#geese... getting killed..... you agree...

[recklessmoss]

THERE IS ONLY DANCE MUSIC IN TIMES OF WAR

[semiplural]

🌸 (cherry blossom) - What things were major influences upon your system? (e.g. life events both positive and negative; meaningful media; other identities)

An incomplete list:

Books and Writing

Fiction

"Arclight" by Joslin McQuein. We learned about plurality years after first reading this, so there's no way to be sure if the book influenced us or if we saw ourselves in the book, but it's a little freaky how many parallels we can find between ourselves and the Fade.

"Freshwater" by Akwaeke Emezi. Most of Emezi's work is good. They've given us a lot of tools and frames to move through the world with; Freshwater gave us space for more perspectives on reality. "In Lagos" had a similarly major effect on us by changing how we saw masks.

"Universal Love, Said The Cactus Person", and a comment following it. It took some digging to find this because we originally found it in a document that didn't credit its sources (which turned out to be the case for most of the document author's website, though it's still worth reading if you have a particular flavor of madness and the willingness to rabbithole- just don't go too deep without thinking critically if you're the sort to get stuck on moral quandries).

It's not a book per se, but The Magnus Archives definitely did something to us by introducing the concept of fear as a desirable experience.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula Le Guin... and then a piece playing off it, "Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole" by Isabel J. Kim. We've agreed: we will not keep putting kids in the hole. We will find our holes, pull the kids out of them, and accept whatever that means- because the alternative is leaving kids to suffer alone in holes so that the rest of us don't have to deal with it.

Wild Geese by Mary J. Oliver. It's a short poem. Go read it.

Nonfiction

"The Others Within Us" by Robert Falconer. It's a fascinating read about possession and similar experiences through the lens of Internal Family Systems, and it made us rethink a lot of assumptions we picked up over the years. It also gave us some useful tools for handling "weird woo-woo brain shit".

"What It Is" by Lynda Barry. You can tell exactly when we read this book if you look at our art. Our overall style changed sharply after reading it, and it made art fun and meaningful again for us.

The Healthy Multiplicity website's resources. Some of these got us through our initial plural questioning and discovery phase.

Actually reading the DSM 5 and digging into its history- not just the section on dissociative disorders, but going through a lot of it and trying to understand why it's all approached the way that it is. And then doing the same with the corresponding chunks of the DSM-4 and DSM-3. We had to do a double-take at "Insufficient Personality Disorder" at one point. Going through these made us consider the DSM not as an Absolute Truth, but as the flawed and limited human construction that it is. It broke us out of trapping ourselves inside a purely medical understanding of the world.

"The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel van der Kolk, which is a heavy read but one worth going through if you deal with trauma.

"Rethinking Madness" by Paris Williams, which is a similarly hard read but on the topic of psychosis.

"Madgic" by LB Lee, which has helped in both the practical sense ("oh cool, a tool we can use!") and the emotional sense. It's odd to say, but it helped us embrace Being Crazy in a positive sense so we could find ways to use our madness instead of being used by it. A lot of LB Lee's essays also helped us.

"Self-Therapy" by Jay Earley, which gave us some practical tools for working with each other through internal conflicts. Some people complain that it's overly prescriptive, which is fair, but it's a solid starting point if you remember that Internal Family Systems is more flexible than this.

"Understanding Integration" from the Sidran Institute. This was a piece that we used to hate. It felt overly pushy on the "all systems must fuse" front, which... it kind of is. But this is the essay that saved us when we actually pursued fusion. It gave us some practical steps that we could take to encourage it, which is one thing that the plural community absolutely did not offer us at the time. It was a lifeline.

ally.id by Madison Rye Progress. This got us through our fusion falling apart by giving us a format to talk to each other through- we wrote out a lot of similar conversations. We still do. It helps.

A bunch of old MPD self-help books gave us a hand when first figuring ourselves out. ATW's "Got Parts" comes to mind. We'd probably recommend "Dissociation Made Simple" by Jamie Marich as a starter book to people nowadays, but many MPD books from the 1980s to early 2000s are still surprisingly helpful.

How to Become a Writer by Lorrie Moore. All I have to say is: she was right.

I could probably keep going, especially if you break outside of "had a direct, concrete effect on our system and how we relate to each other". We read a lot of nonfiction.

Other

Queerness, genderqueerness, and the realization that we don't have to fit inside of binary labels to exist- and then applying that to everything outside of gender and sexuality even when others don't like it. Being queer has taught us to notice binaries, question whether they actually work for us, and let them go when they're not working- and it's taught us to look critically at what upholds those binaries in the first place.

Spirit work. It gave us a frame to handle a lot of craziness. We don't turn to it quite as often now, but it's helpful when we do. The same could be said for chaos magic. (We've had some fascinating discussions with friends on the definition of magic in a real-world sense- what is the woo-woo actually accomplishing?- and it's reminded us about esoteric magical practice as a tool to help ourselves.)

The Hearing Voices and Mad Pride movements.

The idea that there are different kinds of knowing.

Roleplaying in middle and high school. The thing that taught us to write, that gave us wonderful experiences and got us deeply hurt, and that eventually tied back into meeting ourselves. It played its part by giving us a safe vessel to explore scary ideas.

The friends and strangers who treated us kindly. A near-stranger saved our life in high school. Our friends have offered support or advice when we were stuck enough to fall apart. We've done our best to offer little kindnesses to others because we've seen firsthand how much that can change someone's life.

The friends who taught us what boundaries and respect look like by completely lacking them.

Cultural Christianity. Are we Christian? Nope. Did growing up in a society that's predominantly Christian leave a mark anyway? Imagine me staring directly at the demon/angel symbolism embedded into a lot of us. We've been shaped by things that we don't believe, and that's something we're forever unpacking and shifting.

Elian Script, which is our constructed script of choice and has taken on additional significance as... sacred writing, almost? It's hard to explain, but it's important to us all the same. It shows up constantly in our art.

A game for breaking out of black-or-white thinking: first, pick two opposing concepts. Describe each in detail to yourself. Then, find something that embodies both concepts at the same time and consider that. Then, find something that embodies neither concept and think about that. "Neither" is often the hardest step, but it can be the most rewarding part of the whole exercise.

There's a slumber party game that gets passed around sometimes. We know it as "Doors to your Mind". We adapted it to use as a tool for checking on ourselves by interpreting our internal symbolism.

Rhythm games. Yes, really. Not because of plots or game mechanics; because they taught us to control our attention in a plural sense. We play a lot of hardcore rhythm games that require the ability to set one finger to a rhythm, then completely ignore it while it keeps going its own thing. That taught us a very useful skill.

Philosophy and psychology classes taken as electives in college- not because we always agreed with what was being taught, but because it taught us to think critically about these topics and form our own opinions, and because it gave us perspective on how these topics are approached from an academic angle versus a pop culture angle.

Consensus Decision Making.

All of our life experiences. I don't want to dump our entire life history on a Tumblr post, but we are who we are because of where we've been and what we've lived through. We wouldn't be ourselves if we had different experiences.

[life-is-a-dumpster-fire]

which f1 and hockey ship(s) do you think that could be fun to write or read about them in a soulmate goose au?

ooh, I am so sorry for like the really late reply anon, I uh, literally moved countries, started my Master's degree, and got lost down the rabbit hole of research for potential dissertation topics, but I'm here now! 😅

so, for F1 ships, I'd have to go:

my goats: Loscar (I even made up an AU for this idea once upon a time with the ever-lovely @tynedtime and yeah, I might just have to revisit that one day 😉)

uh, Sewis for sure, whether that happens when Seb was still on the grid or when he appears at the occasional race remains to be seen

Princess Cake would be hilarious, especially if it like happened at like AD '16 or sometime a bit more recently (perhaps at one of the many races that they both can be seen commentating for?)

Galex for sure, the accompanying birds have just become another part of the paddock 😂

Maxiel is another pairing that would have permanent birds, Max's has just become fed up with him and doesn't try as much just because of how vehemently Max chooses to ignore them 😌

Piarles probably either have solved their issues very early on or are deep in denial regarding what exactly their birds mean (they think they are friendship birds)

Bearnelli too are deep in denial and ignore their birds week in and week out

Strollonso probably solved the birds very quickly and now Fernando spends his free time trying to weaponize his and Lance's birds

But, Webbonso can be seen being chased down the paddock lane every time poor Mark deigns to visit his client (he screams about how he really should've stayed away!), and every time, they end up running and crashing into each other.

While I don't ship them, I guess Brocedes might have the potential for also having soulmate geese? 🤷🏽‍♀️ All in all, F1 has a lot of potential for soulmate geese and all kinds of shenanigans😂 Okay, for Hockey, can I say all of my ships? 🤣 no? okay. guess I'll have to list them out 🤷🏽‍♀️

McEichel: It would be chaos, and Jack would be pissed, while Connor would be confused till someone explained it to him, and then he'd try to talk to Jack, who would straight up start avoiding him. Literally, would get up and leave if Connor were to enter the room or U-turn if he spotted Connor out of the corner of his eye. It takes many months, countless phone calls between their friends, and a lot of begging from Mitchy and "just give him a chance, man" from Hanny for Jack to even entertain the idea. Meanwhile, Connor hasn't given up trying to reach him, and eventually Jack is worn down and agrees to a face-to-face meeting (his bird has been straight up RUINING his life in the meantime).

MattDrai: Matty's miserable, Leon has tried (and failed) to kill his bird, and everyone else just wants it to end! There's an honest to god support group for those personally victimised by these two idiots; it has quite the membership.

Marntthews: Yeah, no, it's depressing how bad these two are, their birds even give up after a point, because they're just so SAD. But, they are the quickest to sort out their shit, and by the Olympics, they're madly, disgustingly in love (everyone wants to kill them😂).

TrevorJamie: Trevor hides his goose scarily well, like if you didn't see it with your own eyes, then you'd never know it even existed (he doesn't want to be a homewrecker!), while Jamie just thinks that his goose is actually someone else's.

NicoJack: They both are idiots and think that the other's goose is for someone else and not them (the entire team wants to strangle both of them!) .

Marcheron: I could see this going two ways: they either figure it out a few years into being Bruins, or it's when Bergy retires/ Marchy gets traded, either way, they either hide it for a bit (if the former happens) or sort their shit out relatively quickly (for the latter) I have a few more ships and a few in mind for Indy as well, but because of constraints on this post, I can't add them here, but I'd love to talk about them in another post!

[talkingaboutwhatiwant]

Due to me finishing Hannibal Rising earlier today, I'd like to begin here.

Hannibal Rising is generally considered the "worst" in the series, but I don't agree.

Thomas Harris didn't want to write another book about Lecter after Hannibal, I know this and knew it shortly after starting the book so keep in mind there might be some (there definitely is some) hindsight bias on my part. Another very possible and definitely prevalent bias on my part is the lore. I have been so hungry for Hannibal lore that I very well could have overlooked many shortfalls.

Moving on.

The book starts with a cute little "history" lesson about the first Hannibal Lecter (our boy is the 8th) as well as the significance of Lecter Castle. It then goes right into a scene referenced several times in Hannibal (see: Misha in a copper bathtub with an eggplant) as well as some situational context.

There's a moment where Misha startles a goose (I'm pretty sure that's the bird) that she's feeding and it moves to charge her, Hannibal then gets in the way and does the whole make yourself big and loud thing, (dear God my heart.) which works and is noted to have always worked.

There's then this bit. Oh my GOD THERE'S THIS BIT. After everyone flees the castle (because hey the Nazis are coming) there's this bit where one of the geese dies (I believe is shot by the incoming Nazis) and its mate circles its body over and over, before standing in front of it. THERE'S THIS BIT. There's a tank incoming. About to run over this poor goose's corpse and its mate won't leave. The goose makes itself as big and as loud as possible (GOD DAMNIT THOMAS FUCK YOU) before getting rolled over. Parallels fucking kill me and Harris uses them all the time and it feels like I've been stabbed.

ANYWAY

The beginning also tells us a bit about some characters that are referenced much later (yayy my emotions are in turmoil) like Cook and a horse whose name I forgot (Theo? No it's something like Sebastian but it's a short name) but whatever.

I'm going to note right here that in the 6th grade I read almost exclusively WWII historical fiction. This has no doubt affected my reading experience of the next bit.

Now we get into the moment we've all been waiting for: Hannibal and Mischa in The Cabin™.

Oopsies another note: I have read so much fanfic that I wasn't sure what was cannon and what wasn't. This also no doubt affected my reading experience of the next bit. (To be fair these fanfics were based on the NBC show which is fanfic in and of itself)

All of you motherfuckers had me convinced that Hannibal canonically ate Mischa's leg here for some reason?? He does not (there is a moment near the very end where Grutas (the big bad) says he ate her because her bones were in the soup but that's for later). Now a lot of this section (not much of the book at all btw) has the same energy that a lot of those books I read in the 6th grade did and I think that's a compliment to Mr. Harris. I feel like it's really if you get it you get it because I don't know how to explain the energy that was conveyed when reading about the guys eating bird raw, feathers and all but just. Wonderful job.

I also don't know if Fuller's Hannibal included this or the person who wrote a fic I've read was just hardcore but there's a detail about Hannibal taking stale bread rations and putting it in his mouth to soften before feeding to Mischa but it was crazy to read and not know exactly where I recognized it lmao.

Aaanyway

Mischa gets dragged away, tragic boohoo we know this.

Then, and bear with me folks because it gets interesting here.

Lecter Castle (Hannibal's previous home that has been owned by the Lecter's since its construction under the og Hannibal Lecter) is turned into an orphanage after the war. One that 13 year old Hannibal is staying in. There are a lot of weird things surrounding the admin and their abuse of Hannibal (who is mute, save for his screaming in the night) that could possibly be seen as poor writing but idk.

My sweet baby darling boy, beats the fuck out of anyone who bullies the younger kids and gives the younger/smaller ones candies when he has them. And I'm not supposed to love this man with all my heart? Yeah okay pal.

[julez-rulez]

hi! If it’s not too much, can we get some Noi headcanons, general or angst it’s up to you :3

Noi headcanons for the soul, both angst and general, 10 of each!

PLEASE REMEMBER YOU DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE WITH WHAT I HEADCANON. THESE ARE MY HEADCANONS. I AM NOT FORCING YOU TO HEADCANON THE FOLLOWING.

Please be warned for mentioning self harm! If this is triggering to you please skip headcanon number 9 in the angst headcanons.

I'll start with the general headcanons ;3

1. He enjoys photography, diamond paintings, and baking. He's a really big fan of photography and the other two are just other things he enjoys.

2. I feel like he would be really great with a bow and arrow, if he had would he could likely use it really well to injure enemies yet not kill them

3. Following up on that, we know he doesn't exactly "kill" anybody, but I feel as if he would mainly just seriously injure them, like breaking any limbs, cutting through any muscles. Doing anything to avoid killing, yet still injured

4. He likes sunflowers, since they mean "a long life and lasting happiness", he hopes that they bring him those exact things. A long life and happiness lasting forever. But he also likes daisies

5. Call this cringe but I feel like he would make flower crowns using fake flowers so they never wilt away

6. Frogs terrify him so much, they literally make him scream in fear, along with geese.

7. Trans Man, Pansexual man 🔥 We don't know why he was almost killed in the canon lore of Aphmau, we never got an entire reason . So in my head (and in my personal view of characters), he used a kind of forbidden magic to change his biological gender and was caught, therefore nearly killed before being saved by Asch.

8. We know he likes Pizza canonically, but I also think he would really enjoy Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, specifically strawberry jam.

9. Oldest child of 2 younger siblings, one really young, one a bit older yet Noi is infact the oldest.

10. HE CAN SENSE THUNDER STORMS!! Since it's implied that he has some kind of electric magic I feel like he can sense thunderstorms. His hair sticks up, his ears get a bit of a ring to them, and his veins in his hands, arms and neck glow orange-ish.

NOW ONTO THE ANGST!!

1. Following onto the last headcanon I shared, he's absolutely terrified of thunderstorms. When he senses them he gets increased anxiety, he picks at his nails, chews on his lips, and slightly "shuts down" in which he gets more quieter, and kinda pull to himself.

2. He grew up with a grandmother and his siblings. No exact mother/father, the last time he saw his mother was when she dropped off an infant at his grandmother's and just dipped. His father just . didn't.

3. Because he's known as the "runt" of the Daemos Group, it's a running joke in the castle back on Daemos. He's quite known and called "That one runt for Asch" by other Knights on Daemos, The King, and even Maids refer to him as such. He tries not to let it bother him but one time a maid called him that in front of the group because she didn't know his name and Leif laughed incredibly hard. It really bothered him then and struck him in the heart and now anytime someone calls him that he completely shuts down and closes up.

4. He used to shock himself with electricity when he was trying to self-regulatd. Sometimes it would happen when sparring on accident and it would leave him at a serious disadvantage because of the pain. He grew a bit used to it yet it still hurts a lot when it happens. It happens less on Earth because he obviously lacks his powers but sometimes he just gets a random mini shock.

5. During a battle one time, he got an arrow through the deep part of a horn. It was one of the loudest screams and it echoed through the forest that they were fighting in. He managed to get the person disarmed before he had passed out and woke up in the infirmary. He still has bit of a hole in the part of his horn that is still healing.

6. Due to his lack of family, no one was there for him when he was officially getting named Aschs' knight. There was always a bit of a celebration where family could come in and a bit of a party would occur, but when Noi's party was being planned he actually asked that there was no party, yet it was denied and a party occured with none of his family.

7. He has a lot of scars lining his body everywhere. It's one of the side effects of using his electricity power. They look like lightning in the sky, and they ESPESCIALLY are on his arms/hands.

8. While sparring with Leif he got shocked with electricity because of his power (mentioned earlier in the list of headcanons scroll up), and it shocked Leif too. It ended up with Noi getting kicked so hard in the ribs he struggled to breathe and 2 of his ribs were broken. He wheezed for a while on the ground while terrified due to lack of oxygen. He tries to avoid sparring and only does it when ordered because he is terrified of it happening again.

9. Sometimes when he can't sleep, he'll spar with a dummy as rough as he can manage. It exhausts his body, but it also causes him to shock himself due to how intense the sparring is. Hes fainted on multiple occasions due to the pain, he uses it as a forcial form of exhaustion and I suppose self harm ?

10. He has bruises and marks on his body from being hit by Leif and Lady Grandma. In the first episode when Lady Grandma hit him with the book it left a mark on his forehead which resulted in him being dizzy for a while.

AGAIN. YOU DO NOT NEED TO HEADCANON THESE. IF YOU DISAGREE THATS OK. BUT PLEASE DO NOT BE A HATER ON MY OPINIONS.

Sorry if these aren't exactly great!! I scrambled this up in a couple hours cuz I didn't wanna take that long. Please enjoy !! I'll get to any other asks soon!

[wishful-thinking64]

Hazbin Hotel & Helluva Boss Rewrite Ideas #02

Hello! Hello! I've come to bring rewrite ideas for both shows once again! People seemed to like the first one and I like coming up with story ideas with and for practically everyone so here are seven more rewrite ideas for Hazbin Hotel & Helluva Boss! ______

#01.) Have Alastor's magic sigils be radio symbols over Vodou symbols as it not only makes way more sense with Alastor being the Radio Demon but to not play into a harmful stereotype about a real life religion.

#02.) On the topic of religion, don't be afraid to add a few more religious figures from the Bible or the Torah! As long as you're being mindful about the material you're pulling from, I really don't see this as much of an issue. People make their own spin on angels, demons, Jesus, and God all the time! But for once, this is where Viv gets cold feet even though she already has Adam & Eve there but not their two main children? Or the reason behind why their parents and everything else exists?? Seriously Viv??? #03.) In any case, if you do add the first two siblings then I suggest having Cain possibly work at the Hotel as some kind of repentance considering he's both the first real Sinner and for the fact that he feels guilt over killing his little brother. #04.) Alright, now for some ideas for Helluva Boss! I feel like we've all grown tired of seeing the, "Two people arranged in a loveless marriage," trope with how often it's been appearing and HB is no stranger to this trope and tries to use it as a way to rectify Stolas' affair with Blitzo.

I mentioned this in my third One Hell of an Unpopular Opinion series but if you want to stick loosely to HB's canon then you'd probably be better off with making Stella a surrogate mother as we still haven't seen her interact with Octavia and there was no real point in having Stolas marry Stella if all he needed to do was secure an heir. Besides I'm pretty sure that's what Paimon did in order to get Stolas as we see no signs that he had a mom growing up with how he was raised by a butler. On the contrary, should you wish to keep Stella as Stolas' wife, I'd recommend going the path not taken. By which I mean, have Stella and Stolas marry because, at one point, they did genuinely love each other but over the years that love dwindled and eventually faded out. Even though they'd be better off parting ways they choose to stay together as Great Horned Owls (the owl that the actual Stolas from the actual Ars Goetia seems to be based off of) and Snow Geese (I refuse to believe she's a swan especially since her brother has ice powers and lives in an ice castle) typically mate for life. From here, I'd have Octavia not be born out of the "necessity" of an heir but rather as a last ditch effort to see if their relationship can be rekindled as many couples in real life think that having a child or children will "fix" their relationship. #05.) Sorry for getting somewhat depressing with that last bit. To make up for it, write a fun chapter about I.M.P. having fun by rewriting Episode #05 of Season #01, The Harvest Moon Festival! A lot of people like The Harvest Moon Festival as it is though the majority agrees that it should've been a Millie centric episode. So have her be the reason they go to the Harvest Moon Festival over Stolas, show her competing in the Pain Games, and have her stand up for her husband due to having enough of her family constantly shit talking him. Overall, have Millie excel at being the bad ass girlboss that HB makes her out to be! #06.) Give Octavia some type of found family or friend group. Have her attend a prestigious private school (I doubt Stella will have her daughter attend a regular public high school) and have her become friends with the school's outcasts. The reason this group could be outcasts is because they actually earned their right to be there by getting good grades while most of the students are probably the offspring of Hell's high ranking officials. But seriously, this girl needs (and deserves) a support system STAT! #07.) Properly explain what it takes to get a soul into Heaven. I don't care if you explain this via The Ten Commandments, trusting that Jesus died for humanity's sins, or by using another set of rules from a different religion that isn't Christianity just be certain that your explanation is clear and concise and makes sense for what you have already pre-established for your rewrite. Don't do what the HH series did by saying, "Yeah, we don't know," because that is genuinely how you lose an audience. You can't have the ENTIRE premise of the show being about wanting Sinners to get into Heaven when HEAVEN doesn't even know what gets a soul there in the first place! ______ Well, those are all of the ideas I've got for now! See ya guys!

[not-feeling-the-aster]

Her favorite uncle

Another short story about teenage Willow Everdeen Mellark, but this time at her home in District 12. She sneaked out to have some fun with her friends at night, and now she must face her parents. But no worries, uncle Haymitch is there to save the day, well kind of. I just wanted to write something about Haymitch being an old uncle/grandpa figure to Katniss and Peeta's daughter. In my mind she can be quite rebellious and impulsive, while still loving her family and wanting to make them proud. But she's also young and wants to have fun. I like thinking that between her and Haymitch there is a special bond, he listens to her and tries his best to guide her. And she trusts him deeply. Also, Willow and her brother (Rye) do get along and love each other, I just didn't develop their relationship that much this time. tw: mentions of underage drinking

The treacherous keys slip from my hands and hit the ground. I curse under my breath. At this pace, there’s no way I’ll get in the house without making any noise. Great. My head’s killing me and now I’ll have to come up with an excuse to explain my night out. I can see my parents’ face already. I think about my brother, biting his tongue, acting like he doesn’t know anything about me sneaking out. He’d never snitch on me, but I know how much he hates secrets. In this family trust is everything, and I respect that. But I just wanted to have some fun with my friends. Is that so wrong?

Under the night sky, I struggle to see the keys, and the drunkenness doesn’t help much. I finally find them and continue on my way, dragging my feet. I'm about to resign myself to the consequences when I notice light coming from Haymitch’s kitchen. Could he be awake at this hour? Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me. Curiosity drives me to stealthily approach his window and when I take a peek inside, I jump back startled. Sitting at the table, drinking something hot, is my old uncle Haymitch looking at me without an ounce of surprise. My mind is still somewhat confused, but if one thing’s for sure, is that I’m in trouble. And he knows it too. He points at the door with his thumb and his eyes leave no space for refusal.

As I enter the kitchen, I'm enveloped by the smell of coffee. With his back to me, he's making a second cup. I sit down and place my head on my arms.  

"So, tell me, did you have fun, little one?" he asks handing me the drink.

"How did you know?" I mumble with my eyes closed.

"Your brother called me" I lift my head so fast I get dizzy.

"Hey, you know it’s not his fault. He’s just worried about you. You should be thankful he didn’t tell your parents, honey" and he’s right. I can’t blame Rye for anything. I’m the one who broke the rules.

"What about you? Why didn’t you say anything?"

"I think you’re old enough to fend for yourself. But if they find out, I won’t deny anything, you hear me?" he declares with an accusing finger.

"Thank you Haymitch" I offer him one of those smiles I use to soften him. They always work, even if he denies it.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now drink your coffee and tell me what you’ve been up to over there"

There’s no point in hiding anything to him, he can read my mind without trying. So, I tell him all about the laughs, the dancing, the drinking and the gossip. We keep talking until dawn, and, even though he doesn’t judge me for my juvenile adventures, he asks me to be more responsible next time. Especially with my drinking. At times like this I wonder how his life used to be before I was born. Even if my family tries to be as honest as possible about their past, I know there’re things that are just too hard to explain. I understand that, so I don’t pressure them, but sometimes I can’t help but think about it.

When the phone rings, Haymitch tells my mom I had agreed to help him with his geese that morning. Apparently, I was so excited with the task that I had woken up extra early to enjoy breakfast with my favorite uncle. I doubt she bought it, but she didn’t ask more questions. Later I understand that she just wanted to laugh at my disastrous attempt to deal with those wild animals. Well, at least someone’s having a good time. With that said, I think I won’t drink again for a long, long time.

[ceescedasticity]

Unforsaken, 13c

(All sections on tumblr)

(AO3, lagging behind but more polished)

Actually maybe we won't get to the battle in this chapter. It'll be kind of short, but I think it's a good place to stop?

They're not half done even with the smaller target area when one of the Geese descends, and lands on the edge of the crater. Alphsîr and Alphlîn approach immediately. (They are bad at drilling and not at all good at carrying heavy things like clay-crates or water buckets. Probably they should be back supervising the oxen until the next blast gets set off, but they are way too anxious to stay that far from the action.)

After a very brief conversation, Alphsîr flies over to Glorfindel's team and sheds his feathers. "She has a message from Caraxitári," he says, eyes wide. "The Shadow's call has drawn wyrms out of the mountains, and the winged ones will be here in perhaps two days."

…So not an orc-summons specifically, then.

The Geese do at least confirm they are small, non-fire-breathing dragons.

By "small" they mean up to about thirteen yards long nose to tail — less than twice as long as a Goose and considerably smaller than most Eagles.

A lot of that is snake-y length. Not counting the wings, the dragons aren't any wider than an ox or a boar.

Have hunted wild boar before: Most of them, actually, under various circumstances over the millennia.

Have not hunted wild boar because they were kids, and then they were swans: Alphsîr and Alphlîn.

Has not hunted wild boar because it just didn't sound like a good time: Risyind.

Have not hunted wild boar because it was impressed upon them by their older siblings that trying to hunt wild boar is a good way todie: Zena, Zuste, and Dyn.

"It was a good idea to avoid them altogether," Zena said. "Some of us got ambushed, a time or two. Swine just don't tolerate us. —Or didn't, I think it's a little better now."

Anyway.

The Geese say that they can't kill the dragons, but they can force them to land — dragons are relatively easy to unbalance in midair. Sadly the dragons have spread out so they can't all be mobbed at once, so it's not working as well to delay them as hoped.

"If they only come one or two at a time, on the ground, in between the arms of this thing where there's not a lot of space for them to take off…" Elladan says.

Elladan and Elrohir confer briefly.

"You get ready to fight the Warden," Elrohir tells Glorfindel and Celeborn. "We'll worry about the dragons."

Risyind yells from across the crater: "If we don't want to be here 'til winter we'd better all be worrying about the clay!"

While everyone agrees she has a point, that work still slows down. It takes several runs back to base camp to fetch all the dragon-grade polearms and arbalests. Elladan and Elrohir have to consult with the Geese on distances and locations.

Also consult with their prospective fellow dragon-fighters.

Legolas and Gimli: Both very nervous, but certainly not willing to falter. They will make their respective families and peoples proud! —And probably give their parents heartburn, but never mind that.

Khitwê: Not going to say he's ready for this by any means, but secretly a little glad he'll at least have something useful to do.

Risyind: Less ready for this than Khitwê, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Zuste and Zena: Concerned.

Dyn: Just planning to hide in the back. Elrohir says she could go lie low back with the wagons? But the possibility of escaping while everyone else dies is much scarier.

Whiterot: Is volunteering to join the anti-dragon team, actually. She's not sure the Warden will care much about her crossbow, but dragons care plenty if you aim right.

—No, orcs aren't generally set to fight dragons, but Whiterot was in Angband during the Siege when dragon development was ongoing, and there were — some hiccups.

Khitwê asks if this means there were rogue proto-dragons rampaging through Angband.

Whiterot wouldn't say 'rampaging'. If they'd been rampaging the dragon crafting umaiar might have gotten off their asses and cleaned up their own mess. Proto-dragons gone rogue that had to be killed before they ate something they weren't supposed to, yes.

…Or ate too many things they weren't supposed to, at least.

Consultations and weapons placement finished, they leave Legolas, Khitwê, and Risyind on sky watch and bring Gimli, the Hirnedhrim, and Whiterot back to the Clay-laying.

Elrohir surveys the progress made in their absence.

"…We're not going to get this done before the dragons arrive, are we."

"We might if we work through the night," Glorfindel says. "Is that preferable?"

(Another weapon placement that's been settled: Since Elladan and Elrohir will not be fighting the Warden, Glamdring will be with Glorfindel.)

"Since it sounds like there could be a lot of dragons if the Warden keeps summoning them… sooner the better, I think."

They work through the night with grim determination, but when the drilling part is done, they pause. They take turns laying fuses, and everyone else— Everyone takes it in turn to wash off the bad vibes rock dust. Everyone eats something. Everyone but the orcs takes a few swallows of miruvor. The half-elves and Gimli try to get a few hours of sleep. Maglor tunes his harp. Sharlinnu has brought a bucket back and is planning to use it as a drum.

Glorfindel gets out the Anor-stone and, first, tells Arwen everything they've observed about the site, the feel of the place, what their plans are, what the Geese have said about the dragons, what Alphsîr and Alphlîn think about the Warden — everything.

Then Celeborn talks to Arwen, and Zuste, and Legolas and Gimli talk to Aragorn, and Arwen and Elladan and Elrohir talk for a long time.

("If anything— Don't go against your inclinations. But if you're still unsure, and things go badly — go meet our parents, and give them my love?")

Then it's time to split up: Team Oh Great Dragons to the point near the edge of the Crucible where they hope to set up a dragon killbox, and Team Oh Great Umaia to the sheltered point nearest the central plateau before they set off the clay.

Glorfindel clears his throat as they start to disperse. "This, er, probably goes without saying under the circumstances, and isn't applicable to everyone, but for— Just — if you're killed—"

He's interrupted in chorus: "Follow the Call to Mandos."