#takingoffmyshoes

[cliopadra]

Cursed prompt? Cursed comic. You’re welcome.

[sacrificethemtothesquid]

(please feel free to let me know if I'm coming onto your personal posts too often, or to simply block me if that's easier! god knows I don't want to add further discomfort to your plate right now)

In regard to your last post, I don't think it's crass. I don't think it's unusual or bizarre or disturbing to notice the little moments that making up the big, gut-wrenching, life-changing experiences.

How could it be? How could it be anything other than natural to find a detail and latch on to it, to try to make meaning of it, to try to communicate meaning through it? As a writer, sure, but also as a human person. That's how we live.

Some may think it's wrong or crude to find those details in death, but I think you'd find those people haven't experienced those moments for themselves and only know of death what they've been told. I can almost guarantee that, were a detail like that to make it into your book, someone would see it and feel and know it and say "oh my god, yes, this, this is what it's like, I didn't think anyone else would ever know what it felt like, I didn't think anyone else would ever understand the way I felt, but someone has and now I'm not alone." There is enormous power in that, to grant relief and companionship to someone adrift and uncertain. How can that be crass? How can that be wrong? You lived it, it's real, and it deserves as much attention as you care to give it, and as much honor, whatever that may look like.

You are absolutely not bothering me. If I wasn't open to conversation, I wouldn't have posted online. Thank you for your thoughtful commentary! This is really beautiful, and something I'm going to have to sit with for a while:

"You lived it, it's real, and it deserves as much attention as you care to give it, and as much honor, whatever that may look like"

I like digging into the messy marrow of the human experience, and I always hope I've done it with careful respect. It just feels weird right now since this time, I've actually lived it outside of my own head.

Thank you. ❤

[dsudis]

what's the going rate on Extra Thoughts™ in the Linens-verse setting? if you have more floating around the top of your head I'll happily eat them all up, but I understand that you may have more current (and unrelated) thoughts/interests. either way, thank you for my Eskel/Geralt life

oh man, am I allowed to barter Extra Thoughts for things? Usually it’s more of an effort toward, like, not unleashing them constantly all over everyone. I have a migraine but also don’t want to go to bed yet so I’ve got my green safety glasses on and I can look at my computer, LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I START WRITING DOWN A FEW LITTLE THOUGHTS

- The story I actually have on my list of things to write Next, someday, when my ability to write more than a thousand words a week returns from the war, is a fairly direct follow-up to The Trial of Lambert: it’s what happens when the rest of the wintering witchers find out that Geralt may still be up for getting fucked. (For a minute I was like, oh no, this will lead to a loss of status and they will all respect him less, and then I realized that no, that is not what they think, they will all just be like PLAY TIME WITH LITTLE WOLF REDUX??? YES PLEASE??? KAER MORHEN’S REIGNING CHAMPION MOST ENTHUSIASTIC BOTTOM IS BACK IN ACTION???) So, uh, yeah, that one is summarized on the list as “KM winter gangbang feat. Jens/Slava” which means that Jens and Slava are just sort of hanging out on the edge of the gangbang, enjoying the show--it’s a very pleasant party, everyone is having a good time even if Geralt is having the very best time--and once in a while Jens reaches over as-if-absently to pet Slava’s hair or shoulder or neck and Slava holds very, very still and pretends not to notice.

- Jens and Slava, incidentally, are not at Kaer Morhen during the massacre, although the other witchers also never heard from them again afterward. They just sort of... went away somewhere. Somewhere quiet. They have an orchard. You can do a lot with fruit trees when your natural lifespan is three hundred years and your other main project is spending several decades working on being able to snuggle. They are patient men.

- Their neighbors are fully aware of what they are and will vigorously deny it to anyone who asks. Those are THEIR nice neighbor fellas who grow peaches and incidentally Handle Other Problems that may arise in the vicinity, and they handle them very well (and grow very nice peaches) so the villagers aren’t having ANYBODY interfere with them. 

- Where was I.

- Oh yeah, uh, fairly mild video game spoilers (which are also possibly Netflix spoilers?) incoming!! read at your own risk!

- RIGHT so hey guess who had the actual undisputed #1 saddest and sweetest Trial of the Linens ever in the history of the Wolf School. LEO. (haha what you’ve never heard of Leo?? He’s a very important character in the first Witcher game for about half an hour or however long it takes you to get to the part where he dies in front of you, it’s very sad.) But like--Geralt’s gone, either trying to keep Ciri safe or dead, and Vesemir, feeling the empty nest with Ciri gone, somehow acquires this teenager who wants to train to be a witcher despite the fact that they can’t really MAKE witchers anymore, so he brings him to Kaer Morhen and starts training him, and Lambert and Eskel come home as much as they can manage to help out, and, well. There’s one old-fashioned Trial they can give him, and maybe it’s more important than ever, to get to know and love their new little brother, and to teach him to be one of them. It’s the first time Lambert ever takes a trainee to bed. And then he dies! So that works out great. Lambert is in no way traumatized by that. More than he already was. 

- Intergenerational witcher trauma: sometimes it flows both ways!!

- Of course before Leo there was ANOTHER little baby kinda-sorta trainee, and that was CIRI. And one day they’re talking to her about the Trials and kinda telling her how awful they all were and then all of a sudden Geralt and Lambert and Eskel all, simultaneously, remember The Other Trial and their brains short out thinking of it in the context of Ciri. She is very confused but accepts their explanation, once they boot back up, that they just have some really bad memories and don’t want to talk about it anymore today.

- The thing is, the actually logical person to give Ciri a Trial of the Linens, if she were to have one, would be Triss. Lambert works this out and it’s solidly 80% of why he’s an asshole to Triss for literally decades afterward, like holding a grudge against someone for something they did in a dream you had one time and never even told them about.

- One of the mercies of his amnesia is that Geralt forgets having had this set of realizations, except then his memory comes back and he HAS THEM ALL OVER AGAIN, which is probably worse.

[incorrect-rangers-quotes]

cheese may I translate some of these brilliant comedic exchanges into another fandom if i cite you as my source and the wind beneath my wings etc.

shoes you and everybody else have my complete unconditional blessing to go completely hogwild, no citing needed

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

(I'm sorry but I'm just such a slut for validation that it overrules all common sense so pls ignore if I am not actually a delight) "I am a delight" (????????????)

i actively look for excuses to gush about my mutuals so honestly there’s no need to feel awkward! especially you, because i’ve enjoyed and admired your writing for a good while--by winter sown and nous qui ne mourrons pas are particular favourites. you practice a wonderful restraint in your writing which makes the really emotional stuff hit all that much harder--which is something i try to do myself but never quite succeed <3

i followed you back on tumblr quite recently, and i’ve been kicking myself about not doing it sooner, because i’ve come to admire you not just for your writing but for how principled and mature you are, and the no-nonsense way you tackle especially Bad Takes that you come across. you’re gregarious and talented (that aramis costume for halloween? a+) and i wish you all the love and success in the world <333

-

( send me an ask with ‘i am a delight’ and i will tell you why you are a delight! )

[incorrect-trekquotes]

Happy Birthday!!! Welcome to your third decade!!

thank you!!! it’s so weird to think about... like I know you’re an adult when you’re 18 but you’re also a teenager... now i’m a Proper Adult 

[canardroublard]

takingoffmyshoes replied to your post: Done the fourth/hopefully final draft for my big...

if i can ask, what’s your big wip?

Of course! :) For the past...8 months now? Maybe 9? Been working on a new TMFU OT3 fic. Think lots of mutual pining/mutual obliviousness, “hurts so good” sort of angsty, hurt/comfort, and lots of bedsharing. And an eventual happy ending because I’m all about people working through their trauma and communication issues and figuring things out and growing as people.

Which is not a great summary, but it’s the main moods of the fic. It’s just under 30k, and I’m super excited to share it because it will be my first major fic for the fandom which isn’t an exchange prompt, so I really get to do me.

I’ve gotta let it marinate for a few days, and wait for my darling beta to look it over, but hopefully will be publishing within the next couple of weeks. :D

[wickerjulias]

hey!!

hey shoes ily!! askjfdsak

First impression: super intimidating but tiny someone w amazing  wording skills (how do you write??)Truth is: we’re both salty gays™ and i’m living. also your writing skills are unmatched, the way you write tommy shelby for example is just the best thing i’ve ever-- don’t mind me i’m gonna go cry now. honestly i wish i’d have that skill bc wow (if we ever meet up in person i’m gonna be so awed, like honestly you’re my idol)How old do you look: uuuuh my age asdfjsaHave you ever made me laugh: so many times!! that one post w napoleon and you calling him a linoleum sofa bc that’s how the fandom treats him?? honestly iconic and still the best thing i’ve seen!! also a lot of your tags. they’re just bomb af and i’m super happy to know you, honestlyHave you ever made me mad: YES BY WRITING TOO MUCH ANGST (nah jk you couldn’t)Best feature: your never-ending patience when it comes to my writing and my whining. also your strong sense of justice like YES PLEASEHave I ever had a crush on you: please read all of the above and go figure pfff smh what kinda questionYou’re my: treasured beta and an amazing friend

mutuals send me a ”hey” and i’ll do this