falcon_horus | Padded Cell

Name: C.K. or Chester
Age group: mid-to-late 30s -- 36 specifically.
Country: USA
Subscription/Access Policy: 18+ only. No Harry Potter fans. No antis. No Chappell Roan stans (I see how y'all are treating my man and I don't like it.) For a more in-depth 'about me', follow this link.

Main Fandoms: Culture Club (the greatest band of the '80s! I write fic for them and sometimes cross-post deep dives from my website on them.)
Other Fandoms: Linkin Park, WWE, Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Fannish Interests: Fanfiction mostly, and doing deep dives on my many OCs.
OTPs and Ships: Culture Club: Boy George/Jon Moss, Roy Hay/Mikey Craig; Linkin Park: Bennoda [Chester Bennington/Mike Shinoda]; Wrestling: Hartbreak (Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels), Shawnter (Shawn Michaels/Hunter Hearst-Helmsley), Candy (Cody Rhodes/Randy Orton); and then I have a lot of ships in my fandoms involving OCs.

Favourite Movies: The Room (lol), Pretty in Pink, Borat, Major League, man there's so many and I can't think of all of them.
TV Shows: I actually don't watch TV.
Books: Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart by Martha Hart
Music: I listen to a lot of '80s. My faves are Culture Club (and yes, that means I like Boy George's solo work too), a-ha, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Information Society, New Order, The Cure, A Flock of Seagulls, Real Life, Johnny Hates Jazz, Mr. Mister, Oingo Boingo. Then outside of '80s music I like Massive Ego, $uicideboy$, Linkin Park, and Fort Minor.
Games: Sonic the Hedgehog (1, 2, 3), Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 3D Blast, Pokemon, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, GTA series, Hitman series, WWE series, Tomb Raider (original games series), Crash Bandicoot 1 & 2, Legacy of Kain series
Comics/Anime/Misc: Not really into much comics or anime, but my fave anime is Death Note.

Current Mood: artistic

thispatternismine posting in

addme_fandom

Name: The Pattern

Age group: 40s

Country: UK

Subscription/Access Policy: I don't really post anything personal, so everything is public. Can't rule out that I might lock the occasional post in future if I post something that falls in the narrow gap where it's not so private that I'm uncomfortable with sharing it but it's still too personal for me to be comfortable making it public. But that's it.

Main Fandoms: SVSSS, MDZS, cdramas, Devil May Cry (og since the PS2 days & I still suck lol)

Other Fandoms: My interest in ATLA has faded so I wouldn't say I'm exactly in the fandom anymore (though I am loving the live action & will probably have stuff to say when s2 drops), but I still have fanfic ideas for it that I'd like to work on, & I'm always down to rant about how much the comics suck.

Fannish Interests: I write fanfic, share my opinions on stuff, & like taking photos in videogames.

OTPs and Ships: wangxian (mdzs), moshang (svsss), bingqiu (svsss).

Favourite Movies: Casablanca, Knives Out, Ocean's 8, Dredd, Labyrinth

Cdramas: Love Between Fairy & Devil, Till the End of the Moon, The Starry Love, Reset, Blossoms in Adversity, Love Game in Eastern Fantasy, When Destiny Brings the Demon, How Dare You?!

TV Shows: Downton Abbey, Elementary, Red Dwarf

Books: Watership Down, MXTX, Discworld, Tortall books, The Martian

Music: I'm very picky but at the same time the stuff I do like is eclectic. Jrock, 80s & 90s music, citypop

Games: Devil May Cry, Powerwash Simulator, Stray, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Myst, Horizon Zero Dawn, Tearaway, Journey, Flower

I like to post about: Videogames I'm playing, cdramas I'm watching, some fandom stuff, my writing (fanfic, though I'd like to work on original stuff). Occasional life stuff, but I'm a private person who prefers to keep her online & offline lives separate so it's vague if I do post something.

Other Info: Controversial dealbreaker these days, but I am very much not comfortable with the word 'queer'. I'm bi & I resent it having been made an umbrella term & slung around casually as a cute marketing buzzword, & anyone who has any kind of objection gets shouted down. I have no objection if that's how you choose to identify, but if it's a major part of your vocabulary & is cropping up multiple times in every post, there's a decent chance we may not get along.

Current Music: Gackt - Vanilla

senmut

So I had two auctions, but also accepted second highest bidder on both, and both took me up on that.

Fic 1 is, as of a couple hours ago, complete and sitting in my unrevealed collection so I can re-read it in a few days.

Fic 2 (which will be multi-fandom short fics) has 1 completed fic, and is in brain-marinating mode for the next bit.

Fic 3 (which will have multiple fics in a single fandom) has a completed fic and the beginning of the 2nd.

Fic 4 will likely be the next one I finish, as it needs maybe 2 scenes to be done and join fic 1 in the unrevealed collection.

My intent is to complete ALL of them first, and then release them over the span of a week or so. Hopefully in May. I have continually reminded myself they are not due until Dec 31 this year, that I can take the time, and taking the time leads to better end results.

brightknightie

3weeks4dreamwidth '26 has a friending meme. If you're not familiar with these, what folks do is: (1) use a provided template to post about themselves, their DW journal, and what kind of DW journals they'd like to interact with, and/or (2) look through the posts and find journals to subscribe to. Some people ask permission and/or issue an invitation in the friending meme thread before subscribing; some don't; there's no prescribed etiquette.

I posted here. I've opened a handful of journals to look at, and also learned an alternate fannish acronym to search on, in case I'd previously missed journals with that as an interest.

This meme's template ends in a "Currently" section that I thought I'd share with you here:

Reading: This is my year of re-reading Stout's "Nero Wolfe" mysteries (last year was re-reading Bujold's "World of the Five Gods"), but I just started Girl Waits With Gun (2015) by Amy Stewart, and I recently finished Ramona (1884) by Helen Hunt Jackson. I'm following the Thundarr the Barbarian comic.
Watching: Babylon 5 (first time through), Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Daredevil: Born Again, Call the Midwife, Bookish, All Creatures Great and Small, Secrets of the Dead...
Playing: I'm about a hundred hours into Skyward Sword, with nothing left to do but face the endgame (or continue beating my head against the boss rush and minigames, which I do not enjoy; I play for the story and sidequests, first of all, then for the exploration, then puzzles, and last of all for boss fights, never for minigames or rushes). Up next, I'm deciding between Tears of the Kingdom and The Minish Cap... unless enough time has passed to play Echoes of Wisdom again already?
Looking forward to: Many of the movies coming to the big screen later this year! Fingers crossed. (Be good, be good, be good.) The Odyssey, Supergirl, Spider-man: Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, The Death of Robin Hood, Masters of the Universe, The Legend of Aang...

senmut

AO3 Link | Notes of Desperation (9102 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Jarlaxle Baenre, Malice Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Original Drow Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Torture, Escape, Rebuilding, Reunions
Summary:

A winding tale of how three Do'Urdens find family in full.

2 new chapters

Chapter Three

Vierna only rarely came to the west coast wanderers, having her hands full managing the permanent village in the north. Mynera, however, would never ask lightly, and her people were well able to do the work without her.

Dhaeln would keep track of harvest and preparation tasks that needed to be done still while she was gone. That dwarf was always on top of organization, to Vierna's eternal gratitude.

The moonbridge had only just faded out when Lleona and Neerbryn caught her attention for the concealed camp they had, with the bard being the one to take her hand and bring her across the wards.

"I do appreciate you coming, though I admit I may be reaching for star dust with the tale I have for you," Lleona said. "Well, Shana and Neerbryn will tell the actual happenings, and I'm just involved because I remembered a story you told us once."

"We had an encounter in Skullport that may have impact for you," Neerbryn said, leading back to the center of the camp, where everyone was working on gear, except Starneth who looked to be actually sleeping with his familiar sleeping on top of him.

"Spell rebound," Zira commented idly. "He's out cold, but otherwise unharmed by it."

"He sleeps so rarely and poorly that I chose not to heal the effect," Ilmryn said with a grin.

"Can't really argue with that," Vierna agreed, knowing how high-strung the magic user was. That he had reason did not detract from how difficult it made him.

"So I recently too Neerbryn and another fighter down into Skullport, to trade and see if we could get any further rumors of the power situation, as it has shifted some," Shana began. "I think I may have met the drow responsible for several of the Dragon Hoard's ventures foundering of late.

"He approached us, though, and we did not have time to confirm who he works with or for, as he had a question for us. He wished to know if our people provided teachers to those who were… how did he say it, Neerbryn?"

"For ones that couldn't be practical in how they lived, or something like that," the fighter said, shaking his head. "No bats, no spiders, no sigils of any kind," he added.

"Wouldn't we have already known if one of our Lady's searchers was down there?" Vierna asked, to get a feel for this. "Or is the one he is questioning for not drow? We have seen some of Vhaeraun's take elven children to raise."

Shana shook her head. "The man called this boy his only surviving child, and his reaction to my offer for them both to come our way made me feel like he truly believes in the bond of family. Now, let me describe him for you, as Lleona thought this was very important.

"He's a little tall for a deep drow male, and there was no doubt he was one, as deeply light-drinking as his skin was. He had most of his hair unbound, with just two side braids linked behind to keep the mass out of his face in the breezes. He wore well-made clothing of surface manufacture; I could not make out the armor beneath it but know it was there. Most strikingly, he carried two swords, equal length, of the style I would describe as full-length, not the short swords some fighters use in pairs."

Vierna had steadily grown more interested in the description, and Neerbryn spoke up.

"He gave his name as Zaknafein, and once Lleona asked for you, the rest of us recalled your tale of the Weapon Master."

"But if his son is like us, why have we not heard it? How is he all the way here? What became of the House, so that he could escape the Matron's grip on him?!" exploded from Vierna.

"He said the boy is third born who survived. Scrying and other magics, even divine healing, fail with him, the father said," Shana said. "I promised to have someone meet with him a month from that meeting, intending to ask for Xinval and probably Rylla to go, once Qilué had considered it, but… if you think this man is connected to you, how do you wish it to be handled?"

Vierna knew good and well her own protector was likely to want to shake her for what came out of her mouth next. "I will go. But I will lean into the Silverhands for support on this."

Mynera nodded. "Wise. Outside magic, especially of such a strong family, might be the best for detecting what was done to the boy… or if this is an elaborate ruse of some kind. I do not think it is; your family name is rarely uttered, and the connections between your enclave to the rest of us is kept quiet among the clerics, for the most part."

"Exactly," Vierna said, pleased that her reading of the situation matched that of these veterans of intrigues in the Underdark and on the surface, people who risked everything to get others to safety on a frequent basis. "Now, since I am here, fill me in on doings among the bands?"

"Oh, now she's done it. She's invited Lleona to talk at length," Jhuldrin said with amusement.

Even with Thyl in the same tavern, sitting away from her, Vierna realized she had not felt this vulnerable in a very long time. She was away from the seat of her power, in a city where evil reigned more than not, and specifically held people of her Goddess's Twin's influence. She knew that others of her faith traded here regularly. It was ridiculous to feel this way —

— and she realized it had far more to do with who she was here to meet. She had enjoyed her days of instruction under the Weapon Master, had come to an almost certainty that he had to be the one who fathered her. If he reacted poorly, it was going to wound her, soul-deep.

She waited, trying not to be impatient or show outward signs of looking for someone, annoyed by the modesty veil she had decided would give her a chance to at least speak to the man before he reacted to her features. After all, she knew good and well how much she favored the matron of the house she had been born to.

After what seemed like forever, but had likely been less than a full hour, the memory from her past walked in, wearing surface clothing and gear, hair still as thick and lush as ever, though the side braids did keep it out of his face. That was sensible, anywhere there was wind to stir it. The man noted her, took note of the others around, then sauntered to her table as if he had control of the entire world around him.

Given his combat skills, she had no doubt of that in this meeting.

"You were prompt," he said, sitting down at the table opposite her.

"How could I be anything but, when my cousins pulled me to them and told me your name." She reached up to push the veil back. "Hello, Weapon Master. I did survive, and much of that was your teaching to me."

He stared at her a long moment, then took a long breath in, letting it out slowly. "Well, seeing you makes me more convinced that everything since I made a deal to steal my son out of the House has been nothing but a death dream," he said equitably.

"No. You live. And if it is your son you seek teaching for… I am more than certain that you really are my father too," she said in a low voice, half-worried he would deny it.

"Argued with your mother over your upbringing, got removed from patron for it. The small gifts I managed… they were because I wanted to be your father in full, raising you, preparing you for the world!"

She smiled brightly, then laid her hands in the middle of the table. "I knew the Temple would kill me. I was never going to hide my heart the way it would have taken… and it would have destroyed me as I was to try.

"But I also couldn't risk involving you, not when she was so peculiar about you. My goddess showed me a way, and took me to a strong protector." She then laughed. "He will have words for me coming into this city like this, with only one to guard me."

"The half-elf?" Zaknafein asked, even as he laid his hands in hers, tightening his fingers around hers in acceptance of this meeting.

"Yes. Wizard-fighter, and hopefully able to tell why my Lady cannot perceive your son — my brother! — when She is supposed to be able to call to all goodly drow."

Zak looked over at Thyl a moment with very little movement of his head, mostly his eyes, then nodded. "Take a room here; it's the safest place for you. I'll return with Drizzt, so you can meet him, and we can talk more."

She squeezed his hands at that. "Gladly, father."

Seeing him soften to that made her heart sing, before they parted, temporarily, to arrange matters.

Drizzt's first impression of the people he was to meet was the sound of laughter and a playful argument about who was getting the door, and why it was supposed to be which one. He caught the male voice saying she needed to be careful, and the female voice saying that the man would be scary to a new person.

Drizzt made himself brace for anyone that could be scary as the laughter increased and it seemed like the man had won the point. When the door opened, he had to look up and his eyes did get a bit large. He had seen half-human elves, but none so tall, and never wearing a mage robe with a sword!

"That would be your sister's guard," Zaknafein said dryly.

"Thyl. Inthylyn Aerasumé, if being very formal, but please don't. I try not to do anything that warrants it," Thyl said as he stepped back, letting them in.

Drizzt caught the wry look on his sister's face — he had an actual sister, the one that had made Zaknafein emotional to speak of! — and wondered at it. He was fixing it in his mind that she looked more like himself, seeking the ways she favored their father, because the initial resemblance to his mother hurt.

Malice had treated him well, and even though he had realized it was a ploy, to keep him loyal to her only, Drizzt had struggled to remember she was as evil as Briza and Maya.

Or, had been, rather, given the House had died the night Father escaped.

"And I am Vierna, though I am sure Father told you that," the priestess said warmly. "Your name is Drizzt?"

"Yes. And I knew your name already! Father spoke of you in my second year of training with him, because I tried the same counter you did to a maneuver." He grinned at the memory.

"Zaknafein, though I am sure you already knew," the eldest of them said to the half-human.

"Vierna has entertained us over the years, speaking of your skill, sharing what she learned with us," Thyl told him. It made Drizzt feel even more warmth for this woman he was just meeting, to know she had carried Zak's legacy and shared it further.

They all got comfortable in the room, with Thyl sitting away from the family who chose to share the couch in the room. Vierna sat on one side, having reached for Drizzt to grasp his hand and squeeze in greeting, with Zak at the other end.

"First question, to both of you," Vierna said seriously. "If we can learn why Drizzt wasn't known to my goddess, will you be willing to come to where I live, for lessons for him? If not, something could be arranged with the local bands, but they have not yet made a permanent place to live that is safely under rock."

Zaknafein was the one to answer first. "While I would love to live with both of you, I have not yet repaid the man that made it possible for Drizzt to live free, not the way I count it. In a few years, maybe. But either way, I'd prefer he be with you… if that is his choice."

Drizzt considered, then sighed. "I am too unlike the others to safely stay here," he admitted. "I've done well enough so far, but it's like when I was in the mercenary's care; I am too different and people don't like what is different." He turned to look at his father. "You would come, in time?"

"As long as your sister's goddess doesn't decide I'm too typically drow for Her tastes to be near Her people."

Vierna shook her head. "You are the utter strangeness that is a drow who found the middle path, Father. I did check before offering. If you had not been… I would have begged the more senior cleric to assign one of her strongest to take over long enough for me to help Drizzt get his feet under him as a different kind of person from you."

"You… really?" Drizzt asked, something about abdicating whatever role she held, even for a temporary period of time, filling him with awe. They'd only just met!

"Take over?" Zak asked, catching more nuance than his son did.

"Vierna is the First Cleric of the only permanent village on the surface for good drow," Thyl said lazily. "She was one of its founders, and still leads, as much as leadership is needed, along side a few elders of the races that live there.

"That senior cleric she mentioned is in the process of carving space out of Undermountain, but it is slow going, with all the magic and regeneration spells in there."

"Did well for yourself," Zak said, proud of her.

"For my people. We needed a safe haven away from the Underdark, so I went above with others. A few of those first ones are still with me; others took up the roving life that many of ours do, both Above and Below." Vierna looked back to Drizzt. "Yes, I would. Family is very important to us; we want it to be a source of comfort and strength.

"One of the few things our people have in common with most of the ones who follow the god worshipped here."

Drizzt's face got cloudy for a moment, then he nodded. "Then yes. I want to go with you, and for Father to join us later, and maybe we will be a full family that works the way my heart feels they should."

"Then I guess I need to earn my keep and see if I can at least figure out why you are hidden… but I might need a lot of help to get it taken care of once I know," Thyl said.

"Fortunate for us that you have lots of help in your family," Vierna said sweetly, making them all smile a bit.

Zaknafein was unable to go with his children to meet the archmage that would look at what Thyl had found. He threw himself into studying the city all over again, trying to find the best paths to information, the right investments to make in the power structure, as part of readying to turn this over to someone else once his pride was satisfied he'd paid for Drizzt's freedom.

He had no intention of remaining so far from his children now that he knew he could be with them, not for long. He was back at the Dimmed Lantern on the third day after their leaving, to see Thyl, Drizzt, and another half-human that looked like Thyl but not Vierna.

"Son?"

Drizzt gave a small smile. "It's alright. My sister is helping the archmage that helped me remove a curse that affected her sister!"

"When I headed out, I didn't know that the local Aunt would immediately have a task that Vierna could help with. Honestly, I should have already asked her if she'd look at the curse," Thyl said. "And I had already intended to introduce you to the local brother," he added, turning to the other half-human.

"Boesild Aerasumé. I do prefer Bo, but don't flinch from the full name as some of my brothers do," Bo said for himself. "You are Zaknafein Do'Urden, and if I have pieced together the puzzle down here, you are not associated with the Temple or the mercantile company that gives us so much trouble down here."

Zak inclined his head. "And the introduction is because?"

Bo gave a tight smile for that bluntness. "So I can find you, or you me, just in case, as I have just learned that my brother is tied up in your family via your daughter. If things happen, communication should follow."

"Ahh. Well, that does make sense." Zak looked Drizzt over. "What of why you went? And other things?"

Drizzt sighed. "I was hidden, at birth, directly by Her," and he made the profanity with his hands, causing both the tall men to grin. "It's gone, and I am going to go to my sister's village, to learn more about the Surface and how to be me."

That had Zaknafein opening his arms, and the boy flew into them, hugging tightly, to the warm looks of both half-humans. Zak had decided that family — obviously — had strong meanings for them, so he would let them see this.

"Then we'll get you packed up, so Thyl can take you on to wherever Vierna is… and as soon as I think I have given full measure, I'll find my way to you, through the Dancers' communications."

"That… sounds great," Drizzt breathed.

It would be more time separated, but Zaknafein needed his son to be safe and well… something this place had not given him in full.

Chapter Four

"He's painfully young," Vierna confided in Thyl, once they had managed to get Drizzt to go to bed, despite being in the home of a very powerful Surface human. "And his curiosity is so brazen!"

Thyl chuckled, stroking her hair, letting the familiar sounds of his Aunt's home soothe him from everything.

"Reminds me a little of seeing my brothers at that age," he agreed. "We were encouraged to be curious, but from all I have seen of your people… it's a dangerous trait and not one easily relearned to have."

"Father said he was removed from the House before the Academy, but I cannot see an all male mercenary band having been nurturing to that either. Especially knowing that any daughter of Malice's would have scarred him in his mind," Vierna murmured. "Never mind that mass of silver on his back."

Thyl growled a little at the memory of seeing those. A shared soak in a mansion had left all of them pointedly making light conversation around Drizzt to avoid revealing their horror at the scarring, when the boy was absolutely oblivious to them.

"Aunt Laeral is curious if he was chosen for that hiding spell due to some destiny, or just the meddling spider seizing an opportunity for chaos. Aunt Syluné finds him intriguing because of all of his questions about her tinctures and potions and plants." Thyl smiled softly. "I'm looking forward to seeing him interact with our people at Spirit Sanctuary, and learn how they encourage him to find who he wants to be."

Vierna's soft smile, as Thyl claimed the work of her lifetime as one of his homes made her settle back from her worry. Drizzt was young, had yet to mature past the constant questioning… and she had concerns on how well that would be handled by her more suspicious survivors of the Underdark. However, she could and would make it possible for her brother to learn all he wanted, with the help of her lover and his kin if necessary.

Syluné rested a hand on Vierna's arm, gently stopping her forward momentum, and raising a finger to her lips. The cleric followed the elder woman's line of sight to where her brother was sprawled on the ground, laughing softly as a young fox sniffed and licked and bounced around him. A more mature fox, likely the mother, was sitting at a distance, watching, but not protesting the play.

"What in all the realms," Vierna breathed. "Those are not tame creatures!"

"No. They do not bother my coop, but that's because Aumry," her voice hitched slightly, "made a point of setting game entrails in a specific spot, a habit I've asked my grounds-keeper to maintain. They've known for years to go there for plenty of food.

"But they are not tame, and yet the kit has been playing with your brother's hair and fingers for several minutes."

Vierna nodded. She was so very glad she had been able to give insights to the curse present on the body, so that Syluné might yet find a way to have her love returned to her.

Having two people watching must have made an impression, but neither woman was sure if it was Drizzt or the foxes that had noticed it. Drizzt sat up, slowly, and the pair of foxes melted off into the twilight.

"You made a friend," Vierna said, once they had vanished, coming out fully into the garden, smiling at the radiant peace on Drizzt's face.

"I did!" He grinned, then bounced fully up to come hug her in an exuberance of emotions. "The sunset was so beautiful! Also, Thyl said Lin needed him, and he didn't know how long until he'd be able to return to you."

"Lin is his twin, a brother born at the same time as he was," Syluné said, coming to take a seat in one of the chairs around the table kept there. The other two joined her, and she focused on Drizzt. "You have a magical artifact, Laeral said, one with a mingling of void and astral energies.

"Are you willing to have me look at it and see what I can learn? I know she was too tired after aiding you."

Drizzt considered, then slowly removed the figure from his pouch, setting it on the table but not yet relinquishing it. "Father said he banished a planar creature that looked like the statue, but so very big. It was in the spoils he'd taken off the hunters that tried to stop him from escaping the House being destroyed.

"Along with other magic components; we used most of those to trade with, but this? It felt good to me, made me… I don't know. I could calm and center if I held it, even when I saw drow being very drow."

Almost twenty years in his father's keeping, and he still felt so much discomfort at what Zaknafein found pragmatic. Drizzt was more relieved than he had wanted to admit that his father had found a different way for him to explore living free.

He made himself meet Syluné's eyes, decided that yes, he did trust her enough for this, and pushed the figure to her. Vierna took one of his hands to help him stay calm, as the arch-mage studied the magical artifact.

"One moment, while I confer with an older expert," Syluné eventually said.

A few minutes later, a wizened man with a pipe emitting blue smoke and a crooked wizard's cap teleported to the spot within the wards used by the extensive family, striding over with a swiftness that belied his elderly appearance.

"You found the legendary Guenhwyvar?! By the stars, what a lucky man you must be," the wizard exclaimed, looking directly at Drizzt.

"My father found the figure, saer, and gave it to me for keeping," Drizzt said politely, even as his chest felt tight. A legendary thing? Surely they would take it from him now.

"You heard the name? Can you repeat it?" Syluné asked, as she slid the statuette back to him, making Drizzt's eyes widen, betraying his worst thoughts of them.

"I believe so."

"Guenhwyvar," the wizard said slowly. "You'll want to move to the clearing there; legend said she was nearly twice the size of a material plane panther."

Vierna watched her brother do just that, while the wizard took the vacated seat.

"Cleric Vierna, I take it? Good to meet you."

"You must be Elminster; I've heard stories," she told him, but her eyes never left her brother.

Drizzt was centering himself, and decided to sit on the ground, uncertain what size a normal panther would be. He left both hands on the figure, intently pushing his thoughts of being friends even as he said the unfamiliar name.

"Guenhwyvar, please come here," Drizzt said, unaware of how that courtesy word only elevated him further in the eyes of the two humans. A black mist formed from the warm statuette, and then… then there was the most magnificent cat, not a fleck of color in her fur but the deepest, truest black, and intelligent golden eyes that stared intently, weighing Drizzt to his bare soul.

"The figure remains, she did come… this is indeed Anders Beltgarden's masterwork, accidental as she was," Elminster murmured.

Drizzt heard none of the discussion at the table, his eyes fixed on the cat's for several heartbeats. Then, rising up only to his knees, he reached one hand out to her, transfixed by the hope he felt beating at him from the cat's own spirit.

"We are both of us free, here above, and can be friends, if you wish it," Drizzt said softly.

That brought Guenhwyvar close, sniffing the hand, before offering her full head for petting. She moved all the way into his space, and he devoted himself to finding all the itchy spots, to stroking that sleek fur, silently promising her that he was going to make sure she never regretted trusting him.

"I think they are both content?" Vierna said, awestruck by the massive predator and her slender brother bonding at a level that looked almost divine.

"I think that touch of wild in your brother may be opening them to a lifelong bond," Syluné said, catching whispers of a Weave around the pair. What was this boy that one goddess had thought to use him as a catspaw, and now he was invoking ranger gifts without any patron of his own?

Jarlaxle sighed loudly, feet up on the edge of Zaknafein's desk, but it was all for show. He'd known, ever since Drizzt had been in his keeping, that he would not have Zak's swords and skills forever.

"You'll keep the sending stone?"

"Of course. Will do my damnedest to make friends with a wizard that can get me places swiftly even," Zak told him.

"But your son — and your daughter! — are elsewhere, and you have more than repaid my investment."

"I still say you were still on the minus side in my ledger," Zak drawled, before they both started laughing.

"Alright, alright… but you're staying with me while I am here for this visit." Jarlaxle's one visible eye glinted, and he watched Zak's features take on that lustful danger he so loved.

"Might not get any work done," Zak rumbled, standing from his chair. That was the only invitation needed for more private activities.

Thyl himself came for Zaknafein, and made certain to teleport them when it was full night in Spirit Sanctuary. Vierna came to key the wards to allow her father inside.

"Drizzt is away with a teacher, but will return soon," Vierna told him, showing off the village on a tour that let everyone get a glimpse of the legend that had trained her and 'their ranger', as Drizzt was affectionately called. "He found a calling, and spends most of the warm months away from here now."

"I'd swear it's only been two years since I gave him to your care," Zak said gruffly.

"So it has been, but he's always in good hands when he leaves us," Vierna assured. "Drizzt is thriving in his chosen path, has this place as home, and a need to explore that we cannot — will not — hamper."

"If he's not with the ranger that is trusted to know this place exists," Thyl interjected, "he's with my aunt, who is also a ranger. Or her husband, another one."

"Hmph." Zak sighed, then shook his head. "So, tell me all about what I need to know, to make a place for myself here, and what my dancer has been up to on this path he's chosen."

"Gladly, father."

Rafi leaned against the rock, Zak not far from him, both of them watching as the siblings sparred with smiles on their faces.

"I thought life was pretty perfect to find Vierna, with all of her skills and drive, so that we could make a place safe for us out of the Underdark," Rafi murmured. "But then she brought her little brother here, and he's sparked so many smiles and laughter, helping even our most vulnerable ones move forward with hope just by being who he is.

"And we owe both of them existing to you, Zaknafein. You're damned amazing, to have survived so long, but you also are the reason they are as they are."

Zaknafein looked over at the other man, one he was settling into a true friendship with. "I might take credit for her… I tried to influence her as much as I could. But that faerie-souled boy is something else altogether," he said with a half-smile.

Rafi had to laugh; Drizzt was still strange, even here, but the strangeness made him more a part of them all, instead of less.

"I suppose that's fair. House Do'Urden lives… in three unusual drow that shredded the webs around them."

Zak's eyes gleamed, considering that a fine revenge on Malice for her unwillingness to change, even a little. "A fitting fate."

squidgiepdx posting in

sga_saturday

With everyone posting challenges and such for the 3weeks4dreamwidth festivities, we'd like to join in! To do so, we're running a prompt drop and fill fest from now until mid May. Basically how the CommentFic community works, but only for Stargate Atlantis (and crossovers, as long as SGA is the primary focus, either in a multi-fandom crossover OR an AU of some kind).

If you're not familiar with prompt drop and fill fest, it's where you leave a fandom - which will of course be SGA - plus a pairing or characters or "ANY", and then a prompt of some kind. Feel free to leave as many prompts as you want as comments to this post, and then you or someone else can come in behind you and fill that prompt.

The fest will go from today until May 15th, 2026. All prompts and prompt fills should be within this post (unless you end up filling a prompt for this month's prompts and want to post it afterward as an official fill for that challenge as well!).

Sound good? Let's go!

brightknightie

3weeks4dreamwidth runs April 25 to May 15 this year. The event celebrates the anniversary of, and promotes activity on, Dreamwidth, this lovely platform that you're enjoying right now.

Dreamwidth is my social media. I love this text-focused, algorithm-free, async format; it feels really comfortable and accessible to me. (I feel like I understand it, which is just not at all true of other platforms.) I love getting to keep up and interact with all of you! I wish only that more folks might feel like Dreamwidth is a place where they would like to engage these days, in general and overall, but especially fannishly. ♥

You? You're still here, evidently! What joy does DW bring you these days?

senmut

When everything happened on LJ back in the late 00s, I was loathe to give up a 'permanent' home, a place where I could easily find my own posts, a place where I had made so many friends. It was my second true migration; I wasn't on Yahoo Groups long enough to consider it a home, and the previous jump had been leaving mIRC as well as Usenet.

But here was this site that was supposed to be similar to LJ in feel and workings, but with the added bonus of dividing things into access and subscription.

jerico_cacaw gave me an invite, my now-wife acquired me the seed account.

It helped, I admit, that I'd gotten into a kerfluffle in DC fandom, was moving more fully into Transformers, and was happy on that aspect to be starting over.

Why Dreamwidth now, though?

Permanent. My posts stay in a logically ordered fashion that I can go back and search in a number of ways. Not image intensive, which is a blessing to my eyes some days. Privacy controls I can use easily.

Or, in other words, it's where I keep my stuff.

senmut

Colorful image that says 3weeks4dreamwidth friending meme

brightknightie

Last weekend, I went to the theater to see Project Hail Mary, on which I was almost completely unspoiled. I hadn't read the book and had seen only one preview; also, I'd been assured that it was hopeful, not doom-y, sci-fi. Overall, I recommend it as a good, satisfying, enjoyable, self-contained movie.

More than one moment felt like it might be the story's climax, but turned out not to be. This was not dissatisfying while watching; I mention it in order to observe, first, that I found myself consciously drawing on that reassurance that the story was indeed ultimately hopeful and not doom-y, and, second, to wonder whether perhaps, while I did enjoy it as a movie, would it have made an even better TV mini-series, with each such event capping an episode, perhaps even as a cliffhanger? I'm not sure, but it occurred to me later.

Another thing that occurred to me only later was that it is a pretty long movie: 2.5 hours (plus previews). I did not realize that while watching. Didn't cross my mind. My attention didn't wander. But as I walked out, I checked my watch, and whoa! Apparently, it was over 4 hours in initial audience previews; they trimmed it down.

I like seeing movies in theaters surrounded by other people, sharing the same story in the same space, sharing laughs or gasps and the experience, even if we share nothing else. Sometimes, folks behave poorly, with their phones or noise, but when everyone behaves well, the experience is a treat.

flamingsword posting in

thisfinecrew

With many thanks to S. Baum and Erin in the Morning for their words and timely reportage:

Today, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the FCC would be seeking comment on whether the TV Parental Guidelines rating system needs to be changed to address shows with transgender or nonbinary characters.

If you, like me, trust Trump’s FCC chairman no farther than you can throw him, then please feel free to register your dissent.

The public comment period is open now through May 22, 2026. Anyone can submit comments opposing this effort through the FCC's Comment Filing System under MB Docket No. 19-41. LGBTQ+ organizations, parents, animators, and allies are encouraged to make their voices heard—the FCC is required to consider all comments submitted during the period.

reggiekray posting in

addme_fandom

Name: reggie/reg

Age: 36

I mostly post about: stranger things, billy hargrove, dacre montgomery, joe keery, joseph quinn, fred hechinger, the kray twins.

My hobbies are: drawing, writing, movies, spellwork/tarot/witchcraft.

My fandoms are: stranger things, gladiator ii, the eagle, fantastic four, x-men, anime/manga, rpf.

Before adding me, you should know: i am very gay and very trans, and will not tolerate any form of homophobia and transphobia. i'm also very witchy/pagan, and work with spiritual energy. if that bothers you, i understand! feel free to follow and/or unfollow at your leisure.

brightknightie

allbutromance, a gen exchange, has closed nominations and opened sign-ups. I didn't nominate, but I thought I'd participate if fandoms I'd like to write were nominated. Check out the tagset.

There's a fairly broad mix of recent and older stuff, including Highlander: The Series and the Buffyverse, as well as across media types, that I think a lot of people might well enjoy.

However, looks like a washout for me, personally, as a writing opportunity. There are several books and movies that I could offer/request to pad out a sign-up slate, but nothing I'm personally sufficiently jazzed about the chance of to jump aboard. I should have made time to nominate The Legend of Zelda, Dungeons & Dragons (Cartoon, 1983-85), the characters I personally enjoy most in HL, and a few other things. Ah, well. Lesson learned again!

I'll keep an eye on for stories to read.

senmut

Are you on bsky? Are you on tumblr? AM I FOLLOWING YOU?

If the first two are yes, and the last is no (my bsky and my tumblr), and you're cool with me following, drop your links in the comments. Screening those, btw, so it would just be me me me seeing them!

mark posting in

dw_maintenance

Happy Wednesday!

I'm taking search offline sometime today to upgrade the server to a new instance type. It should be down for a day or so -- sorry for the inconvenience. If you're curious, the existing search machine is over 10 years old and was starting to accumulate a decade of cruft...!

Also, apparently these older machines cost more than twice what the newer ones cost, on top of being slower. Trying to save a bit of maintenance and cost, and hopefully a Wednesday is okay!

Edited: The other cool thing is that this also means that the search index will be effectively realtime afterwards... no more waiting a few minutes for the indexer to catch new content.

brightknightie

I unfortunately got a weird (and inevitably mildly distressing) spam reply on the AO3 today, but the good news is that, between the last time I got one and tonight, the AO3 launched a convenient "Spam" button right there on comments. No fuss, no looking up how to report it. Excellent UI addition. Much appreciated.

brightknightie

Aurora Volume 2 by Red of Overly Sarcastic Productions is reportedly on bookstore and comics-shop shelves starting today. I presume that my pre-ordered copy will be at my local comics shop for me next week if not this coming weekend.

Of course you can also read the entire series online for free: check it out. A new page comes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (except for occasional vacations, because the author/artist is sensible enough to give herself those).

It's a fantasy story in an original world, pseudo-medieval but completely without the urban/political weight that often carries, with demi-gods running around a la classical myth but original, focused on found-family and team dynamics among a ragtag accidental band who started out just trying to survive themselves, and now their world is depending on them, though it doesn't know it and they don't seem to yet fully understand it themselves.

brightknightie

A week or so ago, I was listening to a back-episode of Sacred Realms: A Zelda Retrospective Podcast comparing Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild, when the host off-handedly noted that SkSw, being fully linear (not open world), is "a forty-hour game at most."

Um. After months of play on Switch 2, I was one-hundred hours into SkSw. And I'm not a completionist or a mini-game aficionado (though I am a devotee of sidequests! mmmmm, sidequest stories). Of course he was speaking from the perspective of a much more skilled and experienced gamer, someone who can easily beat, on the first try, in hero mode, puzzles and bosses that take me many tries (and ragequits and internet searches). I thought I was pretty chill with my novice-tortoise gaming experiences, but...

This weekend, I reached the loftwing spin-attack tutorial. Good gravy! ( Read about how awful this tutorial is and how to cope with it. )

I was able to eventually beat it -- that is, to keep calm and play over and over -- because I was secure in the knowledge that it wasn't just me. Many people find the spiral-charge tutorial one of the hardest and most ridiculous things in the game. I learned that because a delightful thing happened when I searched for tips. Many of the sources -- and all the best sources -- were old-fashioned-style blog posts and forums! Folks sharing their experiences. Allow me to recommend this essay on the spiral-charge attack tutorial: "Of Challenges, Cheats, and Churls" (2021) by Zelda for Elders: Playing the Legend of Zelda with Cocktails. The authors learned the word "ragequit" over the spiral-charge attack tutorial. :-)

senmut

AO3 Link | Notes of Desperation: Skullport (2,250 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 2/3
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Jarlaxle Baenre, Malice Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Original Drow Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Torture, Escape, Rebuilding, Reunions
Summary:

A winding tale of how three Do'Urdens find family in full.

Notes of Desperation: Skullport

"Rule number one," Zaknafein began as they were situating the few things they had in a shared room. "Don't leave this building without me or someone I designate. Rule two, don't let on that you never went through school. Rule three, tied to that, try to act a little older."

Drizzt twisted up his features in distaste for that last; he didn't know what he was supposed to be like! He'd gone from being a student of Zaknafein to a curiosity in a mercenary band's den!

"I can take most typical fighters," Drizzt reasoned. "I have command of several cantrips now. I don't think anyone would notice I never attended.

"But… what do you mean by acting older?" He took the magical statue his father had given him out and settled on his narrow bed, just tracing the warm lines of the animal shape. Zak had told him it was a surface cat, and he was hopeful he'd see one in this strangely half-lit place.

Zak paused, glancing over. "If you have questions, hold them for me, for when we're alone. Try not to be too amazed at new things you see. And focus on being seen as serious. It will hold others at bay, while we get to know them, and figure out who will actually test us, and our placement here."

Drizzt wanted to ask why that was even a thing, but all of the discussions to this place, and ones he'd had in the other place with the mercenaries, had led him to believe that drow were just… given to being difficult at each other.

He didn't like it, but he still had a lot to learn, to understand what he wanted to be.

"Is there a wizard on staff?"

"No. We'll figure out how to find one to pay to find the thing's name, son," Zak told him. "Just try and be patient. You could live a very long time, now we're away from the women of that city."

Drizzt didn't understand that either, except in all the ways he'd been hurt by Maya and Briza both. Mother hadn't, not often, but Zaknafein had explained that too. Mother had wanted him to be like Zak, in skills, to replace the older man. But also be more pliable, someone she could actually control.

"So pretend to be as sour-faced as possible, and don't talk much? I can do that. It's how I survived Maya."

That got a wince from his father, and then Zak was in his space, folding him into a tight hug.

"Just until we understand where the threats are, son. I prefer your smiles, and I don't mind your questions… even if I don't ever seem to know the answers."

Drizzt hugged him back, and then settled back on the bed, so Zak could finish placing his traps how he wanted them.

Generally, Elkantar was not asked to go into Skullport for any of the bands that wandered the Sword Coast. While it was not spoken of openly, elder members in every group knew he had been rescued there from his enslavement.

The only reason he had volunteered this time was because he distinctly remembered a certain lichen that would benefit them all could be found in the lowest levels, and it was needed to treat an ailment that had settled on their younger members, a rash that thinned the skin and caused sores if it was pressed or abraded too hard.

He did let Laeral be the one to spirit him down inside the subterranean city, rather than risk taking a party with him through the ways they had learned through the Undermountain. She had disguised herself as a half-drow woman, having made the acquaintance of the up and coming sword mistress to Qilué's wanderers.

Elkantar kept his eyes open, his ears attuned to the threats around him, and a light touch on Laeral as he took her all the way down to the lowest levels on their gathering run.

"Fewer drow out and about than Shana said to expect," he murmured to her.

"My sources say that unaffiliated group recently had a leadership change. Wagering that led to a shuffle of power in all factions," she responded just as quietly.

"Hmm, if you hear more, do pass it on to us."

"Of course."

Zaknafein was flat on the roof of a building, his son beside him, as both observed the movement in the compound nearby.

"What do you see?"

"The women and children are frightened, obeying out of fear," Drizzt began, and Zak filed that under 'strange things about Drizzt' for that to be the first observation. "The soldiers are swaggering, being cruel just because they can, but their posture and bearing is arrogance based on perception. Whatever skill is under it is probably not at the level you demand of our fighters.

"The openness of the courtyard implies magical traps. The lack of protections from above could be carelessness, but is likely more magic. There is no obvious ranking officer outside, though, so they do not believe their protections are without weakness."

"Go on," Zak encouraged.

"The wagon boxes are sitting low for those designs. There's already merchandise in them, heavy merchandise. The traces are in place for beasts of burden… probably those large rothe we saw, given it is set up for two beasts per wagon. They mean to move those goods soon."

"Well done," Zak told him, even as he saw violence starting between two men and one of the women, the kind he had no wish for his son to see. "Come." He hoped Drizzt hadn't picked up that part yet, and hopped up into a low crouch. "See if you can beat me back."

There was a flicker of something in his gentle son before the boy obeyed, though not to race.

"Are we planning to attack them?" Drizzt asked.

"No. We were hired to get the information, which will be delivered to our contract holder. We do not provoke those drow, or the ones in the Temple. We merely cause them inconvenience, and promise better service with our own merchants."

Drizzt looked back, and Zak wanted to swear, seeing emotions flicker over that mobile face before Drizzt started in the direction of their own warehouse.

Maybe he had not understood what was happening and only reacted to the rough treatment, Zak hoped.

Drizzt was sitting on his bed when Zak came in, well after the contract had concluded, and saw his son running his hands over the cat figure. He did that a lot when he was thinking heavy thoughts.

"What is it?"

"It's not right that anyone, woman or man, be as scared as they were. It's not right that people take and hurt."

Drizzt's face came up, resolute, but fear in his eyes for voicing the feelings he'd been growing into since coming fully under his father's tutelage in this far off place. He still remembered, vividly, the beatings for daring to ask questions that implied drow ways were wrong.

Zak came and sat beside his son, bringing an arm up around his shoulders. "Power is the way of drow. It also seems to be the way of every species that lives in this city. Fear, from those that have no power, is normal. Power comes by skill, or position.

"I don't know what to tell you, Drizzt, to make this better for you. But that is the truth that was beaten and shaped into me in Menzoberranzan. Here, at least? There are connections between people, to share the burden of not having power. There's the ability to be family, and keep solid alliances to protect what power can be taken."

Drizzt looked at the figure he held, letting the warm magic it emanated soothe him. He didn't have answers to the gentle words, rebuttals to make his case. His heart just knew this was wrong.

After a full minute of silence, Zak stood, leaving the room so that Drizzt could be alone in his safe space… and wishing he knew a better way to help the boy.

Shana immediately put hand to dirk, beneath the view of the stranger approaching her, using the counter she had her offerings spread on to hide them. Other drow in this city were all too often a problem. The two fighters with her were more visibly ready to stop any altercations, both of them on the street side of things.

"I'm told you three follow different ways, something about a goodly goddess," the man said from several steps away. She appraised him fully, taking in the well-made but functional garb, the twin scabbards of equal length, the fact he wore his hair free save for two side braids to pin the mass of it back. Typical red eyes, slightly above average height for a deep drow, and he could be no other type given the polished jet of his skin tone.

"It need not be cause for strife," she said evenly. "We sell and trade to any in good faith."

His eyes did flick over the wares, mostly dried foods and components not found here, but from above.

"I'm actually looking for someone to teach my son," he said as he closed the last of the distance. "Has very un-drow ways of thinking, and I'm told they line up better with your people.

"Zaknafein."

"Shana," she responded to that unprompted offer of name. No bats, no other symbols of Vhaeraun in his clothing, and she'd caught no symbols of the spider either… but surely the clerics would have known if there was a goodly child here!

"He's my only surviving child, and his heart is just not suited to the work I do here," Zaknafein told her. "Do your people offer teachers for such as cannot be practical in their way of living?"

"We accept any who choose to follow ways closer to our goddess, even if they do not accept Her as their patron deity," Shana said. "We also, saer Zaknafein, tend to know when to seek such people."

The man grunted at that, with a grimace. "He's complicated. Third born, in a House of that Bitch's making. My friends say he's not able to be scryed, sent to, and he's always been resistant to divine healing. Only the salves work easily on him."

Third born. That had notorious meaning from a Spider city. And yet the boy lived.

"Meaning he may be touched by Her magic." Shana took a deep breath. "I cannot make these kind of decisions. But if you can keep him safe for a full moon, I can arrange for someone to meet with you and discuss it more in depth."

"He'll stay safe. I will not let harm come to him." Zaknafein's fierce loyalty to his child came through strongly, and Shana smiled a little.

"Are you sure you do not wish to seek our ways, where children are raised with care by their families?" she offered.

He looked at her, a myriad of complex emotions crossing his expressive features before he ruefully shook his head. "I would not fit in other ways, and have commitments here. I will meet your envoy in one month, at the place they call the Dimmed Lantern."

He then looked at her wares again, and produced coins to buy some of the dried fruits. "For taking your time… and because he delights in trying new things," Zaknafein said, before making his way back the way he'd come.

"Things are very unusual this trip," Neerbryn said, having specifically come to get a feel for the differences in the drow factions that Elkantar and Lady Silverhand had mentioned. Lleona would have come herself, but for once they had overruled their bard-leader.

"I know. Well, nothing for it but to finish our selling and buying, then get back to either your folk, or the Sister herself."

Lleona proved closer, with the rest of the Marauders, and listened to both Shana and Neerbryn describe the encounter. She was blessed with the deep memory a true bard found so useful, and from the mention of name and weapons, she was weighing just how to advise Shana.

"Qilué took her band to the southern tip of the mountains, guided by our Lady," Lleona said. "Rylla went with them, but we should find one another by mid-autumn. However, you don't need to seek her for negotiations on this matter."

"I don't?" Shana asked, but she respected Lleona's insights. The woman had one of the highest success rates for going into the Underdark and bringing all of her people out alive. Or at least able to live again.

"Any of you lot have sending on tap today?" Lleona asked her band.

"I do," Mynera offered, without even looking up from the scroll she was reading.

"Ask the other First Sister if she can clear her plate and come here within the next few days. Tell her no rush, as I'll go speak to this man if she can't make it in time, but it will be worth her while."

"You really think it is the same man?" Cirtlari asked, as she pieced together what had Lleona asking for someone from the other side of the continent.

"Well, she's as good as she can be; maybe the man just breeds goodly people," Lleona said cheerfully, before sitting back to let Mynera handle contact.

senmut

Help Kat keep her car and move.

This is our former roommate from when I FIRST moved here,

darkdanc3r.

If you can signal boost, great. If you can donate... claim a drabble from me for helping a friend.

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The white-padded cell

Here we go (again!)

Hey waves

State of the FTH fics

3weeks4dreamwidth friending meme

Chapters 3 & 4 of Notes of Desperation

The Community Celebrates 3weeks4dreamwidth!

3 weeks for Dreamwidth event

Why Dreamwidth?

3WFDW

Project Hail Mary movie (no spoilers)

Trans characters are not adult-oriented entertainment

re-doing this...

Allbutromance gen exchange

Query

Search maintenance

New (?) "Spam" button on AO3 comments

Aurora volume 2 hits store shelves this week

SkSw's loftwing spiral-charge tutorial is pointlessly hard; here are solid tips that worked for me

Notes of Desperation: Skullport

Pass the Hat

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February 2022

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