#i should make a parallel set one day of the people saying they've read the files on the doctor lol

[expelliarmus]

#mine #doctor who #dwedit #david tennant #ruth madeley #dw spoilers #i love her already!! #i should make a parallel set one day of the people saying they've read the files on the doctor lol

[emblazons]

hey marie <3 I've been experiencing byler doubt as of late for some strange reason?? And you're one of my favorite analysts so what would you say is like ... the moment or thing that made you actually consider Byler would be endgame?

oooh, I'm sorry to hear that! Honestly there are still some days when the weight of discourse in this fandom gives me little flairs of discomfort about the state of their relationship in S5, even though revisiting the show itself almost immediately assuages most of my fears because fuller context for me has always been most comforting? But...hmm.

I think more than anything—and these two points are really what my "favorite byler things" hinge on, more than the moments themselves—I first remember that the entire show can be subjected to the same scrutiny and level of detail as Byler (even independent of it), which helps me remember that seeing and even looking for evidence of the relationship between them isn't just me indulging my desire to ship them—it's digging into something that The Duffers and the 2000-strong ST production team put there.

Things like them reusing the track Girls on Film to parallel an idea between two scenes with Nancy, paralleling moments of depression between El and Max to show us their bond even from a distance and using set design to show a character trait about Jonathan show that the little details I pick up on for byler are intentional the same way the rest of the show is...and I'm not being unduly invested looking for them, the way a lot of byler critics claim when they say byler's are "delusional" and "reading too much into it."

Second, I remember that I am the audience for the show according to the Duffer Brothers—that they've made clear that it's people like me they're catering to, who love movies, filmmaking and indulge their nerdiest interests even when it means being "less adult" than one perhaps should be in the eyes of the people around them—on top of the fact that they have repeatedly said their story is mapped out and intentional, which means what I see on the screen and put together from "studying" it was designed that way, and isn't just a series of random choices or Finn "deciding" to make flirty eyes at Noah (lmfao).

Once I keep those to things at the fore of my mind, it's easier to accept that what I saw on screen even before I deep dived the whole show were 1) designed for me to catch and 2) intentional...which leaves me with the ability to trust that all of these things—

Mike and Will showing repeated and unprompted signs of attraction to each other mutually, while showing signs of deep emotional connection outside of just the simple bounds of friendship

Mike re-prioritizing his relationship with Will, to the point of saying he was over-invested in El, while also asking Will to be closer to him (which he kept up, all the way to the very last shot of the season)

Will's romantic feelings now being blended inherently with the painting, even though the painting could have easily been written as a platonic gesture if the duffers wanted it to be

Mlvn’s communication (verbal and nonverbal) breaking down in S4 without a single bit of promoting from the audience before it dropped, to the point where Will’s feelings are the romantic ones underpinning Mike’s perception of El & El is no longer behaving romantically forward him, even given the “I love you” that was meant to resolve the tension in their relationship

The fact that I can connect these events to several other moments across all seasons, because the concepts and relational dynamics aren’t new to S4—only the context is

—are good enough reason to believe that the story is headed toward romantic!Byler, while actively moving away from romantic!mlvn.

I think, at the end of the day, the reason why I believe in Byler is because I’m familiar with The Duffers as storytellers, have been invested in their show since S1, and Byler makes sense for the show thematically—it fits into the narrative, doesn’t require any wild jumps to recognize (neither does the end of mlvn, to be honest) and—probably most importantly—the details like color coding, where people are standing in the final shot, and even the insanity of that one way sign into the closet Mike has are just details designed to bring life to the story…not what I’m basing my understanding of the story on itself.

Basically: I believe in byler because that’s where the story is pointing, and I feel I have a solid grasp on the story and characters in several sections of the show, not just the byler one. Revisiting the show over the course of the year has only strengthened my sense of that—and even when I do doubt, it’s the show itself that reminds me why I believed it in the first place, rather than anything that goes on throughout the fandom side of things.

I don't know if that helps you, but it's what keeps my confidence steady throughout the ups and downs of fandom! And also...literally nothing confused me worse than vol ii when it dropped...and now I feel like it presented some of the most important moments for building toward romantic!byler, so. I feel pretty confident in my interpretation of the events of the show now lmao.

thanks for the ask!

and also...outside of all this: the moment that made me catch onto byler as an option fully as an "invested GA" was Will and Mike at the airport, because...that shit was crazy to watch for the first time honestly. My jaw was on the floor like "oh shit, they're really doing this?" and it just. never came back up the rest of the season LOL

#...honestly I cannot remember the last time I truly doubted byler like. #sometimes I try to play out versions of the story that don't include them coming together more readily than mlvn in S5 #and no matter how I try to play it out it never makes sense LOL #also...the themes are really what sells me on them. #everything the duffers talk through with rejecting conformity and normalcy and DND and basing love on friendship? ALL BYLER #once will was gay and in love with mike it was a wrap honestly. but...lol. people love to be loud and bully because they don't like it so #what can you do lol #asks #byler #anti mlvn

[kalinara]

I would die for a meta on your thoughts about the reylo (which, let’s be honest, is basically just the kylo ren) fandom.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m biased. But I am straight up CONVINCED that the reason we lost out on a trilogy focusing on the trio is because of how much absolute annoying NOISE they made about #savebensolo online, which somehow convinced the movie directors that it was a cashcow making idea.

There’s the Rise of Kylo Ren comics, which apparently set up how Kylo didn’t burn down the school and it was all a big “misunderstanding”, but you will never convince me that that was the plan for kylo’s backstory in The Force Awakens. I specifically remember them talking about wanting Kylo to have an anti-redemption arc to parallel Anakin’s “redemption” arc, where Kylo would grow more and more entrenched in the dark side as the trilogy continued on. Him killing Han was supposed to cement that turn from the light.

And then, suddenly the rest of the movies start focusing more on him than Rey and her relationships with her friends. To the point where there are still Reylo fans who say that rey’s ending isn’t a happy one, because she “doesn’t care about Poe and Finn” as much as Kylo.

Rey didn’t even need to end up without a love interest! I know there are people who wish she had ended up alone, but Finnrey was set up in the very first movie. They flirted! I even would have accepted The Duel of the Fates script with a poe romance if it would have been done well, or even finnpoe.

Instead, we had our main female character risking it all for Kylo in the Last Jedi, which, in canon, is three days post The Force Awakens, after Kylo slashed Finn in the back with a lightsaber so close to his spine that it’s absolutely amazing he isn’t paralyzed.

What if Finn had died? Has anyone ever thought of that? He was in a coma at the end of tfa. People die from injuries while in a coma all the time. Let’s say Kylo threw everything down to come with Rey at the end of tlj. How would that go if they arrived and leia and poe had to break it to Rey, “yeah, finn’s fucking dead, man. Sorry.” Is Rey just supposed to be cool with that and let Kylo go on his merry way? Perhaps date him after that?

There are legitimate reylo fans who believe that Kylo should have lived at the end of tros and went back to the resistance with Rey to have a family and live happily ever after. Just… be pardoned for all his crimes. They really believe that Rey should worship the ground Kylo walks on to the point where she would bring him back to Finn, who he almost killed, and poe, who he tortured, and have her steadfastly defend him against her two friends.

It just—infuriates me so much. We really could have had it all. But certain parts of the fandom made it all about Kylo Ren, to the point where it didn’t just retract from the trio; it also retracted from Rey’s character herself.

Sorry if I ranted. You just have some awesome takes and I’m thinking again about the sequels and the potential they had, lol.

Aw, I really appreciate your kind words. But unfortunately, I don't have any behind the scenes information for you.

I do think, based on the end of the Last Jedi, that Kylo was set up as the big bad. And this may be projection, but I don't get the sense that JJ Abrams really wanted to write Kylo's redemption. The man's written morally ambiguous characters before in his career, and pulled off more dubious redemption arcs. I think he could have sold Kylo's arc better, if he really wanted to.

I haven't read the comics and I honestly don't care about them. They've never been that relevant to my mind, when it comes to evaluating Kylo as a character. My own take is that, whether or not he was to blame for the temple's destruction, he had options besides joining a regime that's obviously a Nazi-allegory, that enslaves children and commits genocide. I judge him by the decisions we see him make on screen, and those are pretty damning.

That said, I mostly enjoyed Rise of Skywalker. Kylo's redemption didn't work for me, but we also saw him die and that made me happy. Rey had an ambiguous moment that might or might not have been romantic. I don't think that's enough to ruin her. At almost forty, I have an old person's cynicism: young people sometimes fall for the wrong people. In my eyes, it's more important that Rey gets a happy ending with the people she actually loves: Finn and Poe. And TROS gave me that.

It's okay to be dissatisfied with the movies, and I'm always in favor of folks ranting about what makes them unhappy. But it's also okay to move on. The Star Wars Universe has a lot of lovely material right now, and more to come. Perhaps there'll be something more to your taste if you give it a chance?

[jayteacups]

I just read the links you posted. And I would love to know more about Nuwa hehe.

I was interested in her relationship with Levi, her clan, the cause of humanity and her desire to save innocent people underground, and some of the concepts you wrote for her. As I was reading it, she seemed to me to be a more selfless character than Levi.

I've always been curious about this and in general the 'what if' style of writing where Levi and his partner say fuck humanity and run away together and live a peaceful normal life. Unfortunately, I see this topic and idiom in very few fanfics.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't sound ridiculous and pointless. I'm just a LevixOc enthusiast and I don't know if you plan to write this fic one day, but I think you will do a good job in Nuwa's character building and fitting into the universe.

Unfortunately, especially in Aot, the concept of the Underground is not touched upon as much. No matter how much humanity has survived the giants forever and finally got free and reached a happy ending, there are innocent people in the Underground who are persecuted, who have never seen sunlight, rain and sky, who live in hunger and misery, who will never be free.

I always wanted there to be an end where they were finally recognized as human beings and given citizenship, or they had to go to the surface because it was no longer habitable because of the Rumbling, or because it was used as a prison where only criminals should live.

And your character seems to me to have the potential to solve it.

Anyway, without further ado, the last thing I will say is that another fic I liked was your grimreaper fic and I wonder if that fic continues.

I'm glad you enjoyed those old one-shots! 🥹 Also it's always nice to meet more Levi x OC enthusiasts 🫶🏼 Though I don't think my fic will be strictly canon-compliant (there'll most likely be some tweaks and changes) I'm really happy to know that you liked what you saw of Nüwa and that you think she would fit into the AOT setting 💕 I'm excited to explore her character further as I workshop the story, especially with the more morally-grey aspects of her that she would prefer to keep hidden lollll

You're spot on with what you're saying about the Underground - an important part of Nüwa's story will be about fighting for the people who live there. In general, I want to explore the Underground more in my upcoming fic and do it justice. I've always found the concept of it unjust since they've been deprived of basic needs, like you've said, which is why I wanted to make Nüwa somebody who's motivated to make things better, based on her own experiences growing up there. (I understand that the main story had a load of other things to get to, but the Underground has so much storytelling potential hence the emphasis I'm putting on it) I like the idea of everyone being able to make it up to the surface and granted surface citizenship at the very least (I picture Nüwa heavily advocating for this), especially since the Rumbling would probably have caused some cave-ins, and post S3, Wall Maria has been reclaimed and the island is cleared of titans, so there'll definitely be land space.

I'm glad you picked up on Nüwa's selflessness as well - in my opinion, any character who has a romance with Levi in the canon setting needs to be selfless to some degree for it to work, that's just how I headcanon his s/o to be. It's interesting that you say that she's more selfless than Levi - I think she is as selfless, but it shows in different ways to Levi's selflessness since they go down different paths and end up in very different day-to-day scenarios. I love drawing parallels and I will definitely have a fun time exploring their similarities (selflessness and devotion to their causes are the main examples) and the differences in the way those similarities presents. (hope that made sense aaa) I also do plan on having her struggle with her sense of duty and some of her more selfish desires, because nobody is infallible (she has plenty of flaws too; I want to give Nüwa complexity), and who doesn't love a good moral dilemma in a fic?

Maybe spoilers (but not really haha) but I can say definitively that I won't be going down the route where they decide to run off into the sunset and leave everything behind because imo that would feel OOC for Levi and I can't picture Nüwa, who I've written to be incredibly dedicated to fighting for the Underground people's rights, to give that up - but both of their resolves will definitely be challenged, and they'll definitely think about it when things get overwhelmingly hard, because this isn't the AOT universe without suffering 😈 at least you can rest easy knowing she isn't a Scout but that doesn't mean she won't suffer at all lolol 😈

Oh you've read The Harbinger's Premonition too?? I'm glad you liked it! 💞 It's currently on hiatus at the moment, sorry! I've been stuck for ideas and have been focusing my limited creative energy more on the It's A Wrap! stories and the big Levi x OC fic outline, and I have a nasty habit of coming up with more ideas, jotting them down, spending time thinking about it but then being unable to actually write when faced with a blank document LOL. Basically my brain has been pre-occupied with other things for a while. I'm not saying I won't ever pick THP back up again because I really am proud of the premise and the few chapters that I've written so far! But right now it's just been on the back-burner, so it's on a hiatus until I get the mojo back for it 😅 sorry to disappoint! Thank you again for the ask <333

#mail for jay #need a new tag but I don't want to reveal the tentative title of the fic yet #(yes it's changed again since the last time I talked about this fic. yes I'm indecisive as heck sorry)

[beautifulterriblequeen]

B2:S - Chapter 5

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be lots of Viren deets, Best Boy Soren deets, some writing/continuity stuff, worldbuilding appreciation and half of a theory, Detective Rayla, Moon Temple geeking, Claudium and dark magic, and more!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

(I know for darn sure that I wrote up a post for chapter 4, but I can't find it anywhere so I guess Tumblr ate it and I'll have to redo it at some point, but today is not that day)

Viren, my evil dude, my bad guy, coming in clutch with the worldbuilding and backstory again! If you want to know decades of information, you gotta talk to Viren. Or read his scenes, at least. Here, he seems to not sleep much when he has a big problem to analyze his way through. Solutions trump pretty much everything else in this guy's life, and he's had a really hard week with a lot of new and complicated problems. Of course he's getting sleep-deprived trying to find his way through them all.

Harrow put so much trust in Viren when he made him High Mage! He just threw himself extra hard at that Lady Justice blindfold, didn't he? Didn't really want to see what Viren was doing in his magic study, so he left Viren to his devices. And Viren has a lot of devices.

Also, this is fascinating: Viren made the secret passage to his "less official study" in Katolis Castle! And he was inspired to do so by the way his own mentor kept the Puzzle House. What else could a Puzzle House be, except a place with secret passages? Yay! secret headcanon that "the Puzzle House" is just "Katolis Castle" from Kid Viren's perspective tho

So either Viren built all of those passageways, or at least the ones to his dungeon. Which means he has to have, or know where to get, a stash of those glowing blue Moonshadow crystals. Hmmm.

I can't wait to learn more about Kpp'Ar and young Viren, btw. From this description of Viren and all his literal secret ways, it feels like another parallel between Viren and Runaan, with the whole "secretive paths, members only, insider knowledge" type stuff. Only the really cool members of this cult club get to know the secrets, and guess what, kid, you're cool now but you can never tell anyone, okay? Our secret.

Yeahhh, that'll never backfire in any way for either of them.

Kpp'Ar calling puzzles and secrets "man-made magic," though. Yes sir, knowledge is indeed power.

This chapter mentions Runaan by name, from Viren's perspective. Generally that would imply that Viren knows his name, even though assassins do not share their names, and Runaan didn't seem to give his to Viren in the first book. However, there was a scene in book one where the last paragraph switched perspective from Viren to Runaan - a technique that's very common in visual media like movies and shows and gives you that "ohoho they left the room and didn't notice this, but you do!" vibe. Using Runaan's name there in book one, where Viren couldn't see it but readers could, helps them keep track of the assassin's story arc while maintaining Viren's racism.

So in book two, in which Runaan has no onscreen scenes (alas), using his name in a scene that calls back to the events in book one helps us remember what happened in that dungeon cell. It would be a bit muddier to recall the specifics if Viren kept thinking about Runaan as "Elf." So I'm cool with the perspective nudge because it serves a narrative purpose: clarity. But I'm also enjoying the angst of considering that, somehow, Viren learned Runaan's name either during or after the coining spell. Mwa ha ha haaa. (Obligatory "Keep my pretty name outta your mouth" goes here)

Okay, back to Viren's scheming! He took the mirror because it was human-sized in a dragon lair. He knew it didn't really fit there, and that made it interesting, so he stole it. But he realized it was really powerful when Runaan wouldn't tell him squat about it - the assassin's instinct to protect Xadian secrets from human hands meant that Viren was holding a very powerful Xadian secret. And that just made him want it all the more. Ah, Runaan, if only your relationship with lying was, like, the exact opposite of what it is. Nyx could've spun Viren a believable tale in 2 minutes flat.

Also of interest: Viren considers his cursed coins to be a final fate. He expects Runaan to remain in his coin forever. With the Chekhov's coins still extant in the storyline, we can assume that they'll come up again eventually, but Viren has no current plans to do anything with his elf money except carry it around.

It's worth noting that Viren admits that he got impatient when he trapped Runaan in the coin. Runaan's first fate in Katolis was supposed to be death at Soren's hands, but Claudia "saved" him from that. His next fate was to become spell components, but Viren's frustration with his stubbornness "saved" him from that fate, too. So now he's in a coin, where no one can chop him up at all. Yay? No, boo!

We get one last line about Runaan before Viren shifts gears: he makes a point of noting for us that Runaan's shackles are still locked shut. However much of Runaan made it into that coin - body, soul, hair care products - he was magicked there, pulled right out of his restraints.

The creepy black liquid that Viren pours right into his eyes is the last of a powerful potion he got from Kpp'Ar, and its recipe is ancient! Humans used it back in the age of Elarion to see through the illusions of the world. And we get a delightfully creepy bit of description about the preparation of this serum, which makes it abundantly clear that it's a Moon magic-based concoction, harvested from eyeless vipers on a moonless night, with the threat of irrevocable madness ("madness" by whose definition, though) if it's done wrong-

Hang on. Hold up. This is a Plato's Cave reference. OH MY GOD.

No no I'm fine, this is brilliant. Sorry, sorry, I couldn't figure why there was so much description for a potion prep that Viren didn't even have to perform himself. But now I get it. I see the light. HA. I should make a separate post for this, it's amazing.

Anyway, for reference, the humans who used this serum were called the Oracles of Ophidia, and Ophidia is a taxonomy group that includes all modern snakes. Can you say "creepy ancient snake rites"? I can! Woo!

Viren activates the serum with a spell, but apparently he's never done it before. He's not sure if it's supposed to be hot and bubbly, and he worries that it's been tainted by moonlight.

Oh, I do hope so.

The magic potion hurts, a lot. Viren will do just about anything, to himself or anyone, to do what he believes is necessary. He just risked madness and blindness to find out what this mirror does! Viren. Can you just. Take a nap or something. Have a Snickers.

This chapter gives us a fun clue that I don't remember from the show: when Viren's vision clears and he can see, his reflection has white pupils and the room reflected in the mirror has inverted colors. You know where else has inverted colors?

You know who else got white pupils for a hot second?

Okay, now it makes sense! Viren and Lujanne were both seeing into the realm beyond life and death. Him with his moon magic potion, and her with her moon powers on a full moon night at the Moon Nexus. Which is Very Interesting! Is it a direct hint about Aaravos's location, or just a separate cool detail? Orrr, does it look like a direct hint because Aaravos is actually trapped in the world beyond life and death, but it's actually separate and we'll see something about white pupils again later on?

Viren really does have self-esteem issues, we all picked up on it with his rant at his reflection. He throws a fit when he catches himself wondering if he's actually worthless. In the book version of his tantrum, he shoves the mirror and hurls a candelabra instead of flipping a table. He didn't need to shove the mirror to set the fire, but it's in here. Foreshadowing that perhaps, if push comes to shove, Viren will choose himself over Aaravos? Giving Aaravos time to peek through and see that the coast is clear?

Soren, my boyyyyy. He has a rough night at the Moon Nexus because two sides of him are fighting with each other. He struggles to understand Callum's friendship with Rayla, and he also fantasizes about chopping off Rayla's head. One of these is a pretty ordinary thing to do. The other is Soren's internalization of what he needs to do to gain his father's approval. If he brought his dad a chopped off elf head every week, he'd probably feel a lot more confident because Viren would praise him a lot more.

Okay, okay, omg, is it just me, or does the "Moonshadow Madness" story, as it's told in the book, seem like Soren just doesn't know what a monsterfucker is? He thinks an elf bite puts humans under a spell. But vampires are sexy, and some people want them to do more to them than just bite them. A passionate kiss under the moonlight could look very bitey, especially if one of the participants has horns and you're already culturally trained to hate them. No yeah, I'm already headcanoning an actual human-elf kiss that got misunderstood by an observer long ago.

it's Lujanne isn't it, we all know, because what is a love spell but a sweet soft illusion, I mean how else does she get supplies for her Caldera, I ask you, and also Corvus was totally sent to investigate once and he told Soren at camp what he saw

And then back to magefam angst: Soren pretending that his sister's nose-tapping is stupid, even though he actually thinks it's cool, just because their dad thinks it's stupid. Viren, istg. Let your kids like harmless things. It's so cute that Soren taps his nose back at her, though! Like they have their own sibling code. I hope we get to see the nose tap again, especially now that they've chosen different sides. It could mean so much, that they're not too far apart yet.

Rayla knows what buttery pancakes smell like. I love this. Do Moonshadow elves have butter and pancakes, does Rayla eat a stack of eight giant pancakes in the morning? Orrrr it is just illusion food? I don't care, let Rayla have pancakes! Everyone loves pancakes. Pancakes will save the world. this message brought to you by the fact that I can't eat pancakes rn, send help

I love that Rayla is both sus of the pancakes and hungry, and that combines into a very motivated "I will get to the bottom of this" attitude. She kind of goes into Poirot Mode when she inserts herself into Soren and Ellis's conversation about Ava, explaining about the wolf's illusion leg and segueing into her claim that the pancakes taste sus. Claudia confirms she used dark magic, and Rayla is furious. It's different than the show's version in that it puts Rayla in detective mode, as the only Moonshadow elf in the scene, and boy does she take that role seriously. Also, she doesn't actually swallow the dark magic pancake bite. It ends up on the ground just like Lujanne's grubs from that earlier meal. These poor kids are so nutrient-starved. You guys gotta eat!!

Rayla's determination and prejudices and the fact that she super knows Harrow is dead all dovetail to make her try repeatedly to persuade Callum that Soren and Claudia are Not To Be Trusted. It's nice that the book keeps taking the time to point out that Rayla is Well Intentioned But Flawed, just like Callum and pretty much every other character in the show. No one is Right All The Time, no one Knows More Than Everyone Else.

Callum loving the sound of Claudia's unique voice is so wholesome. When you like someone, it only makes sense that you like all the things about them that they can't change - like the sound of Claudia's voice. Her choices with dark magic, not so much!

Claudia seems to have the same concerns Soren does about Callum's relationship with Rayla, but she comes out and asks him. The inherent possession implied in "your elf" is interesting, though. Elves are not people to Claudia. They're enemies who can be disassembled for the magic inside them. So maybe more like robots than living beings, if she knew what a robot was. Maybe she heard Soren's "Moonshadow Madness" story and realized he totally missed the kissing implications - but she didn't, and now she's genuinely worried that Rayla could kiss Callum under a full moon and enchant him to do her will. Good thing it's only a half moon, then!

Okay, Callum nervously making a puppet hand and then not knowing what to do with his hands and freaking out about itching and moving and pointy elbows is such a ND mood. The sudden stress of knowing that someone else is noticing your existence and maybe you're Not Existing Right, amirite? Ugh, poor Callum.

The Moon Temple! Omg it's so pretty in the description! Made to be beautiful and useful, full of knowledge but also allowing light and life inside (butterflies and vines). Lujanne, when can I move in, please? Also, it's all the more angsty because Lujanne is the only one who gets to see this beautiful place, but it has lots of chairs and shelves and tables, and it was meant to be used by lots of people. :(((

Claudia knows some of the runes on the walls. She isn't in a hurry to copy the rest of them down or anything, either. Her spellwriting is very precise, and she's a skilled mage. Her father would have made sure she was aware of the dangers of drawing sloppy runes, as much as he made her aware of the dangers of doing dark magic wrong. And the whole point of dark magic is that it's easier to learn than primal magic. Claudia supports her dad and their shared knowledge and life path. She's not gonna go nuts over an elf library she can't translate.

Side note: Between Claudia knowing some Moon runes and Viren building a secret passageway and a dungeon and lighting it with the same blue crystals that Lujanne and Ethari use for light--and Claudia exclaiming that she loves ruins--I wonder once more if there are really Moonshadow ruins somewhere in Katolis, which Viren has found and looted. Father-daughter relic hunting trip, maybe while Soren is away at camp? Omgsh that would be so wild!

Callum out here having a Viren moment with his "I feel powerless unless I've got magic that lets me help" vibes. God. I love their complicated mirroring. One of the hard differences between them is that Callum is very sure dark magic is bad because you have to kill stuff and take its power to cast spells, and he doesn't want to be a person who kills and takes like that. The line he walks to be nice to Claudia on their tour of the Cursed Caldera because he likes her, while telling her that he doesn't want to do her magic, like, ever, is so fine that it might as well be a shifting shadow on the ground. It's a very fitting conversation to be having during the half moon, with its tricks and little white lies.

Callum being out of the castle and his comfort zone, having to deal with the fact that the Claudia he loves is not quite the Claudia who's chasing him down across the kingdom, but of the two of them, he's the only one with a problem with this.

They say that if you really want to get to know someone, you should spend time with them outside their comfort zone - in heavy traffic, with a small baby, taking care of a new pet, trying a new skill, following unfamiliar directions, etc. While the castle is familiar territory for them both, Callum's never really found his comfort zone yet, while Claudia is pretty comfortable with her growing skill set. The creepy part starts to kick in when Callum begins to realize that Claudia's comfort zone encompasses a whole bunch of stuff that seems like it should make her uncomfortable... but it doesn't. But that'll be for a future chapter!

#book two: sky spoilers #book two: sky #b2:s #tdp spoilers #viren #harrow #rayla #runaan #callum #claudia #soren #lujanne #moonshadow elves #aaravos

[peninkwrites]

Thank you sm @rhyslahey for the tag! I don't normally do these but it seemed fun :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

28

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

815,679

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

A surprising amount– 6! Teen Wolf, Z Nation, Criminal Minds, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Umbrella Academy, and Dream SMP. so, so much Dream SMP.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

My first ever dsmp fic– Techno Comes Home, my only Umbrella Academy fic, He Got Seven (and what he deserved), A Talk Long Overdue (therapy fics seem to be my specialty), Thomas. Not 10k, but not Tommy either, my only Z Nation fic, this one surprises me, it's dark horror written for a comedic show with a tiny fandom, and The Storm (or: he should know better by now, but somehow he has no doubts), a Teen Wolf oneshot.

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

Oh, this is hard. I have a trilogy, In Which Things go Awry and the Good Guys Lose, and I cannot decide what's the worst of the trio, maybe the second one, In Which Punz Never Shows, just because it's worse than grief?

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

Other than the aforementioned tragedies, I try to always have at least hopeful endings? But still, the ending of my 4 year long series, In Which Isaac Lahey Finally Gets some Fucking Therapy, is definitely the happiest, I may be biased because I'm just so fond of that series and how much work I put into it <3

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

Never have, don't think I ever will, not my niche. Have considered writing some AUs, but not crossovers.

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No, cannot, will not. Any romance is a challenge for me to write, not even touching all that. You do you, not my cup of tea.

9. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try and respond to every comment just because they bring me so much joy, but I also try to make myself only reply when I have an update to post, sort of a reward for getting some writing done, but that means sometimes I don't reply until a month later... (or worse forget entirely)

10. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Thankfully no! At 'worst' sometimes people have disagreed with my characterization or corrected something they think I interpreted wrong, which, they've always been polite about it so fair enough!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so, although one time I was reading a fic that was uncannily similar to my own, not word for word, but it felt almost like a retelling or a parallel version? Probably just a popular interpretation of the premise, but it was a surreal read.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! I don't have the language skills to attempt it myself.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really, although I have done a beginner bang and got to collaborate with a great artist, which is just as fun.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Romance isn't my forte, I still have a soft spot for Scisaac just because I adore the characters. My current favorite is Awesamponk, just because tragedy has been calling me lately.

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

I have never given up on a fic and hopefully never will! That I've posted at least, if I've posted it I have to finish, otherwise I let my 2.5 readers down lol, I've had an unposted draft for a fic about the DSMP Raccooninnit arc that I've been sitting on Since That Arc, which was, what, back in January?

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue! Dialogue has always been my strong suit, or at least these past few years. Copying people's way of talking is always really fun.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Is saying everything else a fair answer? Describing stuff. I can write character feelings, not settings. The characters are Talking- where? Doing what? Good question! Love to find out some day.

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

I had to do a lot of this for my last two isaac fics, one taking place in France and one in Russia and if I’m being honest, Google translate. That’s all I can manage. I apologize to any French or Russian readers.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I am not going to say, but I was 12, and it was on Wattpad. That should be horrifying enough.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

This is unjust. It’s like picking a favorite child. My favorite fic is probably one of the ones I’ve just been vividly planning in my head and have yet to write let alone post :/

I have no idea who to tag, if it takes any other writer's fancy, I recommend! It's fun to look back on stuff!

#ask games #long post #spilled penink

[dungeonqueering]

Let's talk about knives!

I have a fairly standard Knife Block, which contains every kind of knife I will reasonably need. I can and do use each one regularly. Later in this post I'll go over what you need as an absolute minimum (You can get by with 2: Big And Small)

I recommend getting a knife block like this. It has almost everything you could possibly need. This one normally retails for $24, but I picked it because it was half off at the time.

I found this one for $20 which is very similar.

Are they going to be nice knives? No. Will they be good enough for everyone except a professional? Yeah, for the most part. I use them for nearly everything.

You can get ceramic knives which are INCREDIBLY sharp. However, you can't sharpen them at home, so they aren't worth it. I was gifted a set, and now that they've started to chip, they're darn near worthless, which is a shame.

I do also have two VERY nice knives, I received as gifts.

This Chef's Knife:

And this Santoku:

Are the nicer ones worth it? Personally, no. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having them. I'm thinking about getting a whetstone for when it's time to sharpen them (they are used less and hold an edge longer) rather than taking them in to have them sharpened. They are amazing, well balanced, incredibly sharp, and also $30 each. Idk about you, but I am not in the "I spent $30 on a single knife" income bracket.

So! What are your knives used for?

The Chef's Knife is an all-purpose knife. There is a reason it is the go-to knife seen a chef wielding in media. You can use it to cut, chop, or dice nearly ingredient. This is your most important knife. Rapid chopping uses kind of a rocking motion, but if you are reading this post you probably don't need to worry about that. I sure don't. We aren't on Chopped, we can take our time.

Use the very tip of your knives for small and precise work, and the middle all the way down to the grip end for cutting, slicing, chopping, etc.

How do you grip a Chef's Knife? For maximum control, it is recommended you pinch the blade right about here

Such that most of your hand is on the handle proper, but you are in fact pinching down on the blade. If that makes you uncomfortable, I used to do this grip:

Which still gives you a fair degree of control and strength, but not quite as much control. It feels less scary, though.

The Santoku is another general purpose knife. Instead of a rocking motion, it uses more of a chopping motion. I use it mostly when I only need to cut vegetables. Less pointy.

The Bread Knife has it in the name. The reason you want one of these is for bread is because the gentle serration allows you to cut through tougher crust without mushing the soft bread. I use it for Ciabatta pretty often, but unless you cut a lot of bread, you really honestly don't need one of these. Least used knife in my block.

The Utility Knife used to be my most used knife when I was intimidated by the Chef's knife and it felt like a waste to use such a big knife for small things. It is another all-purpose knife, and is my second most used knife. It's excellent for anything fiat-sized and smaller. Because you can't grip the blade, you have less control than a Chef's knife, so I don't recommend it for precision cuts on tough materials, I.e. if you are trying to cut a carrot in half lengthwise.

The Paring Knife seems like a smaller utility knife, and it more or less is. Best used for small delicate cuts on things like garlic cloves, fresh herbs, shallots, etc.

Kitchen shears are mostly used to open packages, let's be real. They can be used to cut through tough bits, like if you have to separate bones from each other. I only use it for packaging though. And tape sometimes. I am not nice to my shears. The opposite of Fabric Scissors.

But what about that weird metal rod, Liz? We'll get to that when we cover--

Maintenance

How do you take care of these things, you may ask. The answer is a little bit variable, but I'll assume you have the cheaper knives.

First things first, if you DO have the nicer knives, do not sharpen them with anything but a whetstone, please I beg you.

You should sharpen your knives whenever you think they are getting dull. Have you ever seen that thing people do where they try to cut a piece of paper with a knife while the paper is not laying on a surface, or just by pulling the paper into the knife? Give her a go. You can learn to tell be looking at the blade up close or by feel, but I have absolutely no idea how to explain that. Consider doing it once a month or once every two weeks or something.

You should Hone the knife every 1-3 times you use it.

So, for sharpening, first thing you're going to want to do is get one of these bad bois:

Hold it like this on the corner of your countertop or a table (I am using the stove because my counters have rounded edges). Place the back/bottom of the blade in the section that reads coarse, and pull it towards you. This is not cutting towards you, but please be careful. Do this 5 times, then do it 5 more times on the side that says Fine. The knife should be parallel to the flat surface, and please please please do not cut yourself.

When you are done, clean the blade because there will be some metal filings on it and you don't want that in your Tikka Masala. You should instantly notice it cuts smoother. Sharper knives are actually safer, because you are less likely to cut yourself. Oh, also, consider reading on what to do if you cut yourself now instead of googling it when it happens like I did. (Tw: blood, cuts, etc)

On to Honing!

You see a lot of flashy honing methods on cooking shows, but here is how you should actually do it at home.

Press the tip of your honing rod (no jokes allowed) against a flat surface. I use my cutting board so that if I fuck it up, I only cut the cutting board. Place the rear of the knife towards the top of the honing rod, and bring it downwards while also pulling back. It was a weird motion to get used to, but there are tons of videos on it if my .gif isn't sufficient.

The angle here is very important. My cheaper knives need a 30° angle, but my nicer ones need a 15°. You will get a sense for it. What this is basically doing is straightening out the tiny warps and abrasions a knife gets from use. (You can double the life of a razor by running it backwards across a towel or jeans, which does the same thing to your 5 razor blades as this honing rod does to the knife).

Washing

Ideally, hand wash your knives the same day you use them. I use a sponge, hot water, and Dawn. Do not put it in the dishwasher. Yes, the serrated ones will fuck up your sponge. It's OK. The dishwasher can ruin your knives.

When you wash them, make sure to keep the sharp edge facing away from your body. I place the spine of the knife on the sponge, and fold the sponge over, so that the actual cutting edge isn't slicing the sponge.

Final Note: Cutting Boards. Don't get glass, that messes up your knives. You want plastic or wood. Plastic has to be replaced more often, but cheaper and can be machine washed. Wood looks nicer, but is more expensive and you can't cut meat on it (Bacteria can get all up in it more so than with plastic. Plus, wood can't be machine washed.

Ideally, you want to get the biggest cutting board your counter tops will fit. I promise that a bigger board is better.

I hope this helps. Go forth and cut well. Be safe, have fun, eat good food, impress your friends and loved ones.

#not ttrpg at all #knives #cooking #advice #nonprofessional