#a dance with fate

[checkoutmybookshelf]

You Have My Attention: Warrior Bards First Lines

So the Warrior Bards' relationship with Blackthorn & Grim is very much ST:TNG's relationship to TOS. But where Blackthorn & Grim have an older feel to the writing style (think Robert Jordan or Tolkien), the Warrior Bards reads a lot more like modern fantasy. A good place to see that is in the first lines of the books, which are so important for catching readers.

A pox on Archu! Why must we fight in a wretched downpour? I hook my left leg around Brocc's right and throw my full weight backward, toppling us both to the ground. We roll, coating ourselves with mud. Shit! Who would want to do this for the rest of their life? I must be crazy.

-- The Harp of Kings

It's a glorious day. The sun is warm, the clouds are high puffs of white, the sea is as calm as it ever gets around Swan Island. We're sitting on the bench seats at the combat area, tingling with anticipation, knowing today's celebration marks the end of many months of grueling work. Work we've loved and hated. Work that has tried us to the edge of our endurance and stretched us to the furthest bounds of our ability--though, as Archu has told us, in a crisis you can always find a bit more to give. Work that has forged not only four warriors fit to join the island's permanent force, but also four true friends.

-- A Dance with Fate

I want to talk to the druid. Brother Oisin is an old man, but age hasn't slowed him much. He walks long distances and doesn't always keep to the roads. He is solitary by choice, loving wild places, praying alone, meeting with other folk from time to time to offer teaching or advice or help. At such meetings, if one is lucky, Oisin will tell tales of long agi, stories of wonder and terror, of joy and heartbreak. His tales are magical. They challenge the mind and refresh the spirit.

-- A Song of Flight

#juliet marillier #the warrior bards #the harp of kings #a dance with fate #a song of flight #adult fantasy #fantasy #fantasy books #fantasy novel #books and reading #books #books and novels #books & libraries #book quotations #book quotes

[moeblob]

I really missed Xander ?? (I saw fanart of him and was struck with dang I should draw him again too)

#fe fates #xander #i still think its funny that dancing xander in feh was my first +10 #like did i +10 grails first? no i did not #did i somehow get him at +10 on the original run on dancing banner? yes

[honeydots]

i love olivia's flying dancer alt so obviously inigo needed an outfit too.....

#fe inigo #fe13 #fire emblem awakening #this is based off an OLD art of mine (which was never posted here) and i wanted to redo the design... #'but he can't ride a pegasus!' well he gets a horse then. and then when he goes to fates he finds a pegasus #and they bond and have a wonderful dancing career together yayyyy #the og art was him in nohr so. it works. it works out. #this has been sitting in my drafts for a while but i decided to clean up the sketches between comm work #and here we are! #dots draws

[hawkinsbnbg]

Love Me Some More

written for 'edge' | word count: 509 | rated: E | ao3 | @steddiemicrofic

Steve didn't know when Eddie had become such a fixture in his life.

Eddie was subtle enough to bypass the scrutiny from other people but he saw it still; the lingering touch, the longing look when Eddie thought he didn't notice, and the hopefulness on Eddie’s face when Steve finally asked him to stay the night.

Yet, Steve was afraid that he had been over his head and decided to keep silent about it. Because he was content with what he had at the moment, and greed wasn't his thing.

(Or so he told himself.)

Steve never shared it with anyone besides Robin, but he had always been on edge his entire life. Thanks to his exemplary parents, ironically, Steve was never at ease with himself even if he tried. It was stressful, for the lack of better words.

Therefore, it was understandable that Steve was ten times anxious around Eddie, whom he didn’t know what to do with.

Their friends barely knew about it but they had started out as one-night-stands. Stumble into bed together then leave at dawn and never meet again, the whole gist.

Considering Steve was good at sticking to the only rule that reminded him to not make the mistake of getting too close to his one-night-stands, he was equally surprised and terrified that he had let Eddie worm into his life so effortlessly.

Thank god Steve hadn’t fallen for him. (Yet.)

Oh, who was he kidding? After months of making love with Eddie, he was at his limit.

And so did Eddie, apparently.

It wasn’t intentional, Steve swore on Robin’s right elbow. He just wanted to rant, and since Eddie was always ready to listen to him, he didn't think twice before complaining about his overbearing parents sending him on endless blind dates.

When Steve eventually stopped and had dinner with Eddie, he should've known better than to let Eddie stew for half an hour. But it was a lesson he would have to revisit another day.

As usual, their last destination was the bed and Steve ended up being fucked senseless. He didn't know where all that frustration and aggression came from, because Eddie was oddly intense tonight. Although Steve’s brain could barely function at the moment, he was still on edge.

He didn't have a chance to ask, however, before Eddie dropped a bomb on him.

“I love you,” said Eddie. Or rather, he kept chanting over and over again as he moved inside Steve. As though he wished to burn those three words into Steve’s body forever, and carve a home for himself so Steve would never dare to leave him for anyone else.

Steve’s eyes filled with tears as he clenched around Eddie just as fiercely in silence desperation. Then, he looked up to meet those loving chocolate eyes and smiled shakily, knowing he had nothing to worry about.

"Then let's date. And we’ll do it properly this time.”

There was a pause and then they started laughing together. When Eddie kissed him silly, Steve’s world became whole again.

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #steddiemicrofic #steddie fluff #slow burn but they jump each other all the time lol #robin and the gang were in pain just by watching those two idiots dancing around each other #robin won the bet btw #the party was resigned to their fate that they now have two dudes as their parents #sionewrites

[lunarharp]

wanted to adapt the google search results a gay woman got in a japanese drama "tsukuritai onna to tabetai onna" which is good btw.

#witch hat tag #orufrey #the most light and gentle version of flirting-like behaviour of all time - a mutual passing thing - a peaceful dance through the long years #a way to work you out.. a way to express something about myself. all these steps are leading up to that beautiful magic #that you read about once. but actually we've been making it all this time... many many steps to this wonderful recipe. #the only non-perfect & non-fated thing about them is that oru is gay but (imo) qif could easily be transfem at any time. don't test him #oru being a woman wouldnt change anything for qif but oru is gay as hell.. However if qif was a woman then it'd be fine anyway no doubt. #oru would give in his membership to the Gay Men's Picnic Club group he goes to and embark on this life instead..many such cases #also i was typing “am i gay” into google when drawing tsukutabe fanart to check what google looks like #and “am i depressed” was the autofill for “am i”. qif's life is like: maybe he would have looked up something like oru did #but he got a bit distracted and started reading about cptsd instead which seemed more pertinent. sometimes childhood goes this way <3 #anyway Tsukuritabe..Kinou nani tabeta...And witch hat kitchen.... the trio of gentle silly 30+ gay couple situations..ohh.. #orufrey are the combo of those. like tsukutabe they aren't together yet. like kinou nani tabeta they are a long-term couple. beautiful #i will never let go of them. drawing this has cheered me up. they are with me

[vampirerite]

ITS SALIERI SUNDAY LETS GET IT ON CUNTS!!

#salieri sunday #video #fgo #fate grand order #2024 edition!! #song is from Fire Emblem Shadows Of Valentia - The Scions Dance In Purgatory #one salillion damage......mozart could never

[thistransient]

the end of the night

#or rather the wee hours of the morning #i have not had a night out in a long long time #there were a bunch of taiwanese people maybe in their 50s absolutely killing it on the dance floor #makes me almost tempted to be more social but also the amount of alcohol it takes for me to tolerate the noise is not great #i started to lose my voice from trying to yell conversationally above the hubbub #perhaps not the wisest decision on my part but fate smiled and i managed to bike home without incident

[derangedthots]

so i've spoken before abt how jace might've insisted on postponing his and baela's wedding till after the dance (despite ample opportunity/mutual desire) bc his love for her wanted to give her a ceremony without death looming over it. and that his fear for her compelled him not to wed and inevitably bed her when the tragedy of three harrowing labors might take what should be a joyful time away from them and - even more than that - take his beloved baela from him.

but what if, and bear with me for a moment, what if beyond rhaenyra and laena and rhaenys - all three women robbed, in some way shape or form, of a queendom - jace's thoughts took him to another targaryen ancestor, robbed of her birthright, burdened with the loss of her husband, and left alone to defend and protect their children from usurpers? maybe i'm just spitballing but what if jace's nights during the dance were haunted by the memory of rhaena targaryen, black bride, queen of the west, queen of the east, and whose ghost yet haunts the halls of harwin's his father's home at harrenhal?

what if he sees his baela, bold and brave and so beautiful, and knows - gods willing - he'll make her his queen. what if jace sees her and wants so many things for her but not one of those things is to make a rhaena targaryen of her. rhaena who was queen of the west and queen of the east but never ruled as queen of westeros in her own right - and, in trying to spare baela of that fate, jace dies anyway.

and she becomes a bit like rhaena regardless: robbed of her love and her crown.

#the dance of dragons #house of the dragon #hotd #jacaerys velaryon #baela targaryen #queen rhaena targaryen #rhaena the black bride #queen of the west #queen of the east #i have a lot of feelings abt jacela and their tragedy #been sitting on this line of questioning/reasoning/hypotheticals for a week #imagine getting this shot into your brain during a 15hr roadtrip and trying not to violently gasp in the backseat #something something the ghosts of targaryen women and queens and mothers and wives doomed to repeat #till dany that is #something something jace's life being heavily influenced by the women in his family #by their fates and his love of them #idk if this is coherent bc i'm typing it at 4am but here it is anyway #jacela #jace x baela #hotd meta #hotd theories #jacela my darlings you truly deserved better

[zombiestarillustration]

I need to make more Aro art

#Aromantic #Aro #arospec #Aspec #Aro culture #Aro art #Aromantic art #aroace artist #Voidpunk #Voidpunk art #red string of fate #aro lovecore #lovequeer #loveless #lovequeer aro #loveless aro #If you’ve seen this art posted by another account hi I’m the same dame just got a shiny new art blog #Dreams of a Voidpunk art Zine dance in my brain #I have to many projects

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

WELCOME TO 2009 EVERYONE

#arjuna #my post #animation #my animation #this wouldve been done way sooner but my program was crashing every 3 minutes. which is also why its not as fancy as i was planning #making my blorbo dance for my entertainment. thanks for understanding. #fgo #fate grand order

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The Next Generation

The Warrior Bards novels are to the Blackthorn and Grim trilogy as Star Trek: TNG is to Star Trek TOS. This is literally the next generation in this world, and it's exploring the lives of Blackthorn and Grim's children, both bioloigcal and adopted. What is absolutely wild to me is that where Blackthorn and Grim felt like more traditional, older-style historical fantasy (think like, 1980s Tamora Pierce or Mercedes Lackey) despite being published from 2014 to 2016, the Warrior Bard books feel very modern and very much what I would expect for historical fantasy published from 2019 to 2021. And yet despite the style changes, both series still manage to sound like Juliet Marillier. Let's talk Warrior Bards.

The Harp of Kings introduces us to Swan Island, a training ground for freelance spy/mercenaries, and main characters Liobhan, Brocc, and Dau. Brocc and Liobhan are Blackthorn and Grimm's children, and they are in training on Swan Island. This book follows them on what is technically a training mission, but it's a very, very live mission. You can't crown a king without a magic harp, after all. Dau and Liobhan are set up for their rivals to lovers arc throughout the trilogy, and Brocc is very, very clearly set up to end up on an intertwined but related path to his sister--there are fae involved.

A Dance with Fate has been mentioned on this blog before, in the very first post. It has a very complicated relationship with disability and the magical cure trope, which I won't go into too much depth here; the TLDR is that on principle, I hate the magical cure trope (seriously, disability is not a life-ender. You can live and live well with a disability, it does not HAVE to be cured), but this book does some interesting work with the grief that can come with acquiring a disability and the absolute fuckery that acquiring a disability can throw your relationships (of all kinds, but especially family ones) into. The previous book wasn't not character driven, but this book is CHARACTER DRIVEN, and I love that about it. It makes the stakes higher and the actiony, plot-y sequences weightier.

This book also really divides its time between Dau and Liobhan and Brocc, who is off in a Fae stronghold and very much on his own romantic journey that has some tragic-feeling tendrils woven through. Brocc is not my favorite part of this trilogy, but he is central to it in a way that, while reading, I was never mad about spending some time with him, especially because while he is geographically separate from Dau and Liobhan, they're deeply connected in terms of in-world geopolitics and plot. It's just beautifully balanced.

A Song of Flight takes all the threads that have been worked through the first two books and opens with a kidnapped prince, who's bodyguard is Brocc and Liobhan's elder brother, Galen. Swan Island turns out to find the prince, and Dau, Brocc, Liobhan, and Galen have to save both the magical and mundane worlds.

This trilogy is excellent, and does not require reading the Blackthorn and Grimm books before reading, and if you don't discover Juliet Marillier through the Wildwood books, I would actually recommend starting with this trilogy (unless you are a massive classical fantasy fan, then Blackthorn and Grimm might be a better place to start; your mileage may vary).

#juliet marillier #warrior bards #the warrior bards #the harp of kings #a dance with fate #a song of flight #blackthorn and grim #historical fantasy #historical fiction #fiction #fantasy #books #adult fantasy novel #books and novels #books and reading #books & libraries #book recommendations #book recs

[respectthepetty]

@my-rose-tinted-glasses reminding me that You Make Me Dance was about the Red Thread of Fate

#you make me dance #korean bl #red thread of fate #I completely forgot about that #even though it was a key point of the plot #but the scarf was a great touch! #the colors mean things #and they meant they were tied together

[honeydots]

✨Let it go, let me dance! And shake it 'til the pearls get lost!

#xanlow #fire emblem awakening #fe13 #fire emblem fates #fe14 #fe laslow #fe inigo #fe olivia #fe soleil #fe siegbert #fe xander #WHEEEEEE!!!! #this was og only going to be inigo and olivia and then i thought. actually what if he gets to dance w his whole family #also cleaned this up a little bit for tumblr just cause i rly did have lotsa fun w it. #i might redraw it in a year or so........ #aaaaand go listen to the song in the link its rly fun!! #dots draws #dots on the soapbox

[bibannana]

The Floor is Lava

Hardcase *on shipwide comms*: The floor is lava!!! *launches himself into Jesse's arms*

Jesse *staggers before clambering onto a chair*: Did you have to jump on me?

Echo *standing on a holotable with Kix*: Why did we climb up here?

Kix *obseving the 501st members climb any surface to avoid the floor*: I wasn't getting burnt today.

Fives *shoves Dogma off a bench*: Sacrifice!!

Tup *hanging from the roof*: Rex your burning!!

Rex *laying on the floor, exasperated with them all*: Good.

Ahsoka and Anakin watch as majority of the battalion bolts for something to stand on.

Ahsoka then shoves Anakin over to get to a table to stand on.

There are clones on every available surface.

Hanging from the roof? Yes.

Climbed up the side of a gunship? Yes.

Standing on other brothers to escape death? Yes.

#hardcase is no longer allowed near comms #rex just layed that and accepeted his fate #rex just laid there and accepted his fate #hes just greatful it wasn't infront of the other battalions for once #like the morse code incident #or the mean girls dance incident #hardcase #echo #kix #jesse #fives #dogma #tup #rex #ahsoka tano #anakin skywalker #501st #501st shenanigans #star wars #the clone wars #tcw #incorrect star wars quotes #clone wars #incorrect clone wars quotes #the floor is lava

[ardeidae-e]

chuuya has absolutely ripped his pants dancing reguetón at parties/clubs.

several times too.

i have a lot of proofs and 0 doubts.

#he always carries extra pants now #he accepted his fate #and hes such a good dancer i just know it #i wanna dance gasolina with him bye #and rompe #jesus christ #anyways i cant sleep lol #chuuya #chuuya nakahara #chuuya bsd #bsd #bungo stray dogs

[littlerosette]

mentor!katniss x tribute!peeta is such an irresistible idea…. imagine this insane, unspoken desperation she would have to save this boy who once saved her when they were both children and be completely be unable to rationalize her depth of feeling to herself

#also katniss and peeta dancing around this subtext of his feelings for her #him knowing he can die and she’s the one who technically has the power to save him or condemn him to his fate #there’s almost something religious about it #UGH #everlark