#do i mean fierrochase or blitzstone

[twasforresearch]

mcga fandom have you considered: good omens au

[thekeeperofbalance]

so while writing my prev post (here) i was reminded of how much i dislike a lot of the canon relationships

mainly bc i'm a person with an excellent eye for unhealthy dynamics (i have much experience with them, but also i'm just very good at detecting power imbalances in relationships) and i felt like discussing them.

keep in mind, i'm fine with ppl who ship (i ship quite a few as well) these. i am just not fine with them being written like they were in canon, because they were deeply unhealthy.

warning: discussions of unhealthy relationships, death relating to valhalla's to-the-death activities (alluded to), abuse, (and because i don't want people clamoring unless they have questions and want me to clarify things, which i am perfectly happy to do, unless your rude) discussions of popular riordanverse ships being toxic/abusive/unhealthy

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to start: percabeth.

i'll be honest---i haven't ever read hoo, and i never will. i just don't have the patience for it. but when ppl can quote lines abt a relationship being at least toxic, and at most abusive?? i get pushed off any ship real quick.

homes will discuss unhealthy relationships, will display the characters working through the problems presented within their relationships as they grow throughout the story. but i will never, ever, write an endgame toxic and/or abusive ship.

i loved percabeth in the pjo books, for the most part---even if i think it kind of overshadows all the other amazing ships out there, other than solangelo, for the most part. i'm not leaving solangelo out of this either.

anyways, i won't write endgame percabeth. that's just not gonna happen. they'll stay friends, and i've honestly preferred it that way for a long while. they just don't really fit together. i wasn't planning for them to stay together (you will see them together, but there will be some identity shenagins that annabeth will have to realise and imma be going through canon's mess, as well), because of an idea i've had for a while, that eventually birthed the ace-/aro-spec chase joke (magnus in homes is ace, natalie is aro, etc)

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next: solangelo.

so, something i noticed when reading toa, is that will carries a lot of the emotional burden in his relationship with nico. i mean, he's fucking keeping him alive!! that's not something your partner should have to do. and by that i mean, your partner should not have to bear the burden of being the only thing keeping you alive---that's a fuck-ton of emotional labour, and i will give nico points for seeking some help, but i'm still re-working their relationship.

please do note that almost every relationship change spirals from my main relationship change of alex and magnus's healthy, consensual, and very queer, but not necessarily "typical" to society relationship. most of these characters have never really had a healthy relationship in their faces during their childhoods---i mean, percy has paul and sally, but their relationship is later, and they don't exactly push boundaries to make people reconsider their relationships and emotions. (i.e. alex and magnus are in a non-heterosexual, completely non-sexually-intimate (except for the very rare kiss on the lips, but it never gets further than that), healthy relationship that has extremely close ties to the kids in question)

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fierrochase.

so, i absolutely adore fierrochase. i think they are, honestly, one of the healthiest relationships displayed within the entire riordanverse (they bow to carter & zia. blitzstone, sam & amir, hazel & frank (i think), and partially sadie x waltnubis which is only partial bc they have problems to work out, btw) that are majorly present and that i consistently remember bc i have adhd shit memory.

but i also must recognise, because this is a point i wish to make for later on, that any dynamic based upon killing your partner is unhealthy. no, i don't care that they can resurrect, that is still fucking traumatising. i will mention that them killing each other/magnus constantly being killed by alex is a mostly fandom-specific plot, so congrats, rick, there's one healthy relationship that's canon (and there are quite a few other ones, but i'm mainly pointing out the idealised ones).

they respect each other's boundaries, are learning about each other, and are taking their time to figure out their relationship. it's not really shown in canon---mainly because we get so little time with alex and magnus in a more-than-friends capacity, but we still see a lot of equal ground between the two of them. which is fucking important.

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anyways: mallory x halfborn.

y'know the comment i made about dynamics based upon killing your partner are unhealthy a paragraph ago? yeah, this is what i was talking about.

one of the biggest bases, if mallory and halfborn were real, of their relationship would be fear. mainly because you would fear your killer. yeah, you can get desensitized to it, but you shouldn't have to become numb to fear of your partner just to continue being with them. no one is at fault here, and i will show that in the one-shot that discusses mallory & halfborn's relationship. i'm kind of horrified that their relationship is a thing that exists. i mean, can you imagine never knowing when your partner will just to decide to kill you, and did, and has?? even if you can't die permamently, that fear would stick.

especially in homes, where the battle scars stay. magnus will have a scar on their neck from the one time (just the once, and they discussed it afterwards), all of them have scars. (why i changed this will be part of another post.)

i can't write a relationship like that. one of homes' largest themes is healing, is growth, is escaping unhealthy thought patterns and relationships. the song that backs the entire series is don't panic by coldplay, if you wish to know the ideas i'm aiming to represent.

jason & piper, and calypso & leo are also problematic but not generally idealised within the books or by the fandom, and i can cover them later because i don't see much about them (personally) and because i am running out of steam.

lark, out.

[caius-hhhhhh]

following up on this fanfic emoji ask game: I know this is not the general convention but i tend to like responding to an ask game all at once rather than waiting for prompts. so I’ve just answered every single one of the questions below the cut. Again, if you wanna play or use the game for your own purposes, please do! you don’t have to repeat my strategy, although you’re free to do so too.

i was about to say “this is a bunch of autofellating nonsense” but that’s the point. who cares. i wrote a lot about disability. if your mental illness also significantly impacts your ability to write, this might be triggering.

I’m still a baby ao3 user (@ is spitemonger) with only one published fic (it’s Zutara. It’s not that I’m not proud of it but I wrote it on a deadline and thus spent a lot of the creative process going “i don’t want to i don’t want to”). but a) I have generally been writing since I was a teenager, and b) I want to write more and publish more.

So I’ll be mostly referring to unpublished wips, with a primary focus on a long-form one-sided radiostatic fic covering Vox’s fall to Stayed Gone, and a minor focus on two shelved Magnus Chase (PJO spin-off) fics, one for Fierrochase and one for Blitzstone. [if you haven’t read Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgaard get the fuck on it, there’s a genderfluid character]

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

my entire trunk novel? If I’m embarrassed by a scene I delete it during edits. So the only thing I’m even minorly embarrassed by is the fandom-specific plot I wrote by the seat of my pants (Magnus goes to Camp Half-Blood) — I’ll get more into that in a later question

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

love that this emoji doesn’t fucking register on my computer. I’ve never thought about this before! It’s hard for my own writing to get me emotional, I tend to look at it so clinically and dispassionately I kind of get caught off-guard when people say an emotional moment hit them. I do get very easily fucked by other people’s writing about transness. No prizes for guessing why, characters exploring their own gender and other people telling them they see them as their proper gender always get me feeling some type of way. calam4r1’s comic about Alastor’s “what have you done to me” makes my heart EXPLODE

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

I am exceedingly proud of this Cave Johnson-ass line: “All projects, collaborations, products, and endorsements featuring or even vaguely mentioning that crimson ass’s likeness are to be liquidated. And burned. In fact, trap and seal the gases from the fire, freeze them back into liquid, and then burn them again.”

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

Oh fuck yes. It is a major twist that I’d be stupid to spoil, but! There is a red herring at the start of my current fic that you don’t get resolution for until three-quarters of the way through. It involves Vox’s real name.

✍ Do you have a beta reader?

My close associate SpaceWall is a fan-fucking-tasting editor who understands my need for my writing to be completely eviscerated. She has the balls to tell me when I’ve got a shite idea, and I could not ask for a better editor. Go fucking read her fics and tell her she’s excellent. On the subject, I really like editing and am fully open to reading your work. I’ve a slightly longer post about it here but please reach out to me if you’d like me to look at anything you have.

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

Disability. It’s well and truly quite hard to find a story that doesn’t deal with disability — hell, it’s hard to find a human that doesn’t have a relationship with disability — but it’s something canon so frequently either tacitly ignores or doesn’t pick up on. If I’m going to do anything in a fic, it’s explicate the characters’ canon disabilities or headcanon new ones. This is my favourite part of Cold Bodies btw, and basically the only part I wrote without explicit prompting. It’s in the last subsection if you don’t want to read the 8k words of prep

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

idk man I’m really bad at pacing so even if the content is whack I go about it too slowly to really shock anyone

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

fuck off.

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

Love the implication that I don’t fall asleep every night fantasising about a thousand different first kiss scenarios.

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I’m very picky when it comes to listening to music while I write. I can’t think about words if the song I’m listening to also has words, nor if it has a really tangible melody that I want to follow along with. So I need really slow, atmospheric music without a real tune. Undertale genocide themes are actually fucking excellent for this, I’d highly recommend them. I’ve created a massive fuck-off OSRS playlist (on itunes, not spotify, so I can’t share it, sorry) basically comprised of the entire Portal 2 soundtrack (special fucking shoutout to The Friendly Faith Plate, which is SO VOX CODED YOU DON’T HAVE ANY IDEAAAA) and Sim Gretina’s electro swing (Enemy Like Me is my favourite), plus Kira’s Piece of Art and Dua Saleh’s mOth. The first because it’s giving Vox’s obsession with Alastor, and the second because, duh.

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

I’m a google docs hoe. I know I shouldn’t be, but fuck man, I know how it works. It feels natural when my writing is on there. I’ve tried Scrivener and it made me angry. What the fuck ever And “tools”, that’s really funny — I’m the type of grad student that does all my citations manually because switching to Zotero is weird and scary. I know how to do it manually! Why would I ever accept help for something I know how to do?? (< ocpd symptom)

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

The world doesn’t fucking need any more Nico di Angelo fics. It really doesn’t. There’s plenty. He’s a skinny white boy, he’s got the entire internet in the palm of his hand. You wanna compete with Robin? Really? You wanna do that to yourself? I don’t even have catholic guilt, I’ve got nothing to add

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

SpaceWall and I are irl friends, but we hold each other’s secrets in equal regard. The secret is that she is a good writer and I’m a poet I wouldn’t actually mind if people I knew irl found and read my fics. It’s just writing. I don’t find anything to object in it, and in fact I’d like it if I could talk about Hazbin with other people irl. I would hate it if people I know irl found my tumblr, but that’s principally because I’m significantly more open about my ocpd here. I’m not a person on the internet, I’m just words and a drawing. You haven’t seen the kinds of fucked up shit I do in front of my peers that would suddenly Make A Lot Of Sense if they knew I had a FUCKING personality disorder.

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

The Blitzstone origin wip, which is mostly “ostracised gay dwarf learns ASL because he saved this dying elf’s life”. come to think of it the first chapter of that fic is technically perfect and there’s very little stopping me from putting it the fuck on ao3 and abandoning it for three years before coming back. huh. i might… just do that.

🍷 Do you drink and write?

Always. It turns the judgemental part of my brain off and I have a much easier time making things and getting ideas down. Such a shame I don’t smoke too! I’ve tried writing whilst high and it was not writing. It was in fact lying back and rereading 666

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

“the spicy stuffs” porn is the word you’re looking for. You can say it. It’s four letters. The internet police won’t get you. See look, porn porn sex penis tits ass fucking Writing erotica was a really instrumental part of unlearning the self-destructive writing habits that made me suicidal scrap my original work. My initial intention was that because it’s erotica, it’s not for other people: it’s for me. And having that barrier of “this is not for other people to see” was liberating and necessary — I turned it off eventually, because erotica is not something to be so ashamed of that no eyes but yours can look upon it — but I needed to force myself to write something that I couldn’t imagine being scrutinised and therefore needed to be Purposeful and Say Something.

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

11pm–2am is when I get my best work done. Unfortunately, I write the most frequently between 1–3pm because I have the energy and motivation to, but those are Self Doubt Hours and I have a hard time getting into the swing of things I actually have the best writing luck when I get up early but that’s not gonna fucking happen

💖 What made you start writing?

In general, pathology, but I’ve kind of made that clear already. What made me want to write a Hazbin fic was seeing how exceptionally creative this fandom is and how much fun people seemed to be having sharing their ideas. I feel like in the circles I’m running in, there’s not a lot of pressure to make Good Art, and it’s… not really a big deal if your work gets a lot of attention or not. Everyone seems to be getting the same tone of feedback, all cheer and encouragement, and the vibe to me seems really casual and fun. I’m not thinking to myself “how will I compete with these other authors”, but “I wonder if the user I idolise will see and like my work”. And the answer is often yes. It’s not just that people are creating and playing so freely, it’s that it feels like a lot of us are here to support one another, and that’s been really reassuring. Because I feel like people will like anything I put out

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

I was about to say “anything related to pregnancy, thinking about my uterus makes me nauseous” but I uh. Wrote about a miscarriage. So I guess writing about a wanted pregnancy is the real limit

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

This is a super interesting question I haven’t seen spoken about very widely: it is considered extremely normal to commission fanart, but whenever the subject comes up, people seem incredibly reticent to ever commission fanfiction. I’m not fully sure why — in principle, it seems like there should be no real distinction in paying for fanart versus paying for fanfic. They’re both derivative work, they’re both made by enthusiastic artists who deserve to be compensated for their thousands of hours of expertise. I’m not certain what causes the disconnect. I have seriously toyed with the idea of doing podfics for money. I am in fact a professionally trained actor, and I own a USB microphone; which puts me ahead of like 50% of all of AO3’s userbase. Not sure if I’d fully commit to the idea because it’s still rather contentious. Were I to read my entire fic out loud I would put it behind a patreon though. It is in fact a very labour-intensive process, and again, I do have professional training.

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

Hoo boy.

this is my fic folder. For most fics I write, I have a draft document and a research document: I’ve colour-coded the related documents: so dark green and dark green are the draft and research, pink and pink are both parts of the same project, etc. Let’s compare the word count in each of these draft documents and research documents, shall we? The dark green draft is 8k; its research document is 16k. The pink document is Cold Bodies. Including the html coding and my author’s notes, it’s edging on 13k. Its research document is 8k. It’s the only fic I’ve completed. The light purple draft is 21.5k. Its research is 96k! The light green draft rather conspicuously titled “botw script” is in fact a script, not prose, so it’s only about 4k. Its research, which is in fact titled “I don’t like botw’s story”, is 25k. The dark purple draft is a rather tragic 6k. Its two research documents are a combined 104k!!! One of the documents is called, rather tellingly, “I think I like research more than I like writing.”

My research process involves a not insignificant amount of textual analysis. For Cold Bodies, it looked something like this:

I haven’t done a lot of that kind of work for Hazbin because most info is fanon or only vaguely canon-adjacent, but I have compiled a list of headcanons many of you have put out into the world.

that’s gabrielsbubblegumbitch’s post and soot-and-salt’s And Not From Head To Toe. The other significant form of research I do is scour books I think are interesting or relevant so I can take plot or thematic inspiration from them. Previously, I’ve combed through Creating A Champion (and cannot recommend the experience. it’s kind of racist 😬) and made a fic a loose parody of Emma so I could fall back on its plot when I needed inspiration. For this Vox fic I’m rereading David Sedaris’ When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Eden Robinson’s Traplines (the last short story has a Monkey Beach spoiler, read that first), Catcher in the Rye, The Chocolate War, and, for some reason, Cary Elwes’ As You Wish.

🏆 What's your most popular fic?

Only got one. Shoutout to grownupchangeling for fucking SPRINTING into my inbox to ask for the answer to this question, really admire their(?) tenacity and dedication to squatting in my notifs like a spider in the corner

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

Never really crossed my mind. I do like a good beach fic, and anything set in winter makes me happy, but I’m not a massive holiday story enjoyer.

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

I spoke about this a bit in response to soot, but if your readers are able to accurately guess a plot point or twist it means you have done it successfully. It means you have given your readers the tools to reach the same conclusion you did: and those tools are foreshadowing, atmosphere, subtext, and tension. Those are how a twist or beat feel that they belong in the narrative, because they gel with everything that has come before it. It in fact should be the author’s goal for readers to be able to guess the twist! It’s not that it should be blindingly obvious, but more that a seed should exist somewhere that smart readers (which are all readers!) should be able to see it and notice when it takes root.

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

Who doesn’t like fan art? Who’s the fucking Anne Rice of AO3 that’s going to be like “you may read my fic but do Not make art inspired by mine” literally who does that

📈 How many fics do you have?

Guess.

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

I outline wherever possible. How detailed the outline is depends on the scene rather than the fic: “Vox goes house hunting” is in fact a very very long scene and a scene that amounts to two pages might well be described beat-by-beat in the outline. Pants-writing gets me incredibly stressed out because I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know where I’m going, I have no direction in mind, and because of that panic impulse I cannot be open to serendipity. It’s also really hard for me to do complete rewrites, so as soon as I have something down on the page and it’s made it past the first, worst, round of excruciating edits it tends to remain as-is in the final draft. So I often need at least a vague idea of what’s going to happen before I can start my work. I don’t do drafts, inasmuch as I’ve used that word pretty consistently throughout this post. I think. I think, think, think, research, ruminate, think, tentatively write less than 100 words, think think think consider scrapping the whole thing and then I detonate like a firework and the vast majority of the ink that first splatters on the page in that initial explosion stays until I know it’s done. I write like a shotgun: with a very intensive buildup and lots of preparation with a very short but very powerful discharge. I’ve told this to people and received the kind of expression you typically only get were you to remove your shoes and begin licking the sole of your foot. So please do not compare your own writing process with mine. Okay? This is not normal. I don’t know how often I’ve mentioned this but I have a disorder. No one but me does this. You should not expect yourself to.

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

No <3

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

I am literally the last person you should ask. Never pour water on a grease fire? Your face mask should completely cover your mouth and nose? Always make sure the base is larger than the widest point?

💞 Who's your comfort character?

I don’t actually find that there’s a single character who brings me comfort to write about. I write about someone if I have something to say about them. I do have a comfort trope, which is sleeping together.

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

I think that Valentino used to be a porn actor before he became a director. During a shoot, he would wear an earpiece so his director could feed him lines, given that he couldn’t read the scripts.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

Alastor! I also talk breezily and with an emphasis on slightly elevated language, so I find his dialogue to be incredibly natural to spit out. Plus, who doesn’t love dated exclamations and turns of phrase like “By Jove!” and “take a powder”?

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

I well and truly don’t care. I don’t publish anything I’m ashamed of. I only publish things that I think showcase my skills, and that I think are worthwhile pieces of art. And if I had a friend who thought fanfiction or erotica was something to shame or scorn, well, they would not be my friend.

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

Finishing it.

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

Romantic partners becoming the main character’s therapists… I mean, that’s one of the great things about writing villain protagonists. They don’t fucking have to go to therapy.

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

Buckle up, cunt. I had a novel I was working on as a teenager. It was about toxic masculinity and MLM sexual assault. I said to myself, this will be a piece of art that defines a generation. It will say something that our (western) society desperately needs to hear, and one day a young gay kid just like myself will be tilting their head at a 90° angle to see the titles of the books lining the shelves of their local bookstore, see my novel, pick it up, and discover that it spoke to them: in the same way that I felt seen and heard by the books I loved. So as I wrote and worked on it, I often looked at my own writing with the harsh and uncaring eyes I knew it would be faced with when I inevitably contacted an editor. I wanted to make it flawless, bulletproof, do everything in my power to make this work perfect before an editor could see it, so that way I could wholeheartedly say that it was ready for other eyes. So nothing was perfect. Every part of it wasn’t good enough, fix it, FIX IT, I know you can do better so stop acting like THIS is the best you can accomplish. Come on, pick yourself up and do it right this time. And I tortured myself with that. To this day I cannot look at my draft without thinking of all the mistakes I made, what needed to be improved, what still needs to be improved, and after I’ve grown more and gotten diagnosed and met with people who have been published — met publishers — I know that I can’t trust myself enough to let this become a career. Do you know how hard writing this post has been? Did you know it’s taken me two days? Did you know how long I leave my posts in the drafts for, rereading, rereading, rereading, making sure there’s no chance this can be fucked up in any way, that it is totally within my control? I cannot become a professional writer. It’s my disability.

so, you know. rock make stick hit hard on head, cock make dick real hard in bed

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

A lustrum.

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

B-plots! I kind of get regular plotting, in that I know how to build and resolve tension, but I am so bad at finding other things for the characters to DO in order to take a break from the main plot. I already worked so hard to make a main plot, you want me to do another one??? To say what? I did everything I wanted to, I tied it all in a neat bow, if the readers want a break from the main tension why can’t they just tab out

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

I love trans Vox, but in order for him to be in character he has to hate being trans. I’m really used to writing about trans joy, for my own health and for everyone else’s, so writing a character that wishes they weren’t trans is really sad.

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

I actually love criticism. Your work can only get better through education, and one of the easiest ways to get education is by having another person read your work and tell you something about it you didn’t know. I need other perspectives because my own perception of my writing is exhaustive and exhausting: I feel like I’ve done everything I can to improve my work and I am so tired of looking at it that I need a fresh pair of eyes to show me something I’d not found. Getting better is always something to strive for; and even in mean comments it is entirely possible to find the thread of a lesson. More often than not it’s a threat of a lesson, but personally, I take what I can get. Criticism is something I find easy to receive because I can turn it into something productive, either “okay, this is something I need to improve upon, let’s do that” or “this is so clearly in bad faith it is costing me nothing to ignore it”. It’s something I can easily take control of. It’s positive comments that feel like apple-bobbing in a tub full of syringes.

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

#Psychological Horror immediately followed by #Eventual Smut. One of my favourite tag jokes I’ve written is #falling in love, #unrequited love, #friends to enemies, #on-again off-again relationship, #don’t date your coworkers holy shit don’t do it. And you really can’t go wrong with Cold Bodies’

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

I suppose I’m kind of asking for it at this point.

I’ve left this one for last so it will have the best dramatic impact. Thank you, heartily, for sorting through that much shit!! I hope this is a worthwhile reward for your efforts.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

The shadows lengthen. The room is small, bereft of light; the darkness has plenty of recesses to establish itself within. His chest distends and recedes with a languid, heavy pulse: good. He will not wake. He dares not take a step. He contorts with the gloaming, letting it carry his weight like waves on the wine-dark sea. Ink creeping along the fractal contours of incautious skin, on paper pulp. The blanket is drawn too far up his shoulder, but his hands have wisely ventured away from its grasp. He has nestled them close to his face: the right palm faces the ceiling. His overgrown claws, weightless, curl around the soundless air. The cuffs of his shirt have drawn back to reveal the skin on his left wrist.  He casts a faint but adequate illumination. Regrettably — he discovers — he has not flesh but casing. Whether it be titanium or catalin, it protects the veins underneath. What seams it must possess, he cannot access at present. He cannot smell his blood. Only the hot hiss of his breath, of bertholite and alkaloids. Experience has had the good grace to train him to anticipate the worst-case scenario. Thus, he suspects his knife would dent upon contact with his skin. This would likely require blunt force, something messy and more out of his weight class. Which is unideal: his own strength is formidable, naturally, but imprecise. And somewhat unsubtle. He sees the power buzzing underneath his grip. A live wire ready to snatch at the first hint of energy, snapping, sparking, antsy and unfulfilled. He likely isn’t trained enough to feel it himself, but again, the danger is too tangible to risk tripping over it. Were he more experienced, older, had experimented enough to test his limits, it would be a safer estimate; but as he is now, untapped and spring-loaded — fisticuffs would result in a significantly less assured victory. It is not a lack of confidence. It is simply a risky bet he does not want to get caught foolishly trusting himself with. That is smarts, not sheepishness. He does not hiss aloud. Nor does he retreat: he takes stock. The room offers little relevant information. His possessions are scarce, no letter drafts upon the writing desk, no bandages or weapons. His wallet is useless. He’s laid out nicotine patches and topical creams upon his toilet table: an invasome, it seems, may be a possibility. Unfortunately, he would have to synthesize it himself. He despises inconclusiveness. He returns his gaze to the picture box, his screen dim and vacuous.  Loathed as he is to admit, this may be a somewhat longer project than he had initially envisioned. More’s the pity — what a spectacular send-off he would have been able to provide! Keep your chin up, now, old boy. This was hardly a trip for biscuits. It was, however, strike two.

[bakedbananners]

are there be any things not in the books that you would add to the cartoon?

YES! Allow me to make a list lol (I already said some of these before but I’ll say them again)

Norse demigods having physical stims/ tics. Alex snapping her fingers, Magnus wringing his hands, Samirah feeling at her hijab fabric, TJ drumming on the table etc etc. Make Them Autistic Please. Have Magnus and Samirah avoid eye contact too and stuff

GHIBLI HAIR FLOOF! Especially when Magnus uses his healing powers, or when Alex is irritated

Give Magnus more plant powers seriously. Like in Encanto when Isabela grows flowers around her, and is also connected to her emotions!! I love powers like that.

Hearthstone and Blitzen physical contact lol. Grabbing each other’s arms or nudging each other n stuff hehe

Subtle but whenever Magnus is in nature like the woods or around plants they kind of bend towards him lol

More instances of casual super strength because I personally love when shows do that. Like in SU when the gems and steven do it yanno

Whenever they’re conversing with Hearthstone in a group at least one of them is also interpreting spoken language for him on the side

play with Alex’s animation style to where his movements are sometimes either smooth or angular etc. I think it would be fun :)

If I were animating Samirah I would also do it to a lesser degree, where her movements are very meticulous, calculated, and uncannily smooth at times. I would love smthn like that 😭

It isn’t really described I don’t think but the physical changes Magnus goes thru between books, where he looks more irritable and mean at first but over time softens up a bit lol.

BOAR MOTIF FOR MAGNUS. Idk how exactly to incorporate it but Freyr has an entire Golden Boar and it isn’t ever mentioned wtf!!! Hell maybe just make Gillenbursti show up looking like one of the wild boars from Mononoke Hime lol

Put more trans characters in there

Also. Make more of the gods accepting of transgenderness bc wtf. Have Alex meet some cool Vanir gods like Frey or something lol

Blitzstone kisses

Just more slice of life stuff with Floor 19. I want more content of them all being silly together 😭 maybe show off their rooms and stuff too. If it were a series I’d give it some filler episodes for sure. An entire episode about Magnus and Alex hanging out and going to the Cafe please. PLEASE.

Fierrochase hints between Alex and Magnus oh my god. Have Alex looking at Magnus when he’s not paying attention and vice versa. It’s described that he turns really red when talking to Alex sometimes but just more of that ahebfjcncksnskdn

More of Alex interacting with other characters without Magnus involved, too! I wanna see her relationships w other floor 19 ppl yanno. I want a flashback with her grandfather! I wanna see ADRIAN!!!!!! This also applied to Samirah bc I wanna see her being besties with the other Valkyries bc it was mentioned like just once or twice I think and I wanna meet Bibi and Jid!

Magnus being gay as fuck for Amir and other guys because that was so funny. He’s so queer I love him.

I know we had like one scene of Magnus using his his Intimidation stat while talking to Ran and Andvari and his Bullshitting when talking to Aegir but I’d love to see him use his people skills more because it’s fucking hilarious when he has to. You know that scene in mob psycho when teru has to use his bully persona against Claw? Yeah, that lmao.

[that-one--book-nerd]

The Magnus Chase fandom over the years

BEFORE The Sword of Summer: OMG RICK RIORDAN IS WRITING A NORSE MYTHOLOGY SERIES???!!!!!!!!! AAAAAHHHH I'M SO EXCITED!!! AND MAGNUS C H A S E??? HOW WILL HE BE RELATED TO ANNABETH??? HOW WILL THIS TIE INTO PJO/HOO/TKC???? WOOHOO!

AFTER The Sword of Summer: *screaming* THAT WAS SO GOOD! I LOVE MY SON MANGO CHEESE! BLITZEN X HEARTHSTONE! SAM IS SO KICKASS!! AAAHHH REPRESENTATION FOR UNDERREpRESENTED GROUPS!!! FALAFELS X MAGNUS 4EVER HAHA! JACK THE SWORD IS ICONIC I LOVE HIM! haha the abbreviation for The Hammer of Thor is 'thot'

AFTER The Hammer of Thor: *screeching* ALEX FIERRO MY BADASS TRANS/GENDERFLUID CHILD I WOULD DIE FOR HER/HIM!!!!! MAGNUS X ALEX FOREVER! wait what's their ship name? BLITZSTONE H A S TO BE CANON OH MY GODS! THAT SHOWER SCENE! wait no not like a smutty shower scene this is aimed at middle schoolers but trust me it'll make you cry okay. MAGNUS AND ALEX ARE THE LITERAL SHIP OF THE DEAD SO THEY HAVE TO BECOME CANON IN THE NEXT BOOK

AFTER The Ship of the Dead: HOLY SHIT PERCY AND ANNABETHOH MY GOD! jack x riptide? lmao what *incoherent sobbing* FIERROCHASE!!!!! IM MAD BLITZSTONE WASN'T EXPLICITLY STATED AS CANON BUT I MEAN THIS IS RICK RIORDAN HE WOULDN'T DO US DIRTY LIKE THAT…WOULD HE? *nervous laughter* NAH. AAAHHH SNOW!! AAAHHHHH CHOCOLATE!!!!!! SAM AND AMIR ARE SO CUTE!!! GUNDERKEEN IS GOOD SHIT!!!! TJ IS MY SON!!!!!!! THE ROAST SESSION WAS THE BEST!!! MAGNUS IS SO PURE HE LOVES ALL OF HIS FRIENDS SO MUCH!!!! THANK YOU RICK FOR BLESSING US WITH THIS

[sweater--child]

So, I finally read Ship of the Dead...

Now, I know. Its been out for months. Its been sitting on my shelf since it showed up on my doorstep way back in whatever month after waiting forever for it to be released after I preordered it. So trust me I know that I'm behind on the times. But I'm a college student and have the life drained out of me as I sit in my completely overpriced lectures and contemplate archaeological finds and cultural decelopment in western civilization.

And I saw you all attempting to be spoiler-y on my Blitzstone post. For shamed.

Edit: This is getting more attention than I thought it would. Please, add your own favorite moments and stuff! I love reading them and seeing what I missed.

But here are some of my favorite things from this particular book (SPOILERS!):

Fierrochase. Beyond just loving the ship, this is huge in ways of representation. I'm nonbinary myself, and lack of representation makes it so hard to go about my life and be accepted. Also dating is basically impossible? So this was a huge win for me personally. Also I feel like pansexual Magnus has just been accepted by the whole fandom as canon, which makes me little broken heart swell (I'm pansexual as well).

Fierrochase again! I just felt the transition into their romance was much more real than most books and media? Like it wasn't this "I kissed you and know we're going to be together forever and stuff". There was a confession and then honest thought and consideration? Also all the hinting and awkward crush moments were adorable and made the confession less jarring and prevented that awkward "oh no we need a romance lets just shove these 2 characters together with no pretext" that a lot of books and shows seem to fall into.

Magnus can know talk to animals, on top of glowing and healing and being a beautiful soul- confirmed Disney Princess. Now to get him a gown and tiara (men can wear dresses, fuck you).

Muslim representation. I'm not Muslim myself, nor do I know a whole lot of the culture (I'm an ignorant potato, I'm sorry) but from what I've heard Sam's character is pretty spot on and is really great. Specifically, I think the discussion about the treatment of Muslims in America, while short and brief (it is a kids book and Uncle Rick can only put so much in before it causes problems with publishing and stuff), was really important.

Mallory, TJ, and Halfborn's development. Mallory came to terms with her death (sort of) and embraced herself and her parentage. TJ showed all of us what it truly means not to forgive per se, but to move on, that fighting is only worthwhile when its for something bigger than yourself, and that optimism is never wasted. Halfborn coming to terms with the failings of his life (not returning to his life) and turning it into a purpose, a new way to keep going.

Alex. Alex gets her own little segment here because there are so many good moments with Alex. We finally got the source of a lot of Alex's will and independence with her Grandfather, along with Mexican culture representation. The real struggles of being queer. The loss of a friend. Building Pottery Barn (and refusing to designate a gender until they themselves could have a say). There's a lot- but what sticks with the me the most is that moment when he kisses Magnus at the end in the Hotel. The fact that he waited until he was a boy to me shows that Rick was making a point with this- it was one thing for Magnus to say Alex was the best thing that happened to him while she was a girl, but completely when he's a boy. It showed a real fear to Alex that she covers really well, and this moment addressed the very real fear of rejection that gender fluid, nonbinary, and trans* people face when it comes to dating.

Hearthstone. Baby boy breaks my heart. We get a lot of closure that I needed and really gave us a chance to see that Hearth is gonna be okay, that he can move on and be happy. He no longer carries the burden and is free.

Blitzstone? Okay, I know I've talked about this ship in the past, and I do still really love this ship, but I actually like that it was open to interpretation. Honestly, there isn't enough healthy male friendships in media. As long as my 2 boys are happy and healthy and alive, I'm not mad.

The flyting. Theres a trend I've noticed recently that I love and that's the departure from the typical brawny fighting male protagonists to mains who have an empathy and peacefulness about them. Primarily I think of Newt Scamender and Magnus Chase. Neither are fighters, and only do so when necessary. Newt is a caretaker and Magnus is a healer. Looking back on Percy Jackson, nearly everyone of his adventures was solved by fighting, which is not a bad thing and I'm in no way complaining. But I do have to praise uncle Rick for choosing to end this series the way he does- not only does he choose a nonviolent duel of words and wit (rap battle), he also veers Magnus from being insulting and cutting but instead Magnus literally wins by praising his family members. In the end, our hero didn't succeed through fighting ability and bravery, but instead because he realised that he couldn't ever really lose in life when he has these people with him, come Ragnarok or eternal existence as an undead hotel guest.

The Chase Mansion. Nuff said.

Big Banana

Magnus immediately assumes every goat he meets in Otis.

Alex's continual obsession with pink and green.

Expand-o-duck

Mango Cheese is awkward and dorky in every situation and I agree.

Almost freezing to death.

Heavenly dates (I actually hate dates)

Percy praising Annabeth and gushing about his baby sister

Guava juice

Continued love for Falafel (never had it, but seems great)

Cherry Soda insanity resulting in ceramic Voltron versus mud monster showdown

Pop culture references and Magnus fearing his Tardis Banana

Chocolate tug of war

Being prepared for Ragnarok with organized parking and golf carts

Magnus doesn't know how to date and I agree

Amir is constantly astounded by how awesome his Fiancee is

Actual discussion of grief and loss

Dragon Heart grants Disney Princess powers to anyone savage enough to eat it

Hearthstone is a better Thunder God than the Thunder God Thor

Daddy Frey

Butchering all the Norse namesand pretending like I remember who half of them are

Green Hair Meal

Billionare fish

Blood, Spit, and Honey

Blitzen yelling at a dragon because his friend is sad

Walnut

There's more but I'll leave it here for now

[monixmoony]

Can you tell me about some of your fandoms? What are your favourite ones? Beloved characters from each of them? You seem interesting!

Thanks! 1. FANDERSI cannot choose, seriously. I just love them all, including characters from shorts. Thomas is just amazing. Ships I ship: Prinxiety, Logicality, Logince, Sleep x Thomas (I’m not even sorry). Sometimes I’ll read LAMP/CALM (either romantic or platonic. If the fic is good, the fic is good, am I right).The rest, platonically. Just now, had a thought about Emile Picani x Luis (from Titanic short). I think I’d read a fic about that one xD Send me another ask, and I’ll write what I love the most about all of the Sides.2. PERCY JACKSONPercy Jackson, Leo Valdez, Will Solace, Nico di Angelo, Apollo. I include here characters from other series, I love Magnus and Alex Fierro (this child must be protected), Anubis. Ships I ship: Fierrochase, Blitzstone, Solangelo, Percabeth (even though I don’t really like Annabeth), Thaluke. I love mythology. That’s the reason I love the series so much. Rick Riordan is amazing, I have almost all of his books.3. HARRY POTTERThere isn’t much information about them, but I could die for Remus Lupin, James Potter and Sirius Black (I mean the marauders era). Unpopular opinion: I don’t really like Harry Potter. I read the books because of other characters xD Tonks is love, Teddy Lupin too. I really liked Snape and Bellatrix and Tom Riddle (before he became Voldemort). Ships I ship: Wolfstar, Deamus, Jily, Scorbus, Teddy x Victoire. I don’t consider The cursed child as 8th book of the series. The only thing they did right was Scorpius Malfoy. This boi is a blessing, he must be protected.4. THE RAVEN BOYS Everything about this series is magical and wholesome and I love it. Characters are just. I love. Blue and Gansey is one of my favourite pairings. I also like Sarchengsey. And Ronan. Ronan is just. I just love him. Also, Pynch. Thanks for attention. I could ramble about this series, if you don’t know it, I really recommend. 5. SUPERNATURALDean, Gabriel, Lucifer and Castiel. And Crowley. This is my first tv series ever. I watched it since 2005 and I have a huge sentiment for that one. Even though I think it would be better if it ended after 5th season. But I’ll still watch it. I AM IN LOVE WITH 67’ CHEVY IMPALA. I NEED THAT CAR IN MY LIFE Ships I ship: Destiel, Sambriel. I also know the exorcism text by heart xD I watched Supernatural like 12 times already (if not more). This is the only show I do re-watches of 6. BROADWAY/MUSICALS/THEATREI decided to write it as overall, because it’s a huge part of my geekiness. I love a lot of shows. My favourite ones being Hamilton, Be more chill, Dear Evan Hansen, Heathers, Newsies (I could go on and on and on, but I don’t have time for that. Send me another ask about some musicals, I’ll tell you if I know and/or like the certain show and fave characters and ships and songs from it. I think that’s it for now :P hope you feel satisfactory with that answer, Anon^^

[fierrochase]

Hello yes, I gotta ask you, do you truly believe that, with all the events of SotD that fierrochase is canon? Like YES Alex's fondest(?) memory was about Magnus. YES they kissed and whatnot but the ending made me feel empty kinda? Like I was expecting more than a "eh" and them holding hands. I dunno it's more canon than Blitzstone like you said.

i believe so!! i personally liked how they weren’t singing love songs to each other and going all romeo and juliet after one or two kisses - like i know a lot of people didn’t like that with s0langel0, it took about two conversations for them to be In Love and some people were like dude, rick, let’s be realistic? and i think alex being sorta “eh” about their kiss is more him being his flirty, teasing self than actually being mean to magnus! but overall i was really happy with the way it ended! like sure i could have used more sappy stuff, but this felt really appropriate to their personalities plus now they have the rest of eternity to spend falling even more in love AAAAA

[let-it-be-canon]

My book club as we wait for MCGA

book club member 1: I’m so excited for The Ship the the Dead!!

Me: BUT WHAT IF SOMEONE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SWIM?? Like?? Blitzen grew up underground and who the heck taught Hearth to swim?? The sailor guy in the first book said they’d be useless on a boat so?? book club member 2: I want to know Alex’s backstory and at the same time I don’t want to cause I know it’s probably sad af but I do want to know… does anyone feel me? Me: *Mentally prepares myself to not lose my shit when Blitz almost dies again because I swear that guy is cursed* book club member 3: I swear to god if Sam doesn’t make Magnus or Alex (or both) her best man/woman in her wedding- Me: *Mentally prepares myself for Sam leaving the Valkyres in the end of the book like she said she’d do, and probably say goodbye to her magical life forever and I’d be happy for her and all but what if that includes Magnus and they say goodbye for good?? I mean Sam wouldn’t just leave.. would she?*

Me: Also what if someone dies?? Okay yeah Magnus and Floor 19 are dead already but you get what I mean they could die outside of Valhalla and if that happens I’m going to have to leave my house for a while to avoid flooding it with my tears

book club member 2: Okay I know Fierrochase is endgame af I mean it’s been stated that Magnus has a crush on her/him but… what if it turns out that it isn’t endgame?? How will we cope?Also how will I deal if Blitzstone doesn’t become canon?? I mean it’s obvious to all of us, I know, BUT IT HASN’T BEEN STATED WHAT IF IT DOESN’T, GUYS? I swear I might just start a support group where we can all join and cry together about our uncanon ships-

Me: No wait that already exists… it’s called Tumblr. book club member 1: guys could you like… lighten the fuck up…?

we…. we are not dealing well with the apprehension

[glamourweaver]

So what is the actual deal with Blitzstone? With a different author who didn’t have open lgbt rep all over his books, I’d assume they were being implied to be a couple, but the author was holding back from saying it. But why the hell would Riordan hesistate to be clear about their relationship given all the stuff he’s freely clear about? Is there a publisher imposed quota, and if he was explicit about Blitzstone he couldn’t openly do Fierrochase?

I mean, maybe he doesn’t intend their deeply intimate relationship to be romantic, but he’s got to know it’s coming off that way, so you’d think he’d address it.

[drunken-ender]

AU WHERE EVERYTHING IS THE SAME BUT JACK HAS BILL CIPHER VOICE

Also, am I the only one who actually hope that the Blitzstone will not become canon? I mean, Blitz and Heart are both awesome and really close to each other, but I don't really see them as a romantic couple like I do with Magnus and Alex or Mallory and Halfborn... don't hate me, I really like gay ship and couple like in fact the Solangelo and the Fierrochase... but Blitzstone? I really can't...

[gay-blade]

Someone please talk to me about Magnus Chase

I finished Ship of the Dead and I need to have a discussion with someone. 

I just feel so SPOILERS AHEAD

Unsatisfied??? 

I like how Rick didn’t include Ragnarok. He didn’t milk this into five books which is appreciated. I liked that MCGA was a trilogy. It left me wanting to see what would happen with Magnus and the rest of the gang. I know his whole thing is “it’s up for interpretation,” I appreciate that, but one thing you can’t leave ambiguous is relationships.

Yes, I am going to rant about Alex/Magnus and Blitzstone. 

Alex made an otherwise known straight white man question his sexuality. Whoopie, but Magnus was right when he said “it didn’t matter.” Alex isn’t defined to a label, duh, but I liked that Rick included that little bit. When Alex said “I’ll get back to you,” regarding his relationship with Magnus, I LOVED that he didn’t just jump on Magnus and they were a happy couple. Alex needed time to think, as how it normally goes. Maybe they’ll be in love platonically. Magnus clearly has some strong feelings towards Alex, even declaring it to a whole thousand people. Maybe it’s some sort of sexual attraction, but romantically he definitely likes Alex. While on the other hand, Alex’s sexuality is never discussed. Yes she kissed Magnus because she wanted to do so before dying. Before that, teasing was there. Yeah, sure, best friends don’t typically kiss each other, but maybe Alex is ace, maybe he’s pan, maybe he doesn’t want a label. Who knows. I feel like Magnus and Alex love each other yes, platonically. This doesn’t mean it’s any less intimate as a romantic relationship. This doesn’t mean they can’t kiss each other and not mean anything. I had high hopes for Fierrochase but honestly, if it was cannon I’d feel both ecstatic and disappointed. Like I said, I loved that Rick didn’t immediately pair the two together. For now, I’m content with Fierrochase being platonically in love. 

As for Blitzstone? Hooooooo boy.

Does this count of queerbaiting? I really hope not. Because Rick did showcase what a beautiful relationship would look like. Affectionate, stubborn love between two men. Sacrifices and other hardships that one did for the other. While you could use my “platonic love” thing I just have this gut feeling that Blitz and Hearth love each other more than that. My elf. The shower scene. The fact that they would never leave each other. I could go on but I have this gut feeling it is romantic love. Now if Rick would just replace the times Blitz called Hearth “buddy” and “friend.” I get it, some would argue that there’s too much LGBT stuff going on in his latest books but come on. It’s 2017, gays are here. For Pete’s sake Alex’s enemies respected his/her pronouns, even his father did. If Rick is afraid of putting two gays in a book series that already won a Stonewall award then I don’t know what to say. Sure you got canon Solangelo but I just feel like Blitzstone is more authentic. I’m not saying that Will and Nico’s relationship isn’t real I just felt more love pouring from the pages whenever I’d read about Blitz and Hearth. I would’ve loved for Rick to leave it off in the end and say something like “Blitzen happily grilled hamburger along side his boyfriend.” Something I could’ve missed. Dear gods I hope I missed something. But I didn’t. Sure, they moved into Chase Space. But I just. Feel so disappointed. Sure, have a strange relationship between Mallory and Halfborn where they nearly kill each other but end up making out/up at the end. Sure, have Alex and Magnus become best-lover-friends, whatever. I dunno, I just wanted more gay. 

Those were my two major gripes about the ending. Other than that I’d give the series a 7.7/10. It explored a hero that fights not using strength but with wit and heart. It opened up many different facets of modern day issues, be it religion, LGBT, or how to save the world in a few weeks. Props to Rick for not doing the whole “you have a day to save the universe” and giving the gang a week instead. And hey, say what you will about YA heroes being white males but at least Percy and Magnus have a lot of differences. I’ll probably peg this on par with the Heroes of Olympus series. 

[blahblahblippyblah]

Magnus Chase and a Plotless Hogwarts Fanfiction

Chapter 6: Halloween

full story: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11429727/chapters/25832337

Magnus and his buds dress up for Halloween. some Fierrochase fluff. some of Blitzstone fluff.

"Magnus you are going to love Halloween at Hogwarts. It's literally the best night of the year." Alex told Magnus excitedly at the breakfast table. Magnus had just finished telling her about how he had never really celebrated Halloween. Since his mom died Magnus had been a little too preoccupied trying to find his next meal or safe place to sleep instead of dressing up as his favourite fictional character. Which was Frodo thank you very much.

Alex was practically bouncing out of her chair with excitement telling Magnus about the Halloween feast the school held. And how after the student went to be they all went to the village to actually celebrate.

"So do you guys dress up?" Magnus asked. He had always wanted to dress up at Halloween. The last time he got to wear a costume was when he was 10 and got to be Spider-Man. He was looking forward to have an excuse to geek out.

Blitz who was sitting two seats over from Magnus beside hearth gave a glowing smile. Obviously excited they had reached the topic of costumes.

"Well of course. It wouldn't be Halloween without costumes.” blitz beamed. "Also speaking of costumes I think us four should all collaborate you know do a group costume. I can make them. And the students will get a kick out of them"

Alex almost broke Magnus’s ear drums when she made a high pitch squealing sound of excitement. "Oh my Gods Blitz that's a great idea! What should we be?!"

Hearth waved for attention and signed "I don't do Halloween. Count me out"

Blitz's face knotted and his eyebrows knit together. He pursed his lips and turned towards Hearth.

"What do you mean you don't 'do' Halloween? Halloween is amazing." Blitz started telling off Hearth "Also we need you. I was thinking Star Wars. I mean even slot of wizards know Star Wars since Alex had that movie muggle night for the students last year. Magnus you grew up around muggles right? You've seen it?"

"Duh of course. I love star wars." Magnus said.

Hearth pursed his lips and signed." I didn't see it. I wasn't at the movie night. Plus parents didn't let me see muggle movies."

"Don't worry about it bud. I'll find a way to watch it with you before Halloween" Blitz signed. Hearth smiled at that but still kept his expression of loathing at having to participate in a group costume.

Blitz turned back to Alex and they began planning out the costumes for the four of them

* Blitz was an amazing costume designer. In less than a week he had made 4 amazing costumes. Blitz must have stayed up late to create them because he had worn dark shadows under his eyes all week. Magnus also guessed Hearth had helped out because the guy also looked like he hadn’t slept a wink too. Still Magnus was grateful for Blitz’s hard work.

The day before Halloween they all met at Blitz’s office to come see their costumes. He had made himself a perfect costume that made him look like a more impressively fashionable Han Solo. To Hearths displeasure Blitz had made him a sort of Chewbacca costume. To be honest the costume wasn’t that bad. It consisted of a pair of brown trousers and a very furry brown sweater. He had also made Chewies iconic bandolier for Hearth to sling across his chest. Magnus guessed Blitz had held back for Hearths sake since he knew how reluctant the guy was to dress up.

“Why do I have to be the furry guy?” Hearth complained in signs when Blitz made him try it on.

“Because you’re the tallest. Also Chewbacca doesn’t talk so you have that going for you” Blitz said not giving Hearth the opportunity to weasel his way out of the plan.

Hearth flipped Blitz a rude gesture when Blitz turned his back to hand out the costumes for Magnus and Alex.

“So the plan is for Alex to be Leia and Magnus to be Luke Skywalker” Blitz said handing them their costumes. The costume looked like Blitz had stolen them right from the production.

“And what if I’m not a girl tomorrow” Alex said

“Already thought of that” Blitz replied. “You’ll just switch with Magnus”

Alex smiled wide.

“Hey!” Magnus protested.

Alex sniggered and punched Magnus on the arm. “I think you would look great in a dress” Alex teased.

Magnus just scrunched up his face and stuck his tongue out at them both.

Hearth had given up completely on the conversation and had fallen face first in Blitz's couch refusing to look up at them.

* Thanks fully for Magnus’s reputation Alec was a girl on Halloween. At first when he heard knocking on his office door he was scared it would be Alex demanding to trade costumes, but instead he opened the door to a beautiful looking Alex. She was wearing the long white robes of Leia and had made her hair grow out into long locks which she tied up on either side of her head. Her facial features were still Alex, with entrancing and very distracting two toned eyes and perfectly sculpted features. Magnus caught himself staring again and quickly shook his head to focus.

“Hey Alex. Almost done, just have to brush my teeth. Give me a sec” Magnus said letting Alex in his sitting room. Alex walked over to the couch and crashed down putting her feet up on his coffee table. Magnus went to brush his teeth. When he came back he found Hearth and Blitz had also let themselves in. They were also all dressed and ready. They all stood in a circle and took in their costumes.

“We all look great!” Blitz exclaimed. “My best costumes so far if I do say so myself”.

Hearth rolled his eyes and led the way down to breakfast.

*

When the four of them entered the Great Hall a lot of student called out complementing them on their costumes. Even Hearth couldn’t help but smile when students exclaimed they had the coolest professors ever.

At the staff table Sam and Amir sat eating breakfast with Mallory and Halfborn.

Sam simply wore her regular robes but donned a pumpkin orange head scarf today in honor of Halloween. Amir however was dressed like a pirate. He waved as they sat down and started complimenting Blitz on his work.

Mallory and Halfborn had also decide to go for a group costume/or couple costume. Magnus still hadn’t figured out exactly what they were to each other. He guessed they were somewhere between being romantic partners and mortal enemies. Sometime both at once. For Halloween they had dressed up as Kahl Droggo and Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. Halfborn had no problem pulling off his costume. The guy was pretty much already a dothraki minus the horse. Mallory however had charmed her hair blonde for the occasion. It still kept its giant frizzy mess and her braid looked like a rabid raven had teared it apart. Still the effect was pretty, frightening yet beautiful. T.J came in a while later dressed in a Night Watchers cloak with a giant fake sword at his side. He looked slightly uncomfortable but smiled as two older students from the Gryffindor table wolf whistled him. He joined Mallory and Halfborn at the table to complete their group.

*

The Halloween feast was amazing. Magnus thought by the end he was going to end up in a sugar coma. The hall was filled with glowing pumpkins instead of floating candle and every inch of table was filled with the widest variety of sweets Magnus had ever seen. The school choir provided entertainment during desert singing some classic Halloween songs. Then Halfborn entertained everyone with a dramatically scary story. Magical visual depictions curtesy of Blitz and T.J.

Around 11 o clock the students were all sent to bed. Magnus and everyone else got ready to head down to the village for a little celebrating of their own since tomorrow was a Saturday. Mallory and Halfborn said they would stay behind to patrol the corridors together, so Sam and Amir had no excuse to ditch out on the fun this time. Magnus also suspected they wanted and excuse to ditch the group to sneak off somewhere alone, but he didn’t say anything.

They all ordered rounds and began telling scary stories around a large wooden table in the back of the bar. Amir won at having the most horrifying stories. Magnus was pretty sure he would have nightmares about killer cow men tonight. The night quickly turned into the best time Magnus had ever had. He spent a good hour learning how to play darts from T.J and Amir. Sam sat and criticized his technique playfully as T.J. kept trying to show him how to hit the board and not the wall behind it. At the table Hearth and Blitz sat very close to each other conversing. This time around Hearth was refusing to drink anything stronger than Butterbeer, but unfortunately for him Blitz seemed to be in a good mood as he was now starting on his 4th mug of mead. He talked rapidly his singing become very exaggerated with ever sip. Eventually Hearth cut Blitz off from drinking when Blitz spilled his mug over covering his costume in dark red stain. Alex was again in deep conversation with the bar maid. When Magnus’s arm got tired from throwing darts he went over to Alex. When he approached the bar maid waved bye to Alex and went to the back room. Magnus cleared his throat feeling bad he had scared off Alex’s friend.

“Umm sorry, I didn’t meant to interrupt.” He said.

“Don’t worry about it. Shelly was getting on my nerves anyway. She can’t catch a hint. I can only turn her down for diner so many times before I have to hex her” Alex went on taking a sip from her mug.

Magnus smiled and nodded not knowing how to respond. He felt awkward hearing Alex talk about someone hitting on her.

“Anyway enough about my sad love life. Tell me about yours. Have a girlfriend? Boyfriend?”Alex prodded with an evil smile on her face. Magnus shook his head and snorted.

“Ya right. I’ve never even had a kiss unless you count some girl in grade school. Which I don’t” Magnus went on.

“Oh really? A soft cinnamon bun Hufflepuff like you has never had any action? Well I guess that explains why you’re so lame” Alex teased.

“Ha ha very funny. For your information Hufflepuffs are the best lovers. We have natural charm” Magnus teased back. After 2 months spending time with Alex he felt much more comfortable joking around with her. Joking with Alex was easy once you got over the fear she might decapitate or hex you at any moment if your annoyed her.

Alex raised one eyebrow and looked over Magnus’s shoulder. “It would appear quite the opposite actually” She said pointing over at the corner where Hearth and Blitz sat. Magnus turned around to see what she was talking about.

Blitz now obviously very much past his limit had taken Hearths hand and was clumsily trying to show him how to tie a tie on himself. Unfortunately for Hearth Blitz couldn’t seem to remember how to tie a tie. Hearth didn’t seem to mind he took his hands back smiling and trying to retie Blitz’s tie back on trying to save the short guy some dignity. He was practically laughing when Blitz leaned forward trying to take the tie off and accidentally nudging Hearth in the chest with his forehead.

“I don’t know if I would call that natural charm” Alex joked. “More like failed attempts at flirting. Man I wish those two would just get it over with”

Magnus raised his eyebrow at Alex. “Blitz and Hearth? Really?” He said skeptically.

“Oh come on Magnus even you can’t be as oblivious as they are?” Alex sighed in fake exasperation.

“I don’t know Alex. I mean Blitz and Hearth are the best of friends but I don’t see that that means there’s anything else going on” Alex rolled her eyes. “Am I the only one who isn’t blind? They are so obviously into each other. Plus I caught Hearth coming out of Blitz’s office last Sunday morning when I went to invite Blitz down to breakfast”

“That doesn’t; mean anything. Hearth could have just gotten up earlier to see Blitz, or accidentally fallen asleep on his couch” Magnus protested. It’s not that Magnus was against the possibility of Blitz and Hearth being a thing, just that he didn’t want to assume anything until he knew for sure himself.

Alex rolled her eyes again. “In his pj’s? I seriously doubt it” Alex said.

Magnus rolled his eyes back at her but didn’t fight her on it.

Sam came over to them with a Butterbeer in hand and sat down beside Alex. She smiled at them.

“I’m so glad I came out. I really needed this.” Sam said stirring around the straw in her Butterbeer.

“You work too hard Sam” Alex said accusingly wagging her finger at her.

Sam rolled her eyes and ignored Alex.

“Magnus I got your owl about your dragon keeper friend bringing in a baby dragon for your upper year classes to see. I think that’s a great plan but I’m going to have to send you some safety forms to fill out first” Sam said in her usual serious business voice.

Magnus nodded. Alex dramatically slammed her head against the bar.

“Sam take a break. No work talk.” Alex groaned.

Sam pouted her lips and gave Alex a look.

“So Sam how are you and Amir?” Magnus asked trying to change the subject.

“Um were good” Sam said a little too coldly. She turned her head and Magnus could say he saw her blush.

“What’s wrong? Spit it out.” Alex prodded.

“Nothing’s wrong.” Sam said defensively.

“Ya but something is up. Come on you can tell us. I’m your sister. Plus Magnus and everyone here is pretty much family. You can’t hide whatever it is forever” Alex said.

Sam looked over at the both of them she was definitely blushing now.

“Well I know it’s kind of early to tell everyone, but I’m so excited. Me and Amir are having a baby” Sam said her eyes wide and face in a contagious smile.

Alex squealed again and ran forward to hug Sam. Magnus smiled and awkwardly hugged Sam too. At that moment everyone else had decided to come up to the bar. They had obviously heard what Sam just said because Halfborn slapped Amir on the back so hard the guy almost fell down. Mallory and T.J. also took their turns hugging and congratulating Sam. Even Hearth hugged Sam which was a rare sight to behold since the guy wasn’t very physical.

Blitz in his tipsy state ordered a round for everyone except Sam, Hearth and Amir. They all toasted to baby Al-abas Faladan. Eventually Hearth signed that he was going to walk Blitz back to the castle before he got himself into too much trouble. Magnus and Alex offered to walk back with them. Magnus helped Hearth carry Blitz most of the way back to the castle as halfway back Blitz seemed unable to walk straight anymore. Alex teased that she would never let him forget the embarrassing moment when he fell over into a bush and couldn't get out. But blitz probably wouldn’t remember that.

When they got to the staircases Alex departed and Magnus helped Hearth carry Blitz up to the 4th floor. Once they managed to get into Blitz’s office Magnus and Hearth dumped Blitz onto his bed. Magnus pulled off Blitz shoes while Hearth wen to grab the blanket from the couch to drape over Blitz. Hearth insisted on staying to keep an eye on Blitz so Magnus headed back to his office.

*

Magnus slept in late the next morning and woke up with a huge headache. Round 11 o’clock he managed to roll out of bed and slogged down to the hall for food. There he ran into T.J who was poking at his eggs half-heartedly, one hand holding up his head. Magnus grabbed a pot of coffee and some toast and decided to bring some up to Blitz.

Magnus knocked on Blitz’s office door and to his surprise Hearth in sweat pant pajamas answered. He waved for Magnus to come in ignoring Magnus’s confused look. Blitz was sitting on the couch head in his hands. The guy looked like death. He was clammy and had bags under his eyes. He groaned at the sound of the door closing. Magnus walked over and handed him some toast. Blitz took it and chewed on it slowly. Hearth poured a cup of coffee and shoved it in Blitz’s hand. Blitz immediately started draining the luke warm coffee like it was the elixir of life. After he finished his third cup he said.

“I am never drinking again?” he signed so that Hearth could hear as well.

Hearth rolled his eyes and signed “You said that last time” and then turned to pour him a fourth cup.

“Well at least you didn’t do anything embarrassing last night. The worst was that you bought everyone rounds and then fell into a bush" Magnus said and signed trying to make Blitz feel better.

“That would explain the twigs in my hair” Blitz mumbled into his coffee cup.

“What?” Hearth signed “Stop mumbling”

Blitz put his cup down and signed “Not important, never mind”

Hearth stood up and started filling a kettle at the sink and went to put it on the fire. He then went through Blitz’s drawers and pulled out some tea and a mug. He turned to Magnus and signed “Do you want tea?”

Magnus nodded then turned to the grumpy looking Blitz on the couch when Hearth turned his back to look for sugar. He raised his eyebrows at Blitz and quietly said.

“So are you two…is there something I’m missing?” he practically whispered the last part. He knew Hearth couldn’t hear him but still. Blitz looked a little like he had been caught stealing the last cookie from the cookie jar. He opened his mouth to responded but no sound came out. He then closed his mouth and sat in thought for a minute. He looked a little uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“Hey ummm I didn’t mean to be nosy. Just something Alex said last night. Plus you guys have been like super close lately. Like way more than usual.” Magnus said whispering again. Looking up to check that Hearth’s back was still turned. Magnus felt ok interrogating Blitz. Blitz was usually confident and didn’t keep many secrets. However he felt that if his new found suspicion was wrong Hearth was way more likely to be very upset that Magnus suggested what he was suggesting.

Blitz also glanced over at Hearth then back to Magnus. Hearth was now watching their conversation. Magnus couldn’t read his expression since Hearth had his usual unreadable guarded face on. But he still shifted his weight from foot to foot looking slightly restless, probably uncomfortable.

“Uummmm, well ...ya we’ve been kind of … I don’t really know the word … ummm together I guess would be the word. But don’t say anything kid. Hearth and I aren’t really comfortable enough to tell anyone yet” Blitz stammered out. He kept glancing at Hearth to see if he was going to interject, but Hearth didn’t really do anything except start to look awkward.

Magnus just nodded. “Hey man no problem. I’m actually happy to hear that. You two are adorable. As for keeping it to yourselves it might be a little hard. Blitz you kind of blew your cover last night. Alex now totally ships you.”

Hearth blushed so dark Magnus could see his face changing colour from across the room. Blitz just looked down at his now empty mug of coffee looking horrified. Hearth brought over the two mugs of tea and placed one down in front of Magnus. He took his and warmed his hands. Hearth went and sat down in the armchair by the fire still blushing slightly.

“At least it was just our friends” Hearth signed to Magnus and Blitz “Not students. Everyone last night are practically family. well they are really the only family I do have”

Blitz just groaned and signed. “I am never drinking again. I didn’t do anything too embarrassing with you did I?”

Hearth just shook his head. “Nah, you just get a little touchy when you’re drinking”

Magnus snorted and grinned at Blitz. He patted him on the back.

“Just little touchy. Plus Me and Alex both thought it was cute” Magnus joked.

Blitz just sighed, but Hearth flipped Magnus a very rude gesture.

“Speaking of last night” said Blitz obviously trying to change the subject. “Did I remember this right? Are Sam and Amir having a baby?” Hearth nodded vigorously obviously in an ‘excited’ Hearth manner.

Blitz grinned and Magnus smiled as they started talking about how happy they all were for Sam and Amir. Apparently according to Blitz they had been trying to a long time to have a baby. He then started going into a long explanation about an outfit he was going to make for the new baby for Sam and Amir.

Magnus stayed talking with Hearth and Blitz until around dinner. Just a typical happy Saturday. A Saturday he was so grateful to have.

[evylino]

Magnus Chase and the ship of the dead

Can I just say how much I loved this trilogy? Honestly of all the Rjordan book series.. The Kane Chronicles, Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus...Trials of Apollo.. THIS is my favorite series. It’s not because of the Norse Mythology, In fact I enjoy the Greek Mythology much more, but it’s the characters. I simply cannot tell you how much I enjoyed reading about Hearth, Blitz, Magnus, Sam, Alex, TJ; Mack and Halfborn. They’re just this perfect little family and I fell in love with all of them. Seriously, if you have not read this series, do it now, because I promise you, there won’t be any regrets. It’s funny and exciting and sometimes sad and heartbreaking and I swear, if I could, I would hug them all, because they could really use a hug now and then.

Don’t continue reading now, unless you are not prepared for one small tiny minor spoiler. 

So I can’t just tell you about the every word that is written in this book, because to be honest, in order to describe everything, that made me like it just as much as the ones before, I would have to do that.. so here are only three simple reasons, why you should read this book too:

The yellow ship. You gotta love the banana ship. Every journey to save the world from the Norse apocalypse should start with a yellow ship, that brings every person you encounter to immediately hate you on sight! It’s a requirement. Dare I say more, than quote from the book for you here: “With a ship that colour, we figured they deserved to drown!” Read the book for the most yellow boat to ever sail across the nine realms.

Character backstory. We come to know so much more about all of our favorite floor mates during the journey on the banana boat. There is more background to Mallory Keen, Halfborn and Alex and TJ and Gods! I just love them more because I know them better. Read the book to fall even more in love with our them.

I love hate to say this, but the third reason are my ships.. (No not the yellow boat again, also not the creepy ship of the dead.. I mean the fun kind of ship you obsess over because these people are a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e. and come on, they’re clearly soulmates) These are just my favorite and most loved ships: Sam and Amir (those two are so sweet, I feel my teeth rotting from thinking about them and they’re also CANON :D [I’m sorry for my excitement there, but canon ships rarely cross my way] ) and then there are so many small Fierrochase-moments in this book (yes, there was someone out there who - thank the gods for that - found a better ship name than I) that I just want to scream my happiness out in the world. Also (don’tyou dare think I forgot them) Blitzstone. Am I able to tell you anything, you don’t already know about those two? They’re obviously the cutest and just about any interaction between them makes me smile for the rest of the day. So read the book for all your favorite ships, because come one I don’t believe anyone out there, who read the first two books, that they aren’t shipping anyone.

[let-it-be-canon]

Me, eating oreos with friends: Good thing their next and final quest isn’t literally on a boat right??? oh wait.

Friend 1: Maybe that’s why it’s called “the Ship of the Dead”

Me and Friend 2:...?

Friend 1: Not only because of Fierrochase but because, you know, Blitzstone is a ship, and apparently boats aren’t their thing and-

Me: Get out.

Friend 1: I mean heck do they even know how to swim if one falls overboard? Blitz grew up underground and who would’ve taught Hearth how to swim is there even an ocean in Alfheim??

Friend 2: Shut up. Please.

Friend 1: They’re so dead.

Me: okay Satan I’m confiscating your oreos until further notice.