a siren!]

Here are the descriptions I typed on my phone right after I exited the exhibition (and would use as base for my own sketches a day later):

Chironnupu had two beta forms with the face as it is now where one walked on four legs and the other his legs faded out in a ghost-like manner. He also had a third and more distinct from his current design where he was dressed in Ainu attire on 2 legs and was smiling to the viewer (a Youkai Watch sort of vibe, very cute).

Nanashi had an unseen sketch where Doi drew him with a suspiciously big waist. Yeah, I know it's minor but I wanted to comment on how unhinged Doi is in drawing girly boys. Go off king

Cleopatra had a form where she had dark skin, dark green hair and emerald green eyes (...huh? I just realized I painted her hair with brown instead of green lmao I became fixated in making her look similar to Maria Torres from Trauma Team). Considering how some demons get color variations (such as Vishnu or Moh Shuvuu), some even getting darker skin in adaptations (take Rama in the Devil Survivor 2 anime), perhaps Cleopatra getting an alt that is closer to this beta depiction isn't an impossibility. I can dream

Vishnu-Flynn had a version where his face was the same as how Flynn normally is.

Mermaid had a form where she was supposed to resemble the Starbucks logo where her palette was red&other color (I don't remember if it was blue or green) and showed an alluring evil smile.

Now let's talk about the concert. The structure of how it went was basically alternating between the band playing remixes of soundtracks with gameplay videos on the screen and then pausing for the hosts to talk with the audience and share some free-talks with the musicians that worked on the titles.

Fans used this menorah they sold in the booth as a glow stick (the ones you see in idol events).

[Event announcers Mafia Kajita and Chiaki Matsuzawa in day 1 and 2]

At the end there was a little quiz with gameplay-specific questions, for example what a certain skill does. You had to answer with this little cardboard thing that had a Jack Frost in one side and Black Frost in the other.

Regarding the free-talks, a summary of what I was able to get (take those with a grain of salt):

Kozuka never played any Megaten before composing for the games (he thought they were too dangerous)

SJR composer played all of them

Tsukasa said the songs for the SNES games were a lot longer and better-sounding but unfortunately they had to chop off a lot

Meguro makes sound effects before making the music, finished SMT2 before starting composing but doesn't play games anymore

By the end, Kajita wishes Megaten games were released more often so events like this could happen frequently and Matsuzawa says she's a big Digital Devil Saga fan.

By the way, you could easily recognize the western fans from the audience from how louder and cheerier they were compared to the local ones. Japanese fans are the types that respect silence to a scary degree. For another example, I was able to watch The Boy and the Heron right in the opening week and nobody from the session I went to laughed or made any perceptible reaction to other viewers. The only one laughing in the entire room was my, notably, non-JPN roommate.

When the concert was nearing its end however, the hosts allowed everyone to be as loud as they wanted to thus letting the atmosphere at long last turn closer to the spirit of Megaten... chaotic.

[Going personally to the concert was a totally unique experience compared to seeing it from a screen with diluted audio. You truly had to be there to have your stomach twisting from the echoes coming from the band's instruments]

My personal favorite remixes:

SMT1's Ginza

SMT2's Disco Theme

SMT4's Boss Theme & Map theme

SMT4A's f6 Godslayer (when they showed Vishnu-Flynn on the big screen... 😳)

[arty-ffxiv]

about me — people i’d like to know better.

LAST SONG. Online - TWRP Feat. Tom Cardy & Montaigne. I’ve been a fan of TWRP for a number of years now, as well as loving Tom Cardy’s chaotic energy from when I used to watch his Tiktoks (I’ve since deleted the app as it was a huge time-waster for me), so when I heard that they had collabed for a song I knew it’d be a banger. I’ve had it on repeat since it was released.

FAVORITE COLOR. I really love dark greens, burgundy and warm, autumnal yellows. My bestie also gifted me an Oracle deck for my birthday and I adore the similar colours/ wintry forest palette that it has. I think it’s been a big inspiration, even if the cards keep calling me out!

CURRENTLY READING. I’ve been slowly plodding my way through The Way of Kings  by Brandon Sanderson; I’m enjoying it but just have not had the spoons/ attention span to dedicate to reading. I tend to gravitate towards audiobooks nowadays, which I listen to when I’m driving.

The most recent books I’ve finished have been audiobooks during my commutes- I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy, and Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell.

CURRENTLY WATCHING. I’m watching more YouTube at the moment than serialized shows. One of my favourite YouTube channels, Lore Dump, has started a series on the Yakuza games and I’m really enjoying the chaotic energy that Chase brings to the host seat. 

The idea behind the channel is that one of the three hosts does a full plot recap of a game franchise that the other two have not played or aren’t familiar with. They’re long form videos that you can treat like podcasts or put on in the background (I use them for my commute to/ from work), and they’ve covered series like Bioshock, Metal Gear, Red Dead Redemption and Batman. They also did a 12 video series on Kingdom Hearts that is just under 30 hours long, which I highly recommend if you’re into long haul deep dives!

I love it because the hosts clearly love the series they’re talking about dearly, and hearing the others gradually getting swept up in the excitement of the narratives is really entertaining.

SWEET, SAVORY, OR SPICY? I’m a sucker for savoury foods, but I do get the occasional craving for sweet foods. Sadly I can’t tolerate spicy foods like I used to :<

RELATIONSHIP STATUS. Happily married for the past eight (nearly nine) years! My partner and I married young, and it’s hard to believe it’s been so long already. I adore him so much and it’s been a joy to grow alongside him.

LAST THING YOU GOOGLED. “Do they make scuba suits for dogs”.  This was for our modern day TTRPG game, using the ‘Everyday Heroes’ module for D&D 5e. 

The game is set in Australia in the 2070s after a catastrophic rise in sea levels, and because we’re playing in our home state, we’ve been able to use google maps and a lot of real-world resources in the game which has been super fun. We’ve even made an interactive map to keep track of important locations.

In our last session, we found information that points to us needing to go to locations under the new sealine and joked about taking our rangers’ sniffer dog along on the dive.

The answer we got is yes, there absolutely are diving suits for dogs.

CURRENT OBSESSION. I’ve been getting back into playing mobile games in my downtime! A few long-time favourites of mine are below- bear in mind that I’m on Android so these may not be available on iOS if you want to check them out.

The main one I’ve been playing is called Luna Story; it’s the first in a series of 3 apps that are nonogram-based games. Using a grid and a sequence of numbers, you fill in the grid to create pictures. I’ve had Luna Story installed on my phone for years and have been sporadically playing it, but I’ve recently dived into it again and am playing it before bed, on my lunch break and even when I wake up some mornings. The grid sizes range from beginner (5x5) to advanced (20 x 20) and uses super cute pixel art.

The other is called My Oasis, which is an idle clicker game where you progressively grow an island with animals. It’s got lots of positive little messages in it, like the abilities to buff your clicking being called virtues- like ‘compassion’, ‘selflessness’, etc. The animals I’ve chosen for my island are all favourites of the people I love- a fox for my little sister, a red panda for my husband, giraffe for my mum- even a racoon for myself. The animals can speak via bubbles with encouraging messages, and sing to you- you can sing back to them with a little keyboard at the bottom of the screen. Super cute, if a little clunky at times.

Tagged By: Thank you @why-raven for the tag! ♥

Tagging: @zenmai--jikake--no--komoriuta, @gatheredfates, @riftdancing, @ishgard, @this-is-ris, @thefreelanceangel and anyone else who wants to do this! ♥

[greentrickster]

Canceling Internal Cringe Culture to Start Writing

Okay, I just got asked on AO3 about how to start writing in the face of cringe culture, especially the internalized sort, and I have a feeling this might be applicable to more than one person. So I’m gonna share what I told them with all of you as well! Here it goes:

Hmmm, this one's actually a little hard? Just because I've been writing for over twenty years now, and when I started, cringe culture just... high-key didn't exist. Neither did AO3. Tumblr was Right Out.

All that said... hmm... well first? Instead of using any sort of app or program, get a notebook - whatever floats your boat (I like to use ones with nice pictures on the front, but my sister uses those little pocket-sized ones) - and write in that instead. Even if you're not used to writing like that, give it a try anyway, because writing in a book makes it private, makes it personal, makes it just for you. And if it's just for you, then who cares if it's cringe? It's for you, no one else, and it's makes you happy, which is much more important! I like to use pens with green ink in my writing books. It sparks joy and adds an extra layer of good to the process. It may be slower, but it’s also an activity and movement that’s completely disconnected from all the nonsense on the internet, which can hopefully make it easier to ignore all that.

(If the page looks too big and blank and intimidating, I suggest adding stickers or a silly sketch or something. You can write around them, it’s fine.)

Just as important? Love what you're writing. This isn't 'content' or a product, this is a story or a poem or a memory. This is something you're writing down because you want to remember it. So love it. Indulge yourself, then indulge yourself more. Put everything you want to see into this, because you're also sitting in the audience, a very eager audience member and- hey, what do you know? The audience-member-who-is-you also just happens to be an up-and-coming new producer, everything they touch has been a hit so far, and they're taking an interest in your work. They think there could be something special there, that you, yes you, could be the next big thing. So be super sure to cater directly to this audience-member-who-is-also-you, it could lead places in the future.

Another thing that I find surprisingly helpful? The concept that there are no original ideas left in the world. A lot of creatives find this one super demoralizing or depressing, but I find it encouraging. Because it means, if I've had an idea, then someone else has had it, too. And that someone else probably wants to see it, even if they've made their own version of the idea. Heck, there could be a lot of someones! And they're cheering for you, so go for it!

And finally, the hardest part... you have to make a choice. Which do you care about more: listening to the part that cringes or writing? You can't care about both equally. You just can't. Writing is a lot of fun, but, like any creative form, it's also a lot of work. I didn't sit down and start writing at my current skill level, this is the result of two decades of practice, polishing, and honing my abilities. Looking back, the amount of work I put into all this is kind of staggering. But I didn't do it because 'I have to' or 'it's necessary.' I did it because I love writing, because I knew I could get better and I wanted to. And yeah, sometimes that involved doing stuff that was scary. There will always be aspects of it that are scary. I still get scared when I introduce certain new aspects to this fic, or enter new fandoms, or try something different. Writing can be hard and scary, that's just part of it. But the idea of not writing... that's so much worse.

You're starting in a really rough time for beginner creatives. Cringe culture, purity culture, cancel culture... all disgusting trends that need to end yesterday, if not sooner. It can be hard and scary to try because of all that. So step away from all that, take a chance somewhere private and safe that's just for you, and be brave. Choose to please yourself before anyone else. Love your stories, your characters, and the part of you that loves them, and take that first step. The best time to start a new project was probably yesterday, but the second best time to start one is always now. ;)

[tomtenadia]

Detours to you - ch 4

Hello! So here we are with ch 4. Rowan gets to meet with Maya and things get interesting....

Rowan had been counting down the days to the weekend. He had a very busy week learning the ropes of his new job, firehouse visits and slow death by paperwork. But now it was finally Saturday and he was sitting on a bench at the North Grove Park. He had taken public transport to get there, deciding that it was the perfect day for a walk. His house was so far away that he had to walk twenty minutes to the nearest bus stop, then a ten minutes ride and then another ten minutes in the subway. But he did not care. He was going to spend the day with Maya and Aelin and his excitement had been bubbling up all week, but at the same time there was an edge of nervousness. What if she did not like him? He knew how to be with kids since he had spent a lot of time with Sellene’s children, his nieces and nephews. But that was different, Maya was his daughter and he desperately wanted her to like him. He was a firefighter but meeting his daughter was the scariest thing he was going to do.

With Aelin, they had agreed on a location and Rowan was waiting patiently. The park was stunning, now all white from the heavy snow. Not far there was an ice rink and he wandered about ice skating with both.

“Rowan!” A familiar voice called his name and in the distance he spotted Aelin with Maya on hand. A smile spread on his face as they got closer. Maya was wearing an elf hat with arms and legs, whereas Aelin’s had the big face of a cartoon panda on hers. His heart raced madly. How was it possible that he was already in love with the little girl?

Aelin got closer and he waved at both. Maya craned her neck to look up at him “mama, he is tall,” he heard her whisper so he crouched down  “Hi, I am Rowan and  I am a friend of your mum.”

Maya extended her hand to him “I am Maya,” she then extended the same hand to touch his hair while at the same time she removed her hat with the other “I have silver hair too.”

Rowan brushed his hair with a hand “Yours is prettier,” he looked up at Aelin “You have fairy hair.” 

The girl’s face broke in a wide grin “Mama I am a fairy.”

Rowan stood “It’s cold out here, shall we go for food?”

“I am hungry.” Rowan laughed, she might be his clone physically but he was positive she was all Aelin.

She agreed and mother and daughter began walking and he followed. He wanted to hold Maya’s hand badly but reined in his instincts. Baby steps. He had promised. At the cafe he took their orders and asked them to find a seat. Aelin tried to complain that she could pay for lunch but Rowan refused. To be honest he needed a minute away to sort his feelings. Although Aelin had offered a truce, he was still mad at her. He’d be civil but for now all he cared about was getting to know Maya. 

Fifteen minutes later he walked back to the table with a tray full of food. He sat down opposite them and for a moment the silence stretched. Then he grabbed his messenger bag and pulled out a present “Your mum tells me that you love astronomy.”

Maya’s face lit up, her pine green eyes shone with joy “Yes, I am learning the stars.”

Rowan passed her the gift “open this.”

She did and squealed in delight at the book.

“Beginner astronomy for children.” He read to her.

“I love it.”

“What do we say, Maya?”

“Thank you.”

“You can use it with grampa.” Added Aelin brushing her daughter’s head.

Jealousy cursed through Rowan. He had a backyard in a part of town far away from pollution and a telescope “Or I can teach you,” he heard himself say and Aelin glared at him in warning.

“I have a telescope.”

Maya turned to her mother “Can I? Please?”

He had already gone too far and he could see that Aelin was ready to strangle him.

“We’ll see, Maya. Rowan is really busy.”

“Okay,” she added dejected and the rejection stung Rowan too.

Fine. Add it to the list of things he would have to discuss with Aelin in private. He bit down his anger and went back to Maya “What is your favourite constellation?

She looked up at him while taking a bite of her food “I like the trio of Mala. She is my favourite.”

Rowan smiled. That was a very bright constellation near the Lord of the North “I like the winged warrior,” added Rowan, then grabbed her book and found the page for the constellations and showed it to Maya “this one.”

“It’s so pretty.”

“You can only see it with a telescope and only during a certain time of the year,” he explained “Do you know why?”

Maya shook her head.

Rowan opened the book at the centre where there was a pop up map of the firmament over Erilea “This one,” he pointed to a very specific group of stars “Is the golden queen. Legends have it that the Winged warrior chases her over the sky and they appear close only during the summer solstice.”

“The warrior loves the queen?”

“Very much,” he added “But the Raven queen,” he pointed to another cluster “has separated them so now he has to follow her and see her only once a year.”

Aelin stared in silence. He had told her that story a long time ago when they had gone camping and one warm evening they had slept outside the tent staring at the stars. They had made love under the sky. Her heart clenched at the memory.

“Mama do you have a book about the star stories?”

“I will look tomorrow.”

Rowan was about to say that he had one at home but stopped. He had already crossed one boundary. He had to stay on Aelin’s good books. 

They chatted all the way through lunch and Aelin let father and daughter talk without too many interruptions. Maya was already mesmerised by him.

Once lunch was finished Maya started asking to go to the ice rink and when she grabbed Rowan’s hand and started pulling him, he froze. Until that moment he had kept his distance but the feeling of her small hand in his, had the power to crush him.

“Can you skate, Rowan?”

Aelin giggled “He used to play hockey.”

Maya looked up at him dreamingly “I want to play hockey too.”

Rowan looked at Aelin “Do you want to show me how good you are?”

“Mama can we skate?”

“I’ll be at the side. You two are the brave ones.”

At the rink Rowan asked permission and Aelin nodded. He grabbed his daughter’s hand and they walked to the booth to pay and hire the skates.

They sat down and Rowan wore his with experienced efficiency but Maya struggled so he turned to her “This way.” He tied her laces.

“Mama is teaching me to tie my shoes.”

Once ready, he placed the shoes in the box where the skates used to be and grabbed Maya’s hand again.

Aelin leaned against the barrier and watched them. She loved hockey but was not a good skater. She would go if Maya asked but spent most of the time grabbing the side barriers for dear life. She stared and Rowan holding Maya’s hand and the two gliding inside smoothly. She knew that Rowan had played in high school and while he was in Terrasen had joined the TFD team. She used to go and watch him play. The biggest match of the year was the showdown between PD and the fire department the day after the solstice. They had a friendly rivalry and wondered if it was still the case.

“Mama, look.” Her daughter’s voice woke her up from her thoughts. Rowan had moved to a quieter spot and was showing Maya how to move her feet properly. Within a few minutes her daughter was skating back and forth on her own along an imaginary line. Rowan hovered by her in protection. The following few minutes happened in front of her eyes in slow motion. Maya escaped Rowan’s protective shield, screaming happily that she was playing hockey. Until another kid lost control and slammed into her pretty hard.

Aelin gasped and froze, running toward the side of the rink where they were.

Rowan reacted with the instinct of a first responder. A second later he was at Maya’s side while glaring at the boy who had crashed into Maya.

“Maya?”

“It hurts.”

She was holding her arm. Rowan assessed her and deduced that it was likely broken. At that age bones were still forming and bent more easily.

“I know. Stay still for me, please.”

An assistant from the ice rink came to him asking if he needed help but Rowan told that he was a firefighter and a trained paramedic. He only asked for the cloth sling that usually was in a first aid box and a few minutes later the assistant came back with it.

“Maya, I am going to place this around your arm so it does not move, okay?”

The girl nodded quietly.

Once he was done he lifted Maya in his arms and skated back to the entrance. Aelin was there a second later with terror in her face “Remove her skates while I change mine.”

Aelin was shaking and barely registered his words.

“Do you have a car? I took public transport here.”

Aelin nodded.

“Good. You drive to the hospital.”

She stared at Rowan in silence. While she was falling apart with terror he was calm and focused and in that instant she thanked Mala for his career as first responder. She had been taken over by panic.

Back in the car Rowan sat with Maya in his arms. A hand gently cradling her injured limb to keep it as steady as possible “I know, it hurts. I am sorry.” He cooed at a fussy Maya.

At the hospital they parked quickly and Rowan sprang outside with Aelin in tow. He waltzed into the A&E with confidence and went to the admission desk “Maya Galathynius, 5 years old, ice injury, possible greenstick fracture. No LOC.”

The nurse looked at him with a puzzled expression. They were used to panicked parents screaming to help their children but Rowan had rattled the information like a pro.

“I will call a doctor right away.”

Aelin stood at his side and tried to calm a weepy Maya.

The doctor arrived pretty quickly and took the girl away and Rowan pulled Aelin to the waiting room. She slumped on the chair and cried. Rowan slung an arm around her back and pulled closer “She will be fine,” he whispered “Very likely a greenstick fracture.”

Aelin looked up at him “what is that?”

“Kids’ bones are still very flexible because they are still growing so, instead of actually breaking they just bend in what it’s called a greenstick fracture,” he explained “Imagine bending a very green stem. It does not snap, it just bend and the layers fray.”

“How can you be so calm?”

He sighed and sat back in his chair “It’s only externally. When I heard her scream I froze for a second but then training kicked in and I managed to push the panic aside.”

“You were good with her in the car.”

Rowan chuckled “Do I get a brownie point?”

Aelin looked at him in a curious expression.

“I assume you are keeping a tally. From the glare you gave at lunch I know I lost a few points when I mentioned I had a telescope.”

She was silent. That comment had taken her by surprise “I am not keeping scores.”

“Well then set some damn rules. Tell me what I can and can’t do.” He snarled trying to keep his voice low.

“I just want you to check with me before you suggest things. She is my daughter.” She answered placing emphasis on the possessive pronoun.

“Our daughter.”

“That remains to be seen.”

Rowan was about to reply but a doctor walked to them “Mr and Mrs Galathynius, your daughter is fine.”

“We are not married,” Aelin corrected him quickly and she felt Rowan stiffen at her side.

“Maya is fine. It’s a greenstick fracture. Very common in children. We have immobilised the arm with a cast.” The doctor kept explaining the next few steps and then a nurse joined them carrying Maya in a wheelchair.

Aelin relaxed when she saw her daughter smiling “mama, look, I have a green cast.” She hugged her daughter fiercely “I am sorry, baby.”

“Mama I am okay. The doctor says I have a super arm now.” She proudly waved her injured limb and Aelin let out a wet chuckle.

Rowan mussed her hair “I am glad you are okay.”

“Can I take her home?”

The doctor nodded and Aelin pulled Maya to her then turned to Rowan “I can drive you to the next subway station.”

“No, I can walk.” He added coldly then turned to Maya and crouched down “Study the book I gave you so next time I see you I can quiz you.”

Maya grinned “Yes.” 

He then stood and walked away ignoring Aelin completely.

On his walk home he called Vaughan but had no answer so he texted his friend I need your help.

taglist

@rowaelinismyotp @swankii-art-teacher @whimsicallyreading @elentiyawhitethorn @aelin-bitch-queen @bruiseonthefaceofhumanity  @mis-lil-red @thegreyj @sailorsassley @leiawritesstories @clairec79 @morganofthewildfire @sv0430 @heartless--aromantic @autumnbabylon @rowanaelinn @backtobl4ck @susumaus98  @gracie-rosee @mybloodrunsblue @tanvee1231 @avenrebekah @whoever-you-choose-to-love  @theywillnotsingforme @universallytreepost @black-daisy-water @goddess-aelin @whispers-in-the-darkest-heart @lovely-dove-zee @athena127

[lostinvasileios]

Hello!

First of all, I wanted to say that I love your page! It’s very inspiring and feels like a safe space to me.

I saw that you’re willing to help beginners in their journey of worshiping, so I decided to ask for some. Thank you so much for it as well! And sorry for my big story tell.

So, my struggle is to find out who my deity is. I feel a call, I feel presence, but I have big struggle connecting hints and specifically finding out. Lately I discovered Dionysus and felt related and connected to his story and his character. He popped up in my mind himself. I didn’t knew much about him and never considered that I’ll be interested in worshipping him. I thought that if I’ll decide to go for Greek Gods, it will be Aphrodites, Ares, Poseidon, Apollo but never considered Dionysus until searched more about him

Several times asked for protection from archangel Michael (my mother is a big christian and it impacts me too from time to time) and still light up candles for him as thank yous.

I once asked for a hint to whose presence I feel and had a dream, there I saw a big blue eyes, dark curly haired young man. He was kindly, but jokingly laughing at me from the picture in the book. I wanted to draw him in my dream, but was scared to spoil his beauty. His robe colours was red and green. And instead of a hint, I got even more lost.

If there any ways I could find out if someone is really calling out to me (or it’s just a trickster messing with me) and who it is, I would be really grateful for help or any sort of advices.

Thank you very much again!

Hello there, bumblebee! 🪷 Thank you so much for the compliments, they mean the world to me. I'm so happy that you were able to find some solace/inspiration in my blog. ♡

Well, sweetheart, it seems to me like you've actually already conquered that. The struggle to find who your deity is. Dionysus is a very loud and proud type of god, and - this to me doesn't sound like a struggle to figure out who's trying to contact you, and more of a.... Do you trust it struggle.

Tricksters are very uncommon, especially since - well - I've never heard of one invading dreams. That'd have to be a very, very ballsy trickster. And, since you have the protection of Archangel Micheal on your side, I'd say you're all set, really.

One thing that really helped me out when it came to knowing who my deities were is listening to the emotions I got when asking myself that question.

The universe once told me: "You already know the answer. It just takes you to slow down and really listen to figure it out."

Your emotions hold so much value when it comes to deity work, I've come to learn over my time practicing. They're important! Your senses, your intuition, your gut feeling(s), ect. They want to help you out, but you need to allow them to speak. Does that make sense?

Learn from my mistake(s), lovebug. I often overlooked a lot of my deities because I didn't trust my own feelings, I didn't trust myself to be able to figure things out. When, in reality, I was the only one who could figure it out.

Your path is yours and the way your deities will present themselves is fully personalized for you specifically in one way or another. So, whatever you experience, is most likely the way you're supposed to in that moment.

For me, Dionysus also wasn't apart of my plan to work with when I first started out. I mainly wanted to work with Loki, Lucifer, Apollon, ect. But, um, Dionysus had other plans, haha. He will make himself known to those souls he holds sweet to him, or those who he desires to work with. Since you mentioned feeling connected with him, I'd say you have a possibility to have a very fruitful relationship with him.

He's one of my soul spouses, and, honestly - he's... A very dreamy deity to interact with and work with. He's the best. And those colors you said were in your dream are actually some of his identifier colors! Besides, even on the chance it wasn't him in the dream, you still have a very real chance of being connected with him in one way or another. Now, as you may or may not know, he, along every other spirit really, can have very fluid appearances.

If he changes his appearance, don't freak out - it doesn't mean anything was fake beforehand. It simply could mean something like you've gotten to a point where you can now comprehend this different aspect of them. For as big or as tiny as it may seem, it's a major accomplishment in my book!

I think one of the reasons why you're struggling to connect the hints, besides the things I've already stated, is the fact that - well - deity work is very complex. And very simple at the same time. It could be the chance you're getting multiple hints from multiple deities at a once-ish fashion. And it - yeah, it can be very confusing when they do that, lol.

There's also a chance the figure you saw in your dream was Apollon, he often has curls for me.

Either way, sugar - you're doing fine.

You've accomplished something amazing, I'm proud you even decided to ask for some help on this.

I hope I didn't drag this out too much, haha. Have some faith in yourself! Explore the possibilities and see which resonates the most with you and go with it. There's no harm in getting something wrong, there's no punishment for curiosity, and so on. You're doing great, bee.

[malsfefanfics]

Oolong and Green and Ginger! And let's go everybody <3

Ooooh goodie~! Let's see.

Oolong: How does your OC decorate their space?

Medee's space is decorated with bookshelves and journals, medical diagrams, small plant terrariums, and the like. Think classic witchy aesthetics mixed with a doctor's office. Her space would get her interrogated by the Church.

Rosamund is similar to that of Bernie mixed with Petra. Arts supplies neatly put away, when not in use, a painting or two on the wall, carefully cared for and ethically sourced fur at the end of her bed or on the floor as a rug. Dog toys as well.

Tancred is a basic children's room at first. Typical children's decorations and books and toys. A big book of old Opera posters collected. Big toy chest. But as he grows older his tastes start to mature. Some of the posters are on the wall but most are still in the book. He has a table with a map of Fódlan and he's using his toy soldiers to practice strategy, and he has a large wall scroll of beginner's dancer moves on it he practices.

Davi's space is very much filled with colors. He has wood carvings he's done to memorialize the faces of his loved ones. There's a tapestry weaved and hanging from the wall he managed to rescue from his village that was hanging in the home of the local priest before he left home. There's a small alter in the corner of the room he often sits in front of when he feels the need to pray or speak to his mother, brother, or grandfather. He also has a box of special candles and incense he burns on special occasions.

Green: What is your OC’s favorite piece of clothing?

For Medee, it's her hair piece. Her sister gifted it to her before leaving for the Kingdom.

Rosamund loves her cloak. She won't say it out loud, but she loves how she can come off as intimidating in the dark when wearing it.

Tancred loves all his clothes because they're mostly Hubert's hand-me-downs, up until he gets his post-time skip look. That's an outfit everyone collectively supported him getting for himself and he adores it.

Davi's favorite piece of clothing is his father's kilt. A large, soft, twilight colored traditional great kilt with patterns traditional to his village back home in Duscur.

Ginger: What always brightens your OC’s day?

Tancred: Seeing his brother, sister, mother, or anyone from the Strike Force. He just loves spending time with people.

Rosamund: A nice walk with her dogs in the woods. It's the one place she can always be guaranteed to find comfort in.

Medee: A surprise. She's usually preferring to be a giver rather than a receiver, but you bring her something aligning to her tastes and she isn't expecting it, she'll brighten up immediately.

Davi: Singing. Whether it's him or someone else. He hears a song, and he's much happier.

[silverskye13]

Hey, do you have any art tips that you use or anything? Any advice?

Uhhh that's kind of a broad question! My art advice is mostly situational.

A few very very broad suggestions for you:

Use references. Your brain can only hold so much, and most images we stick in our head are symbols. Aside from a select few very impressive people, no one can photographically remember, say, a tree. You can remember a symbol of a tree [Brown and red and green, in a specific shape], but you're not going to remember off the top of your head how tall an ash tree is relative to its surroundings, how all the leaves look from a distance, etc. So, use references. This includes references for things like poses, or colors, or art styles. I've gotten in the habit of collecting things I think are aesthetically pleasing for exactly that reason.

Draw from observation or life, as practice. Kind of an extension of above, but even if you don't draw realistically, you can learn a lot about stylizing, say, a bottle, by staring at the bottle and drawing it. Same with landscapes and buildings and animals and people. Different lighting and their affects on color and things. Its a great way to learn what looks realistic, in terms of relativity -- figuring out where shadows fall, how cloth lays, that funny shape your arm makes when its pointing straight on. Another interesting twist on this is making copies of artworks you like. Pick up the prettiest watercolor you've ever seen, sit down and try to make it. You won't come close, but you'll learn a lot about what that artist thought was important. Draw This In Your Own Style memes are also good for this.

Use tracing and replication for what they're made for: building skills. They're very good tools for teaching yourself how to take things apart and put them back together again, which is how we as humans tend to learn best. You learn how to do math by learning 2+2, and then you figure out 22+22 is basically the same thing, but when you were 5 learning to count in preschool, they didn't start you out with the 22 bit, did they? Same goes for art. All those "How To Draw X" books start you out with "First a circle then some lines" for a reason. If you can break up the big bit into tiny bits, you can figure out how to build stuff from scratch. Tracing and copying art styles, coloring styles, and poses can go a long way to teaching you how to break up all those things into digestible shapes.

Draw often. There's some saying somewhere that you need to put a thousand hours into something to advance a level. So, 1000hrs to go from "I know nothing" to "Beginner." 1000hrs from Beginner into Novice. Etc. It's not a literal rule. I'm sure I've put a few thousand hours into art, but I wouldn't call myself an expert yet. But art is a muscle as much as it is a skill. You only learn how to draw a straight line by drawing 50 wiggly lines and then miraculously one of them is straight, and you feel how that line felt in your wrist and you try to make it feel that way again. You make a really nice texture by accident once and you try it again 100 times before you can consistently remember its by crosshatching there and erasing over there. A long time ago I used to swear by comics [the largest leap forward I ever made in art was when I sat down for a year and drew a comic when I was, like, 13. It had a couple hundred pages, and rapidly progressed from "I'm basically tracing deviantart wolves every pose because I can't see them in my head" to "I can pose these little guys on my own and they actually kind of look like who they're supposed to look every time!"

Uhm... smaller advice tidbits.

Play with as many mediums and art supplies you can get your hands on! Thats how you figure out what you like, and also you draw wildly differently with a brush than a pen. Its really fun to see those differences and integrate them into other things.

If you're working digitally, experiment with merging layers and drawing over them. If you're insecure about it, copy the whole thing into a new document and draw over top of it. It's really fun, lends to experimentation, and there's a lot of effects you just can't achieve by fiddling with your layers.

If you drop your pencils, you will break the lead on the inside. That's why sometimes you sharpen a pencil and it just keeps breaking until there's no pencil left. This happens especially often with colored pencils, because the lead is super soft. Protect your pencils with your life.

For every "pretty sketchbook" you keep around, keep beside it some shitty copy paper/lined paper book with a ballpoint pen. Its good for warm ups, and for getting over the anxiety of "but I don't wanna ruin my pretty sketchbook" :( anxieties

Keep a bottle of water in your art space. This is good for drinking, for spilling on things, and for reminding you you are human and have needs. I recommend one with a cap if you do watercolors, so its less likely you'll dip your rush in it.

Get in the habit of resting every hour. If you have tendonitis [like me] rest every half hour. Set a timer if you have to. This keeps your wrist from exploding, and it keeps you from randomly picking up objects three days from now and wondering why your hand just decided it didn't want to anymore.

Don't feel pressured to post everything you make online -- in fact, keep from that habit as long as you can. The little seratonin rush is very nice when people comment on your work, but if you rely on it to motivate you, you will stop working on things. I have pieces that live in a vacuum, that no one will probably ever see. Most of them art shit, some of them aren't. The fact that no one can see them and tell me they're pretty is good and healthy, actually.

Don't destroy your work. When you finish a long project, there will be a little demon in the back of your head that whispers "I have never hated anything so much as this. Burn it. Kill it. Punish it for existing. I hate it." Do not listen to that little demon. It has been starved of all your existential angst while you were Stuck In Creation, and it is hangry. Put your art away somewhere, wait a few days, a week, a few months even, if you have to. Eventually the little demon will get involved with something else, and you will look at your art and go "Oh, hey, that's not so bad actually" :)

If you wait a year and you still think its shit, objectively, it might be, but I still maintain its demon is probably just being stubborn.

[balkanradfem]

How to learn about plants and herbalism?

If you're trying to get into foraging, recognizing wild plants, herbalism, or even just want to know more about the nature and the plants that are growing around you, it can be hard to know where to begin. The information that is out there, and the number of plants are overwhelming. If you get your hands on any book about natural medicine, herbalism, wild plants or foraging, you'll easily find 200+ illustrated or photographed plants, most of which you've never seen or are able to recognize, with detailed descriptions of how you're allowed to use this plant and which parts are dangerous. You cannot possibly pick out which one of these is the most useful to you, which ones you can easily find and recognize, and which ones are too dangerous for a beginner, and better to keep away from.

So, how do you start? You start with what you know.

There are plants most of us know and recognize. Even if you've lived in a city, there are wild plants you can most likely recognize. You would know a dandelion if you saw one. You know what  nettle looks like. You know daisies, clover, maybe even violets. If you're into cooking, you might know what mint and basil look like. You surely know what garlic is!

I've listed some very common plants, and yet knowing just a little more about these, can bring a great benefit to your life. Dandelions greens have such huge amounts of vitamin C they can compare with oranges with how well they can benefit your immune system. They're also rich in calcium, to the point of being able to act as supplement, if consumed consistently. Daisies are edible, medicinal, and clovers are too, but their flowers are dangerous in big amounts. Violets are very safe, and teas made from the leaves can act against colds, fevers, inflammation. Nettle can strengthen your blood, replenish most of the minerals you need, and be made into tea, infusion, or a meal. Mint and basil can be used medicinally, in a tea.

If you know some other plants, that you can already easily recognize, pick up, and bring home, look up what they do and what their uses are. You might find out that you already have enough knowledge to start benefiting from it right away, without learning to recognize every single plant that is out there! I've spent years using only dandelions, nettle, yarrow, basil and mint as my herbal remedies, and it has taught me just how valuable this knowledge can be.

Once you've gathered the knowledge and uses for the plants that you already know, see if you consistently enjoy using those plants. If this brings you joy, if it's something you're consistently taking advantage of, and incorporating in your life, then gathering more knowledge and learning more will not seem so overwhelming, because you will know, that even just knowing 5 plants, is crazy beneficial. And you'll know that you don't need to learn every single plant, recognize every plant that has ever grown, and you don't need to memorize lexicons or encyclopedias. You can only learn as much as you can incorporate in your life, your diet, your resource system. So it's going to be slow.

So now you've decided, okay, I've now benefited a lot from knowing just the uses of 5 plants, now I want to know more. Where do I start? And the answer is – start with whatever you can find close by, that peaks your interest.

Know that most plants are edible and medicinal. When you're out there, if you pick up a plant, 9 times out of 10, you've picked something you can use or eat. There are many more edible and useful plants than poisonous – and most of the poisonous ones will not kill you either, there are in fact, 2% of wild plants that would have the ability to end your life, most of other toxic ones will merely make you sick, pained, or vomiting. You still don't want to risk it, and the best way to learn about new plants would be to have a mentor, who already knows to warn you of what not to even touch (some plants can make your skin sensitive to the sun, and cause burns!).

If you're like me, and don't have anyone to ask questions, you do extensive, extensive research before consuming anything. There was exactly one time I felt brave to consume a plant I didn't properly vet, and that's the time I got poisoned (it was hilarious but I wouldn't recommend it).

The way I learned to recognize wild plants, was to download big, detailed photographs of medicinal or edible plant that grew in my country, and I would mark every picture with the name of the plant, then browse thru the pictures, every time I got out to forage. I was hoping to recognize anything, really, I didn't know what I was looking for out there, just that I wanted more knowledge, to possibly know everything. This way, when I would go out, I would try to see if any of the plants would match up to anything I've seen in the pictures. Sometimes, I'd get a hit! Then I would excitedly take this plant home, and compare it to the images, and then research and extensively compare it, and not just the flower or leaf! You have to count the flower petals. You count the leaves and see if their formation is correct. You have to check the shape and the size of leaves. You check the scent, the liquid inside of the stem. You check the firmness of the stem. If the height of the plant matches up. If it's growing in the right season. If the flowers are smelling correctly. You check how it looks at various stages in the development. Then you research if there's a poisonous double, just in case. Then how to use it. You look up multiple sources. You post it on a wild plants facebook group where experienced people can confirm if it's that plant. Then, if it's safe, you use a small, tiny amount, and wait for 24 hours to see if you feel okay. Then you're good.

It's considerably easier to do this in the early spring, because there's not that many plants! If you're learning just early spring plants, you can learn to recognize 6-9 plants and know all the plants that are currently out there, because there's just not that much, and you can walk the ground and think 'there is not a single plant I cannot name in here' and be super smug about this (this was my experience. things change in the summer when 300+ plants appear and you're just standing there like. i know 6 of you.)

At this point, I know which plants are most common, grow thru the entire year, and will be easy to recognize without accidentally getting poisoned: Yarrow, Nettle, Chickweed, Cleavers, Blackberry, Plantain, Borage, Wild Chives, Bear's Garlic, Garlic Mustard, Sorrel, Wood Sorrel, Rosehip, Elderberry, Linden. These plants have shown themselves to be useful and beneficial to me, so I warmly recommend them, as something to look up if you're trying to learn in the early spring.

Some of these might be useful to you, some might not! I will now vet plants by first reading what they're used for, then deciding if I need this in my life, currently. If the plant is healing, let's say, anxiety, I'll be right on that, I can always use more calming plants. If it's for curing cardiovascular diseases, I decide, nah, I'm not needing this in my life right now, will look it up again if and when the need arises.

One of the things you HAVE to be careful of, is over-exaggerated claims. There are marketing tools out there, trying to convince you to get a hold of one specific plant or another, and they will tell you that this plant is basically, magic. That it cures 90% of all diseases, that it will make all of your ailments go away, and it's natural so of course, no side-effects, it will cure cancer and all that; please avoid any resources that talk this way about plants. There is no "one-cures-all" with natural remedies. There is nothing that has zero side-effects, if over used. Medicinal plants usually do help with multiple ailments at once, but there are specific things they can do to your body, and you should know what these things are, before consuming them. They're not all-powerful, and they're not going to completely remove an illness after several uses, you need to use them consistently, and not over-use them, if you're trying to use them to ease some kind of symptom. You can use them to put minor aches at ease, you can often lessen your symptoms, or prevent an issue from coming up, you can nourish yourself with them as food and nutrients, you can boost your energy levels, prevent headaches and calm anxiety, but they often will not work as effectively as medicine, for serious cases, unless you're educated to the point where you can create actual, real medicine out of them. And some people can! If you're at the beginner level, you can't. And, some plants can and interact with medicine, so if you are on medication, you have to check if the plant could interfere with it.

Herbal medicine will have the most beneficial effect for you if you know exactly what it's for, and when to use it. For example, as a kid, I would often take home Yarrow, because Yarrow just looked magical to me and I knew in my heart it had to be a medicinal herb. I would make tea, and it had absolutely no effect on me whatsoever; I didn't know what it does. But, I got used to the taste and learned to enjoy it, so that when later in life I found out it decreases menstrual pains, it was a big relief to have a remedy that I already have, and like. You can randomly drink herbal teas and infusions, and if you're not having any symptoms they are supposed to help with, they likely won't make any changes. But drinking them in key moments, for example, making basil tea when you have a headache? That can be a significant in making your life easier.  

[lucky-clover-gazette]

The Big Picture

Vio & Shadow-focused Four Swords Manga Adaptation | Rated G

Chapter 5: Realm Overworld

Vio groans, twirling his pen in his hand. He should have looted a pencil instead—or anything, really, with an eraser. He needs to focus on what matters, what is certain, what will actually help him and the others accomplish their goal.

- Is my existence inherently less divine than that of Link Prime? Do I exist in accordance with the Goddess’s will, or in spite of it? Am I only meant to be temporary? If Link didn’t like fish but I like fish, is there a chance I might like other foods he didn’t like? - When can I meet a horse?

Read the chapter on ao3 (ideal) or under the cut:

MARCH

Vio likes this part of being a person. Leaning up against a tree, he smiles to himself as he flips through the pages of a book. It’s a strangely topical resource, looted from a Castle Town bookshop during the group’s brief travel preparations. In addition to this volume, Vio had also helped himself to a blank journal, a beginner’s guide to dark magic (don’t worry about it), and a vampire romance novel.

This particular passage discusses Force Gems, a sort of magical currency that can power up the Four Swords. Just as the Blue Maiden had said, they seem to be the key to defeating Shadow Link and rescuing Princess Zelda. It’s still slightly unclear to Vio how exactly one generates and collects the Force Gems, but he supposes a practical study might make things more obvious.

“Bring it on, Blue!” shouts Green, mid-spar. He and Blue face off in a nearby clearing, bathed in sunlight. Compared to those two, Vio has found that he much prefers the shade—yet another difference between him and the original Link. Vio reminds himself to record that later in his journal.

“Here I come, Green,” counters Blue with a growl. Vio watches the two clash, making sure not to seem too interested. The blades of the Four Swords release tiny triangles each time they make contact. Blue and Green count together as they generate Force.

“Five!” Green exclaims with a competitive green. “Can you beat that?”

“I’ve got 40... 42.”

Vio manages to contain his scoff.

“But doing this is a pain,” says Blue, dropping his sword into the grass. “Isn’t there a way we can recharge these things faster?”

Vio glances down and flips a page, as if only just tuning in now. “Well,” he says, “this book does mention Force Gems.”

Blue raises an eyebrow, while Green rests against his sword. “Is that the one you stole from Castle Town?”

“It’s not stealing if the shop owners abandoned their post. Also, I’m the Hero of Hyrule.”

“We’re the heroes of Hyrule,” Green gently corrects.

“And this book is essential to our success,” counters Vio. “If it makes you feel better, I swear to return it once the kingdom is saved.”

Not for the first time, he feels a very specific pang of dread. Once the kingdom is saved, there won’t be a reason for any of them to exist. Vio understands this, logically, but still doesn’t know how to reconcile it with his present existence.

“Just tell us what your stupid book says,” says Blue, recapturing Vio’s attention. His mind does seem to wander far more frequently than Link’s—another observation for the journal.

“They’re condensed nuggets of life energy found in certain places,” Vio summarizes, dumbing down the far more elaborate text. Yet another thing the four don’t seem to have in common: reading comprehension.

“That’s much better than sparring,” says Green, more to the reflection in his sword than to anyone else. “Maybe we can find some, together.”

Meanwhile, Blue decides to heckle Vio. “You can’t read that any faster?”

Vio deliberately slows down. “It takes time to really learn anything. Try some patience.”

“Patience takes too long! I want to fight Shadow Link now!”

“And promptly lose again?” Vio scoffs, shutting his book. “Please.” He stands, ignoring Blue as he fumes, and joins Green and Red for dinner.

Vio has to admit, Red did a great job setting up camp. He pitched the tents with no complaint or issue, caught fresh fish from a nearby stream, and managed to skewer and roast them over a campfire. Even Blue seems to relax slightly as he sits down on a rock.

Red adds some final seasoning (also looted) with a smile. “I sparked the fire up with my Four Sword!”

Blue smirks. “Did it make a Force Gem?”

“I don’t think so.” Red turns to Vio, eyes wide. “Should it have?”

“You’re fine, Red. Blue’s just antagonizing you.”

“Oh! That’s fun!”

Blue bites the head off of his fish, clearly displeased with the reaction.

“Well, I’m glad you all can take it easy,” Green sighs, examining his blade for what feels like the millionth time. “I know we can’t rush things, but we have to repower our swords before the darkness gets too strong.”

Vio pictures Shadow Link, working with even more power than he’d possessed during their last encounter. Not only would that spell certain death for the heroes, but he’d probably also be super annoying about it.

“We can’t do it all tonight, ” says Red, offering Green a skewer. “So sit down, and let’s eat!”

─────────────────

Shadow watches the heroes from a safe distance, cloaked in the post-sunset twilight. Three of them turn in for the night, heading to their conveniently color-coded tents, leaving the purple one to keep watch. Based on observation, this hero prefers to work independently than collaborate with the others. It makes sense that he’d volunteer to stay out here alone, writing in a journal and completely missing Shadow’s nearby presence.

With the purple hero distracted, this seems like as good a time as any for Shadow to put his plan into motion. From the outcropping where he stands, he motions to an inconspicuous rock by the heroes’ dying campfire. At his call, the rock cracks open like a geode—but instead of a crystal inside, there’s a bloodshot eyeball.

Not a top-tier lackey, Shadow is aware. But hinoxes and dragons would be far less subtle, and his current goal is to remain undetected. And there’s only so much Shadow can pick up from a distance—having a spy, capable of relaying the heroes’ quieter conversations, has been both useful and entertaining.

The rock-creature Arrghus rolls its way over to Shadow, still failing to capture the purple hero’s attention. At the edge of the elevated outcropping, it launches itself into the air and lands directly on Shadow’s shoulder.

Shadow grins, his arms crossed over his chest. “The four fools won’t quit, huh?”

“Nope! Nope!” says Arghus, through no mouth Shadow can see.

“Did you hear where exactly they’re going?” Shadow asks, slightly insecure that he himself hasn’t been able to acquire that information. This path technically spans across the entire Overworld, so they could plan to leave it anywhere.

“The Village of the Blue Maiden!” chirps Arrghus. Ah.

Fondly, Shadow holds the small creature. It seems to enjoy pats, and Shadow enjoys having something to do with his hands.

He could definitely go without the giggling, though.

“Well done, my pet,” Shadow coos, tickling Arrghus beneath the eyeball. Yeah, still weird.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shadow watches the purple hero turn a page. His bangs fall over his face as he scribbles determinedly. “The heroes seem surprisingly well-educated on the nature of Force Gems.”

“Yep! Yep!”

Shadow’s expression sours. “Well, then. We’ll just have to smash them to bits before they restore the Four Sword.”

The purple hero chuckles to himself. Shadow wonders, only for a second, what he could have possibly found so funny.

“Now off you go,” Shadow says, drawing back his hand. He throws Arrghus towards the camp, watching it bounce off walls of rock on its way down. “Remember to keep an eye on them!”

Shadow laughs at his own pun. Now, that’s hilarious. There’s no way those stuck-up heroes are having more fun than he is.

─────────────────

Link Vio’s Field Guide Day 7 of Individual Existence Research - Means of acquiring Force Gems: combat, overworld exploration (more TBD) Observations - Light exposure preferences: Partial shade for R, full sunlight for G&B, full shade for V. If memory serves, Prime preferred partial, but unsure - V’s attention span is highly selective, stronger regarding topics of interest and weaker otherwise (compared to Prime, others unsure). Later: cross-reference with diagnostic criteria for attention deficit disorders - Prime did not enjoy seafood. This evening RBGV had lovely fish skewers Inquiries - Why is it called the Village of the Blue Maiden, when the Blue Maiden resides in Hyrule Castle? - Is it stealing if I’m we’re I’m the hero? - Could Prime be charged for V’s crimes? -What will happen to RBGV after the Princess is saved? -Can Prime and RBGV exist simultane -What is the point of

Vio groans, twirling his pen in his hand. He should have looted a pencil instead—or anything, really, with an eraser. He needs to focus on what matters, what is certain, what will actually help him and the others accomplish their goal.

- Is my existence inherently less divine than that of Link Prime? Do I exist in accordance with the Goddess’s will, or in spite of it? Am I only meant to be temporary? If Link didn’t like fish but I like fish, is there a chance I might like other foods he didn’t like? - When can I meet a horse?

Vio turns the page. Clearly, his mind is not in a productive place. It has been a long week of travel, with very little time alone to reflect. He might as well allow his mind to wander, just for a while.

Entry: Day 7 “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” A quote from one of the books I acquired in Castle Town. Like many other words on many other pages, the sentiment feels relevant to my unique predicament. While I have been cut from the same cloth as my fellow travelers, I can’t shake the feeling that the pattern from which I have been crafted is profoundly different, perhaps even defective. Of course, we all might feel that way, and just not discuss it. There is much we refuse to discuss, we the four heroes created from one, whose existence may be as temporary as the Four Swords we now seek to recharge. If I may pose a dangerous question: what would happen if we failed in our endeavors? Surely, the Princess would perish. Hyrule would suffer, blanketed in darkness. The Wind Mage and the hero’s demon shadow would see to our deaths to ensure the security of their victory. There is no survival in the case of my survival, so it’s simply not worth further consideration. So I really, really must stop considering. A distraction may be helpful. Now that I understand the nature of the Force Gems, I would benefit from another topic to research. I suppose it would be advantageous to better understand our enemies—the structure of their ranks, the exact powers they do and do not possess, why and how exactly the demon hero came into existence. I could certainly sink my teeth into those mysteries, leaving less time to spiral into existential dread. Also—and I apologize, Goddess, if this very thought defies your will—a better understanding of our enemy might just lead to a comprehensible reality in which we four heroes can survive. A hypothetical reality, of course. I wouldn’t delude myself into believing that I

Vio’s writing hand freezes. Something has shifted, in his surroundings… something small, but audible nonetheless. The breeze displacing forest brush, or a squirrel crossing the clearing where they’ve set up camp. For a second, Vio fears that his thoughts had offended the Goddess—but surely, a deity wouldn’t be so fragile.

It was a natural occurrence. Vio should get back to writing.

On a lighter note, today I met a raccoon. Red named it “Stripes,” because it had stripes.

Vio chuckles at the memory. Then, he sighs.

I am lonely. The others attempt to include me, and we obviously share plenty of qualities, but there still remains a new and unexamined part of my personhood that feels profoundly out of place. One week into my existence, I have realized that I would like others to regard me just as I have learned to regard myself—not entirely detached from the hero, but as one who may simply step to a different drum.

Satisfied, Vio shuts his journal. He surveys the dark forest clearing, so he can at least claim to the next person on watch that he’s been doing his job.

His eyes lock onto a nearby rocky outcropping, more a cliff than anything. For a second, he thinks he may see a figure up there, but then it disappears.

Probably a raccoon, Vio tell himself, reaching into his pack for some light reading. He withdraws the vampire novel, which he had hastily selected based on its dark aesthetic and the handsome young man on the cover. There’s a woman there, too, held tight in the vampire’s arms. She looks kind of like Zelda, Vio supposes. He appreciates her hair.

Had Link ever held Zelda like this? Vio honestly can’t quite remember. Even if the original hero had gone through the physical motions of holding the princess, any accompanying warm feelings are now unreachable. Not for the first time, Vio wonders why that could possibly be, and whether the others have lost those feelings too.

Oh, well, thinks Vio. Nothing I need to worry about right now.

He opens the book and his mind wanders elsewhere.