#also i know that dorian has said he's doing what will save the most people

[fairymonk]

thinking about the fact that orym has been told multiple times that he's basically expected to take out any of his friends if they turn to side ludinus. thinking about how orym keeps trying to talk his friends out of agreeing with ludinus. thinking about how upset orym got with dorian specifically for agreeing with things ludinus said. thinking about how orym loves dorian and is trying to do what he can, even if it's being too harsh, to keep from having to hurt dorian.

[pearlaquaoceans]

Maybe I'm having a total brain fart and can't recall the moment, but.. Dorian hasn't actually told anyone his brother was murdered by a Lolth right? He only said his brother was dead, his friends were now champions of two of the gods, and he's seen evil in the world. If he did actually say 'Lolth, a god, killed my brother' or the like, please, for the love of the gods, send me a timestamp to shut me up. I saw that last chunk of 93 when it was discussed most prominently, as Dorian took every opportunity to not talk about it because he couldn't handle saying it out loud.

I'm seeing so many takes that Orym is heartless, selfish, or terrible for shutting Dorian down in the conversation and yes it is not okay to do that to someone, but like.. has Dorian communicated any of that fight to Orym? Robbie has said Dorian is the ultimate compartmentalizer, so why would he talk about it when he could just ignore it? So how would Orym know?

Yes, it's dick move, but also how many people have done a 'maybe we hear Ludinus out' even when knowing Orym's story? That's gonna wear anyone down. Seeing the man you love be on the opposite side of the conversation must hurt. I do not believe Orym would say that same rebuttel if he had full context. Same with swordgate. Laudna did not say anything but did try to steal it and ended up causing harm to him and escalating the situation at breakneck speed. As soon as he had even a slightly better understanding of the situation, he put the sword down and said he chose her over the sword.

If Dorian isn't going to communicate his pain and his experience to give Orym a new understanding of the situation, how is Orym supposed to know? Orym often asks for people to spell it out for him, and subtle context clues are not his Forte, but fans seem to expect him to know all the things he hasn't been told. Again. Shooting Dorian down was wrong (I believe Liam knew exactly what he was doing because he wanted that tension because its juicy and he is the king of it), but I'm genuinely confused by the takes saying Orym is horrible for the things he said like he said them knowingly. If Dorian cannot communicate what has caused his pains, how is Orym supposed to save him from that pain or to understand his view?

This is, of course, me viewing 103 through my own lens of my experiences and how I understand and connect to the characters. I am also someone who struggles to pick up context clues. If I'm not told anything but people expect me to know the rules of the engagement regardless, I'm gonna fail. People are allowed to have their own views. I know I don't have charitable views of certain characters. I'm just confused why Orym is called an asshole for his words, more than once, when the conversations being had aren't exactly even playing fields. Again, if there's a timestamp, please let me know so I can recontextualize my own understanding of the conversation.

[lovemyromance]

After I finished reading the books and the bonus chapter I thought there was a 50% chance that the next book could be about elriel and 50% it could be about gwynriel, especially when I saw how popular gwynriel was. I didn’t pick up on any of the lightsinger hints. I feel like most people don’t pick up on them the first time they read the books. Without the lightsinger theory, the bonus chapter seems to introduce gwyn as a possible love interest for az.

With everything we learn in hofas and what Sarah said in the today interview, I think she’s more likely to write elriel. But that doesn’t mean that elucien or gwynriel can’t happen, after all she said she writes based on vibes and she’s prone to change love interests.

*I don't even care if this is a troll ask I already had a draft along these lines saved so thanks for letting me use it*

Walk with me, 🚶🏽‍♀️

I mean, I agree. If I had ONLY read the bonus chapter and none of the other books, then yeah I'd say he starts the BC with Elain and ends with Gwyn. So he could go either way.

But that would be ignoring the rest of the books outside the singular, 5page bonus chapter 🤷🏻‍♀️

Though you're right, truly, SJM can take it any which way she wants. You see it as 50/50 chance between Elriel and Gwynriel, I see it as 99/1, SJM herself could be 75/25 who knows! She could do 0/0 and make Azriel end up with Eris too!

And yet - when you read that last sentence - where I claimed SJM could write Azris endgame just as likely as she could write Gwynriel or Elriel - I'm sure a part of you disagreed, didn't it?

"There's no way Azris is as likely as Gwynriel!"

You're right. It's not. You know that. I know that. And you know why we both believe it's unlikely that SJM will throw away both Elriel and Gwynriel in favor of Azris?

It's because SJM doesn't just "switch love interests" without buildup.

We all knows she can do whatever she wants - she's the author. But I think it's kind of an inaccurate statement to say "she's prone to switching love interests", point blank. She NEVER has done that without proper buildup.

SJM has two ways she "changes" a love interest:

1. A main character has a minor relationship that is summarized in a passing sentence or paragraph long thought about their ex/current lover. They might not have even been in an actual relationship just had romantic feelings at one point. Either way, it's never a focus of the story.

Ex: Hunt & Shahar, Feyre & Isaac Hale, Elain & Greyson, Mor & Azriel (and cassian ig), Bryce & Connor, Hypaxia & Ruhn

2. A main character has a full blown relationship with another main character and they fully explore all stages of falling in love, lust, breaking up, and then moving on to another character.

Ex: Tamlin/Feyre/Rhys; Dorian/Aelin/Chaol/Rowan

She does it both ways. Here's the difference though:

The first method is minor stakes. It's typically just the beginning of a relationship, or a retrospective point of view. There is very rarely any physical intimacy. It is also typically only the female's point of view.

In my opinion, it shouldn't really even count as a love interest switch up. It is so small in the scale of things and it never pans out or is given any importance in the main story. It fizzles out after the first 10 pages (not literally guys chill), basically.

Then we get to the second method of her "love interest switch". She doesnt do this one often, and it takes MULTIPLE books to cover. It is about a MAIN FEMALE character. The Feyre & Aelins, if you will.

Both of those situations were not something that was just sprung on us without adequate build up.

Feyre fell in love with Tamlin. Met Rhys. Slowly fell OUT of love with Tamlin. Then fell in love with Rhys. It took her 3 books.

They did not have a romance in ACOTAR while she was still falling for Tamlin. That would've been like if she went to Calanmai, saw Rhys, and then decided she didn't want Tamlin and only wanted Rhys from then.

Aelin & Dorian and Aelin & Chaol were two relationships that were FULLY fleshed out. She did not abruptly leave Chaol and immediately fall for Rowan. These aren't instances where anything happened abruptly in a bonus chapter or even in ONE book- these "switch ups" happened over multiple books.

Now let's look at Elain and Azriel.

In the context of the series, let's evaluate where these two stand in the two ways SJM does a love interest switch up:

1. Minor character romance switch up

- Are Azriel & Elain minor characters? ❌ no

- Did they share only one sentence or paragraph thinking about each other? ❌ no, they had multiple major scenes together

- Was it from a female POV? ❌ no

- do they only briefly show physical intimacy? Yes ✅

So clearly, Azriel and Elain don't fit into the first type of "switch up" she does. The only criteria they fit is that they have had one scene of minor physical intimacy.

2. Major character love interest switch

- Are Azriel & Elain main characters at this point? Yes ✅

- Did Azriel & Elain get a chance to fully explore their relationship and fall in love? No ❌

- Did Azriel & Elain get multiple books to cover this changing of feelings? No ❌

So clearly, Azriel and Elain don't fit into the second type of "switch up" she does either. The only criteria they fit is that they are both major characters right now.

Now what did we conclude as a result of this long ass post, if yall are still with me on this 10k hike?

Azriel & Elain have had buildup together that cannot be ignored.

They have been the main focus (Azriel's Hybern camp rescue of Elain was VERY similar to Nesta saving/willing to die for Cassain)

They have had clear romantic feelings for each other as evidenced by the bonus chapter

They have obstacles in place now (thanks Rhys).

There's foreshadowing in droves scattered throughout the bonus chapters and books.

The natural flow of the story supports Elriel

The POV before Elain's book is Azriel's not Lucien's

SJM is on the Today show talking about rejected mates

SJM has made Azriel step into the role Lucien should have been playing for Elain

If you're willing to ignore this and say "Gwynriel could have a 50/50 percent chance of happening bc of the singular bonus chapter" ... then go ahead. But don't act surprised when you get the next book in your hands and it's indeed Elriel 🤷🏻‍♀️

There is always a slight chance the author could do anything. That's like if I said "yeah - in every soccer game there's a chance the goalie could stop blocking shots and let the other team win."

Like yes. Quite literally they could do that. It's up to them.

But is it likely? No.

Will it go against everything they've set up and trained for? Yes.

SJM could write Gwynriel. She could write Azris then too, as that has equal buildup. She could write Nezris or Azquin. She could write anything. But that minuscule possibly of "anything could happen" doesn't affect typical calculations when it comes to statistics, so I don't know why it's playing a part here. SJM's plot does not defy the normal laws of physics and chance🙄

So at the end of this long walk, if you're still with me, I just want yall to know that yes SJM could do anything she wants she's the author - but Elriel is the most likely conclusion by far.

[kaija-rayne-author]

Dragon Age Veilguard Review 4th in series

22 game hours 20 actual playtime

Spoilers for Dragon Age Veilguard

Critical review and a rant

Obligatory disclaimer. If you've already read it you can skip to the cut.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I'm on media blackout while I play this, so I'm only getting second-hand info on how awful it is right now in the DA Fandom. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Y'know? Every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you Bozos ever played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

3.5 in series is here.

If I've ever played a glitchier piece of shit game in my life I honestly can't remember it.

So I went to go watch a movie with the partner and kids. I saved my game and turned it off.

Came back and it played okay for a few hours. I met both Mae and Dorian squeeeee!

Met Davrin and Assan. Everything's going fine. I got creamed (again), I swear the devs have no idea. I'm a consistent gamer who plays on hard/tactician mode in most games I play. (Many the same style of fighting as DAV.) And I'm having trouble with the strength of these monsters. WTF do they think someone just getting into gaming is experiencing?

Anyway. I got creamed, clicked reload last save, and it loaded with the now far too familiar no CC reverted back to the basic elf body error. I went back to the main menu, and now absolutely none of the saves are showing up with video. They load with sound, map in the corner, and tags above heads but no fucking video. They're either corrupted or the game is just a piece of shit.

Yes. I'm rather annoyed. I was looking forward to finishing recruiting Davrin tonight and it doesn't make my brain happy to have to stop in the middle of what I wanted to get done. In game or out.

I'm currently verifying my files from steam. We'll see if that fixes it. I just... and this is what the devs thought was releasable? REALLY?

I know I keep using BG3 as a comparison (which honestly isn't a very good one because one is turn based and one 'live' fighting). But the Venn diagram of people who play DA and who play BG is probably a circle so that's why it comes to mind.

It's also the most recent game I've actually purchased and played a lot.

I played that day of release and on into the week and had nowhere NEAR this many problems. I actually think I've had more trouble with DAV in three ish days than I've had in BG3 for over 700 hours FFS!

Anyway. Vent over (for now. I imagine this game will give me plenty of more opportunities).

Dorian looked really weird. He has what I'm now dubbing the 'Solas effect'. He doesn't look like himself. I wouldn't have recognized him at all if it weren't for him introducing himself.

Oh, and way to retcon the condition of the veil guys. For three games it's been getting more and more tears and holes in it. Now it's solid and the only thing holding off a world of blight that hadn’t ever really existed in the fade like that before? It was just the black city. Do these guys ever get sick of retconning shit? I sure get sick of playing retconned shit.

My partner saw the game and he really can't get over how jarring the art is. He's a pretty consistent gamer too but I doubt he'll play this one.

Y'know how I said I didn't know WTF the devs were thinking in my review of the game play trailer?

I'm even more flabbergasted now. I just... seriously?

The game doesn't work well. it has numerous glitches.

The art style sucks.

The bad dudes are WAY overpowered for even a pretty decent gamer. Not so experienced gamers are likely rage-quitting in droves. Every one of the glitches I look up is pretty common. Even for people with better machines than mine.

The story took bloody forever to get started. It finally seems to have but it shouldn't take me 20 hours of game time to get somewhat invested in the story!

The characters are honestly pretty meh so far. My much beloathed Lucanis is the only mildly interesting one so far.

I honestly just can't get over how they felt this was A. Good. and B. Ready for release.

I'll keep trying. But if it's corrupted my whole 20 hours I'm not sure if I've got the stomach to replay all that boring assed nonsense to get to where I only just got to today.

I HATE writing critical reviews as a matter of course. I especially don't want to write them about a piece of intellectual property like Dragon Age that I love so very much. But What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Part 5.1

[lenathesingingcat]

So it’s the anniversary of That Scene, and obviously I’m sad! And I know I won’t be the only one, so here’s a cute crossover fic to ease our pain.

Canon compliant, afterlife, pre- Enjoltaire and Dasil (if people like this then I’ll write a part 2 where they talk to each other). Oh, and all my afterlife fics are set in the Ancient Greek Underworld, because that’s what I believe in and also why not?

Warnings: discussion of past character deaths (in the context of being in the afterlife), major spoilers for both Les Misérables and The Picture Of Dorian Gray. Seriously, if you haven’t read these books (or at least seen adaptations) then please come back and read this when you have! Major spoilers ahead, you have been warned!

Despite what people might think, Grantaire hadn’t immediately joined Les Amis again after dying hand in hand with Enjolras. He still undervalued himself, and didn’t feel that he should get to spend eternity with those brave revolutionaries. They’re probably already planning to go back and start a ghost revolution, he thought, and what do I have to offer them in that?

And he was a little scared, too. He didn’t know what he’d say if Enjolras wanted to talk about their last moments together, about what it had meant.

He didn’t think he could take it if Enjolras rejected him again.

He had no idea that Enjolras wanted him to come back, but didn’t look for him because he thought Grantaire held it against him how things ended.

So as soon as he found himself in the Underworld, which he was about as familiar with as a newly dead mortal could be from all the classics he’d read in life, he spoke to Hades, who was more than willing to help a mortal who would be spending eternity in his domain.

“Can I help you, young man?”

“…Actually… I was wondering if I could help you. Must be busy having to welcome everyone who dies around the world. Especially when most of the people who could help don’t seem to care…”

And a busy god isn’t going to turn down genuine help. So Grantaire got the job of helping to welcome souls to the Underworld, helping them to settle in and make peace with their lives.

Grantaire, as well as Les Amis, had died at the beginning of June. In the time Hades saved by letting Grantaire help him, he was able to plant a flower garden as a surprise for when Persephone returned. Now Grantaire was known as a friend to both of them.

***

It had been several decades since the revolution, Grantaire wasn’t keeping count. He had met many people who had died, some more tragically than others, and helped them to make peace with their lives and their deaths so they could be happy in the Underworld.

He tried not to think about whether he was happy.

He couldn’t, not when there were others who needed his help. Like the man in front of him, with hair as dark as his own and an expression somewhere between shock, pain, and absolute heartbreak.

“Hello, welcome to the Underworld. Please don’t panic, that’s Underworld in the Ancient Greek sense, everyone ends up here.” he said, his usual greeting. “Can you tell me your name?”

He gave a smile that Grantaire could tell wasn’t entirely genuine - not unusual for new arrivals whose last moments alive hadn’t been happy ones - and answered, “My name’s Basil. What’s yours?”

“Grantaire, also known as Capital R, although I realise that doesn’t really make sense if you don’t speak French. Everyone can understand each other here because… Underworld magic, I don’t really understand, you’d have to ask Hades about that…”

“Grantaire? The Grantaire, from Les Misérables? I’m sorry, I don’t know your first name…”

“What? I mean, I have been known to be quite miserable, but - ”

“No, I mean the book! Victor Hugo, the author, wrote a book about the revolution. Has no-one told you about it yet?”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it. But if it’s about the revolution, I doubt I come out particularly well in it…”

“Don’t say that! You do!” Basil said quickly, his smile looking far more real now, as if Grantaire’s story distracted him from his own. “You rose up for a revolution you hadn’t believed in until that moment, for love as well as freedom! And I found I could relate to you, because… well, you mentioned one time in the book that you used to paint, and I paint too, and…” his expression became more serious again, but hopeful. “Enjolras. If you’re real, he must be real too. Are you together now?”

Grantaire tried to ignore the longing in his heart at the mention of the revolutionary. He put on a knowing smile and deflected. “I think there’s a reason why you mentioned him while talking about how you could relate to me. Tell me, do you have an Enjolras of your own?”

Grantaire couldn’t have known the weight of that question.

Basil sighed deeply, and Grantaire could see the pain in his eyes. After a few moments, he shook his head sadly and said “…I thought I did…”

***

Sometimes, in cases with particularly tragic deaths, it took a while for souls to settle in. After hearing Basil’s full story, Grantaire had decided it would be best to make sure he didn’t have to be alone for a while.

So he had befriended him. Basil already knew a lot of Grantaire’s story from the book, but Grantaire still found a few things to tell him that Victor Hugo hadn’t included, and he learned a lot about his new friend.

Before long, they were both welcoming newly dead souls together.

***

Where was he?

He’d destroyed it, destroyed the thing that had changed the trajectory of his life so dramatically all those years ago. He’d destroyed it, so everything should be alright now, but where was he?

He was on a boat. On a boat crossing a river. How had he been moved, without his knowledge, from his attic to a boat crossing a river?

Where was he?

There were people near the riverbank, and the boat was almost there. He could ask them, then he’d have answers.

A voice. He heard a voice coming from near the riverbank, a voice he knew. “I need to know: are the punishments here eternal, or can people be forgiven?”

And he knew that voice, he knew that voice, and he knew it was about him, he wouldn’t be asking such a question for himself who had always done good and kind things, and suddenly he was consumed by a feeling of regret, regret for what he had done, regret for ever hurting him, a feeling so strong he almost fell to his knees.

He listened.

***

“How did Victor Hugo even know half of that?” Grantaire laughed because he thought he might cry otherwise. Basil had managed to find a copy of this The Miserables book he’d told Grantaire about, and wanted to read it with him so Grantaire could hear the many stories that were linked with his own. He’d agreed to hear it because his friend had wanted to, but he didn’t know how much more one-sided romantic tension between him and Enjolras he could take hearing about.

“I don’t know, he must have done a lot of research, I imagine…” Basil answered, but he was clearly distracted. He had the same wistful look in his eyes that he’d had when he first mentioned that he felt he and Grantaire were similar, and often had when one of them mentioned Enjolras. He’s thinking about Dorian again, Grantaire realised.

“Are you alright?”

“Something’s been bothering me recently… I think I need to ask Hades something…”

It wasn’t far to the riverbank. Hades stayed near the river Styx in case any newly arrived souls needed help after crossing the river to the Underworld. Charon’s boat hadn’t come in with the newest souls yet, so Grantaire was able to get his attention easily and explain that his friend had a question.

“I need to know: are the punishments here eternal, or can people be forgiven?”

That made sense. Grantaire had guessed it would be something to do with Dorian.

“It depends if they truly regret hurting others. If they do, they can be forgiven, and get to be with the people they love, if those people forgive them. But I think I know why you’re asking me this…”

“I forgive him. I don’t know what difference that makes, but I forgive him.”

“You would forgive him so easily?” Grantaire asked, surprised.

“Why are you surprised that I forgive him, Grantaire? You forgive Enjolras, don’t you?”

“That’s different.” Grantaire suddenly felt the need to defend Enjolras from this comparison. “Enjolras did everything he did for the good of France, for freedom for the people. …Enjolras didn’t kill me!”

“Would you feel differently if he had?”

Grantaire was about to answer, but stopped short. Would he?

Basil continued. “I’ve noticed many ways we’re alike, and this is one of them. Reading the book I could tell you were in love, maybe even too in love, devoted to the point of self detriment, sometimes.” He sighed. “So am I. Of course I forgive him. I’d already forgiven him before I stepped off the boat.”

A cry of… something (Joy? Relief? Regret? All three?) caught their attention, and Grantaire did a double take because he could have sworn he saw Enjolras among the souls who had just stepped off Charon’s boat. No, it couldn’t be Enjolras because Enjolras had died at the same time as Grantaire, he wouldn’t be with the new arrivals. One of them looked a lot like him, that was all.

Not-Enjolras was moved to tears by Basil’s passionate declaration of love. He spoke, barely above a whisper, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d heard,

“Do you mean that? After everything, you forgive me?”

***

To be continued!!

Now Dorian has arrived, will he get to be reunited with Basil? Will the two of them get Enjolras and Grantaire back together? (You know it’s yes to both, I need them all to be happy! But how?) Let me know if you liked this/if you want a part 2!

Edit: Part 2 is here!!

[acourtofquestions]

Okay so my week is only getting less conducive to reading & posting so here’s some reaction spam of random round ups throughout ToD & KoA as fast as my thumbs can type them & whatever my brain recalls cause I’ve gotta squeal this out before I implode & then go try to sleep so I don’t fully make tomorrow miserably impossible & long😂

The line in ToD about Nesryn’s nieces & nephews being the light of her life gets me every time🥹😭 I love how we got to see & meet her family, I love how that led to her further connection with Sartaq, I love how his family was close enough to stop with the whole ritualistic murder thing

Chaol’s arc was so well done I have so many thoughts but mostly my old CoM self is just glad to be back here AND YRENE TOWERS MY WYRD I LOVE HER I LOVE HER I LOVE HER literally just I LOVE HER and I want a Baast cat

Inaccessibility being one of the biggest issues is such a relatable real world problem like how have people with magic not figured this out yet I wonder the same thing everytime I go somewhere that doesn’t have ramps handicap parking sign translators etc

Chaol recognizing Celaena’s handwriting and then telling Yrene the story will forever be such a 🥹 moment

The way he healed was beautiful too, the chapter facing Aelin, the discussions with Yrene

And again just AGAIN everything about Yrene

And Nesryn who is so underrated and I just want the world for our Empress queeeeen

The tiny Easter eggs leading to everything essentially rounding up the series to Aelin doing small acts of kindness that come full circle and save everyone is so beautiful

I hate Maeve, I am now claustrophobic, and having my old Peeta days come back to me from HG

Those were some of the most painful chapters I’d ever read

Aelin def knows somethings up with Maeve and the Valg

Dorian planning to take the price is horrifying and yet also comforting and yet horrifying and the two of them plotting it out is making me nervous

KALTAINS GHOST

Dorian and Manon are absolute gold

Them and the thirteen — I mean this content is just fantastic — we’re getting some great Vesta moments

The new power is also interesting & cool

I know Aedion’s hurting but wow could you be anymore of an asshole towards Lys? Look what she did was horrible (mostly cause the whole let’s make the world think you married your cousin thing is wrong on so many levels) that aside she was just doing what HER queen said she loves Aelin she didn’t want this either and he needs to deal with his own shit and stop putting it on Lysandra I mean LYSANDRA OF ALL PEOPLE CAN THE WOMAN GET A BREAK

Darrow I hate you still

Nox I’m still not over you being back thanks buddy I missed ya

Lorcan finding Aelin first and sobbing in relief has so much depth to it I’m gonna have to discuss later

Even their bickering it’s a bit of a relief to have the spark and almost normal… not forgiven just better I guess

And then him saying he already thought Elide was powerful and he crawled for Aelin not Maeve

And all the I CARE ABOUT YOU scenes with SO MANY OF THEM we got Manorian we got Elorcan we still got Rowaelin now we got platonic stuff with Fenrys the list GOES ON

Curious what Rens figuring out cause someone’s gotta be figuring out the whole isn’t Aelin thing and I have a feeling his Lysandra obsession is more than that

Glad to see sweet Evangeline again… I’ll feel better when we get so safe Fleetfoot comes home

Anxious over my war side babies cause there REALLL deep in the bad stuff

The one thing I CAN thank SJM for is not making Fenrys hurt Aelin I spend half the time terrified that was gonna be the next play though the freaky dreams were a whole new level of fucked up not to mention the fact they stole her scars because that’s how mutilated she was and now she’s foreign to herself and my heart hurts

Also the do not yield scene😭

And Fireheart being my new fav all time term of endearment

And their (Fenrys & Aelin) blinking code … honestly I need to put it on a bookmark for frequent translation

And again Fenrys who btw BABE WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME I ABOUT LOST IT WHEN I THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD BUT HE BROKE THE OATH FOR HER AND THEN THEIR HUG AND ALL OF IT AND ALSO

I started wondering the same thing about could you double oath it and cancel it out so I finally got my oath answer and lost it again because the iron “take it off” scene… idk which even came first just ow and then LIVE.

The moment Aelin realizes it’s really Rowan

And then he says can I hold you

And then that he’d love her even if she never got back to who she was

And then she’s still storing power away and a half living inferno and probably gonna go save the day

and she’s trying but she doesn’t know what’s real but Fenrys reminded her and she’s trying so hard

And she got the rings

And the I’m so tired Rowan line that broke me again

And the beautiful things glowworm starry night

Then there’s again Elide and Lorcan

The impending Morath

Dorian and Manon shenanigans

All these sub plots I’m sure are gonna be a big deal

Chaol hasn’t even caught up yet

And Yrene is PREGNANT?!

And I still can’t wait for them all to meet

And then AGAIN with the little folk

And the crown of Mab though now it’s kinda got bad vibes tbh

And all the queenlyness Aelin STILL is

And the scene where Rowan sees what would’ve been his children and her seeing how he would’ve been her mate either way

And then her hair being too long and the tattoos gone and this terribly long list

And him coming for her And her thinking he wouldn’t and his words on that

Aelin telling Rowan she didn’t break

Rowan calling Fenrys brother

Elides wisdom always saving the day

Lysandra becoming Wivern and so many things to save them all

Finally meeting the bane

Chaol going back to Anielle

Connall who we barely got to know and idk what was even real

And now no one knows where Maeve or mystery last cadre is

Ugh I need more time but alas this is the round up to shortly delve into more cause I do have annotations lol

Okay this has been fangirl screaming in Wyvern

Ps ABRAXOS HAS A MATE SITTING IN A TREE LOL

[dawninlatin]

Queen of Peace, chapter 17

A manorian High School AU

Words: 1,9k

AO3 Link

Masterlist

Summary: Manon Blackbeak is flawless, untouchable. From the outside at least. Her grandmother pushes her to achieve greatness, and she doesn’t let anyone get too close in fear of being hurt. How can anyone love her when not even her parents could?

Dorian Havilliard has always felt safe and confident around his friends. He might not have the greatest of families, but with Aelin and Chaol by his side, nothing can go wrong. That is until he tries keeping his greatest secret from them.

What will happen when Dorian and Manon gets to know one another? Can two lost souls find their way back together?

Then it tries to find a home

With people or when I’m alone

Picking it apart

And staring at your phone

-Florence + The Machine, Hunger

Dorian broke into a huge grin as he opened his Christmas present. He’d been saving this one for last, knowing it would be something good.

And he’d been right.

Inside the messily wrapped box was a special edition of his favorite book, one he’d tried to find for years without success. How she’d even gotten this-

He lifted the book, admiring the gorgeous sprayed edges, then picked up the second item. It was a custom library stamp, saying From the library of Dorian Havilliard. Dorian felt almost giddy, wanting to use it on all of his books immediately.

It really was the perfect gift, and the fact that it was from Manon made him all warm inside.

«Show me what you got,» Dorian’s mother urged from her spot next to him on the couch, trying to look over his shoulder. 

On the floor, aunt Philippa was helping Hollin build his new Lego’s.

It had been over a month now, since that faithful night that had begun with Dorian coming out to his parents, and ended with his mother leaving his father, basically starting a new life for her family.

Things weren’t perfect, they’d had plenty of bad days, but they were doing better. His mother had managed to stay sober, as far as Dorian knew, and she still went to her meetings, still saw a therapist on the regular. 

Sometimes, the three of them even saw a family therapist together, and Dorian found that having someone to guide them through all the difficult conversations really helped. It had most definitely helped Hollin, who seemed like an entirely different kid now. He hardly had tantrums anymore, he did way better in school, and overall he seemed much happier.

He also seemed to adore his new aunt, whom he’d not even met before, but who’d stayed with them for three weeks after the fight, and now visited as often as possible.

Thankfully, their father had left them alone. Dorian hoped it stayed that way, that he never had to see the bastard ever again. 

Looking around, Dorian took in the small, but cozy living room he was sitting in. 

They’d moved here about a month ago, their old house being too big, too empty, too full of bad memories, and things were finally settling. Already, this felt more like a home than their old house ever had.

«Is that from Dorian’s secret girlfriend?» Philippa asked just as Dorian handed his nosy mother the book and library stamp. 

The nosiness didn’t bother him, though, not in the slightest, because it meant she cared.

«She’s not secret, and she’s also not my girlfriend,» Dorian pointed out, but his aunt just waggled her eyebrows and then joined them on the couch to take a closer look at the gift.

His mom gave him a playful look. «If she’s not secret, why does she only have time to visit when you’re home alone?»

Dorian simply shrugged, feigning innocence.

«Give it a few years, Georgie, and you’ll be planning their wedding.»

«Okay-» Dorian said, plucking his things from the hands of his gushing mother and aunt. «That’s my cue to leave.»

He quickly stood up, trying to hide the fact that he was very much blushing, and announced, «I’m going to my room, alone, so I can call my not-secret not-girlfriend.»

Then he left, hurrying as he heard his aunt quip, «Did you see how red he got?»

Dorian let out a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him, pulling his hand through his hair. 

After carefully placing his gift on his desk, he flung himself down on the bed and pulled out his phone, dialing Manon’s number from memory (which was an absolutely normal thing to remember about a person that absolutely wasn’t one’s girlfriend).

She picked up almost immediately, and Dorian let himself imagine that maybe she’d been waiting for him to call.

«Merry Christmas,» Manon greeted, her voice so bright.

Grinning, Dorian returned the words, then asked, «What did you think of your present?»

«It’s beatiful,» Manon breathed on the other end of the line. «Thank you.»

He ‘d gotten her a necklace. It was simple, really, just a silver chain with a shining star in the middle, two smaller ones on each side, but Dorian knew he had to get it as soon as he saw it. 

«I’m actually wearing it right now,» Manon added.

«The shirt? Sexy.»

Because as Dorian stood there with the necklace, he’d also thought that while it was perfect, it was a little too cliché, too couple-y, se he’d needed to get something else as well, something less serious.

It had taken a few days of searching, but he’d found it eventually: A hot pink shirt that said the words «You’re looking at a crazy cat lady». The letters were black, in fucking comic sans, and the message was underlined by rainbow-colored paw prints. It was honestly the ugliest shirt Dorian had ever seen, but he knew Manon would love it.

She chuckled, before saying, «The necklace, dumbass. I’m saving the t-shirt for prom.»

They’d seen each other just two days ago, but it had been long enough for Dorian to miss talking to her, miss their playful banter.

Cold, unapproachable, mean, bitchy. They were all words he’d heard to describe Manon, but as he’d gotten to know her, he knew she was none of those things. She might let the world believe otherwise, but Manon was kind, caring, clever, and downright hilarious.

«I’d expect nothing less. Thank you very much for the book and library stamp, by the way. You couldn’t have given me a better gift.» Dorian glanced over at said gift, smiling at how well she knew him.

«Maybe Aelin won’t steal all your books now, if she’s constantly reminded of who they actually belong to. And if it looked like your gift was wrapped by a child who loves tape too much, it was all Abraxos’ fault! He just took over, insisting he did it!»

Dorian laughed, picturing a very frustrated Manon trying to wrap a Christmas present. «Don’t bring Abraxos into this, he probably wraps his gifts beautifully!»

They kept going back and forth like this, Dorian’s facial muscles beginning to strain from all the smiling he was doing.

«What are you doing right now?» Dorian asked after Manon had given a detailed description of how she’d tried, and epically failed, to make gingerbread cookies last night.

«I’m chilling in my PJs, watching the greatest Christmas movie of all time.» 

«Let me guess…The Grinch?»

«Shut up, he’s my literal soulmate!» Manon claimed, sounding as if she tried not to laugh. 

«You probably love something annoying like Elf or Home Alone.» Dorian could hear the eye-roll.

«And what if I do?» he teased, even if those two were among his favorites.

Manon’s reply came quickly. «Then I’m afraid I can’t be seen in public with you anymore.»

Just as Dorian was about to make a retort, his mom knocked on the door, asking if he wanted to play Mario Kart with them. As much as he wanted to keep speaking with Manon, he had a title as reigning champion to defend, so they made their goodbyes, promising to talk again the following day.

Then Dorian went to join his family, ignoring how he’d felt the urge to end that phone call with three very significant words.

-

After ending the phone call with Dorian, Manon returned to her movie, snuggled up with Abraxos on her bed. 

She’d felt so light, mere moments ago, laughing and bickering, but as soon as she’d hung up, a heaviness had settled over her again.

To her, Christmas had never been the warm, joyful holiday everyone else believed it to be, but this year was particularly depressing.

All morning, she’d tried not to cry as she thought about how different it would be if Asterin was still here. They would have opened their few presents together, Asterin waking her up at some ungodly hour, then they would have watched movies in one of their beds, gorging themselves on candy, before they went ice skating, and returned to a not-horrible dinner with their grandmother.

It physically hurt, to be doing it all alone this year. 

Especially when Manon knew it was all her fault.

She was the one who’d pushed Asterin away, who’d answered with insult after insult when all Asterin had done was care about her.

Manon hoped she was okay, hoped she was happy with her new family.

Her grandmother was still making dinner later today, but Manon wasn’t sure she could sit there and pretend something vital wasn’t missing. It was becoming more and more clear how Asterin had been the one bringing some light to this house.

In addition, Manon was beginning to run out of plausible lies as to why she was spending more time out, and less time in her room studying. It was hard to keep someone hidden, when they had become such a huge part of her life.

At least she still had Dorian, Manon thought, touching a hand to her new necklace.

She’d been so relieved when he’d called her after he’d gone home that morning, telling her all about how his mother had finally stood up against his father, how she’d promised things would change. His voice had been full of disbelief back then, but his mother had kept her promises so far, and it showed, because Dorian seemed happier and happier by every day.

As he’d retold their conversation, though, Manon couldn’t help but draw parallels to her own situation, a heavy feeling settling deep within her.

She wished she had the strength to stand up for the ones she cared about like that. To do something, say something. Maybe then-

But you’ll never manage to do that, stupid girl! You’re nothing more than a pathetic coward, exactly like your mother-

That fucking voice… Manon would give anything for it to shut up. 

She turned up the volume of the movie in a feeble attempt to drown it out, but it only reminded her of how she didn’t have Asterin beside her, making funny comments the entire time.

Manon contemplated calling Dorian again, but he was spending time with his family, and she knew how much he valued that time, so she quickly let go of that thought, instead choosing to let herself mope some more.

«Christmas is overrated, anyway,» she said to a snoring Abraxos, who continued to ignore her.

Sighing, Manon mentally prepared herself to go and get more snacks, but then her phone started buzzing somewhere underneath all her blankets. 

Shen frantically searched for it, thinking it was Dorian calling, but her face fell as she saw that it was an unknown number.

Normally, Manon would have just ignored it, letting it go to voicemail, but this time, it was as if a voice urged her to pick up, just this once, pick up!

So she did, trying to remain calm as she said, «This is Manon speaking.»

The person on the other end drew a deep breath, before replying in a shaking voice, «Hey, Manon. This is your father.»

A/N: We have finally reached the chapter, that when plotting it out, I thought "I'll have plenty of time to have this out around Christmas...in 2020"

A win is a win though!

This one's more of a filler, and therefore a little short, but I hope you appreciated the ending...*cue evil laughter*

Taglist: @fireheartfaery @bookishwitchling @gwynethhberdara @darklingswhxore @onfma @ireallyshouldsleeprn @sayosdreams @rowaelinismyotp @rainbowcheetah512 @mirubyjane @zoyalovesbooks​ @wishfulimaginings​

[pandemieinverse]

Dorian Forrest (left) and Danika Whisper (right), children of Fred and Shadow Fox (Red)! While they don't belong to me (they belong to a headmate), I designed them and I was given the permission to redesign them, so here they are their new designs!! Ignore the fact I gave up on Dorian's arms---

Some info about them undercut! (Some of it is changed by how they were originally)

Dorian Forrest:

Age: 16

Pronouns: He/him (slight preference) and they/them, indifferent towards she/her.

Gender: Fluid between Boysoft and Enbysoft, rarely Girlsoft.

Sexuality: ???

Personality: Very quiet, but a perfectionist. Doesn't like to speak that much, so he tends to say things quickly, going straight to the point. Has a passion for all types of art, but his favorite activity is writing. Tends to bottle up his emotions, which results in him crying when everything turns out to be too much. Doesn't trust people easily except for his parents. Doesn't want to admit it, but is sometimes annoyed by his sister and sometimes has trouble trusting her.

Danika Whisper:

Age: 16

Pronouns: She/her.

Gender: Nonbinary girl.

Sexuality: Unlabeled.

Personality: A loud person, doesn't tends to think before speaking and so can end up hurting others, which is why she doesn't have a lot of friends. Due to having some aggresive tendencies, decided to enter boxing as a way to deal with them. Feels things very intensely, so she either adores you or despises you, sometimes fluidly. Most close to Red.

Extra info:

Before reading, keep in mind this is in an AU where Shadows have their own bodies. Also, Red is a trans man.

Red got pregnant with them when both him and Fred were rather young (18 y/o) and not exactly in a established relationship, it was mostly a "for fun" thing. They didn't knew what to do and panicked for a few days without knowing how to tell their families.

Freddy (Fred's brother) learned about this after overhearing a conversation between the two of them, but also decided to keep it a secret, which was kinda difficult with him being friends with Fox (Red's brother). Eventually Freddy ended up anxiously telling him the truth, since Fox was suspecting something was very wrong with his brother.

Fox confronted Red about it, which led to an agitated fight between the two and Meg, and so he ended up living with Fred and Freddy for some weeks, alongside their mother, who learned about it in that moment. She wasn't really pleased with the truth, but notheless, was accepting of it. Fox and Meg also ended up accepting it after calming down.

Which led to Fred and Red himself eventually accepting up Red's pregnancy!

However, accepting parenthood took some more time. The thought of giving them up for adoption was in their mind for two months or so.

But seeing Red's belly getting bigger every month, and them being closer than ever for it, ended up with them loving the little things. Fred ended up getting really protective of Red if anyone told him anything.

Eventually the twins were born, which led to Red moving out with Fred's family. Fred also got a job as a barista and a singer in karaoke bars.

After saving for some time, they got a tiny apartament.

They love their kids very much<3

Also, Fred and Red never said they are dating or something, but they also don't consider their relationship "just for fun" anymore, and is way more serious now.

[silkiemae]

Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas

My Rating: 3.75/5

So I know I’m supposed to be all rooting for Aelin to get to her throne and rule over Terrasen, but I was cackling like an evil witch when Darrow was rejecting the shit out of her claims. While he said some things that should’ve earned him a swift kick in the ‘nads, he also made some super-valid points. As far as all of Terrasen knows, when EoS begins, Aelin has been MIA for the last ten years. She shows up out of nowhere with a surprise assassin background; she has been living in luxury right under the king of Adarlan’s nose, boning the crown prince and the captain of his guard, who were at the time both considered enemies of her country. After killing the king of Adarlan and claiming the credit for destroying Rifthold, she threatens to kill all of the people in Rifthold if they step out of line. I’m sorry, but that would not win you any points anywhere. I don’t know why she’s so shocked that they don’t acknowledge her as queen. I don’t understand why she’s so surprised she has to earn her throne. 

I like that people are calling out Aelin for the almost tyrannical way she’s been behaving. She has no advisors teaching her how to act as a queen. All she has are warriors at her back who do not have the proper ability to counsel her. She needs people who know what the fuck they’re doing to teach her how to behave. Sure, Aedion and Rowan can teach her about war. Aelin knows how to fight. But she has absolutely no idea how to rule and can’t just expect to walk in the door and have the throne handed to her. A year ago, she was blowing all of her money on gowns and books when she should’ve been saving it for that dream house. A year ago, she was blabbing all her secrets to Nehemia, a spy who betrayed her. A year ago, she was making out with Dorian, the son of the man who murdered her family. I’m sorry, but Aelin is not fit to be queen. 

And yes, even though Rowan and his cadre are hundreds of years old and have far more experience in warfare than any of Aelin’s court combined, they never once advise Aelin, nor does she allow anyone to advise her. This is one of the things I find most infuriating about Aelin. Every time someone rightfully calls her out for being a show-off, rude, or manipulative, she turns around and somehow makes that person feel like an idiot for ever calling her out. If you talked to your companions and informed them about just one thing, this might not happen. If you can’t trust the people willing to fight and die for you, then why should they trust you?

Also, Aelin got much more powerful in this book than in the previous ones. She exhaled a breath of air, and then a man crumbled into ash. Since when has she been able to transport her fire like that magically? It’s always had to come directly from her. She seems to be able to do all sorts of things with her fire now that never was before a possibility. I don’t like that Aelin is so powerful that it’s almost as though she cannot be defeated and that Maeve had to construct this elaborate plan to get her into a weak spot. And with every battle, Aelin beats everyone with barely a scratch on her or anyone else. 

The battle at Skull’s Bay was far too easy, and sure Deanna took control and made things go awry, but everyone still made it out completely fine. Lysandra should’ve died tbh. Not that I want her to die, I like Lysandra, and I want her to survive, but if SJM wasn’t so afraid of killing off characters she liked, then Lysandra would not have survived her fight with the sea wyverns. When the 500 ilken show up, Aelin takes out every single one of them in a single blast(with a little help from her friends), and it’s just like…really? 500 liken? That makes for literally zero challenge except to deplete her magic so that there can be barely a fight at the end when Aelin is taken. 

SJM did basically the same thing she did with ACOWAR in this book. Every time they think they’re about to lose, a new army shows up to save the day. First, Ansel shows up with her Melisande army. Maeve’s armada turns against each other because Rowan told his cousins about how he got a new girlfriend. Manon’s Thirteen show up because Abraxos went to find them, Ganon and his armada, and Silent Assassins from the Red Desert. Like, yes, it’s much more thought out and planned, and we know that all these people owe a debt to Aelin somehow, so I did like that bit. Still, the fact that she was so unwilling to share any of this information and by the end when she’s taken Aedion is so guilt-ridden for ever questioning her and thinking her this amazing self-sacrificing goddess and like…no! Aedion, you should be mad at her! 

Not only did she not trust you enough to tell her a single one of her plans, but she also took your blood oath and gave it to her new boyfriend without considering you once; she made your new girlfriend lie to you behind your back for months and then set up a plan without your consent that you would have to be breeding stud for her while she posed as YOUR COUSIN. Aedion has every reason to be mad at Aelin, and I hate that because SJM is so in love with Aelin that every other character is also in love with her and won’t ever dare stay mad at her for longer than a chapter or two. 

Even Lorcan, who I liked because of his hatred for Aelin, CRIES OVER HER because of her self-sacrificing bullshit. It’s hard to take that prophecy seriously when SJM removes the gravitas behind anyone’s sacrifice. She did it with Rhysand and Amren. She did it with Feyre. Chaol should’ve died two books ago, but SJM couldn’t do it. It will not surprise me when Aelin survives forging the Lock and lives happily ever after. 

Now that I’m done complaining about Aelin. 

I enjoyed this book for the most part. This is SJM’s best series in terms of being well thought out regarding the plot. I like the build-up to most of the relationships, but once they get together, it falls flat. I mainly think it’s due to SJM’s penchant for unbelievably cringy dialogue and poorly written sex scenes. 

Aelin and Rowan getting secretly married did nothing for me. Their relationship does nothing for me tbh. I don’t care about them and want Aelin to die or get an entirely new personality in the next book. But if Endovier didn’t make her lose her entitlement, I doubt her time with Maeve will. 

Lysandra is my favorite character. I think she’s a bad bitch; I love shapeshifters who can turn into literally whatever they want. I liked the relationship between Aedion and Lysandra up until the end, and now I hope they never get together. If I were Aedion, I would not be so willing to forgive Aelin or Lysandra. 

Elide and Lorcan’s journey was fun, and I enjoyed it for the most part. I really wanted to like them together, but there was such an emphasis on their age gap and the fact that Elide was ‘barely a woman’ made it feel creepy to me. It comes off as pedophilic when a 500-year-old man thirsts after ‘barely a woman’ and constantly talks about how young and dainty she is. Talking about how her cycles are regular and shit, like…come on. Still, when they finally kissed, it was sweet, but then Lorcan showed just how pathetic and male he was when he crawled to Maeve and cried over Aelin. 

So, I know it’s not going to happen, but I’m going to dream that now that Elide wants nothing to do with Lorcan, she’ll realize that she is in love with Manon, and they’ll run away together on Abraxos’ back. Seriously, I don’t see why Manon likes Dorian at all. I get it as a distraction while she’s stuck on that boat, but he is so bland and not good enough for Manon, sorry. Manon and Elide are my OTP in this book, goddammit. 

Two more things to mention, and I think that’s it. 

I wish SJM would go a different route than making her villains sexual offenders. Erawan and Maeve are rapists, and it just feels so unneeded. They can be evil without also having to rape your characters. The fact that Maeve uses her blood oath to force the men in her service into her bed is so fucked up. And then Erawan uses and abuses Kaltain for so long that she also kills herself to be self-sacrificial. I think her death was a waste. That bitch ate a whole demon and took back control. She could’ve been so cool. 

And my last question. 

WHERE THE FUCK IS FLEETFOOT? WHY DOES NO ONE GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THIS POOR DOG? ( I know she’s with Evangeline, but Aelin doesn’t think about her dog once. I knew she didn’t deserve that dog when she started demanding that other people take care of her for her.)

[annabelle-creart]

THE GARDEN

Sigfried the Singer

Vibes:

Song: The World's Greatest Actor - Terminally Silly (Milk in the Microwave)

Movie or Series: Phantom of the Opera

Legend or Mystery: -

Book or Tale: The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

Game: -

———

“Hey, Sig?” The kid witch asked the singer “did you always wanted to be a cabaret’s singer?”

“No, not always- who told you I work on a cabaret?!” The singer asked, obviously offended by the kids words, raising his voice comically and his right hand to his chest “do you actually know what’s a cabaret?!”

“What’s the difference between where you work and a cabaret?” The amalgamation at his shoulder said with a mischievous smile

“There’s a clearly difference! You- agh, nevermind! You never respected what I do, after all” the singer crossed his arms and his legs and twisted his mouth, all directing far from his annoying partner

“Ow, come on! Don’t be like that”

“…so, you will answer my question…?” The kid asked, elongating the tone

“Oh- sure” the singer became in position, sitting properly and with elegance “you’ll see, Nani, I never was as you see me now..”

“Yes, he was an ugly teen with acne”

“You, son of a-!” The singer was about to curse the damned amalgamation, but at his side, the clockworker punched lightly his arm to evade him from saying something bad in front of the kid “you’re so… agh! Just shut up and let me talk!”

“Fine, fine! Talk, we want to hear that beautiful voice of yours” the amalgamation was mostly joking, but its phrase made Nani give some applause with a big smile, hoping for the singer to continue his tale

“Where I was?” The singer thought, snapping when he remembered “there! You’ll see, Nani…”

“I wasn’t always this way”

…

I was once a kid full of hopes and dreams, really happy with life, yes. I was raised in a big community inside a really tiny neighborhood, we all lived almost breathing at each other, if we compare my place with the movies Nani and Mr. D bring, the most near representation should be France at Les Miserable and Phantom of the Opera, nothing cute or great, it smelled terrible and people were as un sensible as rats, we survived together but no one cared enough for each other, no even mothers to sons or daughters to fathers, unless we were at the community’s theater. My mother, who compared with the rest loved me more than anything, always brought me to those little presentations, the laughs were big and the ambient became light and full of peace, we could forget about our lives and live by a very low price, those days were brighter than ever on my memory despite the need. My father and mother were lovely, but my father passed away because of a sickness when I was just a little kid and I had to work in everywhere I could, that included the theater. My days were monotone and except the theater, were even boring, but there’s one day that I still remember with all my strength

“Extra! Extra!” I was then a kid, trying to sell some newspaper at the people on a big place such as a plaza “senate in problems! The people is against their new politics” but not everyone was interested on newspapers, they were boring and the people were tired of the government, but on those times, that was the only thing the people spoke

“Sigfried!” Another kid called me, I still remember her little hat to hide her braids and her hands with coil or grease “do you have something with you? My coins are not enough”

“What? No!” I yelled at her “you already own me a killing!” Don’t get me wrong, killing also means money, the term was constantly used those days “I barely have for myself!”

“Couldn’t you sell anything?”

“Not today, and you know I have to save for my mom! She’s not feeling well these days and she’s working too much at the sewing house”

“Wasn’t she working at cleaning?”

“Yes, but she isn’t anymore, I don’t know why, she doesn’t want to tell me”

“Well, whatever, my lunch time is not that long” the kid was about to go “see you at the theater later?”

“Sure” I told her, waving my hand and again on my business

The day was as always, nothing much but I could get something, then, I went to the bakery where I worked doing deliveries, the owner of the place was the worst person you could ever met, believe me, the man was so egotistical and always got an excuse to not to pay me what he promised, but it was what I had. Then I finally got home

“Mama?” I called, hoping for an answer, but I got none, maybe she wasn’t here yet, which was weird because her shift was over since an hour ago “maybe traffic is difficult now” I thought for myself. My house wasn’t big but my mom and I managed to make it enough comfortable for us and our cat, which only was there because it helped us with unwanted guests, oh, I hated that cat with ALL my soul, but my mom liked it too much, at least it wasn’t on the view. I went to the kitchen, there wasn’t much but I couldn’t go to the theater with an empty stomach so I grabbed some bread and went in a rush, passing the tiny streets and some tired people (mostly drunk or drugged, which wasn’t weird), finally reaching my destination.

The community theater wasn’t anything from other word but it was definitely bright with color lamps and the tiny brilliant rocks that guided the way to the people, there was no entrance, everything would be at the people’s gaze except by some curtains well put at the house’s windows as recent-washed clothes, I passed one of them were a pair of guys were already getting ready for the function, this was made so the place wouldn’t be crowded and impossible to handle

“Hi, Rosé, Edgar” I saluted the guys, she was a medium size woman with really tiny eyes, he was a tall, almost slender guy with big eyes

“Hi” Rosé saluted, but her voice sounded so off, sleepy and tired, Edgar didn’t said a thing but he got closer and our cheeks met with tiny kisses

“I’ll get the scenario prepared while you’re at this”

“Thanks, Sig. You’re a sweet”

And that’s what I did, I put some items on the scenario to make it look like a room, which was the first act of today’s play

Work at the theater was almost as normal as the newspaper or the bakery when everything was empty, the hard part was when the actors and staff came to work

“Where are my hair pins!?” Cait cried with anger

“Here they are!” Camille brought them to her mirror

“Letter’s started to come” Shuri said as apathetic as usual

“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” Korin took all of them and scrolled fast and with 0 patience

“Coni! My make up?” Alfonso requested

“I’m still using it!” Coni begged with tiny voice

“Guys!” I called for them, as strong as my lungs could but not enough noisy for the public to notice “there’s a lot of people out there!”

“How much?” Tartaro, the director, came from the door of his house with a pair of bottles for the stage

“Raquel a told me more than 60”

“Perfect! Everyone on set! Sigfried, tell the other kids to get the food from the kitchen for the audience!”

“On it”

Again, everyone started to rush for last details while the kids go out of the house’s kitchen with candy and other treats which prize were just one coin but people were too ruined to pay. Finally, the play started, Cori sat with a glass of false wine aside from Hector in a cozy room, they talked normally, like ignoring the public but obviously talking strong and steady for them to hear, she usually was happy and childlike but now she was a serious and sour woman, while Hector, who was ignorant, was now important, smart and hold his words with care, there was something so false at acting that intrigued me, because even if it was false, you could feel what they were feeling, it was pure unintentional manipulation and that trapped me as a fly on a spider web, despite my job was getting treats and candy for the people, I was hypnotized by the stage, like if it called, it was a feeling I had always since the first day my parents brought me to a theater, and since that day I remember saying myself always and at all times “I will someday be at that stage”

The rest of the night was as expected, the play’s final was full of applause and the donations now were the record of the week, which was one of the reasons why I was still there, actually, I would do that all my life without payment, but I needed the money…

—

“Sigfried?” Ali tried to call the singer’s attention after his strange pause on the narrative

“Sorry… I don’t know if I should continue, we have a kid here” Sigfried gave the feathered guy a weird smile

The kid, Nani, as perceptive and funny as usual, put her hands on her ears as making like she’s not listening

The rest of the group laughed at Nani’s dumb behavior, especially Mr. D, who supported and even promoted all her childish behavior

“Ow, Nani, I know you can hear and what I’m about to say is something I can’t tell you yet”

“Nuuuuu” the kid yelled with a sad face, then, a clock started to bell

“Is getting late, we should get ready to go to bed, Nani” the clockworker shut off the alarm and stand up from his chair. Nani with an upside-down grin, stand up with him, say goodbye with kisses on the cheek to the rest and the man made her company back to home

“When I was on my way back” Sigfried continued narrating “Night was set and I was about to get home, I thought everything would be normal, just getting to home and ready for dinner and bed, but instead I…”

“You don’t have to talk about that” Varni, the amalgamation at Sigfried’s shoulders said with a sad expression

“If it’s bad, you don’t have to share it” Mr. D said with awareness, hoping not reviving the memory would help Sigfried, but it didn’t, the memory was alive as if he lived it again

He could remember every detail, how the door cracked when he pushed it just after hearing drowned screams, there was nobody near to ask for help, he could remember the strange voice that told dirty things from outside and just stopped when the door was opened fully, he could remember all of that, especially his mother’s face, full of resentment and tears, pushed in the table in an uncomfortable position by a bigger and crepier man. He couldn’t remember her voice but could remember her telling him to go, but he didn’t

Sigfried squeezed his right hand, which was actually Varni’s hand, mostly to remember despite the bad moments, that was all left on the past, he had his hand and not the best but a good life, he had now a cutie as girlfriend and a good career but nonetheless, despite everything, the vivid memory of the last time he saw his mother and his arm.

“Can you give me your hand?” Sigfried asked the goat-man

“Are you sure?” He asked confused, tilting his head

“Yes” despite how weird it was, because Sigfried knew that was a simple spell to read someone’s mind, Mr. D accepted “you can hold it too, Ali”

“Really? Ah… ok?” Ali was also curious, but as they had lived as many disgraces similar to Sigfried, they knew this could feel out of place, to share something so shameful

Mr. D, and Ali thanks to him, revived the memory, the shame and pain on Sigfried’s mother’s face, but after a good hit, her eyes became white, her head was bleeding too much, Sigfried tried to do something but the man got him first and unleashed all his fury on the kid. Ali, despite was accomplished to this things, let the memory out, Mr. D saw as much as possible, also getting the feeling, he wasn’t someone of lots of feeling, mostly a being of imitating feelings, but to feel it in this way made it feel real enough to get why Sigfried didn’t wanted to tell anything in front of the kid

“Sigfried, I’m so sorry” Ali took his hand shamefully, Mr. D did the same with his shoulder, stopping the memory, while Varni put a try of head on his neck as a hug

“Thanks, but that was long time ago” Sigfried made a false smile, but deep on his glowing eyes something was obvious “I, actually, never told anyone about this, not anyone that is fully alive, though”

“How was she?” Ali asked curious “your mom”

“Oh! She was a cutie, beautiful, cautious, loving, she knew about everything! She knew how to sew and cook, not normally, like really good! And she was so full of life, she was extroverted and laughed so loud, and she was also an artist on the flute, she played it so well, I still remember them sometimes… until some day she just started to act weird, I discovered after her dead she worked on a burdel, and that was the reason why she was so silent, the person who killed her was one of her unsatisfied and poor client”

“I know how that feels. You can count on us for everything, pal”

“Ajap, whatever it is, we’re here for you!” Mr. D made a big smile, which was horrible because he had good wolf teeth, but the intention was bigger

“Thanks, guys… you know, I usually hate because if you’re not noisy or completely disasters you get us in weird and crazy adventures and that’s usually terrible but this peace feels great” Sigfried had now with a true smile, and his comment made Ali and Varni laugh comically while Mr. D had a funny smile on his face, until they finally relaxed

The roses were closed, it was late and the moon shined, but they were still roses, and they were happily asleep on the wind’s lullaby and accompanied by the other’s embrace of the garden

————

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The Garden First Comic

[yabai-korra]

The reasons why we're getting Manorian book

There has been a lot of speculation whether SJM is going to favor us with book/novella about Manon Blackbeak and Dorian Havilliard, recently I saw some fans doubting it, so here's a list of logical reasons why it's happening.

1. It's SJM

This woman writes two 500+ pages books per year, for her it would be a piece of cake.

2. There have already been books focused on side characters

a) Chaol and Yrene - Chaol was one of the most unpopular characters before Tower of Dawn (which made me love him hehe) and she still wrote a 600+ pages long book about him, just imagine what she'd do with the most popular character (Manon) and one of the most popular ones (Dorian).

b) Nesta and Cassian - this is ship is the closest to Manorian equivalent in ACOTAR series, aka starting from a physical relationship that develops into a sentimental one. Also 6th ACOTAR book will be focused on a new characters (most probably Elain)

3. Favoritism

SJM has talked multiple times about her love for these two. When asked about her favorite TOG character, she said Aelin, but Manon was a close second place and she said that she absolutely loves writing her.

In another interview, when asked who she would go on a book tour with and a few similar questions, she answered Dorian.

Now, I haven't seen all of her interviews ever and I'm not sure how much she loves Nessian and Cahorene (seems to love Nessian a hella lot tho), but it's definite that Manorian are some of her favorite characters and it's just logical that she would write about them.

4. Unfinished story/Unresolved feelings

Ships at the end of TOG:

Rowaelin - married

Elorcan - engaged

Lysaedion - engaged

Chaorene - married with a baby on the way

Nestaq - engaged

Manorian - hug and "we'll see"

All the ships basically got engaged in the last chapter (it's not like I didn't like it hehe) and their stories, romantic-wise, were pretty much finished and they have no unresolved tension between them. Manorian on the other hand, have enough of it for all the ships lol.

KOA spoilers ahead!

Keep in mind, Manorian relationship was mostly a sexual one, and they don't quite yet have a way of communicating their feelings properly. So there is a lot of unaddressed between them, even though they obviously care a lot about each other.

The unresolved things between Manon and Dorian:

"“And if I asked you to stay?” / “I’d need a very convincing reason, I suppose.” / “Because I don’t want you to go.” - they just fucked and Dorian left for Morath later, which impacted Manon a lot but they haven't discussed it

"I even care about you." - Manon got up and left

"There is only one witch who will be my queen." - Manon doesn't know about this

Manon saved Dorian from Valg demon even when Aelin couldn't. It was the worst thing to happen to Dorian and he still bears scars from it, yet he didn't have an appropriate situation to thank Manon for it

Dorian knows that Erawan lusted after Manon, which got him pissed of course, and he didn't have a chance nor time to ask Manon about it. It might be nothing, but if I were Dorain and my girlfriend who doesn't show feelings was locked up with a crazy guy who has a thing for her, and have seen the way he treats women, I'd be concerned. Erawan was a Valg king, a tough opponent even for Manon. If he had done something to her, and he had plenty of means and opportunities and wish to do so, Manon would never openly tell anyone (maybe Asterin) about it, because it would imply opening up and being weak, which is Manon's worst fear. Again, SJM, as the Queen of Foreshadowing, wouldn't just randomly throw in the main villain having a thing for an important character, everything in her books always has a meaning and purpose.

"Would you miss me if I didn't [come back]?" - Manon didn't reply

This is how SJM described Manorian marriage: "She would be his wife, his queen. She was already his equal, his match, mirror in so many ways. And with their union, the world would know it." - and you're telling me it's not deserving of its own book? Not just that, Manon asked Dorian for marriage and they, again, just had sex, with Dorian loving the idea but deep down knowing that Manon would feel caged in a marriage. And that attitude won't just change out of the blue. It takes time and development which is something SJM writes amazingly.

With the Thirteen gone, beside Abraxos Dorian is the only creature Manon cares about.

Dorian's mortality (although as you'll see in point #6 I'm sure he's not human)

The dreaded "You could just marry each other." / "We'll see." (Thanks Yrene :)

5. Foreshadowing

Listen here, SJM IS THE QUEEN OF FORESHADOWING. She thought of a detail (Dorian's dad's name) in the first book that would matter in the last book. Of course, there are many many many more examples of that, but if we got "We'll see." then we'll fucking see it happen.

6. Unresolved things about Manon and Dorian as individual characters.

Manon and Dorian and both pretty broken at the end of KOA.

Manon lost the Thirteen, the only people she cared about. That is a huge trauma that needs to be addressed, especially with someone so reluctant to show feelings and heal like Manon.

Dorian can't be human?? He has fae abilities due to his relation to Gavin and Elena even though he's not even called a demi-fae. He possesses powers no one else does, phantom hands for example, which he didn't steal like shape-shifting. And Maeve pointed out that due to his father being possessed by Valg when Dorian was sired, it's possible he got some of the Valg abilities. (Also she said that he's stronger than Aelin) The main villain, especially written by Queen of Foreshadowing, wouldn't just let drop it there and that's it. Also not to mention Dorian's own struggle with depression and self-worth.

They have both just become rulers of their kingdoms, completely new to it. Dorian has spent a big part of KOA imagining what kind of a king he wants to be (one that will have a witch queen hehe) and it was a major point of his character. And addition to that affecting them as characters, the future of Adarlan and Witch Kingdom could make a good plotline.

7. Other TOG characters

Although pretty much all the readers would die to see Chaorene baby, Lorcan in Perranth, Aelin and Rowan ruling Terrasen, Lysandra and Adeion officially adopting Evangeline, Nesryn and Sartaq becoming Khagan and Empress of Antica, all of these don't make enough of a plot on its own. They are great side-plots.

We know all of these characters love each other and are happy together, there isn't that much to be added to their personal stories other than kids. (same way Feyre and Rhys got a baby in Nessian book) Manorian however, they haven't even kissed without it leading to sex, they hugged at the end of KOA and it was the pique of their relationship. Their relationship is merely at the beginning, whereas others have pretty much reached their ultimatum (ofc SJM can decide to add some drama with betrayal, kidnapping, pregnancy etc. but for now everyone is good and settled beside Manorian)

Not to mention the way other relationships would affect them. Chaol, Dorian's brother, and Yrene, Manon's wannabe bestie and Manorian shipper, would bring their baby to meet his/her uncle Dorian and aunt Manon, and imagine Manon with a baby lol.

SJM loves Aelin and other characters way too much not to give us an insight on them as married couples, but since her books are huge and it's her, it needs a plot with drama, addressing traumas, repressed feelings, worldbuilding, and sex, and Manorian's got all of that.

8. Abraxos

We need more Abraxos, that's just a fact.

Wow that was a long one. Anyways, in conclusion, we're getting that Manorian book. Pretty sure it's gonna a book rather than a novella (TOD was also planned as a novella but then guess what) because there is just SO MUCH possible content.

[dgcatanisiri]

I know that I'm on record as hating that Dorian is a rehash of queer pain - y'know, I both need so much more in the form of queer JOY, stories that center on the fact that being queer is a positive thing, and also I think it is actively offensive to try and redeem Halward Pavus, as well as just a bad message to tell people that your family should be forgiven for doing unspeakable cruelties to you just because they're family.

And you know what? Dorian is frustrating because a BETTER version of queer pain was staring them in the face, a story that HASN'T been done to death, and actually could have even SUBVERTED the queer pain narrative.

Have Felix as a companion instead, and, first of all, we have a story of a father who would burn the world down to save his son, even as society would reject him (hey, wouldn't that be revolutionary for a queer character?) and then, once he's part of the Inquisition, center his story on finding a treatment for his Blight sickness, something to extend his life. Make it a metaphor of the old stories about the magical AIDS patient who, with their tragic fate, makes the lives of those around them better, and keep things centered on him, on his pain, and ultimately his relief at getting more time, at how this won't kill him - to keep the metaphor going, it proceeds to show a story of a person who gets that diagnosis and still manages to live their life.

Like I've already long said that Felix has far more claim to being "the Redeemer" of Tevinter than Dorian ever will, because he's been outcasted all his life, being born into the privilege of rank yet denied all the perks because of his lack of magic. This would also make Felix a far better gay character, because it's NOT the exact story we could find in any 1990s after school special, it's a story that makes it about HIM, about how he is handling this.

God, I hate how much Inquisition basically takes the most surface version of so many of its characters and stories, rather than going deeper and exploring them...

[gabilina]

I don't want to hate you or anything but I think you hate Chaol bc you refuse to accept that Celaena/Aelin was also acting shitty towards others. Even other characters in the series did questionable things.

You said this abt Chaol: „i hate the character because he’s prejudice. because he doesn’t accept people for being who they are. because he has this idealistic image of who celaena should be, and then he gets all pissy when she’s not like that.” - Aelin, Rowan and Aedion acted the same way towards Manon and other witches.

The way Chaol acted towards Dorian wasn't good however Celaena herself ended things with Dorian in book 1.

„(…) because he has this idealistic image of who celaena should be, and then he gets all pissy when she’s not like that. He thinks of her as someone that could be the housewife type, who he could have a quiet, normal life with. but that’s never going to happen and he can’t accept that. she’s a queen. she’s got a kingdom to save, she’s got slaves to free and people to avenge and a king to kill, but chaol doesn’t want that. he wants his perfect girl. he wants the celaena that he sees a future with. he wants a best friend who will forget all the bullshit he’s done and be okay with whatever the fuck he wants to screw up next. he’s a child. i feel like he’s the most immature character in the series and he brings the story down A LOT.” - you know that Rowan also showed multiple times that he didn't like when Celaena was strong? He was also mocking her for seeking independence in Queen of Shadows. Also Celaena was the best assassin and while living at glass palace had multiple chances to kïll the King, but eventually she didn't do that instead she was blaming Chaol for doing nothing.

„dorian does accept people for who they are (he found out celaena was aelin and didn’t think “what if she doesn’t want to have sex with me… like ever?” he was like “oh shit what if she tries to kill me?” - a logical reaction).” - y'know in comparison to Chaol, Dorian HAD magic, so it was easier for him to empathise with Aelin's powers. Also Dorian was accepting of others then but he still never chellenged his own father (despite the evidence of his cruelty).

„chaol is still acting like a 15 year old fuckboy.” - Rowan was literary acting that way as he saw Aelin as sex object in Queen of Shadows.

I'm actually curious, not hating, as to why you hate Chaol so much. I see people hate him just because. Like, no valid reasons or anything, they just do, so care to give your reasons?

hey anon! i shared my reasons before and i got attacked for it, but lets try again and hope the fans can be more mature this time around: 

WARNING: read at your own discretion. I am going to rip chaol a new one, and if you like him/chaolaena/anything chaol related, PLEASE DO NOT READ

also heir of fire spoilers

he tries to fit everyone into the mold of what he thinks they should be, he can’t accept people for being who they are (and you can’t love someone if you aren’t willing to accept them). let’s take his prejudice against magic for example and use a more relevant to us application for it. let’s say that he found out that celaena and dorian were both gay. this is something that they were born as, that they can never change, and that is a part of them that the people they love should accept. if this happened in the books and chaol reacted the same way that he does about the magic, the entire fandom would be completely against him. now in the books, there’s magic, and it’s the same principle. dorian and celaena were born this way, they can’t change it, and the people they love should accept this about them, but chaol reacts with disgust. he hates this about them. i get that people say that this is part of his development, seeing that the world isn’t black and white and that people who are different shouldn’t be looked down upon. but there’s a difference between him looking at people this way in general and looking at the people he is close to this way. if he loved dorian before, his magic shouldn’t be such a big deal. so he can go Elsa Mode sometimes. with practice and learning to control it, he won’t be a danger to anyone (not that chaol is actually afraid of the danger dorian’s magic could cause the general public - he hates the magic because it doesn’t fit into this black and white mold) chaol knows that dorian is alone in dealing with this, with celaena being gone and not able to help him, yet he doesn’t try to help his best friend through this. some fans say that the reason he’s so awkward around dorian is because of celaena and that chaolaena is the reason their relationship crumbled, and that’s actually a good point. it’s just another reason why i can’t stand him. celaena was not dorian’s best friend, she was his ex, and he was deeply in love with her. then chaol came in and started dating her, having sex with her IN DORIAN’S HOME (seriously? ew? they couldn’t find a barn somewhere?) celaena is not at fault for this because she can be with who she damn well pleases, but no best friend should ever do this. i’m thinking about my best friend having a relationship with someone i was in love with and i can’t think of the amount of pain that would put me through. i can’t imagine her ever stooping so low. i get that chaol couldn’t help falling in love with celaena, you can’t help who you fall in love with. but acting on it was going too far. why would you toss away your friendship with someone you’ve known for years, when you two are each other’s only true friend, just so you could be with some girl? dorian and chaol’s relationship was one of the best things about the first book and was why i actually liked chaol in book 1 (he was concerned with dorian’s well-being when he saw him and celaena getting closer and that was great because she was an assassin. chaol should DEFINITELY be worried about dorian’s safety around a killer that they barely know). but then in crown of midnight, he completely fucked that up by being with celaena. and he HURT her, so much! in heir of fire, she says that letting go of their relationship was like lifting a shadow off of her heart. if you make your love interest feel like there is blackness on her heart, you have clearly hurt her. anyone who hurts celaena is automatically on my shit list. he sold her out to aedion just to save his own ass (and to anyone who says he did it because he “trusted” aedion at that point needs to hush. he may have trusted him, but that does not give him the right to sell celaena out like that.) it was not his secret to tell, no matter if aedion was her cousin/trustworthy/jesus in disguise. if someone trusts you with a secret, you do not tell people, especially a secret of this magnitude. i know that aedion was good, but what if he hadn’t been? what if he’d just been fucking with chaol, making him think he was a stand up guy but he was really working for the king? what would chaol have done? i don’t hate chaol just because he was with celaena. i don’t hate him because i ship her with other people (or even with her just staying single). i hate the character because he’s prejudice. because he doesn’t accept people for being who they are. because he has this idealistic image of who celaena should be, and then he gets all pissy when she’s not like that. i don’t know if you watch the vampire diaries, but when elena became a vampire, stefan tried super hard to make her human, or at least a “stefan-type” of vampire, just so she could be his perfect girl again. that’s exactly how chaol thinks of celaena. he thinks of her as someone that could be the housewife type, who he could have a quiet, normal life with. but that’s never going to happen and he can’t accept that. she’s a queen. she’s got a kingdom to save, she’s got slaves to free and people to avenge and a king to kill, but chaol doesn’t want that. he wants his perfect girl. he wants the celaena that he sees a future with. he wants a best friend who will forget all the bullshit he’s done and be okay with whatever the fuck he wants to screw up next. he’s a child. i feel like he’s the most immature character in the series and he brings the story down A LOT. i mean, we’ve got growth with all the characters, but it’s been 3 books and he’s still acting like a dick. celaena grew up, realized that she had a destiny to fulfill, and she’s going to get her crown back. dorian (who i always saw as the most logical person in the series) has still grown to see that he can’t spend his days partying and that he really does want to be king so he can make the world a better place. dorian does accept people for who they are (he found out celaena was aelin and didn’t think “what if she doesn’t want to have sex with me… like ever?” he was like “oh shit what if she tries to kill me?” - a logical reaction). rowan was so hardened and detached but in the course of ONE BOOK, he came to care about someone again and was like “HELL YEAH, GIRL, YOU GO GET YOUR KINGDOM BACK” and was celaena’s #1 cheerleader. manon started as a super crazy, man eating witch who didn’t care about anyone, but in the course of ONE BOOK, she was out saving people’s lives. it’s like the characters are all coming of age and chaol is still acting like a 15 year old fuckboy. if you like chaol, for whatever reasons, that’s great for you. but no amount of arguing, disagreeing, hateful messages, insults, or whatever the hell else this fandom decides to spew at me WILL EVER CHANGE MY MIND. i hate him. i will always hate him. if he dies, i will throw a fucking party. disagree with my opinion? fine. but don’t comment and be an asshole. don’t come into my ask box and be an asshole. don’t do what you did the last time someone had the nerve to speak out about your precious shithead. 

[bumblesimagines]

Forgotten Fairytale

Part 2

Request: Yes or No

I'm not afraid of this series not becoming as well loved as Green Thumb and I don't expect it to be popular. I've had the idea stuck in my head for a while and I'm getting it all out.

~

You looked over the artifacts the school had stored. You gave a small scoff, shaking your head as you noticed things that didn’t belong in a school.

“They call us thieves and hoarders yet half this shit was stolen off a corpse.” You muttered, stopping in front of a glass case protecting a sword.

“I wouldn’t suggest stealing that. It’ll be obvious.” You turned towards the redhead, sighing and tilting your head as she walked towards you.

“You’re a pain in the ass.” You looked back at the sword, eyes raking over it. 

“You know what this is?” You asked. Hope stood beside you, looking down at the sword. She shook her head, pursing her lips slightly.

“A man named Lord Jameson Wraith owned this sword. He was… a hunter of sorts and specialized in killing dragons. When he stabbed this through the chest of a dragon, the sword would light up and the dragon would burn from the inside. A gruesome, slow death. We were hunted like all others but it wasn’t just to protect humans. We were hunted for our meat, our teeth, and our scales. Humans declared war on us and when we fought back, we were erased from everyone's minds and deemed fairy tales where we continue to be killed by a so-called knight.” You explained, running your finger over the glass. 

“Some dragons were able to survive Malivore but as soon as they shifted… They were taken. They disappeared and left no trace.” You turned to look at Hope. The redhead stayed silent, a frown etched on her face.

“I’m sorry you lost your father. We’re working on finding Malivore and when we do, there’s a chance you’ll be able to see your father again.” Hope said softly, gaze still trained on the sword. 

“Where’s your mother? Alaric mentioned she was a vampire.”

“I was never able to meet her but.. I believe she’s dead.” You walked around the case, looking back up at Hope. You locked eyes with her, hearing her clear her throat.

“I’m sure she would’ve wanted to be in your life.” Hope offered a small smile, nails gently tapping against the case. 

“Are you being nice to me cause you need to find out more about me?” You asked, head tilting. Hope cocked a brow, eyes rolling as she turned away from you.

“Alaric really doesn’t trust me, does he?”

“He trusts you more than I do, that’s for sure. It’s just too much of a coincidence for you, a dragon, to show up when we’re dealing with monster after monster. If it weren’t for Alaric, I would’ve already done a spell on you.” Hope said as she walked around the room, features hard and serious. 

“A little witch spell wouldn’t work on me. You haven’t been trained to deal with dragons. If I was really one of those monsters, why didn’t I burn the building down and search for whatever it is that you have?” You asked curiously. Hope didn’t answer, thinking for a moment.

“Because you’d need to know if it was hidden.”

“Alaric asked if I felt a pull to this place. I suppose that means I would feel a pull towards the artifact, right?” You slowly walked towards her, a soft chuckle leaving you.

“You can kick and scream all you want, Red. I’m here to stay, whether you like it or not.” You reached out, twirling a strand of her red hair around your finger. Hope grabbed your wrist, pushing your hand away.

“You’re up to something and I’m gonna figure out what it is.” Hope sneered, eyes narrowed. She turned around, walking towards the doors. She almost bumped into a man on her way out, quietly apologizing before moving past him. The man entered the room, clasping his hands together. 

“I’m Dorian Williams, the liberian and occasional substitute teacher.” Dorian introduced himself, finding a table and taking a seat. He motioned for you to sit across from him. You did so, taking a seat and crossing your arms as you eyed him.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, (Y/N). I do have some suspicions that you might be after the artifact but.. You’re a kid. A kid who lost their father and wants answers. I’m not here to interrogate you about your intentions.” Dorian explained, leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed. 

“Do the other students know what I am?” 

“News spread like wildfire here, especially amongst the students so.. Yes, most likely. I can assure you that you’ll be treated like any other student-”

“So, Hope goes around telling every student she’s gonna figure out what they’re up to? No wonder she’s not popular.” Dorian let out a small laugh, shaking his head.

“I promise Hope isn’t always like that. The monster problem we’ve been having has everyone on edge. Do.. Do you know anything about Malivore?” Dorian asked, sitting up and leaning forward. 

“I thought you weren’t gonna interrogate me.” You tilted your head, brow cocked. Dorian hummed softly, nodding. 

“Alright, we can talk about something else. The neck is a dragon's soft spot, right?”

“Depends.” You answered, licking your lips as you reached up to touch your necklace. 

“If a dragon is older and stronger, a hit to the neck isn’t gonna hurt them much. It might piss them off and they could lose their ability to speak or even stop them from breathing fire cause it’ll hurt to do so. We can still kill someone by stepping on them or snacking on them. We were on the top of the fucking food chain and humans just couldn’t deal with that.” 

“I’m not your enemy, (Y/N). I want to believe I can trust you. You’re a child and like all children, you need guidance. I see a lot of rage built up inside you. I can tell from the way you interacted with Hope and from what I heard. Landon and Rafael aren’t your enemies. They’re new and they have a rough past. The first dragon they met wanted to burn them into a pile of ashes so.. I’d say they’re being pretty welcoming.” Dorian held a soft yet stern gaze. It was obvious that he sympathized with you but at the same time, he wasn’t gonna deal with an attitude.

“Tell me about your father. What was he like?” Dorian asked softly. Your gaze dropped to the table, fingers squeezing around the key. 

“I’d appreciate it if everyone could stop talking about him as if he’s dead.” You breathed out, standing up abruptly as your eyes began to sting from tears.

“I don’t need to be welcomed into this school. I’ve been to high school before, I’m not some little kid whose hand needs to be held.” You walked out of the room, heading back to your dorm room. You entered the dorm, shutting the door behind you. You sniffled softly, walking towards the window and opening it. You stepped out, taking a seat on the roof. You brought your knees up to your chest, feeling the wind gently hitting your face. 

“The key to food is passion, remember that (Y/N).”

“I thought it was seasoning.” You grinned as you watched your father cook. He hummed, nodding with a chuckle.

“It is but food from a chef who feels no passion for it will taste bland and bitter. It’s the same with any other job. If you hate it, it’ll show and you’ll only hurt yourself. That’s why I always tell you to look for things you’re interested in.” (F/N) said, handing you a wooden spoon so you could help with stirring the soup.

“What was mom passionate about?”

“Your mother was.. She was a hurricane.” He began, sighing deeply. “She destroyed everything in her path and took down anyone in her way. Not many people have fond memories of her but I saw the good in her. I didn’t love her romantically but I considered her a good friend of mine. I’ll always be grateful to her for giving me the best gift a man could ever have.” You smiled widely, chuckling softly and rolling your eyes. (F/N) smiled softly, leaning over and pressing a kiss to your temple.

“No treasure could ever compare to you.” 

You bit your bottom lip, letting out a shaky sigh. You weren't used to being alone. Your father had always been there to back you up, to support you, and to provide comfort when you needed it.

“Christ, pull yourself together. You come from dragons and a psycho vampire.” You mumbled, carefully going back inside. You picked up the phone, turning it on and waiting for it to power on completely. You responded to a text, watching a call pop up. You clicked the green button and held the phone up to your ear.

“I thought you said it was stupid to be in contact.” You took a seat on the bed.

“Yeah, well, I was expecting you to be back by now. You do know your fathers return lies in your hands, right? Only I can help you get him back but I’ll only do that if you give me what I need.”

“I have a plan-”

“Speed up that plan before I change my mind, (Y/N). While you were on your way to the school, I bumped into some of your new friends. They were a redhead and an older man. I believe the girl went by the name Jessica but I doubt it was her real name.” You let out a deep sigh, head tilting upwards. Hope Mikaelson was gonna be a real pain in the ass.

“Yeah, I’ve met the redhead.” You breathed out, dropping your head and pinching the bridge of your nose. 

“I just need you to relax, Ryan. I’ve got it handled but I really don’t need you fucking things up for me. You just keep up your end of the deal and I’ll keep up mine. You might be able to save my father but I can also keep you from helping yours.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a fact. Don’t bother me again unless it’s an emergency.” You pulled the phone away from your ear despite Ryan continuing to talk. You hung up and tossed the phone to the side, burying your face in your hands. 

“Am I paying for my mothers crimes?” You whispered. You flinched when you heard two knocks on the door, standing up and approaching it. You opened the door, staring at Josie.

“What do you want, baby face?” You asked with a frown, looking down at the ice cream tub in her hands. Josie’s brows furrowed at the nickname but she ignored it, choosing to raise the tub. 

“I.. I kind of eavesdropped on you and Dorian and saw you rush out. Ice cream always makes me feel better when I’m feeling down, so I brought you some.” Josie shrugged lightly. You blinked, opening your mouth but nothing came out. 

“If you don’t like ice cream then I could see if-”

“Thanks.” You cut her off, watching her relax and give a small smile. Josie nodded, perking up when you stepped aside so she could enter. Josie looked around the room, humming. 

“If you want, we could go shopping for some decorations tomorrow after school.” Josie said, moving one hand under her skirt as she sat down. You nodded, taking a seat beside her and subtly turning the phone off. Josie opened the lid of the tub, handing you a spoon and giving a small shy smile.

“Well, Welcome to Salvatore School. I’m pretty sure dad is still figuring out your class schedule.” 

“Dad?”

“Oh, uhm, the headmaster is my dad.” Josie shrugged, digging her spoon into the ice cream. Your brows raised, a small smile spreading across your face. 

“Really? You look nothing like him.. Which is a big compliment.” You grinned as Josie let out a soft giggle. Things were definitely starting to look up.

[tomtenadia]

Blind mistake

Rowaelin month - day 8

So, this fic was fighting me at the beginning. as I started, deleted and restarted a million times.

Then slowly the idea came and here it is. What I was not expecting was to write a A Little Braver AU.

Aelin and Rowan meet under different circumstances and are two different people from thee actual story. Aelin is still the captain at east station and Rowan still the airforce captain.

Yes, this is a happier fic but as Aelin said in KoA... she loved Rowan because it was him, the man who had known pain as deep as hers.

IN order to enjoy this fic you do not need to have read ALB. A part from Pete popping up for a brief second at the end, this is a complete stand alone story and no knowledge of ALB is needed.

Rowan sighed. His love life sucked so much that he ended up using a dating app. Since Lyria dumped him a year before he had been struggling to go back in the game. He had been on a few dates but so far none of the women he met had sparked his curiosity. Far too bland and with almost no personality or far too bothered by looks. Some of them had been downright stupid and he had been a gentleman and played along when all he wanted to do was run away screaming. The last nightmare had been a woman called Remelle who Lorcan had recommended to him. He had to feign food poisoning and pay the chef to let him escape from the back of the restaurant to flee the monster. He had paid the bill sneakily, and once home he had insulted Lorcan and his poor taste in women.

Now he was again in a restaurant, ready for probably another fiasco. He and the woman had chatted a bit and she had seemed interesting so he had dared to ask her out and she had accepted. On the paper it was all good. In reality he was getting ready for another crazy escape. Maybe he should just give up and live alone and become a grumpy old man.

He had a kingsflame on the table near him, their code to recognise each other at the restaurant. The fact that they knew very little about each other made him nervous. It was a recipe for disaster. He knew she was a personal shopper and that she liked movies and music. He was really dreading the encounter now, and started to realise that perhaps it had been a mistake. She could have lied.

Until he raised his head and he noticed the woman who had just entered the restaurant. He then spotted the flower pinned on her green dress as they had agreed. Gods, the woman was way too hot for him. There was a catch somewhere. His heart raced when realisation dawned on her face and she waved and started to walk to him. The smile. Damn, the smile could stop a man’s heart. The woman walking toward him was a goddess. He was expecting her to turn away for another table until she sat down in front of him at his table. Rowan was speechless.

“Sorry, I am late. Accident on the ring road. I stopped to give a hand to west station.” She used her hand to brush off the smudge of grease he had only just noticed she had.

“You stopped?”

“Yes,” she looked at him with a strange light in her eyes “I am a firefighter. I am the captain at east station.”

Rowan blinked twice. Shit. She was the wrong woman. She was not here for him. Of course. It was too good to be true. She had sat at the wrong table and a part of him was sad.

“I am Aelin.” she said and he knew that it had dawned on her as well that he was not her date “You are not Chaol.”

Rowan shook his head “I am Rowan.”

“Holy shit. I saw the kingsflame. The restaurant. And you smiled at me when I came in. I just assumed...” He did not want her to go. 

“Ach, I was having second thoughts anyway.” He shrugged.

In that moment the waiter came and they were hesitant for a moment then Aelin grabbed the menu and started ordering, surprising him. Rowan got some wine for both and they placed as well their order.

“Our dates are late anyway. Maybe stuck in the horrendous traffic out there.”

“You will not hear me complain.” Said Rowan with a smile “so, you stopped and helped?”

Aelin nodded, sipping a bit of her wine “I couldn’t resist it. West station was there but there were so many cars involved that I had to something. The traffic wasn’t moving anyway.”

Rowan could not believe the woman in front of him. Not only she was a goddess. She had even stopped to help her colleagues save people from a car crash on her way to a date. Where had she been all his life?

The waiter came with their order and smiled at the expression of joy when Aelin looked at the amount of food in front of her. Another point for her. She had an appetite. He had no need of another date ordering a boring salad. He was a healthy eater but loved a woman with an appetite, especially because he loved cooking.

“So Rowan, what do you do?” She asked him while tackling the gigantic prawn on her seafood tagliatelle.

“I am an airforce pilot. I am a captain.”

Her face lit up “as in the uniform and all? And the awesome planes?”

Rowan nodded.

Aelin was about to take another sip of her wine when two figures stopped at their table. A brown-haired man and a blonde woman. Both had a kingsflames pinned on their dresses.

“Excuse me but you are with my date.” Said the stranger.

Rowan looked up from his risotto “finders keepers.”

“And he is my date.” Said the woman in a shrill voice.

“What he said.” Added Aelin while eating another prawn.

“We got stuck in traffic. There is a massive road accident on the ring road.” Chaol complained, not letting it go.

“Yeah I know. I stopped to help and I still made it here before you.”

“So what does this mean?” Asked Chaol.

Aelin stared at Rowan. It was a no brainer. Chaol was cute but Rowan was sex on two legs. Between the silver hair and the green eyes he ticked all of the boxes. And he was a pilot. Chaol was an accountant.

“You two can go on a date together.” She suggested and hoped they took the hint.

“That is rude.”

“Oh shoot,” said Aelin covering her mouth in fake surprise “I must have left the fucks I have to give in my bunker gear.”

Chaol looked at her aghast. The blonde woman turned on her heels and left.

“You missed an opportunity.” He added before he left as well.

As soon as he left Rowan burst into laughter and she joined him “no fucks to give…” he said trying to catch his breath “I have to steal this when my CO drives me nuts.”

“Ansel, one of my firefighters, she taught me that.”

“It’s fucking perfect.” 

And both resumed their dinner without the awkwardness of a blind date. No stupid questions like how many siblings do you have or what is your favourite colour. No, with Rowan there had been a connection from the start and the joke had been the final proof.

“Most guys would have left running at my joke. I have a big and foul mouth. Not very lady-like.” She apologised. “I work in a male dominated place. Apart from Ansel and my two paramedics, I am surrounded by guys and well, they are not easily scared.”

Rowan chuckled “I am in the military. My CO uses fuck you as a term of endearment and one of my lieutenants has the record for the most innuendos in a sentence.”

“How many?” Asked Aelin curios.

“Ten.”

“No friggin’ way.”

Rowan nodded solemnly. Then looked at her and he was glad she sat at his table mistaking him for another man. They had known each other only for twenty minutes but he was dumbstruck by the woman.

She was fierce, intelligent and with a wicked sense of humour.

The meal had been perfect. Aelin had polished every single plate in front of her and also ordered dessert. And when she offered to pay for half the bill he had smiled. He had plenty of dates where the woman didn’t even offer. She took it for granted that he, being the man, was the one paying. He had no issues with that, he was happy to pay, but the fact that Aelin offered made him realise that she was different.

They left the restaurant and he gasped when he saw a red pickup reading Terrasen fire department on its livery, parked just outside the restaurant.

“Way to scare the patrons away.” He joked.

“Sorry. Yesterday I took a lift to work from a colleague and I forgot for a moment that I had a set the date for tonight after my shift. So I grabbed my work pickup to get here. I need to go back to the firehouse and return it.”

“I’ll follow, you drop off the pickup and then I drive you home.”

“I can take a cab, you don’t have to come all the way to the station and back.”

“Humour me,” he said giving her a beautiful smile and she accepted.

Ten minutes later they were at east station and she parked the pickup in its corner at the side and out of the way.

She saw Rowan getting off the car.

“Welcome to east station.” She said extending her arms. She pushed a button and the rolling doors slid up and two big trucks appeared in front of him. He had always wanted to see one up close.

“Cap,” said a man at her back “what are you doing here? I thought you were on a date?” He smiled “that bad? I told you accountants were a bad idea.”

Aelin laughed “looks like I got myself an airforce pilot instead.” She winked at him and Rowan’s heart skipped a beat.

“I’ll tell you next shift, Pete. I just brought back the pickup before Dorian kills me.”

She waved at her relief captain and followed Rowan in his car and told him her address.

While he drove she studied him. He was wearing a nice pair of jeans, a shirt and a black leather jacket. She should have guessed he was military. Aedion had the same posture and he was ex-army.

“Which house?” Asked Rowan, waking her up from her thoughts.

“The one with the blue door.”

He parked and walked with her up to the door “I had so much fun tonight,” she said to him, not wanting him to leave her.

“I am so glad that you sat at the wrong table. This was the best blind date ever.” He looked at her and wanted to kiss her so badly but they had just met and he did not want to pass a a pig.

She moved a step toward him “I am glad too.” And her lips brushed his cheek in a kiss “perhaps we could go on a proper date. One where we are actually meant to meet each other.”

Rowan sighed relieved “It would make me very happy.”

Aelin rummaged in her bag until she found a pen then grabbed his wrist and pulled up his cuff a bit and wrote down two numbers.

“The first one is my personal mobile number. The second one is the direct number to my office. I am known to leave my mobile in my bunker gear.”

“Thank you.”

“Let me know a date and if I am not free we can find a better one. Us firefighters have crazy long shifts so I need to be off.”

He took her pen and her wrist and wrote his number “then you text me. A day that you are off shift. I work regular hours. This makes more sense.”

He took a step down from the few step and she hated the idea of him leaving.

“Goodnight, Rowan.” She opened the door and looked at him one last time.

Rowan waited for her to disappear behind the door and then went back to his car and was grateful for the best blind mistake of his life.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Can we take a moment to talk about what a tragic character Minerva is? Y’all know that for the longest time I haven’t been the biggest fan of her, and honestly I’m still not? but I think I might’ve had a breakthrough on why that is. 

Whenever I’ve asked around to see why people find her so appealing or why they consider her their favorite, I’ll get answers like, “she’s such a complex character and she deserved a redemption arc!” or “she should’ve come back to the school with us! Let Minnie be happy, you cowards! Telltale did her dirty! I could write paragraph after paragraph about her!” all sorts of things along those lines… but like, no one seems to want to actually talk about her. I find that interesting? Since when I do follow up with a “care to explain further?” I get nothing. Radio static. Like…. no, talk to me please, I just wanna understand-

Minerva within the context of TFS is such a tragedy. She grew up in a school for troubled youth where all the adults left them for death at the start of the breakout, they had walkers trying to eat the living all around them, and I’m sure she saw her fair share of traumatic violence and despair… but on the bright side, she always had her twin sister, Sophie, and little brother, Tenn. She had her friend and eventual girlfriend, Violet. She had music, and a dorm full of pretty paintings done by Sophie. She and Louis composed a song together to make everyone feel better. There are worse places to live than the school. 

Then one day she got traded away to a bunch of raiders against her will, having no idea what the hell these people were gonna do to her and Sophie. They were made to be soldiers to fight in a war that had nothing to do with them. The delta fucking broke her. If we’re to believe Lilly’s story about the twins, they started their brainwashing process early on when Sophie was still alive, and it seems like Minerva was easier to control as Sophie was still planning a way out and causing trouble. Then, when Sophie convinced her to steal a boat and get the hell out, they got caught and the delta forced her to murder her own twin sister. 

Like…. I’m sorry, not only did Minerva kill her own sister, but she was made to believe that was the right thing to do? That line she says about how she had to prove her loyalty to the place she calls home? That shit’s ingrained in her brain, you can tell that isn’t the first time she’s heard or said that very thing. That is what made her family to the delta. Delta is her home now, her family. Sophie was just a thing that needed to be dealt with. You keep your head down, do as you’re told, and you survive.  You survive and you get to go home, eat a hot meal, take a shower, and be with your delta family.  If not, you end up like Sophie.

What’s also fucked is that Minerva actually cares about these people now. Think about that. After everything they did to her and made her do, she’s been trained to see them as her family and obey. When you save Louis and he kills Dorian, Minerva actually cries out and is visibly hurt by her death. When she’s with the other raiders on land, she's screaming at walkers to get away from them. She cares about the people who made her kill Sophie… and no one ever talks about that??

She fucking hates Clementine. Clementine is just another thing in Minnie’s way. I know the part of the fandom likes to ship these two together and they think it’s hot when they fight and shit, but within the canon text, Minerva wants Clementine gone. Dead. She is the thing stopping her from having her old family merge with her new family. If Clementine hadn’t made them fight, they all would’ve been captured and they’d all be a delta family now. She would’ve had Tenn back. 

Clementine is the problem, she made everyone fight back and that’s why people are dead. Minerva hates her for it… it’s not a “I hate you but like the sexual tension, y’know?” that I see people pretend it is, it’s “you are ruining everything and if I have to, I will kill you myself and I won’t give a second thought about it when they toss your body overboard.”

Like….. seriously, think about how fucked up all of this is. Minerva is a husk of who she was before she was taken away. Sure, you do have to keep in mind that when Tenn and Violet are describing her, their sights are a bit clouded, y’know? But I do believe that she was someone who was kind and cared about people, she wanted to make people feel safe and comforted. 

Now she’s a brainwashed soldier who won’t help the people she used to call friends when they’re about to get limbs cut off. She won’t hesitate to knock someone unconscious or threaten a child.  She’s willing to trick them into being captured with no regard for what’s going to happen to them. … all she knows is this was the mission, and now they all get to be together again back at the delta. 

Then when she finds out there’s a bomb on the boat, she ditches Violet to blow up with it in order to make it to land herself. She loses her shit seeing everyone die and gets her face chewed off by a walker… and then she tries to blow Clementine and AJ up with a grenade. 

Oh, and who can forget the fact that she tracks the group down with plans of murdering Tenn so that they can go to a better place together? And she’ll take down anyone who gets in her way?

Like….. jesus christ, Minerva’s waaaaay too far gone. It’s awful. 

I think that’s what stumps me about why she’s so loved in the way that she is. It’s not that I don’t understand why she’s complex and well-written, I get that perfectly fine. She’s a compelling character study when you comb over all her scenes and take different factors into account.

What I don’t understand is why we tend to just throw everything interesting about her away? For what? 

These days, I never see anyone talking about any of this unless they’re insisting she deserved a redemption arc which…. Eh, I’ll touch on this later. What I mostly see here and mostly other platforms is how great it would be if she and Clementine made out, or hey what if she and Violet got back together if she did come back to the school? Or they just….the best term I have for this is “uwu-ify.” As in she’s reduced to a caricature of a tall, pretty, mean, white lesbian who has “good damage.” 

People insist that Telltale are cowards or bastards because their predictions of her turning on the delta to save Clem and crew didn’t happen. Instead, Minerva ends up being the final baddie you gotta get away from, and she ends up taking someone down with her. But did you really expect to just do a 180 and suddenly decide being brainwashed for over a year was lame and Clementine and friends are cool? Gonna help them out and be with Tenn again? Sure, there’s some left over trauma but love conquers and fixes everything, right?

Uh…. no? That’s not how people work? Honestly, if we entertain the idea that Minerva wasn’t bit and somehow didn’t murder Clementine when they all got back to the school…. romance is the last thing she is ever gonna think of??

I think that’s what bothers me most when reading these au’s and rants about redemption and the entire idea of clemerva as a whole. It’s the same thing that I see happen with Violet- Minerva only has value to fans if she’s in a wlw relationship. By herself, she doesn’t matter. They don’t care about her canon story, they don’t care about Sophie, they don’t care about discussing what could’ve happened if she and Tenn reunited under better circumstances or had a healing recovery together. But why?

Throwing a girlfriend at her isn’t some band aid that’s gonna cover up all the bad she went through?? Having an enemies to lovers romance with Clementine isn’t going to fix a years worth of brainwashing, trauma or the fact that she murdered her own sister and the delta told her she's proved her worth to them?? 

Having the support of those around her is a good thing, don’t get me wrong. The idea of the Ericson crew as a whole trying to help her out and do the best they can to accommodate her is bittersweet since there’s only so much they can do. They’re not trained therapists, which is what Minerva would need and plenty of years ahead of her to work through and come to terms with everything that happened as well as taking steps forward. I’m not saying that she shouldn’t have friends or that she couldn’t have a healthy romantic relationship someday... but that isn’t the solution, y’know? 

I don’t know how else to explain this, but it makes me feel weird that all of this stuff is flat out overlooked or doesn’t appear to matter to fans of her. 

Look, I get it. We all want these characters to be happy. AU’s are a thing, after all. Sometimes we want to forget about the bad things and focus on the good that bring us comfort. You wanna gush about the idea of an AU where the twins never got traded, the raiders didn’t exist, and Clementine got to meet them the way they were before? I feel that, AU’s are super comforting and fun to explore, and my point isn’t to try and shame anyone who has an AU you like this. 

Hell, you think I don’t have days where I pretend mute Louis isn’t a thing because the whole concept of Louis having his tongue cut out of his mouth breaks my fucking heart? No, lot’s of days I just want to forget everything about that route, I want to set aside all the bad and just intake as much clouis fluff as I can get…. But that doesn’t mean I always ignore or refuse to acknowledge the bad just because I don’t like it. I fucking hate the fact that Louis loses his tongue when you don’t save him, but guess what? That’s a canon route you can play, just like any other route, and the possibilities that come with a mute Louis are vast and compelling. 

This is how it is for me… my favorite characters are my favorite for a reason, and I take all the bad with the good. Louis isn’t perfect, and I don’t want him to be. I was to dive into his backstory about why did that to his parents, I like to talk about what he went through with Marlon’s murder and his feelings about AJ and Clementine at the point, I like to view his love of music as bittersweet. He can stand on his own, and while he is a love interest for Clementine, that isn’t his only purpose. 

I know everyone’s different, they express their love for characters in their own ways, but I do have a genuine question: do you guys actually like Minerva?

Believe it or not, I’m not trying to step on toes or make everyone feel defensive which I know is how people will react to this. “You’re just saying all of this to make us feel bad for shipping clemerva! You don’t even like Minnie so you don’t get to say shit!” yeah yeah, I hear you and look, it’s true that she’s not my favorite character. I know I’ve said I hate her in the past but upon reflection and throwing out fandom interpretations.... I don’t hate her. I get it now. She’s a great character study to dissect and analyze and I think she deserves more than what the writers and the fandom have given her. 

And yeah, what I do hate is clemerva, and I’ve explained why. It’s not for me, it makes me uncomfortable, but at the end of the day, who cares? Me not liking it doesn’t mean anything to those who create AU’s for them. They have their reasons, they can do as they please as long as they’re not hurting anyone. I’m just here pointing out things I see and things that bother me in hopes of starting a discussion.

There’s my ramble about Minerva. I’m gonna go make some tea now.