#the shards of magic

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: Servant of Earth (The Shards of Magic #1) by Sarah Hawley

Servant of Earth is a luxuriant, action-packed, inherently bingeable fantasy that's a cross between A Court of Thorns and Roses, The Cruel Prince, and The Hunger Games.

The story follows Kenna Heron, a human who becomes trapped as a servant in the underground faerie kingdom of Mistei. With no support except from that of a sentient dagger, she must act as handmaiden to the heir of Earth House, Princess Lara, and help her complete six deadly trials, one for each of the faerie houses: Fire, Earth, Light, Void, Illusion, and Blood. However, when magic and courage swirls with unforeseen passion, Kenna gets swept up in a clandestine plot to overthrow the tyrannical faerie king. Will she be able to do it or will she risk her life trying?

What dark, delightful fun! I flew through this one at a clip thanks to the worldbuilding, which was the perfect balance of verdant, macabre, and magical, and the characters, who were a combination of brave, charming, enigmatic, and sadistic. Kenna was a good heroine. Intriguing. Not only was she competent, kind, and likable, but she was imbued with a survivalist fire that made it easy to root for her. I loved the inclusion of a sentient weapon, too. The plot was rather predictable in that it hit beats that are typical in the fae subgenre, but I found I didn't mind because the relational dynamics between characters and the messy court politics more than made up for it. The ending also left lots of room for further expansion and exploration in this world, so I can't wait to get my hands on book two!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

4/5 stars

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[thereadingcafe]

[dawning-skye]

Heart of Fire

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Shard of the Nightbringer by Pierre Loyvet

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Etherium Astrolabe

"Speculation is foolish when the tools of certainty are available." —Cinna, vedalken consul

Artist: Michael Bruinsma TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[completeoveranalysis]

[3]

PLEASE RESUME HURLING ME OUT THE WINDOW THIS IS TOO MUCH

Fai tenderly letting his magic fall to his hand, not as if its his, but gently, as if holding the last remaining memento of Syaoran. Adding the -kun to his name to make their bond clear, despite everything that's happened

(And how, if he takes the magic back, this part of Syaoran will be gone - but then maybe, this part of Syaoran will always be with him too)

And Kurogane picking up his sword (in his remaining hand), as HIS final piece of Syaoran. The sword that they went shopping for together in Outo. The sword that he trained Syaoran how to use. The sword with his iconic flame on the hilt. 

AND HIM ASKING WHY HE COULDN’T HAVE USED HIS ENERGY TO STAY ALIVE INSTEAD OF APOLOGISING

BECAUSE THEN HE’D STILL BE HERE

Oh I'm BROKEN. Both of Syaoran's dads holding the piece of him that they shared one way or another. Kurogane taught Syaoran his swordplay, that central part of Kurogane's identity that means so much to him, and Fai's magic was used by Syaoran directly - the magic that has been THE defining feature of Fai's life, and this is the part of it that they BOTH used.

AND IT'S NOT ENOUGH. THEY DON'T WANT THESE THINGS BACK.

THEY'D RATHER HAVE THEIR SON.

[dollish-shard]

Pleasure of Corruption

What they never warned you about corruption is how *good* it feels.

The magical girl 'elders' (in their middle age, for it was a young girl's business) always talked about the pain, the temptation of power. How you'd want it to stop, do anything to make it stop.

How the dark voices that whispered in your ear as you screamed would tell you the only way to make that pain go away was to accept the darkness, embrace it, inflict pain on others. A difficult task, but one a strong and pure heart could overcome.

But here and now, naked and bound to otherworldly magitech you couldn't even hope to understand, you don't feel pain at all. Pain would have been easy. You understood pain.

What you felt was pleasure. Endless, burning pleasure, all throughout your body.

The darkness had creeped into your body through every opening, and instead of the sharp pain it normally brought, it felt... nice. Amazing, even. Every part of you caressed, enveloped by what you had always thought of as your eternal enemy.

You squirmed and moaned, trying to resist as you felt your inner light dim, your purity being perverted... but it was so hard to care. The pleasure was overwhelming...

You could see the Dark Empress watching you, grinning. That same evil smirk as always, and yet…

It looked different to what it normally did. It didn't make the bile rise in your throat.

It made your heart flutter and your spine tingle. Had she always been so... pretty?

The darkness surged, and your arched your back in pleasure.

"Come on, my lovely new pet." She purred, and you felt your brain mush up even more. "Give in. It feels so nice, doesn't it?" She leaned in, and whispered in your ear, her breath hot on your neck. "This is only the beginning. I can show you *so* much more..."

You wanted to tell her you wouldn't. That you'd escape, defeat her, save the day... but the words wouldn't come, though the moans of ecstasy as the darkness filled you completely. Any thoughts of resistance melted away; all you could do was ride high on your lust.

The Empress leaned in and kissed you, and you felt your light shatter.

Darkness rushed to fill the void within your heart, that which was hers filling you, making you hers too. A new outfit formed on your body; tight, black, and deliciously skimpy.

You felt powerful, but not at all like with the power of light. This was something else. Not a flame that burned under your own power, but a vast ocean that you merely channeled. It was her power, that she had merely gifted to you.

At some point your restraints were released, and floated free of the wonderful device that had broken you. You dropped to the floor and to your knees, before your Empress. "I can feel it in me, your wonderful darkness! Thank you so much, Mistress!"

She leans down and pats your head. "You're welcome, pet. I could hardly let such a pretty thing like you labor under the light, now could I? Now you're *mine*, forever. My beautiful servant of darkness."

"Of course, Mistress." You echo. "Forever yours."

And yet, something something still nagged at you. "Mistress?" You ask. "I was... the older magical girls told us that corruption was painful. But for me, it was amazing. Why didn't they tell us it was so wonderful?"

She simply smiles. "Well, pet, isn't that obvious?"

"If you all knew how wonderful embracing the darkness was, why would anyone choose to serve the light?"

[mtg-art-daily]

Titanic Ultimatum

"Retribution is best delivered by claws and rage, with both magnified." —Ajani

Artist: Steve Prescott

[incorrect-mtg]

Flavor Text Highlights - Shards of Alara

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

Cool - Cruel Ultimatum

There is always a greater power.

Cool - Ajani's Soul Cycle

An avatar he sculpts of anger and flame.

An avatar he sculpts of instinct and force.

An avatar he sculpts of fellowship and light.

Funny - Ad Nauseam

When the task spilled over into undeath, he stopped calling it his life’s work.

Worldbuilding - The Panorama Cycle

Bant’s hearts are as pure as its air and as bright as its skies.

Esper is an expansive canvas painted by precise, controlling hands.

There is no height above Grixis that is free from the stench of death.

The sky is the dragon’s throne, the seat from which it issues its fiery decrees.

Between the thunderous footfalls of Naya’s behemoths lie moments of perfect quiet.

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

[myreia]

✦ B A R D

She does not consider herself an archer, but the bow feels slick and powerful in her hand. She settles on the peak of the roof, unbothered by the fog and the rain, leather coat unfurling around her. Like the skill it takes to learn an instrument, hunting is as much about patience as it is about precision. Her breath stills. Her fingers flex, the bowstring taut. They will not see the arrow coming. —level 90 compendium

[thesargasmicgoddess]

Thank you, London...

I said goodbye to London yesterday, making a place in my heart for all of the adventures, moments, and memories made there. The unique pulse of a city is always something to behold--but the heart and head rush you feel from vibrant and intimate experiences is what I will always associate with this city.

London was magical, but not in a way I had planned or expected. I did less sightseeing than planned and yet felt and experienced so much more than I ever dreamed I would. I cried, laughed, wandered, pondered, and soaked in all the spontaneous intensity the city had to offer me, and it was a brilliance of emotions that will stay with me for a long while.

It was bittersweet to leave, but I'm off to my next adventure...❤️

Cheers 😘

[the-punforgiven]

I know there's that whole stereotype of DMs and PCs hating each other or whatever but to be 100% honest the most joy I get out of D&D is when my players come up with some absolutely crazy batshit idea that should be absolutely impossible rules as written because as the DM I can choose to ignore that dumb nerd shit and just say "That sounds fucking rad dude, I'm giving you inspiration for that idea, now make an Acrobatics check."

[justwriteyoudummy]

Another year- another birthday sale!! "Spare me a buck and I'll tell you a tale..." The Fragments of Magic E-book is now on sale!! Now's the time to go and snag yourself a copy (or an extra copy if you're so inclined ;> ) Link to purchase is available on my Linktr.ee or find it by searching Fragments of Magic on Amazon! Paperback is still available for the normal price but the e-book will be on sale for the rest of the week to celebrate my birthday! . My gift to you guys~☆ . I hope you'll come explore Allunatia with Amber and Brentan!!

[hand-of-devotion]

The take that Ashton should be punished/"nerfed" by losing his dunamantic abilities and having the hypothetical elemental themed ones replace it is? So wild to me tbh.

Like. If we're being honest, the titan abilities could literally be ANYTHING. So instead of introducing an entire new set of abilities for a functionally new subclass while getting rid of the ones we've been seeing all campaign? If the rewards would really make a single character THAT unbalanced? It would probably be 100 times easier to just nerf/adjust whatever hypothetical abilities they were supposed to be adding in the first place to make it more "fair".

Because they already have the Ka'mort shard and the only mechanics "benefit" it's given thus far is the fact that it changed Ashton's pre-campaign race from half-elf to earth genasi. Which is arguably not even a benefit because he didn't keep the features/traits of a half-elf. Then the only known narrative benefit has been the fact that they seem to have an unnaturally heightened connection to nature/eidolons. Which has only ever been for ultimately inconsequential narrative implications or adding a little spice to explain/"justify" the effect of certain dice rolls.

So we have no real established expectations for what the "awakened titan" abilities will be. It'll be sad to have them watered down but would make way more sense than just scrapping an entire homebrew subclass's mechanics?

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Tortoise Formation

At sea, the Jhessian fleet strikes swiftly and decisively. On land, facing the elite cavalry of Valeron, its marines must rely on more cautious strategies.

Artist: Mark Zug TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[hayweerc]

"Bound by Chaos" Sonic AU Chapter 2-part one

The beginning of the trios adventure.

Pages 1-8 / 16

⚠️🩸 blood/mild gore /hemocraft / cartoon violence /death