#outline notes

[potatoplace]

ALRIIIIGHT the FIRST post of The Afterthought outline notes are here! Read below the cut, see how weird my wording is, and how much changed from my original plans! 💖

The chapter names are different in some places I think, especially number one girl cause that has nooot happened yet lol

I look in peoples windows

When you were all human, you had a small herb garden that helped season food aaand earn some extra coppers when you were able to sell some. You love cooking, you always took over the cooking and carving parts after feyre got back from hunting (she took care of skinning and tanning the leather afterwards). You are the youngest Archeron sister, just a little under a year younger than Feyre (Nesta blames you for their mother getting ill with two pregnancies so close together)

When Nesta and Elain were taken, you had been off with a suitor you had been sent to that day, and when you came back to the manor it was destroyed, your sisters nowhere to be seen and all staff killed. The two months or however the fuck long the war with hybern was passed with you staying at the town's inn, barely able to pay for anything with the amount of gold you knew of.

After the war, Feyre and Rhys return to find you- and take you back to Velaris for "safety".

Nesta screams at you all the time, angry that you were able to keep your humanity. Elain ignores you, hardly ever says a word to you if she can help it.

You develop a crush on Cassian, who is the kindest member of the inner circle to you. You don't know how obvious your crush is until Feyre pulls you aside and tells you to let it go, get over it. Lots of insecurity, after all you are only a human. How could you compare? But you can't help it, you still react in his presence as much as you wish you didn't. Once Nesta learns that Cassian is her mate she hates you even more, glaring at you whenever the three of you are in the same room.

You eventually move on, hoping to salvage some kind of relationship with your sisters.

Lucien starts visiting more once Elain is feeling better, though she generally doesn't want his time. You invite him for tea once when he's over, and every time that Elain declines his company the two of you have tea. Once Elain finds out she flips her shit on you, starts to attempt to accept the bond with Lucien.

You feel like you don't belong. So out of place. So pathetically human.

But on the second year of you being in Velaris, you ask Feyre if everyone could have dinner at the House of Wind for Bounty Day- a human celebration of the end of the harvest season, filled with lots of good food. Feyre promises that everyone will show up.

You spend the week before preparing, going to the various Palaces with either Nuala or Cerridwen to get all of the ingredients you need. You even ask every vendor for the proper fae way to prepare the dishes.

You can't read. Well, you can, just enough to understand a recipe. But it takes time. You have Nuala/Cerridwen read it for you to make sure you understood it right.

When the day finally comes, you've been slaving away in the kitchen all morning, afternoon, and evening. The dinner is laid out, you had just barely had enough time to change before people were supposed to start arriving-

No one does.

You wait for an hour before admitting defeat to yourself. But Feyre promised?! You head down, down, down the ten thousand steps, dragging your body to the River House-

And there, inside, is your "family". Sat at the dinner table together, laughing and having a good time.

You're exhausted already, your human body weak in the cold. But you move. You move to the exit of Velaris, heading into the wilderness. Who cares if you die? They hadn't noticed you were missing from dinner. They hadn't remembered to come to YOUR dinner.

I Hate It Here

You're only out of Velaris for an hour before Azriel is sent to fetch you, dragging you back kicking and screaming to Velaris. You have a blowout, saying that you would rather live in poverty in the human lands once more than live with them, your former family. But you are kept in Velaris, the wards now set to keep you in.

Over the next three weeks leading up to your birthday, you isolate yourself. Rarely leaving your room except for refills of tea and occasionally a bowl of fruit and veg- you're as close to hunger strike as you'll ever be, hoping to perish in the winter cold like you were meant to.

On your birthday (3~ days before Feyre's/solstice) you're brought downstairs, only the promise of your favorite cake Elain makes drawing you down, and Feyre's begging looks even though you're on your cycle. Everyone got a gift for you: the sisters got you cookbooks (but you can't read...), Cassian got you a box of sweets, Rhys got you an old book of human fables (Feyre told him you used to love them, but still... you can't read), Amren got you a necklace (not your taste but nice), Mor and Az got a combined type of present: Az got you a teapot and set of tea cups that are enchanted to keep the liquid warm for at least 12hrs, and Mor got you five different blends of tea she thought you might like.

Your celebration is cut short by Cassian realizing that Feyre is pregnant- you slip away, without a piece of cake back to your room, books placed on your desk to be longingly looked at, and tea stuff kept on your dresser. Feyre comes by later with a slice of cake, and leaves it on your desk while you're asleep in the bathroom.

Clean

The one time you leave the River House was to go shopping for Feyre's birthday, you get her a set of nine small canvases with rope to attach them together, so she can document her feelings on her pregnancy in paint and have a memory of it. You also buy yourself a hairpin that doubles as a blade, charmed to only unsheathe at your touch. You get Feyre a similar one that is solely a hairpin.

You reject the idea of going to the cabin for solstice and Feyre's birthday, opting instead to give in to Feyre's begged request to go out to lunch on her birthday.

The one day you're alone after they leave for the cabin, you don't know what to do with yourself. You make tea, and automatically start going to your room before you stop and try to think of a place you'd rather sit. The fireplace... that's out, remembering how Elain yelled at you. The gardens are out because it's cold and snowy. The kitchen is uncomfortable, reminding you of the hunger in your stomach from your silent protest at life. So you take your tea back to your room, and pull the plush armchair over to the window, where you sit and stare until you fall asleep.

The next day, Feyre shows up as promised, you give her the presents you picked out for her. She has a request for her birthday tho: come dress shopping for starfall with her, Nesta, and Elain. You agree, solely because she gives you the puppy dog eyes that make you think of her as a human again.

Dress shopping goes as expected, lots of... hatred from Nesta and Elain. But you find a pretty dress, pale pink floor length with off the shoulder long sleeves: Feyre talked you into the less modest look, and you do like it... she also gets you a pair of silver heels.

Starfall is... Sad. You get ready, and Azriel takes you up. Mor is happy to see you after being gone for most of the time since your birthday, you talk for a few minutes before she gets pulled away by her new girlfriend (Emerie). You hope that someone will make time for you, that you won't feel like you're an annoyance, but that doesn't happen. You leave down the 10k steps once more after the actual starfall begins, and meander through the streets of Velaris before you come across Sevenda's restaurant. She asks how the dish she gave a recipe for turned out when she sees you, but notices that you're crying. An idea pops in your head- and you ask her for a job, anything that you can help out with. She agrees, and asks you to come in at 7 the next morning to get comfortable doing prep work for her.

Azriel finds you an hour or so later, sitting on the edge of a cliff and watching the ocean, wishing that you had the courage to just jump. He sits next to you and wraps a soft white fur shawl over your shoulders (button in the front), and one of his wings protects you from the cold. He asks why you left, you explain that you feel out of place no matter where you are in Velaris. You ask why he came- he says he was worried about you when he couldn't find you (you thought he was busy flirting with Gwyn, he sees her as a good friend)

He walks you back to the river house, all the way up to your bedroom after the two of you share a pot of tea together (you finally open his present to you, and share one of the teas)

The job at Sevenda's is perfect- you spend 3-6 hours there every day, helping out with the prep work. Once you've worked there for a month, you have enough to rent an apartment that Sevenda kindly pointed out for you, and you move out.

No one (besides Azriel and Mor once she's back) notices that you're out of the house so often now, or asks where you've been if they see you come home. Disappointing.

Azriel is the first to notice your move, and comes over a week after you're out, arms filled with the teas you like as a small housewarming present. (He was in Illyria for a couple of weeks, but noticed immediately that you'd moved out and comes right over) He's very nice, and apologizes for how everyone else acts.

Then he notices you don't have a bed- he plans to rectify that, offering to buy you a bed. You try to refuse, but he offers it as a housewarming present, and insists that you need a proper bed to sleep in, not the blankets on the floor. You make him promise to not make fun of you for whatever bed you choose, he says that he would never (and actually means it!!)

number one girl

You and Az go bed shopping, and as promised he's supportive of your choice to get a bed with a canopy that hangs from from the ceiling. He pays without question, happy to provide something nice for you. Shadows take the bed to your home, and fully set it up before the two of you return to your apartment.

Mor had been sent to the Hewn City again for a few weeks, but she notices as soon as she gets back that you're gone, and comes to visit you after asking Az where you went. She comes over as soon as she can, and drags you out shopping like she had promised to do so long ago. After all, you need an expanded wardrobe since you only took your favorites from the clothes that had been provided for you.

Shopping is fine enough, but like at Starfall it makes you aware of how your body appears- far too bony and frail. But it reflects how you feel, and you don't have the energy to change it.

Mor makes time for you whenever she can, as does Az.

You and Az start spending more and more time together, he comes over to fill out reports sometimes while you teach yourself to read and write (you went shopping for children's books and tools to help with it), Az helps when you ask. Whenever he returns from a long mission, he cleans up and heads straight to your apartment to see you, and check in on you. You start to develop a crush on him, but remind yourself of what Feyre said- how fae and humans don't belong together.

He starts bringing food every time for both of you once he notices that you rarely have food stocked in the apartment, generally only some produce. Slowly you start putting on a bit more weight, regaining some of the energy you used to have.

Feyre comes by a few weeks after you moved out, angry and hurt that you would go without even telling her. You throw back in her face that she hadn't even *noticed* you moved out until now, when Azriel and Mor realized as soon as they stepped back into the River House. Also point out how she got you a cookbook but couldn't be bothered to remember that she is illiterate, because Feyre's problem was already solved. Feyre apologizes, but you don't accept. You need more proof that she means it. She asks for you to give her a chance, to have tea or lunch once a week from now on. You accept that offer- you dooo miss Feyre, you had been the closest to her growing up.

After two months of spending time together, Azriel finally asks you out to your complete surprise- you never thought that he would be interested in you (in this az never tried to date Elain, only helped her adjust to her new body) especially with the pretty redhead that he had been with at Starfall.

The date goes amazingly well, he takes you out to dinner in this tiny little restaurant in the palace of thread and jewels (you hadn't even realized it was there) that he frequents often, they serve lots of soups (one of your favorite food types). You and Az share four different bowls, and by the end you're so stuffed and happy that you finally fiinally feel warm inside, all the way through again. Az drops you off at your door, a soft kiss pressed to your lips (your first kiss ever). You're left with butterflies and hope in your heart.

[abandoned-quiche]

I LOVE ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS BTW. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOUR HATE FOR THEM ON MY POST

[valeovalairs]

I went and read Alice in Wonderland for this (silly book i liked it)

This is my gift to @skittlespizza for the @jrwi-art-exchange myths and fairytales event!! Shilo in wonderland!

I actually also started writing a fic based off of this idea cause the book gave me too many ideas but didn’t manage to finish it in time (it’s long)- so I will share that eventually!!!

[lucky-fy]

For the Laicion nation (aka, me and three other people)

I had this illustration commissioned (a big thank you to @lunehowls) for my werewolf AU Laicion fic (still a WIP).

The general pitch is as follows :

AU in which Laios never got to meet his sister again, putting his life on a whole other path, a more desperate one. A military deserter with barely a coin to his name, Laios hitches a ride on a boat to one of the elven continents, where he learns about magical tattoos that binds one’s soul to a wolf’s, effectively making them artificial werewolves. Illegal magic be damned, this feels like the answer to… everything.

In the process, he learns about the existence of an illegal fighting ring in one of the elven cities, where beastmen gladiators gather. Freshly tattooed and without anywhere else to go to, Laios decides to head there, where he meets Lycion, an elf and artificial werewolf gladiator. If they first bond over a simple shared meal, by spending time together (sharing the same room in the barracks, maybe the same bed? gasp) they find that they have a lot in common, notably a shared distaste for the body they were born in, a dysphoria partially remedied by becoming a werewolf.

They bond :)

NB: I commissioned another piece, go take a look :D

[pucksandpower]

The fact u use AI for virtually all your fics is fucking crazy 🤣

I’m only going to say this once: I have never posted anything written by AI.

1) It uses an insane amount of water and energy.

2) I write when I need a break from my literal constant studying, it’s a hobby and an escape that can’t be replaced by AI.

3) I have nothing to gain by posting fics that I haven’t written myself. I’m not getting paid for this. No one even knows who I am. I had to take a break for months because I was exhausted from writing and had a nasty case of writer’s block!

I understand that AI is becoming more and more prevalent, concerningly so at times, but unwarranted accusations like this hurt writers who pour their passion and effort into their work.

Also, I’ve been using the em-dash since before AI co-opted it (shoutout to my 9th grade English teacher who used to be a journalist and introduced it to me), but now people think it’s a sign of something generated by AI which is so annoying 😭

[sforzesco]

AKHENATEN

uhhh let's see. I combined some sketches I did of Nefertiti and Akhenaten and ended up somewhere here for an Akhenaten design. in my heart, it's for a comic but there's so much visual research I'd have to do before I could even think about approaching a comic. oof.

anyway moving on: Akhenaten was a childhood obsession! and then I moved onto other things, as one does, but then a couple months ago I decided to check out some books and now I have a headache.

Akhenaten, Ronald T. Ridley

[heartbreakincident]

this is how i feel

[laelior]

The Normandy SR-2 is a trap.

That much is obvious to Shepard from the beginning. For all Lawson and Taylor talk up saving human colonies, it’s a hostage situation that she has little choice but to play her part in. The ship, the crew–Joker and Chakwas and Garrus and Tali–they’re the obvious carrot to keep her cooperative like the good warhorse she is. An organization capable of feeding fifty-one unsuspecting marines to a Thresher Maw doesn’t simply do nice things out of the goodness of its heart, after all.

The stick is far more subtle.

The picture on the desk is the first one. It’s meant to be seen, with the way it lights up whenever she draws near. The message behind it is equally easy to read. That there’s a picture of Kaidan on her desk, a picture that clearly hadn’t come from his service record or a public source, speaks volumes about Cerberus’ capacity for kompromat. 

It takes her longer to notice the medals in the display case just next to the picture. Each one awarded after a particularly heroic moment in her career that was one more reason to lie awake at night and recount the names of those who only got those shiny pieces of ribbon and metal in a shadow box delivered to their next of kin. Her eyes are so used to skipping over them that she doesn’t notice the extra medal at first.

All the medals in the case are new, just printed copies of the ones that had long since burned up over Alchera. Except the one that isn’t. It’s old, the stained blue ribbon beginning to fade and fray while the silver veneer flakes off of the cheaper dull gray metal underneath. But the name stamped across the bottom under the embossed cross-hair shape is still perfectly legible.

M. Shepard.

She knows that medal like the back of her own hand, the places where the finish is worn off from her rubbing her thumb over it and the feel of those embossed letters under her finger. Knows the way it felt every time she’d tucked it into her armor for over a decade. Knows it like the memory of her own mother’s face on the day she’d given it to her on her sixteenth birthday.

It was Nana Peggy’s good luck charm. She won it in a longshot competition back in ‘35.  She gave it to me, and now it’s your turn to have it.

Good luck charm, her ass.

It would be nice to think they’d tucked this memento into her cabin as a personal touch. It could even be Lawson’s official story, if she bothered to ask her.

But only an idiot believes the official story.

And Helen Shepard didn’t raise an idiot.

[desert--moonchild]

i donno if i’m ever actually gonna write this but i liked the outline i had so here’s my thoughts for a bucktommy fixit (that doesn't involve arson lol) that i started to think up before the last two episodes of 8a came out (which i still have not seen)

After a little bit Buck does try and get himself back out there and it doesn't go great, he hates first dates and he didn't even make in the door on the first one he tried to go on after the breakup

After a particularly not great date that fails he finds a little abandonded kitten in the rain and decides to take her home (even though he's not supposed to have animals in his loft... he'll figure something out)

He says it's no hurricane but it's still not a nice night out and names her Ethel (after the hurricane that he met Tommy during)

Tommy sees Buck at the bar one night with everyone smiling and laughing (he doesn't know that it's the first time Buck has really done so since the breakup until Eddie tells him later)

Buck is watching Jee the following weekend since he already had it off (he and Tommy were going to go somewhere for the hoilday or something) and they get into a car accident

Jee is okay, not a scratch on her, just shaken up— Buck is a little less lucky and winds up with a concussion, whiplash, a broken collarbone and a lot of bruises

Tommy goes over to the loft to talk to him and finds Eddie there feeding Buck's (contraband) cat. Eddie tells him about the accident.

Tommy goes to visit Buck in the hospital and tells him that he was coming over to talk to him and that he absolutely did not want to do this in the hospital because he doesn't want Evan to think he's only there because he's hurt

Buck asks him if he's sure he wants to try again because he wouldn't be able to handle Tommy leaving a second time and suggests that they try and be friends first and figure out some of their issues when they're not in a hospital surrounded by everyone

Tommy agrees as he wants to prove to Evan that he's worth it, even if he's scared

Tommy ends up being the one available to take him home and is always there helping out and taking care of him with everyone else during his recovery over the next few months

Tommy brings dinner over the night before Buck is supposed to go back to work to celebrate and Buck leans forward to kiss him this time and they end up falling into bed together

The next morning they're getting ready for their shifts and have the "are we back together?" Talk and Buck tells Tommy to maybe take him on a real date first and he'll think about it, but he's smiling it as he says it, they kiss and part ways with plans for a date the following night when they're off

Everything is looking up again until later that day when a mechanical failure brings down the helicopter that Tommy is in and all he can think is "Evan is never gonna forgive me for missing our date."

[fatuismooches]

I have a terrible idea.

So we know how Dottore is kinda forgetful right? Like this man straight up forgot that he killed Krupp not even an hour later.

What if... 👉👈 his lover died and he sometimes forgot that happened?

So Dottore is just chilling, and remembers that he should be making his dear's next round of medications.

He goes through the motions, only to pause midway. Right... his lover is dead.

He throws out the half finished medications.

IF THIS IS TOO EVIL IM SORRY 😭 I JUST THOUGHT OF IT AND IVE BEEN DYING SINCE

It's not a secret that Dottore tends to throw himself into his work, especially when he's particularly excited about getting results. Now, it's still not unusual for the Harbinger to busy himself in his lab... only this time, it's to distract himself from his reality outside of work. He barely even talks to his segments anymore, leaving them to fulfill their respective duties, so he works from project to project. Working, working... although there are occasions when he pauses to wonder what he's doing.

How long has he been working? Ages by now probably, it seems like he lost track of time, as he always did. So much work... no breaks... speaking of breaks, he'd have thought you'd come to pester him to take one by now. That was odd. Quite peculiar, to be honest. Maybe you were caught up in your own interests? He'd have to indulge you in them soon. Speaking of strangeness, his foggy, sleep and food deprived mind realizes he's neglected to start concocting your new medicine! He clicks his tongue at his carelessness, this was of utmost importance! He despised seeing any day when your health was worse off - it was his duty to keep you stable.

Dottore gets to work gathering the necessary items for your meds, his shoulders relaxing a bit as he will see you soon. But then his face turns to a scowl as he realizes important ingredients hadn't been gathered. Why didn't he send an order out for them? That was wholly idiotic - he'd never forget something as important as that... there must have been a good reason... and so he rattles his overfilled brain to remember and then-

It's times like this when Dottore remembers it was his duty to you as Zandik to keep you happy and healthy, and he failed.

The segments ignore the crash from his quarters once again.

[basket-of-radiants]

Why were you so disappointed by Rhythm of War?

This has been sitting in my askbox for years. I've taken several cracks at answering, only to get frustrated with the subject matter and burn myself out every time. I didn't like Rhythm of War. More than that, I didn't like it in a way that tainted my enjoyment of the entire series. And despite what it may seem, I don't actually enjoy discussing things which I don't like. I always want to talk from a place of good faith. Which is why now that my feelings towards the series are a little more positive, I think I can finally answer this.

I'm going to try to stay away from specific plotpoints and story beats for this post, because my goal isn't to nitpick (if for no other reason than it would take a week to write this post), I'm just looking to talk about my overall impressions. I think that might mean the only spoilers here will be structural? idk, if you haven't read Rhythm of War yourself then you should probably do that before looking for other people's opinions anyway. 

I liked Way of Kings when I first read it. I didn't love it at the time, but I liked it. Certainly enough to keep reading once I'd finished. One thing that made me a bit uncomfy, however, was the war against the Parshendi. They were this unknowable enemy which the book was not interested in knowing. An inhuman army. Their main purpose was to kill Kaladin's friends, or else be killed by Dalinar's armies. And yet the Parshendi, and the parshmen in the form of Shen, did show hints of personhood. And so it bothered me how Dalinar spoke so casually about how the Alethi had decimated their numbers, how the others used the war as a means to amass wealth and power. (It didn't bother me in a "this is a bad book" way but in a "these characters are bad people" way.)

One of my foibles as a reader is that when a book is very clearly treating one side of a conflict with more humanity, I tend to be a bit predisposed towards the other to account for that. And with the Alethi clearly being the invading party and superior military force, there was also some underdog favoritism. I didn't really like how the book treated the Parshendi. This is to say that going forward, the singers would be more important to me than any other through line.

So imagine my delight at reading Words of Radiance and meeting Eshonai, one of the Parshendi, who even gets her own point of view sections! They were no longer being treated as a faceless mass, we were getting to see things from their perspective as well. And it became plain to see the damage the Alethi had done to them. I couldn't really bring myself to root for Dalinar or really any of the humans against the listeners. I couldn't even bring myself to like most of these characters. I still enjoyed the book but once it became clear there wouldn't be a peaceful conclusion, let's just say that I wouldn't have wept for Dalinar and Adolin if Szeth had managed to off them. Like everyone in the book, I assumed that going forward all the parshmen would be turned into evil voidbringers in the everstorm and that the listeners were mostly dead. Except for Rlain, and Eshonai because I'd read or been told that book 4 would be Eshonai's book and thus had assumed she was fine. (Oathbringer spoilers, she was not fine.) So ultimately it was still a bit of a downer way to end the book. 

So imagine my delight at reading Oathbringer, where for the first time singers were being treated as people, full and real people, and where the human characters could no longer ignore or dismiss them. We met Khen and the others, common singers who were sympathetic and just wanted freedom from bondage. We see Venli grapple with the loss of her home. We see Leshwi and Moash connecting with and understanding one another. We learn of a history where singers were the original inhabitants of the planet. Parallel to this, Dalinar is having a truly excellent character arc about confronting one's past actions and acknowledging them to move forward and do better. I loved Oathbringer, for some years it was my favorite book, and I was excited as hell to see what came next. At the time, it seemed to me that there is a clear direction the story is going. Two books about needless war, and then a third where the main cast is forced to acknowledge the personhood of their enemies. This was so cool, all of my feelings from the previous installments were being validated, the characters were going to have to face what they've done in the past and outgrow their militaristic mindsets, I was so sure of that.

Imagine my disappointment when that does not even remotely resemble the direction the story went in Rhythm of War. RoW presented a clear, straightforward “us vs. them" narrative, where every character was totally fine with killing singers. Characters aligned with the singers were either flattened into wholly evil versions of themselves (Moash) or were expected to turn on their side in favor of the humans (Venli.) Because clearly there was no reason good people would be on the side that's all former slaves trying to stay free. Maybe there's some sort of accord or understanding between Navani and Raboniel that I might have found meaningful if the seeds of mutual understanding weren't already there in Oathbringer and then apparently ignored for a year by all the characters.

I have a lot of issues with how the listeners are handled in these books. (Here's some elaboration.) Following OB, I had thought that all my concerns were going to be addressed. Following RoW, I knew they never would be. 

Which is my main complaint, because that's the thread that matters most to me in this series.

I have a lot of other Things as well. Gonna just talk about a few big ones. 

One outsized source of disappointment that may seem a little petty, and which probably is, is that I felt mislead by the premise of the book. It had been announced that this book would center Venli and Eshonai, and I was unbelievably hyped for that. That did not really turn out to be the case. The purpose for their backstory chapters felt less about exploring them as people and contextualizing their arcs, and more about filling in gaps of world history. In the main plot, Venli was a POV character and she certainly played a role, but honestly not a very important one overall. To me she felt like a side character in her own book. I don't think it's controversial to say that the main character of RoW was Navani. A lot of people really like Navani and are happy about that. Unfortunately I'm not one of those people, and I found it all the more difficult to enjoy her when it felt like it was coming at the expense of some of my favorite characters. 

This particular gripe somewhat comes down to preference, obviously everyone prefers to read about characters they like more than those they don't, and it can go both ways. (For instance, on a craft/technical level RoW is probably the superior book to W&T, but I liked the latter a lot more because of my stupidly outsized attachment to Szeth and Nale.) But I do think there's something of a real criticism in how the book would rather focus on the feelings of a queen rather than those of a genocide survivor, and how the former's are given significantly more weight and import. It ties in with my main criticism, I think. 

And then there's how human/human racism had also been wholly cast aside as a plot point. Jasnah fixed slavery so that's resolved, and the only person who still cares about structural racism is the evil bad bad evil villain Moash/Vyre, who is now wholly irredeemable and who you're allowed to totally write off because he's sold his soul to Odium. I've already talked a lot about this. Other people have already talked about this, probably better than me. The writing was actually on the wall for me in OB, but again, RoW was when I fully accepted that this was never going to be addressed. 

There's something else that probably deserves its own discussion rather than being quickly tacked on at the end here, but here we are. This book changed how the series approaches war. 

In WoK, war was very clearly portrayed as a bad and inglorious thing. It was brutal, it was painful, those at the bottom died cruelly and unceremoniously and pointlessly while those at the top turned a profit. Every day was a new horror. The enemy were never evil, they were always just more people forced to go through the same thing. Through the next couple books, it felt to me that even if the characters had accepted war as necessary, there was still a tragedy to it. Conversely, in RoW (and W&T) war is basically a series of boss battles, in between which our protagonists can kill dozens of footsoldiers with barely a thought in the same way WoK had criticized.

Final note on all this, it sucks how we have no perspectives from the former-slaves-singers demographic. Those guys are really thrown under the bus, and seemingly get no self-determination now or ever. It was a glaring problem to me in RoW. Conscripted and enslaved humans and singers probably have just as much ground to form mutual understanding as a fused and a queen. (In fact they already had. In Oathbringer.)

In essence, RoW disappointed me because it left me with the distinct impression that none of the series's most important through lines (well, most important to me) were going to be resolved well. I liked W&T, but I haven't revised my opinion very much about the overall handling of these topics across the series. Maybe one of the reasons I was able to enjoy W&T so much more was because I no longer had such high expectations.

[vodid]

officially at 9 separate bullet lists for the plot of vulnerability because "basic plot" (the main/final version plot list) ended up too long and convoluted because my ideas are all jumbled up in there and i need things organized bc i'm fast approaching the latter half of the fic 😭

[psychomusic]

oc time again! + her town & culture (heavily inspired by pre-roman italic populations)

she is suri sauthon. her story is linked to my swtor imperial agent, tar'x, but most of her life except for the one year away where she meets him, is spent in a town in the mountains of mirial.

despite mirial being cold and desert, and many cities developing underground, her town flourishes thanks to a force nexus, venerated in the form of an ancient, sacred, alive crystal. the ecosystem of that mountain depended on what "the horned crystal" was capable of giving them, but mirialans couldn't live off of that alone, so they developed trade and some rudimental technology, even if oftentimes it was bought thanks to the highly profitable trade of a plant used to make medicines that slowed down aging and had overall healing properties.

note: everything that's generated by this nexus has these healing properties BUT they have to be processed, except for those who bathed in the waters of the cavity under the crystal - the "real" nexus, but not the worshipped one. the waters were sacred but they were not thought to be miraculous, unlike the crystal, who instead was thought of as the keystone of the ecosystem: without it, everything would fall apart (and that is partially true: the cavity was the "real" nexus but thanks to the crystal, also strong in the force, the properties were spread all over the mountains). those who bathed in the cavity's waters - so, all of the town, who had a sort of baptism there - could eat the plant, make whatever food with it, and not only that plant, but everything generated by the nexus, that, again, had similar properties. this allowed people to live up to normal life-spans without advanced medicines or, much, really. to those who didn't live there, though, after the processing, had incredible effects, slowing down aging - for those who took it regularly - and making people able to live up to half a century more than the average]

originally, there were four tribes of nomads that lived thanks to horned farm animals that decided to settle down into one bigger town and other smaller settlements, to live off of transhumance. this division of the tribes stayed into the political and social organization: every person belonged to one tribe specifically, and had slightly different rituals and culture. for examples, each tribe had their own priests and healers, with different techniques and traditions. the town, tho, was guided by a group of people in the high priesthood, a position you could reach only by having earned the trust of all tribes. those high priests had many roles: they guided the people into sacred processions common to all the tribes, they managed the trading with outsiders, they did the maintenance of the temple of the summit (the one that functioned as casket to the crystal) and created a special liquid to offer the crystal that helps it grow.

this particular temple was important because 1. it was very visible, from every angle of the town, and it became an important identity symbol; 2. it stored the venerated horned crystal; 3. it had the altar where sacrifices were made for the crystals. that altar had a hole connected to the cavity, that allowed the liquids to reach the underground; 4. it had various symbols: statues representing each tribe + the high priesthood, and typical mirialan tattoos carved into the wood of the trees that served as columns for the temple, symbolizing 8 values that who dared to enter HAD to have; 5. it was on the way to an important lake (called "mother lake" because the lake the town was built around to depended on the waters of that other lake) where they traveled to in important processions; 6. it was said that a the wizard who unified the tribes made it with its magic, making the plant grow to hold the temple's roof. this wizard was, actually, a force user, obv.

BACK TO HER THOUGH: she's daughter of one of the high priests, who was in charge of managing the trades with outsiders, and lives in a house on the mountains with her mother and him. her parents are from different tribes (that's one of the things that earned him trust from the 4 tribes): when a child is born from two different tribes, they don't pick one to allign to, but they're usually linked automatically to the one with more relatives in it (in her case, the father's tribe: she had many uncles and aunts on his side while her mom only had one sister).

later, though, she got quite tied to her mother's tribe due to a mysterious illness that only her mother's tribe healer was able to cure. she spent 4 years (from 10 to 14 years old) living with the healer and learned her secrets. to better study, she wrote them down. when she returned home, she studied to become a priestess with her father. at 22 (the average age: you can't become priest before your 20s), she was supposed to take a test and become a priestess, but the healer of her mother's tribe died and the tribe asked her to take her place. she couldn't technically do that, but both tribes estimated both her and her parents and she was allowed to become both. she then decided to try to become a high priestess, and became one at 25 (a quite young age). being part of the council, she tried to convince the various tribe healers to unite their knowledges and write them down, and eventually made it. healers still remained tribe based but they now had an "upper, inter-tribe level" similar to high priesthood.

years later, the sacred horned crystal is stolen from the temple by some Hutt mercenaries looking for a profit. given the trust she has earned from all the tribes and the fact that her father is the high priest that deals with outsiders (and she's been hearing stories and advice about it since she was little), she is the one tasked with getting it back. without the growing crystal, the keystone to their ecosystem, the village would have lasted only a few years. in hrr quest, she meets imperial intelligence agent tar'x laran and, as they "solve the mystery" and fight to have it back, they get closer. they'll get married and have a daughter, Vegoia (who's the only one who actually will get to the plot of my story. this was all background)

[patema-introverted]

Finished The King in Yellow and I have THOUGHTS. They are good ones, I enjoyed it and recommend it

I read it because of Malevolent, I’m not gonna lie. But if you go in expecting lore then you’re gonna be frustrated and disappointed. This isn’t a lore bible it’s the Origin Point.

I went in knowing that the last few short stories were not even explicitly horror, that did not stop me from being bored and wishing that the KiY would show up and fuck up these dumb lovesick French artist students. I will admit that I skimmed parts. They were good stories but KNOW what you’re going into.

THAT BEING SAID, I DON’T THINK THEY WERE UNIMPORTANT TO THE MAIN THEME. In fact I don’t think the main theme of the book Clicked with me until I was reading those stories

Because the subject of the book isn’t necessarily the King in Yellow– he actually features less as the book goes on. The book is about these different characters’ relationships to their past. When a character has a past they are ashamed of, and they either 1) idolize it or 2) try to run away from it because they’re sure they’re unlovable because of it, THAT’S when they fall prey to the King in Yellow. Characters who admit and accept their past not only survive the horrors, but find acceptance from the same loved ones they were so afraid of disappointing.

And if you don’t see that main theme in Malevolent, we’ve been listening to different podcasts.

tl;dr–

Things I did not learn: lots of KiY lore Things I did learn: Why this book has resonated with so many people, including Harlan Guthrie. In fact this is a callout post, Harlan you have a type, I can see you bitch,

[kassandraws]

goth megs wip — k but what tattoos would he have 🧐

[muffinlance]

Wait wait wait BLIND ZUKO?!?!?! Why is this the first time hearing about it??????????? This obviously a major error on my part…but I am little confused…what is a sensitivity reader? are they like a beta reader, but someone who belongs to the blind community(is even calling it a community OK I don’t know how else to refer to it😅)? someone to make sure that what your writing is accurate??? Please educate me!!!

Basically that, yep. Sensitivity readers are a reasonably common practice in Serious Face fiction (...among writers and publishers who care about getting things right), but definitely not common in fanfiction, so it's no surprise if you haven't heard the term before--they're people from whatever group who are good at helping writers spot and correct when they're using harmful tropes related to the group(s) they're a part of (and offering suggestions to make things read more authentically).

Since people tend to spin off AUs of my fics (which is awesome and continues up be encouraged), I am putting in an effort to not totally screw up the Blind Zuko rep. Of all fandoms, Avatar should absolutely be a place blind fans can find themselves represented in and welcomed by.

On a related note, insert PSA here encouraging all Avatar artists and rebloggers of Avatar art to write alt text/image IDs. They're quick to write and they mean the world to the people who need them. Do it for Toph.