#how molly/king would feel if they ever found out about being fate touched

[dent-de-leon]

Forever wondering what the Matron of Ravens thinks of Molly/King. I mean, we know Lucien was fate touched—did that extend to Tealeaf too? They’re from the same soul, after all. Did the Matron loathe him for cheating death so many times? Or the fact that it was a Divine Intervention that brought him back once more? Or is it merely another mark of his soul’s ability to defy fate, King/Molly pulling at the threads of destiny until both him and Lucien are free—

[the-phoenix-heart]

Sorting Hat Chats - The Last Unicorn

I don’t care if literally no one else cares about this but me WE ARE SORTING THE LAST UNICORN CHARACTERS WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!

(You can find the basics of the system I’m using here, by @sortinghatchats​!)

(Also my reference for this is the 1982 movie and the 2010 graphic novel. As Peter S. Beagle, the actual author of the book, wrote the screenplay for the movie and the graphic novel has everything else the movie missed+an author’s note from Beagle I think it’s safe to say that I’ll get an accurate read on these characters.)

(Also also you don’t know just how long this has been in my drafts)

THE UNICORN, or AMALTHEA as she’s known in human form, is a Badger primary. It’s important to remember that Badgers are loyal to people, but what they view as people doesn’t have to be a human. The Unicorn views other unicorns as people and it’s why at the beginning she’s willing to leave behind her entire forest that she cares for, just for the small chance that she might be able to save them. Also, her saving the harpy, despite the fact that the harpy would surely kill her. She does that because the harpy, Celaeno, is real like her. “We’re two sides of the same magic.” It doesn’t matter if Celaeno is a creature that would kill all the other animals she’d just freed or Mummy Fortuna. She’s ‘real’ like her, and therefore people to The Unicorn. 

When she’s been transformed into a human she says, “How can anything that is going to die be real?” Dehumanizing is a thing Badger primaries do a lot of the time, and here The Unicorn is literally saying that what is ‘real’, what is people, are immortal magical creatures (and regular animals), and anything else isn’t ‘real’, isn’t people. 

The Unicorn’s secondary is harder to get a grip on, seeing as for half of the story she spends her screen time standing melancholic on high twisted towers looking out into the sea. Turning into a human is her moment when she burns. As Amalthea she is lost and forgetting herself, and also almost certainly has developed depression. Lir says that Amalthea heard about his horses burnt legs and she immediately went to it to try and heal it, only for nothing to happen. She literally tried to unburn something but it didn’t work guys. Before all that though, as a unicorn, I think she was a Lion secondary. 

When she finds out she might be the last unicorn in the world she decides to charge out into the world and find them, or die trying. When she’s mistaken for a simple (but pretty) mare she goes off on that little farmer. She stands her ground when the harpy is gonna kill her. She saves Schmendrick from the tree he accidentally made fall in love with him just by marching up to it and shutting it up. She saves Molly and Schmendrick from thieves by rearing up and threatening them with her hooves (she’ll stomp you with her fucking hooves if you even think of looking at her friends). And at the end she saves her friends from The Red Bull by charging at it and herding it into the sea. She’s described as “rearing up like a scimitar” and screaming (which no immortal has ever done) when she fights back. Even when she is transformed into Amalthea. When she’s still just been transformed she stops Mabruk pretty much by staring him down and possibly using her magic. Even at her most burnt, when she is willing to give up on the other the unicorns, she does so by being blunt and standing her ground.

Lion secondaries also have a habit of collecting people, like a Badger secondary, but I still say The Unicorn is a Lion secondary because the way she collects people (’people’ it’s two people and you can’t count Lir because he fell in love with Amalthea who was so burnt it wasn��t really her) isn’t because she is exceptionally nice (she’s not, not by human standards) or because she’s so hardworking (she doesn’t work that much in the story, because as a unicorn she doesn’t have to), but because she’s so magnificent, so true, so powerful. Those are Lion traits drawing people to her.

And honestly it makes sense that she’s a Lion secondary. As a unicorn she’s close to all powerful, nothing can touch her. She doesn’t have to put in the work like a Badger, doesn’t have to gather the knowledge like a Bird, and has no use for Snake transforming. I wouldn’t be surprised if all unicorns had a Lion secondary. Honestly I love seeing how non human characters are sorted because they are so different from human characters. 

SCHMENDRICK is a Bird primary. He truly believes in the system of the world working like a fairytale and unlike a lot of stories where this would be a bad thing and disproven at the end, Schmendrick is right about the system. He doesn’t have to learn to be right about the system, he’s right about it from the start and it’s not like he hates how the system works, he loves and finds comfort in it. A lot of great lines go to him. And you can also see Lion primary Molly and Snake primary Lir are questioning just about everything he spouts. 

Molly: “They deserve their fate, they deserve worse. To leave a child out in the snow-” Schmendrick: “Well if they hadn’t then he wouldn’t have grown up to be the hero of all this. That’s the way these things go.” Molly: “But if he’s the hero, what is [The Unicorn]?” Schmendrick: “[You and I] are the tale-but [The Unicorn] is real. [The Unicorn] is real.”

Schmendrick: “If it changes a unicorn into a human being, then that was the only thing to do. I am a bearer, I am a dwelling, I am a messenger-” Molly: “You’re a stupid messenger, and a stupid, stupid magician.”

Lir: “You have to do something.” Schmendrick: “I can’t.” Lir: “Do something. You have power. You changed her into a unicorn. Do something to save her. I will kill if you don’t.” Schmendrick: “Not all the magic in the world can help her now. If she will not fight him, she must go into the sea with the others. Neither magic nor murder will aid her.” Lir: “Then what is magic for? What use is wizardry if it cannot save a unicorn?” Schmendrick: “No-that is what heroes are for.”

Molly: “Oh, the poor man. Poor Lir.” Schemdrick: “It’s not altogether bad. Great heroes need great sorrows and burdens, or half their greatness goes unnoticed.”

(I could quote this book for eons people I swear)

He’s also the one who tells Lir he has to rule over the people of Hagsgate when Lir is two steps away from killing his birth father who says it was good he abandoned Lir so he could one day become king. He thinks that he has done The Unicorn more evil than Mommy Fortuna or Haggard or the Red Bull because he turned her into a human and turned her back into a unicorn. He tries to comfort Lir about The Unicorn by telling him his land is blessed because all the unicorns ran through it in freedom, and how The Unicorn will remember him, “when men are fairytales in books written by rabbits.” (god I love that quote)

As for his secondary, he’s a total Snake secondary. He pickpockets, he lies to villagers about being an actual great wizard, he haggles for good payment in Hagsgate so long as he assassinates Lir (which he has no intention of fulfilling), he lies his way into the castle, when he needs to get the wine to drink itself he just drinks it and gives it to a skeleton who can’t tell the difference between and empty bottle or a bottle of wine. 

There is however one time in the story where Schmendrick drops his rhetoric about how the world works. They’re in the Red Bull’s cavern and Amalthea doesn’t want to become The Unicorn again and wants to stay with Lir.

Schmendrick: “Let it end here. Let her marry the prince and live happily ever after.  Molly: Schemendrick, if we don’t do this there will never be another chance. All the unicorns of the world will remain his prisoners, forever, except one, and she will die. She will grow old and die. Schmendrick: One good woman more in the world is worth every single unicorn gone. Let it end.

This is not what he believes. It’s him tricking Lir, making Lir remember that he is a hero, and to let there be no more unicorns would go against his being a hero. Molly tells him he forced him, and that he did it so he could become a real magician. Schmendrick disagrees. Like a Snake he doesn’t see it as forcing Lir to make a choice, he sees it as the right thing to do, and only way to do it.

MOLLY GRUE, lovely Molly. She is a Lion primary, who was burnt by something in the past, which is probably how she ended up with Captain Cully, and she unburns at the sight of The Unicorn. Molly’s beef with The Unicorn at first is that she never visited her when she was young, despite her love of unicorns. It’s such a Lion primary thing to me to ask something like a unicorn why they never came to her, and then to forgive a unicorn when unicorns are not to be questioned or forgiven. Molly as soon as she learns of The Unicorn’s quest doesn’t even go back to get her things. She leaves right that second with her, saying that her things don’t matter now that she has seen The Unicorn. Molly hears about what the people of Hagsgate did to baby Lir and she is willing to throw down with them right then. 

Lion primary Molly doesn’t want to poke holes in the system of the world. She could care less about understanding the system, she just does things because her moral compass says it’s right. She doesn’t care that ‘unicorns are not to be forgiven’ she’s going to forgive The Unicorn dammit (it’s a pride thing. Molly feels she was wronged even though technically unicorns don’t owe anything to people, pride is also very Lion primary). I 

She has a Badger secondary. When she was burnt she found a community for herself to live/work in-Captain Cully’s Band of Freemen. When she’s in Haggard’s castle she gets a job as the cook and cleaner and puts herself to work to survive. She gets information from the talking stray cat, and she helps out Lir as much as she can, quickly becoming his friend.

PRINCE LIR, is a total Snake primary. He falls hard for Amalthea, and then decides that he’s gonna start doing great deeds and become a hero just so he can woo her. He doesn’t really care for anyone but Amalthea and Molly, he’s willing to kill Schmendrick if he doesn’t save The Unicorn after she’s transformed back into herself. Molly says that Schmendrick reminded Lir that he was a hero, but what Schmendrick really did was remind Lir that he was a hero for Amalthea. 

He’s willing to kill his own birth father for abandoning him, and when he is to be king he talks about how much he hates it because he’ll rule over people he hates and be alone the rest of his life. When he dreams about The Unicorn, and she doesn’t say anything to him, he takes this as her not caring about him like he loved her, a betrayal. The real reason why she didn’t say anything to him is because she remembered him, and his love, and loving him, and cared more about him, but Lir just doesn’t understand that.

His secondary is a Badger. When he falls for Amalthea his idea of courting her is doing great deeds and working to be a hero. He’s slain black knights, basilisks, seas serpents, and five dragons, he’s faced fatal riddles and glass mountains. He starts trying to write poetry after all these fail to touch her. He puts in as much work as he can to try and woo her. He literally sacrifices himself for her, not as a Lion charge, but instead as using his body as a tool. His sacrifice is so that The Unicorn will fight back. 

I will say however that he has a definite Lion performance. It isn’t a model, because he actually doesn’t care about the Lion secondary it’s just him performing as a Lion secondary hero to try and woo Amalthea, which doesn’t work. 

When he’s confiding in Molly he words a Badger secondary in love perfectly, “I want to serve her...I wish to be whatever she has most need of.”

KING HAGGARD is super fucking burnt, and a Snake primary. What he only cares about is trying to be happy, and keeping his unicorns with him. He gets cursed by a witch that one day his castle would sink into the sea with him in it, and his reply was that any good tyrant’s castle needed a curse. He wants to be happy of course but he doesn’t really care if he dies. He dies laughing. The scene where he monologues to Amalthea about how he has all the unicorns is my favorite, and he pretty much gives the perfect description of his primary. 

King Haggard: “All things die when I pick them up. I do not know why they die, but it has always been so, save for the one dear possession that has not turned cold and dull as I guarded it-the only thing that has ever belonged to me.”

King Haggard is greedy. He wants to own things. He wants to have his Snake connections like a healthy unburnt Snake but that doesn’t work. It’s never worked. He found Lir and decided that since he’d never been a father maybe he could have a Snake connection and be happy, but the connection did the same as all his other connections. The connection died, even if Lir didn’t. There is only one thing that has ever brought him the happiness of a Snake connection, and that was the unicorns. It’s a one sided connection, but he does truly love them. He does also have the Red Bull, but we don’t know what that relationship is like and it’s likely he views the Red Bull as more of an extension of himself (in my take of the character that’s how I view it). 

He hoards the unicorns, and in a way that while very Snake Primary is also very Bird secondary. Haggard collects things, and tries them out so that he can figure out what makes him happy. What doesn’t work he usually throws away, and what works (the unicorns) he hoards. He collected Mabruk not in a communal way, but in the way that he would collect a book, and when the book isn’t good enough he throws it away and picks up another. He’s also super fucking smart for a bastard. He explains about how he figured out Amalthea was a unicorn and talks about how her every action no matter how small was his spy.

It’s also a neat parallel that both Lir and Haggard are Snake primaries. The book ends with Lir resigning himself to be as unhappy as Haggard when he loses Amalthea. However, I do think that Lir will probably end up better than Haggard because he had some support from Schmendrick and Molly, and the book ends with a princess being sent to Lir to seek help. Lir will end up a healthy snake. 

So...

The Unicorn - Badger primary that sees immortal creatures as people/Lion secondary, both of these burn when she becomes Amalthea

Schmendrick - Bird primary/Snake secondary

Molly - Previously burned Lion primary, unburns after she sees The Unicorn/Badger secondary

Lir - Snake primary/Badger secondary, Lion secondary performance

Haggard - Burnt Snake primary/Bird secondary

[readbythestarlight]

c2e62

Oh my god he’s starting the ad off actually talking about D&D Beyond??

"I have between 2-4 minutes every night to do whatever I want" a terrifying concept

Oh Sam. We made it 2 whole minutes without talking about genitals smh.

I’m so excited about them making a home here

I hope they post a picture with everyone’s rooms mapped out later

Caleb just using his cat’s paw to help Cad plant his garden

They’re all so cute and excited about the house (except maybe Fjord)

Wait he’s gonna grow his magic giant tree atop the tower???

Okay I love it, Cad and his giant tree atop his tower

Well now everyone knows where the weird heroes of the dynasty are living

Cad’s gonna just grow so much

Everyone else is decorating and Fjord’s worried about putting security shutters on the windows

He’s the only one not having fun with this, poor guy

AWWWW JESTER THAT’S SO SWEET

painting Yasha a pretty mural of flowers I cry

I’m having FEELINGS this is so SWEET

Caleb installing his own alarm system

Cad: "what this—" *leaves, buys copper* "there we go, chimes." :D

Ouch. That’s a 450 worth of gold, 250 if he has to do more than once

200g to keep his garden alive and sunshiny. Worth it.

Cad’s gonna make little fairy lights!

The neighbors are jealous of Cad’s fairy garden

AYYYYE finally working on the teleportation circle

Which.... makes me nervous because Yusah could easily trap them/hand them over to the Empire

LB, about the tree: "will it be like that all the time?"

F: "I think that’s how trees work, yeah."

—

L: with a Nat1 "I’m gonna go ask Fjord"

T: Nat20

Oh wait did he say Dark Tow?

"I’m fine" Fjord you’re a fucking LIAR

!!!!! Caleb put together the Alchemical lab for Yeza!!!!

Oh my god all I want now is Yeza and Luke and Veth living in a house with the M9 and they

Oh no

The letter

Fuck

Forgot about the letter

Oh no

I don’t think they said anything about money and inheritance did they?? And they mentioned Caleb’s name didn’t they?? Fuck I can’t remember what they said

OH HOLY SHIT IT’S FROM CALIANA

Gotta go back soon

Oh shit it’s from Solstrice fuck

Oh god they put their names

SOMEONE FIND ME THE CLIP FROM THAT LETTER

Yes god plz message mom and make sure she’s okay and warn her about anyone named Astrid or Ikathon

FUCK god what will this do to Jester and Caleb if they’re watching her or if they take her

These people have already hurt Nott’s family and now they could hurt Jester’s too and Caleb’s gonna feel so bad

N: "I just wanted you to have a friend."

C: "I have friends."

N: "Well you didn’t then."

IM HAVING FEELINGS AND IM SCARED

Caleb’s real jittery now

Mmmm given that you haven’t confirmed no bugs we shouldn’t be talking about Dairon maybe

While Caleb and Nott or Caleb and Beau are having serious conversations, the clerics are planning to build a spa xD

Boy I can’t wait for Caleb to corner Fjord I hope he gets something out of him

Caleb just whips that medallion out any time, like he has that thing ready

THAT’S SO MUCH GOLD WTF

Ohhhh I physically hurt

1000g that they could lose

I hope they call the house the Treehouse from now on

Ayyyy Essik!

B: "do you want to stay for dinner?"

Me: do you want to stay forever?

Ohhhh I didn’t catch that they took their surenames from the dens

"Show me"

Oh gosh

Caleb honey the cat? Really?

C: "My people are perverting your magic. I wish to understand better, so that I can better help."

E: "Are you busy right now" WHAT

E: "May I?"

B: "I invited you twice but yeah yeah enter."

They’re HOSTING

This feels like a trap

Like that’s as too easy right?? He only rolled a 12

"Let me teach you a few things"

OH MY GOD

WHAT

UP TO 3 SPELL LEVELS OF DUNEMANTIC MAGIC?!??

WHAT

FUCKING

WHAT

It’s a trap right it’s gotta be a trap

"Bending of fate, destiny" the whole table freaks out

Fucking

This is gonna be a trick it’s gotta be a trick

Frick guys I’m so in love with Essik

B: "Caduceus calls it a ‘White Xhorhassian’—"

E: "...Mildly racist, but..."

God I hope that wasn’t some sort of trick or trap for Caleb

Fjord and Caleb talk now oh boy

OHHH SHIT WAY TO LEAD IN CALEB

Why you lyin’ Fjord why you always lyin’?

Caleb’s trying to... help?

Boy remember when I felt like Fjord and Caleb were gonna be the bro’s

"What do you think, we’re gonna chase you out of here, run you off?"

YES THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HE THINKS

"I found myself reinvented when I woke up on that shore"

"I didn’t care for that life, didn’t care for me. I prefer to leave it in the past. It’s not that I’m hiding anything from you, I... I don’t wanna bring things from my old life into this one. I can sound like many people, do many things."

God why do so many people in this group have pasts they need to hide from???

They’re both so scared the past is gonna swallow them up, hurt them and the people around them

C: "Because I worry about you all. And maybe I just want to know that you... are not worried about that as well."

F: "There is nothing that nips at my heels or at my back that is a danger to anyone else in this group." BUT IT’S A DANGER TO YOU FJORD AND THAT WILL MATTER TO THEM.

This talk is hurting me

C: "We can remake ourselves into something better."

F: "Yeah, I... that’s what I thought I was doin’. I can promise there is no danger from my past. I like this me, I love it."

God I’m so sorry that I ever suspected Fjord because I feel like a heel now

Caleb, trust him and don’t push. He’ll come to you when he’s ready.

C: "The only reason the group knows about me is because I am... Crazy"

F: "I don’t think you’re crazy, you’re one of the more out together people I know. At least that’s what you show. Thank you for... I want to say caring."

C: "That is accurate. Give me your hand. I am not a good person, but we are friends."

Also who else is crying because Caleb called them family

Also "give me your hand" slayed me I’m such trash for casual touches especially in a non-romantic sense

Perception check why

Back to the sword good good good

I thought for sure he was gonna say her hair was gonna start falling out

J: "By the second day it’s starting to turn greasy."

C: "My how the tables have turned."

Poor Sprinkle :(

Making a weasel nest in the tree

POOR SPRINKLE

"The big bad has been revealed" xD

"You throw some rats in there—" Taliein is dying of laughter

Sprinkle is going to run away

Guys Bryce is a town guard they don’t have time to just personally escort Luke and his guardian

They definitely need to get back to Luke, but it’s going to be hard to do at this point

Mmm Caleb wanting to ask Essik to get them to Alfield

Call me crazy, I wonder if they could ask the Gentleman for help

Or like, Cali or Keg or one of their friends

LIKE SHAKASTE

THAT’S RIGHT good thinking Nott! He’s not in Alfield probably I imagine, since y’all last saw him up near Shady Creek Run, but he would def help I’m positive and then he could guest star again

I feel like robbing a shop is probably not the best idea right now? Like even if they have a good reason I don’t think it’s the best plan

F: "Moro I don’t know how to say this but I... need you."

Oh my god FJORD xD

The glow is gonna be something stupid and pointless

The glow is something alive?? Someone invisible?

Hmmm interesting

"Oh my god it’s a front"

Of course they found drugs

Oh dang ground white stone. 1000g enchanting??

Okay so can they use it to help pay for Yasha’s thing?

Okay why does she have enchanting dust

In a place where an Empire spy is supposed to go

Ohhhhh they got a map!! New map new map!

Gonna lie I don’t like the idea of M.T. House. It’s nice to remember Molly but... idk

AYYYY GETTING IN TOUCH WITH SHAKASTE

We had so better get Shakaste back on the show!!

Please please please bring Khary back!

Oh dang yes the scrying worked!

Oh boy

"My liege"

If they choose to tell the Dynasty about this they’ll 100% be traitors, once and for all

Which like... I’m okay with. I don’t have any preference for the Empire and I like things about the Dynasty.

Scourgers...

Royal assassins

"My liege" is the King isn’t it

I really think they need to tell the Bright Queen

B: "Were they training you to be a scourger?"

C: "I think so." holy shit

God what if Astrid and whatshi are scourgers already

Have I mentioned how amazing Matt is to come up with all this and connect all these threads

Mmm Cad and Jester being a voice of reason

Cad: "Some things are too big to get on top of. Some things are bigger than us."

Cad’s being smart. They need to give a warning, not try to also control the situation.

Go immediately.

Where’s that whole thing coming from, Caleb? There’s really no reason to get that involved. Just like tell them what’s coming, that’s all you have to do. Listen, Caduceus is right.

Poor Beau

She’s kinda been stuck in a corner where she has to betray a homeland she’s not that fond of, but she is fond of Dairon

Oh gosh, Beau. :(

This is such a good moment for her, realizing that people are people wherever they are, that she doesn’t want to betray the people in the Empire, as little as she cares about the Empire itself

She’s not gonna slit your throat honey it’s fine

Boy next week is gonna be really intense again

[the-sapphiresky]

The Knight's Return

AN: Hi! It’s been awhile, so I hope this (rather long) drabble makes up for it a bit. I wrote it instead of working on my WIPs… (I do feel rather guilty about that). Anyway, it’s a Sherlolly Medieval-ish AU that has all the makings of a cheesy romance plot…I have no regrets. 

The entire kingdom was abuzz with excitement as the morning of the royal wedding dawned. Bakers and chefs were rushing about preparing the food for the enormous celebration feast and seamstresses and tailors were rushing to put the final touches on gowns and shirttails alike.

The castle servants were rushing about putting the final touches on the decorations and making sure each room was prepared for their guests.

Even the king and queen were a bit manic in their excitement, trying to oversee it all while welcoming their once-enemy kingdom’s royal family. Soon to be intertwined by their children’s union.

Yes, everyone was looking forward to the wedding.

Except, as it happens, the bride-to-be.

oOo

The princess leaned out her window and looked down upon the crowd below as the unfamiliar black carriages bearing the insignia of her future husband’s royal crest rolled inside the gates.

Her stomach roiled in fear and despair and she grasped tightly the ring that hung on a silver chain around her neck, praying for deliverance from whomever would grant it.

She had never met her betrothed and she was enraged that her parents had signed a contract of marriage without her consent. And to promise a wedding within 3 weeks of the agreement?! 

Call her romantic or fantastical, but she wanted to marry for love. To choose the man she would spend the rest of her life with, the man she would rule beside one day, overseeing their joined kingdoms.

She didn’t want to marry a stranger.

She wanted to marry her knight.

Her Sherlock. A knight as brave and honorable as she had ever met. She had give her heart to him almost as soon as he’d knelt before her father and sworn his fealty to the crown.

In only a matter of months, she found herself sneaking out of the grounds to meet him in the forest, their whispered words of devotion fading into the moonlit night. With a promise of love, he had given her a ring, crafted by his hand from the links of his armor.

‘So you know that wherever I am, a part of me will always be with you.’

But their time was precious and fleeting, for not a month after their first declaration, Sherlock was lost in battle against an uprising contingent. Molly remembered the devastating day the knights came back, bloody and exhausted, their victory marred by painful losses.

She had rushed out to meet them, ignoring her father’s order to stay back. She walked between the rows of knights, straining for any sign of her beloved Sherlock.

As the men thinned, she grew fearful. And then she saw John, Sherlock’s right hand and best friend. His face was pale and drawn. He caught her gaze and shook his head once.

Her heart had died that day.

oOo

The door to her chambers opened.

‘My lady, it’s time.’

Molly acknowledged Sir John’s announcement with a nod and tucked the ring into her gown. Unable to bring herself to smile, she accepted his arm silently and allowed him to lead her out.

Outside, the people were cheering and celebrating. But inside, the castle was as solemn as a tomb. Every servant was in attendance at the throne room, each knight and guest as well. Following weeks of endless preparation, it felt oddly calming to walk the stone halls in silence.

But each step closer to her bridegroom felt like a piercing betrayal to her love.

They paused outside the closed doors, behind which her future waited. Sir Gregory stood at attention, waiting for the signal of the bells to open the doors.

'Do you ever think about him?’

Sir John stiffened slightly. 'My lady, surely today is not the day to dwell on-’

'Just answer the question,’ she interrupted quietly.

He sighed. 'Every day.’

'I wish…’ She couldn’t bring herself to say it, the words catching in her throat.

Sir John hesitated a moment before quietly admitting, 'If he were alive, you would most certainly not be wedding anyone else.’

Molly felt tears fill her eyes and she stopped to kiss John’s cheek. 'Thank you.’

'My loyalty will always be sworn to you, my lady. And I will always be there to protect you.’

Molly smiled for the first time that day. Turning back toward the waiting ceremony room, she braced herself. 'Then let us do our duties. For the kingdom.’

Sir John admired her courage and willingness to marry for the sake of her kingdom. But he cursed fate for tearing her true love away from her so cruelly.

‘For the kingdom,’ he agreed.

The bells rang out the hour and Sir John stepped forward to open the door to the throne room, Sir Gregory doing the same on the other side.

oOo

Every eye was watching as she walked toward the priest, her head held high. She kept her eyes locked on the cross hanging in the center of the priest’s chest. Beside him, with his back to her, was the prince. She avoided looking at him, knowing that if she did, she would abandon all hope of courage and flee.

She drew up to his side and accepted his arm as they knelt on the long cushion before the priest, his pristine white gloves stitched with black thread.

'We are gathered to witness not only the union between Princess Molly and Prince William, but the uniting of two kingdoms. Once feuding, now coming together as one.’

Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking. She could feel the warmth emanating from beside her, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Not when she desperately wished he was another man.

All too soon, Molly found herself promising herself to this stranger before God and man, for the good of their kingdoms. 'I solemnly swear so to do.’

And then the priest turned to Prince William, putting the same questions to him.

'I solemnly swear so to do.’

Molly’s heart stopped. That…it couldn’t be.

She slowly, hesitantly, turned her head. Staring back at her was a dead man, brought to life. She gasped as she took in the shorn curls, the tan of his angular face, and the unabashed love shining in his blue green eyes.

'Sherlock,’ she breathed in wonder.

He lifted her hand to his lips and smiled tenderly down at her. 'As if I would let something as ridiculous as death stop me from letting you marry anyone else.’

The priest was still speaking over them, but Molly cared not one wit for what he was saying. Instead, she pulled her knight, her beloved, into a kiss that went far in healing the pain of the two years they’d spent apart.

Behind them, their parents wiped tears from their eyes, their feud forgiven, as the crowd cheered.

'I love you,’ she whispered thickly when they broke apart. She couldn’t stop touching him, her hands caressing his tear-struck cheeks, taking in her resurrected love. 'I love you so much. But how could you have let me think- let us all believe-’

She pressed her fists into his chest in anger.

'A story that can wait for another day, my love,’ he promised, gathering her hands in his, and ran his gaze over her face as if she were a precious work of art. 'Today, let us celebrate the fact that a mission of intended espionage brought us together.’

Molly looked at him in question, but let it go when he kissed her once again.

The priest chuckled. 'Shall we consider the ceremony nearing its end and adjourn to the celebration posthaste?’

Laughter met his question and he quickly wrapped up with the announcement of the bride and groom. Quickly placing their new crowns atop their heads, the colors of their kingdoms woven together in metals of gold and black, the priest stepped back and announced to all who could hear:

'Long live the Prince and Princess. May their years of marriage be blessed.’

Sherlock helped Molly to her feet and they turned to face their people, hand in hand. 

‘And may they be many,’ Sherlock added softly, leaning down to kiss her sweetly. 

oOo

This was most definitely not how Molly ever imagined her wedding day. It was almost like a dream. 

The breeze blew through the room and she shivered, drawing her robe around her as she stared out into the starry night. 

Behind her, the door opened and her husband entered. She turned and tears filled her eyes at the sight of him. His tunic and boots abandoned in the outer chamber, he sauntered into the room in only his trousers and crown. His curls were browner than she remembered and he’d cut them close to his head, no longer dangling in front of his eyes. She hoped to convince him to grow it out once more.

‘I am most definitely glad that Sir John is on our side… for the most part,’ he grumbled, touching the tender bruise rising on his cheek. When she didn’t speak, he looked up at her in question.

‘Molly?’

She swallowed thickly. ‘I just still cannot believe you’re here,’ she whispered. 

‘I promise,’ he said, closing the distance between them. ‘I will never leave you again.’

Resting her head against his chest, listening to the beat of his heart, she asked, ‘Will you not tell me why you let me believe you dead for these past torturous years?’

He sighed and rested his chin atop her head. ‘I was sent into your kingdom as a spy. No one would suspect the crown prince to take up such a role. It was when I saw you standing there as I knelt to take that oath of knighthood, that I realised you could put my entire mission in jeopardy.’

‘Me?’ 

‘Yes, you.’ He leaned back and smiled at her. ‘And you did. Instead of gathering information, I found myself falling in love with you. By the time of my pre-planned extraction, I was prepared to do everything in my power to bring peace between our kingdoms. So I could be with you.’

‘Your extraction?’ 

His lips twisted. ‘The battle in which I supposedly was left for dead. I was only supposed to fake my death. But something went terribly wrong and I was taken in the chaos. I eventually escaped, but not without being grievously injured.’ He turned around and she gasped at seeing the ugly scar that crossed his back, from the top of his right shoulder and down to his left hip. The extent of the scarring testified to the severity of his wound. Molly reached out and trailed her finger along the jagged skin. 

‘Oh, Sherlock,’ she breathed. 

He turned back around and caught her hands. ‘Never you mind. I’m here, I’m well, and our kingdoms are at peace.’

Still struggling to make sense of it all, Molly latched on to a single thought. ‘So my parents knew who you were when they agreed to the wedding?’

'Of course,’ he chuckled. ‘It took some time to convince my parents to meet with yours without risking bloodshed. But once I confessed that we had fallen in love, everything else fell into place. They would rather see us happy, merging our kingdoms into one with as many heirs as we will give them, than continue wasting lives, time and resources fighting a feud that neither side remembers what it is even about.’

Molly smiled in wonder. ‘And about time.’

Sherlock agreed. ‘Indeed, but enough about that. I believe we were married today.’

‘Yes, yes we were.’ She smiled widely, her arms coming up and around his neck, as he leaned down to kiss along her jaw. ‘And about time.’

He laughed against her skin and she closed her eyes, wanting to remember this feeling of pure joy forever.

‘Now, my lovely wife, we have the rest of our lives to look forward to. And I fully intend to make up for every moment of heartbreak I’ve caused you.’ 

He started backing toward the luxurious bed, his hand trailing down her arm only to catch her hand and pull her with him. She laughed softly and followed all too willingly.

‘You’re doing a wonderful job already, my love.’

oOo

And so the two kingdoms became one. And upon the ninth month of their marriage, the Prince and Princess welcomed the first of what would be their four children. 

And they all lived happily ever after.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Book Roundup -- April 2017

I completed by challenge of reading 50 books in 2017.... today.  Admittedly this is usually a pretty low bar for me, but I don’t wanna go any higher than 50 just in case I suddenly get super fucking busy or my speed-reading powers deactivate.

Anyway.  Most of the books I read this month were honestly mediocre to poor, but I did discover two books towards the end of the month ( “Feast of Sorrow” and “Crazy Rich Asians”) that not only introduced me to new authors but pretty much thrilled me.

So, without further ado:

The Night Mark by Tiffany Reisz.  3/5.  Still mourning the death of her first husband, Faye ends up divorcing the man she married for convenience and heading to coastal South Carolina in an attempt to resume her former career as a photographer.  After learning the local legend of a lighthouse keeper’s ill-fated daughter in the 1920s, she accidentally ends up in the water--and wakes up in the body of Faith Morgan, said ill-fated 1920s girl.  This book is definitely a romance novel, and it’s a lot of fun.  As with any romance novel, there are some random choices that are kind of done, and the plot is somewhat convoluted, and the time travel aspects of the plot don’t always make sense....  But it was fluffy.  It made me happy.  It made me homesick, for that matter.  If you’re looking for a quick, somewhat mindless read with some nice sexual tension-filled scenes, go for it.  (If anything, I feel like this would have been improved with a few more sex scenes.  To be honest.)  It’s note quite peak trashy time travel romance novel a la Jude Deveraux’s Knight In Shining Armor, but it’s good.

Love for Sale: A World History of Prostitution by Nils Johan Ringdal.  4/5.  A non-fiction history of prostitution spanning from ancient myths to the present day.  The book does a good job of covering the East and West--though more attention is paid to Europe than anywhere else, Asia gets a good amount of attention.  At certain points, it does get a bit dry.  But it does the job, and is very interesting and informative.

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett.  4/5.  In this YA contemporary, Bailey moves to California, not telling her Californian longtime online penpal, Alex, that she’s done so.  (She has confrontation problems.)  Upon beginning a museum job, she falls into a love-hate tension-filled relationship with security guard Porter, not realizing that he--of course--is Alex.  This is pitched as a modern-day You’ve Got Mail, so I don’t think that’s a spoiler.  Honestly, I was so pleasantly surprised by this book.  I was beginning to think that YA contemporaries just weren’t for me anymore, and something about the chemistry and characters in “Alex, Approximately” just got me.  Certain dramatic backstories were a bit much, but ultimately the chemistry between Bailey and Porter sold this book for me. They felt like actual teenagers who were actually into each other, and lately I feel like the YA I’ve been reading is too sugary to accurately portray that.  Overall, this is a definite summer/spring rec from me.

Marriage Most Scandalous by Johanna Lindsey.  2/5.  This was a pretty typical historical romance bodice ripper, about this dude who killed his best friend by accident in a duel years back?  And is now a sort of mercenary detective type?  So years after said accidental murder, his father’s ward comes a-knockin’, all grown up and such, and she thinks his dad is being targeted by someone evil.  Of course they have to pretend to be married to figure out what’s afoot, and you can take it from there.  I don’t think I like Regency bodice rippers as much as I do like... Viking romances, or Highlander stories.  I feel like bodice rippers should be set in “rougher” times so the extreme fuckery going on is easier to dismiss as part of the fantasy.  Plus, idk, some viking dude capturing the self-insert heroine and teaching her the ways of erotic love is just sexier to me than a dude named Sebastian having a secret identity as the Raven.  I never said I wasn’t problematic.

Literally by Lucy Keating.  1/5.  Annabelle is in the midst of upheaval in personal life when she meets the perfect boy, Will--and finds out that she’s actually the main character in a story by the author Lucy Keating.  K.  This could have been good, but it’s pretty much ruined as soon as Lucy Keating introduces herself.  She’s referred to as Lucy Keating for the whole book; Annabelle thinks about how beautiful she is and her cute clothes; she’s all ambiguous and strange and self-adoring.  This was one of the most uncomfortable, awkward books I’ve ever read.

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli.  3/5.  This YA contemporary is about Molly, a girl whose insecurity about her weight--and inevitable comparisons to her beautiful twin, Cassie--has her constantly crushing on people that she finds unattainable.  After Cassie falls head over heels for Mina, Molly feels pressured to like Will, Mina’s cute and sweet friend.  But she also likes--perhaps more genuinely--Reid, who is, like Molly, overweight and maybe a bit uncool.  This is less a romance--or I was less interested in the romance--than a story about Molly and Cassie growing up and apart.  Molly’s insecurities are driven in part by her comparing herself to Cassie; at the same time, the main reason why she doesn’t want to like Reid is that she thinks he’ll pull her further from her twin.  That’s a super interesting, real conflict.  The romances I found less compelling.  The book includes a lot of diversity, but at a certain point it did feel a bit... checking the boxes-esque?  Like, Molly thought back to this boy she crushed on, and specified that he was a trans boy even though it added nothing to the story and really served more to set him apart, in his two paragraphs of page time, as “special” compared to the cis boys Molly had crushed on.  I get what the author was going for, but it came off as a bit awkward sometimes.  Overall however, this is a very earnest and sweet read.

Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis. 2/5.  Khosa is the latest in a long line of women “given” to the sea--she’s destined dance into the sea as a sacrifice to prevent it from swallowing up her homeland.  Before she does that, of course, she needs to give birth to a daughter who will follow in her footsteps.  Trouble is, Khosa is afraid of being touched.  Aaaaaand that’s pretty much what I got from this.  The story has an interesting mythology and I liked the sort of writing style McGinnis was going for, but that’s it.  I kind of debate even giving it a 2/5 for that.  There were too many narrators (Khosa, the prince type guy she met, and his adopted sister I got but there was one guy whose presence as a narrator I never understood) and the plot was very... vague.  I got that Khosa was doomed to be sacrificed and needed to get knocked up, but everything else was extremely hard to understand.  And I was trying.  I really tried.  It just never got there for me.

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda.  2/5.  I really enjoyed Miranda’s previous thriller, “All The Missing Girls”, but this one just... numbed me.  It seemed like a much more standard “what happened to the missing/dead person” story than “ATMG” was, and it never clicked.  

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier.  4/5.  Che (yes, named after THAT Che because his parents are The Worst) is a teenager moving from Australia to New York.  Also, his little sister Rosa is fucking psychopath.  Rosa has been wrong since she was a baby, but Che is the only one in his family who acknowledges this--ironically, because his parents are always occupied with hippy-type projects that are meant to save the world.  Che knows exactly how dangerous the unfeeling Rosa is, and how easily she manipulates everyone around her.  And of course, she catapults the family into disaster.  This book was pretty chilling at times.  For that matter, it actually had explanations for things that bothered me--why Che’s parents were so shitty, for example.  Threads like those would have been dropped in another book, and I appreciate Larbalestier following up on them.  It’s a really effective thriller; perhaps the most convincing part of it is how much Che loves his sister, despite everything.  The book isn’t quite scary, but it is creepy--and quite sad at points.

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.  4/5.  From 1968, a serial killer terrorized the hills surrounding Florence.  The killer would spy on couples parked to have sex--a common practice in Italy, where people usually didn’t leave their parents’ homes until they married--shoot both of them, and often mutilate the women’s bodies in a sexually motivated manner.  There have been a number of suspects, some of which have been convicted then exonerated.  Italian journalist Mario Spezi had been following the case for decades when he met American thriller novelist Douglas Preston.  Forming a friendship, the two began researching the murders, leading to both of them tangling with the Italian authorities (including the prosecutor who botched Amanda Knox’s case; and if you didn’t think she was innocent before you read this book, you probably will after).  The book is divided into two parts--that detailing Mario Spezi’s investigation of the murders as they happened, and then what happened after Preston got involved. Preston describes Florence and the unique Florentine attitude well, but honestly I got frustrated with him a lot.  He seemed so ~shocked~ that the Italian authorities didn’t function in the same way that they do in America.  I figured that out pretty quickly after landing in Italy for my year abroad, and I was 20 at the time.  Also, like...  it wasn’t hard to keep my head down.  I get Preston’s motivations, but his story is less interesting than Spezi’s, which isn’t surprising.  Am I 100% sure that they found the true killer?  No, but their guy seems more likely than anyone else who’s been a suspect.  This is a very gripping, very interesting true crime story that I definitely recommend.

Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King.  4/5.  Thrasius, a young Roman slave, is bought by the patrician Apicius due to his exception skills in the kitchen.  Apicius wants to become the gastronomic adviser of Caesar Augustus, and he believes that Thrasius is his ticket to fave.  What follows is the decades long saga of Thrasius as he helps his often-capricious master and bonds with Apicius’s family, particular his master’s wife, Aelia, and his daughter, Apicata.  But Apicius’s ambition and hunger for renown knows no bounds, and he drags Thrasius and his family into the depths of Roman politics with him.  So this book was actually a really, really compelling read.  King has a talent for description, and as a recurring backdrop of the drama is cookbook(s) that Thrasius is helping Apicius put together... I got hungry fast.  King also has a talent for creating that sense of the Roman world, beyond the famous people.  She created an environment that felt real and everyday to me, while at the same time keying in the drama when she needed to.  I will definitely be picking up her next book, especially if it’s historical fiction.  I couldn’t put this down.  With that being said, there were a couple of things that kept this from being a 5/5 for me.  One was Thrasius’s romance with fellow slave Pallia--it felt very plot-device-y to me; I mean, you do need to give Thrasius a motivation to stay with his master even when he’s a dick (beyond his own life) and yes having him fall in love with a woman brings in the possibility of Babies as an added motivation, but also...  I kinda wish that Thrasius had fallen in love with a dude.  His chemistry and sex scenes with Pallia felt super forced, but his scenes with other men were more... interesting.  Towards the end of the book, the melodrama got dialed up a little too much--like I know it’s not Feast of Sunshine and Daisies but holy shit.  Some fact-checking proves, though, that King did her research and the goriest parts of the book did happen.  So overall, I’d highly recommend this to anyone who wants to read an entertaining novel of Ancient Rome.

The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron.  3/5.  This novel takes the perspective of Girl, a young female Neanderthal who, due to a sudden turn of events, ends up alone in the wilderness with Runt, a strange young  boy her family adopted.  At the same time, it tells the story of Rose, a pregnant archeologist who has discovered two unique skeletons and is racing against the clock to finish her project before her baby comes.  This is very much what you might call a feminist read--it’s about different aspects of women’s lives, how much has changed, how much... hasn’t.  What I found particularly interesting was the look at sexism--particularly towards women who choose to become mothers--in the academic world of archeology.  Unfortunately, I can’t say I super liked the book because Girl’s side was... well, kind of a downer.  It’s realistic, but strict realism doesn’t always make the best story; and at any rate, who knows how realistic it is? We’re talking about Neanderthals here.  Also, I feel like some people will really appreciate the degree to which Claire Cameron describes things, but like.  Dude.  Once we start talking in detail about the smell of a Neanderthal’s cervical fluids, I’m kinda out.  But I gave it three stars because it is well-written and it is an interesting angle to take, it’s just not for me.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.  5/5.  American Born Chinese (ABC) girl (but not really) Rachel Chu has been dating the charming Nick Young--her first Asian boyfriend--for about two years, and finally agrees to spend the summer with him in Asia as he stands as the best man in his friend’s wedding.  Nick is charming, kind, and handsome--also, he’s mega-rich, as Rachel only discovers upon arriving in Singapore and meeting his family, including his formidable mother Eleanor.  Nick hails from not one but two different elite clans in Singapore society, and not only is his mother plotting against no-name Rachel--so are all the women who want to get their claws into him and his bloodline.  There are several different, super-interesting subplots going on too, but that’s the main story.  And it’s great.  This book is the perfect blend of insightful social commentary--from someone who would actually know what’s he’s talking about, rather than an outsider white author--and catty drama.  Rachel is probably not the most interesting character here, but she’s supposed to be the good girl, and she’s not bland.  She’s smart and sticks up for herself, even if she’s a bit naive.  Nick is a decent guy, if not perfect--he’s ignorant to the complications of his own world because... it’s his world, and he’s a man and therefore not privy to many of the machinations the women perform.  The two most compelling characters are Astrid, Nick’s beautiful cousin who’s just beginning to recognize the cracks in her marriage, and Eleanor, his mother.  Eleanor is AMAZING, the perfect mom from Hell without being a caricature.  Her concerns go over the top, but they stem from a valid place, especially when you take cultural norms into consideration.  Also, she’s being played by Michelle Yeoh in the movie so... I’m hype.  Loved this.  It was one of my longer books of the month, but I sped through it in two days.

[katybudgetbooks]

YA Books We’re Anticipating in April 2017

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett (4/4):  Seventeen-year-old Bailey moves to California to live with her father and, perhaps, finally meet an online friend and fellow film buff, but soon finds herself attracted to an annoying co-worker.

The End of Our Story by Meg Haston (4/4): Every love story has a breaking point... From the author of Paperweight comes the star-crossed romance of two high school friends in a tale rife with deeply buried secrets and shocking revelations. BEFORE: Bridge and Wil have been entangled in each other's lives for years. Under the white-hot Florida sun, they went from kids daring each other to swim past the breakers to teenagers stealing kisses between classes. But when Bridge betrayed Wil during their junior year, she shattered his heart and their relationship along with it. AFTER: When Wil's family suffers a violent loss, and Bridge rushes back to Wil's side. As they struggle to heal old wounds and start falling for each other all over again, Bridge and Wil discover just how much has changed in the past year. Though they once knew each other's every secret, they aren't the same people they used to be. Bridge can't imagine life without Wil, but sometimes love isn't enough. Can they find their way back to each other, or will this be the end of their story?

Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima (4/4): From New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima, this is a thrilling story of the unfathomable costs of war, the allure of dark magic, and two principled and conflicted characters drawn together despite everything they stand to lose.Alyssa ana'Raisa, the reluctant princess heir to the Gray Wolf throne of the Fells, feels more comfortable striking with a sword than maneuvering at court. After a brush with death, Lyss goes on the offensive, meaning to end the war that has raged her whole life. If her gamble doesn't pay off, she could lose her queendom before she even ascends to the throne. Across enemy lines in Arden, young rising star Captain Halston Matelon is being sent on ever more dangerous assignments. Between the terrifying rumors of witches and wolfish warriors to the north and his cruel king at home, Hal is caught in an impossible game of life and death.Lyss and Hal's intricately linked fates become inseparable when they fall under the shadow of a new enemy--a force that threatens to extinguish the last rays of hope in the Shattered Realms.

Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz (4/11): 1777. Albany, New York. As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society's biggest events: the Schuylers' grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country's founding families, and even prouder still of their three daughters--Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks; and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival those of both her sisters, though she'd rather be aiding the colonists' cause than dressing up for some silly ball. Still, Eliza can barely contain her excitement when she hears of the arrival of one Alexander Hamilton, a mysterious, rakish young colonel and General George Washington's right-hand man. Though Alex has arrived as the bearer of bad news for the Schuylers, he can't believe his luck--as an orphan, and a bastard one at that--to be in such esteemed company. And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history. In the pages of Alex and Eliza, #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz brings to life the romance of young Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler.

The Freemason’s Daughter by Shelley Sackier (4/11): Saying good-bye to Scotland is the hardest thing that Jenna MacDuff has had to do--until she met Lord Pembroke. Jenna's small clan has risked their lives traveling the countryside as masons, secretly drumming up support and arms at every stop for the exiled King James Stuart so that he may retake the British throne. But their next job brings them into enemy territory: England.Jenna's father repeatedly warns her to trust no one, but when the Duke of Keswick hires the clan to build a garrison on his estate, it seems she cannot hide her capable mind from the duke's inquisitive son, Lord Alex Pembroke--nor mask her growing attraction to him.But there's a covert plan behind the building of the garrison--a secret that cannot be revealed. Will Jenna hide her family's mutinous plot and assist her clan's cause, or protect the life of the young noble she's falling for?In Shelley Sackier's lush, vivid historical debut, someone will pay a deadly price no matter what Jenna chooses.

Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis (4/11):  Kings and Queens rise and fall, loyalties collide, and romance blooms in a world where the sea is rising--and cannot be escaped. Khosa is Given to the Sea, a girl born to be fed to the water, her flesh preventing a wave like the one that destroyed the Kingdom of Stille in days of old. But before she's allowed to dance, an uncontrollable twitching of the limbs that will carry her to the shore in a frenzy--she must produce an heir. Yet the thought of human touch sends shudders down her spine that not even the sound of the tide can match. Vincent is third in line to inherit his throne, royalty in a kingdom where the old linger and the young inherit only boredom. When Khosa arrives without an heir he knows his father will ensure she fulfills her duty, at whatever cost. Torn between protecting the throne he will someday fill, and the girl whose fate is tied to its very existence, Vincent's loyalty is at odds with his heart. Dara and Donil are the last of the Indiri, a native race whose dwindling magic grows weaker as the island country fades. Animals cease to bear young, creatures of the sea take to the land, and the Pietra--fierce fighters who destroyed the Indiri a generation before--are now marching from their stony shores for the twin's adopted homeland, Stille. Witt leads the Pietra, their army the only family he has ever known. The stone shores harbor a secret, a growing threat that will envelop the entire land--and he will conquer every speck of soil to ensure the survival of his people. The tides are turning in Stille, where royals scheme, Pietrans march, and the rising sea calls for its Given.

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (4/11): From the award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda comes a funny, authentic novel about sisterhood, love, and identity.Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can't stomach the idea of rejection. So she's careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.Then a cute new girl enters Cassie's orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly's cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness--except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back. There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

Bang by Barry Lyga (4/18):  A chunk of old memory, adrift in a pool of blood. Sebastian Cody did something horrible, something no one--not even Sebastian himself--can forgive. At the age of four, he accidentally shot and killed his infant sister with his father's gun. Now, ten years later, Sebastian has lived with the guilt and horror for his entire life. With his best friend away for the summer, Sebastian has only a new friend--Aneesa--to distract him from his darkest thoughts. But even this relationship cannot blunt the pain of his past. Because Sebastian knows exactly how to rectify his childhood crime and sanctify his past. It took a gun to get him into this. Now he needs a gun to get out. Unflinching and honest, Bang is the story of one boy and one moment in time that cannot be reclaimed, as true and as relevant as tomorrow's headlines. Readers of This is Where It Ends, The Hate List, and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock will appreciate this extraordinary novel.

Grendel’s Guide to Love and War by AE Kaplan (4/18):  Tom Grendel lives a quiet life--writing in his notebooks, mowing lawns for his elderly neighbors, and pining for Willow, a girl next door who rejects the -manic-pixie-dream- label. But when Willow's brother, Rex (the bro-iest bro ever to don a jockstrap), starts throwing wild parties, the idyllic senior citizens' community where they live is transformed into a war zone. Tom is rightfully pissed--his dad is an Iraq vet, and the noise from the parties triggers his PTSD--so he comes up with a plan to end the parties for good. But of course, it's not that simple. One retaliation leads to another, and things quickly escalate out of control, driving Tom and Willow apart, even as the parties continue unabated. Add to that an angsty existential crisis born of selectively reading his sister's Philosophy 101 coursework, a botched break-in at an artisanal pig farm, and ten years of unresolved baggage stemming from his mother's death . . . and the question isn't so much whether Tom Grendel will win the day and get the girl, but whether he'll survive intact.

Legion by Julie Kagawa (4/25): From the limitless imagination of Julie Kagawa comes the next thrilling novel in The Talon Saga.The legions will be unleashed, and no human, rogue dragon or former dragonslayer can stand against the coming horde. Dragon hatchling Ember Hill was never prepared to find love at all--dragons do not suffer human emotions--let alone with a human, and a former dragonslayer at that. With ex-soldier of St. George Garret dying at her feet after sacrificing his freedom and his life to expose the deepest of betrayals, Ember knows only that nothing she was taught by dragon organization Talon is true. About humans, about rogue dragons, about herself and what she's capable of doing and feeling.In the face of great loss, Ember vows to stand with rogue dragon Riley against St. George and her own twin brother, Dante--the heir apparent to all of Talon, and the boy who will soon unleash the greatest threat and terror dragonkind has ever known. Talon is poised to conquer the world, and the abominations they have created will soon take to the skies, darkening the world with the promise of blood and death to those who will not yield.

[dent-de-leon]

Having many (incoherent) thoughts about how Molly really was just the Arch-hearts perfect little angel; made in their image.

Beautiful, hedonistic, fleeting, genderfluid disaster with a soft heart

I'm having a lot of thoughts

aHH yes!! :') I think there's a lot to the Archeart that feels reminiscent of the Moonweaver, and I could easily see Molly following them if Sehanine didn't reach out to him first. Fleeting beauty, passion, living in the moment, art and magic and the act of creation...I think a lot of the Archeart's domains would appeal to Molly. Also, the gender exploration and gender euphoria is such a cool thing I didn't even think about!! Molly would absolutely be inspired by the Archeart's whole identity--

And Molly would've loved the Archeart's whole aeormaton club and everything it represented. This place of joy and art and passion and pleasure in the midst of all Aeor's cruelty and oppression...just the kind of indulgent little haven Molly would've adored. Especially thinking of how Molly and Lucien were always treated so cruelly for their infernal heritage, and how the demons and devils imprisoned in the city were able to still find this place where they could be free--

I feel like there's also something to the fact that Molly is drawn to the Moonweaver, and she and the Archeart are both traditionally elven deities? I'm not sure what, but I think it's interesting.

The thought of being made in a god's image is such a lovely way to put it and it reminds me of how the Moonweaver was there to help Molly shape his own identity. She sings him songs--stories of the place she calls home--tells him a tale of a King who was so beloved and deeply mourned, who died and rose up from the grave again. Makes him feel like royalty. Like he was someone loved and cherished, someone worth remembering and holding onto.

And when he's finally revived for the third time, Sehanine is there once again, reaffirming that Tealeaf's soul is defined by love--that he deserves another chance to find happiness.

She tells him to be free, to find his own way in the world and delight in whatever joy he finds. And Molly admits the Moonweaver was there to guide him as he built his new life and sense of self, helped him to discover who he is and find the right path.

"Can you imagine what it would feel like, to not feel anything about anything that happened to you so far?...It's very freeing. It's the best thing--it's the thing that happened to me. It's not the best thing that happened to me, it's the thing that happened to me. I found peace in building a new person--the Moonweaver..."

I think it's also worth noting that the Moonweaver describes Molly as, "Empty. Free. Obsessed...Death-obsessed, but free"--Molly is first born in the shadow of Lucien's death, in a shallow grave under a red moon. Molly, who always believed from the very beginning he was on borrowed time, that at any moment he would be back in the earth again. All he had was the present, this one last chance to live happy and free in the moment, to find as much joy in this life as he can until it's all stolen away from him again.

Reminds me a bit of how it's the Archeart who contemplates their own mortality--that maybe in a way they wouldn't mind if everything were to end, that it makes those moments of joy and beauty all the more powerful. That nothing is ever meant to last, and that's the allure of it all. I think the Archeart and Molly would probably have very similar sentiments about death.

And thinking about...the Moonweaver reaching out to Lucien when he was all alone and abandoned by his only family, distraught and desperate, aching for companionship. And Lucien turns away from her light--still too hesitant, still afraid of letting anyone get close. But Sehanine is ever patient and understanding, is content to wait until this lonely, shattered, fate touched soul is ready to accept her help.

When Lucien dies and Molly first wakes, still caught in this liminal space between life and death, the Moonweaver is there for him, her comforting embrace the first thing he feels. She is--like Molly--described as delightfully strange, otherworldly. Enigmatic, mercurial, ethereal. And when she changes shape, appears in the form of a child, Molly even finds her "creepy" and doesn't realize she's the same person. He hopes that the beautiful women who read his cards returns soon, and that he's not just left alone with his kid who unnerves him--

She has different faces and facets and an ever shifting, fluid sense of identity, much like Molly himself. But more than anything, the Moonweaver is someone Molly sees as a comforting, familiar presence. Like family. "The way she observes you, it makes you feel safe, like everything might just be alright. Her smile is the smile of your mother or father, your grandfather, your older sister, whoever rubbed your back when you were little and couldn't sleep."

And we get this description from Molly's newly born shard of a soul, still lost and adrift after Lucien's death--Lucien, who was abused by his own family for so long, who was only ever hurt by his parents. It must've meant the world to him, to find someone like the Moonweaver after all that pain.

Sorry this got sidetracked, but I think that the Archeart would appeal to Molly for a lot of similar reasons to why he began following the Moonweaver. And that they both offer a chance to find love and joy and passion in a world that can be so harsh and cruel, the freedom of a new start.