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dinawrites · 3 years

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WESTWOOD EVENTS

These are the events hosted at the Westwood Academy of Magical Learning. As some of you have so wonderfully created original characters for the world of Westwood, I have formed a list of occasions which your characters can attend. They will be featured in the main story and hopefully they give you the opportunity and inspiration to make more content for your OCs. Any content is welcome, should you wish to write something – an interaction, a conversation, a moment – or make a gifset or manip taking place during one of these happenings!

The Founder's Ball

Open to all students and teachers, The Founder's Ball is a celebration of the First Families – in particular, Destrian and Vera Vanderbilt, the Founders of Westwood Academy. It also serves as a welcome for returning students should they have spent the holiday off campus.

The Fáilte

Taking place on the summer solstice, The Fáilte is the only day when the Seelie Court is open to all creatures of the Recondite Citizenry. It is a notable Fae celebration, and honours all Fae royalty. Coronations are also often held on this day.

Westwood Derby

Participation is compulsory from all Houses. Due to a lack in numbers from Houses Morrigan, Merlyn, and Lamia, they have banded together to form the Troika to ensure even competition. The Derby is held annually as a display of physical prowess from each respective species of the Recondite Citizenry. Victory earns the highest respect from even the Eldritch Council, who have been known to spectate.

The Lycan Debut

A social introduction, the Lycan Debut is a large milestone among the Werewolves. It is an opportunity to be introduced to the Recondite Citizenry and to find your "mate." Should your debut prove unsuccessful, and no mate is found, you will debut again every year until mated. All nearby Packs are extended an invite to Westwood as it is a well-protected stronghold and thus the best place to host such an event. All Houses are able to attend should they be extended an invite from a Werewolf.

The Trials of Hecate

Taking place on the autumnal equinox, the Trials of Hecate is an arcane tournament between the Troika (Houses Morrigan, Merlyn, and Lamia). On this one day, all magic is balanced. It is a show of knowledge, wit, and skill. An evenly matched magical contest with only one winner, and the blessing of Hecate as the crowning glory. Held in the Coliseum, this is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, and is spectated by all students.

Samhain

Masks are tradition but not required on Samhain. A feast, followed by a night of music, dancing, magic and mayhem, Samhain welcomes the "darker-half" of the year with open-armed embrace. Even Houses Noctem and Phoebus put aside their differences for one night. The masks make it easier to pretend.

Induction

Members of the Vampire Coven Consortium – a Vampire council independent of Citizenry rule, though represented by Hadrian Umbra within the Eldritch – attend the winter solstice gala in order to meet with their kin who have been sent to Westwood for rehabilitation. Covenless Vampires, if proven to be stable and worthy, can be offered potential positions in covens. Exiled Vampires can appeal to have their cases reopened. Attendance of other species is by invite only.

Yuletide

A ten day long affair, Yuletide celebrates Christmas in its entirety. Many feasts, house-wide gift exchanges, and a farewell ball for all those who are leaving for the holiday are expected during this time. Many students remain on campus, however, and elect to have their holidays at Westwood (if not otherwise mandated by the Eldritch Council).

TAG LIST: @hughstheforcelou @lost-in-the-shelves @akabluekat @lokitrasho @anna-phora @kazinejghafa @perfectlystiles @villanele @foxesandmagic

#westwood #events #founders ball #failte #derby #lycan debut #trials of hecate #samhain #induction #yuletide #house liber #house phoebus #house morrigan #house merlyn #house lamia #troika #house noctem

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sanctferum · 3 years

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Homestuck Sound Test (12/20/2020 Edition)

IMPORTANT: If the download links aren’t working, they may have changed since the last person reblogged them, due to the Sound Test needing to be reuploaded for whatever reason. Try clicking on the links while viewing this post on my blog.

That’s right, Homestuck and Hiveswap fans, we’re back and better than ever! Right on the heels of the first trailer for Andrew Hussie’s new visual novel, it’s time for the newest edition of the Homestuck Sound Test! The Homestuck Sound Test, 12/20/2020 Edition!

For those eager to download, I will provide the link here and continue my expository bullshit below.

Download link (total file size: 3.60 GB):

https://mega.nz/file/DFghAAhJ#afOyeGtO6AzJv-ll24y6S7CoJjq2E_u8HgImRJRcvpk

Alternate download link (same contents as other link):

https://www.mediafire.com/file/xwgo92zd33jfnf8/

Download only the new stuff (total file size: 558 MB):

https://mega.nz/file/yVJjAQTA#GyFd3OpknNuY0RnG-tjsNCKrscVZdUn7PUryEZAgLtw

Alternate download link for only the new stuff (same contents as other link):

https://www.mediafire.com/file/dm35c05cydafj1b/

Downloaded file is a .rar, and can be opened by WinRar, 7Zip, and most other file extraction programs. Changelog for the Sound Test since the last release is included in a text file within either download.

Started by Niklink in 2011, and now curated by yours truly, The Homestuck Sound Test is an unofficial collection of several otherwise scattered, and, in some cases, unavailable Homestuck musical tracks, primarily those created by the Homestuck Music Team.

The Sound Test contains:

Disc 1 - Unreleased Homestuck Music (78 tracks): Music that has been used within Homestuck proper but has not been officially released on an album.

Disc 2 - Removed Homestuck Music (25 Tracks): Music that was officially released on albums but later removed from said albums. Sburban Jungle’s brief mix from Act 1, an Aggrieve remix, and removed tracks from Bill Bolin, SolusLunes, and Seijen. Does not include the ColoUrs and Mayhem A tracks that turned out to be plagiarized from the Frozen Synapse OST. If you want those tracks, go buy the Frozen Synapse OST. Also includes a backwards, amplified audio version of “null” from Volume 8 (not related to Null from Song of Skaia). In case you’re wondering, “null” as originally released and without the sound amplified was just 8 seconds of seeming silence.

Disc 3 - Unreleased Homestuck Music Team Music (773 tracks): Homestuck-related and/or Homestuck-inspired music made by the Music Team members that have not been used in Homestuck proper and have not officially been released on an album; also includes beta versions of tracks and unfinished WIPs. Includes beta versions, remasters, and remixes of tracks from official Homestuck albums that may not have been made by official Music Team members (read: ColoUrs and Mayhem tracks). Homestuck fan-music by Hiveswap Music Team members (i.e James Roach) is also included

Disc 4 - Unreleased Hiveswap Music (7 Tracks): Essentially the same thing as Disc 1, but for Hiveswap instead of Homestuck.

Disc 5 - Unreleased Hiveswap Music Team Music (22 tracks): Essentially the same thing as Disc 3, but for Hiveswap instead of Homestuck. Hiveswap fan-music by Homestuck Music Team members is also included.

Disc 6 - Unreleased Friendsim and Pesterquest Music (26 tracks): Same thing as Discs 1 and 4 but for Hiveswap Friendsim and Homestuck Pesterquest.

Disc 7 - Unreleased Friendsim and Pesterquest Music Team Music (12 tracks): Same thing as Discs 3 and 5, but for Hiveswap Friendsim and Homestuck Pesterquest.

Unavailable Homestuck Albums (2 albums, 39 tracks total): Albums that were previously officially sold and have not yet been re-uploaded for purchase.

-Squiddles! (23 tracks)

A spin-off album about Squiddles, an in-universe cartoon about adorable sea creatures.

-The Wanderers (16 tracks)

An album about the Exiles of the B2 session.

Unofficial Homestuck Music Team Albums (3 albums, 28 tracks total, 1 folder with MIDI files, 11 files total): Free unofficial Homestuck albums by members of the Music Team.

-A Plumbthroat Christmas (5 tracks)

A jolly tale of Squiddles and Yuletide cheer by Alexander Rosetti. Not actually jolly or cheerful. If you like musicals about sentient cephalopods devouring human corpses, then this album is for you, I guess.

-Seer (13 tracks)

Tracks from a scrapped Rose Lalonde concept album by Thomas Ferkol. Given the circumstances of their origins, I felt it was best to keep them as a single album rather than cram them all into the Sound Test’s Disc 3. While neither “The Seer and the Tribesmen” or the full version of “The Metamorphosis [of Rose Lalonde]” are included, they are available on the Land of Fan and Music albums (Land of Fans and Music 2 and Land of Fans and Music 3 respectively).

-The Baby Is You (10 tracks)

Simultaneously the worst fucking thing Toby Fox has ever made and his magnum opus that even Undertale cannot surpass, even mentioning this legendary trash opera on the now-defunct MSPA forums was grounds for a ban. Warning: Contains male pregnancy (mpreg), heavy implications of underage sex, implications of incest, time travel, a clip of Karkat saying “MMMMMMMMMMM” that was used in the Act 6 Act 6 Act 1 opening flash, vore, the answer to the Ultimate Riddle, and other absolutely awful shit that has no business being in the Sound Test, or indeed, anywhere. Listen at your own risk, if you dare.

-Tomb of the Ancestors (MIDI Files) (11 files)

MIDI files for most of the tracks from Tomb of the Ancestors, by Kalibration. The actual album is available at http://dl.skaia.net/albums.

Dave’s Phat Beat Machine (16 tracks): 16 of the sickest, illest and dopest beats ever to grace Homestuck page 2238. These certified “Phat Beats” dropped by Dave Strider’s AKAI MPC-1000 SAMPLER do not include easter egg bonus songs on said page. They also don’t include Bill Bolin’s long-removed contributions to the Phat Beat machine, because those are already included on Disc 2.

That’s 1026 tracks total in the Homestuck Sound Test 12/20/2020 Edition, not including MIDIs.

Several tracks on Disc 3 are currently uncredited. If you are the artist of any of them, or know who the artist is, or see a track that is credited incorrectly anywhere on the Sound Test, please send a message to my Tumblr and I will happily fix the mistake.

Enjoy your listening, and don’t forget to reblog this post to spread the word!

#Homestuck #Hiveswap #Homestuck^2 #MSPA #Homestuck Sound Test #Homestuck music #Homestuck Music Team

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lycheesodas · 3 years

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Different anon but I'm interested in that list 👀

aaaaa ok!! here we go

from the / tag:

Beneath a Young Sun and in the Eagle's Shadow by Strigimorphaes, G, 5.2k words

Beleg has been away for some time, guarding the border, killing orcs and generally living the rough life. Meanwhile, Mablung has been staying at Doriath's court. Once reunited, they are sent away to the Mereth Aderthad, but despite being headed for a joyful feast, Beleg still sees danger everywhere. Mablung tries to convince him that for once, there is some hope for this strange, changed world - and a chance for a peaceful moment or two in the wilderness.

We’re starting off with my favourite!! The entire atmosphere here is just so dreamy, so whimsical.. I love it. Pretty serious but also fluffy! And optimistic ; w ;

Hurry with the swift current by LiveOakWithMoss, T, 1k words

Beleg is foolish, Mablung is furious, both are wet.

Short! Cute! Really funny aljsdfk this is so,, in character for them imo. The last line always fckin HITS

The Black Sword by elfscribe for tehta, M, 12.4k words

Mablung sees a strange portent that causes him to fear that his beloved friend Beleg's affection for Túrin, the self-exiled young warrior, could bring grief to them all.

One of two (2) fics on this list with a rating higher than T. Missing scene, canon-compliant so.. a lot of angst. I normally don’t read first person POV but this is really quite good! It’s one of the longer fics that take on their last parting ; ~ ; and I think the author did an excellent job of exploring their feelings and how they each came to their decision on what to do. Also, just putting it out there, the M rating is for a short smut scene in mid chapter 2.

(Uhh there was another one but I think the author has it set on private now 😭)

Moving on to the & tag!! Because friendship fics also slap

All The King's Horses by Nauthril, M, 44.3k words

Beleg felt, more than saw the projectile that struck with a sickening thuck sound into the larger part of his thigh. Someone cried out in pain and surprise, and he vaguely realized it may have been him.

The Elf went to yank the dart from his leg, only to find that it was barbed, designed to let its venom overwhelm the victim before it could be quickly removed. The more subtle effects of the spike were nearly immediate, effecting his fine motor skills.

His right thigh burned fiercely with every pulse of his heart.

Fighting the urge to keep his own two feet from tangling with his steps, the Beleg made every effort to at least stand upright.

Or:

Beleg fails to return to Menegroth for Túrin’s birthday celebration. Mablung and Túrin set out to find him and bring him home.

A LONG FIC.. A LONG, CHAPTERED FIC!!!!! I felt like I won the lottery when I saw this hrhfsldfjk It’s an action adventure with multiple POV’s and it’s just really freakin good ok, I am absolutely living for that resolution in chapter 7. The relationship between all three main characters are handled really well! I think it’s gonna be part of a series too so HYPE!!! I wish there was like a follow or subscribe button on ao3 so I’ll know when the author would upload next ; 0 ; (EDIT: THERE IS ONE BUT I JUST NEVER FUCKING SAW IT LMFAO) Also, mind the warning tags here! Slight spoiler: it was an original side character so it wasn’t very front and centre but it could still bother some people

A Quiet Moment by Nauthril, G, 1.6k words

A Yuletide fic for the season. Beleg returns from the Northern Marches and shares some quiet moments with Mablung.

I know tis not the season but it’s so cute.. And honestly it’s immersive enough to make you feel like it’s actually Christmas! The banter, the gift exchange, the way they’re so comfortable with each other ; w ; This warms my heart <3

Parting by @glowingmechanicalheart right here on tumbler dot com

It’s literally six sentences but they’re such efficient sentences. It’s so clear and so sad because we know what happened in the end ; ~ ; it’s really what I was trying to convey with this piece!

The next two are by the same author on AO3!

Battle Worn But Going Home by GlowingMechanicalHeart, T, 1k words

The battle rages, hard and brutal. And it’s going to end badly, Mablung can tell already. Something feels off, like Belegûr is holding back, mocking their armies and their dead. Beleg stands side to side with him, and that is a comforting thought for him.

And then it happens, a betrayal from their own side and the battle grows worse.

Everything about the Fifth Battle is just pain...... I always wondered how those two handled it, though :0 And this fic gives us a glimpse of that. I really like how this author handles Mablung’s POV!

Mourning a Friend by GlowingMechanicalHeart, T, ~700 words

Mablung does his best to not to worry, if anyone can take care of himself, it’s Beleg. But his thoughts and emotions betray him, his whole being is screaming at him that Beleg is in danger, to run forth, find his friend and bring him to the safety of Doriath.

THIS FIC. I’M- I HAVE NO WORDS JUST READ IT 😭 Incredibly sad but well-written take on how Mablung finds out about Beleg’s death. Absolutely heartbreaking, I love it.

Now for some stuff outside the relationship tags because I'm literally that desperate.

Within a Dark Wood by Marchwriter, T, 7.7k words

"The tale of Túrin is known to many of this company… but…tonight is not the night to tell it. So I will tell you another tale. One that, perhaps, not even the eldest amongst our little company has yet heard." So the storyteller began…

Story within a story, which is always cool imo! Follows Beleg and Mablung from their first meeting to their last parting and a little bit after Beleg’s death ; w ; THE YEARNING..... it’s palpable. This one really tugs at my heartstrings because it made me think of what could have been (within the scope of the fic) if they’d just been honest with their feelings

The Two Hunters by theeventualwinner for Lunarium, G, 1.3k words, no summary ;;

Cute friendship fic!! Somehow full of hope in a time when the dark forces are growing. I like how it captures the difference in their personalities and approach towards life(?) but how they’re still close friends

And that’s basically my full reading list of my favourite marchwardens! They’re such an underrated pair (as best friends?? boyfriends? either way they’re soulmates 😤) that there’s not a lot of fics about them. I do my best with creating my own content but I’m more of an artist than a writer XD But they’re really starting to force my hand here.

I hope you guys enjoy my recs! Also, thanks anon and previous anon for reminding me to log back in to my AO3 account so I can leave a proper review soon 💀

#Anonymous #answered #tolkien #silmarillion #beleg #mablung #lychee's fic recs #as you can see it's literally only 3 in the actual ship tag #i spent almost two hours putting this together it's so late now omfg #i am going to SLEEP

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 4 years

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tapestry 👑 XV

Warnings: eventual dark elements (tags to be added as fic continues)

This is dark!(king)Steve and explicit. 18+ only.

Summary: King Steven had a wandering eye but you never thought it would fall upon you.

This Chapter: The pieces begin to move.

Note: Alright I eked out another chapter so here we go, on 15! already. What the hell y’all? This is wild. I mean come on. Wowee. Anyways, I’m running out of ways to thank you guys so just read the chapter already, lol.

masterlist

There was a bench on the upper floors where you liked to sit and watch the snow fall. Since your isolation, it had become ritual. You and Marge would perch on the wooden seat and stare out into the royal gardens, the hedges barren and coated in white. The sky was a pale shade of grey and the castle wall loomed like a giant sleeping beneath the snow. You found yourself lulled but the rare sense of peace.

Close to peace. It was hard to forget all that had consumed the court with a guard at your back. It was harder to escape the fixation which had overcome all; the two kings in the single castle. Steven and T’Challa met daily and spent many hours together; whether alongside council or otherwise. And when they were apart, you were often in the presence of your king.

It was only a few days since your encounter with T’Challa. The king was well-received within the kingdom by your father’s accounts and despite the underlying scandal, there was a sense of joy left over from the yuletide; albeit, only among those able to indulge it.

Footsteps approached from around the corner and you glanced over at the shadow which appeared before its owner. Your guard turned to watch Lord Barnes as he strode swiftly through the corridor. The dark-haired noble nodded as he approached the sentinel and stopped short to bow to you in kind. He was fidgety and impatient.

“Lord Barnes,” You rose and curtsied to him as the bench separated you. “What has you in such a hurry?”

“Courtly business,” he said brusquely. “Most pressing.”

“Is that it?” You squinted. “You’ve never seemed so bothered by courtly business.”

“When it is such as this, I must be bothered,” He countered. “Why do you linger in the corridor, lady?”

“I haven’t anywhere else to linger,” You replied. “I am without my own business these days.”

“Only the king’s,” His lips curved slightly as his own quip.

“Only the king’s,” You affirmed. “As I’m sure you’ve been occupied. I’ve not seen you quite so often since the yuletide.”

“You never saw me very often before,” He returned. “My apologies if I am curt but I should be upon my way.”

“I should let you on your way if you tell me what calls you so urgently.” You watched his blue eyes as they strayed down the hall.

“I suppose… you will not hear it otherwise,” He sighed. “A warrant has been served upon Ladies Stark and Wilson. They’ve surrendered to custody this morning during their attendance of the queen. They’ve been taken to the Fort.”

“Arrested?” You gasped and looked to Marge. “For what?”

“I cannot speak further on this,” He said. “I must go and you should return to your chambers. News will reach you shortly. Good day.”

He bowed his head and turned on his heel. You blinked and scurried around the bench. “No, no, Lord Barnes,” You called after him as you followed. “I would surmise you do go to the king.”

“You would suppose correct,” He kept his strides long and harried. “And I would be overdue.”

“Then I shall accompany you for I must see him, too,” You insisted as you finally came up next to him. Marge and your guard followed behind.

“You should wait,” He peeked over at you. “He will be engaged already.”

“I tire of waiting on him,” You said. “You may tell him I forced myself upon you, but I will see him.”

“Lord, if it wasn’t for that mailed bastard behind me I’d drag you back to your chambers myself and lock you up,” He grumbled, “And I suppose that’d be the only obstacle to keep you from your intent.”

“It would,” You assured him and raised your chin as you lifted skirts to keep pace with him. “Though perhaps it would be just as amusing to have you fight my guard.”

He grunted but said nothing further. He walked silently at your side, eyes set ahead of him as his impatience radiated around you. When you reached the king’s chambers, the guards greeted you with a pair of nods and one knocked on the large wooden doors. It was opened without delay.

Barnes waited for you to enter first and several men sat already with the king; including your own father. They looked to you and stood as the king did. Confusion marred his face as he glanced between you and Lord Barnes.

“My lady, what are you– I–” He stopped himself and huffed. “My lords, if you would continue onto the council chambers, I do have matters to attend to. Lord Barnes if you would remain.”

The king crossed his arms as he waited for his commands to be obeyed. Your father rose with the five other men and passed you with a pointed look. “Mind yourself, daughter,” He breathed before he slipped through the door. The footsteps shuffled out into the hall until at last the door was closed behind you.

“I asked you to come alone, Buck,” The king said.

“I did not ask her to come, she insisted upon it,” He shook his head. “If it were up to me, I’d have strapped her down but your damned dog does follow at her heels.”

“That damned dog’s bite is keeping her safe,” The king retorted. “It doesn’t matter. She is here…” He paused and looked to you. “Why?”

“Do you think I do not grow frustrated by the oblivion you keep me in, your highness?” You neared slowly and stopped just behind the chairs which faced his large desk. “Would you blame my curiosity that I should know why you’ve have two of the queen’s ladies accosted?”

“It was their husbands who turned them in,” He said. “They came to me and they did say that their wives spoke the most traitorous words. As king, with a poisoning so recent, I cannot let them away.”

“Traitorous words? Whatever could they have said?” You asked as you brought a hand up to grip the back of the chair.

“They’ve merely been taken to be interviewed, my lady,” The king sniffed. “I did not tell you because I did hope to spare you the worry. For a time, at least. You have been so distressed, I would not further your difficulties.”

“To be interviewed? In the Fort?” You crinkled your brow. “My king, I can admit my naivete, but I will not feign stupidity.”

“Can you not guess at what they may be asked? At what they will surely admit?” Steven planted his hands on his desk as he leaned on it. “I do this to keep us safe. To keep you safe.”

“And I do know that, I do,” You clutched your hands together. “But I would not have another hurt for my well-being. And upon what suspicion? Upon what proof?”

“Upon the boy who did die upon your chamber floor,” Steven insisted. “Upon the fear that does claw at my heart constantly. For the love I have for you.”

“Your love is kind, I should hate to see it turn so cruel upon others,” You said. “Would you not have mercy upon my request?”

“Mercy cannot be had anymore,” He looked to his desk, the mess of papers atop it.

“And if they say the words you expect of them, what then?”

“Then we should interview the queen.” He shrugged and avoided your gaze.

“And should she be found to be conspiring, you would…well, what should be here fate?”

“Exile, death?” He looked up at you. “If she commits treason, she should earn whatever fate she receives. A fate that would leave us to be together.”

“And I should claim her spot knowing that is what befell her?”

“You should claim her spot loyally and with grace,” His voice deepened as he pushed himself straight. “You should heed my orders and listen to me for I am your king.”

“I have obeyed you. I have bided you, I have been patient, I–”

“You are still but an earl’s daughter,” He spat and you flinched.

“Your highness,” Lord Barnes intoned gently. You’d forgotten of his presence as he stepped forward. “You must understand her fear. She does not speak maliciously.”

“She speaks too much. I’ve seen her comfortable, I’ve her well, aliv, even,” The king ranted. “And with our union almost in sight, she would persist.”

“She would protect herself. She is young, how is she to understand all this? How is she to fathom that a queen she knew once to be kind and hospitable has turned cruel and maniacal?”

“She needn’t understand any of that, she only need love me as I do her,” Steven hissed. “For she is the only wife I would have.”

“Your highness,” You said quietly, “I did not mean… Lord Barnes is right.” You slowly rounded the desk. Cautious as you feared he would lash out in his anger. His face red with his temper. “I did not mean to rile you, I only meant to understand this all. Your highness…”

You touched his chest and felt your heart hammering. You looked at Barnes from the corner of your eye and he nodded subtly.

“If all this would go wrong, it would all be over.” You soothed as you rubbed the silk of his overcoat. “And that does worry me.”

He searched your face and slowly placed his hand atop yours. He unclenched his jaw and exhaled. “I have told you I shall see you safe, see us together. I meant it. You do not need to worry, my love.”

“I know,” You said softly. “‘But may I ask of you one thing?”

“You shall ask of me anything,” He breathed.

“If it should be that Eleanor does conspire, would you have mercy upon her? For me?”

“It would be not upon my mercy that she is judged,” The king said firmly. “There is a party of cardinals traveling now from the See. They will hold the trial, they will lay their judgement, and issue their own sentence. It is… beyond my control.”

“So… you assume there should be evidence enough for a trial?” You questioned.

“There would be,” He confirmed. “But I did not call the cardinals upon the expectation of a murder trial, merely that of an annulment.”

“Murder?” You frowned.

“The death of a servant is nothing, but intent to kill a king, that is treason,” He said softly. “Even a queen cannot commit such a crime.”

You lowered your head. Stunned. Your lip trembled as your heart stuttered. For it came upon you at that very moment that you could not delay the king forever. That all that he had done could not be reversed. And foremost, it occur red to you, that another should die to break this stalemate.

“My lady, we should rejoice,” The king brought two fingers up under your chin to raise your head. “For one day, I shall call you my wife, I am certain of it now.”

👑

That night, you sat before the hearth and thought. You had supped alone as the king tended to his business. The thought made you shiver; of all that he was orchestrating, of the role you’d played in it. For all your willful ignorance, you were just as guilty as him. Was all this worth something as low as your reputation?

There was a rap at the door as you stared at the burning long. The crust of orange embers along it, the pale smoke that billowed up into the chimney. You waved a hand at Marge as another knock sounded and you rubbed your forehead. Your obstinacy had led to this; your insistence on being above the role of mistress. The want to follow your own will when that had never been a lady’s place.

The creak of the door and Marge’s gasp irked you. You looked to the door as your servant bowed and recited a mousy “your highness.” You stood at once and made to bow.

“Don’t you bother with that,” The queen swept in, her burgundy skirts curled around her legs as she came to a stop before you. “I came to talk not to have you simper to my face.”

“I never simpered,” You protested. “I was only ever honest to you.”

“Yes, the morally unstained lady,” She scowled. “You know what he’s done?”

“I do.” You said evenly.

“And you did not try to stop him? Did I betray you so entirely you would see me thus?”

“Stop him? How should I do that when you never could?” You backed away from her and wrapped your arms around yourself. “I was hurt that you used me but I was never vengeful. If I had a hand in any of this, it was not intentional.”

“Why did you not relent to him?” She asked.

“Why did you banish me? Why did you rig my saddle?” You turned on her. “Why did you hate me for the very affair you instigated?”

“The saddle… was a mistake. I only meant to scare you away. Truly. I did not intend for you to be maimed. or worse, killed. But I did not think in my anger.” Her green eyes were like glass. “I banished you because I was humiliated. I could bear Rose and those other mistresses in my husband’s bed, but I could not bear you taking the place that even I could never reach.”

“I never meant for it and it is too late for me too. In my fear, I reassured him. In my naivety, I gave his desires credence. I am guilty, yes, of enabling him, but it does not mean I condone him,” You shook your head as your eyes stung. “And so we are both backed into a corner and we must play our parts. We must move each square within the rules and hope that neither is victorious, but that we can achieve a draw.”

“You know that will not happen,” She said grimly. “But will you not go to him? Ask him to spare me. My life, at least?”

“I did.” You said plainly. “I tried and he has reminded me of how powerless I truly am. We all are. For if he should do this to a princess born to be queen, what shall he do to me one day?”

“You…”

“I begged him and he would’ve turned on me too if I had not retreated,” You picked at your sleeve as you spoke. “His mind is set, and so too are our fates.”

“You would let him exile me?” She gasped. “Kill me, even?”

“It isn’t my choice,” You withheld the tears as your voice threatened to crack. “You know that.”

She tore her eyes away and looked down at the carpet. She sniffed and nodded as she raised her head. “I know it.” She said. “I only came here because… they’ve all left me. I have no one else.” She turned and her velvet skirts grazed the floor around her feet. “And because I want you to know, while I did tamper with your horse, I did not send you that poison.”

She stopped at the door and glanced back at you. Her eyes were glossy but determined. “I never wanted you dead, I only wanted my pride.”

“I’m sorry.” You said quietly.

“No, I am,” She inhaled and let her breath out heavily. “Goodbye. I do think this will be the last time we should speak, my lady.”

“I hope it is not, your highness.” You returned.

“Cling to that hope for as long as you can,” She bit down and swallowed back her grief. Marge stood at the ready with her hand upon the door handle. “For he will take that from you, too.”

👑

Three days after the ladies were arrested, you broke fast with your father. He was elated. The ladies were under guard in the Fort and the gaolers were about their work. The king was optimistic and so was the council. The cardinals were due in a week with good weather. Two, if poor.

You couldn’t find it in yourself to be hungry. Not your usual fear of poison but for the thought of the women in their cells. Of what they’re revelations may bring upon the queen; upon yourself; upon the entire kingdom. You pushed your food around your plate and bounced your foot nervously beneath your skirts.

Months ago, your father would’ve found any excuse to elude your presence, but now he was all too eager to be near you. You realized, as you watched his fork poke into a bit of yolk, that he only sat upon council by your fortune. That if it were not for the king’s favour for his daughter, he’d still be a lowly in earl in a single chamber.

“Has mother sent word of when she would return to court?” You asked.

“I’ve told you daughter, we must wait for the winter to pass. She is not fit to travel in the cold.” He could not hide his exasperation. “She will come as soon as the roads are clear of ice but she is better for the time with your sister and her grandchild.”

You frowned. You thought to ask if Alice should return as well but that was likely upon Edward’s will. You set your fork aside and wiped your hands with your napkin.

“Perhaps the king would permit me a visit if I were to ask him again.” You ventured. “I feel so very alone, here.”

“You cannot leave.” He scoffed. “You will soon be betrothed to the king. And upon your marriage, well, queen.” He smiled greedily. “A queen cannot hide away with her sister in some country castle.”

“Queen?” You felt ill at the thought. “Oh, father, I should just be away with my virtue and accept any marriage the king would give me.”

“Oh, don’t be foolish!” He snapped. “You’ve not played this game so long to let the crown slip away.”

“It’s not a game to me. It’s my life,” You retorted. “I never wanted to be queen, I never wanted you to be councilor upon my shoulders. And yet that is the only thing I’ve ever done that has garnered your approval; an ounce of care beyond and yet it only goes so deep as to what benefit I can achieve for you, father.”

“You’ve dragged the king this far, you will see it through.” He snarled. “And when you do, our family will be among the highest nobility. We will sit at the king’s table, we will be known across each province.”

“If the day ever comes that I sit the throne, you will not sit at my table.” You sneered. “You can sit in your charlatan’s chair on the council and be happy with that.”

“You are as foolish as you were the day you were born.” He shook his head and slammed his fist on the table. “You don’t even know how close you are.”

“The queen remains. To speak of myself in her place is as good as treason.” You stood and dropped your napkin beside your plate. “Do not count your chickens, father.”

“Oh, but they are hatching,” He said before you could turn away. “The king signed the warrant this morning.” Slowly his face darkened as his mouth curved. You had never seen a beast so hideous. “Eleanor will join her ladies in the Fort.”

#tapesty #Steve Rogers #dark steve rogers #dark!steve rogers #dark steve rogers x reader #dark!fic #dark!steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x reader #medieval au #au #fic #series #dark fic #mcu #marvel #captain america #tapestry #bucky barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes

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runicmagitek · 3 years

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Learn to Fly (Ti’zo & Vagabond Girl - Pyre)

(( Yuletide authors are revealed, so I can share my fics! My assignment this year was for the lovely @deemoyza ! I was so happy to write for her and even happier she enjoyed this feelsy, yet hopeful piece 💕💕💕 ))

He dreamed of the Commonwealth as often as he hungered for fish. The stories each exile shared—from the original Nightwings to the recent recruits—flourished and thrived. They spoke of clustered markets, rich cuisines, and other luxuries absent in the Downside. With every mention of the simple lives they lost, Ti’zo imagined experiencing it himself. Maybe not forever, but mere seconds sufficed.

Such thoughts didn’t stir as they initially reached the Fall of Soliam, where the Reader turned their gaze upon the drive-imp as the Nightwings’ anointed one. Even when he extinguished the Temper’s pyre and the Shimmer-Pool materialized, the thought of native fish above or the new scents and sights or anything fell numb. Bathed in white and gold raiment, he glanced at the exiles he traveled with, laughed with, performed the Rites with.

They agreed he was the first to go, yet for all the revelry and ideation, Ti’zo never fathomed experiencing the Commonwealth alone.

A blinding light enveloped him before he said all he wished to say. Warmth washed over him as he tumbled skywards. Upon finding his footing, Ti’zo blinked and gazed upon the place he imagined was the Commonwealth.

Little prepared him for the thick crowd that amassed. Wide eyes and smiling faces regarded him. A drive-imp in the Commonwealth—how magnificent! They smothered him with sugary words and provided trinkets beyond his comprehension: beads, jewels, silks, spices, wines, and more. Even if he comprehended what they offered, Ti’zo lacked the time to appreciate every item—and for all the years he lived, he was quite young for a drive-imp.

[read more on AO3]

#ti'zo #vagabond girl #the moon-touched girl #pyre #pyre game #fanfiction #my writing

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herawell · 3 years

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Yuletide 2021

Dear Yuletide Author,

Thanks for agreeing to write me a fic this year! I’m allegoriesinmediasres on AO3, Tumblr, and FFN, as well as allyinmediasres on Reddit.

General note: Not all of the characters requested for each fandom need to be featured in the fic.

Likes: Character studies. Gen fic. Sibling relationships. Brothers who loved their sisters to the ends of their lives (I have a Tumblr tag for this). 5+1 fics. Missing moments. Female-centric fics. Fix-it fics. Found family. Mutual pining. Slow burn. Angst with a happy ending. Hurt/comfort. Fluff. Unreliable narrator. Multimedia fics. Hands. Bioluminescence. Sunsets.

General DNWs:

Modern AUs, soulmate AUs, setting swap AUs, genderswap AUs, crossovers, fusions.

Character bashing, heavy focus on unrequested ships.

First person POV, reader-insert fics.

Smut, rape/dubcon, vore, A/B/O dynamics, references to current world events or politics.

Jodhaa Akbar

Requested characters: Rajkumar Sujamal

Prompts: Anything about Sujamal. I love all that his character hints at about the dynamics of the Amer palace, and his complicated relationship with Jodhaa as well. His pre-canon relationship with Jodhaa, his headspace during the movie, his fears for how his sister is doing in her new home. His relationship with his uncle, his attempts to get support for Amer’s throne. An AU where he survives and deals with becoming part of the Mughal court/navigating his new relationship with Jodhaa.

Ramayana

Requested characters: Any

Prompts: Interactions between Rama, Sita, and/or Lakshman during the 14 years of exile. Arguments or adventures they had that never made it into the epics. Rama/Sita being an awesome couple with mutual respect and affection. Lakshman being the overprotective suspicious younger brother who never sleeps. Sita and Lakshman interacting without Rama there.

Sita during her imprisonment in Lanka. Her various friendships with Trijata, Mandodari, Sarama, and other benefactors. Interactions with Indrajit or Ravana.

Urmila, Bharata, Mandavi, Shatrughna, and Shrutakirti back home in Ayodhya. How do they try to keep the kingdom running? My personal headcanon is that while Rama/Sita and Lakshmana/Urmila were love marriages, their younger siblings’ marriages were arranged ones; while they were happy enough together, it wasn’t until Dasharatha died, RSL were exiled, and they were suddenly forced to rule a kingdom that they were forced to rely on one another, and in doing so, that Bharata/Mandavi and Shatrughna/Shrutakirti really fell in love with one another. How does living at Nandigram or being the only ones in the palace affect them?

If you subscribe to the story of Urmila sleeping for fourteen years, did she have any adventures serving Nidra Devi in dreamland? Maybe she tried to influence the course of events through other people’s dreams?

DNW: No references to Uttar Khanda canon.

The Tudors

Requested characters: Anne Stanhope Seymour, Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset, Elizabeth I of England, Mary I of England

Prompts: Interactions between any of these characters! Mary and baby/toddler Elizabeth bonding at Hatfield, despite Mary’s resentments. Their more complicated relationship in Elizabeth’s teen years. AUs where one or more of them are not enemies/allies/friends.

This AU in particular I’d really love to see this year. Be advised it makes mention of Thomas Seymour’s abuse of 13/14-year-old Elizabeth, so feel free to pass on this one.

In 1547 or 1548, Elizabeth was living with her stepmother Katherine Parr and her new stepfather, Thomas Seymour. During this time, Thomas Seymour began grooming Elizabeth and engaging in inappropriate behavior with her. Eventually, Katherine discovered the abuse and sent Elizabeth to another household.

So I’m interested in an AU where it’s Edward Seymour and Anne Stanhope who figure out what their brother(-in-law) is doing. They realize it will Not Be Good for the Seymours if Thomas crosses the line with Elizabeth; despite her bastard status, she’s still third in line to the throne and Edward’s favorite sister. They also realize that K Parr is not going to do anything about the abuse, or doesn’t see anything wrong with it. So they have Elizabeth removed from Kate Parr’s custody, and she goes to live with the Somersets.

Historically Anne and Katherine Parr had rivalry over being the first lady of the court and having access to the Queen’s jewels; you can factor that in if you wish.

So from here, how does Elizabeth turn out living under the guidance of Anne Stanhope, who is a reformist like K Parr but of a much sharper temperament? More similar to Elizabeth’s own mother, Anne Boleyn. Another historical detail: Mary Tudor and Anne Stanhope were good friends despite their religious differences. Mary had also been appalled by K Parr’s hasty remarriage to TSeymour, and wanted Elizabeth to live with her following Henry’s death, but Elizabeth preferred to follow her stepmother. With Elizabeth now living under one of Mary’s friends, do the sisters stay closer together instead of drifting apart like they did during Edward’s reign? Does Edward Seymour make use of having one of the king’s sisters under his thumb? (Although in a much smarter and much less gross way than his brother tried to.)

Does anything go differently with the Somersets being arrested and E. Seymour eventually being executed? How does Elizabeth weather these new events?

DNW: No victim blaming or bashing. Uneasy tensions are fine, and a given considering history, but no tearing down one woman to lift up the other. No references to Six the Musical canon.

Lagaan (2001)

Requested characters: Any

Prompts: Missing scenes from the movie. Maybe quiet moments in between training sessions? The players working out their religious, age, and caste differences?

Anything about Elizabeth would make me happy. Any backstory, on what her life was like before coming to India. I’m also an Elizabeth/Gauri and Elizabeth/Gauri/Bhuvan shipper -- in my headcanon, Radha Kaise Na Jale is where she falls in love with both Gauri and Bhuvan (just look at how she looks at Gauri when she’s dancing!), and she becomes both Bhuvan’s Radha and Gauri’s Radha at the movie’s end. I also like to imagine an AU where she stays behind in India, rather than return to England with a brother who’s furious with her, and eventually they become an OT3.

Bhuvan/Gauri! I see them as childhood friends to lovers -- backstory on them would be lovely. Or canon-compliant moments, as their relationship develops. How the villagers react to their engagement? Their wedding?

Yashodamai. That line where she tells Bhuvan he reminds her so much of his father always gets to me -- what was their marriage like? Yashodamai and/or his father teaching Bhuvan how to play gilli-danda?

DNW: AUs where the British win. Elizabeth/Bhuvan.

Searching (2018)

Requested characters: Any

Anything post-canon would make me happy. How do David and Margot heal their relationship and bridge the gaps between them? Is Margot still close to her uncle? How do they deal with the trauma?

How does the brothers’ relationship fare? Obviously it was a stressful time for both of them, but once the dust settles, I can’t see Peter easily forgetting the accusations of incest and murder, or David forgetting that Peter hid Margot’s drug use for days into the investigation.

I love multimedia fics, and especially for this fandom, they would be a delight. You can tell the story as a series of news reports, Facebook/email posts/chat conversations, etc.

DNW: Fics that center on the villains. AUs where Margot dies.

Around the World in 80 Days (TV 1989)

Requested characters: Aouda

I love Aouda, but not necessarily the imperialism and whitewashing inherent in her character, which is why I selected the 1989 version where she shows a little more bite. I’m basically quoting from this post by @CHOCOCHIPBISCUIT on Tumblr, since they encapsulated all my thoughts. (This refers to some details from the book, but you can honestly base your fic on either the book or the TV series, and I would love it either way.)

Mostly though, Aouda nibbles at my mind. I adore her without quite being able to figure out why, especially since she mostly seems to function as combination damsel in distress/plot device with an overlap for Hero Gets the Girl.

But she's not just the lodestone. One of the bits that first struck me was how after rescuing Aouda from the pyre (for which credit really should have gone to Passepartout, but that’s admitted later) he just sits with her and ‘mostly listens,’ which perplexes her. Most of the solicitious treatment she receives is just that: received. She never asks for the extra amenities or complains of any discomfort, but Fogg, Passepartout, and Fix all consider them her due.

Whenever danger strikes, Verne notes that she tolerates it admirably, and when the train is attacked, she even fights off some of the raiders herself. When they need to divert Fogg to keep him from dueling the American, she promptly joins in with the whist game. When Fogg offers her his remaining fortune after thinking himself ruined, she proposes to him.

I have a lot of thoughts on her, plus some perturbation, like the fact that despite being Indian, her complexion is described as being fair as any European’s. I wonder at how she came to be married to her ex-husband, and what her background was like before getting rescued. I wonder how she adapts to England and Fogg’s peculiarities. I wonder what they talk about, since he’s so quiet and she gets so little dialogue in the book. I wondert her friendship with Passepartout, and if she comes to regard him as a father-figure, what with giving her away at her wedding and being a more ‘typical’ introduction to her new home.

And by @otjoku:

Imagine their child: an anglo-indian with manners, money and wit, and probably learned acrobatics from uncle Passepartout.

#yuletide 2021

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verecunda · 3 years

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🐬 Sutcliff Ask Meme 🐬

Because it’s my meme, and I’ll answer it if I want to. :P Under a cut for long-windedness.

Rules: answer the questions, tag anyone who you think might want to play along, and - if you like - add a question of your own.

1. Your favourite work by Sutcliff.

This is such a tough choice, but I think in the end I have to go with The Eagle of the Ninth. It’s been a part of my life for so long, and it’s one of those books I know I can always return to and get lost in.

2. Your favourite bearer of the dolphin ring.

ALL OF THEM. It’s a tie between Marcus and Alexios. They are my Boys. <3

3. A supporting or background character you love.

Again, a tough one, but I think I’ll go with one I’ve never seen anyone else talk about: Helen, the madam turned thrall turned rebel leader at Eburacum in Sword at Sunset. She’s the one who plans with Jason the smith to keep watch for Artos and his Companions pursuing the Saxons to the city walls, so they and their fellow thralls can fall on the defenders from the rear and keep the gates open to let the Companions in. When Jason tells Artos about it, I was like goodforher.jpg. :) I’d love to know more about what happened to her!

4. Your favourite animal companion.

Cub, surely. Though I also have a great soft spot for Shan the wildcat from Mark of the Horse Lord. :D

5. Is there any setting you find especially memorable?

So many! The farm on the Downs, of course, since we follow its whole life, from the first dream of it at the end of Eot9, to the cosy, welcoming sanctuary it is in The Silver Branch, then its death in The Lantern Bearers.

But I love ruins, like the spooky chapter in Trimontium in Eagle, and I’m still captivated by the last scene of Dawn Wind, with the Wild gently taking over the abandoned city of Viroconium.

6. Wild geese flighting and striped native rugs: is there a classic Sutcliff motif that never fails to warm your heart when it appears?

The green plover calling. I don’t know why, but it’s one of the details that always makes me go, “ah yes, here we are.”

7. The natural world is a vivid presence in all her work. Is there any particular nature description that sticks in your mind?

So many! Especially sunsets. I adore the way she describes sunsets. But I’ll put this one from The Silver Branch, since to me it encapsulates the general theme of Sutcliff’s work so well:

But the night itself was very still, behind the sounds of the camp. A wonderful night, up here above the mist; the bracken of the hillside frozen into silver stillness below the dark fleece of thorn-scrub that covered the higher slopes on either side, the moon still low in a glimmering sky that seemed brushed over with a kind of moth-wing dust of gold. Somewhere far down the widening valley a vixen called to her mate, and somehow the sound left the silence empty.

Justin thought, ‘If we are killed tomorrow, the vixen will still call across the valley to her mate. Maybe she has cubs somewhere among the root-tangle of the woods. Life goes on.’ And the thought was somehow comforting.

8. Biggest tearjerker. (Happy or sad tears!)

The end of The Lantern Bearers, for sure. The perfect ending to such a long, hard journey! I read it last December, and I’m still not over it.

9. How did you first discover Sutcliff?

Through loving Roman Britain. I grew up near the line of the Antonine Wall (on the north side - beyond the frontier!), so I’ve always been pretty fascinated by the idea of Romans being just down the road omg, and I remember my dad telling me the story of the lost legion once while we were out walking. It was only a matter of time before I found out about Sutcliff, really! Though, oddly, although I was aware of the book for a long time, I only ended up reading it in my teens, after I’d rekindled my love for Roman history.

10. What is it about her work that appeals to you the most?

So much! She’s absolutely one of my favourite writers. The atmospheric flair of her prose, her endearing characters; her deft skill at incorporating mythological symbolism into her stories in a way that’s rich but not at all intrusive; her consummate ability to wrench the heartstrings, always tempered by the humour and compassion and nuances she brings to her characters and narrative...

Ultimately, however, she’s the writer who speaks to that part of me that goes about aware (consciously or unconsciously) of that lost ancient world just on my doorstep, and brings it to life for me.

11. A book that deserves more love.

The Silver Branch. Outside fandom, it seems to get passed over as being a bit more of a straightforward “boy’s own” type of adventure, while I suspect that from a fannish POV, it doesn’t have the shippy appeal that, say, Eot9 or Frontier Wolf have.

But while I’d agree it’s not perhaps not as rich as other entries in the series, it’s much more than a simple adventure story. The characters are wonderfully drawn - it was more than ten years between my first and second readings, but I still had very vivid memories of how lovable Justin and Flavius were, and how awesome Aunt Honoria was! Even more than that, the world of TSB is very much a forerunner to the world of The Lantern Bearers. Overgrown altars stand alone in the wild, and monuments to Rome’s past glories are broken up to shore up defences against the incoming Saxons, while Carausius looks ahead to the time that the lights go out. It’s a very melancholy book beneath the battles and skulduggery.

12. A book you haven’t read yet, but want to.

Sun Horse, Moon Horse. It’s never been one that was high on my Gotta Read list, but after Sword at Sunset - where the White Horse is the scene for Artos’ crowning - I’d like to read it to get a fuller sense of its history and significance in the Sutcliffverse.

13. Which book(s) would you love to get a film or TV adaptation?

Frontier Wolf!!! I also think Outcast in particular would make a great CBBC serial - you know, the ones that are officially for kids but the adults sit glued to as well.

14. Is there any historical period, incident, or figure you wish she’d written about?

Too many to list! But after reading Sword Song, with its gorgeous little description of the sea around Iona, and Dawn Wind, featuring the coming of St Augustine, I’m rather sad she never wrote anything featuring St Columba. His story has lots of elements that I think would appeal to her - conflict and alliances between Dalriada and the Picts, old religions and new (and the places where they’re not very different after all), the whole idea of creating something new and great out of the ashes of exile and disgrace. And I’d love to see her take on some of the set-pieces in Adomnán, like the conflict with Broichan, the Pictish druid. I think she would have had a really interesting take on my favourite bellicose Irish saint!

15. Rec a Sutcliff-themed fanwork (fic, art, vid, etc.) to share with fellow fans.

There is so much that’s brilliant in Sutcliff fandom omg. But for the purposes of this meme, I’m going to rec one of my gifts from last year’s Yuletide, The Sun Rises, as being perfect for the time of year. FW, Alexios/Hilarion. It’s a lovely introspective piece, with a very nice sense of setting, Mithraic references and light symbolism, and the bond drawn between Alexios and Hilarion is understated and perfect. The intimacy of the moment where their wolfskins brush together makes me go !!!! every time. <3

And lastly, just out of interest… how far is it from Venta to the mountains?

All of two hundred miles, but you didn’t hear that from me......

And I’ve previously tagged some folks, but again, if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged!

#meme #Rosemary Sutcliff

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newsiegirlscout · 4 years

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Bar-Lover’s Fortnight: Thanksgiving Dinner, let’s goooo!!!

Once again, this features the highlight of platonic love and nothing else; today, it features. Relentless storge. Everyone loves Barley, including the person reading this!

Cheers to @thederpyhipster for hosting the event!

Barley stopped abruptly, dusting the flour from his hands on his apron.

“Absolutely not.” he said.

“Please, boys…” Laurel pleaded with a small, sad, smile, “I know you three haven’t had the best history, and I won’t say this will end all of that, but...it would be a nice start.”

“It’s not...it’s not that.” Ian interjected quietly, resting his spoon on top of the salad bowl, “Mom, Thanketh-Giving’s always been about family….Lightfoot family. Maybe one day, Colt can be a part of that, but, you know…” he shook his hand waveringly side-to-side, “He’s got his own thing. Besides, we’re not….not really supposed to have people over, y’know?”

“Ian…” she sighed, “He spent most of lockdown with us. If he’s not family now, I don’t know when he will be; I won’t ask you to take him in, or be his best friends, but please, would you be willing to try your best?”

The younger Lightfoot brother sighed deeply, but nodded. Barley, on the other hand, glared down at the kitchen counter.

“Fine.” he said finally, softly, “Tell him not to ticket GWNIVR2”.

Ian returned to seasoning the salad, failing to suppress his snorts of laughter. “Tshh--that’s a hard reflex for him.”

“Right?” the older countered, rolling another Lembas bun, “Parking violation: Ah don’t know, but knowin’ Barley, it’s somethin’.”

“Disturbing the peace, probably.” Ian joked, “Peace of mind, at least.”

Barley laughed. “Given how much he likes to talk, I’d expect a lonnng sentence.”

“Nope, nope, nope.” Ian laughed, cuffing his brother on the shoulder, “That joke is too terrible, I’m locking you up right now.”

As her sons bantered, Laurel slid the phoenix into the oven and reached for her cell phone.

--The boys said yes...they won’t say it, but I think they’d love to see you

The “typing” signal looped, in short constants followed by long silences, as if the recipient were starting over or thinking about what to say, before the response chimed.

~~Don’t tell them under oath of silence, but I’d be glad to see them too.

*******************************************************************************************

Though it wasn’t the first time either of the brothers Lightfoot had seen their mom’s fiance in a suit, it still registered as a mild shock every time.

What was really new, however, was the gentle expression of sincerity he wore as he presented the baked confection in both hands, looking almost….shy, somehow.

“Saluta’tions.” he greeted, still as boisterous as ever, “Ah wasn’t sure if any of you’d ever tried it before, so this ‘ere’s honeysuckle-lavender pie--”

“Traditional centaur dessert.” Barley finished, a smile lighting up his face, “The notorious favorite of Trophonius.” It was subtle, but Ian noticed his brother’s smile was fake in just the tiniest detail, but...it was nothing. He’d live.

“Ee-yup.” Colt said proudly. “Oh, an’ Barley, Manticore sent these…” he turned, displaying the weighted saddlebags on his sides as he started withdrawing covered dishes, “Said she wanted to thank you for helping out at the restaurant.”

Ian’s eyes widened as he looked at the dishes. “What? Dude!”

Barley chuckled, but something about it was disheartened. “Yeah, moved a few orders when she was short-staffed. Something to do, I guess.”

“Barley, man, she must have loved you--what is this, a hero’s feast?”

Laurel chose that moment to walk in, intending to greet her fiance and instead being frozen in her path seeing the pies. After a second or two of silence, she looked at her son, then to the desserts again. The eldest flushed a light shade of lavender, then stacked the cheerfully-labeled dishes in the refrigerator.

“Well, tell her I said thanks.” he said conversationally, “Never too much pie, so….nice to get an appreciation like that. Ian, y’wanna see if we can’t find the old game board?”

“Oh! Ah, sure!” he said, and just like that, the boys were gone.

Laurel wrung out her teatowel over the sink, made a start towards cleaning the counters.

“No magic in the house!” she called after them, but softer, towards Colt, “Barley found Quests of Yore when he was eleven--Ian didn’t quite understand it, but he wanted to play with his big brother and Barley was more than willing to try and teach him. He didn’t quite pick up on stats, but he liked the story, so they made up a game where they could follow a campaign and act however they wanted...still have some of the old characters they drew somewhere.”

Colt moved beside her, made a start on washing the pans in the sink. “Mm-hmm?”

“Yeah.” she said softly, almost nostalgically, “They didn’t get to play as often since Bar started high school, but they always play it on Thanketh-Giving and Yuletide. I remember….there was one guy, a rogue with a...I wanna say it was stealth bonus, but if he rolled too high, the opponent would forget they were there.”

“Did you ever play?”

“Once or twice. They never forgot a character, so Mom-adriel is still running Dragon Bento somewhere.”

The centaur washed the dishes in silence.

*******************************************************************************************

“Barley, dude, what’s your deal?” Ian asked quietly as they rummaged through the chest for the since-discarded Quests of Yore figurines.

The elder stopped, tugged off his beanie and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Lots of things, alright, Ian?”

“No, with Colt, I mean….I know, it’s weird, but..he’s not that bad a guy.”

“Ian, I could win a Nobel Peace prize right now and he’d still think I’m a lost cause. He told me when I was fourteen that I’d end up exiled.”

“Hmm.” Ian sighed, disappointedly, “Well, he’s...he’s trying to be cool. Plus, we crushed his car under a landslide that one time, so….”

“So we’ll be ‘cool’ to him, but we’re just not ending up buddies--not unless he wants to come up here, himself, and make an effort. No matter how the mead flows, it’s never enough to forget.”

The sound of footsteps--no, hoofsteps--thumped on the stairs, and Barley could hardly say he was surprised to open the door to Colt Bronco.

But softly, sincerely, he bowed as well as a centaur could to the boys.

“Do you have room for one more in your game?” he asked.

The elder Lightfoot cocked an eyebrow; Ian silently pleaded with his brother, widening his eyes and raising his head.

“Tally-ho, good sir! There is always room for one more on a campaign!” Barley announced, leading him in, “Take your place at the table, Sir Iandore will teach you our ways!”

*******************************************************************************************

Colt was bad. Really bad.

The path was endless, with no exit to be seen; after walking in loops for a minute or so, Ian cast the Flying Skull cantrip, allowing a flying skull illusion to go wherever he directed it and see through its eyes. Each one, successfully, found the exit, yet the same was not to be seen as the players approached it.

Colt left a silver coin every league; the exit was not to be seen.

All the rope gained from the previous battle was led out to see if the ends formed a loop; they did not.

Ian sighed deeply.

“I’m casting mage hand to carry Colt wherever the flying skulls are going.”

The centaur protested, but upon successful roll, he soon realized what his fiance’s son had thirty minutes ago:

The solution to the maze was only visible upon not touching the floor.

*******************************************************************************************************

“The Gelatinous Cube approaches!”

“.....I attack.”

Barley winced.

********************************************************************************************************

“The dragon lies ahead, keeping watch over their horde. Behind them, you see the Princess Unattainabelle’s sword bolting the door behind them; the princess herself is nowhere in sight. They have yet to spot you; what do you do?”

Colt tossed the dice in his hands, weighing the options. “Ian?”

Ian shrugged. “A….a non-violent approach, maybe?”

“We roll to seduce the dragon.”

The younger elf’s eyes widened, but Barley chuckled. “Sure! Roll away, good sir!”

The clock ticked.

The air was still.

The dice rolled.

Nat forty-six.

The elder Lightfoot’s eyes widened the same, until finally, he spoke.

“The dragon falls forever in love with Denryx the Second; they return to their form as the lost satyr princess, and their horde and kingdom is willingly bequeathed to you.”

“Well, lookit that.” Colt said with a self-satisfied knicker of laughter, “We won!”

Just then, the scent of richly-flavored smoke reached them; Ian’s cheers ended abruptly with a laugh as he reached the door. “C’mon!!”

********************************************************************************************************

The roast phoenix’s flames blazed, then subsided in a waltz of luminescence; the bird itself was beautifully cooked. The fire extinguisher came to rest on the table, unused; Blazey scrambled up Colt’s barrel before he nabbed her in one hand and shook his head, relenting regardless to pet her head.

Lightfoot tidings were less spoken aloud than internally, but voiced all the same; by fate or fair fortune, anyone looking upon the scene would have seen the glow of contentment on Laurel’s face, her thankfulness for her sons and fiance, her health, and most of all, her kitchen. (There had been a few scorch marks from less successful Thanketh-Givings past).

In the overtones of sincere love in Colt’s laugh, he was thankful more than anything for the same; for Lightfoot traditions past and present, and though he wouldn’t say it outright, for Ian and Barley and the shenanigans that had always been the talk of the station.

For Ian, his thanks lay mostly in contentment with the way things were looking to be; for his mom continuing to be as supportive as ever, for a world that never lost its magic, and for a brother he’d always had.

But for Barley?

Everything.

For Thanketh-Givings past and fure, for the appreciation given by those who didn’t know how much it meant, for the way Colt was genuinely trying, for all magic and mayhem yet to come, and just....to the spirit of being.

Barley Lightfoot didn’t know it, but at that moment, he was the happiest person in New Mushroomtown.

#barloverfortnight #onward #barley lightfoot #ian lightfoot #laurel lightfoot #colt bronco #happy thanksgiving to those who celebrate!!#I had far too much fun...#a bit slapdash as always but minor epiphany with the #lembas rolls--#(cutscene where Colt has one thinking they're regular rolls and)#(the lightfoots are just silent as he casually butters a second)

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dnd-drunks-n-debauchery · 3 years

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Recap/Highlight reel of Friday Night's session

Brought to you by @nevergonnarollagain AKA Cookie

Before we started the action, Locke asked me whether or not I wanted him to be a nice DM or a meaner one. I chose for him to be meaner because I thought it would be funny.

We join the action as our party approaches the gates of the city on our way out. In front of the gates stands an Aaracroakra wearing an apron and regular clothes. Jayfice recognises this Aaracroakra as Klilic; the pair had been dating at one point, which is how they know him. Klilic's appearance seems fairly normal apart from a greatsword on his back. (This is important for later on.)

Both Jayfice and Klilic are confused at first, with Jayfice believing that this is some sort of illusion created by their mother (who, spoiler alert, is kind of an asshole). Klilic holds out his hand for Jayfice to examine, and upon determining that Klilic is not an illusion, Jayfice grabs him into a hug which seems to make him a little uncomfortable although he does reciprocate.

Jayfice eventually pulls away and asks Klilic to come with us out of the city, but Klilic counters with staying in the city instead. Klilic has lived here all of his life and runs a bakery here, which would probably explain why he's so reluctant to leave. When Jayfice tries to explain that the city isn't safe due to their parent's plans, Klilic simply responds "Then make it safe."

As Jayfice continues to try and persuade Klilic to come with us, Klilic turns and looks up at the top of the gate. Jayfice's father walks out, speedwalking slightly before slowing down to do a slow-mo walk in an attempt to look cool. It didn't work.

Jayfice's father tells Jayfice that their mother is very upset, and that whatever argument that they've had can be sorted by coming back to the castle and having a diplomatic discussion. Jayfice tells him that they've got no room on their schedule, but their father counters with the fact that Jayfice doesn't have any bookings listed in their diary.

Jayfice's father attempts to persuade Jayfice to come back to the castle, also talking to their brother and trying to persuade him to convince Jayfice to go back to the castle. When Jayfice declines he tells them he won't stop us leaving, and as a show of good faith he opens the gates and offers to answer any questions Jayfice has about the plans.

Jayfice decides to take the opportunity to ask about the full details of the plan, and their father explains; the plan is basically to conquer the whole of Arrack. They've enlisted the help of the Brokensky (a well-known gang of criminals who coincidentally want to capture/kill Jayfice) and plan to act through the Brokensky to attack other cities and drive a divide between them to make it easier to take them all over.

Since Jayfice's father is aware of the Brokensky hunting Jayfice, he offers to help resolve the situation if Jayfice goes with him to the castle. Jayfice shows a split-second of interest, and their father notices this.

He extends his offer to answer questions to the whole group and Rosania speaks up, grumbling that anyone who works alongside the Brokensky is bad news. Jayfice's father admits that he felt the same way at first, but that things have run surprisingly smoothly with them, aside from a few contract issues which he blames on his wife making comments in the meetings.

Jayfice thanks their father for his time and sends the rest of the group ahead, staying back to talk to Klilic and try one last time to convince him to come with us. Klilic really doesn't want Jayfice to leave, and draws his sword in an attempt to persuade him to stay. The pair have an intense conversation about Jayfice not trying to keep in contact during their exile, then Klilic casts fireball at the rest of the group, knocking out Ned.

Javier attempts to zap Klilic but only succeeds in giving him a light static shock, which unusually doesn't ruffle his feathers. (Literally. His feathers don't react at all to the shock.)

Rosania reacts next, preparing to cast Dancing Lights in an attempt to distract Klilic from the fight. However, her wand seems to tell her that that isn't going to work, so thinking fast she instead runs closer and casts Thorn Whip, and the magical whip drags Klilic closer to her.

Harmony follows Javier's example, zapping the fuck out of Klilic. Again, much like what happened with Javier's static shock, Klilic's feathers are not affected by the energy from the shock.

Klilic yeets another fireball at us all and Harmony gets knocked out, breaking her arm as she falls backwards.

Javier gets pissed off when he sees Harmony's arm break and fireballs himself, knocking out Rosania and killing Ned. When he realises that Ned is dead he spins back round to face Klilic and starts glowing like fuck. It doesn't take a genius to work out that Klilic is doomed unless Javier is calmed down.

Jayfice is conflicted. They don't want to hurt Klilic but he literally just killed one of their friends. They eventually make the decision to Eldritch Blast him, much to the amusement of their mother, who briefly appears as a hologram and taunts them for this decision.

Klilic is upset at Jayfice for attacking him, and they shout at each other for a moment before he starts to attack them, slashing their chest twice and prompting Jayfice to use their Hellish Rebuke. (They're a cambion who keeps the form of an Aaracroakra, that's why they can do that.) Despite Klilic being burnt by the Hellish Rebuke, his feathers, once again, show no real traces of it.

Remember how I said that Javier was pissed that Ned is dead? Yeah. He shoots some kind of lightning out of his chest that temporarily blinds Klilic. Then he charges at Klilic and attacks him with his fire sword as Jayfice shoots Klilic with another two Eldrich Blasts.

Jayfice asks the others to help snap Javier out of his rage, and they respond by fucking shooting him. Harmony, who has been healed and is back up on her feet, sends a death glare to Jayfice before attacking Klilic as well.

Badly injured, Klilic attempts to fly away and escape, but Harmony casts a Void of Tentacles spell and grabs him in it before smashing him into the ground, killing him.

And while all of this is happening Rosania quietly fucking dies in the background.

As Harmony dispels the tentacle spell, Jayfice approaches Klilic and casts Spare the Dying to ask why the hell he attacked them all like that.

But it turns out that this wasn't actually Klilic at all.

The creature we had been fighting was actually a Grey Slaad (a shapeshifting creature from another plane), and he has a mind-control gem in his brain. He explains that the gem told him what to do and that he'd likely be made to attack again if he was released, and Jayfice stabs him to prevent that from happening. While Jayfice and the Grey Slaad are talking, Inora revives Rosania and Ned, getting them back on their feet with 1 HP each.

Jayfice's mother appears as a hologram again and mockingly congratulates Jayfice for slaying an innocent creature, then flies up above the city and announces that Jayfice made a deal with a devil and attacked the city, ruined their crops, and declares that there is a reward for whoever can kill them and bring them back. Then she turns to Jayfice and declares "Let the games...begin." (Like I said, she's an asshole.)

A whole bunch of people start charging to attack Jayfice and our party, and Rosania (who, bearing in mind, just died and got brought back to life so will be feeling rather disorientated at best) goes into a full-on panic and turns into a fucking Allosaurus. Jayfice attempts to take advantage of this situation, yelling at the mob to stay back lest they send their "Uh, uh...creature" to fight them. They also threaten them with a boomstick and pleads with their father to close the gate, but the mob gets through the gate because their father hesitated. Jayfice asks the "big creature person" (Rosania) if she can help them, and Rosania turns and runs away.

Jayfice attempts to intimidate the mob again by changing to their cambodian form and yelling at them, but it just makes the mob angrier. With no ideas left Jayfice asks the rest of the group to help and dives behind them.

And the group gives the mob the same treatment they gave Javier.

Which is to fucking shoot them.

The entire fucking mob dies much to the horror of Jayfice, who casts Spare the Dying before turning and running away. The rest of the party follows them, and Locke comments that the Spare the Dying that Jayfice cast saved like one person in the mob.

Rosania leads the sprint from the city, noticing up ahead that there's a group dressed up in black and blue, led by someone out in front dressed in green. She finally calms down enough to stop running and turn back into herself, and decides not to tell the rest of the party about the group approaching. Jayfice announces that they'll need to find somewhere to shelter for the night and Rosania takes charge, silently leading the group to look for shelter.

Rosania leads them towards a group of trees, and while it would be a satisfactory place to shelter for the night a little voice in the back of her mind tells her to go just a little bit further. Trusting this voice, she leads them past the trees and we eventually arrive at a small, abandoned town. All of the buildings seem to have taken damage, but most of the buildings would be safe to shelter in. While there does appear to be smoke further in the distance, the party collectively decide to settle in at the abandoned town for the night.

We all head inside the tavern, noticing a rotten carrot and some rotted tatters that may once have been from some extravagant clothing in the corner. Upstairs there seem to be a lot of yuletide decorations, and one room in particular seems to be decked out in yuletide fancies.

During the night, Jayfice wakes up with a weird feeling that something's wrong. They can hear the crunch of snow outside, and sneak over to the window to see what's out there. They see a man standing next to the tavern looking shocked to have seen/heard activity in the town, and as they watch the man begins to cast some kind of spell.

Jayfice sneaks outside to talk to the man, and he explains that he's a potion-seller who lives in the potion-shop across the street. Jayfice offers the man some crackers, and as soon as they hold out the cracker box all the crackers are eaten.

Jayfice spots a fiendish woman and an elvish woman walking around talking, and lures the man inside before spying on the women. They seem to be talking about taking people's souls, and mention "the exiled one", before going their separate ways. Jayfice attempts to follow the elvish woman, but loses track of her in the dark. They go back to the inn and fall asleep again.

Jayfice wakes up again a short time later, hearing what sounds like hooves on the floor somewhere upstairs. They go to check it out and find the fiendish woman from earlier, who demands to know what makes them special enough that the assassin would spare them and change an agreement she made with her. Jayfice admits that they don't know, but that if she wants their soul she can take it. She decides to spare them for now and leaves, and an uneasy Jayfice stays awake watching in case she returns.

As they look out of the window, Jayfice sees someone walking around watching their window, occasionally stopping to flip a coin. Then off in the distance they spot the group Rosania saw before; a group of people dressed up in black and blue, led by someone out in front dressed in green.

This is where we ended the session, although Locke revealed during a conversation afterwards that when I chose for him to be meaner at the start of the session, I was determining the Grey Slaad's AC and how many fireballs he had, essentially making him a tougher opponent. In response to that revelation, I announced "Guess I'll be choosing route B more often!"

#dnd #d&d #recap #Cookie

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coffeesuperhero · 4 years

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(Friend, here's a fic meme for you!) Ask meme time! Pick three fics you have written, post a favorite section of each and explain why it is your favorite. Then, pass it on! :D

Ah, thank you so much, my friend!! Putting this under a read more since it’s probably gonna get kinda long :D

01. two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl (the anatomy of apocalypse. remix).

A blast from the past for this one but it’s been Big Mood for me lately, so. This is a West Wing story, and a remix of a post-apoca Sam/CJ piece that I absolutely adore by furies.

When it is her time to sleep, he sits on the burnt ground and watches the cavernous expanse of thick ashen clouds that conceals the stars that travelers once used to light their way home. Even the illuminating glow of Polaris cannot pierce these clouds, but it is of no consequence: there is little use for celestial navigation when they have no terrestrial destination.

In a perpetual waking nightmare they trudge on through the wasteland of the world, communicating mostly through gestures, if at all. There is little to say that isn't as empty as they are, and as words begin to lose their meaning he tries, desperately, to hold onto language, the last best vestige of his humanity. When he can no longer summon the will to create sentences, he murmurs hollow words, any words he can recall, under invisible stars that died millions of years before he did. Stars are really only dead husks of gas and flame that look alive unless you know better, unless you know that what you're seeing is a lie that is older than the world.

When he looks at her he sees the stars. When he looks for the stars he sees nothing.

Somewhere above the smoke and ash and sulfuric acid aerosol there are still stars, and among them is Galileo. Centuries ago Galileo Galilei looked up at the stars, and for performing that miracle they told him that he was a sinner. Now he wanders a celestial battlefield littered with dead and dying heavenly bodies, exiled for eternity to the vast cold vacuum of space.

Galileo. He said it right, once. Now he says nothing.

The original story is all from CJ’s perspective so my remix is from Sam’s, which was an excuse to lean into language and the importance of it, how much Sam tries to cling to his own humanity after the world ends by turning it into story, or, when there is a lack of a cohesive narrative for his life any longer, into any words he can still find. It’s about two people who are falling apart. It’s bleak. There is not a lot of hope in it. It’s just two people slowly unraveling but determined to live anyway, which maybe is something I connect pretty strongly to at this moment in time!!!! This story also contains the line, “if wishes were horses, they would all have pale riders,” which I’m not gonna lie is one of my favorite lines I have ever written and i stopped trying to top it years ago because probably I will not.

02. you do not have to be good.

He cracks a shit ton of eggs into a flour well and wonders if Parker and Hardison are aware that where he comes from, feeding someone is sort of a silent I love you. He frowns at the eggs. Thinks about Hardison buying this place. Thinks about Parker not really seeing anything special about food until recently. Hardison knows, probably, that he feeds people because he loves them. Parker almost certainly doesn't.

He thinks of how he might explain that to her, and it gets complicated pretty quick, because the truth is that where he's from, food can also sort of be a silent fuck you, considering the number of times he's been to a potluck where something like ten different little old ladies brought the same recipe, each secretly thinking theirs was better than you-know-who's. He can still hear the whispered accusations, all these years later. I just saw Flora come through the front door with her casserole dish. You know she puts carrots in that, don't you? Yes, you heard me right. Carrots.

He laughs a little at that. Maybe not everything from home was bad, even if it does seem to have left him with enough baggage to fill a damn shipping container. He hadn't really realized how much he'd been resenting that lately until now, but as he carefully mixes eggs and flour together with a fork, he feels a little of that hurt slipping away. As far as he's concerned, whatever he grew up with, all this internalized whatever, was sort of like a potluck: you go down the line and fill your plate and sometimes you take shit you don't want because it makes other people happy, but in the end you eat what you like, and then later when Miss Flora isn't looking you dump the rest of the shit on your plate in the trash because goddamn, her corn casserole is the worst one you've ever tasted. Who puts carrots in that? The devil, probably.

By the time the eggs and the flour are a big ball of dough underneath his hands, he's chuckling to himself, and he honestly feels a whole lot better about everything. The knot of anxious tension that's been sitting in the pit of his stomach since he and Hardison had that talk is gone. Whoever he is, whatever he is, it'll come together. He just picked up a lot of shit that wasn't his, that's all, but it's not who he is, and he doesn't have to keep it. It's just a potluck. It's shitty corn casserole. It's okay. He can toss it out and make a better one.

I dumped a lot (A LOT) of my other Southern/Heartland queer feelings into this brace of Eliot-centric stories for Leverage fandom earlier this year, and this is maybe one of the most Me parts of the whole thing, because I’ve given myself the Potluck Talk on and off for at least twenty years now. The attitudes about food and potlucks and the battles between potluck cooks described here are also 100% pulled from my real life, and that’s why this is my favorite. This is just me, working through my shit while cooking, only it’s Eliot, too. We love a convenient excuse to tell our own stories and work through our own shit with fanfiction, right?

03. visible cities

This is an old The Phantom Tollbooth piece that I wrote for Yuletide several years ago, and since Yuletide signups are opening and I’m feeling nostalgic, here’s the opening bit from this piece:

Many long years have passed since Milo's journey through the kingdom of Wisdom. He is older now, which is to be expected: hardly anyone grows younger in the course of many long years, though the lessons he learned as a boy have kept his heart lighter than most.

The way into other worlds had been easy enough to find, once he knew where to look, and oh, the things he has seen.

Still, as exciting as his life has been, he thinks of his friends from Wisdom often, especially Tock, especially lately, for he never seems to have enough time. There's always something to see, something to do. There are mountains to climb and oceans to swim, and he's been climbing and swimming for so long now that he has quite forgotten what it is to do something that is entirely for himself.

"I'm as tired as can be," he murmurs, a wistful smile on his face as he strolls home, careful as ever to take in all of the sights along the way, for no matter how many times he walks this path, he always finds something new to delight him.

When he arrives at home, there is a box waiting for him, the packaging the same wonderful blue that he remembers from his childhood, and he smiles so brightly that an unhappy gentleman passing by the window at that exact moment suddenly remembers all of the kind things anyone had ever done for him and immediately hurries home to hug his children.

I just love this book so much, it was very much a Formative Book for me, and when I got this Yuletide assignment I did my best to write sort of a love letter to other media through the vehicle of this story. This passage in particular I like because I like the thought of Milo as an older man, still carrying the lessons he learned so long ago with him now. And I really liked the guy outside running home to hug his kids. It felt Very like the book to me, the book is full of those kinds of things and it’s one of the reasons I love it, this way that Milo is connected to other people even when he doesn’t know them, because...we are, and it’s a small detail, but it’s why I like this bit of the story.

#ask meme #correspondence #norationalthoughtrequired #my fic #fic

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kiraziwrites · 4 years

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Yuletide 2020 Letter

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you in advance! The below is meant as as fodder for inspiration, not as a strict template. I hope there’s something in here that sparks your interest, but feel free to ignore the specific prompts entirely as long you avoid the DNWs. Note: for my Queen’s Thief and Locked Tomb requests, I listed four characters on the official signup, but it’s totally okay if you don’t include all four (some of these prompts focus on 2 out of 4; the others could be secondary, just mentioned, or not appear at all).

These are a few of my favorite things: missing scenes, reflective moments, romantic interludes, epilogues and aftermaths, porn with feelings. I love found families, thoughtful exploration of power dynamics (smutty or otherwise) between characters, battle couples, intrigue and adventure, extensions of canon worldbuilding, strong platonic relationships in addition to the main ships, and stories that explore queerness and gender nonconformity. I strongly prefer canon-consistent or canon-adjacent stories. Any rating from gen to E is welcome, and mild-to-moderate kink is fine. Angst is great as long as there’s a happy ending, hurt/comfort is more than okay as long as the hurt isn’t on the DNW list, and soft moments, fluff, and humor are also welcome. Crackfic and kidfic are not usually my jam, but kidfic is okay as long as it’s canon-appropriate.

Do-not-wants: noncon/sexual assault, torture or extreme violence beyond a canon-typical degree*, A/B/O, magical creature (ie vampire, werewolf etc) AUs, dom/sub universes where those are innate/fixed/biological roles, and major character deaths that aren’t present in canon. I’d also like to avoid AUs in wildly different settings (modern, coffeeshop, highschool etc), although canon-divergence AUs are fine.

*obviously, if you’re writing for Locked Tomb, that’s a pretty high degree, so violence and gore in keeping with the books is fine!

Queen’s Thief:

Characters: pretty much every main/POV character throughout the whole series—I just want to spend more time with all of them and in this world. I’d particularly love stories that build on or add to all the revelations in Return of the Thief, so post-canon narratives or stories that revisit earlier events that now appear in a new light, etc. I’d love shippy fic for basically any canon pairings—Gen/Irene, Helen/Sophos, Costis/Kamet (as lovers or homoromantic bros), even the secondary pairing we found out about in RoTT.

Specific prompts: I’m keen on further glimpses into Gen and Irene’s marriage at any point (including wedding night fics, or a more detailed version of the Atté Atté scene!) I’d also love a look at the four monarchs navigating the emotional aftermath of RoTT and the changes to their families. But I’d also be delighted with a story about Sophos and Helen navigating their dual sovereignties, or Costis and Kamet’s perspectives on events in RoTT, or Pheris continuing to grow up and pursue his profession and observe the court. (I’m being a little coy with details because some people who follow me here are still reading the final book and I don’t want to spoil them, but hopefully you get my vibe.) Pick whatever about this series makes your heart sing.

The Locked Tomb:

The characters I prompted are Gideon, Harrow, Camilla, and Palamedes, and I am happy to read just about anything you want to write about them. I would love missing scenes from both books, pre-canon flashbacks, further glimpses at the Sixth House and Camilla and Palamedes’s history (as in the short story “The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex”), speculative glimpses into what happens right after the end of Harrow the Ninth, and all kinds of Gideon/Harrow content, the gayer the better. I have a soft spot for Gideon POV because I love her character voice, but I’d also love Harrow’s perspective on Gideon’s re-emergence.

Some specific prompts: Gideon is awake in Harrow’s head at some point while Harrow is also aware, and they have their first time (sort of) while sharing a body. A bodyswap scenario in the aftermath of Harrow the Ninth, where Gideon’s still in Harrow’s body, but Harrow somehow ends up in Gideon’s resurrected one, and hijinks (or smut) ensue. Camilla manages to extract Palamedes from the skull fragment and all four of them meet up in a River bubble to talk strategy about how to attack and dethrone God (and have messy feelings all over one another). A look at Camilla and Palamedes’s perspective on Gideon and Harrow during the events in Canaan House.

Wimseyfic:

Give me stories about Harriet and Peter navigating their relationship. Casefics are welcome, but it’s the relationship dynamic I’m really here for, and I’m particularly interested in seeing them at any stage from when they finally get together in Gaudy Night through the engagement and their first year of marriage. Bonus: I’d also love it if Harriet’s relationships with other women, particularly her London friendships, come into play (if you want to explicitly make Sylvia/Eiluned a couple, that would be awesome—they weren’t on the list of requestable characters, but I’d be happy to see them make a cameo here if that appeals to you!) Also, I’m agnostic on the subject of whether or not you treat Thrones, Dominations as canon.

Some specific prompts: the immediate aftermath of the end of Busman’s Honeymoon—how they regroup and take care of each other after that moment of intense catharsis. The first time Harriet meets up with Sylvia and Eiluned as a married woman, and the conversations about relationships and gender that might ensue. Epistolary fic during the engagement, in which they work out the terms of the marriage. Whatever happened during that night of kissing in a punt. The “'interesting revelations of the marriage-bed.”

Swordspoint:

Richard and Alec, please, in just about any time period or setting—from their early days in Riverside to Richard’s exile in the country to their later years on the island with the bees and thyme and sunshine. If it’s earlier, I’d love to see some hints of their Riverside social world, and if it’s later, cameos from Diane, Katherine, and other characters are fine, but not necessary. I particularly love explorations of how Alec and Richard complement and take care of each another. I’m also very open to kinky content for this pairing.

Specific prompts: Alec encounters his former friends and students from the university some time shortly after the events of Swordspoint, and Richard deals with the fallout. Alec and Richard being gay and doing crimes (or solving crimes, or both) during the Riverside years. One of Alec’s visits to see Richard after he leaves the city. Their voyage to the island after The Privilege of the Sword. Alec and Richard have a threesome with any age-appropriate consenting partner of your choice. Alec watches Richard train or fight and gets predictably horny about it, with the obvious results.

#yuletide 2020 #coming back for more

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