Silmarilz1701

Hey friends! @The_Demigod_Community has a ton of fun things going on right now, but I wanted to take a moment to highlight our new round of the CHB Games! This one is a guessing game, and the final End of Summer edition.
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1653218493-camp-half-blood-games-a-game-game-14-end-of-summer

Updates may be slow for a couple of weeks!
          
          There are very few teaching moments more difficult than the first week of Kindergarten. First week in the Special Ed department is up there too, which I also do. Day one is only half way done and I'm already spent.
          
          

A bit of a late hobbit-birthday present from myself  <3 It was nice to hit the 150k+ word mark on this fic with this chapter! Finally, Mouse's cunning gets recognized by others!
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1652456788-mouse-lion-wolf-dragon-age-inquisition-26-the
          
          * * *
          
          It opened with a screech. Old hinges, not used in ten years. Mouse looked around the square room, walls all cobblestone with piles of dry firewood along the left wall. But in the center, perfectly intact, were the dam controls.
          
          Not broken. The Mayor had said they were broken. Mouse frowned. Her whole body hurt and made thinking difficult. Something was wrong. Something didn’t add up. 
          
          She looked at it closer. Stood there, mind racing. The Mayor had said “no choice.” No choice, about what. What were his words? No choice about draining the lake. He hadn’t wanted the lake drained. But why wouldn’t he? 
          
          He hid something. Something was under the water that scared him. Something that wasn’t the rift. Sister Vaughn was glad he had finally found someone to drain it. He’d been asked before, then. Repeatedly. But she’d said that because the dead were walking now and that came from the Blight victims who died in the—
          
          Flood. 
          
          Her blood ran cold. She’d read about the First Blight. Tried to, back in Skyhold. It spread like a disease. Tainted blood. And a lot of people were bleeding during the Fifth Blight. Crestwood survived. Why did they survive? The scars of the Fifth Blight were written all over Ferelden. She’d seen it. Ruined towns trying to recover. Redcliffe. But Crestwood had none of Redcliffe’s defenses.
          
          People had the Blight. Refugees. Children, adults alike. Her chest pounded as her throat began to constrict. The dam controls weren’t broken. The Mayor had tried to hold her gaze but couldn’t. Guilt. And then fear, because he couldn’t take his eyes off her anymore. Worried they would find out.
          
          They had found out.
          
          [ Excerpt from Chapter 26: "The Flash Before the Thunder" of Mouse, Lion, Wolf ]

Under the Banner readers!! I'm so sorry, apparently my scheduled chapters for the upload of UtB to my profile (in addition to @adamantiumdragonfly ) just decided to...stop? And my bad, I never realized it. I'm going to try to get that all situated in the next couple of weeks so those updates resume. If you don't want to wait, the fully complete work is already in my reading lists and on my co-author's profile!

@A_Demigod_Community has yet another awesome writing article out right now, written by @lady_ofthe_palace ! It's all about worldbuilding- specifically, how to expand it beyond just drawing a map or coming up with place names. No need to be a Percy Jackson fan to benefit and enjoy these tips and tricks!
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1648966078-the-fanfic-workshop-writers-help-worldbuilding-is

yo silz random question: could a 13 yr old read the silmarillion? i tried to when i was yunger but i had not a clue what was going on so :/

Fun Fact! The Lion and the Mouse, one of Aesop's Fables, is a huge inspiration for me for this Dragon Age fic. The perfect little metaphor for our warrior, Cullen, and our sneaky little rogue, Mouse. 
          
          Of course, neither realizes the Wolf is lurking in the shadows.
          
          * * *
          
          “If I tell you this, you can’t tell anyone,” Mouse said. She couldn’t stop smiling. This could work. And then someone would know. But he had to keep it a secret. “If Dorian found out he’d come annoy me all the time. So would Varric. And probably Sera.”
          
          He didn’t reply with words. The pain held his voice hostage. But he nodded, leaning against the wall behind his desk for support. And there was a little smile, tugging at the scar across his lip.
          
          “I found a way up to the tallest of the towers,” she said. “The stairs are old and rotting. But if you move quick enough and stand on the edges, the beams hold your weight.”
          
          Then she laughed. Probably not his. But she was quick, and light, and somehow the race made it fun. Fun. That was the strange emotion she felt, the rush of energy that made her head light and chest warm. 
          
          Mouse smirked. “You’d probably fall.”
          
          “I do not doubt that,” he said.
          
          Good. He had his voice again, even if it strained. Cullen pushed himself off the wall. Moved closer, back to the desk across from her. His breathing seemed less painful. No wincing.
          
          “That’s where I’ve been going at night. The view of the stars from there is...” She paused. Couldn’t find the words for it. She didn’t know them, the right ones. Mouse frowned for a moment. But she pushed it away. Even inadequate words would be better than silence. She loved the stars. “Amazing. No torches to get in the way, or stupid walls and banners and all the other things that go into claiming this place for the Inquisition. I feel like I can touch them—”
          
          [ Excerpt from Chapter 22: "Heard" of Mouse, Lion, Wolf ]
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/413639076

Took 110k words but the slow burn has finally burned and we love to see it. Writing these two silly gooses might be my favorite pairing yet...even if writing their extremely close Deep PoV drives me NUTS and leaves me pulling my hair out when I have to switch back and forth xD but it wouldn't be the same without this style. So I'll suffer.
          
          Anyways, sometimes when the slow burn takes 110k words, the first kiss ends up turning into three. Oops?
          
          Let's hope nothing bad happens to these two... *Side eyes Hawke and Templar indoctrination*
          
          * * *
          
          She stopped two rungs up. Couldn’t run any further. Didn’t want to. No one had asked her before. So she turned around on the ladder. Looked at him there. He’d walked over. Kept rubbing his neck, his head. He’d been having a lot of headaches. More than before.
          
          “Mouse—”
          
          Her voice failed. But she couldn’t look away from him. The sun made his golden hair practically glow in the darkness of the broken office. “A knife-eared rat from Tevinter, the Inquisitor?”
          
          Cullen grimaced. He didn’t like it. Didn’t like the idea of her being Inquisitor, or didn’t like the term? The term. He’d already said they had all wanted it to be her. He didn’t want her to use that term.
          
          “I would follow you,” he said, taking a step closer. 
          
          Couldn’t look away. Just, watched him. Nearly the same height while she dangled off the ladder. Some of his hair had fallen out of place. Must have been while moving the beams. She reached out and pushed it back in place.
          
          Warm. Couldn’t move her fingers. Just, stayed there, close enough to feel him. He looked at her, then at her lips. Mouse couldn’t breathe. He’d taught her to breathe again, but now. Now just being near him. Inches. Couldn’t breathe.
          
          [ Excerpt from Chapter 20: "Seen" from "Mouse, Lion, Wolf" - Cullen Rutherford x F!Elf Rogue Inquisitor ]
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/413639076

100k words in less than a month is a new record for me. The combo of yesterday's chapter "Herald" and today's "Commander" may be my favorite two chapters I've ever written in any story. And if we add in "Only a Closet" which comes right before, it is DEFINITELY my favorite three chapters of any story. I'm officially obsessed with these two.
          
          * * *
          
          Blood. Blood stained her face, dripping from her nose, her forehead, staining her wind-burned cheeks and her lips. Frost ringed her eyes. Frozen tears. 
          
          “Cullen.”
          
          So weak, he almost missed it. But he didn’t. He heard her. 
          
          “I need help.”
          
          Cullen caught her as she collapsed forward. Her weak body barely pushed against his breastplate. He took off his gloves. Too cold. Far too cold. He ignored the blood that stained his hand as he double-checked her breathing. Still breathing. Still alive.
          
          “Cassandra!”
          
          She had the potion ready. Cullen used one hand to open her mouth and the other to support her limp body as Cassandra started trying to treat her wounds. They had to get as much potion down her throat as possible. If they didn’t slow the bleeding, her body temperature wouldn’t matter.
          
          [ Excerpt from Chapter 18 "Commander" of Mouse, Lion, Wolf ]
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/413639076

The weekend can be pretty crazy, so I just wanted to send a reminder that Chapter 1 of They Paid With Death (Our PJO Hunger Games style AU collab) released!!!! Written by the incredible @NothingOldNothingNew and introducing our two District 1 Tributes, there couldn't have been a better way to start the ball rolling. Head over and show her some love on that chapter!
          
          * * * 
          
          Rain flooded the asphalt streets leading into Themisia, racing down the paved edges to find home in a storm drain. It came up around his ankles, dampening his boots a muddy shade of brown and drowning the bottoms of his jeans. The sky did not care as it continued to pour over the city. 
          
          The sensible part of Jove’s mind appreciated the rainfall- after months of drought plagued all of District 1, it was a welcome, well needed change. An expected change. Every year on Reaping Day, the Capitol would allow the cloud seeding famers from Mnemosyne Peak to shower the district with storms. Perfectly timed on the Capitol’s end; even with the meager water rations, the district wouldn’t last much longer. 
          
           And a great show of mercy from the Capitol, allowing a rebellious district Capitol resources. On a day of mournful remembrance, no less.
           
          [Snippet from They Paid With Death: Rains A Blessing, Jove’s POV] 
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1643524015-they-paid-with-death-percy-jackson-x-hunger-games