tip for those who struggle with building up their grimoire:
I'm rebuilding/reworking my own grimoire atm and, in poking around for inspiration here and there, I've seen a bit of a trend regarding indexes and tables of contents.
A lot of posts for Beginner Witches have looong lists of things you Absolutely Must(TM) include in your grimoire. These read almost like a super extensive syllabus that covers what seems like every topic under the sun, and are, quite frankly, completely unnecessary.
This is a friendly reminder that you don't have to include anything in your grimoire that you don't want to.
Not interested in astrology? No problem. Don't include it.
Don't work with herbs or crystals? Why spend time writing notes on them, then?
Don't celebrate Wiccan holidays? No need to include info on the Wheel of the Year.
etc etc.
Part of the reason why I never finished my last couple grimoires were the fact that I felt pressured to write extensive entries on things I wasn't interested in, or on things I already knew and thought redundant to include. I had dozens upon dozens of unfinished pages, and the knowledge that I was expected to write things on each of them filled me with such anxiety and dread that I just... stopped opening my notebook up altogether.
This time around, however, I'm taking a different approach to my grimoire. I have limited time and energy to commit to my craft, and I'd rather not spend it on shit I didn't really care about. In my new grimoire, I have not and never intend to include notes on the 'basics', or overviews of every pantheon and every deity, or summaries of the different types of witches or spells or what have you. I'm including only what I think is important to me.
Your grimoire is supposed to be your personal journal, documenting not only the things you've learned but the things you're actually interested in. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do research -- it's very important to expand your education, especially regarding different worldviews and outlooks to your own. But!!
Don't feel like you've got to write an encyclopaedia, or produce a textbook for future generations to consult, because that isn't the point.
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Event?????
1 or 7, domestic style fluff with my favorite eel?? ♡♡ (it's Floyd of course)
I leave romance vs platonic up to you, gn reader so everyone can enjoy as well :)
Can't wait to see what younc9me up with!!! If you need any help or ideas come bug me, floyd sits in my head constantly like a very annoying song
Warm Mornings; Floyd Leech
Content; Fluff, gender-neutral reader, romance
Content Warning; Some swearing
Word Count; 700+
Author's Note; Who needs a weighted blanket when you have a Floyd? I am here to deliver soft Floyd(TM) hours! (he also sits in my head constantly; the song is the low-quality Funky Town)
Even when Floyd was dead asleep, he squeezed you, and that was your situation now. You were lying on top of him, and he had you in a comfortable yet strong bear hug. Just tight enough that you couldn’t wiggle free from him. And it was normally fine, but last night someone had left the window open and now it was warm and humid in the room, making you feel sticky.
“Floyd,” you whispered, trying to wake him up gently.
A gentle snore was your answer. You should have expected that though, he sleeps like a damn log.
You tried wiggling around a bit, but Floyd just hugged you tighter on unconscious instinct and rolled over, trapping you under him. Yeah, you were officially stuck. “Floydddd,” you groaned, poking him right above his hips. “You’re crushing me.”
Usually he would wake up by you repeatedly poking him, but he was out cold, he only just shifted, trapping your face where one cheek was pressing against the mattress, and the other was smushed up against his chest. Normally, you wouldn’t complain about this situation, but it was grossly warm. You were also too far away from your usual ‘escape the crushing weight of my dearly beloved eel route’, which was just tickling his legs and feet. Too bad your arms were pretty much pinned against the bed.
“Floyd, get off me,” you grumbled, squirming around like a worm on a hook.
Still nothing.
Sighing, you accept your fate. Besides the humidity, it was rather nice. Sure, you couldn’t make out the crashing of the waves on the beach, the steady beat of Floyd’s heart was right up against your ear, and it was slow and steady.
Slow and steady, not two words many people would associate with Floyd. It was a calmer side that only you got to see; when you were overwhelmed, or when he was feeling soft. Yes, he was usually a bundle of energy, but even he had his quiet moments. Within the hurricane, there was always the eye, where things remained still, despite the wild winds outside.
“Mmm,” Floyd groaned, the first sign of life you’ve seen since you’d been sandwiched.
He slowly blinked his eyes, working out the sleep from them, and tilted his head down so he could actually see you, since you were still stuck between his chest and the mattress. “Heh heh, I caught a Shrimpy in my sleep!~” He drawled, voice chipper but still heavy from sleep.
“Yes, yes you did. Can you please get off though, it’s gross out,” you groaned. At least he was cute, which the wild bed head only played in his favour. How can he look so good in the morning? Maybe it’s a mer thing… “Floyd?”
He hadn’t moved, and was instead giving you a wide grin. “Hmm, maybe I should’ve called you Crabby instead of Shrimpy, Shrimpy,” he pinched your cheeks teasingly, “since you look pretty crabby right now.”
You rolled your eyes, “And maybe I should use that mushroom risotto recipe that Jade gave me for our dinner tonight. But that’s only if you don’t get off.”
Floyd narrowed his eyes at you, trying to make out if you were bluffing or not, since last time you were dead serious and did exactly that. But he rolled off of you, grumbling a bit. “Meanie,” he muttered.
You shuffled over to where he was dramatically splayed out, his head slightly turned to you, and giving you puppy dog eyes. Chuckling, you kissed him on the lips, as that is what he was being dramatic about.
Giggling, he captured you in his arms yet again, and trapped you against the mattress for a second time this morning. He was giving you a shit eating smile. You weren’t leaving this bed until he had his share of kisses.
“Floydddd,” you groaned, but you weren’t annoyed with him, if anything, you were amused. There was never a dull moment with him around.
“Shrimpyyyyyy,” he mimicked your voice with a more prominent whine. “You know the drill!~”
Sighing, you ran your hands up through his messy hair, and brought your lips together, deeper this time. You knew the drill; neither of you were getting up until both of your lips were tired, sore, and most likely bitten… which may not be for a while.
~~~~~~~
Tags: @azulashengrottospiano, @eynnwwyjth, @hydra-sea, @krenenbaker, @officialdaydreamer00, @twistwonderlanddevotee, @xxoomiii
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People get really defensive about "writing Astarion with women" when what people are actually annoyed/upset about is that people are putting him in heteronormative relationships with women.
And it's not like, "YOU, INDIVIDUAL WOMAN, WROTE HIM WITH A WOMAN? A POX ON YOUR HOUSE!" and more like "a majority of fandom is writing him in this specific way with this specific type of character that doesn't really reflect who he is in the game and shoehorns him into a generic booktok dom daddy."
Which. Yeah. People are allowed to feel annoyed/alienated by that type of trend. I think. Maybe. I've seen several fics where Astarion being with big burly men (implied to have been penetrated) was portrayed as traumatic, while being with little virginal female Tav was "healing". And yeah, you're technically acknowledging his pansexuality ... But the implications aren't great. Ya know?
And there's a LOT of conflating domming/topping/being on top. Which ends up only highlighting the heteronormative approach to a lot of fic about him. "He gets on top > so he always tops/penetrates > so he's a dom." Because for some reason penetrating others is less traumatic to him than to be penetrated? Which is a whole bag of worms that people seem reluctant/unable to unpack.
Now, the other side of this argument are people who go "lmao those delusional wamen think this homosexual twink would top them" which is. Also not great? But in the end reflects the same type of reductive and heteronormative argument, it's just coming from the other side of the spectrum. He's flamboyant and pretty so he MUST be incapable of putting his dick into someone else. And he's MORE feminine than the women he gets paired with, so obviously that's unrealistic and he must be paired with a big strong man instead. Which is like. Well you're paired him with a man but you're still being just very heteronormative about it. Even gay relationships must have a "man" and a "woman", is your argument? And Astarion, being beautiful and a presumed bottom, is "the woman"?? Hmm. Don't like that.
Maybe. Astarion is. Pansexual. And can both bone down and be boned down. Maybe he does have a preference. Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he doms, maybe he subs. Maybe he switches depending on mood/partner. Maybe he likes different sex positions where he's on top and ones where he's below. Maybe he's down for whatever as long as it's with someone he loves. Maybe he's neither "the man" nor "the woman" in a relationship and he's simply Astarion, a man in a relationship. Maybe in the end it doesn't fucking matter and putting him into rigid binaries is doing him a disservice.
Anyway. My nonbinary Tav's gonna upgrade his gender to Man+. Cis premium. They're gonna explore his gender and preferences and expression together. I think that might be fun and freeing maybe. And they're gonna take turns topping and bottoming and both will be soooooo healing because um. They're having consensual sex and are in love. So it's healing by default. Regardless of who's putting what where.
Well. Anyway. All I'm saying is. Stuff.
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