#( catriona ! )

[wlwgif]

GILMORE GIRLS, 1x02 LEGACIES, 3x09

[dragons-library]

A little rant because I will defend Xaden and Violet until I die.

People pissed at Xaden for training Cat…

Im gonna hold your hand while I say this. IT IS NOT THE SAME AS HIM TRAINING VIOLET. Not by a long shot.

First of all, he also trained Garrick, Liam, probably Imogen, like… it’s what he does because he is a great warrior.

They were betrothed, and if I had my niece engaged to a warrior and I was in the middle of a war, hell yeah I would ask him to train her. (Possibility)

We literally don’t know if he trained her out of the goodness of his heart, if he was told to do it, if cat asked. He probably did it because idk?? They all need to learn survival skills like combat? It doesn’t mean it was romantic. It does not change all the training scenes between Xaden and violet because it was not the same! Not even close!!!

Xaden never loved Cat🤨 my boy has only loved violet. He has said it so many times in so many ways.

(And it was a good exercise for Violet to fight with someone of equal skill and similar training and having to find a way to beat her, which she absolutely did😌.)

And Xaden trained violet because he loved her, he challenged her before that because he had a big fat crush on her, he kept her safe, then taught her how to defend herself, (he has made mistakes but training other people is not one of them omg)

Nothing Xaden has done for or with Violet can be compared to whatever that was with Cat. And Xaden didn’t turn Venin to keep violet safe… JUST FOR YALL TO ACT LIKE HIS LOVE FOR HER IS SOMEHOW TARNISHED BECAUSE HE HAS AN EX.

[artlordofthesith]

Catriona and Violet wearing their fancy gowns from the scene in Cordyn in the book Iron Flame.

[alteregozowie]

Catriona waddles towards the new creature, giving it a gentle boop on the snoot, "Gator!"

Dove looks on panicked as she immediately scoops the toddler into her arms, "Nonononono sweety...you need to be CAREFUL..."

The Nephilim looks at Alastor with a raised brow, "She won't try to eat my child, will she?:

"You know, I'm not really entirely sure," he said, completely unphazed at how dangerous that might be. "I wouldn't terrorize her or anything, but I assure you Pearl is well fed. She shouldn't harm her, right Pearl?"

Darn. That's a Not Snack.

[dandelionsandderivatives]

"Lady Allardyce," said I, "for that I suppose to be your name, you seem to do the two sides of the talking, which is a very poor manner to come to an agreement. You give me rather a home thrust when you ask if I would marry, at the gallows' foot, a young lady whom I have seen but the once. I have told you already I would never be so untenty as to commit myself. And yet I'll go some way with you. If I continue to like the lass as well as I have reason to expect, it will be something more than her father, or the gallows either, that keeps the two of us apart. As for my family, I found it by the wayside like a lost bawbee! I owe less than nothing to my uncle; and if ever I marry, it will be to please one person: that's myself."

"Obviously I'm too young to commit to a relationship, especially as I might be hanged soon, but I could definitely see myself dying rather than leave her."

[godsthatshot]

Iron Flame, Chapter 47 by Rebecca Yarros

Read, recorded, performed, edited, and mixed by me 🗡 a fan who loves voice acting and pretending to be violet sorrengail even though no one is paying me or even asked me to

[pedanther]

All I can think is, Davie's taken remarkably good care of those letters from his boyhood, to still have them after all the adventures he's been through where he's often had nothing but what he stood up in.

[dukeofdogs]

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game | The Tide Rises | Nilfgaard

[thethirdromana]

OK, I had fun with Woman in White predictions, so now it's time for some Catriona predictions.

We already know that Davie will have:

Misfortunes anent the APPIN Murder

Troubles with Lord Advocate GRANT

Captivity on the Bass Rock

Journey into Holland and France

and Singular Relations with JAMES MORE DRUMMOND or MACGREGOR, a Son of the notorious ROB ROY, and his Daughter CATRIONA

Honestly it sounds like that's the whole plot of the book. But I'm going to have a go at some further predictions anyway.

I think misfortunes anent the murder, troubles with the lord advocate, and captivity are all part of the same thing - so Davie's captivity is going to be some manner of temporary or permanent imprisonment after tangling with the law.

I have no idea what the Bass Rock is and I'm resisting googling it, but I'm thinking it sounds like some kind of sufficiently remote island that you can dump prisoners on it without too much fear of them escaping.

However, Davie knows a thing or two about escaping from remote peninsulas islands so I reckon someone (Alan?) is going to rescue him. With swordplay and derring-do.

This will do nothing to stop me from picturing them as the Second Doctor and a weirdly tall Jamie.

Davie fleeing from the law will therefore be taken to the safety of the continent. There will be a ship. He will feel very confident and experienced about ships now.

He'll meet Catriona in *spins wheel* Paris and they will have a charming and romantic interlude together. Davie still being about 17, I think this will be mostly chaste, but full of tender promise for the future.

Davie will secure Catriona's dad's trust in some way - maybe by coming over all heroic again and saving Catriona's life?

Then her dad will somehow help with the process of getting Davie back to Scotland on the right side of the law.

Some non-plot related predictions:

Davie will not enter England at any point.

Davie will learn a very small bit of Gaelic, and pronounce it badly, and both Alan and Catriona will find this charming.

Davie will lose his shiny new sword at some point but...

He will have and win at least one swordfight.

For what it's worth I have significantly less confidence in any of these predictions relative to any of my Woman in White ones. No spoilers, please, I'm looking forward to finding out slowly just how wrong I am.

[astridhoff03]

Iron Flame - Review

Burn. It. Down. Indeed. No, but I really enjoy the second part of the Fourth Wing Saga Even though I have to forgive Rebecca Yarros that she killed one my favorite Characters. The only thing I criticize is that the Love story is in both books to much. And there’s pointless smut also, which for me personally doesn’t feel like a real romantic-releationship more like a physical one. People will I hate me if I say that, but I don’t care about Xaden Riorson. I couldn't form an emotional connection with him because when I look at him I’m just seeing Rhysand and Darkling again. And the Darkling and Rhysand are similar but are characterwise very different, Xaden is a decent character but he doesn’t have what grabbed me when I read about Rhysand or the Darkling. But there are more things I really like then dislike, Violet for example she’s still a very good protagonist and I like the things she’s going trough trough out the book. It’s always interesting with her because she’s smart but also really caring. Some people compare her to Hiccup from httyd, I get they are similar, but I think personally that Hiccup is more complex and more relatable than Violet, don’t get me wrong she’s cool but doesn’t stick out that much, than Hiccup, Celaena, Feyre, Nesta, Zoya or Inej does. As I said before I don’t really care about her Relationship with Xaden that much, don’t get me wrong I like Love-Stories and Romantic stuff in books as in movies very much but at some points I had the feeling that Violet was over focused on Xaden. I know there life’s where attached to each other thanks to their Dragons, but even Feyre from ACTOR wasn’t that over focused on her mate or want to fuck him before a fucking War starts. Their Relationship is definitely the weakest part of the book and should be more in the background, I think that would’ve done overall great story wonders. The political stuff and the Dragon stuff is actually more interesting. Maybe the other three books will get me invested in Xadens Character, if it’s not his Perspective. Apropos Dragons I have to give credit to Tairn and Andarna, they were fantastic. I also really like that we see the see more of the releationship Violet has with her Dragons. But overall I have to confess I like the Dragons from httyd much more, they feel more real. I also really Love Violet and Sloanes relationship near the end, I just wished Violet would be more of a Mentor figure maybe some kind of a sister for Sloane when they resolved their conflict. Syrena and Cat I also liked, but Cat was a bitch until the end happen. But I like that Violet and her now accept each other. I just wish the side characters weren’t that blend. You know very little about them. The political that was going on was also very interesting, Navarre is a very fascinating Kingdom. The ending is very dramatic with Violets Mom sacrificing herself. Sorry but Idk why but I would’ve leave it with this ending instead of Xaden again and his red eyes and the whole scene with Jack. But overall I can recommend it, it’s enjoyable but I personally prefer the first book more. I also never saw so many roasting Videos on YouTube that for 2 hours straight. I mean yeah the Emperyean Series is a little overrated but it has potential and Rebecca Yarros is talented, the only thing that holds the Books a little back is the relationship between Xaden and Violet and also Xaden. But I wish Rebecca Yarros still the best, because I know writing, figuring out where the plot goes, plant Plottwits in it and at the same time make the characters complex and compelling is hard work. But if I were her, I would have waited a little longer to develop and figure more things out and get more feedback.

[pathfinderswiftpen]

innocent Suspect of Accessory to Murder David "turn myself in" Balfour, to Lord Advocate Prestongrange: Hi, you "invited" me, I'm here. Here's a letter of introduction to show I'm legit and definitely not a criminal

L.A. Prestongrange: who TF are you; I've never seen you before in my life

David "dumbass" Balfour: yes but you've really wanted to see me, you've made public announcements!

L.A. Prestongrange: give me a hint; I'm not a mind-reader!

David "smartass" Balfour: if I wasn't so serious right now, I could say that you owe me £200

L.A. Prestongrange: excuse me?

David "I'm so funny" Balfour: in reward money for my capture

[wlwgif]

MONET & ZOYA Gossip Girl, 1.05

[dragons-library]

Cat just existing and Andarna being her #1 hater… you and me both girl 😂💛

I actually respect her a lot after IF, but I still hate her lmao

[dearaliya]

Iron Flame: Was it prophecy or predictable?

Dear Aliya,

Immediately into spoiler territory, but may I first begin with a screenshot from my Iron Wing prelude followed by one of our during reading conversations?

Turns out that nap was SIGNIFICANTLY LESS PERMANENT than I'd initially thought. Shall we discuss?

So Jack is back! Or he never left? As much as I enjoyed the book I must admit, either I've gotten worse at reading and understanding or some of the passages in this book are just not well written. My rough understanding is that Jack's power was shields, he got buried but actually didn't and channelled venin style to save himself. This was all tightly followed by going crazy because that's what comes with ultimate power. He was nice enough when he came back, to a point where I thought he deadass might be added to the roster of men hovering around Violet, but then he just up and disappears for most of the book.

I mean, welcome back for all 36 pages you were actually a part of, a bulk of that being the finale, I guess??

I won't mince words. Why is he back? Was there no other option to destroying the wardstone? I mean he is the catalyst for the bond numbing serum so that's handy, but I have trouble believing that he was such a stellar student that three non-stop months were dedicated to his recovery when other students are typically just left to die. Perhaps they were also just using him as an experiment to see if venin-ness could be cured, but in failing they still just released him back into everyday life and hoped nothing bad would happen. Because he's always been a shimmering pillar of good behaviour and not someone who murders his classmates to prove that he can.

Speaking of! The fliers were a wonderful breath of fresh air because they voiced the very same opinions I held since the beginning of book one. Why is Basgiath so willing to kill off their cadets in the name of strength?

When told that challenges occur between cadets and can result in death, they're all understandably mortified that the war college allows this. Not to mention that in comparison to threshing, where yet again the cadets are highly expected to die, the flier cadets either make the cut or fail and have to pick a different faction to train in. They cannot understand why death is just expected when they're fighting a war and need all the numbers they can get and frankly, I couldn't agree more. But while I did enjoy the addition of the fliers as characters and them calling the dragon riders on their shit, there was one character I have to simply sigh at.

Catriona.

Of course, it wouldn't be a romance book without a love rival. There was enough going on between Xaden and Violet that she really wasn't needed to stir the pot. I enjoy her character towards the end, but when she's written as nothing more than a plot device to make Violet and Xaden fight I really couldn't be less interested. Aside from the betrothal to unify nations and Catriona being more attached to the power behind Xaden's name than him (which was a lovely bit of politics I wanted to see MORE OF) none of this is necessary.

Now, about Xaden and Violet.

I just... I need them both to open their eyes to the situation they find themselves in. Violet is mad that Xaden is keeping secrets, in a WAR where if even one gets out it could mean DEATH. Xaden's argument is that if she asks, he'll tell her which sounds like a fair trade in theory but consider, if you will, this same thought I held all the way back in school.

Teacher: If there's anything you don't know, ask! Me, tender age of nine: If I don't know what I don't know, hOw Do I aSK?

And that's the problem, or at least part of it. Violet doesn't want to ask some of the hard questions, fine. It's a contradiction of her character since she constantly needs knowledge and facts no matter the cost but fine. But even not asking the questions she does know to ask, how is she supposed to ask about things she doesn't know exist? And this is where I start to feel my patience thin with Xaden. He's chastising her for getting angry that she doesn't know anything because she's not asking but she didn't know about Catriona, Tecarus, his second signet and so on and so forth.

Is this the communication you promised? IS IT?

600 pages of the SAME ARGUMENT!??

And if they're not arguing, they're banging. I know the audience we're targeting, but with the amount of smut there was in absolutely inopportune moments just felt forced. We are two pages off a battle that might kill everyone they know and love, which might be a harrowing thought to process if the characters could get OFF one another long enough.

Now, although I just ragged on this book for 1... 2... 797 words, I will not have people believe I didn't enjoy it. So there are a few things here and there I have gripes with, I'm a picky kinda gal! The good outweighs the bad, mooooooostly.

I do think that this book was likely pushed out a bit too rapidly so the hype wouldn't be lost from the first book. Had there been time to go in and clean up this book, it would have really benefitted. Clunky dialogue, words that don't seem to fit the context, plot threads that go nowhere and random little thoughts with no conclusion are all scattered throughout this book. Just a whisper of tweaking could have ironed most of this out.

Curse capitalism.

But, unless I missed something in the marketing, this book isn't meant to be some otherwordly prodigy of a book, it's a romantasy with a high focus on the romance appealing to its designated audience after going nuclear on booktok. It knows what it is, Yarros knows what is it, and what it is is FUN.

Some of the lines from the characters, modern though they are, are fun and cheeky and youthful. The dragons, yet again, carry this book on their backs because all of their interactions are so enjoyable. There are little twists and turns that do catch you off guard, refreshing from the gentle handholding of the first book.

If people read it and like it, fantastic! If they read it and don't, understandable! But I do think everyone, especially those who want to get back into reading again as a hobby, give this series a crack because they're very easy to step into and get lost in.

Nothing more comes to mind, so I appreciate you listening to my thoughts. I’ll see you next time, stay well!

Hannah xx

[alteregozowie]

Dove approached the radio demon, the Imp toddler nestled in her arms as she asked, "Hey, Al, could I ask a big favor of you? I need to get supplies for Catriona, but I can't run errands with her, it gets to be alot with all those people around. "

The small Imp immediately latches around his neck, a small purring noise rumbling in her throat. The Nephilim looked up with pleading eyes as the toddler nestles into his chest, "Could you watch her for a couple of hours? I'll get you some fresh meat from cannibal town if you do. Please?"

"I make the deals around here, my dear," he said as he literally had the baby in his arms. "If you are getting supplies I want two good cuts of venison and a a peppermint latte from Hellbucks, three shots of espresso. The season is out and I want it."

[dandelionsandderivatives]

"And what brings ye here after Miss Drummond?" she pursued. "I'm come after my saxpence, mem," said I. "It's to be thought, being my uncle's nephew, I would be found a careful lad."

Davie's snarkiness always surprises me.