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Pawn in Frankincense, chapter 1. Script by @morethanfantasy

lymond: i left you behind and in charge of the company. jerott: that’s not what my contract says. [pulls a piece of paper from his pocket. on it is blackout poetry spelling FOLLOW FRANCIS CRAWFORD] francis: jerott: francis: philippa: why are you looking at me. it came that way.

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dorothy dunnet said i am going to write sentence so incomprehensible. and thsats waht she did.

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Per Adolfsen（Danish, b.1964）

Waves hitting the shore 2024 Colored pencil and graphite on Hahnemühle paper 90.5 x 65.9 cm via more

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Do you ever get the feeling lately that it may be that you’ve gotten it all wrong?

Queen’s Thief Appreciation Week, Day 1: Favorite Book - The Queen of Attolia

The lyrics in this are from “Did You Get What You Wanted,” by Mal Blum, a great song to rock out to while thinking about what this series has to say about choice, consequence, and being a pawn of the gods because they know you so well. I think it goes particularly well with Gen’s big discovery near the end of QoA, so here that is - with a dash of other moments and symbols. No goats were harmed in the making of these drawings, but I did reference @emilybeemartin ’s painting of the burning Principia. (Did YOU get what you wanted, Magus?)

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Hamiathes’s Gift Exchange sign ups are open!

If you've done a Yuletide-style exchange on AO3 before, the process should be similar. If you haven't, have a look at the explanation and examples below, check out the FAQ and rules on AO3 and let me know if you have questions!

Also, please spread the word—the more, the merrier. Both fanfic writers and fanartists are welcome to participate!

The signup link is here!

Quick points:

The tagset is big! Consider taking some time to go through it if you want.

Signups are open until Friday, August 3 @ 8pm ET. See what time that is for you!

You'll need an AO3 account to sign up. You can request one here if you don't already have one. We have some extra codes if the wait list is too long so please ping me if that’s the case! 

Please read the rules before signing up so you know what you're agreeing to do

You can see what other people have requested/offered within the exchange itself, as well as on the AO3 Automagic App — group by "character" instead of "fandom" for best results. Note that you may have to re-scrape in order to see the most up to date signups.

Check below the ���read more” for more info on how signups work, the “optional details” field, and how to submit your Do Not Wants. And as always, please reach out here or in the QT discord if you have questions! 

How signups work:

Each of us will use a form on AO3 to make requests and offers.

You must make at least two requests, each of which specifies a character or from the tag set and indicates that you’re requesting fanfiction, fanart, or both. You may make up to eight requests. Each request can also include optional details about your preferences, ideas for prompts, etc. More about that below. Your assigned writer or artist is responsible for creating a fanwork featuring the character or relationship in any one of your requests.

Offers are simple—you’ll just list the characters, relationships, or worldbuilding elements from the tag set about whom you’re willing to write or illustrate, specifying whether you’re offering fanart, fanfiction, or both

An important note on relationships--if characters are connected by &, this refers to a platonic relationship. If they are connected by an /, this refers to a romantic or sexual relationship. For example, if you want a story or artwork featuring Irene, request Attolia | Irene. If you want a story or artwork featuring Irene and Relius as friends, request Relationship: Attolia | Irene & Relius. If you want a story or artwork featuring Irene and Relius in a non-platonic, request Relationship: Attolia | Irene/Relius.

Optional details:

When you're making requests, it can be helpful to give your author/artist a little more detail than just the characters you're requesting. Remember that your author or artist is only required to create a work featuring your specified characters. If you ask for a specific story prompt or for art in a particular style, they may not be able to meet that request, and they aren't required to. Try not to be too proscriptive here—think of it as a way to explain why you like these characters and why you're interested in getting fanwork about them, and a way to kickstart your author/artist's creativity if they need it.

You can include either a link to a letter hosted on your journal or type directly in the optional details box in the signup form. If you're linking to your journal, please make sure it isn't friends-locked, or your creator won't be able to see it!

Do Not Want list:

If there's anything you specifically don't want to receive in your gift, you can include a Do Not Want (DNW) list in the optional details section. Examples might be things that squick or trigger you or 'ships you aren't interested in. This isn't about making value judgments, just about indicating your comfort level and making this a good experience for everyone.

Authors and artists must respect this list. When you're specifying Do Not Wants, please include them in the optional details text box in your signup, not in the letter, so I as the mod can be aware of them. If they are not in the optional details box, I cannot enforce them.

Examples of DNWs: sexual content, kidfic, violence, character death. 

Treats

tl;dr: if you're open to receiving gifts, make sure your AO3 is set to receive gifts and consider indicating in your letter/optional details that you're open to receiving treats! 

In February 2022, AO3 released a new setting that allows users to choose whether or not they can receive extra gifts. If a person has the setting "Allow anyone to gift me works" selected in their preferences, then AO3 users can give extra gifts to that person, including Hamiathes's Gift Exchange treats. If this setting is not checked, only a user who has an exchange assignment for that person, or who has claimed their prompts in a prompt meme, can give them gifts.

Because of this setting, we have encouraged people to state in their sign-up or profile page if they're open to treats. Mods can also check who's able to receive treats (especially because users could choose to change this setting during the event). If you're not sure if someone would like treats, you are very welcome to ask the mods.

Please also double-check your own settings if you would like to receive gifts! If you created your account after February 2022, you may need to change your settings from the default.

Comments

Two notes about commenting, one about giving and one about receiving: 

It's encouraged to comment on your gift(s) to show appreciation to your author and/or artist for creating it. Best practice during exchanges is to comment before author reveals (September 26). If you do not think you will be able to comment in the first few days after gifts are revealed, you may want to leave a placeholder comment to let your creator know that you will be back to read/comment later.

AO3 has recently changed it’s default commenting setting on new works to “logged in users only.” If you’d like to be able to receive comments from people who aren’t logged in (“guest” comments), you’ll need to change that setting when you’re posting your work 

Happy prompting!

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Nominations are open for Hamiathes's Gift Exchange!

Important info:

- Nominations will be open until Thursday, July 24 @ 8 pm ET

- you do not need to nominate in order to participate in the exchange but you can only request/offer what's in the tagset so make sure to submit if you want something specific!

If you are going to submit tags, the setup is a little wonky so I’ve added some explanation below!

Relationships and worldbuilding must also be submitted under the "character" submission in the following format:

Relationship: [characters]

Worldbuilding: [element]  

For instance:

Relationship: Eddis/Sophos

Relationship: Helen & Gen

Worldbuilding: Eddisian myths Check out the tagset here to see what has already been submitted (hit "expand all" to see them), and click "nominate" to submit yours!

If you have more questions you can check out the FAQ, or feel free to message me here or on the Queen’s Thief discord!

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Tagged by @knife-dad !

No bald answer. Do crime or die.

Tagging @sparrowposting , @fridge246 , and @thecrenellations , and anyone else, feel free to join in!

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the “stir the pot” translation is the first one I encountered in subtitles, I think, but this made me revisit the quote from the book as well (chapter 86, in narration rather than dialogue):

These hands had once tamed horses and wielded swords, had once bent a bow to shoot down great birds of prey. And now, they had abandoned the reins, and relinquished the bows, and could only sit in this dim inferno, stirring the winds.

(not very relevant to the meme anymore but what a moment!!)

“These hands used to bend bows and tame horses. But now, they can only hide in the dark and stir the pot.” (Nirvana in Fire, ep. 11)

he told me to make this meme himself!

(image of tiles from this lovely gifset)

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“These hands used to bend bows and tame horses. But now, they can only hide in the dark and stir the pot.” (Nirvana in Fire, ep. 11)

he told me to make this meme himself!

(image of tiles from this lovely gifset)

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Tumblr ads are giving me the same advice as 2nd century Chinese strategists

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love a show that’s like [extremely intricate politics] [emotional yeti reunion] [definitely totally completely realistic and scientifically accurate fire-blizzard-bug illness] [very realistic unsubtle modern domestic political commentary] [yeti now has neatly combed fur & lil blue bow]

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you are my conscience! when you cease to hurt me i shall be either perfect or dead! i wish i could lay my whole heart on your altar-table! this had always been one of the risks! he knew what sulien intended him to feel and he felt it! no enemy he had ever faced had been as hard as sulien could be!

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ScotSwap 2025 Sign-up

Here is the sign-up form for ScotSwap 2025, a Lymond Chronicles fanfic & art exchange currently modded by yours truly and @magpiefngrl, which includes the schedule and a link to the AO3 collection (for rules, FAQs etc) at the top.

It is open from April 5-April 27 at 5PM UTC

Sign up to create, pinch-hit and/or beta read (you can do just one, or even all three!)

You can participate even if you haven't finished the series; we make sure you only get content to receive, create or beta

For further questions please shoot me an ask/message or email scotswap@gmail.com

Dunnett fandom, please signal boost!

@magpiefngrl @semicolonsandsimiles @notasapleasure @venndaai @thecrenellations @morethanfantasy @fandom-frenzy @orangeshipper @allthefoolmine @whodunnett1526 @swordbreakerz @erinaceina @boatcats @startlingly @sweet-cynicalstrain @sleepy-hour

Also tagging some folks who had reblogged the initial interest check and said they didn’t have time to create or aren’t a writer/artist for Lymond  but were into the idea, in case the beta option might be for you! @doh-rae-me @whataliethatwas @intearsaboutrobots @distressednoise @neuxue @veliseraptor @rocketmanimissearth @oldshrewsburyian @cardinalvalentino @pilfered-words

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Hamiathes's Gift Exchange 2025: Schedule Announcement!

The schedule is here, and well ahead of time this year! We're kicking off in about three months, and the schedule will be relatively close to last year's. This exchange is open to anyone with an AO3 account who wants to write a fic or make a piece of QT art. For more details on length, size, and logistics of the exchange, check out the FAQ linked at the bottom of this post.

2025 Schedule

Character/relationship/worldbuilding nominations: Thursday, July 17 - Thursday, July 24

Signups: Friday, July 25 - Sunday, August 3

Assignments sent out: Tuesday, August 5

Fanworks due: Friday, September 12

Fanworks revealed: Friday, September 18

Artists/authors revealed: Friday, September 26

All deadlines are at 8pm EDT

Note: If you don't have an AO3 account, you can request an invite here. There is currently a 3 week waiting list to get an invite, so please make sure you request one soon if you're considering participating!

If you have any questions about how the exchange works you can find last year's FAQ here. Check out past HGE works here! If you want a reminder when signups open, dm me!

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Coppery-chested Jacamar (Galbula pastazae), family Galbulidae, order Piciformes, Ecuador

photograph by Francesco Veronesi

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only half an hour left to vote about this!

will it be...

Lymond/Jerott... reunion of friends gone poorly, endearments, a concussion, baby chicks, multiple unnecessary wrestling matches, a promise, and a sweet moment of resolution that actually sticks. Also they're both alive at the end.

Lymond/Adam... do it for Adam Blacklock! You've drawn me hundreds of times. So much understanding! (no offense to Jerott. actually plenty of offense to Jerott <3) They're also both alive at the end. Great.

or

Philippa/The Narrative ... Philippa Somerville narration is HERE and she is making plot relevant decisions! And she also lives of course, wow everyone here is doing really great for a Lymond book. She's also the best.

The Disorderly Knights: The Romance: The Final Showdown

Three decisive winners emerged from three pools of answers to the question of who the relevant parties are if The Disorderly Knights is a romance! (It's not. But The Storygraph used to say it was. But it's not. OR IS IT?)

in the category of "plausible and/or questionable," our winners are ...... Francis Crawford and Jerott Blyth!

in the category of "the underdogs," our winners are ......... Francis Crawford and Adam Blacklock!

and in the category of "Who Needs Lymond," our winners are ...... Philippa Somerville and The Narrative!

Now, it is time to truly answer the question. "Romance" here is intended to mean the genre, but you don't need to listen to me. Please feel free to make your cases.