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wutheringmights · 3 months ago

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please please please explain how the bullshit military death cult in Fourth Wing is unsustainable. I need more Iron Flame slander in my life lol

I may have chosen the wrong phrasing last night. It’s less about the sustainability of the magical dragon country’s military college, and more about how much Yarros’s tendency to use specific numbers riles me up. Very specifically, a graphic at the beginning of Iron Flame.

(Note: I only got a little bit over 200 pages into Iron Flame before I had to return it to the library; if there is an universe rebuttal to any of this, I may not have reached it yet; I also do not have the book in front of my to double check specific numbers, but luckily Yarros’s Specific Numbers have rustled my jimmies so much that I have been spamming my group chats about them so I inevitably wrote them all down.)

The graphic in question is this:

It illustrates the structure of the titular Fourth Wing. As you can see, it is made out of 3 sections that are then divided into 3 squads. You will notice two important notes on this graphic:

Each squad contains 15-20 people

Each of the four wings that make up the dragon rider cadets in the military academy has the same layout

With this information, I should be able to more or less calculate the number of dragon riders attending the military academy.

In theory, the fourth wing has 8 people in leadership positions, and 136 to 180 squad members. That’s a total of 144 to 188 people in the fourth wing.

If the fourth wing is identical to the other three wings, that means that there are anywhere from 576 to 752 dragon rider cadets across three grade levels. That’s already a pretty small number, but this is an exclusive military program. It’s not an unreasonable.

Except it’s actually impossible for there to be 576 to 752 dragon rider cadets. Why do I know that? Because Yarros already gave us a Specific Number.

Let’s rewind. In Fourth Wing, it’s established that you cannot advance beyond your first year unless you bond with a dragon. If you do not bond with a dragon, you repeat the year until you either bond or die trying. There are also only a select few dragons who are willing to bond each year.

Yarros, of course, told us specifically how many dragons were willing to bond not only for that current freshman class, but for the two years previous:

1st year: 100 dragons*

2nd year: 137 dragons

3rd year: 163 dragons

(*actually, it was 101 but two dragons, in a super special unprecedented move, bonded with the same person; I’m trying to count the cadets, not the dragons so this really does not matter)

That means that there are around 400 dragon rider cadets, which is way less than what the info graphic implied. You can argue that the missing 176 cadets are those who did not bond with any dragons, but I highly doubt they would make much of a difference. Why? Because dragon rider cadets keep dying.

I kept track of how many people were dying in Fourth Wing. By the end of that book, there were less than 80 bonded cadets still alive. Yarros then contradicted herself in Iron Flame by stating that there were 89 cadets in the second year. This isn’t because a bunch of cadets suddenly bonded with dragons and advanced a year; that only happens in a one a year ceremony. Yarros is just bad with numbers, which shows how silly I am for going to this much trouble trying to prove her wrong.

All that’s to say that I’ll split the difference and say that 85 cadets were still alive at the end of the first year. That means that there is a 15% death rate between bonding with a dragon and getting to the end of the first year.

That means that by the time each class ended their first year, this about how many dragon rider cadets there should be:

1st year 85 cadets

2nd year: 117 cadets

3rd year: 139 cadets

That’s 341 people across all four wings. That means each wing has about 85 people.

But wait! People die beyond their first year. There’s an ever decreasing number of cadets each year. If we assume that 15% death rate is consistent each year, that means that by graduation day, each year has:

1st year: 85 cadets

2nd year: 100 cadets

3rd year: 102 cadets

That’s 287 cadets across all four wings, or 71 people a wing. I need not remind you how that is far below our predicted 144 to 188 per a wing.

And I haven’t even mentioned that not every dragon available to bond even bonds. So those starting numbers are already the best case scenario where every possible dragon selects a cadet. Our actual class numbers are probably 10 to 20 people smaller, and that’s before the numerous deaths.

When I started Fourth Wing, I inferred that the incoming freshman class started with about 700 people. (Each of the freshman dorm floors hold 156 people; there are at least three but it makes more sense for there to be a floor for each wing. Sixty-seven freshman died on the parapets. That’s a total of 691 freshmen, which I rounded up to 700.)

Xaden (terrible name) has a speech where he claims that 1/2 of the incoming class will die by the end of the first year, 1/3 by the second, and 1/3 by the third. He’s probably just trying to scare the newbies, but let’s take him at his word anyway.

According to his estimation, by the time the freshman class graduation, 172 people should still be alive. That’s a 21% survival rate, according to Xaden. That is somehow less severe than what is actually happening in the books.

There's never a point in time in the story where we acknowledge that the class sizes are this small. Everyone is dying, and there always seems to be more nameless faces than not. Yet, as all evidence suggests, there's not even enough people in the entire dragon rider curriculum to fill up a movie theater.

Ultimately, the numbers don’t really matter. What matters is that this fantasy military system is wildly inefficient. I understand on a trope-level why it has to be deadly. New Adult, the gangly older sister of YA, loves a good deadly game of wits and wile. Yarros was commissioned to write a romantasy story, and by god she was going to write the most marketable one possible. But you would also assume that Rebecca “second generation army brat who loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to her for over twenty years” would have a better understanding of how the military works.

On the most basic of levels, you win a war by having the most people still alive at the end. Everyone knows this. It’s not that hard. It’s in the best interest of the brass to keep your soldiers alive. When that best interest gets screwed over, it’s usually because of economic issues (like being able to afford the supplies needed to keep your troops alive), or prejudice (soldiers from persecuted demographics being less worthy of better food/ammo/missions, under qualified officials earning their jobs via privilege, etc.).

That is in itself another gross simplification. My point is that there’s no good reason why you would kill your own troops before they can even reach the battlefield. That’s a waste of resources! I don’t care if the dragons demand a blood sacrifice, or whatever. A practical military leadership would find some way to reroute failed rider cadets to a different career track before they needlessly died in training. The training can be as dangerous as you want, but for world building sake, be practical about how wars work. At least acknowledge that the military’s favorite canon fodder aren’t soldiers, but foreign civilians.

Believe it or not, but I actually don’t really care that the worldbuilding is nonsense. Can I write a needlessly long essay about how the numbers don’t add up? Sure, but who cares? It’s just bad in a normal way. I’m more than happy to let other people harp on it.

What is interesting is the way that Yarros views the morality of the military. It’s one thing for something to be pro-military. It’s another when your book’s thesis comes down to “it’s morally wrong for the big, powerful, totally not American, country to not provide military intervention to smaller, poorer foreign countries that are being viciously attacked by a seemingly unbeatable, dehumanized enemy.” Yarros doesn’t even try to cover it up; Xaden makes a giant, righteous speech about how they have a moral duty to protect citizens, to actually quote the book, “beyond our borders.”

As I said when I first read this: what the fuck?

Rebecca “second generation army brat who loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years” Yarros claims she is writing a series about the dangers of censorship. See how callous we are for letting other people die, and then covering it up? Yet, she mindlessly reproduces that idealized justification we’ve been fed for decades. Yarros, it’s never about helping civilians. I know you’re a biased army wife, but you know about the oil and the military industrial complex. You know America is not the good guy.

Moreso, the in-book movement to wage a war “beyond our borders” is labeled as a rebellion. According to this series, it’s counterculture to want military intervention overseas. Yes, Yarros is writing the world’s most marketable book. In a post Hunger Games society, there must be a little rebellion sprinkled in there. But to frame the desire to fight a war as any form of counterculture is downright insidious.

Fourth Wing is a book that looks you in the eye and tells you that the government is lying to you-- the war beyond our borders is necessary, that if we do not send the army to fight our inhuman enemies, they will hurt not only our poorer, less fortunate allies but also our homeland. War is a morale imperative.

I haven’t finished Iron Flame yet. Perhaps this rant is premature. Maybe the series turns itself around. But as one can imagine, I don’t trust Rebecca “second generation army brat who loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years” Yarros to have thought it through all the way. Just a gut feeling. Who can say? If I am wrong, I would be more than happy to eat my words, though. I would love to be wrong.

Me being wrong means that the most compelling reasons why Fourth Wing is bad really is the bad worldbuilding, prose, romance, characters, action, lore, smut, dialogue, editing, and everything else. There’s already a hundred big brained book reviewers who are making a video essay career off of telling you that in five hours or less. I respect the hustle. Personally, I never want to hear about this series again unless it’s about how Yarros built her blockbuster book series on conservative ideals of militarism and foreign policy, and then had the audacity to tell you that’s what it means to be a rebel.

#you asked for the number situation and I gave you the conservatism rant ooops #you would think I would learn from captive prince to save my dissertations for when i've read the whole thing but like i said. this matters #to me a bit more than the numbers #me rambling #me reading #ask #empyrean-thrones #fourth wing #the empyrean #iron flame #bookblr #bookish #books #books and reading #maybe if I spread this around more some tiktok star will steal my argument and this will become the mainstream opinion lol

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rivendell-poet · 1 month ago

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*･༓˚✧ ❝𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 '𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮' (𝐋𝐨𝐭𝐑)❞ ‧͙⁺˚༓˚✧ « scenarios »

○ Aragorn ○ Legolas ○ Frodo ○ Sam ○ Merry ○ Pippin ○ Boromir ○ Faramir ○ Éowyn ○ Éomer ○ Bard ○ Thranduil ○ Lindir ○ Haldir ○ Elladan ○ Elrohir ○

GN!Reader | Wordcount : 2.9k (each individual around 180~ words) | Read on ao3

TWS : Power imbalance touched on in Thranduil's scenario

This work is not chronological to the scenarios/these take place at different times

« 1, 13, 14, masterlist »

𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐧

✧ Aragorn believes in elvish love, so from the moment he confesses he knows that he loves you.

✧ He sees how much he does in everything, from the few dates you can steal in Rivendell, to the smiles you exchange while walking with the Fellowship.

✧ But he’s not sure when to say it, as he knows just how much of a milestone it is. And how much he wants it to mean to you.

✧ Keeps trying to get it in a specific place, a specific time. But every time he just enjoys your company, and never ends up saying it.

✧ You notice his love, however. So obvious in how he’ll stare at you, offer to help with something or simply spend time with you.

✧ Eventually, it happens only a few days before the Fellowship is to leave Rivendell.

✧ The two of you are stargazing together, and he just about hears a yawn you fail to stifle.

✧ Laughing, he moves closer to you and wraps you in his cloak - the two of you cuddling together.

✧ As you rest your head on his chest, and he looks up at the stars, he thinks about how perfect this is.

✧ Gently, he bends his head to be near yours before whispering. “I love you.”

✧ Feeling you look up, he simply smiles when your gaze becomes more questioning.

✧ When you say ‘I love you too’ you can immediately see his grin, and he gently places a kiss on your forehead.

𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬

✧ When an elf confesses, the idea that they love you - utterly and completely - is an undertone that’s carried with it. It’s Legolas’ unspoken promise to you, as soon as he’d asked if you would court him.

✧ But actually saying it to you is another matter.

✧ He’s not scared, he’s just… a little scared. And a little intimidated. Because he doesn’t want to mess anything up, and he wants what he will give you to be perfect.

✧ So Legolas actually takes a long time to say those words, although you know how he feels about you for a while.

✧ Legolas also confesses just before you leave Rivendell, although his is more planned out.

✧ He spends almost two days beforehand looking over all of Rivendell, in sunlight and moonlight, trying to figure out what place is perfect for you.

✧ What place is worthy of you.

✧ Eventually, he decides on a shaded pavilion surrounded by trees, one that reminds him of Mirkwood. Except here flowers grow all around, and he can focus on being romantic with you.

✧ When he invites you to join him you suspect something, although the sight of your prince surrounded by flowers is still breathtaking.

✧ Waiting until you join him, he tries to hide his nervousness by rubbing his finger over the flowers he’s holding for you.

✧ And then you’re right in front of him.

✧ “I love you.”

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐨

✧ Frodo first says he loves you when he confesses to you.

✧ (“(Y/n). I know we’ve been friends for a long time now, and I’m very grateful for that. But - I don’t just want to be your friend. I want to be more to you, I want you to be able to love me like I love you.”)

✧ But that doesn’t make his feelings any less genuine, his love for you any less sincere.

✧ When he says those words to you he means it just as much as anyone else, he’s just slightly more in tune with his emotions.

✧ Because he knows you well enough that, as much as he wants to make a grand romantic gesture out of these words, he simply wants to tell them to you more.

✧ (Besides, the sooner he says it for the first time the sooner he can say it again.)

𝐒𝐚𝐦

✧ He’s embarrassed about how he’s going to say it. Not because of you, of course - he knows he loves you wholeheartedly - but because he doesn’t want to mess anything up.

✧ So, to make sure he can properly confess to you, he practises.

✧ What he says changes slightly each time, there are too many good qualities to pick. And although some staples remain it often changes to encompass what the two of you had done together, like how beautifully you look when you smile, or how grateful he is that you’ll help him.

✧ When Sam finally has the perfect time to say what he wants, he realises he’s slightly at a loss for words.

✧ You can tell he wants to say something to you, the way his throat hitches and then he relaxes. Taking a deep breath.

✧ Noticing your eyes on him, Samwise decides that now is the time to speak.

✧ “I- I love you. More than I’ve ever done with anything, more than I do with the Shire, or the flowers out in the garden. Because, you’re the person who truly makes me happy. You’re the person who I can truly be myself with, you’re the person whose smile lights up my heart. The person who knows how to make me feel better, the one I can trust.”

✧ “And, for that. I really do love you.”

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲

✧ Although he’s overt with his affections, Merry doesn’t immediately say these words to you. He wants to earn them. To prove to you that he is a good boyfriend, and then he’ll be fully worthy of your love.

✧ At least, that’s how he sees it. (And somehow doesn’t see that he two of you are completely enamoured with each other.)

✧ It’s a little after your third date, when the two of you are sitting together and laughing, that he realises he needs to say it.

✧ He waits until the two of you have stopped, with only smiles gracing your faces. But he can’t wait longer than that.

✧ “I love you!”

✧ The admission rings in the otherwise silence, and then he sees you smile. And he realises that he is worthy of all of this.

✧ Merry eagerly leans into the hug, burying himself in your arms before whispering it again, this time with a grin on his face. “I love you.”

𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧

✧ You actually say it first, while the two of you are walking in Rivendell together. You’re on a more secluded path, and as Pippin asks about your day - and listens - you can tell he truly is absorbed.

✧ There’s passion in his eyes as he listens to you, nodding and asking the right questions, and you realise this is the time to say it.

✧ As an elf you knew you loved Pippin when he confessed to you, and that you would always love Pippin, but you were never sure when you would say it.

✧ As you stare at him, Pippin realises something’s happening and he turns to you with a quizzical look.

✧ “I love you.”

✧ It’s only three words, but Pippin lights up as though you have promised him the world.

✧ “Really?” The grin he gives is incredible, “I love you too!”

𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐫

✧ When Boromir confesses to you he’s says almost exactly that, just not using these words.

✧ For him there is something almost sacred about them, a bond more powerful than anything else.

✧ He is also worried about saying these words, and again it’s because he doesn’t want anything to go wrong. He wants to continue being worthy to you.

✧ So, when he confesses how much he loves you, he decides to do it properly. Asking you the day before if you’d meet with him, going to the market and hand picking flowers.

✧ Coming to where he is, you can recognise when he first sees you. Freezing slightly as he looks you up and down, almost as if he can’t believe you’re here, before smiling and welcoming you.

✧ At first it’s just talking. There’s romantic undertones, of course, and then he swallows and you realise he’s going to say something important.

✧ “I… I love you.” He says it proudly, “For all of you. I love you so much, my heart.”

𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐫

✧ Also afraid of confessing his true feelings to you. Although not just because he wants it to be perfect, which he does, but because of more self-worth issues.

✧ That his times with you are some of the best he has, and he doesn’t want any of that to change. He still wants to be able to laugh with you in Gondor, to kiss your hand goodbye and see the smile you give him in return.

✧ He isn’t sure why his mind thinks telling you that would put you off, but it’s a large enough part that he’s slightly hesitant.

✧ As the two of you walk along one of the top segments of Minas Tirith, he turns briefly to look at you. At how perfect this moment is.

✧ And he realises he needs to ask.

✧ “Can I tell you something?” His voice is soft, almost as if he wishes you not to hear it, but you pick it up and give him permission.

✧ Fully turning to you, he takes your hands in his. “I love you.”

✧ The way your eyes light up, and you immediately say it back, washes away the doubts he has.

✧ The kiss you lean into, light but reassuring, helps as well. Just another small gesture of how deeply the two of you feel for each other, and one he will never tire of.

𝐄𝐨𝐰𝐲𝐧

✧ (Éowyn’s eyes drift to the Paths, the rest of your company waiting, before she takes a deep breath. “Then we shall both swear not to fall in battle. We shall both fight to protect who we love.”)

✧ She is another who says how she feels in all but those exact words. And neither of you get a chance to say those words to each other until you’re in the Houses of Healing.

✧ As much as she wants to say it the second you’re awake, she shows some restrain. Waiting to make sure that you’re mostly ok.

✧ The conversation flows decently, but both of you know what she wants to say.

✧ And then the conversation stops.

✧ “I love you!” She blurts it out, and then instantly looks embarrassed. But your grin reassures her, and the red on her cheeks go from blush of embarrassment to a blush of love.

✧ As to not aggravate either of your wounds, she instead holds your hand as tightly as you will allow.

𝐄𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫

✧ Éomer can think of quite a few times when he’s wanted to say those moments to you (and, in all honesty, he could have said them from the moment he confessed.)

✧ But instead he tries to wait, waiting for the perfect time. And then, as he’s sitting at home and watching the fire die down, he realises that there will be no perfect time with you. Because every time is magical, in its own way.

✧ So he resolves to only until he sees you again.

✧ But, as the fire turns to embers, Éomer realises that will be too long of a wait.

✧ It’s almost eleven at night when you hear a knock on your door, and you open it to see him outside, looking up at you.

✧ As soon you open the door he hug you, burying himself in your arms. “I love you. And I should have told you earlier, but I love you.”

𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐝

✧ Bard wants to try and take things slow in the relationship, to fully appreciate each day (and even each moment) that he gets with you.

✧ That doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought about how he’d say those words to you, or potentially how they would sound falling from your lips, but it isn’t something he wants to rush.

✧ It’s something he wants to happen organically, as a product of your relationship rather than a given day.

✧ But still, when he finally confesses, it almost just slips out.

✧ You’re just saying goodbye to each other, and you turn back briefly before you leave, as if waiting for him to say one final remark.

✧ “I’ll see you later, love you.”

✧ The words slip out of his mouth before he can stop them, and he can feel himself blushing once he realises what he’s said - once he sees you frozen in space.

✧ “Did you…” You come slightly closer, “Did you actually just say that?”

✧ Looking into your eyes, he sees his own love reflected back at him. “Yes, I did. And I do.”

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐢𝐥

✧ For all the elves, the act of saying ‘I love you’ is the largest commitment they will say, in their entire life.

✧ Those words will become like oaths, have them bind themselves to you for all of time, and that can never be taken lightly.

✧ The gift of love is the most meaningful of all, at least to them.

✧ But for Thranduil the weight of those words means even more. It also offers you a kingdom, a new family, and (most importantly to him) he does not want to pressure you.

✧ While sitting together, you can sometimes so clearly tell that he wants to say this to you. The elf will catch you, either over a book or glowing in the sunlight, and he just begins to speak before switching the conversation.

✧ And you catch on to why he hasn’t said that.

✧ Then, it happens again, as the two of you are talking over the fire together and he does that now familiar start of a conversation.

✧ Looking him in the eye, you place your hand over his, “Tell me.”

✧ “Are you sure?”

✧ “Completely.”

✧ “I love you.”

𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐫

✧ Despite being a minstrel, his words seem to fail him when he looks at you and tries to confess.

✧ He can write something down, yes. An epic poem or a song that details how he feels about you - but it's never quite enough. There is always something missing from it, something that does not show his love for you properly.

✧ Lindir recognises that it’s because it lacks spontaneity, he’s tried to polish and perfect it to be worthy of you but lost the raw emotion that gives it so much meaning.

✧ Which is why, after he puts down the pen for the third time that evening and thinks, he realises he should just tell you.

✧ There’s a quiet knock on your door, and when you open the door you see Lindir - blushing profusely.

✧ “I love you. I love you more than anything, enough to give up this immortal life, to give up the moon and stars. Because, for me, you are worth more than their light, than their radiance. Even a single smile from you is worth a thousand suns, because you are you. And I love you.”

𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐫

✧ Surprisingly, Haldir says those words to you when he confesses to you.

✧ He’s worried, for many reasons, and one of those is the weight that those words carry. That they may be too much, too soon.

✧ But he resolves to try, and that - on the eve of battle - it wouldn’t be wise to have regrets.

✧ (“I must say something, before this happens.” He reaches out, fingers gently touching your hand and breathing in when you fully embrace it. “You are the one my heart has chosen to fall in love with. Forever. And I apologise for the awkward timing, for not saying something sooner, but I need you to know now. That I love you.”)

𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐧

✧ As good with words as the twin is, the idea of putting all his love for you into three simple words is terrifying.

✧ And, frankly, he doesn’t think it sums up how he feels for you well enough. How can three words encompass all the happiness you give him? All the smiles he has gained because of you? The comfort he has gained because of you? The infinite ways his life has become better?

✧ Then the two of you are together, when you let out a small yawn and he pulls you close.

✧ Cuddling into his chest, you stare up at him for a second, “Thank you, Elladan.”

✧ “Of course.” He doesn’t mean to add the next words on, “I love you.”

✧ Elladan feels when you tense for a second beneath him, then the smile on your face as you look up and whisper, “I love you too.”

✧ Until now, Elladan didn’t understand what those words meant. But now he does, and how much they carry. How obvious it is, when you say those words for him, that you care.

𝐄𝐥𝐫𝐨𝐡𝐢𝐫

✧ Surprisingly, Elrohir struggles to say the words as well. Not because he doesn’t love you - he’s more sure about his feelings to you than he is most things in his life - but because he isn’t sure what you’ll say.

✧ There’s a degree of elven versus human courting fighting inside him. That, although he’s been clear with the fact he loves you (even jokingly asking you to marry him) that perhaps you thought it was just that, a joke.

✧ That he hasn’t done any of this the correct way, and what if you don’t feel the same way.

✧ You find it slightly odd that, with long days into your relationship, and no words past your lovers lip - that neither of you acknowledge it.

✧ But, although you can’t be sure, you think you start to recognise the problem.

✧ So it’s you who says it to him. “I love you.”

✧ “Really?” Instantly all his attention is on you, cheeks slightly flushed and eyes hanging onto your every word, “Do you really love me?”

✧ “Yes.”

✧ “Meleth nîn, you are my world.”

A/N : Casually drops this after disappearing for three weeks. Well, not disappearing, just not working on these. Sorry for the delay, life's been happening. But I hope you enjoy! Also, here's the remains of my original author's note : (the taglist issue still has not been fixed, so I welcome help!)

First of all, for some reason my taglist isn't working. It's just only tagging the first five people soo... I will try my hardest to fix that. Not sure what's going on with it. Also, the getting flowers was inspired by a drabble recently (can't remember name of author) but the thing that amused me was when they wrote about the flowers matching your eye-colour. Like, my eyes are brown. I'm sure it's supposed to be romantic, and it was very well written, but that just made me laugh.

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