#she understands the ancient magic and she's going to save her girlfriend

[nature-nomadism]

SHE'S SO NORMAL YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW NORMAL SHE IS

[raayllum]

One of the things I love most about Claudia is, quite frankly, how steadily and consistently Fucked Up she is, for lack of a better term. She comes up with the switching spell (an early sign she’ll surpass her father as a dark mage) but unlike Viren, can’t understand Harrow’s reservations about it. Which makes sense, as dark magic is inherently transactional as viewpoint. This ties into her wanting to take Runaan prisoner to be dark magic parts (“Yes! [Dark magic] is clever, it’s brilliant, it’s practical!”) not realizing that in terms of viewpoints, she has a lot more in common with the elf than differences. She lights Harrow’s body on fire with dark magic (reminiscent of using Sarai’s last breath for the vengeance spell she never would’ve approved of) with the framing aligning her with Viren to boot. 

She believes that Rayla could never be a good person because 1) she’s a Moonshadow elf and therefore just isn’t a person (or worth exceptionalizing as one yet) and 2) “She kidnapped you and Prince Ezran, how can she be good?” when Claudia is going to attempt to kidnap the boys the very next episode, but in her mind this is somehow salvageable, because it’s Necessary, isn’t it? It’s what her father wants.

But even her father’s dead set wishes aren’t a steady foundation, as Claudia has a habit of steamrolling over what her family wants when it’s things that might separate them from one another. She won’t let Viren let go, she won’t believe Soren about the princes when Viren offers up a solution that lets her keep her whole family together rather than having to choose her brother over her father, even if that means harming her brother. And she steamrolls because she thinks by physically fixing the problem (Viren’s death, Soren’s paralysis) the emotional issues (Viren’s trauma and panic attacks, Soren’s epiphanies) won’t continue to manifest; of course Soren mis-listened, of course Viren can go up the mountain. Never mind the consequences, never mind the pain; she fixed it. What’s the problem? (And of course, this sense of perfectionist preparation - “Gee Claudia, you’re so prepared, you’re the best” - alongside her smugness - “Wasn’t taking down a dragon one of your life goals?” isn’t sustainable or healthy for her either. We see how she panics and loses it when she isn’t prepared for a situation, and how the desperation drives her down deeper into the dark.) 

Even after Callum begs for her to let them go and after attacking Ezran multiple times, upon being a prisoner in her own home Claudia mandates that “We didn’t do anything wrong” (which is a far cry from Rayla’s response to her homecoming: “But you didn’t run. They have it all wrong” “Does it matter?”). Where Soren begins to question and defect, knowing his truth, he works to get Ezran out of jail whereas Claudia is conflicted but ultimately able to justify leaving him there, and able to justify staying when Soren leaves. With two years of only Aaravos in her ear, she’s gotten even worse, even more prejudiced against elves and dragons than she was before, save for her exceptions (Terry, Aaravos). And if even Terry is calling her out on her cruelty, and admitting that she did terrible things, then you know they were probably pretty awful for an elf who doesn’t bat an eye at his girlfriend slaughtering baby animals (hi puffer bats and baby deer). 

And at the same time, it’s not as though Claudia isn’t goofy and loving and compassionate. She loves ancient ruins and cuddling with dogs, she does feel some kind of way about seeing Callum again, she doesn’t just cut Terry loose when his life is put in danger and it’d be easier too - she genuinely loves him. Like I said all the way in the first few months after S2: 

I’d also like to say that this does not mean Claudia will not be redeemed. She does love people, has the possibility of using magic (Dark or otherwise) for good, would do anything for her brother (although only S3 and time can tell), and could be a reformed, more compassionate, fully rounded and loving person in the future.

Redemption is not out of the cards for her, whatsoever.

It’s just going to be a very long and hard road to get there.

[coalitiongirl]

Fic Recs (under 300 edition)

So I wanted to get back to reading Swan Queen fic regularly, and I asked people to rec longfic that they'd read (not written) and loved that had fewer than 300 kudos! I haven’t read most of these, but I’ve collected them here so y’all can go through the list and discover some new fics with me! Please try to kudos and review every fic that you read! It means the world to the writers and will keep em writing, and then we all win. 😁

Atonement by SgtMac (M): With Regina's magical heart failing thanks to years of previous evil, Emma and Regina and Henry (and Granny!) set out to save her life by traveling to the Enchanted Forest and requesting help from ancient magical beings known as the Guardians. Given a mission as simple as it is impossible - to achieve atonement by creating peace - the ladies find themselves joining a rebellion and fighting for the very soul of the Enchanted Forest all while trying to help Regina to understand that the self-loathing and guilt which have driven most of her actions don't have to doom her chance for a new beginning or even, a chance to live and love again. A S4(ish) SQ love story set against the turmoil of war and the chaotic savagery of the old world.

Blood and Sand by cheshire6845 (E): A/U The Savior is a slave forced into the role of fighting as a gladiator for the House of Hearts. The odds are against her survival as she will have to win in the arena, navigate Cora's schemes, outlast a general's vengeance, and not be killed out of spite by the current House of Hearts Champion - Regina the Undefeated. This story follows the major plot points of Starz Spartacus with some twists along the way.

But what if there was no time by KizuRai (M): When she wakes up, it's dark. She can't move, she can't see, she can't feel and she can't hear. Where am I? She feels a forceful oppression, pressing her down, draining her of her energy and she's powerless to stop it. How did I get here? The question of here is relative, she's not even sure where here is. What happened? There must be some reason for being stuck here but her memory is fuzzy, like all her thoughts are being sifted through a filter. Who am I? She's not sure if she actually exists or she suddenly became sentient in the darkness.She hears a voice reverberating in the distance, it's distorted and quiet but she hears it all the same. It breaks the monotony of the silence. Someone's coming for her, they will get her out. She's just not sure she wants them to as the price might be too great.

Finding Home by evl_rgl (T): “I wanted to remember you so badly that I pulled back your cursed town just so that the memories would make sense. I needed you so badly that even when I had no memory of you, I still tried to find you.” Regina gave Emma and Henry memories of a happy life together before they fled Pan’s curse, leaving them with no memories of their lives in Storybrooke. However, when the memory spell shows signs of failing, threatening to rip apart the minds of both Emma and Henry, Regina makes a drastic choice to go back and fix it, understanding that it will mean living alone in a world where her son doesn’t know her. Was the spell really faulty, though? (swanqueen)

Five Flames by MariaComet (U): In the past, Emma Nolan disconnected from her peers in high school, preferring to keep to herself. In her sophomore year of high school, she decided to try and join the boy’s wrestling team because she was bored. She didn’t expect herself to become the champion of the most bullied kid in school or the secret best friend of the school queen. She also didn’t expect to join a club that would change her life. In the present, Emma is trying to cope with a humiliating loss in her martial arts career. She claims to be “training” but is stuck in limbo between wanting to retire and try again. She is isolated from her former best friend, Regina Mills, a local celebrity chef and the rest of her old friends. When one of them calls her with an idea to honor their deceased teacher, she is confronted with unresolved feelings and questions about how powerful love truly is.

A Glamour of Truth by PrincessCharming (T): After 2x10, Regina uses magic to show Emma the obvious truth. A tentative trust forms between them amid hilarious bickering. With Emma's help, Regina struggles to regain a place in her son's life... until Cora arrives, wanting her daughter back. Pieces of Regina's past emerge showing that the board was set long before the game started. The final battle begins soon.

His Dark Materials 'verse by MoonlitMidnight (M): A modern Alternate Universe in which Dæmons (the external physical manifestation of a person's 'inner self' that takes the form of an animal) are present. In which Emma and Regina have led slightly different lives and they make slightly different choices.

How Many Miles to Avalon? (WIP) by RavenOutlander (E): Regina would do anything to save Emma from the darkness and bring her back home safe and sound. Even put up with the two idiots, Captain Guyliner and a bunch of dwarves she decidedly wanted to drop off at the nearest exit. But in their search for Emma, they find that she might not need that much saving after all. Caught up in a search for the infamous Philosopher Stone, an all out war between DunBroch and Camelot, and ghosts from the past to haunt her every waking moment, Regina finds herself scrambling to keep her and her family's happy endings from falling apart.

The Hyperion by FrankenSpine (M): After wishing upon what she believes is a shooting star, Emma Swan finds herself aboard the Hyperion, the royal starship of an alien Queen from a faraway galaxy. She quickly learns of the tensions between the Queen's people and her own, but the Queen takes an interest in her and agrees to take her away from Earth forever. Adventure awaits. *(Loosely based on Guardians of the Galaxy with just a hint of Farscape)*

If Wishes Came True (It Would've Been You) by Angeii_K (M): After Regina films a guest appearance on her friend Neal’s popular show, he invites her to spend the weekend with him and his girlfriend. What she never expected was to actually like the woman. Sparks fly between the two, which results in them questioning everything and making choices they will later regret. 4 years later, they meet again in the most unexpected of ways. Now co-stars on the same show, they are forced to work through the emotions from their last encounter. What will happen next? Only time will tell.

The King Doesn’t Have To Know (WIP) by highheelsandchocolate (M): The White Knight had never seen anyone like her before: the Queen was nothing short of mesmerizing. Her possessive yet neglectful husband, however, was another thing entirely.

The Lich by Dangereaux (M): Gay disaster Emma, exasperated Regina, and a monster. A Halloween special.

Maybe if We Close Our Eyes we Can Reach the Stars by wellthizizdeprezzing (T): Emma is a lonely astronaut. Regina is an adventuring alien. Their paths cross leading them onto a journey of new discovery. Between galaxies and many miles of cold black space, despite not speaking the same language, they manage to fall for each other. An out of this world love story.

A prisoner long forgotten by sugarsweet_19 (M): ‘I wish I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood and as black as the wood of the window-frame. Soon after she had a little girl, who was as white as snow, with lips as red as blood and with her hair as black as the ebony of the window-frame. She was therefore called Snow-white.” This is how our story starts but how will it end?The evil queen as been locked up in a tower and forgotten that is until princess Emma looks for a place to hid from her parents after they tell her she has to marry Neal the son of the dark one.

Revenge of the Three Little Pigs by mskyo (M): Regina and Emma find themselves alone and looking for the rest of their party. The Evil Queen must face the consequences of her past actions. Will Emma come to her aid, or understand that justice must be served... *Some chapters have fairly graphic sex, and violence*

Things I Almost Remember by cheshire6845 (T): A/U Despite an oncoming war between the Dark and the Light, Emma and Regina are best friends growing up in the Enchanted Forest. When war does come, they find themselves on opposite sides. Regina will have to defy her mother to save Emma. Will Emma be able to save Regina when Cora curses her daughter to live in the Land without Magic?

What We Make (WIP) by DiazTuna (M): “My mother.” He says calmly. He’d known all along, she’s aware. But he’d known that today would be the day that would get this going. She wants to ask what it was like, to have woken up this morning, laced up his boots and walked into hell just knowing. “It’s programmed the cyborg to kill her. Before I have a chance to be born.” -In which the leader of the future sends his best soldier back to the past to save his mother from a killer cyborg. Terminator AU.

The Wrong Way by pcworth (M): Takes place right after Zelena steals Regina's heart. Zelena offers Regina a chance to go back in time with her and change both of their lives for the better. But what will be the price of that decision. Slow-burn to SwanQueen

zombie trash by 13pens (T): Zelena could have her brain and eat it, too. Fic operates on three premises 1. this takes place in any universe where zelena is a reformed asshole 2. zombies are a thing and exist iZombie style 3. i have NO chill

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Mind the Gap: Three

Shang-Chi laid you carefully on the bed and leaned over to kiss you on the forehead, smiling a little when you fuss at him sleepily. “It’s okay,” he murmured, brushing a lock of hair out of your face tenderly, “I’m only going down stairs.”

When you sit up. Bolt upright suddenly, he reels back. It takes a moment for him to realize that you’re not what’s staring at him. Your eyes are the same unearthly silver they had been. “Let her sleep,” he ordered sharply.

“We,” a voice that is your but… Not yours replies haughtily, “Do not sleep. We are eternal.”

“Not without a body you’re not,” he fired back, frustrated. You just got to sleep. You were just so close to feeling better. Your face doesn’t change, not really. There’s an absence of expression. One that he’d taken as seriousness in that empty field, but now realizes that the Archive probably doesn’t… care enough to make you appear “normal” when speaking. Still, even if the Archive wasn’t sneering at him where he could see it, he could feel it.

“Have care, boy. Our vessel will not belong to you.”

And before he could reply, You fell backwards onto the bed, your head hitting the pillow with a soft thump.

“You’re right about that,” he says quietly, not sure if it can hear him or not. “She doesn’t belong to me. She doesn’t belong to anyone… You might have saved her life once, but now you’re just squatting.” He shakes his head and pulls a blanket over you, carefully tucking you in before turning and heading back downstairs.

__________

Downstairs, he finds party preparations in full swing. There’s food being cooked and more food being ordered from town to be picked up. There’s a small army of people moving tables and arranging lights and torches and building bonfires. It was cozy looking. And impossible for him to tell how many people were coming.

“How is she recovering?”

Shang-Chi turned and faced his father, smiling ruefully, “Not as fast as I’d like. But at least she’s asleep.”

He nodded and gave his son a sympathetic look. “They’re all worried,” he cautioned.

“We should start a club. Y/N can make us jackets.” When his father gave him a look, Shang-Chi smiled a little. “It spoke to me,” he said after a second.

“The Archive? What did It say?”

“It told me that she didn’t belong to me,” he said, restraining an eye roll with effort.

Wenwu frowned, “It challenged you?”

Shang-Chi shook his head, “It wasn’t a challenge. It was a warning. She never even woke up.”

They stood for a long moment and considered the implications of that. But neither one of them had a chance to say more when Katy burst through the screen door with Xialing on her heels. “You have got to see this! There’s fucking werewolves!”

“Werewolves? Kai is a werewolf-”

“No. What? No- I-” Katy is bouncing on the balls of her feet and bolts back out the door.

“A pack,” Xialing said rolling her eyes, more fond than irritated. “Specifically her father’s pack.”

And it’s curiosity more than anything that lures Shang-Chi outside. You never talk about your parents- Not that he can really blame you. He hadn’t talked about his family with you at all. And now? He has the gift of staying in your childhood bedroom. And seeing the things that made you into the woman he loves. Still. Werewolves? He assumes your mother is a witch but- If this going to be a fight? Is it going to upset you?

He walks down the steps to see Kai and who he assumes is your father. You have the same lazy half smile and the same warm eyes that you share with your brother. And for just a second, he wants to turn around and bolt. He’s seen you dismember demons. He’s faced creatures from other dimensions. But somehow? Meeting his Girlfriend’s dad is more terrifying than both those things.

He’s a big man. Tall. Imposing. A solid wall of muscle. A shock of curly dark hair… It was almost like the universe had distilled his every idea of a werewolf into one person. Except for the jaws. And slobber.

“Good Luck,” Xialing snorted quietly.

“Gee thanks,” he said taking a deep breath and stepping forward. He’d been seen, there wasn’t any escape now.

The huge man stepped forward, “I’m Renaud,” he said. His voice a deep rumble, like Thunder. “You, must be Shang-chi.” He took the hand that was offered and shook it, not as roughly as Shang-Chi had expected. And he hadn’t missed that his name had been pronounced correctly. “Thank you, for calling my son… Just because Y/n can handle things on her own doesn’t mean she should.”

“So you found her?”

“Of course,” he said, smiling, “I always know how to find my kids.”

Shang-Chi smiled in spite of himself. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since you’d seen your father. But somethings seemed to be universal. “My father-” he started, But Renaud made an impetuous gesture.

“We’ve met,” he chuckled, taking the hand that Wenwu offered.

“Several times, in fact,” Wenwu said. “And I hope-”

The Werewolf released his hand and rocked back on his heels, “The sins of the father and all that,” he said with another impetuous gesture. “I learned long ago that telling a witch what to do is always a bad idea.”

Shang- Chi looked from one to the other and glanced at Katy and Xialing for help. He had the distinct impression that he was rapidly helping to establish some new international thing. When both the girls shrugged at him at a loss he glanced at Kai who gave him a small nod.

“Dad,” Kai said, “I’d hate to interrupt whatever work meeting is about to happen but… Hospitality Law. You know Grandma and Lea like to et all the stupid formal things out of the way up top.”

Renaud looked at them apologetically and turned to his son, “And then I’d like to see your sister.”

“So far as I know she’s asleep,” Kai said leading him away, the other three wolves that had been standing there watching followed after.

“It’s the middle of the day,” he protested.

“Not for her. She’s still at least a day behind the rest of us.”

Shang-Chi watched them go and let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “At least no one at me,” he said, looking back towards the house.

“Werewolves haven’t done that in public for 300 years,” Wenwu snorted.

___________

People arrive steadily. Bringing kids. And food. And drinks. Shang-Chi watches in fascination as all the tables Kai had hefted into place filled with things. And the Coolers he had helped Lea to fill with Ice started keeping drinks cold.

So many faces and names. It’s a whirl and a blur. Still. It doesn’t take long for the kids to warm up and claim him, and Katy as their new playmates. Like all children they’re susceptible to a good story and an infectious laugh. Except for one. There was a little boy. He stayed near an oak tree. A Book over his lap. And he seemed to be watching the goings on, all the flips and little bursts of magical energy with irritation. He didn’t want to play. At least not with them. And while no one bothered him, it was clear that the other kids didn’t want to play with him either.

At least- At least for a while.

When you appeared, a little bleary eyed with your hair in a messy bun and some fresh clothes. His whole face lights up. Shang-Chi hears the shout and watches, grinning as his book goes flying and he launches himself at you, clinging onto your torso like a spider monkey and burying his face in your neck.

And suddenly, the silent boy with the great big book is talking. And talking. And he can’t seem to stop smiling.

“She’s his person,” Lea said smiling a little, handing Shang-Chi a glass of cold lemonade. He looked at her in askance and she smiled a little, “They both understand what it’s like to be the weirdest person in a room full of weirdos,” she explained. “Emmet had no magical ability. And Y/N hears voices and can tear out a Vampire’s heart with her bare hands.”

“Fair enough,” he says nodding, watching you greet the kids with hugs and kisses and declarations that they’re all too tall. “It’s good to know I’m just a novelty.”

Lea grins, “No one can ever take her place with them… It was Kai with the last crop. But Y/N was always his buddy. She’s had him wrapped around her finger since the first time someone put her in his lap.”

“So you’re telling me I should expect a big brother lecture?”

“Maybe. But. It’s more likely that he figures she could take you in a fight and there’s not much point.” The redhead’s eyes sparkle with mischief though. And Shang-Chi chuckles.

“You think so?”

“If she can’t, the Archive can.”

That was a sobering thought. And Shang- Chi took a deep breath. “What- what happened?”

The woman looked at him and for the first time, he considered that she was probably older than her face. Despite the lack of lines her eyes seem… Ancient. “I don’t know if I should tell you. I’ve spent… A long time keeping those details a secret.”

“I just-”

“I know,” she says softly. “You should know. If only… If only so you know she wasn’t always this way. She used to want… She wanted to be in the Olympics. She wanted to be a rockstar… She didn’t want to be this.”

Shang-Chi was quiet. Waiting. He didn’t really know what to say.

“Her mother- When she was born her mother was furious,” Lea said after a long moment. “600 years and so many babies I’ve brought into the world… And the was the only time I’ve ever seen That. She refused to even hold her.”

“Why-”

“Because she was powerful,” Lea said. “I knew- We all knew- the second she took her first breath that she wasn’t just a Witch. And for Clara? That was a betrayal. Clara had spent DECADES trying to amass more power. And here her daughter just had it? Absolutely not. It was unthinkable.”

Shang-Chi winced. “So then-”

“She sold her,” Lea said bitterly. “Put her on the black market and handed her off to the highest bidder.”

“No-”

“What she sold her to though? It was a… a cult. A fringe group. They took children like her and tried to- to change them. And if torture wouldn’t change it, burning. Well. The holy fire would at least make sure they went to heaven.”

He felt himself waver and he leaned against the tree that was at his back. “What the fuck-”

“Indeed,” Lea said nodding. “To make a long story short, It took Kai, Renaud, and her Great Aunt Jet to bring her home. And it cost Jet her life… It was a price she would gladly pay but not everyone feels that Y/N was worth the effort. Including Y/N.”

He looked back towards you, watching as you tossed one of the kids up to Kai who tickled them and tossed them to one of the waiting werewolves who promptly pitched them off the dock and into the lake. But on the edges, he could see the barely masked disapproval. And he knew you. He knew that you knew it was there.

“Lenora has been trying to keep things at bay but… I’d be lying if I said I blamed Y/N for keeping her distance. She loved Jet. We all did. And it’s- it’s hard for her, knowing that if it weren’t for her- She might still be here. She might be able to control the Archive. Instead of being controlled.”

And all he can do is watch you. And hurt. He hurts for who you are now. And for the little girl that you had been. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

“Shang- Chi,” Lea cautioned, “She says she doesn’t remember but-”

“You don’t know?”

“No. We don’t. And if she’s trying to protect herself-”

“I won’t ask her,” he said, “I don’t think I’d want to remember that either.”

[richincolor]

Today is Rich in Color’s eighth anniversary! Can you believe it?

We’ve read so many fantastic books over the years, so our bloggers compiled a list of eight books that we wanted to recommend to our followers. These books are ones that we love and that have stuck with us through the years. How many of them have you read?

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

In an unforgettable new novel from award-winning authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.

A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galuzzi, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad’s pleadings that he’s stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad’s resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad’s every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement?

But there were witnesses: Quinn Collins—a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan—and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team—half of whom are Rashad’s best friends—start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before.

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline Dancing Cat Books

In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America’s Indigenous people, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow, and dreams, means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a fifteen-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones and take refuge from the “recruiters” who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing “factories.”

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore Feiwel & Friends

Love grows such strange things.

For nearly a century, the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds of La Pradera, the lush estate gardens that enchant guests from around the world. They’ve also hidden a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. But then, after generations of vanishings, a strange boy appears in the gardens.

The boy is a mystery to Estrella, the Nomeolvides girl who finds him, and to her family, but he’s even more a mystery to himself; he knows nothing more about who he is or where he came from than his first name. As Estrella tries to help Fel piece together his unknown past, La Pradera leads them to secrets as dangerous as they are magical in this stunning exploration of love, loss, and family.

Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert Disney-Hyperion

Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father’s closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there’s much more to his family’s past than he ever imagined.

Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family’s blessing to pursue the career he’s always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words. Harry and Danny’s lives are deeply intertwined and as they approach the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that shook their friend group to its core, Danny can’t stop asking himself if Harry is truly in love with his girlfriend, Regina Chan.

When Danny digs deeper into his parents’ past, he uncovers a secret that disturbs the foundations of his family history and the carefully constructed facade his parents have maintained begins to crumble. With everything he loves in danger of being stripped away, Danny must face the ghosts of the past in order to build a future that belongs to him.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan Little, Brown Brooks for Young Readers

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.

Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi Balzer + Bray

Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable.

When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.

But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape, or lose it all.

The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi Wednesday Books

Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

To find the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin will need help from a band of experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian who can’t yet go home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in all but blood, who might care too much.

Together, they’ll have to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the world, but only if they can stay alive.

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender HarperCollins

From Stonewall and Lambda Award–winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.

Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after.

When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle….

But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.

[cybernaght]

Guardian rewatch: episode 6

Episode 6 jumps us into the case of a disappearing woman, Zhou Weiwei, with the SID team being on the scene, taking the unofficial statement of her fiancé, Ji Xiaobai. While in terms of the actual investigation this case is even thinner than usual, thematically its juicy. It’s musing on the self, and how the self is defined in the eyes of the others; it actually has a grown-up real life take on an unhappy love story, and it can even be read as having pro-immigration connotations. This episode is telling the viewer that one is not entitled to nice things because they are a human from the human world, and there is no sin in wishing to take a chance to move somewhere you can see the sun. 

From the very first scene, Zhao Yunlan, who always has been shown as hands-on with the investigation, removes himself from Xiaobai’s flat, claiming that he has to speak to someone. It’s obvious who that someone is; and we see that our Chief is starting to rely on Shen Wei as his consultant way before he ever offers him that job. There is no reason for Yunlan to seek the other man’s help; and yet, he will end up solving with Shen Wei by his side, and purely through Shen Wei’s ample advice. 

Left with the worried, grieving fiancé of the missing Weiwei, Guo Chancheng suggests they take a stroll to calm down emotions, bringing himself, the man in question, and Chu Shizhu to his favourite place. He is, once again, being the sweetest, most lovely and considerate human being on this planet; and Chu Shizhu is starting to take his lead, listening, being a calming presence - even going as far as to softly offering Ji Xiaobai a beer. 

Hearing the sounds of a magpie, harbinger of good fortune, Guo Changcheng becomes animated, dragging Xiobai up to make a wish out loud. Xiaobai, predictably, wishes for his beloved to come back home, and Xiao Guo gladly repeats this wish, strengthens it with his will. This is where he is in his element: making people better, giving people hope, using his massive heart to help those around him. Guo Changcheng truly is too precious for words.

“Kid. You never make wishes for yourself?”

“I do. When everyone is happy, I am happy as well.”

We see Guo Changcheng’s simple, pure altruism resonating deep within Chu Shizhu, reminding him of his little brother that he lost. Well, I say “little” metaphorically, as the two are twins. That’s right, Guardian has two sets of twins, probably because it does not want to waste its extremely capable main cast. I’m not mad at it. 

Later that day, Shen Wei is conversing with a flower Yashou conveniently living on campus. I think she has a name, but I have a habit of calling her Bush Woman, because it’s what she is. 

She is animated poorly, but at least she is animated at all: there will be a scene later in the series, in which she is played by a bush, being shaken enthusiastically below the shot. The actual conversation is about a person Shen Wei is looking for: he has received a tip from Butler Wu in the previous episode that one of commanders in the Underworld army had a child. Hoping that that child could give him a clue at to where the next of the Hallows is stored, Shen Wei is now looking for them. Naturally, the child in question is also the missing woman in question, but Shen Wei does not know that yet. 

Their conversation is interrupted by Zhao Yunlan being sited on the bike heading towards the university. In the next scene, Zhao Yunlan is shifting uncomfortably at Shen Wei’s office door. Presumably, he has knocked, heard no response, and is just about to give up and go home. This is the moment Shen Wei opens the door from inside, greeting him. Did he teleport into his office so he could talk to Yunlan? Yes, yes he did. 

Despite being more than capable of deducing stuff on his own, Chief Zhao brings in the pictures of the disappeared Weiwei to Shen Wei to analyse for clues. We know that Shen Wei is aware that there is no actual legitimate reason for Zhao Yunlan to seek out his help - because Shen Wei states as much, in the nicest way possible. Zhao Yunlan does not actually have a satisfying answer to that, and his response is mostly boiled down to shameless flirting. 

And also doing throughly shameless things to a lollipop while maintaining eye contact the whole time. Because why not give our protagonist in the show about brotherhood the most homoerotic character quirk he could possibly have, right? 

As Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei continue discussing the case, it becomes more and more clear that they work together marvellously, going as far as finishing each other’s sentences. The body language also suggests that they are very comfortable in each other’s company.

Yunlan, who a few episodes ago would rather sleuth himself than ask people for clues, listens to the advise Shen Wei gives him, internalises it, and eventually uses it to solve this case. Scratch that, actually - he accepts it when Shen Wei pretty much solves the case for him. 

Following Shen Wei’s words to the letter, Zhao Yunlan opens the portal into the magic dimension and discovers that there are, in fact, two Weiweis. The woman from the mirror - an Undergrounder, who left to live a normal life, and a human, who hid because she could not stand being unpopular, and now returned out of jealousy for her mirror counterpart’s perfect life. 

It’s very hard to not sympathise with the mirror!Weiwei over the human one. All the former wanted was to live, and to love, and to be happy. All the later wants is to have all that without putting in any effort. Human!Weiwei does not truly understand that it takes more than taking to have a relationship, and there is nothing that would allow her to be entitled to happiness that she did not herself create. 

Instead, she calls mirror!Wewei a monster, and the later snaps, creating a whirlwind of energy which threatens to destroy everyone in the mirror with her. 

Unfortunately for her, one of the people she is threatening to kill is Zhao Yunlan, and we know how Hei Pao Shi feels about Zhao Yunlan’s life being threatened. This man, who does have a soft, squishy heart, and has previously allowed murderous Wang Yike to stay with her lover, all but snarls at mirror!Weiwei as he captures her. 

The show treats hers and Xiaobai’s farewell as a true tragedy; it’s genuinely heartbreaking to see them cry, as we are shown flashback of their relationship.

In the past couple of episodes, we have witnessed a huge shift in Shen Wei. He may have been determined to detach himself and march onwards alone a short while ago, but he has also seen the SID being full of kind, righteous individuals; he has been begged to save an Undergrounder’s life; he has been asked for friendly support and advice by Zhao Yunlan, and so he, perhaps unwittingly, allows his Hei Pao Shi persona to soften. As he takes mirror!Weiwei away, he stops to have a little tiny heart to heart with Yunlan, saying that identity of a person lies in their heart rather than what or who they are physically. This is a very Shen Wei thing to say, actually, but it will be a while before Yunlan figures that one thing out. Two things on this scene:

One. The mask really does hide Zhu Yilong’s most prominent features pretty well, and to help the viewer understand how he could have been hiding his identity successfully for what could be months, the camera more often than not shoots Hei Pao Shi from a lower angle, and Shen Wei from the higher angle, or dead on, subtly reshaping the jaw line. It’s clever; as is often often the case with the camera work in this show. 

Two. Isn’t it a little bit amusing how this ancient godlike being needs to fill in the paperwork in line of his duty?

As with Shen Wei’s advice earlier on, Zhao Yunlan takes Hei Pao Shi’s one to heart as well, and makes his way to human!Weiwei to make sure Xiaobai knows that she is not at all the woman he fell in love with and wanted to marry. He unearths her greed, jealousy and entitlement in full; in the end, this relationship cannot survive, because how could Xiaobai possibly stay with someone who does not know - someone who even is, in some ways, responsible, for his lover being taken away from him forever? As the couple breaks up, Wang Zheng and Sang Zan’s love song is playing in the background. 

During this scene, the infamous “I would like to buy [this coat] for my girlfriend” moment happens. 

As we know, he does not have a girlfriend. He may, however, have a boyfriend.

I really like the idea that he buys Shen Wei’s trench coats based on this. I really do. It is nice to see Shen Wei’s style starting to change dramatically as he and Zhao Yunlan become closer, of course, and I want it to be one of those deliberate coded messages Guardian is absolutely astonishing for. But at the same time, this is the jacket Yunlan is remarking on:

It sadly does not look anything like what Shen Wei wears. I will file this under “it’s true because the fandom said so”. 

Later, Hei Pao Shi is having a conversation mirror!Weiwei, revealing that he knew her father, and getting a clue he was after. We are getting a lovely extreme close-up of his eyes. While the mask does not stand to scrutiny of close examination - seriously, they could have maybe put actual leafing on it! - I really love this shot. 

At home, Zhao Yunlan is talking to Da Qing about his favourite subject, which is Professor Shen, and performing more shameless things to his lollipop while doing so. Brotherhood, my friends. This show it about bro-ther-hood. 

Da Qing wonders if his friend has been bewitched by Shen Wei, because it is obvious that Zhao Yunlan does not shut up about the man ever. When asked whether Yunlan would arrest the professor if he were indeed from the Underground, Yunlan responds with a dismissive, almost affronted “He didn’t do anything wrong”. We are to understand, through Da Qing’s reaction, that this is extremely uncharacteristic of Zhao Yunlan to say something like this, and it is entirely reasonable for Da Qing to be concerned. We could extrapolate that Da Qing’s worried because if Shen Wei is dangerous, getting attached to him in such a blatant manner could put Zhao Yunlan’s career and life at a very great risk. So, Da Qing, who knows his friend very well, chooses to press all the correct buttons to kick-start his natural curiosity, and do some investigative work into Shen Wei. 

Step one: break into his flat. As you do.

When we saw Shen Wei view the flat prior to moving in, it was shown already furnished, which is not entirely consistent with this tasteful, yet eclectic, furniture. I don’t know about you, but most flats I have rented have been furnished at IKEA. I can’t help but particularly admire his G Plan style mid-century side-board. And the fact that the man owns a gramophone, because of course he does. 

Shen Wei’s book collection is wonderfully perplexing. I’m not surprised that he reads in English - he is educated, and Dragon City is explicitly shown as bilingual, seeing as signs and even gravestones are written in English. But choices were made with the selection of titles. Going off the English ones alone Shen Wei owns: three copies of the same book about architecture, a heavy looking tome on interior design, a tattered one on Van Gough, and the only non-fiction English titles in his possession are… Irvin Welsh’s Trainspotting and a novelisation of Rocky? The former is notoriously difficult read as it’s written entirely in the Scottish accent. The later is very difficult to find, as is often the case with unnecessary novelisations. Neither scream “Shen Wei” to me. 

Apart from Shen Wei’s obviously fake book collection, we find out that he has some files on the SID. It should be a weird point of contention for Zhao Yunlan, considering that a) he also read Shen Wei’s files; b) he literally broke into the man’s apartment. 

While Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing are still nosing around the flat, Shen Wei makes his way home, stilling at his door when he either sees that the lights are on (they won’t when he left), or notes with his Hei Pao Shi sense that someone is inside. 

We, in turn, discover that he has sword replicas on his wall. The swords are obviously European, two of them are shorter, arming ones, and the one in the middle is a longsword with a hand and a half grip. All three have round pommels, downturned cross-guards, and the general shape most reminiscent of very Late Middle Ages (I would hazard at a guess and place them around second half of the 15th century). I wish we could have seen Shen Wei fighting with one of those at some point, because they would be wielded in ways very different from his own blade, but alas. The shield, by the way, has no business being hung together with those swords: it’s not only from a wrong era, it’s from a different part of the world entirely; my guess is that it’s a replica of a shield from the Tang dynasty. 

Shen Wei senses Zhao Yunlan hiding on the balcony, and bites back a smile. Anyone else would be less happy to find out that their privacy being violated, but he is endeared at is the same way Yunlan was endeared at Shen Wei’s cunning during the prior episode.

After getting back to Zhao Yunlan’s own flat (possibly by waiting for Shen Wei to pretend to fall sleep), Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan move on to step two: contacting the Underground Regent about Shen Wei. Which is not as important a tidbit as finding out that Zhao Yunlan owns a swing. 

Then, they move in to step three: the banner.

According to this article, it’s 锦旗, a traditional gift of gratitude. It’s addressed to “Dragon City University, Professor Shen Wei��, but is singed by “Zhao Yunlan”, without mentioning of SID or his position therein, implying that the gift is personal. The message reads “Helping people [is] helping oneself” and “conscience of the industry”. It’s extremely over the top, which both Shen Wei and Chu Shuzhi, tasked with delivering the banner, are aware of.

Shen Wei looks between tentatively amused and politely mortified.

Chu Shuzhi looks like holding this banner is the most excruciating torture he ever had to endure. 

The banner, of course, has a hidden camera in it, so that Zhao Yunlan has a 24/7 feed from Shen Wei’s office. As he and Da Qing are watching the gift being hung, Da Qing is teasing Yunlan with Hei Pao Shi, who is surely the wrong man to tease him about.  

In the next scene, Zhao Yunlan is at Shen Wei’s workplace again, and we discover from Shen Wei’s unpleasant boss that Li Qian has dropped out after her ordeal with the Longevity Dial. 

From the way this is written and shot, I would surmise that Zhao Yunlan does not spring on the professor in a middle of an uncomfortable conversation, but rather has spent some time with him prior to it, volunteering to be moral support. He continues being a good friend by asking Shen Wei why he feels like he has to shoulder all of the world’s weight: it’s surprisingly insightful into a large part of Shen Wei’s personality. 

There is little narrative reason for them to have this meeting, so I am choosing to believe that dropping in on Shen Wei randomly during lunch time is a habit Zhao Yunlan has started to form.

Finally, before the episode ends, we are privy to Shen Wei being the most polite, level-headed mugging victim. He hands the muggers his watch and money willingly, waiting for Zhao Yunlan, who is obviously stalking him, to show up and save the day. The muggers, enraged by his cool attitude, decide to shake him up, and, in the last seconds of this episode, the Pendant of Pining appears in shot for the first time. 

Next up, episode 7: No, Shen Wei, It Wasn’t The Bears

------

Just a quick note to say that I’ll keep those recaps going, but I will have to slow down the pace at which I’m churning them out to one every three to four days. There are some real life things I’ve been neglecting last few weeks that I need to spend my time on; and I’ve also started a new show (Sound of Providence, not Word of Honour - my watching priorities currently lie with Zhu Yilong being awesome). So, if I’m quiet here for a few days, I’m not gone, just a bit busy.

ETA. Realised that I made a booboo when translating the banner. Fixed that now. 

[takaraphoenix]

I don’t usually talk about Angel. But damn if s12 of Buffy didn’t leave me with something to say. They really fucked him over in the comics.

I mean, season 8 alone. Just. Holy shit. Making Angel - not Angelus - the main villain throughout the season. Pulling a half-hearted “he was being manipulated into it though :/”, which... I just... “here, you can have superpowers and you will get to bang Buffy” is not really... I don’t... I just...

In the confrontation between Angel and Buffy and the resulting banging, it’s really made clear that he made those choices. The ones that led to literally hundreds of dead people. He was presented with this weird premise by Twilight and he took it and he became Twilight. He chose that, that’s made clear when Twilight actually starts mind-controlling him - because that would not have been something necessary if Twilight had already been controlling his mind.

And then they set it up like Angel and Buffy are these epic actual soulmates, destined to be together by the universe itself. And you think. Okay. So we’re going with Bangel endgame then? And in such a large scale? Wow.

But lol nope mindcontrolled Angel kills Giles and will then be shipped off the series and Buffy will not be able to even look at him again until Giles is resurrected.

This bad boy can fit so much angst already. Was it... necessary to make him feel guilty for killing Giles too? I mean, yes, of course it was, because otherwise Whedon would have to make an actual choice on an endgame romance and he clearly is allergic to the very concept. And after making them soulmates, it had to be something huge and impactful to Buffy herself. So, let’s kill her father-figure in front of her eyes.

In the following continuity, everyone just... pretends that Angel was being controlled all along. And. I guess you have to because otherwise you’d have to hold Angel accountable for the hundreds of people he killed. And that’d be incredibly contradictive to the character, right?

Know what’d have solved that? Not making Angel kill hundreds of people so he can have a Buffy-paradise. It’s that easy. The choice to make Angel the guy who’d been killing Buffy’s Slayers all year long was... an objectively bad one? And let’s not dive into how ridiculous and stupid the whole “the universe wants you two to fuck to give birth to a new universe that will appear as a green lion on fire with wings”, that’s beside the point for this post. (Still had to bring it up though; seriously, just, go with an entirely different concept for s8? Save us from the ridiculousness and Angel from the character assassination. The military, Amy and Warren would have been enough villains to deal with. Didn’t need an “end of the universe” kind of stakes to begin with.)

At this point, I gotta admit I have not (yet) read the Angel & Faith comics. So I’m out of the loop on what they did for, or to, Angel. They helped him resurrect Giles, so yay on that.

This moment from season 10 really stood out for me. Because yeah. You keep setting him back. Angel finally gets his act together and falls in love with Buffy. He has sex with her for the first time and literally loses his soul. He gets sent to a hell dimension and has to crawl his way back to sanity and when he does. We. Uh. Break him and Buffy up for... honestly I don’t think there was even the most whimsical of excuses for that, but he packs it up and leaves for Los Angeles. He finally has a shot at happiness with Cordelia, he was really falling in love with her... whoops we killed her, she’s a higher being now, but also we bring her back so she can be an incubator and have sex with Angel’s son. Which also; we let him have a baby but then the baby gets stolen and raised into a dysfunctional teenager in a hell dimension. We make Angel and Buffy soulmates but we also make him kill Giles and then literally never bring up the possibility of them being a romantic couple again, even though there could have been an angle to work with there.

He’s still the same brooding, miserable sod he’s been a century ago. Because every time that the character gets even just a hint at happiness, it gets snuffed out, validating all of his fears and doubts that keep him in his brooding, sad state.

Season 12 sees him return then and... he’s... with... Illyria now? Can’t really judge how that relationship is since it happens off-screen from the BtVS comics, though I do have... doubts. What with Illyria having been Fred and... now... being Fred part-time due to magic shenannigans. Having a physical relationship with someone who looks like your old friend who died seems already questionable enough without that dead friend getting front-row seats.

Quite frankly, if anything, I was kind of expecting Angel/Faith to be the outcome of the Angel & Faith comics. What with Hollywood’s inability to have A Man and A Woman be paired up without them being paired up. Not to mention, their long history of second chances, starting when Angel quite literally chose Faith over Buffy, when Buffy was out for revenge and Angel protected her from Buffy. So while the BtVS comics were busy setting Spike/Buffy up as a happy relationship, I kind of thought that Angel/Faith would bring... a sense of happiness to Angel and be where that comic series was headed.

That he instead ended up with the ancient god that possesses one of his friends was, once again, a choice. But sure, if Illyria makes him happy. Oops, no, nevermind, season 12 sacrifices Illyria for the greater good and leaves Angel alone. Again.

And that’s it. That’s the absolute ending of things. Angel’s latest girlfriend gets banished to hell with no intel on whether or not she’ll be able to return.

I was already mad about Buffy being screwed over and denied a romantic happy ending in a separate post, but the fact that they gave Angel a romance that seems to make him happy and then banish his partner to hell before the show wraps for good is just... really messed up.

And it didn’t even happen for the sake of pulling a “whoops, Bangel endgame after all”, it’s all very vague and left in the open and everyone is Just FriendsTM and no romantic decisions are being made.

Which is usually something I find satisfying because I like to make the choices myself in the aftermath, but they’ve been taking every little bit of happiness away from Angel over and over and over again and quite frankly, I would have much rather seen him happy, smiling, in Illyria’s arms, than sitting alone brooding in the basement because Illyria got banished to hell.

I understand that the brooding seriousness is an important trademark trait of Angel’s. But... you’re allowed to let him be happy and he’d be allowed to grow emotionally. Or, at the very least, let him be happy in the very end.

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - Lost and Found

Another plot episode and another mountain of missed opportunities, failed set ups, and foreshadowing that goes nowhere. But outside of that it’s pretty entertaining. Are we seeing a pattern yet? 

Summary: Rapunzel and Eugene go on a journey to retrieve the fourth and final piece of the scroll that will lead them to the Dark Kingdom. They receive help from Vigor the Visionary, who reveals himself to be Lord Demanitus himself, the author of the scroll depicting the purpose of the Sundrop and Moonstone. He leads them to the maze that he hid the last piece of the scroll in. Guiding them through the maze, they obtain the last piece, which united the four into one singular map. As they are about to leave, they are attacked by a stone monster.

Maybe That’s Why You Should Have Brought the Only Person Who Can Read It Along?!

Once again, having the characters acknowledge their stupidity in meta dialogue doesn’t alleviate the fact that the audience is going to think them stupid.

Regardless of your personal feelings towards Varian or what he has done in the past that does not change the fact that he is literally the only character in the show thus far who can translate the scroll. The mains knew that before leaving and they knew from the get go that they were going to need the scroll piece which is why they took it from him.  

Not bringing him along, not getting a translation key from him before leaving, nor even showing us a scene of Raps trying to ask him to translate the scroll for them before leaving and then having him refuse to do so, is a plot hole. 

Timeline Hint...Sort Of...

Rapunzel said last episode that it had been almost year since they left Corona, and it’s now close enough to her birthday again that Eugene could be tricked by it but not enough to actually be her birthday. 

So...when are we again? 

I’m going to guess 10 months after Secret of the Sun Drop? Maybe... It could also be 9 or 11 who knows... but I am still seeing fall like trees which is our only indication of a changing season in this show because the creators don’t understand climate apparently.  

Maybe cause we’re now further north of Corona we see fall/winter leaves even into early spring? 

Where Was This Rapunzel In Season 3? 

Rapunzel actually giving a crap about what Eugene wants is as rare as seeing a fawn in the woods. It happens, but most of the time you forget it's even there. 

While come season three, Rapunzel will just shoot the poor deer dead. 

Madame Canardist is a Wasted Character

I’ve already discussed at length the biggest problems with Madame Carnardist in my Vigor the Visionary and Curses reviews. So I won’t rehash those talking points here again. However what I spoke about were larger problems with the media industry and bigotry as a whole and not the specific impact the character has on the story. Which is next to none. 

The crew went through all of this trouble to make a deleted character from the film relevant to the series’s plot, and even there they failed. Madame Canardist is nothing more than a translator for Vigor when Demantius isn’t around. The story doesn’t utilize her properly despite her connections to one of the more plot important characters. 

What is her relationship to Demantius and Zhan Tiri? How did Vigor come into her care? Why is she the only person who understands him when Demantius isn’t in control? If Vigor is centuries old by this point than how old is she? What is her stake in all this and why does she bother with Rapunzel at all if she has nothing to gain from it? Why doesn’t she go along on this important quest through the maze seeing as how she is Vigor’s caretaker? 

She’s not completely useless, but like with Lady Caine, Xavier, and Hector before her, she has far more potential than the series is willing to explore with her.  

So Much For Caring About What Eugene Wants 

Welp that lasted all of five seconds. 

Man, Rapunzel is a shit girlfriend.  

The Pay Off Works, But It Then Serves No Purpose Afterwards 

I don’t mind the idea of Demantius being the monkey. I mean it is one of the very few plot points in the show with proper foreshadowing and follow through. And yes, Demantius does accomplish one thing here, by helping Raps obtain the last scroll piece. 

The problem is, nothing changes with this revelation. 

No one’s perceptions or interactions with Demantius/Vigor are altered after this reveal. No one changes their plans, goals, or motivations afterwards. Things carry on more or less afterwards the same as if they had never met. The only thing of importance here is the scroll pecice and that’s only relevant in Cassandra's Revenge and is then forgotten about completely for the rest of the series. 

What’s the point of having a plot twist if the status quo still remains?    

If the information being revealed doesn’t alter the story then why keep it secret to begin with? 

How Could You Research Them If You Never Found Them?

So did Demantius write the incantations or not? 

He is the one who put them on the scroll, so it’s natural to conclude that he did create them, but he couldn’t have done that unless he had studied both the moonstone and sundrop to see the effects the two macguffins had to the spells. 

Now according to this exposition dump, the sundrop and moonstone had been around for ages before Demantius and had become legends by his time. It is possible that someone else studied the two macguffins before him and came up with those incantations, but who? 

The ancient people of the Dark Kingdom might have studied the moonstone since they were tasked with guarding it, but no one knew where the sundrop was until Gothel found it. 

The audience needs to know this sort of information in order to understand the motivations driving the conflicts of the characters. 

Imagine a Lord of the Rings trilogy that never bothered to say where the one ring of power came from or how it came into Gollum’s possession. You’d be left wondering why everyone was fighting over what amounts to an invisibility spell that once belonged to a small deformed hobbit who used to catch fish.   

This Explanation Goes Nowhere 

Why did the disciples betray Demantius? What did they gain from siding with Zhan Tiri? Why was Gothel with them? Did she betray everyone once she found the sundrop? What was Demantius and Zhan Tiri fighting over to begin with? 

Don’t expect any of those questions to be answered. The series inexplicably makes a big deal over Gothel being connected to Zhan Tiri, but then never actually explains what that connection is, what they’re relationship dynamic was, nor how it connects back to Rapunzel’s and Cassandra’s current conflict. 

That’s the real failing of the show’s lore and backstories. They don’t connect back to the current conflict. It’s just there. 

In a well constructed show, Demantius would have been a parallel to Rapunzel who was also ‘betrayed’ by people she trusted. It would have been revealed that it was Demantius’ own actions that drove away his followers and caused them to side with Zhan Tiri. Thereby serving as a warning to Rapunzel herself and forcing her to realize in the end that in order to save everyone she’s have to apologize to those she hurt. We also would have gotten three betrayals instead of two since that’s more thematically impactful. 

But this isn’t a well constructed show and the characters in it don’t ever evolve.   

This Contradicts What We Find Out In Season 3

We find out in the last season that Zhan Tiri was originally from this world and that the only reason she was ‘bent on destruction’ was because of Demantius ticked her off somehow.  She also had no magical powers of her own until after Demantius had banished her to that other realm where she was imprisoned. 

Also Demantius didn’t use any powers. He just chucked her into a portal he had built without any warning or trail, with zero idea if it would kill her or not, all because she just stood there yelling at him. Like there wasn’t even any physical fighting, so it wasn’t a case of in defense either. 

Demantius should have been revealed to be the real antagonist all along but that would require the showrunners to be actually clever for once and not misogynistic towards their female characters. 

This Makes Zero Sense

First off, when was Zhan Tiri ever looking for Demantius? She’s been too busy trying to escape from her prison and it’s been centuries. She has no reason to suspect that he’s still alive nor does she care. Zhan Tiri’s plans are not dependant upon whether or not Demantius still exists. 

Secondly, how is the host body still alive after centuries? Why go with monkey when I’m sure there are actual human beings out there who would agree to living forever. Does the transfer actually destroy the mind? Cause if not you could have had an actual coherent host that could have helped out when Demantius was dormant.   

And don't give me any guff about ‘ethics’ because this is the man who played judge, jury, and executioner to his supposed friend/possible lover and probably killed one of his disciples as Sugarbee’s spirit was trapped in his device.  

Not the Best of Plans My Dude

So Demantius is basically committing suicide here for no real reason. 

Unless he was just already dying anyways when he made the transfer, then Demantius is drastically shortening his conscious life span. The monkey will live on, but he won’t. 

So why? He had no way of knowing that the sundrop would become a person in the future, it’s completely coincidental that he met Rapunzel just at the right place and time to help her, and as stated above, Zhan Tiri was no longer a threat to him or the world since he imprisoned her and defeated his disciples. 

Like what was his thought process here? “I just really, really want to be a monkey?” 

Eugene Isn't Wrong 

Look, I am a deeply religious person and I have faith in many things, but even I know that critical thought is necessary for basic survival and that scepticism is just plain common sense. Believing in something doesn’t mean shutting your brain off and never thinking for yourself. 

Demantius has yet to give any reason for why Eugene and Rapunzel should trust him. Him saying ‘have faith’ repeatedly does nothing to instill confidence and in fact does the opposite. If you want to people to believe in you, especially in a dangerous situation that you dragged them into, then you need to earn that trust. 

There’s a world of difference in assuming the best in people and being a fool, and Rapunzel is not the better person just because she blindly goes along with anything because she stubbornly wants to do whatever she wants and assumes she’s always right. 

Eugene is Still Right

Is ‘Faith’ the new ‘Destiny’ now? Are we just assigning different meanings to random words in order to push the story’s narrative along? 

This entire maze only involves solving puzzles, answering riddles, and a bit of running and climbing here and there. ‘Faith’ has absolutely nothing to do with it. 

This theme doesn’t even work when you take into account the reveal that it’s Eugene who needs to have faith in Rapunzel. Because Rapunzel isn’t the only one doing these things and getting them through here. 

In fact Demantius being here, and being the one who built the maze in the first place, kind of negates Rapunzel’s importance in this area. Secondly, Eugene is doing half the work anyways so it should be a message about having faith in each other. But they already have that so...yeah what’s the point of Demantius constantly bringing it up? 

Why Are You Caring About Money While Stuck In a Death Trap?

You’re rich now, Eugene. You’re the future prince consort and live in a palace. As soon as you get back to Corona or a place that recognizes Corona as a kingdom you’ll have plenty of money to spare. But you can’t do that if you’re dead inside a maze. 

Moreover, Rapunzel still has money on her. She just threw two coins in to the well; one for her and one for Demantius. You two live together! You’ve been traveling inside a caravan together for over a year now and neither of you work. Ergo, you should logically be sharing your finances at this point in time. Especially since that is what you’ll be doing anyways once you’re married for real, as you’ll both be heads of state.   

That’s Now How Faith Works

Faith is evidence for things unseen, or to put it more accurately the evidence for things that are unprovable. God, death, the future, creation, souls, the meaning of life, ect, are all concepts that can’t be proven nor disproven. No one upon this earth will ever know for certain what happens after death, how the universe was made, or if there is any intelligent life out there beyond ourselves.

People don’t like the unknowable.

Believe systems of all kinds, whether they be religious or not, exist to bring us comfort when face with the dread of such existential questions. Even if that belief system is agnosticism itself.

Gravity, weight, and basic physics however are all provable concepts that have been around since Ancient Greece, if not longer. Man has always known that if you drop something it falls, even if they didn’t have the math to back it. It’s just a fact of life.

‘Faith’ isn’t going to stop Eugene from falling. It’s not going to make the bridge more sturdy. It’s not going to magically make him as light as a feather. It won’t turn the acid below him into water. “Faith’ can’t literally give you wings and make you fly; that’s just a metaphor.

What Demantius is promoting here isn’t faith. What he’s asking Eugene to do is to blindly follow his orders without question.

This is especially jarring when you consider that Demantius is supposed to be a famous scientist. He should know very well the importance of critical thought and that having faith doesn’t mean shutting your brain off.

The Scroll is Such a Let Down

We’ve spent a season and a half finding the pieces for this thing and it won't actually be relevant until the halfway through season three. Mostly because the one person who can translate it isn’t here.

On top of that, it’s no longer important outside of  one episode. It’s an example of  the payoff not living up to its hype.

So This Is a Lie

The scroll only contains four incantations on it, and one is on the back in invisible ink and not the fourth pecice itself. None of those incantations involve combining the moontsone and sundrop together. In fact, after using two of those incantations only once they’re never seen being used again for the rest of the series. Furthermore, once the moonstone and sundrop are combined they only allow the user to perform the healing and hurt incantations, which Rapunzel can do anyways without the moonstone. 

Demantius wrote the dang scroll himself! He should very much know what is on it and what it does. This is yet another case of the writers not planning things ahead. 

Being Good at Riddles Doesn’t Make You ‘Pure of Heart’ 

Being ‘pure of heart’ means that you are kind. One does not need ‘faith’ to be kind. Being kind is doing the right thing and helping others even if it doesn’t benefit you at all.

Not only does running through a maze not have anything to do with faith, it also has nothing to do with kindness.

The only thing it proves is that Rapunzel enjoys running through a maze, and will do so in addition to dragging others along with her regardless if those people want to do it or not.

That’s not being kind.

If anything Rapunzel has only proven thus far in the series that she is a very selfish person who shouldn’t be trusted with such grave responsibility.

But as already pointed out, Demantius doesn’t care about actual faith, kindness, or purity. He just wants blind obedience. He’s mistaken Rapunzel’s exuberant and stubborn nature for nativity; not realizing that her complancany is only because they both desire the same goal.

Had he asked Rapunzel to do something that she didn’t already want to do, she wouldn’t have been so ‘pure’ to his mind.

That Is a Very Valid Question 

Eugene has a point. There’s no reason to go on this quest. In fact knowing about season three in hindsight, turning around now and not going to the Dark Kingdom would be the better option for everyone.

Cass couldn’t steal the moonstone. Zhan Tiri would never be freed. Corona will never be destroyed and the brotherhood never mind trapped. As for the black rocks they will just sit there impotently not doing anything.

Even freeing Quirin, not that Rapunzel cares, only requires the hurt incantation, which she already has.

The only problem is that Cassandra has ZT trapped in her mind but without the moonstone that has no consequences outside of Cass hearing a annoying voice in her head that she is perfectly capable of ignoring. And even that wouldn’t have happen if they had turned around after the Great Tree.

SHOW DON'T TELL

Nothing in the show back up what Demantius is saying here. We haven’t seen the rocks being active since season one. Even when Rapunzel was lollygagging around or going off the path. 

When they do become active again in the next episode it’s to help her, and after that in season three it’s all Cassandra’s doing. 

Also in season three Rapunzel is able to rebuild Old Corona around the rocks with little problem even though she didn’t reunite with the moonstone. 

In a Competent Show This Would Be Foreshadowing. This Is Not a Competent Show. 

I genuinely thought this was hinting at Moon Eugene, when I first saw this. Now couple that with the talk of ‘three betrayals’ earlier and I thought Eugene would be the final ‘betrayal’ and that a true love's kiss, after Rapunzel had apologized to him, is what would reunite the two powers and save the day.

I’m not going to fault the show for not living up to my expectations and predictions, but I will fault the series for failing to utilize Eugene properly and not working him into the main conflict. He’s the duel protagonist of the franchise. He should have just as much weight in the narrative the same as Rapunzel has.  

Oh How I Hate Where This Arc Goes

What the show does wind up doing to Eugene however, is incredibly stupid and frustrating. 

Remember how I said that ‘faith’ in this show is just blind obedience? 

Yeaaaahhh.... 

That’s what Eugene takes from all of this. Not that he should support and believe in his partner, something that he already was doing by the way, but that he needs to be a doormat to her and her whims. 

Like with Rapunzel yelling at Hook Hand in Brother’s Hook, this is the point where Eugene’s character starts to break. You just wouldn’t know it until after watching season three. 

This Is Such a Lazy Cop-Out

Like the audience has these questions too. Neither us nor Rapunzel will ever have these questions answered. You just backed out of committing to any real answers because you didn’t have your story planned out like you should have.

Why Does Everyone Act Like There’s a Prophecy When There Isn’t Any Actual Prophecy? 

Once again, Demantius had no way of knowing that the sundrop would become a person. No one did. There’s no prophecy and there’s zero explanation for his psychic abilities, which are inconsistent at best.  In fact I don't think he does have such powers, otherwise he’d be more helpful inside the maze. I think those are reserved for Vigor only and we don’t know where he got them or if he even is a ‘real’ psychic. 

Tangled the Series wants to act like it’s running on a predestination plot. That events must occur and will occur regardless of what actions you take to prevent it. Now ignoring how that causes problems with the characters’ agency for a moment; you can not have any predestination if there’s no actual destiny. 

Chosen one plots often have prophecies for a reason. Predestination is there to evoke either tragedy that can’t be prevented or present consequences for  if/when the main hero doesn’t follow along. Either way it’s there to establish conflict. 

Everyone in TTS acts like there is a conflict when said conflict hasn’t actually been established! 

This is writing 101. You need conflict. You need to establish shit. You can’t just pretend that a conflict exists where it doesn’t. ‘Fake till you make it’ doesn’t work in long term storytelling and television animation. It has to be pre-planned.  

Also The Timeline Doesn’t Match

Demantius said that it was a millenia when the sundrop and moonstone fell.He also just said he’s been waiting for a millenia to ‘meet the sundrop’. Yet Demantius acted like the sundrop and the moonstone were already legends by the time he started to search for them. That means they had to be around longer than he has. It also brings us back to the first question of who wrote the incantations if he and Zhan Tiri never found them? 

Believing In Someone Does Not Mean Shoving All the Work Onto Their Shoulders

You’re supposed to be in this together. Couples should work as a team. Both of your lives depend upon getting out of here so you should both be coming up with ideas and working together.

Not only does this miss the entire point of what ‘believing in your spouse’ actually means, it’s also incredibly unfair to both of these characters. It’s unfair to Rapunzel for put so much pressure and unrealistic expectations onto her and to have her be the person to carry both of them through when Eugene is perfectly capable of physically doing things. It’s also unfair to shove Eugene to the side and make him a useless character all of a sudden.

Rapunzel Does Nothing To Earn Such Blind Devotion 

Rapunzel’s magical hair has nothing to do with Rapunzel as a person. It’s an entity separate from her being. Literally. The hair can move of its own accord as shown here and it’s possible to physically separate Rapunzel from her powers as seen in the finale.  

Believing in Rapunzel should be about believing in who she is as a human being, about her individual character. It should not be because she has magic glowing hair.  

Not only is this a betrayal of Rapunzel and Eugene’s relationship and why they came to love one another in the first place, but it’s also a betrayal of Rapunzel’s growth as a character. It’s not only Eugene who blindly kisses her ass after this point, it’s everyone, even though she gives them little reason too. 

This the Last We’ll See of Vigor and Madame Canardist

Three episodes spent establishing these characters and now they’re just gone for no reason. They’re never seen of nor mentioned again beyond a single meta joke. Despite the main conflict revolving around Demantius and them both having the closest connection to that character.  

This Is Bad Foreshadowing, But At Least It’s Actual Foreshadowing  

Up till now any ‘foreshadowing’ we got for Cass’s villain arc has been confined to poorly thought out background images; the painting of the moon, the broken mirror in Gothel’s tower, and I won’t even dignify Chris’s bullshit about her handmaiden dress being blue. 

Not to mention all of that was only in season one. Outside of her conversation with Eugene about their parents, way back in Cassandra vs. Eugene, we haven’t had any real foreshadowing until we hit the Great Tree. 

Since the Great Tree we’ve only had a couple of bitch fights with Raps, which I personally don't consider real foreshadowing since no ill will was attached to those, and her glaring angrily at Rapunzel after escaping the shell house. 

In light of that, this scene is at least genuine foreshadowing, it’s just poorly done foreshadowing. 

While the other attempts at foreshadowing were too subtle, this one is too obvious. It gives the game away too early because there’s no other viable options within Rapunzel’s group. Adira comes closest and she’s not actually here and not really considered a friend by Rapunzel herself.  

So what winds up happening is that Cass’s arc feels rushed despite being planned since the beginning.  

Conclusion 

I spent three days fighting tumblr to get this review posted! Appreciate it! 

As for the episode itself, it’s fun to watch in isolation, but it’s such a let down knowing what’s to come from it all. 

[zebrabaker]

Paris Stands Alone; Part 3

Ta da! This has been up on Patreon VIP for a week, so if you want chapters early that's the way to go.

“We’re in!” Zatana cried, throwing her hands up in the air. It had taken Zatana and Constantine working together to breach the magical protections around the Court of Miracles comm lines, and then Oracle taking out the firewall. 

“Who is this?” A voice asked. Male, by the sound of it.

“This is Superman of the Justice League; we need to speak to Ladybug.” Clark spoke, arms crossed. There was silence, as if the person was trying to think.

“Did you not see the message? France is shut off. Go away.”

“That isn’t an option.” Flash insisted. “We’ll just hack in again and again.” 

“Alright.” The voice sighed. “I’ll see if her Ladyship will speak with you.” There was then silence for several minutes, and then the voice came back. “His Grace wants to set up a video chat. We’ll be ready on our end in five minutes.” More silence, and then a screen flickered from lines of code to a picture of two figures, Ladybug and Cat Sidhe, against the night sky.

“Greetings, members of the Justice League.” Ladybug spoke.

“Hello, Lady- “Superman was cut off by Ladybug speaking again.

“Tell me what you want. You have thirty seconds. Go.” Clark spluttered, before Oracle spoke.

“We want to help. A few junior members were the ones in charge of sorting the incoming messages, and they believed your cries for help were pranks. We wish to offer our deepest apologies, Your Ladyship, Your Grace, and to extend an offer of aid. We can help track down your opponent- “

“Opponent?” Cat Sidhe hissed, ears pinned back against green ombre hair. “This is not a game of chess. Dozens of French men and women die each year because idiot foreigners can’t control themselves. No one comes into France, period!” His tail was lashing violently behind him, and his claws were shining in the moonlight. Ladybug set a hand on his arm, and pulled him a few steps away, before speaking to him in a language none of them could understand. They came back after a moment, though Ladybug kept a hand on her partner’s arm.

“We’ll have a small summit. Both groups will send four emissaries, and they will meet in Germany, right by the border.”

“Very well, we can call to arrange- “

“No.” Ladybug snapped. “We will contact you. Snapping Turtle, cut the call.” The screen went black.

“That went well.” Constantine remarked. 

X0X0X

True to Ladybug’s word, the screen crackled to life the next day, this time a single woman appeared on screen, from her torso up. She was young looking, with red hair in a sensible side braid that went off camera, it was so long. She was wearing a high-necked white jacket, covered in black splotches.

“Hello. I am Fidel, wielder of the Miraculous of the dog and Mistress Loyalty of the Court of Miracles. I have sent you a set of coordinates, a date, and a time. Your emissaries must be there at least fifteen minutes early. If you fail to have your emissaries in the correct place at the correct time, we will take it as you canceling your offer of aid, and will bring our emissaries home. Au revior.” The screen went blank, leaving the League stunned. Batman glared at Superman, who looked like he would very much like to be elsewhere.

“You were told to leave the situation to Diana and I.”

“Err, well – “

“We all agreed this needed to be handled delicately.” He growled.

“I – “

“No excuses, Superman. I want a full report on my desk in an hour. Get it done.” The dark night stood and prowled from the room, rage evident.

X0X0X

Fidel hung up, shutting down the shell-top. Snapping Turtle was working on their regular laptop, updating their agent on their progress on a new story. It was a romance-murder-mystery, and Fidel was loving getting to beta read it.

“How’s it going?” A voice called from the door way, and Fidel turned to see Yellow Jacket slumped against the doorframe.

“The meeting is set. Now, we need to report to Ladybug.” Yellow Jacket nodded and offered her girlfriend her arm, and Fidel took it gladly, giggling a little. The two wielders made their way down the halls of headquarters. 

Headquarters, for the Court of Miracles, meant a completely secluded underground base in the middle of Paris. It was only accessible through one of Nightmare’s portals, and had only one emergency exit, which was unlocked by pushing a surge of miraculous magic into a specialized lock and reciting a password that changed weekly. It was all made by Nightmare and Snapping Turtle, and had taken months of trial and error to perfect.

As they strolled past the library, full of books on ancient magic, and journals of previous wielders that had been recovered from the site of one of the old temples, Fidel leaned her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Fidel had had her miraculous the shortest of all the current wielders, only a year. After her came Teacup, the wielder of the boar, who had had the boar for eighteen months. Teacup had just stopped getting her cycle a few months ago, so Fidel had time if she wished to revoke the miraculous before the changes became permanent. Not that she ever would. She couldn’t imagine life without Barkk.

They arrived at Ladybug’s office after a short elevator ride. Yellow Jacket knocked on the heavy cherry wood door and waited for the call to ‘come in’. Ladybug was working on her encrypted laptop behind her desk, probably checking the program that tracked Akuma sightings.

“Your Ladyship.” They murmured in unison, bowing low. 

“Oh, stop that!” She admonished, saving and closing her laptop.

“No can do, Mari-bug.” Yellow Jacket chuckled. “You are our Lady, and we are proud to serve.” 

“So long as you don’t do that when I see you at work.” Ladybug sighed. “Close the door and come in, Barkk and Pollen are probably exhausted from holding your transformations for the last few hours.” Ladybug pressed a button and the vents shuttered, so that no one could get in. It may be redundant, but Ladybug was more than a little paranoid. She had every right to be. All three called their detransformation phrase, and a trio of bright lights filled the room. Left behind was a group of young women, known to the world at large as the main designer, CEO, and CFO of Lucky Lady Design House.

“So, Chloe, what brings you and ‘brina to my office?” Marinette asked, grabbing a selection of snacks from her fridge and cupboard. Sausage for Barkk, cookies for Tikki, and croissants for Pollen.

“The summit with the JLA has been arranged. Now, we decide who to send.” Chloe sat, legs crossed, in an armchair Marinette kept for meetings like this.

“Easy!” Sabrina chirped. Chloe raised a brow and gestured for her girlfriend to continue. “We have to send Mari, as Ladybug she needs to be able to control the situation.”

“Fair enough.” Chloe admitted. 

“That’s one, what of the other three?” Marinette asked, sipping a water bottle. 

“We need to send two guards, so Chloe and Marc. Chloe can subdue any enemy in a single move, and Marc’s shield is impenetrable. Last member is simple, Kagami.”

“Oh? Why the dragon?” Barkk asked.

“She won’t put up with any bullshit from the league.” Sabrina shrugged. 

“This is why I gave you a miraculous, you’re the best logical thinker we have.” Marinette smiled, and Sabrina blushed. 

“Puh-lease!” Chloe scoffed. “Sabrina could do anything, deciding who to send to a summit with a bunch of fools is nothing for her.” Sabrina just blushed harder.

@krispydefendorpolice

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[bywordofaphrodite]

Book Reviews 5&6: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan & Alpha Force: Survival by Chris Ryan

This review’s theme is action and adventure ! audience age range: roughly 12 and up !

For this review I’m using the first book from two action/adventure series, featuring the only male authors I've selected of the ten books chosen for these posts. Both are action-packed books with ensemble casts featuring boys and girls, though the similarities mostly stop there.

As a lover of Greek mythology and fantasy in general, Rick Riordan’s sarcastic and upbeat hero of Percy provided a hilarious new way to look at the more serious myths concerning the gods and enemies of Mount Olympus (his slightly inaccurate retellings made acceptable because the series was made for a younger audience, not to mention it’s funny so who cares).

Alpha Force is firmly set in the real world, no magic to be seen, just hardened survival skills that seem more sitting to the SAS than a bunch of young teens- but with the author Chris Ryan being a member of the SAS himself, it’s exactly what you’d expect.

Nostalgic review

Rating: ★★★★★

Percy Jackson is one of those famous book series in a long list of teen/YA fiction that has gripped teens by the throat on its basic lore alone. During class my friends and I would go on Tumblr and Pinterest to pass time, and as readers we always ended up on That Side of Tumblr- yes, the side filled with cheesy edits of all the popular main characters of the time: Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games, Clary Fray of The Mortal Instruments, all the usual squad, and of course Percy Jackson himself. In a sea of lead female characters, Percy was a fun male lead to throw in the mix. It felt special too, that Riordan continued to write Percy’s story ageing him up as the books went on. We grew up with Percy too. I still keep collect the series even now; my brother’s gift to me for my 21st birthday was the Heroes of Olympus collection, though I haven’t read the older books in several years. I’ve always thought Riordan’s writing style not only improved over the years, but also adjusted well to writing for an older audience in the newer books, which was impressive. Additionally, Riordan listening to his fans and adding in more and more representation through great diverse characters definitely sweetens the memories attached to this series.

Alpha Force is just so good. And so underrated. It was between Alpha Force and Alex Rider for the second book in this review, but ultimately I decided enough people know Alex Rider (there’s a movie and a new series about him, go check the series out, it’s great!) and Chris Ryan’s hidden gem was something I wanted to discuss more. I went through an Extreme Survival Adventures book phase during early high school, devouring all kinds of action from deep-sea diving to climbing Mount Everest and every shipwrecked story on the shelves. I’ve always been a huge fan of the ensemble character groups where everyone has a distinct role that no one else can fill; I find it prevents boring main character syndrome where one singular person never needs any help and therefore has neither character development nor conflict. The Alpha Force series managed to deliver fantastic action sequences, smart yet surprisingly realistic characters and somewhat rarely in my experience- incredible female characters who actually had real personality and arcs that belonged to themselves and not the male characters. Honestly, this assignment has been a great excuse to make myself read these books again!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Review

Post-read: ★★★★

Synopsis: when struggling student Percy Jackson’s pre-algebra teacher transforms into a monster on school grounds and tries to kill him, Percy runs home to be told the truth by his mother about who he is: a demigod, and upon his arrival at the safe haven for demigods- Camp Half-Blood- Percy discovers he is the son of Poseidon, with water powers to boot. With the help of a satyr named Grover and daughter of Athena, Annabeth, Percy sets course for the Underworld to prevent a war breaking out on Mount Olympus.

(I wanted to make this four and a half stars, but I am incompetent at adding in the half, so if you’d kindly just imagine it is there that would be great.)

Okay! Let’s get into it!

With the first chapter titled ‘I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORISE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER’, I think the tone for the story is established rather immediately. The first-person narrative allows the character of Percy to talk to readers directly, and it creates a very easy feeling of Percy recounting his feelings and adventures as if in a one-on-one conversation. I felt just as drawn in rereading as an adult as I did when I was in school. Percy doesn’t fit it in at any schools and has been kicked out of six when the first chapter begins. His ADHD and dyslexia make concentrating and studying hard, and he’s always restless. The only people he feels are on his side are his friend Grover and his Latin teacher, Mr Brunner, who seems to be the only teacher who doesn’t have it out for him.

As it turns out, neither Grover nor Mr Brunner are people! Grover is a satyr sent to watch over Percy until he reaches Camp Half-Blood, and Mr Brunner is the immortal centaur Chiron and the activities director at the camp, also watching over Percy. When the Fury Alecto- disguised as Percy’s pre-algebra teacher Mrs Dodds- tries to kill Percy on a school field trip, the satyr and centaur jump in to save him. Later at the camp, Percy continues to stay fast friends with the two and confides in them while they teach him everything about his new world. Percy meets many more kids at camp, all of whom struggled in the human world before finding their true capabilities upon discovering their status as demigods. Annabeth is one such kid, the daughter of Athena who is cold to Percy at first, out of loyalty to the history between Athena and Poseidon, but who ends up becoming fast friends with him, and later his girlfriend throughout the series.

Riordan’s writing is fresh, engaging and fun at every turn. His modern takes on the gods and their ancient stories and riddles makes for a terrific adventure, and the ‘quests’ undertaken by the demigods mimic the old mythology in a palatable way for young readers to digest easily and understand what exactly is going on. The best part about Percy Jackson for me isn’t the monsters and battles, but rather Riordan’s intentions when creating the series: he wanted to give his dyslexic son a hero he could relate to, and since the first set of books Rick Riordan has gone above and beyond expectations to create demigod heroes for kids spanning many different ethnicities, genders and disabilities. Of the many series popular among young people, I’m especially glad that this one full of so much representation is maintaining the hype it deserves.

Characters who aged well: Percy! At twelve years old in this first book of the series, and just the right combination of witty, kind, hot tempered, brave and cheeky to make a believable and lovable young protagonist; his diagnosis with ADHD and dyslexia not being portrayed as a weakness but rather a part of him makes Percy a special hero to neurodivergent readers. Annabeth, too, remains a great character, she’s intelligent, logical and ambitious in a positive manner, and never falls into the trap of being ‘not like other girls’.

Characters who aged badly: nobody! All the side characters are great, and even the villains are entertaining, especially alongside Percy’s ridiculous commentary. The gods are portrayed rather mockingly, which is a kindness really, compared to the awful acts they commit in the original myths.

Favourite scene/quote: ‘Deadlines just aren’t real to me unless I’m staring one in the face’ – I first read this book years ago and it’s still relevant. I can’t even be embarrassed to relate to it at this point.

My favourite scenes both centre on Medusa- or rather, her severed head. Furious with the gods- namely, Zeus, Athena and his father Poseidon- for sending himself, Annabeth and Grover on such a dangerous quest so quickly after his first day at camp, Percy stuffed Medusa’s head into a package and wrote the address of Mount Olympus on a delivery slip, ending with ‘best wishes, PERCY JACKSON’. To Grover’s distress at Percy’s being ‘impertinent’ to the gods yet again, Percy simply responded ‘I am impertinent’. 10/10 big mood.

The second refers to Sally explaining to Percy that she can take care of herself, and, leaving Medusa’s head in her fridge, Percy exits their apartment just as Sally’s abusive boyfriend walks in. The last thing Percy sees is his mother, ‘staring at Gabe, as if she were contemplating how he would look as a garden statue’. It’s a nice moment between mother and son, followed by Percy understanding the strength his mother has and how much she does for him.

Alpha Force: Survival Review

Post-read: ★★★★

Synopsis: Five teenagers end up stranded on a desert island after their sailing ship goes down at sea. Enthusiastic Alex, reluctant Amber and Hex and practical jokers Paulo and Li are all part of a ‘working eco-voyage’ that quickly falls apart, leaving them to survive on their skills alone against komodo dragons, sharks and modern day pirates somewhere on the Indonesian archipelago.

The story begins with Northumbrian boy Alex- the closest to a main character out of the five- scrubbing the deck of a ship called the Phoenix and lamenting the fact that he’s been lumped in with four people he would never have chosen to be in a watch with. Assigned to A-Watch by their mean supervisor Heather, Alex finds himself the unofficial watch leader… and the only person who really wants to be there. Also in A-Watch is Amber, the daughter of African-American software billionaires who recently died in an accident and left her the sole heiress to the fortune. Amber, still hurting from her parent’s death, is furious to be on board the eco-voyage organised by her Uncle John, who believes she needs to move on in a place outside her comfort zone. Amber spends a great chunk of time antagonising English hacker Hex, who was sent on the trip as a punishment by his school for ruthlessly hacking into the accounts of a teacher who bullied his younger brother. Rounding out the group are Paulo and Li, both of whom are very athletic and thrive in the outdoors, but also uninterested in doing any real work aboard the Phoenix. Paulo is a charming ranch hand from Argentina who loves food and flirting; Li is the Anglo-Chinese daughter of zoologists who enjoys testing out her martial arts on Paulo.

After an argument with their supervisor Heather, Amber decides A-Watch should steal food and relax in a small boat beside the ship to thwart her- a fine plan at first, which goes haywire after the rope frays and they awaken to find themselves in the middle of the Java Sea with no one knowing they’re missing. Tensions rise between the teenagers as they panic over food and safety as they work to survive. Hex just barely survives a Komodo dragon attack, and their hope for help in spotting a family aboard a yacht goes down the drain when it becomes clear they are hostages of modern-day pirates. Luckily, for the family- the Larousse family who were friends with Amber’s parents, no less- the members of A-Watch manage to put aside their differences and put together their skills to save the day.

By the end of the book, the group have outwitted the pirates, saved the Larousse family and successfully sent an SOS signal leading to their rescue. During their recovery in hospital, Amber learns the truth about her parents: behind their billionaire software company her parents worked as undercover agents around the world, fighting against corrupt governments, powerful cartels and other dangerous ventures. Amber’s Uncle John agrees to let the five carry on her parents work as a team, noting that five teenagers could easily slip into situations that adults can’t. Hex then announces he has a name for the five: Alpha Force, taking the first letter of all their names and representing the new beginning for Amber to move on from the Omega (ending) necklace she wears round her neck to remember her parents.

Characters who aged well: all of them!

Alex’s love of the outdoors is endearing, and he never underestimates anyone else’s skills despite being the most prepared for struggles in the outdoors; he is fairly introverted and thoughtful without being boring, I think he’s very sweet.

Amber’s presence as a billionaire black girl with great navigational skills was a fun subversion of the unfortunate stereotyped roles black characters are given; she has great character development without losing her sharp-witted personality and she’s very funny.

Hex plays off Amber’s banter with ease after their initial clashing, and I like that, though he loves his electronics, he never lets the team down by adapting to the outdoors.

Paulo is just adorable, a charming boy from a ranch who likes to flirt with the girls he likes but always respects their boundaries. His positivity is also very uplifting.

Li: ahh my cool favourite Li. Not just providing Asian representation, but also mixed representation, which I was very pleased about as a kid, and still am. Similarly to Amber, Li subverts a stereotype of her own- she’s knowledgeable about things without being a nerd, and gets to be the most playful character alongside Paulo. In my experiences with male authors, the girls rarely get to be the ‘funny’ character so I always enjoyed this!

Characters who aged badly: no one!

Favourite scene/quote: “‘Or was Heather right? Are you too good for us, Alex?’ said Li, slyly.”

This quote signifies when Alex properly commits to being a part of A-Watch, going along with Amber’s plan to ignore Heather’s disciplinary instructions in favour of ‘stealing’ food. It’s the first time the group work as a team, and his hesitation gives way to helping his new friends even though he never does anything against the rules. I also just enjoy Li’s sneakiness at any time, really. The following scene where the five relax under the stars eating food and getting to know each other before all hell breaks loose is nice to read, and all the action sequences are really great, especially Amber’s dive with the sharks while escaping pirates.

Overall verdict:

I wanted to give both of these books four and a half stars, so let’s pretend I figured out how to do that. The only reason they both don’t get five stars is because the following books in their respective series improve after the first ones- both in writing style and character development- and I’m allowing room for that.

Starting off with The Lightning Thief, the headlong dive into action from chapter one was so fun, and learning about the monsters and mythology in time with the main character is always a welcome addition. As someone who read the original myths before any Percy Jackson novels, hearing them retold from Percy’s humorous perspective is very amusing. Anyone familiar with Percy Jackson knows that the movies released a few years ago were kind of a major letdown compared to the books, so the fact that Disney+ has now taken the series on board and begun casting (worldwide!) is super exciting! In line with Rick Riordan’s mantra of inclusivity, anyone of any ethnicity or gender can apply for the roles, which I think really fits the concept of what Percy Jackson represents.

There were very few reviews for Alpha Force due to how underrated it is, and all I could find was a few comments on Goodreads. One person mentioned that they felt the beginning of Survival was slow. I personally don’t know what ‘slow’ refers to in this case, as I felt the introductions and set up all very natural and in a way, necessary before the serious action kicks in. However, I tend to enjoy a few quiet scenes focused on character development that might not be for everyone. I’m still pretty sad there’s literally nothing else about this series on any fandom pages or anything, but I suppose I’ll just have to resign myself to just me and my brother talking about it!

In the case of both books in this review, my memories of these series were not simply clouded by the rose-tinted lenses of nostalgia. I remain just as impressed and in love with the worlds and characters within the stories, and I hope other people enjoy them as much I continue to.

[theskyexists]

Lovecraft Country Finale

I watched the last episode of lovecraft country. for once, i agree with a public rating website. this last episode was markedly worse quality than anything that came before. And especially compared to the penultimate episode that was INCREDIBLE. My three biggest disappointments: The christina/ruby + leti plot fizzling like that Ji-ah being made literally just an extension cord Dee killing Christina in cold blood Nothing in this episode really made sense and what did make sense wasn't really satisfying. They've been building up the tension over whether Ruby will choose her family/sister or Christina for episodes and episodes - and now -??? They have her decide to help Leti basically off screen and have Christina kill her off screen too? Even though they have been building that tension for the whole season. Showing the audience that Christina genuinely cared for Ruby very much and Ruby was getting pulled into the dark side deeper and deeper?? They did Montrose's gay arc very well - but they had the wlw pairing kiss for the first time as women and then they both instantly die. Cool.... And why did Ruby decide to help Leti anyway? We end on Leti saying to Ruby that there's more - but then we never find out what was said or why that would have convinced Ruby. It is even implied later in the tower that Leti recognised Christina in Ruby's form by Christina not knowing that Ruby had refused Leti in the cemetery. So?? What happened there. I so very much disbelieved that Ruby would betray Christina that I thought Ruby was simply tricking Leti with the blood. They just threw that whole dynamic and Ruby’s character in the trash for a quick ending. It’s ridiculous and kind of dispicable when Ruby was so interesting. For that matter, why would Christina reveal herself to Leti by posing such a transparent question about the spell? Why would Christina physically fight Leti when Tic couldn't even shoot her because of her magic? Why would she kill Leti? And THEN make her invulnerable again just in time for Leti not to die for real - just in time to mess up Christina's whole spell and kill her??? (lol what a bad move) Why wouldn't she tell Tic that Leti was alright if she'd made sure of it? If Leti coming back to life was linked to her achieving immortality - couldn’t she have told Tic for extra emotional conflictedness? As some kind of cold comfort to him? The way Christina was shown to offer comforts? If preserving Leti’s life was supposed to show how she wanted to preserve Tic's child - truly the last family she had - then that would have been very interesting - but we didn't see any of that. (I read a theory that it was because she'd promised Ruby not to harm Leti - but - they didn’t show us that either)

Then there's Ji-Ah. I liked how Tic apologised to her - but that dissolved all the tension that her character had left. I was very dissatisfied with how they re-introduced her for one scene in the one episode and then forgot about her. And then they had her return for the finale to be a plot puzzle piece. Honestly, I personally think they should not have had her return until the last episode. I think it would have been novel and done the pace good if the whole episode had been from her point of view to be honest. Radical, i know. But now they were trying to keep all this stuff from the audience (summoning titus etc.) before things happened to keep things fresh - but the ancestral plane STILL felt like an exposition dump. It would have been cool for Ji-Ah to tumble into the middle of the climax and not know what was going on as an audience stand-in and then suddenly find her purpose - even as she's still at odds with Tic - even as she's still in love with him. But he's got a girlfriend, who's pregnant, and he's going to die, and he's got to save his people.... just a thought. I bet other solutions could have been found....

That scene with Christina storming into the garage also does not do her conflict with the fam justice. I would loved for Leti to call her out - to be like: what if I killed the person you loved most for immortality - would you think that's not personal?? Which would be ironic because that's of course - Ruby.

Then there's Dee. I understand this kid has just lost her dad to racist white people, thought she was abandoned by her mum, lost her friend to racist white people, got cursed by racist white cops, almost died to that curse while nobody helped her, lost her drawing hand and arm (very gross and traumatising). And I know she's related to Montrose who cold-blood killed an ancient and innocent survivor of genocide ( fuckin hate that choice still. and where did he leave the GODDAMN body??? Why wasn't the room covered in BLOOD?? How did he just cold-bloodedly kill a person??? he's not a soldier?? There is no reason to think he'd ever done anything like that before.)

But DEE??? KILLED A PERSON we hadn't even seen her pin her terrible experiences on her ever before - in cold blood. What??!! My god - it's not as simple as all that to do murder you know! Anyway, I'm going to miss Christina she was a great villain - very nuanced, so beautifully dressed for the part and with a wonderful deeply articulated american acccent lol. Would have liked it if they'd told her why her goals of immortality at the cost of her cousin's life in the tradition of her shitty fuckin dad's white supremacy order was not a hair better just because she wanted experiences instead of power.

One other point: why did Tic not let go of the frickin handlebars?

[captainthane]

The Last Contract

Disclaimer: this story is darker than usual (Halloween month) but it ends on a positive note! I warn you that there will be heavy topics.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nymir had been working as a succubus for so long. She was probably the one who fulfilled the most impressive number of contracts in all Hell. Yet, since the day she started, she didn’t age at all. It was the advantage of being eternal like all the demons were. However, even an immortal being could feel when it was time to stop and to retire. Plus she was dating another demon, Ennor. Her girlfriend was the one in charge from the Hell’s side in the Purgatory. She was hoping to spend more time with her and maybe trying to be a chef. After going to the mortal realm many times, she was interested by the cooking aspect of the mortal’s realm. Furthermore, thanks to the Gardener, Hell was finally getting a diversity in terms of alimentation. She could move on and she could do something else in her eternal life. Today would be her last day of work, her last contract. 

- Nymir! I heard it was your last day as a succubus? You plan to retire? (Lilith)

- Yes, my queen. It’s time for a change~ (Nymir)

- That’s a good idea~ I’m curious what you will do~ (Lilith)

Both of them giggled thinking of the old times when Nymir was doing her first contracts. Suddenly, Lilith had a serious expression. 

- This contract gives me bad vibes to be honest with you. It has been several hours that we keep receiving it. Someone on Earth seems to perform some kind of ancient ritual to summon one of us. (Lilith)

- Ancient ritual? That sounds so old school. I thought the humans were not doing them anymore. (Nymir)

- Me too. Be careful. Just in case. (Lilith)

- I will. See you later. (Nymir)

She waved at her queen and teleported herself to the destination of the contract. Nymir believed she could expect everything from it except for the one thing she saw when she arrived to the contractor. It was a dark room with barely some light coming from candles. In this room, there were six people. All of them were wearing some kind of religious outfit, like priests tended to wear. They were praying a language she couldn’t understand. And her expression became pale and livid when she noticed the most important detail; an young naked man was tied up on the ground and on some kind of symbol. He was covered in bruises, cuts and blood. His mouth was covered with a mouth guard or something. He was struggling so much and yelling in fear as he looked at Nymir. He was young, probably between sixteen or eighteen years old. The demon didn’t say a word as one of the people started to talk to her.

- Please mighty and powerful demon! Accept that offering! Accept the body and soul of my son! And in exchange, share with us a bit of your power! Please dear demon accept him. We are your servants. (Strange Woman)

- Yes all mighty demon, accept my son. (Strange Man)

Nymir didn’t reply as the boy was struggling like she never saw before. Without a word, her hammer appeared in her hands as she walked slowly towards the six people. She passed next to the tied up boy and landed her first strike...killing her instantly. Nymir then took the woman’s soul and put it on a bag she created. The other people were confused.

- Dear demon...why are you doing this? You had a pure virgin boy just for you. (Strange Man)

The demon didn’t reply and kept smashing every one of them...covering herself and the room with the blood of these people. The boy was so scared and kept struggling. Nymir collected the souls and came closer to the boy. Her dark expression changed to a soft one as she untied the boy. When he was free, he ran and hid himself in a corner of the room. He cowered himself and screamed as much as he could. Nymir didn’t move as she waited. The screams were then replaced by tears and sobbings. The demon walked calmly and slowly towards the boy. She sat closer to him. She created a blanket and covered the boy’s body with it. He was shivering a lot.

- I’m not here to hurt you. I promise I won’t hurt you or do anything bad. Take some deep breaths. (Nymir)

She began to do the breathing exercise for several minutes until the boy followed her and was doing it too. He seemed to relax slightly. In the meantime, Nymir sighed and teleported them in her house. The boy was still afraid and didn’t expect such thing. He didn’t move while he could see he was in a...bathroom? Nymir stayed quiet and prepared a bath before talking to him again.

- You are injured and you need to be cleaned. Healing magic is more of an angel thing but I can still heal you and give you a bath. It’s up to you. (Nymir)

She was speaking with a soft voice which eased the boy’s fear. He nodded and entered the bath in silence. For the next thirty minutes, Nymir cleaned and healed him using the bath. Once it was done, she gave him some clothes. 

- My name is Nymir. What’s yours? (Nymir)

He was hesitant to talk but he was feeling better as he began to wear the fresh new clothes.

- I don’t have any...they never gave me a name...these people you killed....they were my family...(Boy)

His voice didn’t sound upset. It was like he was feeling relieved. 

- I see. I’m sorry for...killing them. I reacted on instinct. (Nymir)

- Don’t be. They were awful people. They wanted to use me as a tool to get power since the day I was borned...

- I see. So you don’t have anywhere to go? (Nymir)

The boy shaked his head and cried quietly. Nymir sighed and took a moment to think. 

- I can propose you something but keep in mind that the choice is yours. (Nymir)

- I...I’m listening. (Boy)

- As you maybe noticed, we are in Hell. I didn’t know where to go aside from my home to help you. It might be not the best option...but you can become a demon and restart a life here. I can also give you a name in that matter. Think about it. If it’s a no, I will try to relocate you somewhere safe. (Nymir)

She didn’t wait long before he gave her his answer. 

- I accept...You saved me and you are offering more than anything I received in my life. (Boy)

Nymir came closer to him and smiled.

- I will help you through the transition. What do you think of the name...Jikan? (Nymir)

- I like it! (Jikan)

- Then Jikan, let me bring you to our King and Queen. They will make you a demon. (Nymir)

For the first time in his life, Jikan smiled and followed Nymir to the King and Queen of Hell. Ironically, Hell was going to be a much more comfortable place to live for him. Maybe he could finally decide what he would want to do in his life.

---

As Nymir and Ennor was peacefully enjoying their time in their house while Colan was doing the road trip with his friends. Suddenly, someone knocked at their door. Nymir opened it and she saw Jikan with a bag full of hellish vegetables. He was smiling.

- Sorry for being this late! We were planning on the next garden and forest we will develop with the Gardener! (Jikan)

- Don’t be sorry~ You are working hard~ Share some tea with me and Ennor, it comes from Earth~ (Nymir)

- With pleasure big sister! (Jikan)

Both of them smiled and spent the rest of the day drinking tea and joking around with Ennor. It was a good day to live in Hell.

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It is done XD Wow it’s a long one XD I hope you will enjoy the story despite the heavy stuff ^^ Say Hello to Jikan ^^

Ennor, Nymir and Jikan belong to me

Lilith belongs to me and @wildstarfan

Okaria et feria belongs to me and @wildstarfan

[fireflyfish]

Hop on the Wen Chao Haterade Express!

Hahah! I hope you weren’t expecting something about Tano and Kenobi right? Because I have thoughts that must be shared with others and you are all my unwilling victims. Can one be a willing victim? 

Episode 17: Wei Wuxian goes to the Ancient China Google School of Medicine

After Episode 16: Running and Crying; Now with Running and Crying In The Rain we left our hero sitting in a boat having an existential crisis because that’s what happens in boats in ancient China. Crises and crying. Nothing good happens in boats in Ancient Fantasy China. Wen Chao was probably born in a boat. 

Wen Ning is flawless and really strong for the local Woobie Badass and carries our 200 lbs of whoopass and Mommy issues to the crisis boat and Wei Wuxian with the promise that everyone back in Lotus Pier is drugged off their asses and will wake up with the same headache I have every morning when I remember the state of the world I’m living in.

There is no ibuprofen that can save you Wen Chao. I hope you suffer you unmitigated twat. I hope you trip on every loose board in Lotus Pier and break all your toes. I hope your hideously tacky and vicious little bloodsucking mosquito of a girlfriend lands face first into a pile of fire ants. I hope... 

Woah... I’m not even sure I hate Palpatine that much. Wow. Fire ants... damn. I need to calm down. 

Eh-hem. So When-Will-His-Face-Make-an-Expression Zhuli is very zen about the whole thing and I just don’t get his character. What is going on? Why is he all :| when he is serving the Wen Clan? He seems so annoyed by Wen Chao, which automatically makes him better than all the other Evil Wens, but he still goes around melting cores and killing Beloved Parental Figures and having respectful dialogue like he’s not the bag man for the WORST heir to a fantasy throne since Game of Thrones. I bet he and Joffrey when to some kind of evil royal boarding school together. Ramsay Bolton was probably there too.

Then we float on a boat of sadness and pick up Yanli, who is understandably sad and say goodbye to an old lady who I think is going to die off screen? Who are you? Where did you come from? Does Jiang Cheng need to avenge you too? 

The boat floats on until it transforms into a cool box carriage thing and My Perfect Son Who Gives Me Echo Vibes smuggles our beleaguered family into the earth kingdom Yiling which hold up! Isn’t that where Wei Wuxian is supposed to be like the Great and Terrible Yiling Patriarch? Where he did such horrible things like make a compass that detects ghosts and cool goth varsity flags that summon ghosts? I feel like this place is important and LOOK AT ALL THE TREES!!! *cries in Central Texan about trees* 

My Other Equally Perfect Son Who Does Not Deserve This Jiang Cheng is sick and feverish and Wei Wuxian decides this is the perfect time to get him a blinging black cape with red accents and I swear I am hearing the Imperial March in the background. The I-Do-Bad-Things-For-Reasons-I-Think-Are-Good-But-Are-Ultimately-Bad-And-My-Light-Side-Boyfriend-Gets-His-Heartbroken-Because-Of-It vibe is very strong.

Anyway, Dr Wen Qing Medicine Woman shows up and looks at her baby brother and understandably gives into that sweet innocent face because Wen Ning Has Done Nothing Wrong In His Life. AND WHY THE HELL IS HE THE GHOST GENERAL?? WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PRECIOUS SON WEI WUXIAN??? DO I NEED JIANG CHENG TO STAB YOU AGAIN?

After some ancient Chinese medicine, which looks so much more pleasant than my last visit to the GP, The Radiant Goddess Wen Qing explains that Jiang Cheng has no golden core and that’s clearly bad but it isn’t until Jiang Cheng wakes up and tries to apparently suckerpunch Wei Wuxian with all his spiritual energy that we learn the truth.

Wen Zhuli is a Monster and He Hurt My Precious Child. Madam Yu energy intensifies.

So then Wei Wuxian basically badgers Wen Qing into letting him look at all her medical books and of we go into a studying monologue where time is measured in stubble and plates of uneaten food. Wen Qing is being very patient and gorgeous about the whole thing even though she knows there’s Nothing You Can Do Anakin Wei Wuxian. You Cannot Keep People From Dying Rebuild People’s Golden Cores After The Palm d’Or of Death Smacks Them. 

Then Wei Wuxian makes Yanli cry and he is on my List now because Yanli is Perfect and Flawless and none of you bastards deserve her, except you Wen Ning or possibly Meng Yao WHERE IS HE? HOW DID HE NOT DIE FROM BEING STABBED IN THE CHEST? QUI-GON JINN FELL OVER LIKE A SACK OF BAD POTATOES BUT MENG YAO IS JUST OUT THERE LOOKING FOR WORK WITH A BLEEDING CHEST WOUND?

Then Wei Wuxian mentions Lan Zhan and Yanli tells him “Listen, Asshole. ACheng is Sick and trapped in an acupuncture coma because he won’t sleep, I am ominously coughing and you have HIDEOUS stubble. Your Robot Bunny Boyfriend will just have to wait. We are the A plotline in this story, not your bromance with the reserved and gorgeous nerd in the back of the classroom who knows all the answers because he’s already finished the text book. Focus on my face and my tears you idiot. You made me cry!”

Wei Wuxian understandably feels bad, sleeps, shaves and then goes back to studying after Wen “I am so going to regret this in two episodes” Qing picks up her library and decides that someone with ACTUAL medical experience should be doing some research. 

Also... what is going on with those pots that Yanli and Wen Ning keep fanning? What is in those? Medicine? Ox bone soup? Poison I can give to Wen Chao?

After some more lovely shots of Yiling that REALLY make me want to hire their set designer to build my dream house, Wei Wuxian finds the wooden scroll book “How to Give Your Core To Your Adopted Brother Because You Have SO Much Guilt And Also Your Promised Your Adopted Father Figure You Would Take Care of Him And They Don’t Have Talk Therapy In Fantasy China Yet”. 

There is some dramatic sitting, some dramatic “Hell No I am not doing this” on Wen Qing’s part and lots of “No, really, you have to do this. I am totally okay sacrificing for the Jiangs because it’s REALLY going to make everything hurt so much worse later on when ACheng murders me to death on the edge of a cliff on Mustafar Quishan” 

Wen Qing is probably thinking of all the horrible ways this could go south and is trying to be An Adult when Wen Ning shows up and is pure and good and full of faith and devotion to Wei Wuxian and I think I need to send a clone extraction team to rescue my poor baby boy. 

Unable to withstand the purity of Wen Ning’s smile and because the script says she has to Wen Qing agrees and gives us some ominous stats and Wei Wuxian is cool with that because “It might work and if it doesn’t who cares? Wen Chao is going to show up at any minute to murder us and probably you and Wen Ning and then Lan Zhan will show up with his Guzheng (yes I did have to google that) Of Pretty Magical Death and then we’ll just have to wait for the next episode after that where everybody magically survives except all the people *I* like because that’s how these things go.”

WHEN DOES WEN CHAO DIE? HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET FROM LOTUS PIER TO YILING BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE IT’S TAKING WAY TOO LONG AND I AM SO VERY WORRIED ABOUT YANLI’S COUGHING. WHAT IS THE STYGIAN TIGER AMULET AND WHEN DO WE GO BACK TO THE FUTURE?? 

WHEN DOES WEN CHAO DIE?????? 

[artificialqueens]

papillionlisse 1/? [gigi x nicky / jan x jackie] - pinkgrapefruit

[ chapter one ]

Fast forward to the middle of sixth year and she’s signing up for the Beauxbaton exchange program, egged on by Jan who’s bouncing on her toes, the tote bag slung over her shoulder almost overflowing as Crystal explains the significance of her One Direction stick’n’poke to Jackie who still only has a limited knowledge of muggle music but bless her, she’s trying.

[harry potter hogwarts/beauxbaton au]

A/N - hey! there was a prompt on aq that i was IN LOVE WITH because I’ve wanted to venture into my second favourite fanfic fandom for months but haven’t seen the need. but hey - this should be fun. Thanks to Meggie for betaing, this should be about 6 chapters but don’t hold me to that <3

*

Ever since she was seven, in the aftermath of one of the greatest wizarding wars in British history, Gigi has longed to go to Hogwarts. Her uncle (on her magical mother’s side) would tell her stories of his youth running through ever changing corridors - challenging ghosts and stealing food from the kitchens. Her mother would scoff, nose up high as Gigi and her father would lean into the fantastical tales. Her dad was a muggle but he was fascinated nonetheless, one of the few that would lean into the wizarding world as far as he could rather than run screaming. Their family had hidden during the war - Gigi’s mother a part of one of the highest orders of pure blood family that still accepted the marrying of muggles (and hadn’t affiliated themselves with Death Eaters) - and Gigi had been immersed in the Pure Blood culture for a few months. She was tended to by house elves and taught to fly on a broom by her grandpapa who regaled her with his time playing as keeper for Hufflepuff.

When she got her letter she cried. And then she sent a letter to her grandpapa with her old owl Fluffy and a chocolate frog.

She’d sat on that train, knees bouncing the cage that held her new tawny owl Snitch at a rate that had agitated the poor bird so much he was flapping at the top of the cage. A small girl with insane dark curls entered the carriage and immediately removed the cage from her legs.

“You doin’ okay there?” the girl asked with a peppy voice and wide eyes. “I’m Crystal.”

“I’m Gigi,” she responded quietly, overwhelmed with excitement. “Do you want a crisp?”

“Are they salt and vinegar?” Crystal asked and Gigi nodded. “Awesome! Yeah!”

It was the start of a very firm friendship.

*

Gigi and Crystal entered the great hall with mouths agape. They were funneled in by Hagrid, grouped together with the first years to be sorted and their eyes flitted between the ornate decorations and the hall full of students in black house robes - seated at long tables decorated with banners and flags of the houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.

“What do you want to be?” whispered Crystal eagerly as she vibrated next to Gigi.

“I don’t mind,” Gigi mused. “None of them are bad.”

“I want to be a Hufflepuff,” Crystal enthused and it made Gigi giggle at her new best friend.

“GOODE, GIGI,” Headmistress McGonagall called from the front of the hall and Gigi skittered up to the front of the room nervously, passing students both older and taller than she. She sat on the stool carefully as the Sorting Hat was placed onto her head. It wriggled uncomfortably for a few seconds, mumbling things Gigi couldn’t quite make out before screeching ‘SLYTHERIN’ at the top of its nonexistent lungs. The green table erupted into cheers as she ran to take a seat on the end, the badge on her uniform transforming into a snake in front of her eyes.

She sat patiently for a few moments as various other girls were called - a Mateo going to Gryffindor and a Liason going to Hufflepuff before Crystal’s name was called.

The young girl sat for only a second before the hat called Hufflepuff and the house cheered in triumph, Crystal giving Gigi a little wave before running to join the sunny yellows of her house.

Once everyone had been sorted, McGonagall tapped her glass to silence the room. “Welcome first years! As you may know,  since the Battle of Hogwarts we have taken house unity very seriously. This means that although you are governed by your house’s prefects, earn points for your house and play quidditch in your colours, you will live, work, and eat with whomever you choose. Aside from special occasions - you will function as a unit, not separate groups. Common rooms, while house specific, are open to everyone and your dorms could be anywhere so it’s important that you respect all house prefects because you don’t know whose rule you’ll live under. Be kind to one another - it matters more than you know, and let the feast begin!”

With a final flourish of her wand, the empty tables were full of platters and the once plain ceiling looked to be full of stars.

*

Gigi’s dorm ended up being in the old Hufflepuff quarters, ever filled with a glowing warmth. She was thrilled to find Crystal lounging on a bed when she entered, two more girls also already having claimed beds - Jan Sport and Jackie Cox. She’d discerned from conversation that Jan was a half-blood like herself and Jackie appeared to be a very clueless Canadian Pure-blood which only made Gigi chuckle as she thought of the confusion on two sides the girl would be facing.

As she lay in bed that night - the room a perfect temperature and the bedspread an emerald green, she’d never felt so at home.

*

Fast forward to the middle of sixth year and she’s signing up for the Beauxbaton exchange program, egged on by Jan who’s bouncing on her toes, the tote bag slung over her shoulder almost overflowing as Crystal explains the significance of her One Direction stick’n’poke to Jackie who still only has a limited knowledge of muggle music but bless her, she’s trying. Jan smiles to herself as she watches her girlfriend try to understand how the ink is staying under the skin. “C’mon Gigi, write quicker!” Jan whines, “I want to go get waffles before the guys eat them all.” Gigi stifles a laugh knowing that’s the only reason Jan got up before seven today before scribbling her signature at the bottom of the form and transfiguring it into a paper butterfly to be sent up to Headmistress McGonagall’s office without hassle.

They all enter the hall, finding four seats together on the end of an old Gryffindor table - the hall only really sticking to the tables on Quidditch game days and special feasts where house unity can be thrown out of the window and no one wants Slytherin to win another house cup (Gigi doesn’t blame them - she’s the captain and they’ve been damn fantastic these past few years).

Jan’s shovelling waffles into her mouth as Jackie mutters for her to breathe when McGonagal clears her throat and taps her glass bringing the hall to silence.

“As you all might have heard, the Sixth Year Beauxbaton Exchange starts after the holidays. For all who have not heard - today is the last day of sign up. Sixth years who choose to participate will be assigned a partner from Beauxbaton. The partner will come here for our summer term - partaking in their normal NEWT subjects and sharing dorms and generally experiencing life here at Hogwarts. They will take on their partner’s house for all house related activities and will not be eligible for quidditch teams before any of you ask.” She pauses, eyes directed towards Gigi with a smirk making the brunette blush in her seat. “Then, in the winter term our students will visit there - the same rules will apply - before all returning here for our famous Yule Ball just prior to Christmas. This is not a graded event but it will do well for anyone wanting international experience or those considering a mastery at Beauxbaton after their NEWTs. With that, it’s almost nine so you have a few more minutes to devour your eggs before I expect you all in your classes - promptly.” She ends with a smile and a wave indicating the hall can get back to its usual chatter and it does with some immediacy.

“Are you sure you don’t want to do it, Crys?” Gigi asks, pushing a final toast crust around her plate with her fork as the girl opposite her gets crumbs all over the transfiguration essay she’s frantically finishing.

Crystal looks up at Gigi with a raised eyebrow, her unruly curls falling over her face (although they’re quickly fixed back by Jackie who’s particularly proficient at beauty charms). “Baby, if I tried to speak French I’d insult them all.” Crystal chuckles. “I failed year six french, thank god I didn’t have to do high school.” Jan and Gigi chuckle in agreement as Jackie sticks her tongue out, insulting them all in french. She drops a kiss on Jan’s head before leaving for her Ancient Runes class.

“You both in transfiguration next?” Jan asks with mouth full of eggs. Gigi and Crystal nod - Gigi looking much more excited as it’s her favourite subject. Crystal sighs - she wants to be a healer so she’s got a full board of classes from Charms and Transfiguration, which she cannot do to save her life, and Potions and Herbology which are much more her speed. Needless to say she’s grateful for Gigi in spellwork classes.

Jan brushes a few lone crumbs off her robes, grabbing her Beatles themed tote bag and rushing off to Care of Magical Creatures, leaving Crystal and Gigi to walk to Transfiguration together.

“What do you think your girl will be like?” Crystal muses, a finger fiddling with one of her loose ringlets.

“I hope she’s nice…” Gigi replies as if she hasn’t put a lot of thought into it (she has but she’ll deny it to her grave).

“Yeah, and respectful. It takes a lot of respect not to throw a pillow at Janet and Jaqueline some nights,” Crystal jokes and Gigi snorts out a laugh as they arrive at the classroom.

“Alright bitch, are we hoping for an E?”

“If I exceed expectations I will be very happy,” Crystal agrees and they take their seats.

*

Gigi normally finds the Hogwarts Express relaxing. She’s usually soothed by the feeling of the old steam engine chugging away under her feet. Crystal stuffs as many pumpkin pasties as she can into her trunk and Jan spends the whole ride with her head in Jackie’s lap which would definitely be a hazard if the train happened to brake (it doesn’t, it’s a magic train, but it could).

She’s normally relaxed about now, but she’s going to meet her exchange partner and honestly she’s finding it very hard to be relaxed. Not to mention she has a very new cat (Quaffle) that is currently unimpressed with being in a train carriage and has found a home on Crystal’s lap, begging for attention.

“You doing okay there Gi?” Jackie asks, worried as always. “You’re looking a little pale.” This is a joke of course, Gigi’s pretty sure she’s never been more tanned than alabaster but if her reflection is anything to go by, she’s not looking particularly calm.

“Just nervous,” she admits, batting away the stick of Droobles Bubblegum Crystal tries to offer her - branching out from her usual snack trolley order.

“Big day!” Jan enthuses from her reclined position, Jackie’s fingers tangled in her hair.

“Big day,” Gigi repeats under her breath, trying to channel some of her roommate/best friend’s energy. “Big fucking day.”

*

“Honestly Crys I’m pretty sure you’re more excited than I am.” Gigi chuckles as they all walk up to the castle together, Jan holding the squirming cat carrier as she’s the only one not phased by the movements.

“If you think about it,” Crystal starts, adjusting her robes as she walks a way akin to a confused badger, “She’s kind of like a family pet. If you get her - we all kinda’ have her. Like a dog.”

Gigi and Jan burst out laughing while Jackie gives a snort that she stifles into an exasperated sigh. “I swear to god Crystal if you refer to the poor woman as a pet while she is here I will disown you.”

Crystal hums nonchalantly at the threat but all of their attention is drawn away by the faint sound of twinkling in the air. They look up out of instinct and coming out of the clouds is a giant, powder blue carriage drawn by Abraxans (large horses with wings). It floats as if weightless and the entire student body stops in awe just to watch it descend onto one of the large fields by Hagrid’s hut.

No doubt they’d all stare for much longer but Professor McGonagall calls from the entrance, requesting them to hurry and put their things away before dinner.

They all enter the dorm with a hubub and Gigi calls the bathroom first, forcing Jackie to charm her hair into one long brown braid that falls over her shoulder. She applies the minimal makeup she knows how to - feeling an urge to impress the girl she is yet to meet before being hurried out of the bathroom by Crystal who is insisting she needs the mirror to do something (none of them are quite sure what).

An additional bed has been added to the dorm between Gigi’s and Crystal’s. While Jan and Crystal’s beds have yellow covers and trimmings, Gigi’s is green and Jackie’s a deep blue - this new bed has a deep purple cover with delicate silver trimmings down the side and Jan appears to be examining it curiously as she braids her silver blonde hair into a messy french plait. They all bide their time, as they wait for Crystal, and once Jackie has rescued whatever hairstyle the dark haired girl was attempting, they head down to the hall.

Despite this being a start-of-term feast, the house restrictions have been lifted for the school so they all find themselves sat in their usual seats at the Gryffindor table, idly waiting for the process to begin. As far as Gigi knows, the Beauxbaton will sit on the same stool they all sat on as first years and the hat will call out the name of their partner - to get a feel for Hogwarts, or so Professor McGonagall said. Then Gigi will have to stand and the girl will join them at the table.

She plays footsie with Crystal under the table through McGonagall’s speech - too nervous to pay much attention (and knowing Jackie will let her know anything important) and then the sorting starts.

The room goes deathly silent except for the sound of the rain on the enchanted ceiling as the first girl is called up. Violet Chachki is paired with Pearl and Gigi finds herself glad as the girl seems intimidating - her dark hair a stark difference from the rest of the blonde, porcelain skinned, part veela girls.

The part-Veela doesn’t worry her. For one she’s not a desperate straight boy clamouring after a perfect French girl and two - she doesn’t really care but she does feel oddly drawn to the girls in blue and she takes a brief second to wonder what would happen if she did get a Veela more interested in women. A smile flits across her face and Jackie rubs a warm hand on her leg.

The next girl - Nicky Doll - is called. She’s blonde, like the rest, and lithe - gorgeous really - and even from where Gigi’s sat, she can tell her eyes are a pearlescent blue. She sits carefully on the stool - managing to make it look like a Vogue shoot rather than a school ceremony. The hat is placed on her head and it dwarfs her petite features - her button nose and her shining eyes and it makes her look almost childlike. Gigi is so focused on this she barely registers the way the hat screams ‘GIGI GOODE’. She’s sure she wouldn’t have if Jackie hadn’t jabbed her wand straight up into her ribs to jumpstart her again.

She stands inelegantly, smiling at the French girl who bounds towards her like Bambi but much more gracefully. It’s like she’s floating along the old cobble floors and then slides into the seat next to Gigi, breathless.

“Nicky Doll, enchanté,” she offers sweetly with her gloved hand outstretched. Gigi takes it gladly and is pleasantly surprised by how warm it is given the general coolness of the castle - even in April. Her shock must show on her face because Nicky gives a soft chuckle “Warming spell.” She shrugs.

“I’m Gigi Goode.” Gigi remembers to introduce herself. “This is Crystal.” The brunette waves jovially while her eyes stay fixed on the continuing ceremony. “Jan.” She waves too. “And Jackie.” Jackie turns for a split second to shake hands before she goes back to watching a girl named Brooke be paired with Vanessa Mateo - the feisty Gryffindor from their potions class.

“Do you know when there will be food?” Nicky asks rather brashly for her demeanor. “I’m starved.”

Gigi laughs softly. “Give it another five minutes and we’ll have a feast,” she jokes quietly and they turn their attention back to the end of McGonagall’s speech - Gigi unable to help getting caught on the feeling of a warm thigh pressed on her own.

*

Gigi doesn’t think to ask about the bedsheets until they’re getting ready for bed. Jan’s already tucked into Jackie’s bed in her girlfriend’s oversized Holyhead Harpies shirt attempting to read the astrology book that’s peaked the Persian’s fancy.

“I’m surprised you can read, Jan,” muses Crystal while cradling the, now much calmer cat, like a baby. “You’re such a cutie, Quaffle, aren’t you,” she coos at the kitty as Jan pounds the shade button they’d found in the Weasley’s joke shop on Diagon. The snake that comes out makes the cat squirm out of Crystal’s arms onto Nicky’s bed where the blonde picks it up gently. Out of nowhere it calms and curls up on her lap.

“He likes you,” Gigi states plainly and Nicky chuckles, running her fingers through the longhaired tabby’s fur,

“Most cats do I suppose.” Her hair is in loose blonde curls and she’s dressed in a satin blue babydoll which only makes Gigi self conscious about the loose sports bra and shorts she prefers. The dorms are always warm thanks to the old Hufflepuff wards so she’d rather go light than overheat.

Gigi settles herself in her bed, the green covers resting just under her grey bra. She bundles her hair up on top of her head and pulls out the glasses she only wears in the comfort of the dorms. “So tell us about yourself,” she asks as all the girls look to the purple bed. Everyone keeps their curtains open most nights so you can see round the curve of their dorm room through each of the poster beds.

Nicky hums as she thinks, tilting her head to the side in a way that makes her curls spill over her shoulder. “Well, in Beauxbaton I’m in Papillionlisse - and, uh consequently my colours are purple and silver. We are not like any of your houses. Ombrelune is probable to be Slytherin and I would say Bellefeuille is maybe Gryffindor but Papillionlisse is not. We are kind and artististic and idealistic at times.” She smiles softly as if remembering something nice and in the soft dorm lighting Gigi can see freckles on her cheeks.

“Oooh, we’ll have to see what houses we would be sometime!” Jan decides from where she has tucked herself under Jackie’s arm.

Nicky giggles and nods. “Absolutely Janet. Um what else? I do - what are yours called? NEWTS?” Crystal nods and she carries on. “Well I do astronomy, potions, transfiguration, charms, and divination.”

Gigi thinks for a second before she responds, brow furrowed as she mentally figures out logistics. “So you’ll be with me and Crys for transfiguration and charms - although Jackie comes to transfiguration too sometimes. We all do potions together and then astronomy you’ll be with Jackie and divination you’ll be with Jan.” She looks around to check that’s right even though she knows it is.

Between them they cover every subject with Jackie in arithmancy, ancient runes, astronomy, herbology, potions, history of magic, and transfiguration, Jan in care of magical creatures, potions, herbology, and divination, Crystal in potions, herbology, charms, and transfiguration, and Gigi in charms, transfiguration, potions, astronomy, and defence against the dark arts. Muggle studies is mandatory once a fortnight since the wizarding war and they all sit through it for the sake of their academic careers rather than for the joy of it.

“I have a feeling I shall enjoy it here,” Nicky contemplates as she moves Quaffle so that she can lay on her side under the covers.

“I hope so,” Gigi smiles. They fall asleep facing each other.

[faraway-wanderer]

QUEER YA READS happy pride month here’s a list of lots of queer YA books!!

-          The Henna Wars- Abida Jaigirdar When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants—as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she also doesn’t want to lose her relationship with her family. And her life only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic and Nishat falls for her instantly. Amidst sabotage and school stress, their lives get more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush on Flávia, and realizes there might be more to her than she realized

-          Red, White and Royal Blue- Casey Mcquinston   First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

-          You should see me in a crown- Leah Johnson Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz's plans come crashing down . . . until she's reminded of her school's scholarship for prom king and queen

-          Tell me How you Really Feel- Aminah Mae Safi Sana Khan is a cheerleader and a straight A student. She's the classic (somewhat obnoxious) overachiever determined to win.Rachel Recht is a wannabe director who's obsesssed with movies and ready to make her own masterpiece. As she's casting her senior film project, she knows she's found the perfect lead - Sana.There's only one problem. Rachel hates Sana. Rachel was the first girl Sana ever asked out, but Rachel thought it was a cruel prank and has detested Sana ever since.

-          Like a love story- Abdi Nazemian It's 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing.

-          I Wish You All the Best- Mason Deaver At turns heartbreaking and joyous, I Wish You All the Best is both a celebration of life, friendship, and love, and a shining example of hope in the face of adversity.

-          The Falling in Love Montage- Ciara Smyth Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. A condition that Saoirse may one day turn out to have inherited. So she’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see the point in igniting any romantic sparks if she’s bound to burn out. But after a chance encounter at an end-of-term house party, Saoirse is about to break her own rules. For a girl with one blue freckle, an irresistible sense of mischief, and a passion for rom-coms.

-          The Fascinators- Andrew Eliopulos Living in a small town where magic is frowned upon, Sam needs his friends James and Delia—and their time together in their school's magic club—to see him through to graduation.But as soon as senior year starts, little cracks in their group begin to show. Sam may or may not be in love with James. Delia is growing more frustrated with their amateur magic club. And James reveals that he got mixed up with some sketchy magickers over the summer, putting a target on all their backs.

-          The Dark Tide- Alicia Jaskina The Wicked Deep meets A Curse So Dark and Lonely in this gripping, dark fairy-tale fantasy about two girls who must choose between saving themselves, each other, or their sinking island city

-          Summer of Salt – Katrina Leno Georgina Fernweh waits with growing impatience for the tingle of magic in her fingers—magic that has been passed down through every woman in her family. Her twin sister, Mary, already shows an ability to defy gravity. But with their eighteenth birthday looming at the end of this summer, Georgina fears her gift will never come.

-          Sawkill Girls- Claire Legrand Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find. Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is. Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

-          The Priory of the Orange Tree- Samantha Shannon A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens. The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

-          I was Born for this- Alice Oseman For Angel Rahimi, life is only about one thing: The Ark – a pop-rock trio of teenage boys who are currently taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark’s fandom has given her everything – her friendships, her dreams, her place in the world. Jimmy Kaga-Ricci owes everything to The Ark too. He’s their frontman – and playing in a band is all he’s ever dreamed of doing. It’s just a shame that recently everything in his life seems to have turned into a bit of a nightmare.

-          Summer Bird Blue  Akemi Dawn Bowman- Bowman’s sophomore novel follows Rumi, a young musician plagued with grief and survivor’s guilt after her younger sister is killed in a car crash. Her mother sends her to liver with her aunt in Hawaii, and is also now mourning the loss of the music she would create with her sister and is unable to recapture her passion. As she navigates her loss, and feelings of abandonment from her mother, Rumi is also starting new relationships with neighbors, one a cute, easygoing surfer boy, and the other a irascible 80-year-old crankypants, while also becoming comfortable with her aromantic and asexual feelings.An immersive aromantic, asexual journey through grief and understanding.

-          Felix Ever after- Kacen Callender   a novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.

-          The Stars and The Blackness Between Them - Junauda Petrus Audre and Mabel, Black girls who find romance just in time for everything to fall even further apart.

-          By any means necessary- Candice Montgomery By Any Means Neccesary dives into the intersection of race and sexuality through the lens of its main character, Torrey, a gay Black college student.

-          Her Royal Highness -Rachel Hawkins- When Millie Quint discovers her best friend-turned-girlfriend has been kissing someone else, she decides to get as far away from her as possible – by going to boarding school on the opposite side of the globe. The only issue? Millie’s new roomate is the actual princess of Scotland.

-          Tash Hearts Tolstoy - Kathryn Omsbee, Natasha Zelenka (Tash), is a serious fangirl of Leo Tolstoy and a rising YouTube star with her webseries Unhappy Families, a modern-day adaptation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and Vlog, Tea with Tash. When a famous vlogger gives a shout out to the series, it goes viral. Now she, along with the cast and crew, are finding what it means to be a hit sensation and are managing the adoration, and the trolls, coming their way. Tash, a romantic asexual, has had a long time crush on the hit vlogger star Thom, who, as her online popular grows, so does Thom’s attention. Amidst the fame and romance, Tash is also dealing with her older sister creating distance, her parents announcing a new sibling on the way, college applications, the impending end of the series, and the big “What’s next.”An asexual romantic comedy coming of age.

-          Full Disclosure- Camryn Garratt Camryn Garrett’s debut novel follows a Black, HIV-positive teen as she explores her first romantic relationship. There are few books that discuss what it’s like to live with HIV, especially those that are light, relatable, and told through the lens of a young Black girl.

-          The Black Flamingo- Dean Atta Atta pens a coming-of-age story about a boy accepting his identity as a mixed-race gay teen, but then finds a place where he belongs as a drag artist named The Black Flamingo.

-          Juniper Leaves- Jaz Joyner   Kinky-haired  Juniper Bray used to believe in magic, until she lost her best friend: her grandmother. Now this 15-year-old shy girl is headed to her father's research trip on a farm hundreds of miles away, with a family she barely knows and the opposite of a best friend, her new arch nemesis, Bree Mckinney. As if she wasn't miserable enough. Little does she know the next few months Juniper will discover magical powers she never knew she had, get a crush on a girl she never knew she'd like and well, quite frankly, save the world.

-          Crier’s War - Nina Varela ‘In a world where humans are dominated by superior Automae, one human girl called Ayla takes the role of handmaiden to the Automae Lady Crier in order to help the human rebellion. But to Ayla’s horror, she finds herself falling for Crier.’

-          Queen of Coin and Whispers  Helen Corcoran -When a teenage queen inherits her uncle’s bankrupt kingdom, she brings with her a new spymaster – a girl who only accepted the role to avenge her murdered father. But faced with enemies at every turn, the two learn to rely on no one but each other . . . though it may bring their downfall.

-          Huntress- Malinda Lo – Ill fortune has befallen the land, and two girls have been tasked with the mission of setting things right. As Kaede and Taisin journey to the city of the Fairy Queen, adventure and romance awaits.

-          This Song Is (Not) for You - Laura Nowlin- This is not your usual love triangle. Ramona has been in love with her best friend and bandmate Sam for a long time, Sam has also been in love Ramona. When Tom joins the band, he completes them. Now Ramona is starting to have feelings for Tom, and those feelings are reciprocated. Tom is a romantic asexual, whose asexuality is fully explored

-          Seven Tears at High Tide-  C.B. Lee – After Kevin Luong drops, yup, seven tears into the sea, he ends up rescuing a boy from the waters. It’s love at first sight for Morgan who, unknown to Kevin, is a Selkie.

-          Loveless -Alice Oseman- (out on the 9th July!!) Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day.As she starts university with her best friends, Pip and Jason, in a whole new town far from home, Georgia’s ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare Society, her ‘teenage dream’ is in sight. But when her romance plan wreaks havoc amongst her friends, Georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her. With new terms thrown at her – asexual, aromantic – Georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever.

-          The Last Beginning- Lauren James-  (you probably need to read the next together first which I HIGHLY recommend) Sixteen years ago, after a scandal that rocked the world, teenagers Katherine and Matthew vanished without a trace. Now Clove Sutcliffe is determined to find her long lost relatives.But where do you start looking for a couple who seem to have been reincarnated at every key moment in history? Who were Kate and Matt? Why were they born again and again? And who is the mysterious Ella, who keeps appearing at every turn in Clove's investigation? For Clove, there is a mystery to solve in the past and a love to find in the future, and failure could cost the world everything.

[cosmostasia]

Cosmostasia’s Story

So as I mentioned in my first post, Cosmostasia is the character that I played in a long-form Dungeons & Dragons campaign with some of my best friends in high school. Obviously we were all getting ready to graduate, go off to college, etc., so we decided that once we completed our last campaign objective, we would find a way to tie up the story. It was a kind of bitter-sweet realization, but we made a lot of amazing memories along the way!

I joined the game during my junior year in high school, probably a few weeks after the game itself was started. My then-friend (now girlfriend) was in the game and had invited me. This was my first game ever, and honestly, I’ve never had so much fun with D&D! Our DM was an expert in just about everything, ran the game smoothly, answered just about every question... He’s a great DM, but I’m sad to say that since graduation he’s had almost no time to run another game.

But that’s all reminiscence about better days, not the story!

My character - at the time, named Anastasia - was a shapeshifter wizard. Most of her studies involved mapping the cosmos, reading star charts, and understanding the movements of the celestial bodies. I’ve always loved space, so it felt right making a wizard who was also an astronomer!

As the campaign went on, my girlfriend’s character (a tiefling bard name Tarx) basically became Anastasia’s love interest. Yes, there was romantic and intimate involvement, but we never really went into that kind of detail at the table - it was more heavily implied, “fade to black” than anything. Of course, that never stopped my mind from racing and thinking about how our characters did things... Normally, Anastasia had a relatively small bust, but Tarx was pretty open with his preference. Anastasia, of course, is a shapeshifter.

You get the idea there.

Moving on though, we went on to deal with a lot of problems throughout the world, from roving bandits and raiding orc factions, to entire armies of undead being raised and controlled by an ultra-powerful lich named Victus. Victus would become a recurring villain for us since whenever we killed him, his soul just returned to his phylactery and he would reincarnate at an unknown location in the world.

Our final campaign arc involved the Queen of Sarpathion, Queen Anisterian von Draxxis. A few of our questlines had involved going and saving some of the princes and princesses of the von Draxxis royalty - apparently they had been kidnapped at different points and no one was able to find them. Or at least, no one was brave (or stupid) enough to challenge the people that did it. From bandit chiefs to full-blown warlords and archmagi, one of whom turned out to be an ancient black dragon (imagine fighting THAT at level 10!!). Well, we managed to round the three of them up and bring them home to safety.

W R O N G .

Turns out what we had actually done was deliver Queen Anisterian the three children she had borne specifically for a blood sacrifice. For context, the von Draxxis line were all tieflings - part of the only reason Tarx cared at all about them was because they were like him, and he’d been treated poorly in other kingdoms.

Apparently Queen Anisterian was waiting until just the right moment when a solar eclipse would coincide with a planetary alignment (which my character knew about btw! We had been talking about this for months in advance!). During that brief moment, the time would be right for her to sacrifice her offspring and drink their blood, turning her into a matron vampire.

What she hadn’t been counting on was that our party in had become good friends with Dimerius, Alistarge, and Valliana von Draxxis. Lots of fun adventures and hard-fought victories were won by their sides. As such, if she was going to hurt them, she’d be answering to us. She also didn’t know that this ritual (which was apparently copied from the Book of Vile Darkness) would also cause untold instability in the Weave around the ritual site. Basically, you use magic within a mile of this place, and reality has a pretty solid chance of just unraveling itself. Fun, right? We got to learn this because one of our characters was a less-than-good-and-not-in-a-neutral-way vengeance paladin, and he’d managed to catch a glimpse of the Book of Vile Darkness the last time we’d dealt with Victus. It was that moment when we realized something was up (you know, a section that explicitly states “the blood of three of the mother’s offspring” seems a little obvious). That’s when we started making our way to Castle Draxxis with some help. 

This was around the time we were going to be concluding our campaign; we were all level 16 and were very capable of taking on such a threat. We’d worked with a lot of people and by that point, we were able to convince enough allies to band together and lead an invasion on Castle Draxxis. Of course, every time we had been there since the first time, the castle always felt slightly more... Off. And Queen Anisterian herself was sickly and unwell. She’d even made the comment at one point that her reign would soon be at its end, and then the kingdom must answer to her eldest son.

As we led the invasion, her armies fought as we suspected they would, up until the gargoyles adorning the buttresses and spires of the castle began to crackle and move. They came alive and made it impossible for us to march on Castle Draxxis.

The NPC that we’d appointed the sort of de facto general (Petram, a retired general for the army of one of the human kingdoms) told us to try and find a way in ourselves, and they would keep the bulk of the Queen’s forces distracted.

We make our way over the outer wall, fight off the gargoyles that noticed us get in, and made our way to a secret passage that Valliana had shown us. The Queen apparently hadn’t posted any guards at the passage, and we were able to make our way to the throne room with only a few brief encounters with royal guards.

By the time we had gotten there, the sun had been eclipsed by the moon and we could already hear the screaming. We opened the door as she was taking the last gulps of Valliana’s blood - the brothers already lay dead at the foot of the throne.

She underwent a violent transformation, and immediately forced half of the party to kneel before her (she charmed them and gave the command to kneel). Our cleric, Volmund the dwarf, was kept busy running around the room un-charming everyone, and Tarx did his best to help with his countercharm, but... her save DC was really high and we were not rolling well.

In the end, we had all been charmed and forced to kneel before her. She had been casting spells left and right, I had been casting spells, and because of the instability, we were beginning to notice reality shift and obscure. Of course, as we’re all powerless and unable to do anything, she began channeling a spell that was pretty much either going to kill everyone in the room except her, or tear through the fabric of reality. On the bright side, we all got to roll another save before her next turn, and then we’d be able to do something!

Except that we all failed. You know how people are usually like “Ugh I don’t want another elf in my party”? Make sure at least one of you plays a damn elf.

It got to my turn (right before hers) and I made my roll. Of course, I also failed. I then asked my DM if being charmed and forced to kneel also meant that I was unable to speak. He gave me a look, thought about it, and gave a smirk. “Sure, you guys are able to speak while you’re charmed - she didn’t say “Kneel and be silent,” so I’ll allow it.”

When we last defeated Victus, the one item that we were able to loot from him was this beautifully crafted ring. Everyone in the party already had a ring of some kind, so Tarx gave it to me as a sort of promise ring. However, our DM said that as I put it on, I felt this overwhelming magical energy flow through me (being that I was the only real magic-user in the party, Anastasia was sensitive to these things). I spent some time identifying the ring and learned that it was an innert Ring of Wishes! Of course, no charges on it so it was really just a fancy ring at that point. Everyone else had already forgotten about it, but I was texting the DM under the table and asking questions about the implications of having the ring near such a huge source of power/disruption. He said that it might (on a very, very lucky percentile roll) restore one of the charges to the ring.

I whispered into the ring, and said “If you can hear me... I wish for a way to survive long enough to fix everything Queen Anisterian has done.”

The DM raised his eyebrows, and rolled a percentile.

He laughed.

Hysterically.

Once he composed himself again, he said “Your wish... Has been granted.”

Everyone else at the table was just so confused and excited and panicked all of the sudden, and then, since Queen Anisterian had completed her round of channeling uninterrupted, was able to basically cast a spell that would drain all of our life forces until fell over as dried, dusty husks.

Before casting, the DM rolled a percentile (as he had been doing any time magic was used during the fight).

He laughed again.

“You all feel this horrible sensation as your blood, your life force, your very souls, are drained from your body. The pain is absolutely agonizing, and lasts for what feels like eternity in that instant. And then, as Queen Anisterian is laughing maniacally and relishing her new power, her hand suddenly flashes with a blinding light.”

He then turns to me specifically.

DM: “When you wake up, you don’t know where you are. As far as you can see all around you are nothing but distant stars and nebulae.”

Me: “Wait... What happened to everyone?”

DM: “The entire world blinked out of existence. You, however, have been granted immortality - and immunity - by your wish. You’re out in open space, but the lack of oxygen, the temperature... It doesn’t bother you, you actually feel fine.”

Basically, our DM had intended that a roll of 10 or lower on a percentile would cause reality to collapse on itself, but only enough to affect our world to different extents. Rolling a 10, for example, meant Castle Draxxis would blink out of existence.

He rolled a 1.

When he rolled for my ring, he rolled a 100.

We all kind of sat there basking in the sheer improbability of rolling a 100 and then a 1 right after (I think it’s a 1/10,000 chance? I’m an artist who likes space, not a mathematician). Then as the realization of what had happened settled into us, I had so many questions that I barely knew where to start. “Am I near where the planet was? Was I shot away from the blinkpoint, or was I teleported somewhere?”

He told us that I had basically been knocked out cold by the sudden magical reverberation (again, magic-sensitive) and fell adrift into space. Anastasia was able to identify where some of the planets were - the moon was not caught in the blast, but there was a massive chuck taken out of the side where the blinkpoint hit it and it was just floating adrift around the sun. From that, we were able to determine how long it had been (”Can I please roll an Intelligence check to figure out how long it’s been since the planets were aligned?” “Hm... Actually no, you just know how long it’s been based on their positions.”). Figured out that I’d been out cold for a week.

Anastasia panicked at first, frantically trying to get the ring to work again - but you know, it only regained the one charge. It’s innert. She cried for her friends and for everyone on her world. She cried for hours, knowing that she could have made a better wish. Knowing that her self preservation came at the cost of literally everything.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a glimmer. At first she thought it was a star, but realized it wasn’t one she recognized. She cast Fly on herself (can’t exactly swim through space) and made her way over, and as she approached, she found what looked to be some sort of crack in reality.

It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that this was the blinkpoint, and even looking at it made her feel like she was being electrocuted with magical energy. She decided that, being immortal, maybe touching it might do something? Who knows at this point, right? Even if it killed her or unmade her altogether, at least she wouldn’t be immortal and stuck with the guilt for the rest of eternity.

She reached out, and her hand connected with the fissure... And it pulled her in. She couldn’t see anything around her, being locked in an inescapable abyss. But that painful sensation that came from the blinkpoint had... faded. It was a dull hum in her mind now. She had the idea to cast Detect Magic, and the DM described the scene.

“You cast Detect Magic, and as you do, your eyes adjust to the scene around you, where you see all around you this intricate, perfectly woven latticework of microscopic threads. They cross in every conceivable direction, glowing in an impossibly numerous array of colors. This... is the Weave.”

By passing through the blinkpoint, I had basically transcended, and was able to perceive magic itself. And then, a voice came to me that caused every thread to resonate and vibrate.

???: “I see that you have found your way to that which lies between. A space betwixt realities.”

Anastasia: “Yes... I... Who are you? Can you help me?”

???: “I do not have a name. I am simply the Weaver of Magic.”

After a brief discussion about the implications of weaving space, time, and magic to bind everything together, the Weaver had a proposition.

Weaver: “You see, Anastasia... I also require assistance. Reality needs stability within the Weave, but I am unable to exist anywhere except within the Weave. I cannot leave this place. I could grant you the power to reverse the mistakes of the past, the power to right the wrongs of this Anisterian. But I would request that you act as the eternal guardian and curator of magic throughout the Planes.”

Anastasia: “Oh, I... I don’t know if I would know how to do that. You wield tremendous power, and even the gods find magic to be a fickle thing! Where would I even begin?”

Weaver: “Your gods find magic to be fickle because they have not embraced the Weave. You, however, may be granted this power freely.”

Anastasia: “You mean... You mean I could become a goddess?”

Weaver: “I do not fully understand these “gods,” but in your terms, yes. You would become Goddess of Reality.”

Anastasia: “That’s... more responsibility than I’ve ever known possible... But I can save my friends this way?”

Weaver: “I will allow you to undo the damage to the Weave. This will revert your reality to the moment before the threads were torn, and allow you to change the outcome of everything that had happened.”

Anastasia had to think long and hard about it. She would spend the remainder of her existence - the remainder of time - as a goddess, protecting and weaving magic throughout all of the Planes. That, of course, was nothing compared to the guilt of being the only survivor of her entire world.

She accepted the agreement, and the transformation began. Threads from the Weave wrapped themselves around her, covering her entire body until she was wrapped in pure magic. When she could see again, she was back out in space, adrift near the fissure. She looked at her hands instinctively, and noticed that her skin was glassy-smooth. Looking at her hands, her robes, her hair, she saw the same glass-like smoothness, but was able to look into herself and see the deepest parts of the cosmos within herself.

She had been transformed into the Goddess of Reality.

She looked to the fracture and began to focus. In the past, she was able to occasionally channel raw magic into different objects in order to activate them. She used the same process, but rather than the magic needing to be coaxed out of her, it erupted from her hands and shot into the fissure.

The fracture slowly crumbled into itself, and soon showed the entire world exploding in reverse. The moon lined back up with where it was, the planets unwound their orbits to realign, the planet reformed itself around her.

Within moments, she was floating just above the floor of the throne room right where she was, her hands raised at Queen Anisterian’s channeling hand. She held a hand out to Anisterian, and clenched her fist. Every thread of magic that had been woven into her unraveled and spun itself into Anastasia’s palm, and she was able to guide the threads back to the slain children of the queen. They would slowly reawaken and rise, and Queen Anisterian’s power was rendered innert.

Our party was able to stand up, and we apprehended the Queen and were able to throw her into the dungeons with no trouble. She was no longer capable of using magic in any form, so leaving her down there would pose no threats.

Alright, roll credits - that was the end of our campaign!

From then on, Anastasia changed her name to Cosmostasia, and wandered the Planes curating all of the torn threads of the Weave, ensuring that magic wasn’t being abused in a way that damaged it, etc.

Yes, Cosmostasia continued to visit her homeworld and help those in need, but given that she was a goddess and had some very pressing responsibilities, she couldn’t be there as consistently as our other heroes. Plus, when she was home, she was trying to take time off and be with her beloved Tarx!

If you made it this far, thank you for reading the entire thing!! I’ve always wanted to illustrate it and make a comic or something, but... that’s a project for another time lol. But now you have some context behind Cosmostasia!! :)