#wren versus the world

[wrens-versus-the-world]

"Aha, no" K. Ayato x Isekai!reader

In which Y/n l/n gets isekaied into one of her favorite games : Genshin impact. The only plot twist is that she gets isekaied into the body of a high ranking noble in inazuma. that same noble is to be wed to the infamous Kamisato Ayato.

Genshin Impact does not belong to me, but hoyoverse!

Also posted on wattpad

please note that this fic has some... fancy language (aka me giving chapters some fun titles lol)

Chapter one:

Ah yes, the start of every isekai

Maybe staying up late playing genshin wasnt the best idea...

Located: (here)

Chapter two:

First of all, who the fuck are you?

In which you meet a strange man in a strange room who offers you a deal that you have no mind to refuse

located: (here)

Chapter three:

Introducing the Hag

finding yourself in a new world isnt too bad, until you meet the man who's your supposed father

located: (here)

Chapter four:

And that's how I came to live in a teapot. ehe!

coming soon

located: (here)

[ball-of-butter]

red queen characters and their fav video games:

mare: grand theft auto 💀🙏 any gta game she can get her hands on but it started with the chinatown wars on ds

cal: missed out on a proper childhood so is treating his inner child to fnaf for the first time and idk… something something about the story being an overarching narrative about a brother trying to pick up the remnants of his family through his grief… he says he doesnt get the lore butbhe kinda does. also had a goat simulator phase for the same reasons but minus the angst

maven: i would like to say some really cool psychological game but this mf would probs love playing chess against a cpu the most 💀 silent hill takes second place though (he’s obsessed with the idea of a purgatory of one’s own making… hmm… i wonder why 🤔)

evangeline: mario cart (she eats anyone who even THINKS of playing as peach)

elane: some sort of dating sim methinks… maybe like those ikemen games (let her be y/n)

ptolemus: fortnite for the dances.

kilorn: also fortnite but he has one-sided beef with ptolemus on there who keeps trying to add him. he also has the toph skin and keeps wiping the floor with his ass (ptolemus has the miles morales skin)

cameron: the attack on titan vr game where the world’s best comedy is originated from

gisa: what remains of edith finch. cursed family narrative goes hard with these folk.

shade: hes a legend of zelda girlie.

diana: she genuinely doesn’t play any game besides minecraft because she gets forced it by other people. but i know she’d love red dead i just don’t think she could be convinced into playing it (tragic)

iris: virgo versus the zodiac would speak to her, i feel. she has a secret weird side that only indie games could tease out of her.

wren: star stable!!! secret horse girl lore.

thomas: resident evil 4 because depending what you headcanon him as hes either feening for leon or ada or both.

coriane: definition of stardew valley girlie. but considering what she went through maybe yume nikki would be a game she keeps close to her heart (someone check up on her).

elara: if the sims 4 existed in the red queen verse it could have saved a lot of lives. maybe even her own.

sara: she wipes everyone in super smash bros you best believe it.

julian: castlevania: symphony of the night… mm the grip it has on this nerd loser… do not even breathe the name alucard around him he will give you the entire dracula lore starting with le fanu’s carmilla.

dane: detroit become human. played markus’ storyline and bro suddenly was made to govern a democratic republic for the people by the people.

[outofangband]

Love, love, love the birds worldbuilding in Himring.

I've actually been digging through links looking for birds that occupy Nan Elmoth and the surrounding area - Himlad, northern Estolad, the banks of the Celon.

Any thoughts about the flying critters living around there?

I’ll start with Himlad!

Flora, fauna, geography and environment masterlist

Himlad was a realm in Eastern Beleriand, bordered on the West by the river Aros and on the East, its tributary, Celon. It means ‘cool plain’ in Sindarin and was described simply as a cold region, likely due to its proximity to the March and thus to the Iron Mountains, the cold fronts of which extend throughout the surrounding regions. 

I have imagined it as a steppe environment with an ecology similar to Mongolia. We have little information on environment other than the description of cold but some speculation can be done due to the habitat and through looking at similar real habitats, mostly in Northern Europe and temperate parts of Asia as well as parts of North America which Tolkien was inspired by the prairies in (source: The Flora of Middle Earth)

As always I include world building notes at the end so it’s not just a list of species! And as always please consider the list incomplete! There are so so many birds and I often go back to add more. Feel free to request a more specific prompt to focus on or a more specific family of birds

In the plains and steppe: tawny pipit (migratory, traveling west in the winter), David’s snowfinch, brown accentor, Siberian stonechat (also found in shrubs), rosy starling, swan geese, steppe partridge, pallas’s sandgrouse, great bustard, common cuckoo (migratory), cornrail (migratory, avoids the more arid parts), bearded vulture, crested lark, golden eagle, steppe eagle, imperial eagle, grey faced buzzard, ring necked pheasant, hazel grouse, black grouse, blue rock thrush, common quail, horned owls, gray partridge, desert warbler

Roosting in the sparse trees and shrubs: Yellow browed bunting, common rosefinch, fieldfare, stock dove, common nightjar, little owl, pine bunting

River shores: snow bunting (migratory), red necked crane (migratory), greater painted snipe, osprey, coturnix quail, grey heron, hen harrier, white throated dipper, bank swallow

Other: fork-tailed swift (migratory, mainly aerial), white headed duck, house sparrow, brambling (migratory), song thrush (migratory), black billed caper, northern wren

World building notes:

-Hunting with eagles and other birds of prey is more common than in the other Fëanorian realms (though most utilize birds at least sometimes). Golden and steppe eagles are used primarily by Celegorm and his loyal servants; these are huge and beautiful birds whose use is in some ways a boast of the skill of their handlers

-Celegorm’s knowledge of the language of birds is highly utilized for the defensive and offensive projects of Himlad. Though his followers do not for the most part have this gift they are highly skilled in using tracks, traces and conditions to understand the presence of local birds and the implications thereof. They know what to make of the stray tail feathers of a steppe partridge versus the presence of molt. They know the difference between the tracks of

Of course this applies to other creatures besides birds but as this post is about birds…

-Grouse and quail are sometimes kept for meat and eggs though different species of quail then are kept by the Marchwardens of Doriath. Some of the species are brought from Estolad, Ossiriand or Western Beleriand. The birds are housed in large open pens with small nesting boxes. 

-There are also domestic species of chicken, peacock and quail like birds that are kept for similar reasons. Hybrid species, sometimes with native species, occur naturally and through planned breeding projects during the Long Peacd

-The camouflage of steppe creatures including birds is often used in the fashion of Himlad’s soldiers.

-The various sections of archers among the army and scouts are distinguished by varying types of feathers used in their arrows. For example, Swan goose feather is used for the scouts that patrol the borders and rivers, swift feathers are used among the smaller more specialized groups and golden eagle feathers are reserved for the archers who will be first in the lines of offensive movements.

-Game birds are hunted for meat though all parts are used. Bird bones are actually highly utilized by the host of Himlad, in jewelry and headwear as well as whistles and other tools.

As always please feel free to ask more!

[ahsoka-its-all-of-us]

Orchestra project week means no regular teaching so I can watch The Mandalorian Chapter 23 now already!

And, as usual, scream incoherently about it:

Obligatory when the fuck will Kallus show up before we start

Listen I still think Sabine should have the darksaber and lead the Mandalorians, but chances of her appearing here have probably slimmed what with her role in the Ahsoka show

Bitch whose name I keep forgetting, what is your game?!?

Ugh probes

Fucking Moff Gideon. We all knew he would reappear, but I still hate him

That ray-shielded walkway is fucking rad though, I want that in my house

Where is Thrawn in that meeting?!?

YESSSSSSS HE GETS MENTIONED

Okay so project Necromancer is indeed Palpatine being cloned

BRENDOL HUX

Hux’s father?!?

What is the problem with all the Mandalorians being clustered on their own world? Wouldn’t it actually distract them from whatever Moff Gideon doesn’t want them to do?

Lmaooo Mando’s why the fucking intimidation with that cruiser, that’s so unnecessary

Awkward family reunion vibes 😂 and Greef only makes it worse by showing up with one bottle of booze

GROGU GETS A DROID EXOSKELETON I AM DYING

OH MY GOD A TODDLER IN A MACHINE THEY FUCKING NAILED IT

DIN VERSUS TODDLER PUBERTY I AM LIVING FOR IT

Really starting to catch feelings for Bo/Armourer here

Oh more Mando’s? Are they gonna tell us what happened to clan Wren and Fenn Rau?

Oh Bo dropping bombs lol

“Are they Death Watch?” dude you’re talking to one of the former leading members of Death Watch

YES DIN SPEAK YOUR TRUTHS

Still think it should be Sabine. There has to be a reason we got that moment in Rebels where Bo and Fenn discuss being impressed by her

Let me guess, the Gauntlet breaks the rain to find Moff Gideon attacking their ship

VIBROKNIFE YESSSSSS

GROGU YES

OH MY GOD I LOVE THAT

Grogu the true Uniter of Mandalore

Bendu?

No oki just mythosaur I guess

Fr though if the Mandalorians are busy battling the mythosaur, why would Moff Gideon bother with them? Unless it’s the mythosaur he’s after, just like with the Zillo Beast…?

See I knew the beskar had something to do with Moff Gideon, not just the Mando’s

Have I mentioned that I love the music of this show? Because I do

DIN NO

MOFF FUCKING GIDEON

Wearing a horned helmet because ofc he does

Waiting for one of the troopers to take off his helmet and reveal being Kallus undercover to save the day

PAZ NO

OH COME ON

I had just started liking him ;-;

Interestingly enough no usage or mention of Sabine’s Duchess, a known weakness of using beskar armour 🤔

[andfangs]

wait what parts of star wars do you like? why don’t you like the others? just curious! <3

anon, i am about to try to be sooooo normal but please note this is me when i talk about the parts of star wars i like:

so in essence, my favorite star wars media is as follows (in order of exposure):

The Prequels

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Knights of the Old Republic

The Force Unleashed

Rogue One

Star Wars: Rebels

The Mandalorian

i have not yet gotten to The Book of Boba Fett or Andor or The Bad Batch, but they are on my list most DEFINITELY.

when i was a kid, i had a vhs tape of Return of the Jedi. i watched it so many times the tape wore out. i did not care about the story or the characters that much, but the concepts were riveting. the overarching world lore had me in a total chokehold. i consumed every side story book i could get my hands on and watched the prequels in an all night movie marathon at a drive in.

anakin skywalker became my favorite character ever in a piece of media. he was sooooo compelling to me. and knowing he turns dark and ends up the guy in the mask at the end of RotJ??? absolutely fascinated me. fast forward to The Clone Wars tv series coming out. i was TRANSFIXED. i was 16 and it made me feel like a kid again. i loved ahsoka tano with my whole entire heart. i played KotOR and later TFU. if someone says 'galen marek' in my earshot, i am immediately asking if they want to be best friends.

my husband took me to each of the new star wars trilogy and again, nothing about the main story did ANYTHING for me, but the new worlds, the tech, the concepts! then i watched rogue one and for the first time since the prequels i was in love with a star wars movie.

i know probably Too Much about the history of the mandalorians because sabine wren was one of my favorite characters in Rebels and, being a massive TCW fan, the fetts are SOOOO interesting to me! this obviously made me lose my entire mind when a series about A MANDALORIAN was announced, right? wrong. i had zero interest because i was worried it would just be some offshoot of the new series. but i decided to give it a chance because my husband wanted to watch it to talk to his dad about it (the man is very weird and the only thing we have found that the old grump likes is baby yoda, so we get him every piece of grogu merch we can find). i was hooked nearly immediately. it had all the things i wanted: adjacency to the mainline star wars series without being about the main plot, characters i was familiar with and cared deeply about, new characters i came to adore with my entire soul, new planets and armor and tech, and lore.

so you ask why i don't like most star wars things and i guess it boils down to the lack of lore. it doesn't feel like most mainline star wars media explores the nooks and crannies of lore that i am most interested in or expounds upon much outside of the current necessary information and overarching Good Versus Evil plot. at its core, to me, star wars is a space fantasy (not sci-fi like a lot of people would say) and i like it best when its leaning into the world building of that fantasy.

thanks for coming to my TED talk!

[nothwell]

Thanks to Jane for this heartfelt review of Oak King Holly King!

~

OK, I have a new author to follow. That list is pretty brief and I am more than tickled to finally find another name to add to it.

I haven't read much mm the past few months (been plowing through my stacks of non-Queer mysteries, and lots of non-fiction). When I did go back to reading the mm books that were in my TBR lists, I had multiple "meh" to "well, that was Gawdawful" experiences. I was almost wondering if my passion for mm had waned. Turns out I just needed to read something that was good .

I added this book to my TBR awhile back and I will say that the cover was very influential in my choice (Lord save me from the mm books with beefy models - I've gotten so I hardly give them a glance on the new book lists.) And as pretty as this cover is, the cover for the next book in the series is even better (sigh). But I digress . . .

I was more than pleasantly surprised by this book. Strike that, it's not strong enough - this book made my heart smile. I have to disagree strongly with the negative reviews. I think many of them may be more about not liking the type of story versus the book itself being bad.

[...] My other issue would be that if I had my druthers, there would have been a whole lot more delving into the cultural differences between the MC's, particularly when Shrike was in London. Those parts were hilarious and so enjoyable. This author has a really great wit and the bits where Shrike perplexed the locals were brilliant. By the way, some negative reviews mention not liking the flowery language - psssh. I loved it; it was a big part of developing the character.

“Tonight I join the Wild Hunt to slay the beast that has devoured the children of the Court of Moons. If you will venture out with me, I will show you that all I spake of rings true.”

I mean, how can you NOT love that line in terms of illuminating the personality of the character? I've been hard-pressed not to add a random "spake" into my own regular vocabulary just to see the reaction I'd get.

Some readers also mentioned the book was too long. Um, no, it was pretty much perfect. When I am immersed so deeply in a book and it's world and the characters, I want it to go on forever. There were no "page fillers" going on here. This story could go on and on for me.

So what I loved (pretty much everything, really): The world building was lovely. The descriptive language really drew me into scenes, like this from the boar hunt.

"Its plough-share trotters carved deep furrows into the mud as it spun ‘round in its search."

For me, "plough-share trotters" versus, say "legs", makes the whole thing come alive in my mind. There are a lot of places where the writing is quite evocative.

Beyond the world building, the author also created full blown secondary characters, and I found myself investing in some of them as much as the MC's. For instance, Mr. Grigsby could have come across as banal and unbeliveable, but the author took great pains to develop him into someone with an amazing sense of kindness and empathy. There is a place late in the book when he finally loses his temper and it is so impactful because up till then, the guy always gave the benefit of the doubt - it makes his reaction all the stronger because it's so unprecedented. And the way in which he loses his temper is entirely authentic to the character - it wasn't loud or violent, and yet packed more of a punch than a more stereotypically portrayed angry reaction.

I loved that the author was able to work in some characters who were in various areas of the sexuality spectrum. I actually kind of saw the big reveal coming, or was hoping it would turn out to be the way I was envisioning it. Additionally, I feel that the author also really effectively evoked what I would imagine the deep fear of coming out in London in that day and age would have felt like. The times and places where Wren felt and expressed that society-driven hesistancy were sometimes unexpected and jarring and thus really hit home for me (I know what it's like to fake it rather than be honest, I had to do it most of my life). I especially loved this line from Wren:

“There is no measure to which I might dilute myself that will make my essence palatable to society."

There's also a ton of sneaky humor in this book that had me highlighting lines all over the place. For instance:

Shrike paid them little heed. None of them were Lofthouse, and thus their opinions mattered not.

I don't know if the author is a Brit or not, but the humor has that British sensibility that I adore - sometimes snarky, sometimes scathing, sometimes sarcastic. (I was weaned on Monty Python. My wife still can't even begin to understand why the word shrubbery makes me laugh till I cry.)

My favorite thing - beyond all of the above and the fact that this was such a ripping good story - was the fact that the MC that one would "typically" (stereotypically?) expect to be subordinate in such a story turned out to have enormous strength and initiative and by book's end was arguably the stronger of the two MC's. It made the relationship so much richer and more compelling.

Finally, the author included marginalia involving snails. I cannot begin to express how much I loved that. (I will also never look at an acorn the same way again.)

Overall, this book was a lovely surprise and highly recommended. I have already moved on to the author's back catalog because of it.

p.s. I rarely buy Audibles, but this book is begging for an Audible version and there isn't one.

~

Oak King Holly King is a gay Victorian fae romance, available now wherever fine books are found!

Amazon • Apple Books • Barnes & Noble • Bookshop.org • Kobo • Overdrive • Smashwords

[writer59january13]

Ah... tis nothing greater than...

malfunctioning heater on that brisk winter day recorded here as proof positive regarding following reasonable rhyme.

While scrolling thru

poems crafted yesteryear, I chanced to jog my memory where

there

occurred power outage necessitated

more than divine intervention yielded courtesy effort

vis a vis wing and prayer

while yours truly kept burrowed

under blankets within

Highland Manor lair

squirting wd-40 into

ears, mouth, and nostrils

failed to activate, lubricate, and remediate

sluggish primary cerebral cog and gear

subjected to bitter cold apartment air.

Thee particular date being December twenty eighth, two thousand nineteen, (three years ago from today), I saith

the then Jack of all trades maintenance technician Kevin Blank said he would notify HVAC expert in good faith,

yet to compliment clangorous din... I called upon the ghost of Marley's wraith.

Thus despite compressor issuing cacophonous, deafening, ear splitting noise clattering din louder than convention of reindeer - doubled as all boys

(choir) followed by cavalcade of Santa Claus, who employed, the missus of course with equipoise, and countless elves pressed for service mending broken brand new toys.

Why... yes twas during most recent brutal bitter cold spell

methought, yours truly got sent, where absolute zero temperature more frigid than when hell froze over

of course, I felt like human popsicle

management didn't give a lick, no matter yours truly gave rebel yell

Billy me you, I immediately yearned (some months back) for April

May, June... some tell

tale sign to alleviate pell mell

bone crushing polar vortex preserved frozen awful botox smile impossible mission to quell, nor avoid frostbite to deep freeze (frieze) every cell;

millenniums later archeologists

discovered embalmed human

once preserved in ice despite climate changed dystopian future

found me thawed out body

reason to sing and kvell.

Forsooth mindlessly jabbering away

jaw frenziedly attempting to convey

how this schlemiel

procrastinated and did delay,

NOT taking page from

playbook of Dick Proenneke

without possessing an iota of survival skills to live alone in the wilderness such cockamimi half cocked notion

would fly in the face

of sense and sensibility

and I a creature of comfort

best be war re: not game

to warm cockles and muscles

loosely translated restrained foray

toward forbidding verboten terrain (exalting in bosom of paramour) think fifty shades of gray

kindling like ice cold tinder thawing

frigid celibate stasis,

an unnatural rut versus making whoopie

to generate body heat hooray,

but clothes minded chap

even entertaining bacchanalian melee

alien fantasy unrecognizable

yielded Abort, Retry, Fail?

– nay

synonymous to when yours truly

adopted Presbyterian sacred ministerial

he pledged allegiance linkedin

and jumpstarting career

parallel to the late Mister Rogers,

his neighborhood of make-believe

immune to weather related events,

thus forever okay,

nevertheless expressed gratitude

confessed, I unconsciously did (as iterated earlier) pray

while suspended animation did stay

slowing or stopping of biological function

physiological capabilities unpitted and preserved - yea.

Hence today upon being and getting woke, (where central heater set at a comfortable sixty five degrees fahrenheit)

feeling like I slept forever and a day - no joke

most certainly well rested constitution; dreams did evoke

intensely scrutinizing

Scottish matted cognomen,

chilled wren, and whim hen folk,

who appeared out of this

dreamy Maxfield Parrish world

hybridized, mutated,

and segued into rorschach Roanoke

Island mystery

disappearance smooth

as glass skin cloak immune against ultraviolet rays ordinarily causing skin cancer,

their attenuated limbs

(ala El Greco) strong as oak

versatile to prod

analogous to pig in a poke,

whereby superior petsmart doggone noggin could invoke telepathic communication interestingly enough issuing smoke

signals, whenever danger present

and capable to disappear

as if doing breast stroke,

thus concludes trademark

discombobulated poetic anecdote

of one garden variety generic bloke.

[dreoilins]

she doesn't stand a chance. if an infected corpse doesn't get to her first, the persistent feeling of dread that holds occupation in her mind will. being on the move constantly isn't difficult for her. when existing in the world was easy— wren could run for miles, thanks to all of the track meets and softball practices she was part of. it's a bit different now that she's running to keep herself alive versus running to receive a trophy. the anxiety she's grown up with, which has become more apparent as of late, is what keeps holding her back. holding all of them back.

the one person who knew how to pull her out of this headspace was their mother. but unfortunately, her memory of the woman has been replaced by some pretty terrifying imagery. her eyes that had become vacant and cold, her body, shambling and rotting, hurdling towards her as if she were an intruder. when in reality she was the prey. no longer can she see the light that once inhabited her mother. and two, almost three years later, she can hardly remember her father's. that's what terrifies the girl. forgetting all of the goodness that came from this world prior to its devastating end.

for a brief second, emmett's voice slightly resembles their fathers. and her eyes close in an attempt to envision him instead. when it doesn't work she opens them again, looking at her older brother with disheartened features. wren takes an intake of breath, holding it for a moment before breathing back out. listening to his advice before she finds herself spiraling any further. she mumbles, " i'm... i'm okay. i promise. " lifting herself back up, grabbing a hold of cara's hand in the process. " you need sleep more than i do, em. why don't you let me hold the fort when we get there? "

@dreoilins sent, i've just gotta catch my breath ... from the meme, linked here.

. . .

he's nineteen and the world is officially over. crumbled to ash and ruin, they are the left overs and living ghosts of a planet returned to it's original state. whether or not he wants to let her stop, to give wren a moment to breathe, he can't allow it for more than a moment too long— finn is on emmett's back, sleeping through the violence of this new world, while cara holds tightly to wren's arm where she is hunched over on wet leaves and moist earth. they both know they have to keep moving, for the sake of the little ones that call them brother and sister, but it's hard. they're tired and emmett knows that.

" slow, wren. five seconds in, five out. " adjusting the little boy on his back, softly jostling the sleeping eleven year old, he kneels beside his sisters– palm resting flat on wren's back as an incentive to follow the advice given. " five in, five out. just breathe, alright? we'll find some place to sleep soon, you and cara need it. "

[the-gilded]

👑✨ please, for everyone ^_^

Thank youuuu, I love this one 💜

I'll try not to write a novel, but I love costuming my characters because I see it as an opportunity to express a lot about their world and their stories. 💜 Additionally, I think one of the core concepts of this game is sort of "appearance versus reality," so clothing takes a large role in expressing something about personality or backstory for each of the characters.

Ayre has maybe the most striking personal style. Gold is a feature in virtually all of their outfits, because this is a key feature of their world. Among Fae, only the High Fae are permitted to wear gold, and this allows your character to quickly identify just how dangerous Ayre might be. They also have a particular affinity for black... Which hints a little at something you'll discover about their character in Chapter 2 (if you so choose). Their style (tailored, refined, but with a hint of edgy flair) is sort of a hint into their past... Where they came from, and maybe why they're no longer there. Ayre's signature hat is a key feature that you might also learn more about, and happens to be pretty central to their lifestyle. :)

Jolenn is interesting to style, because most of the time, they're only wearing clothes on their upper half, hahaha. From their original artwork, you can see that they're the only other character with any gold accessories, but your character in the game is pretty sure that fauns aren't considered High Fae. This hints at their backstory, which you may also learn more about in Chapter 2. Their style is essentially the opposite of Ayre's (comfy, light, and sometimes eclectic), and I think really reflects their personality. Also in Chapter 2, you'll see some pieces from their wardrobe that tie directly into their backstory.

Nex was simultaneously easy and difficult to style. They tend to wear plain, loose, and comfortable clothing because they'd really rather not be wearing any clothes at all. Having spent much of their life as a horse, they don't really feel that clothing is comfortable or necessary to their life. For Nex, fashion is just a compromise. One of their key features is a leather bracelet you'll see them wearing in Chapter 2. They won't tell you much about it yet, but it will become a key to their story as well.

Wren was probably the hardest to style, because I wanted them to be visually distinct from the others, but I'd already given Jolenn and Nex really comfy wardrobes. It became sort of a community effort to draft their final outfit (in their original artwork), which wound up being sort of like a "floral hipster lumberjack" kind of look. Their wardrobe features some really unique clothing pieces, which is again sort of a hint to their lifestyle and backstory. They have access to a lot of people, items, and services that nobody else does, and I think you'll see that in their wardrobe changes throughout the game. :)

[semper-legens]

207. The Wren Hunt, by Mary Watson

Owned?: No, library Page count: 399 My summary: Wren Silke is an augur, a keeper of the old magics, operating in secret and hidden from the judges who would seek to rule over magic. But Wren must venture into their territory. Her family needs her to uncover a certain secret, which will strengthen them in the coming days, and stop their magic fading. Wren is torn between her ancient foe and her old loyalties. When she is the one who is hunted, who shall prosper? My rating: 3/5 My commentary:

This grabbed me just from the title. The Wren Hunt is an old English boxing day tradition, and you know I love me some folk-inspired stories. And a story about hidden magical traditions duelling for dominance in contemporary Ireland is, on paper, entirely my jam. But in practice? I didn’t love this book, and it’s taken some thinking to work out why. I think its overall ideas were muddled and confused, and didn’t end in a satisfying story, just in a lot of ideas and potential that ultimately didn’t live up to its promise.

Our hero is Wren, an augur living in a group of other augurs. Augurs are keepers of the old magic, opposed by the judges, who represent a more organised, rich, and military-minded form of magic. Wren is being sent into an internship for a judge in order to steal secrets from him and work out the location of a magical artefact that her family can use. She’s also preoccupied with thoughts of her mother, who disappeared when she was young, and the father she never knew. Wren’s a fine YA protagonist, hitting all the right standard beats - she’s headstrong, she’s inquisitive, she knows her own mind and what she wants and needs from the world. She wants to do her duty to her family, but has growing doubts about her mission. That sort of thing. I don’t think there was much to elevate her over most YA I’ve read, but she was still engaging enough.

The augurs versus judges thing...I think the problem I had here was that exactly what an augur and a judge is wasn’t ever stated in so much detail. This book could really have done with a little early exposition to tell us what’s going on a bit more. I get what the book was going for - Wren grows increasingly disillusioned with her fellow augurs as time goes on, and when she learns of her dual augur/judge ancestry, she slowly starts to switch sides. The trouble is, like...the judges are her childhood bullies. They’re as culpable of violence and brutality as the augurs, and I didn’t feel that Wren’s change of heart was really justified along those lines. What, just because she feel for a judge boy? That’s...not quite enough to betray your family over.

Still, I really liked how magic was portrayed in this book. See, the augurs are...well, they’re augurs, they have ways of seeing the future. Each person has an individual talent - some are healers, some divine fortunes from the clouds. Wren has what she thinks is the worst talent, seeing the future in patterns, and sometimes in blood. It physically hurts her, and she has to puzzle out the meanings of the patters for herself, but it’s still a powerful and useful skill. I thought that dichotomy was interesting.

That’s all here - next up, there’s a girl in the walls.

[wrens-versus-the-world]

Just a thought...

So you know all of those stories where the mc gets isekaied into the body of the main character, or the main antagonist (i.e "not your typical reincarnation story") or something cliche like that??

If they're the the antagonist they try their damndest to change the plot, be good, etc.

What if we had something like this for TGCF (heaven's official blessing)?????

Like with Ming Yi (earth master) and Shi Qingxuan???

Okay, now spoilers down below ;)

What if, hear me out, the mc dies, and then gets reincarnated into TGCF as Shi Qingxuan. Post banyue kingdom arc, but before ghost city arc. So, when Pei Ming is pissed at Xie Lian for general pei junior getting banished.

I feel like Ming Yi would immidiately notice something was wrong when 'SQX' is silent. Maybe he wouldn't find it too off putting at first, but what would happen after he may be put off by.

Imagine the MC was an avid Shi Wudu (water master) hater, and a hardcore He Xuan advocate (me lol). And they decide to take advantage of the large crowd gathered in the Palace of Divine Might...to publicly ask for Jun Wu to strip them of their divinity because it did not rightfully belong to them?!

Then the mc takes it one further, admitting to all of their 'brother's' crimes, and how he too deserves to have his divinity stripped from him.

not to mention the fact that the mc would totally explain exactly what Shi Wudu did. How he switched He Xuan's fate with their own (whilst leaving out who He Xuan is currently, only mentioning how he lost his fiance, parents, and his little sister).

The room would be completely silent, He xuan would be extremely surprised. (who wouldnt lol??)

Idk what exactly would happen, but at some point the mc would change their appearance to match their actual look (bc heavenly officials can change their form). and *have a without-revealing-anyone's-identity-because-that-would-be-too-easy conversation before the mc leaves*

Shi wudu gets stripped of his divinity (b/c he deserves it), the mc leaves on their own.

Maybe a small time skip?? The mc and He xuan meet again, and a romance forms between the two (they both share their identity), and they live happily ever after... or something IDRK (Im trying to cope from the blackwater arc lmao)

I'm not too sure if this'll be anything, but if anyone would like please feel free to write this (or some adaptation giving credit lol:D)

[whatsupspaceman]

Writing and reading non-binary characters

i think talking about non-binary characters in literary settings is really important.

Often times, characters who use they/them pronouns fly pretty easily in a visual our auditory setting like film or comics, but I’ve seen a lot of “how do i do this” when it comes to writing.

I want to talk a little about a character I wrote for a short story in a college writing class. Their name is Damien, they are a wizard in an urban fantasy setting, and they exclusively use they/them pronouns. I am a nonbinary person too, and while I use any pronouns, I knew my class was predominantly straight, cis people, and I did not want to compromise on this character’s identity- by assuming (correctly), that they would default to he/him pronouns because of Damien’s name. I was worried about doing this, obviously, knowing I would probably get some transphobic remarks in workshop. I’ll talk a little bit about that too.

The story was in third person, and centered around Damien, the college aged magic user, and Wren, a middle school aged girl who tags along with them. My first draft I did not really describe the appearance of either character- Wren I think just being a kid, and Damien having cropped black hair. The comments I received never questioned Wren’s appearance, but I received a lot of “Well, what does Damien Look Like”, “I would like to know more about Damien”, “I felt that you were being unnecessarily vague with the whole pronoun thing-”

In this draft, I didn’t mention that Damien was non-binary exclusively until near the end, where Wren asks, and Damien responds that they’re “neither a boy nor a girl.” I probably put a little too much faith in my cis classmates here- some of whom didn’t get it and others who skipped the comment entirely. Anyway, from a trans perspective- the act of clearing this up was an afterthought, something I’m tired of doing in my every day life, and something I didn’t want to focus on in my magical wizard story. However, because of the lack of non-binary representation in general media and especially literature, there’s a bit of compromise necessary to take with majority cis readers and trans writers. I had to move the clarifying remarks as to Damien’s gender identity earlier in the story to avoid the all-encompassing obsession with gendering people and characters that many of my readers possessed.

I think the most noticeable thing about this story was the reaction to transphobia- or the lack of- in it. I did not have any instance of Damien being misgendered, no snide remarks, no assumptions, and no physical description of their birth sex- all things that are absolutely rampant in trans characters I typically see portrayed in media. (Now, I understand the importance of having non-binary characters in media who aren’t perfectly androgynous because that is yet another stereotype in and of itself, but we’re still in Gender 101 here. I only had so many pages) And for this story, Damien’s assigned sex had absolutely no business being in the story. It would be absolutely redundant to tell the cis audience that, and only cement this idea of Damien’s “real gender” in their minds. Does that make sense? So, of course, all of the cis audience assumed that Wren, the cis character, was in the same boat as them and the need for a gender assumption. I got a lot of “Why doesn’t Wren misgender them?” “Why doesn’t Wren remark on how confused they are about Damien’s gender?” and the absolutle worst comment of all, “When Wren falls on them, why don’t they talk about their gender- like ‘she couldn’t tell whether the weight under her had breasts or not-‘“

I don’t have to tell you that was Really something else to read in workshop. And of all the “this was unrealistic” remarks I got, never once did anyone think to comment on the unrealistic nature of curses, magic wands, spells, and umbrellas that shoot fireworks. Turns out, it’s my fantasy world and I get to eradicate transphobia if I want to! The reason this happens once again is because of the predominance of sexism, racism, and homophobia in fantasy settings- some of the most famous of which are written by cishet white men. (and yes, Even cishet white men i actually enjoy reading.) it’s not a new thing, but it is something writers Must consider when writing fantasy. We have to destroy the idea that discrimination is inherent to fantasy and scifi universes, or that minorities just Don’t Exist in such.

And finally, the presence of singular they pronouns in a third person story. We’ve all read stories where there are two people (for example) who use he/him pronouns. Suddenly the author throws in a new paragraph, or dialogue without a tag, and you can’t tell which “he” is talking or doing the action. We’ve all been there. However, we’ve Also read scenes where all the characters use the same pronouns, and the author does a lovely job clarifying- peppering in the perfect ratio of names vs pronouns, collective actions versus clarifying characterization: “Oh, Obviously X character is the only one who laughs like that”

Writing they/them pronouns is absolutely no different. We must overcome this idea that it is some brand-new scary writing technique. And if you’ve never written non-binary characters, you’re gonna mix it up a little bit! It’s only natural. That’s where practice comes in, a lot of editing, and beta readers.

Damien shook their head. Taking Wren’s hand, they pulled her over to the side of the road, out of the way of the car.

Damien shook their head and grabbed Wren’s hand. They stumbled to the side of the road together, narrowly avoiding the car.

In the first example, I use singular they for the action of pulling Wren to the side of the road, and in the second, I use the collective they- and sometimes that might require you to use “they both” or “all of them” more than you thought you would. And here, the two examples are a little different- your language is still going to reflect the urgency of the situation, and what each character wants to do- that’s still natural.

The most important thing to remember is just to treat your nonbinary characters like people. Real people with tons of different identities and intersections and ways to express their gender. Bad and good and chaotic and quiet and loud and self absorbed and generous. (And please, please make more human nonbinary characters too!)

[dungeonsanddragonsfifthedition]

7, 13, and 17 for ori anthe and nobody!

what is one thing they inherited from their parents, physical or emotional?

ori is just. very similar to her mother, both physically and personality-wise. they're both very anxious people whose primary intent is to make things better for those they care about--wren just. went down the wrong path in doing this. ori does have her father's eyes and pride.

anthe inherited her family's thoughts on death, i guess? she still very much believes in returning to the wild mother as a corpse, even as she no longer follows her family's religion.

nobody "has" julia's face, i think, and the oracle's antlers; she's weird personality-wise bc she at least considers herself to be a blank slate so. -_-

what is their primary love language? (acts of service physical touch etc)

ori acts of service, anthe quality time, nobody physical touch.

what would the perfect character foil for your character act/be like?

ori's foil would be... i mean. are ori and pen foils? i feel like they're too codependent to foil each other but. like. if you lay out their traits, you have serf-who-presents-as-noble versus knight-presenting-as-a-hermit, demon deals (ori avoided, pen accidentally fell into), outgoing but insecure vs anxious but... however we describe ori's ego. etc etc etc.

anthe had one her name is noltelant the wizard and--[gets shot] but yeah like someone who is open about their distrust of the divine and who makes judgements based on their own feelings rather than the feelings of others; self-preservation versus fear of rejection. they still have that ultimate, like... anger behind them, passion that makes them want to change the world.

nobody... i mean she has a foil in her party imo but i don't think i can share that. just... someone with a very clear sense of who they are and what they do. defined by excess of identity, rather than a lack thereof.

[elaz-ivero]

Wren Versus The Russian Government Short Story + Double Narratives

//A deep dive into my own writing

Wren Versus the Russian Government is a 3,000-word short story with one of my signature features, a double narrative. A double narrative is a story that possesses two plotlines, a surface-level story of which the characters unconsciously navigate and a second, a double-meaning playing out just beyond the lines. Wren Versus the Russian Government follows...well…Wren as he faces off against the Russian government. I wanted to set the story in Russia and offset the stereotype of Americans being an opposing force to a Russian presence after the cold war. By placing an emphasis on Wren being a Russian citizen the story felt slightly more believable and grounded in its setting. The story initially appears to be about the twenty-year-old failing university student succumbing to his madness, insistent that every agent is a government spy and that the voice in the radio is speaking instructions to him but beneath all that Wren sounds less and less crazy and some scenes imply there's some truth to his beliefs.

Inspiration//

Wren Versus the Russian Government was heavily inspired by Netflix’s interactive work 'Bandersnatch', a show I was fixated on when it first came out. Both Wren and Stefan navigate their own spiraling understanding of the world around them and the constraints of the medium in which they inhabit. However, in Bandersnatch the audience leads Stefan down their chosen path and attempt to control his beliefs in this story Wren is already certain, he doesn't need convincing that what he thinks is right. I experimented with implementing facets of 'Bandersnatch' like fourth wall breaks, intimately knowledgable characters, and the allusion of audience choice however they didn't really fit with the short story I was trying to tell. 'Wren Versus' poses more of an audience's struggle as they try and independently decide whether they trust Wrens interpretations of the world around him, whether he's crazy or not.

Narrative//

Wren Versus is made up of many intersecting scenes with the first two taking place in the past. The story begins with Wren reflecting on his childhood and how it felt like he was 'stepping onto a game-show, with him; a lonely contestant'

"An unnecessary addition to an already extensive family portrait, Wren, with a generic face and a minimal range of expressions was a black sheep of sorts. He refused to eat anything but toy-branded cereals, jellos and t.v meals and didn't trust his own two eyes."

As he grows up he begins to isolate himself, living out of a van and refusing to perform simple tasks that might expose his hide-out. Here an impervious stranger tells him of a radio channel that will inform him of how the government aims to track its citizens.

When the audio recordings the radio plays stop and the voice on the other side speaks directly to Wren he runs and attempts to escape the prying eyes of an all-seeing government by hiding in a nearby arcade.

"At night he'd open the boot in unlit parking lots and at the edge of nature reserves and wait, the warmth of his portable heater and the rustle of glad wrap were breadcrumbs in the dark"

Of course, no stone goes unturned and the government finds him, captures him and the voice on the radio reveals himself as general secretary and that foolish Wren had been taking advice from the government all along.

"Wren pulls out the roofing stapler and loads it like a gun, sliding sachets of metal clips into his steel throat, it clicks closed with new weight and purpose."

Wren is honestly one of my favorite characters to work with, he's so extreme and stupid (my favorite character trait) I also really enjoyed the rhythm the story is high-speed all the way throughout and only pauses briefly before the final scene. Excited to gradually bring this story toward submissions.

Learning/s// That character you have hanging around in the background vibing with their own mini-narrative WILL eventually come in handy.

-E

[trashyeggroll]

Please explain appeal of Danolsen to me cuz I honestly don't get it! My blocks for shipping it currently - it feels like a make up for Kara/Jimmy being broken up so fast not an organic pairing. There's no filler to their relationship it's all just cute looks this season. Kelly in S5 feels like she could be replaced with extra of the week & nothing would change sadly. So why should I ship Danolsen 2.0 when I could just rewatch Sanvers stuff or another show?

Ok ok ok wait, parameters here. What are the terms of the discussion?

filler vs cute looks: usually I would use the word filler to describe vapid or irrelevant content (“empty calories”); in the context of your message, I think you mean substantive storylines vs the cutesy moments?

Danolsen vs Dansen: just so I don’t confuse myself, if I say Danolsen it’s Kara/James and Dansen is Alex/Kelly

Some overhead disclaimers from me:

1. While Dansen and ThunderGrace are often used as examples of white wlw rejecting wlwoc, we’re talking about an entire media landscape and the experience of being in wlw fandom spaces online, whether this hellsite or AO3 or whatever.

There are a lot more ships of varying degrees of development/duration involving women of color out there, across networks. All American has Coop/Patience. I hear Annalise Keating’s storyline is all unfolding around her wlw identity in How to Get Away with Murder. Proven Innocent made me cry with the romance between Madeline and Wren. Charmed has had like four or five romantic interests for Mel Vera. Freya and Keelin got fckn married in The Originals, and they’re still married in the sequel spinoff.

And if you spend enough time looking for wlw content around this site, you’ll see that white wlw are watching whole series and movies even the single gifset of wlw content… but it’s never these couples. “This fandom” and “that fandom”, whatever—but it’s almost never interracial couples or wlwoc. Why? Why do people spend the time writing whole apologisms for Gentleman Jack and the predatory behavior of Anne Lister, but they “just don’t see it” for healthy relationships? Why is it more appealing to watch fascist propaganda ruining the lore of witches, cheering on the love of someone who isn’t even aware that the person she loves is part of a massive campaign to force people to die by suicide en masse?

And we see when media rises and passes from blog to blog, too. Word of mouth is absolutely a thing, even here on the ol’ tumblr, so we see how a single kiss from a series circulates like wildfire and a whole gifset of ThunderGrace gets no notes—over and over and over and ov

2. Whenever this topic pops off in the Discourse, almost without fail, and a white wlw reacts to the above questions, it’s about “chemistry” or an adjacent concept. Again, this isn’t about one single ship—it’s about black women and nonblack poc being told their ships just have “no spark” over and over and over and ov

3. While there is logic to comparing ships in terms of quality, duration, and volume of content in order to assess who reasonably or “rightfully” gets more attention or dedication, that’s all just subjective and honestly sounds like bull to me. See #1.

4. Unless you’re a Trump voter, you’re most likely reading these posts and going, but I’m not racist, and I’m only one person. It’s easy to say. But we are all a product of a racist, xenophobic system, and at the end of the day, you can do what you want, watch what you want, but if you get defensive about these indirect callouts… It’s up to you to put words to why that is.

Ok, parameters set, now I’ll get to SG—

Making up for Danolsen: Honestly I highly doubt that that’s what the writers were trying to do—it’s an entirely different couple? Unless the implication is that they’re trying to treat an interracial couple better, which… is a good thing? I’m of the mind that SG added Azie because the cast would be almost entirely white once Mehcad left. Remember, Kelly Olsen was not introduced as a love interest for Alex, but the actresses thought their chemistry was too good, and they asked for it, which I thought… is exactly what we want from shows. I think the fact that she’s James’ sister is arbitrary, just a means to plug her into the story, and they’ve been winging it since then.

Dansen content in season five: I guess there are multiple elements to this, but for the “no filler” bit—the question is what kind of filler you want. They had lots of romantic moments early in the season, and then continued to be happy and in love. So is the content you want relationship drama or storylines that cut closer to the core of each episode? Because when I go back and look at Sanvers, there was a lot of pain and struggle in that relationship, which is sometimes how they go until people get their bearings, but ya’ll… It doesn’t have to be that way. There was Kelly’s PTSD moment and subsequent breakup with Alex, but they resolved that in one episode and… that’s a good thing, too. They talk about things, openly and truthfully, without shame or strife, and that’s what a good relationship should look like, whether it’s wlw or any other variation.

Like I get that the meat and potatoes of TV romance has always been friction. No story without conflict, right? But I worry that the insistence that Sanvers had so much more chemistry is largely based on the sharp rises and falls, which yeah produce lots of emotions and stirring words and speeches with clauses that you can print on a shirt, but that type of relationship will always burn out, or burn you out, if you don’t figure out how to prevent it from getting to that point.

So what I’m saying is, see #2. Nobody has to do anything or support anyone, but there’s no absolute truth to interpretation of a relationship. I’m sure I am preferential to Dansen over non-canon ships like SuperCorp because I’m old and married and I move through the world as a team with my badass wife, and that’s what I see for them. Kelly brought Alex her lunch and Alex practically squealed with delight even though they definitely woke up in the same bed a little while earlier.

And what’s confusing to me too is, you don’t have to stop shipping Sanvers? That relationship existed, the content is there, the storyline was ended with a padlock? (Folks: Please do not ever stay with someone hoping they will change their mind about having kids) But you can also look at how happy your fave is with her new girl and see it for them? Maybe kudos some fics, reblog a couple gifsets, not tweet about them lacking chemistry?

At the end of the day, a tension here is that the big picture makes fandom spaces feel hostile and dismissive towards fans of color, especially black women. How is someone supposed to feel when they finally have a complex, long lasting wlwoc relationship in front of them, and it’s constantly degraded for “chemistry” reasons while all the white ships, even ones with zero canon content, float to the top and get all the art and content that we are all here to enjoy? The whole issue is that fandom and culture are, and have always been, lenses into society and people’s worlds. It’s a question of empathy and openness and accountability, and it’s not just about one ship versus another.

[ao3feed-rebelcaptain2]

Star Wars: Ultimate Rebellion - The Reader's Guide to a Different Galaxy Far, Far Away

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2S1NiEN

by Skywalker114

This is a Reader's Guide containing headcanons and ideas pertaining to the Star Wars: Ultimate Rebellion universe, a Star Wars alternate universe fanfiction project created by me, Skywalker114. ULTIMATE REBELLION sees an altered version of the Galactic Civil War which sees the Rebel Alliance joined by more Imperial defectors and surviving Jedi Knights in their war against the tyrannical Galactic Empire.

Words: 168, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Star Wars: Ultimate Rebellion

Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Relationships: Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Kyle Katarn/Jan Ors, Bigga Darklighter/Nera Dantels, Wedge Antilles/Iella Wessiri, Ru Murleen/Rookie One, Juno Eclipse/Galen Marek, Tyria Sarkin/Kell Tainer, Gavin Darklighter/Asyr Sei'lar, Tycho Celchu/Winter Celchu, Feylis Aradre/Avan Beruss, Dani/Kiro (Star Wars), Jacen Solo/Tenel Ka Djo, Anakin Solo/Tahiri Veila, Zekk (Star Wars)/Taryn Zel, Garik "Face" Loran/Dia Passik, Corran Horn/Mirax Terrik, Soontir Fel/Syal Antilles Fel | Wynssa Starflare, Chewbacca/Mallatobuck (Star Wars), Nawara Ven/Rhysati Ynr, Lando Calrissian/Tendra Risant, Boba Fett/Sintas Vel, Mirta Gev/Ghes Orade, Kir Kanos/Mirith Sinn, Rhys Dallows/Vana Sage, Dash Rendar/Javun Charn, Lux Bonteri/Ahsoka Tano, Ezra Bridger/Sabine Wren, Thane Kyrell/Ciena Ree, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso, Norra Wexley/Brentin Lore Wexley, Bo-Katan Kryze/Fenn Rau, Jas Emari/Jom Barell, Shara Bey/Kes Dameron, Conder Kyl/Sinjir Rath Velus, Karé Kun/Temmin "Snap" Wexley, Bail Organa/Breha Organa, Finn/Rose Tico, Kasan Moor/Ace Azzameen, Poe Dameron/Jaina Solo, Ketsu Onyo/Wade Vox

Additional Tags: Rating: PG13, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Fanon, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Multiple Pairings, Good versus Evil, Black & White Morality, Alternate Character Interpretations, Weapons, Spaceships, Outer Space, Interspecies Relationship(s), Heroes & Heroines, Villains, Rare Pairings, Rare Characters, Alien Character(s), LGBTQ Characters, Ancient Technology, Planets, Space Opera, Married Couples, Star Wars Headcanons, Ahsoka Tano Didn't Leave the Jedi Order, Rebel Alliance, Galactic Empire, Jedi Leia Organa, Female Friendships, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Jedi, Death Star, Mandalorians - Freeform, Yuuzhan Vong - Freeform, Lightsabers, X-Wing(s), Rogue Squadron, New Republic, Mon Calamari, New Jedi Order, Force Ghost(s), Kanan Jarrus Lives, Battle of Yavin, Twi'leks, Hutts, Jedi Ahsoka Tano, Multiple Inquisitors, Defection from the Empire, Imperial Remnant, Planet Manaan (Star Wars), Operation Skyhook (Star Wars), Skywalker Family, Yavin 4, Battle of Endor, Tatooine (Star Wars), Kyber Crystals, Biggs Darklighter Lives, Hoth, Bounty Hunters, Geonosis, Millennium Falcon - Freeform, Coruscant, Operation Skyhook, Unrealistic Everything, Experimental Fiction, Time Travel, World Between Worlds, Star Wars Legends AU with Canon Elements, Jedi Luke Skywalker, References to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2S1NiEN