“One does not need magic if one knows enough stories”
I loved Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries and Map of Otherlands SO MUCH. Wendell and Emily are so cute. The perfect blend of cottage core and dark academia which I love. (It’s great to be immersed in academia and not have to write any papers yourself, 10/10)
Of course greenery all over for the fae, a brooch of Shadow, a manuscript and spelled pencil, and a pin of a needle, leaves, and thread for these beautiful, unique, and complex characters and their world where faeries are not only real but a thing to write a dissertation over. I absolutely cannot wait for book three and all the future stories to come!
(Side note I swear he’s not wearing a leather jacket its just that I thought Wendell deserved a fancy coat and here we are 😂)
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The fact we changed from “My name is Celaena Sardothien and I will not be afraid.” to “Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom… very much.”
Because she is no longer Celaena Sardothien, nor does she live in fear of being afraid. She is done running, done with that mask that isn’t hers, because it doesn’t hold any comfort anymore. The only comfort she has is in who she really is; and that is no longer terrifying to her.
While both remind her who she is, remind her why; why she is here, why she will not break, why she is still fighting.
The first reminds her of what she had loved and lost. Of loving words that carry on, (of why she carries on) but that is all. All Celaena had was remnants; of someone, something… even herself.
The second, however, is something else; while it is still a dream, it is real… even among nightmares. It lives in her past, yes, but it is also the present, and any future. It is terribly beautifully true. And it is more; more than grief, and memory. Carrying on, finding ways to exist, survive. More than a dream, or words… even more than she is.
Because Aelin has something Celaena never did. Yes, she has a cause to fight for. She has her strength, her power, and rage; vendettas for things she could focus a fight to defeat; and a still terribly looming fate. The queen has a kingdom she adores. She has many things, she is many things… even Celaena still. But that’s not what I’m talking about, no, mostly, it’s that she has friends. A family. A Prince. She has a life not just an existence, a love with a beating heart, something worth dying and living for. And even if it is all gone to ash (“even when this world is a forgotten whisper of dust between the stars”) that is still hers; not a mask, not a facade, but something real.
In accepting who she is… there is the terrible truth of accepting that she is very much afraid (the fact Fenrys even felt the need to make the word “liar” in their code; because she is not alright, he knows, she knows, we “the reader” know… it’s more so the way we ask “how are you?” as a greeting. Sometimes even in terrible places like a funeral; when we know damn well that no-one there is really “good” or “alright”, but it’s the way we say “hello” and “I want you to be okay” and “are you at least surviving this”). It is being terrified of her acceptance in the first place, because part of being Aelin is the price it holds; because she was “promised” for a fate manipulated by gods before she even had the chance to draw breath… and there’s a doomsday in it that she’ll have to rage against one day… but not yet… not in this place. For now, she just has to exist, survive, live. And only Aelin can do that.
Because it’s not Sam’s words she needs anymore; it’s Rowan’s. And even more so, it’s her own.
It’s the words she said to him, but it is her story (Perhaps even the one she tattooed on her spine? Just a theory of the exact words.) because that, is still hers. Real. Living.
And as any reader knows (it’s why I love these books) you should never underestimate the power of a story.
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Prince Zuko, who has been chasing a legend for 3 long years whilst honing his skills, finally finds him. In finding the Avatar, Zuko will learn more about himself and the lost art of Firebending he had discovered in his attempt to obtain an advantage over his foes both among Fire Nation enemies and allies.
I usually am the more visual type of artist, but I wanted to try my hand at writing after like 5-6 years of not writing a single thing. More or less I’ve always been very interested in fics where Zuko is able to sense/see a person’s inner flame or been able to heal using chi like waterbenders, and since I am a little pedantic, I wanted to explore Zuko learning and growing with that ability in a lot more detail!
Like I said in the notes of the fic itself, updates will probably be a little sporadic, since I’m writing when I’m able, but I do have a bit written already, so hopefully it won’t be a glacial pace for updates. I’ll do my best at the very least. I hope you all enjoy reading it as I did thinking and writing about it!
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Thinking more about umbraclaw and while there’s stuff to critique from the gameplay side I think probably the biggest flaw of it is like everything to do with the writing, and I don’t mean just plot.
It’s one of those things where it’s like- The basic narrative of the story is got across well regardless of what ending you get-yes I did look it there being multiple endings lol-and it’s the first entry of a series so the story not being the best can be forgiven but it’s a shame NOTHING is super fleshed out. Not just the soul plane but the characters don’t get much at all, they kinda just exist as set pieces to move the narrative forward. Kuon, the mc oddly never talks that the characters always acknowledge it so she’s basically a blank slate and I’m unsure if it’s because we’re meant to project onto her/interpret her whoever we please or if it’s just to reflect she’s not like the others and she’s a normal animal.
We also don’t get to know enough about her owner that it’s actually hard to care about her other then “well she seems nice ig” since you can’t say you want to care about Kuon because she’s blank unless you really put yourself in her shoes or your own pet into her place ig. And don’t even get me on how LOCKE is so weirdly interrogated into the plot and clearly has more to him yet is left off being so vague, like we get teased he’s like you but never are directly shown or hinted at that. He’s just there as a rival but he’s not at ALL fleshed out enough or placed right into the plot even if he’s spared at the end which doesn’t amount to anything, he’s just there yet again to be a set piece that’s just a bit different from the others. (And also how he hints at a deeper theme of losing control of yourself in terms make you forget who you are but it’s not explored ENOUGH even if he’s there to reinforce it it only comes up in one ending)
Like this story doesn’t make me super angry to hate the game as I’m still gonna do another ending and overall playing it is a really interesting experience I won’t get from anything else, but maaan if we get a sequel I hope the plot is reworked significantly cause it sucks how it’s “not a bad story but also a story with no substance”.
Its something that’s satisfying only because it’s a what you see is what you get thing but doesn’t have anything deeper to really pick at.
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