#love triangles with friends is a tough situation

[junnieverse]

my run was good but like... we went on a class trip today and i am now stuck in a love triangle ✌️ how tf i have so low rizz and now im stuck. Like fr. But!! Now ig i nave 2 choices?? But theyre both friends so idk 🤕🤕

-toomuchrizzki anon

ps. how was ur day today??

Oh man I hate love triangles, I've been in one before and it is not nice plus I'm indecisive and didn't want to hurt anybodies feelings so that made it alot harder. You must have ungodly rizz, please teach me your ways.

(My day was great! I didn't do much but it was still productive, I hope you had a good day)

[randxmthxughts]

And I cried when you first said, "Oel ngati kameie" - Neteyam x Metkayina ! reader (forbidden love)

summary: despite her father's wariness of the sully's and their 'demon-blood,' y/n can't help but feel drawn to neteyam. as the two of them bond over their similar experiences of parental pressure, he finds himself falling in love with her

contains: love triangle, friends to lovers, forbidden romance/love, daddy issues (idk where that came from), fluff

wc: 5.7k

a/n: damn, i was hoping to post this like six hours ago but i did not expect for a oneshot to take a whole day to edit. please don't question me about neteyam and y/n's father, i don't want to develop that plot further bc this is a oneshot, so just assume it's a happy ending

masterlist

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Ever since the Sully family moved to Awa’atlu, whether for better, or for the worst, they became the center of attention. Despite the initial wariness of their nature, villagers eventually seemed to warm up to them, making their stay more comfortable. But unlike the others, you remained hesitant to approach them, your father's warnings of their 'demon-blood' weighing heavily on your mind. It was only in these rare moments, when you couldn't help but notice their oldest son, Neteyam.

“Where were you? I needed you there exactly for situations like this,” Jake raised his voice at Neteyam, “You’re supposed to look after your siblings!”

You watched from a distance, observing the way Neteyam hunched in shame and nodded his head in acceptance of the fault, the way he’d blink rapidly to avoid the tears welling up in his eyes, every time his father’s voice would get louder. It was a familiar sight to you, one that brought back memories of your own father raising his voice at you for disappointing him.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Neteyam expressed with sincere guilt in his voice, “I promise I’ll do better next time.”

“I know,” Jake sighed, “Dismissed.”

Jake's pained expression mirrored the face of your own father after his angry outbursts. Ever since your mother's passing, the responsibility of caring for your younger brother Tewtxey had fallen on your shoulders. Your father was tough on you, stricter than the other parents. He believed that protection meant safety, rarely showing you any tenderness. But he had no idea how much his tough love only made you rougher around the edges and deepened the resentment you felt towards him. You despised him in the depths of your heart, unable to make up for his harsh ways with the love you craved from him.

The sight of Neteyam rushing off into the trees tugged at your heartstrings. You guessed that he was in a hurry to find a private corner where he could finally break down. But as much as you wanted to trail after him and tell him that you understood, that it was no big deal to mess up sometimes, you couldn’t. You weren’t close like that, in fact, your interactions had been limited to mere greetings exchanged in passing. Yet, you had witnessed the way his father scolded him for his siblings’ troublemaking on many occasions now, and it felt like you knew him. You were already struggling to take care of one sibling, you couldn’t imagine how hard it was on him to keep an eye on three.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

“And what were you thinking leaving Tewtxey alone?” your father was pacing around your marui, tail swishing aggressively from side to side.

You winced when he halted directly in front of you, waiting expectantly for an answer. It was easy for you to tune him out whenever he went on long angry rants, counting down minutes for him to cool down, but whenever he wanted you to answer him, that was when you felt your blood boil. Admitting to your mistakes verbally, without sounding defensive, was a challenge.

“He wasn’t alone,” you muttered under your breath.

“What?”

“I said, he wasn’t alone. He was with Tuktirey, and her father was watching them,” you raised your head slightly to look at his face.

“I told you I do not trust that demon,” your father spat through gritted teeth, “How could you leave your little brother with him?”

“Dad, he is the Toruk Makto. Hasn’t he proved himself to be one of us?” you felt irritated with your father’s stubbornness.

You knew that it was a sensitive subject for him. Having lost his mate to a stupid, pointless interaction with sky people, he was forever in deep hatred towards them. He was conflicted when he first found out about Toruk Makto’s past. It was difficult to respect someone who was a dreamwalker, whose children were only 'half-Na’vi.'

“You dare to challenge me?” he raised his voice at you, sending a shiver down your spine, “All I ask of you is to protect your brother! Is it so hard to listen to me? Is it so hard to understand why your mother is no longer here?”

He hit a nerve with the last question. Of course, ever since her passing, you missed your mother terribly. She was the balance in your family, the gentle touch you craved. But instead of bonding over the loss, your relationship with your father grew more distant. Suddenly, you were too reckless for him, too distracted. He was scared of how much you resembled your mother, of the possibility of the same fate befalling you.

“I’m sorry,” you hung your head in defeat.

Your father began pacing around the room again, his mind searching for another reason to scold you for. It seemed like it wasn’t enough to make you understand how disappointed he was. He stopped, when his eyes landed on the spear resting against the wall. You drew in a sharp breath, realizing that you had forgotten to sharpen the weapon for his upcoming hunt.

“What is this?” he gripped the spear tightly, pointing it accusingly at you, “Are you abandoning your chores now?”

“I forgot about it,” you mumbled.

“I cannot understand what could be keeping you so occupied all day that you neglect your duties. What kind of behavior is this, Y/N?”

Taking the spear from his hand, you stepped back, feeling the sting of tears behind your eyes. It wasn't his disappointment that frustrated you; it was his inability to see things from your perspective. He didn’t understand how hard it was on you to grow up without a mother, to always be strong in front of him.

“I’ll do it now,” you promised, taking another step back, “May I go now?”

“Go!” your father shouted.

You fled the marui, gasping for breath to calm yourself down. It felt like all the emotions you had been suppressing came crashing down on you at once. But before you could even begin to process them, the sight in front of you captured your attention.

Your brother was standing with his back turned to you, Neteyam crouched down in front of him not too far. They were playing some sort of game with their hands, when the pair of golden eyes followed your walk up to them. Your brother seemed to pay you no mind, but Neteyam lifted his gaze to greet you with his thick accent.

You only nodded, pursing your lips together and deciding to send away your brother after he’s finished with the game. As you watched them play, it wasn’t hard to notice how distracted Neteyam was by your presence. He’d constantly glance at you to read your expressions, and you guessed he heard the argument that was unraveling minutes ago. Taking advantage of his opponent’s distraction, your brother exclaimed in victory.

“Good job,” Neteyam smiled, patting your brother’s head.

“Y/N, did you see?” Tewtxey looked up to you with a bright smile. You were forced to return it, placing an arm around his shoulder. 

“I did. Now go home and eat, alright?”

Your gentle approach has always worked wonders with your little brother, unlike your father's strictness. He usually obeyed you without hesitation. Tewtxey smiled at Neteyam one last time before leaving the two of you alone. Neteyam stood up, looming over you with his frame.

“He was bouncing around here and looked scared to go in,” he began to explain, “I just wanted to distract him before things cooled down.”

You nodded in agreement. You were always worried that Tewtxey would get caught in the crossfire of your arguments with your father. He was too young to be involved.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Neteyam’s gaze softened, eyes roaming over your features again.

Given the distance from your marui, Neteyam had likely heard everything. He seemed to be curious about how much you were hiding, how the pained expression on your face a few minutes ago was now replaced by a neutral one. You shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, the weight of the spear in your hand suddenly seeming heavier.

“Well, I have to go,” you cleared your throat, stepping back.

“Are you alright?” he asked, concerned. 

You nodded, turning to leave. Neteyam trailed after you as you walked towards the far end of the beach. When you sat down to sharpen the spear, he joined you and plopped down quietly beside you.

“Are you sure you’re alright? That sounded harsh,” he broke the silence.

You blinked rapidly, not daring to meet his golden eyes. Instead, you tried focusing at the task on hand, your motions quick and rough, attempting to make the tip of the spear as pointed as you could. The wood occasionally nicked your fingers, causing stinging pain, but you paid no attention to it. Neteyam watched you silently for a moment, before he reached out and took the spear from your hands, setting it aside. You exhaled, finally meeting his eyes.

“I'm alright. My father just doesn’t know how to handle this by himself."

“Handle what by himself?”

“Me, I guess…raising me. Without mom by his side.”

You were a mystery to Neteyam from the first day of his arrival, always keeping a distance with him, as your father’s harsh gaze grazed his family whenever they crossed paths in public. Neteyam didn’t really understand the reason for the dislike but the argument he overheard earlier helped him piece together some of the puzzle.

“I’m sorry about your mom,” he said quietly, “Ao’nung mentioned it once to us. It must have been hard without her.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled, turning your gaze towards the horizon.

The gentle sound of waves crashing against each other accompanied the sunset, casting a sparkling glow on the water.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

After that moment you shared with Neteyam, you often found yourself running into each other. Whether it was after a fight with your father, or a stressful day for Neteyam, you somehow managed to offer each other a listening ear.

It was easy to open up to him, when you knew he could relate. His eyes always softened at the sight of you, arms instinctively reaching out to pat you on the back whenever you sobbed into his chest after another heavy argument. It seemed like with age, your father was becoming more unbearable, and refused to understand you on any given matter.

“What did he say?” Neteyam asked, his voice laced with concern.

“Well, he saw us hanging out, so make your guess,” you let out a bitter chuckle, wiping your face.

Neteyam couldn’t help but feel partially guilty for the treatment you were getting. He knew about your father's disapproval of him, but he couldn't resist spending time with you and offering comfort after a fight, even if he was the cause of it. You were the only person with whom he could share his own struggles, and feel accepted. 

Of course, hanging out with Neteyam was also a way for you to rebel against your father's orders and show him that he couldn't control you. He didn’t realize that it was his hatred that pushed you further into Neteyam’s arms.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

As the weeks passed, your friendship with Neteyam grew stronger. There was something special between you but you failed to see the impact you were having on Neteyam's life. You had become the first thought on his mind every morning, his trainings passed in hopes to see you. When he was with you, he wished for time to stand still. And when he went to sleep, he anticipated dreaming about you. But Neteyam was fully aware of the risks of catching feelings for someone whose family despised him.

So he bit his tongue, hoping that you wouldn’t notice it. That maybe with time, things will get better. He was from a different clan, and your father had a clear disdain for him. Even if you reciprocate his feelings, pursuing you would be complicated, if not impossible. But he couldn't deny the warmth he felt in his chest every time he saw you, the way his heart fluttered when you laughed at his jokes. He couldn't help but wonder if there was a chance for something more between you two, yet he was forced to push the thought aside.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

But jealousy is a disease that brings out the worst in one. Neteyam felt it brewing inside him, as he intensely watched you talking to Ao’nung. Despite knowing about your close friendship with Ao’nung, Neteyam didn’t like him. The way his smile widened every time you said something, the way he stood so close to you…it made his blood boil.

He tried hard to focus on sharpening his arrow, not to raise suspicion in Tsireya and Lo'ak next to him, but his eyes kept drifting to you and Ao'nung. With another stroke of his knife, he accidentally grazed his finger, catching Tsireya’s attention.

“Lo’ak, could you please bring me my shawl? It’s getting chilly,” she asked, her eyes big and innocent.

Lo’ak stood up without a question, not paying attention to his brother’s strange behavior. As soon as he was out of earshot, Tsireya turned her concerned gaze back to Neteyam. He was still watching you with Ao’nung, now sitting down on the sand, your knees touching, deep in a conversation. He had never even heard Ao’nung speak to his friends for more than five minutes, what could he possibly be saying to captivate your attention for so long? Neteyam scoffed in disbelief. 

“Is something bothering you?” Tsireya asked. His head snapped to her, embarrassed that he got caught. 

“Nothing,” he shook his head, returning to the task at hand.

For a moment, Neteyam pondered whether he should ask Tsireya about her brother. Find out if the rumors he had heard from Rotxo were true, if there was a possibility of you being promised to Ao'nung.

“Tsireya, can I ask you something?” he lowered his voice.

“Sure,” she nodded. When Neteyam hesitated to continue, looking around, she reassured him, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Um…Is it true that Ao’nung and Y/N are to become mated?”

Tsireya frowned slightly, and Neteyam couldn’t tell if it was because of his sudden interest in the matter, or because it was untrue. He gulped, secretly hoping it was the latter. She took a long pause before answering.

“Sorry, you caught me off guard,” she apologized, “I just haven’t heard that rumor in a long time.”

“So, it is a rumor?” 

“They haven’t promised themselves to each other as mates, if that’s what you’re afraid of,” Tsireya elaborated, making Neteyam cringe in embarrassment, “But I wouldn’t put it past them.”

“What do you mean?” his ears perked up at the implication.

“Well…” she sighed, “Ao’nung and Y/N always have been close friends. And my father is quite vocal about his admiration for her. He thinks she can be a good mate to Ao’nung, when he becomes the chief.”

Neteyam's eyes darted all over Tsireya's face, trying to understand if there was anything else she wasn’t saying.

"What about Y/N?" he asked, quickly glancing in your direction, "Does she like him? Does she feel pressured because of your father or something?"

“Any girl would feel pressured by my father, but I cannot speak for Y/N,” she answered honestly, “If it makes you feel easy, Y/N and Ao’nung never crossed their boundaries.”

Neteyam hummed in agreement but he didn’t understand anything. His mind was racing with questions, yet he didn’t have the answers. How come Tsireya did not know if you liked her brother? Were you into him? Even if you weren’t, wouldn’t you reciprocate the feelings of the future chief? Surely, Ao’nung wasn't the easiest person to be around, but he seemed different with you.

“Maybe you should ask her about it. You’re friends,” Tsireya nudged him.

Friends.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

“You’re quiet,” you pointed out, as Neteyam dragged his feet after you, deep into the trees.

“I’m usually quiet,” he muttered.

“Not like this,” you disagreed, gauging for further clarification but Neteyam remained silent.

You did not know that there was a burning desire to confess his feelings to you raging in Neteyam’s mind. Despite Tsireya’s uncertainty the evening prior, Neteyam had already convinced himself that there was something going on between you and the future Olo'eyktan. So he felt rushed to tell you about your feelings, to prevent you from mating with Ao’nung.

But he couldn't help but wonder if he would truly be the best thing for you. What could he offer to you? He was a forest Na’vi, who did not know the way of water, who was useless in the sea. He was unfamiliar to your traditions, his whole life Neteyam prepared for leading the clan, but in Awa’atlu he had nothing to give.

To make matters worse, he found himself competing against the chief's son, someone you had grown up with and knew very well.  And Neteyam could never replace that kind of relationship. Did you ever see him past your friendship, the way he saw you? The doubt and insecurity were consuming him from within.

“Is it because of my father?” you decided to guess, stopping in your tracks.

Neteyam walked past you, shaking his head. You pondered for a moment, before following him.

“Did my little brother break something when you let him play with your stuff the other day?”

Neteyam ignored your guess, holding back the big leaves in your way, waiting for you to catch up. He was deep in his thoughts, yet remained gentle and caring with you. Your gaze softened at the gesture.

“Did I do something wrong?”

He held your gaze without answering. That was it.

“What did I do?” your eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Nothing, you did nothing wrong.”

“If it were nothing, you wouldn’t be tuning me out. I must have done something wrong,” you nudged his shoulder for a reply.

“I was just thinking…” he sighed, meeting your eyes, “Is it true about you and Ao’nung?”

“What about me and Ao’nung?”

“That you’re going to be mates.”

You snorted in disbelief. Although it was a topic of countless conversations with your father, who was eager to arrange a match between his daughter and the future Olo'eyktan, you were too stubborn to comply with your father’s wishes, instead of your own. You and Ao'nung had a strong friendship, sharing almost everything with each other, but it was just that. Friendship. 

“That’s ridiculous, where’d you hear that?” you quirked your eyebrow at him. 

“Rotxo.”

“It’s just a silly rumor that’s been going around since we were kids,” you rolled your eyes. You especially despised it a few years back, when people started teasing you for hampering other girls from pursuing Ao’nung.

“So you’re just friends?” Neteyam asked, his tone more hopeful. 

“Just friends,” you confirmed, “He is like a brother to me.”

“I don’t think he sees you like a sister, Y/N.”

“Why do you care?” you teased him, “Are you jealous?”

“Why would I be jealous of Ao’nung?” he scoffed.

“No reason,” you snickered, walking past him into the clearing.

Neteyam followed after you eagerly, his steps quickening to catch up. You tried to hide a devilish smirk, knowing that you'd pique his interest.

"What is it that Ao’nung has that I don't?"

"Let it go, Neteyam," you swatted at him with your hand. "I'm not going to compare my two friends to each other."

Neteyam pursed his lips, annoyed that he had to drop the subject. He knew that if he pushed too far, he'd be caught in his own trap, coming undone in front of you. There was something about you that made him feel exposed, and he was afraid that you would see right through him.

“Here it is,” you pointed at the spear on the ground. You had lost it the evening prior, and Neteyam was sure you dropped it around here.

“Told you,” he murmured, beating you to it and picking up the spear for himself.

“Thank Eywa,” you grinned at him, “Now let’s go back. If father sees you carrying my spear, he’ll be so annoyed!”

It was an innocent joke. The way you said it wasn’t mischievous, at least not towards Neteyam. You only enjoyed the irritation growing in your father, whenever he saw you spending time with the ‘demon-kid.’ In a strange way, you felt like you were fighting him back. But to Neteyam it was stressful to bear your father’s angry glances. He didn’t like pushing it.

“Is that all this friendship is to you?” his sudden insecurity caught you off guard.

“Huh?”

"Getting back at your father? Is that the only reason you hang out with me, just to piss him off?" his voice grew more accusatory.

“Where is this coming from?” you chuckled in disbelief, “Are you serious?”

“I am,” Neteyam gulped down, “Would you still spend time with me, if your father didn’t hate me so much? I can tell this is how you repay him for being harsh with you. But it’s unfair to me. You don’t get to use me as a tool of your rebellion, don’t get to play with my feelings like that.”

“Neteyam,” you exhaled, now speaking seriously, “I would never let him control my life to the point where he decides whom I befriend. I like spending time with you because of you. You’re very dear to me.”

Neteyam fell silent, doubts bouncing around in his golden eyes. You held his gaze, trying to convince him of the sincerity of your words.

“Do you believe me?”

“I guess,” he shook his head, “I just have a hard time believing anyone genuinely likes me.”

“What are you on about?” you neared him, “The whole village has grown fond of you. I mean, even Ao’nung… He used to fight with you, but now he’s hanging out with Lo’ak like nothing happened.”

“Exactly, he’s hanging out with Lo’ak, not me. He still doesn’t like me,” Neteyam said, his lips twitching with a hint of a smile.

“You dislike him,” you disagreed.

“Only because he hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you, he just…” you sighed, already regretting what you were about to reveal, “He just thinks that you’re stealing me from him.”

“Stealing you? Is he jealous or something?” an amused smile creeped onto Neteyam’s face.

“I guess. Ao’nung is possessive, you know, he doesn’t like to share.”

“Well then, I guess he’ll just have to deal with it.”

As Neteyam turned on his heels, his braids swayed around with a mind of their own. You watched him walk towards the village, gripping your spear, a slight spring in his step. You could already feel the punishment you’d get, once Neteyam uses this new information against Ao’nung. 

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

“Hey, play nice,” you called out to Tuk and your little brother, as they were actively splashing water over each other.

While it was mostly playful, kids their age could easily get too competitive and excited. You propped yourself on your elbows, watching them play in the shallow water. After a fight with your dad, it was now your responsibility to watch Tewtxey whenever he played with Tuk. If it weren’t for your protests, your father wouldn’t even allow their friendship to flourish, so this was the only compromise that you managed to agree upon. You grinned as you watched how happy your brother was, his little giggles filling the air around you with a warm glow. It was in moments like these that you especially missed your mother. You wished she could be there to see her youngest making a friend.

“Babysitting duty?” a thick-accented voice called out, before Neteyam came into your view.

You rolled your eyes at him, earning a low chuckle. Neteyam sat next to you on the sand, his hand brushing past your thigh. You tried to ignore the flush in your cheeks.

“Is your father okay with this?” he pried, gesturing at the kids.

“As long as I keep an eye on them,” you replied with a sigh, “But don’t worry about it, it’s only temporary. My father will get over it.”

“How come?”

“Well, it’s hard not to like Tuk,” you turned your face to look at Neteyam, “And my father has a soft spot for kids. He’s not good with me, but he’s good with Tewtxey and his friends.”

“You think if you have Tuk around enough, he’ll warm up to her?” Neteyam guessed.

“Definitely,” you nodded, “It’d take some time but he’ll like her. She’s a good kid.”

“Okay,” Neteyam agreed, “What about me, though?”

“Hm? What about you?” you asked playfully, catching a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Do you have any ideas on how to get your father to warm up to me?"

“Why would I want that? It wouldn’t be as fun,” you teased him.

“Well, I could argue that it's best for your father to like his daughter's future mate, don't you agree?" Neteyam's voice was light-hearted and playful, yet your heart started racing in your chest.

“W-what?” you stuttered.

“You heard me,” he chuckled.

He couldn’t help but feel satisfied with your reaction, it was certain to him that you might have felt something for him too. It was the first time Neteyam blatantly tested the waters for a sign, and you didn’t let him down. He turned his face to continue watching the kids, acting nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell. 

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Ao’nung pushed you down, his arm firmly planted on your chest, while his other arm quickly snuck around your back to try and flip you over. You protested, pushing against his ribs, trapping his legs with your thighs. You were fake wrestling on the sand, both of you trying to get the upper hand.

“Just give up,” Ao’nung huffed, as you struggled against him.

“Never, skxawng,” you huffed back, determined to win the friendly match. 

“Get off her!” a thick accent cut through the air, and you caught a glimpse of blue hands grabbing Ao’nung by the neck and pulling him off you.

In a matter of seconds, Neteyam attacked Ao’nung with a flurry of punches, one of them landing right on the confused boy’s cheekbone. Angrily, Ao’nung hit him back in the face, and before things could escalate further, you jumped in between the two with an angry hiss.

“Back off, both of you!”

“How dare you hit her?” Neteyam ignored you, trying to reach for Ao’nung.

“We were just playing, Neteyam, calm down,” you said, pushing him back slightly and taking a protective stance in front of Ao’nung.

“Who plays like that? You could’ve hurt her!” Neteyam growled.

“It is none of your business, anyway, skxawng,” Ao’nung stepped forward, looking him up and down.

“Ao’nung, stop,” you exhaled in frustration, then turned to Neteyam, “I’m okay, you didn’t have to protect me.”

“He thinks he has some sort of claim over you because he likes you,” Ao’nung let out a bitter chuckle, “She doesn’t need your useless ass guarding her.”

“What did you say?” Neteyam took an angry step towards him, but you quickly extended your arm to prevent him. 

“Neteyam, stop,” you pleaded with him.

Neteyam hesitated, his gaze flickering between you and Ao'nung. He clenched his fists, his posture still tense, but he took a step back. His lip was bleeding.

“Let's all just go to Tsahik,” you said softly, turning towards Ao'nung, “Are you okay?”

Ao'nung nodded, wincing as you touched his swollen cheekbone. Before you could even grab Neteyam’s arm, to make him follow after you, he was already storming off, a sense of betrayal pitting in the bottom of his stomach.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

“No matter how much your father scolds you, it is never enough,” Ronal tsked in disapproval, as she treated Ao’nung’s wounds.

“I told you, that skxawng attacked me first,” Ao’nung rolled his eyes at his mother, earning a low hiss from her.

“It was just a misunderstanding,” you explained, feeling the urge to justify Neteyam in front of the Tsahik, “He thought that you were hurting me.”

“Neteyam is a good boy,” Ronal stood up, signaling that she was done, “You’re nice to Lo’ak, you should be nice to him too”

“Lo’ak is still a kid, he can learn from me,” Ao’nung rolled his eyes, “But Neteyam is too arrogant.”

“Neteyam is not arrogant. In fact, the two of you have many similarities,” you added, earning a supportive nod from Ronal.

Ao’nung ignored you, as he thanked his mother and walked out of the marui. You couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving Neteyam untreated. 

“Tsahik, do you think I could take some of that balm to Neteyam?” you asked hesitantly, “I’ll get it back to you as soon as I’m done.”

“Take your time.”

You walked out, determined to find Neteyam, a bowl of white paste nestled gently in your hand. You were surprised to find Ao’nung lingering around the marui, kicking the rocks under his feet out of boredom. 

“You should stop playing with him if you don’t want him to get the wrong idea,” he commented, acknowledging your presence. 

“I’m not playing with anyone,” you frowned in response.

“Come on, Y/N,” Ao’nung looked up at you with a smug smile, “Surely, you can see that the boy is head over heels for you.”

“Who? Neteyam?” you were taken aback.

“Who else?”

“Nonsense, he sees me as a friend.”

“Whatever,” Ao’nung rolled his eyes at you in annoyance, “I’m just saying, you should tell him the truth. Whether you like him or not, he needs to know. I’m tired of him shooting daggers at me, whenever I talk to you.”

Did he really believe that Neteyam liked you? You could only hope that Ao’nung was right, that this was the only matter when you couldn’t see right through Neteyam.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

When you reached Sully's marui, you spotted Tuk standing at the entrance, as if guarding someone. Upon catching sight of you, she ran up to you, grabbing your wrist.

“Y/N, Neteyam is hurt!” she exclaimed, “He won’t let me get mom to take care of him.”

“Is he alone?” you asked, following after her. She nodded, “Don’t worry, I’ll help him, okay?”

Tuk hung back at the entrance as you walked into the marui. Neteyam was sitting on the ground, shooting an annoyed look at his little sister. She quickly ran away, before he could even open his mouth.

“How come you never listen to me?” you started light-heartedly, approaching him.

“Why are you here? Aren’t you too busy taking care of Ao’nung?” he frowned at you.

You only shook your head, crouching down in front of him. He had wiped away the blood, but you could still see the cut on his wounded lip. It definitely stung when he spoke.

“I wanted you to come with us to Tsahik, why did you run away?”

“Didn’t want to interrupt your moment with him,” Neteyam answered through his gritted teeth.

You were confused by his sudden behavior. Sure, it might have been a little embarrassing to misinterpret the situation and react to it, but you wondered if there was something else bothering Neteyam. Was Ao’nung right? Without talking, you used one of his shoulders to rely on him, as you leaned in. Neteyam relaxed under your touch, letting you apply the medicine to his wounded lips without much protest. You let your finger graze over his face for a little longer before pulling away.

“Better?” you asked, earning a grateful nod.

As the sight of his bruised knuckles caught your attention, you immediately picked up his hand. He must have been furious, thinking he was protecting you from Ao’nung. Neteyam flinched, when you brought his hand closer to your face.

“Mawey,” you whispered, before placing a soft kiss to his knuckles.

He watched you quietly, trying to calm his breathing. You weren’t sure what exactly you were doing, but it just felt right to comfort him this way. To show him that you weren’t betraying him, that you wanted him to be safe. When you turned his hand for further examination of wounds, your fingers grazed over the small cuts and calluses on his palms. You guessed they were from his training, and your heart swelled a little with admiration at the thought. It was a reminder of Neteyam's dedication and strength, the very same reason why you started seeing him in a different light. You looked up at him, your eyes conveying your unspoken admiration.

“Why are you upset with me?” you asked softly.

“Because you chose him over me,” he mumbled, his tone offended, yet he allowed you to hold his hand in yours.

“I wasn’t choosing anyone. It wasn’t about picking sides.”

“But you did,” he shook his head, “Whether you admit it or not, your first instinct was to protect him.”

“You attacked him first, Neteyam. I was only defending my friend,” you tried to break through his stubbornness.

“I am your friend too,” he pursed his lips again.

"Well, I kind of hoped that you were more than just a friend," you exhaled, letting go of his hand.

Neteyam's mouth hung open in shock, and you wondered if he had picked up on the double meaning in your words.

"I don't understand," he sat up straight, his gaze fixed on you, "Are you saying that you don't want us to be just friends?"

"Yes,” you felt a wave of frustration washing over you, “You can be so dense sometimes. Has it ever occurred to you that I like you?”

Neteyam's face lit up with a smile, and he reached out to cup your face in his hands. 

"I could only hope for you to feel that way," he said, his eyes shining with pure happiness, “Oel ngati kameie, Y/N.”

“Oel ngati kameie,” you whispered, feeling tears of joy welling up in your eyes.

You had never cried out of happiness before, but in that moment, knowing that Neteyam truly saw you, the real you, and loved you for it, you couldn't help it. Neteyam let out a confused chuckle, but quickly gathered you into his arms, holding you close and comforting you, as you cried onto his chest. 

“I didn’t want to make you cry, silly,” he whispered softly into your hair, amusement evident in his voice.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

forgot that i had a taglist :'( i hope you guys still get the notification

@bigdikzaddy @awriana @scarletrosesposts @abbersreads @mechformers @my-love-of-books @avatarbyamara @robin-the-enby @netemoon @minjix @nilrilie @jakes-babygirl @grierpilots @suntizme @jakesully-sbabygirl @mechformers @lovedbychoi @netemoon @avatarbyamara @live-laugh-neteyam @lovedbychoi @jakesullylongjuiscyshlong

[wrongroup]

would you change anything from tory’s introduction in season two to now in season 6? like her as a character and her depth as a whole? like what things would you take out or include?

one thing i’d like to mention is i wouldn’t have tory and sams rivalry to be about miguel. that was lazy and rushed. i’d probably have it start for another reason and built up to the school fight.

Hi, thank you for asking! This is a tough question. As I mentioned before I personally have almost no problems with the writing in the first two seasons. The set-up for rivalry between Tory and Sam at that beach party was pretty well executed in my opinion. Sam and Miguel's kiss seemed to be only the last straw that was added to already existing tension. But I agree that love triangles are a tired and uninspiring tool to create a rivalry.

My main problem is with season 6 mostly. And the changes I would like for Tory as a character would also imply changing the whole show’s trajectory. It means a lot has to change which I will not go into. But the short answer is: 1. I would like to see Tory actually interacting with her family and her mother specifically much earlier in the series. It would be cool to explore that part of Tory’s life. 

2. I wish that “cheating” drama with Robby never happened. Cobra Kai writers love their love triangles. But what they actually have showed wasn't even a love triangle. It was a whole other situation that they won’t even acknowledge in the show itself.

3. I would like Tory to open up more and to have time for self-reflection. If she and Robby actually haven’t stopped interacting with each other in that gap between part 1 and 2 that would be great. I always find it weird how Cobra Kai and Miyagi-do students completely stop all communication the moment they join the opposing dojo. Even if they used to be best friends prior to the whole karate war. It is just unrealistic.

In general I would like to see Tory operate under less dire circumstances that way maybe changes in her personality could happen more naturally.

[purble-turble]

Mei def is trying hard to comfort prince red after mk and nezha officially get together. She's not happy about this outcome but knows she can't say anything without it upsetting mk and causing a further divide between them. Plus it's not that she doesn't like nezha, and she sees he treats mk just as good as red. It's just an uncomfortable situation and she's just trying to meditate.

Which lead to taking him out to places often to take his mind of things. The karaoke bar ended up being not the best idea tho. He sing perfectly fine it's just kinda hard to listen to the broken hearted prince half drunkenly sing songs like good luck babe threw tears

Oh my gosh, everyone is having a hard time in this SpicyLotusNoodles love triangle bullshit that’s going on but you are so right, we must not overlook that Mei is for sure sufferringggggg

Her bestie can date whoever he wants, obviously, and Nezha is a nice guy- even if they have strongly differing opinions about how MK should handle his mental health- but that’s all secondary to whether they actually care for each other, which they obviously do. So she would know better than to speak up about disapproving or anything like that, because ultimately, it’s really not her business… dealing with Prince Red is tough, though. They’re still friends, even with the MK breakup having happened, and she wants to do friend things with him and hang out and cheer him up, but the dude is soooo miserable… she should have known better, though. Karaoke?? Every song in that flippin machine is a love song or a breakup song, of course the Red boy would get wasted and start singing with a cracking voice ‘I think I’m gonna call it off~’ 😂 ..Mei spends the rest of the night pounding back shots and regretting her choices

[lady-of-the-spirit]

Halfway through Lightlark, here's what we got so far

The Centennial is a serious deadly game. in which no one playing has been killed in 500 years and you don't even start killing anyone until 50 days into the game.

The Uniquely Wicked Curses on each territory range from "can't go outside at a certain time/place" to "everyone dies at 25." No it is never examined in depth how any of this, even the shallow curses, actually effect the kingdoms afflicted by them.

Isla has been trained as a perfect warrior and ruler since she was a child but she kinda sucks at everything she's put through. Examples include: her plan is to lay low and make the others underestimate her but she fights against Grim with full power and blows her cover. She doesn't have any plans for covering the fact that she doesn't have any powers. She did not know another ruler turned his kingdom into a democracy during his reign despite said ruler being 500 ruling for 500 years.

Speaking of her training, it's not even training it's just straight up abuse. Every time Isla has to do something new and challenging we're treated to some character backstory of her guardians putting her through absolutely horrific or mentally/emotionally damaging situations. It's unclear if she realizes how horrible this is or if she views it as tough but necessary, or if the story itself acknowledges how abusive this behaviour was.

I've said this already but EVERYTHING runs on Aesthetic/Vibes and what SOUNDS cool rather than what would actually be practical or make any sense whatsoever. See: my previous post about the golden sword, the gem encrusted sword, and the "thicker than her thigh" sword.

This is one book that would benefit from a world map because I don't know how I'm supposed to be picturing how this setting looks like.

The edgy night-themed bad boy Walmart Rhysand love interest is named Grimshaw, nicknamed Grim. Not even an attempt at a kinda sexy name. If he's the winner of the love triangle I'm expecting to happen I refuse it on the basis of his name alone.

There is not a single character I'm convinced does anything when they're not around Isla. It's rarely if ever even mentioned what anyone is doing when they're not physically present in the story. Not even Celeste, the best friend character who is Isla's ally and supposed to be just as active in the search for the Bondbreaker that's gonna break their curses.

(Celeste literally goes and finds a pair of magical gloves that are made of human skin and not only are we not involved in this search at all, Isla never asks if Celeste found the gloves or skinned a person to get them. She doesn't want to know but I sure do. We're supposed to care about her and their friendship. Give me something about her to care about.)

Speaking of which... this book's plot is basically a long list of tasks for Isla to accomplish. Either she's doing a Demonstration for the game or she's hunting for the MacGuffins.

The Demonstrations are set up by each ruler to show off their powers/skills/etc and be a basis for how each ruler will pair off for the rest of the game. Super important stuff. Each one takes up about one chapter and the demonstration itself maybe 2-3 pages.

The MacGuffin hunt is basically Isla going "this cursebreaker thing might be in this place. I'll check there." It's not there. She moves onto the next place 2 chapters later. And later on just going on forest expeditions with the second male love interest.

Even beyond all the story stuff, the writing itself... it tries very hard to be poetic and meaningful but it comes off as either cringy or unclear what the author is even trying to say.

The way sentences and paragraphs are formatted and broken up... i love a good fragmented sentence, of course I do, but even I know there are WAY too many of them. There are too many single sentence paragraphs, one after the other. It's trying to build anticipation and suspense but. It's not working.

As a bonus, I specifically wanted a book that was dumb and bad and wouldn't make me overthink it. I'm definitely not doing that with this one!! There's nothing of substance to overthink!

[lesbianrobin]

i understand ur post but i have a byler mutual saying almost the exact same thing about if they make mlvn endgame because to give will one sole love interest and put him through that much trauma and struggle to accept his sexuality only to have the guy reject him and end up with his sister is homophobic writing and u probably dont agree but i find it hysterical that st have managed to get themselves into such a conundrum that their only option is to introduce mikes secret twin of the opposite sexuality thats been there the whole time so they both get a happy ending. surely this is a perfect plan and there are no flaws whatsoever and everyone will be satisfied

SMCKSKXJSNKE i was literally just talking to sarah about how they've written themselves into a corner by reintroducing the stoncy love triangle in s4 because BEFORE they could have been like yeah steve is over her and now he's finding fulfillment outside of romance etc etc but now they've reignited stancy for some fuckin reason (my fingers are crossed for that theory that says since the upside down is stuck in 1983 it was making steve and nancy's 1983 feelings come back) and suddenly they'll be pissing off Some segment of the fanbase no matter what they do.

re: byler i think. well first of all i think that byler isn't even remotely on the radar of casual viewers as an actual possibility and i don't think it could happen in s5 bc the vast majority of viewers would be like where the fuck did that come from. second of all my el argument is partially a joke but also it's just fundamentally a very different situation where like. for will if byler doesn't happen nothing gets Worse for him shit just stays the same. for el if byler happens something Must get worse for her like she loses her boyfriend of 2-3 years. they're in different situations.

third of all i think it's very silly for people to act like will Needs for mike to like him back in order to be happy when like. it's not The Crush that's making will miserable it's being closeted in a small town in the 1980s and feeling like he can never have what he wants and be truly happy in life. mike liking him back would not fix the misery he feels at having to hide this part of himself from the world.

yknow in s3 robin is a sorta closed-off character who's snarky and prickly at times and she only really opens up in the russian torture scene + the bathroom scene. and in the bathroom scene she is Terrified to tell steve she likes girls but she confesses to having a crush on tammy thompson and... steve makes her feel okay about it. he makes fun of her crush and robin feels Normal and Safe and they laugh together and by the time s4 rolls around robin is a much more open and happy person than she was back before she'd come out to steve. she's more herself. and you know what never happened? tammy thompson never liked her back. robin didn't need a girlfriend. she needed love and support and validation from a good friend. she needed to find comfort with herself and her sexuality and all the other parts of her that she hid behind a tough exterior for protection.

as much as i hate watching will scenes bc noah schnapp can't act for shit, i am kinda looking forward to seeing him finally openly addressing his sexuality in s5 and maybe realizing that his childhood crush on his best friend not being reciprocated isn't the end of the world. i think if will could move on and let mike go (in the romantic sense not as a friend) it might also feel a bit like letting go of all his pain over the past few years and starting over with a clean slate. obviously idk what exactly's gonna happen in s5 we're all just making shit up right now but i guess that's kinda what i hope will happen with him.

it makes me sad kinda that will's most dedicated fans are more preoccupied with getting him a boyfriend than like... self-confidence and shit. but i'm not actually that sad bc i kinda don't give a fuck about will anyway

[moistvonlipwig]

🔥 Charles Gunn

you know, this is a tough one -- i think i like & am interested in gunn more than most people are, but i don't know that that translates to having lots of hot takes about him. i think most people would agree, for instance, that gunn deserved more screen time and more of a proper arc post-s2. and while i know gunn/fred has gotten more fans lately, the whole fred love triangle has always been controversial, so i hardly think it's a hot take for me to say i wasn't a fan of that relationship and didn't think it did anything to advance his character.

i guess maybe my hottest, most unpopular gunn take is that i think he and buffy wouldn't actually get along very well, at least not unless they were forced to work together for a significant length of time. i know it's semi-popular (at least among people who remember that gunn exists) to imagine that he and buffy would be good friends because of their similarities, but the truth is that sometimes people who are too similar don't actually like each other very much. we can see that with how gunn clashed most frequently with angel (pre-the love triangle nonsense which caused him to clash w/ wesley, anyway), who is by far the most similar to him of the ats cast. i could see gunn and buffy seriously getting on each other's nerves, honestly -- if buffy walked into town and started acting like an authority on the vampires gunn had been fighting his literal entire life, i don't think he'd take well to that, and similarly i don't think she'd take well to a non-slayer human guy who's never stopped an apocalypse acting like he was hot shit when it came to slaying vampires.

there's also the fact that buffy is, um, very white -- even in s7 she assumes robin wood comes from "the hood." now obviously gunn is down to be friends with white people, and even clueless privileged white people; "first impressions" deals in large part with cordelia having to confront her clueless white privileged mentality in trying to help gunn face his problems, and gunn and cordelia end up being very close friends despite them initially getting on each other's nerves. but cordelia did have to put in the work, and she had reason to want to do so. buffy is, of course, equally capable of putting in the work, but she would have to choose to do so, and we have yet to see her make that kind of choice. and as long as she hasn't yet had that reckoning with her own whiteness, she is going to annoy the everliving hell out of gunn.

now again i think if you stuck them together in a crisis situation you could get them to a point where they would come to respect each other and get along much better. but oftentimes people talk about gunn and buffy just instantly hitting it off, and i really do not think that would happen. (gunn and DAWN, now.....that's another story.)

[thomine]

the start of something magical

cyno x reader, 1.2k words

cyno's life took a drastic turn ever since he jumped in front of a truck to save a wolf's life. things plateau for a while until you come along and give him another surprise after he thought he's seen everything.

general audiences, build up for a love triangle, modern au (vehicles exist), attempt at comedy (although no puns...), not proofread

notes: work tag :: magic school (day 23 of au august 2023

Cyno is many things.

He’s the Chief of his precinct, which is impressive for his age. He’s the 4th time champion of Trading Card Game Genius Invocation—his favourite thing in the world. He knows he’s a great stand-up comedian at work, just that his crowd is tough as Ajilenakh nuts. Let’s not forget he’s also the best friend of Tighnari, a renowned and respected doctor.

What he’s not, however, is crazy, and yet the newspapers publish headline news that he’s crazy to jump in front of a truck. Yes, he did jump in front of a truck, but how could people not see the wolf that was crossing the road?

Even Tighnari called to ensure Cyno was sane, which only made Cyno want to burst in frustration because, surely, he did not dream up a wolf with silky fur that shimmered violet under the sun.

Okay, maybe he hallucinated a tad bit, but the light pitter of its pads against the cement as it hopped away after being saved had to be real even if no cameras caught any evidence the wolf existed.

He finds his answer a week after the incident. The wolf stares at him across the road they first met. Cyno follows it, and he finds himself right in front of large iron gates. There is a metal sign at the side that spells the situation clearly: the wolf wants him to go to school. Not just any school though. Magic School.

“What…?” he asks, and the wolf just tilts its head before slipping through the gaps of the gate. Cyno tries to dash from his weird situation, but the gates creak open and a lady materialises to welcome him. She has purple hair that falls to her ankles, tied in a neat braid.

“Welcome, Cyno. The world needs you here now.”

How does she know his name? He knows his importance in his neighbourhood as the guy who keeps law and order, but to say the world needs him? That’s a bit arrogant.

“Are you going to answer the call?”

Cyno is many things; he’s too cool (and old) for school. When he grabbed that costly certificate, he never wanted to return, yet here he is, signing papers to enrol into this magic school. He should not have given in and permitted them to explain themselves. They’re surprisingly convincing such that he doesn’t need proof of the prophecy of doom for it to send a chill down his spine.

His signature flies off the paper and is collected into the palm of the administrator’s hand. He whispers a few phrases, and the ink evaporates into the air.

“Now, no need to worry about your life back in the normal world because your signature provided us with enough information to send a clone—”

“What?” Cyno slams the table, glowering at the administrator. “A clone? No one told me I won’t be able to return?”

“R-relax, student. Time travels differently here. 10 days here is a day in the normal world. You wouldn’t be gone for long.”

Cyno relaxes, but he should have learned not to take things too lightly as the administrator drops the most horrifying news he’s yet to hear.

He’s stuck here for 1,111 nights.

He’ll miss his card game tournament! Not even the comfortable bed in his dorm can console his wailing soul.

Cyno is many things. He’s especially confused and concerned what he just roped himself into. He might have a knack to pretend to be someone else, but he’s not sure he can believe he’s part of the solution to saving the world.

It’s hard to make friends.

His jokes (still) don’t land, and the average age of the students compare to his youthful days that he’s grown out of. Something about him intimidates the rest, and he often eats lunch alone if you don’t count the wolf he saved.

He still doesn’t understand why he is needed to help the school prevent the prophecy of doom, but he has opened his heart to the wolf he now commands in battle. It grants him strength, and it has become his trusted companion of sorts.

Deep in his thought, he doesn’t notice you walking towards him until you tap his shoulder.

“Hi,” you greet, smiling.

Cyno takes a second to inspect you, and he lights up the moment he realises you’re older than what he expected.

“And you are?”

You tell him your name, gesturing at the empty spot beside him on the edge of the fountain. Cyno’s wolf buddy doesn’t seem too pleased with the new arrangements, but, with magic, you throw a stick of meat, and the wolf warms up to you.

“I’m in your Alchemy class. I mostly… stay at the back, hence why you don’t really see me often…”

Cyno nods. Not that he’s eager to learn, but the front seats are the nearest to the lecture exists.

“Is anything the matter?” he asks the moment he notices your avoidant eyes and restlessness.

“Well… you’re Cyno, right? I’ve heard of you before I enrolled in this school.”

He huffs out his chest. He’s many things—surely one of his most respected positions caught your attention. He’s quite accomplished if he says so himself, especially his title as the 5th time champion of TCGGI. (Yes, his clone, as excellent as he is, won the tournament.)

“After all this weirdness and magic is over, could you introduce me to Tighnari? You know, the acclaimed doctor? He’s just… so dreamy, but, I know, he’s out of my league, but… it wouldn’t hurt to try?”

“… What?”

This familiar feeling… it is the exact same when he signed himself up for this school. It is truly a school of magical encounters and unexpected situations. He does not quite enjoy it as much as he thinks he should.

“It’s not a coincidence that you and I are here,” you say after calming down from your rap. “Everyone else is… much younger than our age and are born into families that know of their powers. But us…”

You look at the wolf that’s gnawing on the stick, meat cleanly devoured.

“You can feel it too, can’t you? How we’re different.”

Cyno follows your gaze to his newly acquired nonhuman friend. From his Ethology classes, he learned that these magical creatures will never yield to being controlled, yet this wolf companion of his is his source of power.

He looks at you, wondering what brought you here.

“Anyways, I know it’s a little sudden and probably a bit too early as we’re stuck here for… who knows how many more days, I lost track, but do… consider my request.”

Right. You wanted him to play wingman.

Cyno deadpans, and he’s about to reject your suggestion when you slide a piece of paper into his palm and bid him farewell.

It’s your number and a legendary card for TCGIG. He already has it in his collection, but he appreciates the sentiment.

“What do you think?” he asks his wolf buddy. It sticks its tongue out like a dog, pleased with its hearty meal. “If you take a liking to my classmate then I suppose it doesn’t hurt to try.”

First things first, he must know you better to be sure you’re a good fit for his friend…

author's note: it reads of as another character x reader but that's intentional. i love cliche tropes, haha.

[an-aura-about-you]

I have finally got my house mostly clean including fully cleaning my bathroom, so let's see how much Handbook for Mortals I can do during the rest of my lunch.

going into Chapter 10 part 1:

when we last left our hero, Scheherazade hadn't really done anything, but we saw a bunch of boys gushing about her. seems kinda ironic since one of those characters bothers to mention that girls gush when they like a guy and we hadn't actually seen that yet.

anyway, Chapter 10: The Hanged Man

-tbh I can't think of the Hanged Man without thinking of Drumbot Brian in High Noon Over Camelot, and I would probably enjoy this a lot better if the Mechanisms showed up and caused a bunch of violence.

-Zade, as usual, is thinking about Mac and Jackson, but this time she's at the same bar where the gang celebrated Drew's birthday! idk if I mentioned that Zade wasn't there because she doesn't actually make an effort to make friends.

-she once again says Mac and Jackson had been friends before, but again, we don't really see this. Jackson spent his part of the last chapter needling Mac about how he's going after Zade. that is literally the only time we've seen those two interact and it was antagonistic.

-here we are, 11 chapters into the book (remembering to count Chapter 0) and we FINALLY get something resembling world building, and it's cribbed from Queen Terf's magical British school system books because Zade tells us it's frowned upon for those with magic (no I am not gonna spell it with the k) to get with mortals.

-this is also the first time Zade mentions ANYTHING about her father, and that's saying he's a mortal. this is insulting with all the other shit she's keeping under wraps about her dad.

-Zade's like, "I wasn't marrying anyone," as if we haven't been hit over the head every single time someone brings up dating that a long-term commitment is expected. girl, forever is not guaranteed. what happened to just dating people? for fun?

-quotations are placed weird in this bit:

Jackson was close to perfect minus the whole "just a mortal situation"

also

...something I hadn't quite place [sic] my finger on.

-"It could just be fear and my lack of ability to want to make a decision." excuse the fuck outta me?????? I'm so mad that this is going unexamined. you KNOW you're gonna have to make a choice at SOME point right? if you're insisting that the love triangle is the most significant thing going on in this book, that means you're gonna have to figure out WHY you don't want to make a decision. is it the destiny bullshit? do you have any agency at all??????

-this following passage pisses me off so bad:

I have always hated making tough decisions, but usually the tarot was far more helpful than it had been so far, considering that it hadn't given me a clear-cut winner no matter how I asked it. Its "freewill clause" must have been behind some kind of weird lesson I was supposed to learn.

first off, you IGNORED a trump card in your spread because you ~didn't know why it was there~ meaning you're skipping over any insight you might have gotten from it. (though if we're going with my interpretation, you overlooked it because seeing it would have meant admitting to yourself that you're the problem.) you also overlooked part of the nature of the Lovers in your spread, a fairly important part since its imagery was mirrored in another card in that same spread.

second, what the fuck do you mean by this "freewill clause" bullshit???? I know you're some kind of fatalist, but if that's the case why are you even entertaining the idea of free will? and if you're not a fatalist, then you know that means the cards are telling you that YOU'RE the one who has to make the choice on this one, right?????

I get. so very mad when tarot cards are viewed this way. they help you make decisions through interrogation, meditation, and self-examination, not because they're a 78-sided die in a Magic 8 Ball!

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

my poor tarot cards are now scattered all over the floor.

and my lunch is basically over so we're putting a pin in it.

[nintendouniverse2023]

Scene I did my OCs in my AU, for their designs and anything, I thought it would be fair if each of the Mario Characters a redesign in my version. Some I design them will be the same but change it up a little bit.

Bio: Chunky, as the oldest, is the most responsible around the house and takes good care of his family. Chunky is good natured and is a sweet and gentle guy, but despite his large size he's also the most cowardly and doesn't like confrontation. Chunky cares deeply about his baby brother Kiddy and has been given the responsibility to care for him alongside her cousins Dixie and Diddy and is one of the Kongs who meet, DK and join the clan years later.

Chunky Kong fights the boss of the Fungi Forest, which is a rematch with Dogadon. When he defeats the boss, Chunky gains one of the keys to K. Lumsy's cage. In Fungi Forest, he has to go through a Mine Cart ride in the well and collect at least fifty coins to get a Golden Banana, while having to open gates with green bells, and jump over trees and pillars. During the final battle against King K. Rool, Chunky is the final Kong to go up against the Kremling King. At the start of the fight, K. Rool will turn invisible and Chunky has to use to turn invisible and see the Chunky Barrel in the middle. Chunky then turns into a giant and is able to knock K. Rool against the opposite corner as he charges for him by using good timing. Eventually, K. Rool is knocked out by Chunky. He celebrates his victory as K. Rool gets up with the intent of attacking Chunky before being distracted by Candy Kong and shot with a bazooka by Funky Kong.

Chunky continues on several adventures with his Kong Clan friends and making new friends like Krunch, Esther Kong and Lexie. He is still very afraid of beast still but when his friends and family are being threatened, that's when he really takes a stand and confronts the situation.

Appearance: Same Design from 64 but a workout suit that says “Big Buff Kong” and a black belt

Voice Actor: Martin Lawrance

Age: 21

Height: 7ft

Weight: 223 ibs

Personality: Big Softy, Cowardly, Childlike, Protective, Tough and Fun Loving

Favorite Foods: Bananas, Pineapple and Coconut

Family: (Little Brother) Kiddy Kong (Little Cousins) Dixie and Tiny

Allies: Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Cranky Kong, Candy Kong, Lanky Kong, Eddie the Yeti, Bluster Kong *Sometimes for the Both of them*, K.Lumsy, Snide, The Super Mario Bros and Sis, Princess Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Amatory, Gill Koopa *Best Friend*, Kong Clan Members and The Jungle Kingdom Residents

Enemies: King K Rool, Krusha, Klump, Krunch, Kalypso *Frenemy*, Kudgle, Kip, Kass, Kopter, Kremlings Army, Captain Syrup *Sometimes*, Wario, Bowser and his Koopa Empire, Kamek, The Koopalings and Bowser Jr

Likes: Playing the triangle, Calming Music, My Little Pony, Manga, Workouts, His friends and family

Dislikes: Being called a baby, Never amount to anything, Monsters, Scary Movies and Blood

[a-wraith-in-the-mountains]

Trope Rating Game!

Trope Rating Game Rules: how much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic?

-10 -> very dissuaded

0 - don’t care either way

+10 -> very enticed

nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged.

Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional.

***

Thanks for the tag @fandoms-ruin-life ! This sounds like fun

Age gap: -4 It very much depends on the situation, but in general, I tend to avoid these types of fics (especially when the older partner calls the younger one "kid." I'm just not a fan. It can be done well and if they're both older and/or immortal I might read it, but...

Codependency: 1 It isn't a trope I'll actively seek out (and I don't much enjoy it in romance unless it is done really well or is Neil and Andrew from AFTG), but I might read it if it is a platonic relationship.

Obsession/possessives or Jealousy: -6 I'll read it, but I'm never going to seek this out. If it's more of a side plot, then yeah that's fine, but if the obsessiveness or jealousy plays a major role I'm just not interested. I'd rather the romantic partners just talk out their feelings in a healthy way...

Opposites (grumpy/sunshine, etc): 7 Always fun. Not something I'll actively look for as far as romances go, but I definitely enjoy a good opposites romance, and if it's platonic?? Absolutely!

Enemies to lovers, enemies with benefits: 0 I don't have a super strong opinion. It really depends on the other tags in the fic. I don't like the toxicity of a lot of "enemies to lovers" stuff but if it's more like "rivals" or "fake enemies" kind of situations I'm more likely to read it. If it's toxic really at all though I probably won't read it unless it ends with them not together and has h/c with some other character...

Friends with benefits: -8 Sounds like it's gonna be a lot of sex and I'm not really into that. If it's more like a queerplatonic relationship type friendship that involves sex, then I'll read it because I'm down with that theme, but otherwise probably not, unless it's a side plot.

Sex with feelings: -2 If it's in a fic I'll read it (I do enjoy the more intimate aspects of sex fics like the boundary negotiation, cuddling, or aftercare) but I'm probably not gonna just seek out this kind of fic.

Fake/pretend dating relationships: -1 They can be good, but I'm usually not a fan. There tend to be a lot of themes that seem to devalue friendship a lot of the time and I don't really like the subterfuge of this. (Caveat: if it is true fake dating and they never get together then 10/10 I will read that...)

Friends to lovers: 4 It's cute, but I'm not gonna seek it out unless its paired with some of my other favorite tropes.

Found family: 10 Don't ask stupid questions /lh

Hurt/comfort: 10 My favorite trope in Fanfiction (since most of the time I'm choosing my fandom obsessions based on the fact they already have found family in them...) I will read these fics all day, but they had better actually have comfort.

Love Triangle: Nope. This is not a trope I like. Needless alloromantic drama that doesn't interest me. (unless the whole triangle gets together then I'll read that).

Poly, open relationships: 3 In general, I don't really care all that much about the pairings, but I'm giving this a 3 because I really do enjoy the open relationship fics that involve asexual characters so...

Mistaken/hidden identity: -6 It's a thing. If it sounds interesting I might read it, but usually I don't like it all that much.

Monsterfucking: -5 Maybe? If this is the focus then no, but it just depends how the tag's being used...

Pregnancy: Nope. Pregnancy terrifies me. If this is a major part of a fic I'm not reading it.

Second Chance: 7 I like the forgiveness and communication (having tough convos is one of my favorite tropes) aspects and they usually involve hurt/comfort but like the really dramatic and super romance heavy ones aren't my thing.

Slowburn: 9 Yes. I'm aroace; the buildup of this really deep friendship over long periods of time that only eventually leads to romance but the friendship is already so important that the romance isn't treated as the natural conclusion or as a better form of what they already had?? Yes, I love that. My favorite romance trope for sure.

Tags if you want to play, but no pressure obviously: @rainystarfish @sleepdeprivedsimp234 @somewhatnerdy Or if anyone else wants to do it???

[youareinacomawakeup]

Film Rec: Bandits (2001) AKA: Be Polyamorous, Do Crimes

So there’s this movie I fucking love. It’s just a romcom, let’s be upfront about that, but here’s the appeal: It’s the only movie I know of that resolves a love triangle with polyamory. Because fuck it, Kate Wheeler has two hands.

So the film introduces us first to Joe Blake (Bruce Willis), a flirty tough guy with anger issues who fancies himself a philosopher and has terrible habits with money.

The film also introduces us to Terry Collins (Billy Bob Thornton), hypochondriac nerd who likes to cook and tends to think of himself as smarter than everybody in the room.

Incredibly flawed characters. Get used to it.

The first thirty minutes of the film or so follows the two of them, friends, as they break out of prison together and set up their first major goal, which is to rob enough banks to raise money to open a resort in Mexico. Flee the country and live out the rest of their lives in peace.

They build up this system of robbing a bank, splitting the money between the two of them and their getaway driver, going their separate ways for a couple of weeks to wait for the law to cool down (since the cops will be looking for two men), and meeting back up to do it all again.

Unfortunately, while Terry’s on the way to meet Joe, the needle on the gas gauge gets stuck and, not realizing he’s low, he runs out of gas. So he tries to jack a car. And, because this is a romcom, we’ve gotta pull out the classic meet cute of hitting the future love of your life with your car.

Enter Kate Wheeler (Cate Blanchett).

They don’t get along well at first--understandable, given the circumstances--but she and Joe hit it off right away.

She stays with him for one of those two-week separations, their relationship deepens...

Then, due to circumstances I won’t spoil, she’s forced to spend the next two weeks with Terry. In the same hotel room because there-was-only-one-bed trope. Three guesses what happens.

Joe knows what happened the second he sees them next, and he confronts Terry about it, but Kate’s having none of it.

All their problems don’t go away immediately. It takes Joe and Terry a while to stop being jealous of each other, to figure the whole polyamory thing out, because this is a movie and there needs to be drama, but the thing is...

Okay, so we’re definitely getting into spoiler territory, so go leave and watch the movie if you don’t want to be spoiled on how it ends. But this is for the people for whom whether they live happily ever after or not will make or break the whole movie. If you want to know how it ends, I’ll happily let you know, just to put your heart at ease. But let everyone else file out first. Okay?

Seriously. There’s a plot twist, and it’s good. I don’t want to ruin it for you unless it’ll be the deciding factor for whether you watch this movie or not.

Okay, is everyone gone?

Last call to click out.

Okay.

So the movie opens up on what looks like a hopeless situation, right? They’re in a bank, there’s an army of cops outside, it looks like our heroes are totally cornered, and they’re talking about how Kate betrayed them.

But we aren’t the intended audience for that scene.

The hostages are.

It’s all an act.

The scene the film opens up on is Joe and Terry setting the stage to fake their deaths. Which they’re doing with Kate’s help. Why?

Because they’re going to live happily ever after in Mexico, just like they planned.

See, there’s a character I’ve barely mentioned named Harvey, who is not part of the polycule. He’s Joe’s cousin, the getaway driver. And he wants to be a stuntman, and as such, he’s super interested in practical effects. He’s introduced with a scene of him trying to figure out how to fake gunshots.

This? This is a Chekov’s gun. Or, rather, it’s a Chekov’s...absence of gun?

The film ends with Joe and Terry staging this huge conflict where they both pretend to get shot in front of as big of an audience as possible.

With Harvey’s help.

Kate “turned them in” to not only increase the size of the audience with an army of cops, but to take any suspicion off her, as well as to snag an extra million in bounty.

She breaks up with them, briefly, because of all the fighting, but that’s the last shove Joe and Terry needed to realize they have to pull their shit together and figure out the whole polyamory thing because the jealousy was never worth both of them losing her.

They all live happily ever after in Mexico, with Kate proving that she does in fact have two hands by using them to hold the hands of both of her men.

Everything’s okay. For one goddamn time in the history of cinema, all the bank robbers live happily ever after in the end, and it’s in the movie with the polyamory.

So go fucking watch the movie. Do it. It’s on Tubi right now (meaning it’s free to watch, so you have no excuse if it’s your kind of film) and it’s just fluffy feel-good schmaltz about bank robbers falling in love. No divine retribution for daring to break the laws of love or any shit like that, just...love conquering all.

[richincolor]

Everyone, please welcome Charlene Allen to Rich in Color! We're excited to have her here to talk about her novel, PLAY THE GAME, which came out earlier this year:

Play the Game by Charlene Allen Katherine Tegan Books

In the game of life, sometimes other people hold all the controls. Or so it seems to VZ. Four months have passed since his best friend Ed was killed by a white man in a Brooklyn parking lot.

When Singer, the man who killed Ed, is found dead in the same spot where Ed was murdered, all signs point to Jack, VZ’s other best friend, as the prime suspect.

VZ’s determined to complete the video game Ed never finished and figure out who actually killed Singer. With help from Diamond, the girl he’s crushing on at work, VZ falls into Ed’s quirky gameiverse. As the police close in on Jack, the game starts to uncover details that could lead to the truth about the murder.

Can VZ honor Ed and help Jack before it’s too late?

And now, on to the interview:

Thank you for joining us, Charlene! Please take a moment to introduce yourself.

Hey! I’m Charlene Allen. In addition to being a writer, I’m a mom to an awesome son and a quirky dog, I’m a life-partner, and I’m an activist working to end mass incarceration. Play the Game is my debut novel.

In PLAY THE GAME, VZ and his friendships with Ed and Jack are at the heart of what drives the plot. Can you tell us a little more about the three of them?

VZ, Ed and Jack are the kind of friends that grow up together because their parents are close, so they are always at each other’s houses. They’re more like cousins than friends. They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, most embarrassing haircuts. Everything! And they’re all very different from each other. Jack’s all about the swagger, VZ ‘s into keeping it mellow, and Ed’s a proud gamer geek.

What other characters play important roles in PLAY THE GAME? What can you tell us about them?

The two other main characters in Play the Game are Chela and Diamond. Chela is VZ’s best school buddy, so a friend that exists entirely outside the triangle he, Ed and Jack form. Chela helps VZ with the mystery he has to solve to keep Jack out of trouble. But she doesn’t coddle him. When he gets in his feelings about Ed and Jack, she calls him on it and helps him see things more objectively. Diamond is VZ’s love interest. She’s taken, in a relationship with a guy they both work with, but there’s real romantic tension between her and VZ and neither one of them is able to ignore it.

How have your experiences as a lawyer and advocate influenced your writing for PLAY THE GAME?

My experience as a lawyer helped me see up close and personally how ineffective and inequitable our criminal legal system can be. That led me to do work to try to transform the system and find alternative approaches to conflict and harm; approaches that exist outside the system. All of that features in Play the Game, as VZ begins to understand how the system works, and takes on the question of what he and his friends can do to find a better way.

Restorative justice is an important part of PLAY THE GAME. What are some common misconceptions people have about restorative justice?

Great question and one that’s tough to answer quickly. I think “RJ” is becoming a buzz term and with that comes a lot of misconceptions. Often, people think of a restorative approach as anything that involves talking or is non-punitive. So, a school might have a restorative approach that involves all the parties in a situation having a conversation, but then if everything isn’t quickly resolved they resort to suspension or other forms of punishment. In that example, “RJ” is being used as a step inside of a larger existing system which, to me, defeats the purpose. To adopt a restorative approach is to involve community and engage with methods of accountability that don’t exist in most systems. It’s a culture shift, so it requires time and dedication to implement.

What's something you're particularly proud of in PLAY THE GAME?

I love that I was able to weave a lot of different elements together; the actual game that readers get to play in the book, the friendship story and mystery, the love story, and the RJ. It was my goal to write a book in which tough things happen, but the book is still a fun read because it captures the spirit of young people who lean into their friendships, abandon themselves to the throes of first love, and live their way into healing and self-discovery.

Now that PLAY THE GAME is in readers' hands, what is up next for you?

I’m finishing my next YA novel which should come out in the fall of ‘24. I’m excited because it’s completely different from Play the Game, but I think equally adventurous. It’s about a girl who’s digging up family secrets and figuring out where she belongs in the world.

And to close us out, what young adult books by BIPOC authors are you looking forward to reading this year?

I’ve just started The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes, which is a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to finishing. I’m also looking forward to Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jayson Griffin. And, though I’m not sure if it’s technically YA, I’m excited to read Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi.

Charlene Allen works with community organizations to heal trauma and fight injustice, especially the beast called mass incarceration. She received her MFA from The New School, her JD from Northeastern University, and her BA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She lives in Brooklyn with her fabulous family and their very silly dog. Play the Game is her debut novel. You can visit her at www.charleneallen.com.

[mistydeyes]

hiyaaaa i saw you were doing pairings, and i thought id go for it! i’d like you to ship me with one of our gorgeous cod/mw2 boys 🫶

my name is Aia, and I’m a student!

personality: to start off, i’m very introverted (ITSP). i need a lot of alone time to recharge, but i can manage to be around people even when im drained if i like them enough 😭

i have a tough outer shell - not tough in the way that i’m rude or stuck up, but i never really open up about my feelings, or about anything in general. i don’t like talking about myself much with people i don’t really know, and i’m very independent - id rather be on my own. i only open up with, and wanna be around the very few people that i trust - they get to see my softer, more relaxed and true authentic self. and they also get to see my much more energetic and funny side! it all depends on my mood, but it’s usually a mix of both.

i’m very understanding, and i’m VERY empathetic. i can empathise with pretty much everybody and i’m great at giving advice, or even just listening to people’s struggles if that’s what they want. but i can also be extremely blunt and honest at times since i really hate lying & sugarcoating things.

i’m really confident, yet humble. i’m an extremely secure person, and nobody’s words really get to me 😭 i absolutely do not tolerate disrespect and i will cut somebody off or put them in their place if they’re disrespectful enough. I am really humble, however.

this sounds so conceited, but i’d say that i’m really funny 😭 all of my friends describe me as funny, i’m known as the “funny friend”, and i always make people laugh unintentionally! i also laugh at others jokes a lot - i have a hard time taking many situations seriously because of my fkn clownery 💀

the thing that i don’t like about myself however, is that i can be very airheaded and a little like… gone? like very just… unaware and in my own bubble. sometimes i’m extremely clumsy and foolish n shit 😭 i can also be very stubborn at times.

temperament: i’m pretty sure i’m choleric and melancholic! i don’t know a lot about temperaments and such, but i think i’m those two. mostly choleric tho… i think i’m 60/40.

what type of person i am: i’m pretty sure i’m level headed and adventurous. i’m chill, understanding, confident, kind, passionate, and hardworking! i’m mostly logical, but i can be emotional when needed. i’m also extremely loyal and trustworthy.

hobbies: i have quite a few!

- gym/bodybuilding :p

i absolutely ADORE working out, and it’s my main hobby that i tell people about

- cooking & eating :)

- drawing & painting <3

- gaming!

- boxing c:

appearance:

for my body, i’m 5”2/158cm, and i’m normal weight. i go to the gym a lot, so my build is pretty muscular, but i still look feminine overall. my body is like, balanced, i’d say :) i just have an overall fit look!

my face is kind of hard to describe so bare with me! i’m kurdish, so i have very strong individual features, but theyre all in harmony.

My eyes are big, brown, and round. My nose is hooked. my lips are kind of thin, but not overly thin, and theyre kind of bow-shaped :). my eyebrows are thick and dark. my face shape is oval/upside down triangle! my skintone is like… medium? it’s for fair but not super olive either. my hair is thick and dark brown. it is kind of medium length, a bit below my collarbones, and i like to keep it straight, but it is naturally wavy. i have curtain bangs too :)

that was all!! tysm <333

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick (a/n thank you for submitting! I love the amount of detail you put in this and I hope I did you justice!)

How you met: Civilian As you sat in the relief of the cool fan breeze on your face, you re-wrapped your hand with your light blue handwrap. In recent months, you started to train in the ring more often and you loved the gym you found. The air smelled of sweat and the sound of grunts and punches filled the room but it satisfied your competitive spirit. "Aia, you're up!" your trainer called and you walked to the ring to find your opponent. While he was taller and more muscular than you, his kind smile made you feel a little bad for the ass beating you were about to deliver. You had see him around before but this was the first time you would have a session with him. "Kyle," he said as he approached you and gently shook your hand. "Aia," you exchanged and soon took your stance. It was clear when you started that Kyle was a pressure fighter, bombarding you with a barrage of attacks then retreating out of your reach. While his goal was to exhaust you, you were an out-boxer and focused on anticipating his attacks and returning them with a long range punch. Most out-boxers were taller than you but you were able to methodically plan your attacks and kept Kyle on the offensive. You danced around the ring, making intense eye contact with his dark brown eyes until you finally managed to land a winning punch to his sternum. As he fell, you stood above him in victory. "Good match," you complimented as you held out a hand and helped him up. "That was one hell of a punch," he said as he massaged his chest, "I definitely have to train with you more." "Looking forward to it," you replied and exchanged numbers with your new gym buddy.

A peek into your relationship: When you weren't going to the gym with your boyfriend, you enjoyed a nice night in with a cookbook and drinks. Tonight, you and Kyle were attempting to make creamy garlic chicken pasta, a recipe he had suggested. You danced around the kitchen as Kyle took care of the chicken and you handled the pasta. "Babe, this is a great chicken," you said as you peeked a head around his torso, "some might call it im-peck-able!" Your corny joke was met by a hearty laugh from him as you kissed his cheek. "That was bad," he replied and you rolled your eyes as you finished draining the pasta. "I'm just eggs-centric," you said with a smile and this one was met with groans. As Kyle tossed the pasta, he kept poking fun at your humor. "You know, love, if you just told me one of your jokes I probably would have doubled over laughing," he said and sat down on the couch next to you with two bowls. "True but I would never have found the best gym partner," you countered and he nodded in agreement. As you ate your dinner and exchanged more dad jokes, Kyle was happy that he had found the perfect person to be his best friend and to kick his ass at the gym.

[annoyingfobbie]

Tropes Game

Rules

How much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic?

-10 -> very dissuaded

0 -> don’t care either way

10 ->  very enticed

nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged.

Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional.

thank you so @telegraphavekiss for tagging me, i love talking about fic! disclaimer for this, i haven't looked through the list yet, but i'll probably have no zeros bc i love tropes and i love fics

Trope List

Age gap: 0/10 but also this one heavily depends on the age gap. most age gaps i'm not particularly into, but if it's appropriate then i don't DISlike it necessarily, it just doesn't affect my decision to read a fic much. but also sometimes i do like myself some college student/young professor stuff. maybe thats just cause pete wentz would look hot in a college professor getup idk.

Codependency: 5/10 this is a really tough one bc like it reeeeeeally depends how the codependency plays out, you know?? i personally love reading some well written angst and emotional turmoil and shit, though, so it's usually a positive tbh. Like some explorations into codependency are wrtiten so fucking well.

Enemies to lovers: 8/10 i've gotta stop starting these with "it depends" but like i guess they ALL depends and thats got to be inherently assumed but like dfkljhgklhjgf generally yes enemies to lovers is so good lol. The only times i dislike it are when i feel like stuff was forgiven that shouldn't have been? or like when it doesn't make sense that they get together? but thats usually really just poor writing. if i like the writing then this one is always really good.

Enemies with benefits: 10/10 yessssssssssss y'all don't understand how much i love this unhealthy ass dynamic oh my goddddddd! no elaboration its just hot to me

Fake dating/relationship: 3/10 I've read SOME really really good fics with this, but i don't particularly gravitate towards it i guess.

Found family: 0/10 i love found family in general but when i see it as a tag in a fic it's just usually not really the fic i'm looking for? but i don't run away from it either though. some found family fics are absolute favorites of mine (i'd say the whole Girl Out Boy verse is very found-family-esque and its one of my favorites, for example.) but it's not something i go looking for. i do love good well written friendships like SO much but i feel like thats slightly different than found family.

Friends to lovers: 8/10 similar to enemies to lovers this one can be sooooooo fucking good and usually is, BUT sometimes when the pair are just randomly thrown together or like theres not enough setup or tension then it falls flat. it's kind of all about the tension. i fucking love myself some tension.

Friends with benefits: 7/10 usually i'm actually kind of indifferent to this one, BUT i had to give it a higher rating bc in the specific case where the story is "we're friends with benefits but i want it to be more and i'm secretly pining but i don't want to ruin everything" then that is 10/10 all around and i fucking love those stories.

Hurt/comfort: 8/10 i love angst and emotional turmoil, what can i say

Love triangle: 8/10 see above

Mistaken/hidden identity: 0/10 i haven't actually seen a lot of this, but i think i'd be indifferent to it as a tag if i came across it.

Monster fucking relationship: 7/10 i mean, like....... listen, it can be interesting, thats all i'm saying

Obsession, possessiveness, etc.: 8/10 i fucking love angst and emotional turmoillllll sdjkfghklfjgdh but also i didn't give it a 10/10 bc i tend to not enjoy it much when it leans into a situation where one party feels trapped.

Opposites (like grumpy×sunshine, etc): 5/10 this once again just depends a lot on the author, but when its done well, i do really like it.

Poly: 0/10 it doesn't really sway me either way if i see it as a tag. it also kind of depends on the people involved. i love panic at the disco poly for example but not so much fob poly.

Pregnancy: -3/10 i don't HATE it like i don't avoid it like the plague but i'm definitely not as likely to click on it if it has pregnancy lol

Second chance: -2/10 most of the time i just feel like i can't get behind these unless theres been a huge misunderstanding or its a situation where no one did anything wrong? bc a lot of times when i read this i end up just not rooting for the couple, which is what i always wanna be doing.

Sex to feelings: 10/10 i mean you saw my friends with benefits explanation. it's all right there.

Slow burn: 10/10 the more fic the better. the more tension the better. win win.

Soulmates: -2/10 controversial take from me but i DON"T like fics where it's a pre-decided/fate thing. i just prefer the writer to really convince me these people have CHOSEN each other you know?

Arranged marriage: -9/10 see above, basically. in real life i don't view these negatively but it's just not what i look for in a fic.

And I'm tagging:

(sorry if you've already been tagged lol) @mickjustmademylist @vampyerika @pyrchance and @earlgreytea68 ! if you don't wanna participate tho then please don't feel bad or pressured or anything lol its no biggie! also anyone at all who wants to do this can do it and tag me as the person who tagged you, bc i love seeing what people have to say about this stuff!

[vezpez]

It would be one thing if book 10 actually acknowledged how terrible a situation it leaves Winter in. But it doesn't. It pretends that being isolated from the dragons he cared about (AND replaced by a nameless faceless IceWing), the same ones who only trust him to be "loyal" and "be there when we need you", with literally no home or family to speak of, burdened by the trauma he had to endure throughout arc 2 that is completely ignored both by his friends and by the narrative, grieving the loss of his beloved aunt that is just completely glossed over, on top of being heart broken, is a "happy ending" for him. He is expected to just tough it out. His emotions or feelings don't matter. All because he was a big ol meanie pants to Moon for being friends with a genocidal maniac that brainwashed him and tried to murder every single dragon that looked like him.

And hey he has scavengers to obsess over! He loves scavengers, right? What more could he ever want?

It is a truly bleak and harrowing conclusion that is dressed up is a whole lot of telling and literally no showing. The narrative tells us Winter is happy with this arrangement, yet what we were shown throughout arc 2 strongly suggests that, no, he would hate everything about it.

Even how the other characters, Moon especially, refer to Winter in his absence is just all kinds of wrong. "He'll be alright no matter what happens," Moon says to Qibli right before confessing to him seems especially callous and cold of her.

I want to chalk this up to deadlines and fatigue, but at some point bad writing is at fault. Tui simply was not considering the things she had put Winter's character through when she was writing, or if she did, felt the love triangle dynamic superceded all else. Literally every interaction in the 2nd half is framed around the triangle, which is why Moon and Qibli think heartbreak is the only bad thing that Winter had to deal with in the epilogue. But that comes with the narrative ignoring what actually happened to him, and by extension, his friends ignoring it. And that's just unacceptable.

In your last ask, you mentioned misgivings with Book 10's ending, and especially how it pertains to Winter. I absolutely agree, and I know why, but I wanna hear your thoughts on it, too: What's up with Book 10?

The following is a (very long) examination of my personal feelings with regards to the WoF second story arc finale. While it is based on what is in the text, this analysis will be interpretive and fill in blanks with my own thoughts. Keep that in mind.

Hahhhh... okay. Since mentioning it in my last post I’ve gotten several requests to talk about my feelings regarding the second arc finale. There’s probably no way around it then.

If you haven’t read that last post (it was admittedly very long, and so will this one be), I talked briefly about why I didn’t like that part of the story. I have to warn you now, this will likely be the most negative and dour post in the history of this blog. In a few parts it will sound like I hate Wings of Fire, and I want to say now, while I still have the chance, that I don’t. I love this series, thinking about its setting and characters brings me joy.

I also—very emphatically—want to make it clear that I have no ill will against Tui T. Sutherland. I’ve looked around other people’s stuff a bit and there are a huge number of posts wishing violence upon her or threatening her for doing things to her series that people don’t agree with. That is NOT what I am doing here, shit like that is NOT okay! While I will be critical of her choices, I still respect her effort of bringing this vibrant, wonderful world of dragons to all of us.

Also, obligatory last disclaimer: If you liked the finale, that is okay. You are valid for feeling that way. I’m here to share my point of view, not to demand people agree with everything I say. Just be warned that you most likely won’t enjoy what I have to say. If you don’t think you can handle that kind of criticism, this is your guilt-free opportunity to stop reading.

Otherwise, let's get into it.

CW: Discussion of parental abuse, depression, disease, and extreme acts of violence.

In defense of the finale

Before I start to systematically disassemble this narrative and get lost in a quagmire of negativity, let’s talk a bit about the circumstances that brought forth this part of the story. The plot of this arc was a mess from the moment animus magic was unshackled from the restrictions it had in the first arc, and from then on there was no longer any conceivable way to end this story in a clean way. Sutherland had created an invincible, unbeatable, omnipotent villain; he could read minds, see the future with perfect clarity, and anything he could imagine he could conjure into existence at any time with no cost to himself and no drawbacks. She was likely wracking her brain about how to resolve this impossible conundrum. What we got wasn’t good, but I believe nothing could have been. The foundation was rotting and by the fifth book it couldn’t bear the weight of the plot anymore.

The thing about animus magic in arc 2 is that it is so potent, so all-powerful, and so free of restraint that everyone who uses it also HAS to be a simpleton, or they would be able to break the plot immediately and become god. From the moment Darkstalker broke out of that mountain, he could have said “Any and all spells that are cast with the intention to harm me, interfere with my plans, or do something I don’t consent to will not work, from now on until forever”, and he would have instantly won. The strawberry would have fizzled out. The Darkstalker-blocking earrings would not have been created, and no one could have saved the Icewings. On the flipside, Turtle or Anemone could have said “I enchant the concept of animus magic itself to no longer obey Darkstalker”, and his threat would have been neutered. Point is, powers as potent and easy to use as this really need limitations, or they will quickly eat your plot alive.

I don’t envy the situation Sutherland was in at the time at all. If you’re an author, that kind of thing is a nightmare. It really is no wonder she decided to blow up animus magic for good in her next arc, even if I would have preferred it to get more healthy restrictions instead of killing it outright.

The Darkstalker age regression thing

Everyone has talked this part to death already, but if I am to write a thorough analysis of my feelings regarding this finale, I’m going to have to talk about it as well. I’m sorry if I end up repeating a lot of things you’ve already heard.

This final fate of Darkstalker, to have his memories wiped and be reset to an infant, is really uncomfortable. As far as I am aware, though correct me if I’m wrong, Sutherland said in an interview that she didn’t want Darkstalker to die because, in her view, he did not deserve to. We can debate here about the philosophical question of whether anyone is truly deserving of death, and the merits of “justice” and “punishment”, but in general, Wings of Fire did not seem to have any issues killing off its villains prior if they committed suitably terrible acts. That makes this moment stand out as noteworthy.

Who is Darkstalker then--and if we assume villains can be “deserving” and “not deserving” of death--what about him speaks in his favor, or against? The guy had a pretty crappy childhood, coming from a broken home (there is that inadequate parent theme again). He genuinely loved his sister and felt protective of her, and whenever he liked someone he wanted them to be happy and feel affirmed. The thing that Queen Diamond does to his mother is awful and he is justified in hating her for it. He is also portrayed as rather sympathetic in Moon Rising. When he asks Moon to find his scroll for him and not to leave him, he is not manipulating her, he is sincerely begging for her help. He is stuck somewhere underground, trapped in darkness, in a space so tiny that he can’t move. He remains that way for months, lonely and sad. If you just focus on these aspects, it’s easy to understand why he has so many fans who want him to see healthy and happy.

On the flipside, while he is dedicated to the happiness of his friends, he doesn’t always go for the most ethical way to achieve it. He tries to brainwash said friends without their consent whenever they exhibit behaviors he doesn’t like, or when he thinks he knows better and wants to “fix” them. He has very little regard for other people’s autonomy, lies to his loved ones with alarming frequency, and is unhealthily attached to the idea of power. Those things are certainly not good, but they are his character flaws. These are his demons; everyone has them and they make him a person. If this was all there was to it, he might still be a villain, but I’d argue he’d not be wholly irredeemable.

But there are things about him that take him beyond the pale. Things that go beyond the realm of just being misunderstood, or easily excusable.

He is possessive. He wants Clearsight and Fathom for himself, and for them to listen to him primarily. When Indigo makes it clear she doesn’t like him and cautions Fathom against trusting him, he deceives his friends and traps Indigo in a wood carving, just so he can isolate Fathom from his support network and manipulate him easier. He alters Clearsight’s mind to make her more agreeable and stop her from holding him accountable for his actions; while he thinks he loves her, he only loves an idealized version of her that is wholly devoted to and unquestioning of him. This is why, when he later forcibly overwrites Fierceteeth’s existence to recreate her (which is another horrific thing), he tries to excise the parts he finds undesirable to create a perfect version of his lover. But this caricature he has created in his head is not and can never be Clearsight, which frustrates his attempts.

He is vengeful. Not against people who have actually wronged him, like Queen Diamond. That would be questionable, but understandable. What makes this unacceptable is his frequent targeting of innocent people who just happen to be related to the person who wronged him in some esoteric way. He enchants a secret murder knife that kills random Icewings regardless of who they are or what they think about the Queen, just because the one who took his mother from him happened to share their tribe. He hates Turtle and wishes death upon him in Moon Rising just because he is a green Seawing, like Fathom was. And then there is the big one: He tries to kill all the Icewings who are alive in the present day, where Queen Diamond is long dead and none of them have ever even met her. Even his mother, who suffered from Diamond’s actions the most and has the most reason to hate her, is horrified and calls him out on that one.

And lastly, he is sadistic. He revels in torturing those he hates. He forces his father to disembowel himself, while the latter is fully aware and powerless to resist AND the man’s traumatized daughter is watching. Later he sends a magical plague to kill every single living Icewing sans one.

It should be noted that Darkstalker possesses virtually infinite magical power; whatever he declares, with very few exceptions, will happen. Even if he wanted them dead, he had the power to prevent unnecessary suffering. He could have said “Arctic, fall dead instantaneously”, or “Every Icewing will fall asleep and pass away peacefully,” but he didn’t. He wanted them to feel pain and pass away in the most wretched, agonizing ways he could imagine.

So what he chose to do instead is—and I want you to picture this for a moment—Darkstalker sat down, calmly, and said “Henceforth every living Icewing, excepting Prince Winter and those of hybrid blood, will fall ill with an incurable disease. This disease will cause heavy internal bleeding and make its victims cough up blood and waste away for a few days, followed by certain death.”

This spell does not discriminate with regards to who its victims are. The book glosses over the implications, but imagine the ramifications. Young children are notoriously frail, how many newborns got infected and died because of this? How many families were torn apart because they couldn’t get the magic earrings fast enough? Or accidentally got one earring less than there were family members and had to decide who has to die?

Most of the Icewings were physically cured by the earrings, but an experience like that sticks with you for the rest of your life. Somewhere surely, a dragonet watched as his mother put the earring on him and then slowly wasted away because she didn’t have one for herself.

It’s really easy to overlook how horrific this spell is because it isn’t shown or dwelt on. But the trauma, grief, and suffering it caused must have been immeasurable.

And none of those victims have ever even met the person Darkstalker wanted to get revenge on. None of those deaths meant anything to anyone.

The attempted death toll and scale of the calamity here puts even Scarlet to shame. The ones who come closest to it were Queen Battlewinner and Morrowseer with their attempted Rainwing extermination. All three of those died for what they did. Gives you some food for thought for sure.

Peacemaker’s burden

Despite just airing all of his dirty laundry and declaring him an irredeemable villain, I actually do have a lot of sympathy for Darkstalker still. His story is really sad. He was a child born with an amount of power that nobody should possess, and it corrupted him to the point where it destroyed his life before it began. His parents were always fighting and no matter how good his intentions were, he was unable to understand why he couldn’t hold on to his friends and relationship. He kept making mistakes, then made bigger mistakes to fix those, until his hands were covered in blood and he couldn’t stop anymore. My belief is that, after he wakes up in the present and realizes Clearsight is dead, he loses his reason for living and becomes completely lost in his grief.

Therefore, my opinion is that it would have been appropriate for him to die. If not to punish him, then to finally grant him reprieve from all that rage and pain, and let him rest. I think that would have been a dignified end.

But instead he got turned into a baby. ... And then they decided to magically erase his father’s blood from him? I don’t know what it is, but something about that Icewing erasure makes my skin crawl?

The thing that turns this baby twist from weird into highly unsettling is the context. Darkstalker’s mind is erased, then modified into a new person via animus magic. This is the technique a lot of this arc’s villains used to victimize Hailstorm, Queen Ruby, Peril, Kinkajou, Fierceteeth, and Winter. The same technique is now used again, by the heroes, which is a dangerous thing to have your protagonists do if you want them to remain morally upright.

It is also very reckless, because in almost all of these instances, animus mind alteration has been shown to be very unreliable. The spells seem to wear down over time and are susceptible to partial breaking upon encountering certain strong stimuli. Hailstorm—while trapped as Pyrite—seems to retain trace amounts of his former memories, which is why Pyrite is subconsciously drawn to Winter and clings to him all the time. Ruby is able to ignore half of her conditioning because her familial love for her son partially overpowers the magic. Qibli is just straight up able to reason his way out of it.

The thing to note here is that spells of this nature require a very meticulous approach; you can’t half-ass your reprogramming or the victim will just think their way past it. If you alter someone’s mind, the wording of the spell must be ironclad, lest you risk it wearing down over time and even break.

Luckily we have nothing to fear in that regard, because the spell that created Peacemaker was written by a Rainwing with a total of four days of literacy training. No one better mention the name Clearsight to the new baby Nightwing, or next month is going to be rather interesting.

But that’s just speculation on my part. Let’s assume that, somehow, this spell isn’t as unstable as all the others. Somehow Kinkajou threaded all the needles, and masterfully dodged every conceivable pitfall to pen the perfect incantation, despite having been illiterate just a few weeks prior. This one is built to last and Darkstalker is sealed away really thoroughly, for good.

That is still absolutely terrible and morally dubious, because now you have Peacemaker, who for all intents and purposes is a COMPLETELY innocent little kid, saddled with this huge burden of being the certifiable reincarnation of a genocidal ancient wizard. He’s gonna grow up thinking things like “Mommy gets real quiet whenever the topic of the Icewing tragedy is brought up,” and “Why does Auntie Moon look at me like that? One time she accidentally called me a weird name, who is Darkstalker?” “What is this ‘Clearsight’ name my mind-reading friends from the village found in Mommy’s mind?”

In a village that will be full of mind-readers soon, eventually the secret will come out, and Peacemaker is going to learn what was done to him. A huge, messy load of undeserved baggage was forced onto this completely separate, innocent entity. He will be devastated. Whether he then chooses to forgive them for this remains to be seen. To be honest, he would be well within his right not to, and turn resentful.

Poor kid.

Qibli’s callousness

I love Qibli, he is one of my favorite characters. This happens to be his book, and the fact that I fundamentally dislike half of it makes me rather sad. If anything, I hope this tells you that I’m not just hating on it for my personal amusement. I really wanted to like this. I tried to, and I couldn’t.

Qibli is really weird in this one, to be honest. He is suddenly made to be co-dependent on Moonwatcher, fawning over her every third paragraph, saying how much he loves her, how he is an incomplete and dysfunctional wreck without her, how it physically pains him to be apart from her, oh if only the stars would grant his wish and split the mountains apart so that he may fly to his princess, his muse, his goddess of ebony wit. It gets so old.

And it’s not Qibli. He never acted this clingy towards Moonwatcher. It’s more intense than even Winter gets about Moon, and Winter was actually depicted with a crush on her in book 6. Qibli was always just a supportive element, eager to befriend Moon but never desperate, like he is going to keel over if he is separated from his true love five minutes longer. These very frequent love declarations feel so forced coming out of him. It strikes me like it was just written in service of the love triangle. Maybe if we make him confess his love every four seconds readers will overlook the fact that they had no proper romantic build-up.

You might rightly accuse me of bias. I have previously admitted I am fond of Qibli/Winter as a romantic pairing, on the surface this seems like I am just not happy with my pet ship being blocked by Moonwatcher. But I assure you, I am actually pretty flexible and accommodating even towards pairings that contradict my preferences. I have no issues with Winter/Moonwatcher, for example, because the possibility was properly established and they have good romantic chemistry in Winter Turning. In theory, I would have no problem with Qibli/Moonwatcher either if it was ever set up as an interesting romantic dynamic. But to me, it seems like Qibli is written as a good, supportive friend to Moon for four books, only to pivot hard into “Moon moon moon moon moon moon swoon” at the last second, and it just reads to me as obnoxious.

I got distracted. This section is called “Qibli’s callousness”, and I haven’t even talked about the main part.

Qibli and Winter have excellent chemstry together, whether you read it as romantic or platonic—both of these interpretations have merit and are set up. They’re always the highlight of any scene they’re in. Throughout the story arc you get the impression that these two really get on each other’s nerves, but they bond and grow into really strong friends who bicker a lot but have each other’s backs when it counts.

Then there is a scene where Qibli casually tells Winter that he wouldn’t object if someone wanted to mind-control away some of Winter’s more objectionable traits.

This is genuinely a terrible thing to say to your friend. Like, it crosses a line and ceases to be harmless banter; you’re just telling them that there is something you hate about them so much that you wish they were someone else. Winter actually WAS mind-controlled earlier and felt (and proably still feels) guilty about having attacked Qibli in that state. And now Qibli says “Hey, I wouldn’t mind if someone did that to you again! Hue hue!”

It is awful, BUT I don’t necessarily object to Qibli saying this here. Qibli is in the middle of his character arc at this moment, so he is expected to be flawed. He is making a mistake by thoughtlessly telling Winter this horrid thing, and it seems like a believable continuation of his current character track. This is a reasonable development as long as the plot acknowledges that it’s a mistake.

Spoilers: The plot doesn’t acknowledge that it’s a mistake. Qibli never has a scene after where he reflects upon what he said and apologizes to Winter. When Darkstalker has Qibli trapped in his mountain jail and mind-wipes Qibli’s grandfather into a toddler (hey, wait a minute), Qibli gets visibly disturbed. Like, this is so off-putting to him that he gets queasy and Darkstalker hastily changes the spell. That could have been a great way to bring this back. Like in the epilogue, have Qibli track down Winter and tell him about disturbing baby grandpa theater and how he realized that wiping people’s minds is actually messed up and should have never said that to him.

But he doesn’t. He just lets Winter go, allowing him to believe he is broken and needs magical intervention to be tolerable. It leaves me to think that maybe he’s still okay with it, and fantasizing about rewriting his friend’s mind. Great.

Moonwatcher’s character death

You will find as this goes on that, I get the impression that the second half of this book takes all of the wonderful, endearing characters I have learned to love throughout the story and replaces them with really mean, or stupid, or otherwise inaccurate caricatures.

Moonwatcher’s relationship with Darkstalker gets plenty of setup and development in Moon Rising. You get the sense that these two could be great friends if their circumstances were a little different. It does a great job at making you think maybe Darkstalker is just misunderstood; maybe Moon should free him from his predicament.

Then at the end of Escaping Peril comes the emotional gut punch. Darkstalker actually IS a villain. He callously admits to Moonwatcher that he used his magic to make his own father gruesomely disembowel himself. Moonwatcher is horrified and disgusted that he would do that. There is no circumstance in which something like that would ever be okay. She ends the scene awash in tears because the person she thought was her friend is a murderer and a sadist. This is good, that is a natural reaction to what she was just told.

A few hours from there, in Talons of Power, Turtle finds Moon again and she is completely cool with Darkstalker walking free, despite crying her eyes out after feeling so betrayed earlier. That may seem strange, but this is still good because later, Darkstalker’s mind control plot is discovered. This scene was obviously written to set that up, Moon is mind-controlled into forgetting that Darkstalker could do something that morally reprehensible, and thus forgives him. This is also completely in line with his characterization in Legends: Darkstalker. It’s a kind of stunt he would pull to get Clearsight to shut up about him slipping into villainy.

In my earlier post I alluded to a moment where Moon is set to narrative auto-pilot and says something so rampantly off-kilter that it does irreversible, permanent damage to her character. It happens here, in the second half of book 10. Qibli gives Moon the Darkstalker protection earring, and Moon, somehow, says “I’m not being mind-controlled, Darkstalker really is my friend.”

I get what the plot tries to do here. It’s taking this concept of mind-control and adding a nuance, in an attempt to flesh out Darkstalker and give his character depth. He is ready to control everyone in the world, but for Moon, who is his best friend in this era, he wants her to remain herself. Perhaps this is his attempt at attonement for playing with Clearsight’s mind and driving her away from him. It is very touching in a way, viewed in isolation.

Unfortunately, it does not work with the full context of all the books. Because Moon is in auto-pilot mode right now, her main character trait is “Darkstalker=Friend,” so naturally she would speak in support of him. But this revelation has devastating retroactive consequences. The earlier scene that was written with Moon under mind-control is now altered into her having been in her right mind! She is completely okay with Darkstalker’s admittance to cold-blooded torture and evisceration, within hours of being so shocked by it that it made her cry and ready to denounce him. That is such a quick turnaround it’s giving me whiplash. And what’s more it turns Moon from a principled, upstanding girl into a sociopath who casually accepts gruesome torture and murder if it is committed by someone she likes.

Did Sutherland forget about the scene two books ago, where Darkstalker’s actions were so inconceivably horrid for Moon to learn of that she started crying? It baffles me that this made it into the final version. Her saying she was never mind-controlled makes Moon come off as so awful. This torture-excusing lunatic is not the same kind-hearted and insightful character I followed in all the other books.

Kinkajou’s character derailment

The world is a sad place when I have to question the way Kinjajou is written. Fortunately she is mostly fine, despite her having the biggest excuse to act out-of-character since she’s the victim of a mind-altering spell. Her only real moment of “what!?” comes at the end.

I already talked about her role in casting the spell that regresses Darkstalker into an infant. But I didn’t mention how her being the source of it is questionable in itself.

The clue is in the first paragraph of this section: She herself has experienced the effects of invasive mind-alteration. She was cursed by Anemone in the previous book to be in love with Turtle, and kind of half-struggles kind of not with it, it’s really strange. Turtle is appropriately horrified and acts like really awful things are happening, but then it’s mostly played lightly for some reason. My assumption is that Sutherland introduced this plot point, but then realized how uncomfortable this premise really is and tried to downplay it until the story got to a point where it could get done away with.

But I think the takeaway is still supposed to be that this was a horrid thing to do (which it absolutely is), and that Kinkajou will have to spend a lot of time trying to untangle her real emotions from the fake ones the spell created.

The point is: Kinkajou knows first-hand how awful it is to do something like that to another person. Ideally she should never even conceive of the idea to cast a spell like that, but if we’re really set on this Darkstalker baby thing and it has to happen, she should at least be a bit hesitant about it. And afterwards she should struggle with the guilt of having resorted to it. Not celebrate it and be proud, like it’s funny.

The assassination of Winter’s future

Now we come to the part I’ve alluded to previously; the part where all of these threads converge to utterly destroy one character and drive him to the brink of ruin. Let’s talk about Winter.

Prince Winter is the son of Tundra and Prince Narwhal, hatching in the same clutch as his sister Icicle. He spent his formative years being unfavorably compared to said sister—who easily took to traits that Icewing royalty considers desirable—whereas Winter struggled greatly to embody those same ideals. He was just a little too kind, too merciful, too gentle. As a result he often had to endure abuse from his parents, who made him feel like he was defective.

Because he was young and didn’t have any other frame of reference, he embraced this abusive narrative and began to drive himself with a vigor unreasonable for someone of his age. He scraped and cloyed for every bit of credit he could get, obsessing over advancing up the circle rankings in an attempt to “purge” the wrongness out of himself. To make his parents as proud of him as they were of Icicle.

This never worked. He was always seen as the runt, poised to embarrass the family name. Whatever he did, no matter how hard he strived, there was always something he could have done better.

The only real source of love and affirmation in his life was his older brother, Hailstorm. Where everyone else only saw what Winter wasn’t, Hailstorm embraced his brother despite of his “failings” and was openly affectionate with him. When Winter was with him, it was okay to not think about rankings all the time, and just be himself for a bit. I assume Hailstorm fulfilled a similar role for Icicle as well, which is why both of them love him dearly, and Icicle destroys her own life to bring him back.

Winter also has a fascination with scavengers, possibly because they are small and perceived as useless, like he himself is. He likely feels a kinship with them and observes them being craftier and more adept than everyone else sees them. This is therapeutic for him, to see that a thing can have merit even if no one wants to see it.

One day, he and Hailstorm sneak into Skywing territory so Winter can catch a scavenger as a pet. This excursion turns hostile when they are discovered by a roaming Skywing troop and faced with the prospect of capture, possibly execution. In a gambit to save Winter from this fate, Hailstorm mirrors the words of his parents, calling Winter pathetic and useless, so the Skywings will not think of him as a threat and show mercy. His act succeeds in convincing the Skywings, but it also convinces Winter, who does not understand Hailstorm only said these things to save his life. He returns home—believing his brother hated him all along—to face the wrath of his furious family for losing them “the desirable son”.

For all of his life, these themes have repeated themselves and haunted him. “I was born wrong and defective,” “I am unlovable,” “No one wants me.”

A few months after the war ends, Winter is one of the five Icewings enrolled in the newly founded Jade Mountain Academy. Shortly after departing, he unexpectedly returns home, having successfully rescued his older brother and bringing him back. He is made to believe that this erases his mistakes, his mother even pays him a backhanded compliment, an uncharacteristically “nice” gesture. He is promoted to the top of the rankings, finally his parents are proud of him.

But of course it is all a trick. The “adoration” afforded to him was all a ploy. Secretly, his parents abused power and tradition to arrange for Winter’s death. They force him into a lethal trial they intentionally rigged against him, all to finally erase that stain on their family’s honor.

Winter finally realizes the true nature of his parents’ opinion of him. Even when he succeeds, and does everything right, he is still defective, unlovable, and unwanted. He will never be anything else to his family. And so he leaves his homeland, pretending he is dead, resigned to live in hiding forever.

During this time, while at the brink of despair, Winter is able to draw strength from one source: His new friends from the academy. He vocalizes that, for all the abuse he suffered at the hands of his birth family, he fervently believes that THEY would never do anything like that to him. They chose to stuck with him, even when he was awful, and told him he was not hopeless. He was not a mistake; he could be deserving of love.

So naturally, he returns to them; they accept him readily, are willing to be his new surrogate family. When he almost burns to death at a later point, they fear and weep for him. When Qibli sets out to confront his own abusive family, Winter, despite being mind-controlled into a placid potato at the time, feels concerned enough for his friend’s safety to insist to come along (returning the favor of them accompanying him in his time of need in book 7). When Darkstalker’s mind control forces Winter to attack Qibli, he is shown ashamed and guilty of it once the control wears off again.

They bicker and struggle, and make mistakes, they break up but always come back together again. Time and time again the one thing that is always reinforced: When the cards are down, Winter loves his friends, and they love him. They would never intentionally hurt each other, or give up on each other.

I want you to keep in mind how wholesome, and loving, and mutually supportive this ramshackle band of misfits has been portrayed to this point... Because we’re moving on to the arc 2 finale, and it will do everything it can to corrupt all of it and consign Winter to a life of misery.

We arrive at aforementioned scene, where Moonwatcher receives her earring. Just a little bit prior, Winter had learned that Darkstalker unleashed a magical plague onto his people in an attempt to wipe them out. Now here is Moonwatcher, revealing that she is not under any spell, and has aligned herself with this guy willingly, speaking fondly of him as if he was a dear friend who never did any wrong. Winter takes this badly and accidentally breaks a vase; the narrative lingers on this moment and really tries to sell us on how unreasonable Winter’s reaction is, how he is overreacting, but let’s examine that interpretation for a moment.

Moonwatcher doesn’t yet know about the attempted Icewing genocide, but she DOES know about Darkstalker being okay with casting spells to inflict immeasurable torture upon those he hates. WE know that she knows this, so her stance here is already suspect. Yet she goes on to praise Darkstalker and refer to him as a friend. Look at this from Winter’s perspective. This “friend” of Moonwatcher just tried to kill his entire tribe, and he actually succeeded in killing his aunt, Queen Glacier, a person Winter greatly respects. Winter is currently unable to return to his homeland for fear of being branded a traitor. Even if he could return, he knows his obstinate and spiteful family would prevent him from attending the funeral, meaning he is not even afforded the basic dignity of saying farewell to his aunt. The aunt whom Darkstalker murdered by making her vomit her own blood until she withered away in her bed. And here is Moon, absolving the person who did this to Glacier from his appalling actions, despite knowing full well what Darkstalker is capable of and choosing to look away.

I don’t know about you, but I think I can forgive the grieving, emotionally overwhelmed boy for shattering a little pottery after hearing his trusted friend—who held his hand when he was dying—say that the guy who makes people disembowel themselves and wipes out entire countries may be misunderstood and not so bad. I think I would have a similar reaction. In fact, I would never want to talk to her ever again.

There is no way I can read this scene in which Moon doesn’t come off as either an absolute lunatic, or critically stupid and callous. In fact, based on her earlier behavior I half-expect her to get over the news of the attempted Icewing massacre in a couple hours, saying “Eh, it’s kinda bad, but you just have to do these kinds of things sometimes, you know? I’m sure he had his reasons.”

Then there is the part where Qibli makes his off-color comment about how Winter’s brain could really use a good wash. I already went into how it could have worked but didn’t. But with the timing here, we’ve already had Moon spit on their friendship, so as Winter’s other closest friend, it naturally follows that Qibli also craps on his feelings.

Consider the context: Winter comes from an abusive household where his parents forcibly tried to change him away from who he was to purge the “wrongness” from him. When they betray him and he narrowly escapes their attempt on his life, he re-affirms his belief in his friends, and the knowledge that they wouldn’t treat him like that gives him the strength he needs to keep going. But now, Qibli asserts that Winter DOES need to be altered, thereby AGREEING with Winter’s abusive parents, rendering Winter’s affirmation from book 7 erroneous. Qibli WOULD treat him like that if it made Winter less “intolerable”.

Neither Moonwatcher nor Qibli ever make an attempt to repair this rift. Winter is left betrayed and alone.

Stuff happens, and the forces of the Nightwings and Icewings come to blows over Jade Mountain. With his two closest friends having written him off and his support network eroded, Winter relapses into thinking he is worthless, seeks validation in unquestioning patriotism, and realigns himself with his abusive family by throwing himself into the battle. Nobody wants him to, in fact his parents still hate him for it, but whatever. His father dies and his mother blames him for it.

Meanwhile Turtle, Anemone, and Qibli are cooking up a solution to the battle problem. They have the idea to make everyone’s minds connect in a huge empathy wave for a few moments, which I think is a pretty interesting idea for what it’s worth. But then they teleport both armies back to their homes, and the spell sweeps Winter up with them, taking him out of the rest of the finale and bringing him to the Ice Kingdom. The characters say “whoops” but aren’t further concerned with the situation. It’s all a big laugh.

Let me remind you that Winter is currently considered not welcome on Icewing territory. His family, whom he was sent back with, is extremely abusive and vindictive. His friends know this. Said parents have previously arranged for him to be killed, and are still on record as wanting him dead. His friends KNOW this. And now he is alone with them and a gaggle of other royal Icewings who all are extremely pissed off at him for ruining their sacred trial site.

It is very possible that he is being torn apart and mauled by an enraged mob right now. He could be forced into captivity and flayed. Maybe the interim regent is sentencing him to death and getting the rope ready. There is a million different horrible things that could be happening to Winter right now, while he is trapped alone with people who hate him, things his friends would be reasonably able to anticipate. And nobody is doing anything to get him out of there, to suggest bringing him back, even though it would only take a single spoken sentence to do so! They aren’t even concerned!

Then the climax happens, strawberry thing and all, and we get the coup de grâce. After all is said and done, the group decides that Winter is untrustworthy, and that they must protect the secret of Darkstalker’s fate from him, because they fear if he knew he would kill Peacemaker.

Moon, who read Winter’s mind in book 6 and reached out to him about how the “ruthless Icewing warrior” persona in his head is a facade and how she sees he has a gentle and good heart... Moon, who in book 7 finds out about Winter’s secret deal to kill Glory and STILL trusts him, who calls out his bullshit to his face because she KNOWS how kind-hearted Winter is and that he would never resort to murder... Moon who, again, held his hand while he was dying... thinks that the dragon she has reminded of his compassionate nature time and time again would kill an innocent child.

This is disgusting. Moon believing that is so far off the mark with regards to anything this group has embodied or done for any of the last 4 books, that my only conclusion can be that these are different characters. Maybe the Nightwing library collapsed on top of original Moon, and when Darkstalker magiced her back to health she came back wrong or something. I don’t know.

So after all of this, Winter is left alone. He somehow escaped from the Ice Kingdom; luckily there is a timeskip so we can just gloss over the horrible situation he was put in by his friends. He thinks about Jade Mountain. He reflects on everything that happened, how his parents never really loved him... How they hated him so much they tried to kill him... How he despaired, but found solace in his friends who loved him for who he was.... How those friends then betrayed him too and magiced him away... How they didn’t care about what happened to him... And he decides he is done. He won’t bother going back. A few people, probably Sunny, reach out to tell him he is welcome back, but he says “it wouldn’t be fair to other Icewings if an exile took up a bed”. The decision isn’t hard to make, after all there is nothing left for him there. Everyone has written him off, moved on and left him behind.

Kinkajou visits sometimes, tries to stay in touch, but that’s just how she is. Maybe the others sent her to check on whether he’s going to become troublesome. They don’t trust him. Better to keep an eye on him, he might kill the baby.

With nowhere else to go, Winter moves to Sanctuary, a place for rejects like him. I picture him standing there, at the edge of a cliff staring blankly into the distance. He is completely alone; no one wants to go near him or talk to him beyond the bare necessities. He could probably make new friends with the Talons of Peace if he tried, but there is no point. Why should someone like him have friends? It wouldn’t work. They’d just decide he is too inconvenient to be around. Sooner or later they would just tell him to leave anyway. It's better not to try, so he doesn't get hurt again.

And slowly it dawns on him. His parents had been right all along. It was never them, or the others, it was him. He is the problem. The Icewings said it, Qibli said it, Moonwatcher said it. There is just something fundamentally wrong with him.

He is defective. He is unlovable. Nobody wants him. He will never be anything, or have anyone. And so he stands at the cliff, looking over the broken vase fragments of his life... This is who he is. Prince Winter. A mistake.

And quietly, where no one knows or cares, he does the only thing he has left to do... he begins to weep.

As it is written, the tale of Winter is the story of a boy who is told he is wrong for being alive. He closes his ears and tries to keep walking forward, desperate to prove that he is not an error, that he has merit. But this book comes out and it unmistakably says that he doesn’t. He is nothing, and he deserves to have nothing.

And I just cannot accept that.

Why did this have to happen?

I think that the author was really struggling with the ending of this book. I’ve said before how much of a corner she wrote herself into with such an invincible villain. I think she came up with the strawberry idea as a solution to this problem. But as she was writing it, the characters kept fighting her. It was not a natural solution, not a decision the characters—as they were established—would ever make.

So concessions had to be made to force the issue. Established traits had to be bent slightly to make this plot work. The farther she went, the worse it got. The concessions piled up and turned into contrivances. Eventually the characters were no longer acting like themselves. Their bonds got stretched too far and some snapped. It’s a very tragic pitfall that occurs with long-running series.

I think Sutherland must have also been tired. Writing an entire book is a monumental task, and writing 6 connected ones even moreso. She also comes out with these things really quickly. Maybe she was burnt out? Maybe she wanted to be done and her attention lapsed. Maybe that’s why she forgot that Moon knew about the disemboweling. It seems reasonable to believe when you consider that the next story arc would make a relatively clean break from the problems of this arc, especially with regards to the magic system.

But I don’t know what ultimately happened, so I can only speculate. I reiterate, I bear no ill will against Sutherland for writing this. Even if I kind of hate everything about this finale, and very vocally wish it would be different, I don’t want this examination to generate (or reawaken) any hatred towards her, or to attack her personally. I understand the pain of an artist who gets trapped with something for too long and has to find the means, any means, to see it through to the end. I criticize the story, but I could never hate anyone for that.

But for me, I do not consider this half of the book as part of the story. The characters act too unnaturally for it to have happened. So to me, it didn’t. We don’t know what happened, maybe Darkstalker is still out there. Maybe they dealt with him. Maybe what actually happened is my crappy and self-indulgent rewrite of the ending which I will never show to anyone because it would be really embarrassing.

But whatever actually ended up happening, I am sure Winter never ended up at that cliff, pondering how worthless and meaningless his life was. He is currently at Jade Mountain, surrounded by friends who love him, and bickering with Qibli about the correct solution to their advanced calculus assignment that is due tomorrow.

Is there anything left to say?

Probably.

I didn’t talk about Anemone yet. You know, in the epilogue she enchants herself a bracelet that makes her “not be so mean all the time”. I find that creepy. To me it reads as Anemone voluntarily brainwashing herself with magic to erase her negative traits instead of growing past them naturally because she finds them undesirable and wants to work to change for the better. I would ordinarily assume that this is an overreaction on my part, and I’m just reading the scene wrong. But no, we just got through a part where the heroes brainwashing someone is treated as an unequivocal good and worthy of celebration, so I think my reading may actually be spot on. Why are we letting the little kid alter her own brain without supervision? Hello? Tsunami? Someone intervene maybe? This cannot be healthy.

Turtle stands out to me as the one bright spot in all of this. He (and Peril, but she’s mostly out of focus) remain as the only main characters of this arc who don’t have any mind-boggling out-of-character moments or sudden streaks of uncharacteristic callousness. I really like the part where Qibli goes to free Turtle from his captivity and plans to give him an earful about the comically unhelpful messages he’s been sending him. But when Turtle asks if what he did was helpful, Qibli sees how beaten down and exhausted Turtle is, and wordlessly drops his frustration to tell him “Yeah, they were helpful.” That is the true Qibli shining through for a moment, showing that he cares about the well-being of his friends.

Do I hate the pairing of Qibli/Moonwatcher? No. Well, I DO hate how it happened in the book, and how the story tried to assassinate Winter’s character to resolve the love triangle and make it happen. I don’t hate it on principle though. If you are a fan of Qibli/Moonwatcher and want to write fanfics about it, please do! I absolutely encourage you to do that! Maybe you can fix this mess and turn it into something that’s actually properly handled!

Mightyclaws keeps the power that Darkstalker granted him past the finale. That means all the spells that Darkstalker cast are technically still active. Does that mean the Icewings have to wear earrings for the rest of their lives? Do they get sick again if they take them off? Is Peril forever cursed to think of Darkstalker as a cool old uncle and has to somehow reconcile how everyone else thinks of him? How did the Nightwings relinquishing their powers work, do they have to wear the earrings forever too now?

And there is one more thing to mention.

My confession

You may have already intuited this, if you’ve been following the content of my blog. It is very heavily skewed towards the first and second arcs of the series. I would now like to confess something.

When I read the second half of book 10, I found it so disillusioning, Winter’s fate so upsetting... that I put down the series then and there. And I haven’t picked it back up since.

That’s right, I have not read arc 3. I don’t know if that makes me a fake fan. I know pretty much everything that happens in it, the controversial twist at the end, Pyrrhia coming back into the story later, Snowfall getting brainwashed by a piece of jewelry until she cares about a plot that had nothing to do with her or the fate of the Icewings, etc..

It’s not out of malice, or because it’s a new continent. The opposite in fact; I would have greatly prefered a clean break with a new setting—Bug-themed dragons in a slightly more contemporary, developed environment sounds fascinating and full of potential. I don’t hate Pantala or the new characters.

I just... I can’t really do this again. I can’t handle the thought of Pyrrhia coming back post-Darkstalker, with Winter showing up and talking to these guys again like nothing happened, seeming like a different person, joking around with them like his entire character wasn’t dragged through a mountain of manure to make the plot bend a certain way. I think as long as this is the ending that the story is continuing from, seeing that would just make me miserable.

Maybe I will just stay in the parts of the story that I fell in love with. And imagine a version of reality in which Pantala is allowed to exist on its own, where Swordtail was the fourth POV character of arc 3, where Queen Wasp stayed the villain throughout, and Snowfall got her own legends book about how she reformed Icewing society and fixed all the shit that poisoned Winter’s life, so future generations don’t have to suffer through the same stuff he did.

~~~~~

If you’re still with me, thank you for reading this far. I think this is everything I ever thought about the finale of the second story arc, so now I never have to talk about it again. Writing this was difficult. I found it crushing at times. This will probably stand as the only overtly negative post I have ever made on this blog. I love Wings of Fire, and I want to celebrate it. To add to it, not tear it down.

I hope this wasn’t too boring, or painful, or frustrating, or soul-crushing to read through. I’ll see you later, hopefully with a more constructive post.