All is Kit (me) | 30s | she/her | sag
sometimes I do art | ao3 writer: alliskit
because I've got no one to hyperfixate with me.
mindless imaginings of faerûn. https://linktr.ee/alliskit
So, when I started this I knew I was putting out a play through fic and there were TONS already in existence so I wanted to do something ✨original✨ but sometimes the traditional method really is the one that works.
Now that I'm onto TGD2, I'm realizing that I've pigeonholed myself. I have so many things I want to flash to or bring light on that I just can't in 1st POV.
Also, in rereading some older work, I realized my strengths really are in 3rd.
SO: we are under construction until I've adjusted.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ THE WHOLE OF THE GRAND DESIGN AS IS! YOU ARE AMAZING AND I'M SO THANKFUL FOR YOU.
The plan is to keep it the same, just swapping out the pronouns and adding a few "introspective" lines. The story in whole and details released will be the same. There MIGHT be a few additional new scenes, but none that will alter the direction if you've already made it to The Grand Disaster.
Once again, thank you all to those who are reading it.
I'll be dropping the whole of the altered version in one go when I'm done editing in Ellipsis.
My final thought on it is this: I get I don’t have to change it, but for artistic integrity, when I know something can be made better, why wouldn’t I make it better?
👇 You can still find links to the fic below the cut:
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
The 2nd installment is here!!!!
The journey continues and the companions really get to see the dark sides of each other.
This time around I won't be posting whole chapters, but rather the first snippet of the chapters. If you want to read them in whole, you can go to Ao3 (guests have access to it!) to read the rest.
I will continue to update the Tags throughout and will keep them updated here too. This story will be much darker, so be aware and mind the tags provided.
..............
Summary:
“Dear Readers,
I, Abbi, always believed alien abduction was plausibly real, but it was for other people. Maybe, aliens like abducting people who are mentally ill so it seems like they’re lying. Maybe, that's why I ended up on the nautiloid. Or maybe, I wasn't supposed to.
Either way, whether by design or by accident, I got to see a world saved. Even if it was technically just a tiny corner of it and not even my own.
Sometimes, it takes just a random group of people motivated to solve the same problem to make a difference, one step at a time. At the behest of my companions, I’m getting my adventure on paper. Sometimes the gods really are listening. And sometimes they're just cunts.
Cheers to the Heroes of Baldur's Gate and, hopefully, we can get a more accurate retelling down since Volo's was — please, don't read it. We didn't have a dragon with us, just a dragonborn."
(This is the 2nd installment of the series, please note the tags! They will also be updated as Chs. drop. They have made it to the Shadow curse and the darkness really does bring it out in everyone.)
Current Content Tags:
ACT 2: The Grand Disaster
CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH. 3 | CH. 4
Read it on AO3:
https://archiveofourown.org/series/5542481
My beautiful Title image by: @swordsbardkat!
Update about this fic:
It is finished! (For now.) Thank you to all who have been here since the beginning and anyone who is jumping into the craziness now!
This has been a wild ride and an amazing personal accomplishment, to have over 200K words written in a year. This is, of course, only Act 1 (book 1 lol), so there is more to come!
Act 2 will only have snippets posted to Tumblr, whole chapters will be available on Ao3.
THANK YOU GUYS! I LOVE YOU ALL!
………..
Summary:
“Dear Readers,
I, Abbi, always believed alien abduction was plausibly real, but it was for other people. Maybe, aliens like abducting people who are mentally ill so it seems like they’re lying. Maybe, that's why I ended up on the nautiloid. Or maybe, I wasn't supposed to.
Either way, whether by design or by accident, I got to see a world saved. Even if it was technically just a tiny corner of it and not even my own.
Sometimes, it takes just a random group of people motivated to solve the same problem to make a difference, one step at a time. At the behest of my companions, I’m getting my adventure on paper. Sometimes the gods really are listening. And sometimes they're just cunts.
Cheers to the Heroes of Baldur's Gate and, hopefully, we can get a more accurate retelling down since Volo's was — please, don't read it. We didn't have a dragon with us, just a dragonborn."
(This is written as an imagining from 1st person POV of “Tav” and the companions writing down their journey of becoming the Heroes of Baldur’s Gate.)
minsc has this line when you talk to him after gale speaks to mystra where he's like back in my homeland, we hide young wizard boys away so that mystra doesn't snatch them up and. like. man. that really adds some more color to how fucked up gale's whole situation with her was huh
“Weave-touched boys were hidden away. Now I wonder if it was not done to hide them from Mystra, and the snares she sets for young and prideful boys, hm?”
…is a comment that in Rasheman culture, magic is a decidedly feminine pursuit.
It is a metaphorical and cultural observation, not corroborating evidence that Mystra habitually pursued young boys.
In Rasheman, a male who chooses magic over becoming a warrior is shameful. Rashemen treats male magicians as outcasts. Their choices are seclusion or exile, with death for refusal. If anything it’s a reference to a vaguely homophobic stereotype held about male magic users.
Minsc is saying “In Rasheman we hide boys away so they don’t become fancy little wizard robe wearing boys.”
some personal updates for those who have been readers and moots, if you were wondering where I'd wandered off to.
when things get bad, I'm a "shelter in place" kind of person. I shut down and hide. my hobbies and what brings me joy take the first hit since the joy is hiding too, I lose the energy to push beyond it.
many of you are the "I write my pain" I do that post-storm. I need the emotional and physical energy to actively produce something creative.
life recently took a swift left turn and I've been ducking for cover while trying to tack down anything I can emotionally and physically.
if you're interested in talking, just reach out. I'm still here. I'm just really tired.
Good news, he was not next! In fact, she accepted him as her mate, he learned the crane mating dance and now every year, he artificially inseminates her with crane semen to expand the very endangered crane population. True story.
Sorry, he WHAT? Imagine being this man's boss and having to sit him down like. Listen. Brian. We need you to fuck the bird. You have to act like you're excited about it.
(WalWaPo makes you jump through like three separate hoops before you can read the article, so I will share some of the highlights:
Walnut was born in a species-recovery breeding program in the 1980′s. The program had crane chicks hand-raised by human volunteers, and at that time they did not fully understand the measures necessary make sure that the chicks do not imprint on humans and retain their identity as cranes.
As a result, her keepers believe, Walnut does not recognize other cranes as members of her own species.
It has not been proven that Walnut killed her previous suitors; however, there is a persistent rumor in the white-naped-crane-conservation community that she did.
Because this species is highly endangered, and the gene pool of the captive population is small, it’s pretty important for the survival of her species that Walnut A) mate, and B) not kill a bunch of other cranes.
The actual name of the keeper is Chris Crowe.
They both arrived at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in 2004.
Walnut immediately began paying special attention to Chris--and ignoring the eligible male crane in a nearby enclosure.
Walnut initiated their courtship, performing the opening moves of a mating dance.
Chris realized that if he reciprocated the mating dance, it might be possible to artificially inseminate Walnut with her participation and consent. (The process normally involves restraining the bird.)
It worked!
Chris and Walnut have had five children, who were raised by other crane couples at the facility--sometimes the biological dad and his mate--both because it’s unclear whether Walnut would accept the chicks as her own, and because Chris is not equipped to be a Crane Dad.
However, the Institute provides her with artificial eggs to sit on, and Chris takes his turn looking after them. (This would not work with real eggs because he can’t sit on them properly, but Walnut seems to feel that he is on the job if he just stands over them.)
Chris accepts that he is pretty much married to this bird. White-naped cranes live to be about 60, and they mate for life, so he knows he can’t retire while Walnut is alive. (At the time of the article, Walnut was 36, and Chris 42.)
she has not been PROVEN to have killed her exes, but there is a PERSISTENT RUMOR (really officers she's simply DEVASTATED, she sobs, wearing a new feather boa unfortunately resembling her most recent deceased husband)
His name is Chris CROWE. (Mrs. Walnut Crane-Crowe?)
the mental images of a whole human man learning and performing the crane mating dance, and "sitting" on artificial eggs so she thinks he's performing his duties as a husband and father (and apparently OBJECTS if he does not?)
"chris, buddy, you gotta marry the possibly-murderous crane lady for the GOOD OF THE SPECIES." (alternately: "chris, my man! good news! we found you a very interested lady! She's 36, she's very spirited and independent, she holds a very important and rare status in her society! ...Is there a downside? WELL...")
chris sits any potential human partners down, like "my love, you must understand before we wed,,, i am already... Attached" (camera drifts wistfully to the above photo) "Lady Walnut and I have an,, Understanding... the relationship is open, but very committed"
Not only is he 'married' to walnut, this has apparently happened SEVERAL times, so he has MULTIPLE crane wives, none of which know about any of his other crane wives. This man is, for some unknown reason, irresistible to cranes
the “this content has been removed for violating Tumblr’s Community Guidelines” notice really adds a lot of flavor to this post and somehow makes it MORE obscene than whatever that actually was
I regret being the bearer of bad news, but I thought it should be shared that Walnut passed away in January of this year (2024). There's a lot of mixed info about the lifespan of cranes (due to people misunderstanding what a median is...) but the average for most species I know of is 20-30 years (in the wild if nothing eats them/they don't die young), and 30-45 in captivity, with the oldest known white-naped crane having loved to be 46. Given that she was 42, this old gal did good, and I'm certain she will be missed by folks here.
You are aware that a fictional character is just a rhetorical construct designed to fulfill a narrative/thematic purpose right? That their actions are written by an author who wants to use them to explore complex ideas and moral gray areas within the safe confines of fiction right? That they aren't a real person who has killed real people right?
