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ma1dita · 3 months

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buddy system

a ‘partners in crime’ installment - luke castellan x dionysus!reader

words: 4.2k

summary: (pre-established relationship) The one where he comes with you to rescue your twin brothers, Pollux and Castor. A weekend 'quest' teaches you a lot about Luke, and about yourself too. Luke Castellan x fem!Dionysus!reader

a/n: um i cant apologize for this word count and ive been looking at this for too long so fuck. Anyways do yall think Luke felt bad when he found out Castor died in battle because of his army in this universe? just me?? okay :) also trouble gets a cool magic item that makes an appearance here, kinda works like polyjuice but with smoke

(posted 2/7/24 betad by lovely ellie @lixzey might edit again when i get some sleep)

—

“No. You might be my father, but you’re crazy, man!”

You’re standing in D’s office at the Big House, and what was supposed to be a short talk before the counselors’ meeting has turned into a full-blown argument. It’s hard to focus on anything other than the words leaving your godrent’s mouth.

You’re going to pick up your little brothers.

“Those two statements are both true, kid. You’re old enough to understand that!”

They need your help.

“You’re really letting your 16-year-old daughter drive down to Florida by herself to pick up some kids she’s never met? Won’t even send me with any quest companions, or like, Grover?” you say exasperatedly, before slumping down into a seat.

“Think of it as family bonding! They’re great from what I remember. You all need to get along anyway.”

Whether it was jealousy or the sudden urge to be petty, you impulsively grab your dad’s Diet Coke and chug it, crushing the can with your fist as a tiny act of rebellion.

Another one appears on the desk and you chuck it over your shoulder. Mr. D sighs as he conjures another one, to which you do the same thing.

“I can do this all day, kid.”

“So can I, and you know if I do, we’ll be sitting here until I’m 40,” you say expectantly, tapping your fingers on the hardwood surface of his desk.

“What do you want?”

The keys to his car are a start, as well as extra pocket money—but there was something, or rather, someone missing to make sure this weekend goes as smoothly as possible.

Your smirk widens at your father, and he wonders when you’ve gotten good at playing his own game.

It’s like looking into a mirror but his worst nightmare manifested as a teenage girl.

—

There are only two things Luke can think about when he hears the sound of your laughter.

The first is that, unlike your angelic singing that could rival the Muses, your laughter takes after the sound of a maniac, an incredulous crescendo that only something curated by Hades in the deepest pits of Tartarus could produce. It was almost madness-inducing, and it went off in his brain like you were a siren (although he means the kind used for weather advisory, he too gets lured in by your laughter each time he hears it like he’s lost at sea).

Second, as he watches you storm down the lawn of the Big House, your anger brewing something comparable to a Category 5, he raises an eyebrow and thinks, well this ought to be good. Or entertaining at the very least.

“You,” you growl at him, guttural and sharp like the finger you jab into his chest, “we’re going on a quest!”

“Me?” Luke blurts, eyebrows furrowing at you.

A loud groan echoes through the grassy space between the house and the counselors as everyone looks up to see Mr. D dragging his hands down his face at the sheer thought of his daughter causing him more gray hairs.

“That’s not what we agreed on, kid!” “If you want any of your children to come back to this hellhole in one piece I need backup!” “There’s more of you?”

Both you and your dad glare at Luke now, like he’s interrupting a private conversation.

“Since when do you like asking for help, princess?”

Mr. D’s arms are crossed over his chest as he speaks to you. Though your height severely differs due to the wooden steps of the Big House, the air is palpable with fear only an Olympian could invoke, reminding the counselors that the man wearing the ugliest Hawaiian shirt known to humankind, is in fact inhuman. You, however, are standing tall in the freshly-cut grass in your combat boots with wrath that could rival Ares’ as you stare your father down like the rest of them wouldn’t get struck into the next lifetime due to your impertinence, as Annabeth loves to call it. She looks up at Luke, with her eyes conveying that she thinks you must be clinically insane, but he knows that already so he shrugs.

“I’m not asking for it, I’m demanding it. Besides, he’s like my ESA,” you say, then taking Luke by surprise as you grab him by the wrist and drag him off the front lawn. You think you can hear Beckendorf and Clarisse bite back chuckles.

“Someone tell Rodriguez he’s in charge of 11!” you yell into the air, and words of affirmation and good luck are muttered in response.

“Don’t I get a say in this, trouble?” Luke says playfully, tugging at your arm lightly but unresisting as you sigh and pull him along. Who in their right mind says no to a long weekend away from this place? Monsters and demigods be damned.

“No. Besides, they’re gonna need more luck than we do.”

“Liam, I don’t know why she trusts you, but if my daughter dies, I’ll make sure you’re next!” Mr. D yells out to your retreating figures, and all of the counselors turn to face him realizing that without you, well… that means he actually has to be in charge.

“So what’s the meeting supposed to be about, Annabelle?” Mr. D says, looking at Annabeth only knowing that she’s supposed to be the smart one—and the small girl sighs.

This is gonna be the longest weekend yet.

—

You’re speeding down I-95 with the windows down and the wind brushing through both of your hair. While Luke watches you from the passenger seat with the road signs blurring past his periphery, he also notices that it’s the first time in a while that he’s seen you this carefree. With both of you taking up counselor positions a few months ago, and your dad appointing you to be in charge of all of them (because why have a counselor for a population of one), there’s a lot about you that’s grown up in the two years you two have known each other. But what type of demigod gets to enjoy their childhood anyway, right? Luke can only remember bits and pieces of his.

“How do you even know where we’re going? I can barely read the signs,” he asks.

“Cool blessing from my stepmom. Ariadne’s chill. We talk sometimes and she likes that I keep D in check, so now I can never get lost,” you grin toothily, violet eyes flickering to meet his.

“Was it true what your dad said? That you trust me?”

His voice is a bit louder than it should be over the wind tunnel that blocks out the sound of the radio as the air whips in and out of the car.

“Well, I wouldn't say trust,” you drag out, leaning back against your seat with your eyes still on the road, “More like if I got abducted by a harpy, I think you could cut its wings off and give me a fighting chance at living.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t invite Mason to come,” he mumbles, and you smirk.

“Who?”

His hands are clenched in his lap as a blush brushes his cheeks, windswept in the rays of the late summer sun.

“Your boyfriend. Wouldn’t he be a better companion?”

Something about the older son of Apollo always ground his gears. It was even worse that you both would sing Broadway musicals together during his sparring sessions. Your harmonious voices echoing from the amphitheater aside, the repetitive grating feeling in his stomach reminds him not to go see Hamilton if he ever makes it out to the city.

“He’s not…” you huff, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel as you think hard on what to say next, “He’s nothing serious.” You pull the sun visor down as you squint, tilting your head in case he says something else, but you hear nothing. Luke’s staring at your side profile, unable to hide his grin at the new information, biting his cheek.

“Besides, he’s a fucking terrible shot. And you’re supposed to be the best, so I’ve heard. Who else would I want on this trip with me?”

He chuckles at this lightly, your words bolstering his ego.

“So you’ve heard.”

And for a second, the sight of his smile distracts you enough that the car swerves a tiny bit closer to the median. You both ignore it and keep driving.

—-

Hypnos increases his hold on your senses as you finally take a break somewhere in North Carolina, taking refuge in a dimly lit corner of a gas station parking lot. The old car reeks of greasy fast food and all the sugar Luke could get his hands on at rest stops (it was really cute to see him indulge in more normal things like sweets instead of swordsmanship), and both of your seats are leaned back, but it’s hard to get comfortable after having your butt in the same seat for several hours.

You readjust yourself again, making the car shake a bit as you turn over to face Luke.

“What’s wrong?” he mumbles through closed eyes. His head’s banged against the window one too many times, and it was starting to get annoying.

“Sorry. Just can’t sleep. Thinking too hard.”

He sighs, reaching over to toss your pillow into the backseat, and as you sit up, he rips your blanket off of you too.

“Hey!”

You go silent when you watch him make a makeshift bed for you, turning back with tired eyes as he gestures, “Go ahead. I don’t mind.”

“I feel bad, Luke. You’re taller than me and your knees almost hit the dashboard.”

He rubs at his eyes, looking at you impatiently, and you know his body is calling for comfort too.

“I’ve slept in worse conditions, you gotta remember that, trouble.” The stories Annie used to tell you about the both of them sleeping on the streets pull at your heart, and as you crawl towards the back, you move before you think rationally–tugging on his arm.

“Come on over here.”

“You sure?” “Before I change my mind, yeah.”

You both move around trying to find a place both of you can be comfortable in, first starting with your heads at opposite windows, legs tangling in the middle before he laughs a little too hard at your fumbling and you launch your pillow at his face. Awkwardly, you climb over his legs into his outstretched arms, slotting yourself against his side as he pulls your hair up from getting trapped between his shoulder and your back.

It’s deadly quiet, and Luke thinks if you could move any closer to him, you might hear his heart thundering in his chest.

“You smell like french fries,” you grumble into his sweater, and his laughter shakes you like an earthquake, uprooting the faint traces of sleep in your mind.

“At least the monsters won’t find us. Gonna be harder when the twins get here. A lot of demigod smell to ward off.”

You don’t answer, and he thinks you may have fallen asleep until he notices your hand playing with the frays of his sweater.

“Trouble?”

“They’re really little,” you mumble, so low that he barely hears the hesitance in your voice.

“The monsters? Yeah, I fucking ho–” “Pollux and Castor. My…half-siblings, with really Greek names, and a mom that depends on me getting them to camp safely…” you trail off before your head jerks up to meet his eyes. It’s colder at night now, your bodies and the tiny throw blanket from your trunk providing ample heat even if his socked feet fight their way out from underneath.

“How old are they, nine?” He feels you nod against his chest before he continues, “I was nine when I left home.”

Your eyes get glassy at the thought of a smaller version of Luke, one who’s not all gangly legs and lean muscle—one much softer and innocent than the boy you lean your weight upon, running away from home to find a place he can belong.

“I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”

He shrugs, the arm propped against the headrest wrapping around you and resting on your hip, tapping you to continue your previous thought.

“I don’t know how to do this, I guess. I’m ripping them from their home and I—” “You’re not some kind of monster y’know? You put yourself down too much sometimes,” he sighs, and he watches the windows slowly start to fog up, “What don’t you know how to do?”

Ignoring his question, you change the subject hoping to talk about something lighter, and far less revealing to the thoughts inside your head.

“Do you remember all of that? Going to school and chalking up the sidewalks on the way home, hopscotch and ice cream trucks… I don’t want to take them away from that.”

Luke ponders, digging through his brain for anything happy from his childhood, but through the years his memories started to collect dust in the back of his mind.

“I don’t remember much.”

“Gods, I’m sorry…”

Mason had told you of your habit of putting your foot in your mouth. You dealt in extremes, giving too much or too little, always saying the wrong thing—and it was the reason why things didn’t go further with the son of Apollo. As well as with the daughter of Aphrodite you saw briefly that told you you didn’t know how to love, not if you didn’t know how to share yourself with others (yeah that one hurt a lot).

Sharing.

That’s what you’re hesitant about.

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago now,” Luke mumbles, a beat of silence passing before he redirects the conversation like you did, “What don’t you know how to do, trouble?”

“How to share. Be a sibling. Someone likeable.”

Luke doesn’t mean to laugh at your expense, but he does, and you punch his stomach hard enough he gasps for air.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Everyone likes you.”

“Everyone’s usually scared of me because of D, or hates me because I take dessert privileges and write them up,” you say matter-of-factly, staring out the window above his head at the gentle shine of the moon on his features. It’s a crime for him to look so soft under the low light, and you realize you’re staring when he calls your name.

“No, you don’t get it—you’re the most selfless person I know. You give up sleep to sing to kids before bed, conjure juice boxes so they don’t pass out during training—I’ve seen you carry a kid almost as tall as you across camp because they broke their ankle. You’ve got a lot of love in that twisted heart of yours. I’d know… I mean—I have to share a lot… I’m basically an expert.”

You blink at him as if seeing him in a new light, and you realize then why you picked him to go on this weekend quest with you. Your heartbeat slows despite the show of vulnerability in front of him, and you understand now that Luke makes you feel safe. Biting your lip to hold back a sigh, you decide to just unload the rest of your thoughts, knowing that you’re in the hands of someone who wants to hold the weight. “I’m just used to being alone, I think. I mean who knows what we're like when we're alone but us, right? What a terrifying thought,” you deflect, and Luke closely watches the slope of your nose, down to the smoothness of your lips, unable to put the right words to how he’s feeling.

I know you, he thinks, and it's not as all bad as you make it seem.

“We’re never truly alone, y’know. Besides, even if you are, you still have me,” he says nonchalantly, and the warmth on your cheeks could generate enough heat to run the car for miles. Chuckling lightly as your eyes flutter closed, you know you need to rest before morning comes since you’re the only one between the two of you that can drive. You reckon you’ll teach Luke by the end of the year if he wants to.

“We’re getting pretty terrible at this enemies thing, Castellan,” you jest with nothing hard to back it, and a smile falls onto both of your lips.

“We were never really enemies, trouble. I just like getting on your nerves.”

Your laughs fall silent, settling into a comfortable silence, until his next words send you off into slumber as you listen.

“I remember my mom singing in the kitchen as she put peanut butter on my sandwiches. She'd act like she left the dishes out for me to wash, but let me lick the knife clean every time and I’d put too much soap and the sink would be filled with bubbles. I don't remember much else but that. Her kitchen. She smelled like…chamomile.”

A wandering hand pulls his free one into yours, holding it until sunrise.

—-

You push Pollux and Castor out the door before the sun rises after a short stay at their mother’s house, and as the engine heats up, you and Luke watch them say goodbye to her with the both of you thinking of last words with your own. The both of you ward off the hellhounds biting off at your heels for a few hours like how you deceived the police the day previous, a purple Zippo lighter in hand whose smoke grants temporary illusions wafting through the car, and it smells like grapes (thanks D!). The kids sleep most of the way, none the wiser and heavy with sleep and their emotions of leaving everything they’ve ever known. Your eyes flicker to their sleeping heads in the rearview mirror, ready to take them home.

Hours later, Luke decides to make you stop at a diner to get you a bit of rest, get actual food, and let the twins pee, and your head is bobbing slightly in front of your plate of food once he brings them back from the bathroom.

“You wash your hands?” you say tiredly, both Pollux and Castor shaking wet hands in your face in response, making you giggle before sipping at your coffee. Luke cut you off from Redbull yesterday, saying he was scared for your liver and saying you needed to drink something else for a bit. He bristles at the sight of you drinking more caffeine, and you smile as the mug touches your lips.

“You’re gonna kill yourself one day. At least your dad drinks Diet Coke.”

“Not by choice, though what a way to go!” you joke, and the twins giggle as the both of them gulp down root beer like it’s essential to their being. Luke sighs at the idea of you having two minions under your belt, who you’ll most definitely train to raise hell on Camp Half-Blood now that you’ve taken more of the administrative side of things.

“Is he your boyfriend, sissy?” Pollux, or maybe it’s Castor pipes up, swinging his legs under the table and you smile at the sound of the nickname, noticing the dimple in his cheek. Luke chokes on his burger, coughing until you elbow him.

“He’s more of my ESA,” you remark, and he still doesn’t know what that is, so he raises an eyebrow like your brothers do as they peer up at you from across the table.

“What’s an ESA?” Castor, you realize, who has no dimples, spits out behind munches of a pickle.

“Luke’s my emotional support animal.”

He eats the rest of your fries despite your confidence in that response, grumbling exactly how a resistant dog would.

As you’re paying the bill, a large shadow looms over the sunny disposition of everyone at your table—and then Luke shouts for everyone to cover their eyes. Glass shatters over you, revealing a hellhound the size of a minivan, and it pounces toward the twins, large teeth bared at their throats. Before Luke can pull his sword out, you whistle sharply and the sound whizzes through the air like a bullet as you toss the Zippo lighter at him as he’s pushing the kids to the car. Though he’s reluctant to lose sight of you, he wards them with an illusion, locking the doors despite their cries and he runs headfirst back into battle, you with your thyrsus and him with his sword, back to back.

“They okay?” you heave, jabbing at the red-eyed canine between the eyes as Luke pulls around to slash it across the neck, coming out of the tussle unscathed as you both watch it keel over at your feet into golden dust minutes later.

“Yeah. Are you?”

Though you originally found it funny, Luke does perform his job well, getting you to calm down as he holds you to his chest until you can breathe normally again.

“Mhm. Just scared me.”

The two of you run out of the destroyed diner and into the warded-off car before the police show up hand in hand as you escape without detection. As he falls asleep, Castor dreams that you two are Bonnie and Clyde like in an old Western movie he was definitely not old enough to watch.

—-

You’re finally back on the Island now, only an hour away from Montauk and Luke is getting restless in the passenger seat. He pulls apples out of his backpack, wiping them off with his shirt as you sing along to a Taylor Swift song playing on the radio.

And maybe someday when we’re older, this is something we’ll laugh about…. Foolish one… you hum, tapping the wheel to fight off your exhaustion.

Pollux and Castor are using their fingers to pretend to hop over obstacles in the smudged windows, babbling about something they did in class last week. The son of Hermes pulls out a pocketknife he nicked from a gas station this morning as he starts to cut the apples into pieces, putting some into a ziploc bag for the boys to share, and you smile at him, wistful at your trip nearing its finish line. If you weren’t enemies before this like he said, it’s crazy to consider him your closest friend. But he is, isn’t he?

His knuckles nudge yours over the console, pressing an apple slice into your palm.

“You know, Castellan, you’re sweet when you want to be. Shame you and that sister of Annie’s didn’t work out.”

Luke scoffs at the reminder of his ex, slicing another piece off for you to eat. She did say he had wandering eyes…always looking for you. He’s not going to admit that though.

“I just know you like your apples cut. Saw you battling it out with a butter knife last week. Couldn’t help but notice,” he says lowly like it’s normal for people to be that considerate about others, normal for him to care about you like that, a constant push and pull between you two.

“Hurts my teeth,” you mutter, and Luke chortles like you’ve told him something life-changing. Your hand bumps into his again, feeling nothing but his calloused fingers, and when you look up his cheek protrudes with the last slice.

“Tax,” he winks, and you’re delirious with this feeling that only he can bring you, almost comparable to being high.

The popstar’s voice continues to trill in the background, with my head in my hands, saying “How could I not see the signs?”

You both don’t realize you’ve stopped singing until Pollux pipes up asking for you to play Fireball by Mr. 305 himself.

—-

The car finally pulls into the driveway of the forest path and you’re all greeted by the campers holding blazing lanterns. Chiron, your father, and the nymphs are waving as the twins marvel at the fairy lights strung up along the way for a warm welcome.

“You’re alive,” your dad remarks, and this time he doesn’t say it in jest, sounding more relieved.

“I was in good hands,” you affirm, looking up at Luke amongst the noise of your cheering friends and the feeling that comes with calling this place home.

The boys are tucked in at your side, shyly looking at the crowd, Pollux holding your hand while Castor holds onto Luke’s, and Chiron calls your attention.

“I know you didn’t get your official announcement,” he starts, and you laugh at that, remembering the bubbles in the lake.

“Because I pulled a fast one on D.”

“Nonetheless, I would love for you to get recognized for your efforts. Dionysus. Storyteller, Herald of Chaos,” he continues by announcing your name, and then,” Pollux, and Castor– children of the grapevine, the God of Wine!”

The campers are kneeling and you look at Luke, who’s smiling from the ground beside you.

“Take a picture, trouble, it’ll last longer.”

“My children are home safe. And thank you, Castellan, for being a formidable companion. My deepest appreciation.” Mr. D sounds serious for once, pulling Luke up as he nods in respect.

It’s a crazy feeling to finally feel at home though you’ve been here for two years now. But you remind yourself quickly of why that is when you see Luke carrying Pollux on his shoulders as Castor latches onto his legs.

“You know, your family is a nightmare. You two hellions will fit right in,” he grins.

You can’t help but agree.

—

“I hadn’t told them about you, but they saw you bathing in my eyes. I hadn’t told them about you, but they saw you in my written words. The perfume of love cannot be concealed.” -Nizar Qabbani

ask to be added to general/luke taglists!

luke taglist (some won't let me tag, turn on my post notifs?): @kissingyourgrl @dorcas4meadowes @lorarri @andrewgarfldsgf @noodlesketchbook @10ava01 @poppysrin @ashisabitgay @timhalamet @liv1104 @leeknows-wife @mxtokko @bugcuti3 @luvvfromme @midmourn @2hiigh2cry @yuminako @niktwazny303 @lukecastellandefender @intergalactic-padawan @iliketopgun @annybah @dangelnleif @thegrinningghost @alyssajunelle @obxstiles @m00ng4z3r @visndcaitswhore @b0ok-lover @elegant-face-tree @this-barbie-is-having-breakdowns @amortencjja @idonevenknow1359 @maliaaaa @targaryenluvs @sakyira @dhdjdjjdhsjdiri @number-onekidqueen @nininehaaa @bradynoonswife @stevenknightmarc @hoodedhavok @happy-mushrooms @homebyeleven @anotherblackreader @too-deviant @liviessun @lilacspider @theadventuresofanartist @sucker4seresin @simpforsunwoo @zanzie @starrystormwritings

#luke castellan x dionysus!reader #luke castellan x reader fanfic #luke castellan x reader #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo x reader #luke castellan fluff #made by ma1dita ♥︎#trouble!verse #thank you for reading my love ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

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etoilesbienne · 6 months

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out of curiosity, what are the common qEtoiles mischaracterizations, and the accurate characterizations you wished people used more? Sincerely, an English speaking fan who is re-learning French!

honestly i kind of consider it a mischaracterization when people like... make etoiles into this team leader who always knows what to do and move things forward. or like that he has a bad attitude to like... match his fighting skills. or like the dark knight brooding warrior. he says he is these things. these are lies. he lies about himself constantly. i wouldnt trust a good 2/3 of the things he says about himself to be true. you read him clearer through his actions than his statements.

in my opinion etoiles is more like. sturdy second in command. he's not there to lead, he's there to fill in the holes where they pop up. he's there as cover. he's quick witted in shortchange scenarios, but that is so not the same thing as a genuine strategist. in another expression, if someone is a leader, the leader is a doctor, etoiles's role is more like... the EMS team in an ambulance. He's not there to fix your problem, he's there to keep your problem covered until you can get someone else to fully fix it. but that doesn't mean his role is any less important when he's needed.

Etoiles is also, like, so very much a team player if he respects and trusts a person. And it is so easy to have his respect and trust. His trust starts at 100% for everyone. he's also so very very very good at reading people (gesture to the bbh clip where bbh moves his mouse slightly downward and etoiles calls him out on being depressed). He read Mousey as enjoying dungeons and pvp way more and wanting to hang out with her. He's also one of the only people who like continuously runs in the girlies group and makes all of them pvp with him and they all love it so he keeps coming back to pvp with them. Thats how he started his whole thing with Tina and pvping with her constantly. Reading other people also, he loves finding other pvpers so he attacks roier constantly now bc he knows roier can pvp.

What else OH Etoiles loves whining (and this is because Rayou loves whining) that dude will just complain constantly. You haven't seen an etoiles stream if youve never seen him whine. Can't say I'm not kind of endeared by it. With this too he loves over explaining things (RIP armor powerpoint wish you couldve been given...) because he wants to help everyone....

OH and he's very over exaggerated too in replying to people in a complaining way and a self deprecating way and also likes to try to push the envelope with people and he does all of that to try and get a laugh out of others. like he's well aware people find him going "Oh so you don't give a shit about me and want me to die ? you want etoiles to die ?" fucking hilarious and also loves complaining in the first place thats why he does that. if your etoiles isn't complaining and whining then it isn't etoiles. the self deprecating thing is... its interesting bc he does have full faith in his abilities but will never say it out loud unless its trying to reassure someone who is worried. pushing the envelope is so specific he won't do it too much and its like........... from what ive seen (correct me if im wrong) heavily directed at non francophones where if they laugh at something wack he's done he'll try to do it again to make them laugh more. shoutout to the time he made bbh laugh so much when he cursed he didn't get languaged by bbh so he kept cursing to try to make bbh do it again. the dudes a total people pleaser.

smaller thing ive talked about extensively already (u can prob find it in my q!etoiles tag if i remember i'll edit a link to the posts in here soon lol) etoiles hates losing he looooooves winning he's very intense about it lol. its cute!

on a final note even if you don't become deeply unwell about etoiles like i am i think this highlight clip video has like everything he's like condensed into like 11 minutes. You should watch it. It's a good starting point.

youtube

#qsmp #q!etoiles #asks #hope this helps. Ahehe

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writingquestionsanswered · 8 months

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Pacing a Slow Burn Friends to Lovers

Anonymous asked: ive been sorta planning? this story in my head for nearly 2 years and i have 2 characters who fall in love. Usually, i write fanfiction so im used to diving straight into the romance, but here they meet as roommates and fall in love over the next few years and im not sure how to write something as slow as that, starting from strangers to friends to lovers.

(Ask edited for length)

What you're looking to write is called a "slow burn" romance, meaning that the relationship builds over time. Slow burn often coincides with "friends to lovers" so you'll hit a lot of the same points when plotting the tow out. Here are some previous posts that cover all the bases! ♥

Guide: Writing a Slow Burn Romance Friendship Turns to Romance Guide: Creating Romantic Chemistry Guide: Characters Falling in Love

When you're writing a slow burn romantic subplot--or in other words, the romance isn't the main plot--you will take the above and find ways to work it into the main plot. So, all of the development of friendship and romance, the getting to know one another, the bonding, and the subtle signs of love all will occur in the midst of whatever they're doing related to the main plot.

Have fun with your story!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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bettathanyou · 5 months

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Presenting...‼️‼️

Bettathanyou's

Cedric The Sorcerer Masterlist!!✨🔮🪄

It's been looooong overdue, y'all. Let's not waste any more time, shall we?

The masterlist will be organized from the most recent fics to my oldest! (so forgive the horrid formatting/dips in writing quality towards the bottom ^^;)

Edit: hey y'all! Gonna be coding fics/headcanons with sensitive content in red! All trigger Warnings will be listed on the post itself! Take care friends <33

Edit two: hey again! I will be coding all headcanon posts in green!

Edit Three: Wow, so many edits! All sexual/NSFW five will be coded in purple!

____________________________________

🔮Checkmate: Roland and Cedric (platonic) play chess together, a short drabble.

🔮 Take a Hint: (Oblivious) Cedric x Y/N Reader fic, who has a crush!

🔮The Aftermath of Being A Hero- Cedric X Reader fic, taking place after the events of @shychick-52's fic on AO3 called "The Master Wand." Taking care of Cedric and his injuries trope!

🔮AuDHD Cedric Headcanon/Analysis List, With Autistic S/O- my headcanons of audhd Cedric behaviors as well as him witn an autistic s/o!

🔮The Choices That Make Us: Part One, Part Two, Final Part- A collection of short drabbles that delve into the darker parts of Cedric's psyche, with him contemplating whether his life is worth living.

🔮Come To My Senses- Cedric x Reader Hurt/Comfort

🔮An Absurd Idea, Isn't It?- Cedric x Fem!Reader talk about having children

🔮Show Me How To Live With You (Part 1; pt 2 discontinued) - Cedric x Dragon!Shapeshifter Reader

🔮Raspberry Tea And You- Cedric x AFAB!Reader with period cramps

🔮Nightmares And Late Night Talks- Cedric x Reader who has a nightmare

🔮Dance With Me- Cedric x Reader Attend The Wassalia ball together

🔮Cedric Means, "Loved"- Cedric x Reader Meeting His Parents (for the first time, actually wholesome I promise lol)

🔮Old Books, A New Face- Cedric x Shy Librarian Reader

🔮Cedric, The Doctor- Cedric x Reader Who Gets Injured

🔮An Old Friend, A New Lover- Cedric x Sorceress Reader From Another Kingdom

🔮Babysitter Blues, Part 1 Part 2 Part 3- Cedric x Reader who babysits Calista, but things get... complicated, once calista turns herself into a baby by accident.

🔮Cedric The Sorcerer Relationship Headcanons (old list) (includes nsfw)

🔮THE FIRST FIC IVE EVER WROTE (do yourself a favor and don't read this- its bad and the font is hard to read. but I also can't stop you from reading it anyways LOL, but you can't say I didn't warn you.)

🔮Cedric General Headcanons (old list)

🔮Cedric x Siren Reader Headcanons!

🔮Child Cedric After "The Incident"- Headcanon/what if post

#cedric the sensational #cedricthesorceror #sophia the first #cedric x reader #bettathanyou answers #sofia the first #cedric the sorcerer #bettathayou masterlist post #pinned post

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nectar-cellar · 9 months

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HIIII

i'm sorry for my absence in posts and replies, life has just been hectic lately & ive been feeling crappy 😭

first of all, thank you very much for the response on the night drive story posts, as an avoidant writer it means a lot 🥺💖

i felt motivated to write more, so this weekend i worked on my Amir x Dani Smut Story #2. i was looking at all my cc projects and just feeling very bleugh about them so i decided to take a break from that.

i went thru my google drive and i realized i wrote this smut draft one year ago. my brain is fully rotted by my ocs at this point. since i can never make things simple for myself, i had to write an Angsty Emotional Plot for it as well. no they can't just get straight to fucking, that would be too easy. 🙄

i got about 50% of the scenes done (intro and foreplay). i'm really happy with how it's coming along because i got all hot and bothered while taking the pictures so i must be on the right path. i just have to do the rest of the scenes... and then do some post-editing and cutting unnecessary pics... then rewrite the script to fit the captions... 💀

i ended up fully decorating amir's sunset valley rental apartment so hopefully this week i can take some pictures and give you a tour of his place.

here's a preview of some of the steamy pics i've gotten so far, as a thank you for bearing with me. nothing explicit......... i'll save that for pillowfort.

i don't want to give away too much of what happens but basically umm it's another fantasy from amir's perspective. he gets kinky in this one and you'll find out... what... he... enjoys 😭

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calliemity · 2 months

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hey guys! i did something much more different than ive done yet. i mean, its another digital recording of a record, but its not lsoh or steve martin themed somehow! wow!

youtube

its a recording of the beatles song "ticket to ride", except the copy i used is pretty dirty and i played it at 33 1/2 RPM, instead of the intended speed of 45 RPM. if that means nothing to you, basically i played the record at a slower speed than its supposed to be played. im gonna copy-paste the description of the video here:

"Played by The Beatles, from their 1965 album "Help!" Composed by Lennon-McCartney. I got this 45 of "Ticket to Ride" recently, with the B-Side "Yes It Is." Unfortunately, the copy is pretty dirty, and I don't have the means to deepclean it. When I first played it, I forgot to set my turntable speed to 45 RPM, and the slowed version I heard for those brief seconds freaked me out. So obviously, I decided to do a digital recording of the song played at a slower speed. The audio is raw, I didn't alter it (aside from playing the record at a slower speed). The picture is a real picture of my copy, although I did edit the photo and add film grain for the vibes. I'm not sure what anyone could do with this. It's not the most pleasant listen, so I don't imagine people putting it on their playlists. Maybe someone can use it in a scary short film or something! Whatever this comes of, I hope people find it interesting. I do not own the song in question. All rights go to their respective owners. This has been created and posted as transformative art."

#the beatles #john lennon #paul mccartney #george harrison #ringo starr #records #slowed songs #Youtube

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genshinnrambles · 7 months

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[4.1] The Primordial Sea Pt. 2: Creation as the Key to Sin

EDIT (1/20/2024): to you, reader of the future, past me was very very wrong about this theory! like, misunderstood the lore levels of wrong. so take this post as fanfic if nothing else, it is not correct especially in the understanding of how imagination played into Caterpillar’s creation. Sorry for the blunder!

In 4.0, I wrote two theories: one was a short speculative theory on the nature of the Primordial Sea, and the second was a theory about Rhinedottir and the reason she is considered a “sinner.” With 4.1’s release, including the Archon Quest and the world quest Unfinished Comedy, I believe there is now enough information for a short follow-up theory that synthesizes them and makes one more attempt to understand 1) what it means to be a “sinner” in Teyvat, and 2) what it means to be “born with sin.”

SPOILERS: Fontaine Archon Quest up to the end of Act IV, Ancient Colors, and some dialogue from the end of Unfinished Comedy, which is a world quest with the NPC Caterpillar in the Fortress of Meropide. You have been warned!

edit: please excuse some formatting errors I’ve noticed that are only visible on mobile with some of the bulleted lists. on web, the post seems to be okay. I will fix these asap!

First I’d like to summarize the two previous theories and their main findings/points. They’re linked above if you’d like to read them in full, but it’s not necessary to follow the rest of this post.

In the Primordial Sea theory, I theorized that it could be either of these two things:

The blood of some higher being.

Who: Either Nibelung or the first Hydro Sovereign, based on the weapon ascension material lore from Fontaine

Why:

The copious End of Evangelion references in the Fontaine AQ, including how Primordial Seawater behaves so similarly to LCL, which is the blood of Lilith, who is the progenitor of humanity in Evangelion

Several life forms in Genshin have arisen from a higher being’s blood too such as the Melusine and the Jinn (technically, in the latter’s case).

The “water” in Elynas is described as “blood” by Jakob, a very peculiar description given all of the above

The amniotic fluid of the egg that hatched the Primordial One

Why: Idk man it just seemed like a possibility at the time.

Needless to say, as time goes on I’m more convinced that it’s likely the first option, blood. I have even more reasons beyond the above to believe so, but they will be outlined in another theory I’m working on right now about the Urstone in Yoimiya’s second story quest.

In the theory about Rhinedottir and the meaning of “sin,” I used Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of dream interpretation as a framework to understand how Rhinedottir is “positioned,” so to speak, as an alchemist and creator of life. In summary:

Freud thought the psychological significance of dreams was to fulfill wishes that we haven’t fulfilled either because we have repressed them into the unconscious or cannot fulfill them in real life for one reason or another

He thought that the reason we dream is that the “wish” is attempting to be remembered and acknowledged by our ego – the dream is produced as the wish tries to cross the boundary between the conscious and the unconscious (and this boundary is “where” dreams occur)

A wish is, in essence, a thought – and dreams are the translation of a thought into images.

With this analogy in mind, here is how Rhinedottir and her dragon children fit into it:

Teyvat and everything under the rule of the Seven is the conscious/ego

The Abyss and everything outside of the rule of the Seven is the unconscious

Elynas and Durin and all of their unnamed siblings are repressed/unfulfilled wishes. A direct reference to this is actually made in the lore text for Festering Desire, where Rhinedottir does seem to explicitly refer to them as unfulfilled wishes.

Rhinedottir, then, is the “dreamer,” because she translates these “thoughts” into “images” with the power of alchemy.

The reason that this makes Rhinedottir a “sinner” is because “sinning” and “dreaming” have a pre-existing association in Genshin. An example would be the Sinshades of Tokoyo, which are afterimages of the strong emotions of Enkanomiya’s former citizens.

Freud believed these “strong emotions” are what underlie an unfulfilled wish.

The “afterimage” is a translation of the “thought” or “strong emotion” that Istaroth preserved into something with “form.”

Just like a dream (if you exclude daydreams, I suppose) only happens at night, when the “censorship” that protects our ego from repressed thoughts is weakest, the Sinshades only appear during Evernight when the Hyperion sun is extinguished.

I largely stand by everything in these two theories still, but I think what Rhinedottir theory fails to do in its current state is make clear that sinning is about more than just "dreaming," but creating life.

The Meaning of Sin: Imagination

Caterpillar, the NPC who exists somewhere between the boundary of human and Hilichurl, has something very interesting to say at the end of Unfinished Comedy when we ask him about his master, Rene (who he calls “Narzissenkreuz”), and whether or not Rene “created” him:

Caterpillar: Also, it is not quite correct to say that he "created me." Traveler: How so? Caterpillar: Creation is a feat for a god... If we may call the one above a "god." Caterpillar: In the tenets of Narzissenkreuz, do you know what is most critical in creating someone? Paimon: What is it? Caterpillar: It's imagination. Imagining a person, down to the last detail, akin to an Oceanid imagining a creature in the wild. Caterpillar: There's a story that tells of a powerful mage-priest imagining his own son, only to realize he himself was the product of someone else's imagination.

Now, I cannot emphasize enough how huge this dialogue is for solving the Archon Quest’s mystery. “Imagination” is the key – it is, at its core, just like the process of dreaming: translating thoughts into images. The only difference is that dreaming is an unconscious process that happens when we’re asleep, while using your imagination is an active, conscious process.

The other key is that creation is a feat for a god, so if someone usurps that power, they have “sinned.” Creation is so closely related here and in general to using your imagination and dreaming, translating thoughts into images and giving them “forms,” so to be “born with sin,” I think, can’t be anything short of this: being created with a power that does not “belong” to your creator.

So, let’s think about the Primordial Sea again and the prophecy: the Primordial Sea is supposed to be the origin of all life forms, and just as it gave rise to them, it will someday devour them again and cleanse their sins. If Fontainians are the only ones who dissolve when they touch Primordial Seawater, then this origin from the Primordial Sea is either so diluted in other humans in Teyvat as to be inconsequential, OR this origin is truly unique to Fontainians alone. In other words, the specific way that Fontainians were created is fundamentally different from how other humans in Teyvat were created. They were created by a power that was “usurped,” meaning that their creator is not a "true god," if we go off what Caterpillar said.

At the end of Act IV, Neuvillette uses what remains of his Authority of Hydro to push back the Primordial Sea and overrule its imminent sentencing, if only temporarily. Now, I’m still very hesitant to say that this Primordial Sea/Blood belongs to the former Hydro Sovereign Scylla, if only because it seems that Scylla and the God-King Remus went to the Primordial Sea together in the Broken Goblet of the Pristine Sea lore. Otherwise, Scylla is kinda the prime suspect here.

But to be honest, I think I was also wrong to say the Primordial Sea only ever had one “origin,” though I do think even more so now that one of those origins is a Sovereign (whether that’s Scylla or Nibelung [hmmmmmmm] or whoever). What I missed from the weapon ascension material lore is the allusion that the primordial sea is a mixture of both pure water and “ichor.” It seems that what Remus, the Usurper-King, used to create his kingdom was the ichor:

“Combining the immortal stone with the Ichor essence extracted from primordial water, and carved into a race as black as iron— with arcane lithos for skin and Ichor for blood, never again fearing the curse of returning to the primeval past…” –Wine Goblet of the Pristine Sea

And that ichor that Remus extracted is likely abyssal in nature too. This is clear from the effects of Sinthe on people who ingest it - euphoria, difficulty controlling emotions, similar to getting drunk (which, yes, its namesake is likely Absinthe). As said in A Drunkard’s Tale: "What you humans call wine, we wolves call the abyss."

This also ties back to Rhinedottir and how she created her dragons. The “medium” that Rhinedottir uses to “dream” is her alchemy, and the ingredients she used seems to have been abyssal in nature as well, hence the special “blood” or “ichor” that ran through both Durin and Elynas’ veins.

The Pure Water is likely what makes the Primordial Sea respond to Neuvillette’s authority, the “dragon” part of the Primordial Sea. So what’s up with the Abyss likely being in there too? What’s really going on here, and how is it connected with the whale?

I’m especially curious about this bit from Golden Bird’s Shedding:

“It was at this very moment that the golden era suddenly ceased, plunging down into ceaseless war and rebellion. The throne chamber was filled with cries of conquest and destruction and the agony of the barbarian tribes, and the God King awoke, startled.”

…because that sounds an awful lot like Deshret “waking up” amidst the wars in Gurabad, especially this short excerpt from Staff of the Scarlet Sands:

“"The Sand King sleeps alone in secret dreams, drawing up new theorems." "None shall have to drink salt water in the King's realm, for everything in the new world shall be good."

Did Remus find Forbidden Knowledge too? And if so…where/how?

I said this was going to be short, so I’m gonna wrap things up here despite there being more rabbit holes to go down. But I think this is it - the bearer of the “original sin,” the original sinner of Fontaine if you will, was likely Remus, who usurped the power of creation. This is the only reason that I can think Fontainians are different from other humans in Teyvat . One last thing to note is that, from the Wine Goblet of the Pristine Sea, it does sound like the prophecy predates even Remuria itself and that Remus was trying to transcend that fate by creating his golems. Maybe Remus even first heard of this prophecy from Scylla when they went to the sea together. This is why I'm trying to be so specific - he was the first to try and transcend this fated end in Fontaine.

As for how or why these “sins” persist, why or how they keep being reborn after the great flood reclaims the "ichor" that was stolen from it....I think only the Golden Troupe and Rene de Petrichor knew.

On the bright side, let’s say everybody gets dissolved in the finale of Act V and Furina really is the only one left, weeping on her throne: as long as she remembers everyone, can imagine them down to the last detail, she should be able to bring everyone back. But if it goes that way, the cycle would probably just repeat. Surely she has another plan?

Anyway, thanks for reading! If you have a different take I’d also be happy to hear it, as this doesn't come close to covering everything and I'm sure there's still a lot of holes re: Remurian civilization details.

#genshin impact #genshin lore #genshin meta #genshin impact lore #genshin impact meta #genshin theory #fontaine lore #primordial sea #rhinedottir #hydro sovereign #remuria #narzissenkreuz #theory

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mystical-inclinations · 1 year

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idk if it's different in patho 2 (ive never played it) but in pathologic classic using the "mystical inclinations [...] left and right hand" dialogue as gay evidence that hinges on 'omf it's the first thing he says when they meet what a homo' but one of the major reasons this quote is so fucking good is because this isn't even close to the first time daniil and artemy meet. if ur playing the game in the recommend order, daniil has already completed his route. they know each other really well. they know their ideologies are completely incompatible. they also have an inkling that they are the same, things are repeating, things are different, "nature is playing jokes". obviously im not saying that daniil remembers the previous route exactly, but the player doesssss. and that's the context that makes his minor(?) breakdown about not being real a little more impactful, because he's already got the feeling things are starting again. another brilliant thing ab the way this was written is it doesn't rely on the player unlocking any of the secret endings in their first playthrough (pretty tough ride going in blind), so the line is either:

'wow this self awareness is fucking cool. I wonder if daniil kinda remembers the previous route, knows everything is starting again'

'oh my fucking god he kinda remembers that he isn't real'

anyways rant is almost over, but I also promise I'm not saying that daniil and artemy aren't gay or whatever, that's subtext for you to pick up on yourself. I'm just saying that the "left and right hand" thing means lots of other things (I just barely covered the sort of Brechtian angle you could take, there are so many angles because its a phenomenal game).

EDIT FOR CLARITY:

above post is unedited so u can understand why it is not effective in communicating my point lmao

I absolutely think the line has romantic implications. I also think it implies other things. I do not think people who analyse the romance are just unaware of the other things. I do not think the 'we have been here before' implications are the most important implications. Nor are they my favourite implications. I am just saying the fact it is the first thing Daniil says to Artemy has nothing to do with the romantic implications, but everything to do with the 'we have been here before' implications. I do not think that romance and 'we have been here before' implications are the only implications.

#мор утопия #pathologic classic #pathologic #daniil dankovsky #artemy burakh #edit reads like a legal document lmaooo

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allamericansbitch · 5 months

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The xenophobia towards Brazilian swifties is so disgusting. There was only like 1 post from someone attending the Rio show that was out of line and I do not agree with that and they deserve the backlash that they got for using derogatory remarks towards Taylor for having to postpone night 2.

But I’ve been seeing Americans swifties making edits on tik tok of the general crowd’s reaction when finding out that night 2 of Rio was postponed and saying how ungrateful they are being. That’s such an unfair assessment of their characters. Using clips for their edits of some of the concert attendees getting interviewed after they found out about postponed news and all of them saying that they’re disappointed is so weird. Like if I camped out for hours and the venue let me in and it wasn’t until a few hours before the show that I found out that the show was cancelled then my first initial reaction would be anger too.

So many american swifties were genuinely furious over openers and surprise songs and they didn’t get the same amount of backlash that Brazilian swifties get for being disappointed that their concert date that they’d been looking forward to for years was postponed. We should all be angry at the T4F organization for doing such a terrible job handling all of it but instead, swifties all across the world are arguing about which countries deserve Taylor and all of these arguments have been incredibly racist and disgusting to read and I hate it :/

perfectly said. swifties in general ive found are very territorial (over surprise songs is a good example) but american swifties are so weird their egos. like we somehow own taylor (again another example of not seeing her as a person) and when she went to latam, we were allowing them to have her and they should be grateful because we could take her back at any moment. or forcing this narrative that latam fans are ungrateful or undeserving, which is insane enough but to then say it about an entire country or community, saying these places arent safe or worthy of taylor... thats just pure xenophobia and racism.

a huge event that people were saving for, planning for almost a year ahead of time, traveled for and looked forward to got cancelled very last minute. thats disappointing no matter the context of why. obviously it was for good reason and it was the right choice, but theyre allowed to feel disappointed despite that. that disappointment doesnt mean they dont deserve the event at all, its not them being ungrateful... its them just experiencing a valid human emotion.

#answered #anonymous #this is a big issue with taylor really cultivating a very American™ audience.. not very culturally aware and open minded

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e-adlirez · 7 months

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Soo haven't read the thea sisters series for a while (Ive only remember reading the very old ones lol), but I have seen you (and maybe some people) complaint that the friendship stuff in the book is very on the nose or in your face. Is it... really that egregious in the newer books? Because I don't remember them being agresively friendship power in the older ones (aside from maybee ... the ice treasure? with the whole jealosy stuff tho they are not that aggressive).

Yeah the older ones were a lot more subtle with it, and even the most explicit example I could find (two scenes in the non-English translation of Shipwreck where Vi describes the friends as "friends worth a lifetime") was very wholesome and sweet and brought me to want to hold Violet gently in my hands and give her pats more than I already did. Ice Treasure was the girls maturely getting together to resolve a love triangle that would've torn the group apart had this been written in another series, and you have to respect that mature way of thinking.

But are they that egregious in the new books?

Boy do I

have

good

news

for

you

buddy!!! :D /s

I wasn't intending for this sequence to sync up perfectly, but here we are. Each group of screenshots is from one book each.

Also these are from the special editions because they're the worst offenders but I don't doubt that there are some in the main series and Mouseford series but I dun wanna go find them let me live my denial fantasies--

It started off mild in Cloud Castle, when Vi does a heroic sacrifice and explains why she did it

As you can see, despite the clunky Scholastic translation, it's very wholesome and cute and you can tell how much Vi cares for the girls and how much the girls care for each other

And it's realistic!! You care for your friends, naturally you don't wanna see them get hurt (like genuinely hurt) and you wanna make sure they're okay.

A-as you can see tho in the later books it got worse... Like so much worse.

The screenshots above are in chronological order, so we have special edition books 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, and Treasure Seekers 1 and 3 (thank god book 2 kinda doesn't have it overtly). Next part will just be rough context blurbs of each of the scenes so you have a teeny bit of context. (Context ain't savin' these scenes tho)

Book 5 is set in an underwater fantasy world where there's this Mariana's Trench-like bit of nightmare fuel called the Infinite Abyss, where you look down and magic literally sucks you down into the abyss. Because of uh... reasons that were very (and I mean VERY) poorly written in the book that I sincerely hope is just the Scholastic translators being Scholastic translators, Vi ends up looking down while crossing over it, and she and Colette get yoinked down. Yes the scene after they've recovered is the cringiest bit of dialogue I've seen in my life. There is this one cute loom scene in the book that makes sense since the loom basically allows you to make a tapestry of your happy memories and the happiness you feel from that memory, but uh friendship was tied into it so uh eeehhhhh... The happiness part already made sense, you didn't have to tie the power of friendship into it c'mon :/

Book 6 is uh, apparently even in the original Italian it was kinda meh, and I wager the scene got carried over to English about the same. They're fighting this witch wanting to conquer the Land of Flowers, and Flora does a heroic sacrifice that jus,,, the attack jus dissipates as soon as it touwches her,,, why,,? powew of fwiendship that's why,,

Book 7 is... good god I could make an entire thing about it, but I'm torn between wanting to make a Tumblr post about it or a YouTube video about this book and how underwhelming it is, because I could wax eloquent for about a half-hour about why it's so disappointing and arguably the worst of the special editions, and some cute little animations or doodles from me would make it so much more entertaining and could sidestep getting clapped by Scholastic or EdiPiemme, hopefully? I dunno, maybe when I'm less busy with school.

Anyway what's wrong with Book 7? First of all uh the dragon is a redeemed villain type of thing and even if you read the book the thing doesn't make much sense. They tried to make him a misunderstood villain thing, but too little was done to add detail to that? All the important stuff involving him was done off-screen, and the uh him freeing his fiance from her gemstone prison is yeah, you saw it up there, I'm sure. Paulina gives him words of encouragement, she rolls decently in her charisma, and boop now he's hooman again and his fiance is free, yippee

Also the fiance?

This woman right here?

Don't be fooled by that basic fairy design, this woman is the literal personification of the power of friendship trope. For what little time she spends with the girls and helps them with the obstacles they have to deal with. They need to talk to this antisocial wolf guarding the next checkpoint? That's fine, she and the wolf are childhood friends! They need to get past this impossible labyrinth cave to get a super-valuable gemstone that the inhabitants of said labyrinth cave hold very dearly? That's fine, she met one of the fairies and helped her, so they're friends! Literally power of friendship personified. Thanks, I hate it :D

Book 8 is the book that exists. It's one of the special edition books ever for me, and the only thing cool that happens there is Nicky pulling a Robin Hood archery trial. Besides that? Eeehhhh... this scene in that book isn't so bad since the characters who do the power of friendship thing are actual magic fairies in this magic world.... but at the same time the girls making comments on it is making me die inside, did I mention these girls are uni students--

Book 9 is eeehhhhhhhhh.... it's an underwhelming finale for the special editions for one, for many reasons that could garner itself a ramble here, but eeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh.... I'm just mad at the Violet slander ngl wHY DO THEY MAKE HER THE FRIENDSHIP PROPHET I GET SHE VALUES HER FRIENDS BUT SHE'S STILL A PRACTICAL LOGICAL WOMAN IN PERSONALITY YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO HER--

I stand by the fact that Treasure Seekers as a hardcover series for Thea Stilton is really good for those who loved the older books as a kid and are coming back for nostalgia. You read the first book and it feels like you're being welcomed back to the Thea Sisters you knew and loved back in the days of seeing the cool girlboss covers of the books in your school library and spending hours reading the cool adventures they got themselves into around the world (and even outside it). I dunno if they meant is as a homage to the older books, but it felt like it when I read it.

Anyway literally the only thing sullying these books is the power of friendship monologues in book 1 and 3. The worst part of it is that Violet once again is the one saying or thinking these things and it feels so out of character and out of place, like HELLO??? Vi sweetie the only thing stopping that shady businesswoman character from holding Pam at actual gunpoint is the 6-10 age range of the books? This ain't the time for the power of friendship??? Also who gave her the friendship ball and can they please let Violet punt it at them? Book 3 is the same-- I mean in this context uh I dun wanna spoil it so uh yeah, but Vi is basically disagreeing with the villain in this conversation they're having, and literally the only thing ruining it is her saying "the power of friendship" straight up. If she said "my friends" or "my sisters", it would've been so much better-- same goes for the time Vi is talking to the girls again and they ask her what she said in the previous one-on-one convo, it would've been better if she said something cute like "friends like you"-- but we can't have nice things huh, Scholastic? (Dunno if the original Italian one has the "power of friendship" one but I sincerely hope not, and it doesn't sound like it since the original Italian intro letter of book 3 went so hard--)

Vi deserves better smh -m-

Anyway there's my rant. Yeah, it does get really egregious in the later books. Where did we go wrong :(

#thea stilton #thea sisters #questions with e #I might make ramble posts about the books at some point #it would be fun to do and it'll be cool for those who wanna get back into the books maybe #but I'm busy with school wah #Violet slander is too real in these books #if you're gonna make a friendship prophet make it colette at least jeebus at least it sounds like something fluffy she'd say

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rontra · 10 months

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your art is making me go absolutely feral about wondermagic. I never looked at Zatanna comics before (or much comics in general), do you have any recommendations on where to start? I need more of this funky gay stage magician and her huge dork girlfriend in my life.

oh god. I MEAN first of all YES!!!!! WONDERMAGIC W!!!!!!! im so happy to hear it. they make me actually crazy im glad youre enjoying The Art

however SECOND OF ALL i must confess (as i have confessed before!) that i am a fake ass comic book fan. i've barely read Anything for Any character (LOL) i am not at ALL versed in her various appearances/history. so tbh i hope my more knowledgeable followers can drop recs for both me and you if there's anything particularly noteworthy

but i can talk about what i HAVE read bc my journey with her has been very . memorable to me. THIS IS NOT A HELPFUL POST this is just me infodumping--AT LENGTH--about my and zatanna's relationship. but i do talk a little about what ive read. like casual rontra followers can stop reading here its just rambling

anyway my first exposure to ms zatanna was in the first proper dc comic i ever read. which doesnt count because its extremely not about her (this is a tangent) but its notable for making me out loud go "who is this MAGICIAN" which prompted my partner to immediately reply "you mean zatanna zatara". oh you know her. you know the magician. bitch who the hell is--

you gotta appreciate the experience here. its babys first ever comic. i know superman i know batman ive seen them around (from being alive as a human). i have never in my life heard of the stage magician who hangs out with them (in full costume??) and is their friend(?????)

SHES VERY MEMORABLE. WHO THE HELL IS THIS MAGICIAN

anyway that's all a tangent. flash forwards to last month. i was already working on CTDE from the kara^2 angle (bc i majored in n52 power girl w a minor degree in supergirl: woman of tomorrow, of course) but i was like "i should expand this roster". my friends suggest their blorbos ofc and i have a fun time reading wiki pages from multiple storylines/continuities just getting a wide array of impressions from different places. just snooping around the Vibes. and im like. man i should look at that Magician. read some of HER pages

you gotta appreciate knowing nothing at like 3am, to figuring out ctde zatanna's palette at 5:43 am

i can't resist her.

anyway i already knew here that i was going to do something weird with her in the CTDE that wasn't necessarily connected to any of her published material. i was cooking independently. the stove was on before i had ingredients on hand bc i had the IDEA first. but i was like "i should look at some of her stuff first-hand and try and refine the Vibes" yknow. like theres limits to how much of a fake zatanna fan i can be

so we put out a call in the Mutuals Network and someone was like "you Could watch the justice league dark movie from 2017 she's in that". i was like ok 1hr15 animated movie i can handle that EASY

i didn't love the movie. so i'm not going to say anything else about it. however something VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE:

thats right. wondermagic took hold before i read a single zatanna comic. just as it has for you anon.... we're not so different you and i...

couple days pass. im just relaxing. hanging out. looking at random tumblr blogs that post comic stuff bc im curious. so i stumble on this one post and it has a clean edit of This Fateful Image 👇

this. GODDAMN image

i was like Wonder Woman is HOW TALL? excuse ME? (>he has also never engaged with a single piece of wonder woman content)

SHES SO TALL........??? and Next To Zatanna? (diesel voice) back in my day we called this spitting distance. and we would post it on /u/

im like okay what comic is this from im going there and im going NOW. to view her. like it's that easy folks. just show me wonder woman, Tall, next to another woman. and i'll go read it

nyway this is Justice League Dark from 2018-2020 it's like 30 issues or so and theres a stretch of chapters where diana is a real hunk its unbelievable. then the art changes but it was amazing while it lasted

(and then i immediately stumbled and wondermagic ctde real)

i really enjoyed this comic actually. i have NO idea how its generally regarded by zatanna nation, but i had a fun enough time. absorbed a lot of DC Comics Magic Lore for my AU which is important

at some point it starts doing Weirdly Umineko Coded dialogue totally unprompted so if you've read that it might tickle your funnybone to see comic book characters asking each other "was this a trick or was it magic 😏". made me feel right at home

my main complaint is that SHE'S NOT DRESSED LIKE A FUCKING MAGICIAN IN IT!!!! COME ON!!!!! they chickened out on the full magician garb in this whole era. which is just so sad. the fishnet fingerless gloves are funny though i might steal that. but i think she is so funny when she's wearing the full magician costume. like call me shallow but her commitment to the bit is so important to me

on the upside she interacts with wonder woman A Lot. the rest of the team is fun too. the justice league dark team is just wonder woman severely failing to put together a squad with any star power at all and i think that's adorable. her failgirl era. now she's out here with her also-rans. i like them all im fond of them

diana scruffs zee like a cat??? she's just hanging there like she's ok with it LOL

it technically jumps off of another comic but tbh if you're willing to hit the ground running and just Accept some stuff in medias res and go with it it's pretty easy to pick up if you wanted

("Just Going With It" is a vital survival skill for getting into comics in general because even if a comic isn't part of a longer continuity its always like "omg glup shitto is here!!! for the fans!!!" and you just have to be like Okay someone else will know who that is. ill just go w it. yknow 😭)

anyway i got a lot of DC Magic Lore (Strangely Familiar Edition) and Zee Content AND!!! Wondermagic Content. in this one. so even if i had an inkling about them before, this comic is really what detonated the charge so to speak. they interact so much

and the dynamic created w their relationship to magic and stuff is really interesting. brainwormy for sure. it took me from "who the hell is this magician" to "DO PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT WONDERMAGIC????? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELLO???" in one comic. i have a LOT of thoughts about them like genuinely i think there's meat on the bone conceptually for wondermagic

but i think pretty much any time they appear together in general they're just Like That. whenever theyre both in a comic they have to be gay about it (what the fuck did she mean by this). i was losing my mind when i was catching up on DC/RWBY (ABHORRED. avoid if possible) and zatanna is immediately on her bullshit again. IS THAT HOW YOU GREET HER

anyway to sum up my rambling here's a peek into my league of comic geeks library of Shit Ive Read Since Then (that had zee in it). basically i have no further wisdom for you but for the knowers this is where i'm at (click to enlarge)

it's a totally random selection LOL my strategy is that i look at comics that list her as a cast member and spin an actual roulette wheel in my brain to decide whether i should read it or not. there's very little else going on here. just monkey sees funny magician -> neuron activates

that pretty much catches us up on my zatanna journey. youll notice if you paid attention to the date/time stamps that it took a mere matter of Days to go from "yeah i can watch a movie" to "i think about her kissing women every night before i sleep". it is DIRE in here. im not sure ive ever had such a Severe escalation of worms

i love her. she's my funny girl. anyway. zatanna nation. if you're still reading this. if you're still with me. what is your wisdom. what should me and anon read. please.

this is a matter of international consequences.

#this post is actually so long if you hit the readmore But i do circle back to you.#sorry i just took the opportunity to infodump. its my funny magician post and i decide the focus (there is no focus)

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txxfiles · 3 months

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give me all the fics where the boys kiss

Hi! It looks like I'm week 3!

I honestly have no idea idea what im doing really but i guess you'll just have to listen to me ramble about something i enjoy. Seems to fit the theme we've accidentally settled on and well! if theres one thing im good at rambling about its bl fanfiction. i read ALOT of fanfiction. like 13million words worth of it in 2023 alone (an estimate but i did the ugly math for jan and feb last year and id already read 2.7 million words so i dont think its too high an estimate).

ive read fics from too many fandoms to count and also have way more hyperfixations then any one person has a right too but the one that has owned my ass consistently for the last 4 years is The Untamed otherwise know as Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS).

The lovely Eucalyptus from week 2 was watching the untamed during covid (and holy shit what a wild ride that was) and the next thing I know im neck deep drowning in fan art and tiktok edits of beautiful chinese men that have no business being as talented as they are (Im looking at u Wang Yibo) This. shit. fucked. up. my. life.

then i turned to my good friend AO3 (love of my life i could not exist without you) and 4 years later ive read my tags dry. if its complete, ive read it. im getting desperate and ive started reading works in progress, yikes. its so risky i honestly cannot tell you how much anxiety it gives me. ive been burnt too many times.

HOWEVER

this does mean if you need a fic recommendation then your girl has got you covered, so i figured i would share with you my TOP SIX fic recommendations. im sorry i tried to make it 5 but i just couldnt do it.

I will be chasing a starlight by feyburner & sundiscus

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji - 71,479 words - Complete

Omg. Wangxian Startrek AU. The pining, the miscommunication. I felt every range of emotion on this roller-coaster. I literally printed this out so that I could keep it forever. I wish I could read it for the first time all over again. This Fic hit AO3 like a comet. It even has it’s own Tumblr thread! Also comes with stunning fanart.

Paint smears on sunny days by SnowshadowAO3

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji - 53,808 words - Complete

Modern Day AU, Musician/Single dad Lan Wangji falls in love with his son’s Art Teacher Wei Wuxian. I swear it's one of the cutest stories ever written, makes me feel all the good things. A-yuan is adorable and wangxian are hot and charming. The Ultimate wangxian comfort fic.

Rotten Work by ShanaStoryteller

Jin Rulan & Wei Wuxian - 63,907 words - Complete

Jin Ling fishes his Da-Ju out of the gutter post canon (Literally dying alone in a dirty inn, Wei Wuxian it's been 5 minutes pls) and decides if no one else is gonna keep him then he damn well will.

It is perfect.

Junior Quartet goodness, Yunmeng bro reconciliation and Jin Ling being a boss bitch little shit that has no time for anyone's bullshit. I cried as much as Jin Ling did in this story – which is alot. (Also another story ive made myself a solid copy of that i can love forever)

Joy In The Mindst of These Things by Glitterbombshell

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji - 52,901 words - 5 Works

TEACHER WEI WUXIAN! I love this trope with my whole soul. Lots of adorable baby Lans, I would kill for them. Beautifully written. Lan Qiren gets a much needed wakeup call. Last story is incomplete but can be read without the 5th installment. SO WORTH IT, ive read it like 10 times

The One-Body Problem by mitisket

Lan Jingyi & Wei Wuxian - 28,689 words - Complete

Well shit. How many times have a reread this story? I honestly couldn't tell you. Jingyi gets possessed by Wei Wuxian’s very tired soul pre canon and it changes nothing and yet everything. Their friendship gives me life and Jingyi fixes a lot of problems for his new bestie/mentor/uncle with his big mouth. Mom I love him

The Edge of Night by Hobbsy3

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji - 277,225 words - Complete

The best Zombie Apocalypse au on the MDZS tag honestly. There are so many good zombie film references in this one, i see you Train to Busan. Baby junior quartet, a perfect Wei Wuxian modern day depiction and so much love, angst and stress. It's delicious and I've never recovered.

All of these fics are actually part of a mother document i made last week of all my favourite fics organised by tag because apparently thats what i do with my free time. hit me up if you need a rec!

Now that ive gotten that off my chest i'll let you be lol. maybe I'll do a rec for a different fandom next time. I definitely have enough to choose from!

Lots of Love,

Iris

#blog post #fic rec #mdzs #rant post #2024 #Iris

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jeongtokkie · 1 year

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I was tagged by @rumue, @raplinenthusiasts, and @ambivartence to recap my year of creations. Thank you loves ♡

This year i posted a whooping 75 sets, mainly gfx! This was the year I properly started posting sets and edits on this blog (in feb for hoba's birthday, so there's nothing for jan...) it's been quite a ride and I could not be more thankful for the community on here. (look at my little header :((( ive never made one for myself like this. i think its really cute)

I'd love to see your own recap, so if you want to share ♡ @kithtaehyung, @kimtaegis, @woozification, @filmsout, @rosebowl @avizou, @jeonwonwoo, @minghao-s, @coupsnim, @astronautjin (no pressure though, if youve already done it tag me so i can reblog and share your amazing posts)

Without further ado, below the cut ♡

The first half of the year is very much bangtan and the second very much svt lmao

☆ for the most popular -- ♡ for my personal fav

☆ happy birthday sunshine - damn i just saw this for the first time in a while, i really went off! this is a good set sarah wtfff, i feel like regressed artistically LMAO

♡ mots:7 vocal line solos - i love this one :( another fav from the year. its actually the moon typography that gave me the idea for this

march aka yoongi month. i only had yoongi sets lmao

☆ masterchef yoongi - i mean honestly same, id love him this much too

♡ yoongi birthday - its like a scrapbook, very artist of me for him

☆ yoongi x ptd las vegas - very very sexc of him

♡ tiny kookie and his umbrella - some really low low res koo but he was too cute not to gif :((

☆ the most beautiful moment trilogy - this first installment of album rewind!! did not expect this set to do this well, but im so happy it did bc i really fcking love it. i feel like this is one of my favs this year.

♡ proof of tae - not your typical photo gfx but i really love it, the masking worked so well here.

♡ by vante - another fav bc i can't pick.

☆ dancing yoongi pt.2 - look how cute :(((

♡ proof of suga - i made a seesaw!! i think this layout is cool

this is hobi's month!

☆ jack in the box track list posters - this album meets a lot to me so i wanted to visualise it. this is a fav too!

♡ hobi fashion magazine covers - i cant afford anything is his closet but i can make fun moving magazine covers for his style.

this is hobi's month pt.2

☆ hobi in his jack in the box era - i had to document this era bc he was iconic af

♡ maknae line came to support hobi - we love dance line supporting their leader

i only made two posts....

☆ most chaotic hyung - this is most popular post this year by FAR!

♡ happy birthday namu - im so proud of this one! my little moving plants and doodles were so much fun to animate

☆ rapline's individual concepts - colour grading wise, this one is one of my best!

♡ happy birthday hannie - it's like a fun modern scrapbook, i'd never done anything like this layout style before.

☆ giant horangi - i gotta thank hosh for this series

♡ happy birthday wooza - the polygon outlines!! took forever but im so pleased with the result.

☆ peek-a-hui - the cutest little kitty, this is how i imagine he would look it would were in a box and he was a cat wanting to be in said box

♡ svt solo wrapped - i tried my hand and more typography motion design, very fun, very very happy with the result.

#tagged #wow i made a whole ass layout for myself #its been quite a year and im just really thankful for all the love ive received ♡ thank youuu #see you all in the new year for more chaos #fun fact: i made it through 12 eps of the 2nd season of haikyuu to organise all of this and make the mini headers lol

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omophagic-beast · 1 year

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alright lets talk ttrpg goals for 2023! this post is about games im writing that i want to finish this year, ill make another one for games i want to play in 2023.

i have. so many half finished games. in fact i even have several games that are written!! they just need to be laid out and put out there. so heres the goals and the order for said goals

1- Record Collection 2K23, and the yet-unnamed game for it that ive been writing up over the past few weeks. part tarot-driven game, part... play? there’s stage directions in there in any case

its based off the four wind albums by the Oh Hellos, later on the two characters in the play only talk to eachother via lyrics from each album, moving through the seasons as they move through their story.

ofc i want to finish this one during the jam, which means by the end of january. very much pushing myself to just Get It Out There and not worry so much about it being exactly what i want, because i can always come back and update it later. its horribly (affectionate) self indulgent already so to b clear i am writing this game for Me, so the only person who needs to like it at any point is Me :3

2- There Is An Anger Inside Of You. ive been noodling at this game for over a year now, with the creation date on the word doc being may of 2021. its done!!! its finished, i swear to god, i just need to lay it out, and i already know how im going to do that i just need to *grabs myself by the shoulders* fucking do it

its a game about being angry when youre not able to express it, the struggle of keeping your anger under wraps being played out as a rather unfair game of chess. and i am going to get it out by the end of february.

3- The Lady, The Tiger, and The Accused, a hack of For The Queen based on the short story The Lady or The Tiger. its another one that is currently completely written out, but rather than laying it out and getting it out there my goal with this one is to get it formatted for playtesting. its a three player game, players taking on the role of either The Lady, The Tiger, or The Accused, and answering the prompts as such. i really love it, but it needs to be played by people and revised before ill feel comfortable declaring it finished.

also, i want to actually crowdfund and print this one, with art and editing and maybe some pretty extras and such. so my goal is to start playtesting it by my birthday, the 17th of march. after that... im not sure! crowdfunding it by the end of the year would be wild i think, since, in true For The Queen style, id love to get a gaggle of artists to draw Princess cards for it, and that takes time! so the goal is more to have it ready for crowdfunding by the end of this year, and if that happens sooner then thats cool and good!

4- Someones Simple Book of Spells Volume One: Paper. This one is also FULLY WRITTEN *sounds of agony in the distance* i just need to LAY IT OUT

and honestly since i already know how i want to lay it out lets put this one for the end of april. yes this is pretty much a game a month for the next bit but theyre all SO CLOSEEEE to being done anyways its just that final push, i could accomplish most of these goals in a weekend if i just did it so. im going to!! do it!!!

5- ok finally, one thats actually not almost finished, its The Center of the Known Universe. a small anthology of games originally started for the weird west jam but never finished.

its got some of my favorite concepts ive ever thought of though, a game about aliens freezing time in a small western town and LARPing as cowboys, two wild west wizards battling it out at high noon, a game about supernatural cowboys falling in love while experiencing all the seasons of the desert, and more. its a love letter to the small desert town i currently live in, and i want to see it come into being. im going to give myself the summer for this, lets say the goal is to have the full first draft written by september. i also would love for this one to go into print, so a secondary goal is to have it ready to crowdfund in time for ZineMonth 2024, so february of next year.

i think thats probably all the projects i can set goals for this year, october-december is always very busy for me so im not gonna set anything besides the two i want to get ready for crowdfunding in 2024, though i do have several other half written games lying about (looks nervously at my over-4000 word “ttrpg ideas” doc).

maybe ill get into the swing of actually finishing games and get to them as well! but if not thats just fine :3

you can always find all my games over on the Grey Jay Games itch.io page, and i may make a sideblog just for GJG, but for the moment all game news and stuff from me will be right here @resident-corvid

#corvid caws #indie ttrpgs #also who knows #trying to crowdfund two things in 2024 might be a wild thing to try and do #cause running crowdfunding projects is Hard #but at the least id like to have those two ready so i could potentially crowdfund both in 2024 #and at the very very least the overall goal is to just SLAP SOME STUFF UP ON ITCH #number one goal above all else #GET IT THE FUCK UP THERE #njsdkbhjbgd #its going to be great #im excited

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