#i have somehow gotten dorian to generate guard for himself which is wonderful so hes like a little tank mage now so great news

[rhysnolastname]

views of the basin

[notalwaysthevillian]

Lost and Found (A Sanders Sides Tangled AU)

Warnings: Police brutality (that’s the closest to what it is), mention of hanging, anxiety, mental/emotional abuse

Word Count: ~1.4k

Pairings: Romantic Prinxiety, Romantic Logicality

Chapter 9

Masterlist

I couldn’t wait, so you guys get this chapter now! Only one more canon chapter and then an epilogue of my own design :D

Chapter 10

Rope burned into Roman’s skin as he came to, twisting in his binds. “Virgil? Virgil!”

As he heard footsteps, he glanced up. About half of the royal guard had him surrounded. The captain easily cut him out of his binds and hoisted him up to the dock. “I didn’t think I’d find you this easily.”

“Wait, wait, you don’t understand!”

“C’mon.” The captain shoved him, heading for the castle. “Your room is already prepared.”

“Virgil!” He shouted, hoping that his voice would carry over the water.

The grip on his arms tightened. “Shut up.”

“Please, you have to -” He was cut off as the breath left his lungs.

Removing his fist from Roman’s stomach, the guard started to drag him along. “We don’t have to do anything, thief.”

Glancing back, all Roman could see was fog. Another guard tugged on his arm, making him face forward.

Resigning himself to his fate, Roman let himself be tugged along and thrown in the dungeon.

After all, Virgil probably thought he’d been abandoned. Roman had stupidly left him on the beach, promising to come back. He should’ve known that something would happen. The Stabbington brothers never played fair.

He paced in his cell all night, wondering what had happened to Virgil. Was he okay? Had he gotten away from the brothers? Maybe Max had found him.

Jingling interrupted his thoughts. He turned to find the Captain opening his cell, a solemn look on his face. “Let’s get this over with, King.”

Roman put a hand to his neck, knowing which punishment fit the crime.

He’d never see Virgil again.

***

Virgil trembled as he felt the last flower leave his hair.

“There. Now we can pretend that never happened.” Dorian grabbed the basket full of flowers, refusing to look at Virgil as he walked towards the kitchen area. “Wash up. I’m making hazelnut soup.”

He stopped at the edge of Virgil’s curtains, looking back. Virgil sat on his bed, eyes filled with tears, staring down at his hands.

“I warned you what was out there.” He snapped, voice growing cold. “The world is a cruel, dark, and selfish place. It always has been and it always will be.”

He closed the curtains, leaving Virgil to himself.

As soon as the footsteps had faded, Virgil opened his hands, staring at the crumpled flag he’d managed to hide. Ever so carefully, he spread it out across his lap.

Emile let out a squeak, hugging Virgil’s leg the best he could.

With a sigh, Virgil laid back, clutching the flag to his chest. He stared up at the paintings on the ceiling, knowing nothing would ever bring him joy again.

Emile let out a squeak, tapping his hand on the sun before looking up.

Virgil followed the chameleon’s gaze, eyes widening as he realized he’d somehow painted the royal symbol in the negative space. His eyes flicked around to each painting, finding the star in nearly everything he’d painted.

A gasp fell from his lips as he remembered. 

The star above him.

His parents smiling down at him.

His parents.

The kings.

“It’s for the lost prince.”

A flash of himself wearing the tiara filled his mind.

Virgil gasped, falling back into his dresser.

“It’s me.”

***

Roman walked through the dungeon, accepting his defeat and death.

At least, that had been the plan.

All bets were off when he saw the Stabbington brothers sitting in a cell.

He threw himself into the guards, knocking them to the ground before jumping over his chains and grabbing one of them by the neck.

He slammed the brother’s face into the bars, growling. “How did you know about him? Tell me, now!”

“It wasn’t us!” He tried to pull away, groaning when he was slammed against the bars once more. “It was the old man!”

“Old man?” Snippets of Virgil talking about his Father all came back at once. Roman’s eyes widened and he struggled as the guards grabbed him again. “Wait! No! You don’t understand, he’s in trouble!”

***

Virgil heard Dorian yelling, asking if he was alright. He walked through the curtains, still reeling from his discovery.

“I’m the lost prince.” He whispered, holding tightly to the fabric.

Dorian rolled his eyes. “What have I told you about mumbling?”

“I am the lost prince. Aren’t I?” Virgil glared at Dorian. The slight widening of his eyes was enough of an answer. “Did I mumble, Father? Actually, I shouldn’t even call you that.”

Recovering quickly, Dorian waved a hand in the air. “Please, Virgil, do you hear yourself? How could someone like you be a prince.”

“Stop it! Stop...belittling me!”

Knowing he’d been caught, Dorian’s face grew cold. “I protected you. Gave you a home.”

“You locked me in a tower!” Virgil screamed, shoving past Dorian and heading down the stairs. “You told me that people would want to steal my power. It was just you who wanted it.”

“It’s not like you have anywhere else to go.” Dorian smirked, waving a hand in the air. Scales raced up his jaw as a visual of Roman pinned by the guards floated in the air. “He can’t be there for you.”

“What did you do?!”

“He’s a thief, Virgil.” Dorian waved his hand again, stalking toward the trembling boy. “By royal decree, a thief is hanged for his crimes.”

Tears blurred Virgil’s vision. “No!”

“Shh, it’s all right. If you just forget about all this, I’ll let you stay here.” Dorian reached out to pat Virgil’s hair.

Shooting his hand out, Virgil grabbed Dorian’s wrist. “NO! You were wrong. About the world, about Roman, about me. I will never let you use my hair again!”

With a shove, Dorian stumbled back into the wall. He stared as Virgil straightened up and started to walk away.

“You want me to be the bad guy?” He let his magic flow up his arms, ignoring the stinging itch of the scales. “Fine. Now I’m the bad guy.”

***

Lead down the corridor, this time bound and chained, Roman continued to struggle. Each time, the guards tightened his bindings until he was practically being carried.

A pink unicorn set in an alcove caught Roman’s eye as they walked. He grinned, stopping dead in his tracks.

All the doors around them slammed shut, making the guards around him jump.

The captain banged on a door. “Hey! Open up!”

“What’s the password?” An all too familiar voice asked.

“What?”

“Nope.”

“Open this door!” The guard slammed his fist against the wood.

“Not even close.”

“You have three seconds!”

As the captain counted, the guards holding Roman were taken and knocked out. He grinned and waved as the captain turned around, only to be knocked out by one of the thugs wielding a frying pan.

“Who knew, right?” Roman asked, gesturing toward the cookware. “Now can you -”

The door behind him splintered as the rest of the royal guard came pouring through. Roman shrieked as the thug tugged him through the doorway. They sprinted down the corridor, the guards right on their tail.

They ran past Ulf, who began to mime, before continuing their way out into the courtyard. More of the guards poured in, blocking all exits.

Gunnar grabbed Roman, setting him down. “Head down.”

“Head down.” Roman repeated, doing as he was told.

“Arms in.”

“Arms in.”

“Knees apart.”

“Knees apa- wait, what?” Roman gave him a confused look. “Why do I need to keep my knees apAAAAAAAA!”

A scream fell from his mouth as he flew through the air, turning into a wheeze as he landed. He opened his eyes finding himself in Max’s saddle.

“You brought them here?”

The horse let out an agreeing sound.

“Oh, thank you!” Roman threw his arms around Max’s neck. “I’m so sorry about everything. Maybe we -”

The horse stared at him.

“Let’s just go.”

Roman grabbed the reins, merely holding on as Max leapt. They landed on a nearby house, scattering their shingles - which Roman fully intended to remember and replace - before landing in the middle of town.

“Okay, Max. How fast can you run?”

The horse took off at a blazing speed, jumping over branches and avoiding holes as Roman lead him to the hidden tower.

As soon as it was in view, Roman jumped off Max’s back and darted to the base. “Virgil? Virgil, let down your hair!”

When nothing happened, Roman ran forward, digging his fingers into the stones, desperately trying to climb the tower.

He sighed with relief when the silver strands were tossed out the window. 

Heart pounding, Roman made his way to the top of the tower, wanting nothing more than to see Virgil again.

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[longsightmyth]

Myth reads The Naming, Chapter 20

Welp I’m just gonna post the one I have and deal with the (possible) schedule in the morning. That’s just who I am as a person I guess.

PELLINOR

Just because they can see Norloch doesn’t mean they’re there yet though. In fact, it takes four days (one night of which is spent in an inn, where a fellow bard stitches up the wounds on Cadvan’s face) before they reach the city itself. The vale of Norloch is pretty, prosperous, and heavily gardened. Our heroes ride through the gates of the city proper just before they close and just before the storm hits.

To be completely honest, if you picture Minas Tirith as portrayed in the LotR movies, you’ve got a good idea of Norloch. There are nine levels, each with their own winding ways and gates of entry. Thankfully only the outer gate closes at sundown, so they can ride up to the fourth circle without being challenged as it starts to drizzle. The guard recognizes Cadvan and lets them through. They get through the gate to the first circle just as the rain really hits. Cadvan leads the way to Nelac’s house, who lets them in promptly.

Maerad saw that Cadvan suddenly looked exhausted and gray, as if he’d been holding himself together by sheer will and now, having reached his goal, was on the verge of collapse.

I know that feel, Cadvan.

Cadvan makes the barest of introductions (basically he tosses out that they’re Maerad and Cai of Pellinor, and Nelac is just like ‘why not at this point’) as Nelac helps Cadvan into a living room, where Saliman has apparently beaten them to Nelac’s house. I guess Rachida really held them up?

Nelac heals Cadvan, who until this point was getting worse and worse, and sends Maerad and Hem off for baths so he can rest after healing Cadvan, and Cadvan can rest after being healed.

Hem is rude to Saliman for approximately ten seconds, at which point he’s too interested in the south to think about being rude. They drop Maerad off and Saliman escorts Hem away.

Maerad bathes and unpacks, and meets Saliman and Hem to go back downstairs. Hem hasn’t bathed, but he has gotten dressed even if he left off the shoes.

Cadvan has already gone to bed when they get downstairs, so Maerad and Hem eat, though Hem does it while utterly enthralled by Saliman and Saliman’s stories of the south.

Maerad asks about Cadvan, and Nelac says he’s healed but needs some sleep, and that he was essentially wounded where his magic was kept. He asks how they all survived an attack by a wight, and Maerad says she blasted the wight. She takes their shock as disbelief and gets defensive.

“Nobody saw it,” she said. “Cadvan was unconscious. I thought Hem was dead. Nobody saw me do it. But I did. You can believe me or not.” She looked up defiantly and caught Nelac’s steady gaze. She held his eye, refusing to be intimidated. At last he stirred, looking away and passing his hand over his brow. To Maerad’s surprise, he looked immensely sad.

He tells her he believes her. End of chapter.

THRONE OF GLASS

For a minute there I thought I’d left a chapter out of my organizer and came to the conclusion that having to do three of them was a fitting punishment. Thankfully, I was just tired and realized my math was right the first time. Have chapters 44 & 45.

Celaena freaks out that the king meets her eyes, as well she should since in Crown of Midnight we are told that the turquoise eyes with molten golden cores are ancestral traits told of in song and story.

Wait no she just thinks me might somehow be able to read her thoughts about the wyrdmarks and Cain pulling some bullshit. Sure, why not.

Later Chaol ruminates on Celaena.

She was incredible now, so fast he had difficulty keeping up with her. She could scale a wall with ease, and had even demonstrated by climbing up to her own balcony with nothing but her bare hands. It unnerved him, especially when he remembered she was only eighteen. He wondered if this was how she’d been before Endovier. She never hesitated when they sparred, but she seemed to sink far within herself, into a place that was calm and cool, but also angry and burning. She could kill anyone, Cain included, in a matter of seconds.

I’ve seen no evidence of this and the word of an incompetent guard captain isn’t going to convince me of it.

After all of this reflection on her badassery, Chaol decides she needs to be protected because she won’t survive another year in Endovier.

Next chapter.

Nox and Celaena spar, or so I assume since the chapter begins with Celaena panting and both of them lowering their swords. Nox teases her about dancing with Dorian at the ball, Celaena warns him to be Super Extra Careful in the coming days. Nox prods her until she drops hints about her Actual Identity, which he then puts together to know who she is. He evidences surprise that she’s a girl.

Seriously is Celaena a gender-neutral name in Adarlan? Otherwise they have pretty strict gender roles going on though. Who knows. Moving on. She tells Nox to run, and the next day he has.

If it was that fucking easy for everyone to get out of the castle, why haven’t they all bolted? I ask you. (Also I note that Celaena doesn’t tell Nox about the secret passageways, making her even more of a half-assed helper)

Oh also Nox calls her Queen of the Underworld. Just cuz.

We swap to Kaltain’s PoV. She notices something funky about Cain, like shadows leaking all around him and stuff.

Shadows seemed to leak from him, flowing onto the stones and the windows and the walls like spilled ink.

But she forgets about it when she gets to Perrington’s table in the hall. Because Reasons.

Celaena’s PoV. She and Dorian are playing chess. She and Dorian eventually make out. Next section.

I assume Dorian left, because Celaena is sitting shivering in bed hoping the monster doesn’t get her the night before the final Test (which comes before the duel).

Celaena falls asleep and dreams of being chased by a horse. This is why I say the early books had more planning, because those of us who have read Heir of Fire will recognize the scene.

She wakes up, pets Fleetfoot (who remains incredibly well-mannered) and goes back to sleep. The next morning she wakes up to learn that Nox is gone (...but he already was?) and the final Test is cancelled. The duel is set for the next day.

End chapter.

COMPARISON

Celaena, if you want your friend safely out of the castle, maybe tell him about that one secret passage that leads directly out of the castle. Fuck’s sake. Do y’all see what I mean about this? (it becomes particularly egregious in Queen of Shadows, remind me to talk about this more when we get there. We’ll also talk more about Hem and Aedion)

Cadvan was not as hale and healthy as we thought, but at least Nelac is here to save the day. Also featuring: Hem’s TREMENDOUS crush on Saliman. No, Ms. Croggon, I know Saliman ends up with a lady. That doesn’t mean Hem doesn’t have a crush the size of a medium planet on him.

Also also featuring one of the main differences in the writing in general and the writing of main characters in specific, namely: Maerad kills things and feels bad about it. Celaena doesn’t kill things but glories in the idea of it and brags about murder until confronted with someone who might present a challenge.

All I’m saying is, the difference is stark.

Likewise, the love interests have totally different interactions with characters and story. Even if Chaol isn’t endgame (and Dorian becomes not endgame) it’s still interesting to see Cadvan vs Chaol & Dorian. Cadvan supports and encourages and sometimes snaps, but he rarely if ever belittles Maerad or her abilities. Chaol (and Dorian) all too often pay lip service to how awesome Celaena is while at the same time deciding she needs to be protected and undermining her at every turn (Chaol and Dorian do this to a lesser degree than Rowan, mind). It’s not even necessarily the characters undermining the protagonist precisely. It is the story undermining her in favor of these three dudes (mostly Rowan and Dorian, admittedly) and then undermining every single other woman in favor of Celaena. It is the oldest of strategies, the kind that elevates the singular woman above other women, showing by implication that it is because she is exceptional that she can run with the boys. Those other women aren’t quite good enough, but she’ll hang out with them if they prop her up enough. So long as Celaena remains more awesome than all other women (never the man she’s involved with, mind. He must be more awesome than all others), it’s all good.

It has not escaped my notice that all of the ‘good’ women are white or white-coded, either. Different cultures? What are they? Only for the evil or uncivilized, obviously.

That’s totally feminism, right?

STATS

Throne of Glass:

Pages: 14

Fragments: 17

Em-Dashes: 29

Ellipses: 7

Pellinor:

Pages: 18

Fragments: 3

Em-Dashes: 2

Ellipses: 4