#irleughlivelyatalanteangodfan

[tanoraqui]

Oooh that is so beautifully put yes yes I love it.

To be honest I think Valar should be pretty happy that Feanor is not devout; imagine his intensity channeled in honest and burning religious fundamentalism. It'd take him a week to start heretical mystery religion and Aule and Nienna would be informed there are whispers they are trying to usurp throne of Arda.

But also, one thing I have been fiddling with wip fics for while is, idea that Feanor is metaphysically, a divorce child of Melkor and Nienna. His fate is place where Melkor's shouts and her keening meet, the melding spot of his cacophony and her elegy, violence and grief within and upon and outside and enacted by. He is vessel through which their influence is unleashed upon Aman, his very birth proof that nowhere can be safe from Marring and grief.

(Within context of Ea-s-Most-Disastrous-And-Covered-Up-Divorce, this means both of them identify with Nerdanel. Nienna is obvious but really, Melkor gets it, when your partner is a stubborn psychological mess swallowed up by their own grief and so obsessed with their ideals and past that can't be fixed that they refuse to be happy and hear you out and just complicates your own and theirs life, poor woman you are so put upon, I have been there with two of them now!)

Ooh, whereas the idea I've been toying with is that Fëanor is solidly a natural...maybe not follower per se but student, agent in the world, of Melkor. He’s TRYING to be an agent not of Melkor-as-we-know-him but rather Melkor-as-he-could-have-been, but…

That Melkor's divine domain is change in a way that cuts through, recombines and builds on all the other Valar's spheres of power; that only because he is, personally, an asshole that this is become discord instead. That it is because Melkor is an asshole bent on evil that change is, in basic human psychology, scary; that difference is intimidating and easily hated; that the grief of what is lost so often supersedes the joy of what is gained, and we are forever looking back and bemoaning that we cannot make this country great again... That the end of Lord of the Rings, in which the Time of Elves is over and this is sad, a grave loss, but never a source of despair because it feels right in a way, as right as the stars fading as the sun rises, and now it is the Time of Men and this too is a good and natural thing, such that overall we feel joy...that this is a total triumph over Melkor-who-is, because it is how every now-terrible change should have been if only he hadn't been a total asshole.

And where does Fëanor fit into this? Fëanor inventor of alphabets, shaper of Light into stone in a way even the Valar didn't imagine, instigator by Oath and allegiance of the Flight of the Noldor and the Three Kinslayings and so many of the great deeds and tales of the First Age and beyond...who didn't live to see most of them? Fëanor is a catalyst in this ongoing tale, in this Great Music. He is flame himself, but mostly in that he is the spark that lights conflagrations.

That's notable not just because it's pivotal to the story of Arda, but because that's weird for an elf. Elves are constantly shown to value stability and timelessness. They wrap their lands in girdles of timeless peace. They pick a good king and keep him for millennia. They never start battles, only react when attacked - except the House of Fëanor and those closest to them.

...mostly in Kinslayings. Because this is Melkor's domain, and he is determined to make change a thing of discord, domination and destruction. But oh, how magnificently the Music might have gone if Fëanor's every word and deed, every moment of being, invited good rather than evil!

As it is, Nienna is always here ease the hurt as best she can. If only proud Fëanor would let her help...

[veliseraptor]

AU: Xue Yang dies of his wounds when Xiao Xingchen brings him to coffin home. His spirit remains to haunt it.

just made the biggest 👀 face at my screen reading this eyyyy. also no spoilers but I know of a thing that might be relevant to your interests. can't say any more about it right now though

cause oh boy! the possibilities here! like the obvious question right off the bat is "why doesn't Xiao Xingchen just take care of the obvious haunting problem, that's what he does for a living/hobby, there's a restless spirit and he's going to lay it to rest one way or another" and for an answer I have mostly that either Xue Yang makes it hard or for some reason Xiao Xingchen can't bring himself to, or maybe both.

oh there is also "why does Xiao Xingchen stay if he doesn't have an injured person to take care of keeping him in one place and then gets used to being in one place and settles down" but that one's easier and could either be addressed by "he doesn't, but Xue Yang is haunting him rather than the house" or "he does, because reasons, and you know, living in a coffin house isn't really making himself comfortable and therefore it's fine, also there's plenty of stuff here for him to help with." including maybe now a brand new ghost.

so if that's settled my first question is if Xiao Xingchen knows who the ghost is and I think my preferred answer is "not at first but he does eventually." at first he just has this restless ghost of a man he failed to save.

and the thing is that I don't actually know if Xue Yang is angry, per se. I mean, he is, inasmuch as Xue Yang is ever angry, but on the other hand this is approximately what he expected (dying young and violently) and he's not terribly upset about the ghost development (kind of neat, actually), and now he has the bonus entertainment factor of haunting Xiao Xingchen who at least initially is feeling bad about not saving his life which is just hilarious and Xue Yang is absolutely going to exploit.

of course, this is assuming ghost Xue Yang has that kind of clarity and awareness, and I actually as I think about it am kind of enjoying the thought of a ghost Xue Yang who at least initially is like a wobbly baby horse. lots of energy and enthusiasm but confused and a little vague on the details and latches onto Xiao Xingchen like a duckling because there's a sense of familiarity. and he knows he doesn't like Xiao Xingchen but mostly in a petulant, poltergeist kind of way, because he doesn't remember why. which would also be some justification for Xiao Xingchen not banishing him, because he would I think be more inclined to try to gently coax a (mostly) non-malicious, not terribly threatening baby ghost into letting go on its own. particularly if he feels in some way responsible, because he should have kept this person from dying and if he'd successfully done that there wouldn't be a ghost problem at all to begin with.

meanwhile a-Qing is in full "just kill it already" mode, she's not a fan, she doesn't want a ghost around let alone to be sharing her daozhang-gege's attention with one

so that's the nicer version of this. the darker version has a Xue Yang who very much knows everything and is absolutely bent on haunting the shit out of Xiao Xingchen and possibly driving him insane. dealer's choice on how that works out for him.

anyway I'm all over the place with this, mostly because there's a lot of different places it could go and I like several of them, so take this as a random assortment of possibilities rather than, like, a coherent narrative

[lordgolden]

Honestly, while I love their dynamics with him, at times it certainly feels as if Rand is there mostly as excuse for girls to be intimate with each other, ESPECIALLY in Elayne s case (also they are always so ready to add another girl in whole mess, be it Egwene or Brigitte or nynaeve). Also Rand definitely needs a trio of boys for himself too and girls.

I saw someone else post about this today and honestly it's so true. one of the most fleshed-out relationships in the entire series is between Aviendha and Elayne. even Elayne had at least some kind of friendship with Min, too, in the tower during TGH. as we know RJ was just bad at writing romances lmao so a lot of interactions the girls have with Rand are just... not well written lmao

I agree rand should get to have a trio of boys lol. I've seen a few posts about adding Mat to the polycule which would be great and balance things out. Mat and Rand obviously have a strong relationship, and I think there's a lot of potential for the Elayne and Mat relationship to be expanded upon. he should also get to hook up with one of the male Forsaken as a treat

[rockybloo]

Happy Christmass if you celebrate, if not have nice winter, may you and your loved oens have great time!!

Happy Rankin/Bass season to you too!

[erotetica]

Hi! For sketch requests, maybe something with Nienna? Thanks anyway, have great day!

@irleughlivelyatalanteangodfan when I think of grief I don’t get tears so much as…fabric pooling dejectedly…shroud…

Anyway here she is weeping over the trees, offscreen bc I didn’t want to draw her pale man handeyes

I do commissions

[teatitty]

Oh I second sitcom idea so very hard, I love this dynamic of ''Umbrasyl bullies and threatens whole hordes and cities with instant obliteration while letting Ripley mount him and ride him like a dragonrider in public'', and that cute little scabbard she seems to have made for him to carry mythcarver!

They're worsties and I'm so giddy about it! Ripley putting the idea into Umbrasyl's head that he could be better than Thordak, backing him up when he intimidates folks AUGH they're my Heathers and Mean Girls they're going to give eachother soooo many mental problems and rotting issues

[fierce-little-miana]

10 CHARACTERS / 10 FANDOMS / 10 TAGS

Tagged by @desi-pluto and @flowerynameslover, sorry for doing that so late, I love being tagged in this kind of things but I very poorly managed my time in November.

Hakuouki - Okita Souji Hell's paradise - Yuzuriha HotD - Alicent Hightower Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Dimitri Blaiddyd Black Sails - Max Collar x Malice - Kei Okazaki Hellsing - Integra Hellsing Kaamelott - Arthur Pendragon The Great - Catherine Vinland Saga - Askeladd

I tried to focus on cultural productions that have a fandom around here.

tagging: @dalissy, @meteorstricken, @screamingvikings, @teethingpains, @shell-senji, @nospringonions, @queengurako, @rabidrekijo, @irleughlivelyatalanteangodfan, @custarii (but don't feel any obligation from this)

[forthegothicheroine]

I was tagged by @alltheyuletidecarolscantbelies for this:

Rules: In a new post, show the last line you wrote and tag as many people as there are words

Unfortunately, for me this is the entirely unhelpful like from Princess of Swords:

Of course, it’s that moment some stranger picks to come crashing into view.

Tagging @general-sleepy @tybaltsjuliet @venusofsuburbia @marypsue @earlgraytay @bluestockingbaby @marzipanandminutiae @spookshowvixens @maddie-grove @irleughlivelyatalanteangodfan @homenecromancer and @lowereastnowhere . I think you’re all writing stuff, apologies if you’re not!

[deliciousscaloppine]

@irleughlivelyatalanteangodfan i am preparing something, but the screenshot process is arduous at best, also i don't know what is happening chinese-wise but it's safe to assume she really did say i am a man a couple of times.

[words-writ-in-starlight]

God, that fic was so so good, absolutely adore it! and yeah, I agree, I really like Xue Yang at his ''a monster slowly going mad in cursed city, transforming it into disturbed necrophiliac shrine to man whose life he ruined and refuses to admit he feels regret'' low.

(this fic)

Listen, I love and respect everyone in the fandom who just wants a redemption arc for Xue Yang, I want them to have a nice time, but for ME PERSONALLY, if we're not dealing with the fact that Xue Yang is an unapologetic mass murderer who turns an entire cursed village into a shrine for the corpse of the man he loved and also hated and also idolized and also thought was an idiot, what are we even DOING here.

[tanoraqui]

Director s commentary for This Blessed Plot, if possible! Really any line is pure gold, though I admit my favourites had been ones about how first thing land remembers is Luna fleeing, and how if it could choose, itd get her out before everybody!. But whole fic is amazing!

The first thing the land knows—such that it is a thing that can know, more than simply ground and grass, growing trees and ever-twilight sky. The first thing it knows, as a thing that can know, is firm hands cupping soil, a smile that is content for just an instant before it is determined, and a whisper of “Here” that means mine.

Then standing, that dirt trickling from one hand, and the call, “Simon! Bring me that hammer, I found where I’m laying the first stake,” as daffodils and dogwood begin to rise and send out roots. They aren’t hands for dirt—the callouses are from swords, quick and bloodied from wars of yesteryear. But it is a hero’s sword (even un-, barely-claimed Faerie land knows some things) and the magic is full of fresh, growing things. A wooden stake and ancient words, drops of blood in the earth, and what matters more is the strength behind them, the willingness to grow and build anew. It matches the hills pushing ever-up from the earth, rising as their mortal cousins on ground prone to shatter. It keeps pace with the eternal, perfect twilight and the life already racing beneath it, the tall trees and strong grasses and wild, blooming roses.

Mine, the land agrees.

[…]

The first thing the land knew was a claim, but the first thing it remembers is when the rose woman fell from her road. There was not a road and then there was, and then it snapped shut as she pulled her skin that last inch tight, choking with the constriction as she fell. The echo of a horn ended with the snapping-shut of the road, passing by to chase the path she had built from strands of hair torn desperately from her scalp and flung far ahead. She caught herself on hands and knees before she collapsed, and took a breath and screamed as she clutched her fox-furs even tighter, as thorns bound it to her flesh until it was so close that there was no room for them to grow.

So they grew around her, wild riotous roses from the drops of her blood as she wrapped her three clever tails around herself and buried her head in her arms. They grew and hid her flash of silver-orange fur, and hoofbeats passed on Roads nearby—but no more horns sounded.

[…]

They met when he was building a stone wall, which he planned to mark out a garden, and she was standing where he thought of as inside it. She was holding a wooden spade, shaped from a kind oak, for she had been growing roses in these hills for many years already. Some events in time happen literally, and some are only ways of turning a thought into a story, and in Faerie, many are both.

[…]

If they had to choose, like, if the hills themselves were burning down, they would save their rose woman first. But then, she had merely planted her roses all through the land, not claimed it in blood and oath. So it was not as much her decision to make.

These are all about the way that Sylvester is the one to whom the knowe, the faerie land of Shadowed Hills, is bound as land to lord and lord to land - he claimed it with magic and blood and ancient oaths - but it's also bound to Luna, and not just because the two of them are married. It actively resonates with Sylvester's spirit even before he chooses it, that's why he chooses it, but Luna was the first person who desperately sought it, who wanted something from it, who plunged her magic and her self into it and started growing things as it yearned for, even if she made no formal connection. If Sylvester hadn't come along and claimed it, it still probably would've ended up her true domain over time, adapting to her nature.

That's why, in a 'the house is burning down; who do you save?" situation, the hills would choose to save Luna before Sylvester. Because Shadowed Hills loves them both, but it's Sylvester's land at its root, by blood and oath and affinity. So it's Sylvester's wishes that it would honor, in such an urgent question.

[veliseraptor]

For Top 5, maybe Top 5 Forsaken (not counting Ishamael/Moridin), if youd like?

ooooh nice nice nice, okay, on it (and totally valid to exclude my main boy, I've been obvious enough about that one already)

1. Semirhage. As I said! Somewhat inexplicable but I think it’s about her sheer...cold, calculating ruthlessness? She knows what she wants and she will follow through with it. Of all the Forsaken she strikes me as the most...dispassionate, and while I love all of the other disasters who are just bickering among themselves all of the time I kind of love that for her. Just...the scene where we really first meet her where she’s just sort of...thinking to herself while distractedly torturing someone to the death in the background...guess I looked at that and was like “oh she’s neat.” Don’t look at that one too hard.

2. Moghedien. And at the other end of the scale...I love Moghedien I think first and foremost because of the fact that she’s...she’s not inept, is the thing. She’s perfectly good at her job, probably! It’s just that she ran into Nynaeve and made Nynaeve mad and that was a mistake. And then gets obsessed with Nynaeve, which is understandable but also a mistake. And it’s all downhill from there for her. Go girl give us nothing.

3. Graendal. I feel like my main thought on this is @highladyluck’s fault and it’s just “tits out for Graendal.” there’s some more coherent and thought out stuff inn there but that’s the first thing that surfaced and I’m so tempted to leave it there.

Thing is though: Graendal’s actually pretty legit. She does a lot, she’s pretty effective at what she does, and she survives for a solid span of time past many other Forsaken dying or failing catastrophically. I feel like she deserves credit for that alone. Also she’s just so clearly living her best life and you have to respect that.

4. Asmodean. We Were Robbed with Asmodean but I nonetheless go on carrying a torch for this thoroughly pathetic man. He tried. And he did not have a good time. But I think one of my favorite things about Asmodean honestly is the fact that he doesn’t actually seem all that attached to being evil. Like, he’s sure upset about losing his protection from going insane! but he’s very clearly not an ideologue about it. For someone who pledged his soul to the Dark One for eternity he seems to be not very dedicated to the whole thing. Which is not to say he’s dedicated to being good, either. I think he just is not particularly interested in...morals.

Also just. I’m a sucker for a (former?) evil character just kind of. miserably stuck going along with the side of good because they don’t have other options. particularly when they’re only sorry in the loosest possible sense for what they did. I don’t get the impression Asmodean feels bad about the atrocities, or anything. and I kind of love that.

5. This last one I'm sort of wobbly on. Lanfear, when she's really leaning into her ruthless power trip self over her jealous man-focused self; I find Demandred sort of hilarious but mostly narratively speaking and I don't think it's entirely intentional, I feel like Mazrim Taim is full of missed opportunities but you really do have to give him kudos for managing to claw his way into the ranks of the rest of these elitist weirdos. Mesaana gets points for effectiveness but didn't get much in the way of personality. I kind of want to say Lanfear just so I can have this top five be entirely "women + Asmodean" because that just sort of entertains me.

I guess honorable mention to Aran'gar who is awful in both concept and execution but is having the time of her life, you have to give her that, and I respect someone who is having that much fun. do what you love and never work a day, etc.

[morhath]

I have been thinking so hard abou who could ''old friend that turns ou to be traitor'' in Toby Daye and, it being Stacy makes so much sense, but thats part of issue I have with it. Its both too obvious, and also, Stacy isn't enough of presence to feel readers feel heartbroken ( more than enough for Toby, tho). But consider... how much would everybody lose their heads if DANNY was traitor? (Also sorry for barging in your inbox, love reading your theories a lot)

I don't want it to be Danny because I'm a weenie and I like him :'( but yeah at least one person mentioned that in the comments of that post. Someone also suggested my best best sea witch girl and listen I know it's PROBABLY COMING because of all the promises she's trapped Toby in but that one will fucking HURT.

I do think that Seanan McGuire has the skill to make Stacy betraying Toby hurt really bad even if we as readers don't care about Stacy that much--we care about Toby and seeing how it hurts her would be painful enough.

All that being said though even if it's not Stacy SOMETHING IS STILL UP WITH HER NOTHING ABOUT HER MAKES SENSE

[rockybloo]

Hi! I thought to ask something about Darling/ delight? As she has changed her alias and has a new theme with new theme, does it mean that she has new powers/ New source of magic? And if not, whom or what does she think of when drawing on her power? Thank you in advance, and keep up great work!

Since Delight left the Beloveds, she got all her powers replaced with her new ones (that I have to still tinker with) with the only one left being Angel's blessing which is something Angel herself gifted to all her friends when they were all still the Beloveds as protection.

However, she has no idea she has it because the Beloveds are the only hero squad that take devastating body destroying attacks while other teams are more careful in battle.

[erotetica]

oooh your Nienna is amazing! Really loved her, such creepy and original take!!

thank you! I think the valar should be fucked up to mortal minds, it compels me so

[slavicafire]

I dont know what gymanstika czarownic means, but my brain cant help but imagine performing somersaults on a flying broom.

right?

slavic/witch gimnastics is just... such a silly concept -- or rather very silly and overly fixated execution of a concept. it’s all about wombs and womanhood and all that. 

so I’d choose somersaults on a flying broom any day over that