#shattered world

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

shoutout to platonic relationships so good they can make you recontextualize romantic songs

[incomingalbatross]

tweet that was crying out to be City Betweened

[onaslansside]

Viv: there's just no way to tell if Jasper actually likes you or not

Me: I dunno I think it's fairly obvious

Luca: no no it's not that he doesn't trust you personally that sort of pushing people away is just what fae do to everyone

Viv. he left his bedroom door unlocked for you

his glasses are clear to you more often than not, and almost always when you're talking alone!!!

Viv do you vaguely understand how sweet that is from a fae???

Jasper: ...well I MEANT to isolate myself and deal with this problem alone but apparently my House has noticed I trust Viv and value her advice enough to send her to me. FINE, OKAY, WHAT'S UP, VIV

I love how he just is like "...okay fine then" at both his house and his car deciding Viv needs to Be Somewhere Right Now Actually

Viv: he trusts no one and nothing :/ Jasper: if the car isn't letting you leave, it probably decided you need to be there, and you should listen to it

Viv: I am going to go do things you've almost ordered me not to do that will get us in trouble as a company again Jasper: great ❤️ good for you ❤️ you go ❤️ I have no idea what that will be ❤️

[erik-powery-for-america]

[theladyjojogrant]

Nobody asked but here were my barely intelligible live reactions while reading Palomena for Christmas because I needed some outlet for my complete flipping out:

Heck why is randomly crying in the middle of the grocery store because life is so overwhelming actually really relatable 😅

ZERO??!!? HAVING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE?!!??

Oh my gosh Ruth is rubbing off on him so much that now HE’S picking up strays

Okay I got confused about Zero explaining whose house this is but uhhhHHHHHHHH did I parse it out correctly to mean Daniel and Morgana are married??!!!??!

PET WITH AN ORNAMENT HANGING FROM HER ARM STUMP I’M—

Interesting that she’s introducing herself as Pet

Camellia sitting on the arm of Athelas’ chair 🥹

Tinsel wrapped around Seffy’s tentacles shdhdshdhdhdh

Seeing Ruth described as a woman instead of a girl is still so surreal, I feel like I watched this child grow up (in the span of the few months since I started reading these 😭)

MARLI PUTTING FLOWERS IN ATHELAS’ HAIR 😭😭😭😭😭 (“a service that he apparently found acceptable”)

ZERO WEARING AN APRON

PET CALLING JINYEONG “BABE”?!??

“Don’t worry, a lot of people hate him at first sight” dhshdhshshdhdhs

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[behind-the-cracked-mirror]

I'm back again with my secret curse technique - writing about my favorite blorbos instead of working on important things

Featuring confused John, stolen coffee and everyone's worst nightmare - A JOB

{Be careful what you dream of}

Have some snippets from the fic too:

[kaiserinjacky]

God is dead.

Of course, he wasn’t really God. Not even a god. Just a mortal magician from a long line of magicians who called themselves “God.”

Kell looked around at her friends, all celebrating the death of the so-called “Primarch.” None of them had lived under his rule, not like Kell had, but they knew just how cruel he could be. While happy that he was finally dealt with, the threat he had posed still stood in front of them. The Engine.

“We have to deal with this, somehow,” Kell said, approaching it. “We leave it here, someone’s gonna come looking for it.”

“And we can’t well destroy it,” Gemmer commented, following behind Kell. He looked up at her, his dwarven stature not doing him any favors against Kell’s elven height. The only one taller of her in this group was Ten, the tallman. “Pure icesteel. Plus all the magic that’s stored inside it. Beyond even my capabilities.” He rapped his knuckles against the engine, a dull, cold thud emanating from it.

“We can hide it somewhere, then,” Ten suggested. “A place only us four know. Gemmer, you can find a large enough tunnel that won’t be disturbed. With Lanny’s help, we could seal off any entrance. The engine was lost once before, it can be lost again.”

The group turned towards Lanny.

“Well,” the halfling began, “it shouldn’t be impossible to do. I-I’ll need Gemmer and Ten to help get all the rubble, but my magic should be able to seal off any remaining cracks and make it look like nothing was ever there.”

Lanny was a magic-user, a ‘mystic’ as he preferred to be called. Some others have called him ‘witch’, but he disliked that title. ‘Mystic’ suited him just fine. Kell had magic of her own, though from a source alien to this world. Like the Primarch, she too was a Primage. Most elven sorcerers were, though some had tapped into the magic of this world rather than relying on the magic of the old.

For the rest of their journey, Kell felt useless. She wasn’t strong enough to help with gathering rubble, and her magic was categorically incompatible with Lanny’s, so she couldn’t help with sealing the cave. She was just… there. And so she did all that she could. She slept.

She was tired. Drained from her fight with the Primarch. She was the one that had held his attention, and was almost able to go blow-for-blow with their magic. While he flung electricity at her party, she flung blades at him. She pulled them out of the way of death and destruction. She helped them fight against his illusions.

She was the one who landed the final blow.

It wasn’t even intentional. Not really. In a volley of blades, one had just… landed right. Straight through God’s throat. He died just like any other man. Kell knew he would - the religion of the Primarchy preached that the body was mortal, while his soul was god. But why did his blood have to be just the same color of red as her own?

The worst part was there was no dignity. He clawed to life in his final moments, choking on his blood, trying to get up, fling one last bit of magic at her in revenge. But he couldn’t.

No, not couldn’t. Here, in her dreams, she saw something in his eye. Not inability. Not even the eyes of a man who knew he was dying. There was something devious in those eyes, like he knew something they didn’t. Almost a smile in his lips.

When his body hit the floor, there was only silence that seemed to ring throughout the ancient building. Silence that wasn’t broken for what felt like minutes, until Kell began the conversation about dealing with the engine.

When Kell awoke, Gemmer and Ten were still quarrying rocks and rubble. Lanny was beginning to seal off the cavern they brought the engine to. Sighing, she made her way to the fire they set up and began making food for the four of them to eat. She could make herself useful somehow.

“Sleep well?” Lanny asked as he made his way back to the campsite, wiping rock dust off his hands. He looked chipper. Kell didn’t.

“Guess not,” he replied to her silence before sitting down. “Well, we should be happy it’s almost over. That hack is dead. The world is safe for another day.” He smiled as he pulled out a piece of unleavened bread from his sack and Kell handed him a bowl of stew.

“To saving the world,” Kell said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster for a toast.

“To saving the world!”

“Aye, are you wizards drinking without us?”

With the voice of Gemmer complaining about missing a drink, Kell could tell that he and Ten were done with cracking rocks for today.

“Just stew,” she said. “You drank all our alcohol before we were a week out of civilization, Gemmer, remember?”

The two men sat down by the fire and accepted their stews, eating gratefully to recover from their day of hard work.

“So, what’s everyone going to do once we’re done with this?” Ten asked as the fire started to burn down. Night was coming upon the group, and it would be best to start resting sooner rather than later, but conversation persisted.

“I’m returning to my clan,” Gemmer said. “I’ve spent too long away for a dwarf that isn’t a traveller.”

“I’m also going home,” Lanny piped up. “I’m sure my books miss me.”

Right, Kell thought. His books. Why on earth did he animate them again? The whims of this mystical halfling always seemed trivial to her.

Ten nodded. “I’m also going home. I have a girl waiting for me.”

Everyone looked at Kell apologetically. She didn’t even have to say anything. She didn’t have a home to return to. Especially not after she killed the god of everyone she ever knew.

“I’ll…” She desperately wanted to say something. To ask if she could go with someone. Or keep adventuring with them. Anything other than being alone. But her voice would only let her say one thing.

“I’ll stay here, for a bit. Make sure nothing happens to the engine. Maybe wait for the next bit of adventure to take me.”

The words weren’t what she wanted to say, but everyone nodded like it was a good course of action. Kell couldn’t do anything but look down at the fire, reduced to embers. Their food was cooked, and it wasn’t a cold night. They had no more need for the fire. So she put it out.

Kell had another dream that night.

It was the day of her Zelgearch coronation. She stood in the hall of the Primarch, the day she first met him. She stepped forward. Her first year as an enforcer played in her mind. The outsiders she killed, only vague faces now.

She stepped again. Her second year. She was a prodigy, and progresses faster than most others. Already she could move metal with enough precision to cut off someone’s fingers, one at a time. Slowly.

Third step. Third year. She killed her superior after a dangerous mission while he slept. She didn’t want to share the accomplishment. That mission was what for her here.

She stood right before the Primarch now. She glanced back. How could she have covered such distance in only 3 steps?

Looking back forward, something was wrong. Her crown wasn’t there. On a Zelgearch coronation, you’re given a crown of daggers. Zelgearch meant ‘Master of Blades’ in the elven tongue. The Primarch smiled at her, and removed his own crown.

Kell kneeled, head down, as the Primarch placed his crown on her head. When she looked up, the Primarch no longer stood before her. Instead, she did. A blade flew at her, lodged in her throat, and Kell stumbled backwards onto the floor below.

Gemmer woke up early the next morning to get to work. He was surprised to find Kell up already, starting the fire again and making breakfast. She had seemed so down yesterday, but now she seemed… fine. Happy even.

“Morning,” he grunted, sitting down next to her.

“Good morning, Gemmer,” Kell said, handing him a plate with some eggs.

Gemmer looked around. Where did she get eggs? Did she grab them from a nest? Regardless, he wasn’t going to let a good meal pass him by. They’ve been living off of ration stew for too long.

Kell resumed her cooking as Gemmer began to eat. She started 2 more eggs on a metal plate for whoever was up next. After Gemmer finished his food, he grabbed his in invictide pickaxe to return to quarrying.

“The sooner this is done, the sooner I’m back with my clan,” Gemmer told himself as he got to work.

After some time, Ten came to join him. Lanny got to sealing their rocks in. At this rate, the cavern would be sealed off before sundown. This only inspired the men to work faster.

Lanny panted as he sealed off the last bit of cave. That was it. It was pretty much perfect - he didn’t think anyone would be able to tell there was ever anything other than cliffside here. He’d gone through most of his energy in order to finish this today. Maybe he’d ask Gemmer to carry him for a bit.

No, that dwarf deserved some rest too. They’d rest here one more night, then head off in the morning. If Kell wanted to stay here she could, but Lanny didn’t understand what went through the Primage’s mind. She’d return to civilization soon enough, she was a smart lass.

One more dinner, one more fire put out, and one more rest.

No dreams came to Kell that night. They weren’t necessary anymore.

As the three men left the campsite, they each gave a gift to Kell. A magical bauble from Lanny. A silver sword from Ten. And a dwarven helmet from Gemmer.

Kell waved them off with a smile as they began their journeys back home, knowing that this was all behind them now.

Once they were far enough, Kell’s smile dropped. She grabbed her bag and rummaged through it, grabbing an Icesteel dagger. She had taken it from her superior she killed. A useful tool, especially now.

The elf made her way to where the cavern once was. She didn’t waste time thinking before the blade dug its way into stone. She didn’t have time to waste if she was to take the engine back to the Primarchy and declare herself the new incarnation.

Long live God.

[nomansskye]