#And she gets immature for so many other reasons lol not sorry writing her section in the partnership meta got me thinking about her again

[digisurvive]

Keep thinking how immature Aoi gets in Wrathful, I'm so delighted lol Think about it this way: one of the important lessons Iori Hida 02 has to learn in order to grow up is to be able to contextualize his actions within the possibilities the circumstances offer so he can choose what causes less harm or is more fair beyond strict adherence to clear cut rules. His extremely black and white morality signals how childish he is (and this is fine because he's 9, I find very endearing how righteous he wants to be). Yet, in Wrathful, Aoi basically regresses to that kind of inflexible mentality. Every body must obey strictly (which she reads as well behaved), everyone must know their place and not act out of it, there must be no fighting nor conflict. She holds no nuance nor compassion for anyone that doesn't follow her rules to a tee.

Aoi even struggles with paralysis caused by her moralitiy crisis, too. While Iori's about lying and thust tailored to the fact he's 9, at the core of it is struggling to reconcile how acting in a way that is fair clashes with his view of what is correct behavior, which trips Aoi up, too. She gets a similar blockage where she feels incredibly torn if what she wants to do goes against social order. Thinking about how she also felt Shuuji was being unfair, so she likely wanted to do something more than just keeping her juniors in line... And in the end, couldn't even commit to preserving harmony that way because of her self-doubt about her own capacities as leader and troubled convictions. It feels very pointed that in part 6, Aoi is promising to actually get involved in mediating the group fights, coming at the tails of what happened with Shuuji.

Anyway, I love how we get that peek to her internal struggles in Wrathful. Like she correctly identifies as part of the issue that she can't step out of what she considers correct (and makes a lot of sense how much she likes the flippant Saki lol), yet Wrathful has her doubling down. I love the irony.

I also really enjoy how different her spin on a scrupolous work ethic is to Iori's because their different social positions (Iori being the youngest vs Aoi always being responsible for others), their age and gender. Endlessly fascinating to me.

[shiftywing]

My Thoughts on The Dangerous Gift

I'm gonna write down what I thought of the book overall, without spoilers, then I'll go more in depth afterwards!

Overall, the book...was not that good. Sorry. I love Snowfall and Lynx (keep in mind they used to be some of my least favorite characters before TDG, especially Lynx) but the book's plot is kind of its downfall, and a lot of things I wanted to happen, and I think what a good chunk of the fandom wanted, did not come to pass, which is disappointing.

Okay, now let's get into the spoiler-y stuff:

Again, Lynx and Snowfall were great. Honestly a really cute ship, 10/10. Though if Tui could've made it CANON that'd would've been REALLY NICE Y'KNOW. Like I even thought they were bound to be canon at some points of the book, but nope.

Though...I wish there was more of an arc between them. Like, take Winter and Qibli's relationship (one of the best developed in the series, if I say so myself, which I do) had ups and down, while still progressing into a close relationship 😏 friendship, and a believable one. With Lynx and Snowfall, they just...were friends, and that was it. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I still wish there was a bit more.

Snowfall's capslock and immaturity (even though she's an adult??) was a little annoying, but overall it wasn't anything too bad. UNLIKE SKY—

Mink was. Okay I guess. Another case of Tui repeating the exact same personality for her younger characters. I think Crystal was was kinda cool but there's this bitch at my school named Crystal and i fucking hate her but like?? Tui really is Determined as Fuck to have every single ship in this arc be a "forbidden" one.

I'm pretty sure they are the only new characters worth mentioning, and it's good Tui didn't add too many, because...honestly it's getting kind of overcrowded in the books when it comes to characters lol. 😑

Hazel's and Snowfall's friendship...exists. Idc man I don't care for Hazel. 😜 Plus there's this other bitch at my school named Hazel, whom I also fucking despise.

One of my biggest complaints is that...not much happened. The book wasn't boring, but most of the plot development (which there wasn't much of) was done via conversation or the ring thingy.

SPEAKING of the ring, I...wasn't a big fan of it. I mean it served its purpose, but it just felt a bit lazy, unfortunately. It seems like Tui couldn't find the time to develop Snowfall's character properly, so she combined that with furthering the plot via magic ring. Also, the visions were low-key boring, I skimmed most of them, Raven I skipped altogether. And the magic crown thing was...odd...like yeah, I get it Tui, there wasn't really a chance for Snowfall to get over her NightWing hatred, but like...REALLY??

Also Qibli and Winter's reunion was gay as FUCK like holy shit Tui, STOP TEASING US!!!! 😩

Actually let's talk about Winter for a bit, because oml was I disappointed. Like, y;all remember back when Tui said that Winter was going to return in Book 14, and we were all excited because finally! Winter'll get a proper closing to his character arc!

YEAH SO THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. Apparently any development he did have was off-screen, and honestly it feels like Tui really only bought him in for the whole scavenger thing (which I'll get to in a bit). The most that happens is that Snowfall un-banishes him and let's him return to Jade Mountain. Which I mean?? Okay?? Where's your profound apology for being a dick to him for five years straight in general?? 😐 And the fact that they were on mostly friendly terms in the book...like, excuse me, but SNOWFALL BANISHED HIM. Like you'd think there'd be more...idk, hostility between them???? And the fact that he's not going on their escapade to Pantala pretty much means new development for him is never gonna happen...😪

Okay, okay, let's talk about ye ol' scavengers, ig. Mmmm...I don't like them. Dragonslayer in general I hated, and I really don't like the whole scavenger-dragon alliance. I think it was corny as hell and low-key cliché. Also Sky? Fucking annoying. LIKE HE'S EIGHT. HE'S AN ADULT. YET STILL ACTS LIKE A 2 YEAR OLD FOR SOME REASON because of COURSE! Sky x Snowfall was...not it?? Like Tui...no...stawp...that shit better not happen...

Now. Jerboa's backstory. I think by the time TDG came out, pretty much the entire fandom was theorizing Jerboa got rid of animus magic, so that wasn't really a surprise. It was also popular that Jerboa would be a villain, but NOPE, tragic backstory instead. Honestly, a lot of people say it was really good, but I skimmed the first and last bits of it, and skipped the middle section altogether more or less. Sorry, I just wanted the book to be over at that point, plus the Jerboa chapters were just...really out of place, I think Tui should've made a Winglet or something (even though she hasn't written one in like 5 years hhh). I wish those chapters could've been used to give Icicle and/or Hailstorm a bit of attention; I really wanted them to return in this book, but...alas....honestly I wish Tui had spent more time in the Ice Kingdom in general.

LAST PART: Snowfall breaking the wall and Tundra freaking out?? 10/10, probably my favorite scene alongside the Qinter/Lynxfall solidarity one. 😗 And uhhhh I skipped the epilogue more or less. Sorry Raven, but I Just Don't Care...

Overall yeah safe to say the book wasn't good, but then again, I wasn't expecting much from Tui at all. She did impress me on some fronts, though, so there's that lmao.