#that kind of relationship does not develop between siblings WHO WERE RAISED TOGETHER without something serious going wrong

[vesselcoded]

starting to think none of you guys actually knows what incest is.

[mk-wizard]

Hellboy Films: Why animated did better than live action

Hello, friends

Many of you may not know this, but out of all the superhero comics, Hellboy is my favourite. What can I say? As a little girl, I was a misfit, so a misfit hero like Hellboy was right up my alley and the concept of someone being born to be bad to turn out so good because he had a loving father to show him the way is beautiful. My introduction to Hellboy was the first live action film in the 2000s and at the time, I liked it, but then I started reading the comics. Once I got to know the real Hellboy and series, the more I fell in love with the comics yet at the same time, the more I go to not like the live action films and not just because I found the sequel and reboot in 2019 bad. There are many problems with the three live action Hellboy films which rub me the wrong way and not simply because they are live action. Most superheroes started off as cartoon drawings, but were well done in live action, but Hellboy missed all the notes. Now as a mature adult woman who is experienced at storytelling as well as analyzing, I rewatched some of the live action and I took time to watch the animated films. The difference in quality is night and day (no pun intended and I will give links to the animated films because they are stunning). I will now tell you all where the animated films went right and how live action went all wrong.

1- Hellboy’s design was better in the animated films. - I am more than willing to be forgiving when it comes to taking artistic liberties. Sometimes, the results can be beautiful, but in the case live action Hellboy, it was all wrong and I have to blunt, we can do so much better with graphic design now than just simply taking a tall buff man, putting make up and props on him. I hate sounding mean, but both versions just look like a guy wearing a cosplaying as Hellboy. It would have been much better if Hellboy was completely and entirely CGI or perhaps even an elaborate puppet costume like the ones used in the Jim Henson films. It may sound like enough to give the hero red skin, a stone hand, horns, a tail, cloven feet (which are covered), amber eyes, pointed ears and be very tall. He STILL looks too human compared to the comic and compared to what movie makers can do, it’s lackluster.

Now, we turn to the animated version which did more than just the obvious. Hellboy isn’t inhuman looking just because of the said traits before. He is inhuman because of his proportions and shape especially his face. It is a confirmed fact that he is not just not human. He is ugly and animalistic looking. His features are the combination of a satyr and gorilla especially when you look at how thin his legs, jaw, shoulders, posture and so on.  Also, his eyes aren’t just amber. He has no pupils, no schlera (the white part) and no irises. The entire eye is nothing, but amber which makes them disturbing to look at. He cannot simply cover his face, tail and hand, then simply blend in. He cannot even wear most human clothes hence why Hellboy is always shirtless and his hooves are exposed. In other words, animated Hellboy looks like Hellboy.

2- The animated plot was clean, to the point with no filler. - While I admit the first live action film kept it pretty simple, I find that it still had a lot of filler and too much subplot. If you ever read a Hellboy comic, you will know right off the bat that Mike Mignola is a master at the art of pacing without fluff. Yes, he respect that character development and buildup takes time, but he doesn’t drag things. Ever. And he does not make everything so angsty either. Yes, he hints that the characters have issues, trauma, emotional pain and at times, depression, but he did so without making them into whiners. For the most part, the cast and hero would pick themselves up and do what they had to like adults. If anything, they were also each other’s emotional support and they don’t hate people. The animated version captured that completely and even showed us that the cast did not consist of malcontents who played the “poor me” card to death. In the beginning of Blood and Iron, Abe, Liz and Hellboy were happily talking about a bakery they had found once which reminds us that with all their hardships they do seek and accept joy in life even from something as simple as good pastries.

Moreover, the plot of the film was to the point with some amount of subplots, but without getting complicated and without the subplots contradicting each other. Everything had a way of coming together neatly and even though we did sometimes get surprises, they didn’t feel like filler. They felt like things that were always there, but now, we are aware of them. Most importantly, there was no cheap or silly selling point tactics like relationship drama or the stereotypical father-son bickering (more on this later). Hellboy is not that kind of story.

3- The subtle messages and morals in the animated films were deeper and better. - Being the mature adult I am now, I can say that the first Hellboy really was just Beauty and the Beast while using the Hellboy cast instead and it presented in the message in all of the outdated and bad ways. Don’t get me wrong, I find the idea of Hellboy falling in love romantic and I admit that underneath all of the darkness and action, everything about Hellboy comes back to love. However, it is not romantic love where the end all be all is to be accepted by humanity by getting into a relationship with a human, then turning into a handsome prince even if only metaphorically. The deeper and more important kind of love Hellboy tries to teach is self love how you are regardless how strange people deem you. If you have done something with your life and made something of yourself, then it is ok to be you and are already more loved than you realize. The other kind of love that has always been important to the series is family unity. You see, Hellboy, Liz and Abe are like siblings to each other and Prof. Bruttenholm is an incredibly loving father figure to all of them namely Hellboy who he raised since he was a baby.

He made the big red guy into the man he is today. In fact, even as an adult, Hellboy and Bruttenholm are a very sweet and kind father and son duo. They are not at each other’s throats, they don’t snark at each other or are incapable of agreeing on anything. There is no spite, there is no anger, there is no resentment and there is no ingratitude. There is only love and honestly, THIS is the love that ought to be showcased more in the films.

With that all said and done, the animated films also had their subtle deep messages which we not only understand clearly, but we also appreciate more. In the first movie Sword of Storms, it was all about finding a balance between persevering and knowing when to let go. In other words, keep doing what you must if it is still relevant and making a difference, but if it isn’t and is the reason you’re stuck, by all means quit. There are many roads to closure. In the second one Blood and Iron, it was clear from the beginning that the message was to not underestimate the elderly. They may not be as strong as they once were, but their experience and wisdom gets them and you out of tough spots. They have been through everything before and know what to do. By all means, aid them and help them, but don’t treat them like helpless babies. I also have to say that when I look at the messages the two animated films were telling us, they are not only clearer, but pretty underrated ones too. In the case of the live action films, the messages were muddled if not done before.

In short, I look at the animated films and I’m impressed. If another live action Hellboy does come along, I hope that this time, it will be done right and I really don’t want to see relationship, gore fests, snark or family drama again. Of course, this all my opinion and I would love to hear all of yours.

Thank you for reading and stay safe.

EDIT: Wouldn’t you know it? I forgot the link to all things Hellboy Animated. Here it is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellboy_Animated

[sunnyoldbear]

Luca Headcanons Part 3!

I can’t fucking stop please someone help me

Luca:

All seamonsters have a lot of fish qualities and different sea monsters take on different fish qualities, even within a family.

While Luca isn’t as equipped to handle the deep as his uncle is, his father does have some traits that would help him out. Luca doesn’t know this, but he can survive deeper pressure than most others can. Like, significantly deeper, but not to the point of the Deep. He’s have to get accustomed to it and he might not have even survived.

His species can also echolocate! He also doesn’t know he can do this even though it’s from his mom’s side. He just thinks he clicks and squeaks when he’s happy, he doesn’t know he can also echolocate. Since, again, he hasn’t been to the Deep, the ability is very diluted and he can’t locate things very far but… he can, if he tries hard enough. He won’t, though, cause he just thinks his clicks and squeaks are just that.

He loses his shit when he finds out about dinosaurs. He loves them.

If you even mention a museum he will practically beg to go and he will be in there from opening to closing and still come back for more. He takes in every bit of information he possibly can

He doesn’t flip people off, he just sticks his tongue out

Cloud watches! He thinks it’s cute :)

Is cold blooded. They found this out when he passed out in the middle of class one day during the winter. Winter months are very hard for him at school because of it, so he treasures the break and stays under a bunch of warm blankets.

Talks with his hands a lot

One day when he was swimming to the surface after seeing his family, a fisherman who wasn’t too approving of sea monsters tossed their harpoon at him. It grazed his arm and it hurt like hell, but he still tried to hide it. Of course, since he was clutching his arm and there was blood between his fingers, the Marcovaldos panicked and healed him tot he best of their ability, but Luca simply smiled, turned to Alberto, and said “look, we match now!” (If you see Alberto standing beside Luca so that their scarred arms touch since they’re on opposite arms, no you didn’t)

He finds out about bubble wands and thinks they’re the coolest thing!

Avoids every kid named “Bruno” at school like the plague because he doesn’t want them to think he hates them

Whenever something cool happens he instinctively turns to tell Alberto and his face drops when he doesn’t see him

Definitely the kid to accidentally say “mom” (and)or “I love you” to a teacher and then stare in horror

Grabs Alberto’s arm, wrist, or hand when they’re doing something together if he’s not grabbed first just so they don’t lose each other. It’s just instinct.

Once sobbed for an hour because he saw a dead frog in a pool

Falls asleep if his hair is played with

Still gets made fun of for smelling like fish but due to being a fish he can’t really bathe so Giulia and her mom just spray him with perfume. It makes him feel better.

Forgives Guido and Ciccio with no hesitation, will never forgive Ercole. In fact, he’s terrified of Ercole.

Technically canon, but he is the biggest mama’s boy. She learns from her mistakes and fixes her relationship with him and he becomes super close to her

Only lets those close to him call him “Bubble” like his grandma does

Loses his mind when he sees fireflies

He keeps his hair pretty short

Refuses to eat fish

Is more of a prey fish

That being said, he develops a few survival markings, such as a spot on one of his fins to look like eyes

For some reason I feel like he’d be like clownfish and be able to swim through anemone without getting zapped

Was never good at making friends. The Branzino kid often tried to befriend him but he was too scared of disappointing his parents since Daniela and Mrs. Branzino don’t get along

Wears a seashell anklet

His grandma taught him to read secretly when he was little

Never stops talking. Never.

In class, he’s always the kid raising his hand, even if he doesn’t know the answers, just because of his eagerness

Calls Alberto all the time, more than he calls his family

Carries Alberto’s drawing with him everywhere. Used to be in his pockets and then transferred to his wallet.

Is definitely more of a writer than an artist! With his vivid imagination he can write for days, and Alberto is more than happy to draw them out for him

Lets his hair grow out a bit towards the end of his final school year. The stress of school means he doesn’t quite care for his appearance

Can’t sit still. When he’s at school he’s always fiddling with something but when he’s in Portorosso he just grabs Alberto’s hand and plays with his fingers

Definitely a teacher’s pet

Gets bullied a lot. You can’t expect the world to just be okay with sea monsters overnight. A lot of the world will never accept him. There are kids that make his life a living hell at school.

As much as he loves school, he aches to be free sometimes

Gets super flustered super fast

Sits at Alberto’s side and talks about anything and everything and Alberto will sketch it

His scales are more like a duck’s water-resistant feathers. Water rolls right off.

Loves taking Nerone for walks

Definitely wears skirts and dresses in secret! He just thinks they’re neat :)

Loves romance movies but will never admit it

Literally bites his tongue to hold back from rambling. Giulia and Alberto constantly have to tell him it’s okay and he can talk all he wants, but he’s bullied so often for talking too much that he still holds back if he catches himself

Alberto:

Similar to a Betta Fish! His kind of sea monster aren’t known for bonding well and tend to fight.

When healthy, his scales are long and gorgeous just like a Betta’s! (Giulia is mesmerized by them)

You know how dolphins get high with puffer fish? It’s not just dolphins.

His teeth are a little sharper than most other sea monsters. Yes, he bares them at Ercole every time they see each other. No, he won’t stop

Definitely the “he ask for no pickles” friend

No one knows what he’s talking about half the time except for Luca, Giulia, and (sometimes) Massimo. They just kinda go with it.

Has his own words for everything. Only Luca and Giulia know what he means.

He’s actually super, duper close to Giulia, but they do fight pretty often. They’re siblings.

Likes to put his hat on Luca

Everyone thinks he’d be a bad flirt/get flustered super easily but the opposite is true! He’s a big flirt! He just knows what to say to make others fluster around him! Even if he’s not into you, if your his age or he’s trying to charm you, he’ll flirt up a storm. Living on your own from such a young age means you need to pick up survival tactics, and charm and streetsmarts were the ones he picked up.

Sometimes he faces small boats he sees just for the fun of it

He also sometimes grabs a rope or a net from Massimo’s boat when they’re fishing and just zooms to land to get them there quicker

Loves playing games with the kids when he’s on lifeguard duty, even if it can get him in trouble with his boss

You better bet he makes fun of those school uniforms. He laughs his ass off. He thinks they’re the funniest things.

If he sees or hears even a hint of danger, he is shoving his loved ones behind him and will protect them with his life.

Prefers to be barefoot

Heals surprisingly fast. Something about them fish genes.

When he’s fifteen he jokingly tells Luca he should become a teacher and then Luca’s eyes get all big and excited and Alberto regrets opening his mouth. But he still supports him every step of the way.

Whenever he hears Luca click or chirp, he calls out for him if he’s a distance away or grabs his hand since he recognizes it as echolocation before Luca does

More of a predator fish

Keeps his hair long and growing

I think he’d probably grow a mustache. Giulia hates it so much which is why he keeps it. Okay, he kept it to annoy her, but then he actually started to like it. But when Luca said he liked it, that solidified it

He’s so strong it’s kinda scary. Definitely stronger than the average fisherman, but was stronger even beforehand.

Sometimes just eats fish live and terrifies those around him

He’s super fast! Since he’s based on a tuna or swordfish, he’s pretty quick

Unlike Luca, he’s warm blooded. So when he heard Luca has to keep really warm during winters, he offers most of his clothes

His father abandoning him may seem cruel, but for his kind of sea monsters, it was what had to happen. Still, Alberto is a child and it shouldn’t happen.

Mainly a night eater

Can see further than most of his fishy friends

Good night vision too!

Was taught to read and write as a kid by his father but it’s not perfect so he asks Massimo to do it

Loves playing cards

Fins are sharper than average

Squishes Luca’s cheeks

Sword fights with Giulia except they’re sticks

Whenever Luca falls asleep on him (often), he just stays still and refuses to move

Scoops Luca up sometimes

Grabs Luca’s face and blows raspberries instead of kissing it. (Can be interpreted as platonic or romantic!! Italians kiss on cheeks as greetings)

Protectively wraps his tail around those he loves

Water clings to him a bit more since his built-for-speed scales are less water repellent

Every year he gets scared Luca won’t return

Paints the Hideout to look like Luca’s dream fish-stars after he’s told about it. The ceiling, anyway. Don’t ask how he did it, no one knows.

Changes his last name to Marcovaldo

Thinks pet fish and aquariums are hilarious and will poke fun at the fish (“haha, losers! No freedom!” “Alberto!” “What?!”)

LOVES DINOSAURS

He and Luca share a bed when Luca comes over!

The Vespa poster hangs in his room on his door

Calls Luca’s nightlights “light fish” as a nod to stars

Has Giulia and Luca’s names tattooed onto him because they’re his best friends

Tried to take Caligola and Machiavelli on walks… yeah that goes as well as you think

Giulia:

Is a fast reader

Isn’t a massive poetry fan but does have a few favorites

Also keeps a few drawings from Alberto in her folders

Also scoops Luca up randomly

Can and will bite you

Wears dresses as much as she does shorts

Ties her hair up when serious

Rubs her nose against her family’s as a sign of love. It’s just something she did as a kid, so sometimes she’ll just rub her nose against Alberto’s and he gets really confused

Is low key a little jealous of her brother and best friend being sea monsters

Is a bit of a builder! She makes a bridge from her room to the treehouse

Rarely starts fights with Alberto, but she’ll sure finish them

Half regrets teaching Alberto to swear

Though she seems pretty calm, she’s gotten into her fair share of fights at school. Mainly punches kids who bully her and/or Luca. Also sexists.

Although this is 1950/60s Italy, I imagine she’d be very accepting of homosexuality and not hide it, even if rumors of her being one start spreading and she gets hurt. She has a strong sense of justice and she doesn’t care about consequences.

She’s the only person allowed to make fun of Alberto. No one else is. She’ll quite literally attack anyone who dares.

Her parents were surprised she didn’t take after them in fishing or painting

Honestly I can see her mentoring the kids for the race every summer! Once she hits 18 and is no longer able to compete, she holds practice sessions and loves seeing the kids have fun

She definitely runs the race when she’s older. She moves to Portorosso since her marine biology career is helped by her sea monster brother and the town’s closeness to water

Teaches the boys to make sandcastles

Holds such strong resentment for Alberto’s father and Daniela. Lorenzo and Luca’s grandmother she’s fine with, but Alberto’s biological father abandoning him pisses her off more than she can put into words, and Daniela manipulating her son and sending him away makes her want to break something.

Her “santa (cheese)!” comments slowly change into “Santa (fish)!” exclamations. Like, “Santa Goby!” for example. 

Is more close to Alberto than he wants to let people know. She can read him like a book. He’s honestly her best friend. She tells him everything, they go to each other after nightmares, they share everything, all the fun cute stuff that Alberto would rather die than admit.

Still has no idea what “Silenzio Bruno” and “Piacere, girolamo trombetta” mean and at this point she’s too afraid to ask

Though she loves the Portorosso kids, she’d rather die than be a mother. Her parents understand, but secretly hope she changes her mind so they can spoil a grandbaby. 

Begs Massimo to coverup his sea monster tattoo, which he does

Also a “he ask no pickles” friend!

Is super patient with Luca and Alberto’s adaption to the human world (though she doesn’t like it when Alberto shoves his feet on her-which he loves to do because it pisses her off)

Secretly saves money up for the boys to get a Vespa

While she isn’t the best cook, her pasta meals are pretty damn good! 

Has the trophy from the Cup in her room next to a picture of the three of them on the Vespa

[aster-ion]

Sylvie x Loki Might Not Happen and Here’s Why

***SPOILERS FOR LOKI TV SHOW***

1.  They are basically siblings

Even though they have different personalities, backstories, and physical appearances, that doesn't change the fact that they are the genetic equivalent of siblings. No matter what Timeline you're looking at, both Sylvie and Loki are the offspring of Laufey and whoever he had children with. We know this because they are Variants of the exact same person, meaning that if either of them were born to someone other than Laufey, they would have been pruned as a baby. And since they weren't, that means they must be just as genetically similar as siblings are.

Because of this, the idea of Sylvie and Loki engaging in any kind of romantic or sexual relationship is extremely disturbing to a lot of fans. It's too big an oversight to brush past, especially when the show has continued to remind us over and over that they are, in fact, both Lokis. Maybe if them being the same person wasn't such a major plot point, it would be easier to ignore the facts, but it is, and that means that Marvel is basically pushing either an incest or selfcest (depending on how you look at it) type relationship. And that’s extremely risque for a corporation as large as Marvel, especially with a character as beloved by fans as Loki. 

2.  It is terrible LGBTQ+ representation

And before anyone says anything, no, it is not because Sylvie is portrayed as female and Loki as male. I've seen a lot of Sylvie x Loki shippers say that the reason people don't like the couple is due to it being one between a male and female, but that's not true. Loki and Sylvie were both confirmed to be bisexual, meaning that they can engage in a relationship with anyone of any gender. It would be completely valid for either of them to pursue romance with someone of a different sex and still be bisexual. No one is arguing against that, and if they are, I definitely do not agree with them.

However, the problem comes in when you take into account Marvel and Disney's (who owns Marvel) long history of queerbaiting. There have been countless times that Disney advertises their "first gay character!" only for it to be a single line of dialogue or a brief shot. Marvel in particular has used the popularity of certain LGBTQ+ ships and headcanons in their fanbase to generate media popularity that they don't actually follow through with in their movies/shows. So when Loki was confirmed to be both genderfluid and bisexual in Episode Three, lots of people felt like they were finally getting a win for representation. 

But those people, myself included, appear to have been let down again. The first two official queer characters had so much potential to go off and be with anyone they wanted, but instead, the show has set them up to be in a romance with each other. Now, this wouldn't be problematic on it's own, but when you take into consideration the questionable nature of their romance from Point One as well as the fact that the show has explicitly referred to it as "twisted," it raises the question of whether or not this is actually good representation. Because the fact is, in one episode the writers went “look, it’s two queer people!” and in the next, they said “their relationship is disgusting and demented.” Marvel’s first bisexual characters being borderline incestuous/selfcestuous does not sit well with me at all.

All of this is made even more confusing when you take into account the background of the Loki crew, most notably, the director Kate Herron. She also directed the Netflix series Sex Education, which has quite a bit of very well done representation of all kinds. So how is she managing to fail so badly on this project? It makes me wonder whether she truly is just losing her touch or if this is all a misdirection. Personally, I'm hoping for the latter.

3.  It does not send the "self love" message people seem to think it does

The writers, director, and cast of Loki have said multiple times that the relationship between Sylvie and Loki is meant to act as a metaphor for self love. And in a way, that makes a lot of sense. Despite creating different identities for themselves over time, they are still ultimately the same person and therefore share a special bond because of it. And there's a lot of potential that can be done with that concept.

Loki is an extremely complex and intriguing character. He has experienced a lot of trauma in his past that has shaped him into the person he is today. And that person is clearly very broken. He has never given away or received any kind of love, with the exception of his mother and possibly his brother, Thor. Other than that, he's had no healthy friendships, romances, or perception of himself. It makes sense for him to be confused by this pull he feels towards Sylvie, who is both alarmingly alike and vastly different from himself.

Something this series does exceptionally well is breaking Loki out of his comfort zone. He is finally forced to see himself from other people's perspectives. It started with the file Mobius showed him in the first episode. Loki was able to view his actions apart from himself, and was hit with the realisation that he had been hurting people, and he didn't like that. 

Loki is also confronted by the existence of the Time Keepers and the TVA, who describe him as an antagonist and nothing more. To them, his role is to make those around him look better, even if that means he repeatedly gets the short end of the stick. Mobius mentions that he disagrees with this and that Loki "can be whoever and whatever he wants, even someone good," adding another layer of depth as to who Loki could be in the future of the series. 

Another huge moment for Loki's character development is while in the Time Loop Prison with Sif. Though he starts out annoyed with the situation and recalls not feeling apologetic when he cut off Sif's hair, the longer he is in the loop, the more he changes. Loki admits things to himself that we have never seen him say aloud, such as the fact that he is a narcissist that craves attention. Sif telling Loki over and over that he deserves to be alone makes Loki question whether or not he believes that to be true, allowing him an introspective moment where he really has to think about who he is. 

Now with all of that being said, I'd like to tie in why this is important to the writing of Loki and Sylvie. They act as a mirror to one another, representing both the flaws and strengths of "what makes a Loki a Loki." For once, Loki gets an honest, unbiased look at himself without layers of expectations or self doubt. On Lamentis, he calls Sylvie "amazing" and praises her for all her accomplishments. That's a huge moment for him because it shows that despite also finding her irritating, he can look past those traits and see someone worth being a hero underneath. And through that realisation, he begins to understand that he can also grow to love himself. That kind of character development for Loki is incredible to watch, and it's the kind of character development I want to see from this series. Unfortunately, them possibly engaging in a romantic relationship will ruin it.

Whenever I'm feeling insecure about myself and my abilities, the solution has never been to look at who I am through a romantic lens. Self love is an entirely different type of love from romantic love, so if the series tries to push this relationship as a romance, it will fail to truly represent the arc that they are trying to show.

4.  Nobody likes it 

This one's a little on the nose, but it's true. Almost no one likes this ship, and more than that, most people actively hate it. Yes, there is a small minority that like Loki and Sylvie together, but there is an overwhelmingly larger group that is disgusted and angry by the fact that the show paired them up.

After Episode 4 aired, I ranted for about an hour and a half with a friend about how much we didn't want them together. My aunt whom I have never texted reached out to me to say that she hated their relationship. My homophobic neighbour came over and told me that she would prefer any other romance to this. Friends that I haven't talked to much since school let out for summer have all agreed that they collectively dislike Loki x Sylvie. This ship has brought people together purely because everyone hates it more than they hate each other.

There is no denying that the general feedback for Loki and Sylvie being a couple has been negative, even if you support them getting together for some reason. So if there are so many people out there who don't like it, I'm confused as to how it would be approved by a team of professionals.

5.  The contradicting information we have gotten so far

Before the release of Episode Four, Kate Herron said that the relationship between Loki and Sylvie was “not necessarily romantic.” During the interview, she continued to refer to them as friends and people who found solace and trust in each other.

However, after Episode Four, the head writer, Michael Waldron, and other members of the crew spoke up about Sylvie and Loki. They said things like “it just felt right that that would be Loki’s first real love story” and “these are two beings of pure chaos that are the same person falling in love with one another.” These kinds of comments very heavily imply something romantic, directly contradicting what Kate Herron said. Even Tom Hiddleston, the actor for Loki, has assessed the situation, highlighting the differing viewpoints. He’s also said before that the end of Episode Four ultimately has Loki getting in his own way. 

Now, this could all just be a misdirection on either side to build suspense for the show, but as of right now, it is entirely unclear who is telling the truth. Though it is more likely that the statements made by Michael Waldron are more accurate (as he is the writer), there is still a slight possibility that Loki x Sylvie won’t happen. I’ll link the articles I’ve found on this topic below so you can read them and decide for yourself. 

Kate Herron Statement - https://www.cbr.com/loki-sylvie-relationship-not-romantic/ 

Michael Waldron Statement - https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/loki-sylvie-in-love 

Tom Hiddleston Statement - https://thedirect.com/article/loki-tom-hiddleston-sylvie-romance 

6.  It is still salvageable

The odds are not in our favour, I’m afraid. It is highly probable that the show will put Loki and Sylvie in a romantic relationship with each other. Yet there is still a way to salvage it and turn their bond into something incredibly satisfying. Like I mentioned in Point Three, the relationship between Loki and Sylvie has the potential to be incredibly empowering and provide both characters some much-needed growth. And I believe that while unlikely, it can still do that. 

The only mention of them being romantically interested in each other came from Mobius, who at the time was angry, betrayed, and doing anything he could to get Loki to talk. Then, at the end of the episode, right before Loki is about to confess something important to Sylvie, he is pruned. This results in no explicit confirmation from either Loki or Sylvie that they are in love with each other. The audience is left not knowing whether Mobius was correct in his speculations, and honestly, I don’t think Loki knows either.

Loki is no expert on love, as I explained earlier. It is entirely possible that he doesn’t grasp how he feels about Sylvie and defaults to romance because of what Mobius said. There is undoubtedly some sort of deep bond forming between them, and I would love to see that being explored in the next two episodes. I would love to watch Loki’s journey of realising that he doesn’t want anything romantic with Sylvie, and was simply confused by the new things he was feeling towards her. Loki even says “this is new for me” when talking to Sylvie at the end of Episode Four. Him momentarily believing that he wants to be a couple with her then shifting into them becoming friends who help each other grow is still a reality that could happen. And ultimately, I think that would benefit them both as characters as well as strengthen the overall message of the show.

In a show about self love, acceptance of yourself, and figuring out who you want to be, Loki very much needs people who support him. He has that in Mobius already, and now he’s beginning to have it in Sylvie as well. I just hope that it is done in a way that resonates with the audience and subverts expectations, which just cannot be done through some twisted romantic relationship. I’ve spoken to others watching the show and seen people talking online, and everyone seems to agree that Loki and Sylvie work much better as platonic soulmates or found family than a couple. 

Of course, my hopes aren’t that high up. While I’d love for this to happen, I’ve been let down by Marvel before and wouldn’t be surprised if they went for the easy route of pairing characters up rather than dealing with the emotions correctly. Still, I have hope for this series. Everything else about it is wonderful and perfect in every way. It has the potential to become a masterpiece and easily the best thing that Marvel has ever done. However, this romance would ruin it for me and so many others. We already feel incredibly disappointed by Loki x Sylvie being suggested, so I can’t even begin to fathom how people will react if the show makes it canon. I’m begging Marvel to please do better than this. They have a wonderful story to tell and a wonderful team to do it, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that they don’t throw that away. 

[rwbyvein]

Firen Lhain: Chapter 711: The Hart of the Oak:  Part I/III

"So, sister?" Winter asked, "You are... happy with this arrangement?"

"I understand it would be difficult to fathom." Weiss said to her, "But yes, indeed."

"How much is a fathom, anyways?" Ruby asked.

"Six feet." Winter quickly stated, "Though not in the context used."

"I'm still getting used to Weissy words." Ruby voiced.

"Weiss-y... words?.." Winter quietly asked, doing her best to not be judgemental.

"It's meaning seems to have shifted from overbearingness to simply, dare I say, effeetness." Weiss said to her, "It is made with the utmost affection."

"Yes!" Ruby shouted, "I think."

"There is quite a bit here I fail to comprehent, but..." Winter voiced.

"Buuuut?" Nora asked.

"But, I have never seen you so happy." Winter continued, "It is almost disturbing. Perhaps showing us that the life we led was subpar."

"This is warm and touching an all," Raven uttered, "but I think I'm going to take off."

"Just like you always do." Yang voiced. Raven looked at her, but wasn't sure what to say, so instead just stood up and walked away. "That's what I thought." Yang stated.

"And she is?.." Winter asked Weiss, "your mother in law?"

"She wishes." Yang harshly voiced.

"Their relationship is?" Weiss said, and paused, "Complicated."

"I do believe I can sympathize." Winter stated.

"Wait?" Yang asked, "I thought you guys hated your dad?"

"Father was a monster." Weiss simply stated, "Mother, however, was absent."

"She ran away?" Yang asked.

"She might as well have." Weiss stated.

"She had a fondness for wine." Winter said with a disappointed tone.

"Weiss did tell us this." Blake stated.

"Uh... when?" Yang asked, Ruby looking curiously on.

"The night Aurora served us wine." Ren stated, "Or, I believe the morning after."

"He did look pretty together the next morning." Yang said, looking at him.

"Temperance is a virtue." Ren said with a light smile.

Nora looked between everyone, seeing no one call him out on it, "Oh, man, you guys believed him?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, man," Nora continued, "he was hung over for like 2 days."

Ren developed a weak smile, the smile of someone completely unused to lying. "My meditation apparently does not make me immune to hangovers." he voiced.

"And this night was?.." Winter asked.

"Magical." Weiss said with a bright smile. "We had just been affirmed as Huntsmen and Huntresses. And you know what that means for minors."

Winter looked about for a moment, "In the case that minors are given their letters-patent, they are emancipated?" Weiss nodded.

"The first drink," Yang stated, "I didn't have to hide from dad." Winter nodded affirmatively. "But, as it turns out, dad knew about my drinking and was just always looking the other way. I mean, seriously, if I thought about it, I kind of did a shit job of hiding it from him." she said warmly.

"Your father helped you to evade the law?," Winter asked, "and you treat this as a fond memory?"

"Nothing brings a father and son together," Jaune stated, "like sticking it to The Man."

"I hate to break it to you," Blake coyly interjected, "but you are The Man, m'lord."

"M'lord?" Winter asked. "You have your... wives?.. call you sir?"

"Who told you?!" Ruby nervously exclaimed.

"He also spanks us." Yang eagerly said.

Jaune closed his eyes, breathing in deeply to temper his temper. He then opened them, looking Winter in the eyes. She turned to look into his. "The Black Hart of the Woods made me an Earl." Jaune said. "Now, since the meaning of Earl has changed drastically over the milennia, I really don't know exactly what that means."

"The... Black Hart?" Winter asked.

"We could introduce you!" Nora exclaimed.

"Though," Ren voiced, and everyone looked at him, "he would likely demand you pay Jaune tribute."

"He would, pardon, what?" Winter asked, and Jaune shrugged.

"He was the one who made me an earl." Jaune stated.

"Wait?" Nora asked, "Jaune's The Man?! I'm working for The Man?! I have a sudden urge to ride a lamb."

"That is not t'which that saying refers." Ren stated.

"It's not?" Nora asked.

"How about a lamb Faunus?" Ruby asked.

"So?," Yang interrupted, "Nora would ride a lamb Faunus?"

"Also not t'which that saying refers." Ren stated.

"So, what's it mean?" Yang asked.

"L-A-M." Blake stated, "To beat a hasty retreat."

"So, we're hiding with Lambs?" Nora asked.

"We have enough room to graze lambs." Weiss simply stated.

"First things first." Jaune stated, and looked at Winter, "Did you want to meet the Black Hart?"

"And do you have appropriate tribute?" Weiss added.

Winter brought her hands together and paused.

"Wait, you do?" Ruby asked.

"It was meant as a gift for my sister, on her... either engagement or nuptuals." Winter said, and then looked at Jaune, "Are you her husband or her beau?"

"Like a staff?" Nora asked.

"B-e-a-u." Blake added. "It means handsome."

"Or," Weiss added, "in this context my handsome man."

"He IS pretty handsome." Nora stated.

"You do have your own." Weiss said to her.

"I do?" Nora asked, and Weiss looked at Ren. "I don't know, Ren is more beautiful, don't you think?"

A pregnant paused followed.

"So?" Blake asked, "Who wants to go walk in the woods?"

"I hate to eaves drop..." Taj stated.

"No you don't." Yang said to him.

"No I don't." he said with a smile, and took a couple steps into the lounge, and in reply Winter sighed. "Is that any way to talk to your friendly neighbourhood travel agent?"

"He does know a great place to drop us off." Yang stated. "So, there's that."

"Yes..." Winter voiced, "please introduce me to this Black Hart."

"Of the woods." Ren said with a smiled, and turned to leave the lounge, Nora immediately behind him.

* * *

Winter and Weiss waited while Ren and Nora went to their room, and Jaune and her wives went up to the top floor. Taj disappeared under the stairs over to the hangar.

* * *

J + R_BY walked down the stairs. Jaune tossed Weiss' belt, which she caught. She affixed it as they approached, Jaune passing Myrtenaster in it's scabbard.

* * *

Taiyang picked up his scroll and saw a message from Yang. 'Hey, dad. We're taking Super Weiss to go see the Black Hart. Tell Raven if she bothers to ask about us.'

* * *

The airship dropped them in the glade, and the group quickly leapt down. Jaune stopped and turned back to Ilia, last on the airship. He held his hands out to her, head tilted back to avoid goring her. She weakly smiled before jumping down into his arms. He then put her down as he smacked the airship. It then lifted back up into the air.

* * *

Winter walked through the darkened woods until she felt a presence. She thought she saw the trees themselves moving, until she realized their were great antlers from a dark form. "You have brought her to my woods!" a great voiced bellowed, that made Winter feel momentarily faint. "Does this mean she is friend or foe?!"

"She's Weiss' sister!" Jaune bellowed through the woods. Immediately after Ruby let out a great howl. Weiss turned to glare at her, and Ruby looked about nervously.

"Humanoid siblings are not something we ken, but I suppose we could view the other Great Beasts as my kin, as you would view yours! Kin or no, you are in the woods of my earl! Have you brought sufficient tribute?!"

Winter stood up properly, "I have brought Dust!" Winter exclaimed.

"You value this as your lives?!" the great voiced asked. "Does my earl consider this sufficient tribute?"

"I do!" Jaune bellowed.

"Then!," the great voice stated, "you have the freedom of my woods, so long as the earl allows!"

Winter then thought she felt the earth quake, though that might just be her, as the black form moved away, the trees seeming to move with it. She shook her head and stood back at attention. "Great one?!" she bellowed, and the moving shape in the forest stood, and turned to look at her. She could not see eyes, consciously, but it was as if they were boring into her soul. "You must have great power to claim the woods as your own?!" she asked, and there was a moment's pause. She had to steel herself to not visibly shake.

"I do!" the great voice simple bellowed.

"Could you not help us to?.." and a great shout echoed from the darkened wood to silence her.

"We!" he snarled, "Have not choice!" The form then turned to step away. In the absence of his petrifying gaze, Winter found her body loose and aquiver.

* * *

They walked back towards the glade, but Winter found Jaune's gaze ever affixed on her. He watched her like a beast in the forest, his eyes able to gleam truth from the darkwood.

"Sister?" Weiss asked her, and Winter found her body quake. She quickly breathed in deep to stop the dark blue flush, and stop her body from shaking.

"Your beau has been staring at me." Winter said, using all of her strength to stop her body from shaking.

"Jaune?" Ruby accused, and Jaune stopped, at the vanguard, everyone else stopping with him. He somehow turned around despite the wood, his antlers avoiding the branches of the trees that would thwart him. He turned to look first at Ruby, then Weiss and Winter, and then everyone else.

"It is from concern." Ren stated, and then turned to continue on their path. Jaune turned to walk away, and the train of people turned to follow him.

"How could you meet that being?!" Winter shouted, "And not feel afraid?"

"You mistake my meaning." Ren said without looking back, "His concern is for you."

Winter then looked between everyone else. They didn't seem at ease, but at least far more at ease than she was.

Ren then momentarily stopped to look at her, "To answer your unasked question, our faith in our leader is what gives you strength." Ren then turned to continue down the path.

"So, Jaune's worried about Winter?!" Ruby asked, and Jaune dismissively raised and waved his hand without looking back.

"And what gives him strength?" Winter asked.

"You - don't - want - to - know!" Jaune's great voice bellowed through the woods.

* * *

Winter climbed onto the airship first, assuming it was because she was the guest. When she looked forward she found Taj looking back. "Why don't you come join me in the cockpit?" he asked, and gave her a friendly, beckoning wave. She walked forward to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "Now, I know I have a bit of a reputation, but I do have a bit of advice for you?"

"And that would be?" Winter neutrally asked. Taj looked back to make sure everyone was seated.

"We ready to go?!" he asked, and Jauned nodded. Taj looked back and started to take the ship up. "So, there's no easy way to say this, but they're going to offer you the guest room, because you're a guest, and they tried to offer them to us."

"And you did not partake?" Winter asked.

"Ilia likes to be alone, has a bit of a trouble getting on with others."

"And yourself?" Winter asked.

"Yeah, well, you see, at night, the tower shakes."

"Periodic, predicatble earthquakes?" Winter asked, and Taj shook his head.

"It comes from the top."

"Wind shear?" Winter asked, and once again Taj shook his head. "Perhaps something to do with the gravity knots in the aerodrome?"

Taj sighed, "I suppose I'm going to have to spell it out, the new couple... coupling..."

Winter looked at him first with disbelief, then wished she still disbelieved. Her body flushed both light and dark blues and she stared forward for a few minutes. "He is strong enough to SHAKE - THE - TOWER?!"

"Exactly who is doing what is best left to the imagination." Taj voiced.

Winter's colour-shifting continued as she looked about lost, trying to come to some rational sense. "And, the others?"

"Ren and Nora do not seem to mind." Taj stated. "Aurora seems happy about it."

Winter gave him another disbelieving gaze.

[ellana-ravenwood]

Batfam moments I think about a lot and wish we'd have more stories of...

1. Bruce Wayne learning how to "dad" and making SO MANY MISTAKES. But we see him evolve over the years, and slowly getting used to it. He will always have communication problems, and have moments when he's a total jerk. Let's not forget he's only human, and we all have bad moments. Buuuuut, he’s the kind of father to go make a detour to buy his kids their favorite dinner (and yes, all of them, like before he comes home to Wayne Manor, I can see him go to différent take aways and bring back their favorite food haha). 

Or like, remembering exactly what they’re into lately and looking stuffs up on the internet to get up to date. I bet sometimes they’d talk about a band or video games and Bruce would be like : “Oh yes, I particularly like the battle mode of this blahblahblah” and they’d all be stunned haha.  I think he has a special way of loving. It’s not always obvious, out there right in your face, but it’s most definitely there. 

His children are his strength (as shown in many stories... In more stories in fact, that the ones that exists where he's a total dick to them). And he cares for them in his own way, which can sometimes appear cold and such, while it's just that he doesn't always know how to react. Like. We have to remember his background, it's not really surprising he has communication problems and such things. But he cares... So much. 

He's thé kind of dad that goes out of his way to please his kids, even if said kids don't even notice the small things he does for them because ya know, hé just does it and they're used to it and it's only as they grow up they truly realize how out of his way he went for them etc etc. À discreet , pure and différent way of loving. He knows them, hé truly does. “You don’t even know me !” one of them would say after a fight, out of anger, and he would answer : “I do.” confidently, and they’d be like : “PROVE IT THEN !” and Bruce would enumerates everything he can think of about them. Favorite color, favorite meal, favorite book, favorite tv show, hobbies, crushes, fears etc etc...Anyway. Yes. 

I just want scenes of him slowly learning how to be a father, and not being the best about it all the time, yet trying his best and it’s obvious he does. We forget sometimes what he went through, and what it truly means for him to adopt and take care of those kids. We forget often that he became Batman, mainly because he does not want any other kid to experience what he went through. Bruce as à father is far from perfect, and hé makes shit tons of mistakes, but he tries, and hé loves them deeply. I think that's why I really hate canon lately, they turned him into à mindless brute who genuinely abusés his kids. It's so, so, so bad, and goes against decades of stories. It's written by people that think "edgy" is à personality trait and what people nowadays love (which is totally false). I'm pretty sûre that for all the canon examples of him being à jerk to the Batkids, I can pull out about ten times more examples of him being à good dad. Again. He's flawed because he's human, and he's difficult to understand at times... But no one will ever make me believe he doesn't love his children with all his heart.

2. Young Jason being super surprised that Bruce is actually a very good cook because he always pictured filthy rich people never doing anything themselves...and Bruce being like : “You know, I was mostly raised by Alfred. Of course he would teach me basic house skills.” while flipping expertly the food in the pan. Alfred one day telling the kids something like : “Everyone always think Master Wayne is a bubbly idiot who cannot work his way around a house, but this is very wrong. He has been changing his own sheets ever since he was 7, and his parents already made sure that he would know what house work is, so he could treat the servants right by seeing how difficult it can be. When his parents died, I took care of him, and there was a long moment he would follow me around everywhere, maybe in fear that I would go, too...During those moments, I taught him a lot.” And then just Bruce showing à few things to his own kids, as à parallèlism to how him and Alfred were (and still are) ❤️.

3. A direct follow up of the one above, Bruce teaching his kids all kind of stuffs. How to play piano, how to fall without hurting yourself, how to cook, how to fight, how to ride a bike for those who didn’t know etc etc...A perfect mix of totally normal domestic stuffs, and of night vigilante stuffs. I bet he’d make up “escape games” for his kids on boring Sunday afternoons, because it’d develop a lot of their skills needed to be Robins (or whoever) AND is fun. I think the reverse totally works too, the kids teaching him things. Like, how to play that video game, how to use slang without sounding like an old man, how to paint his nails, blahblahblah. Just moments together, because they spend so much time with each others like, come on. They have hobbies too. And care about each others enough to want to know about it, and share stuffs etc etc. Growing together, ya know ?

4. More crossover moments with the entire family, not just one or two character : John Constantine being there to ask help for a thing (or not asking help but Bruce wouldn’t let anyone “tamper” with Gotham without him being there so...haha). Zatanna coming around to teach the kids some magic (just like her dad did with Bruce...not “real” magic but like, escape magic and all), or something. Green Arrow making à courtesy visit with his wife, son, and sidekicks. The Superfam and their strong bonds with the Batfam being shown more, and not always in that “rival” way. And like, all of them, not just one or two characters at a time. Sunday lunches at the Kent farm, gaming nights (to which Bruce is dragged to), friendly compétitions, blahblahblah.

5. “Baby” Dick having nightmares in the middle of the night of his parents’ death, and Bruce always being there. How Bruce understands and is always around for him. And reassures him. And on that note : I’m sure most of the kids have nightmares during the night, and Bruce becomes better and better over the years at soothing them. Oh also, if Dick, after he goes and lives in Bludhaven comes to sleep at Wayne Manor for any reasons and has a nightmare, Bruce will just automatically go to him...awkward and cute scene ensues haha.

6. Cass’ first words to Bruce. A very emotional scenes because...it’s the first time she speaks. And it’s clumsy and she’s not sure of herself, and her voice trembles a little. But she’s talking. I’m not sure what her first words would truly be, but most definitely something that touches Bruce. That move him. That make him realize how much he loves that kid.

7. Bruce taking Jason to a baseball game (pre-death Jason) for his birthday because that’s what the kid wanted as à gift. And then later, them going to a game once again after their reconciliation. A very big parallel between the two scènes ya know, as Bruce reminisces. Both end up with Jason hugging Bruce because his favorite team won. In the first scene it’s little 8/9 years old Jay excited and is all cute. In the post-death scene, it’s a grown up Jason who had been angry at Bruce for so long and finally forgave him, and who hugs Bruce without even realizing he does it, because he’s just happy...And it ends on Bruce’s face smiling like, he finally got his boy back.

8. Tim and Damian bonding. I hate it when they're only represented as hating each others 24/7. They had à rough start, sure. But they grew à lot... I just wish we could see them more actually learning to be brothers, accepting each others etc etc. Now of course they'd bicker. Like any siblings. But I bet they'd have à lot of common intérests and such. That they'd like to tease each others, but would genuinely like hanging out and all. 

Also Tim is à very understanding sweet person, hé might be annoyed with Damian at first... But he would be amongst those who get it, ya know ? Who gives him time/à chance ? Like Bruce at first did everything wrong with Damian. He was harsh and violent and used intimidation (things Damian was too used to...) thinking he needed that to get Damian to lose his old ways (until he realized how wrong he was and apologzed and took à gentler way...ah that was good shit right there, Bruce acknowledging it all and trying to be better... Not like this current canon Bruce who's an asshole and never suffers any conséquences of it...). Well I think Tim would be more understanding and realize... Damian is just à kid. And Tim is à big brother now ? His older siblings were there for him, it's time for him to be there too. Know what I mean ? So yeah. I wish we'd have more of them actually being brothers and bonding.

 Same for Dick and Jason. I wish we had more of them together before Jason's death, and after too... They've been brothers for à long time, their relationship from start to Jay's death to him coming back... Is so interesting. Also, same goes for Cassandra and any of them.

9. Tim getting genuinely interested about Wayne Enterprise, and going to work with Bruce. Asking à million questions and mimicking à lot of B's mannerisms. Dick never showed much intérest in the company, and Jason could've been à great "heir " to it all had he not die and all... I don't think neither Damian nor Cass would care much. But Tim ? First canonically he is interested. But even so, he's just that "type" of kid ya know ? I bet he'd be very excited about the charity side of it all, and find novel ways to to make the world a better place. After all Tim is thé only one of the Robins to not have à tragic background (at least at first, after je was also hit with loss and pain... ) when he first became Robin, and who helped Batman and all completely selflessly. Because it was the right thing to do, and for no other tragic reasons.

10. Damian learning/enjoying really normal basic things gives me life ? Like the boy grew up in such à specific environment, there's so many things he must've missed...Disney movies marathon, vidéo games, just having fun without any other purpose than to have fun (no training), knowing what it is to feel safe and warm... You know. I wish we'd just see Damian understanding and learning things he was just never given, that are just... Nice. Of course being Batman's son means his life can never be completely normal (and I'm not sure he could fully adapt to à normal life... People always seem to forgét the deep traumas he went through during his childhood, which is why he was how Hé was at first...aaaah Damian came à long way), but you know, hé can still expérience so many new things, with his siblings and all ? With his father who tries really hard ? With Alfred ? Just. Seeing truly Damian have that character development without backtracking on it all the time (you know how in canon stories he's à total brat, then gets better, then back to à friendless brat who hates everyone and so on and s forth :/). Seeing him wanting to become better, and actually having à nice évolution.

_____________________

When I'm sad, I like to headcanon scènes about the Batfam, stuffs I wish we could see etc etc haha. Here's just à few I thought about today. I just.. Love them so much, love to share my love for them, and néed to escape current canon a lot haha. Anyway. Here we are.

PS : Sorry for any typo, I wrote this on my phone, and since I'm French, the autoccorect is changing almost every English words to French ones and I might've missed à few mistakes it made ( which drives me crazy haha. And is why I only put 10 "scènes" and not more... Ah, for another post ?).

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Ultimate ship meme for Glow?

General:

Rate the Ship -  Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - They would definitely last forever - like, if there is some kind of afterlife for them, they’ll be together there as well. 

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - I actually imagine that falling in love for them was a slow process, like it often can be with relationships like theirs, which start as friends and develop into a romance. They kind of had this thing where they knew they loved each other before they realized they were in love with each other. 

How was their first kiss? - It was actually a pretty simple moment. They were just...relaxing together, probably snuggling on the window seat in Glimmer’s room, when Bow just kind of...gave her a little peck on the lips. Glimmer was a little surprised at first, but she kissed him back shortly after, and they just...kept snuggling for a while longer.

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Bow, and to steal an idea from my friend  tolstoyevskywrites he technically proposed twice. Once with a fairly simple ring that he literally shot through Glimmer’s window with a note asking her to marry him, and once later on with a fancier ring he made himself. She said “Yes” the first time, but he wanted to do it again, properly. 

Who is the best man/men? - Most likely a couple of Bow’s brothers, along with maybe Sea Hawk….And Swift Wind would probably insist on being “best horse” because excluding him would just be discrimination and rude.

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - Adora is probaly one of them, and one of Bow’s sisters probably takes up the other spot (I still headcanon him as having brothers and sisters)

Who did the most planning? - Probably Bow did a little bit more, but Glimmer definitely offered her input a fair amount. Though, honestly, Castaspella probably made about as many decisions as either of them once she found out about the wedding. 

Who stressed the most? - Glimmer, without a doubt. Bow did his best to calm her down whenever he could. 

How fancy was the ceremony? -Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - No one was specifically not invited, though Glimmer did try and avoid her aunt finding out for as long as possible, just to try and avoid her taking over the preparations. 

Sex:

Who is on top? - They switch sometimes, but usually Bow’s on top.

Who is the one to instigate things? - Glimmer is the one who instigates things the most, particularly because she likes to…get Bow worked up during times she really shouldn’t, like during meetings. 

How healthy is their sex life? -Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? -Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - They normally go at least two rounds a night, though sometimes three. How long the rounds last really does depend on the night, and how quick or slow they want to go.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - They usually make an effort, and even if one of them “comes up short” one time, the other tries to make up for it the next time they have a chance to be intimate. 

How rough are they in bed? -Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? -No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - They’d probably plan either two or three. I think Bow liked growing up with siblings and Glimmer used to think that she would have liked having a brother or sister, so they’d probably want more than one, but not so many that they’d feel totally overwhelmed. 

How many children will they adopt? - Probably none, not because they would be against the idea, but just because I don’t think it’d ever really cross their minds. That being said, if they were asked to foster a child or two, they would happily accept the offer.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Bow, but he technically volunteers for diaper duty. He figures that since Glimmer has to feed the baby, the least he can do is let her get a little extra sleep while he changes the diapers. 

Who is the stricter parent? - Neither of them is exactly a pushover, but Glimmer tends to be a little more strict, taking influence from how her mom raised her growing up, even if she does try to give her own kids more freedom than she felt she had. 

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Bow is already Glimmer’s impulse control, so he’d just kind of automatically take that role for his children as well. 

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - They both remember and they take turns making the lunches. Glimmer is more likely to give them an extra snack, so the kids often ask her to make them more than they’ll ask Bow, but they each end up doing it about the same amount.  

Who is the more loved parent? - They’re both loved equally overall, but it depends on the specific child who they are closer to. And obviously neither of them is unloved by any of their children; they just have more in common with some of their kids than others. 

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? - They both definitely try their best to attend, but Glimmer often has to deal with court stuff, so sometimes Bow has to go alone.

Who cried the most at graduation? - Definitely Bow. Glimmer might get emotional, but she does her best to not cry in public, while he just flat out doesn’t care.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Probably Glimmer, if only because her rank basically means she can use her power to get them out of trouble without any real issue.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Well, they have chefs to do most of the cooking, but between the two of them, if you’re talking specifically cooking and not baking, that’s Bow. 

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Neither is particularly picky in regards to food, but between the two of them, Glimmer might be slightly more picky.

Who does the grocery shopping? - They often go together, but Bow is the one who is more likely to do that particular chore on his own.

How often do they bake desserts? - Considering Glimmer has a sweet tooth, pretty much every other day, since they usually have leftovers from the previous night’s meal.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - They’ll eat either, but if they had to choose between the two, probably go a little more towards the meat dishes.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Bow would be the one to actually get away with doing the surprise, just because he’s a better cook. Plus, he can usually get a little more free time to make the meal.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Glimmer, though Bow is pretty much never actually against the idea

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidentally while cooking? - Neither, though Glimmer is probably more likely to set off the smoke alarm

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Glimmer will help, but Bow is the one who just sort of instinctively tidies up. It’s a habit he picked up after so many times of cleaning up Glimmer’s room while listening to her rant about her mom.

Who is really against chores? - Neither of them is against chores, though Glimmer is more likely to put off doing them until the last minute. 

Who cleans up after the pets? - Both of them. It was a joint decision to get pets, so they both take responsibility for them, including the messes they make.

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - That is Glimmer, without a doubt. She usually cleans properly, but sometimes she puts it off for a little too long and just needs to hide everything until later.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Probably Bow, but Glimmer has been known to have her last minute stressing moments, especially if their guests are someone she wants to leave a good impression on.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Neither of them, because nobody who visits or lives there carries cash.

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Probably Glimmer, but even then, not by much, and really only when she’s super stressed and needs a way to relax, since a hot bath reminds her a bit of the steam grotto at Mystacor.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - They take turns, but Bow does it more often, mostly because he likes to go out in the morning while Glimmer prefers to sleep in.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Every year unless they have something outside of their control that will keep them from doing so, and even then, they still try and do something, even if it’s not as big as they’d normally go for the holidays. But, whenever possible, they go all out. 

What are their goals for the relationship? - Nothing in particular, really. They just want to be together and grow and learn from each other for as long as they possibly can. But, ultimately, their main goal is just to be together and make each other as happy as they can.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Neither of them really sleeps that late, honestly. Bow is definitely the one who gets up earlier, but Glimmer is usually awake by ten even without him waking her. 

Who plays the most pranks? - Glimmer, mostly because it’s easier to get away with a prank when you can just teleport away from the scene and pretend you had nothing to do with it.

[the1rei]

Little Moments: Reboot Chapter Nineteen: Speaking my Language By  Ericobard and shadows59 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Fandom: Ben 10 Series Relationship: Ben Tennyson/Gwen Tennyson Some Additional Tags: Bullying, No proofreading, Family is Drama, Long burn

Summer’s over and school is in session, made worse as it is middle school.  Amidst the troubles of the new year Gwen finds something she’s always wanted and was beginning to fear she would never have, a friend.  Except Ben of course. 

Read my review below:

Why is Gwen still going to an elementary school?  It is directly stated in the story that Ben is in middle school, "Middle School blows. You're so lucky you don't have to deal."  They are identical ages, so they should be in the same grade as they were in the original, or an explanation should be given as to why they aren't in the same grade.  Gwen's school is a K-12 school; it wouldn't be called an elementary school.  

Gwen answering her phone in school and her receiving no repercussions for throwing away the note Mrs. Adams wrote to her mother shows that scene in chapter eleven was completely needless.  It should have ended after Gwen's viable scolding.  

" - even old Squid Face was this horrible!" I suspect Shadows59 meant to say 'wasn't' here.

The phone call in the middle of school and the deluge of texts that they exchange is supposed to show that they are a sweet couple that is very affectionate with each other.  But it ends up coming across as they are obsessed with each other in an unhealthy way, so much so that they can't go very long without contact of some form.  Even with young infatuation, couples need time apart so they can continue to be individuals, but Ben and Gwen come across as clingy and co-dependent.  She even calls the phone a 'lifeline' to Ben as if she'd die without him.  This wasn't the case in the original, and Shadows59 came across as a much more mature author in how he depicted a healthy but highly romantic love between two kids.  

Flint continues to be a caricature of a creepy guy.  He just says disgusting, hateful things so the reader will be disgusted by him and hate him, but any reader that understands this will just see him as a shallow character with no substance.  Antagonists need to have well-reasoned motivations behind their actions, and yet for all the times the story has brought up Flint, it never tells the reader why he is the way he is.  

Additionally, the things Flint, an eleven-year-old, says are highly sexual and complex suggestions.  It's not the mere perversions of a boy who would say something such as 'show me your panties.'  Instead, he suggests an advanced form of sexual degradation play, which further raises questions about why he is the way he is.  

Even non-prestigious schools had computer labs and teachers who were experts to deal with them long before 1999.  Even with her affinity for computers, it's unrealistic that Gwen would have then said teacher or would be called in to deal with an administrator's computer.  Said computer might even be too old for her to understand at all.  Honestly, I feel like I would let this pass if the story was more like the show and not trying to be a serious story.  

Gwen comparing the reactions she gets from kissing Ben, her love interest in the story, to the reaction a younger brother gives to his older sister when she kisses him is, odd to say, incestuous.  These two reactions should not be comparable because the reaction she should be getting from Ben is one of a peer who hasn't come around to discovering the romantic feels he has for another peer.  The other is the reaction of a younger sibling at getting a kiss from an older sibling who is, in this case, Gwen peer.  So not only does this compare Ben and Gwen as sister and brother but also Ben as being younger than Gwen, making their romance come across as highly inappropriate.

In the original, Gwen has social anxiety, which prevents her from talking to Michelle at first, and it's only when she thinks of Ben is she able to encourage herself to be open the new girl.  This is a very relatable problem, and Gwen displays her courage and willingness to follow another's example, like a hero, overcoming it.  In the reboot, Michelle asks one innocent question, the first thing she has ever said to Gwen, and Gwen is ready to judge her as being like Marci.  Prejudging anyone is a very unheroic act, and Gwen has to remind herself that Ben wouldn't do something like that to convince herself to give Michelle a chance.  

It's unclear why Michelle finds what Gwen says funny, why it makes Gwen "crazy," or why this makes Michelle like Gwen.  In the original, Michelle is shown to be as lost and alone as Gwen, so it's natural to her to like the person who reaches out to her, on Gwen's own accord, and offers to show her around.  In the Reboot, Gwen has been conscripted by the principle to interact with Michelle and show her around.  That can be a fine way to bring to people who will be friends together, but the story of the original is stronger.  

Having Ben's liberal parents protesting a new army base is a weak stereotype.  It is a stereotype as no reason is given for them not to want the base built.  

It makes no sense that Michelle, probably before she was 11, would be able to sneak out and go to a protest that turned violent given that when Gwen came near violence in this story, teenagers and adults treated her like a toddler.  

Gwen comes across as bad friend allowing Marci to pull Michelle away from her with putting up a fight to get her back even though she knows Marci is lying, and she is abandoning Michelle to Marci's lies and possible bullying.  Instead of doing anything to stop this, she just sits down and feels sorry for herself, thinking badly of other people, especially Ben.  Gwen isn't concerned with Michelle; she'd not watching the new girl make sure Macri's not making her feel uncomfortable or anything, instead just assuming that she would fall for Marci's corruptive influence.  

There is more overuse of italicized text in this chapter where it displays translated speech.  First, this visual clue that Gwen hears translated speech weakens the story, because in the original, where the speech was not emphasized, the reader is confused with Gwen as to what is happening, but because we already know or can guess that something is happening we're just waiting for Gwen to figure it out.  This distances the reader from the character's situation unnecessarily.  Second I am left wondering what would happen if Gwen was in her plumber suit, speaking to someone on the phone, in a different language, and emphasized what she was saying.  I assume the universe would implode, or explode, or both.

Marci's using the word cousin in place of boyfriend as a jab at Gwen's relationship with Ben would be good if it didn't require Gwen to understand french to be effective.  Marci has been established to be able to speak some french, but Gwen hasn't, so there is no way that Marci would know Gwen would understand her.  If Gwen couldn't understand what she said, then it would lose a lot of its punch.  It's a cause of the scene being written from the author's perspective instead of the character's.

"she was going to drive through a perfect little nose" Don't try to blame reflexes when there is clear intent on the part of the character.

Gwen anticipates that Michelle is going to leave her for Marci several times, and it's only after she refuses to several times that Gwen starts to trust her.  The foundation of their friendship is Gwen constantly mistrusting Michelle.

Every time Gwen nearly explodes on Marci, I'm just reminded of how much healthier she dealt with her anger in the original, channeling it into little pranks she pulled on Marci with her magic.  

"I kind of like the one I have - " Shadows59, you probably meant to say 'ones' here.

The previous chapters had Max leave and created a great deal of drama.  Erico even stated, "Grandpa is gone... They have nobody else they can turn to... They only have each other..."  Every indication in the story and the co-author indicate that Max is gone, and yet he just shows back up in the story like none of the drama of him leaving in the previous chapters occurred.  The original lacked that overly dramatic element, so when Gwen calls Max to find out why she can speak french, it makes sense they can just talk to him, whereas in the reboot, it doesn't.  There's no pay off for all that drama.

"Some part of her - most of her was sure it was Grandpa saying that something came up and she felt sick at the idea. She missed him. She'd been missing him since he disappeared and how could he? None of the eight weeks made that bit any smaller..."   Shadows59, you should consider revising this section.  It isn't clear what is meant by 'Some part of her-'  Because that is unclear the 'None of the eight weeks made that bit any smaller...' part isn't clear either.  Additionally, the sections are separated, but they feel like they are part of the same thought and are referring to one another without clarification.  

"No!" "No!" Shadows, you either repeated the "No!" accidentally here, or the two knows don't need two sets quotation marks.  

"He was just Ben and hers and she wasn't going to share him, not even with Michelle..." This shows that Gwen has a very unhealthy attachment to Ben that goes far beyond romance and young love.

"He was just Ben and hers and she..." There should probably be commas after 'Ben' and 'hers' as they are separate statements.

The added content for Michelle doesn't add much to the story of their friendship.  Some might have found it sudden that the pair met in this chapter, and one chapter later, we're best friends, but that at least was marked with a time jump, so the development of their friendship could take a mundane pace normally in the skipped time.  Here their transition from strangers to best friends really does seem sudden, and there's no real reason why these two because so attached after just a few hours.  There's no real reason for their closeness save on Gwen's part because she notices that Michelle is somewhat like Ben, an unsettling fact given how obsessed she is with the boy.  

Ben and Gwen sound like old people talking about 'kids fashion these days.'

"she was so much faster and back on her feet before she even got any water on her skirt." It's physically impossible to pour water all over someone's head while their head is in your lap and not get wet.  

I'll just say there is a big difference between Gwen staring a little because Ben is shirtless and her ogling him while describing droplets of water running down his muscles.  One is appropriate for an eleven-year-old, and the other is not.  Once more, I just think these characters are older in Shadows59's mind, not that he's trying to be inappropriate.  

That ending is so cute, I love it.

-Erico

"...carries much more depth and heart because Michelle's first day and Gwen's first day back address it from Gwen's perspective." This sentence makes no sense.

You make it sound like Gwen is taking advantage of Michelle's uncertainty.  

It makes no sense for Gwen's classmates to ostracize her for doing things for the school staff; all students get called to do such things.  So unless the faculty is ostracizing the other students and only calling on Gwen for help, the students' opinion of her shouldn't be affected by that.  You are also showing just as well as I that Gwen has an unhealthy attachment to Ben when her focus is getting the day to get back to him.  An attachment that again, goes far beyond healthy romantic attachment.  

So what I hear from you is that Michelle is guarded because the concern she sees from people is usually because she is her father's daughter, and its more their concern for him, or his opinion of them, then it is for Michelle herself.  This isn't expressed in the story, and while it would be difficult to do so while locked in Gwen's perspective without creating awkward dialogue, it is still possible to express it.  For instance, by Michelle extending her father's gratitude instead of her own, or assuring people that she will tell her father what a good job they did.  

You talk about Gwen and Michelle like they are going through the friendship equivalent of love-at-first-sight.  This is a trope that is used, most commonly, by poor writers to establish romance first and justify it later, but real friendship, like real love, is slow to start.  The original had that at least in feeling; the reboot has chosen to forgo it instead.

(As always, please go leave Shadows59 a nice positive review he won’t delete.)

[merakiaes]

It’ll Be Different This Time - Jaime Lannister

Pairing: Jaime Lannister x Stark!reader

Requested: Yes

Prompts: None

Warnings/notes: Death, angst, I guess? I put two requests together to save time, hope that’s okay! Unfortunately no smut since it turned out so long. I hope this is alright!

Wordcount: 4371

Description: Being the oldest Stark and having a rocky relationship with Jaime Lannister, meeting again when the battle is about to take place. 

They had warned you. Everyone had warned you. 

They told you not to fall in love. At least not to fall in love with him. But as it turns out, you didn’t take advice very well. Something you’d come to regret more times than one. 

Being the eldest daughter of Ned and Cat Stark all while being married to Jaime Lannister was not easy. 

Since the day you set foot in King’s Landing and Tywin proposed a marriage between the Kingslayer and yourself, you had been constantly pulled between the Lannisters and the Starks. 

It wouldn’t have been a hard choice if you hadn’t loved Jaime, but the truth was that you did. Not from the start, of course, but you slowly grew to do so.

And he grew attracted to you, as well. But you were the only one out of the two of you who were in it to the full. 

And while you wouldn’t have cared had he not led you on, this was exactly what he had done, only to leave you for his sister time after time. 

It drove you crazy.

The fighting was endless. The two of you could be heard shouting and screaming days in and days out, voices echoing through the Red Keep. 

“I’ve had enough!” You yelled at Jaime as you packed a small bag with the necessities you would need for traveling. 

It had been months since your father’s beheading, and of course you had been absolutely heartbroken. But you had stayed strong for Sansa. And although you were ashamed to admit it, being with Jaime had made it easier to cope.

But as always, he wasn’t as deep in it as you were. And you couldn’t take it anymore.

”You can’t leave, not after all this time we’ve spent together.” Jaime told you, following you around the room as you rushed about, grabbing stuff here and there.

”What difference does our time together do?” You yelled back, not wanting to look at him. “I should have left sooner. I hung on because you tricked me into believing things would get better. I’m not making that mistake again. I’m going back to my home, to my family, where my loyalty lies.”

Jaime then grabbed your arm as you passed him, stopping you in your tracks. ”I’m your family, too.”

You looked at him, eyes red to the brim with dried tears. ”I thought so, too. But I was wrong.”

“Please stay.” He begged you. “I will treat you right this time. It will be different.” 

Your heart thudded in your chest, believing his words without hesitation. But your mind was wide awake this time. “You say that every time.” 

“I swear to you. Please don’t go.” He pleaded, eyes heavy with sadness. 

You looked at him, straight into his eyes. ”Do you love Cersei?” 

Jaime’s eyes widened slightly, and you could see him shaking slightly as he answered. ”Yes.”

You nodded to his response. ”Do you love me?”

Jaime grabbed your hands carefully, afraid you might pull away. ”Yes.”

You looked down at your now joined hands, nodding to every answer he was giving you. ”I want you to say it.”

”I just answered it.” Jaime answered, confusion lacing his voice, but you could hear he understood what you meant.

You let your sad expression harden as you looked up at him again. You held his gaze for a moment, looking for something you didn’t even know yourself, before you ordered. ”Say it.”

Jaime opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. You felt your eyes start to sting, as another round of tears started building up. 

The first tear fell and rolled down your cheek as Jaime whispered. ”-I can’t.”

You nodded, still looking into his eyes. ”That’s what I thought.” And with that, you pulled your hands out of his and turned around to resume your packing. 

“But I need you.” You heard him speak from behind you as you pushed a knife into the sheath on your thigh. “I need you here. With me. I’ll change. I know the relationship I have with Cersei is not normal. I’ll try my best to change everything.”

You shook your head. “For some reason I’m having trouble believing that.”

”All she does is take and take. One day, there’s going to be nothing left of you. And I’m not going to stay here just to soothe your loneliness and be thrown away until you finally realize what kind of person she really is.”

“Cersei is different, I know that. And I know our relationship is wrong. But I can change. If you just give me a chance.”

“That’s just the thing, isn’t it, Jaime?” You turned to look at him, finding him standing in the middle of the room right where you had left him, looking everything but fine. “You’re just as bad as her. You’ve hurt a lot of people, you failed them. Just like you failed me. And for what? Your own destruction, that’s what. I just wished you would wake up and see it before it happens.”

You didn’t give him a chance to respond before strapping the satchel to your shoulder and turning around to go for the door. Tears were falling freely down your face by this point, as they seemed to do every day of your life nowadays. 

Your heart was throbbing and thudding and breaking all at the same time, and you found yourself wishing that he would just call out to you, tell you that he loved you. 

Maybe then, he’d actually be able to change. 

But as you reached out to take a hold of the door handle, the only thing he said was a simple, “Don’t.” 

And in that moment you could feel your heart stop the throbbing and thudding, completely shattering into a million pieces. 

You put on a smile through your tears, turning your head over your shoulder to look at him briefly. “Are you going to stop me?” You laughed lightly, already knowing the answer. 

Giving him one last, wet smile, you nodded your head. “Goodbye, Jaime.”

Your heart was heavy during the whole time while traveling, but as you rode further and further North, your heart slowly started beating again. 

You were an adventurer at heart, always had been, but oh, how you loved to be home, you realized as the castle of Winterfell entered your view.

The moment you rode through the gates, Arya and Sansa were all over you, hugging you and crying into your shoulder. 

“Where have you been?” Sansa asked you, brows furrowed and eyes watery as it was finally her turn to greet you for the first time in years, after you had hugged Bran who was sitting off to the side. 

“Emotional hell.” You managed to laugh out through your tears, raising your hand to wipe you nose. 

They all watched you with sad eyes, admiring you for always being able to smile through your pain, but still knowing you weren’t a person who liked to talk about your emotion while they were still raw. 

It was that day you met Brienne for the first time. 

Apparently, Arya had come back only a day before you. And so she was excited to introduce you to the woman who had beat the Hound down to his supposed-death. 

The two of you had gotten on better than the two of you had with anyone before, seeing as you both had history with the one and only Jaime Lannister. 

Neither of you ever went into detail about those histories, but you knew enough to have something to bond over. 

You had missed a lot while being stuck in the royal castle, but you were still aware of the upcoming war, and you wanted to help in any way you could. However, you had never been a fighter like Arya. 

But you hadn’t been quite a lady like Sansa, either. 

You were stuck somewhere in between. You could use a sword, knife and bow, but you weren’t even close to being as skilled as Brienne, Jaime, Jon or Arya. 

So Brienne was the one who took on the responsibility to train you for the battle, forcing you to spend day after day sparring and fighting Podrick in the fields as people ran around, preparing each of their assigned jobs.

It was tough, but just like Arya, you were a quick learner, and even though you still weren’t close to being as good as her and Brienne, it didn’t take long for you to be even with Podrick. 

And of course it was given that the two of you turned it into a competition between the two of you, counting your wins and comparing at the end of the day. 

Despite every night sulking and thinking about Jaime, and despite the war to come, you would admit you were able to have fun in those moments with your siblings, Brienne and Podrick. 

Brienne most of all. 

She had never gotten the chance to grow up as a girl, thanks to her size and looks. And you hadn’t either, courtesy of your lone-wolf tendencies. 

But now that you had met, you slowly started developing one of those friendships you had watched every girl your age have as you grew up. 

This meant her spending many nights with you in your chambers, out of the armor she seemed to always be wearing, just lying down, facing the ceiling and talking for hours. 

You had never felt the need to have friends when you were young. But you couldn’t deny it felt nice. 

On rare occasions, Podrick joined you, but on those days Brienne didn’t let herself show as much emotion as she did when she was alone with you. 

The morning of Jon’s return, you had woken up and gotten ready for the day together with Brienne, her having fallen asleep in your bed the night before. 

You had helped her with her armor, and she had helped you lace your dress. 

And then you had, together, walked down to greet your brother at the gate. 

As he had first noticed you, he had thrown himself out of the saddle while the horse was still moving, almost falling face first in the mud as he bolted towards you and tackled you in a hug, leaving his company bewildered and confused. 

“(Y/N).” He breathed out into your hair as he held your head against his shoulder, other arm wrapped tightly around your torso. 

“I can’t breath.” You wheezed as he squeezed you, causing him to realize his mistake and let go quickly, allowing you to take a breath. 

No more words were spoken. He only looked at you until he was sure you had caught your breath, before taking you into his arms again, even though it could be the other way around with the way he was clinging to you like you were about to disappear. 

After your very long and emotional reunion, he had finally walked over to Daenerys to help her down from her horse, bringing her over to meet the lot of you. 

Sansa had been her usual salty self, but you didn’t blame her. You knew the second you laid eyes on the white haired beauty that she would not let you keep the North independent once she claimed the throne. 

But Sansa and yourself had different ways of acting out. While you weren’t afraid to me rude if needed like Sansa, you usually saved the attitude until it was really needed, opting to be kind to everyone, whether you liked them or not. 

Despite the fact you weren’t sure you wanted the dragon queen on the Iron Throne, your heart reached out to her as Sansa completely dismissed her compliment, a disappointed look overtaking her features. 

So as she turned to you, you gave her a warm smile. Which in turn seemed to give her back at least some of her confidence. 

She shyly smiled back at you, speaking up. “Your brother’s stories about you really do not do your beauty justice.”

This in turn made you smile even harder as you gave your brother a proud glance, before looking back to Daenerys. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace.” You told her sincerely, while not wanting her on the throne finding her to be very kind, so far. 

As she went to shake your hand, you gently and slowly pulled her into an embrace as your motherly instincts took over you, careful not to frighten her or stir up her soldiers. 

You saw her advisers and Jon smile out of the corner of your eye, and you could feel the girl tense up in your arms for a moment before melting into it, hugging you back. 

As you came back from each other, the smile on her face was now full-blown and you could see your job of making her feel more welcome was done. 

Thanks to your pleasant first meeting, Dany was much more relaxed and trusting around you than she was Arya and Sansa, even coming to you for advice to get them to warm up to her. 

You knew Arya had the exact same opinion as you did, that being that she didn’t see her fit for the throne, but didn’t mind her as a person. 

Sansa however, was a whole other story. She was just bitter. And even though you understood her motives, it was that kind of approach that was going to get Daenerys to backfire on them, should that ever happen. 

But Sansa, of course, did not listen to anyone but herself. 

It had been a few hours since Jon and Dany had arrived, and her army was still spilling into the castle, the soldiers never seeming to end. 

You were training by yourself behind the castle, the rest of your companions having gone off to some gathering you had been excused from by Daenerys herself so that you could practice your shooting. 

You nocked an arrow, drawing the string back to your ear and letting it go in a few seconds, letting the arrow whiz through the air and watching it sink into the middle of the target. 

You smiled contently to yourself, but jumped in your spot as you heard clapping come from behind you. 

Figuring it was just Podrick, as he had approached you in the same way on various occasions, you turned around with a smirk. 

“See that? At least I’m winning at archery.” You snickered, only to realize it wasn’t Podrick who had clapped after all. 

You stood frozen in your spot as you watched Jaime Lannister approach you with slow steps, a smile resting on his chapped lips. 

“You’ve gotten better. The last time I saw you you had never hit the center.”

Remember how you only got rude when absolutely necessary? Well, this was one of very few moments you would let yourself fall into the trap that was anger.

As you slowly came out of your shock, you wasted no time in glaring at the man in front of you. “What are you doing here?”

Jaime’s cocky grin fell from his face slowly, being replaced with a sad one. “I’m sorry, (Y/N). I should never have let you walk away like I did.”

“You didn’t let me do anything, Jaime.” You scoffed. “I walked out on my own. And I still would have had you tried to stop me.”

“I know. I realize that now.” He told you, as he came to stand closer to you. “I realize what a fool I’ve been. And I would really appreciate if you would take it into consideration to talk to me for a minute or two.”

You looked at him, inspected his face that was starting to wear from age and hard labor. You would be lying if you said you didn’t take his request into consideration, but in the end, you had promised yourself never to fall for his facade again. 

“I don’t think you’re sorry at all.” You spoke after a moment of silence, referring to the apology he had given you as he arrived. “So I have nothing to say to you.”

And with that, you shouldered your bow and quiver and started walking off toward the castle. 

“You must have something to say.” Jaime pleaded as he hurried after you, actually struggling to keep up with your quick pace in his hefty winter boots. “Scream. Shout. Cuss me out. Anything.”

“I have nothing to say to you.” You repeated, keeping your eyes straight ahead so that you wouldn’t have to look at the man who was ever so desperately trying into get himself into your field of view. 

“I know you do.” He kept pressing. “You always used to have something to say.”

Turning to him abruptly, you raised your hand to point your finger into his chest. “While I might see you are a changed man, I am also a changed woman. Changed enough to know that you would never change enough. I only hope it was worth it. I hope you’re happy, because I still wish you the very best, despite it all. I will be happy to fight alongside you when the dead come, but after the battle, I never want to see your face again.”

You finished your rant with a glare, not giving him a second to respond as you turned around once more and hurried up to the castle, leaving Jaime with his mouth wide open as you greeted Brienne with an embrace at the top of the hill. 

You skipped dinner that night, not wanting to see his face among the crowd. But as if feeling your emotions and your hunger, Brienne and Podrick had showed up at your door with three plates of food, and a flagon of wine. 

Together, you ate and conversed as you prepared mentally for the day to come, not in the slightest being prepared for what it had in store. 

The battle was long and rough and the second you were attacked by your first wight, you were more grateful than ever that Brienne had taken time out of her days to teach you how to fight. 

Without her, and Podrick, you would be dead already, though there had been a few close cases. 

Luckily, your people had your back.

You had started off with Brienne, Podrick, and unfortunately, Jaime, but during the time of the battle lost them and instead teamed up with Sandor Clegane and Beric Dondarrion. 

But as they, too, had run off to Gods know where and left you all by yourself, that “unfortunately” you had found yourself thinking of Jaime ever since his arrival, slowly turned into a desperate feeling of wanting him by your side. 

But he was nowhere to be seen, leaving you in complete and utter panic during the whole time. 

It wasn’t until the dead fell that you finally spotted him over by the wall with Brienne and Podrick at his side, not having been far off, after all. 

You had, much to his and your own surprise, shot off like an arrow in his direction, throwing yourself at him and clinging hard onto his body. 

“I thought you were gone. I couldn’t see you anywhere, I-” You ranted, for the first time since leaving King’s Landing letting yourself cry for Jaime Lannister. 

“Shh, shh. I’m here.”

As you had fussed over each other for a while longer, Brienne and Podrick had watched with smiles on their faces, seeing what you didn’t see in that moment, this being the look on Jaime’s face as he inspected yours. 

After helping out with the bodies and reuniting with everyone, you had taken Jaime’s hand and dragged him off towards your chambers with the intent of cleaning his wounds. 

But as you sat on one side of your room, and he on the other, the air was still and quiet, the only thing heard being your shaky breaths as you stared into the floor. 

You had been sitting like this for five minutes. No wound-cleaning had been done, or even attempted, the shock wearing off and leaving you both an awkward and unsure mess. 

You frowned, wanting to say something, but not knowing what. 

Luckily, Jaime spoke up in that very moment. ”I’m a miserable failure.”

You looked up to meet his gaze, finding him already looking at you.

You swallowed, and even though you wanted to protest, he deserved to feel this. ”Yes, you are.” You agreed, nodding slightly all while keeping your heard gaze on him. 

”I failed my duty as a husband.” He continued, voice not wavering once as he spoke.

”Yes, you did.” You nodded again, swallowing as you pushed yourself off the chair, slowly walking in his direction. 

”I could use words of encouragement.” Jaime frowned at this, looking down. 

You nodded again as you came to stand in front of him, grabbing his chin to make him look at you. ”Yes, you could.” And with that, you pressed your lips to his in a kiss. 

Jaime stilled under your touch, but wasted no time in moving his hands to your waist, yours coming to rest at his shoulders. 

Standing up slowly, Jaime towered over you, making you stand on your toes slightly to not break the kiss. 

This kiss weren’t lustful as all of the others you had shared had been. This kiss was sealed with all the emotions that were running through the two of you in this moment. 

Regret, sadness, grief, relief, and dare you say it, love. 

As you pulled away for a second of air before reattaching your lips to his, he started steering you backwards to the bed, the kiss growing more heated by the minute. 

You felt your knees buckle out from underneath you as you hit the bed, the fall leaving your mouth slightly parted to grant Jaime access. 

Tongues caressing each other, your hands trailed up his arms to his shoulders to his neck to his hair, where you let them rest, all while his traveled up your waist, taking your tunic with them. 

You relieved each other of your dirty clothing, piece by piece being shed between kisses, soon leaving you naked and panting as your hands explored his body as his did yours. 

But this was different.

While in King’s Landing, he had barely touched you, he hadn’t looked at you, he had just wanted to get it over and done with, lust and need being the only fuel to his actions. 

Now you were both completely wrecked, hair a mess, skin sticky with sweat and grime and blood, all while you devoured each other like you were the other’s favourite meal. 

And unlike the unbothered face Jaime had sported all the other times, he was frowning the whole time, eyes closed deep in thought and concentration as he kissed every inch of your body until you felt like you were left on fire. 

As he came back up your shoulder, up your neck and to your lips, you looked at each other for the first time, eyes hooded. 

And the look he was currently giving you was more than pleasing, more loving, more sincere, than anything you had ever experienced before. 

Letting your eyes flutter shut again, you tilted your head up to catch him in another long kiss. 

While you pleasured each other Jaime took his sweet time with you, for the first time ever like everything else up to this point, sending you into a state of blitz, but also regret as you thought about how you had turned him away at his arrival. 

You kept going for a long while, before both of you finally reached your peaks together, leaving Jaime to fall down onto your body, head buried in your shoulder in exhaustion. 

You breathed heavily, trying to catch your breath as you looked up into the ceiling. 

Your hand came to touch his back, fingers starting to draw small shapes and patterns on the sweaty skin. 

As you laid there together, gathering your energy back, you felt your skin vibrate as Jaime spoke into your neck. 

But you only heard muffled noises.

“What did you say, my love?” You asked him, using your old nickname for him, not having heard anything other than a mumble as he had his face pressed against your shoulder. 

You felt Jaime raise his head slightly, just about enough for you to be able to hear him, and only then did you notice how wet your shoulder was. 

“I love you.” He whispered, causing your eyebrows to furrow together as you moved your body from underneath his just enough to be able to look at him.

“Are you crying?” You voiced your thoughts, your suspicion being confirmed as you caught sight of his wet eyes and tear-streaked face. 

He said nothing, only looking into your eyes so deeply you felt like he was actually looking into your soul. 

“I love you.” He repeated. “I love you so much. I always have. I was so sure I loved Cersei, that I completely pushed away my own, real, feelings without realizing.” 

You couldn’t help the big grin that broke out on your face at hearing the words tumbling out of his lips. 

The words you had always longed so much to hear were finally being spoken. 

“I’m staying.” He spoke then. “I’m staying with you, here, in Winterfell. If your brother will let me, of course. And I truly am sorry for everyt-”

You grabbed his face in your hands, cutting his rambling and crying off with a kiss, salty tears slipping between your lips and onto your tongue. 

Pulling away after a moment, you rested your forehead against his, not letting go of his face as you spoke with a smile. “I love you, too.”

He smiled, a real smile, and leaned in to kiss you again, before proceeding to fill up a warm bath for the both of you to clean up, where you stayed for the rest of the hour, finally able to be truly happy. 

Tagged: @edarene @anephemeralwoe

(If I forgot you, or you want to be tagged, DM me on which imagines/characters you want to be tagged)

[bluesunsdusk]

Sigma in different setting verses and family

Strap yourself in, this will be a long post. 

Main/Overwatch

I imagine my Sigma to have had two brothers, both older than him, but both also ultimately shorter. Wouter, the eldest brother died in the Omnic Crisis while he was working for Lucheng Interstellar, which created friction between him and the family, as they felt rather upset at his absence during this very tumultuous time despite the fact that his research served to improve the chances of survival for those back on earth. The  other brother, Joris, became a sheep farmer, because he had fanciful ideas about living the farmer lifestyle up north. Siebren was surprised that he manages to get a husband, in all honesty, because he hasn’t a clue who would want to live on a farm far removed from any bus stops and towns. 

Anyway, after a while, the tension brought on by Wouter’s death dissipated, since people knew very well that Siebren cares a lot about his family. He just wasn’t as lovey-dovey as some people and showed his care through things like developing protective measures in his lab that can be used down on earth. It wasn’t like anyone would benefit from him buying candy or some shit. Leave that to Joris. Besides, what was he supposed to do if he had stayed on earth? Take the missiles in his brother’s stead? 

Sometimes, he would try to assist in looking after the children of the family, despite only being able to use long distance communications. 

He travelled away from the family home on many school trips and went into an apartment when he entered college. Being as distracted by/focused on his studies as he was, it could be hard to manage his time between his studies and his family, so he would not visit as often as they would like if he wasn’t reminded to do so because he had a hard time missing people. He had a hard time with emotions in general and was prone to tunnel vision that made him lose track of broader time.

He loves his family, he just doesn’t spend much time with them, and he clearly loves his direct family (brothers, parents) the most. Honestly, he sometimes forgot others and had to put a lot of effort into keeping them in mind early on, especially with the limited energy he had for social interactions. That being said, the children usually did enjoy his company, which made it a lot easier to remember contacting the family, especially for the children who contacted him or asked their parents about him.

If contacted, he would not just ignore a message, unlike some uncles. It could sometimes take him a while to get back at a message, but he would try to get back to it.

Merfolk

Siebren has two siblings. With the lack of a war, his eldest brother is alive, but he nearly died protecting a school of merfolk from a human attack. Humans like to collect merfolk for prestige or to eat. Most merfolk cannot speak the human languages because they spend most of their time underwater and use nonverbal means to communicate. When above water, they also just speak a different language than any of the human languages, though they might have similar enough accents to certain local dialects.

He travels a lot, so he is used to not seeing his family for long stretches of time. That being said, he makes sure to visit them every now and then, and they make the most of it whenever he is by. His eldest brother worries about him a lot, knowing how close he gets to humans in his research. 

When he visits, ge brings some items from his research. Sometimes, it’s items that are seen as junk to humans, like broken off parts of ships or parts of marine observation technology.

In an attempt to keep everyone safe, Wouter teaches his children and brothers how to defend themselves. Because Siebren isn’t around often, he has been taught a lot less. 

Monster Hunter

In this verse, Sigma has one brother, having lost his eldest brother to a demon attack while Siebren studied different dimensions for the monster hunting order he is a part of. After his brother’s death, he continued his studies, but he was less focused, eventually having an accident that exposed him to the unfiltered energies of a demonic plane. 

Anyway, he isolated himself from his family since his brother’s death. He was not at his funeral. Like in his main verse, it put a strain on the relationship between him and his brother, though his sister-in-law understood why he didn’t show up. She was just worried about him.

Like in his main verse, he is used to not seeing his family for long stretches of time, and he is aware that he may be killed in the line of duty. As time passed, he began to contact his sister-in-law more often.

Eldritch

El just... He knows he/his host has a family, and being in this body means he has a bond towards them. In fact, he cares more about them now than he did before. Eldritch just can’t visit them, because he is an eldritch host, and he doesn’t want to do harm to his family or have them do harm to him. 

He is upset sometimes because he will never meet them and he is a stranger in his own body now. 

Vampire

His family is his vampire clan. Anyone who isn’t in the cult isn’t his family. His brother and everyone else hasn’t heard from him since he went on his little expedition. They don’t even know he’s alive. He doesn’t even think about them, and he doesn’t miss any of them. All he cares about is the melody and sharing his blood with people.

Demon

He has been a demon for so long he doesn’t even remember his family, aside from vague things. Sometimes, he may recall a name or a feeling. He is used to isolation. Sometimes, he does feel lonely, so he seeks out mortal interaction, but then he tires from said mortals. 

It’s unpleasant having a need for mortal company when having such limited patience for them. Whenever he attempts to give them a chance, they remind him of why he dislikes them. 

Orc Warlock

In this verse, Sigma lives with his family in the tribe and helps raise the children when he has the time to do so. One of his brothers was killed by outsiders during an attack on their tribe before they had relocated, and the other members of the tribe offered their hands in taking care of the children while his partner mourned. Sigma was among them, despite mourning the loss of his brother as well. Back then, he had studied the arcane and partially blamed himself for not being able to fend people off well enough to protect his brother. 

As one might imagine, the orc tribes are less about studying abroad or working in space. In fact, he’s spent most of his life with the tribe. It’s big on communal childrearing and exile is seen as the biggest shame an orc can have thrust upon them. The tribe sticks together and they protect each other. An isolated orc is far more prone to being attacked and killed than a tribe is. 

Furthermore, he’s not exactly in possession of the privilege a cis white European man with higher education would have. 

People fear his kind, though unlike with certain other races, he can understand why one may have a logical reason not to trust an orc, considering Gul’dan and the Horde in a WoW verse. 

In a general fantasy setting that so happens to have the fel, which he is in, though, he believes most biases about orcs to be just that. Biases and made up nonsense, such as that all orcs are genetically predisposed to violence and inherently worst at arcane arts shouldn’t be taken as fact, yet so many do it. It doesn’t help that orcs look less than elegant to most other races, what with their sharp teeth and tusks. The hulking mass most have doesn’t help either, nor do the more extreme groups of orc that think people like Sigma should have been drowned at birth for not being born absolutely stacked.  

People, especially orcs, don’t really trust mages in some places either, so he’s double fucked. 

The tribe has people keeping watch all day and night, in shifts, and has wards around the area to detect and hinder intruders. When away from the tribe, he is on high alert and has trouble relaxing and sleeping. His eyes will open at the slightest noise, unless he’s with someone he trusts. This means someone he trusts to protect both themselves and him, and to not get caught by surprise. He won’t even sleep much better from putting up wards, and demons can draw attention.

Sometimes, the children will visit his shaman tent when he is doing normal shaman things instead of warlock things. 

Being an important member of the tribe, he also just worries about how well his people would do without him. They already almost died a few times. He’s had to protect them on numerous occasions and the forest was chosen because it’s far from people who might harm them or try to rope them into a conflict. The demons are bound to his will, too. What would happen if he was gone for so long that they ceased to be bound? Sure, Moira is there and could tame them, but he doesn’t trust her. What if she does something that alters the tribe in a way that can’t be reversed?

He doesn’t want to admit it, but he gets anxious if cut off from the tribe. It’s in contrast with regular Overwatch Sigma, who is fine not being in contact with his family for a bit, because Warlock has hardly ever been separated from his family ever, and there is a huge mentality of loyalty to the tribe He gave his actual soul for the tribe. 

That being said, even if he got a letter while away, he would not respond to it immediately if he is occupied. He will make sure it’s safe and will check it almost immediately though. 

Dragon Age

The Augur of the Obscure does not remember his family, only small snippets of it, along with blurred and scrambled memories from other parts of his life. He thinks they were close when he was younger. His studies made them drift a little apart.

Naturally, everyone he grew up with is dead. It has been quite a long time ago since the first blight, after all. Perhaps, them being dead is for the best, considering the circumstances. 

Verses not included: 

Fable 2 and 3

Fable 3: Traitor’s Keep

Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

Disciple of Order

Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

Mass Effect ot

Mass Effect Andromeda

[bbq-hawks-wings]

Series Review Pt. 3/3

Part One

Part Two

All right, last one!

One of the things about adults is that most become increasingly less flexible the older they get. They learn to function in a certain way to get certain results and work themselves into a pattern that inhibits their ability to be creative or dynamic which is compounded the less they are challenged. This isn’t opinion - this has been a scientifically and statistically verified fact. Different levels of physical and emotional development fundamentally changes the way human beings process stimuli and conflict, and factors like physical injuries and trauma affect the ability of one to process and resolve stressful situations. This doesn’t mean adults can’t change the way they think or do things, but it’s much harder for them to mentally and emotionally break out of their preconceived notions unprompted whereas younger adults still largely maintain the ability to criticize and adjust changes in perspective and creatively adapt to new information.

The kids we see in HeroAca are in a particularly unique situation in regards to coming from a background of ideals (“If I work hard, I’ll see the fruits of my labor”) and coming to grips with the inherently unfair nature of the world (“Even the greatest hero can’t save everyone”). Combined with the early exposure they’ve had to the injustices in their society and their general disposition to maximize the positive impact they have on others the “next generation of heroes” is in a unique situation to completely overhaul the current system literally as they enter it by bringing in new ideals and embracing their diversity in thought and background to directly challenge failings in the old system as well as bring awareness to those who exist outside it. With an added sense of camaraderie and teamwork over rivalry they have the ability to foster more “human” conversations with the aim of improving the world as opposed to being purely focused on “business” when in uniform the way their predecessors were.

This isn’t to say that the grown heroes of the series have to be completely done away with, just that they have not had a generation so able to challenge them to action in the way their juniors do now. In fact, it’s a running theme in the series that the next generation of heroes either teach or save their mentors in unexpected ways and with varying degrees of intensity as they work through adversity together.

Red Riot has not only saved Fatgum in a literal sense in the battle with the Shie Hassaikai, but Fatgum explicitly states he underestimated the ability and resolve of the young hero. He also holds faith in his older mentee, Sun Eater, whom he regards as a hero unrivaled in ability in the current climate if he only could overcome his own self-doubt. Sir Nighteye’s confidence in Lemillion is evident from the start and to his dying breath believes the key to his ability to save is not rooted in the strength of his quirk but by his ability to make others smile. Nighteye’s previous disdain of Deku is eventually turned into awe and inspiration when he’s able to do what was previously thought to be impossible and theoretically change destiny itself. All Might’s faith in Deku has also been immediately obvious, but seeing that his symbolic value with the next generation as a hero hasn’t depreciated with his declining ability has given him the resolve to fight for his own survival again. Bakugo in particular has received a new, special place in his heart as a capable hero who together with Deku represents his two separate but related core values in a hero - winning and saving - but with greater potential then All Might was able to achieve alone. Shinsou has served as a personal means for Eraserhead to move past the trauma of violently losing his childhood friend and begin to truly encourage the next generation to accept the risk inherent in this line of work instead of letting his fears inhibit his ability to teach and mentor them. Shouto has been a catalyst for Endeavor to seek to restore to his family what he took away from them and to recognize that he can never fully restore or erase the trauma he inflicted on them nor does he have any right to ask to be included in their lives any further. Even straightforward, straight-laced Tsukoyomi has inspired Hawks to take a second look at what it means to raise up the next generation of heroes outside of his own troubled past with it to the point he now actively encourages and genuinely believes in them as a whole to possess the power to make changes he couldn't.

These conversations have largely not happened with the criminal side of the field as any opportunity for the children to touch the hearts of villains have been marred by the inherent life-or-death struggle of each encounter. Each side is literally too busy fighting for survival/victory to truly have some of these meaningful conversations, but the seeds they’ve planted in the hearts of their mentors as well as the rare heart-to-heart interactions they’ve had with villains have proven they have power; and that’s going to be the deciding factor in this literal war at the end of the manga - that is, this missing piece is going to be an opportunity for the heroes to save the hearts of the villains.

The key to this next generation “saving” an army of villains will be dependent on their ability to advocate for rehabilitation and reintegration into society - both for villains to accept the help and for broader society being willing to forgive them. Hawks has already started with his personal offer to help Twice, but it will be interesting to see how others are able to input offers for reform in the heat of battle and in light of their individual circumstances.

An example I hope we’ll get to see is an interaction between Dabi, Endeavor, and Shouto (assuming, of course, that Dabi is a Todoroki). Shouto would be the main deciding factor in the altercation as he has undergone the same kind of abuse and personal tragedy at the hand of Endeavor as Dabi has; but the outcome was completely different and he therefore may be able to speak to Dabi in a way that Endeavor definitely cannot. Shouto made the personal choice to not let his hatred for his father consume him and instead channeled the resources available to him to become a hero capable of saving others because he determined in and of himself to do so, rather than becoming a person obsessed with personal vengeance or merely operating as his father’s vicarious victory. It’s important to remember that Shouto has looked to the ideals of heroism (mainly through his admiration of All Might) as a good thing from a young age, but those ideals were overshadowed in the face of the constant abuse in his home and he became more and more cynical over time. As he began to accept that he was not bound by the burden of his upbringing and was capable of moving past the trauma to determine his own future despite it, he was not only able to change his entire outlook on his future for his own sake; but Shouto even began to cause Endeavor to reexamine the ethics and consequences of his actions even without the forgiveness of his family simply by operating as the kind of hero Shouto wanted to be for himself instead of the hero Endeavor tried to force upon him. 

In this light, Dabi’s personal vendetta is clarified to not be the pursuit of justice but a mere act of vengeance with understandable motivation but ultimately evil justification that has not only failed to constructively address the issue of neglect and abuse in his own home, let alone of hero families as a whole, but has caused undeserved collateral death and grief in the process. Whether this revelation will “save” Dabi is unknown as Shouto and Natsuo also still hold deep contempt for their father; but both of them have begun to move past the events of their childhood (if only in very small steps) and have begun to self-determine their relationship with their father individually, while Dabi is still operating out of pure spite. Interestingly, what we may end up seeing in this situation is a schism resulting in a fight similar to the final showdown between Zuko and Azula in Avatar: the Last Airbender. (And on that note, I don’t know how I didn’t notice the additional parallels between the families sooner between the scar, paternal abuse resulting in an estranged mother, and sibling with blue fire. I called Todoroki Frosty Fire Prince Zuko in the past as a joke, but this feels so obvious now; I’ve clearly been sleeping.) One more wild card thrown in will be if Hawks is present for this interaction and seeing his reaction to it as he will fight Dabi and has a similar story to both him and Shouto.

Where kids like Bakugo and Deku will be most relevant or impactful is not quite clear at the moment, though a clash with Shigaraki feels imminent. We do know at least that each are counted as capable heroes in their own rights with the distinction that Bakugo is a hero who wins fights and Deku is a hero who saves people so their role might look like something along the lines of Bakugo ending a battle and Deku ending the underlying conflict. There seems to be an insinuation that these two things rarely can be done at the same time, and that first the physical threat must be addressed before a sit-down and exchange can be made to talk about the motivations and underlying causes of the fight. Much like with the final fight with Overhaul, Eri was not considered to be completely saved until after she was removed from her situation and then allowed to heal - and even that process is ongoing.

If the heroes are able to refute the viewpoints of the villains at the end of the day and are able to truly move the public on their behalf, those who chose to cooperate will likely be given the chance to start over while those who continue to fight out of spite will be at best detained and at worst killed in the struggle. What this might look like, I’m not sure, as some have hefty crimes to answer for and may not have the opportunity to truly reintegrate. Any country/society/culture with as many people committing as severe crimes as these would have difficulty embracing change that would welcome these people back, let alone the specific context of Japan that brutally punishes criminals and so often permanently damages their reputations and social standing - sometimes for what many would consider only “minor” crimes. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t hope for even the worst of them with a proper change of heart; and the fact that the Meta Liberation Army was as widespread a cultural phenomena as it was offers the idea that enough people are open to the ideas of the radical shifts necessary to address these concerns which increases the chance to make reforms peacefully.

As a focus point, consider Shigaraki. He’s the most important villain to reach not only as the head of this massive villain organization but as a dire victim of the current system’s shortcomings. His own biggest quarrel with hero society as it stands is that it makes people overconfident and apathetic because there's always a hero just around the corner - let them handle this person in need. While Shigaraki is not advocating for individual moral responsibility, a new societal emphasis on it could resolve most of the issues he has with hero society. A big enough cultural shift could also address instances of criminal activity on a case by case basis - a new focus that hurt people lashing out isn't acceptable behavior, but perhaps some other response than immediate punishment should be considered; as well as reconsider the role of the current justice system in the progressive intensity over a person’s criminal history to mitigate these problems before they manifest.

Right now what's holding up Shigaraki's power over others (outside of the terror he inspires) is the support of others predicated on a lie - and this goes both for the League and the PLF. If that lie is exposed, Shigaraki could wind up high, dry, and unsupported - vulnerable - depending on how individuals take the revelation. He does seem to genuinely care for the core members of the League, and their loyalty to him is undeniably profound and far reaching. Despite his nihilism, at the end of the day he’s still a deeply wounded and angry individual looking in extremes for some solace in the injustice of a world that rejected him. There are many ways this can go depending on who faces who in the final showdowns to come; but for that we'll have to wait and see.

If someone as far gone as Shigaraki can be saved then there's a bright future out there for everyone if they are willing to reach out together and grab it.

This review has left out many aspects of the story I reviewed as important but not necessary for this article, and at some 5k words that's probably for the best. Too much speculation at the moment doesn't feel very productive outside of how general themes and plotlines will tie up at the end, but I'll have to save some of those specifics for some other time. Thank you for sticking out with me this far, and thank you again to @baezetsu​ and @dorito9708​ for helping me review and edit all this information!

[rosereview]

Chain of Gold Review

Okay so I just finished Cassandra Clare’s newest book, Chain of Gold, the first book in her new series The Last Hours which is set in the Shawdowhunter world and is a sequel to the Infernal Devices series and a prequel to the Mortal Instruments. I have loved Cassandra Clare and the Shadowhunter world since I really got into reading when I was in grade seven. Since then I have read all of Cassandra Clare’s books and every year when one or two new books come out, I run to the bookstore, buy it, and then go back home and read it as soon as possible. I am literally in love with this world and these characters and every time you think it can’t get any better, a new one comes out and it exceeds all expectations. 

In this review I will definitely spoil everything that happens so if you haven’t read the book, I wouldn’t recommend reading this review. This review will be split into different parts where I focus on different aspects of the book starting with my favourite part of any book, the characters. 

Characters

So first I’ll talk about the characters individually and my thoughts on them and we will focus more on their relationships with other characters in another part. 

To start off I want to share my thoughts on the main female character, who is also on the cover, Cordelia Carsairs. At first I wasn’t sure what to think about her because so far in all of the series, the main female character was never my favourite at the start, like Clary, Tessa, and Emma. At first all three of them were a little annoying, but now I love Tessa and Clary. (I’m still trying with Emma.) But each of them I learned to love over multiple books which is where their character really developed. In Chain of Gold, Cordelia started off kind of annoying and dumb, but throughout the book she really develops and grows and learns and now I love her after only the first book in the series! While moving to London she really learns how to behave in society while also saying true to herself which is very admirable. She such a strong girl and person and when she finally gets friends she is less dumb to the world around her and how life works. I now really care about her happiness especially with a certain someone, which we will get to.

Next I want to talk about James Herondale. Well I went into this knowing I was going to love James, I mean he is a Herondale. And while I do love him, I am also continuously angry with him and the situation he finds himself in. By that I mean with Grace Blackthorn who I despise with a passion, but we’re talking about James right now. I loved James during the middle of the book when he was not under the control of Grace and freely falling for Cordelia while loving his friends fiercely and not really hiding anything from them, like any of his feelings. I was also so proud of him for how he handled all the news about his grandfather, Belial, and how he didn’t give in to all the demon talk and trying to put all the weight on his shoulders to protect everyone he loved by sacrificing himself. I did not and still do not want to see James possessed by a demon or Prince of Hell. Overall I loved James, but not as much as I had originally thought.

And the reason I didn’t love James as much was because I loved one boy a bit more… Matthew Fairchild! Omg I am like Magnus Bane in the way I have a soft spot for broken boys. First Jace Herondale and his daddy issues, then Will Herondale and his inability to let anyone love him, and finally Julian Blackthorn and him having to be a father to his siblings while being hopelessly in love with his parabatai. Matthew fits right up there with the greats! In the short story in the Ghosts From the Shadow Market where you find out what Matthew did that makes him broken, and I did not like him after that, but then I read this book and changed my mind. I really saw how much he changed from being a self entitled Consul’s son, to being a kind and caring and selfless boy that made a big mistake. Now Matthew feels like he has to keep his secret and pain all to himself while taking up drinking to numb himself. It hurts me to watch but it makes me love him so much more. The way he loves James is beautiful while he still knows James has his own faults. Seeing Matthew with Cordelia and how he loves her almost makes me want him to win her heart, but I know James and her are who are meant to be together. I just want Matthew to find happiness and to forgive himself and love himself, and that needs to happen before he finds someone to love and who loves him back. 

Next we have Lucie Herondale who is amazing. She is just the perfect depiction of the annoying younger sister who also just has so much depth and story to her at the same time. I definitely relate to Lucie the most with her loving to write and tell story, while also fully in love with her family and friends and having such a strong relationship with her brother. She doesn’t want to be left out of the fun, but at the same time understands when some of her friends have to go on an adventure without her. All the while she is trying to understand her own gift and to help out people in need, like Jesse Blackthorn. Lucie has her own little secrets and even though she knows it will be against the law, she still wants to help out people who need her, like Jesse and even Grace, who continues to play her brother, but Lucie sees the way she lives and feels bad. That shows great character and kindness. 

Someone that really surprised me in this book, more than Matthew, was his complete opposite, his nemesis, Alastair Carstairs. At first I hated him from what he did to the boys at the Shadowhunter Academy, and that might have been a part of why I wasn’t fond of Cordelia at the beginning. But now you kind of understand why he did the things he did and said and he truly didn’t know the damage he was doing by saying all the stuff he did. During the book we see how much Alastair does to protect his family, especially his sister even when she doesn’t see it fully, and we also see how he is dealing with his own demons like his sexuality and needing to accept himself. I can’t wait to see more of Alastair in the next books.

From Alastair, I would like to touch on Thomas Lightwood who I have to say I love. Honestly I love all of the Merry Thieves and Thomas is no exception. He is definitely the kindest in the group, trying to see the good in everybody which is no easy feat. He is also sort of Christopher’s protector to a point, making sure he doesn’t hurt himself and such, which sometimes puts Thomas in the background. He also has feelings which he doesn’t understand and I can’t wait to explore that more. 

That brings me to Christopher Lightwood, Thomas’s cousin and a mini Henry. I LOVE Christopher! That boi needs protection! He is just so precious and the way he still always tries to protect his friends and his big sister, oh it is just beautiful. Literally he is the most wholesome character and I love him so much. That one scene when someone was saying something bad about Anna and Christopher got so mad and protective. It was the best.

Now I’ll talk about Anna Lightwood. I’ve loved Anna since the first time we saw her in the short stories and my love has just grown. She is such a complex character while still being loved by all, as she should be. She observes her Merry Thieves and knows what’s going on before they even do. She reminds me of Magnus Bane in that way. She also has a history with Ariadne that I can’t wait to see more of how that history comes back to make Anna fully happy again. 

I would also like to touch on Barbara and Eugenia Lightwood. It was honestly the saddest when Barbara died because Thomas doesn’t deserve that, but also Gideon and Sophie. To lose a child is the hardest thing to go through, and after everything that Gideon and Sophie have been through, they don’t deserve that. But besides that, I really liked Barbara in the short time that we knew her. Cassie never really talked about Thomas’s sisters before the books came out so I didn’t think they would really make an appearance, which made me sad because they were Gideon and Sophie’s daughters. But now that Barbara showed that she was actually fairly important for the plot of the book, I’m excited to see more Eugenia in the future. I want to know what happened to her that makes her not accepted in society, which is hinted at during the book saying she was ruined because of stuff to do with a boy. But now I want to know more and see her more. 

Next is Grace Blackthorn who I hate. I hate her and her manipulative ways with James. A small part of me kind of feels bad since she has a terrible adoptive mother and her brother died, but still she is a batch. That’s all I have to say.

Jesse Blackthorn is someone I actually want to see more of and who I’m very intrigued by. He’s very nice and thoughtful despite having a disaster of a mother. I really don’t have much else to say about him besides the fact that I want him to be alive but not if it hurts Lucie or gets her into trouble. I hope Grace does all the dirty work. 

Lastly we have Charles Buford Fairchild… I don’t even know what to say. How did Charlotte and Henry raise such an asshole? They are literally the best and practically raised Will, Jem and Jessamine, how is their first born a dick? Matthew is even an amazing guy who cared about everyone but himself while Charles is the opposite. He cares only for himself! God, and the way he talks about his mother not being a strong Consul and how he took credit for everything that the younger kids did makes me want to barf. He literally doesn’t deserve anything, including a loving family and amazing parents and brother. He makes me mad.

Relationships

Now I want to talk about the relationship between two or more characters in the book.

To start off, all of the sibling relationships are life, excluding Matthew and Charles. Like James and Lucie, Cordelia and Alastair, Anna and Christopher, Thomas and Barbara and Eugenia, even Jesse and Grace. They are all really beautiful and make me happy.

Matthew, James and Cordelia- this little love triangle actually really interests me and I love all the scenes that have all three of them running around and going on adventures. I’m really excited to see more of them in the next books.

Lucie and Cordelia- this friendship is really nice to read about, but I was kind of disappointed not to have more scenes where it’s just the two of them. I feel like there wasn’t a whole lot of time to do that in this book,mbit hopefully in the next one we can see that and their parabatai ceremony. 

Thomas and Christopher- I love that these cousins have such a strong relationship and I really want them to be parabatai. I just think that would make their relationship that much stronger and I want that for them. 

Jesse and Lucie- I really like these two together and I know from the family tree that came with the Clockwork Princess, that they end up together and that is how the Blackthorn line continues, which makes me happy. But there were also some false dates and such on the family tree, like Lucie’s birthdate, so I also don’t know if we can trust the family tree but I do really hope that these two end up together and somehow Jesse is resurrected without it hurting Lucie in any way.

Anna and Ariadne- At first when we met these two in the Ghosts of the Shadow Market short story, I did not like Ariadne. I mean, she broke Anna’s heart and made her think love was only pain and heartbreak so now she only does one night stands, which is kind of sad because she deserves someone special. But then at the end of the book when Ariadne goes up to Anna and says that she will do anything to get her back, I was so excited and happy because even with their history, they are perfect together and are meant to be, so I hope to see more of their relationship blossom in the next book.

Thomas and Alastair- So like I said before when talking about Alastair, I didn’t like him because of the things he said and did when he was at the Shadowhunter Academy, and I was a little bit annoyed that Thomas was the only one being nice to him because he really didn’t deserve it. But then we saw them in Paris and honestly, that made me so happy. I love Alastair now and I think that they both deserve happiness and someone special, and I really hope that is with each other, but if not, then I hope they both find other people to make them happy.

Charlotte and Henry and Matthew- What I really want to see more of in the next book, is Matthew with his parents. We know that Matthew has a strained relationship with them because of what he did in the past, poisoning his mom and killing his unborn sister, all because of what Alastair had said to him at school, but I really hope that they can fix their relationship in the next book. I want to see more Charlotte and Henry caring for their kids like the other parents do, and maybe some more one-on-one with Matthew and Charlotte where they try to see what the problem is and Charlotte trying to help her son. Also I want to see Charlotte give Charles a whooping for being an asshole. 

Plot

Now that we are done with all the characters, I would like to touch on the stuff that actually happened in the story. What I really loved though, about Chain of Gold, was the amount of scenes where it was just character interaction and development because like I said before, I love the characters in a story the most. This is usually what Cassandra Clare does in her books, which makes them longer and bigger, because she focuses on her characters and their journey’s, all the while getting some action in there. That was what we had with this book, a little less action and a little more learning about who these characters are as people and I really enjoyed that. But aside from the characters, the plot was very intriguing in itself. We learn that for these kids’ whole lives, London has been pretty demon-free, which causes everyone to have a false sense of security and none of the Shadowhunters are very experienced in the field. When demons do start to come back, it is a shock to their London community especially when the demons walk in the daylight and are only there to injure Shadowhunters and make them sick. I thought that whole plotline was very interesting, especially since the whole city had to go into quarantine because of this sickness, and that is literally what is happening in the world right now with COVID-19. I laughed out loud when that happened.

I really enjoyed the whole connection to the demon realm and James and his grandfather, because we never touched that in the Infernal Devices series with Tessa, and it's cool to see how it’s only coming out now and how it affects her kids. Even with all that, and the Herondale’s usually need to sacrifice themselves for their loved ones, I love how James didn’t when he was in the demon realm. He had a chance to give himself up to Belial to possess James and save everyone in London, but he didn’t and instead found another way. That was refreshing to see, because I don’t think I could have gone through another book with my boys cursed or possessed. (Literally Jace, Will and Julian.) I mean, James still has some power over him from Grace and that damn bracelet, but at least for the time being James isn't also possessed by his demon grandpa.  Speaking about the bracelet, I really liked how the bracelet wasn’t on for the whole book, so we could see how James usually acted around his friends and family when he wasn’t being controlled by anyone. I was mad when the bracelet went back on, but we can’t get everything we wish for, especially when it’s a Cassandra Clare book. 

I also definitely knew that Tatiana was behind everything, since the beginning and knew that she tied in to everything including Belial and his plans and controlling Grace and everything. She is just the worst and I have always hated her and I will always hate her. She’s like the Zara Dearborn of this series, you just hate her so much and there's no sympathy for anything she does. At least with Jonathon Morgenstern, you felt a little bit bad for him because his father made him the devil he is and he just wants to be loved by someone. And for Axel Mortmain, he just wants to get revenge for his warlock parents who were brutally killed by Shadowhunters, and same with Malcolm Fade who just wants his dear Annabel to be alive with him. Literally you can find the good in antagonists sometimes, which is literally my favourite thing to see in a story, but with Tatiana Blackthorn, she’s a bitch and she should die. 

Lastly I just wanted to say that every scene with all the Merry Thieves was beautiful and I can’t wait for more of them!

Thank you for staying till the end if you made it this far. If not I understand, it’s all kind of jumbled and long, so no hard feelings if you couldn’t read this whole thing. And sorry for everyone who did read this and got lost because all my ideas are just one big mess on the page, but oh well. I write this for me, so who really cares. 

Until next time!

~Rose Reviews

[athena1138]

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday! Lets talk about family, found or otherwise. How do people track lineage? What does a typical home arrangement look like? Do people tend to stay in touch with their relatives? Do blood relations even matter much, or does "family" mean something different?

woot woot 2 days late let’s go. also thank you <3 it’s nice to get my brain working like this

Alright, I’m gonna break down by race then by question. So,

Humans/human-lead societies:

Several hundred years ago, the governments of the various human-lead countries of Drevora got together and decided to begin taking census..es? censi? idfk, of their people which included beginning to keep family records. Most countries do nothing with this information, just keep it as a basis of record, though there are some who think that this information should be used for more nefarious reasons. The countries with the more benevolent perspective keep these family records as public information, but very few people actually care beyond passing curiosity. However, those who don’t live in the cities do however they want. Smaller villages often have some sort of book in a public office where individuals may go to sign their names if they wish. Usually there is some old biddy somewhere who records genealogy as a personal hobby. More often than not, it’s put by the wayside because they all know who’s who and how.

Typical family structure is much as it is irl. The “standard” family is nuclear, with parents (usually het but with an increasing amount of queer relationships beginning to be recognized) and kids, maybe a feeble grandparent.

Normally, there is some minor contact with external family members depending on how close the family is. Some cousins grow up as best friends, some aunts and uncles take over as parents, some have entire branches of their family tree whom they’ve never met. It’s just kind of in the air in terms of communication.

Friendship is strong but “officially” does not qualify as family. But it’s not like taboo or anything to say that your best friend is like your sister, and is in fact quite common.

The tribes and those of countries not belonging to humans vary even more. 

Dwarves:

The dwarves often build roads within their cities using the material most commonly mined there (meaning that these roads are very often made of precious metals like silver or gold.) A brick is laid for every new life and bears a name and three insignias: one for each parent and then the one in the middle is a combination of the parents’ insignia (this insignia is the one which will appear on their child’s brick.) An outsider who moves into a dwarven city may have a brick, but it is often of a different material such as stone, and their insignia will represent the place this person hails from. (So, if an Orc from a fishing tribe were to move to Markhim, hers might be a fish because Markhim has no fish.) Should this outsider have a child with a dwarf, their child’s brick will be a mixture of the outsider’s brick’s material and the standard material, often in a lovely little marbling or speckling. These bricks are kept in pristine condition always, and any time a brick is deemed too worn down, it is carefully removed by the remaining family and re-forged to be placed back once more.

Family structures for dwarves are very extensive. Basically, if you share even one drop of blood with someone, you’re family, that’s it baby. These families tend to live in very close quarters to one another, sometimes in setups like the Chinese 四合院 (courtyard houses. (Houses which feature a “main house” and several smaller houses all gathered around a large courtyard.) This is usually reserved for the upper-middle to upper class, though, as it takes a shitton of money to carve a courtyard out of a mountain. The elders of the family live in the main house and live in as much luxury as the family can afford while the rest of the family work to support them. As for those who fall below the upper-middle class, or just those who don’t have big families, they live in sort of town-house-y setups. Close friends of different families can be seen as adopted into the family, so it’s not uncommon to see friends “living together” and bouncing between families’ homes.

Since family is so literally close in dwarven cities, it’s rare to fall out of contact with someone. Usually if it happens, it’s because someone has left the city perhaps to go on an adventure, or maybe someone’s honor was offended some way and amends haven’t been made. But usually these quarrels don’t last long because dwarven society revolves so heavily around family that it’s difficult to avoid it.

Mountain Folk:

           Contrary to popular belief, the Mountain Folk are very good record keepers. Once plagued with… well a plague, they all gathered to decide how best to prevent such occurrences in the future, so they devised of Book Keepers. There is one Book Keeper per tribe, and it is their duty to record the names of all who join the tribe (and just like… everything that happens ever.) The purpose of this is multi-fold:  to prevent inbreeding, to keep track of genetics in the event that someone develops a genetic disease and other blood-family members must be warned, and to ensure prosperous matches (so... pedigree. Basically.) They keep these books for life until they grow too old, in which case a child will be taken as the Book Keeper’s apprentice. In the event that a Book Keeper dies before an apprentice is chosen and trained, the duty of keeping the book and training the apprentice will fall to the Chief’s eldest child. In the event that two tribes should merge into one, the two libraries will be joined and a new book started, and the two Keepers will choose and train a new apprentice to take over. Often this new apprentice is the child of the union which lead to the merger.

           Family to the Mountain Folk is just… the tribe. They’re all in it together, every one of them. Despite the records, it doesn’t matter who’s related to whom because it’s just all family. It helps that they don’t have established cities or structures of any sort, so they all camp together and spend time together.

          Because they’re all so physically close all the time, it makes it difficult to fall out of touch with anyone, though brawls and such do frequently occur.

Elves:

           They’re so long-lived. Like bruh. It’s not completely unheard of for them to live as long as a thousand years. So. They don’t have much to keep track of. The only thing even remotely related to keeping records is their introductions to elves from other clans which is to proclaim yourself the grandchild of your grandmothers. That’s really it.

           Family structures are sparse in elven culture. Usually it’s grandparents raising grandkids and not much else. Parents are involved, of course, but they’re not the primary care givers, and aunts and uncles are few and far between (because for people who live to be 1000 years old, there’s no reason to have 10 fuckin siblings.)

           Since they’re so sparse and so old, it does seem to other cultures that the elves don’t keep in good contact with their families, but that’s not true. They’re just in no rush. It’s quite common for a child to go several years or even a decade without hearing from their parents, especially as an adult. And to do something like write a letter or seek contact through a mirror for anything less than an immediate emergency is seen as… very odd. It’s most common that, should an elf wish to just chat with their family, that they should make their way home to them and spend somewhere from a week to a year in their company before setting out again.

Dragonborns:

            Records? For dragonborn families? Oh my dude. No, just, no, there’s no way. You’d end up with a family tree which looks like the 100 baby challenge family tree for every single rung. A single generation in a dragonborn’s NUCLEAR (as in, not including cousins,) family? It can be anywhere from 1-30 offspring just depending purely on how large the clutch sizes are and how many clutches their parents bear in their lifetime. It’s not even uncommon to see even more than 30 siblings in a single family. It’s not that the dragonborns don’t care about their genealogy, it’s just… too much work.

           The typical dragonborn family is quick-lived. Dragonborns themselves can live to be about 150, but they reach maturity quite fast, and for good reason. Because their clutches are too fuckin big. But they’re tight-knit. Two parents will raise their clutches together, but often they are accompanied by siblings who have yet to find mates of their own. As such, you can have like 20 dragonborn toddlers running around at a time but often there will be at least 4 adults taking care of them, usually more. Within dragonborn communities, often the elders will care for the young while the adults work and hunt, but it’s still a very loving community.

           There’s so many people in a single family that it’s difficult to keep up with everyone all the time. Falling out of touch is pretty common, but it’s not considered rude or anything. It just happens. The families are so well-connected anyway that they’re all informed about everyone whether they want to be or not, so they might as well be “keeping up” with each other.

Orcs:

           Orcs are a lot like Klingons, in culture but also in family matters. They introduce themselves in a very standardized way, of pronouncing their name and “child of (father.)” It’s usually a single name, too. The only reason they would go beyond their father’s name is if they’re speaking to an elder who belonged to the same generation as their paternal grandfather, or if their grandpa was just super rad. Otherwise, there isn’t a lot of genealogy kept on record.

           For orcs, it’s a lot like the Mountain Folks in that the people are everything, but there’s a particular reverence for fathers. The fathers of the village are sort of like everyone’s father, but there’s a very strong connection between father and child that rises above anything else. Since it’s a patriarchal society, the mothers aren’t often in the picture, and a family is only considered to be father and child. (It sucks.)

           Orcs are pretty solitary, even within villages. They hold everything close to the chest except with their fathers, so being close to anybody is very difficult. If an orc leaves the village, the only person they’ll usually write will be their father, and it is often a very regular occurrence, like once a month minimum, because to write any less would be seen as rude or negligent.

Gnomes:

           Alright this is a little complicated but I’mma try my best here. So, in each gnome village, there is a tree in the center which is considered sacred. The leader of each gnome village is always someone who has a magical connection with nature (a druid,) and it is their primary duty to look after the tree. It is in this tree that gnomes keep their lineages. For each new birth, the leader of the village with grow a new sprout from the mother’s branch. A white ribbon with the baby’s name and date of birth inscribed upon it will be tied to the sprout. When gnomes are married, their branches are joined with twine (meaning these trees are very crazy to look at,) and when the marriage is ended either through divorce or death, the twine is severed. In the event of a death, the white ribbon will be replaced with a red ribbon bearing the name and date of death upon it, and the white ribbon will be either buried with the body or burned if there is no body.

           Gnomes are like dwarves in that blood is super important, but they reflect this by jamming everybody into one house. Their villages look very odd, with lots of buildings that have been haphazardly added onto or which have been built up with mismatching material. It’s very quaint, but very visually odd.

           Gnomes can live to be nearly 700, so rather like elves, they don’t do much in way of keeping in touch. It’s very welcome, but it’s ok if it takes a while to come. Unlike elves, they do enjoy letter writing for basic shit. They can go years without hearing from someone only to get a letter detailing something they saw in the shop as if they spoke to one another every day, and it’s never ever questioned.

Halflings:

           Halflings record their family history through the arts, most frequently with song. As such, the really, really astute ones only go back about… 5 generations? Halflings can live to be about 150, too, so they’re not sweating it too much.

           A typical halfling family is more of an Eastern concept, with kids and parents and grandparents minimum living under a roof. However, in addition to the family, the parents will have invited a friend to live in home with them as a sort of babysitter/god-parent called a Pilleu. They can have none or as many as they like, it just depends on how strong their spiritual connections are. Sometimes they are romantically involved with the Pilleu, which isn’t questioned at all as queer relationships in the Halfling and Gnome worlds are very, very common, including polyamory. For someone to be chosen to become a Pilleu is considered a supremely kind gesture and comes from a place of deep spiritual connection akin to soulmates. The Pilleu might stay as short a time as a few months to their entire lives, particularly if they’ve become romantically involved with one or more of the parents. (This can translate to grandparents still having their Pilleu living at home with the kids and grandkids, and it’s just whatever.)

           Since halflings aren’t an adventurous sort, it’s rare to fall out of communication. They’re stereotyped to always have village parties and always be socializing with neighbors, an overly friendly bunch. For a halfling to leave their family, it’s a very rare and painful thing, regardless of circumstance. Assuming the family is still alive, communication is often very frequent, multiple letters a week if not daily.

Sirens:

           Sirens don’t give much of a shit. Since they are born of hellspawn and fae, their parents are almost never involved in their lives beyond the birth, and very often any siblings part ways at the first opportunity. The fact that Iko and Hespa work together is practically unheard of in their world, even moreso due to the very limited population of the Sirens. So there’s no family histories to keep, no family to keep in contact with, and no established family group.   

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Sarazanmai Episode 5: “I Want To Connect, But I Can’t Be Forgiven”

I’m just gonna go and open a window and casually scream into the abyss because this show is already destroying me and we’re only :) five episodes in :)))

We’re already rapidly approaching the part where the established episodic patterns start getting broken, and oh boy I can only imagine how the rest of the show will go from here.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut.

Oh boy where to even begin with this one. There’s already so much happening and we’re not even halfway into the story, lol. Part of me’s still slightly worried that we haven’t really gotten into anything related to Sara, Reo and Mabu, or the apparent otter-kappa conflict going on in the background, but this episode does make it more clear that those parts will get more important soon enough. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if the next episode mostly wraps things up with Kazuki, and the second half of the anime is focused more on Reo and Mabu.

But anyway, on the topic of Kazuki, there’s a whole lot to say about him after this. I ended up being mostly right in my guess that he was adopted and that Haruka’s disability was caused by an accident that Kazuki feels responsible for, but it was still interesting to see how it all played out. I think one of the things that surprised me most is how, in spite of everything we learned, it still feels like there’s a lot going on with the topic of Kazuki’s birth mother that we don’t really understand yet, and there’s the whole lingering question of why Haruka apparently had her scent pouch. So I think there’s some further reveals to be had there. I was kinda confused about how casual Kazuki’s birth mother seemed to be about reuniting with him, since that’s not really how you’d expect it to go, especially since it also didn’t seem like she was looking to bring him back into her family. It made it come across like she was kinda oblivious to how much turmoil the adoption situation had put Kazuki in, but I want to wait until we learn more before I try and judge her.

I reread the last few chapters of the ReoMabu prequel manga recently, and it’s gotten me wondering if there’s a deeper connection between Kazuki and Sara than what we’ve seen thus far. At the very least, it feels like too much of a core, recurring part of the story for it to not have some deeper meaning to it, though most of all I just think it’d be a bit lame if there’s nothing more going on there.

Specifically, I was wondering if maybe the ending of the ReoMabu manga was about Sara transforming into her teenage self and leaving her dads, but deciding to leave a clone or a sibling of herself behind for them to raise in her absence, and I was wondering if maybe that hypothetical other baby could somehow be Kazuki himself. I don’t really feel confident in that theory after this episode, at least not after how we outright saw Kazuki’s birth mother, but I still feel like there’s something going on with how the ReoMabu manga ends on the confusing note of Sara leaving but them seemingly still having baby!Sara with them, and there’s also the fact that Sara’s connection to those two has yet to come up in the anime, but it doesn’t look like they’re still raising her.

The whole reason why Kazuki has even been doing this whole cross-dressing ruse in the first place still feels kinda mysterious and confusing after this episode, but I think the simplest explanation just based on what happens in this episode is that Kazuki has a lot of self-loathing about his “fake” connection to Haruka, and the whole situation with Haruka’s accident, so he probably doesn’t feel able to connect with Haruka ‘as himself’, and so he latched onto whatever alternate persona he could find instead. I still feel like it’s deeper than that, but I dunno.

One thing that stuck out to me in the flashbacks was the part where Kazuki and Haruka talked about how Kazuki has been ‘dressing differently’, and how Kazuki ‘doesn’t want to look like his family’. Which makes me think that Kazuki developed a habit of cross-dressing sometime after learning about his family situation, before the whole Sara thing began. And if that’s the case, then I think there’s probably more to the idea of Kazuki cross-dressing than just Sara being a convenient persona for him to adopt to connect with Haruka indirectly. But it’s kinda hard to piece together the logic of it if Haruka did get into regular cross-dressing if it was to ‘not look like his family’. I mean, unless we assume that he actually is trans. If it wasn’t for the whole Sara thing I’d assume that it was just about him, like, getting piercings and stuff to try and assert his individuality, but I don’t think it’s that.

I’m curious to see more of Haruka’s side of things, since I think there’s more going on with him than what we’ve seen, going by stuff like the mystery of why he has Kazuki’s mother’s scent pouch. I think that he must know something about Kazuki and his birth mother, since the entire reason for his accident seemed to be that he was afraid that Kazuki was going to abandon him. Which makes me think that Haruka knew that Kazuki was meeting with his birth mother, and he assumed that it meant Kazuki wanted to go back to his real family and leave him behind. So I wonder how Haruka might have known about that, since Kazuki apparently kept his meeting with his mother a secret.

I also get the feeling that, even though on some level he’s probably hurt for obvious reasons now that Kazuki’s whole secret has been revealed, he probably cares more about being able to connect with Kazuki. I think that if they were able to talk things out, Haruka would just be happy about being able to properly connect with his brother, without the whole Sara thing.

And on the topic of Sara, we got to see her in the flesh in this episode, and it certainly looks like she’s some kind of a kappa that has a human form it transforms into. Which I think was fairly obvious by this point, but it was nice to see it laid out explicitly. It’s also worth noting that it also means that she is indeed a real person who is separate to Kazuki. After the narrative misdirection in episode 1, I was wondering if maybe there’d be some larger twist about Kazuki literally being Sara, somehow, but they seem to be pretty distinctly separate people.

Since we’re nearing the halfway point, this seems to be where the patterns are breaking and things are coming to a head, which is happening on a few different fronts. For one thing, Kazuki’s big secret has finally been laid bare for everyone to see, so we’re gonna have to see how that whole mess pans out now. This is also the first time that they’ve failed to defeat a kappa zombie, so now they’re gonna be stuck in their kappa forms until they actually beat this one. Which might be difficult, since Kazuki seems willing to just live as a kappa forever now. Last week, Reo and Mabu said that they’d try and raise the desire power of their next victim, but I get the feeling that the main trio ‘losing’ wasn’t because the kappa zombie was tougher than usual, but more because Kazuki was so viscerally unwilling to acknowledge whatever truth was being made apparent by his secret leak that the entire process forcibly stopped. Which seems to be about the mystery of why Haruka had Kazuki’s mother’s scent pouch. It looks like Kazuki probably has an idea of what it means, but it’s somehow so extreme and shocking that he refuses to look at it.

Considering how it looks like Kazuki is going to have to come face to face with his current situation in order for them to beat the kappa zombie and return to normal, I think a lot of this will probably get answered and resolved in the next episode, so I’m really curious to see how it turns out. And after that, it looks like Reo and Mabu are gonna be more important in the second half.

And on the note of those two, we got another post-credit stinger scene that was about them this time. I think I’ve basically already been spoiled on this from stuff I’ve seen on twitter that I guess was from people who’ve read the first light novel volume, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise to me, but it was still a good scene. My understanding of the situation is that Mabu is maybe possibly dead, but his body is being kept alive by some outside force, and thus he has a mechanical heart, and he apparently needs to be ‘maintained’ regularly. It also looks like his situation has also lead to him becoming emotionally dead, which you can really see when you read the prequel manga about them, in which Mabu was a huge dork who was very emotionally expressive. Which really makes their whole current situation even more tragic.

I was reading a translation of a recent magazine interview where Ikuhara said that these two have a ‘completed relationship’ that has begun to fracture, which gets to the heart of why I think they’re such a surprisingly interesting duo. It just seems very rare for Ikuhara to write about characters that have regular, healthy, adult relationships like this, especially not ones between gay men. So it’s interesting to see him writing about how a pre-existing relationship can be warped by time and circumstances.

We’ll see how it goes, but it looks like Mabu’s ‘maintenance’ might involve him pretty much going out and sleeping with random people, which on the one hand seems kinda odd, but on the other hand we’ve already heard about the idea of ‘desire energy’, so maybe casual sex is literally the fuel source for Mabu’s mechanical heart. And if that’s the case, there’s a whooooole lot of interesting subtext going on there, especially when you think about the ‘desire/love’ conflict that’s been set up. I’ve also been wondering if this series would end up exploring monogamy vs polygamy via the conflict between them and the main trio, and so it’d make sense if their own relationship is currently in conflict because of the struggle between casual sex and faithful monogamy. I get the feeling that Reo wants to have him and Mabu stay strictly faithful to each other, but he also might not want to force himself to regularly have sex with him just as a fuel source for Mabu’s heart, since that would be all kinda of messed up, and it’d probably make Reo feel insecure about the validity of their relationship. And so Mabu has to find other people to have sex with, and because he seems emotionally dead now, he doesn’t understand Reo’s concerns. Reo’s mocking line about how Mabu ‘is just seeking pleasure’ also seems to play into the whole desire/love conflict.

I’m really curious to see where things go with these two. I have a feeling that Reo might end up allied with the main characters, given that it seems like he’s only working for the otter empire because he needs to.

I still wonder if they’ll show off their backstory in the anime, especially with them having raised Sara, but we’ll see how it goes.

[chocolatecarstairs]

i just finished qoaad and i have a lot to say!

buckle up kids, this is gonna be a long and bumpy ride!

finished reading as of 4:37 am 12/6/2018

1. I AM SO PISSED AT JAIME! like beyond pissed. i get it dru technically lied to you. (a lie by omission. and not even a huge one at that.) but there was literally no need for you to essentially abandon her. especially after all that “she’s like a little sister to me” and “no matter what age she is we’re friends” bullshit. did you even mean any of that? or were you just saying it to get her brother off your back? honestly, she did so much for you. she hid you in london, brought cristina to you even though cristina could’ve told her brothers and gotten her in trouble, she risked quite a bit of her own personal safety and that of her family to sneak into the gard prison and bust not just you but also your brother and his friends out. but at the end of the day you can’t even be bothered to come and visit her every once in a while? drop in, say hi, ask her about how her life is going? obviously, she should’ve told you how old she was, but she seriously made up for it time and time again after you found out. you also seemed to want to be near her in idris when the battle was going on. you said goodbye to her before you went to fight, you protected her when she had to go out to the field, and you were going to go with her to save jules and emma before you saw that diego was hurt. what the hell changed in between that and the wedding? you’re being a fake friend and i don’t like it.

2. I AM SO PISSED AT KIT! admittedly less pissed than i am at jaime. but pissed nonetheless. i get that ty didn’t respond to you telling him you loved him. he probably didn’t realize you meant it the way you did. for god’s sake, he’s autistic, kit! and obviously, he should never have been trying to raise livvy from the dead, but you should have told him as much! you should have gone to jules or mark or helen or literally anyone instead of letting it go as far as it did. i mean did you really think trying to stop him in the middle of the spell was going to work? honestly, kit! not to mention you leaving! tessa and jem are amazing people. they’re going to love you and nurture you and you’ll get to be around their baby! i would be happy for you. IF YOU’D GONE WITH THEM BECAUSE YOU REALLY WANTED TO. all it would’ve taken was a conversation with ty. just one. you could’ve told him how you felt. if he didn’t feel the same way then, sure, you could’ve gone with tessa and jem. but it’s entirely possible that he would have. not to mention you at least owed him and dru and explanation or a goodbye. and, no, staring creepily at them from a distance at the wedding does not count as a goodbye! neither does making jem explain it for you. ty lost his twin. he was going through so much. he was obviously not himself. you were someone who was supposed to get him through that and instead you abandoned him without so much as a goodbye or a see you later. hmph. and poor drusilla. she wanted friends, kit, that was it. her oldest brothers were too busy trying to save the world and take care of her to have a true sibling relationship with her. her older sisters were either dead, or had literally just come back from five years in exile. her younger brother was too young and innocent to be any kind of true friend to her yet. and ty, the only sibling she has left that is close enough to her age to be her friend, wouldn’t let her in. she thought she’d found that in you! you taught her how to pick locks, you were teaching her how to con, you were beginning to think of her as a younger sister! and suddenly, when you can’t imagine having a relationship with ty anymore, all thoughts of the relationship you were forming with dru go out the window? god, kit. even if you were going to leave. even if you didn’t want to see ty. you could have seen dru. you could have told her you had to leave and said goodbye to her. told her that you were sorry. asked her to pass the message along to ty. making jem do it was weak, and you know it. i want to be happy for you, but you’re making it really freaking hard.

3. can we talk about the parabatai curse for a second? first things first, the heavenly fire! i’m honestly pretty surprised i was right about that one. i was so, so, so worried that the curse would actually turn them into angels. i did not want that to happen. i obviously had no clue that it would make them grow into giant, fiery, death machines, but alas. i think the whole true nephilim thing was kind of cool, actually. it’s also kind of crazy that the parabatai bond is so strong that when one of the parabatai turned into a true nephilim the other one followed. i honestly still can’t really believe it. i had a pretty hard time picturing emma and julian the size of skyscrapers crushing the cohort, but i found it kind of entertaining. i also almost cried when helen, ty, dru, and tavvy talked to them to bring them back. even cristina, kieran, and aline had things to say to them. it was a really touching scene. i’m also super proud of dru for being able to lead her family and convince them that they needed to help emma and julian. she’s grown so much since lady midnight (but more on that later). the fact that becoming true nephilim broke their parabatai bond is one of the easiest conclusions of any plot in shadowhunter history. especially one that was one of the main plots of a series. i’m so happy for jules and emma. i wish we could see more of them on their travel year. and i hope in twp they’ll be like jace and clary were in tda.

4. kieran kingson to kieran king of the unseelie court. honestly, i expected this one. i didn’t think cassie was going to give us a full-blown polyamorous relationship in all its day-to-day glory. kieran is going to make an amazing king. i’ve loved his character development over the course of the series. we watched him turn from a jealous member of the wild hunt, to a disgraced and begrudgingly helpful prince, to a remorseful and loving faerie, and finally, to a proud and kind king. i’m glad he can still be with cristina and mark in adaon’s cottage, but i almost wish it hadn’t ended this way. i feel bad that he can’t be happy in faerie and that mark and cristina will feel like something is missing whenever they are together without him in the mortal world. it’s bittersweet but more sweet than bitter.

5. i love julian blackthorn. i genuinely did not even know there were people out there who didn’t love him with their entire hearts and souls. i didn’t even know that there was so much controversy around him until i got into the tda tumblr fandom. i am almost never mad at him. almost. the whole ‘no feelings’ thing got old fast. i was pissed at magnus for performing the spell in the first place and i was mega-pissed at jules for requesting it and asking magnus to do it even once he’d heard of the consequences. i hated no feelings julian. it was so sad for me to see the julian i know and love, specifically because he cares so hard and so deeply, lose all his love and compassion. he literally turned into the julian antis like to picture him as. manipulating emma using sex and her desire/love for him was not cool. killing dane was not cool. not to mention, ty needed him. ty was totally broken after livvy’s death. he was holding himself together with some crazy plan to raise her from the dead. he needed julian to tell him he would be okay and to help piece his world back together. obviously, there were times julian literally couldn’t be there for him like when he was in faerie or thule. but when he got back he had a few opportunities to help his brother that he missed because of the stupid spell. this is the only time i’ve ever been genuinely mad at or disappointed in jules. it was painful.

6. let’s talk about thule. crazy to see sebastian’s vision for the world come to a reality. even crazier that he was in this series at all. thule proved that tessa is the strongest warlock of all time and that church is significant to the plot after all. cameron turns out to be a nice dude. diana is openly trans. raphael is alive and kind of funny and lovable (”vampires excel at ispy”). julian was temporarily free of the spell and the parabatai bond didn’t exist. i kind of loved thule. but there were sad and hard parts too. everyone is basically dead. people who haven’t sworn loyalty to sebastian are chased around and hunted by demons for fun. tessa gave her life to finally defeat sebastian. and poor thule!livvy. having to live in a world all by herself. helen is presumably and almost certainly dead. same with dru. julian and emma were endarkened and now they’re dead (nice to see that julian would literally kill himself, in this case thule!julian for his family, though). tavvy was taken and for sure killed by a demon. that same demon slit ty’s throat and thule!livvy held him as he died. she had to make the hard a terrible decision to let cameron, her boyfriend and probably one of the only people she had left, die trapped in the silent city forever. and she couldn’t go with jules and emma back to earth. as much as i knew it was going to happen, it was still terrible and heart-wrenching to see them seperated again. her letter to ty was one of the few moments in the book that made me cry. the fact that ty didn’t even bother much with it really bothered me. ”i love you. i love you. i love you.” it will forever break my heart and also be one of my favorite lines from the entire series. i really do hope that thule!livvy and ty somehow meet in twp. i need them both to get some closure more than i can say.

7. ty. my poor, beautiful ty. he had a really amazing facade throughout pretty much the entire book. i genuinely believed he was okay for a while. but when kit kept mentioning the bruises on his hands, i knew something was up. when dru went into his room and found it a complete mess, with books and clothes everywhere and furniture destroyed, my heart literally cracked in my chest. my baby ty did not deserve the pain he was feeling. i wish he’d gotten more help from kit, or dru, or helen. i wish julian hadn’t been such an idiot with that spell, so he could’ve been there for ty like he deserved. seeing him so distraught made me almost happy that he brought back livvy’s ghost.

8. i’m a little confused about the whole livvy’s ghost thing. the way i read it, ty ripped a hole in the fabric between the world of the living and the world of the dead. but i literally read the entire last 300 pages in like two hours, so i don’t think i totally absorbed everything. (i’ll go back through it all on the reread). basically, if that’s the case, wouldn’t livvy be able to come and go between the worlds as she pleased? what about other ghosts? this is almost definitely tying into the plot of twp. the same way the emma and jules deciding to become parabatai tied into tda. i wish that he hadn’t raised her ghost, because livvy really deserved to rest peacefully. i just hope he has some nice times with livvy’s ghost before he probably has to get rid of her. hopefully, dru can learn to see her too. (also can we talk about her ghost coming to jules during the livia’s watch meeting? broke my heart)

9. dru really grew up right before our eyes, didn’t she? she went from a sort of shy, timid little girl who wanted nothing more than to join the fight to a strong young woman who knew her worth and learned that fighting in battle isn’t always what makes you brave. she went on her own and broke the prisoners out of the gard. and when everyone was going to battle, she stayed behind with tavvy to keep him safe and comfort him.  when jaime was being an ass (still mad at him by the way) she didn’t make herself into someone she wasn’t to try to make him happy. i’m really proud of dru. i can’t wait for her to go to the new shadowhunter academy, make some new friends. kick jaime’s ass for being a dick, and more in the wicked powers.

10. diego becoming inquisitor was probably one of the things i least expected from queen, but i can’t say i’m mad about it. i honestly think its the perfect job for him. i’m happy to see he’s moved on from cristina and didn’t die like i thought he would. he’s really grown on me throughout the series. i went from not really liking him, to hating him, to pitying him, to loving and respecting him as a character. i can’t wait to see what he does as inquisitor and how he help’s move the new clave-in-exile forward. speaking of which, alec as consul. wow. i am so proud of my little baby. he really does deserve the world. he is going to do amazing things for the clave and bring them forward to be more a more caring, accepting, and diverse group of people. i’m so happy that he’s now in the position to make the changes he wants to see in the world. like downworlder-shadowhunter marriages. speaking of which, the malec wedding! i am so happy for the two of them! it is so incredibly cute that alec surpirsed magnus with a wedding ceremony. and that he was so nervous to propose (even though they were already basically married anyways). it was so beautiful. jace as alec’s suggenes. catarina as magnus’. the fireworks. ugh. goals right there. it was also so sweet that kieran came and the hot faerie threesome reunited. and that emma and julian got to be together for real, in public, happily. the whole thing about the blackthorn kids freaking out whenever they found them kissing in the institute hallways was the cutest thing. it made me all warm and fuzzy. i was kind of happy to see that livvy’s ghost was there with ty, but i just hope that she isn’t always there and that ty will eventually learn to live without her. kit staring at him from a distance was sad and creepy. and i’m lowkey pissed that jem and tessa weren’t at the wedding. wtf is that guys? so rude. otherwise super cute, super fun, super happy way to end the book. i approve. 10/10.

11. i can’t believe that alec offered mark and cristina positions on the downworlder-shadowhunter alliance. this is like a dream come true for cristina and i’m so happy for her. i also really hope it will help mark reconcile the differences he feels from other shadowhunters, including his own family, and hopefully, he will feel less torn between the worlds of faeries and mortals. i’m also glad mark and cristina will be staying together. when i heard cristina was going back to mexico, i was very disappointed. her travel year was nowhere near over and i’d hoped she would’ve stayed in los angeles or her and mark would’ve gone with emma and jules. i’m really glad that her and mark will at least be together and get to grow as a couple. it is bittersweet though because it means that the blackthorns are growing apart. jules and emma are going on a (well-deserved) travel year, mark is moving to new york, cristina is going with him. ty is heading to the sholomance, next time we see dru she’ll be at the academy in new york. they’re doing what a normal family does as it grows, and going their separate ways, but it's still so hard to watch it happen when part of what i love about them is that they’re such a tight-knit group. i’m just glad that they’ll all have the institute to return to whenever they want.

12. haline really tugged at my heartstrings this time around. i’ve gotta say, i was fully prepared to not totally like aline. she wasn’t much of an important or defining character to me in tmi and what i did see of her was just kind of eh to me. when cassie released that frittata snippet i was so ready not to like her. i have a major blind spot when it comes to my blackthorn babies, and if anyone even sort of messes with them i am 100% ready to rip their heads off. but i actually really loved aline. she was badass and sensitive and funny and independent and caring all at the same time. seeing her with helen was honestly so cute. their relationship was amazing. i’m so glad they had each other while they were on wrangel island and helped each other adjust to being back. ugh hope to see more of them in la soon. hope they have their baby and tavvy won’t be the baby of the family anymore. i hope they’re only happy for the rest of their lives.

13. i honestly wish the cohort had died. like i was lowkey cheering giant fiery jules and emma on as they slowly, brutally murdered them one by one. they’re awful, bigoted, terrible people and i can’t stand them. zara is one of the worst. i honestly wish emma had killed her. in front of the institute, in battle, i don’t care. i just wish she was dead. she actually deserved it. stabbing emma in the back was one of the lowest moves she ever could have pulled. and all because she was throwing a tantrum that the sword she stole from emma was taken back by emma. when cortana chose emma i was probably the happiest i could be reading the book. emma deserved it and cortana knew it. i do have to say i was in shock that the cohort threatened to kill themselves when alec was elected. and even more shocked that the entire clave left alicante and idris to the cohort. i am sad that the shadowhunters lost their beloved home country. i knew that the cohort was going to gain some kind of power and that they weren’t going anywhere, but this is something i did not expect at all. i have high hopes for the clave-in-exile. alec has already been so good and kind. he changed the laws to allow shadowhunters and downworlders to get married. he praised and accepted diana for being trans and strives to educate himself on transgender people and shadowhunters and what exactly being trans means. hopefully, this kind of open-mindedness and acceptance of others and their differences will stem into the whole of the neurodiverse shadowhunter community. people. like ty, who have autism, or adhd, or dyslexia, or depression and anxiety. the subtle mentions of these things without naming them throughout tda really showed how ignorant the clave is to these kinds of people. (speaking as someone who has add and was ignored for a long time) it isn’t an easy feat to know there is something wrong or different about you but not have anyone acknowledge it. hopefully, alec will learn about the mundane treatments and coping mechanisms for the many neurodivergent shadowhunters out there and allow them the tools thet need to suceed.

14. when annabel died i cheered. i know it seems awful, but the image of julian severing her spine and stabbing her through the heart made me warm and fuzzy inside. my baby avenged his baby livia. AND thule!livvy was there to watch. a truly beautiful moment. i do not feel bad for annabel in the slightest. at first, she was so tortured and sad that i felt for her. even, a little bit, after she killed livvy. i would think, well the cohort was what drove her over the edge or maybe she wouldn’t have done it if her mind wasn’t so destroyed from malcolm’s spells.  but no. she proved that she was lucid and sane enough to manipulate and lie and deceive time and time again. in the unseelie court and in thule. when jules finally got to take of the rag with livvy’s blood on it and throw it onto her dying body i did a little dance. annabel deserved the death she got. and livvy deserved someone to avenge her. but what happened to the black volume? at first, i thought it would stay in thule forever, but if thule!jace and ash could make it into the seelie courts, then it stands to reason that there is another portal open somewhere and that the black volume can be brought back to the seelie queen. i have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of the black volume and necromantic magic in twp. also, can we talk about the fact that the black volume is the dark artifices? it makes sense considering the fact that it has been a major part and plot point of the entire series, but i felt like it was a little underhyped. the seelie king was like oh the black volume aka the dark artifices and then we never talked about it again. i don’t know is that just me?

15. clary is alive! i, for one, genuinely thought she was going to die. the fact that her dreams of herself dying were visions of what was happening in thule seemed kind of cheap. like there was a ton of build up for absolutely no reason. then again, her dreams really were only mentioned, like, once in the series before qoaad and really not much in queen. we really just hyped it all up a lot as a fandom, so i guess we shouldn’t have expected more. but i am glad she is alive because that means her and jace are getting married! when jace said he wanted six or eight kids because of the blackthorns, i cried a little inside. so cute! cassie better give us the clace wedding and not just fast forward to twp where they will already be married and chasing around a while expecting another baby (i am speaking this into existence). speaking of weddings that we need to see in writing, sizzy! my babies are happy! i have shipped sizzy since day one, guys. day one. if i am robbed of a sizzy wedding i will riot and it will not be pretty. 

16. that epilogue though! i was not expecting it. i was confused for a littke while. in the back of my mind, i was wondering how ash would even tie into twp if he was in thule. now i know. thule!jace is crazy. i have a feeling there will be an epic showdown between him and normal jace which will be super interesting. i have a feeling thule!jace is a lot like what our jace was like when he was linked to sebastian. considering he basically has been for quite some time and apparently, there is no going back. hopefully someone kills the seelie queen in twp and someone better can take over the trone bc that bitch has been getting on my nerves since day one.

17. ty is going to the sholomance and i’m so happy for my little baby. the sholomance is going to have great teachers, like catarina and ragnor, and ty is going to learn so much. kit is with tessa and jem and, while i’m still super pissed at him and upset he isn;t with ty, i am so glad he’s going to have parents for once in his life. parents who are loving and kind and caring. and he’ll get to hang out with baby carstairs (hopefully a boy named will. i’m speaking that one into existence too.). dru is going to make new friends. tavvy is going to grow up. helen and aline are going to have a baby, so all our faves will be aunts/uncles. ugh, i cannot wait for the wicked powers you guys have no idea!

this is basically it! if you guys want to hear my opinions on anything else, or you have any questions for me about any part of the book my asks are always open! i seriously love when you guys send me asks, so please do!

[jellybeanbeing]

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

WARNING: It’s gon’ be long.

Synopsis:

What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the blight that is destroying the race of warlocks.

Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

REVIEW WITH SPOILERS!

Queen of Air and Darkness was INTENSE. My goodness... There was so much stuff that happened and were packed into this book. It was amazing and so well done with some exceptions but I’ll get into it later on. Overall, it was so emotional, dynamic, and great! And since this book was so big, I’m gonna try to go over every storyline(?) or significant character.

Starting off with Ty/Kit/Dru. I knew that some necromancy was gonna happen and I was prepared for it, BUT I thought that Livvy’s ghost was gonna pop up and say “stop it” and then everything would go back. Apparently, that’s not what happens. Ty now has to face his consequences which I’m pretty sure we’re going to see in The Wicked Powers. I wasn’t so invested in their story line, mostly because it didn’t have a big relation with the bigger story line. I felt like it was all set up for Kit and Ty’s story. I did really enjoy it though. We get to see more layers of Kit and Ty, and even Dru. I really loved getting to know Dru more. She has such a great voice and seeing things from her perspective was so interesting. I’m really excited to get more from her because what we did get from her in QOAAD, I really liked. She’s so smart, strong, and has a lot of potential to grown and be an even more amazing character.

I am loving Kit even more as we get to know him and the complexity of his character. I can understand his decision at the end when he wants to leave with Tessa and Jem without saying goodbye to the Blackthorns (especially Ty). Since Livvy’s death, all Kit did was be there for Ty even if what he was doing was really wrong. But when they both were at Lake Lyn and Livvy’s ghost came up, Ty was saying how there was nothing for him if Livvy wasn’t there, and that hurt Kit. So I can understand Kit’s decision. On another note though, KIT IS THE DESCENDANT OF THE FIRST HEIR? And that scene where he and Emma are with the Riders and magic just bursts out of him? How did that even happen? I need to know what is up with that. Again, on another note, I am always loving how Kit is accepting the fact that he’s a Shadowhunter. I love a good character development, and Kit’s development is so good. When he has that conversation with Jace, Kit wants his own weapon of choice and it was such a precious scene. We can really see Kit’s growing love of being a Shadowhunter.

We didn’t get a Ty perspective AT ALL in QOAAD so I’m really thinking Cassandra Clare is saving his voice for TWP which I’m all for. We’ll get to hear his voice and it’ll be so great. Ty was really something in this book though. I was lowkey kind of getting Julian-ish vibes from him. Ty was so determined to fix himself and his family that he completely forgot the logistics of everything and tried to do the almost impossible. We saw that Blackthorn stubbornness in him and I wasn’t all about it. I JUST NEED HIS PERSPECTIVE because when he got that letter from Thule Livvy, it seemed like he didn’t care. Not even a tiny bit. I just... I need TWP now. On a side note, holy mole. What if the Thule Jace coming to the normal Shadowhunter world is the consequence for Ty trying to raise Livvy? The necromancy could’ve opened a portal and let them pass through. Oh shit. DAMN IT. That means Ty will have to face this consequence and there’s gonna be another war. Are you kidding me?

I want to explore the Scholomance more. With just the small scenes we get of it, it seems so interesting. They weren’t happy or jolly scenes but something about it makes me want to delve in the Centurions lives more. I’m hoping that in The Wicked Powers, we will get to see more of the Scholomance. Especially since Ty is going to become a Centurion which WOW. I can’t wait for it. 

Moving onto Diana/Jia. Seeing things from their perspectives was pretty interesting considering that they are really the only adults here besides the TMI gang. We really saw the politics during their parts and it was unsettling because of the parallels it had with our real world politics. That was one thing that scared me. We know how things have gone in the real world when hateful people and extremists have power and influence. With those parallels, we can kind of grasp at how high the stakes are within the Shadowhunter government. There was that scene where Diego, Divya, and Rayan are brought upon the council and have the runes of Quietude put on them so they can’t speak. This hit me hard and made me tear up because it was so real. They, who are still basically children, aren’t given the chance to speak for themselves and are imprisoned. It was so heartbreaking to read that scene. But overall, I didn’t really care for Diana/Jia’s story line because nothing really happened.

There was that one badass scene where Diana was talking to Horace and he’s trying to convince her to side with him. I was so nervous that Diana wouldn’t have a way out of it and when she agreed to it, I was like, WE ARE FUCKED. But no. Diana grabs Horace’s sword, chops his arm off, and busts out the window like a BADASS. I was livid. 

And then the hot faerie threesome aka Cristina/Mark/Kieran. This was a pretty wild one. I absolutely loved the character development with every one of them. Not really Cristina because her character arc wasn’t that big or different. Mark and Kieran have come so far from being these broken faerie warriors to these strong and amazing people. It makes my heart ache and feel so happy. Oh my gosh, that last scene with the three of them at Magnus and Alec’s wedding, killed me. There’s that recurring line “Remember that none of it is real.” and at the end, Mark says, “Remember that all of this is real.” RIGHT IN THE FEELS.

I need to know more about the relationship between the Rosales family and faeries. There are so many unanswered questions with this. Why does Cristina have that time medallion thingy and the Rosales have the Eternidad? And I’m pretty sure there’s something sketchy about all of that. I need answers...

Speaking of the Rosales, Diego and Jaime? I actually really liked them in this book. I was pissed at Diego for lying to Cristina but he kind of redeemed his character. He showed his compassion and kindness which I really liked, and he apologized to Cristina. He confronted the situation and knew what he did was really shitty. Side note: I really ship him with Divya and I’m hoping to see them both in TWP at the Scholomance with Ty. ALSO, Diego was asked to take the spot as Inquisitor????? Would’ve never thought of Diego as the Inquisitor but I’m not mad. Yay, Diego. Jaime literally didn’t have a huge role in here and I felt like he was just there to set up TWP story line. For a second when Diego and Jaime were in the cell together, I thought that Jaime was going to die. I think it would’ve added so much more drama if he did die and given them something to hold against the Cohort but it’s okay. Jaime lived so yay.

Really quick before we get into Emma and Julian’s part, Aline was probably one of my top favorite characters in QOAAD. She was so sassy and always stood up for Helen. She was also so understanding and logical. Aline is quick to catch onto things and I’m hoping we get to see more or Helen and Aline and their POSSIBLE BABY.

Now let’s get to Emma and Julian. I was kind of disappointed in their characters, not gonna lie. I was really liking them in the beginning but towards the end, I was beginning to not really care if they lived or not. It just makes me sad because they’re the main characters. But if I’m gonna be REAL HONEST here, I didn’t really care for anyone’s story line. This pains me to say SO MUCH because this is my favorite series in the entire Shadowhunter Chronicles. 

Anyways, back to Emma and Julian. I was really liking borderline evil Julian. He was really living up to his ruthless title and it was so interesting. I seriously thought that his character would just continue to go downhill and no one was going to or could save him from it. That scene where Emma and Julian find out that Dane Larkspear was following them and then Julian MURDERS HIM sent chills down my spine. Julian was so cold and heartless in that moment and I kind of liked it. Also, call me heartless too but Dane deserved it. When he decided to go fetch the Black Volume by himself, he was asking to be killed. Back to Julian, though I liked borderline evil and emotionless Julian, he was such an asshole. Not only did he lie to and hurt Emma, he also did the same thing to his siblings. What the fudge nuggets, Julian? I was so glad that Magnus took that spell off of him because I was low key getting irritated. BUT that spell should have never been put on him in the first place, just saying.

I still think Emma is such a great strong female lead character. As I said in my Lady Midnight review, she is strong both mentally and physically but she has emotions. She expresses those emotions and shows her vulnerabilities. She ain’t no stone cold badass who welds a sword around, threatening people all the time. She’s a cool badass and I love it. One thing I really liked was how when Emma and Julian are in Thule and Julian tells Emma that he can feel again, she doesn’t just jump at the chance to be with Julian. He hurt her and lied to her, and she ain’t about that. Even when they returned from Thule, Emma knew Julian wasn’t himself and restrained herself from getting hurt by him again. 

That battle scene in the Unseelie Court was probably one of the most epic scenes in this book for me. We get Jace and Clary back, Mark and Kieran are there in chains, about to die, and there’s also Adaon, Julian, Emma, and Cristina there. I almost forgot that ASH, ANNABEL, AND THE SEELIE QUEEN WERE THERE TOO! Everything just went to shit but Kieran killed the Unseelie King, the Seelie Queen stole Adaon, Ash and Annabel jump through that portal, and soon after when the building is in flames, Julian and Emma jump through the portal too. It was absolute chaos and I loved it. And you know what scene I lived for during this whole thing? It’s when Julian is stabbing the shit out of Ethna with Simon’s D&D figurine. Amazing.

This book made me realize how crucial or very helpful it is to have read The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices. I feel like if you’ve only really read TID and TDA, you won’t be able to grasp the how high the stakes are in Queen of Air and Darkness. Especially the whole deal with the Mortal sword and the Dark War.

Speaking of the Dark War.. when Emma and Julian went to Thule, I didn’t know what to expect but I was not expecting what we got. It was so different from what we know of the Shadowhunter world and it felt like a short novella inside QOAAD. But again, being honest here, that was the best part in this entire book. I was so captivated and entertained by this alternate dimension. Seeing Livia grown up and being a leader was just so nice to see, but it was also heartbreaking. 

Y’all, Cameron deserved so much more. I don’t know about you guys but I didn’t really care or like Cameron because we got the bare minimum of him. I also don’t know if it was mentioned in the other books about how he was as a person but the way Emma described him in QOAAD, he seemed like a sweet and goofy guy. I mean, this boy sent Emma llama pictures when he was sad. How precious is that? He was done dirty in this book. He was locked in the city of bones while fighting for his life by his girlfriend Livvy, got stabbed by his own cousin, and was ridiculed by his entire family. Cameron needs a hug.

I am so loving how the writing and characters in this book are getting so (dare i say) “rebellious”. Cassandra Clare isn’t sugar coating ANYTHING OR ANYONE anymore. I just want to appreciate the appearance of curse words whether its in English or another language. My rebellious heart loves it. I think this also ties into the fact that a lot of these characters are so done with the bullshit that’s been thrown at them that they just don’t care about censoring themselves anymore.

Zara and the entire Cohort can go choke. That’s all I’m gonna say about them.

That last battle scene was just intense. And the build up for this scene was equally as intense. I just absolutely loved how Julian got his shit together and remembered who he was. He is a motherforking genius. He contacted everyone he knew and set up that meeting. This seventeen year old boy did that. He was also smart enough to know that there was obviously going to be spies at the meeting so he had a secluded one after the majority of people left. I knew the Cohort was screwed from there on out, even when it was revealed that “Oskar” was Annabel. I was shocked but I knew they were gonna be in deep shit. But back to that last battle scene. What the fork? Everything was going pretty smoothly until someone just had to throw the knife and kill someone. I was living for that scene with the Mortal Sword. Everything was coming out and it was so amazing. But shit happened, so there’s that. 

The ending for this battle scene was a different kind of battle scene that I’m used to reading. Usually the perspective stays within the battle but Cassandra Clare included ALL perspectives of this battle, on field and out. I seriously thought that after Emma and Julian became giants, they were going to die or have all of their marks stripped. I really didn’t think they were have a happy ending. I mean, I’m happy they did but, it just doesn’t make sense. Also, I was not expecting Emma and Julian to become giants. Was it only me who imagined them as the Green Giant from the frozen vegetables thingy? Haha, yeah, just me.

I did really like how we saw so many perspectives of the battle. It made for a really good battle scene, but I guess I was a bit underwhelmed by the entire ending of this book.

THAT EPILOGUE? I was kind of expecting to get an epilogue similar to the one in Clockwork Princess. In Clockwork Princess, we get closure and I felt satisfied with the entire story but THE QOAAD EPILOGUE? I’m unsettled and I have to wait until around 2022 FOR ANSWERS. My heart will be unsettled for about 4 years. Okay. Cool.

Just the fact that this whole situation is coming full circle back to TMI but with it being more complex, is making me so tired of these assholes coming back to fuck shit up. Let these children be, goddamn it. 

I seriously thought I would feel at ease when I finished QOAAD but I don’t. That’s the one thing that bothers me. This book is so big yet we have SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS AND LOOSE ENDS. Please fucking yell at me if this was also the situation for COHF because it’s been a hot minute since I’ve read it.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed some aspect of this even if it’s complete shit.