#unless dr brings that idea back up or smth

[nyaskitten]

I think the Sister Realm thing is utter bullshit because it's never mentioned again outside of season 6.

I think the REAL collapse of the Cursed Realm was from the misuse of a Djinn Pipe Bomb, but Khanjikhan was too embarassed to tell his son that shit.

No proud man wants to go "my son, I fucked up big time, yeah, misuse of a Djinn Pipe Bomb, no son we're all gonna fucking die, bye son. no son fuck off I'm not leaving my house, a dumbfuck screws up, and he thus dies with the rest of his people! just shut the fuck up and take the goddamned sword before I strike you down."

[nabrizoya]

hey sai!

i read your long post about the nikolai duology, excellent takes like always, very well worded 👏🏽

and i was wondering, do you think that having trilogy instead of a duology could have helped to solve some of the issues you addressed?

hey géraldine! thanks dude fdgjbsjbksf took me over a month to compile and i still managed to miss out some points lol

personally, i'm biased towards having the novella specific to nina (and mayu, with cameo povs), because of one key point i missed in that long post. that it would be great if leigh collaborated with other authors and authors of colour to write some sections of this supposed novella ! leigh is great pals with some incredible authors, and taking the chance to work and write with them and bring their perspective to the worldbuilding of grishaverse would have brought more essence to the map and their contents

though if not a novella, a trilogy would have worked too! in fact, even more than a novella—from a marketing stand point—a trilogy would work tonnes more better, considering that nikolai is such a popular character. i'm not sure leigh would have considered making the gamble to pursue nina's storyline over nikolai's, not unless there is a robust marketing plan for the books (which i honestly kinda doubt considering how under the radar the marketing was for RoW, but then again, the book was still the most anticipated so the publishers must have relied on the fandom hype in general). (also consider how the other standalone books like tlot and lives of saints are not talked about as much so like. it's debatable. also bc i don't know how the books were marketed back when they came out since i wasn't reading about the grishaverse either).

that aside, i'm not sure just how—if going by my ideas (or just the existing plotlines)—would make the trilogy work structurally. this is supposedly a trilogy that brings back nikolai alongside zoya, and nina (and adds mayu and hanne). would it seem more disjointed than usual, as it was in kos? even if we take out nikolai and zoya (or just ravka at this point, in the first book at least), people might be more likely to give it up bc it's nikolai's duotrilogy, but instead the focus was on nina and mayu.

Though if things went a little differently and more page time was given (or some plot points were struck out), maybe it might work? or perhaps it would simply drag the existing points. a trilogy will give extra context and space for the characters, but the plotlines, unless they're aligned and outlined differently, will cost the trilogy structurally against getting more character space.

What if, despite the demon, nikolai's arc was still moving along with the plan to travel and maybe at some part the duo would split up to different places, or countries, or smth. like probably about zoya risking into enemy territory to recruit grisha and provide them a safer place (though has other severe repercussions lol) or maybe going along with nikolai, trying to be diplomatic about the international grisha panel that safeguards the rights and safety of the grisha without them having to make the journey to ravka (and then become soldiers there etc).

not sure if all of that does make sense but tl;dr: yes, a trilogy would work, but imo, a novella would work even better if we're sticking to the existing plotline and the problems with row i made in my post. mostly because i'm not sure what the price would be that the trilogy must pay for adding time and text to the characters and plot points, the latter of which are plenty to cover

[saigeboredeaux-blog]

long post warning !!

hello !! i think i might swap naeva in for somebody else just b/c i’m having trouble getting inside naeva’s head, probably b/c she tries to be rly responsible n like...............i am not responsible. i am nowhere near the realm of responsible. my idea of a good time is trash-diving with possums and running from cops. she drinks tea daily and naps like twice a day. i love her a lot but go crazy aaa go stupid, y’know

so i have a few options if anybody would like to ?? help me figure it out and/or if i should stick it out w/ naeva n become a functioning adult like she tries to be

here r my other three babies i’m considering (TW: mentions of addiction, violence implications, car accident implications.)

saige - liana liberato fc - i created her in 2013 as a drunk pixie and that is. essentially her personality. sort of an optimist ? just very friendly n happy vibes n very much a party gal, if anything she’s sort of an idealist ? puts others before herself, very bubbly, very reckless, she’s got a problem w/ addictive substances in. a few forms. rich but her parents like...are on the verge of disowning her b/c she tarnishes their reputation far too much. takes up as many hobbies as possible b/c she hates being bored. the worse of a person u are the most likely she is 2 be attracted 2 u and that’s like. essentially law. chaotic good, i’d say, she’s v well-meaning but is also a lil ignorant in terms of like...she’s very rich. she’s very irresponsible with her money. i dont think she knows how to do taxes or where her money goes. donates massively 2 charity tho. her mom’s a fashion designer n they dont rly talk much but her mom does send her like. things b4 they go public and saige 100% always gives the items away just 2 fuck w/ her mom lmao. both passive and active like she’s very energetic n while she doesn’t rly take anybody’s bullshit she’s more likely to just laugh it off than retort back unless she’s like super hurt n then i black out and her emotions take over n i wake up and she’s gone thru like fifty paragraphs of angst. shes the love of my life. 

annabel - emma mackey/medalion rahimi fc - her original fc is maddie hasson but like ... emma mackey fits her better but also ... i’ve never used medalion and i’m p gay for her so ... - anyways. goes by anna pretty exclusively n will possibly threaten u with actual physical violence if u call her anything else (this does not stop people). ex-ballerina whomstve got into a particularly bad accident n now cannot dance anymore! she has a limp and uses a cane more often than not even when the pain isn’t as bad that day. it also doubles as a weapon if need be (some mf kaz brekker vibes). soft punk but like Secretly Soft. her mom left when she was a kid so she’s always been bitter abt it which ofc led to years of cynicism. she’s v close 2 her dad tho. she can come off as mean but it’s mostly an accident she’s rly honest and also a bit of an insensitive asshole? she’s a writer of both fiction n lyrics b/c that is what she’s happiest doing. a Scammer from an early age lmao. pretended 2 b a girl scout when she was like 12. faked being a psychic the entirety of high school. probably is writing a series abt the shit tht happens in lockwood w/ changed names bc fuck. shit’s juicy. but i may also run into the same problem w/ anna that im in w/ naeva rn so sidofg

maribel - ella purnell fc - an absolute. sweetheart. comes from an air force family so her household has always been rly strict. has always felt rly out of place (middle kid syndrome prolly) and she’s like. very bad at a lot of things. like just absolutely garbage. has two siblings n theyre both real talented but maribel’s very much Not. or like, in anything practical at least. is always getting fired from her jobs like...she goes thru jobs so often...bc she’s so bad at them...she’s so clumsy, too. socially awkward. like she’s so awkward, she’s only rly ever had one friend n they went missing so she’s very bad w/ social interactions. she actually...is rly good at hacking? and forging shit? b/c she wanted to impress the popular kids in her boarding school so they’d like her but they just used her. she makes fake IDs. used to be rly on that nancy drew shit b/c her school was in nevada n like .. aliens, bro. and just general like...being nosy when she shouldn’t be. stopped being on that nancy drew shit after getting caught trying to break into area 51 and disappointing her parents even further. rambles and overtalks a lot. wanted do do smth science-y b/c shes actually rly good n smart at biology n chemistry but her parents were like ew no n she’s doing journalism instead so she complied b/c she doesnt have a backbone. turns into a much more outgoing person when she drinks but she also doesnt drink tht often. prolly used to be a stoner tho.

and then i’m bringing in aleta for hendrix and she’s essentially one of cinderella’s evil step sisters. so i m not sure if i should bring in anna bc they’ve got p similar personalities or being hardheaded n spiteful even if some of their defining experiences make them two completely different people ijsdkfglh. i’m also planning on bringing in cain at some point in the future still !! i just think that the block in my head will be removed if i deal with naeva first.

absolutely am not dropping amos as he is my lifeline. his chaotic energy is what fuels me. if he goes i would probably cease to exist. i may go on a semi-hiatus for this week just so i can sort out what i’m doing with naeva but amos will be pretty solid just b/c he’s always verging on nonsensical.

tl;dr - help me pick a new character b/c my brain doesn’t work very well !

[bezzuba]

what does toothless think of astrid?

as the first openly, sincerely hostile monster-human he and hiccup swayed + convinced on the whole “everything [humans] know about [dragons] is wrong” topic, toothless respects and appreciates the hell out of astrid! she was the one who proved to him that hiccup wasn’t just a once-in-a-lifetime thing. she was the one who proved to him that humans can indeed change for the better. ( that’s not to say that hiccup himself didn’t prove anything to toothless; it’s just that hiccup is so kind and giving and empathetic and GOOD that toothless thinks of him more as a “too good to be true” miracle than an example of the virtue in humans. )

he values her input and judgement almost as much as he does hiccup’s. i say almost because if hiccup and astrid were to explicitly disagree on smth then toothless would be on hiccup’s side, no doubt or questions asked ( unless hiccup’s being stupid — e.g. “no i don’t need to rest despite my illness i’m fine to go flying!!” — in which case yeah nah bye hiccup ), but like…any instances where he’s on edge? where he’s agitated and feeling threatened and ready af to shoot? where he’s confused and feeling jittery and ready to do smth but unsure of what to actually do? he seeks for her…well, not guidance or permission or anything like that, just. confirmation. a compromise, maybe, if no confirmation is offered. he seeks for her knowledge and ideas on how to proceed in this situation as much as he seeks for hiccup’s and his own.

and it’s obv not the same now because he does get used to human touch but i like to think that immediately post-httyd, astrid was one of the only humans whose touch was actually welcomed by toothless. his underside and tail stayed off limits but he wouldn’t like…skirt out of reach or keep her in his sights at all times / constantly growl while she patted him. he welcomes all human touch now but she, the other Big Five riders, gobber, and valka and stoick but. y’know are still the only humans he trusts enough to let them touch his vulnerabilities + tail. ( hiccup is the only person — human or dragon — he trusts enough to relax around when he touches his vulnerabilities + tail. )

ofc, their relationship didn’t start off that way. toothless’ first impression of astrid was very, very, very poor indeed :’)

it was hate at second sight! hate! at! second! sight! he was already wary of her when she rudely intruded into his prison-made-den-home but then she Hurt Half Of Him For No Reason At All and wow! the resentment was so real he was 150% willing to maul her right then and there aslkdjl

for real though, the only reason he stopped and considered an alternative route ( i.e. make her Fucking Regret ) was because of hiccup’s insistence that she not be harmed + her very wise choice to not grab her axe and try attacking again. like. i joked about this with julie but his thought process during that entire scene was absolutely smth along the lines of:

AHH H HHHH!! ! YOU!! YOU HURT MY THING THAT I CHERISH!! YOU HURT PRECIOUS THING!! I WILL KILL YOU! !

HALF OF ME! STUPID STUPID, STEP AWAY!! ! AWAY AWAY AWAY!!!

[inordinate amount of internal + external screaming]

it would be so easy to kill it…! so…! EASY…!!

but precious thing does not want???? precious thing protects??

uGHhHghHHHHH

fiiiine, this monster that my precious thing protects and likes, i will not Kill or Hurt

I WILL MAKE SORRY-REGRET-SHAME.

I WILL MAKE LIKE-BACK.

and we all know how what happens after that!

toothless doesn’t…immediately like or warm up to her. he’s very vindicated and smug when she says “okay! i’m sorry! i’m sorry! just get me off of this thing!” ( which he hears as nonsense but her scent screams “FEAR-REGRET-DISTRESS” and her voice is full of REGRETREGRETREGRET, I SUBMIT! so. good enough ) and doesn’t really feel anything other than pleased satisfaction when they’re really flying, but. that moment where she leans into hiccup and trusts them both? where she carefully reaches down to pat toothless' side? where she is nothing but awe and wonder and admiration and you are amazing? there is…the slightest bit of joy. the slightest bit of relief. the slightest bit of hope and forgiveness and maybe you are not a monster.

their understanding of each other + their relationship only get better from there on out! she goes from monster to not-monster to friend to troopmate! they obv don’t get as close to each other as they do / are to their respective partners but toothless is not shy about his affections for astrid and would absolutely defend / aid her with all that he has.

also i wasn’t going to talk about this but i feel like if i don’t, somebody’s gonna jump into my inbox and bring it up anyways SO on toothless’ thoughts vis-a-vis astrid playfully / fondly punching hiccup from time to time: he’s fine with it so long as his tiny human isn’t actually hurt ( which he defs would be able to smell even if hiccup didn’t say anything ) because dragons? pounce on each other and wrestle and play-fight for fun / affection pretty much all the time?? they aren’t rough with each other but they aren’t gentle, either. toothless probably wasn’t appropriately gentle with hiccup at first until he realised he was actually hurting him with the force + weight behind all his bats and nudges and shoves and slumps. he’s softer now with humans in general ofc, but his idea of play and affection is still very physically involved so astrid being ( just the right amount of ) physical with her own displays of fondness doesn’t bother him.

ldkjfd this answer is very longwinded but i hope it satisfies you! as always, tl;dr:

toothless very strongly dislikes astrid at first

once he begins warming up to her though, he doesn’t stop ( warming up to her )

he adores and respects her a lot! she’s his favourite human troopmate ( where troop = a group of dragons who “flock together” ( i.e. protect each other, share food with each other, possibly share territory together, etc. ) simply because they really like + trust each other )

[artificiary-fr]

Hi, hello, I'm so sorry to intrude- genuinely. But if you feel like you're intruding on people in a group discord- please take it from a fellow RSD person: it's not you. often times people within a group don't know how to 'properly' respond to a share of ideas. most often they wait for a signal from other members. and if someone post something more 'reactionable' after you? then the conversation shifts to that person rather than you. This isn't about 'finding better friends' just... about (1/2)

(2/2) knowing that your friends are probably at least half as awkward as you, and don't know how to respond. If you talk to members individually and they like the idea? Yes!! But if you don't talk to more than one member individually? Know your view is biased. Not negatively or rudely somehow- just. Factually. People with rejection sensitive dysphoria get real fucked up about some... 'nothing' shit sometimes. ... uh. sidetracked 3/3: share your OC's. Talk about the things you love. BE WHO YOU ARE. and find the people that will love you /FOR/ that, not /BECAUSE/ of it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey anon! There’s no need to apologize - an ask is never an intrusion (unless it’s like.... aphobic or homo/transphobic or smth but that doesn’t apply here / isn’t the point) - rather, I appreciate it a lot. I put all three of your asks together in one, I hope you don’t mind! I’m gonna answer under the cut as well so my own words don’t take up a ton of space n’ such. I have a rambling problem.

Okay, so. First thing’s first: I really appreciate you approaching me and saying what you've said. I feel like I guilt tripped y’all into it - that’s the real bad downturn of venting about stuff like this I guess, like when people do pay attention due to the topic matter you’ve forced them into it - but either way, I still appreciate it. It’s definitely not an intrusion.

So a little before-note: I myself have been diagnosed with GAD / SAD (generalized/social anxiety disorder) and have suffered from diagnosed chronic depression for... uh... about 8 years? Anxiety for about 11-12 years. I’ve gone to therapy for it for around four-ish years (I think???), but my therapist left her job at the beginning of this year and felt I’d progressed and learned enough coping skills that I’ll be OK on my own with periodic check-ins with someone. I’ve also got untreated/untested ADHD of some kind - my therapist never got around to doing some other tests with me beyond one preliminary simple one. Relevant bc I understand how sometimes it’s not not-listening but an inability to focus. Some background/context, woo!

Anyway... I felt like I’d heard the term RSD before somewhere (can’t remember where) - but I didn’t know what it was at all. So I looked it up! I try not to attribute mental illnesses or afflictions to myself unless I’ve been diagnosed, but based on what I was reading, I just kind of went “...oh.” Next time I have a therapy check-in, whenever that might be, I wrote a note about it to maybe bring up or talk about it.

But on the other hand non-RSD, it’s like.... normally, and in the past, I’ve been able to shrug this kind of stuff off. Does it sting/hurt a bit? Sure, and I’m sure it would for most people! In this case though it’s something that’s just been building and building and building for a few months now, with multiple people in multiple groups, both one-on-one, in discord servers, and IRL. The servers just happen to be most relevant because of the covid isolation. So it’s like a... straw on camel’s back, rather than everytime situation. Does that make sense? I’m rambling, sorry. If that’s still RSD, cool! (...ish!) I’m still gonna bring it up either way. I’m just unsure if the compounding still like... counts or not?

TL;DR for there - sounds like what RSD seems to be, but instead of overnight or every occurrence, this little breakdowns been building for months from multiple sources. Unsure if that’s still RSD or not, bc I also have GAD/SAD.

Anyway continuing on.

I’m sure it wasn’t meant like that, but the bit about “ if someone post something more 'reactionable' after you? then the conversation shifts to that person” kind of hit different in a really big ouch sort of way.  I get where you’re coming from and what you meant by it, definitely! It just sounded kind of like a.... hm. “If someone else posts something more interesting than you, of course conversation will shift to them.” Which... is exactly part of what’s been hurting so badly ahaha. Nobody wants to be ostracized or treated like they don’t exist - especially if it wasn’t long after they talked in the first place. Nobody wants to share their happiness or excitement and then be deemed “not interesting / reactionable enough”. Y’know?

The problem with the talking to more folks in groups one-on-one to share is that’s where the possibility of RSD falls aside and my diagnosed GAD/SAD takes over. I get scared sharing one-on-one because I’m afraid people are gonna call me stupid or shut me down or even then pretend I don’t exist bc it hasn’t been the first time - especially IRL. Talking to people or making friends is really really hard. And when that fear gets reinforced it just.... snowballs.

It’s kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

But anyway, god, I just wrote a rambling essay, which yikes for a whole other reason bc once I start I just don’t stop, eh? Sorry, Anon! I’ll go ahead and quit while I’m ahead, but I just want to reiterate - I really appreciate you sending me this. It was really nice of you, and I appreciate that you shared your own experiences via having RSD and how that can affect how things look - especially since it gave me something to look into.

Thank you. <3