#ok but Arianwen and Jace

[adaines-furious-feast]

Is it weird to ship two characters that have had one (1) interaction? Am I really going to walk down this path? Addi, no.

[lesbiansforangusmcdonald]

Ok, finals are over, so now I can FINALLY post my Pepe Sylvia theory about Porter actually being evil that has been ruminating in my head ever since I saw season 2! (spoilers for s2 of fantasy high, obviously)

(sorry if someone’s talked about it before and I couldn’t find it, but like WE NEED TO DISCUSS THIS BEFORE S3!)

Ok, so I noticed something when Ragh talked about the first time he saw Kalina in episode 4 of season 2 (“Heartache on the Celestine Sea”). He says that he saw Jace talking to some elven woman (who is revealed to be Adaine’s mom, Arianwen) and to “someone he couldn’t see. I just assumed somebody was invisible.” This is most likely Kalina, as Arianwen was there to get the Nightmare King’s crown and Kalina could have been helping her do that. However, this is important because, since Ragh could obviously see Kalina later on, this is a point in time when he couldn’t see Kalina.

Then Ragh says that after he saw that, Jace and Porter came to talk to him, and “Porter did some barbarian healing with me.” This seems normal enough, as Ragh had just been in a huge fight, but Ragh stipulates that “I didn’t feel that injured, honestly.” So this line already makes it seem as though Porter may have had some ulterior motive for healing Ragh.

Then, Ragh says that as he was walking home after this, he was approached by Kalina, who threatened to kill his mom if he said anything about seeing Arianwen at the school.

(the clip of the scene is here, if you wanna watch it, edited slightly for clarity)

So this makes me think that Jace and Porter knew Ragh saw Arianwen at the school, knew he would probably tell the Bad Kids about it, and Porter intentionally passed Kalina to Ragh through healing in order to ensure his silence.

AND if you’re thinking this may be a bit far-fetched, I’ll remind you that Landren Leir, the cleric of the unnamed goddess who infiltrated the elven Galicaean church after the fall of the unnamed goddess, also passed on Kalina via healing of the high-elven clergy, which she was then murdered for.

But in order to pass it on to Ragh at all, Porter must have been infected with Kalina as well, so here are some of my theories of what that could mean;

1. Porter had no idea he was infected and was just trying to heal a student.

I mean, totally possible, right? From most of the other angles, Porter seems like a decent guy; he supports Fig in barbarian class, he’s part of a community at his local gym, and he did get sucked into a palimpsest when Kalvaxis/Goldenhoard was trying to take over the school — why would that happen if Porter wouldn’t have been opposed to what Kalvaxis/Goldenhoard was doing? And there are plenty of people who are infected with Kalina and never show any symptoms, and therefore never know. It could have been totally innocent. BUT it’s just a little too convenient, isn’t it? Ragh sees Arianwen at the school, and then right after he’s “randomly” infected with Kalina? It just doesn’t seem like a coincidence.

2. Porter knew he was passing Kalina onto Ragh, but wasn’t aware of the full plot to steal the Nightmare King’s crown.

I mean, also possible, right? Maybe Jace put Porter up to it, maybe he knew more than Porter did about the whole situation? Porter wasn’t initially mentioned as talking to Arianwen, maybe Jace just manipulated Porter because he knew that Ragh would trust Porter as his teacher. BUT I think that it would be kind of weird for Porter to be in the school, be infected, be around all of these other people who are in on this wider plot, but they don’t get him involved. Maybe they thought he wouldn’t go for it, thought he was too nice, but I’m not sure. I mean, I think this theory has more merit than the first one, like it’s possible, just would be a little weird.

3. Porter was in on the plot to bring back the Nightmare King.

I mean. Like I know this may not be another Loose Duke situation. But it’s possible! Like, he’s in the right positions! He works at the school. He has the trust of some of the bad kids. He didn’t openly support Kalvaxis or anything he did. Maybe their larger organization (which they do hint that there are more people throughout the world that want to bring back the nightmare king throughout the campaign) thought that he should lay low and hold onto the trust of the bad kids, just wait until the right time to strike. Again, the fact that he would knowingly put a student, one of HIS barbarian students, in such serious danger, in order to protect the larger interest of bringing back the Nightmare King, does not stack up well against him.

So, do I think that Porter will end up being the big bad of season 3, or even the elusive season 4? No, probably not. BUT I do think that he’s sus as fuck and we need to stay on our toes, because he could turn out to be more of a threat with the right opportunities.

[sunflowerdragonsunny]

Ok, so deductions so far: "It's the only name I can say."

-Kalina is trying to push the bad kids towards information from someone she entered into a spy's tongue curse with.

-The person is in some way connected to Ragh.

-Kalina can say Lydia's name, so the bad kids' initial idea that Kalina was talking about Lydia is wrong.

So, there are a few options for people who are Ragh adjacent:

Ragh is a barbarian, Porter was his teacher; Fig could finally be right about her Porter suspicion.

Ragh saw Jace and Arianwen at the school in freshman year and mentioned it to the bad kids, Jace's inability to become interim principal is really funny so I think he's the more comical choice, but Arianwen going for another power grab (and revenge) by getting the favor of a dead God is possible.

Uh, that racist elf from spring break Ragh hooked up with, probably not a real option, but I'm running out of ideas.

[thisisnotthenerd]

ok evil faculty count go:

goldenhoard/kalvaxus

coach daybreak

arcturus grix? (may have been modified, may have been trying to disrupt the rat grinders' ritual)

porter cliffbreaker

jace stardiamond

doreen technically (possessed by a corn monster and murdered)

the aguefort adventuring academy is the world of spyre's premier adventuring school. it's well-established and has a reputation for turning out competent high-level adventurers. alumni sometimes come back to teach--it is home to many powerful adventurers passing their skills on to the next generation of adventurers.

it just also happens to be the intended prison of kalvaxus, arthur aguefort's wizard's sanctum, home to many magical artifacts and the center point of multiple existing protections on elmville and the nation of solace. it's no wonder they deal with evil faculty coercing students into their schemes; they have access to powerful young adventurers and the resources they need to exert influence--why wouldn't they be there? they can just get the kids to participate in magical rituals to do what they want, knowingly or not. it's not like aguefort enforces any oversight, especially when he's dead and taking over heaven, escalating tensions with fallinel, or exploring the dawn of time with his daughter.

if the plan revolves around elmville they can't do anything but slowly advance their planswhile he's present, so when he's gone plans swing into full force; the bad kids are just unlucky enough to be attending when he's gone.

the second rise of kalvaxus in the bad kids' freshman year sets off so many world ending events. obviously the quest for the crown of the nightmare king because arianwen & kalina capitalized on aguefort's absence, but there's also no night yorb if the bad kids don't go to leviathan. theoretically the night yorb still happens, but more due to the influence of the cult of the yorbies.

the crescent moon trading company wouldn't have been able to try to sink leviathan without the bad kids a) coming to leviathan and getting a tangible connection to the cult of bill seacaster in hell (alistair ash). they were capturing gnomes at the border of sylvaire for years, so that likely would have been the same, but was probably made easier with the freeing of sylvaire from the influence of the nightmare king.

the release of talura wouldn't have happened without the maidens being captured at the lair of kalvaxus. furthermore, the nightmare king and the nekronomikron were both explicitly associated with kalvaxus.

the fall of kalvaxus just made it easier for jace and porter to try and get their scheme going. a recurring motif in sophomore year was curses riding under other curses--this time we have schemes riding under other schemes.

[verosvault]

I'm SO GLAD I did that Junior Year countdown! It really like- it felt like it was coming quicker and quicker!!!

I do know that a lot of the times I was making the posts quite late which is why sometimes the countdown days didn't like up! But ANYWHO!

I wanted to make a blog about what I hope to see in FHJY! I know EVERYONE is doing it and I wanted to do one! Everyone pretty much had everything I'm gonna have so...you can skip this post if you want. 😂🤣💀

1. SKLONDA! OMG SKLONDA! PLEASE SKLONDA! I NEED MORE SKLONDA CONTENT! 😭✋

2. Cathilda! My 2nd favorite NPC! I'M SORRY GUYS! MY PRIORITIES ARE SET! 😭✋

3. GILEAR! A couple of people have been putting "Gilear Dying" on their list! NAH! I'm HOPING for a GILEAR 180 TURN-AROUND! Gilear told Fig last season that he was gonna clean up his act! I'm looking for a NEW AND IMPROVED GILEAR! OK! HE CAN GROW AND CHANGE! I BELIEVE IT CAN HAPPEN! GILEAR GLOW-UP 2024! IT'LL TREND! I BELIEVE IT! 😭✋ I HAVE FAETH(FAITH)! SEE WHAT I DID THERE! 😉

4. Aelwyn doing Anything! I saw this on multiple bingo cards! Aelwyn doing something helpful! I honestly can't wait to see Aelwyn just do anything. Whether she is hanging out with Adaine and also trying to break out of old habits of being mean to her sister! (Old habits die hard!) I'm excited for anything! I REALLY HOPE that Aelwyn gets adopted by Jawbone though and that she does very helpful things with the bad kids! 😭✋ I- JUST PLEASE! 😭✋

5. POK GUKGAK! Do I NEED to ELABORATE?! NO! JUST POK! THAT'S IT! 😃

6. Jace the Sorcery Teacher? I wanna see more of that guy! Also...the Bard Teacher? The Rogue Teacher? MORE SCHOOL TEACHERS/FACULTY! I WANNA SEE MORE! WHO ARE THESE TEACHERS?!

7. THIS KINDA GOES WITH #6! BUT...P O R T E R!!!! P O R T E R!!! THAT'S ALL I'M GONNA SAY!

8. Kristen's parents and siblings! I HATE Kristen's parents! But I LOVE Kristen's brothers! I wonder how it'll look like with this season if Kristen's family becomes more involved! Idk how they'd tie into the story! But it definitely seems interesting! Especially since her parents were kinda loosELY related to the Harvestmen??? The cult or whatever? Idk...seems kinda SUS! 🥲 Also, Kristen DID leave GOLD COINS FOR her Brothers before she went on the trip to the Nightmare King's Forest with the rest of the bad kids! So...who knows! 🤷‍♀️

9. Sandra Lynn. Garthy. Jawbone. Poly relationship? YES! I'M SO DOWN! But also idk if Sandra Lynn would want to get with Garthy again. I'm up for it if it happens! I love all 3 of them! 🙌

10. MORE FIGAYDA! PLEAAAASSSEEE!!!!

11. I want an actual confirmation about what happened with Adaine's mom Arianwen! I know she's trapped in the nightmare forest and has no magic anymore. But she's also an elf and like- lives LITERALLY FOREVER! Like... won't she find SOME WAY OUT AT SOME POINT?! Isn't there an EXTREMELY SLIM CHANCE Arianwen gets out of the forest somehow? Idk...💀 I'm just saying. 💀✋

12. THE HANGMAN & THE HANGVAN! YES! I SUPPORT THEM BEING BEST FRIENDS! 🙋‍♀️

13. MORE BABY/WRETCHROT!!!

14. Possible mentions of Kalina??? I mean... They're the familiar of Cassandra right? Won't Kalina still be like...idk...around??? Or changed??? Or remade??? Or whatever?? Idk...🥲 I low-key/high-key just miss Kalina! She was such a dope villain fr!

15. Cassandra and Kristen!!! I hope Kristen won't have another talk with Helio or Sol! NOT THIS SEASON! I'm really excited to see if Kristen is actually like...NOT wavering in her beliefs this season! Like...I really hope she'll stay with Cassandra! Cassandra seems DOPE! If something happens and Cassandra turns bad again then MAYBE! But I still hope Kristen finds some kind of stability in her religion at SOME POINT! 😂🤣💀

16. Fabian and Hallariel! I wanna see Fabian spend more time with his mom! 😭 That would be SO SWEET! I know they talked for a short while in Boys' Night! But I want more! 😂🤣💀

17. Fabian being NICE TO GILEAR and NOT BULLYING him! 😂😂😂 This is a HOPE! 🤣🤣🤣 It most likely WON'T HAPPEN! But! STILL! 😂 I'm putting it ON THE LIST! 😂🤣💀

18. New Lunch Lad or Lady??? If Gilear became VP and Jawbone became Guidance Counselor. Then... who's the new lunch lad??? Or lunch lady??? 🤔🤔🤔

19. Fabian ACTUALLY DEFEATING Chungledown-Bim! 👀

20. I hope Baron doesn't come back 🥲 but Baron MIGHT! 🥲 And the thought of that SCARES ME FR! 🥲🥲🥲

21. I wonder what Skrank and Shellford are gonna be up to this season! Hopefully they're doing well!

22. THE CUBBIES!! YES!!

23. ANY BASRAR SCENES!! ALSO, YES!!!

24. ZELDA AND GORGUG!!! YESS!! CUTE ZELDA AND GORGUG!! YES PLEASE!! 😭😭

25. TRACKERBEES! LITERALLY EVERYONE SAYS THEY'RE BREAKING UP BUT I REALLY DON'T WANT THEM TO! 😭😭😭 I'M IN DENIAL!! NOOO!! 😭😭 I'M ACTUALLY GONNA SOB!! TRACKERBEES FOREVER!! 😭✋

26. Arthur Aguefort DOING WILD STUFF! HE LEGIT GREW 50 FEET AND GRABBED THE SUN LAST SEASON! WHAT'S HE GONNA DO IN THIS ONE?!

27. I WANT AYDA AND GARTHY TO TALK! 😭😭 I LITERALLY JUST WANT A SCENE OF THEM TALKING!! 😭😭✋✋

28. The Thistlesprings being Thistlesprings! 🥺 I wonder if we're gonna get to see Thistlespring Minis this season! 😭✋ I really hope so! 😭✋

29. Bad Murph Rolls!

30. Beardsley Blessed NAT20 Rolls!!!

31. MORE GORTHALAX CONTENT! GORTHALAX AND FIG! YAY!!!

32. IMAGINE if we get to see more Angela Worrel! 😂 NOT when she's putting the bad kids in jail cells of course! 😭✋

33. A vulture reference! Idk! Vultures be up to stuff!

34. Any possible Corn Cuties references! 😂

35. MORE ZAYN DARKSHADOW BEING A SOFT NICE GHOST KID!!! 😭😭🥺🥺❤️❤️

36. Seeing Sylvester. Cravencroft Cemetary guy. Just Cravencroft Cemetary stuff in general!!

37. One of the bad kids ACTUALLY goes to see Jawbone at school for THERAPY! Or just to talk! Or SOMETHING! 😭✋

38. What ever happened to freaking Biz? Is it a possibility we'll see him again even though every hair on my body wants to tell me "EW! NOT BIZ AGAIN! PLEASE! 😭✋"

39. SATs!!! The bad kids having to study their SATs! SAT stands for SOMETHING ELSE in SPYRE! Idk what it will stand for! But I bet it stands for something wild! 😎

40. Gilear will look different physically? Like...more clean-shaven...etc.... 🤷‍♀️ it's a possibility...🤷‍♀️

41. Hell Trip? Seeing Bill Seacaster again? That might be cool! I really hope that if we see Bill again though that him and Fabian can have a long and serious talk. Idk what it should be about...but I desperately want it!

42. Adaine using her DOPE SWORD ARCANE FOCUS! 😎 I mean! SHE'S GOTTA BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY SWING THAT SWORD! I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE HER IN ACTION FR!!! ✋✋

43. BOGGY THE FROGGY! EMOTIONAL SUPPORT FROG! LOVE IT! I WONDER IF BOGGY WILL BE SUMMONED AS AN OWL AGAIN AT SOME POINT IN THIS SEASON! OR IF ADAINE WILL SUMMON BOGGY AS SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY! 👀👀

44. Adaine and Aelwyn bunkbed at night time scene where they talk before they sleep! 🥲✋...or something like that...

45. Fabian dancing!! With his sheet!! 😎

46. Kristen dancing!! With her Ribbon Dancer!! 😎 Will Kristen learn to fly with said ribbon dancer? The chances are slim! But never zero! 👀

47. A BLOODRUSH GAME BEING PLAYED OUT ON THE FIELD! ✋

48. Ragh gets in a relationship with someone PERFECT for them! 🥺🥺🥺

49. Torbek Railgrinder scenes? Question mark???

50. This is SO OUT OF LEFT FIELD! IMAGINE SEEING DOREEN AGAIN! 😂🤣💀 Chances of that happening are a 0.1%! But hey! Anything can happen! 🥲

51. The bad Kids get some kinda new pet! Not Boggy. Not Edgar. Not Sexy Rat. Not Baby. I'm talking about a new pet that joins the party!

52. Potential Goldenrod Scenes?? If we get Bill scenes there's a potential for Goldenrod scenes as well!

53. Alistair Ash scenes??? 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ He was in POL! It's a possibility we'll see him again in Junior Year?

54. The Red Waste. I already know the Bad Kids go there from the trailer but I'm putting it here anyways!

55. Adaine gets a job! Also seen in the trailer!

56. They're about to fail school and they need to do something to not get expelled! Also seen in the trailer!

57. The Night Yorb causes a blackout everywhere and they'll be doing things in the dark for a few days! No lights. Maybe? 🥲 Idk. That's just a wild guess. 🥲

58. Riz gets another mission from his dad in heaven that he has to fulfill! 😎 And who knows if that mission might get in the way of school stuff? Question mark? Or maybe they'll work hand-in-hand again?

59. Imagine if Pok were to meet Gorthalax. 💀 That's all I'm gonna say there! 💀✋ Y'all can imagine it and do what you like with that information. 💀✋

60. Elm Valley Mall Battle Episode??? Or just the bad kids going to the Elm Valley Mall in general??? Idk. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ Maybe they can just hang out there?

61. The Ball tries to teach Fabian some tactics on investigating since last time Fabian tried it, he accidentally bit down on glass. 💀

62. Underwater or Ice... that's all I'm gonna say...again...that theory also goes along with the trailer we got where the set was just ALL BLUE! 💀 We get some kind of cool underwater battle! Maybe Arthur Aguefort is involved somehow since he's in that battle according to shots from the trailer! For reasons as to WHY he's there? I have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE!

63. PORTALS! USAGES OF PORTALS! This is also a shout-out from the trailer!

64. Flashback Pirate Ship scenes with dragons! Also shout-out to the trailer! It could be actual scenes but my bet is they're flashbacks! 🤷‍♀️ Won't know till we see 'em!

65. Aelwyn uses her illusionary cheerleaders or elementals or whatever during a battle and they're actually on the good side this time!!!

66. This is a LONG SHOT but another trip to Kei Lumenura? Seeing Telemaine and Fathethriel again possibly? 🤷‍♀️ I doubt it but...ya know... Maybe? 🤷‍♀️

67. I wonder if we'll learn about like...clubs? Like Aguefort academy Clubs/extracurriculars and whatnot! Maybe even electives in general?

68. The bad kids thinking about what they wanna do in life after high school or if they'd want to keep continuing as an adventuring party! 👀 Maybe this will be senior year but...🤷‍♀️ It's never too early to think about it. 🤷‍♀️

69. The Bad Kids have an ACTUAL STUDY SESSION!!! LIKE...AN ACTUAL STUDY SESSION!!! Maybe they'll even get tutoring from somebody! 😁😆

70. Maybe we'll see some Galicaea references? 🤔

I think I'm gonna end the list here! It's already SO LONG! 😭✋ SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT! BUT I ACTUALLY NEED TO GO TO BED! I GOT WORK TOMORROW AND I NEED TO BE AWAKE ENOUGH TO WATCH THE EPISODE RIGHT AFTER WORK! EKWKCKSKF I'M SO EXCITED YOU CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE!! SKWKCKKWDW 😭😭✋✋

I'M SO HAPPY I GOT INTO/DISCOVERED DIMENSION20 WHEN I DID!!! 😭😭✋✋❤️❤️💯💯

[adaines-furious-feast]

I Believe In You - Chapter 10: Betrayal

Final chapter of this part, I think. Gonna take a break from torturing this guy for a little bit but before that: the final thread keeping Arianwen together is cut and Jace finally gets to act on his anger.

He used to come every year on the anniversary. It felt like an obligation. But it didn’t feel like it was doing anything for his mother. It didn’t feel like it now, either. “I think I get it though,” he continued quietly. “I… you were an adult. You were a victim but you were an adult. And you had a kid to look after. You should have gotten away. But you were a victim too.” He wasn’t sure who he was talking to now. “Like mother, like son, I guess. I forgive you, if that means anything. I mean, I’m beating you by five in terms of kids’ lives ruined, so I don’t think I’m the person to give you that. Forgiveness, I mean. But I do. I love you.”

I Believe In You - Chapter 10 - DnDnTea - Dimension 20 (Web Series) [Archive of Our Own]

[adaines-furious-feast]

you have the correctest opinions on jace stardiamond i cannot stop myself from forgetting that they're not actually canon and i had to stop myself from refrencing them in a convo about the canon of jace stardiamond </3 you're brain is big and i am desperately waiting for more thoughts to come from you about jace and arianwen

It is canon, it's just not canon that's confirmed yet.

I have truly so many thoughts about them.

It's so fun to think about what a goddess of mystery and unknown means for these two people. Arianwen who is driven by the need to solve mysteries that other people don't even realise exist. Jace who has mastered living with mystery and being ok with it unsolved. Both see the other in their shared god.

I think Jace is in love. I think Arianwen thinks she's in love, but I don't know if she's capable of it in the normal sense. But she does, at the moment at least, care very deeply for this person who is the only thing not making her give in to the crown and abandon the unnamed goddess for the Nightmare King.

I also have so many thoughts about Jace either not noticing or choosing not to notice the fact Arianwen is a terrible mother which I'm definitely not projecting from real life. Him making it so Porter can't focus on Adaine is more than Arianwen has ever done for her daughter. But then he had his emotionally and mentally absent mother who he did love, and he thinks it's ok if Arianwen isn't present for the girls because he can be and then that's fine :)

I just... this man. Fuck if I know what I'm going to do if I ever finish writing I Believe In You and the inevitable junior year sequel (that I have only thought vaguely about)

[adaines-furious-feast]

When you think about it (and I do, I do think about it), the Junior Year reveal only makes Arianwen's canon-canon motives in Sophomore Year make no sense.

OK, so Ragh saw Arianwen talking to Jace (interestingly, despite the "they've always been a duo" the three times Ragh mentions seeing Arianwen, she's always only talking to Jace and "someone invisible" (Kalina) but I digress).

By the end of Sophomore Year I think everyone kind of assumes "oh, he ran into them and was like "Hey what you doing here?"". Which I guess could still be the case, but it seems weak. Jace was clearly up to something that night.

Jace needs the crown, to bring back the Nightmare King for the protection and what not. But if canon-canon is to be believed, Arianwen never intended to bring back NMK, the crown was going to the Court of Stars to release Aelwyn. It's only after CoS doesn't release her that Arianwen’s like "fuck you I'll end the world then" (side note: seems really rash. No other course of action? And you did all this research into the Unnamed Goddess for fun? Actually that tracks nvm)

So does she lie to Jace and he thinks she's taking it straight to bring back the Nightmare King? I know Jace may not have great insight but you'd think, idk, he or Porter would have wanted to make sure Arianwen was going to do this very important task. Unless one of them had reason to trust her.

I guess maybe they thought "oh Kalina will make sure Arianwen does what she needs to do" but in a world where the CoS held up their end of the bargain Kalina would have failed, right?

I don't know, maybe I'm thinking too much about Arianwen, but her taking the crown with the intention of going to the Court of Stars already made little sense (after Aelwyn was broken out why would she carry on?). But with the Junior Year reveal added on top of that? You can't tell me Jace didn't know her intentions and he wasn't certain they had nothing to do with the CoS.

[adaines-furious-feast]

Post Wiz & Sorc where Arianwen is actually just a normal person and the reason why the Court of Stars is after her is because her boyfriend is making elves worship Cassandra - she gets really into baking. Like, really into baking.

After a few months of this, Jace decides it's time to ask her about it and she just just grabs his face in two flour covered hands and goes "it's just like wizardry" and Jace is excited and a little scared and she's just staring at him like "you don't get it. It's just. like. wizardry." Jace just stands there like "ok, honey, you go back to the cake".

[adaines-furious-feast]

Do you think Arianwen thought of Jace as she stuck another crystal into the chest of another man who died to bring back a god?

Do you think she wished he was there, to steady her hand, to lend his innate magic to this ritual? Do you think she cursed Porter again for taking him away from her? For leaving her stuck with her weakened daughter and her husband who had never believed in her?

Do you think she wondered if she was any better than Porter in that moment? She had tricked another person into going through a ritual that required them to die and be brought back. She was relying on an unstable teenager for help. Do you think she had to convince herself she wasn't doing this for her own ego so it was ok?

Do you think she sent one last Sending to Jace before she went into the forest of the Nightmare King? Just to say she was thinking of him, a continent away, and was going to complete their plan soon?

Do you think she received a response?

[adaines-furious-feast]

Rewatching Freshman Year and got to the scene where Adaine sees her parents for the last time before war (and Arianwen says Angwyn isn't a practical caster) and it got me thinking about how the final scene of Pro-vocation just sums up my feelings about Jace and the girls vs Arianwen and the girls:

“You can try to contact Adaine but she has made it perfectly clear what she thinks of this family and I’d be inclined to leave her here. This is her doing.” That’s your daughter, you bastard . Jace had to bite his tongue to keep quiet. “Right. I’ll go and start packing. But I trust your ability to resolve this.” “You would think but this is quite a mess. Keep your crystal on. I’ll call later.” Angwyn hung up without saying goodbye. Arianwen sat still, rubbing her forehead. “Fuck, this is bad,” she mumbled. “It’ll be ok,” Jace said. “I’ll check in with Adaine at school, send her home. I’m sure she’s freaking out too. I can help pack if you want to go help Angwyn try to calm things down.” “What? No, this is bad for us ,” Arianwen said. “I need you to bring my books here. If the Court of Stars finds my notes I’ll be tried for treason. We’ll never bring Her back.” “Arianwen, if there’s going to be a war I think that needs to be a priority.” “No, She is the priority. She is always the priority. We have come too far, given up too much, for a petty war between squabbling nations to get in my way. Our way.” She held Jace’s cheek as she said those final words. Jace knew he wasn’t going to say no to her. He’d never say no to her. Part of him knew he should try to convince her to focus on herself, her family, that they could come back to this later. But she was the smartest person he knew and who was he to doubt her?

Jace's first thought is Adaine. Arianwen's first thought is her research.

Kind of similar to how, even though Jace feels really strongly about Cassandra, he still hates Fig more for destroying Arianwen than he does Kristen for taking his god away.

This man has never had a family and he's gonna protect the one he's got first and foremost. Except... he can't bring himself to admit that Arianwen isn't doing the same.

Anyway, there's more Abernant-Stardiamond family shenanigans in After Ever After, we just need to get there first.

[adaines-furious-feast]

Soooooooooo Arianwen/Jace first date? please?

Oooh, yes been thinking about this a lot (on that four hour bus journey I had yesterday). 

So, it wasn’t supposed to be a date. 

I imagine they met at some conference on teaching experimental magic bs that Jace 100% did not want to be at but someone from Aguefort had to go and he drew the short straw. And Arianwen has to give some presentation and she has the most charisma of anybody he’s ever seen from Hudol (read: any charisma) and, well, she’s not bad looking so he finds her at the hotel bar to have a little fun.  

And Arianwen is sexually frustrated. I think it’s both a High Elven thing in that having a sex drive is much too much and not dignified in anyway, but also a “women shouldn’t want sex, but should just submit when it’s requested” kind of thing. She wants to fuck, but she knows that is so frowned upon. 

Jace is not the first one night stand that Arianwen has had at this kind of thing. The guys she’s had have been at best a kind of four out of ten, which is still quadruple the amount that Angwyn is. Jace is on another scale. It’s from that conference that Arianwen learns a new definition of the phrase "practical caster". 

But it’s just a one night stand and neither of them expect anything else to come from it. It does keep Arianwen entertained in the bath and when Angwyn is working late for months but it’s nothing. 

Except it’s an itch that Arianwen just can’t scratch. So months later she Sendings Jace to suggest they get drinks in Bastion City. And Arianwen fully intends for this to be a single drink and then he’ll make a suggestion, they’ll go back to a hotel room and he’ll fuck her brains out and that itch will be scratched. Because she absolutely has him down as a fuck boy who is not going to get through 15 minutes before things start to go that way. 

Jace on the other hand is very much hoping and aiming for the night to end in a hotel room, but he figures this is some intelligent and dignified Hudol professor so he’s at least going to have to go through the whole date night thing first. So he’s being polite and asking her about stuff and at one point he asks something like “oh if you could research anything what would it be” and oops, you just unlocked Arianwen Talks About Her Special Interest. 

Arianwen does not get to do this often and will jump at the opportunity. Jace has never seen and adult this passionate about magic (about anything really) pretty much ever. And he just lets her talk because it’s infectious. He has no idea what she’s talking about after five minutes but she’s clearly so excited by it and he’s smitten.  

By the time Arianwen realises she’s been let to go on about this for more than ten seconds, thirty minutes has passed.  

So they’re drinking and talking and Arianwen isn’t drunk-drunk, but she is tipsy and giddy and ok, maybe she’s a little more drunk than she thought she was because she’s the one actually suggesting they go back to the hotel room she’s booked (which she would never do sober because it’s such an immature horny teenage thing for a woman to ask for sex).  

Jace reads her as being way more drunk than she is though and he is not going to have sex with an inebriated woman (partially because of his mother) but he does take her back to her hotel room and leaves a note with his crystal number on it so she doesn’t have to waste spell energy if she wants to get in touch again.  

They're a mess and I love them.

[adaines-furious-feast]

Please please please ramble about them ❤️

Yes!

These two could have been really good for each other. They absolutely aren't.

I think Jace has self confidence issues in everywhere but magic. Nobody can tell him he's not amazing at sorcery because he categorically knows that would be untrue. But Arianwen still manages to chip away at that confidence in a way neither of them realise.

"You're so good at magic for a sorcerer. If you just let me teach you some wizardry you would be so powerful. If we figured out how your magic does that..."

And if it was anybody else Jace would have been out of there the first time. But he is head over heels in love with this woman and he knows ("knows") this is Arianwen's way of expressing love but it still hurts at the back of his mind and has been chipping away for a while.

Speaking of making excuses, he has a whole book full of them for why it's ok that Arianwen is a shit mother. She's not a shit mother at all!

To me, Arianwen is autistic and if something isn't of interest to her she just cannot engage with it. She will talk for literal hours nonstop about her research (and this is what made Jace fall in the first place btw, been thinking about their first date for a while) but he can count on one hand the number of times she's mentioned her children.

She lost interest in being a mother a few years after Aelwyn was born and cannot bring herself to care. They have a roof over their heads. They have food. What more could they want?

And Jace could point out how damaging it is to them to have a mother who isn't really there and a father who is an abusive piece of shit ("that's how sorcerers are made, darling") but that would make her sad and he doesn't want that.

So the best course of action is obviously to help out Adaine wherever he can. He's the reason Porter doesn't know her name. He's the reason she still had spell components after the Abernants disappeared at the end of freshman year. He does care about her and is jealous of Jawbone but in his mind he's like "oh, well Arianwen will bring Her back, she'll kill Angwyn, we can be together and I'll be the dad Adaine needs and it'll be fine. The girls only need one present parent so Arianwen can keep researching and everything will be ok."

Of course that all goes out the window at the end of sophomore year when Jace somehow manages to convince himself its Adaine's fault that her mother tried (and was temporarily successful at) murdering her.

But even if their god plan had been successful, I don't know if they would have had a happily ever after. Because the biggest draw of Jace for Arianwen is that he's a puzzle, he's something to be solved and fixed. And until that happens, when he's "just" a sorcerer, she would always be embarrassed about their relationship. Even if he became a cleric of Cassandra, that's only marginally better than a sorcerer.

But if Arianwen solves the puzzle and Jace becomes the good little wizard she wants him to be, she's going to lose interest very quickly. She'll also lose interest in Cassandra quickly once she's no longer a challenge to solve, whereas he is dedicated to Her, so Arianwen finds him even more stifling.

There are points along the way that they could have gotten out of this mess and had a happily ever after, but instead Jace makes excuses and Arianwen is happily oblivious to the thoughts and feelings of others so they're doomed and I love them.

[adaines-furious-feast]

Having a little ramble-ramble about Jace and Arianwen's class breakdowns in After Ever After (and what it means to them)

Ok, so baring in mind I have neither played the game nor own any of the books, this is based on vibes:

What does it mean to change subclass as a sorcerer in the Fantasy High universe? What does it mean to Jace whose connection to his magic is a core part of his identity?

I do think part of Jace is fundamentally different post resurrection. His magic still feels as familiar to him as it always has but it is different. Divine. It's his, but it's also a connection to Cassandra. It's not entirely him. I think Jace shies away from drawing on his innate magic for cleric stuff, partially to stick to what he knows, partially because he feels like he needs to earn it. But he also knows he's been brought back to help people, so he's kind of torn.

Jace at the start of AEA has three levels of cleric (twilight domain). I imagine in universe, when you multiclass you wouldn't just instantly jump to five levels of whatever even if you had the XP for it. So Jace is kind of earning levels of cleric (and losing levels of sorcerer) as he goes. I don't know where/if he'll find a balance. That's just where we're at right now.

Arianwen's changing of class is a bit different.

Straight after the end of Sophomore Year she was like, zero levels in anything. After a year living and surviving in the forest she would have some levels of ranger. Favoured enemy, monstrosities. Is this a major help in her day to day life? No. Is she going to pick anything that will help with the vands? Absolutely.

But after she gets "her magic" back, she doesn't instantly go back to a level 20 wizard or whatever. Or rather, she does but she doesn't have the ability to be that instantly. I imagine it's like if you played a video game with levels on a save that someone else had completed and unlocked all the levels. You could instantly jump in and replay the last battle if you wanted to. You've no idea what you're doing though.

However, there is some connection to nature that does come in quickly (and is possibly also a gift from Cassandra through Jace).

So Arianwen has one level of ranger, three levels of druid (circle of stars) and then 16 levels of wizard. I think Arianwen would have made a star map during her time in the forest to try to navigate. Since arriving in Llanleigh she's sown it into a cloak.

I think Arianwen is happy with the balance she has. She still thinks wizardry is the best form of magic, but I don't think she wants to reject a gift from the forest because she is still terrified of it.

Do any of these make sense mechanically? Probably not. Is it fun for the story? That's what really matters.

[adaines-furious-feast]

⭐

So, anything?

That last chapter is probably one I have planned more than anything else, but I was so worried about it. Spoilers for a fic that nobody is reading I guess?

So I think I always knew it was going to end with Jace giving Arianwen back her powers. I wasn’t sure how. Whether it was going to be simply through an act of pure determination and love (screw Aguefort and his “love isn’t a powerful form of magic” stance) or something else, I didn’t know until I spent way longer than expected in Fallinel (I fell for the Jace & Kir siblings which I still adore and could talk about more). Cassandra gifting Jace divine magic just fit.

Then the idea for the Cassandra-Jace-therapy session evolved naturally. Because I think when Arianwen says that “She” reminds her of Jace, Arianwen thinks she’s talking about the mystery and magic elements (idk and that’s ok). But there’s more to it. Going to the Jace/Porter - Cassandra/Ankarna parallels -

Side thought that just popped into my head - do you know what’s actually a great parallel for a god who changes herself to fit the wants of her new followers? Ms “When a promise is broken, a person has communicated that they can no longer be trusted. So new allies must be found.” God, that listening to that part again after I came up with the idea for Wiz & Sorc truly changed my brain chemistry. Arianwen giving up everything she’d worked for to fit the wants of the one person she thought was on her side is just…

Anyway…

Jace is Cassandra and Cassandra is Jace. Betrayed and let down by the people who were supposed to protect them. Taking ownership of their names. Even the recovering relationship with their sister.

So if either one of them was going to realise their worth, it was because the other reminded them of it.

Fun fact, I’d sort of planned the therapy scenes for Jace before I got to the scene in the graveyard where Jace talks to Cassandra. So really that earlier scene was inspired by this one. Just the thought of someone telling their god “hey, your cleric is being an absent parent” was just so funny to me and I needed it.

The one thing from the last chapter that was planned but didn’t get in was Cassandra showing Jace what she meant when she said Arianwen hurt her own children. Jace is still in denial about Arianwen hurting Adaine and Aelwyn (more than she did in the final battle of sophomore year). But if Cassandra had shown him scenes that would have been so similar to Linny and Awarthron, I think his brain would have actually broken. I could not have him see that and then go heal Arianwen. It just would not work.

I think my main worry for this chapter was that I felt like it wouldn’t feel as if Jace had had any character arc or changes because he still went to and chose Arianwen. But I think it worked out. It’s not the perfect ending to his story, because there is still something that’s unresolved. But I do think he’s grown a lot over the stupid number of words, and I do think I did him justice in the end. 

Anyway, this is probably longer than most chapters and was a bit all over the place, but here are some thoughts on that last chapter.

[adaines-furious-feast]

Wizard and a Sorcerer ramblings again

One of the things I love about writing this is seeing how much of a hypocrite I can make Jace before he's forced to acknowledge and accept it.

Oh, he can plot the murder of a group of children, but Porter when Porter murders kids they're going to hell.

"You kidnapped a child but that can't define you" until oh, actually he cares about the child that was kidnapped and you're a terrible person.

His multiple absent parents were bad but it's ok for Arianwen to be absent because being a mom makes her sad.

He knows what he's doing, but he will do everything in his power to not acknowledge it.