gradevus' writing blog

Clean Questionnaire under the cut.

Thanks for the tag @serialsforbellara!! Easy little one to do on the weekend.

The Questions:

1. What's your blog title from?

My tumblr handle since I was a teenager was @/gradevus which is a mispelling of my favourite weapon from Fire Emblem. I've rebranded my main art account to marcell-arts but thought grad-writes would be fine for my writing one again!

2. Latest movie? What did you think? I have not watched any movie recently but we JUST finished A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms last night which was pretty good! I thought it'd do more in 6 episodes but it was enjoyable and entertaining. I watched with my brother and this was his first foray into any GoT world so it was fun explaining the world to him and seeing his thoughts.

3. What are you looking forward to right now? It's Sunday here and I have a few things I need to do but I am excited to spend most of the day drawing!! I'm working on my piece for Dragon Age Annual which is coming together but the background is really detailed so it's taking me a while...

4. If you could do anything at all today, what would it be? I have to mow the lawn today 😭 It's my least favourite chore but it's not raining today so I gotta do it... for future me...

5. Drink of choice? Tea! It's winter here and I go through like 3 cups a day (usually black teas with a little sugar and milk). Do love my boba when I'm outside/in the city tho.

6. Hair routine? I have pretty short hair and I don't do much to it haha. I do have to wash every day though and I usually let air dry unless I want it to look good the next day, in which I'll blow dry.

7. Favourite way to travel? Is there another you want to try? I prefer to drive a car if I can! I love roadtrips when I am specifically driving or I can get pretty terribly carsick. Otherwise, I love a train!!!

8. Favourite month and why? January. It is our birthday month but also mid-Summer for me and I love Summer. Tends to be the month where everyone is on holiday too as it's post-Christmas, work doesn't start til mid Jan, and school doesn't start til end of Jan/Feb, so January just has peak summer holiday beach vibes.

9. Favourite time of day and why? The morning! I guess specifically maybe 10-11am?? Perfect brunch if you're out with friends. Otherwise, it's my favourite time of day to start something new.

10. Do you play or follow any sports? I practice martial arts though that's not exactly a sport, which is Capoeira every week! I did Taekwondo for a few years before that. Otherwise, I am terribly uncoordinated with any third party object (a racket, bat, ball, etc.) and so I don't play or follow any other sports.

11. What kind of music has been stuck in your head lately? I'm the sort of person who gets obsessed with one thing and plays it non-stop for a year or more so. EPIC: the musical is my latest jam which I play through the whole album every day at work and is so fun to sing along to.

12. Dishes or laundry? Laundry any day. I enjoy doing the laundry and the smell of it. I hate doing dishes but luckily have a dishwasher so it's not too bad.

13. Something you learned recently? My fingernails have been really dry and brittle lately so I've been researching on how to make them stonger. So I guess, the benefits of nail oil!

14. What would you talk about if you could give a TED talk on anything? Last week at work, I gave a 90 minute lecture on How to design in PowerPoint to one of my clients. So... that, easy HAHA.

15. Piece of advice you find yourself giving a lot? Sort of 'who cares/it doesn't really matter' when it comes to my own deadlines/expectations on creative projects! I always like to give myself a little challenge but then also have to remind myself those deadlines don't really matter, or the things I'm stressing about in the end are going to have very minimal impact on anyone else. So just letting things go!

16. Piece of advice you would give yourself five years ago? Five years ago was 2021 and I was... starting my current job I believe! Wow time really flies. Probably to be confident in my own abilities at work - I'm definitely at a point now where I'm much more confident and relaxed because of it. Otherwise... maybe I would have encouraged myself to try creative writing again sooner!!! I enjoy it so much now.

17. Do you believe in luck and superstition? Do you carry any lucky items or follow any rituals? Not really any habits! I do sort of believe in luck but don't do anything with it.

18. Are you musical (play any instruments, sing)? Would you ever perform for an audience? I learned piano and clarinet as a kid and was terrible at both. Music is definitely something I am naturally not inclined. But nowadays I sing a lot when I work from home and I like to think I'm getting better... I perform for my friends in car karaoke but that's it HAHA.

19. Write, type or speak? Type when I want to sound more cohesive and get my thoughts in order. I like to speak when I'm trying to bounce ideas/get opinions from another.

20. What do you wish someone would ask you? To let me look at their PPT slides before they present it... god... my friends... you cannot be presenting that.... 😭

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tagging @strawberrypinky @tkwritesdumbassassins @brainwyrmz @woodlandeelf @vixenofcadmea @onlyslightlypsycho @morrriigan @crowslady68 @nirikeehan @therivercrow @cravingcoconutredbull @khayr @serensama @genjyoandgojyoandhakkai @chaosherald @doctormur

tagged by @saessenach and i swear someone else aaages ago but i think its buried in my notifs sorry!! now that Rookie is over I can actually try one of my 101 plot bunnies that I never dared to tackle while I had an ongoing WIP.

I'm drawing furiously for Dragon Age Annual right now and also reading like a maniac for book club this Sunday but planning to rough out maybe a new story some time next week for Kiss Week so maybe this poll will help order my WIPs haha

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Find the sorter here! When you're done, you can use the download button (next to the share button) to get the 10-up and the whole list as images.

tagged by @serialsforbellara!! this was sooo hard 😭😭😭 the amount of times I threw my hands up and stared in agony at the ceiling at the match ups 😭😭😭 i love them all for different reasons... (sorry Bethany youre dead last bc I simply don't know you....)

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Final snippet from... Rookie (art by @exalted-dawn)

After the end of their contract, Rook says goodbye to Lucanis.

As Rook and Lucanis returned for the last time together to the streets of Treviso, they saw it was full of not just locals now but visitors too. Antivan nobility had returned, along with the Merchant Princes and investors. Caravans were arriving with goods from across the continent now that trade had re-opened. The markets were even more rowdier than ever. And children now roamed freely along the canals and the plazas like they once had so long ago.

Rook held Lucanis' hand for the first time in public, and smiled at the sight.

"I wish we had a little longer here," she laughed as they strolled along the crystal canals. Winter had passed now and they were enjoying the warm, sunny days of Spring. "Isn't it just our luck that the moment we can enjoy each other's presence here, it's time for me to go?"

In the story, Rook's little ritual to celebrate finishing a contract with her de Riva Crows is having tea and a lemon tarte for a job well done. Lucanis does the same for her to bring some comfort. Aaand so I thought it would be fitting for the end of this story too — a treat for me and for all my readers and for Rookie and her gang for a job well done ❤️

Love, Rookie!!! 😘☕️🍋🥧

Bonus pics below ->

its friday here but thanks for the tags @serialsforbellara @tkwritesdumbassassins @vixenofcadmea!! work was so busy this week but i managed to get to the end of writing the final chapter of Rookie last night 😳 still need a few editing passes but im so close now and so excited/scared!!!!

Rook and Lucanis prepare to leave the Lighthouse for the last time.

"I'll miss this place," she sighed as Lucanis helped take down her lantern decorations and fold away her clothes. "It's not home but… I'll miss it anyway." "We made good memories here," Lucanis murmured. "The best days of my life. But…" He raised his head as Rook limped towards him with all her socks in her arms. "I look forward to spending even better days with you," he said honestly, "in Salle." Rook smiled so hard her cheeks hurt. "You're really coming then?" she asked with irrepressible joy. She was still healing, tender and sore—but she hobbled over anyway with a funny hop and bounce in excitement to carefully sit down beside him. "I don't want to take you away from your duties—Maker, I feel like that's all I've been doing this year." Lucanis gave a small smile. "You know I don't mind," he said softly. Then after a moment, he japed, "Viago paid me for it, after all." That made Rook laugh.

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tagged by @doctormur! I am still working on the final chapter of Rookie but I managed to get through the final battle scene last night and though it needs a lot of editing, I feel much better! I'm getting there! Anyway here's a few lines of fighting the sun god himself:

Rook disappeared in a flash of colours—of spells cast too fast and blades thrown without looking. She was desperate and terrified. The air was ringing with shouts of her name. She felt the sting of steel passing through flesh—her shoulder carelessly cut open in a passing swipe, her left thigh carved deeply with a jagged line. The boots Lucanis had bought her were melting where they were caught in a blaze. And her head was aching dully with the familiar sensation of mana depletion. Rook was casting continuously and recklessly—ice covered the ground as thickly as snow and her own hair was standing on end from how much lightning magic she had forced into the air. Elgarn'nan's body was smoking in the few places she had managed to strike him, but he was grinning. Laughing.

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Template can be found here.

Tagged by @serialsforbellara!! I have been out all weekend so I did this meme in powerpoint during a work meeting this morning LOL but it was so fun to think about!

3. What line or scene made you fall in love with my writing?

The first story I ever read from you was SEVEN!!! Can't believe it's so long ago now but I still remember this one particularly because it's the first story that made me think of power dynamics between higher and lower ranked Crows in regards to Lucanis.

He should have been the one to hesitate first, back when it might have mattered. Because he had known exactly what this would look like. A high-ranking Crow, toying with someone beneath him all to indulge in a fleeting pleasure he could afford to forget. He had never seen it that way—never. But he had feared she might, that the world might. That she might wake in the morning and wonder if she had made a mistake. So he would let her leave without asking her to stay.

make this picrew and put your name in the incorrect quote generator!

tagged by @doctormur!! and i just saw @genjyoandgojyoandhakkai did it too HAHA (omg and @serialsforbellara just as i was about to hit post!) i did Dora too once i saw you could do multiple characters in the incorrect quote generator 🤣

Me + Isadora de Riva

I sound like im her terrible mother 😭

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3. What line or scene made you fall in love with my writing?

Okay tricky... fave scene though is definitely the one where Isotta first meets the Dellamorte brother-cousins in her house and theyre just sitting at the table HAHA. I remember reading the banter and being so amused and at the time, not many people were writing interesting Illarios!!!! I was like omg I actually found an Illario I like!!!

Fave line: 'typical appearance of an ill-humored Antivan man in his thirties, nursing his caffè ristretto looking to be desperately in need of an afternoon nap or a cornetto—whichever came first.' You write Lucanis so tired and awkward yet cool!!!

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6. Is there a specific character you think I write well?

Luuuucanis. But also Illario. Def these two - you inject the assassin-brotherhood-camaraderie from AC into these two and it WORKS.

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13. Do you have any headcanons about any of my characters?