#peeta is not a soldier lmao he’s just a guy

[dandelark]

ok I get coin kinda wants katniss to die but why tf did she think sending in Peeta would work he’s just traumatized like LMAO

[caliburn-the-sword]

tlc winter thoughts chapters 56-86

okay i didn't read 30 chapters in one day because i actually have a lot to study. and making these posts takes time. but also i took a break for like 2 days from reading because i couldn't stand the alpha stuff. here we go. like i've mentioned before, the closer i get to the climax, the less commentary i make

damn winter has reached a friendship level high enough for scarlet to start traumadumping her Tragic Backstory LMAO

look i get that this is meant to be serious but every single time the word alpha is uttered i feel nauseous LMAO

"I already have an alpha mate" i am RETCHING. i want to smash my head through a wall. i need to bleach my eyeballs and also my brain to get rid of any existence of it in my memory

something something the genetically engineered wolf soldiers are an analogy for toxic masculinity. i'm honestly really embarrassed that it took me THREE books (four including fairest) to get that. whoopsies. critical thinking and reading comprehension went out the window. winter slayed so hard by curing them of fantasy sexism lmao

cringing at all the howling. sorry. furry behaviour

"Wolf. Ze’ev. Her alpha mate." i should have stopped reading the day i hit scarlet and first saw all the alpha stuff. god this is so cringe. i can't take anymore scenes with scarlet in it as much as i love her. take me back to jacin or cinder's group

"Or maybe it was just Winter, who could make a rock fall in love with her if she smiled at it the right way." scarlet that's not a very heterosexual thing to think

"a girl of ice and snow" omg guys a new y/a title just dropped!!!

"She struggled to think of what to call herself. The pilot? The alpha female?" SCARLET STOPPPPPPPPPPPP

"He growled at her. Scarlet growled back." what if that was my last straw??? what if i just stopped reading this book right here right now

usually, i find the whole "we need you to fight with us. will you??" to a usually hostile group as really cringe and i'm not able to suspend my disbelief. but in this case it was REALLY well executed. i enjoyed it. that's a high honour i bestow, the only other time i liked it was in black panther (and that barely counts because the jibari weren't hostile, just reclusive)

hearing all the successes of the revolution is like music to my ears

omg iko is SO sweet to give up limbs for cinder <3

WING NUT. it's been so long since i've heard that delightful little insult <3

oh no there is no way that's jacin. that has to be a hallucination. or maybe someone is using their lunar gift on her

UH OH I DON'T TRUST OLD LADIES

why did it never occur to me that the sour apple lollies were eventually gonna be the poisoned apple?? i feel so stupid lmao

this is it winter is gonna get poisoned - OMG WITH LETUMOSIS I SHOULD HAVE GUESSED

NO NO NO SCARLET IS NOT ALLOWED TO DIE OF LETUMOSIS

YAY WOLF CHAPTER IT'S BEEN SO LONG

lone wolf ze'ev~ still just as bad as all that alpha stuff

ah with everything cinder and iko are saying about the timelines of chips being uploaded and malfunctions and adri disabling iko the first time, i'm guessing the patent for garan's design is stored in iko's chip or something

no. jail. wolf is not allowed to be all changed and brainwashed again. this is peeta mellark all over again. i wanted angst but not THIS much

"New chemicals and hormones pumping through his veins. Testosterone. Adrenaline. Pheromones." PHEREMONES??? JAILLLL. that said i will pick and choose and twist the words to suit my own meaning. because he's been injected with more testosterone i've decided he's trans. this is my next agenda i'm spreading, along with bisexual thorne and bisexual scarlet and kai x thorne. i will be the most insufferable damn person in this fandom

i literally cannot take wolf seriously being called a pup. i know this is dramatic. but i am retching

i appreciate kai's absolute dedication. his self sacrifice. he has got the weight of the world on his shoulders at 18. i'm close to turning 18 and am just reading a funky sci-fi book in the middle of class. i could never. he will be perhaps the only monarch i respect (however i would more greatly appreciate it if he declared a democracy at the end of the book)

not thorne and cress AGAIN. thorne EW. that is a MINOR. uh oh, that sounds like pedo-pedo-pedo-pedophilia

YAY IT'S JACIN AGAIN. IT'S BEEN SO LONG

random things that are canon that i'm filing away for later: cress and iko having the same shoe size

now iko's self sacrifice to get the vax

STATUE OF ARTEMIS. KSDJHCFNW i love references to greek mythology. chang'e when

HELP. i get that cress is very sheltered and upset here. but thorne was literally just kissed without consent by this lunar and it was COMPLETELY glossed over. not helping the "men want it" "men don't get raped" stereotypes. yikes. uncomfy as fuck

still praying against all odds that thorne rejects her because she's a young impressionable girl

EW. that was the most uncomfortable longest thing i've experienced ever in my life. gross. i wish thorne a very go to jail forever. i literally have a full blown crisis when i get a crush on someone that's only ONE YEAR younger than me. how the fuck is he literally ATTRACTED to someone 4 years younger than him, a literal baby. gross. thank goodness these are fictional people. reminding myself over and over that no one was actually hurt

cannot bring myself to feel a single bit of empathy for thorne getting dragged away by the lunars. idc. he can die so that he stops grooming cress. yikes

WINTER IS BEING WOKEN UP. EVERYONE IT'S HAPPENING THE SNOW WHITE MOMENT IS HAPPENING

"For the first time in her life, no one could say she was beautiful." vs jacin literally thinking about how beautiful winter was even when sick. i am physically ill. miss marissa meyer how could you do this to me. pay for my therapy

istg i'm not just saying this because i'm aussie like the diplomat but honestly it's SO embarrassing for adult characters to be outsmarted by teenagers. like how is this full grown adult not realising she'd be manipulated by a lunar if that's what a lunar wanted before kai did, EVEN if kai knows her and knows her to be a shell. context clues girlie

it's nice to see unusual characters like kai and cress interact. it's very sweet

yay!! kai knows cinder is alive now

torin is such a goddamn hero. why do i sense he's going to get killed for the delay tho. praying for his safety. i don't like these death flags

YES FINALLY A LUNAR CARVING OF A WOMAN CARRYING A RABBIT. A JADE RABBIT. IT'S CHANG'E. YIPPEEEEEE. admittedly i don't know the other moon gods. once i have the time and am interested i will defo look them up

YAY IKO IS BACK

i love that even through wolf's absolute hunger and mental torment he's still able to recognise that kai absolutely does not want to get married and sees his misery. some small part of him still sees kai as a friend who he should be concerned for relieved that wolf hasn't forgotten his mother as much as i hate to see aimery

VIVA LA REVOLUTION BITCHES

i hope to see adri and pearl suffer more

scarlet and wolf reunion <3 the alpha thing ruined it

things i need on a transcendent level: cinder to user her lunar gift to make levana hallucinate dancing in red hot shoes. i have no thoughts just vibes. i sense that the next post will be my last winter reactions post

@eddisfargo @francforever @winterrhayle @winterpinetrees @shellyseashell @luna-maximoff-22 @queenjazz7 @mtmousie @dramatic-jellybean

[edgarbright]

[ Zero's route | Part 24 spoilers ]

Oh my god, fam, oh my goodness

Don't expect this to be coherent but do expect it to be long because I'm  bursting with emotions right now

Spoiler mentions from Sirius and Edgar’s routes

THIS IS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED BUT NEVER EVEN EXPECTED TO HAVE. I didn’t know this was something I could even ASK for.

My five favorite guys teaming up for the battle at the top of the Magic Tower. ALL FIVE OF THEM, NO MORE, NO LESS!

I literally decorated my room like this months ago to make this image but never had reason to use it-- until now!

Before I jump into part 24, let's go back a few parts for a second! All the events building up to this battle were marvelous.

The themes for this route are all about saving, rescuing, helping, belonging, loving.

And the bonds of trust.

Lancelot saves Alice from the Magic Tower, from himself, by directing Edgar to change assignment orders and send Zero to "help" him. Lancelot trusts Zero so much that he trusted Zero to betray him. He trusted Zero to do the right thing.

MY HEART IS BURSTING WITH LOVE FOR MY KING! T_T

Zero saves Alice from Lancelot at the Magic Tower's front door. He promised to protect her. He wanted to protect her. So he threw away everything to do so.

Harr saves Alice from the forest. Harr is "repenting for his sins" in regards to Zero and wouldn't have made a move if Zero hadn't agreed to it. But Zero realized he had to trust him. More so, Zero may have vaguely remembered him (per His POV) and knew he could trust him.

Harr and Alice go to save Zero from the Magic Tower. Alice already trusts Harr. Fun fact: Alice is ALWAYS quick to trust Harr in every route. (Then again, she’s quick to trust just about anyone so lol) I loved that we got a moment at Harr’s house and finally met Loki! It was a sweet little family moment. My belief has always been that Zero is also part of Harr’s “family” too and I was not disappointed! Zero carrying on Harr’s lollipop kindness. My heart. T_T

I would love it if Edgar got his candy addiction from Zero giving him candy for the first time and then it just got out of control (lol). No evidence yet but the route isn’t over...!

The truth about Zero reveal: I had already surmised as much because too many people in this fandom hint at spoilers like it’s their job but it still hurt to read about. The flashbacks to Zero as a child in the Tower are honestly painful. Also knowing that Harr would have been about 15 during those flashbacks, we now have one child trying to stay kind and show kindness to another child in a cruel environment and T_T Harr just wanted to study magic to make the world a better place, and instead he got wrangled into a world of child abuse and torture... And he’s still seeking to repent after twelve years for not saving Zero back then...

Edgar saves Alice from her prison cell. Good lordy God bless. Before that we saw him basically running Red Army HQ with Lancelot gone and Jonah at the front. Beautiful. Edgar is nothing BUT trustworthy in Zero's entire route. When Zero isn't around to protect Alice, such as at the party, he trusts Edgar to do it and Edgar does it spectacularly because Edgar is, in fact, the best.

As Dean so wonderfully stated earlier: Edgar is great at taking care of other people.

AND THAT’S THE TEA! Don’t let anyone tell you Edgar is anything but loving!

Edgar realizes Alice wants to come along with him to save Zero. Edgar trusts Alice to know what is best for her. He trusts Alice cares for Zero as much as Edgar cares for Zero, so they'll work together. BEAUTIFUL. I love my man acknowledging Alice’s strength!

Lancelot causing the explosion was somewhat expected. He’d vanished earlier and I KNEW he had to be up to something, somewhere.

And that moment when he betrayed Amon!? HOT DAMN I LOVE MY KING, Y’ALL!! A shame his attack didn’t work but I am ALL about that rescue-Lancelot lifestyle! Harr is too as we’ll see shortly lmao

Edgar saves Lancelot by evening the odds. THE TRUST BETWEEN THEM COMES FULL CIRCLE. I'm STILL buzzing over that goddamn moment chapters earlier when Edgar comes upon Lancelot kidnapping Alice from Red Army HQ. I honestly couldn't tell if Edgar would have followed commands or fight back, but you could tell he was wrestling with it. If Lancelot had forced him to follow orders, that would have been the ultimate betrayal considering Edgar is already pact-bound to be an obedient dog. Lancelot instead has Alice locked away so he can talk to Edgar 1:1. Lancelot might not have told him the whole truth but Edgar is intelligent enough to put the pieces together himself. He often does so in other routes without prompting.

Edgar and Alice save Zero together. EDGAR’S PLATONIC LOVE IS GIVEN EQUAL FOOTING AS ALICE’S ROMANTIC LOVE!! That moment when Zero was still holding out against Alice's pleading and Edgar just round-house kicks him to the ground and puts a sword to his neck and just DEMANDS Zero to think about who he is, what he wants, why he wields his sword!

HOT DAMN YOU TELL HIM, EDGAR! I LOVE EDGAR SO FREAKING MUCH!

My heart hurts so much for Zero, who was robbed, even temporarily, of all that love by the Magic Tower T_T They tossed him away, he found a place to belong, and they tore that from him. The absolute cruelty.

And then surprise! Loki saves Harr from imprisonment! Harr is no damsel in distress so I was wondering if our current team was going to have to rescue him later, or if he was going to rescue himself. But he absolutely deserved to be at the final fight AND I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED! The second that ??? for the speaker showed up I was just !!!!!

Basically Edgar and then Harr’s appearances got me like:

So now we have a Lancelot, Edgar, Alice, Harr, and Loki team-up vs. Amon and Dalim! Operation Stop Amon and Save Zero is in full effect!

And holy shi-- The moment when Amon starts using Zero's tattoo to hurt him was brutal. It was bad enough when Dalim did it in front of Zero’s soldiers but  here they are at it again in front of all the people who care about Zero the most.

Personally, I think it's wild that some people claim Ikevamp is darker than Ikerev. The Ikevamp cast talk about dark plots but the Ikerev cast deal directly with war, murder, betrayal, coercion, kidnapping, child abuse, child neglect, torture, PTSD, depression, child abandonment, and more. It just wraps them up in a prettier, brighter package.

But moving on!

Alice saves Zero from Amon. I love all the flashbacks. I love Alice's promise to Zero. I love how she guards his neck to keep him from hurting himself and how she'll protect him. How they’ll protect each other. It hurt so bad but felt so good.

(Mockingjay Part 2 was on TV last night so I already got a heavy dose of Peeta and Katniss angst and how they always protect each other -- “It’s what we do” -- so I was primed for the feels between Zero and Alice here.)

At some point Alice also shows sympathy for Dalim and that struck a cord with me as well. I was actually wondering what the point of Dalim has been, as a potential suitor, since he's just been acting like a second-rate Amon this whole time, being just as villainous and coercing Lancelot the same as Amon. But seeing Amon abusing Dalim, too, and having Dalim continue to fight even when he was in such bad shape just gives me a throw-back to Edgar, who continues to follow his uncle's orders even at the cost of hurting himself. Although that Dalim used Zero's tattoo to hurt him is a big F-NO so he's got lots of redeeming to do lol

Lancelot and Harr (LANCELOT AND HARR, TOGETHER, ALLIES, FRIENDS!!) save Edgar, Alice, and Loki from the collapsing building. Lancelot and Harr aren’t antagonists in this route! HARR ONLY HAS TO SAY LANCELOT’S NAME AND LANCELOT KNOWS WHAT HE MEANS AND WHAT THEY NEED TO DO!

Harr: Lancelot!

Lancelot: Yeah!

Lancelot and Harr used their magic to shield us from the falling debris.

THAT'S IT THAT'S ALL THE CONVERSATION THEY NEED AND THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY IN UNISON. My heart is bursting with love and happiness from such a small moment. I hope we get some follow-up after this omg

(As a salty aside, this is leagues different to when Harr shows up in Sirius's route and Sirius is just like, "What are you doing here???" and then Sirius gives Loki the third-degree with all that mistrust.)

BUT MOVING ON!

That final CG with Zero makes my heart bleed. He looks so sad and so tired, but he’s alive.

Zero: I'm home.

Alice: Welcome home!

I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING!!!

I love Zero so much. A lot. In abundance. The love and relief is so palpable at this moment. Alice and Zero have such a beautiful love story.

Part 24 took me over a half hour to read which is twice as long as usual and every second of it was a PLEASURE. Just a few days left until I’m done with the whole route and it’s honestly shaping up to be one of the best in any otome. It’s adapted a lot of elements from other routes and made them it’s own to great effect. Just a fantastic, well-rounded story with a beautifully heart-warming romance. Bless bless bless!!