#I've been slowly putting this lore together for ages but I finally did a good write-up of it hooray

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

Ok so I've mentioned this a bunch of times on my blog by now but I've been trying to speedrun all of the Choices books and I'm so glad I am because there are some underrated gems out there! I'm almost done with TC&TF Book 1 and that book had a ton of love interests so I was inspired to make a top ten list to organize my thoughts. This post will be under development as I play more books or change my mind lol

Top Ten Books/Series

Bloodbound Series - This book is literally one of the best series PB has ever put out. To be fair, it should be under Blades and TC&TF, I would argue that these three books deserve top place. But it would be harder to combine my Bloodbound explanation with the other two fantasy books so here you go. Contrary to most, I did like the first book, wasn't my favorite, but it was a good intro to the series. I like that the world slowly grew as we learned more about vampires and it felt complete and like it had something to say. Thank @gaiuskamilah for my further obsession with the series lol

Blades of Light and Shadow Book 1/The Crown and the Flame Book 1 - I couldn't choose but they're both AMAZING BOOKS ugh I can't say enough good things about them. The choices actually matter and the plot was so good. Every chapter had a purpose and the conclusion felt so satisfying. The scoring system and skills for both books was super cool, we need more books like them <33

Crimes of Passion Series - Definitely a Top Tier MC!!! I liked the mystery (Book 2's reveal wasn't great but the chaotic Thorne siblings make up for it) and Trystan is the best single LI we've had in a while, their dynamic with Rose was *chef's kiss*

Perfect Match Series - I LOVED this series and our friend group/love interests so much. They all felt like unique people with their own experiences and the plot was so amazingly intense. The finale of Book 1 was UNMATCHED we won't ever live to experience something that iconic ever again smh. It took a while for the plot to kick in, which is why it's lower on the list

The Elementalists - I'm a sucker for elemental magic systems/magic schools, and I love our friend group/family so much. Atlas is the coolest twin, and the whole sun/moon dynamic was fun! Being a powerful Sun-Att boosted my ego astronomically. I wish we got another book to see our mom more though

It Lives in the Woods - I like that the premise was relatively simple, along with the game mechanics. Your actions had real consequences and it was more immersive. The flash-forward in the last chapter was super sweet too and I like that the anthology was interconnected. This series also gave us an amazing friend group and set of LIs so I'm thankful <3

Open Heart Book 1 - Simply iconic, grounded in reality, and actually put together imao. It was one of the peaks of our fandom. This book is super nostalgic for me because I'm interested in the medical field, and it's the whole reason I'm posting Choices content here in the first place

Ride or Die - I adore this book. It felt complete on its own EVEN IF IT DESERVED A SEQUEL *side-eyeing PB* and it's a great coming-of-age story with a realistic teen MC. The ending was bittersweet and you felt changed by the experience playing the book

Nightbound - I liked the vibes and the idea more than the execution if that makes sense? I love the idea of Lamrian and how the MC is half-fae and super powerful, but the book didn't have enough time to showcase the supernatural world compared to Bloodbound, which focused on vampire lore. I can probably make a whole separate post on this but yea

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir - I think, again, I like the vibes of the series more than the flawed execution, but because it went on for so long I kinda of got attached to the characters (mind you I didn't play or finish any of the books) but it's super fluffy and sweet and iconic for Choices history so here <3 a lot of the books like ROE, TRM, and TC&TF are interconnected so it's part of the foundation for the PB Choices Multiverse :) to be fair, it looks like they did a somewhat decent job writing the conflicts for each book?

I have a feeling when I finish Endless Summer, this list is gonna change...

EDIT: I totally forgot about The Heist: Monaco, but it was amazing! TRR/TH should be bumped down to honorable mention, I'll change it at some point-

Honorable Mentions

A Courtesan of Rome - The book took awhile for me to get through but my MC is legendary and carried the book so it's up here lol. I also liked that it felt like a historically accurate book?

Platinum - Cool commentary on the darker sides of fame and the music >>>

Veil of Secrets - The plot was interesting, one of my fave mystery books they've written! Also the characters >>>

Mother of the Year - Wholesome and felt finished, def one of the best single books. Also the antagonists were properly despicable so...good writing

Wake the Dead - It wasn't perfect, but I love zombie apocalypse stories and the idea of rebuilding our camp was so cool so idc how flawed it is <3

Foreign Affairs - The ending was rushed and the premise should have been rewritten but more on that on a later date. It was still fun for me to play

Desire and Decorum - I finished book 1 and I really liked it! it's basically the Choices version of Bridgerton, not historically accurate but super entertaining. The vibes and the LIs were amazing

Kindred - Pacing issues but still entertaining, I love the witch lore that they had in the book and the focus on building both platonic and romantic relationships so I'm not complaining

Top Ten Love Interests In No Particular Order

Trystan Thorne

Bryce Lahela

Kamilah Sayeed

Damien Nazario

Kaine Bell

Raleigh Carrera

Aerin Valleros

Jax Matsuo

Colt Kaneko

F!Hayden Young

Honorable Mentions (Again, No Particular Order)

Drake Walker (listen LISTEN I don't like that he sidelined other LIs, and I absolutely HATE how his character was a total contradiction, it was executed poorly, but I like the idea of his route if that makes sense. Some of the banter was cute and I love the whole grumpy x sunshine trope. I'm pretty sure he took a bullet for me lol)

Raydan Lykel (Solely because I haven't finished the series yet)

Mal Volari (He would have been in Top Ten but I had to bump him down because his Book 2 Route isn't working)

Tyril Starfury

Nia Ellarious

Prince Hamid

Tatum Mendoza

All of the Nightbound Love Interests are amazing I just couldn't fit them on the list

Gaius Augustine

Alana Kusuma

Rainier (Kindred)

Thomas Mendez

Flynn O'Malley

Olivia Nevrakis (she had so much potential omg)

Robin Flores and Sofia Russo (in my world, they're LIs just shush)

[theloopus]

I finally watched mirror image a few minutes ago and I do not know what to say. Your sam in drag video got me to start watching QL a few months ago and by accident I'd also seen it mentioned that Sam never got home while looking up the show, but I didn't care at the time since I didn't know what that even meant. I got through 3 seasons in a month and then a started to slow down because I realized I was running out of episodes, so I slowly got through the fourth season. One I got to the fifth, I had to take a long break. I knew that the episode quality would decline since id seen you mention on Twitter once that you don't even consider them canon, but I was not expecting how difficult it would be to get though. I could only watch ten minutes of each trilogy episode a day, it was unbearable. But I bet you don't really care about all of this so let me get to the point. I had to pause the screen where it said Sam never got home. I don’t know how to feel and I'm so confused. I've looked through the episode wiki and the imdb episode trivia and I still want to know more. Whenever you mentioned stuff about Mirror image on here or on Twitter I always scrolled past it quickly to avoid spoilers, but now I can barely find anything regarding it, so I was wondering if I could hear your thoughts on the episode. Was the bartender God? Did you like Sam's choice to sacrifice his returning home for Al's happiness? Just, what are your thoughts on it? Thank you for introducing me to this wonderful show and these wonderful characters ❤

omg this is so much. i'm gonna put these under a read more because "what are your thoughts on Mirror Image" is a LOADED question with a controversial answer. i am so incredibly normal about Quantum Leap.

first of all i love that "binging the first three seasons like a starving lunatic then slowing down with the fourth because you realize you're gonna run out of episodes and then season 5 is just so bad on top of that you take ages to finish it" is such a universal experience. it truly is just a rough season to get through. which is a shame! and trilogy.... oh trilogy............. what the fuck was that.............

anyway, mirror image is an episode that makes me kind of insane. the thing is that. i don't know how to put this exactly. mirror image is complicated. in my eyes it's

a really, really good and interesting episode

not a at all a satisfying wrap-up for the show

really not a good series finale for the type of show they were trying to make at the time they were making it as tv functioned back then

a perfect finale for the quantum leap that exists in my mind that i've built from the subtext and character beats and unintentional lore/themes/motifs

because quantum leap the tv show from the 80s is a politically liberal, episodic science fiction adventure tv show from the 80s/90s, and the way these sort of tv shows works, there is an unspoken pact with the audience that they should have satisfying, relatively happy endings. romcoms should end with the leads getting together. superhero movies should end with the good guy defeating the bad guy. detective shows should end with the detective catching the criminal. and a tv show in which every episode ends with the good guy succeeding to put right what once went wrong, solving the conflict, and giving everyone a happy ending, should end with the good guy getting a happy ending himself.

but the quantum leap that exists in my mind and i've built from the subtext and character beats and unintentional lore, themes, and motifs is a Tragedy. it's a story about martyrdom, and saints, and sacrifice, and blind faith, and God, and trauma, and being stuck in the past because of that trauma.

Tragedy, as a genre, is characterized by this: the main character is doomed by the narrative from the beginning because of who they are inherently. whereas in another narrative their traits might've been assets, might've helped them succeed, in this narrative, it's what dooms them (ex. Hamlet's indecisiveness vs Juliet's impulsiveness). and, god, i ADORE Sam Beckett as a tragic hero: his defining characteristic is that he's "terminally good—if it was up to you, you'd save everyone!", and i'm obsessed with the use of "terminal" here, because it is that relentless goodness that ends up dooming him. Sam is Jesus, he's Saint Sebastian, he's Joan of Arc. God chose him to be sent on this divine journey, to help people, to save people from their own fates, to save humanity—at the cost of his own humanity, his own life. at the beginning, he says: "i can't have a life, all i do is live someone else's life!" and in Mirror Image he's still clinging to the hope of going home, at first, because he really does want to go home, more than anything. but then his arc is completed when he realizes it: he's never going home. this kind of journey doesn't have an ending. there are always more people to save. you might be able to take the weekends off, but you can't just quit the job of being God's chosen one. and in the end, he was never going to, because the reason why he was chosen is that he's terminally good. that if it was up to him, he'd save everyone. quitting would mean God knows how many people that needed saving won't be saved, and if everything we've been told about Sam is true, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. so he accepts his Celestial role, leaves Al behind with a parting gift, and disappears into the sands of time the way the Little Mermaid throws herself into the ocean and dissolves into seafoam.

the fascinating thing about Sam, actually, is that this terminal goodness perfectly coexists with the fact that he's also very selfish. in this way, Al is his perfect mirror: in his own words, Al looks out only for himself; he would not go out of his way to help a stranger at the cost of his own life because he's fought fucking hard and sacrificed too much for that life—and yet that's exactly what he's doing by helping Sam, by being the Sancho and Dulcinea to his Don Quixote, putting his own life aside to be there for Sam 24/7. because he loves him. romantically or platonically, however you choose to read their relationship, it's undeniable that Al loves Sam to a devotional degree. meanwhile Sam is riddled with guilt over not being there for his dad when he died, over "abandoning" him to pursue his own studies and interests—and then he proceeds to do exactly that to Al by stepping into the Accelerator, and then fucking again by doing what he does in Mirror Image.

i have so many frankly insane thoughts about what Sam does to Al in Mirror Image (hilarious unintentional wording sorry. unfortunately he does not fuck that old man quite the opposite.) and i am very much channeling them into a long, rambling, experimental post-canon fic, thank you very much. but the gist of it is that like... ok, taking your own words, it's very interesting that you said Sam is "sacrificing his returning home for Al's happiness", because that's not quite the way i see it. Sam was never going to return home. what he's doing for Al is, at least in his mind, setting him free and leaving him a parting gift.

ok so: Sam learns that his journey does not have an end, and he will never go home. throughout this entire journey thus far, Al has been his loyal companion, helper, and guardian angel. "i don't know if i can make it without you Al" "i don't wanna hear that you can't make it! of course you can. if you had to." but Al is just that, a companion (one that is 20 years older than Sam, worth mentioning)—someone who Sam unintentionally burdened with the role of helper. but where Sam is going, Al can't follow. he just can't keep following Sam around forever—Sam wouldn't want that for him. he wants Al to be happy, and for Al to be happy, he needs his own life back, and he needs the main wrong in his life righted—Beth.

...that's how Sam sees it, at least. because, as mentioned before, Sam may be good, but he's also selfish. it's very ironic, and juicy, to me, that he keeps repeating the same mistake over and over, with everyone he loves the most (his family and Al): consistently underestimating how much people love him, and leaving without saying goodbye. he's so obsessed with Saving Al that he fails to consider that maybe Al, who has a very specific and strong trauma about being abandoned by the people he loves the most, as much as he might be thrilled at having Beth back, might not appreciate 1. Sam not consulting him in the decision to completely turn his whole life and timeline upside down 2. Sam disappearing without a trace without saying goodbye or offering him any sort of closure in their very intense, very codependent relationship 3. having to sort of like... pay the price for having Beth by losing Sam, as if these two people, the two people he's loved the most in his entire life, were interchangeable.

and, to be fair, this part of the analysis does seem like a bit of a stretch if you've only seen the canonical ending of the show as it aired and not the original 'lost' ending that they ended up cutting for Reasons, but which i absolutely consider to be canon and the "real" ending of the show.

god, okay, i probably could have many more things to say about this if prompted, but that should be the gist of it, i believe. hopefully i'm not forgetting anything? did you know there's actually multiple alternate endings they wrote for different real-life scenarios Just In Case, including one where Sam and Al would go to space and Al would be a leaper and Sam would be a time traveler in his own body if they got picked up for a sixth season? i'm obsessed with it.

as for Al the Bartender? my fun little theory is that he's not God, or Time, or Fate, or an alien, or any of those things—in a way, in-universe, he's all of them at once.

he's The Narrative personified.

[masked-phantom]

The Clan of Infinity

The first of three posts centered on my lore, since I finally went and wrote it down properly. Not that... I’ve written the other two segments yet, but shush. This one focuses on the Clan itself, with the other two going into more detail on the Sect of Serpents (mentioned occasionally in this lore post), and the Vagabonds. Placed under a read-more due to length, so if it shows up fully on mobile... blame Tumblr’s shoddy app because I swear that thing has a 50/50 rate on actually having those work.

The Origin

The Clan of Infinity is named after the area in which they live; the Endless Tunnels. These seemingly infinite tunnels are set deep underground, sprawling underneath several of Sornieth’s territories. Their origins are unknown, and they were mostly lifeless; something about the Tunnels clashes with Sornieth’s natural magic. In fact, the Tunnels seem to contain a magic of their own, which prevents dragons—and other critters—from using the magic they rely on. While some magical energy lingers in the air still, a mixture of Sornieth’s elemental magic and the Tunnels’ own unique magic, most of it is contained within the glowing crystals that grow all over the Tunnels’ walls. While magic—and magical potential—differs per crystal, they can be mined and used to perform magical skills, should one know about this, and be willing to risk messing with unknown magics.

But these tunnels, with their haphazard and dangerous magic, make a rather unappealing house for beings as centered on magic as dragons. So how did the Clan of Infinity find itself making a permanent housing in them? The answer to this question does not lie with the Clan at all, but rather with the Sect of the Serpents, a different clan of dragons altogether. The Sect of Serpents, led by an Imperial dragon by the name of Reginald, are the founders of the Clan of Infinity. After finding the barren Tunnels, and their unique magical crystals, Reginald got the idea to use them to make money. However, the innate danger of working with these often-unstable crystals quickly became clear, and he sought a better way to turn a profit from the Tunnels instead. This, in turn, led to the idea to use the Tunnels to house other dragons; dragons who could not fight back their captors, as they were almost entirely magic-less in the Tunnels. Over time, this idea was refined, as the Sect developed a method to wipe the memories of captive dragons, replacing them with false stories and carefully-weaved lies.

And thus, the Sect of Serpents released the first two dragons into the Tunnels, to start a fledgling clan of their own; a young Ridgeback named Kree, and a young Mirror named Tasmos. Both dragons had had their memories wiped, and instead remembered a terrible world outside the Tunnels, a world unsuitable for life. This, naturally, drove them to stay down in the Tunnels, rather than search for a way out, and would open them to the possibility of dragons joining later on. As Kree and Tasmos formed the Clan, settling down in a part of the Tunnels near the only known entry-point, the Sect soon introduced another dragon; a Wildclaw named Avatar, who would serve as their High Priest, representing a new deity.

A New Deity

As part of the lies fed to the Clan to keep them passive, Reginald made up a new deity for them to follow, rather than the true elemental deities. He proclaimed it to be their True Deity, Hauhet, who represented infinity and the ever-changing, element-less and representative of all elements at once, much like the Tunnels’ magic. Hauhet was said to have carved the Tunnels for the Clan to live in themselves, seeding crystals with their own magic all along them, for the Clan to use. In return, the Clan was expected to pay tribute to them, and participate in rituals to honor them. These offers, left in designated areas, are secretly retrieved by members of the Sect; to the Clan, this serves as additional evidence of Hauhet watching over them, unaware that the Sect takes them to sell these carefully hand-crafted wares off.

The Clan believes the outside world to be apocalyptic; the old deities are all weakened or gone, magic is going haywire, and dragons are nigh feral as a result, scraping together awful lives and barely surviving as-is. This is not true, of course, but the Sect ensures that none of the Clan find out, guarding the only exit and telling the Clan that they are protecting the Tunnels from dangerous invaders. Hauhet, in this, is a newly formed deity, formed in the chaos of Sornieth’s downfall. Having formed the Tunnels for the Clan to shelter in, they ensure the safety of these few dragons, providing for them as much as possible. When the Clan find themselves lacking, be it raw materials or food or whatever else, it will show up in the same places where they, themselves, would make offerings to Hauhet. In turn, the Clan produces many goods, serving them as offerings to Hauhet to thank them, and partake in many rituals to honor them. Of course, both the incoming goods and the taken offerings are from the Sect, not Hauhet, but the Clan remains unaware of this.

In all this, there is a surprising grain of truth. Unknown to Reginald, and the Sect as a whole, Hauhet does exist, and they are responsible for the creation of the Tunnels. They are considered a minor deity, not nearly on the level of Sornieth’s elemental deities, or as powerful as the Clan believes them to be. Hauhet is typically withdrawn, and doesn’t care much for worship, but they are certainly intrigued by the Clan, these stubborn dragons that insist on worshiping them and thanking them for things they have not done. Because of this, Hauhet is known to occasionally contact Avatar, or they can be seen hanging out in the Tunnels. Hauhet is a shapeshifter, and has no set appearance, although they will often appear draconic, similar to a Wildclaw, when showing themselves to members of the Clan. In this, there is one more hiccup. While Hauhet is the Deity of Infinity, they are not the only deity that lives in the Tunnels. Their twin, Apeiron, is even more withdrawn, seen even less often by the Clan; their rare sightings are often attributed to Hauhet instead, a fact that serves to annoy them. While neither of the twins care about the worship, they both find it odd, and even a little bothersome, that all credit goes only to Hauhet. Reginald’s description of Hauhet as the Deity of Infinity and the Ever-Changing is misattributed, as well. Hauhet is a deity, yes, but only of infinity. Apeiron, their twin, is the deity of the Ever-Changing. These two shapeshifting twins, made entirely of magic made corporeal, can fuse themselves together; this fused form is the real Deity of Infinity and the Ever-Changing, a powerful but nameless being.

Dragons of the Clan

With the basic clan established, and a link to their non-existent deity laid to ensure their passivity, the Sect was free to start expanding the Clan. For this purpose they regularly brought eggs, often in batches, down to the Clan, explaining that they had found them abandoned in the wastelands. Or rare occasions, they even brought young dragons, like Tasmos, Kree, and Avatar had been. Never adults, however, as these proved to be too difficult to properly mind-wipe and manipulate.

Soon, a previously unknown side-effect from the Tunnels’ odd magic became known. Dragons were, after all, creatures of magic; placing them in the odd mixture of energy in the Tunnels warped their very forms, twisting them in odd forms. Many dragons that have hatched in the Tunnels do not obey to strict breeds at all, forming hybrids between various breeds, or occasionally even carrying clear traits of non-draconic creatures. It often leads to them taking on traits from their environment, their parents, or traits that more heavily emphasize their elements. Even dragons that were brought to the Tunnels already hatched are often young enough to find themselves subtly—or not so subtly—altered.

On top of this, the Clan has developed a form of magic that allows them to alter their forms. Using special crystals, custom-made for every dragon in the clan, they can shift themselves to a wide gradient of anthropomorphic forms. Ranging anywhere from human-sized dragon with human-like dexterity to anthro-like bipedal dragons to humans with draconic headgear, legs, and tail, these crystals are always carried by members of the Clan, allowing them to freely swap as desired. For the most part, body shape is free to be chosen by the dragons themselves, although hatchlings are encouraged to try all matter of forms to find what they like best. Accessibility in the lair differs, however, and members of the Clan may find certain areas inaccessible to specific forms. In all forms size stays relative, and as such bigger dragons will remain bigger than clanmates even if human-sized. Additionally, their coloration carries over regardless of form, allowing for easier recognition; their skin stays colored like their scales, even when it is bare, and their hair matches their wings.

There is one more special characteristic to members of the Clan; they all wear unique masks, custom-made for them. While these are not always worn—in fact, they are not even worn a majority of the time—they are especially significant to members of the clan. Worn only in their humanoid forms, these masks are important for many of the Clan’s rituals. They must cover the entire face, but are otherwise free to interpretation, including material, shape, detail, and coloration. Every design is personal, and every mask unique, made to fit that one dragon. While some dragons make their own masks, others get clanmates to make them, often as commissions. To some, detail and craftsmanship of a mask are used to mark ‘classes’ or hierarchy in the clan, although this is not upheld by the Clan as a whole.

The Endless Tunnels

The Unless Tunnels are laid deep underground, a sprawling and complicated tunnel system, still largely unknown. While its full extent is a mystery—and some would say the Tunnels are, in fact, never-ending—it is certain that at least part of them are located underneath the Scarred Wasteland, Tangled Woods, and the Sea of a Thousand Currents. In fact, the only currently known entrance point to the Tunnels lays in a bone-like spike of the Wasteland, which lies a little off of the coast in the waters of the Sea. This spike has been largely hollowed out, serving as a base for some of the Sect members, and can only be accessed by underwater tubes, which connect it to the rest of the Tunnels. From the outside, it looks rather unassuming, which is why most dragons leave it be.

The Tunnels are a twisted system of tunnels, ranging wildly in size. Some tunnels are large enough to fit even Guardians and Ridgebacks, while others are barely big enough to fit human-sized dragons. These tunnels are all carefully explored and mapped out, and may later be dug out to be added to the Clan’s primary tunnel system.

Of course, the Endless Tunnels are more than just tunnels. These long underground paths contain also occasional caverns, large open spaces accessible only through the tunnels that run off of them. And, like many of the tunnels, these caverns are often flooded, their plentiful space almost entirely underwater. Some of these rare caverns are large enough to be considered underground seas, allowing the clan to fish for their piscivorous members.

There is more to the Tunnels than just their habitation by the Clan, naturally. Sprawling across so many of Sornieth’s territories, the appearance of the Tunnels varies wildly, although they are tied together by their overall dimness, the darkness broken only by glowing crystals and fungi. Very little life can be found besides the dragons, a rare few animals and plants that found themselves in such bizarre environment and managed to cling on, and very little of the native life gets particularly large. Exceptions exist, however.

Magic in the Tunnels

As mentioned before, magic in the Tunnels is an odd thing. From the powerful non-elemental magic contained within the crystals that grow in the Tunnels, to the unique mixture of elemental and element-less magic in the air, the Tunnels expose every being that live within them to magic unlike anywhere else on Sornieth. The unique magic that lingers in the Tunnels interacts with elemental magic strangely, the effects varying depending on all manner of variables, including time and place. Sometimes, elemental magic is strengthened, but other times it may be weakened or even removed entirely. It may even be altered from one type of elemental magic into another entirely.

As a result of this, dragons that grow up in the Tunnels lack a true elemental core. While they will often have a minor leaning towards the element they were to, time spent in the Tunnel will often twist this, much like the energy in its air. Eye color, normally signifying elemental alliances, are not a reliable tell of a dragon’s magical potential, not when they originate in the Tunnels.

The Tunnels’ crystals are often crafted into all manner of magical artifacts, as they hold their own unique magics. Besides the shapeshifting crystals, mentioned earlier, most dragons of the Clan are also equipped with a second magical crystal. This crystal contains a magical being, which can be summoned from the crystal that holds them. Altered to contain the essence of the familiar, dragons carrying their crystal can summon a living familiar whenever they chose to, with no drain on themselves. These familiars can serve all manner of purposes, helping their owners or simply functioning as a companion, and names therefore also vary depending on the dragon. Some name their familiars, like proper pets, while others simply call them by their species name, or even just outright ‘cat’ or ‘familiar’.