This is just going to be spoilers all the way down, you know the drill with the Attolia books, plug your ears, mute your networks, keep your head down with the book all way until you’ve reached the end.
And then laugh for an hour.
So I caught the isn’t actually dead twist early on but totally skipped over the errand boy twist and spent a while puzzling out the Attolian twist because why would Gen send Costis, the least subtle and least cunning most honourable person in this series??
Because Kamet would have skedaddled on anyone else, clearly. Costis is so straightforward and clearly devoted to Gen that Kamet has absolutely no trouble believing that Costis is dealing in good faith, even though Gen has set up everything to knock it all down.
I think what threw me on the errand boy reveal is that a) Gen mentions have met the kitchen staff in CoK and b) the kitchen staff clearly knew very damn well what the errand boy looked like. So basically for like, what, two years, Gen just eats sand while the entire kitchen thinks he is either too stupid or cowed or lazy to stop them, because seriously, once Costis knows that the king is (still) eating sand, everyone knows that the king is eating sand. The king! Who by this point is rumored to be practically magical. Plenty of people in his own damn palace are frightened of him.
So I’d had the impression that Gen had tried to stop it early on while he was still playing the fool and the staff had laughed in his face behind his back and kept on feeding him sand because f u Eddisian.
And then that he’d kept it going because he couldn’t be bothered to terrify the smallfolk or because he wanted that ‘lol what an idiot’ story to keep circulating.
But no. Gen just kept eating sand until the moment he couldn’t play that card anymore. GIve me back my time of feeling sorry for you eating sand because someone loves Attolia so much that they hate you for marrying her! You had Sounis eat sand WITH you! YOU’VE CHEATED MY FEELINGS YET AGAIN EUGENIDES.
I feel like hearing Gen got his ear pulled for being an idiot cheered Irene up so much she decided to go sit in the gardens. ‘why did i spent my time getting angry about the sand on your behalf’ you hear her asking herself. ‘why did i marry this giant child.’
Attolians everywhere: I aspire to this level of petty.
Gen: lol steals the diplomatic report to read to my queen to cheer her up because I know Irene’ll love Mede ships going up in flames (also the drop that he attributes the conviction about Mede armament to her, which is basically Gen pointing to Irene and saying ‘my war genius queen! i love her’)
Attolians everywhere: we love you, king.
I did not even know the miscarriage thing was going to be a Thing until I hit up some discussion threads, but for what it’s worth I come down on ‘real’ and ‘intensely sad’.
I would give a lot, like a whole lot, just for side-ficlets on the Attolian court agog once Irene began to show tho, like ‘I THOUGHT THEY NEVER SLEPT TOGETHER EVER’ and ‘HOW THE HELL DID HE DO IT’ and ‘DID SHE JUST MAKE IT HERSELF IN THERE?? I WOULDN’T PUT IT PAST HER’
I realise that half this blurp is just about Attolia when we only get there at the very end but I also very much enjoyed Costis/Kamet, I just don’t have as much to say about it.
Possibly because I skipped most of the poetry bits. I’LL GO BACK, OK?
I caught the gods showing up because honestly, what else other than a god could have moved Kamet to go back for Costis, also gods showing up to tell humans how silly they are being is a big theme here, but I was also iffy on the wine merchant thing. It’s one of the things that kept me from committing to Costis early on, because I assumed it was a larger operation than just one Attolian palace guard whisking a slave out of the empire. Had to have been a collaborator, right? WRONG.
And that’s yet another reason Kamet assumes Gen isn’t being serious about him, because why send ONE obviously favoured and super useful guy to get him out of there? Surely there had to have been a bigger plan? Surely he was going to get something else out of this?
Gen: Costis is extremely useful to me. Like, you have no idea. :D
Costis: tries hard to convey to Kamet the whole way through that Gen is a tricky bastard of many facets, only manages to convince Kamet that Gen is an idiot.
Gen: yes, exactly like that. Exactly.
Kamet: he can’t be lying to me! He’s too big and good-looking and nice and competent and kind!
Gen: yes, exactly.
You kind of imagine Kamet rolling his eyes going, ‘god, tell a heathen one great story and he gets all caught up in the symbolism of it. it’s not all about you Attolian! Symbolism and metaphors exist!’
Costis: we were not the beautiful brotherly / not brotherly love story? We were the joke skits about the slave and the master? YOU’VE BROKEN MY HEART.
Kamet: I can’t even with you right now.
And then they go off to a villa by the sea to live in peace and harmony and great love story for the ages.
Kamet for replacement spymaster tho, I’m gonna call it right now. Relius is getting up there in years. I don’t know if the new heir to Baron Erondites nessecarily is going to turn out loyal enough to sit in that position for Gen.
Aomine and Momoi angel true forms at long last for my AU :D I included Kiyo to have them all in one place ohoho
If you’re familiar with my oldest AU and its art, then you might be able to recognize some similar design elements ;w; The first two took me forever to put together, but I’m happy with how they turned out. It’s been four years and they finally have their designs o(-<
Hi! I used to lurk in KHR fandom and was a big fan of your fics. I've recently gone on a reread binge and was sad to see that some of your fics don't seem to be available anymore since your LJ was deleted. Would you consider putting them up on AO3? I'd love to reread the one where Tsuna makes friends with Irie, in particular. (I think the title was Do-Over?) Also the various dabbles, like the one where Kyoko is in Interpol which brings her up against the Vongola and in the end Xanxus shoots her
I technically have all the old entries backed up to my DW, but there’s A LOT and they’re locked for a variety of reasons. I went looking for the ones you wanted, which let me tell you was a weird variety of emotions because I think I actually still sound the same way, I’v just remodulated to the hip vocal syntax?? The vast majority of the drabbles, between scattering and lack of time, are not likely to get put up or collected, which is also the case with the other stuff on this tumblr. /lies down
Do-Over on the Ao3, for you, and the Kyoko snip under the cut
She's one of fifteen people spread across thirteen locations to watch the places where the Vongola family-Hei Se triad showdown might possibly take place, the Italian giant finally reaching into the east to crush a pretender to the throne. Kyoko is the only one here for the simple reason that it's one of the more unlikely locations: here, the triad can send fifty and the Vongola can't show more than five.
They show two. One is blond and black-jacketed, with a red and black striped shirt. The other is Sasagawa Ryohei; and Kyoko's blood goes cold. Her hand freezes on the message, and she looks and looks at the man, who can't be her brother, can't can't can't- is.They walk in and they walk out. The place has fairly thick walls, and maybe fifty, sixty hardened killers waiting inside to send the Vongola's messengers back to them in shreds. Later, when her backup arrives and they check, there won't be a single one left alive.There's a smile on her brother's face when he gets back into the car, and blood on his hands.
This reminds me of one of my favorite conservation stories!!
When they were trying to bring Puffins back to islands on the US east coast they decided to do so with dummies. Puffins are very social, and as a result would want to land on islands that already have puffins. The dummies looked real from a distance, but were seriously lacking up close, held up by a single peg. Puffins, being social and wanting to fit in, followed suit:
Werewolves are still werewolves no matter what form they’re in. We don’t stop being werewolves when we’re in human form, we don’t stop being werewolves when we’re in wolf form. Stop werewolf erasure!
Listen, I’ve been in a committed relationship with a selkie for over ten years. I can tell you that whole hiding-the-pelt-thing is total bullshit. If he wanted to leave he could, I am not holding him hostage. Please, stop spreading this hurtful misinformation.
Repeat after me kids: Kelpies do. not. have to look like horses to still be Kelpies. Kelpies who take non-equine forms are JUST AS VALID as the Kelpies who take equine forms. Stop Kelpie purism and erasure.
Support nephilim with angel blood
Support nephilim with demon blood
Support nephilim who choose to embrace their divinity
Support nephilim who choose to belong to human culture
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