#dreamcrow

like fine oil and very, very chaotic water

Bellroc is the only primordial wizard who has to bother with haircuts, but that doesn't mean they have to deal with it alone.

A quick little oneshot for my dear friend @dreamcrow whose birthday is coming up. This is not a birthday present, I just am excited about his birthday.

end of year book asks! || accepting

11. A book that was most out of your comfort zone

Real Men Knit, a delightful rom com by Kwana Jackson. I usually hate rom coms and unfortunately this book isn't something I plan to pick up any time soon, but it centers around fibercraft and a yarn store, so I was almost obligated to read it. I definitely recommend it to people who enjoy the genre. It was an objectively good book, just not my flavor tbh.

12. What was the most unexpected book you read this year?

I think the only one that really counts as "unexpected" was the Fall of the House of Usher, since I didn't realize one of the books I was reading was an adaptation of it at first (What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher) I had to put that book down to read the original story by Poe. I think I read it in secondary school, but certainly not since.

27. Did you discover any new genres?

I downloaded "This Quest Is Broken" since it was on sale at the time, and it introduced me to LitRPG books. I don't know if I'll be spending a huge amount of time in this genre, but it's definitely a fun thing to read, and JP Valentine was a great author. I've bought the rest of his books as well.

Also, like many people on tumblr, I'm following a ton of classic lit newsletters after being introduced to them via Dracula Daily :3

39. Five books you absolutely want to read next year?

Chuck Tingle's next horror novel, Camp Damascus, comes out this year, and I've been waiting for it since he first announced it ages ago. (Digression: I cannot recommend his first horror novel enough. Straight was a fun take on the zombie survival genre, and was so so cathartic to read.)

I'm also interested in The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, which was then adapted into the Hellraiser movie franchise, and Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica.

On the other end of the cozy vs horror spectrum, I'm also looking forward to picking back up The House in the Cerulean Sea (Got distracted by a new horror novel while reading it lol) and Can't Spell Treason without Tea by Rebecca Thorne.

Behind the Scenes: Fanfic Edition

Edit Post-Writing: Buckle up, friends, this got LONG (so sorry slkdjf)

So you, Crow, were there when we discussed the idea to haunt me, then, so I'll try and keep this about stuff that you may not have seen! However, before I do that, a quick tl;dr for those who did not see us hollering about this idea lol:

It happened right after we got the Rise of the Titans teaser trailer, back when we still knew so little about the movie itself. In the teaser, we saw Bellroc and their cool fire titan, and that spawned a whole myriad of ideas-- some earnest speculation, others just forming from the metaphorical playground because they were fun. One such idea that, if I remember correctly, was somewhere in between "wouldn't this hurt?" and "oh god what if it actually did happen?" was born, in order to explain why Skrael wasn't present in the teaser. Crow suggested the truly heartbreaking (compliment) idea that someone had to be sacrificed in order to raise the volcanic titan, and oh boy did that one gain legs.

So, moving on, I got permission from Crow to write this fic because the idea was just so good, and also because I was really in the mood to write something in the vein of horror, with romantic themes undercutting it. I was very enticed by the idea of monstrous love, and the different forms it can take, as well as the idea of loving someone so much that when it comes time to sacrifice them, you do it, because you know that not doing it would feel too much like coddling them. You have a mission that you both would lay down your lives for; to not allow your lover the chance to do so, when it is necessary, would feel like dishonor-- it would be an insult.

So this was the thesis of the fic, as it were; the central idea behind all of the themes and imagery that I wanted to explore.

Now on to some things that, to my memory, were not told to anyone as I was writing!

Stricklake has a bit of everything, doesn’t it? It sits on the edge of my two types of ships, “endlessly loyal” or “trust issues shaped like that potc quote about how a dishonest person you can trust to be dishonest; it’s the honest ones who end up doing something unexpected.” 

There is a part toward the end, where both of them are startled, where their seeing each other scared is a gateway to greater trust. Recognizing that startle reflex in each other is the thing that allows them to open up about the biggest breach of trust in their relationship (Strickler drugging Jim). I am not saying this is healthy, and really if this story was a morality tale I wrote now there would need to be some recognition that they are not coming from a place of fear around each other specifically ... unpack whether that’s in there or not, I suppose. I am saying it satisfies my own quirks.  

Ta-da!! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)_

The following is from the upcoming ch4 of Alto Mare

Barbara, despite her chest burning with the fury of a thousand suns, jutted her hand out to stop James in his path. 

He turned to quickly pull on her wrist, his thoughts only on running, leaving, getting out of this damned. park- villa. whatever!! 

“I- I can’t keep-” Barbara panted, her held arm limp at the wrist while she doubled forward to lean on her thighs, “running like this Ja-aAAAHHH!!”

James quickly leaned forward to silence her, nearly knocking her glasses off her face in the process, and then nearly gave a high pitched squeal of his own when he too looked down to see what Barbara was stammering and pointing at. 

There was a body on the ground between two hydrangeas.

Since I’ve mentioned it twice in fics now I can probably get away with saying this one:

I’ve always been a firm believer than users/creations of magic tend to be a little more sensitive to it’s use, even if they’re not aware of what specifically it is or the cause, they can still pick up an off vibe it gives off beyond the visually flashy stuff. Whether they can do anything with that information is a whole nother kettle of fish.

How does this fit in with Trollhunters? Changelings. Magic makes up their ability to switch between forms and their very creation so it makes sense to me they’d be ones that pick up on these things even without the why. Strickler however, with his literal magical hoard he pulls out of thin air, clearly knows what he’s doing more than most of his kin in that regard and while still not able to pin point exactly what’s going on, would immediately notice a change from magic being used and be wary of what it might mean. In comparison Nomura would just think it’s an off feeling and have no context to know otherwise.

There’s two points this has come up so far in my fics, namely the Book of Ga-Huel in the Strickler fic (there is a bit of a tickle in the air about it but nothing too unusual for that particular item) and also in Ghost!AU (a flicker of a something rapidly seeps into the very air -- Strickler happened to notice the shift immediately, looking about in confusion for what exactly it was he felt for those fragile few seconds). The only other magic user in the house at the time clocked it as well but doesn’t have the knowledge yet to realise what it was (there was something odd that happened just before that, the really weird way his expression seemed to change and a feeling in the air) who is of course, Claire. I’m also gonna be using it as an excuse to get those two to talk to one another before the Eternal Night hits which will be valuable information for Claire in the future and the virtue of trusting her gut just like when it turned out Angor was spying on them.

A comission for the incredible @dreamcrow, featuring his characters Akko and Sitayqik enjoying fantasy boba! I love them so much, I can't wait to read more about them.