#the well at the world's end

[itsalwayswellattheworldsend]

Book 2 Chapter 40 - They Ride Toward Utterness From Out of Vale Turris

Text Audio

Synopsis:

The chapter title; also Ralph learns something interesting.

Summary:

"Sir Knight, there be matters whereof we servants of my Lord say little or nothing, and thou wert best to do the like."

They rode along a good highway, well-traveled, past the Tower and over the ridge of the valley, and came fully within view of the Great Mountains and the sea of woodland that lay beneath them. It rose and fell like waves, breaking against the dark blue wall of the mountains. They followed the road, going down hill and then among fields and pastures that lay along the rough edge of the forest, which the path divided. The wild wood was ever-present on their right side, and a short way from the path it grew into a dark thicket, where the trees were so tall that they hid the overshadowing mountains when they passed close by them, but when they rode over the ridges and hills, they could see over the woods and mountains. On the north side, the thicket sometimes came close to the road.

David spurred on past the wagons and pack animals, which were moving very slowly, and Ralph followed. At last they came near the head of the group, and Ralph wanted to keep going, but David stopped him, saying that they shouldn’t pass the Queen’s people, or even mingle with them; so they slowed down. As the afternoon drew towards evening, they heard the blaring of horns behind them, and the sounds of horses galloping.

David drew up close to Ralph by the side of the path, and everyone around them moved aside as well. Before Ralph could ask a question, a group of armed men with Otter at the lead galloped past, followed by the Lord on a black horse. Beside him was the woman Ralph had seen in the tower and thought was the Queen, riding a white horse, her bright clothes streaming behind her and her yellow hair flying loose. They passed quickly, and then David, Ralph, and the others continued on.

Then Ralph said: ��The Queen rides well and strong.”

“Yes,” said David, smiling despite his best efforts.

Ralph saw this and it occurred to him that this woman might not have been the Queen he saw when they first came to Vale Turris. He said “What, is that woman not the queen?”

David said nothing for a moment, then answered: “Sir Knight, there are matters which we servants would do best to not discuss, and you would do well to leave them alone, too.” And he would say nothing else about it. [1]

Notes:

[1] This one’s super short and straightforward.

Map:

[theblackknightofworcestershire]

stories about a journey to the edge of the world are like heroin to me. i will love it every. single. time. even if it's not good i will still love it i don't care. quality is meaningless in the face of such a hypnotic and philosophically interesting setpiece.

[kelocitta]

O' Hypocrite

[demigods-posts]

percy doing better than annabeth in college is one my favorite developments in the rrverse. if we reflect on percy and annabeth's academic upbringing. annabeth living at camp allowed her to receive accommodations for her adhd and dyslexia and surround herself with like-minded campers who had the same limitations. whereas percy was ridiculed, belittled, and routinely humiliated because of his adhd and dyslexia. even more so, percy's friends and family leave him out of the loop on so many important issue (no chb orientation film, no information about the great prophecy) which perpetuates his subpar confidence and self-esteem in his skills as a student and a demigod. but going to college at NRU changes his mindset because he receives the accommodations he should have gotten years ago and fucking thrives to the point of getting higher grades than annabeth — a person he deems way smarter and more prepared than him in every way. the most important thing percy is learning now is that a supportive environment makes all the difference, and he is more capable than he initially thought.

[bluerosefox]

Her Astrophel and Sterling

hmmm

Hmmmmmmmm

You know what.

You know those AU's where the Batfam finds or learns about either hidden or thought to be dead Al Ghul Danny! with a deaged/daughter Dani (Ellie) (I should know, I created a few of those storylines) but what if, now hear me out, what if instead of them finding Danny first its Talia.

Do I want Talia discovering her thought to be dead son to be alive? Yes. Do I want her to find him while investigating Amity Park when the League gets reports of 'Lazarus creatures/water'? Yes.

DO I WANT HER TO KNOCK ON THE FENTON'S DOOR, fully ready to pretend/honey talk her way into the house to uncover what the Fenton's know, ONLY TO MEET A LITTLE ELLIE?!

YES.

Ellie whose eyes and hair look like a copy of her Beloved but she can see bits and pieces of herself as well. Talia knows the child in front of her was not fully her's though but everything makes sense when she hears a voice, a voice she hasn't heard in ages but as a mother just knows, speak out.

"Ellie! I thought I said do not answer the door my Sterling."

"But Daddy, yous was busy fighting the hotdoggys!"

Talia's eyes widen when she finally catches sight of familiar black hair and blue eyes.

and she could only lightly whisper a old nickname she hasn't dared uttered in ages, a name she secretly gave her son due to his love of the stars "Astrophel..."

[pancakemolybdenum]

worlds smuggest tween owning noobs on wizard101

[goldensunset]

when people refer to canon story-relevant kingdom hearts games as ‘spinoffs’ it makes me sad not only for the obvious reasons i always say but also bc like man i WISH this series had spinoffs. imagine what they could do if they had permission from nomura to truly go off the rails and ignore the greater canon for a second and just do some fun whimsical plotless thing in an alternate universe. imagine a fishing/boating game on destiny islands. kh fighting game. it is an injustice that we have been deprived of kingdom karts. can anyone hear me

[hellishfig]

for the amount of time i spend thinking about erika ishii, i do not post about them NEARLY enough

everything i've ever seen them in, they have been fully dialed in. they understand the genre, they understand the character they're playing, and they NEVER. FUCKING. MISS

my current dnd character is actually based on multiple characters of erika's that i enjoy. my character is a witch (like ame of worlds beyond number fame [thank you to the witch class playtest]) but she is also a brewer who grows weed and shrooms, and deals them, and does them (and her personality is very much modeled off of danielle barkstock in dimension 20's the seven)

i feel that many of my favorite moments from erika are often focused on other characters. but many of those character moments would not have been possible without erika's incredible roleplay and sense for storytelling

and when the moment IS focused on erika's character? spellbinding. groundbreaking. from ame talking to orima in the overgrown shrine to danielle getting a nat 20 at the masquerade ball, i always fall into the scene and feel it so deeply due to erika's skill and poise and commitment to the story being told

tldr i think erika ishii is incredibly talented and wonderful

[clouvu]

Save me french yuri... Save me

[viveela]

I've spent a year of my life on you

[itsalwayswellattheworldsend]

Book 2 Chapter 35 - Ralph Cometh To the Vale of the Tower

Text Audio

Synopsis:

Ralph comes to the Vale/Dale of the tower.

Summary:

"I have cheapened a likely thrall of Morfinn the Unmanned, and he is a gift to thee; and he hath given out that he is no ill player with the spear after the fashion of them of the west; and we are going to prove his word here in this meadow presently."

[1] In the morning, Ralph got up and saw the sun was shining brightly, so he threw on his shirt and immediately went out, turning eastward. He was hardly awake and at first through that the clouds on the eastern horizon were still thick after the previous night’s haze, but when his eyes cleared he realized that what he had thought was clouds was actually a huge wall of mountains, black and terrible, that rose up sharp and clear in the morning air, for there was neither cloud nor mist anywhere in the sky.

Ralph, although not used to the sight of great mountains, felt his heart rise rather than fall at the sight of them. He said: “Surely, there is something new for me beyond them, life or death: fair fame or the forgetting of all men.”[2] And for a long time, he could not look away from them.

As he was looking, Captain Otter came up to him and said: “Well, Knight, you have seen them this morning, even if you die before nightfall.”

“What do you think lies beyond them?”

“None of us really know,” said Otter. “Sometimes I think that if one were to cross them, there would be another great plain, like this one. Sometimes I think that there is nothing but mountains and more mountains beyond, like the waves of a huge stone sea. Sometimes I think that you’d come to the end of the world, a place that’s just a ledge and nothing below it but darkness and howling winds. Mostly I think that all those of us who lived in these parts would be nicer people and better off if that terrible wall were far away from us. It is as if we were thralls of the great mountains.”

Ralph said: “Is this the Wall of the World then?”

“It may be,” said Otter, “but sometimes, there is something else called by that name, which no one living among us has seen. It’s part of the tale of the seekers for the Well at the World’s End, which we spoke of the other day.”

“And the Dry Tree,” said Ralph, “do you know about that?”

“We have, not very far from Utterbol—and on this side of the mountains, a tree of great respect. But I have heard old men say that it is just a trinket, a glimpse of the one that is actually near the Well at the World’s End. But now hurry up and get dressed, we need to get on the road soon.”

“One last thing,” said Ralph; “you said that no one living among you has seen the Wall of the World?”

“No one alive; what the dead might see is another question.”

“But don’t you know of anyone from this land who has sought the Well, since it’s so close?”

“There have been those,” said Otter, “but if they found it, they found something beyond it, or else came west again by some other other road than through Utterbol, for none have ever come back to us.”[3]

Then he turned and went on, and David came up, alongside someone bringing food. David said: “Now, you lucky one, here is your breakfast! We’ll be leaving soon, so put on your clothes and eat up. Have you been looking at the mountains?”

“Yes,” said Ralph, “and the sight of them has done as little to hurt my mood as it has yours; you seem chipper this morning.”

David nodded and smiled and looked so happy that Ralph wondered if something were going on. Then he went to his tent and got dressed and ate his breakfast, then mounted his horse and rode along between two armed men, together with Otter, as David had ridden forward to speak with the Lord. Otter talked cheerfully, but Ralph hardly listened at times, his eyes always on the mountains. He could see that although they were so dark and filled up so much of the sky to the east, they were so far away that he could hardly see any detail, just that they were dark blue and huge, rising up one after another.

They rode like this through the hill country, until about two hours before noon, as they came over the brow of a long hill, they stood before a shallow dale, nicer-looking than anything else they had seen in the land. It was grassy and a little river ran through it, from which came little canals, so that much of the valley was a water meadow, and there were many cows and sheep grazing. There were willows around the banks of the river, and in one of its bends was a farm and its buildings, with many roofs half-hidden by groups of tall elm trees. There were other houses around in the vale, two or three cottages on the lower slope of the hill they were on, and another half-dozen or so around the farm buildings. Past all these and above them, on a mound somewhat away from the river and farmland, was a great square tower, with defenses and a walled yard, all set up for war, and with a banner of the Lord’s flying from it. But between the tower and the river stood a great pavilion of snow-white cloth striped with gold and purple, and around it were more tents, as though a little army had come into the valley.

So as they looked at this beautiful place, Otter stood up in his stirrups and threw his hands up in joy, crying out “Now, young knight, now we are home! How do you like my Lord’s land?”

“It’s a beautiful land,” said Ralph; “But has some army come to challenge your Lord for it? Whose tents are those?”

Otter laughed, saying: “No, no, it has not come to that yet. That’s my Lord’s wife, who has come to meet him—but in love, not battle—not yet at least. Though, I won’t say that the cup of love they share is overflowing. But it’s not mine to talk about, even if you are to be my brother-in-arms, since we’ll be tilting together soon. Look! there’s the tilt-yard, lad.”

He pointed to the broad, green meadow, but Ralph said: “How can you, a free man, be brothers-in-arms with a thrall?”

“Don’t let that bother you,” said Otter, “for I was once like you. Indeed, I still am, but I have the habit of staying cool in battle, which makes me valuable to my Lord, so that I’m treated quite well. In truth, free folk in my Lord’s land mean little, since they usually have to do what my Lord and his thralls tell them to. Indeed, brother, it is we who have the wits and luck to rise above the whippings and the shackles that are the greatest men around here. I say ‘we,’ because I think that you will do just as well. You have a lucky look in your eyes, and let’s put that to the test today.”

As he spoke, many glittering figures came out from the tents, and there was the sound of horns and the clashing of cymbals, and the traveling group’s horns answered with a sound of welcome. Then Ralph saw a man in golden armor of a strange, foreign design, sitting on a huge black horse beside the Lord’s palanquin.

Otter said: “Look! My lord, armed and on horseback, goes to meet my lady. She likes to see him like that, though just between you and me, he’s no great fighter. Not that he needs to be, since he has us for his defense.

Then they came onto the raised road that ran through the green meadows, and soon they stopped in front of the pavilion, standing in a half-circle facing about forty brightly-dressed warriors who had come with the Lady, and a crowd of people from her household. Then the Lord got off his horse and stood in his golden armor, and all the horns and other instruments began to play, and out of the great tent came the Lady with about ten of her women, dressed brightly in silk gowns in green, blue, and yellow, embroidered with silver and gold, but barefoot, and with iron rings on their arms, so that Ralph could tell they were slaves.[4] Something told him that the woman he sought would be among them, so he looked hard but—though they were pretty—there was no one like her.

As for the Queen, she was dressed in fine linen and gold, with gold shoes on her feet. Her arms were bare, and they were large, with large hands, but well-shaped and very white and rosy. Her hair was as yellow as hair can be, and it was plentiful, cascading down around her. Her eyes were blue and set wide apart, her nose a little  snubbed, and her mouth wide with full, smiling lips. She was very tall, a half-head taller than any of her women, and even about as tall as an above-average man.[5]

She came forward quickly with long strides and knelt before the Lord, but even as she kneeled she looked around with a smiling face. The Lord stooped down and took her by the hands, raised her up, and kissed her on the cheek, and he looked plain and unimpressive compared to her.[6]

He said: “Greetings to you, my Lady! You’ve come far from your home to see me, and I thank you for that. Is everything well with our House?”

She spoke, seeming carelessly and loud, and her voice was somewhat husky: “Yes, my Lord, all is well; things are in order and the harvest has been plentiful.” As she spoke, the Lord furrowed his brow and looked at the women behind her, as if looking for something. The Lady noted his gaze, smiling and seeming to redden in merriment.

But the Lord was silent for a while, and then his face cleared and he said: “Yes, Lady, you are thanked for coming to meet us, and your timing is good, since there is food and sport ready for you; I have bought a promising thrall from Morfinn the Unmanned, and he is a gift to you. Furthermore, he has said that he is good with a spear, like others from the west, and we are going to test his claims here in this meadow shortly.”

The Lady’s face grew happy, and she said, looking toward the ring of newcomers: “Yes, Lord, and which of these is he? If he’s here, that is.”

 The Lord turned a little to point at Ralph, but the Lady’s eyes had already found him, who was now blushing shyly for being shown off to such a great lady; but as for her, she flushed bright red all over her face and chest, and she looked away, her eyes growing troubled.

But the Lord said: “That’s the young man, in the green coat and without a sword. He looks promising, if he has not lied about his skill. And he can sing for you as well, tell old sad stories, and do all the other things nobles of the westlands are trained to do. Do you like the look of him? What do you think?”

The Lady still kept her eyes down, and she scuffed the turf with her foot, murmuring a little, for she had not yet re-gathered control of herself. The Lord looked at her sharply and said: “Well, when the tilting is over you will tell me what you think, and if he turns out to be a coward I don’t expect you to take him.”

Then the Lady lifted up her face and looked pale, but she forced words out: “It is well, Lord, but now come with me to my pavilion, for your meal is ready and it’s almost noon.” So he took her hand and led her into the pavilion, and all the men dismounted and got to pitching the tents and readying their food, but Otter took Ralph off to a corner of the farm and they ate their meal together.

Notes:

[1] The title of this chapter is “Vale” even though I think the narrative only calls it the “Dale of the Tower” (at least when saying the whole thing as a title). The two words mean the same thing, so either is correct, but it’s an odd inconsistency (though not one that surprises me).

[2] Was going to translate this last phrase, but I liked the original a lot. He’s saying “I’m either gonna make it big as a hero or die in obscurity, but I’m excited to see what happens.”

[3] To summarize: they call these mountains the Wall of the World, but the story goes that there’s another, greater range that’s the actual Wall, and they call these mountains that after the legend. The same goes for the famous tree nearby, which they call the Dry Tree, but which old folks say isn’t the real Dry Tree. Compare to the Order of the Dry Tree, which named themselves after the Dry Tree, using it as a symbol. Also, the presence of this tree fortifies my theory that Utterbol is named for being the “furthest tree” (or that’s how I choose to interpret it).

[4] In many cultures across time, slaves were made to remain barefoot, even when dressed-up for special occasions. I’m going to assume the reasons are 1) it marks them clearly as slaves, 2) it’s demeaning, and 3) it’s hard to run away while barefoot.

[5] I have stuff to say about the Lady of Utterbol, her physical description, and the physical descriptions of her servants (this will come up over the coming chapters), but am going to hold off for a little bit. I’m trying to get my hands on a book about beauty standards over the ages, at which point I’ll make a post comparing different characters’ physical descriptions and societal perceptions.

[6] Not a real note, just me pointing out that this last clause was originally a parenthetical, and leads into the following dialog with a colon (like a lot of sentences), so it looks like this: “(and he looked but little and of no presence beside her:)” which has :) like a little smiley face at the end of it.

Map:

[opikiquu]

my life a movie (PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR)

[cubbihue]

“He knows Timmy will come around eventually. It's only a matter of waiting for his clock to run out. And HP is very patient.” Hey uh.. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN HIS CLOCK TO RUN OUT is he waiting for Timmy to become a full fairy (Pixie?) and when that happens Timmy forgets about being a human entirely?

Sometimes Timmy wonders why he has grudges against certain fairies. Some of them, he can understand- like his dislike of Dr. Rip Studwell. But other ones, like with Cupid, it's a bit of a blur.

He must've been a very very vindictive 10 year old! Ah, well! Timmy's learned that he has to pick and choose his own battles wisely.

And uh. Fighting with the man who decides his paycheck and vacation days is not a battle worth choosing. Talk about a hostile work environment!!

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[ministarfruit]

day 26: apocalypse ♡

(femslashfeb prompt list)

[firefighterkinard]

We're really overlooking the potential of a Karen Wilson (genius rocket scientist and apocalyptic doomsayer wife) and Tommy Kinard (nerd about everything mechanical and the cynical black cat boyfriend) friendship.

[thepersonperson]

Sukuna is Peak Gap Moe. I’ll never be over this. This bastard talks tough, eats people, and kills like a woodchipper and yet…he is a poetic little sap. Getting mad over an improper haikus, the misidentification of flowers…and confessing his feelings to Gojo Satoru under several layers of wordplay no one except those well-versed in ancient Japanese would catch.

I've been over this in greater detail in Sukuna's Negative Rizz, but @tangsakura added more context in the replies to that post, making Sukuna's use of 凡夫 (bonpu) for Gojo even gayer.

In summary, 凡夫 (bonpu) can be translated as painfully ordinary or unenlightened. But in the individual kanji readings, 凡 is mediocre and 夫 is husband. You could read this as Sukuna calling Gojo his mediocre husband. And that's just the modern readings! The ancient readings...

So you can read this line from Sukuna as the following:

“You were born in an era without me and hailed as 'The Strongest'

1) And yet you turned out to be…painfully ordinary.”

2) And yet you turned out to be…unenlightened.”

3) And yet you turned out to be…a mediocre husband/wife/spouse.”

4) And yet you turned out to be…the ordinary one who could stand by my side.”

Sukuna seems to be saying these things all at once. (It’s no different than the Megumi Activities wordplay he uses with Enchain. Alt. link if the Twitter dies.) Gojo apparently makes him feel very conflicted. He’s boring, he can do better, he shouldn’t even call himself the Honored One, he’s his equal, they’re married. The irony here is that no one except Sukuna can understand this.