#aldersprig

[mystmoon]

An Assumption: You like trees... and batman...

Oh god how long has this been here I keep missing asks >.<

I like trees ok? They're important and pretty, though I'm not an expert in them or anything.

I'm actually not a very big batman fan, I have a soft spot for batfam headcanon cos it amused me, and I follow people who do so I share when it floats across my dash but I don't seek it out.

[hragon]

Commission for @aldersprig

[ankewehner]

aldersprig answered your question “I want to post my art and writing to a separate journal, and use this...”

draw a pun budgie!!!!

...a pudgie?

[aldersprig]

Leaving the Land of the Free

by Lyn Thorne-Alder

The letter from Jordy had said D- The rumors are true. They really can do it. Ruby slippers forever. -J

It had been in Jordy’s bubbly, heart-dotted-i’s handwriting, even if the envelope had been machine-printed. It explained everything, and at the same time, it opened up so many more questions.

(read on...)

[korionfray]

February 2014 Prompt Call #1 - Once Burned

For Lyn Thorne-Alder's prompt of "The spell that went wrong and turned out better." This is from the perspective of the king's adviser-mage, Lathron. Currently 209 words.

Lathron sat, staring at the small wooden box on the desk in his study. Simple and plain, with no ornamentation other than a simple carved knot in the lid. His finger idly traced over the rough lines, closing his eyes. It was a recreation, rather than the original, but it was his first real memory of learning a lesson other than a spell from his master.

The memory spun the world out from under him, and he could see through a teenager's eyes again.

“What's this?” the young apprentice asked. He reached for the box, but a sharp jolt of lightning zapped his finger and he jumped back, looking to the mage for help. “Sir?”

“That is where I keep my ring, child.” The mage smiled and picked up the box, the wood causing no reaction for him. “A mage's ring is the center of all of his power, the focus where all our magic resides. It is a powerful tool, and indeed, a dangerous weapon.”

“When will I have a ring? Can I see yours?”

The mage simply smiled. “In time, for both of your answers. Do not be hasty, my son.”

But he had been hasty—he always had been. And sometimes, lessons must be painful to learn.

If you want to see more on this scene - and there is more to be had - a single donation of $5 attributed to this prompt number will unlock it!

[supertiggerwho]

Apparently Wingedkiare tagged me in a thing to list the 10 books I find most influential. I read...a lot...and I don't always remember things I've read. The books I've listed are in no particular order other than the ones my brain came up with first.

1) A Wrinkle in Time - I read this one pretty young and while I didn't grasp everything, I understood enough. I now have the 4 book set so my son can read them when he's old enough to read.

2) The entirety of "The Cat Who" series, by Lillian Jackson Braun - I love the idea that cats KNOW things that we don't know, that they sense what we do not, and that they try hard to communicate with us. I started holding more conversations with my cats as I read these. Yes, I realize that makes me sound crazy. No, I do not care.

3) Chronicles of Narnia series - I read these so much as a kid that my books were falling apart. I got different things from them every time, too.

4) Skeleton Crew, by Stephen King - this one was not influential in a good way. To this day I am scared of those monkeys with cymbals in their hands, because one of the short stories is about one and it scared me so much that I still...yeah. I wasn't a kid when I read it, either. I was out on my own!!

5) the Kushiel's series by Jacqueline Carey - I've read these books in the last decade but they were wonderful and created such an impression on me that if I had had a daughter, the name Phedre might just have been in the running. Quite simply put, they gave me a new headspace for thinking about some things.

6) The Icewind Dale trilogy/Paths of Darkness trilogy, by R.A. Salvatore -  I love these books so much that the other name for a daughter was Catherine Brianna (Cattie-Bri) and our son is named Colson, after another character. Druids are still called "doodads" and references are made to Pwent and his battleragers.

7) Pilgrim's Progress - this one was required for school (private religious school) but I absolutely loved it at the time. I still hold a spot for it, because it was one of the first books I read that had a deeper meaning for me beyond the surface.

8) Chrestomanci series, by Diana Wynne Jones - the idea of cats and their nine lives being lived in this manner was very intriguing and new for me.

9) The Princess Bride - this was my favorite movie and then mom bought me the book. So much more behind the scenes! I now own 3 copies of the movie and one copy of the book, but I'm always on the lookout for another copy.

10) Forgotten Realms series - these were introduced to me when I was just starting out in the world of fantasy reading and as such, stuck with me.

[tuppenceadrabble]

Decision, a post-apoc drabble

In response (long-awaited) to "I.D." 260 words.

Silas held his breath, watching. Waiting.

He just wasn't sure he knew what he was waiting for.

So this is Hunter's father. The biological man that gave me a son. Hunter-Hale had been one of his – despite the boy not fitting Silas' naming scheme – since he met Ora. Being confronted with someone that said he was Hunter's father now didn't change that.

But would it for Hunter-Hale?

This was the man that had seen the vision to name him. The man that gave him the hyphen in the middle of his name. The man that lent his visage to him, and saw it twisted just enough to give him the beauty of his mother.

And he had the power to make this decision. To let him into the house – or to turn him away. This was his house, dammit. His house, his family. His son now, regardless of lineage.

His. Those snake eyes swirled as they watched Adder.

Adder. Silas. A snake of a different kind. Adder showed his fangs, Silas showed his.

But slowly...slowly, Silas re-Masked his fangs.

“If you mean no harm to me or mine -” the emphasis of the word was certain to not be lost “- you may enter. And you will do well to remember on whose property you stand.”

The house may have been Orlaith's – the land could be hers as well.

But in Law or not, they were one and the same.

This is mine, boy. And you will not take from me what I have rightfully claimed.

[korionfray]

April Call #5 - "Legacy" (COMPLETED)

For Lyn's prompt of "After the War, the Thing the Ended Everything, we..." Set in the world of Quest to Karantiri, with a viewpoint character that has either not been named, or I just can't remember her name. 170 words.

After the War, the Thing that Ended Everything, it took us a generation to find our feet again.

I do not know how long it took the Light-Eyes. I am not interested in them. At least...I am not supposed to be.

We retreated into the southern woods, hiding ourselves in trees that were dark and foreboding, not at all the light and airy places we had known.

I think that is what changed us, in the end.

We found the things we had loved – the things we hadn't shared with the light eyes. Dancing. Jewelry-making. The modest attire. We made ourselves a culture, gave ourselves a name. The word metadrine had always existed in the Elven tongue – usually as a curse against those we did not trust – but now we would reclaim it.

Metadrine. Soul of the night.

I am the daughter of the Kareni, heir to the Metadrine throne. My bloodline has been noted for their pure black eyes for generations on end.

My eyes are white as diamond.

---

Thanks to Lyn's generous donation, here is the completion of the story!

My mother, the current Kareni, will not tell me how my eyes came to be colored as they are. The people speak of her tarrying with a light-eyed elf again – the way she once did years ago, and bore the son that no one has seen again.

I do not know. I am not sure I want to know. The silvery-pearl shade that watches me from the looking glass will never serve me well in my kingdom.

My mother has been trying desperately to have another daughter, so that she might have someone she is not ashamed of take the throne. So far, I have six brothers younger than me, and a few more that were older. She is beginning to lose hope.

Since she has had no luck having another daughter, the role of Kareni will pass to me, whether my mother wishes it to or not. She does not have a choice. I am the eldest born of the children still here, and I am the only daughter. My elder siblings have all died from the blood sickness...or have not been seen in ages.

The Kareni is not pleased. She is never pleased.

So I sit in my room, while the rest of the kingdom is out celebrating, all across our woods, in honor of our beloved Goddess. The dance grounds will be full of people, dancing and cheering and lauding her name. The dancers will dazzle everyone, their jewelry glittering in the flickering flames that light our buildings.

And here I will sit, despite my matria being a dancer, and I will wait until I am called again.

“Kelina?” a voice asked from the other side of my chamber door.

I frown, but pull back the curtain. Larin, my matria – the one I am betrothed to, the one that will become Lari when I ascend to the throne – is standing there. He is in dancer's garb, with the crest of the guard stitched into it. “What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the festival?”

“I wanted to see you. Can I?” I step aside and let him in, despite the impropriety of the action. I may be the daughter of the Kareni, but I should not be alone even with my matria before we are married. It is good that I am fully dressed and wearing my head coverings. A Metadrine woman is not exposed, save for her eyes, until her wedding night. I have bent this slightly for Larin. I can never tell anyone, of course. My mother would be furious.

“Larin, I don't want you to get in trouble.”

“I'll be fine.” He comes in and wraps his arms around me, and I close my eyes, allowing myself the comfort of his touch, if only for a moment. “You should be out celebrating with us.”

“You know I can't,” I whisper against his chest. “Mother hates it when I'm out in public.”

“What's she going to do, when she doesn't have an heir that the kingdom knows?”

“The kingdom already knows me.” My voice is bitter, and I wince at the tone – though I know Larin will take no offense. I make the others uncomfortable; their princess has light eyes, and there is no chance – at present – that she will not become their queen. It is unheard of.

But unavoidable.

“Then let them learn to trust you.” His voice is soft, like the fabrics of the dancer's garb he wears so well. “If I can learn to trust you, there is no way that they cannot.”

“Larin...”

“Ka'li, you worry too much.” I sniff at the diminutive, biting my lip against the tears. Ka'li, one of the few words that both the light-eyed and the dark share. The word for indiscriminate love – and a viable shortening of my given name. “Come to the dancing ground. Celebrate with us. Let the Kareni yell if she must. She may not be happy with you, but she cannot do you any real harm. Not while you are still her only daughter.”

“Larin.” Now my voice is harsher, but the smile on my lips dulls the edges. “That is no way to speak of your Kareni.”

“You are my Kareni.” He presses a kiss to the bridge of my nose – the only place he can find to kiss flesh to flesh. “You'll come?”

“I'll come.” I sigh. Mother will not be happy.

But there is truth in Larin's words. I will need to know my people better before I am queen.

And I must start acting like a queen, if they are to follow me.