#wip:tth

[sprigofbasil-archive]

CHARACTER INTRODUCTION ↳ EZRA VON HAUENSTEIN

He was running out of time.

It was ironic, truly. As a child they'd likened him to a prodigy, a chance at redemption for generations of disgrace—elopements and fraud and the sins of a long-dead bloodline.

(The blood of tyrants ran through his veins, they said. Ansgar von Hauenstein’s head was hung from the walls of his own palace for a reason after all, the mad king slain by his own traitorous kin.)

And now, well.

Now, his magic promised to be the death of him.

i. twenty-one; he/him; human (?)

ii. eldest son and heir to the noble House of Hauenstein-Krasner, Ezra would be putting his efforts into restoring his disgraced family’s name—at least, if he wasn’t currently dying. What can only be a curse passed from his mother has placed his magic and body at war, and in an effort to live past the ripe old age of thirty, he has turned all attention to finding a cure. His status as a Healer Praecant grants him dominion over the body and its very lifeblood, but like all things, such magics will always come at a price.

iii. “A friend? You foolish, foolish man, I never promised to be his friend.”

iv. character tag | tth masterpost | tth intro | wip page | main tag

v. template | psd coloring

tag list under cut (send an ask/dm to be +/-):

General tag list: @bookism @problematicallybored @angelpng @adaparkwrites @overlap @harrowingwords @guulabjamuns @sondials @donghyeuck @nikolae @endymions

TTH tag list: @honeywharf @mayawritesbooks @percvalx @lanawritesalittle @qelizhus @alternativeforensicscientist @austrohungarianwriteblr @sakeenahwrites @write-the-stars-and-shadows @elywritesbydarkness @sleepyowlwrites @silverncats @ladywithalamp @writing-with-melon @halcionic @starsfallings @moariin @lovebenders @alicewestwater @mdnightskies @doriians @dhampier @asablehart @sacrifium @mahalii @badhandwriting @ahypnias @starshots @breadcrumbs @atelierwriting @fictional-semantics @anomaly00 @faetelle @rkmoriyama @tarttisms @maskedlady @joshuadeau @wordsbynathan @ambrosiadarling @mouwwie

[sprigofbasil-archive]

anyway everyone should look at this rhie graphic by @serpentarii (ilu pris !!)

character tag: rhie | wip page | main tag

[sprigofbasil-archive]

tried traditional art for the first time in ages so have a digitized sketch you simps

(ezra simp list under cut)

@mahalii @serpentarii @vitrichor @raven-ink

[sprigofbasil-archive]

realizing that i haven’t posted any art in absolute ages so have a half-rendered sketch of my garbage son

(ezra simp list under cut ??? idek but uhhh come get y’all juice i guess)

@mahalii @serpentarii @vitrichor

[sprigofbasil-archive]

WIP Playlist Tag

tagged by @vitrichor, tysm verv !!

Rules: list five songs that most encapsulate your wip/the most essential songs on your wip playlist.

the temporal heart

one little soldier - regina spektor

willow tree march - the paper kites

eat you alive - the oh hellos

people i don’t like - upsahl

up to no good - the hoosiers

kingdom of bitter thorns

literally just the entire sleeping beauty ballet by tchaikovsky

fractures of a porcelain heart

pale white horse - the oh hellos

run rabbit run - the hoosiers

little moth - chloe moriondo

rose - the oh hellos

live - billie marten

bonus songs

f**k you - lily allen (not for any particular reason, it just slaps)

one day the only butterflies left will be in your chest - bring me the horizon (which I wanted to put into the tth category but also i'm doing this for verv and that’s a song verv suggested so)

tagging @rubyleaf, @lasbrumas, @the-child-of-darkness, @ayzrules, @oasis-of-you, @asablehart, @littlerobinwriter, and @vaelinor !!

[sprigofbasil-archive]

thinking about how fake ezra is, and how that inadvertently makes him only dig his own grave deeper. 

he makes it easy to put him on a pedestal because he’s convinced himself that he needs to be perfect to be worth anything. but he’s tied his self-worth so deeply to others’ perception of him and his success that when he makes a simple human mistake it only magnifies his self-loathing and shows to others that they’ve found a weak point in his shell. sometimes the more forward ones decide that they’ll be the one he shows the truth—that they’ll be able to “fix” him, while only dragging themselves further into his orbit and therefore into the murky mud of his numerous issues. 

he’s obsessed with the idea of perfection even though he knows deep down that he can never achieve it, an inherent frailty he refuses to acknowledge. he feels too much and shows too little, and this refusal to show his true self ends up pushing everyone away in the end. 

ezra thinks he’s made of steel when he’s truly porcelain, and when the strain finally tips him over the edge, he doesn’t—can’t—bend, so all that’s left for him is to break.

[sprigofbasil-archive]

Last Line Tag

tysm for the tag cindy @herondalelucies !!

y’all get the very last lines of chapter 5 >:)

She kneeled down on the grass—why, didn’t she realize her gown would get dirty?—and slung his arm over her shoulders, a sharp hiss of breath escaping her lips as she helped him to his feet. Ezra looked at her, eyes bleary and something thick and painful caught in his throat. When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.

“I’m sorry.”

She closed her eyes.

“I know.”

enjoy this apology bc there isn’t gonna be another one anytime soon

tagging @sondials, @vitrichor, @wordsbynathan, @incipientdream, and @tarttisms (no pressure of course !!)

[sprigofbasil-archive]

Last Line Tag

Tagged by @vespatrix and @wordsbynathan, tysm!!

These lines aren’t from any particular chapter but I was inspired to write them while waiting at the dentist’s office yesterday 

His teeth did not belong on his jaw. It was when he’d smile a little too wide or forget to cover his laugh with an always-gloved hand, and she’d see the canines of a wild dog in the mouth of an aristocrat, hidden behind a thin veil of personhood. It was almost paradoxical, but maybe she preferred him that way, dark-eyed and hollow-cheeked and anything but human, for it was the only time when he wasn’t a liar. 

Tagging @sondials, @halcionic, @breadcrumbs​, and @acrimoneous! (no pressure of course :3)