Justa Writes (sometimes)

Any pronouns | Justa | demi-ace gray | over 21

[justawrites]

Meet the artist/writer thing I guess. Lambsona? Nah. Goatsona.

Also feels a bit weird seeing bluejeans in a cotl-esque setting but eyy fuck it we ball <3

(Fic/AU Masterlist) (the masterlist is incomplete right now but. it exists at least-)

Also, I have a bluesky! same name- JustaWrites. Will I be active? no idea yet!

[justawrites]

I wanted to draw my Yngya :)

Her fur and her antlers change with the seasons, bc what's the point of having a god of seasons if they don't represent it physically amirite /silly

She's hella dead but she ends up still somehow playing a big part in God in a Godless Land, so anyway enjoy my season deer goddess lady who Shamura may or may not have loved depending on how you read Shamura's chapter in Rise of the New Faith-

[justawrites]

I know that Yngya was in the newest update but just a heads up, for God in a Godless Land this is still my Yngya

[justawrites]

Do you think you will continue to write the god in the godless land story? It’s amazing

Hii, I will continue to write it no worry! I've been extremely busy recently, I've been working full time while going to school so I have genuinely had 0 days off (days off from work are Tues/Thurs, days off from school were Sat/Sun- if I was off of work I had school, if I was off of school I had work). Hopefully I'll have more time, today is my graduation so after this it'll just be work and the search for a new job that doesn't suck my soul from my body <3

[justawrites]

Mmm I was playing lethal company earlier and trying to think of what of the monsters each of the Bishops would be/be adjacent to in my Lethal Company AU (yeah, I made one of those)

Naturally the following make sense (at least to me);

Shamura -> Spider

Leshy -> Earth Leviathon

Narinder -> Bracken or Feiopar (bracken was what I had gone with initially but Feiopar is a giant cat that is basically an outside bracken in the form of a big cat so)

Kallamar and Heket are definitely the ones I'm struggling with... Maybe a Thumper, Eyeless Dog or Spore Lizard for Heket (I don't think there's a base-game frog entity...), or maybe the Butler since those release hornets which are kinds like the flies Heket produces.... and maybe a Hygrodere for Kallamar (did I just turn this man into a puddle? Maybe), but I dunno... maybe I'll need to look at modded entities for them.

Anyway I'm still here and kickin', just a little over a month to go until school is done for me o7 maybe once it's over I can get back to writing and/or drawing mmm

[justawrites]

Hey you still doing stuff? Like rotnf?

Hi! I'm still doing stuff and my fics aren't abandoned, my real life is just super busy (full time job + senior year at uni, I don't have much free time and what time I do have is spent with family and friends, for the most part) and unfortunately I have to prioritize real life right now. But do know I am always thinking about these little guys and my fics, and nothing is abandoned even if I am on an impromptu hiatus! Life is busy and I'm incredibly introverted so my energy levels by the end of the day are just 📉 basically every day

Thanks for checking in and I'm sorry I've been away so long, I cannot make any promises as to when I will update but my stories are not abandoned <3

[justawrites]

I've still got GiaGL open in a tab and think of you every so often, but I didn't wanna rush you. So I'm glad to check back in and see you're doing alright (and still thinking of our lovely cat family). I hope you enjoy your study abroad :>

Hi!! Sorry it's taken so long to respond, school is very busy for me and if I'm not doing school work I'm doing "I need to earn money to survive" work <3 I haven't had much time for fun writing, so thank you so much for your patience! (I am also thinking about them, I love them so much)

The study abroad was amazing, absolutely life changing event and I desperately want to visit again in the future sometime when I have more money, actually know Spanish, and have a less strict schedule to follow o7 Thank you so much for checking in!

[justawrites]

Hi! I reread your fics again and am just as captivated by them as my first go-around! Your writing is just inherently impressive!

I also see you've been away for a while. I hope you're doing okay! If not, I hope things get better for you.

Hii! Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy my fics!!

Everything's okay!! I'm just in uni and working a job, both full time, so I don't really have time to write (or draw) right now. All free time I have is dedicated to assignments and projects, unfortunately! But I'm hoping next semester will be better, since I'm dropping down to part time school (final semester and I graduate whoo!) and I'll be looking into changing jobs.

[justawrites]

sketchy doodle bc I love and miss this little fambly

[justawrites]

Your goatsona's cute btw

thank yoouu!!! <3

[justawrites]

I've got an idea of...basically an AU fanfic of your AU fanfic bouncing around in my head. It isn't nearly fully formed, but I wanted to ask if you were comfy with such a thing first?

That's perfectly fine! I also have AUs of my AU bouncing around in my head lol. As long as it's not a play by play I don't mind, I don't own the rights to "Narinder runs away" or "Bishops become gods again/the Bishops stay gods" or "Lamb begins a New Faith" <3

[justawrites]

Hi, loving your work and hoping all is well with you and school! 👍 I was wondering, are you answering questions for the most recent Lamb ask game (link)? If so, could you answer questions 6, 7, 19, 31, 35, and 50? ((Btw, no pressure if you don't want to or are busy!!!)

Have a good one! 👋😊

Hiii sorry it's taken me so long to respond!! School went well, I am not officially classed as a senior <3

I wasn't, but I can absolutely! Since you didn't specify an AU (all of my Lambs are very different) I'll go on a limb and assume GiaGL since that's the AU I'm mostly focused on now.

6. Who raised your lamb?

GiaGL Lamb was raised by anyone who happened to care to try and help. They were on their own for as long as they could remember, but when they were small and couldn't take care of/protect themself they were often being fed and hidden by some kindhearted civilian. They never could stay with one person for too long, though, and as they grew into independence people were less and less willing to help. Their childhood is a blur of strangers' faces before they learned to stand on their own two feet.

7. Where was your lamb raised? A village? A prison? Constantly on the run?

Oh, well, I guess the previous response answered this one too lol. They were constantly on the run, basically, being passed around by allies of the sheep.

19. Do they bear any traits of forced domestication? Is their tail docked? Was their ear tagged? Do they have scars from being shorn (and nicked) against their will? Were they ever painted with or assigned a number rather than a name?

Their tail is docked (at least at this point- as the years go by and the Red Crown changes them, their tail grows too), but not due to forced domestication! When the sheep herds were plenty they didn't dock tails, as cleaning and maintaining the wool there was just standard practice, but when the cullings began and the sheep lost their access to clean water, facilities and such, it became harder for them to maintain and clean their wool, which could lead to, uh... painful and sometimes fatal conditions (this is inspired by real life, btw). Sheep who became parents during the cullings began to dock their own lambs' tails because they didn't have access to clean facilities or the resources to keep the tail-wool clean.

31. Is your lamb ever honest about their feelings or past? With who?

I don't think GiaGL Lamb knows how to be honest, let's be real. That being said, they will be open with their Crown, and they have at least once had a heart to heart with Leshy (in Rise of the New Faith).

35. If your lamb could pick a cult job other than leader what would it be?

I... have never considered this. I think they'd enjoy gardening (specifically gardening, not farming), since it's peaceful and while it's still hard work, it's not back breaking work. Just chillin' with the flowers.

50. Freebie! Tell us any headcanon you want!

umm ummm so this isn't about GiaGL specifically (after all, whatever I want to be canon there is) but I think in the canon game, Narinder 1) knew the Lamb would betray him (the prophecy said 5 becomes nothing, after all), and 2) he really does love the twins, but claimed not to so the Lamb wouldn't feel guilty returning them to Forneus (I claim this because Narinder didn't break his chains until after the Lamb defeats the twins :) ). Oh!! 3!! The sacrifice of the "most devoted" was fulfilled when the Lamb killed Aym and Baal. Either that or it was unnecessary. But Narinder doesn't break free from his chains until they're struck down, so either he just needed to be fucking pissed or Aym and Baal were the true "most devoted".

I hope these are satisfactory, thank you!! <3

[justawrites]

what if instead of working on anything I should be working on I just wrote self indulgent Narinder and Wren content.... their life together... AUs of my AUs.... what-ifs.... all the moments that happened between everything....... I love my orange cat son....

[justawrites]

Hi guys I'm not dead or abandoning anything I've just been really busy <3 I'll get back into the swing of things soon enough hopefully. That being said I won't be on or working on anything in July, I'll be busy with school stuff (study abroad <3) and way too tired to work on things. I'm hoping to update GiaGL at least once before I go, though... we'll see how it goes!! I've been rotating Wren in my head tho sorry, I find myself desperately wanting to explore his story more lmao-

Also update, due to personal reasons there's a very very good chance that GiaGL AU will not have Nari and Lamb getting together even 100+ years from now (AKA I'm bored of it being in just about every au and art orz i need more Nari without Lamb im sorry....)

[justawrites]

It has been a while since I posted or updated anything... my bad I've been real tired and tied up with school o7

[justawrites]

Outta curiosity, will Narilamb become a thing in the official God in a Godless land fic? I know there’s plenty of ship art in the tag, but I wasn’t sure how canon that was to the main storyline so I figured I’d get it cleared up lol.

If so, I am exceptionally curious as to how that’s gonna play out, it feels like they’re worlds apart, both in a literal sense and how it seems like Narinder’s found himself the centerpiece of a puzzle, seemingly without room for the trifles of the divine.

Absolutely adore your stuff, can’t wait to see more of it!

Hello!!

So, Narilamb is not canon to the main storyline fic of GiaGL- except in an unhealthy onesided-from-Lamb way that Lamb will have to let go of-, and if it happens at all it's 100% a "hundred years later" type deal. It's also not a guarantee, even though I intend to set it up as a possibility in the story, because if I can't get the Lamb's character development just right, then there'd be no chance in hell that Narinder would even give them a chance, even a hundred years later.

The worlds be a-changin', lol- but yeah, IF it happens it's not in the main storyline fic. All my GiaGL narilamb stuff takes place faaar in the future, and if I decide narilamb just isn't the direction I want (which is very possible, because Lamb has to take a certain character development path and if I slip up on that then yeah lol) then the art can be taken as an AU of the AU, of sorts. It'll all depend on the development, I'm definitely not gonna force the ship to happen. A very big decision has to be made by Lamb (and the Bishops) regarding the Faith for Narinder to even consider calling them his ally/friend after their adventure.

Thank you so much!! Sorry it's been a hot minute, it's midterms and projects and now I'll be spending a week with family lol but, hopefully I'll find some time to write and/or draw <3

[justawrites]

My bad! I do love hearing anything about your AU but I can now see how overwhelming that is.

I'm assuming atheists have never met gods in this AU then? That just brings me back to a vague recollection of you drawing Narinder getting burned like a witch. Possible reaction to divine magic?

Let’s see, let’s just chat some more! <3 One of the things I'm most looking forward to is the Bishops’ discovery of Narinder’s powers. Unlike them, he’s manifesting abilities outside of his usual realm. You say he’s currently akin to a living force of nature, Life itself, making the godless lands flourish even without being worshipped. I suppose the crown (and I’m sure the white circlet is his crown) would just make him stronger? I doubt he’d want to wield it though; he’s tired of the business of gods and cults.

But if the age of being chosen is gone, did he develop these powers naturally? Is this who he was meant to become had he not been chosen for the Red Crown of Death?

Somewhat tied to this, I’ve always wondered if the Lamb interpreted Clauneck’s cards incorrectly. They assume they are the center of the new pantheon of gods, but would it not make more sense for Life to be the one tying them all together? Red is said to connect the four colors of the shield, but gold is also woven throughout them. (Or I just don’t fancy their egoistic ass heading anyone. We ain’t going through another one of my long-winded rants about this bastard xD)

Hell, I wonder if they even remember there were supposed to be five gods in their inner pantheon with them?

Ha! Sorry it took so long to answer this, but here I am!

That's right, atheists and nonbelievers have never met gods or seen evidence of gods (their temples, as such). They view stories of gods as their ancestors' attempts to make sense of the world, and since the godless don't worship any gods it never really causes any strife between them. I mean the fact that there's rarely any communication between the two helps, but the godless who do interact with them are for the most part not godless who practice magic or know Narinder personally. Prior to the attack in which Narinder lost Wren, magic wasn't common in the godless lands- though its people have always had the capability, there was no one there to train them and help them grow until Narinder decided they could use magic and artifacts to protect themselves and fight against the resurgence of wannabe-cult leaders. Atheists and nonbelievers are among the groups who have only seen magic in association with said wannabe-cult members/leaders, so Narinder's magic definitely set off their red flags. I still love that drawing, Narinder's smug amusement....

Hohoho asking the really fun questions I see! I'm gonna answer the following under a cut, since it does contain spoilers :)

The way Narinder's divine magic (so not his inherent magic, like fire) works is in response to how he needs it to work. His magic still works off of devotion, but unlike the Lamb and his siblings, it's not devotion from followers praying at a statue but his devotion to other people. (Spoiler alert, this is 100% something the Bishops are able to do, too, but they don't realize this- Lamb is the only one who actually needs outside devotion, as they haven't fully ascended yet.) The circlet is, ofc, his Crown (I don't think that was a secret at all) but it has no sentience like the others have, since the others' Crowns feed their users devotion (thus making them stronger) while Narinder works with his own, but it basically stores his devotion and would allow Narinder to use his divine magic even when he has "no need" of it. Narinder will come to understand eventually that he can't stop being a god, because he held the red Crown for so long and went through ascension already, but he will never actively call himself a god again; he remains devoted to providing for his people, and while he will one day willingly ally himself with the New Faith, he has no interest in joining their pantheon.

Now the interesting thing about him being a force of nature- so are his siblings. His siblings are the ones who represent life, but Narinder more accurately represents... second chances, or second life. He's a fallen god who has been given a second chance at life, with a new family and community and culture to redefine himself within, and the godless lands are given a second chance to thrive and truly live, rather than scrape by. Everyone Narinder has interacted with and helped and loved is living in their second chance... even the Bishops. Even the Lamb. Hell, especially the Lamb, whom he literally gave a second (and then some) chance to. He created resurrection, possibly the most black-and-white "second chance" there is. Wren escaped his cult and ended up in the godless lands, and Narinder offered him a chance to live a new life and figure out who he really wanted to be... I think I've said enough on this hfjhd but yeah- Narinder has displayed magic from the domains of fallen gods. Though he can't reach past the veil anymore, there is also something of Death's he could do... though in the main timeline he doesn't. (In the Wren Lived timeline, he did :) completely accidentally, mind you, but he did)

... Also, his element is fire. Fire, which gives life, but also can wreak destruction- yet the ashes left by fire will help the new growth. Symbolism, baby!

Fate is a fickle thing. Narinder was always meant to hold the red Crown.... for a time. Narinder was always meant to be who he is now, and the Lamb- last of their kind and unwilling to be held back by ancient laws of gods long dead- was always meant to have the red Crown. They (as in the Lamb, Narinder and even the Bishops) were always meant to herald in a new world.

Whiiiich yeah, the Lamb has misinterpreted Clauneck's words, at least a little. They're meant to herald in a new world- not bring the old one back. Their Pantheon is supposed to be different (notice all of the inner pantheon are gods who have been remade into new gods... more in line with what their inherent magic had always been). I won't spoil too much about this one in particular, since it's gonna be part of Lamb's Revelation™ and I think you'll enjoy it better seeing it in context, but as they begin to realize Narinder is a god even without a Crown or a cult, they'll begin to make connections they missed before lmao (hjfhjdshj I so hope their journey of self-betterment and the realization that they're just repeating history is satisfying for you lmaoofjkdkjf.)

They don't think about it much anymore but they certainly remember. Narinder does not appreciate how they decide to interpret it upon finding him again. After all, the four Bishops of the Old Faith are now Bishops of the New Faith- so obviously the fifth Bishop should be too, right? Well, Narinder certainly doesn't agree.

[justawrites]

hullo~~ how goes the godless fic? ik it's only been a few days since your last update but i'm ~yearning~ already. any scraps of lore you're willing to give rn? you know i love your worldbuilding 🫶

Hi! It goes! I have a good chunk of the next chapter written but I'm not feeling its end point so I'm wanting to revisit parts and keep the chapter going a bit longer. It might end up being a 10k word chapter but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make ;P

Hmmm.... it's really hard to think of lore when there's not a driving question.... there's so many options that I could share, and I am eager to share them <3 Ummm is there anything in particular you're interested in hearing about? Because I am happy to share anything, my brain just blanks when given a blank slate to work on. Fun facts, worldbuilding facts, questions you have- I am happy to answer.

To give you something, though... One thing I do like to point out when I can, and I've said this before but I think it was on AO3, is that "godless" doesn't mean atheist or nonbeliever. There are atheists and nonbelievers in the godless lands, but you don't start seeing them in any significant capacity until you get pretty far from the Lands of Faith/far from the temple ruins of fallen gods. Godless is what those people who believe gods exist but worship none of them call themselves; "there are gods out there but they are not our gods/we belong to no god." A lot of their beliefs vary by region, too- traditions passed down from the god who used to rule over their land. Arcadian godless are not like Anatol or Avalon godless because their traditions and beliefs derive from what their ancestors believed. Of course, there's a lot of overlap around the borders, and the further away from Riverwood we get the more different traditions and beliefs we'll see, but on average an Arcadian heartlander will have more in common with an Arcadian southlander than they will an Avalonian southlander.

Arcadian godless, specifically, practice a form of ancestor worship (if their annual "release lanterns for the dead" festival and "place symbols representing our dead loved ones on shrines in our homes" didn't give that away). Every Arcadian godless has a shrine in their house where they memorialize lost family, and there's a village shrine where the stones for those with no living relatives who remember them are placed to be honored by the village as a whole. And of course they believe in a "second life" where they will reunite with their loved ones. No gods necessary, but still acknowledges gods exist.

Oh. And Arcadian godless are extremely proud. Because of their views on death, most of them would choose to die before bending a knee to any god. Narinder knows this well, so meeting the Lamb in the godless lands... in Arcadia... concerning.

Thank you so much!! <3 I'm really glad to hear it, I love worldbuilding so much <3