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heniareth · 3 years ago

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I was tagged by @scribbledquillz for this ao3/fanfic author meme. Thanks so much for tagging me! Now, there’s only one thing (I’ll explain as soon as I answer the first question). But first, tags. I’m gonna tag @yukichouji and @the-iron-lion because I know you write and post, but I also know you’re busy, so please, only do it if you want to and have time ^^ Apart from that, if anybody who sees this wants to give it a go, consider yourself tagged! I’d love to read your answers, so feel free to tag me back

How many works do you have on AO3?

So, here’s the thing: I’ve never posted anything I have written XD One day, I will, but until then, I’ll answer the questions I can answer to the best of my ability ^^ I’ll modify some questions and keep the original ones for anybody who wants to answer those.

What’s your total AO3 fanfic words count?

123.211 words total (not counting one absolutely massive collaborative fanfic that I’m not gonna count rn)

More under the cut!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Funny thing: thanks to this question I’ve rediscovered like ten folders with the beginnings of different fanfics I’d not opened in years. Thank you, @scribbledquillz for making me find my old writings! My main work rn is a Dragon Age Origins retelling (featuring Astala Tabris of course, though I have decided that the other origins--Surana, Amell, Brosca, Mahariel, the whole gang--also survive because yes.) I also have two separate unfinished pieces on Caduceus and Caleb of the Mighty Nein (Critical Role) respectively. Equally unfinished are one fanfic with Loki and his Jotunn heritage, and another about the extermination of mutants in the X-Men universe prior to X-Men: Days of Future Past. Both projects were ambitious, but exist mainly as ideas now. The longest (and oldest) fanfic I’ve ever written is a collaborative super self-indulgent self-insert fix-it fic for The Hobbit. I am quite proud of my younger self for pulling through with this one and sticking to it over such a long time. It is, sadly, also unfinished.

Do you Would you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I would definitely respond to comments. It’s polite. I’d also want to mirror back the joy a comment has inspired in me.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

The X-Men fanfic ends with the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past, which (spoiler?) means all the characters were going to die. But it’s okay because the movie fixes that ^^ But generally speaking, I’m not big on angsty endings. Angst is fine anywhere else.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I think it has to be either the The Hobbit fanfic or the Dragon Age Origins retelling. Characters I strongly identify with tend to get the happiest endings. Oh do I ever wonder why that is so

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve ever written?

I’ve never written a crossover, but I’ve read some really cool ones. There was one featuring the Mighty Nein in the Undeadwood setting (both by Critical Role) that I wished had gone on longer bc it was so cool.

Have you ever recieved hate on a fic?

One of the good things about not posting anything: you don’t subject it to judgement ;D

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have... never finished writing a smutty scene.

One day. One day. Zevran might be the push I need, who knows

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Another one of the good things about not posting anything.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I started translating several of them myself! :D

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Oh yes! It’s an amazing experience. The creativity is squared. It is important though that all collaborators are on the same page about where the story goes, how the characters will be portrayed, etc. Especially if you give somebody your own OC or self-insert to write about.

What’s your all-time favourite ship?

There are a few that have a special place in my heart. Shadogast comes to mind, or Percy/Vex (from Critical Role). I love the Zevwarden ship because it’s a story about allowing feelings and romance and being stronger because of them (at least in my mind). I’m scared of what Fenris/Hawke might do to me when I get around to play DA2 XD

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Definitely the The Hobbit fanfic. It is a glorious mess, and from time to time I go through the documents again... but it’s just a really big project and my collaborators are busy

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue! Banter! I love it. I absolutely adore it. I make it way too long but it’s so much fun. I’m very much character driven I think, which is also why fanfic is so appealing to me. Actions speak louder than words, but characters shout through a megaphone. I also like pairing dialogue with very day-to-day, down-to-earth actions (like folding laundry). I feel like it allows me to convey so much more about the caracters than only through the words they say and the dialogue tags of “he said, she whispered”. Another thing I consider myself strong at is worldbuilding and generally keeping the practical things in mind. If it’s autumn, it’s probably gonna rain, the ground will be wet, they’ll sleep poorly and that’ll be reflected in heightened tempers and therefore more drama in the next scene. The fact that in canon a town has a harbor will have impacted this character who was born there. I like the details and puzzling the pieces together to make a world really come to life XD And, last, I have also recently learned that I write best non-chronologically, and to just write it all out and edit later. It does wonders to advance a project

What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions. I hardly write any at first. I normally see scenes very clearly in my head, but I... don’t communicate it XD I’m so character-driven that I kinda forget about the rest. I also tend to get too bogged down by the mundane? The fact that I like to play around with details of the worldbuilding and have it all make sense means I’ll write that scene where they break up camp even though it... doesn’t really add anything to the story apart from the fact that it happens and they indeed do break up camp. Things that I should tell, I show. It reflects in my wordcount.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I like it! I find it really interesting. I might even listen to the spoken dialogue via Google trnaslate XD The only reason it might bother me is that there’s just no elegant way to integrate the translation into the text on AO3. In a normal book, I’d go for a footnote, but in AO3 and with my chapter length, I won’t make anybody scroll down, read the translation, and scroll up again.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

My first ever fanfic before I knew what fanfic was were things I wrote age 11 with a friend about the cowboy stories this German late 19th century writer Karl May wrote. We were obsessed with those novels

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

I gotta say the Hobbit fanfic. It was melodramatic, it was self-indulgent, it had everything. I remember staying up with my friends way into the wee hours of the morning discussing how we’d save Thorin and his nephews from certain death and why Kili was so obsessed with Tauriel after talking to her once XD

And here we go! Thank you so much again for tagging me, this was a lot of fun (and it makes me want to post something. Maybe the Dragon Age Origins retelling will make the cut? I do hope I finish it in the next months)

#me #writing #astala tabris #for fun

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luasworkshop · 3 years ago

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Writer Tag Game

(tagged by: @the-iron-orchid, tagging: Err... I'm not sure who's on AO3 - I've not been on very long! Consider yourself tagged if you are! @bottomvalerius for sure, and @foxfirefallout if you're on there.)

How many works do you have on AO3?

26 but only 5 of those are written fics, the rest are all spicy artwork I wanted to put somewhere with an age click-through (though I do try to give them fun little descriptions... does it count as a micro-fiction if it's under 100 words?)

What’s your total AO3 word count?

18,477 DEFINITELY only a tiny fraction of what I've actually written! I have multiple 50K plus novels on my hard drive.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Muriel Wanting (Art)

Early Morning Ride (Writing)

Breakfast (Writing)

At the End of the Day (Writing)

Gentle Hands (Art)

Muriel fans represent!

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Generally! I love attention! I respond if there's something to respond to, but I do love general compliments very much.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Everything I've posted on AO3 is very light and gentle, and anything that doesn't have at least a SATISFYING ending (this does not preclude major character death, moral ambiguity, and bittersweetness) in my own work isn't finished yet.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Everybody gets a 'happy ending'...

Do you write crossovers? If so, What is the craziest one you’ve ever written?

Generally... no, I think if I did it would probably be crack-fic. I'm not particularly fond of crossovers, though I love a good AU.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Oh I'm sure I will eventually. Meanest comment I've ever gotten online was someone who was VERY upset about a ceramic bust of Riff-Raff (from RHPS) I made when I was 16 that they felt didn't "capture Richard's true beauty." In retrospect this is very funny (this was back on Elfwood's Fan Quarter, back in the day.)

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Pff, pretty much all I post is smut. Spicy and sweet is where I am (but also definitely very explicit so, yanno, bear that in mind).

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, and quite frankly, given the internet, I'd rather not know because it's very difficult to deal with that sort of thing.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but that'd be pretty cool I think.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

My husband and I are working on a long piece of original fiction together (novel-length, presently over 100K words) but it's not ready for the world yet (we both have day-jobs, it's hard getting stuff done...)

What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Uuuuuuuhhhhh... anyone/healthy coping mechanisms and oc/anyone I suppose. I'm down for whatever if it's well-written, consensual, and not gross.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

At this rate Lua/Aleis' re-write is uh... well I'll get to it EVENTUALLY I'm sure.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, humor, knowing how the human body works, large vocabulary, worldbuilding, cranking stuff out when I put my mind to it...

What are your writing weaknesses?

Run-ons, fragments, archaic & obtuse grammar and word-usage, finding that exposition sweet spot (not too much not too little), having no patience whatsoever for editing...

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Depends on context? Not something I've really much run into. I can't imagine it's much necessary unless you're trying to convey a lack of communication between characters, or if you're just throwing in a word or phrase for characterization.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

VERY technically - Xena: Warrior Princess, but you won't find it online, I was quite young and very much just writing for myself (sticking in a OC who got to go have adventures with the ladies and developed her whole spin-off). The Arcana is the first fandom I've shard fic of online (though most of my writing and art is original fiction.)

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Uhhhh... hard to pick! Of what's posted I think I like Early Morning Ride and it's followup Breakfast quite well! They're a little rough around the edges, but it's fun bouncing Julian and Muriel off of each other (I'll probably continue this series later as well.)

#Tag Game

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emmys-grimoire · 4 years ago

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Blog Overview

About

Like it says in the blog desc, this is my theorycrafting blog. I make posts of varying lengths analyzing the storyline of Obey Me! as it unfolds. I enjoy trying to predict its trajectory and, with some luck, my followers enjoy my insights.

I reblog fanart I happen to like and other blogs that also dabble in OM! analysis, but I try to keep this blog primarily about my own writing.

It is important to remember that I am opinionated and I have no interest in hiding my biases and I will acknowledge that I have them. I will be rough on the characters, writing, and devs if I feel it’s deserved. If you’re averse to hearing criticism towards the things you like, I suggest politely moving on, because everyone and everything winds up in my crosshairs eventually.

This is a spoiler heavy blog. I always tag my posts when they have them and leave them under a cut, but wade through here prepared to see them. There’s still spoiler free content, but the bulk of what I write will include them.

The Run-down

For easier consumption, I try to categorize my writings in a coherent manner.

Analysis includes writing that isn’t as comprehensive or put-together as theories, usually focused on one particular aspect of a whole. It usually involves studying the nature of something in the story or determining something’s essential features and the relationships involved. I usually write post-lesson analysis + predictions that assess what happens in that particular lesson, how certain aspects of that lesson may be connected to prior lessons, and how those aspects may determine what happens in the later lessons. It’s me trying to connect dots, essentially.

Commentary used to be daily play-by-play summary + critique + opinions of each lesson as they’re released. Now it’s mostly commentary specific scenes because tumblr no longer lets you put 10+ images in text posts. Sad.

Lore is something I do occasionally. These are compilations of in-game worldbuilding lore that can still be analytic, speculative, or interpretative but are generally aimed at “refreshing” the memory of the readers of events they may have muddied recollections of, or informing them of details they may simply have never learned (turns out there’s important content locked behind Devilgrams and hard mode lessons). Some, if not most, lore posts are ongoing or works-in-progress.

Reviews are what it is written on the tin. These are mostly reserved for seasons when they complete, and occasionally events and Devilgrams. I don’t do reviews for individual lessons because a lot of what I would say usually just ends up in the commentary and analysis posts; it’d be redundant.

Theories are proposed explanations for events or phenomena that unfold in the story. While I try to stick with established facts and canon, they're still conjectural and subject to my interpretation. Even if I think one theory is more likely than the others, I still offer alternative explanations that may make sense. They vary in size but I usually use screen caps to back up my evidence.

Clicking on the corresponding links in the sidebar will make it easier to find a specific type of post.

Notable Writings

These are a few popular examples:

Lesson 54 Analysis + 55 Predictions

Past And Future Sorcerer’s Society Shenanigans

Luke’s Prejudices and the Potential Path Forward

Angelic Demons

Michael Analysis

If you have any questions about the Obey Me storyline (it can get confusing), my theories, or simply want my input on something, feel free to drop an ask. I enjoy them!

We have a discord where we chill and discuss the story, but it is VERY SPOILER HEAVY. Everyone’s welcome, but you’ve been warned.

#obey me #obey me!#blog stuff #analysis #theories #commentary

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battlestar-royco · 5 years ago

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Considering my place in the anti community

So, I know that might be an alarming title, but rest assured I don’t see myself deactivating or ceasing discussion of SJ/M’s books any time soon. But a lot of things have led me to the decision to explicitly veer my blog in another direction. I’ve said more than once before that I made this blog around May of 2018 as a joke between me, myself, and I, as a way to vent my disappointments with the T0G and AC0TAR series into this dumb blue void. I kid you not, I literally did not expect anyone to interact with me at all, and aside from mutuals on my main, I’d never been sent an ask in all the (then) six years I had a Tumblr. I didn’t expect to meet and befriend such a passionate, salty, visionary, thoughtful community. A little over a year later, I’m interacting with too many people to keep up with, I find myself being tagged and reblogged by reputable bloggers with way bigger followings from all over Tumblr’s diversity-forward fandom communities, and I even have run-ins with anon hate and stan ridiculousness every so often. The anti community as I know it has been a welcoming home that has taught me so much. That being said, there are a few reasons I want to slightly switch gears. So here goes. This is a long one, so thanks for sticking it out, if you make it to the end.

What will remain and what will change?

More will stay the same than will change. I will still absolutely be answering asks about YA books and SJ/M, and I will be posting about the issues within them and how I think they could have gone better. I will also still be tagging such things as anti. I really enjoy discussing the nitty gritty of characters, worldbuilding, and how all that coincides with the handling of diversity and feminism in the books. This type of discussion is, I think, how I gained most of my following, so I don’t want to turn my back on you. Also, in the near future, I mainly just want my blog to be a place where diverse representation across all identity vectors and forms of media, especially fantasy books, is a focus. I want people to feel they can talk earnestly about their issues with xyz representation and/or discuss diversity struggles they come across with their own writing.

I feel like the anti community stagnates periodically and we devolve into cold wars with stans, picking apart miniscule details of the books, scouring SJ/M’s social media, repeating ourselves, or other similar activities. Going forward I want to reduce the conversations that are founded in pettiness or insulting other Tumblr users or SJ/M for things that honestly have nothing to do with the books, the YA/publishing community, or problematic behavior. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things worth discussing re: problematic author/stan behavior, but it’s easy to lose sight of the reason for antis to exist in the first place. On to reasoning:

1. The connotation.

This is something many of you know about me as well, but it bears repeating: I never hated SJ/M’s books. My blog is a result of my passion and enjoyment of the earlier books twisted into disappointment. I wouldn’t have bothered making a blog about these books if I hated them from start to finish. I wouldn’t have made an “anti” account if I’d felt that my opinions would be accepted among stans. I felt there was a lack in both the anti and stan community for my experience, so I’m here to give voice to that. Although I started out talking about the negatives, I don’t think my blog has ever fit most people’s idea of “anti” on this site. There are a lot of truly toxic anti communities all over Tumblr who exist just to shit on creators and fans or to be negative out of spite, and I really have never identified with that desire, nor have I tried to exhibit that behavior. But thanks to worst of the worst on this site, anyone who calls themselves anti is automatically associated with that. I also think as a whole, every SJ/M anti is doing completely different stuff with their own blogs. We’ve got book cover criticism, opinions and advice about publishing, T0G rewrite projects, shitposts, etc. I myself started expanding months ago into providing writing advice on diversity and generally writing meta. It’s not a group of angry people yelling slurs at each other like I’ve seen other anti communities do, so I don’t think it’s the right label for me.

2. Stans.

This goes a bit with the connotation point. I feel like, especially because of how I’ve branded myself and because of antis who preceded the current batch, stans really have no idea what I’m about. I have always been clear that I do not wish to attack them or their enjoyment of/engagement with the books. And yet I’m constantly being vagued about, having my words twisted, or having my arguments and blogging style very purposely, transparently ignored/misinterpreted/ridiculed in said vague-blog posts. All this despite stans’ frequent claim that they ~never~ go into anti tags or check out our blogs, and despite their other frequent claim they don’t believe in the anti/stan divide and that we’re more alike than not. I agree that this divide is dumb, but it’s kind of hard to distance myself from it while constantly being thrown under the bus by SJ/M BNFs. I don’t mind anyone viewing or interacting with my posts, because transparency and all, but it’s tiresome to constantly defend myself because I’m being misrepresented by accounts that are 4, 5, 6 times bigger than mine who either don’t know how I run my blog or purposely mischaracterize me. I can’t control other people’s behavior and I don’t want to, but this is a change I’m making for my own mental health and to promote better behavior among both communities, and I hope others follow suit.

3. Things I’ve handled poorly and how I want to do better.

Anyone with an ask blog for a minute inevitably acquires their share of public fuck-ups. I can think of a few instances in which I would have handled a situation differently. For example, a few months ago the community as a whole was asked to expand our conversation to more than just presenting SJ/M and Bardugo as foils, and I wish I’d been less defensive there. That day made me think a lot about the way I carry myself on this blog and how limited the conversation can sometimes be. I really do appreciate any and all criticism for the community, and looking back, I feel like my reaction to that didn’t go along with the way I usually try to handle criticism. I think it would be good to try and, like OP said, infuse more book promotion into my blog in general, to try to support and read more books by marginalized authors in the future so we can discuss them more thoroughly here.

In closing/TL;DR:

This isn’t inspired by any particular event or person, but rather a lot of things that have happened in the past several months on Tumblr, in the world and the media, and in my personal life. It’s not a change that was inspired out of negativity, but more out of trying to generate a more positive framework for my Tumblr activity and seeing how I can effect change through this blog. I’m still here for rants, masterposts calling out problematic books and characters, pretty much all the book talk I was doing before. This is just a really long-winded announcement that I want to expand my blog to a general spot for discussing diversity in media. Thank you so much for sticking it out if you made it all the way down here. Here’s to improving ourselves.

#anti sjm #polysorscha

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clansayeed · 5 years ago

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Bound by Circumstance ― Chapter 23: Happily Ever After

PAIRING: Nik Ryder x trans*M!MC (Taylor Hunter) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Circumstance ⥽

Taylor Hunter (MC) has made it good for himself in New Orleans; turns out moving to a new city fresh out of college to reinvent yourself isn’t as hard as people make it out to be. Things only start to get confusing when he finds himself the target of a malevolent wraith. Good thing someone’s looking out for him though — because without Nighthunter Nik Ryder as his bodyguard he definitely won’t survive long in the twisting darkness of the supernatural underworld he’s tripped into.

Bound by Circumstance and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the book Nightbound and the rest of the Bloodbound series. Find out more [HERE].

Note: Circumstance only loosely follows the events and plotline of Nightbound, and features a separate antagonist, different character motivations, and further worldbuilding.

*Let me know if you would like to be added to the Circumstance/series tag list!

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

For now.

[READ IT ON AO3]

They make sure the first thing Kristin sees when she opens her eyes is the pair of them on either side of her hospital bed. Both of her hands in theirs and they’re so close to being able to hold back the tears in their eyes.

But when she licks her dry lips and looks them both over with groggy delirium, only to say “I think I’m over Mardi Gras, guys,” they’re her first words in a week that’s felt like an entire year and how could they do anything but ugly cry as loud and messy and utterly ridiculous as they possibly can.

“Now don’t go marryin’ that idea, Cookie,” Vera blubbers; wipes her thumbs carefully to preserve her wing-tip, “‘specially when you see the place our friend’s got hooked up with.”

“Nope, I’m sticking to water.”

Taylor snorts with a fond roll of his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

And even though they know for a fact she’ll make a full recovery she was found in a cemetery—at night—and her coma lasted several days; so Taylor and Vera don’t make much of a fuss when the doctor kicks them out. She makes them promise to come back as soon as they can, which of course they do.

They’re waiting to the elevator when a melodic humming catches Taylor’s ears; he knows that voice.

Sure enough Tilly strolls around the corner, pushing a cart with a squeaking back wheel in front of her without so much as a touch. Her hands have better things to do — like spoon a healthy heap of strawberry jello into her mouth.

The cart doesn’t even slow when their paths cross but the elf doesn’t let that stop her from grabbing two jiggling cups and plop-plopping them into Vera’s hands. A wink and twitch of her nose and she’s off around another corner as though she was never there.

Vera stares down at the jello in wordless confusion. Before she can say anything the lift arrives and doors slide open.

“I’ll explain on the way,” Taylor promises, plucks his gifted jello cup and presses the button for the ground floor.

They leave the hospital full of jello and laughter. Which was probably the elf’s intention.

Two blocks away from the Graveyard Shift Taylor stops them; puts a gentle hand on Vera’s upper arm and moving them out of the way of tourists still loitering around the Quarter in waves.

Judging by the fall of her face Vera’s been expecting this — and it’s not a conversation he’s excited about either but ignoring unseemly topics is something that hits a little too close to home these days.

“Have you decided what you’re gonna do?”

“Been a little busy, Tay.” Easygoing tone now clipped; curt. Almost cold but he knows it’s not her. “We shouldn’t keep everyone waitin’.”

“I think they’ll understand.”

“Okay — I tried t’be nice but I guess I just gotta be blunt. I don’t want to talk about it.”

His silence is long enough to wedge a bolt in her defense — has Vera peering up through her curls where he waits patiently. Which only frustrates her further. “You’re annoying sometimes, you know that Taylor Hunter?”

He shrugs — she’s not wrong. “Nik makes sure I don’t forget.”

Silence, and more silence, and a few attempts to weasel around him and continue down the sidewalk that end in a childish bout of fake-out standoffs; then she finally accepts defeat.

“I wanna stay, really I do. But I moved away to distance myself from this—this life. And if I stay then what have the past couple’a years of my life been for then, you know?”

He knows, and nods; she continues, “My biggest thing is… I don’t know who my momma is without the Touch; without bein’ Lady Smoke. Hell I’m not even sure she knows. You should see how she’s been actin’ Taylor; three whole days later and she’s back in her office actin’ like nothing has changed.

“But it has. And sooner or later word’ll get out what happened to her an’ that she doesn’t have the same leverage as she used to.” She worries her bottom lip between her teeth; she’s been doing that a lot recently. “It’d be nice to think about her givin’ it all up but I know she won’t. What if she turns to somethin’ equally terrible or worse to keep people fearin’ her?”

There’s a light to her eyes that wasn’t there before; maybe even Vera didn’t know how much Vera needed to vent the things weighing her down. And Taylor? Well he empathizes; literally. Her worries are his worries. Her concern is his concern.

And because she knows in her heart of hearts that Tonya Reimonenq is not only capable but likely to try and regain any echo of the power the bloodwraith took from her — by any means necessary — he knows it too.

Taylor wishes he had certainties for her. That he can give her the definitive this is what will happen and this is how we’ll deal with it of the matter. But he can’t.

“No matter what she does, the New Accords will keep her in line.”

The look she gives him; will they though? isn't by any fault of hers. In fact it’s Vera’s healthy caution that’s helped them all this way so far so he trusts it as much as anything else.

“Don’t stay because you want to keep an eye on Tonya. You’ve got Nik and me for that.” He links their arms, doesn’t miss her little breath of relief when they continue walking.

“Stay because you want to. I’d sure love it if you did.”

“I’ll give it a real thought, okay?”

“I could ask for nothing more.”

They enter the Shift together and everything is the same — everyone is exactly as the pair left them. That isn’t a good thing.

“Raise your voice at me again, go on.”

“Kathy will you stop goadin’ the werewolf?”

“You’ve got one last chance Jensen.”

“Guys, please slow down. ‘Taking minutes’ was made for typing and I don’t have another pen.”

“Oh hon’, you don’t need to get the arguments in the minutes.”

Krom flashes a sheepish smile through his tusks at Garrus from across the booth. The bartender is content to keep his distance from the arguing going down in his establishment but he stays because that’s what he agreed to.

Though judging by the bottle of teal-tinted absinthe he’s nearly polished off that might be something of a regret on his part.

Cal leans back in the booth with both hands over his face — probably with the same frustration Nik doesn’t even try to cover up beside him.

“This is useless…”

Across from him Kristof smacks his lips, beer in hand, and nods to his nephew. “First thing we’ve agreed on all day, pup.” And when he makes like he’s about to pull himself away from the uncomfortable situation Katherine snatches at his wrist. Her grip looks practically dainty against the muscle of him but every single soul in the bar knows it to be anything but.

“Sit the fuck back down, Jensen.”

“Nah, I’m done with this shit fer th’day.”

Pull your weight and help me, says the look Katherine snaps at Ryder.

Who leans forward on his elbows with fingers steepled and a hard glare given to the Alpha at the other end of the table.

“If you leave now we just have to start from scratch tomorrow. Do you really want to drag this out?”

Cal groans and continues his useless attempt to become one with his leather seat. He’s just as frustrated as his fellow wolf but Krom’s got him walled in; no chance of escape.

But the thought of having to repeat the ordeal is, luckily(?), terrible enough that the wood of the seat creaks to accommodate the Alpha as he settles back in.

“Fine. But come sunset I’m outta here; I got shit t’do.”

Katherine agrees with a nod. “It won’t take that long.”

“The Lamrians didn’t take this long,” mutters Nik under his breath; and its only then that he looks up enough to see Taylor and Vera’s combined amusement where they’ve been watching everything unfold like a governmental pantomime.

“Gettin’ your kicks over there?”

“Absolutely.”

Vera gives a silent touch to his arm — had mentioned before they left that she’d need to make a few work calls at some point today for the sake of both her job and Kristin’s. While she heads up to the Shift’s apartments Taylor drags a stool over to join the fray of frustration.

Does Kristof still make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end? Yes. Does he look over at that bearded frown and think of the large jaw of canine teeth that could very easily tear him to shreds? Yes.

Does the way he has his arms crossed over his chest, red faced and muttering something under his breath, make him look like a kid angry at not getting his way?

Yes.

In fact the wolf actually seems to lean away from him when Taylor makes himself comfortable; beady eyes trained wary on his hands.

“Something to say?” Katherine only asks because she isn’t wholly unconvinced his attitude isn’t just another tactic for distraction.

“Just keep them flashy fae fingers to yer’self an’ we’re peachy.”

Can anyone blame him when he wiggles his perfectly normal (thank you very much) fingers in Kristof’s direction, then? No, no they cannot.

Krom offers up the long scroll of parchment for him to take — already half-full with the agreed-upon duties, limitations, and expectations of the Quarter’s new Council members.

Being the largest population in city limits by a wide margin, the Mayor’s neatly scrawled signature is the only one beside rules not of his own design. Sure it had been for the best that they not involve anyone who didn’t need to be (and in the Lady de la Rosa’s well-put words, it was smart “not to demand action over one with such influence over the innocent and ignorant”), but that didn’t mean they were met with open arms at City Hall.

In fact, Taylor ended up having to get Elric to come down and ‘lay down the law’ with the man. Perks of having an immortal father who had been to every Mayoral inauguration since the city’s founding.

Seeing as the Mayor (and the humans by default) had literally the least amount of things to worry about, too? He was kind of a dick about it.

Below that were the duties of the faire folk of Lamrian and their Lord Elric and Lady Thalissa.

Lady Thalissa who had not been happy to see Taylor again — but who had also been under the assumption that he had been the one to involve Elric in the events of Mardi Gras. Once they cleared that up (read: once Elric had confessed to leaving Lamrian of his own free will and sort of… falling into everything after) she was rather warm and friendly; even offered to help her (step?) son learn how to better control the magic within.

And of course there was a separate clause specifically for Garrus underneath; who was far too pleased to be considered his own separate sub-category.

The Jensen Pack is up next on the ‘Get Everyone to Agree’ List and following itinerary that had been drawn up by the weary survivors of the Beau-Keyes Garden. But getting Jensen himself and his nephew—who as it turns out is some kind of were-royalty on his mother’s side and if Cal thinks they aren’t going to be talking about that at the first opportunity he’s sorely mistaken—to agree on anything is about as difficult as… well anything else they’ve done so far.

So he has a little hope at least.

“So what’s the biggest argument so far?” He asks finally; gives the parchment back to Krom to roll up for safe-keeping. He’s fallen in love with his new unofficial title as Council Scribe. They’re gonna need to buy ballpoint pens in bulk though.

Nik’s smile drips saccharine and laden with spite. “Dividin’ of authority.”

“It just ain’t natural!” Kristof resumes like someone pressed ‘play,’ “The Alpha doesn’ answer to nobody, that’s jus’ how it is. Here or in any pack you’re gonna run foul of.”

To everyone’s surprise Cal actually agrees; “It’s more of a biological thing than a code or rule. You get more than one Alpha in a room and someone’s gonna come out on top; that’s just the animal kingdom.” Then, with an obvious reluctance; “And I’m no Alpha. It’s a born thing. That’s why Kristof took over pack duties in the first place.”

Taylor looks between them. “What about Octavia?”

“Beta’s beneath my authority, but if there’s any hint’a disagreement it can get ugly.”

“Well that sounds like bull. I’ve seen her disagree with you… pretty much every time you’ve been in the same room.”

The were scratches his chin; averts his eyes with a huff. “That ain’t a pack thing. That’s a… us thing.”

Subtlety wasn’t even an attempt on Nik’s part — his hand coming up in a suggestive and hard-to-misinterpret squeezing motion. Thankfully Kristof only growls, but Taylor sees the mischief in the hunter’s eyes and knows it could have been way worse. It could have been dog-related.

“Okay; well right there you have something that goes against the norm’, right? Why can’t other things? Start off small… build up to an equal foothold in the pack.”

“I’m not returnin’ to the pack, Taylor.”

Their reactions are telling; that Kristof is the only one unsurprised by Cal’s insistence means he knew (and yet he’s still being an ass?) about his nephew’s choice to stay a lone wolf.

Not that it does anything for privacy but Taylor can’t help lowering his voice when he asks; “Are you… are you sure?”

“Sure as salt.”

“But what about Donny?”

“Donny’ll be fine. We already talked it out —”

“‘We’ who, who is ‘we?’” And the simmering pot of Katherine starts to boil. “Not you two ‘we,’ because that — that would be crazy. That would mean you two came to an agreement on something.”

But Cal just shrugs and nods — doesn’t see the danger quite yet.

“Yeah, ‘us two,’ we. Kristof’s an asshole but he’s a brother, too. Always will be.” Which is a statement that goes undisputed; the opposite actually — judging by the noise of agreement. “I get t’see him whenever, an’ even talked him into letting me back home for important stuff; holidays, y’know?”

“And what do you get out of this?” Katherine can’t help but ask. Kristof shrugs it off.

“I can’t go ‘round backin’ up on my word — ‘specially not punishments an’ the like. Opens the pack up to weakness and loners who ain’t so kind comin’ ‘round sniffin’ fer trouble. Ain’t that right pup?”

“Exactly. So we both like the idea of me pullin’ a neutral-party sorta deal. Keepin’ an eye on the city and territory and, on the off-chance, helpin’ out any stray weres. If any packs come down this way they’ll be Kristof’s problem. It’s a good arrangement… I’ll be the Garrus of the wolves.”

Heads turn as there’s an odd noise from the direction of the bar — pink tickling at Garrus’ cheeks as he looks Cal over with amusement.

“You wish you could be me, little wolf. No one’s me but me, myself, and I.”

“I jus’ mean —”

“Relax, darling. I know exactly what you meant, I just had to say it.”

From her point on the U-bend of the booth Katherine gives a shaky exhale. Pinches the bridge of her nose and mouths her way up to seventeen in silence before she can breathe without yelling at someone.

“So what you’re telling me is that you can compromise and agree on things… you’re just actively choosing to argue about the official Council bullshit.”

“Yeah, sounds ‘bout right.”

“Can’t agree with th’pup too much — he’ll get an ego.”

A long silence. Then…

“I hate both of you.”

When Octavia comes around at sunset she isn’t alone. Donny runs into his brother’s arms, because by now everyone in town knows at least some version of the truth of what went down at the Beau-Keyes House that night, and he’s that distinct mixture of angry-happy that only comes with being family.

And being family to someone so chaotically dumb that it sometimes all works out in the end, at that.

Speaking of — Taylor needs to call his mom soon. He should write that down or something.

Cal’s so excited to see his little brother again that he forgets to say goodbye. Not that they’ll hold it against him. Who wouldn’t need a drink and greasy bar food to unwind after spending all day yelling and being yelled at?

Katherine tugs on her leather jacket; takes the poster tube acting as safehouse for the new Council Accords and slings the strap across her chest.

“You’re not staying?” asks Taylor in surprise; she’s just been so around the last couple of days that it’s weird to see her heading out.

“No rest for the wicked,” though he doesn’t miss the little quirk of her smile as she says it, “but really — sun’s down so the vamps are out, and we still need de la Rosa’s terms and agreements.”

“Will Cade be there?” Though he feels stupid for asking and already knows the answer.

She humors him though. “Yeah. From the looks of it we’ll need to work in the same exception clauses for him that we have for Cal and Garrus, if not something like it.”

“Seems like we’re making a lot of those.”

“Seems like maybe we need them.”

Katherine throws an expectant look over his shoulder; Taylor turns to see Krom holding up an apologetic stone in the midst of being dragged to the back by a very eager Garrus. “You’ve got ten minutes!” She calls, and means it.

With Nik upstairs and the curtain closing behind the eager new couple that leaves Taylor and her alone for what might very well be the first time.

He’s not talked to Katherine much — not one-on-one. Makes an awkwardness hang weird between them, tilted too far to one side and sending the whole room just slightly off.

But he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t hoped for at least a small opportunity to talk to her without nosy interruption.

“Hey, if you have a sec —”

“Have you seen them since?” Apparently he wasn’t the only one eager to take advantage of their free moment.

Maybe it’s a trick of the dim bar lighting but Katherine almost looks disappointed when he shakes his head. “The last time was on Mardi Gras. They were watching the whole time, though.”

“The Fate is always watching. They’re bound to witness.”

Yeah, I remember. “You never explained… how you knew. Back at the Coven house.”

Which was on purpose if the look she gives is anything to go by. Has her ruffling her fingers through long plum waves — working out little knots like a nervous habit.

“You’re right.”

“You don’t have to — I mean yeah I’ve been dying to ask but you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, Kathy.”

The nickname draws her attention, makes her look him in the eye with a weight of importance. “It’s just complicated, that’s all.”

And he wants to push the issue, literally feels it crawling up his throat itchy and large enough to choke on. But he also understands how hard it is to talk about something before you’re ready. Like, more than most.

How many minutes has it been now? A question she’s gotta be wondering too; she keeps looking behind him hoping for a large stone interruption.

“You know Ryder’s from around here?”

Taylor blinks. “I mean, I figured… he sounds pretty local.”

“And I don’t.”

“No.”

“Because I’m not,” a beat, “but this isn’t my first time in town. No that… that was a couple of years back. I came here for one reason—one person.”

Ah, got it. “The Fate.”

“Usually they don’t get themselves tangled up in stuff like this, you know? They just watch. So when you need to get in touch with them, there are certain rites and rituals to follow.” Katherine’s eyes grow wistful, she snorts; “Be glad we didn’t have to get involved in that nasty business. I’m in no rush to jump those hoops again.”

Again? “So… what did they say?” What he really wants to ask is what did you see them for but he doesn’t, they don’t know one another well enough for that. Maybe some day.

“We never spoke. I backed out right at the edge. I mean I don’t regret it; that night I ended up finding this place, getting in on the hunter crowd, meeting Ryder — actually maybe I regret that bit.”

She doesn’t, not at all. He can tell. “That night, too, was the card game I won Cadence’s job in.”

“Which worked out for you.”

“Ha, depends on who you ask.” She hikes the strap higher on her shoulder, continues tugging at her hair. “That’s not — there’s a point to this I promise. Because The Fate doesn’t exist in this world. They can’t, physically; they’re beyond us. So in order to get to them you have to…”

“You have to leave this world.”

It dawns on him then, what she’s getting at. And she knows he knows because there’s the barest hint of pity behind her guarded gaze. Knows it’s not a vulnerability she allows herself often.

Maybe this whole time he knew. Somewhere deep down, anyway. In the same place where The Fate had hidden the attack at the theatre.

Let me do you this kindness.

“I… I died that night, then.”

“I think so, yes.”

The surprising part is how not painfully difficult that is to process as a fact; a statement instead of a question instead of an ultimatum of martyrdom. He’s finding it more difficult to imagine what to say to Nik because no doubt the hunter would find a way to try and blame himself about it.

Then again… Nik very well could have died in the Garden that night. But surely even the fae couldn’t bring people back from the dead. Surely only someone with power like The Fate had that capability.

Surely.

Taylor doesn’t quite know where he went but when he comes back the look Katherine gives him isn’t reassuring in the slightest. Like she’s ready for him to collapse, shaking, the existential crisis delayed up until right at this very moment with only a half-stranger to comfort him.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Which isn’t a hard question to answer in the least. “Yeah. I mean if something was gonna happen it probably would have by now, right?”

“Jeez, way to jinx yourself.”

“Hey I never said I was the brightest bulb in the pack.”

“Ain’t that right.”

Whatever time they had been allotted by the universe to bring those revelations to light is up. Ryder rounds the staircase down, heavy boots with heavier steps on the creaking metal. And he’s one foot on the floor when the back curtain draws back to reveal Garrus buttoning his waistcoat back up whole Krom hastily tugs on his tee.

Tactless Ryder whistles at the pair; makes Kathy roll her eyes and mutter an insult under her breath, along with; “Pretty sure that’s a couple dozen health code violations, Gar.’”

“I have my own health code.”

“Pretty sure something was violated back there.”

Which is such a terrible innuendo and so terribly typical of Nik that when he goes to pull Taylor into his space by the hip he makes a show of active resistance — a protest statement that says that kind of terrible pun-making is simply not allowed.

Though it’s not as bad as the one that comes to mind at Krom’s stony expression.

The troll looks like he wants to crawl under a rock.

Taylor surrenders eventually. Allows himself to be pulled in close where he can rest his chin on the man’s duster.

“You two crazy kids sticking around?”

Back behind the bar Garrus is already back at work with bottles in hand. Easily recognizable now as the ingredients for Ivy’s favorite bubbly brew; and she should be back soon, shouldn’t she? How long can an exorcism take, even on a house as large as 937 Prytania Street?

Taylor shrugs. “I guess. Midsummer is canceled while the theatre is being fixed back up so I’m…” Gonna be broke soon, is what he is. Something to worry about at a later date.

But the look Nik gives him — there’s something else on the Nighthunter’s mind.

“Up for a little adventure?” Which is a proposition that Taylor should very much turn down were he any kind of sane person, especially given everything they’ve been through this week.

But… What the hell, sanity’s overrated.

The cemetery was supposed to be roped off or something. Reasonably it should have been. But god forbid the city take down one of their biggest tourist attractions; all the dead bodies.

“You know, I thought you meant—like—apps and sodas at a bar or something.”

Because sure, there are people who might find walking hand-in-hand in a supposedly haunted cemetery in the last waning streaks of the sherbet evening to be romantic.

Taylor just isn’t one of them.

There’s that familiar tick in the man’s scarred brow looking down at him. Not that it makes everything better… but it definitely doesn’t hurt.

“All the weird shit we’ve done by now and you thought ‘adventure’ was code for— what, a vanilla dinner date?”

“Oh, so this is a date huh?”

“I would’a thought that was obvious.”

“Nik Ryder — nothing about you is obvious.”

And that fact isn’t contested — isn’t worth being contested because they both know better. But for some reason Taylor’s chest feels a little bit lighter when he breathes again. Purely metaphorically, though, as he has to borrow his hand back for a second to adjust where his binder rides up uncomfortably in the humidity.

It’s kind of weirdly beautiful the way Nik’s hand is still held out a little from his side — waiting to be taken back up. He doesn’t let it wait long.

Okay, maybe he’s a little wrong. Maybe there’s one thing about the Nighthunter that’s obvious; but he has a sneaking suspicion it’s only that way because Nik lets it be.

Obviously this thing, them — without words or long discussion over candles and spaghetti or passionate clinging kisses in the rain or anything else years of rom-com consumption have said define a relationship — isn’t going away.

It’s like everything else they do; an impulse, a behavior felt in the gut. No filter, no holding back.

They walk the paths and rows of Lafayette and talk. A comment or question here and there; half the time they’re so focused on trying not to interrupt one another they end up walking around and around in silence. Normally for him silence is an awkward thing; silence has almost always meant something that has been said or needs to be said hangs a heavy burden. Not this time. And, if he dares to believe it, maybe not for a long time coming.

On their fifth (or is it sixth?) go-around they come to a natural stop. Nik’s head tilted up to watch the night clear over their heads — and Taylor just watches him with awe; with joy.

“Hey, Taylor?”

His name, so it must be important. “Yeah Nik?”

“Thanks for savin’ my life.”

“Any time.”

Two words that make the man stop; turn to look at him fully. Something swimming in his eyes all weird and misty but still, somehow, kinda beautiful.

“You mean that, don’t you.” The way Nik says it — it definitely isn’t a question more than it is a fact he’s always known but never been able to put into words. Like knowing the sky is blue, or that there’s more to the world around them than anyone could possibly imagine.

Taylor nods. “Of course.” Obviously, how could you ever think I’d do anything less? That I wouldn’t do more?

Then clammy hands are on his cheeks and Taylor lets himself be pulled into the kiss. Lets it come to them both as naturally as breathing and just as necessary.

Just like the last time — though under vastly different circumstances — he’s shaking tip to toe when they break. Surely there’s gotta be some supernatural way to make it so they need to kiss more than they need air. He should get on that.

He’d been asked on ‘a little adventure’ but it makes sense now that in true Ryder-fashion he had been vague on purpose. One of those ‘the adventure was inside us all along’ sorta deals. Which would have been preferable to nearly dying numerous times, apparently actually dying once, dealing with shady goblins and supernatural mobsters and finding out he wasn’t entirely human at all… right? Right. Totally right. Even if he ended up finding the father he never knew and piecing together a ragtag ‘found family’ trope and—if he was reading all of the signs correctly—getting a smokin’ hot boyfriend out of it all.

At some point probably they’ll be pulled apart. A patrol officer could catch them, here out in the open as they are, and threaten to remove them from cemetery grounds. A ghoul could arise from the ground between them intent on wreaking havoc in their now peaceful (however temporary) city. Or maybe some long-slumbering kraken will awake from the depths of the Mississippi and start eating hungover tourists.

Yeah, at some point they’ll probably be pulled apart.

But that’s okay.

They’ve faced worse.

#nightbound #playchoices #playchoices fanfiction #choices nb #nik ryder x mc #nik ryder #katherine nightbound #cal lowell #vera reimonenq #nightbound mc #mc: taylor hunter #garrus #ivy #krom #oblv: bound by circumstance #oblv: new chapter #; my fics

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awkwardplantwrites · 5 years ago

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Finding Magic: Chapter Two

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That night, Renato had a dream. In the fields surrounding the town of Llantry he saw a rocky hill. On that hill stood a crumbling tower that wasn't attached to any castle. The sky was dark and overcast, with rumbles of thunder banging on the clouds. A brisk wind pushed Renato in the direction of the tower.

He noticed someone sitting at the top, on the edge of the battlement merlons, swinging their legs with no fear of the great height. Renato walked to the tower. Rocks stabbed him through his leather shoes and grazed his hands with its sharp edges when he pulled himself up the hill.

The tower's entrance was a large wooden door with ornate decorations. It was wide open and Renato walked through. There was no room, only a stone staircase; it spiralled within the tower and he couldn't see where it led. Slime from the walls covered his hands when he touched it.

"Aw gross!" Renato wiped his hands on his shirt and continued walking. Eventually he saw the malevolent light of sky, then he was at the top of the tower. The figure turned out to be Pepi. Pepi turned round to face him.

"Why are you wearing a crown?"

"I- I am?" Renato felt atop his head and there sat a golden crown which he took off and examined. Carved onto it was an image of a knight fighting a dragon, and next to it, a healer touching the forehead of a person who knelt before them. "I think it has pictures of me. That's odd, it's showing me face without the glamour spells."

The crown became heavier and Renato buckled under its weight, nearly dropping it. Pepi jumped down from the ledge and rushed over.

"Are you alright? Let me help-"

At the same moment Pepi touched the crown, lightning struck the tower. The building blew up in flames and the floor shook beneath them. They lost their footing and tumbled off the edge. Renato braced himself for the face-first drop onto the rocky hill. But he landed back on the top of the tower.

"What?! Why am I- I was just falling, how…" Renato looked around to see the tower was no longer worn and crumbling. It was as if it had somehow restored to a brand new building.

Above them the sky turned blue, which continued without end. Renato saw Pepi again - who now wore a red cloak - he didn't seem to remember falling seconds before. With one hand he held a globe, in the other hand, two long branches. Pepi and Renato gazed upon the scenery. It was no longer Llantry's fields, but a lush meadow next to a massive lake and mountains with snowy peaks. A smile reached Pepi's lips. He glanced at Renato, bekoning him to come over, then handed one of the branches to him.

"Look down there." Pepi pointed at the bank of the lake below.

An angel with large crimson wings wore a long white robe that reached their feet, one foot was in the water, the other on the grassy bank. They poured water from a goblet into another goblet. Raising their hands, they held up the goblets as if making a toast. The goblets disappeared and the angel flew up, somehow still floating even when their wings vanished. Renato quickly averted his eyes when their robe morphed into a scarf of liliac fabric. The angel flew towards them, taking the branches out their hands.

"Watch this, I'm going to do something amazing." The angel hit them on the head with the branches.

"Ow!" Renato rubbed his head. "What was that for?!"

"Are you wanting to fight, huh? Square go!" Pepi threw the globe at the angel.

Dodging the globe, the angel apologized. "Sorry, oh gosh, I'm so sorry. I forgot to change them."

The branches shrunk and transformed into two white drumsticks. "It's my first time delivering a dream, please don't tell my boss." The angel tapped them on the head with the sticks.

Renato woke up. He sat up in bed, peering into the darkness. Across the room, Pepi slept in his chair, guarding the bedchamber door as usual.

Renato lay down again. "What was I dreaming about? I can't remember. That's so annoying." He drifted off to sleep.

At dawn, Pepi woke Renato as he tidied something up. Then Pepi left the bedchamber for an hour, saying that he had something to do. Renato didn't really care. His bed was warm. He didn't want to move. Pepi's stupid face irritated him. He didn't know why, and not knowing why made him even more irritable.

When Pepi returned, he helped Renato get dressed (despite the knight complaining like a child not wanting to take a bath). Later in the morning, Pepi gathered the knights in the manor's courtyard and informed them of Renato's magic loss. A few knights began fidgeting and adjusting their armour, failing to mask their panic.

"I know of a man who can help him. In fact, this person can help everyone in Llantry. His name is Danov and he lives on the Isle of Adhar, where I'm from. It's off the North-West coast of Costia. But it's a long journey. Two or three weeks, even if you go by horse. Though I'd suggest taking a wagon, since you don't know if Renato could start feeling worse and become unable to ride."

Ladwef, a knight with a nasal voice and who constantly looked like he was sneering, cleared his throat. "Ahem, you know of him? Have you actually met this healer? He's not a myth is he?"

"Uh no, my relatives know him." Pepi combed fingers through his hair. "They've met him personally. It'll be fine. But I can't go. Someone else will have to take Renato to Adhar-"

"What?" Ladwef squawked. "That doesn't make sense. You're the only one who knows of this healer so you should be the one to track him down."

Pepi spoke through gritted teeth. "I would be a liability. I might not seem like it, but I'm not doing too well either. And before you ask, I'm not sharing those issues. Now. Does anyone know how to read a map?"

Another knight called out. "Don't be daft! You travelled down here so you know the way back. And if your family are the ones who know him, I don't reckon they'd be friendly to one of us."

"Hey, my family is full of nice, friendly people! Although Tammy's a different story, she'd make you pay a large sum. But the rest of them would always help someone in need," Pepi insisted, and surveyed the knights. His shoulders slumped. He crossed his arms, looking down at his feet with a grimace. "I'm the only one who can travel with Renato, huh..? I barely even remember how I got here."

Renato raised his hand. "I don't want to go."

"Hush, oh brave knight." Pepi pulled Renato's hand down. "We need you to get your magic back as quick as possible. And to represent the people. Show the healer how serious this is. He can examine you or whatever."

"You shut up." Reanto huffed. "This healer… he's not going to slice me up to do that examining is he?"

"Only when you die on the way there, I promise." Pepi patted Renato's shoulder. "That’s why I’m bringing the wagon. I suppose we best start packing."

In Renato's bedchamber, Pepi organised items and put them into bags like he was arranging puzzle pieces. Renato had opted to gaze at his reflection in his pocket mirror, poking at his acne. There was some sort of burning itch of irritation he couldn't shake off. If he opened his mouth he'd start a fight with Pepi.

But when Pepi held a white sphere the size of a child's fist that lifted off his hand, and started to fly around his shoulders, Renato blurted "What's that?"

"Oh, this?" Pepi rubbed the sphere with his index finger. It leaned (or flew?) into his touch. "It's a floating dragon egg. Just joking, it's a crystal ball made of Calcite. I got this from the diviner who lives right outside South Gate. She says it can detect animosity and danger."

The ball flew towards Renato then began pulsing with red light. It quickly flew back behind Pepi, looking over his shoulder. "Well. Since you're the danger, I suppose I'll have to defeat you." Pepi held a dagger like a sword and aimed it at Renato.

Renato crossed his arms. "Stop it. if you go anywhere near me with that daggar I'll stab you with it.”

“What’s wrong with you today? Yesterday you couldn’t care less about being killed by a dragon and now you’re being mean to me,” Pepi pouted.

“I don't know why I'm mad. It’s the illness,” Renato sighed. “I’m sorry. Anyway, why did you see the diviner? She doesn't use real magic, she's a con. She told me I’d “meet the spirits of water” then I fell in a puddle the next day."

Pausing, Pepi glanced at the white ball. "I had a weird dream last night. One of the knights is her nephew, he told me about her a while back. She was helpful, I think. A bit vague though. I would've been much more stubborn about going on this journey if I hadn't seen her."

"Why? What did she say?"

"Stuff about symbolism. She told me the things I dreamt of represented new beginnings, a partnership, travelling, maintaining balance, broadening my horizons, and finding peace."

"Yeah, crap like that means nothing," Renato scoffed. "She asks questions so she can pretend-"

"She didn't ask me anything. Apart from how the dream made me feel. It made me feel peaceful, it did. You were there, y'know. And it was a vivid dream. Maybe seeing you was a representation of God in my head, since you talk about Lidion a lot. Or it could've been a message from him. Did you have any dreams last night?"

"No. I don't remember anything." A spark of envy tickled Renato's stomach.

Surely Lidion hadn't… really unchosen him. There was no way he'd replace Renato with Pepi, right? Lidion had chosen Renato to be his father's successor as head knight, and it couldn't be revoked just like that. Right?

"That's too bad," Pepi replied. "If you're not going to help me pack, go outside and get the wagon ready."

"Ugh, fine! Anything to get away from your stupid face!" Renato stormed out the bedchamber.

Renato made his way to his mother's house to say goodbye, kicking the ground with his foot the entire way. He didn't get to see her often since he'd moved into the manor. Renato defended the town during the day and have healing sessions in the evening. If there was nothing to fight, he'd spend more time healing. If there was no-one to heal or fight, he'd be improving the town's defences or giving speeches at the temple. But now he couldn't do either of those. And because of that he wouldn't get to see her for yet another month.

His mother never had anymore children. She earned a living from making and mending clothes, even though she lived amoungst the gentry, and refused to have servants. His father had been head knight, but he’d died last year. Renato worried about his mother, given she had known his father better than he did and lost the man she loved, but she never lost that spark of hope in her eyes.

"Mam? I'm ho- Uh, I came to see you." Renato opened her door, scanning the room. An empty laundry basket sat in the corner. He nearly left to check outside, but then he saw her on the bed. "Are you sleeping?"

She stared at the ceiling. Her eyes, full of despair, slowly drifted over Renato's face. "It's been a whole season since I saw your face. Or anyone's face. No-one talks these days, not even to themselves."

Her voice trembled and tears fell down her cheeks. "No-one wants me to make their clothes. There's no-one to buy food from. I really wish your dad was here. He'd bring their souls back to these people just by saying a few words."

Renato's previous irritation faded. "I'm sorry mam, everyone's just… not feeling themselves lately. That's why I'm here, I wanted to tell you I'm leaving Llantry to find a cure," He told her, leaving out the fact that he was as ill as everyone else.

"Pepi knows someone who can help. You remember him, the man who sang at the top of his lungs to promote his sweets when he came into town, and gave all the kids a sugar rush." He held her hand. "And while we're gone I need you to stay strong. You'd make dad proud."

Her eyes remained misty but she smiled. "Thank you, darling. Come home soon. I'll be waiting for you with that apple pie you love so much, even if I have to loot ingredients from the Lord's pantry."

Renato kissed her cheek and said goodbye. He marched back to the wagon waiting by the North gate, seething with fury. How dare this illness make his mother feel so lonely. How dare she and all these people be forced to suffer. Renato passed by Dempster, the knight from Lord Paule's gatehouse.

"In my bedchamber, inside the desk drawers, you'll find three defense spells held in bottles," Renato told him. "Smash them on the ground, but only use them when things get dire. They'll last an hour each. For the rest of the time," He placed his hands on Dempster's shoulders, staring into his eyes.

"I'm counting on you and the other knights to prevent anything getting inside these walls, magic or no magic." Without waiting for a reply, Renato climbed into the back of the wagon and shoved the bags aside.

A man, held back by knights, shouted at Renato from the crowd, "Why weren't you making your healing rounds last night? I’ve got a sore stomach, I had diarrhea all night!" A few others joined in, complaining about their illnesses and the lack of healers.

"We'll be back before you know it," Pepi called out from the jockey box. "Complain to the noblemen in the meantime, though. Renato can't help you yet, I'm sorry."

Renato stared at the crowd through the wagon’s rear. Lidion, why didn’t you protect us from this illness? He thought. Nobody answered his prayer.

The gates opened and they rode out of Llantry. Renato had never left Llantry; this would be the furthest he'd ever travelled. He watched as the town's walls grew smaller the further they travelled, until it was replaced by grasslands.

At this point, Pepi started a conversation with the crystal ball that flew around him. The ball pulsed a faint yellow light.

"Can I give you a name?" In front of Pepi's face, the ball dipped up and down, which seemed to mean "yes".

"Can I call you Kezia?" The ball flew left to right, "no". "Russell?" Another no.

"Ok, I'm not the best at giving names. Try again. Uh… how about Finlay? It means "white warrior"."

The ball slowly floated in a figure eight, then motioned "yes".

"Great! Hello Finlay, welcome to the team. So far we have me; a candy delivery boy, turned over-worked squire. And Renato; a helpless wee baby inside the body of a twenty-three year old man. We're off to a great start."

"Why are you talking to that ball? It doesn't have ears." Renato grumbled. "I'm not a baby."

"Oh, hello Grumpy! You were so quiet back there I thought I'd left you back in Llantry." Pepi chuckled. "Finlay moves when I speak. It moves up and down for yes, and side to side for no. Plus it changes colours depending on how I feel, so I reckon Finlay can hear me just fine. Isn't that right?" Finlay motioned yes.

Pepi continued to chat with Finlay. "I wasn't born with magic. I couldn't make my own candy like the rest of my family, so I got stuck being a delivery boy. Walking through all kinds of weather, having people yell that my prices were too high, or that it made their kid too energetic. It really sucked, I tell you!" Finlay rubbed against Pepi's cheek as it pulsated a faint red light.

Renato groaned and slumped against the wagon bed. This was going to be a long journey.

"I do like the song my dad wrote to advertise the candy, that's always my favourite part. I usually put my name in the song. It makes more sense that way. Do you want to hear it?" Pepi cleared his throat then began singing.

"Ally, bally, ally bally bee ! Sitting on yer mammy’s knee, greeting for a wee bawbee, to buy some Pepi’s candy. Renato, sing with me!" Pepi called over his shoulder. "There was a wee lassie awfy thin, a bundle of bones wrapped up in skin, now she’s getting a wee double chin, with eating Pepi’s candy…"

A very, long, arduous journey.

#writeblr #wip #original writing #writing #writblr #fantasy #fm tag #finding magic #awkwardplantwrites #reblogs > likes

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livvywrites · 6 years ago

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11/11/11

Tagged by the lovely @witchywrite~

(and if you want to do my questions as well, feel free. but you don’t have to!)

1. What is your favorite wip that you have worked/are working on?

THE MARTYR QUEEN. Hands down. It’s my baby. I do have a soft spot for SAPPHIRE DREAMING as well as an old wip of mine, but... I just. I’m in love with the story I’m trying to tell in TMQ, and its series.

2. Do you have any routines/rituals you do before writing?

Not as such, no. Mainly what I do is make sure I have something to drink (usually some flavored water, but sometimes a hot beverage or soda) and maybe something to snack on. Sometimes I’ll put on some rain noises, but for the most part, I just kind of pick a place and go.

3. How long do you generally write for?

That’s a good question. I think I write from anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour usually, but I can (and have) gone longer.

4. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? How old were you when you started on your first story?

Oh, jeez. Sometimes it feels like I’ve wanted to be a writer forever. However, I think... that I’d have to say about 3rd grade or so? I forget what age that would be, but under 10.

At about 11, I started my first real “novel” though I wouldn’t say that was my first story. I still have the composition notebook I started it in, though I later moved it to my first computer, which crashed.

Um, as for stories in general... I wrote and illustrated my own picture book, about a superhero dog. I also turned an old calendar to a book. I don’t have the calendar, but the superhero dog might be at the house somewhere.

5. What do you like to do when you aren’t writing?

I read. A lot. Mostly fanfiction these days, but I’ve been making it a point to read more original novels. I read Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching books. They’re so good. Currently I’m reading the Riddle Master of Hed, by Patricia McKilip. I like her writing style a lot, though I’m only two chapters in to the story thus far. (I read another one of her books, though. I adore it.)

6. How many wips do you have?

Original novels? Just the two, through concentrated effort not to go starting more.

Original short stories/oneshots? Hahaha. Um. I don’t actually know. It’s a lot, though. More than 5.

Fanfiction, long fic? Just one that I have posted. Couple more in development. (Some of those are rewrites of old fics.)

Fanfiction, oneshots? A lot. I like my short fic, okay? :P

7. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I went through a few things. Settled on writer in 3rd grade and... never stopped? I’ve cycled through a few backup careers since the, too.

8. Give your main cast a God/Goddess they would work with if they were Pagan/a witch.

Oooh, this is interesting :o I don’t know a lot about most of the pantheons. I mainly studied/read about Greek mythology growing up, so that’s my forte. But recently I’ve been reading a lot of Nordic stuff, so that might make it in here too. (I’ll be branching out more eventually :D)

Alinora: It feels like cheating, but I would give her Hades. Or some other death god. Given that Death is her patron in the story, though, it feels kind of like cheating.

Elaena: Death’s daughter in the novel, but... I don’t actually think any of the death gods really suit her personality? I’d give her... Artemis, I think.

Ava: Easy one. Demeter or Persephone.

Lyr: Hm... this one is a little harder, but I think I would go with Athena for him!

Talitha: Loki. I could see her working with Hephaestus or Athena. I could also see her being drawn to Aphrodite. But in the end, I really do think that Loki is the one who suits her best.

Aishlynn: Um. I think Aishlynn would also be drawn to Artemis.

Amara: Ahhh.... I want to say Apollo for her, for some reason? But maybe Aphrodite could work for her, or Ares.

8. Speaking of that, which of your characters would be a witch?

Excellent question! I feel like Ava and Talitha would definitely be drawn to Paganism/witches.

10. Give your characters an element, (fire, water, earth, air, or spirit)

I like this question! Mainly because I pretty much always associate my characters with the five elements :D

This is mainly going off the way I’ve adapted the elements in TMQ, though.

Alinora: Fire

Elaena: Air

Ava: Earth

Lyr: Water

Talitha: Spirit

Aishlynn: Spirit

11. What would your Main Character’s Altar look like if they were a witch?

Hmmm...

I admit outright that I have only the barest understandings of witchcraft, though it is something that interests me. I’m mainly going to pick things that I associate with Alinora, more than for their spiritual meanings. I hope that’s alright~

Alinora would have several candles. Probably black or purple, to suit her patron, but also red, for her element. The Death card from a tarot deck. Cinnamon, maybe ground in jar or a couple of sticks. Sunflowers, whether a picture of them or a vase of them. Roses, as well.

I think that’s everything she would have ^^ I probably should do some more in depth research so I could think of a proper altar, but... maybe later. *adds to list*

Thank you so much for these questions~ They were super fun! <3

Questions and tags below the cut~

My Questions:

1. 3 songs that remind you of your main character? (Or favorite character.)

2. Have you ever had to cut any characters? If so, what character do you miss/regret cutting the most?

3. Your favorite beverage, hot or otherwise, to have while you write?

4. Ideal writing time?

5. Do you keep notes of scenes/characters/worldbuilding, or do you keep it all in your head?

6. How do you feel about your writing voice? Do you feel like you’ve developed your own, or like you’re still finding it?

7. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written? Preferably within the last chapter/10 pages, but any line is good!

8. How do you stay motivated when it comes to writing?

9. What’s the longest time you’ve ever dealt with writer’s block, and how did you overcome it?

10. 3 songs that make you think of your novel? (Bonus points if you say why!)

11. 5 reasons you love your WIP?

Tagging: @quartzses; @writings-of-a-narwhal; @abalonetea; @apvtelesma; @serperina; @emmathenovelist (if i’ve tagged you before, feel free to choose which set of questions you do! also, gimme a shout if you want to be tagged, or not, in the future!)

#tag games #11 11 11 #tmq

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rainy-rose · 6 years ago

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11/11/11

I was tagged by the lovely @elizabethsyson thankies!

1. What’s the first book you remember reading?

Err back to back? *trying to remember the summer between the 5th and 6th grade* Legendele Olimpului (=Legends of Olympus) by Alexandru Mitru. I had to do reading notes for them and that is how I actually got interested in Greek mythology. Thank you, secondary school teacher!

2. Have you ever invented a language for a piece of writing?

No. But I might have to invent one for Raflec’s story because I feel like the kilveh should have a language of their own.

3. Describe your approach to worldbuilding.

What approach? :)) Ideas pop in my head, then I write them down. If I can figure out how to delve into them establish details the I will. If not, I’ll come back to it another time.

4. Do you write in multiple genres? Which?

For the moment I am sticking to fantasy, but I dabble a bit in mystery.

5. What type of villain do you most hate?

The bully I think... I generally like villains so I am not sure if I actually hate one. It depends on how they were written. However! If the villain is cruel to animals just cause he can ( or if he is generally cruel to animals, the reason doesn’t matter to me actually) I will instantly hate them!

6. Do you prefer to type or write longhand or something else?

I am writing longhand for the moment to get the story out. As soon as I am done with that I will start typing everything.

7. How do you motivate yourself?

I think of random scenes between my characters, either plot related, or background scenes and behind the scenes stuff.

8. Opinion on nanowrimo?

I get why other writers participate in it, but it is not my thing :)). I have my own rhythm and deadlines are not my friends.

9. Top 3 songs on your writing playlist?

I don’t have a writing playlist, but I have two songs that have a similar vibe to my wips/characters although the lyrics don’t really match

Blackbriar - Cry of a Banshee - For Silver Serpent, there will be some Banshees later on and I imagine Elise singing this at some point, despite her voice not really matching with it :)) since it is rougher and waaaayy lower.

Akiko Shikata - Katayoku no Tori - For Raflec’s story. The lyrics might match the story a bit here and I’m constantly imagining Rena ( Raflec’s older half sister) and Suna ( the wolf he travels with and who kind of raised him ] singing it whenever I’m listening to it.

10. How do you come up with your characters’ appearances?

They come while I figure out their personalities. Eventually I get a pretty clear image and the I start looking for faceclaims and I don’t stop until I have one. Other times I just find a random faceclaim and eventually I’ll find where to use it.

11. Do you write your scenes chronologically?

Yes, sort of. Sometimes the chapters are not in chronological order, but the scenes in them sort of are.

My questions:

1. Do you prefer to write short stories, one-shots, or entire novels?

2. What tropes do you love writing? Which ones are your guilty pleasure?

3. Are you planning on publishing? If so, how?

4. What genre did you like as a child? Do you still have the same preference?

5. Which of your characters would you like to meet irl and why?

6. How well do you function under pressure?

7. Best compliment someone has given you about your writing.

8. Do you know how your story ends before you start writing?

9. What are your OCs worst fears?

10. Do you have an auto-buy author? If so, who?

11. Describe your MC in 3 words.

Tagging: @gottaenjoythelittlethingzz @inexorableblob @quartzess

#tag game #11/11/11 tag

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dillydedalus · 6 years ago

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what i read in march

several antigones & some other stuff

call me zebra, azareen van der vliet oloomi

oh boy. i really wanted to like this one, but uh. nah. so this book is about zebra, a young iranian-american from a lineage of ‘autodidacts, anarchists and atheists’, still traumatised by her childhood experience as a refugee (incl. her mother’s death on route). when her father dies years later, zebra decides to retrace the route of her exile thru barcelona, turkey, and back to iran. this sounds great! the beginning is good! but zebra is a quixotic figure (don quixote is unsubtly flagged as THE intertext several times), delusional about her own importance, obsessed with some kind of great literary mission and obnoxious & condescending & egotistic as all fuck (she looks down on students but treats her realisation that like, intertextuality is a thing, as this grand revelation when like..... we been knew since Lit. Theory 101) - and this is intentional & part of the quixotic thing & in general i approve of abrasive & bristly & difficult female characters BUT i expected there to be a gradual process of realisation where she sees that a) maybe her entirely male lineage of geniuses ain’t all that, c) her mission is uh.... incomprehensible. instead, once she reaches spain, she gets bogged down in endless pretentious bullshit and a #toxic relationship that takes up way too much space. knowing that all of that is likely intentional doesn’t.... make it good. also the writing is pretty overwrought for the most part & not even your narrator’s voice being Like That excuses plain bad writing, like the absurd overuse of ‘intone’ and ‘pose’ as dialogue tags. i see the potential and i see the point & i liked some of it but uh. not good. 2/5, regretfully, generously

in the distance, hernan diaz

i don’t really go for westerns or man vs wilderness stories but damn i’m impressed. despite the violence & deprivation and sheer amount of gross shit, this story of a swedish immigrant getting lost in the american west for decades remains at its core so human, so tender, so sad (honestly this book is SO SAD, yet sometimes oddly hopeful), so evocative of isolation, loneliness, and the desire for human connection. 4/5

notes on a thesis, tiphaine rivière (tr. from french)

god, if i ever considered doing a phd i sure don’t anymore. this is a short graphic novel about a young woman’s descent into academic hell while writing her dissertation about labyrinths in kafka. it’s funny, the art is expressive and fanciful, and it is incredibly relateable if you’ve ever tried to actually write your brilliant, glorious, intricately constructed argument down, battled uni administration or had a panic attack over how to phrase a harmless email to a prof. Academia: Not Even Once. 3.5/5

red mars, kim stanley robinson

this is a very long hard sci-fi novel about mars colonisation & terraforming, discussing the ethics of terraforming, the potentials of a truly ‘martian’ culture, and how capitalism will inevitably fuck everything up, including outer space. all of this is up my alley and i did really like the first half (early colonisation efforts), but the 2nd half (beginning of terraforming, lots of politicking) was a slog - i liked reading about how terraforming was going, but the rest was just bloated, scattered and confusing. also there’s a tedious love triangle the whole time. 2/5

dragon keeper (rain wild chronicles #1), robin hobb

i love robin hobb she really can write a whole 500+ page book of set-up, characterisation and politicking and make it WORK. anyway, this has disabled dragons, a quest for mystical city, lots of rain wilds weirdness, a dragon scholar in an unhappy marriage, liveships, a sweet dummy romance, and uh... a lil penpalship between two messenger bird keepers? not much happens but it’s so NICE & so much is going to happen. also althea & brashen & malta turned up & i screamed. 3.5/5

season of migration to the north, tayeb salih (tr. from arabic)

this is a seminal work of post-colonial arabic literature, a haunting tale of the impact of colonialisation, especially of cultural hegemony in the education system, the disturbing dynamics of orientalism and sex, and village life in a modernising post-colonial sudan. it’s important, it’s well-written, it’ll make you think, but fair warning, there is a lot of violence against women - it has a point but still uh... wow. 3.5/5

dune, frank herbert

SOMETIMES.... BOOKS THAT ARE CONSIDERED MASTERWORKS OF THEIR GENRE.... ARE WORSE. so much worse. the writing in this is atrocious (”his voice was charged with unspeakable adjectives”), herbert somehow manages to make court intrigue and plotting UNBELIEVABLY DULL and sure, it was the 60s, but i’m p sure people knew imperialism was bad in the 60s! the main character, the eugenically-engineered chosen one or whatever, literally spends years among the oppressed & resisting natives of a planet ruled by a space!empire and at the end he’s like ‘i own this planet bc imperialism is Good Actually’. emotionally neglecting/abusing your wife, who you (!!!) decided (!!!) to marry for political reasons bc you’d rather marry your gf is also Good Actually (cosigned by the protag’s mother....) the worldbuilding is influential for the genre, sure w/e, but mainly notable for there just.... being a lot of it, the whole mythology-science makes No Goddamn Sense, all around this is just Bad. Bad. 0.5/5 i hope the Really Big Worms eat everyone

dragon haven (rain wild chronicles #2), robin hobb

this healed my soul after toxic exposure to dune. anyway w/o spoilers: everyone is very much In Their Feelings (including me) and there’s a lot of Romance and Internal Conflict and Feelings Drama and Complicated Relationships and Group Dynamics and also dragons, which are really like very big, very haughty cats who can speak, and a flood and a living river barge with a mind of his own (love u tarman!). it’s still slow and languid but so so good. also: several people in this have to be told that People Are Gay, Steven, including Sedric, who is himself Gay People. 4/5

an unkindness of ghosts, solomon rivers

super interesting scifi story set on a generation ship with a radically stratified society in which the predominantly black lowerdeckers are oppressed and exploited by the predominantly white upperdeckers, mixed in with a lot of Gender Stuff (the lowerdeckers seem to have a much less stable and binary gender system than the upperdeckers) and neuroatypicality. it’s conceptually rich and full of potential, but just doesn’t quite stick the landing when it comes to the plot. 3/5

sanatorium under the sign of the hourglass, bruno schulz (tr. from polish)

more dreamy surreal short stories (ish?). i didn’t like this collection quite as much as the amazing street of crocodiles, but they are still really good, even tho you never quite know what is going on. featuring flights of birds, people turning into insects, thoughts about seasons and time, fireman pupae stuck in the chimney, and the continuing weird fixation on adela the maid. 3.5/5

angela merkel ist hitlers tocher, christian alt & christian schiffer

a fun & accessible guide to conspiracy theories, focusing on the current situation in germany and the current boom in conspiracy theories, but also including some historical notes. i wish it had been a bit less fun & flippant and more in-depth and detailed bc it really is quite shallow at points, but oh well. also yes the title does indeed translate to ‘angela merkel is hitler’s daughter’ so. yes. 2.5/5

the midwich cuckoos, john wyndham

fun lil scifi story in which almost all women in sleepy village midwich are suddenly pregnant, all at the same time. the resulting children, predictably, are strange, creepy, and possibly a threat to humanity. i get that it was written in the 50s but it is strange to read a book where almost all women, and only women, are affected by A Thing, but all the main characters are men & no one tells the women ‘hey we think it’s xenogenesis’ - like realistically 80% of women affected went to the Neighbourhood Lady Who Takes Care of These Things like ‘hello, one (1) abortion please’ and the plot just ended there. i still liked it tho! 3/5

antigone project

antigone, the original bitch, by sophocles (tr. by fagles)

god antigone really is That Bitch. that’s all i have to say. 4.5/5

antigone, That Bitch but in french, jean anouilh

the Nazi-occupied france antigone. loved the meta commentary on what tragedy is and how antigone has to step into the Role of Antigone, which will kill her “but there’s nothing she can do. her name is antigone and she will have to play her part through to the end”. i didn’t really like (esp. given the ~historical context) the choice to make creon much more sympathetic, trying to save antigone’s life from the beginning. hmm. 3.5/5

antigonick, anne carson

look, antigone really is That Bitch and you know what? so is anne carson. best thing i’ve read so far this year, don’t ask me about it or i’ll yell the task of the translator of antigone at you. 5/5

home fire, kamila shamsie

honestly i really wanted to like this bc politically it’s on point and an anti-islamophobia antigone sounds amazing, but it just doesn’t succeed as a book/adaption. it spends way too much time in build-up/backstory (the play’s plot only starts in the second half of the book!), waaayyy to much time on the weirdly fetishistic antigone/haimon romance, and even the most interesting characters (ismene & creon) don’t fully work out. sad. 2/5

currently reading: the magic mountain by thomas mann, but i should be done in a week or so! also: the paper menagerie by ken liu, a collection of sff short stories

#the books i read #long post

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