#i cannot stress how good this fic is

[stealingpotatoes]

fanart of @spell-cleaver's fic the protégé!!! it's so so so good and I physically NEEDED to draw some of Empress Amidala's outfits

[lbhslefttiddie]

youve heard of sex flowers get ready for the flower that makes you into a celestial shoujo herione complete with particle effects you cannot turn the fuck off and creates a wifebeam so powerful it can incapacitate and maim and keeps making you burst into tears and fall on your ass which makes the wifebeam More Powerful and you also cannot turn this off either. and is also still, sort of, a sex flower

from one of my favorite fanfictions, Celestial Afterglow by elanor_pam, a fic that defies description in the best possible way

[flebdoodle]

World's End

I still can't get over this fic AKA, Echoes back at it again Quote and close-ups under the cut :]

"...And we… we had stars. Sort of. A billion Overworld servers, so far away they might as well have been stars. And then, at the end of the year, they would fall behind the edge of the universe. World’s End.” A long moment passes. “Okay,” Skizz says. “You can’t just say things like that and not explain. Fall behind the edge of the universe?” “Sort of like an eclipse,” you say. “Bigger than any server or star or planet, though. It would blot out the whole sky, and we’d light every candle and lantern, string them from every surface until it looked like the islands themselves were the stars.” You have to stop and try to clear the lump from your throat, though it seems the ability to swallow has suddenly escaped you. “I could see Helleath all the way from Lioneth on World’s End.”

^This building, the one I'm pointing directly at, is what I was thinking to be Helleath :D

[multifunctionalnitroglycerin]

Leona and Diana Old Lore / New Lore. My take on it

Okay so, I am relatively new to the League community, with barely three years under my belt, but lore is one of the things that interest me the most about it. And well, the dynamic between Sun and Moon coded characters is one I never pass up in exploring. Leodia is arguably my favorite ship from League, but it's mostly the idea of it, with recent executions leaving me feel kinda... meh.

So apart from probably having read every single half decent fic under the Leona/Diana tag on Ao3, I have scourged the internet for their lore and have come across quite a few references of their old one. Never found the complete thing though. And possibly unpopular opinion, I like it better than their current one.

That is not to say that the old lore is any sort of masterpiece, and people could argue that it doesn't set them up to be lovers, but I think with a little bit of tweeking it can become really good. Many of my ideas are inspired from a fic I probably read like 2 years ago, also features an OC named Helena and has a side of Riven's inner struggle, Riven and Diana friendship and Rivelia. (I cannot for the life of me remember the name, I apologise)

My problem with the New Lore mostly, is that it's vanilla for a mountain of warriors and *cultists* it feels almost like High School AU but try to fit it into League, and yeah it's not it for me. Also the co-dependence of their ascension, and just Leona's whole thing kinda sucks. Like I can see how people might see it as romantic and poetic and whatever, that they ascended at the same time and Leona followed Diana up the mountain to keep her safe etc. etc. but that's kinda glossing over some issues especially with Leona's character.

Now the new take on Leona's character is really interesting, and a complete 180 from the old lore and actually the idea isn't so bad, if they ACTUALLY DID ANYTHING WITH IT. Now as a person that definitely doesn't overanalyze literature and fictional characters for fun, Leona's new lore is such an interesting take and could be taken many directions if someone chose to explore it and go a bit deeper that "genocidal close-minded bigot".

At first read Leona is really just that. She does what she is told no hesitation, no questions asked and turns on Diana also no questions asked. But let's take it a bit deeper shall we?

I have no intention to make it as though Leona holds no blame for her actions or that she is a paragon of virtue, cause she is not. But if we dive in her story a bit more we could perhaps understand how she came to be what she is. Because under no circumstance do I think she is that daft. Especially if she was with Diana for years. Some of that curiosity must have rubbed off on her. Then again she could have just ignored everything Diana said about the Moon and her research. I guess we'll never know.

I do not intent to ramble about Leona in this post. But I'll give you some clues as to why her backstory and the whole Targonian premise is important. She is born practically into a cult, or well a religion with really strict and particular disciplines. So already an environment with very particular ideas and particular ways to enforce them. She is the daughter of two really strict and proud parents in said cult, who seem to care more abt her achievements and punishments than anything (Grade A parenting), - She doesn't even send them that letter in the end - and she is the golden child of the Solari. So what do we have in our hands? An affection starved perfectionist suffering from gifted child expectations. NOw take that and put it in the Solari premise of religious fanatism and voila!

(I will probably at some point make a separate post abt this, because I really took a deep dive in Leona's character when writing my Ruination fic - that I wont ever post anywhere probably - and I have a LOT to say)

So in the old Lore the Rakkori are the warriors and defenders of the mountain, a bit heavy on the bloodthirsty side though, hence the right of Kor. A coming of age ritual battle to the death. (What else could it be). Leona being the only one that refuses to kill her opponent and friend, is sentenced to be executed, but before the execution could be carried out, she is claimed by the Golden Sister as the Sun aspect with a beam of golden light.

I feel that Leona's ascension in particular is really important in the old Lore, because in such a warlike culture she was rewarded for showing mercy. She was chosen because she chose mercy over mindless slaughter. Something that could potentially be really important later on, in a mountain where half its indigenous people have slaughtered the other half??

Point 1 I like from the old lore: The Sun chose Leona because she was merciful. (Or had a semblance of a moral compass)

Moving forward the lines kinda blur for Diana, mostly cause I am not sure what I remember is actual lore and what is related to that magnificent fic.

Her curious truth-searching nature is ever present. She discovers hidden texts, burned pages and embarks on a journey of knowledge that leads her to climb the mountain. Only she is in the company of an elderly woman I think? Anyhow, she finds - is lead to - an alcove, an old temple and the relics of the Moon Aspect. Overjoyed at her findings she dons the armor takes it all down to the elders, they call her a heretic, brand her, and intent to kill her, when she begs the Moon for help and ascends. Either her or the moon blast kills every elder in the room she gets blamed either way, and the chase begins.

Diana is at her core an academic and a researcher, that researches. She has her Indiana Jones moment in the mountain and there is a process a ritual to it, instead of I just climbed up saw unimaginable terrors and now I am the aspect of the Moon (over-simplified I know. The climb judges worthiness). There is something about her checking old dusty books, and deciding to brave the climb looking for answers. About her choosing to be helpful -kinda as a mirror to Leona sparing her opponent, Diana, the one that keeps to herself - apart from when arguing abt academics and scriptures consciously engages with and helps a stranger, guiding them up the mountain and helping them along the way when the trip became too arduous.

Point 2 I like from the old lore: The ritual of the process in Diana's research and ascension and the mirroring with Leona, minor though it is, that they ascended - sooner or later - after an act of kindness that contradicted what would have been expected of them.

Point 3 I like from the old lore: The brand. Like it just adds another layer to Diana's character. And is a much better explanation for its presence than Moon magic. Also the amount of complications this act has, its just delicious. I mean THE DRAMA. and ofc THE TRAUMA. I don't think she'd go near a fire for months.

Point 3 I like from the old lore: The independence of the ascensions. It gives us the chance to see them grow and evolve as their own people before the thread of fate that binds them together appears. We get to see one without the other, and that would later make their dynamic more interesting.

But How are Leona and Diana connected?

In the old lore they aren't. I think. Leona is like a blood hound that needs to kill the heretic.

In the fic, Leona's dad was one of the guards in the room when Diana ascended and was killed, which in the context of the story adds a layer of betrayal between them, as up to that point they were lovers. And you know what, I really like that idea. And I was thinking that perhaps we could try to get the best of both worlds. Though it might be difficult to fully develop the idea.

Lore Idea:

So the Rakkor ans the Solari are different factions. Solari = priesthood, Rakkor = Warriors. Leona's family are Rakkori, and they are simple people, her father works as a guard for the Solari Temple, something that is considered a bit of an honor despite that fact that the factions don't rly see eye to eye about everything. Right of Kor happens when they are around 15 (Yes I want to traumatize a bunch of teenagers that train to fight, kill and defend since they could walk) and Leona's story proceeds as we know it. She then gets taken to the Solari temple to be educated in their way and train to become the figurehead of their faith. (Like that Leona has already had the chance to develop some critical thinking, and to experience sth different.)

She gets there and all the acolytes younger and older look at her starry eyed, because the elders told them so and because they see her like a bit of a Messiah. (Plus I doubt a bunch of scrawny academics and priests to be have seen anyone their age with that musculature). All of them apart from Diana, who as always isn't particularly impressed by the paragon in training of the Solari faith.

Leona is relieved to get some normal person treatment, even if it is from the broody girl with her nose in a book half the time, and like the cocky 15year old meathead she is, she wants to show off a bit and perhaps win her favor. Shenanigans ensue and Diana unlike the other people that desperately want to befriend Leona, is not impressed.

Another point of similarity is that Leona - that has ascended already mind you - would have a few questions and oppositions to all that mumbo jumbo the Solari say about the Sun and the Moon. So after she flops exceptionally in one oration or sth class, with saying something positive about the Moon that has the students look at her with horror, and the priest fuming and screaming punishments - light ones, because the Sun chose that clueless miscreant, and he doesn't want to fall out of her favor - Leona manages unknowingly to win inquisitive Diana's intrigue - and favor, (but don't tell anyone about the last part).

A tentative bond forms. It gets solidified when Leona stops a few bullies from beating Diana to a pulp, and the dark haired girl in return helps her pass a class she was having an exceptionally hard time with. Diana - who in my head is a year younger - does eventually get charmed by the surprisingly goofy and sunny disposition of the Sun Aspect in training. (Don't get this wrong Leona will still act like a 15 yo that has had to train and fight every day of her life) Diana asks her countless questions about life outside the temple and they discuss theology together, either trying to help Leona understand, or trying to make sense of Diana's findings. (The Rakkori in my head are far more neutral abt Sun and Moon, more like if there is light and I can see I am happy, whether its the Sun or the Moon. "There was even that one traveler from some big city, Pilt - something was it, that even said that the Sun and Moon are like orbs in the night sky, one is a star rly close to us and the other is like a smaller planet or something, can you imagine?")

The become friends, the Nightless Eve happens, and then they become lovers. Leona starts suffering from all those expectations and the charade she needs to put up, she has more hours with classes and training she gets tutored by the priests, punished more severely when se speaks out of line or says something borderline heretical, yada yada. More people like her and she likes the attention. She doesn't abandon Diana though, and she always defends her. Things get difficult as the years go by but still they persist. (We could include some homophobic sentiment in the Solari, or even sth downright misogynistic, which would add complications with Leona's state as the Radiant Dawn, and the wlw relationships as they would not be seen as real substantial relationships - add asshole trying to flirt with Leona bc her relationship with Diana isn't real cause they are both women- DRAMA)

Leona is 18 passes her final exams, and Diana is 17 when Diana's arc happens. They have a huge fight about faith and contradicting it and if it is worth it. (No one wants to bandage their lover's whipped back that is practically a mosaic of scars at this point, or nurse them to health after sever dehydration - cause yes apparently standing naked in the sun for three days can do that). Diana storms off angrily. Finds an elderly woman in the base of the mountain that needs help going up (Silver sister in disguise). She helps her up, and when they are like 3/4 up and rest cause Diana's everything hurts the woman disappears. She looks around, finds the temple, sees carved proof that the Solari and Lunari co-existed gets the relics and climbs back down excited to show everyone her findings.

Meanwhile Leona has left for an emergency Solari mission or sth, and hasn't told Diana. Diana goes to the priests, they don't believe her, she invokes her right to be judged by the Aspect or sth, the priests pretend that Leona is still around and doesn't want to see or help Diana (Strike 1 of betrayal). Diana feels betrayed and hurt and fears for her life. The priests give the order for her to be branded and executed on the spot. Leona's dad who had been in the room and had met Diana, tries to plead her case from an outsider's perspective. One of the elders reprimands him and threatens him with death.

They brand Diana with the moon Symbol on the forehead, and are about to place her face down in the flames and / or slit her throat, and Iasur can't have her dying thinking that Leona betrayed her (A bit of family honor and afterlife beliefs - honor is a huge deal-, and a bit of a soft spot for his daughter's closest companion). He tries to fight his way to her, and gets killed in the process. Diana witnessing Iasur's murder prays to the moon for help, and seconds before breathing her last breath, she ascends. Pillar of Moonlight and heavenly fire burns everything to a crisp, and Diana remains alone in the middle of the room, barely breathing and clad in the garb of he Moon aspect. She takes one look around her and speeds away from the temple.

Leona returns three days after to find the council and her father dead, the council room in ruins and apparently Diana to blame. On top of that Diana is missing. Leona is presented with the case and believes Diana to be her father's killer. She vows to avenge him and kill the Scorn of the Moon, because her Diana wouldn't do that. It must be the moon spirit. and yes apparently Moon is bad because dad and Diana are gone bc of it. Leona is determined to save her lover from the Moon's clutches and set her free the only way she knows how, with killing her.

And thus their journey begins. Leona becomes more and more of a puppet from here and on driven by anger and betrayal and Diana feels abandoned and betrayed, with nothing left in the world but the glow of the branding mark on her forehead and the knowledge that her lover wanted her dead.

And as for their path to reunite again and achieve peace? Well Leona needs to be merciful, and Diana needs to guide and support someone through the right path.

Thanks for reading this huge ass post. Again MANY credits to that amazing writer on Ao3, if I find that fic I'll put a link here, cause its phenomenal.

Take care and see ya next time!

[hella1975]

end of march is crazy for writing like i have a 1.5k essay im doing today and tomorrow, a 2k word essay im doing wednesday and a 1k word research proposal im doing friday. and in the remaining week of the month i am WILLINGLY going to finish taob (~10k OPTIMISTICALLY) and make a solid start on tams (~5k-10k depending on how well writing goes). like yes girl write around 20k words worth of MULTIPLE PROJECTS in a handful of days there is no way this can end badly at all

[essektheylyss]

Regarding your tags on the Matt Mercer note post out of honest confusion: what is so bad about Microsoft Word? I know it's very unpopular but for me it has always done the job. Also, is there something you would recommend instead? (Sincerely, a DM whose notes also consist of printed out Word docs and who would love to improve upon their notetaking)

Haha okay just to clarify my loathing of Microsoft Word is very much a joke, and if Word works for you for note-taking, definitely keep using it!

That being said, for explanatory purposes I do like my notes pretty separated out, and I find that Word is pretty finicky with formatting even compared to a lot of other word processors, though most of them are pretty limited in that regard anyway. (If I was really going to go nuts with it, I'd learn Adobe Illustrator, but I'm just not that concerned about it.) So my real issue with Word is how the notes are organized.

I personally really like Scrivener for both writing and dnd notes, because I can separate things out into individual "documents" within the same project file and organize things further into stackable folders, and that helps my brain out so much.

I also got a subscription for World Anvil recently when they were having a sale, and I haven't used it for dnd yet but I do want to get more into it because it seems very promising in the same way, in that it also has templates that are built for worldbuilding in particular. However, I haven't used it enough to know whether or not it's overkill for my purposes, because I have also found that there's a very fine line of how much constraint in organization I can really handle.

But I absolutely must reiterate that if you find that Word works for you, and you aren't looking for any additional functionality, please do keep doing what you're doing, and fuck what I (or anyone else online) think about it!

[gomzdrawfr]

Guys

Guys

GUYS

THERES A SEQUEL TO ATSIL AND IM PULLING MY HAIR OUTTTT PLEASE GO READ IT ITS SO SWEET IM-

Im so ill im so not okay iM SO THANKFUL FOR SUCH ART TO EXIST AND IM BLESSED TO EVEN LAID EYES UPON IT

[scatterpatter]

i was going to avoid posting this because it's technically spoilers for custody battle au but like I have no self restraint. Look at my boy.

[teecupangel]

Just a reminder that the next update for both Eagle of Alamut and The Shadow’s Endgame would be this Sunday instead of Monday because...

I'm also posting 3 smuts that day of varying sizes of plot...

[petorahs]

morgana is a good character when you actually put him anywhere outside of persona 5 main game otherwise you have to ignore the cringe 60% of the time but thats okay. i love meowgana that is my not-cat

[elftwink]

related to my last post about my writing habit of trying to hide things i didnt want to figure out by having a character not think about, notice, forget, or dismiss it, i was forced to confront it constantly while writing precipice because i would not want to look something up about the show or whatever and i'd start to be like "well it's fine he'll just be fuzzy on the details—"

then i would remember. about caleb's keen mind trait and therefore near perfect memory. this was the biggest pain in my entire ass i tell you. many scene revisions because i was relying on him to not know something only to start writing and realize how obvious it was that he would Definitely Fucking Know That. redoing the entire scene and/or having to go look into something and just fuming. now, am i a better writer for not being allowed to take this admittedly lazy shortcut? well yes of course. but i dont see why i cant complain about it all the same

[moinsbienquekaworu]

We are leaving in 9 hours and I wish my mom's stress had peaked but I Know it hasn't

[autistic-katara]

i hope in whatever universe that i am someones blorbo theyre greatly enjoying my emotional sufferinf

[thesungod]

i’ll always defend fanfiction as a media and hobby and i’ll never give a fuck about the backlash against adults in fandom and fics/shipping being cringe or whatever else because people are literally doing this for free. like. that cancels any critique you might have. are we writing fics for profit? no? then shut up forever

[piratejenna]

DGS 2 (The Great Ace Attorney 2) Spoilers

Prompt: fic you read when you need to laugh

Title: An English Breakfast

Author: @enisywrites

Fandom: DGS, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

Rating: General Audiences

Word Count: 1199

Summary: “Mr. Prosecutor, you must come up and try my special blend! Tell him, daddy.” “Indeed, Mr. Asogi, there is no sense in standing around like a wax model! Especially if you have not been afforded the faintly glimmering promise of remuneration…”

Kazuma finds himself adopted by the 221B Baker Street family.

------

As mentioned, I got really into Ace Attorney in 2020, so I was incredibly hyped for the official English release of DGS. And even less of a surprise, once I finished both games, I immediately went looking for fanfic.

This fic is one of a small few that satisfy my desire to read about Kazuma interacting and having a dynamic with the London gang. The way he gets roped into having breakfast with them, basically without realizing it, is so fun. I love the way Iris and Sholmes interact with him. It's just so sweet.

But the key thing here, as the prompt says, is that this fic is so freaking funny.

Kazuma's inner monologue is wonderfully packed with dry wit. Sholmes is written incredibly well, and thus is hilarious.

I'm really not sure how else to explain to you that the fic is funny, so I'm going to just drop a few of my favorite lines here.

“Indeed, Mr. Asogi, there is no sense in standing around like a wax model! Especially if you have not been afforded the faintly glimmering promise of remuneration…”

Witchcraft, he thought, but in the same register he might have thought, this is a very large potato, or would you just smash it already, or are you actually going to drink this one? Already, London had inured him to a lot of things.

I also adore the ending (which I will not spoil here). My favorite line is a part of the ending, and is such a beautifully in character Sholmes's line. And of course, the actual last line, while not exactly funny, is one of my favorite things in the world, because it hints at what I really really want to see happen (and have yet to find a fic that provides such).

Finally, I will admit to being a bit snobby when it comes to DGS fic. While I'm generally up for any narration voice style, when I read DGS stuff, I want that older, "Sherlock Holmes" esque sounding narration. And this fic completely delivers. Not only is the dialogue perfectly in keeping with the characters who deliver it, but the narration follows along excellently. And not just in regards to generally being a similar voice, but it also matches Kazuma's dialogue in a way that you can tell that it's from his point of view.

If you're a fan of DGS, please check out this fic! If you've ignored my spoiler warning to this point, I would caution that there is at least one more major spoiler in the fic that I haven't mentioned here. But if you're still game, please give this delightful fic a read!

[curiousdibandbeyond]

Some Solar Lunacy fanart (of the fic by @bamsara ) as an excuse to do hand holding practice led to me doodling some Y/NxSun/Moon moments, how could i not?? Extremely loose since I was half asleep at the time.

Anyway, I’ve reread Solar Lunacy about a dozen times by now and I highly recommend it, you can really see the care and love that Bam puts into each chapter when you’re reading it and also chapter 6 snatched me with an iron grip and has not let up in the slightest and i love it