#stina reads

[stinastar]

Lollll

[valewritessss]

The best part of reading books when I was younger was not knowing there was a fandom for it and getting to form my completely own opinions and having no one but myself to fuel my imagination

[aurenflare]

rereading stellarlune and quickly realizing that the reason that i forgot all the plot points isn’t because of my memory it’s because this book is genuinely incomprehensible.

[potatus-et-molassus]

It’s canon that Stina is into warfare to some degree and battle planning right?

[when-wax-wings-melt]

I feel like it would have been more realistic for these randos on the street to say "Is that Sophie what's her name? and that one Vacker girl? and those two other guys? and some girl?" like youre telling me dex wylie and stina are famous enough to be recognized on sight?

[ohmygoly]

ITS STINITZ DAY. MY FAVORITE SHIP. MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE SHIP.

I was channeling my inner Fitz and was in the kitchen all day. (I made cinnamon rolls and peanut butter cookies that both turned out pretty good!) Due to this I don't have much to offer in terms of Stina and Fitz. I love them though, I'll say that much. I remember in seventh grade I was laughing with my friend in the library because we wanted Fitz to date Stina because no one else loved him and because we thought it was a fitting punishment. Then we wanted them to die.

Seven years later and Stina and Fitz are in my top three favorite characters (I love the characters who are accidentally the most complex and morally grey lol, or misunderstood.) They are also my favorite ship in all of Keeper of the Lost Cities, if for no other reason, than because I love both of them individually so I love their ship the best (Tiana comes next for me lol.) Stina is a nerd at heart, she cares about how society views her, she is accepting of those who are cast out by society while simultaneously pushing away the one who maybe resembles her the most (Dex) because she knows that its too close for comfort. Because she's always been insecure in her status. For the record, I do prefer Stinitz over Stinex simply because I like the way their characters are built together more and because I think Dex does a better job as her plot foil without romance involved.

I think Stina must have initially loved Fitz for all the reasons everyone else did. He was perfect. He had a movie star smile. The closest thing to elven royalty, as Sophie noted. Stina, who cared so much what the others thought of her, who pushed most people away who could've cared for her because she knew that, like Dex, they could also shun her. She would shun them out first. This Stina loved the idea that Fitz' status would prevent her from any social judgment. This Stina loved that winning grin, the boyish naivety, and the shiny exterior he presented to the world. Fitz didn't like Stina at all. If nothing else, he thought her gripe against Biana (as I headcanon) as well as potentially Deck (her known rival) was unnecessary, but he also thought her attitude towards the rest of the school was abhorrent and rude.

The only relatively "flawed" side of Fitz Stina got to see would've been in splotching matches. If there was one area Stina was the most relaxed and yet still the most competitive, it was when she got to exercise the skills her father taught her and show everybody else that she was better than them. Fitz would always equal her in competitive rage, so there was never a boring match between the two consistent finalists. The only thing Stina didn't like about Fitz might have been that he always beat her, though she figured she'd try to accept it if they ever really married (fat chance of that).

Even though she wanted him to like her more than others at the school, she couldn't help telling him when he was wrong. He was ignorant, he was dense, "there is no way he actually thinks thats a good idea" -circa around the time of Oblivimyre. In his bias against her, he found this mostly unattractive.

I imagine Stina growing up. We see that she does soften towards Sophie in the later books. I still believe she was friends with her henchmen and some others in a whole other circle of elves, but she didn't have them follow her around as a defensive mechanism and to gang up on Sophie and her friends. All of this allows me to believe that she would also mature in her view of Fitz, in her ability to connect to people, in the way she presents herself. No longer is she as bratty and standoffish. Sure, she's got her rough edges, but she helped birth the alicorns, she cares for animals, she works hard for the Black Swan and demands what she deems right (like Maruca seeing Wylie). In this maturity she sees Fitz as something different. He's not perfect. He's beautiful but not perfect. Everything around him is falling apart, as the girl he liked goes for his best friend, his best friend runs away and makes questionable decisions, and his family is part of a legacy he doesn't want to be a part of. Stina sees that rage and sadness that surrounds him now, as he wants to fight but he's angry at everyone he cares about. Stina understands that. She not only understands all the ways she turned to anger in her dark days, but all the ways Marella was and is turning to bitterness as she deals with her mom, pyrokinesis, and loneliness. The ways Maruca started out colder and bitter, ready to betray a friend, in desperation and insecurity as well. The ways Linh wasn't completely sweet from the start, but the ways she turned sharper as she battled with her brother, partner, and protector leaving to the Neverseen just for her. Because she knows how easy it is to feel ostracized from the world and turn to anger, bitterness, and defensive tactics to cope with it, she can do nothing but see Fitz in a new relatable light. One where he isn't on a pedestal. She approaches him finally, in a way where she doesnt expect him to be perfect.

How refreshing for him. His dad still expects the best, Biana looks up to him, the Lost Cities still wants the elven prince, Sophie wants a supportive friend and wanted the perfect boyfriend, and everyone else just sees "Golden Boy" Fitz as well. Even Keefe might have been so wrapped up in how much better the Vackers were than his own family that he missed a lot of the pressure Fitz was under and was never able to help him ease it as much as he needed. So when Stina comes up to him one day, when they're hosting a Team Valiant meeting at Everglen, to see if he's okay, he lets a little bit of the pressure off. She listens to the tidbits he's willing to give her and tells him that there's no reason why he should think he needs to be perfect in the middle of a war. If Sophie can blow up a Neverseen hideout, then Fitz can even just walk into the meetings a little rougher for wear somedays, if not more. (Maybe use that cane he's been avoiding but definitely needs.)

From here they start talking a bit more as friends. Stina sees his human collection, and being a bit fascinated in humans herself, and having a few friends very interested in the species, she enjoys this very much. He gets to help her take care of the unicorns some afternoons and he realizes how refreshing a workout it is. He also gets to see just how useful she was during the alicorn birth, even though everyone said she did basically nothing. Maybe some days he brings specially baked treats for them, and other days he gets to ride with Stina and family/friends across the Norwegian landscapes on their backs. And he even has his own unicorn at their house now. And Stina has her own mini shelf of books on whatever information she's researching at Everglen, though only most of it is for Team Valiant meetings. He even gets invited to some of the hangouts with the girls, and they all laugh and tease each other and he feels a weight off his shoulders for the first time, that he's starting to feel very determined to keep. Stina is more than just a bully to him. She's a hardworker, a fighter, a lover, a nerd, and insecure in ways he didn't even think about. They both have a lot to learn about not letting others dictate their anger, and not letting society expect perfection out of them, but I think they can get through that together.

Also, maybe they advance from splotching to real goblin training and their kiss moment is Stina finally beating Fitz in a match and everything he came to respect about Stina just collapsed together as she won and her competitive side matched with his and he realized he loved seeing her beat him at something. That she was really cute when she was actually proud of herself. And it was so pure at that moment, unlike most other moments of Stina's life, that Fitz just couldn't get enough, so he kisses her. Fitz loves smart, adventurous women, and didn't he find one in Stina Heks.

I think I might do another post lol, after I'vecleaned up my kitchen. Cause I've saved some aesthetic photos for them on my pinterest board and I might have stinitz excerpts scattered across my KotLC notes app. @doodle-do-wop

Also, like, give me criticism please. Not like just on my writing but on my character analysis and ship pairing. I want to see how wrong I am lol.

[iggydancebreak]

as an optimist, i’m actually excited for 9.5

i’d love to see some keefe character development

[anonymous-kotlc-thoughts]

STINA GIVES ME MIXED FEELINGS

ON THE ONE HAND SHE COULD BE REDEEMED AND STUFF

ON THE OTHER HAND SHE ISN'T A BLONDE

- Shannon Messenger

.

[dayas]

Do uou have any perch and Annabeth fic recs?? :)

Anon, you’ve come to just the right place 🥰

All my recs are show!percabeth only atm!

For starters, I wrote one! Check it out and let me know what you think. 🫶🏽

lightning in a bottle by @seek--rest is absolutely incredible and so heart wrenching!

I also really loved you decide (if darkness knows you well) by @rickybowsn ! It’s beautifully written and captures so much of the best of Percy and Annabeth.

That’s it! I really gotta do more reading 😵‍💫 and I’ll update this with more fics once I have them!

[slozhnos]

for some reason i love the idea of stina absolutely hating keefe. like she just can’t stand the guy.

[fullibooked]

Persephone Station by Stina Leicht is chock full of guns and interesting people. I mean sure there's story too, and it's really good, but more important are the guns and the people. Casual queer rep with guns, criminals with moral codes and guns, old relationships gone sour because of guns, spaceship pilots, ex-soldiers, burly security, bartenders, aliens, a regular snake, inhumans wearing human skin, the sick, the dangerous, and the sexy. Oh and did I say guns? Space guns everywhere! Absolutley action packed and if there isn't more to come I'm going to be very disappointed. I would like more please. More of these interesting people and more guns!! (Persephone Station pictured here with my space gun.)

[stinastar]

I’m reading a romance novel that I did not expect good writing from but wow. It’s impressively bad. The writing? Poor. The editing? Non-existant.

[thelasttaleofthepari]

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[chiropteracupola]

Spring's a girl from the streets at night...

[wrestlezaynia]

Wait, I've read a fic like this once...it was my fic! 😮

[floriumm]

Did I buy this book mostly for the cover? Yes. But I’ve also just been wanting to read some sci-fi. It seems to have mixed reviews but sounded interesting so I’m giving it a try.