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regulusrules · 2 years ago

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New to your blog, I was wondering if you have a Merlin fic rec list that's just your favorites. I unfortunately missed the Merlin fandom back when the show was airing so I always feel like I'm just missing the greatest stuff from other people

Hello friend! Welcome to my humble abode of a blog (which resembles more of a Merlin waste disposal). Like you, I missed the show when it was airing, but honestly when you stay as long in this fandom as I have, you will constantly be exposed to wonderful creative energies that give their all. It's a timeless fandom, one of the very few, and no matter when you enter it you will always feel fulfilled. :)

So, favourite fics! Gosh, how can I fit 2K+ bookmarks in one ask. When it comes to this fandom, I admit: I have no life. I've read a real huge number of fics throughout the years, but sometimes it's inevitable for fics to get lost in a sea of bookmarks. So to make things easier, I'll write you some canon fics that immediately come to my mind for how unforgettable they were.

No order; each one has its own chamber in my heart.

Short fic recs (1K-50K)

1. Our broken pieces by @aramblingjay. 10K, T, Canon Era, Hurt/Comfort.

Am I purposefully putting this one on top this time so that everyone who stumbles across this ask could check it out? Yes. Yes I am. Is it my personal mission for the fandom to give this fic the love and kudos it deserves? You bet it's a big overbearing yes. And yes I want you to cry and feel your heart twist with agony because of how beautiful it is. My eyes never shed tears for a fic before this one, and never will after it. There is something in the way the author broke Arthur that just resonated in my innards. And the way Merlin was there for him, not a placebo "I'm here" but there, in all actuality, doing so with every fiber of his love, made it something else. I like to believe that this fic was crafted so perfectly in a parallel universe, and sent to us as a blessing we never knew we needed.

2. Beauty in the Ashes of Our Lives by Fulgance. 21K, T, Canon AU, Magic Reveal.

This is probably the umpteenth time for me to recommend this fic, but I won't stop. I can't stop. This fic ruined me so slowly, and healed me even slower. All my Merlin friends do not believe why this would be one of my favourite fics of all time with what Arthur did, but honestly, it's the fact that the writer wrote it so convincingly that makes me crumble internally. It isn't easy to write angry Arthur, and it's even harder to write him grief-stricken, but here, the author blended both elements so perfectly. It's impossible to forget this fic. It's worth your every second.

3. Linger On Your Pale Blue Eyes by supercalvin. 18K, T, Canon Era, Touch-Starved.

Will this fic linger in your heart? It sure as hell never leaves mine. Every once in a while, I have to go back to this fic and read it like a morning paper. Some fics sustain you.. this is definitely one of them. Most of @supercalvin's fics are of sustaining material. They are made with such depth and broad understanding to the characters that you should take notes. There's this one line that everytime I cross this fic I instantly remember and I go to the nearest pillow to just AAA a little bit. When you reach it, I'm sure you'll recognise it, and I'll be waiting for you to come AAA with me.

4. Dower the Stars by RurouniHime. 40K, E, Golden Age, Pining Arthur, BAMF Merlin.

I don't think anything levels the levels of intimacy in this fic. It is one of the best Arthur characterizations I've ever read. His boundless love and pining for Merlin— oh my heart. Also, the world building and amount of research that must have been done for this fic is astounding. I was this close from following the author's footsteps and, idk, writing an entire research paper about Arthurian lore or something. The moment I read it I immediately wanted to contact the author and just tell them WHY ARE YOU BLESSING US WITH ALL THIS INSTEAD OF PUBLISHING IT?? It was amazing. I reread it a month ago for the third (fourth?) time and found myself gasping and aweing as if I never read it before. It keeps being an experience every time, one so worthwhile.

5. from hearth and ashes, we’re reborn by @remuscariad. 5K, G, Canon AU, Magic Reveal, Hurt/Comfort.

Earthshatteringly-poetic isn't a made-up word powerful enough to describe the beauty of prose here. There are fics that you open and immediately know that you're sold: this was one of them. Its summary alone dropped my jaw down to my neighbour's floor. The dialogue is so meticulously crafted it feels like reading a piece from a past era. Genuinely beautiful.

6. Half of my soul by marvelxpendragon. 2K, G, Post-Canon AU, King Arthur/Court Sorcerer Merlin.

This fic is half of my soul, as the poets say. So what if I reject the canonic ending and resort to pain myself with fics like this instead? I sometimes feel we, as a fandom, try to up the angst of the finale so that we forget how painful it was by bringing even MORE pain. But it's pain that I delight in, because it's pain that MAKES SENSE. Yes give me MCD but with a freaking beautiful life like the one this author gave us. Make me believe it was all worth something. Make me believe they lived.

7. whisper to the flame by @missfaber. 16K, E, Canon AU, Wounded Arthur, Hurt/Comfort.

*clears throat* *prepares for a mental scream*TELL ME HOW YOU LIGHT YOUR FIRESSSSS *clears throat once more and pretends I'm okay*

So, as the author wrote, this is indeed a love letter to the two characters we love more than anything. More than anything, I loved the fact that the author gave Arthur agency to think and act and be a king, even when he was still a prince. Even in most fics where Arthur already knows, this isn't common. So whenever I find a fic that has Smart!Arthur and a lovesick one at that, I would vouch my life and soul for it. Also Protective!Knights is the best thing in the world, ok? I would die for this discourse for real.

8. As a Sea Shell by bathilda bagshot (wellthengameover). 12K, T, Canon AU, Slow Burn.

Okay, so this fic is only bookmarked "Agony until 7 AM", and with that, a rush of drowning memories always come crushing my soul. I lost sleep and SANITY over this fic. I was thrown from a cliff and kept hanging in the air without a respite until the very END. I read it a couple weeks after the finale and it broke me even FURTHER. I was promised growing old together, and it was a big LIE. And yet I love it so, so dearly.

Honourary biased mention:

9. My heart is readily yours by yours truly. 11K, T, Canon AU, Protective Arthur, Hurt/Comfort.

Sometimes I don't believe I had it in me to write this. Like.. what, dearest self, the hell were you thinking. With tyismso, I somehow balanced fluff and angst— a solid magic reveal fic. But this one? I only knew ✨pain✨

.. and I don't regret a thing.

[Long fic recs]

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theghostbunnie · 1 year ago

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How do you see Max and Nikki’s relationship?

As siblings

I know that's like sometimes what ppl say when there's a straight pairing popular ship (makki) vs a gay popular one (maxneil) and they don't really mean it they just mean they have a uncomfortbilty or hatred towards one of the ships, but in my mind they're literally twins/hj

I have AUs where they're twins, half siblings, step siblings. I love them sm..There's even a line in one of the end credit rap songs that goes something like "we may not have the same color skin but imma treat em like my twin" and I'm like ah yes,,, something to feed into my delusions/j

((on a more srs note I feel like more ppl should look into the end credit lyrics alot of it seems specifically written to fit Max and might give people a better insight into his characterization))

But enough of my fannon delusions n self indulgence they're obviously not actually siblings they're best friends BUT they didn't start off that way no matter how sweet the "you now have three little bastards to deal with" line is bc in the first season, earlier episodes he's more of an asshole to her bc they're still getting to know each other.

He broke her instrument, quicker to basically tell her to shut up on multiple occasions, ect.

Back to the first episode, Max operates BIG on first impressions. Off the bat he's touching Neil's shoulder, he's impressed by his disrespect to authority, he wants to hotwire the bus with him. But Nikki? Hardly addressing her. Even says "why would you help us?" Bc despite biting him, she appeared to be just a 'little more violent, mini-David.' THAT was his first impression of her. Nikki didn't have his attention or respect technically until he learned her willingness to seek and cause chaos near the end of the episode. There's times at later points where she's clearly getting on his nerves.

I'm pretty sure I already wrote out a whole in depth thing about how Max has issues getting attached to people and will fight it off and deny it once it happens even at the cost of their feelings (points at camp corp episode) where as Nikki is a social person who has been denied a real friend til she came to camp campbell same as Neil, who is NOT a social person. They both start off clingy towards Max for this but Nikki works past it and makes 2 other friends while Neil doesn't.

So recap: Max builds a team of two other kids he can just share a common goal with at first, is a bit of a jerk to Nikki initially at times, but she grows on him and now he really values her as a friend n cares for her deeply.

But now onto NIKKI'S POV: She'd been bullied before, it was a traumatic experience for her yes but that's also the ONLY information we have on any past relationships she's had with peers, kids her own age. Any other time she's talking about someone she knew it's often just her mom. sometimes her dad (often not painting a good picture of him but through a childhood innocence lense) or an animal she knew.

So when she makes her first friend group in camp campbell her only prior experience with one is in the flower scouts. Nikki picked up bad habits from them bc she's a kid and doesn't have the emotional maturity to analyze her every behavior.

So when Max is being the type of person who was being quick to shut her down, who (in her own words) was micro managing her, and only ever seemed like he was having a good time when they were doing what HE planned to do, ofc she's gonna start harboring some complaints. Nikki isn't gonna sit down and talk about her feelings to him like an adult she's gonna do what the flower scouts taught her and you talk shit about the problem to OTHER friends.

This isn't to say she secretly hates him, no I firmly believe she deeply cares about him too but they're both flawed people so their friendship has flaws too that doesn't make it void of care for one another.

You can't unbiasedly hate on Nikki for that scene she's mocking him if you're not even taking into consideration WHAT her original issue was. Nikki shit talks, Max has control issues.

As episodes progress I think they really seem to work past it and become better people AND I THINK THAT'S RLLY SWEET I LOVE THEIR FRIENDSHIP ❣️❣️

The way they interact with each other throughout the series really shows that their differences might cause some clashing but they have FUN together and I think their differences and problems just make them more interesting characters

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kxmpfflieger · 1 year ago

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i would love to hear any director’s commentary/insight on that scene in ch2 where christian offers a hand to orlando after drill and orlando refuses it 👀 anything fun to share abt their dynamic and/or characterization? 🌷

OUGH love this scene.

It's an important moment for both boys. Orlando a little more so. Sadly, I cant gush or go TOO much in depth about why its so important/neat to me, because WOAH WOAH its spoilers. But I'm just gonna say; there will be a call-back to this scene in the future.

But, there's some stuff I can say on Christian!

Christian hasnt felt strongly about Orlando up to this point; not really getting Atkins' "unnecessary" (in his eyes) approach of aggravating him constantly as payback, but also not being 100% on board with Percy eagerly wanting to befriend him. Even more so, considering Orlando has been very passive aggressive towards them. But mostly towards Percy. And people picking on Percy has always riled him up. This moment where Orlando refuses his help, to get up of all things, for no apparent reason, irks Christian in particular. In his mind, Orlando is being a stuck up asshole. He has been giving him the benefit of the doubt up to this point, but it kinda dawns on him then, especially with how he's been acting towards him and Percy, that the guy is not worth that kindness. Which is why Christian, in turn, becomes a little abrupt/passive aggressive towards Orlando at the end of the chapter. If this is how Orlando was really going to act like, "being the bigger person" was a waste of effort in Christian's eyes. If Orlando was going to be petty, so would Christian.

Some context Orlando too, without going really in to detail for the sake of future releases— He is STUNNED that Christian would do such a thing as offer to help. Orlando is 100% aware of how he's treated the rest of his comrades up to that point. And after all that, Christian still offers to help him up? It's obscene. There's a huge rush of emotions in that doe eyed glare of his when Christian extends his hand out; shock, astonishment... maybe a part of him was touched. He did think about taking that helping hand, but ultimately didn't. Orlando's next logical choice after being offered and turning down the olive branch (because in reality, that's what it was) is to go make a fuss about something else, and pretend that moment never happened.

#guys they are so silly #inquiries #christian walsh #orlando hicox #mots commentary tracks

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imakemywings · 11 months ago

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2023 Fic Roundup

No one tagged me, I just love doing this to reflect on the year :3 Mostly Silm fic to no one's surprise.

Total Words Published at end of year: 162,562, which is a huge jump up from 47k last year, something I attribute wholly to having graduated in the spring (not that life hasn't kept me busy since then). This is actually even higher than 2021, when I started doing an end-of-the-year reflection!

Fandoms: Tolkien with a one-off Arcane in there (might have been more if there were more Ambessa requests on the kink meme)

Highest Everything (raw kudos, hits, comments):

Hits: As Little as Might be Thought (555)

Kudos: As Little as Might be Thought (59)

Comments: What the Water Gave Me (64)

New Things I Tried: Not totally new, but I think this was the first year I wrote chaptered Silm fic? I don't usually write fic that long but I got two this year so I'm pleased with that. Also, finally wrote and published Maglor/Thranduil and Maedhros/Thingol after ranting about them in DMs for literal years XD

Fic I Spent the Most Time On: What the Water Gave Me just because it's by far the longest thing I wrote.

Fic I Spent the Least Time On: Let Me Lie on Grasses so Green, but that was probably comparable with the other two fics in that "trio" of parent&child fics I wrote in February

Favorite Thing I Wrote: Honestly I was very happy with how Sandbox Love turned out! It really captured the energy I was going for with Galadriel's possibly-not-totally-sure unrequited (?) crush on Luthien and the realization that Luthien has sort of grown out of their friendship while Galadriel has not.

However I'm also quite pleased with both my Maglor/Thranduil pieces, which were both spawned as brainchildren of me and @meadowlarkx so they have a special place in my heart <3

Favorite Thing(s) I Read: I deserve an award for limiting this to 15 fics shhh no it wasn't originally supposed to be 10

Less Wise by @meadowlarkx - I know I've flailed about this one multiple times this year already, but here we go again. Our brainchild pairing may be unusual, but I would implore you to give it a chance, particularly if you're a fan of either Maglor or Thranduil. Lark's characterizations here are so fantastic and the dynamic between them is so juicy! Maglor trying to redeem herself through service to Thranduil is so compelling!

Berrypicking Time by swampdiamonds - This fic captures the best part of Finduilas/Nienor which is their healing and moving forward together. Both of them are trying so hard to process their own trauma, but they also want to help each other!

It's the Secret That We Keep by Loriand_Lost - Beautiful fic exploring Galadriel’s relationships with both Celeborn and Luthien in Doriath. Absolutely fantastic characterization! And great smut scenes.

The Pleasure of the King by Anonymous - Ahhh this is such a great fic. Azaghal and his wife Khoreti are quite eager to show Felagund the depths of hospitality in Belegost. Absolutely fantastic characterizations and such a fun time for everyone here. Also, origins of Finrod’s nipple piercings ;D

Beware of Women with Beards and Men Without by TheLionInMyBed - Azaghal and Maedhros’ alliance was full of cultural misunderstandings, but they push their way through it. Delightful characterizations here, particularly of Azaghal who gets basically none in canon, and a funny but also touching relationship between them.

Nesting by LiveOakWithMoss - It has great characterizations and a fascinatingly toxic Kidnap Fam dynamic, both between the twins and the Feanorians and between Maedhros and Maglor themselves. The whole thing is delightfully fucked up.

A Poetry Lesson by HewerOfCaves - Gorgeous characterization for Ingwion and I love seeing cocky prince Maedhros in Tirion who’s hot and smart and he knows it. Also, hitting on someone in a library feels like such an incredibly Maedhros move.

You are Coming Down with Me by TheLionInMyBed - Dark comedy look at the Kidnap Fam which takes, imo, a much more realistic look at how unhealthy the situation was for everyone involved, particularly the twins. Excellent characterizations!

Daeron Nails It by Tallulah - I am in LOVE with this little fic, it incorporates so many delightful details about the court in Menegroth. I am so pleased to see I am not the only one picturing Thingol and Melian with the cringiest pet names for each other.

A Fish Hook, an Open Eye by simaethae - Delicious. Maglor goes to the Havens at Sirion to try to wheedle cooperation out of Elwing, but she is not having it. Their argument takes a interesting turn in private. Love how desperate and pathetic Maglor is here.

A House of Nettles by Ias - Amazing delicious sexy fic where Eowyn becomes haunted by the Witch King–former queen of Numenor Tar-Miriel. It is SO good.

Strength Like a Tower by potatoesanddreams - This fic almost made me cry over a building. Fantastic look at how Elves connect to their environment.

Bite Thy Wings and Let Thee Crawl by @meadowlarkx - I shit you not this fetish porn fic has one of the best theses on Morgoth I've seen in this fandom. Lark displays a particularly deft talent in being able to take what could easily be considered a comical fetish and imbue it with such terror.

And by their blazing signify that a great princess falls, but doth not die by TheLionInMyBed - Absolutely obsessed, some of the best Elwing characterization I’ve ever seen. Gorgeous look at Elwing’s relationship with the other refugees of the Havens and at the Feanorians’ dynamic with them. One of the best Elwing fics I’ve ever read.

Shadow of the Evening by RussetFiredrake - Captures that lady knight/noblewoman thing with Arwyn SO well…both characters are so loveable here.

Writing Goals for 2023: Nothing specific. Life is a bit in flux right now so I can't say what I'll have time or energy for.

Tagging: @meadowlarkx @polutrope @swanmaids @illusivesoul @maironsbigboobs @welcomingdisaster @undercat-overdog

Please note you are by no means required to follow my template or include individual fic stats at all! You can just answer the questions if you prefer (❁´◡`❁)

#fic roundup #tagged

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euphoricvampirism · 7 months ago

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headcanons/idk what splurge about mcd aaron & aphmau BECAUSE I SAID SO.

i need to talk about them because i just do. my thoughts on them need to be heard.

btw!!! typing this at work during my break so thoughs WILL be completely disorganized and there will be constant run on sentences!

first i’m going to talk about aaron because OH MY FUCKING GOD.

he could’ve been such a interesting character if he wasn’t reduced to aph’s love interest once again and if jess and jason could’ve shown more of his character.

i truly believe that jess was trying to do some shitty indirect characterization and flesh out his character by not outright saying it, but she done a really shitty job; the only reason why being her target audience at the time was younger and she didn’t want to expose them to more “mature themes” or some shit.

aaron is not a well written character at all and tbh all i see him as is “woah, ‘sexy’ (not really) mysterious man” who has absolutely not character depth. i wish jess could’ve delved more into him being a lord, a father and husband, and his vendetta against zane to give us more insight of his character. jess gave us little crumbs and pieces about him (like him being a broken human or some shit like that??? would’ve been cool if she incorporated some magic shit into that). he’s just so bland and boring and he needed so much more character development than he got.

time for aarmau…

SO. first off, aaron and aph’s relationship came out of fucking no where. it literally feels like jess pulled that straight out of her ass hole because of how random it was to me when i was younger. once again, i believe that the reason for it that is that jess is really bad at foreshadowing and shit, so the relationship came out of nowhere (also bc jason is really weird but we’re not going to talk about that…). it’s just so weird that jess made their relationship such like, a secret thing, in s2 but gave it so much more light on s3 like we knew everything about it?? which i guess i can kinda excuse because she didn’t even like how she was taking it, but it’s still super weird.

ok, done with that rambling…now for headcanons about aaron and aarmau :3

aaron is in his late mid to late 30s, possibly early 40s

he is BUFF. like buff buff.

and tall, super tall. like tbh i think he’d be like 6’5-6’6

SCRUFFY!!! he has a little beard that he doesn’t have time nor the energy to shave off

actually kinda shy—he’s only seems so mysterious bc he’s traumatized and also pretty shy

i don’t wanna talk about him anymore so aarmau now

they were never in love.

yes i said it.

i wholeheartedly believe that they had a fling

aph was stressed w/ lillith, garroth still being in the irene demension, laurance struggling with the calling, the phoenix alliance, and the whole weird goddess powers shit that she needed comfort in someone

aaron was the one she chose

he understood loosing everything in less than a day, he understood her feeling if loss, so she latched to him

aaron on the other hand, was reminded of his late wife by aph; they acted so similar and there was just a touch of resemblance that drew aaron to aph

all of this mixed together led to and accidental kiss and hookup in the woods that night it was “took dark to go back”

the kiss right before aaron’s sacrifice was not one of love to aph, but one final kiss to his wife that he wished he could’ve gave to her

aph struggled with his death because she didn’t love him like a lover, but because she had lost one of her closest friends while garroth and laurence were gone: the only one who she believed could truly understand what she was going through

so sorry that was a lot 😭

#aphblr #aarmau mcd #aaron mcd #aaron’s character was absolutely ruined and i stand by that #ugh #i just #jess why

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griefabyss69 · 10 months ago

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also idk if this is allowed but i’m very intrigued by all three of the final three. take your pick or post all three if you wish to delight your audience triply:

more antagonism for the masses

natureboy

slapping is a sincere form of pleasure

This is totally allowed!!! A palm tree triple delight for everyone: I'm giving notes on two of them and then an excerpt from the last one! more antagonism for the masses:

This one is because I loved writing Acceptance and Negation (Steve loses a bet against his rival Eddie and has to become his foot stool etc) and the dynamic there was so good to me.

It's going to maybe be a little bit meaner but I'm still going to try to find the balance again, and also I'm hoping it's going to be a short and sweet one (not 18K lmao). I have ideas on what they're going to do but I'm not going to make a promise I might not keep!!!

natureboy: this idea hit me like a flash of lightning while writing something completely different (which is how like a quarter of my WIPs start). It's going to be about how Steve feels a pull towards nature that he's never really been allowed to explore due to needing to be a tidy little fancy rich boy. USUALLY I just have this background characterization of Steve being a former boy scout, but not in this one! I do touch on this idea very shortly in The Smell of Autumn, but that's an erotic microfic and this precedes that and will be waaay more in depth (and to be honest, it's me, probably erotic as well). I really think Steve would make a great outdoors kinda guy, he's got the kinesiological smarts and probably wouldn't even feel embarrassed about talking to trees like they're his journal. I just read what I have for this (under 300 words so far, I had the other fic to get back to!) and I like it a LOT. So whether this ends up being short or long I think it might be a Fave. slapping is a sincere form of pleasure:

This is another serious one! It's a Steve character study but from Eddie's POV, heavier on the kink than usual in a way (less like they stumble into sex that has bdsm elements and more like they go right into it knowing exactly what's going on). On the cover it'd be something like "Eddie enjoys slapping a lot" but it goes a lot deeper than that. Little excerpt from the beginning: (Contains: slapping ofc, kink, rated M)

While he can't say he's super familiar with the feeling of proper leather cuffs, he knows the stinging on his skin like the back of his hand.

How he got here is… not quite a mystery, he can piece it all together step-by-step, but it's one of those things he only believed was real once the first grounding hit had connected with him.

The mystery is all inside of Steve, carefully filed away until Eddie manages to find the right key for the right drawer to slide open. This particular drawer had been dense, and he's still not sure how he even got it open - weed and a witching-hour conversation already accounted for.

Steve's life between his graduation from high school and the Boat House Reunion is all blurry question mark, but all Steve says about his "Yeah, Eddie. I know what BDSM is. I can prove it." admission is that he's taking something back for himself.

And Eddie's desperate to know what it is, but earning access to that information will take a while. So he just enjoys what Steve's let him in on, becomes a collaborator in his previously private healing.

Steve's large, gorgeous hand cracks against Eddie's face again and he grunts - not yet at the point to give up his arbitrarily stubborn decision not to moan - enjoying the way his body's buzzing as his heart pumps faster.

#griefabyss69 writing #chats from the abyss #fun things

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trainingdummyrabbit · 1 year ago

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Hi! I'm the one who sent in that "Tanjiro sees ghosts" AU ask, and I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on it!

[re: this post!]

!! oh hell yeah! :D ill disclaim really quick that these are less of "fun facts" or "Worldbuilding Beats" and more of "i thought abt this character in this scenario a bit too hard and now theres a mini narrative." . meaning its a little long. ofcourse. So!! under the cut <33

ok just gonna get the bias one out of the way <33 in regards to the whole "not every ghost is nice" thing, Yahaba is actually one of the ghosts that remained hostile post-death. which wouldve been a problem for Team Foxmask to deal with-- but before much can happen, everything is interrupted by one (1) very distressed susamaru, going on and on about how theyre ignoring her theyre ignoring her they cheated and now theyre ignoring her, its not fair!! trying to calm her down and figure out what the hell shes trying to say is enough of a distraction for Team Kamado to step in. yahaba originally wouldnt have listened to a word anyone had to say to him, but hearing everything from an outside perspective (and listening through how they speak to susamaru) is enough to slowly de-escalate the situation. this serves both to double down on exemplifying the shoddy hand demons are often given, and also to give the Kamado Family a bit more characterization-- to give them more agency other than "fridged family that turns up sometimes." show off where tanjirou gets his values from! anyway those two stick around a little while, mostly just keeping to each other rather than anyone else. (theyre still poking fun of tanjiro in the background. and everyone else. i shrimply believe they should get to actually become friends. :] )

the pillars have. SO many ghosts. a lot of the time, they really dont want much of anything to do with him-- not usually because they dont like him, but because they have someone to watch out for. two exceptions are masachika and kanae. masachika so very badly wants to actually get to talk to this kid, but unfortunately: Sanemi is Sanemi. he rarely gets the chance to see tanjiro, and when he Does, things are kinda. stressful. because sanemi fucking hates this kid. masachika could easily give a good entryway to hinting at sanemi's softer side-- and also a way to up the escalation of the conflict in the pillar training arc. (sanemi would Not much like this kid suddenly talking about his friend that he Shouldnt Know About.) kanae, i feel, would actually like hanging out with nezuko more than with tanjiro! he might actually not figure it out for a good chunk of time, only catching on when he hears rumors about nezuko running about in the middle of the night, seemingly playing with someone who Isnt There. she would give some good character insight on shinobu-- maybe giving some extra depth to the conversation she and tan have on the roof.

muichiro. is going to be So Weird. yuichiro is likely ridiculously clingy-- constantly watching out for his twin, completely unheard. he... doesnt like tanjiro much at all when they meet for the first time. (though... that scene where mui and tan meet is a bit... complicated. its unsettling watching mui act like that, but yui's also inherently going to side with him on anything. do Not touch him.) they dont get to talk one on one (yui+tan) but it could very easily serve to both give more of an insight on mui's... Weirdness. and also to setup those hints that yui is just. he cares so much. this also gives very very fun opportunities for talk between mui and tan as tanjiro cant get a grasp on what exactly is going on with the ghost situation (its like a weird mirror..? its not the same, but...) and muichiro is just. completely oblivious. ("hey tokito-kun, have you ever died before?" "no, that's stupid. i'm real, and ghosts aren't." [the two continue saying more and more outlandish things to each other with complete sincerity as everyone around them try not to stare.])

honestly there's just a lot of good opportunities for interesting plotlines w/ this concept-- a ghost that helps tan unravel a demon-related mystery that everyone else had trouble finding a way to unravel. the ghost ends up being a family member or dear friend from the demon's previous life who was killed when they turned-- and they just want to be able to put their soul to rest and tell them they dont blame them for what happened, despite everything. ...or even the opposite-- a ghost who misleads any slayers from their turned friend in stark denial of what is going on-- causing a sort of double-antagonistic force that requires both tanjiro And the ghost squad to properly quell.

so like!!!! yknow!!!! waves hands around! its just a really fun way to get more subtle character details across without the characters themselves saying it-- especially for the less sociable ones. yknow. Get Haunted, Idiots(tm) <33

#long post #ask game #kinda..#kny #also hope u dont mind th wait; i wanted t make sure i was. conscious. to write KJFNSDKFJ #theres also some fun potential t include nezzy and extrapolate on her arc a bit more--#--especially since so much of what happens with her is wordless.#i also think itd be fun if she was able t mess with ghosts w her demon art too. honorary Ghost Tan Protection Squad member.#ANYWAY. YKNOW. characters and scenarios. does a lil bow.

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wildcards1407 · 2 years ago

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Travel Documents 125: Real Sugar Is Hard To Find

by Sim Kern

Genre: sci-fi, fantasy, near-future, social change, cultural change, anthology

The Dust Cover Copy

Real Sugar is Hard to Find is a collection of stories for reluctant witches, sugar smugglers, and soil thieves exploring the intersections of deep-rooted and timely issues such as climate change, reproductive justice, queer identities, and family trauma. Whether fantasy, science fiction, or terrifyingly close-to-home, the worlds of these stories are inhabited by flawed characters whose lives are profoundly impacted by climate change and environmental degradation. Arranged in a progression from dystopian to utopian worlds, the stories chart a path from climate despair towards resilience and revolutionary optimism. Even in the bleakest of futures, however, Kern offers reasons to hope, connect, and keep fighting for a better world. Like Kelly Link’s Magic for Beginners or Karen Russell’s Vampires in the Lemon Grove, Kern's stories are unflinching, intimate explorations of trauma and our deepest fears, rendered irresistible through the infusion of fantastic speculative elements and a dark sense of humor.

The Scene

Worldbuilding

Wow. I have to say it once in this review. Just…wow. Talk about world building? In eleven short stories—none more than a handful of pages—this slim volume takes readers through eleven weird, wonderful, gut-wrenching, heart-breaking and truth-telling worlds. Some stories make your soul soar. Some make your blood boil. Every one of them tells you something you need to know. Even the simplest story, the lessons we learn about what is a good home and what is not by watching nature, tells us something profound about love, perseverance, and personal dignity. When to say ‘I can keep going’, and when to say ‘no, you don’t treat me like this. Enough.’

As usual, my rule on anthologies is to touch lightly, focusing on the overall ability instead of diving deep into specific story setups. I’m not going to make you read a treatise, and I’ll write one if I get started. But the world building here is stellar. Some stories warn us about where we’re headed if we don’t think this through, like The Propagator. That one sent shivers all over me and made me grind my teeth. Others show us that even when things suck, there’s the possibility of incredible things, as in The Lost Roads. And in between are all kinds of stories of getting weird, getting hurt, getting better, and just plain getting through. Though there’s a lot of snark, gallows humor and side-eyeing of the status quo on the surface of these tales, through them all runs an incredible thread of—dare I say it—triumph. These tales tell the reader ‘yeah, you know what? It does suck. And maybe it’ll still suck tomorrow. But the day after? Who knows. Maybe it’ll even be good. You ready to work for that?”

Trigger warning: there is a lot in this work that can bring up old pain if you’ve had it rough. The book will give you that warning up front. But heads up: it’s worth the trip.

The Crowd

Characterization

These characters have really stuck with me, so much so that I’ve done a second read of this little work. Some, as in the cast of What Can’t Be Undone, partake of the parable and folklore tradition of storytelling and aren’t meant to be fleshed out people as much as symbols. Some have all the depths of the ocean written into their personalities. Whether it’s the teen exasperation and raw yearning for a less embarrassing parent and a more fulfilling life showcased in Peter of the titular short, the still and quiet anger flaming in Mary of The Propagator, or the wonderful exploration of angst and empathy in Dr. Goldstein of The End Of The Nuclear Era, each character is worth meeting.

Writing Style

My only niggle with Kern’s work is that, at times, the narrative concepts and their imagery get loose and take off running. They’re gorgeous, but the reader gets left in the bewildering dust. This is particularly true in the more experimental stories like Unwhole. But as complaints go, it’s minor. As a reader, I was most entranced when the author delved deep into the human experience and drew out things that are so real they hurt, then showed them to you in a voice like the kid on the bus telling you how they got the bruise. And when we’re told, in the same matter of fact voice, what a different kind of future could look like, we can really believe in it.

The Moves

Plot

Each story runs like a good punk rock album. It starts strong, hits its middle loud, and leaves you with something to think about later.

Overall Rating

Read every story. Don’t flinch. Don’t look away. Do that, and you’ll be glad you did.

#Sim Kern #books and reading #solarpunk #indie books #indie authors

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pancakefancake · 1 year ago

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^me.

"Her stomach sank at the idea of Eris not taking care of himself. Someone needed to make sure he was doing both of those things."

WELL - Starting off right with a punch in the feels 🙃 Wonder who that person should be?? But also - just imagining the first she takes care of him and he just like MELTS instantly because what? softness? never heard of it. I keep having to remind myself that there is still angst to come and I am not ready to be hurt like that 🙃

Again - the IMAGERY 👏🏼

"..is not to leave the estate without an escort."

"And what am I then?" Lucien, bby. As always your witty dialogue is just 😍

"Lucien couldn't even imagine his brother so much as slightly raising his voice at his beloved mate." I AM SOFT. Ugh, soft Eris is so top tier.

"Eris said you loved horses."

"Because they do." 'BECAUSE THEY DO." I feel attacked. the actual swoon. Lucien playing matchmaker brings me so much stinkin joy - the sibling vibes.

"Eris frowned, not at her, but at the idea that she could ever see herself as such a burden."

Literally this entire exchange. It's perfect. It's witty and nuanced and alive. perfection. and "if his mate was annoyed with his brother, then he would choose her side." I love literally every single characterization that you give him. the devotion. the commitment. the partnership. the solidarity. LIVING FOR IT.

"little witch" need I say anything more? The way this nickname has me feeling all sorts of things is RIDICULOUS. I love love love them just getting the chance to chat and banter and be adorable. "but coming from him, it only felt sweet." Lil witch is FOND.

The way he remember everything she says?? cannot with you.

Pretty sure I pointed this out before with the hounds, but why is Eris and a sharp whistle so hot?? Why??

👏🏼the👏🏼sweetness👏🏼the👏🏼teasing👏🏼the👏🏼slow👏🏼burn👏🏼

"She noted how thick and strong the muscles were there." MA'AM.

UGH THE WAY HE ENCOURAGES HER TO PARTICIPATE AND SPEAK UP. I CANNOT.

the music 👌🏼

"Make sure to keep that kindness in your eyes." THE PARTNERSHIP. THE AFFECTION. SHE SEES HIM AND I AM NOT OKAY. Literally this entire thing. I love them interacting so fucking much. and the wit as always. incredible.

"I can destroy it even without your efforts."

"Then by all means..." 😉

The sass. but then the POWER. High Lord Eris, ladies and gentleman. I love him, your honor.

and the MORE POWER cause lil witch is a badass all on her own too. God, the two of them together are going to be unstoppable (until you write whatever devious plot you have in store for us.)

And all the touching?? the hand holding?? I am unwell. I need more, please.

"Without realizing what she was doing, she stepped forwared to brush some stray hair off his face and behind his ear." MA'AM. MA'AM. MA'AM. I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I was so totally prepared to feel this soft this early in the morning after getting basically no sleep at all.

"Smirked." "Pinched." "I will not forgive him for what he did to you. You should have given him your wrath." Okay - literally, excuse me. The adorableness and then straight into that absolute masterpiece of a sentence. The DEVOTION. The SUPPORT. Ugh. Eris is a ✨partner✨

The love he has for his court makes me want to weep. SJM just needs to let you write him from now on. I will accept no other characterizations.

Eris. that's it. that's the post. Eris. Eris verbalizing his gratitude. Eris being honest and vulnerable. Eris being THE high lord and top tier mate that he is. And literally anytime you put shit in italics it GETS me. "That" UGH You give him such depth and realism. He's gorgeous and wonderful and powerful and has so much potential but he's also so deeply flawed and the characterization of how much of his trauma he has internalized and turned towards himself and this clear display of envy is heartbreaking and breathtaking at the same time. I LOVE IT SO FUCKING MUCH.

"Eris couldn't stop his beaming from her words." Excuse me - a smiling Eris? I cannot.

"You will come with me? Because what did any of this matter if she didn't. Eris was starting to realize he couldn't do any of it without her."

Eris and his casual display of power has me weak.

"But she recognized Eris' scent and warmth immediately, stopping her from startling" uhm - THIS has me weak. I just - MA'AM.

"LITTLE WITCH"

"Eris whispered in her ear. 'Go back to sleep.'" Literally everything from this point forward has me in a goddamn chokehold. I am unwell. I want THIS. You are amazing and incredible and absolute blessing to this hellsite.

Gorgeous storytelling. Absolutely gorgeous. 1000/10 would recommend. I ❤️ you and I hope you're have a good week!

chapter xix – gust & flame

Eris Vanserra x Reader

Eris Vanserra has been a prisoner in his own home since the day he was born. He has done what he had to in order to survive and protect the few he loves. And he is playing the long game. Waiting, waiting, and waiting for the right time to make his move, to usurp his wicked father and become High Lord of Autumn Court. But things become even more complicated when a human girl drops into his life. Perhaps Eris can wait no longer to take his throne.

Word Count: 4,700+

masterlist

After the meeting of the High Lords, Y/N didn’t see Eris for quite some time. He was bogged down with his duties. And Y/N could only assume he was barely eating or sleeping with the amount of work he was dealing with. Her stomach sank at the idea of Eris not taking care of himself. Someone needed to make sure he was doing both of those things.

However, Y/N’s usual schedule of breakfast, training, and library continued.

But on this morning, Lucien came to her after training.

“Would you like to go riding with me?” He asked as Y/N drank water.

The Weapons Master had already exited the training grounds, leaving her exhausted and alone. Well, not really alone. For she had two of the smoke hounds as her guards and company still.

They now eyed Lucien wearily, not appreciating how close he was getting to their master's mate.

But Y/N’s eyes beamed with the question. “Really?”

Lucien tried not to tease her for being so excited. In actuality, he felt guilty for such a simple thing clearly bringing her such joy. If he had known that, he would’ve asked long ago.

He studied her current state. “Yes, really. Perhaps you would like to change before doing so?”

Y/N looked down at herself. She was covered in mud and dirt. And what couldn’t be seen, but surely smelt, was the sweat she’d released from all her training. There was even a few cuts and scrapes across her hands and arms from little nicks she’d received while sparring.

“Yes, perhaps I should clean myself up first…” Y/N mumbled as her face got hot with embarrassment.

Half an hour later, Y/N appeared from her bedchambers freshly bathed. Her hair was still wet, but braided. And she wore a riding outfit that Lucien was sure the handmaidens had helped her pick out.

“S-Sorry to keep you waiting,” Y/N quickly muttered, only able to look at the ground as she shut her bedchamber door behind her.

“It wasn’t long at all,” Lucien tried to tell her.

They hurried to the stables, which Y/N had no complaint about.

Two horses were already saddled and waiting for them when they reached the royal barn. A stableboy had both reigns in his hands.

“What’s this?” Lucien asked, pointing to a bow and quiver of arrows strapped to one of the saddles.

The stableboy seemed embarrassed and wouldn't look Lucien in the eye when he answered. “The High Lord demanded that Lady Y/N never go on horseback without at least two weapons on her saddle. I am just following orders, my lord.”

Y/N smirked and stepped toward the horse that was now very obviously hers. It was a stark white gelding, covered in muscles, but held a kindness in his eyes as he greeted Y/N.

“What’s his name?” Y/N asked the stableboy.

“Aengus, my lady.”

“Aengus,” Y/N muttered to the horse with a smile as she softly stroked his face.

The stableboy cleared his throat awkwardly. “The High Lord also stated that Lady Y/N is not to leave the estate without an escort.”

“And what am I then?” Lucien snapped.

Y/N chuckled as she easily lifted into the saddle. “Lucien, don’t start.” Then she turned to the stableboy. “That is fine. But may they remain behind us?”

The stableboy looked relieved at having her support. “Yes, Lady Y/N. Only five will be joining you. They will meet you at the gates.”

“And what is your name?” Y/N asked sweetly.

“Cian, Lady Y/N.”

“Thank you, Cian. We will be seeing much more of each other now. Perhaps I can help you brush the horses after we return.”

He smiled and bowed his head. “Of course, Lady Y/N.”

She leaned down to stroke Aengus’ neck. “Ready for some fun?” She whispered.

The white gelding neighed happily and stomped his feet, proving just how ready he was.

Y/N turned to Lucien, “They will learn quickly that they need to keep up.”

And then she whistled, signaling Aengus to make his escape. The horse quickly jolted into a gallop out of the gates.

It only took Lucien a second or two to follow, but even that made him fall far behind.

He hoped Eris didn’t hear about this little stunt, because it would be him that he reprimanded. Cauldron knew Eris would never scold Y/N for anything. Lucien couldn’t even imagine his brother so much as slightly raising his voice at his beloved mate.

——

Hayley looked to the right to see one of their Autumn guards 50 yards or so off to the side of them. A guard was placed the same distance in all directions of them, putting her and Lucien in their perimeter of safety. If anyone sought to hurt them, they’d have to go through one of the guards before ever reaching them.

Y/N and Lucien slowed their horses to a brisk walk.

“How did you know I would want to go on a ride?” She asked.

Lucien smirked. “Eris said you love horses.”

“I said that to him once, in passing, when he was still but a stranger.” Y/N shook her head. “Yet he remembers all my words as if they hold such weight.”

“Because they do,” Lucien countered.

Y/N ignored him.

“You know, if you let him get to know you more, he could remember more than just the things you say in passing…”

Y/N’s head whipped around to glare him. “Really? You of all people want to make such comments to me? You flee from your mate every chance you get.”

“That is not fair and you know it, Y/N. I tried with Elaine more times than I can count – far before you ever joined our ranks, might I add. She wants nothing with me.”

“And perhaps that is her right,” Y/N growled.

Lucien cocked an eyebrow. “That wasn’t your tune when you were unaware of having your own mate…”

Y/N halted her horse to glare into his eyes.

And he couldn’t help but feel guilty when she did it.

“Stay out of it, Lucien.” She grumbled before whistling, signaling Aengus into a gallop back to the Forest House.

Their fun had been ruined, all thanks to Lucien.

The guards quickly followed after her, not bothering to make sure Lucien was with them. But he already knew they weren’t there for him anyway.

——

Y/N cantered through the gates of the estate and up to the Forest House to find that Eris was saddling his own horse.

And there were nearly thirty sentries already mounted and waiting for their High Lord.

Eris immediately turned when she halted Aengus just a few yards from him.

“Where are you off to?” Y/N asked through heavy breaths. She’d pushed Aengus to his highest speed as she’d made her escape from Lucien.

“Visiting the surrounding villages,” Eris answered.

Then Y/N’s guards caught up. The High Lord glared at them, noting how they let his mate get away from them. It was obvious that would be discussed when Y/N was out of earshot.

“May I come?” Y/N blurted out before she could stop herself.

Eris blinked, evidently taken aback by her request.

“I promise I will keep to myself,” she added quickly, as if her very presence would be a burden to him.

Eris frowned, not at her, but at the idea that she could ever see herself as such a burden. “That will not be necessary. You may join me, if that really is your wish. Though I worry the day will bore you…”

Y/N beamed at his admission. “Oh, I would never find it boring! I have been wanting to see the villages of Autumn. I have read so much about them!”

Eris tilted his head. “Read?”

But before she could answer or mentally scold herself for saying too much, Lucien came galloping over to them.

“You are supposed to stay with her,” Eris growled.

“You try keeping up with her,” his youngest brother shot back with exasperation. “Cauldron, she rides like the wind.”

But Y/N ignored him, acting as if he weren't even there. And of course Eris caught it.

He ignored his youngest brother as he mounted. “We must leave now to make it back before dark.”

Lucien glanced back and forth between his brother and Y/N. “She’s going with you?”

“Yes,” Eris answered with boredom in his tone. “And you are staying here.”

If his mate was annoyed with his brother, then he would choose her side.

Lucien scoffed. But rode back towards the royal stables. Clearly he didn’t wish to accompany them that badly, for he didn’t even put up a fight.

“Is this some trick?” Eris asked Y/N quietly, so no one else could hear. “Do you intend to make your escape?

Y/N smiled and leaned toward him. “Guess you will have to wait and see.”

—

The Forest House was now just a small structure in the distance behind them. Y/N watched it get smaller and smaller before turning back to Eris.

He wouldn’t leave her side since they left the estate, choosing to ride right alongside her.

“May I ask perhaps a silly question?” She asked.

Eris nodded.

“Why do we not just…winnow to the village?”

He smirked at her. “It is a fair question. But there are many who reside between the Forest House and Falanaird. I wish to see how even the smallest homes are fairing.”

Then his smirk grew to a full smile that was almost mischievous. “Besides, the village would be in a panic if their new High Lord appeared before them out of nowhere. I thought it would be better to give them a fair warning of my arrival. By the time we are a few miles out, someone will have alerted them of my presence.”

Y/N grinned at him. “We are going to Falanaird. I have heard it is quite beautiful…”

Eris narrowed his eyes. “How do you know of Falanaird, little witch?”

Y/N felt her face heat at his pet name for her. If anyone else used it, she was sure it would irritate her. But coming from him, it only felt sweet.

But she remained quiet.

Eris persisted. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with your reading you mentioned, would it?”

“I have been reading about the histories of Autumn Court,” Y/N finally admitted quietly. “After training, I go to one of the libraries and read.”

“What for?” Eris asked.

Y/N laughed. “To learn about your home, of course. Why else?”

Before Eris could fully let that settle in, she sat up straighter in her saddle and pointed in the distance. “Look!” When he followed her gaze, she was pointing to two small fae children who were standing at the gate of their little cottage, staring at the High Lord’s traveling company with mesmerized expressions

When Eris locked eyes with them, they gasped in fear and ducked behind the fence.

“They are only little ones,” Y/N scolded when she saw that Eris had a dark look. “There’s no need to intimidate them.”

Eris blinked, realizing it was a habit that had been ingrained in him for centuries to intimidate any and all who looked upon him.

But he knew Y/N was right. What good would it be, having children fear him?

The High Lord let out a sharp whistle, and the entire company came to a halt.

He jumped off his horse and moved to a small wagon that had been trailing in the back. His reached into a basket. When his hand reappeared, Y/N realized he had grabbed two cookies from what she now realized was a wagon full of food.

Eris walked to the edge of the fence where the two young ones were hiding on the other side.

They slowly peaked over it when they heard his approach.

“No need to fear,” Y/N heard Eris mutter to them. “We are only passing through.”

With slow hands, each of them reached out to take his offering. And their eyes lit up when they realized what he was handing them.

They screeched, “Thank you!” And then ran off in a fit of giggles, surely to eat their cookies before their parents could find out and reprimand them.

Eris then returned to his horse as if nothing happened. And the company continued without questioning or even looking quizzically at their High Lord.

But Y/N wasn’t going to let it go unnoticed. “I like when you let others see your kindness, Eris.”

He refused to look at her as he responded with, “I only did it because you went out of your way to guilt me…”

Y/N laughed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes. Of course.”

—

They finally reached Falanaird about an hour later.

Someone had clearly done as Eris suspected, and warned the entire city of their High Lord’s surprise visit.

Y/N saw the tension fill Eris’ entire posture as everyone stared. He couldn’t sit any straighter in his saddle. She could see his internal struggle of trying to figure if he should be stern and cold as their leader or break the cycle and lead with kindness and integrity.

They stopped to dismount.

“Hold your arm out,” Y/N whispered to him hurriedly.

He looked at her with confusion.

“They are scared of you,” she hissed. “Offer me your arm. Trust me.”

To her surprise, Eris did as she said. Like a gentleman, his left arm was held out and Y/N gently placed her hand on his bicep. She noted how thick and strong the muscles were there.

A red-brown haired male came to greet them.

“Lord Callum,” Eris greeted formally.

Callum bowed his head deeply. “To what do we owe the pleasure, High Lord?”

“I am surveying the cities of Autumn Court. Much has been ignored these past centuries. I plan to remedy that with a tour of my court.”

Callum didn’t hide his surprise at such a gesture. Then his gaze shifted briefly to Y/N. “I see you have graced us with the heroin that is your mate.” Then he bowed at her and greeted her with, "Lady Y/N."

Y/N gave him a shy but warm smile. But she promised Eris she would stay quiet and she was not at all versed in political conversations, especially ones at a royal level.

“Y/N was rather excited to hear we were visiting Falanaird,” Eris answered. Then he looked down at her with an encouraging look. “Weren’t you?”

Y/N nervously cleared her throat before saying, “Yes! I heard Falanaird is responsible for the best harvests in all of Prythian. I was excited to see the city for myself.”

Callum seemed to straighten with pride as such a compliment. “You honor us, Lady Y/N.”

“Let us discuss the needs of the city, Lord Callum.” Eris commanded.

Callum bowed his head and gestured for them to walk into the city.

“Make sure to keep that kindness in your eyes,” Y/N whispered to Eris when everyone else around them was distracted.

Eris’ face immediately softened with her instruction. But he kept Y/N on his arm as they were guided through the city.

Callum gave Eris detailed updates on various businesses and citizens of Falanaird. Eris rarely interrupted and when he did, it was to ask for more details on certain matters.

“And how are the crops fairing this season? I know with the last, there was some issues that my father had little patience for.”

“Aye,” Callum agreed darkly. “The eggplants and carrots are suffering. The creek used to direct water to the beds has been misdirected and we have been unable to fix it permanently.”

Eris frowned but nodded.

“What is blocking the creek?” Y/N asked suddenly.

“A giant pine tree, Lady Y/N. It then flows into a river that we have built an irrigation system for those specific crops.”

Y/N looked to Eris before continuing. He seemed both amused and curious as to where she was going with her question.

“Could you take us to it?” She continued shyly.

“The ground is muddy and no place for a lady,” Callum tried to warn her.

Y/N smirked before teasing him with, “Worried about getting mud on your nice clothing, Lord Callum? I will survive.”

They hiked through a nearby forest to get to the creek Callum referenced. Eris moved Y/N’s hand from the crook of his arm and laced their fingers instead to help her through the hills and mud. She knew he would never let her fall or so much as trip.

“We have tried to use fire wielders to incinerate it, but the wood is too moist,” Callum explained.

“I guess it is a good thing your High Lord is here then?” Y/N answered with a smile. Then she turned to Eris. “If I remove the water, can you set the fallen tree alight?”

Eris nearly scoffed at the question. “I can destroy it even without your efforts.”

Y/N laughed. “Then by all means…”

With the wave of his hand, Eris set the tree into flames. Even from their distance, Y/N could feel the warmth of it.

Through his magic, the tree was nothing but ash in just a few seconds.

However, the creek was still too low to move the water where it needed to go.

Y/N stepped forward quietly and then kneeled. She looked at the water as if she were about to have a conversation with it.

Slowly, she started chanting in a whisper. It was once again a language Eris did not know or understand.

But the water started rippling. He heard crashing of water in the distance, and a mini-monsoon of waves came rushing from the creek’s source, filling it up to the brim.

Callum looked on in awe. Some of their escorts even let out quiet gasps.

Y/N looked up at the sky.

Everyone stood behind her, but Eris was at her side. So only he saw when her eyes glazed over in white, like they had on the night they’d killed Beron.

She chanted again. It seemed to echo through the forest. Like nature was chanting back.

Thunder cracked over them.

And then the next second, rain started pouring.

Callum smiled up as the storm soaked him.

Y/N turned to him. “Hopefully that does it.”

“Thank you, Lady Y/N. You do not know the miracle you have bestowed upon us.”

Then he watched on as Eris immediately removed his cloak to cover Y/N’s head and protect her from the rain.

“Follow me,” Callum said. “There is an inn where you can seek shelter.”

Eris grabbed her hand again, hurrying them to follow Callum.

But when they reached an inn at the edge of the forest, the two of them were already soaked.

Y/N giggled from the ridiculousness, especially when she looked up at Eris to find how irritated he seemed about being wet.

Without realizing what she was doing, she stepped forward to brush some stray hair off his face and behind his ear.

“Shall we have a drink?” She asked his sweetly.

And just like that, Eris’ irritation disappeared and he smiled down at his mate.

He nodded and nudged his head at the barstools in the tavern that was the bottom floor of the inn.

His sentries were close on their heels, eyeing the patrons who had already been in the tavern upon their arrival.

“Keep your distance,” Eris commanded. “I do not need you breathing down my neck.”

They did as he said, grabbing tables and taking standing posts far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop on their High Lord’s conversation.

The bartender clearly recognizes Eris, but didn't let it stop his gruff and abrupt attitude when he asked them what they wanted to drink.

He slammed two giant mugs of ale in front of them, and then left them alone.

“I see you have more clever tricks up your sleeve, little witch.”

Y/N frowned a bit. “If I am being honest, they come as a surprise to me, as well.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ever since that day you found me in the woods…something new has come to the surface. Something…powerful.” Her brow furrowed as her eyes glazed over and she remembered her last days in Night Court. “I almost killed Azriel when we were sparring. I summoned a lightning strike and it almost hit him.”

Eris smirked. “It would have been a cause for celebration.”

Y/N pinched his arm. “That is not funny!”

But Eris’ amusement disappeared as he said, “I will not forgive him for what he did to you. You should have given him your wrath.”

Y/N stared down into her ale. “The wind said you threatened him when you found out he forgot about me. I guess…I guess it makes sense now that I know our…umm…connection.”

Eris watched her a moment before he answered. “Well, he would be dead if I did not care about how upset it would make you.”

Y/N’s face got hot at his confession. So she distracted herself by looking around at the tavern. It was cozy and the light was colored in oranges and reds, only being lit by a hundred candles and two roaring fireplaces.

“What are your thoughts on Falanaird?” Eris asked after a moment.

“It is beautiful,” Y/N answered immediately.

“It is no Velaris,” he pointed out. Then a tiny bit of hope sparked in his eyes as he locked gazes with her and added, “But perhaps one day it could be.”

“Or perhaps…” she replied slowly, “it will be better.”

Eris looked out the window as the rain pelted the glass harshly. “How long did you make it rain for?”

Y/N shrugged and looked a bit embarrassed. “I have not a clue.”

He laughed. “We could be here all night.”

“Good thing we’re already at an inn.”

Both their minds went to the scandalous implication of what she may have meant.

But then Eris remembered what Feyre had once shared with him, what Y/N had confessed to her about her past lovers. And he couldn’t stop the darkness from taking over his face. His grip tightened dangerously on his ale.

Unfortunately, Y/N interpreted Eris’ sudden shift as his disinterest in the idea of ever sharing a room with her at an inn.

“Why have you been researching Autumn Court in the libraries?”

“Library,” she corrected. “Singular.”

He narrowed his gaze. “You know what I mean. Stop evading my question.”

Y/N sighed. “I live here now, do I not? I figured I should learn about its history.”

“And you did the same for the Night Court when you lived there?”

She opened and closed her mouth. “Well…umm n-no, actually.”

Eris looked out the windows again. “Thank you��for your help today, Y/N.”

“You’re the one who burnt down that giant tree as if it were nothing.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he quickly told her.

Y/N swallowed, sensing that he was going to say something that would make her heart skip a beat.

“I find it…difficult deciding who I am supposed to be as High Lord of this court. I do not want to be my father, that I am sure of. But after centuries of wearing a mask…it’s harder to take it off than I ever could have imagined.”

She nodded.

Eris stared at her a moment before finally confessing, “I find it easier with you at my side. That is what I am thanking you for.”

Y/N reached for his hand, softly covering it. “Kindness is not a weakness. Just like cruelness does not equate to strength.”

“Even Rhysand wears a mask to control his subordinates,” Eris argued. “I have seen his charades at the Court of Nightmares.”

Y/N watched him with confusion. “But why compare yourself to him?”

“You have seen the headway he’s made as High Lord. His true court is made up of dreamers, not high-borns given power by birthright alone. He has assured female Illyrians have the same opportunities to train as males, and tried his hardest to put a stop to wing clipping. The citizens of Velaris do not fear him, they respect him. How am I not to compare myself?”

“That is his legacy, not yours.” She urged. “You have only been High Lord for a month, Eris. Give yourself time. You have plenty of it.”

But Eris said nothing in return, only got lost in his internal battle of self loathing and unrealistic expectations he has put on himself.

Y/N leaned forward. “Do you know why I insisted that Callum shows us the empty creek? Because I knew you could fix it. And what your people need to see is that you care – about them, about their cities. They need to see that you do not believe you are above their troubles.”

She leaned back. “So you go to village after village in Autumn Court, and you show them that you care.”

Eris could stop his beaming from her words. “You will come with me?”

Because what did any of this matter if she didn’t?

Eris was starting to realize he couldn’t do any of it without her.

“And when it is safe for you to leave?”

Y/N frowned at such a subject being brought up.

She nodded toward the windows. “It has stopped raining.”

One of his sentries approached. “High Lord, we should start our journey back to the Forest House before it gets too late.”

Eris reached into his pocket for coins to pay the bartender.

“Don’ botha,” the bartender spat his his thick accent. “It’s on the ‘ouse.” Then his eyes shifted between the two of them as he dried a glass. “For riddin’ us o’ that favver o’ yours. The both o’ yer.”

When they got outside, someone had already brought their horses for them.

Y/N tried to return Eris’ cloak to him, quietly handing it to him. The thick fabric was damp for their attempt at shielding her from the rain.

Eris took it, lightly blew on it, and handed it right back to her.

Y/N eyes widened in surprise when she found that it was completely dry and also warm like it had been sitting by a fire for hours.

“Keep it,” he instructed firmly. “The sun is setting within the hour.”

—

They were only 20 or so minutes from the Forest House when Eris saw Y/N’s head bob from falling asleep.

Her horse, Aengus, kept moving closer and closer to Eris, as if he was worried for his rider and was making sure Eris would be able to catch Y/N if she fell off.

She was in an exhausted and delirious daze. She could hear the conversations around her. But they felt unreal, like she was in a dream or sleepwalking.

“Should we move her to the wagon to sleep, High Lord?” One of the guards asked quietly, as if he feared waking her.

“That won’t be necessary.”

Then Y/N, half asleep, felt a tug on the right side of her saddle. A large mass mounted her horse and pulled themselves behind her in the saddle.

But she recognized Eris’ scent and warmth immediately, stopping her from startling and fully waking up.

“You were falling asleep in your saddle, little witch. And at risk of falling right off your horse,” Eris whispered in her ear. “Go back to sleep.”

His arms reached around her, taking her reigns and also caging in her body protectively.

And she did just that, leaning back against her mate and falling into a deep sleep now that she knew she would be safe from falling off her horse.

What she didn’t think about was that Eris could have easily winnowed both of them home. She would never put together that her mate finds any way to extend their time together – even if it existed as her falling asleep against his strong chest and he rode them home safely.

Y/N barely stirred when they returned to the Forest House and Eris gently pulled her from the saddle, landing on the ground with her in his arms.

His footsteps echoed down the halls.

“Cauldron, what happened?” She recognized Leonora’s worried voice in her sleep.

“She is only sleeping, mother.”

“The poor thing must be exhausted. Waking up at the crack of dawn to train herself nearly to the point of collapsing. Only for you to force her on a trip to Falanaird afterward.”

Eris sighed. “She insisted. I am going right to the Weapons Master after putting her to bed to tell him their lessons are canceled tomorrow. She needs rest.”

“Perhaps you should take the day, too.” Leonora urged. “Together.”

--------

Please please please please please please let me know what you think! Be like @pancakefancake

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pleasantanathema · 4 years ago

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Pleasant’s Writer Recs!

I’ve gotten a few asks in my inbox over the past few weeks asking me for writer recs, so I thought the best way to do this was to compile a list of my fav authors on tumblr and rec my favorite fic of theirs! A lot of these amazing authors are moots—I’m very lucky to call many of them close friends. This list could be much longer, and I could go on for days about every single author, but I’ll try to keep it brief. Most all of these authors, like myself, write 18+ only content. Hopefully this can be a useful tool for authors and readers alike looking for amazing fanfic 💕

@bakatenshii | Angel is so phenomenal with her writing that I almost can’t put her style and amazing ability into words (but I’ll try). Angel’s work is beautiful, masterful, full of poetry, elegance, and smut that will all leave you gasping. Fav Fic: Blitz [Ushijima x Reader]

@blahkugo | Sunnt, Thunnth, Sunny, whatever you call her, she is brilliant. No one writes Tsukishima quite like she does. She is beyond creative and her writing style flows like the sexiest water, it’ll make you thirsty and quench your aches. Fav Fic: Tower [Tsukishima x Reader]

@deathcab4daddy | Tay is all about details, details, details. She fills in every gap and paints gorgeous, sexy pictures and situations for the reader to feel immersed in. Fav Fic: Cerulean Blue [Akaashi x Reader]

@dymphnasprose | Dymphna is all about fun, sex, and slowly filling out her holy bible of smut. She’s amazing at creating realistic sub/dom relationships and her smut almost always comes with a healthy dose of build-up. Fav Fic: Green Scrunchies [Ukai x Reader]

@enjifuckersupreme | Ketsl reigns supreme over pure, unadulterated porn. They are phenomenal at making me the reader wet, and every fic is crafted with so much care. Enji fuckers should bow down at their feet, no one loves and writes Enji like Ketsl. Fav Fic: Attitude Adjustment [Enji x Reader]

@hisoknen | Raph is one of the first dark blogs I ever started reading, and she never, ever disappoints. She writes pieces that chill you to the bone, but warms your sex- her writing is casual, smooth, and realistic, always giving you everything you need, but leaving you wanting a little more. Fav Fic: Sleeping Beauty [Dabi x Reader]

@hoe-doroki | Ana is one of the sweetest writers I know. Every time I talk to her, she’s working on comfort requests or beta-reading for other people. Her writing is such a pleasure to read, as you can tell she pours love and consideration into every fic for her readers. Fav Fic: Can’t Find My Breath [Bakugou x Reader]

@joyousandverywarlike | Zo...holy fucking shit. Zo is a writer who consistently blows me out of the water with her skill. This woman is a novelist blessing us with juicy, rich smut and love stories like no one else can. She is incredibly poetic and her writing is an absolute joy to read; she also writes amazing fics for black readers and has an amazing voice that she uses for asmr audios! Fav Fic: How We Met [Ushijima x Reader]

@lemonlordleah-shinzawa-kitten | Leah is an author who takes immense care with her work. She works incredibly hard to craft sexy, healthy bdsm fics for bnha. She is a great blog to go to for bdsm education, and she’s also got a side blog @lemonlordleah-extra-sour for all you extra naughty readers who like the darker side of fanfic. You should also check out her Patreon! Fav Fic: Between the Evergreen [Aizawa x Reader]

@linestrider | Nyki’s work is like smooth water, it’s calming, refreshing, but she also adds a nice, chill bite to it as well with her darker style. Nyki puts such an impressive amount of care into her work; a word is never out of place, every sentence has meaning, every paragraph gives you something new. It was very hard to choose just one fic to recommend. Fav Fic: What’s Said is Said [Hawks x Reader]

@lookslikeleese | Leese is one of the most fun writers on Tumblr, and by that I mean you just have a shitload of fun reading her fics. They are like little, sexy treats to take in right before bed and feel a little more full than you were before. She is also the Cucking Queen. Fav Fic: Cola [Enji x Reader]

@messwriting | Lee is also another fun writer! Her writing is exhilarating to read, and you’d never guess she’s a sexy Brazilian whose second language is English based on how well she writes. She’s a little sex goddess who will give you everything you want and more in every fic. Fav Fic: What We Could’ve Been [Tsukishima x Reader]

@mindninjax | Marquie is a full on sweetie with a sexy side. She. Is. So. Creative. Every fic of hers is so unique and her masterlist is a whole reading experience. She writes Bakugou Katsuki so damn well, she’s a master at characterization, even in au’s. She also writes beautiful fics for black readers. Fav Fic: Bound to You [Bakugou x Reader]

@nekokoafanfictions | I first found Ai on Ao3, and then was fortunate enough to come across their blog here on Tumblr! I’ve said this before in previous rec lists, and I’ll say it again, I still read their fics some nights to fall asleep to, they are just that good, every fic will have you coming back at some point to read it again. Fav Fic: City Lights [Enji x Reader]

@present-mel | The. Queen. Of. Dialogue. Mel is a master at making her fanfic feel real, gritty, sexy, and beautiful all at the same time. This woman pours her heart and soul into fanfic, especially into her Erwin series Fragments of Memories. I was so captivated by her work that I just had to become her friend, her work is enchanting and thrilling. Fav Fic: Until the Fire Played [Enji x Reader]

@rat-suki | Annie makes me horny. Like, real horny. Her smut is fantastic and are often little thrill rides within themselves. Fuck rollercoasters, just go to Annie’s masterlist to find a joy ride. Fav Fic: Hell Fire [Enji x Reader]

@rivendell101 | I’m such a big fan of Alisha, that I sent her a request months ago before we even became friends. This author knows how to craft a story, her work is very meticulous with details and her plots are always so spot on. Fav Fic: Sweet Thing [Natsuo x Reader]

@smutbardpeach | Smutbard is the most accurate title for Peach, as her fics read like poetry and song, filled with beautiful language, imagery, and allusions to the brim. If you’re ever looking for something romantic, sensual, delightful, and just overall magnificent to read, this is the blog to go to. Peach’s work is like reading poetry and classics right off the shelf. Fav Fic: Truth in Wine [Hizashi x Reader]

@spicyness | Are you thirsty? Do you like fun, sexy headcanons? Ness is the author for you. Ness is so, so fun and sweet, and is active with her followers and is always posting something new and creative for us to nibble at. Her blog is full of fun thirsts and she’s always a joy to see pop-up on my dash. Fav Fic: Pride [Bakugou x Reader]

@sugardaddykenma | Lin has the most amazing brain. I wish I could just...see and understand how she thinks. Her blog is full to the brim with hilarious, iconic, and down right fucking true headcanons for haikyuu characters. Many nights I have stayed up laughing my ass off and saying “why is that so true?” while reading through her astonishingly creative work. Fav Fic: Haikyuu on Drugs

@thewheezingwyvern | Wyv is a writer who gets straight to the point; her words are poignant, meaningful, and always paint a very clear picture. She is a Shinsou and Aizawa lover/fucker all the way to her core, and she’s amazing at bringing those characters to life in her work. Fav Fic: Salt Lines [Aizawa & Shinsou x Reader]

@thisisthehardestthing | Claudia is one of the most talented writers I have ever met. Period. She has a vocabulary, a depth, an ability to craft the most intense, alluring, and magnificent fanfic you’ve ever read. Most of her work doesn’t even seem like fanfic, it reads like love letters stuffed into the pages of a book that stand the test of time with her marvelous writing abilities. She always awes me, as every single fic is unique and powerful it its own way. Fav Fic: Tocka [Tanaka x Reader]

@tomurasprincess | The Queen of Darkness herself, Mari is amazing at fulfilling all of your dark desires. I’ve never met anyone else who is as active as she is with her followers, as she’s constantly pushing herself to answer requests and give people exactly what they want to see. She has such an expansive masterlist, any dark fic lover can find something worthwhile from her! She’s almost made a Shigaraki fucker out of me, almost. Fav Fic: Wraith’s Touch [Shigaraki x Reader]

@undermattsun | Miki taught me what a skate rat is. Do I understand it yet? Not really, but I fucking like it. Miki is so much fun and is always active with her followers, giving out awesome thirsts, visuals, and headcanons for her fav haikyuu characters. Fav Fic: Flavor of the Month [Matsukawa x Reader]

@vixen-scribbles | Vixen is someone who cares about everyone around her, and her blog reflects that. Amongst all her amazing writing, you’ll always find her recommending her friends and supporting other writers. Her writing is fucking sexy, she knows her way around the bedroom when it comes to fics, and she’s got a lengthy masterlist to fawn over. Fav Fic: Take All of Me [Ushijima x Reader]

@whats-her-quirk | Truly, the best has been saved for last. June’s work is the heart and soul of classic, fucking amazing fanfic. I can’t even explain how much I love her fics, like they will put the biggest smile on your face and have your thighs rubbing together in anticipation. June is writing her fantasies and having fun, and we are privileged to enjoy the ride with her. She knocked kinktober out of the fucking park, with each fic being a new, fresh delight. Fav Fic: Once in a Blue Moon [Karasuno x Reader Gangbang]

This list could honestly be twice as long, and perhaps in the future I’ll make a companion to it as I meet new authors and read more amazing fanfic. Please give all these authors a follow or at least check out their blogs. 💖

#writer recs #bnha #haikyuu #attack on titan #fanfiction #bnha fanfic #hq fanfic #aot fanfiction #bnha x reader #haikyuu x reader #aot x reader #amazing writers #pleasant speaks #my hero academia #haikyuu!!#my hero academia fanfic

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lizzibennet · 2 years ago

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rewatching some of bridgerton s1 because i hate myself and thinking about how from early on the featheringtons were often portrayed as the stark opposites to the bridgertons - literally one of the very first scenes of the show is both families leaving for the queen’s presentation and being compared because of that - and how that was pretty much dropped in s2 in favor of the what’s his name jewel plot when like. that is SUCH good framing? show!penelope is a very unsympathetic character in the fandom rn (with good fucking reason!!) so s3 will have to do a lot of heavy lifting with her character before we can root for a romance including her to work. since s2 touches, however briefly, on penelope’s reasons for being lw - with her telling eloise she did something great, etc - i think it could’ve been really compelling to show the beginnings of her becoming lw, or going back even further and showing her being emotionally neglected by her family and how her need of attention and to prove herself “great” and worthy is a byproduct of that. this doesn’t need to excuse the truly heinous things she does, but merely explaining her reasons gives her much more depth and in the end that is what the show NEEDED to do because she is going to be a protag, so imo it was really irresponsible to just kind of relegate her to a secondary role. if you’re going to include the featheringtons with an unrelated plot, naturally you need to include penelope, she is the most important character of the family. with this foundation built it would be really easy for s3 to compare penelope and colin and how similar they are in matter of personality but how differently they turned out because of their circumstances - colin’s pursuit of greatness leads him to travel and try to make sense of the world and of himself by acquiring life experiences because he is supported by his family who believes in him doing whatever it is he wants to, whereas penelope’s want of meaning has nowhere to go because of her family’s lack of interest in her but also because she is a woman. so in that sense their relationship would not only be a natural development of their shared needs and beliefs but also something that felt almost inevitable, which to me is one of the parts of friends to lovers i love the most. Since they were clearly uninterested in doing anything interesting with the featheringtons in s2, wasting our time with the stupid what’s his face plot, i wonder where they’re going with them in s3, if they’re going to be characterize as simply villains and going to lose the little depth the show’s given them so far, and if they’re going to try to give them more of it then i do wonder how they’re going to fit all of that + a romance in 8 episodes

#hey remember when i said i don’t care about s3 #i mean I don’t. i just want it to be good but I won’t die if it isn’t #i just think there is SO much potential for them to be REALLY REALLY good #bridgerton #penelope featherington #colin bridgerton #long post

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chihirolovebot · 2 years ago

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!!!NEW CHAPTER I'M SQUEALING LIKE STEAM POPPING OUT OF A TEAPOT!!

Gosh I love your writing so much, it's always so well worth the wait <3 your imagery is second to none I stg,

"You were full of stones drifting down to the riverbed, watching the shimmering surface recede before you, powerless to stop it."

Like -- ugh, I literally can't conjure up the right way to describe that reading your work doesn't really feel like reading at all with how submersive it is. As always, your characterization is straight from the game canon. The way you subtly show Miu's struggle as the weight of what she's about to do is starting to crush her is just so delicious, I'm sick and clutching my chest. I was reading Kiibo's and MC's argument and literally thinking about how it so easily parallels Kokichi's relationship to the MC in terms of trust and keeping secrets. It's oddly satisfying in the most angsty of ways seeing the MC on the opposite side of that coin now, y'know? Now THEY are the one doing questionable things to protect that sweet, innocent-eyed individual they call a friend, one that undoubtedly deserves their trust and is begging for them to do so. Corruption arc for the reader??? A little hint of one anyway??? Their loyalty to those they care about is getting ground up into both a virtue and a flaw because of the circumstances and I am EATING it up. Also, them wanting to try to stop Miu in their own way but struggling to do so with just conversation?? I love them so much it hurts :((((((

And and and, knowing how this case originally goes, I saw that; I saw that tiny, eensy weensy little detail you changed, my hand went to cover my mouth and my mind is now BURNING with curiosity as to how these next couple updates are gonna go. I'm on the edge of my seat, leaning so far forward that I might fall off even.

I don't remember if I mentioned it last time, but I absolutely LOVE the overhaul of Tenko's character. She was one of my least favorites when playing V3 originally, mostly because I was really upset with how they executed their (kinda) first openly lesbian character, twisting her potential into some lesbophobic caricature that's creepily obsessed with fetishizing Himiko. But oh, how you've kept her close enough of the original to keep her feeling like the same character, but managed to save her potential, fleshing out her character, combined with her design update just gives me life; yours is now the canon Tenko and I will NOT be taking criticism or hearing otherwise~~

The moment between Kokichi and the reader right before they started to put on the helmets?? Faints. I literally can't say enough how you have absolutely NAILED this relationship and his character in general. Sometimes reading Kokichi fics, people make it all about the lying thing, but they don't really ever go into the depth of WHY he lies so much or the other aspects of his character, like his distrust in other people and his seeming lack of attachment or reliance on them, his hatred of killing and the desire to protect people in his own way going hand in hand. Sobs and shakes his stupid little purple head. He is such an excellent morally grey character, and you execute every scene with him perfectly. Also, you can tell his walls are STARTING to come down the reader now that he's let them in, his touches getting a tad more affectionate, it somehow feels like there's more weight behind his silly little flirtatious quips now-- my heart races with the MC at the smallest things like him holding their hand

I am so excited to see if the reader can manage to get under his skin enough in time to save him before these flaws of his lead to his downfall, or if Kokichi's influence leads to an even stronger corruption of the MC's character as they try to help him and get them both killed in the process, or I could even see the reader eventually sacrificing themselves for him and opening up his eyes in the worst way possible what his actions have led to. No matter what, I'm going to love every moment of it~

You've created such a wonderful story here Vee, I still remember stumbling across it and clicking on the title in curiosity, and now you've got me and countless others in a chokehold with every update. I know you've fallen on seriously tough times recently, because of course, life just does that to you sometimes, and even though you're doing better for now... you've got a village, a lil community behind you, and we all love you and are here for you if you need anything~ Please take as much time as you need between updates, and pls pls take care of yourself -wraps you in a blankie and pets your head and makes you cocoa or tea or whatever you want- you deserve it, I'm probably gonna wind up rereading the newest chapt again tonight to catch the other little things I might have missed~ and I know I've said it already, but taking care of yourself also means you never have to reply to my literal essays born from love and brainrot for this fic, I have WAY too much to say as it is haha, and I know it can be emotionally exhausting trying to come up with responses sometimes (*˘︶˘*).｡*♡

Thank you for another amazing chapter, I'm biting my hand eagerly waiting to see what comes next. Take care and have a good weekend~~!!

LOVE OKAY hi. HI. i did want to respond 2 this earlier but i got sick very shortly after (covid rip) and now i feel ok enough to look at a screen i am finally getting around to it (i know u think i do not have to respond but i simply do) !

first of all. thank u so much as always!!! my brain literally short circuits when i see these comments/asks like u do not know how insane ur making me /pos.

the mc stuff these last few and future chapters make me feel so Evil.... like yes maybe they do go a little insane and degenerate. and ofc ur spot on with the parallels of mc/kiibo with kokichi/mc n im happy that was obvious bc i was kinda stressing abt it when i was writing it hehe i was like 'uhghghg how to show that the nature of the killing game intentionally warps the actions of a well-meaning person trying to protect those they care about which only ends in their classmates fearing and distrusting them hhhdhdhshsjhsdh pulls out my own hair.' as for the corruption arc.... hm. Hm. also this 'Their loyalty to those they care about is getting ground up into both a virtue and a flaw because of the circumstances' HELLO??? this is a gorgeous way to describe it im literally staring . lurking n stalking over this. and that's just it!!! loyalty is an osentibly good trait to have but during a killing game where the only way to help ur classmates is to make them distrust u.... god. it's a flaw in the sense that it makes mc's friends doubt and grow frustrated with them, but of course it's a virtue in that mc IS doing all they're doing for them!!! pain and agony.

also the miu stuff was very fun to write. i love miu, she's probably myyyy fourth favourite? from v3? gonna say cautiously bc my rankings change all the time but she's definitely up there, moreso for the potential she could've had in the main game. it always burned me that the only depth she ever really got was like. AFTER her death? and told through the grapevine no less. there's such an interesting parallel in her character to kokichi and it sucks it wasn't explored more i think. i hope i made her a little more of a Person in this fic even if i didn't focus on her as much as the others.

tenko. oh tenko. talk abt characters with a ton of potential that got done SO Dirty by the source matieral. it was all right there ! and they just made her into a predatory lesbian and killed her at the peak of her character development as they love to do (sideyes hiyoko and taka). yeah i definitely consciously took out all the lines that made her look like a weirdo. i think her openly liking himiko a lot would be enough to make someone like himiko uncomfortable WITHOUT tenko being weirdly predatory and fetishing her so. that's what i did. new tenko is just openly admirative of himiko which still makes her uncomfy but for like. better reasons i guess. and now they get a chance to actually DEVELOP their relationship instead of another bury ur gays ur whatever.

GODDDD kokichi breaks my heart man. and ur so right that a lot of fics that write him don't delve into the 'why' of his character. every line i write for him i think to myself, okay, what is he ACTUALLY feeling right now? would it make sense for him to say this, does it align with his end-goal, is it ooc for him to reveal this much? PLUS having to keep in mind all the tactics he uses in general conversation, like poking people in the right direction for answers without straight up telling them, or saying something absurd or flustering them to change the topic or divert someone's attention away from something. basically behind every line of dialogue he says u gotta be thinking in terms of the bigger picture, when u don't so much for the rest of the characters. im sure thats also something u get, writing for nagito!! bc he's also a super complex character with a lot of weight behind all his lines. definitely feels like a guy who everything he says tells u a little bit about him if ur looking closely!!

last part of this made me a lil emotional uh oh. thank u so much love, i appreciate it so so much. btw i LOVE replying to these n the longer and more nonsensical the better /gen thank u thank u thank u again (ps i saw the final piece had updated yesterday but i havent gotten around to reading it yet!! im planning on setting some time aside this evening so get ready for another stupid novel comment ehehe)

pls take care of urself!! i hope ur having a good day <333

#<3.love #dear venus.#🏚.sleep awake

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mc-critical · 3 years ago

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How would you rank Sultan Süleyman’s children in the show based on how well and distinctly and consistently characterized they are?

I sometimes feel like I'm in the minority in my thinking that nearly all the princes are well characterized or, at the very least, fulfill their thematic purpose. Now, is there a narrative outlining of their roles that often tends to point us to who should we root for or not? Yes, of course. It's pretty clear who is favored by the writing and who holds the central focus. But is this that damaging to the characters of the princes? Well, for me they have way more depth than people I've encountered give them credit for, even like this.

Still though, the one prince that deserved better from the writing and should've been explored more is definitely Mehmet. When it comes to sympathy, I like him fine - he's a nice and well-meaning guy who is loyal to the people closest to him and his fate is nothing short of sad and tragic. I sympathize with his desire to go to a sanjack and gain experience there, this is the strongest piece of motivation we got from him. He certainly loves strongly, doesn't think bad of anyone and isn't yet ready for the dangers of the world around him, he's vulnerable to them because he hasn't gotten out of the castle for so long and everyone has been cool with him at the least. That also reveals a degree of passivity in him. He strongly values his father's decisions and respects them even when he's not okay with them (when he refuses to let him go to a sanjack) or when someone else isn't (i.e. Mihrimah). He can stand up for himself at times, but caves to the will of his parents in the end anyway because of his dedication to them. But these characteristics are only set up, not properly delved into. He ends up being underused and undeveloped, gets almost no material on his own and what he does get isn't fully about him except for his antics in Manisa at the end of the season, he's just more often a background character than anything else. He's pretty consistently characterized, but he's more one-note compared to the other princes. Though I have to admit that retroactively we can see why SS favors him so much, albeit it being more "inside the lines", because it's a theme that gets more explored in S04 than in S03, and his fatal flaw is defined from the start, which is a nice touch, all things considered. He had potential with his dynamics, but we weren't given enough even with his good interactions with Hürrem and Mihrimah that added flavor nonetheless. I spoke more about the problems I have with him here. (I came off as rather biased in that ask, but my thoughts stand. There I also linked my stance on SS's relationship with him, because it's both thematically interesting and Mehmet's most fleshed out relationship.) I have to say I do like little Mehmet more, because he looked more active as a character (he's the second most characterized little prince after Mustafa, along with little Cihangir as well.) in his childish wish to marry Aybige, in being next to Cihangir along with the others, in his little story with Mihrimah about the breaking of Hürrem's crown where we could see both of their contrasting approaches to the problem, in him being glad for Mustafa going to the sanjack even there... Yes, it is also setup and I may be overanalyzing it, but it was enough in that point of the show. Older Mehmet didn't really get the chance to go beyond that setup.

I have a soft spot for Cihangir. Some think that his love for Mustafa is his entire character, but in my opinion, that's further from the truth. He has a well-defined personality and arc: he's bookish, he's interested in art and is also shown to have political capability (him, Mustafa and Bayezid advising SS to go to Rome.). He's the one who's the least in the throne war, their moral compass, so to say, their only piece of innocence left (Selim and Bayezid even acknowledge it at some point), yet is very perceptive of his surroundings, the only one out there who has the chance to look at this fight as an outside observer, which is why he can see and understand all perspectives the way he does (as seen as his interactions with Hürrem and his speech about the fears to Mihrimah.). He doesn't play an active part of the fight, he doesn't intrigue or scheme, he doesn't like such methods, but he still has an established side and scolds those he sees as wrong. He doesn't stand by when someone does something he doesn't agree with. He openly shares his views. His relation to his unfortunate condition is very interesting: he knows he's loved and appreciated by those around him for who he is, but he's understandably still upset that he can't live life as every prince does. He's aware of the cruelty of the battle for the throne, but he admits that even he dreams of the throne along with everyone else. He knows he can't have what the others do, that it's forever lost since birth and that scares him, but he still is so strongly attached to everyone in the family. Yes, Mustafa has a special place in his heart, but he cares about the rest. A lot. He understands his mother, despite of not approving some of her actions and even chose her rather than Mustafa in one instance. His love for Mihrimah and Bayezid is pretty clear by their interactions. Even when he's seen scolding Selim more than anything, they have a very poignant moment that truly underscores how interesting their dynamic actually is. And Cihangir loves his father, leans on him. It was precisely the huge shock and disappointment of his father doing what he promised he never would that brought him to his heartbreaking end.

Cihangir had distinct enough characterization to leave place for nuanced dynamics and good scenarios for a condensed runtime. Only his side story for Huricihan didn't do him much justice (then again, I have issues in everything about Huricihan, but that's something else entirely.), although it showed his care for Bayezid, and I wish we saw even more of what I described, especially his dynamic with Selim. More happier moments would be nice and would flesh him out even more, with every prince being together and bringing something to a conversation, but it's S04 we're talking about... Little Cihangir is also such a cutie and a sweetheart and older Cihangir was a solid follow up. Overall, for a bit more than a half-season they did a good enough job, though again.. gimme more Cihi!!!

Mustafa is often viewed as a righteous hero stereotype, but this way his depth gets overlooked by some amount. He's definitely his trope and the writers love to play it straight as often as they don't so much, but he has a clear personality, motives and goals. I won't say much about older Mustafa, because I talked about him in depth and why I think his characterization is great here. I love the way his biggest strength is his biggest flaw and he has enough material for his character to be explored. The most unique thing about him is definitely his relationships and the moments where he snaps or is close to snapping, because they are a nice contrast to how he usually is. Mustafa is a character that keeps his principles until the end and writing-wise, this is fascinating as much as it can create repetitive scenarios at times. My single problem with him is precisely this: Mustafa's fatal flaw isn't something he eventually develops; it's something that's always been inside him since E01 and that results in constant, almost formulaic plots ending in scolding and confrontations with his father again and again until the next one happens, which gives off the impression that Mustafa, as a character, is stagnant and never learns from his mistakes. It's as if he does the same thing again and again, since the reason for him doing it remains the same. And it's like it must remain the same, it cannot disappear, because it has to be utilized thematically- it's what would ultimately lead him to his death. (that problem is present in Mehmet, too, but to a comparatively smaller extent, due to him being reduced to a background character.) Mustafa simply developed in other aspects, not in this one.

To be honest, Mustafa gets even more points because of his characterization when he was little. He indeed felt vibrant and alive, with so much personality and characterization right out of the starting gate. The way he missed his father's presence, since he couldn't see him as much as he once did in Manisa, the way he was sensitive to his mother's suffering to the point he told her he didn't want to make her cry ever again, the way he was willing to assert himself to get what he wanted, his childlike curiosity about the ongoing events, him playing with everyone.. He even had a bit of development: he didn't want a brother at first, but eventually he loved and took care for his brothers like no other and that was built on with grown! Mustafa. Older Mustafa in general felt like a natural progression to little Mustafa and together they create a good character.

Selim and Bayezid are intriguing to me. Their characterizations are as well handled as their conflict and we see why they do what they do. There's quite a lot to unpack in Selim's personality: he's the true outcast of the family, the one everyone immediately writes off when it comes to the battle of the throne. He's different than everyone else, he doesn't partake in their happier conversations and that upsets him, no matter how much he tries to hide it until he can't take it anymore. It doesn't seem like it at first glance, but he cares a lot about what people think of him and strives to make a good impression, even if he doesn't always succeed. His arc is about realizing and doing what it takes to win the game and we can see the way he accepts the reality he didn't want to grapple with. He has awesome dynamics with everyone, but especially Nurbanu, Bayezid, Hürrem and Mihrimah. I'd argue that he's the prince with the most development out of the five, since there actually is a condensed, yes, not 100% complete, yes, but linear change in personality. We can't talk about Selim's characterization without mentioning the narrative voice that supposedly presents him in a worse light that the others and that could make him look more shallow than he is, but I feel he had his fair share of sympathetic moments and his condition makes us root for him rather than decry him. His characterization goes along with his thematic purpose (presenting Süleiman's S04 view of loyalty), much like the other princes, but it's not in the level of existing just for the sake of that or as egregious to put him at a disadvantage. He is "shadier", compared to the rest (but the same goes for Bayezid for me, tbh), but that makes him more interesting and three-dimensional. It makes him more human in a way. He does actions the narrative never condones and he isn't presented as the best fit to the throne, but he has logical motives to go that far. He's shown to do what he's deridingly known for, yes, but that doesn't define him. A crime he didn't historically do is also added to his list and that may leave people with a bad impression of MC Selim and an attempt to vilify him further, but writing-wise? It was a fitting end of his arc. And his feelings over it are messy and conflicted long after the fact.

I see more and more aspects of Bayezid while rewatching the show and they aren't him being shown to be "good" and "right", because of "bad" Selim and because he sides with Mustafa. Bayezid is brave, ambitious, a good fighter and has similar virtues to Mustafa and Cihangir, while at the same time he holds understandable, but destructive anger he lets out that makes him impulsive, stubborn and irrational. A lot of this comes from him never being favored by his father and his conflict with Selim which is caused due to insensitivity, ignorance and the attempts of both of them to prove themselves to their parents. Bayezid seemingly had the support of those around him and he himself knows his own capabilities, but deep down inside he still isn't sure whether he's supported 100% even by his mother who turned to Selim for a while. Bayezid can be playful and considerate (shown mostly in his debut scenes), was merciful, yet constantly provocative. He, along with Mustafa, had the most varied interactions: he has a huge dedication for Mustafa, he has a truly brotherly dynamic with Cihangir, he knows Mihrimah is the only one who would fully stand behind him, even in the end. He, similarly to Cihangir, loves his mother a lot, but doesn't condone her actions. The same goes for Huricihan. He both knows where the line is, yet doesn't. His arc was about realizing that he can't act like Mustafa when he is at the verge of ending up like him, thus directly rebelling against Süleiman. Bayezid also changes throughout the narrative: he becomes more about survival the more we go and his flaw keeps getting more and more visible.

[Now, little Selim and little Bayezid are more about foreshadowing of their future conflict than anything else except for a few moments in between. Their older counterparts are big improvements and I think there truly is a lot to appreciate in them.]

#magnificent century #muhteşem yüzyıl #muhtesem yuzyil #sehzade mustafa #sehzade mehmet #sehzade selim #sehzade bayezid #sehzade cihangir #ask #astrangechoiceoffavourites

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yourdeepestfathoms · 3 years ago

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Resident Evil Science: Temperature

In which I look into the biology factors of the Dimitrescu daughters being made out of insects and create headcanons for them that are so deep and in-depth that they couldn't be any farther from canon.

This episode: the girls and temperature!

Overall

They are quite literally cold-blooded and unable to generate their own body heat. Because of this, they would be ectotherms.

We all know they are weak to temperatures under 50°F, but they are also vulnerable to temperatures over 100°F, similar to how flies are.

Because they can't thermoregulate, their normal body temperature tends to fluctuate with their environment, but the usual for them is around 70°F. So their skin is very cold to the touch.

Their ideal temperature is 85°F.

Cold

They sleep more in winter. Alcina calls this "diapause" and she has dubbed it as a form of hibernation in her notes on her girls, though they don't actually do a long-term hibernation--not normally, at least.

During diapause, their metabolic activity decreases. Because of this, their appetite goes down as well, as they don't really have the energy to digest their food.

Because, despite being inside, I imagine it's still quite cold for them while in the middle of a Romania winter. Again: they can't regulate their body temperature. It won't be the same for them as it is for us. I don't think being in a house, out of the wind and snow, will instantly make them have a comfortable temperature.

But they usually eat very little at this time. Sometimes they go a full day without eating anything, though they'll still drink blood, which they get most of their energy from.

Winter is also where they use their acid vomit the most because sometimes they're just too tired to chew. They rather regurgitate, drink, then go back to sleep.

They can sometimes sleep for eighteen hours a day.

Winter can be very lonely for Alcina at times. It's also eerily quiet.

Cassandra once slept for four days in a row without waking up and Alcina thought she fucking died.

It's really hard to wake them up during diapause. They go into this state of deep sleep in a way. Like, during the Comatose Cassandra incident, Alcina was full-on shaking Cassandra and screaming in her face in a panic, but Cassandra just snoozed on.

Moderately low temperatures make them sleepy.

Very low temperatures cause physical pain, as we see in the game.

Being in extreme cold can make them shiver, but it's not the same way we shiver.

Instead of their muscles contracting to generate thermal energy, it's their fly bodies violently gyrating and buzzing in a vain attempt to get warm, thus causing tremors throughout the body. Unlike normal shivering, however, they get nothing out of this and are unable to produce proper heat.

Heat

Whereas in the winter they slow down and eat less, during the summer they speed up and eat more.

Sleeping hours reduce down to the normal amount, but they can sometimes become fidgety and sleep even less due to a build-up of energy.

In the mornings, they often have a period of sunbathing at their windows to reach a desired thermal optimum, which will give them energy for the rest of the day.

The first few days after winter ends are usually characterized by constant zoomies around the castle because their metabolism suddenly shoots back up and they're full of all this vigor.

They also eat. A lot.

The girls gorge themselves on literally anything they can find to make up for all that time spent without eating.

The maids call this the "feeding frenzy" and it is a very scary time for them because at any moment they could be grabbed and devoured while still alive.

Even when this "feeding frenzy" eventually goes down, they still eat a lot more during the summer months.

Unfortunately, the heat isn't always their safe place.

Similar to the cold, too much heat can be damaging to their bodies, as it won't be able to regulate itself when comfortable becomes uncomfortable.

And even more similar to the cold, they become sluggish when they get too hot.

Fatigue sets in at around 90°F, which is when their metabolism will begin to lower. They will start to eat less and become slower and lethargic rather than just sleepy like in the cold. Moving becomes like a chore and their body gets heavy.

95°F is when discomfort really comes into play. Their breathing shallows and their muscles begin to ache with the exertion of moving. Their body is heavy and slow to respond to movements. Dizziness starts, usually accompanied by ear ringing and double vision.

Anything over 100°F is painful, like how the cold hurts them. Their skin will begin to dry out and flake off, as though they were shedding their exoskeleton. They feel like they're burning from the inside.

They will also begin to "sweat," which doesn't actually cool them down like it would for a human. It just makes them dehydrated and sticky.

Fevers

Obviously because they can't produce excessive body heat, the girls are unable to get fevers on normal occasions. They can, however, get them in two different ways.

One: Behavioral fever.

Despite the actual symptom, they still feel the effects it causes, like dizziness, weakness, fatigue, body aches, trembling, and chills.

Chills usually come up when whatever sickness they have is Really Bad because something like that isn't usual for them. Chills is the feeling of being cold even when it isn't necessarily cold--but they shouldn't be able to make their bodies feel something like that without an actual external source. So it's pretty worrying.

But without the actual heat from a fever, the bacteria inside of them is free to run rampant.

Additionally, their immune system won't do anything, as it isn't stimulated by the fever.

So when they get this feeling, they know something is most likely wrong with them, so they have to do a behavioral fever, which is what cold-blooded creatures do when unwell.

They crawl into a scalding hot bath to wake up their immune system to actually start fighting the infection.

The heat from the water will essentially mimic the effects of a fever and then induce one inside of them, heating up their core.

The second way is through their flies.

Basically, their flies will realize something is wrong and essentially be like "don't worry, Boss, we gotchu."

They will then begin to furiously generate heat through excessive flying and buzzing, as flight does create thermal energy. This is actually the response used in the cold, which causes the “shivering,” but in a moderate climate, it actually works, heating up the body.

This then filters into their human bodies in the form of a fever, warming them up like coals in a furnace. They can even slightly feel the flies doing their work, usually from tingling in their fingers, toes, and orifices.

This process can only be done in certain climates, which is why it doesn’t work in the cold.

And because it is supposed to be a response for something different, the “shivering” symptom of a fever will occur.

However, if either created fever becomes to high, then the girls will start to hurt, especially if it goes over the 100°F mark.

So it's honestly a double-edged sword.

Temperature Regulation

They have to rely on their environment to warm up or cool down since their bodies cannot do so themselves.

For both the cold and the heat, the best go-to solution is a bath. It's the quickest, easiest, and most effective way to help. It's relaxing, too!

However, there are other options, of course.

For the cold, one of their favorite options is to snuggle with their mother. Unlike them, Alcina still produces body heat, so curling up in her side or lap will warm them right up. Plus, sharing body heat is the most effective solution to defrosting.

They will also spend a lot of time by the fireplaces or wrapped in blankets. It isn't uncommon for them to have dozens of covers on their beds and still be chilly.

They wear more layers (i see you, Capcom, stupidly making them wear a dress with their tits hanging out just to get in some more fan service even though it was fucking winter time and they should be more covered up)

They will huddle together for warmth.

They may try to fly more often to get their muscles working, as insects can create a tiny amount of thermal energy while in flight.

And for the heat, there isn't too much they can do, really. It isn't the same. The best thing to do is stay adequately moisturized.

They wear looser clothes. It helps some.

Alcina makes sure they're hydrated. It's very easy for them to become thirsty because their version of hot is literally a human's regular body temperature--even below it.

They like to stay in the cooler areas of the castle, so the basement.

They will sometimes become nocturnal, sleeping through the hotter hours of the day and staying awake during the cooler ones.

Just being in moisture, like lukewarm baths, will usually be enough for them--unless their temperature raises too high.

TLDR: no weather is suitable for these poor girls

#listen. i said bug girls and went buck wild #it's COOL!!#they SHOULD have buggy biology and mannerisms!!#capcom is just a COWARD #resident evil 8 #resident evil village #dimitrescu daughters #bela dimitrescu #cassandra dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu #resident evil headcanons

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