#tsc characters! ships! scenes!

[edwinspaynes]

send me "make me choose" asks!

[lockwood-fic-recs]

motion fatigue

by Zannolin on ao3

Rating: G | Category: F/M | Relationship: Lockwood/Lucy, Lucy&Skull

“You need to sleep,” he says.

Lucy says, almost without thinking, “I don’t want to.”

Because she doesn’t. Because sleeping means dreaming and Lockwood knows exactly what dreaming entails right now. And then there’s the cold, which still hasn’t retreated, even with the cape and the tea and Lockwood’s arm pressed in a warm line along her own while they drank it.

He doesn’t answer, just takes her by the hand and leads her from the kitchen, flicking off the lights as they go. And she lets him, because she’s tired and aching, and because it’s Lockwood doing it.

Or, recovering from walking in the land of the dead isn't easy, but Lockwood and Lucy are giving it their best shot.

[fairdale]

the tsc game

give me five tsc characters/books/scenes/ships and i'll make a ranking!!

(leave them on the box)

[dayurno]

Every day I have to come into your blog to cleanse myself from awful Kevjean takes. Every time I see a TikTok video about how Kevin was evil for leaving Jean in the Nest and blatantly misinterpreting the scene where they talk about it in TSC I have to come here or I'm gonna start shooting people

ITS BEEN SO WEIRD LATELY RIGHT……. i feel like more people are making downright untruthful claims on kevin’s good name lately. it’s not like it didn’t happen before but there is certainly a degree of desperation lately especially with kevjean because i suppose they believe kevin is a threat to jerejean 😭 relax…. unclench. how are you letting a man on the other side of the country threaten your favorite ship

this subject is so exhausted too but one thing that’s been annoying me more than anything lately is the people either calling kevin a coward for leaving or making up that other characters find him a coward for it. alright you do it then aftg fan. you stand up and leave everything you have ever known after years of cultist abuse and seclusion with nothing to your name, beaten as all fuck and literally only your father’s name as a guiding light 👋

[purplebass]

I finally finished Sword Catcher, and here's my thoughts. Spoilers, of course. So read at your discretion.

Story

The first 25% or so of this book felt too descriptive to me. I know we need to know context, but I was busy thus I could read one chapter a day and the beginning was a bit slow and it concentrated a lot on politics and well, descriptions of places and backstory. I held on because I knew that this was all preparation, and the story improved a lot after our second pov character, Lin, made her appearance. It went better from that point on, and even if some things felt like a deja vu (to some scenes happened in tsc) I tried to not to let them influence me and pretend this story wasn't written by the same author (of tsc). I liked that since this is a fictional world, there was a lot of freedom when it came to dress code, lore, magic, etc.

Characters

Our main POV characters are Kel and Lin. I have to admit, Kel fell very flat to me at first. He was a little boring, and up until the 25% mark (so after the story really started to take off) he annoyed me. After then, I still preferred other characters more, but I enjoyed him more (still like other characters more, though). I instantly liked Lin. She is interesting, and I liked that she was a physician and she is peculiar.

Out of the royals, I really like Conor, and as far as ships are concerned, I ship him with Lin. They are enemies to lovers, and there seems to be mutual interest but of course, being him a prince and she an outcast girl in this world, it seems like they can never be. Wrong. Hope we'll see more development about that.

I also really like Antonetta. She seems like the typical naive girl but she is clever, and I also believe she likes Kel and their situation is quite like Conor/Lin (royal/peasant). Kel kissed a lot of people in this book, but he seems to have a thing for Antonetta.

The other royals are okay, I guess. They are entertaining, and I think the one who wants House Aurelian to fall might be among them.

Out of the criminals, I find the character of the Ragpicker King super interesting. Who is he? Where does he come from? My idea is that he might also be a royal bastard, but we'll see. I also like Ji An and Merren (who gives me Christopher Lightwood vibes) and Jerrod.

The whole criminal gangs business is not over and considering the ending, I think the criminal characters will help unveil who is the traitor on the Hill.

Overall, I enjoyed it (the second half more than the first) and I want to know how it continues, since it ended in a cliffhanger. I wouldn't say this book had an impact on me, though. I liked it enough, but I wouldn't consider it a 5 stars book. To me, this is a 3.5/4 stars.

[leedee013]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ILU have fun!!!!

AFTG ask game

I LOVE YOU TOO MWAH

all my answers are going to be under the "read more" because hoo boy.

When did you first read aftg?

I first read AFTG by listening to the first audiobook while riding around the bus and trains in Germany, then Seth died, I immediately needed to finish the series, and then I read the entire series in less than 48 hours rifp.

2. All For The Game or The Sunshine Court?

All For the Game. The Sunshine Court is about my son, Jean, but also... because he's my son I have a lot of points where I simply like what I wrote better! and a fair number of complaints with TSC, since a lot of the way Jean's trauma rears its head is far less realistic than how Neil's trauma rears its head.

3. Favourite scene(s)?

I won't lie, one of my favorite scenes is when Neil gets back from his father's home and the Foxes all sleep on the floor together. I'm a huge sucker for found family and hurt/comfort and MAN that scene ticked off all my boxes. It's the one that I'll actually go back every now and then to reread. Wymack's joke about "Wesninski" and that feeling of finally having a family gets to me literally every time. And blah blah yeah I also really love the mentality of Andrew dragging Wymack behind him as he crashes through everything just so he can get back to Neil's side.

4. If you could choose to make one fictional place from the books real, which one?

That place they go to when they get ice cream/milkshakes before going to Eden's Twilight! It sounds amazing

5. A character you think deserves to be more present in the books?

Hngh this is difficult because I do believe that, at least as far as AFTG goes (aka excluding TSC) the characters are all as present as they need to be. Neil is very tunnel-visioned, and I think that it's a solid amount of screentime for each character, so to say. Like my first thought was Seth, but it wouldn't have fit Neil's character for Seth to haunt him at all. Therefore, I think overall I'd liked to have seen more of Jean for purely selfish reasons. Also more Renee!

6. A non-canon ship you love?

Jean/Renee, Jean/Jeremy, Jean/Kevin, Renee/Riko, and then any mix and match of those characters in throuples/quoples/poly ships! I'm also a big fan of Dan/Renee because woooo enemies to lovers?

7. A part of the extra content you whole-heartedly agree with

Andreil never say "I love you" or get married. Also that Dan gets to take over the Foxes when Wymack retires. Also Sir and King but like. Who doesn't agree with that.

8. A crackship/crackships you've come to love

Rinee (Riko/Renee), I adore it so much okay. I love the healing energy of it all and also the way that Renee attracts the most strange and unhinged people to her.

9. Underrated aftg fanartist / fic writer (tag them!)(link if they're not on tumblr)

well obviously @capcavan @jtl-fics and @emry-stars-art can never be OVERrated. But I think the true underrated AFTG fanartist is @noomyart <3

10. A villain you think is fucking hot

well. uh. villain I guess would be Nathan. Antagonist? Riko

11. A side character you love and/or appreciate

NICKY, I love him so much. Also Renee. And Dan. And Matt. I'm so mad I can't just say Jean anymore since he's not really a side character anymore GAH

12. Favourite narrative foil?

I adore the Riko/Neil narrative foil. Both the sons that were not wanted, both having their lives attached to Exy and using it as a way to solidify their freedom/independence, while Neil had someone who tried to save him and Riko could only ever try to save himself.

13. Favourite narrative symbolism?

In general my favorite narrative symbolism are the keys; how they unlock opportunities for Neil; how they are signs of trust that others put in him; how they are something I don't think he ever thought he'd have (solidity/a home). I also love how much symbolism they hold for him, as well.

14. A character you would actually get along with in real life

Nicky (we'd bond over escaping our parents by running to Germany and using each other as an excuse to practice German) or Matt (because he's chill he's fun and he reminds me a lot of some of my actual friends from college).

15. A character you love but would deck in real life

Neil lmao

16. How did you even get here?? How did you discover AFTG?

I was browsing the Banana Fish tag and saw a post that was like "hey! do you wish that you had a series that was everything you loved about Banana Fish but with way more of Eiji pole-vaulting? then you should check out All for the Game for its mafia-infused sports anime vibes! and huzzah I haven't gotten off the hook yet

17. Would you play exy?

I feel like I'd be pretty good at it if I'd put my mind to it. It seems like fun and also I'm a bit of a masochist so I think the rougher plays would be really fun!

18. A fancast you will never let go of

Tbh I don't really have a fancast for any of the characters

19. A fancast you love that is super silly

I did see a guy the other day who made me double take and go KEVIN???? in my head if that counts

20. Which character would be the last to die in a actual zombie apocalypse?

Probably Renee tbh because she's unsuspecting, can broker peace between people who are fighting, and has absolutely no issue wielding and using knives in fights.

21. Would andrew minyard have beef with you?

Idk I feel like we'd vibe really well but wouldn't necessarily be close. He might get annoyed at how go-with-the-flow I am, though

22. Hyperspecific aro and or ace kevin headcanon?

I enjoy these headcanons and seeing people write them but I personally don't ever write him as either aro or ace. All the power to those who do though <3

23. Something you are very sure will happen in TSC2

Trojans win and 2. Jean meets the Foxes again before/after a game and it's emotional

24. Nicky or Allison? (Character wise and personality wise seperate)

I'm biased but Nicky. I relate way too hard to his story to not be biased here. But also I relate heavily to Allison and love her as well. I think she's also a lot more underappreciated out of the two, and gets a lot of unfair hate.

25. You're now only allowed to ship Kevin with one person (1) who is it?

man you're really out here discriminating against me and my poly ship here /t, but if it's only one person then I'd say Jean because again, I'm biased.

26. A 2000s song any one/ship/group of character would listen to

I feel like Andrew would secretly adore Lady Gaga's Poker Face and know all the lyrics even if he'd never sing along.

27. A detail or element from an older draft you would've loved to see in the final draft

LMAO so. I'm personally a fan of the version where Riko shot Kevin because Neil dodged/Kevin dove in front of him. I don't think I would have swapped the ending that we got for it instead, but I did think that it would have been an interesting change.

Also Riko and Kevin with longer hair

28. If you had to kill a fox. (Seth doesnt count.)

Aaron, because oh boy that poor medical student is probably already begging for some anvil to drop on him from the heavens

Question 29 for jean! Name a favorite Jean dialogue/quote

All of them because Jean is my favorite but also I think I'm going to go with "I will endure. I will endure. I will endure" because it's the first one I found while flipping through my copy of TSC and skimming for lines I thought were powerful. A classic is "Did a week away from the court damage your ball-battered brain?" (TSC 24), though. And then of course, as a Jeanee fan, the entire conversation between Jean and Renee on pages 68-69 where they talk about finding the joy in small things in life and taking a chance on himself and and

anyway hello thank you for coming to my TED talk

[thebellekeys]

Matthew Fairchild: Beauty and the Bottle (Meta)

Alternately entitled Matthew is still in love with Cordelia in the Epilogue, or, The Love Triangle made sense thematically, or, Matthew’s character arc was just excellent in ChoT, or, Matthew as one of Cassie’s best.

Feel free to stream Pomme while you read. 

Okay, so now that we’re post-ChoT, I’m starting a new meta series where I break down some of the characters and the issues I had with The Last Hours trilogy now that it’s complete. In this post, I’m exploring the intersection between the Fairstairs, Matthew’s alcoholism, his characterization, and Oscar Wilde (the man). I’m starting off with Matthew, who’s my favorite character in the trilogy and like, my third favorite TSC character ever. This is a review and analysis of his character arc in the series as well as some of my opinions on his character. (N.B. there’s a lot of gushing and simping here. The other ones I have planned are not even remotely as flattering.)

How Cassie writes Matthew

All in all, I thought Matthew was the best written character in TLH and in Chain of Thorns. I thought that his character had a clear-cut narrative arc and that his character also remained consistent from start to finish. Matthew feels well thought-out because he’s fundamentally a character of enigma and a character of subversion. It felt like Matthew was real and wasn’t just a sidekick or an unwilling hero. But moreover, I find that from the midpoint of Chain of Iron, Matthew changed the trajectory of the story completely. I don’t mean in the sense that the love triangle was formed and got in the way of Jordelia (okay, I guess), but rather that Matthew’s character arc threw both James and Cordelia’s own arcs off guard, out of their orbits. This was for the better.

Enigma - It’s incredibly interesting that we don’t know what Matthew thinks or feels, at least not really, due to no Matthew POVs. We got a couple of pages in ChoG from his POV, but that was only to show the Grace kiss, and that was only because we couldn’t have gotten anything from Grace’s POV so early on in the trilogy for obvious reasons. And besides Cast Long Shadows, we got nothing else using Matthew’s narration in the trilogy. Nothing in ChoI or ChoT at all, at the very least. Like… that’s fricking weird, isn’t it? Not weird in the bad way, but weird in the sense that you have characters who are significantly less influential in the main plot/in the Jordelia plot, like Anna or Ari, who get POVs literally all the time. And yet, we never really know what Matthew is feeling at any moment. This is actually awesome. By giving us less of Matthew in the POV, Matthew becomes a larger-than-life character in the story i.e. he’s outside of the reach of the reader; he’s almost untouchable despite being, in my opinion, omnipresent in ChoT. I find it hard to believe people don’t see Matthew as a compelling character by default.

Subversion - Indeed, I was not kidding when I said Matthew is vaguely omnipresent. He is, kind of. He literally threw the Herondaisy ship off its course in a considerable way. His alcoholism and increased depression were always in the back of every character’s mind, and yet, we didn’t really get a peep out of Matthew until we did, and when we did, it always packed a punch. I think the fact that Matthew hides his feelings and his innermost desires is an effective trait that Cassie plays on time and time again by not giving us his POV. We’re always getting a reveal from Matthew, or an unanticipated act from him i.e. “love is a creeping vine”, him going to Edom with James. I know this is partly due to the alcoholism, but it’s a smart narrative choice nonetheless. Matthew is always important without his importance being immediately shoved in our faces: Matthew was instrumental in both the Thomastair arc and the Jordelia arc.

Matthew and Alcoholism

I was really pleased with the way Cassie dealt with Matthew’s addiction and his trauma. The scene where he tells Charlotte about the potion business should have been an extended scene, but everything else was amazing. Cassie absolutely needed to put Matthew through the wringer in ChoT for all of his foreshadowing as being a beautifully tragic young man to make sense. In fact, I had anticipated it would be way worse than it actually was, but alas, it’s fine. I like the way that Matthew absolutely did not have an easy time in Chain of Thorns. Every time you thought the withdrawal symptoms were manageable for him, he either drank again, or got hurt in some way, or simply couldn’t manage the withdrawal symptoms at all. It also was the factor that ended Fairstairs, which was important, as Matthew was becoming, in Cordelia’s head at least, a potential reincarnation of her father. Matthew’s alcoholism was as realistic as possible, at least in the context of a YA paranormal fantasy book. Cassie didn’t sugarcoat or water down what Matthew was facing nor its consequences on his relationships, and good.

Matthew and Cordelia

I maintain that by the Epilogue, Matthew is still in love with Cordelia, that he's leaving in part because of his feelings for her, and that she's very much aware of this (the stone thing seems metaphorical). This is why I say that Matthew's arc is bittersweet: his love will indeed remain unrequited and he has to live with that, at least until he inevitably moves on. He does not have the chance that Jem will inevitably have with Tessa in 100 years. He's leaving James and Cordelia for a reason, because he knows it will hurt to live and have to see it every damn day (in the same way that he was actually gonna run off to Paris alone and by himself at the end of ChoI anyway, before Cordelia has busted in).

In my opinion, the Fairstairs arc was excellent, from a holistic perspective. I will talk about this more in Cordelia’s meta piece, but essentially, Matthew symbolizes the self-liberation trope as it relates to Cordelia (James symbolizes stability and safety). For Cordelia, Matthew is kindled fire where James is eternal cool, Matthew is the bacchanalia where James is the hearth, Matthew is the Bohemian where James is the Gentleman’s Paragon. As you may have noticed in some of my previous posts on this topic, Matthew exists to provide an avenue of freedom for Cordelia: freedom from rules, from Edwardian morals and etiquette, from judgment, freedom from repression - he subverts Cordelia’s expectations of how her own life can play out. It’s for this reason that Matthew is characterized as the hedonist and as the decadent, and why we’re reminded of it time and time again by Cordelia herself. Matthew, by nature of the subversion that we’ve covered in the earlier section, was the ideal choice to whisk Cordelia away from the path she’d thought was carved out for her. If James and Cordelia are two stars locked in each other’s orbit, Matthew is a golden comet that appears out of nowhere but whose power you cannot deny.

If Matthew effectively symbolizes self-liberation and his character plays purely on subverted expectations, then Cordelia not having Matthew and Cordelia rejecting Matthew (Jordelia stans, look away now!) represents the end of Cordelia’s quest to escape society, to escape society’s inherent restrictions, hierarchies and repression, and the end of her quest to attain self-liberation to the fullest. Cordelia has chosen the least subversive path possible at the end of her story and has chosen to stay in orbit after all, and great for her! Matthew, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, will always represent to Cordelia all the sins she never committed, all the choices she never really made, all the opportunities she did not take, and she will always be fond of him for that. Regardless, Matthew was not in a suitable mental place for any relationship in ChoT (see the previous section on alcoholism) and we’re reminded that this freedom that Matthew symbolizes came with a caveat after all. Plus Herondale love runs true yadda yadda. But let’s not pretend that anything is given for nothing - Cordelia indeed has lost something very big by the end of ChoT, and it’s very bleak if you look at it with a microscope… but this isn’t Cordelia’s post! On we go!

Matthew Fairchild as Dorian Gray

So, Matthew is absolutely Dorian Gray. Starting with the physical or immediate similarities, we do notice that Matthew is lean and tall and blonde and angelic, looking the way Dorian is described in the text (we as a society must never let a certain actor, bless him, let us forget this). Dorian makes a deal with the devil to stay young and beautiful forever, while Matthew purchases a truth potion from a sketchy fairy because his trust in his mother faltered; this is the crux of Matthew’s central conflict (which will always be directly proportional to Alastair’s own conflict in the story). Dorian's horrid painting hidden in the attic is Matthew's grim secret about what later happened with the potion. Dorian is a murderer, and Matthew sees himself as a murderer (he isn't one, but he absolutely believes it). Dorian has sold his soul, and Matthew thinks his own soul is forfeit. Both Dorian and Matthew live for the sake of art, freedom, amorality, and beauty. After all, Matthew's key tenet in life is to do “mad, wonderful, colorful” things. But a hidden darkness and silent suffering beneath the obvious beauty are intrinsic in Matthew's character. Matthew turns to the bottle to cope with his own painting in the attic. The fact that Matthew is also bisexual, eccentric, a lover of Oscar Wilde, and positively adored by everyone he interacts with whosoever are also signs of his parallels with Dorian Gray. Both Matthew and Dorian prioritize extensive travels as a means of attaining these mad, wonderful, colorful experiences - Dorian, like Matthew, had fled London to tour the world and gain all the experiences he could gain with his newfound gift. Likewise, Matthew and the Fairchilds having an ever so tangential link to Faerie (even if it's by virtue of his own character descriptions) also helps us picture him as eternal and larger than stuffy London life. Matthew's beauty - beauty of body, beauty of soul, beauty in suffering, beauty as a mere pursuit - is simultaneously Matthew’s core value and core trait. 

But Matthew Fairchild eventually supersedes Dorian Gray. Dorian did not ever have the heart or soul or courage to look his own sin in the eye or to acknowledge the equilibrium that must exist between body and spirit. But Matthew finally opened up that dusty attic by the end of Chain of Thorns and looked the worst of himself in the face. And so, Matthew will retain that grace and beauty and light that is now forever out of Dorian’s reach.

Concluding Thoughts

Matthew is a character who we crave more of by virtue of Cassie’s choice to give us less of him than we would anticipate, especially considering that he’s one of the four cornerstone characters of The Last Hours. He's one of the few characters in ChoT specifically who didn't constantly make me envision Cassie just pulling strings and making things happen out of nowhere. Matthew is aesthetically beautiful on the outside and by consequence, it’s easy to merely watch him flirt with the joy of living like you’re watching a play, which is rather fitting for a character who is timely linked to stagecraft and who claims he would have been an actor in another life. But the other Matthew on the inside is also equally beautiful and shining, and he shows his capacity to love, suffer and still come out on the other side of it all with his cracks glowing gold like kintsugi. In this way, Matthew Fairchild is as relatable to us as he is still untouchable. And that’s fricking awesome.

[vwritesaus]

For ask game, 5., 7., 9. & 10. & 12. 🤍

~

hey lovely!! i assume this is for the procrastination ask game hehe thanks for sending them in ♡

5. ⚠️Which wip your most likely to finish or update next?

ahhh probably the final chapter of dear christopher! it's sitting there staring at me and begging to be finished. after that, i'm not sure which one will be next 🤔 there's plenty to choose from, that's for sure ahaha

7. 🖍Post Any sentence from your wip

okay given i've posted plenty of ch5 snippets already, i'm gonna take a leap and give you another sneak peek into a future scene in timeless ✨

      ‘Hi, Alastair. Alright?’       ‘Yeah. You?’       Thomas smiles sheepishly at him. ‘Ahh, I’ve got a bit of a headache, but I’m alright otherwise.’       Alastair snorts and says dryly, ‘That’s what you get for drinking so quickly.’       ‘I was nervous!’ Thomas cries as he drops into the chair next to Alastair and dumps his bag by his feet. Alastair would panic about the fact that this is the first time they’ve ever sat together like this but Thomas continues with, ‘I’m not a party type, and I’m not fond of crowds, so when I’m in situations like that with a bunch of strangers, I… well, I either spend my time eating like a horse or drinking whatever gets put into my hands.’       ‘That’s very dangerous,’ Alastair scolds. Then he smiles. ‘You’re an introvert?’       Wincing, Thomas mutters, ‘Yeah… sort of.’

yes i'm aware it's more than a sentence, and so what?

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

oh geez, there's a ton of those! thomastair in their thirties and forties, more missing scene fics from canon, and i'd like to dip my toes into writing other ships/characters too like herondaisy, arianna and gracetopher - not to mention our TID gang (ESPECIALLY sophideon, my beloveds ♡). oh and more aus of course, because i wouldn't be living up to my username if i didn't want to write those ahaha

10. 🤡How many Wips are you actively working on?

the clown emoji is so fitting here 😭 guys, you don't understand. it's not only tsc/tlh i have wips for. it's hq!! ones too. i don't even want to count how many of those i've got well over 40, give or take, probably more. that's just me guessing tho.

as for tsc/tlh, i've got 12 going at the moment + 1 i haven't started writing yet send help

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second kudos to send.

you are so sweet !!! thank you thank you thank you for all your support ;;;; it means so much ♡

writers to procrastinate working on your WIP(s) asks

[userlaylivia]

I'm going to start my tsc rewatch again tomorrow I just have too many feels I have to!! I'm starting over because it's been so long since I've watched an episode and I hate going months in between episodes lol tsc was so shippable god!! cadam (adam&cassie) are my otp obviously but I shipped adam/diana, jake/cassie, jake/faye, faye/diana, faye/cassie, faye/melissa, lee/faye, adam/faye (can you tell who the most shippable character is l), nick/melissa even nick/cassie and they didn't have but like 2-3 scenes ugh but they were cute AF in the books!! this cast had so much chemistry together I never had a show I shipped this many ships until legacies and riverdale lol it was hard to ship one character with one person lol cadam is my #1 otp on the show always and I fully believe they would've been endgame idc who says otherwise or who says they have no chemistry they are CLEARLY blind lol anyways my point is I'm going to start my rewatch over!! btw I'm super proud two of my mutuals @userlivie and @emmasmuse are going to start it!! idc if they ship my otp or not I'm just so happy their going to watch it ahhhhhh also special shoutout to my beautiful bb girl the haley to my brooke @madscline who not only ships cadam as much as i do but also ships chamberlake my bbs!!

[bloody-wonder]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

You can pick for either of these series : the lymond chronicles, all for the game, a song of ice and fire, harry potter, captive prince?

Thanks 🌻

thanks for the ask!

⚔️the lymond chronicles⚔️

favorite character: phelim o'liamroe, prince of barrow and lord of the slieve bloom...😐🤥 jk it's lymond - the man, the myth, the lemon. i mean if lymond isn't your fave character in the lymond chronicles are you even reading them right?

character i think is underrated: hmmm margaret lennox? i don't see people talk about her too often. justice for the evil ex!

character i think is overrated: philippa. don't even get me started🙄

favorite ship/pairing: while reading i did ship lymond with each and every one of his boytoys which was very entertaining but i wouldn't actually like any of these relationships to be endgame. i firmly believe lymond is bisexual, aromantic and non-monogamous, therefore the only person i would want him to "end up with" is marthe - not as a slash ship but as in lymond and marthe, both in drag, ride into the sunset together to cause chaos and mayhem✨

favorite arc/episode/scene: the hume castle shebacle from book one is my platonic ideal of a fictional experience. just thinking about don luis fernando de cordoba y avila with his "long, exquisite legs" and his perfecto scottish is enough to raise my mood for the rest of the day😁

something i love about this series: tbh the thing i love the most is lymond to the point that i'm afraid to try dunnett's other books bc there will be no lymond in them. however, i will still read them sooner or later bc my second favorite thing about the lymond chronicles is dunnett's witty but sophisticated prose which i'm sure i will find in abundance in her other works

🥍all for the game🥍

favorite character: i love both of my boys equally but i will admit i voted for andrew minyard in that best queer character poll bracket🙈

character i think is underrated: actually i don't think there is one. some of the aftg characters are controversial but i think everyone gets their fair share of love and attention🤷‍♀️

character i think is overrated: in the og trilogy it's nicky and in tsc it's sort of everyone?😅 lol i just don't think they're that interesting but i'm glad other people are having fun with them

favorite ship/pairing: andreil, obviously.

favorite arc/episode/scene: aftg is full of amazing scenes, both quiet and spectacular, but if i have to pick just one i'm gonna go with the first riko roast bc fun fact: i actually abandoned tfc halfway through the first time i tried to read it bc i just didn't know what to do with it - but then i decided to give it a second chance and the riko roast was the scene where i finally comprehended and internalized the chaotic but rebellious vibe of aftg. that's why i never dnf books - you never know which weird selfpub sports anime might become your all time favorite story!

something i love about this series: the way it depicts the relations between the society and people who are treated like outsiders due to their trauma - it always sides with the latter! exemplified by how the team needs andrew and so they have to put up with his little quirks and find ways of communication - instead of him making himself act more normal and agreeable in order to fit in. which i think is pretty much the status quo of writing about trauma so aftg feels very radical in that sense

👑captive prince👑

favorite character: it's laurent, lymond's baby cousin😅

character i think is underrated: aimeric? tbh i haven't read anything capri related in a while, maybe he's the newest fandom fave by now

character i think is overrated: never have i ever understood why everyone insists on resurrecting auguste. he dead! and not that interesting in any case😒

favorite ship/pairing: damen/laurent, since their love is the whole point of the series, but i will say for me it's more like. i'm obsessed with laurent and so i like that damen gets obsessed with him too and falls in love with him bc that's what laurent deserves. however i do not actually like damen nor do i like the final jump from enemies to lovers in the second half of book 3 soooo yeah. many caveats🤷‍♀️

favorite arc/episode/scene: laurent's duel with govart. listen, i'm a simple girl, i love me some competence porn and power fantasies with swords. also! laurent calling out aimeric for all the bad things he secretly believes about himself which leads to aimeric's suicide. that's some fucked up shit, love it👀

something i love about this series: the witty, backhanded, at times scathing exchanges which i started calling pacatesque dialogue upon encountering it in other books (of primarily australian sff authors who are personally acquainted with pacat, it's a whole thing). i know other booklr girlies like to talk about themes and motifs and whatnot but for me all of that is vastly inferior to lines like "tell my uncle boykiller etc etc". i think i just have lots of bottled up bitchiness inside me and like to live vicariously through characters who can vocalize it in such a brutal yet elegant fashion

🐉a song of ice and fire🐉

favorite character: tyrion lannister. lol at this point you can see a pattern: if he's shrewd, traumatized and blonde you can safely bet he's on my blorbo shelf😅

character i think is underrated: i'm gonna go with doran martell. he represents one of my favorite character archetypes - someone who is seen as a simpleton and a pushover but has actually been scheming and masterminding stuff all along. "oberyn was ever the viper. i was the grass. who fears to walk upon the grass? but it is the grass that hides the viper" - is actually one of my favorite quotes from the series. comparing book doran to show doran one can see how he's sort of emblematic for how the show butchered the dorne plotline😒

character i think is overrated: i did like sansa's journey in the books but they end just on the cusp of her turning from a pawn into one of the most capable and dangerous players on the board - something she however hasn't become, not yet. so i think the hype she gets in the fandom, largely based on the show which skipped a lot of steps in her character arc and made her a very basic girlboss, is somewhat undeserved🤷‍♀️

favorite ship/pairing: i definitely feel a certain kind of way about jaime & brienne but idk if i ship them in the proper sense of the word. their developing relationship is probably the most compelling in the series and some of its aspects are very personal for me as a weird looking ace girl, among other things, so i don't think i want them to become a *couple*. but i do want them to become *something*. if they survive, that is😬

favorite arc/episode/scene: tyrion's trial is one of the most excruciating and heart-wrenching yet dramatic scenes i've ever experienced. i have to admit i remember it better from the show bc that was just Peak Television and peter dinklage's acting?? unparalleled. a scene so epic it made me cry every time i watched it. just thinking about it gives me chills🫨

something i love about this series: i've spent an ungodly amount of time thinking about what makes asoiaf superior to other fantasy series and the character work and complex morality are certainly up there but the one thing that speaks to me personally and which i struggle to find elsewhere is something i call the slytherclaw ethos. normally the characters of western sff are rewarded by the narrative for being brave, kind, other boring gryffinpuff things, regardless of whether they could've *realistically* prevailed thanks to those qualities alone. in the world of asoiaf one is instead rewarded for cunning and ambition - or at the very least it's clear a character will not get anywhere without learning how to play the game of thrones. this difference is at the core of the subversiveness asoiaf gets both praised and criticized for and, as someone who relates to characters who rely on their brain more than their heart and other muscles and would like to see them elevated above generic fantasy protags, i find this approach to storytelling in general and to sff specifically very appealing

[whatwewrotepodcast]

WIP Questionaire Tag Game

Thanks @jackiezenauthor for the tag!

On a bit of a The Second Coming run so I'll use that for this.

What was the first part of your wip that you created?

The first chapter? Haha so this is probably the 4th or 5th time we've re-written/re-done this story. The first version was about 120 hand written pages long, spewed out over a few weeks in high school. We then re-wrote the whole thing, it wound up being 150k+ words so we decided to turn it into a trilogy, and that's where we're at. But we very much started at the beginning, with chapter

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Bleeding out by Imagine Dragons. ID is pretty much the soundtrack for this story, and was the main music we listened to while we wrote it and so they're always indelibly tied together in my mind. But this song sort of sums up the vibe really well to me.

3. Who are your favorite characters you've made? Why?

Belial is definitely a fan favourite for us. He was never really meant to be a main character - he was a side character! He was just an NPC! But somehow he ended up becoming vital to the story and then the next thing you know he's a POV character. Belial is such a great character because he's so complex. He's a good person! Kind of! But he isn't afraid to do what needs to be done and if that means doing things that aren't so savoury, he's willing to do that. He's loyal to those he thinks are deserving, he's brave when he thinks it'll make a difference. He's also extremely hot.

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fanbase for your story?

Hmmm interesting. I mean, I don't love the comparison but fans of Cassandra Clare would probably enjoy TSC because it does have similar feels and themes. Potentially also Laini Taylor? Anyone who likes modern fantasy? Maybe Good Omens fans too, though we're not nearly as funny haha.

5. What has been your biggest struggle while writing?

Oh my god the editing. Honestly we are in editing hell right now and it's just excruciating. It's so disheartening to have to throw big chunks of writing in the bin and have to write the scene again because it wasn't quite right.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

There aren't really, which is kinda weird because we're both huge animal lovers.

7. How do your characters get around?(ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

Mostly in Merry's beat up old Kia.

8. What part of your wip are you working on?

Currently doing editing/rewrites on Anarchy, book two of the trilogy, a rough draft of which we spat out during a writing holiday back in 2020 and haven't had time to get back to.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

We definitely have a couple of good ships, lots of action and great fight scenes, but I think (hope?) the characters are what people will enjoy. We want people to love our characters, to want to know more about them, to spend more time with them.

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

Honestly, publication with this one! We really think it has the chops to go the distance, we just need to find someone willing to take a chance on us. Or, for our podcast to get popular enough that we have a chance to self pub. Whatever works!

Tagging @illarian-rambling @cssnder and @xenascribbles

[edwinspaynes]

what do you think is your no.1 most unpopular tsc opinion?

This is rough because I think I have a lot of unpopular opinions.

I love Chain of Thorns and find TLH to be immensely satisfying. I think that the entire TLH group consists of extremely strong characters. I think TLH is as just good as TID objectively if not better.

I think Cordelia is an extremely strong and wonderful protagonist. I Herondaisy is my favourite "main" ship and my favourite ship period besides Thomastair.

I really like the TLH "love triangle" between James/Cordelia/Matthew and think that everyone else has read it fundamentally incorrectly. I always am ready to go off about this at a moment's notice. It's Herondaisy plotline + Matthew's mental health plotline intersecting. It's not about CoRdELiA cHoOsEs BeTwEeN MeN because she made her choice when she was like 13. And Matthew knows it. And everyone knows it. I actually think this "love triangle" is genius and it's probably in my top 5 favorite TSC storylines.

I hate TDA, very much view it as TSC's only weak link, and would rather have bleach poured in my eyes than ever reread it.

Related note: I would kill Julian Blackthorn where he stood if given the opportunity and think he's a literal evil sociopath.

I unironically like TMI a lot. I think it's an incredibly fun and fast-paced series that has one of the best found families I have ever seen. Clace, Malec, and Sizzy are all super sweet ships.

I also unabashedly love Cassie herself as well as her world-building and writing style. I am very at peace with her being one of my biggest writing role models even when it feels sometimes like the entire fandom has Beef with her.

I love Tessa in the historical canon and consider her one of my fave characters, but avoid her scenes in the modern ones if I reread them. Same dealio for Jem (though I don't ever think of him as a favorite, I do really like him in TID). I think Will has been massively shafted by the way that TSC is structured and will always be really salty about Wessa. However, I do really, really like Herongraystairs and am glad that they will be the heavenly endgame.

I think that my overall most unpopular opinion though is sadly that

I REALLY LOVE THE TSC CANON.

I don't really feel any need to fuck with it beyond like, in-depth character studies and fluffy little oneshots that show the characters/friendships/ships in new situations that bring their strengths to light. I love writing fic, but I want my fic to supplement the canon rather than fight against it.

[khaleesiofalicante]

Thank you so much for answering my questions :)) <3 It's got me so excited! I have been LOOKING for Longfic writers on Ao3 but couldn't find some so now you have given me great incentive thank you so much! <3

And I think I will start with "True Love Never Dies" because honestly everyone in the fandom here on Tumblr and on your page is loosing their damn mind over this fic and I kinda want to know what all the type is about :)). Is it still an ongoing series?

And my fav ships are Malec (obvis), Wessa, Thomastair and Jessa in the Shadowhunter fandom! hehe.

I have been looking also for fellow longfics who do TDA/Jessa/KiTy which I'm so excited to get back to in TWP (but can't take the fact that the shadow hunters world is ending!)

How do you feel about it?

And finally, I wanted to know if you got in on the Kickstarter as well? :) And which tiers you chose :P

Good luck with TLND. The fic is over. But I post extra scenes and snippets once in a while. You can find the fic here.

Ah! I love Thomastair too! They were my only fave ship from TLH oops.

I feel like tsc is one of those fandoms that will definitely survive even after the books end. I mean we haven't had a malec book or TWP in ages but still look how excited everyone is about it. This fandom really keeps this characters alive. So, I'm not very sad about it. I am however terrified of the fate of our characters lmao.

I did not get into the kickstarter! I don't usually spend money on things like that so tis not for me 🫠

[fairdale]

Top 4 fave TSC characters and ships?

so at first i was like "sh*t, this is hard", but actually my top 4 characters it's pretty easy (idk about ships tho).

for characters:

1. will herondale. the loml. my baby. my everything. i love him to pieces. it's been so long since i first read about him and he's still my favorite book character EVER. i won't say much more because i wanted to do a long post dedicated solely to him.

2. alec lightwood. the other loml. i admire him so much and his character development is my favorite. he's grown so much and i'm so proud of how much he has achieved and how confident he has become. he deserves the best of the best and i wish him a very long, happy and filled with love life with magnus, rafael and max.

https://www.tumblr.com/fairdale/658362826868523008/okay-but-can-we-talk-about-how-alec-lightwood-has

3. alastair carstairs. when i tell you i didn't expect him to be my fave tlh character, i mean it. i remember reading the first book and being very curious about him, but i couldn't have predicted how much he would grow on me. he also has an amazing character arc in my opinion and i'm so proud of him. he's a softie.

https://www.tumblr.com/fairdale/734425523412926464/okay-ive-been-thinking-and-i-actually-think

4. kieran kingson. listen. HE'S SUCH A BOSS. i remember i didn't know how to feel about him at first. i was conflicted. i didn't how to feel about him and mark and cristina (i love the three of them and i'm so happy that they're together, just wanted to say it). he was a bit of an ass and i got really mad because of what he did to emma. but he redeemed himself. and i loved him so so much the more i knew about him. how he cared for mark and, later on, for cristina. i still think there's so much more to him that we don't know and i hope we get to see more of him (like, a lot). this may be a bit surprising, but he's so dear to me.

honorable mention to tessa, jem, matthew, magnus, kit, ty and raphael (and a lot more but let's not get carried away).

for ships:

herongraystairs. this one doesn't need explanation. they've been my roman empire for more than a decade. i'm not exaggerating. i love how much they love each other. i've never cried so much as i have with them. i'm still mad jem and will didn't grow old together. and i'm still so so sad for tessa (but happy that she got two loves like them).

malec. they're battling for top 1. COME ON, THEY'RE MALEC. of course they're on my top. iconic. great. sexy. funny. THEY'RE THE BEST. i get so happy everytime they appear and i only want them to be happy.

thomastair. I LOVE THEM. they're so cute and they love each other so much. they grew a lot and overcame a lot of fears to be together. they deserve each other and i loved their storyline.

kierarktina. SO HAPPY THEY ALL GOT TO BE TOGETHER. THEY'RE IN LOVE AND HAPPY. i need more of them. right now. and i need a solution because i want kieran to be together more than he is allowed at the moment.

special mention to kitty (i didn't put them because i'm waiting for twp, lame excuse, i know, I'M OBSESSED WITH THEM SINCE THEIR FIRST SCENE TOGETHER) and sophideon (is that the name?).

[ladyhindsight]

Your revision post is so helpful for my new set of notes, thank you.

(Mild CoT spoilers)

Honestly Thomastair is just like, a normal relationship, and of course the author had to make it weird by making Thomas say he loves Alastair more than anything before they even got together. I was like... how even? They barely know each other besides their time as academy peers. But of course, most of the great love stories of TSC are exactly like that, like you pointed out.

Thomas was obsessed with Alastair because he found Alastair attractive, and that was it, he actively hated Alastair's personality. It's a mystery how that turned into such deep love that of course included loving him more than anything else, that's how love works in this universe

Thomas hating Alastair's rude personality leads to the point that I found interesting about Thomastair/Alastair's development. Alastair's rudeness and insistence on keep his "goodness" hidden.. is mentioned like an actual problem to their relationship.

There's this CoT quote I found particularly interesting and represents what I'm talking about very well:

He only watched Alastair: Alastair being gentle, Alastair being loving, the Alastair Sona had known, but Thomas so rarely ever saw. As Alastair bid goodbye to his mother, Thomas could not help but wonder: If Alastair was so utterly determined to hide that part of himself from Thomas, did it matter that Thomas knew it existed at all?

THIS!!!! THIS!!!!

Impossible to not think of certain TMI and TID characters and even that TLH character who are endlessly loved by several people even though they behave absurdly because we "know" they have good souls and whatever shit. And of course that's how it works, you can do whatever shit, what matters if you're secretly good but misunderstood, people will sense that and love you anyway. Treating people well is not necessary to build (and keep!) relationships! This is the message these books have been sending all along with all the ships envolving a jerkass - and this quote goes and contradicts it all? Makes me think...

(I'm not talking about "person that used to be cool and turned into asshole" bc the ones who loved them will probably keep the hope that they may go back to their kinder version - I mean characters that were introduced to others being assholes from the get go)

The "did it matter... ...at all" speaks a lot, that's the exactly the point. You can have faith that someone is secretly kind, but if they never act like it, does that faith make any actual difference? Absolutely, according to most of the romance in the TSC (and certainly many works in the romance genre, I know)

I actually like the romance trope of the assholerish love interest, I just don't like being manipulated to think that he is actually just a silly funny guy because deep down he is good. An asshole is an asshole, to find him just a silly funny guy should be more up to the reader than treated as a fact by the writing

- R

Big agree.

Barely knowing each other and having loved one another for a long time seem to be the two main options of romance in the series. The only ones (with adequate enough focus) to escape this are Kit and Ty, but who knows how it will unfold. I’d be more understanding of Thomas and Alastair’s relationship if such scenes like the one in Paris had occurred more than once. If there was ever a more solid foundation to the intense love they fall in. But as it is rarely so with any other couple, I’m not really going in Chain of Iron or Chain of Thorns hopeful. Jace and Will are both sparkling examples of being loved despite their abhorrent behavior, just because they are secretly good while showing none of the care and respect to others that they receive.

It’s interesting that Alastair is allowed such perspective (or rather Thomas thinking about Alastair’s behavior), because it reflects on other things that are worthy of noting. What little I have read about the companion stories, one point that struck me odd was the part where Alastair expresses pretty misogynistic thoughts on Charlotte being Consul. I don’t know if it is supposed to be a reflection of the bad company around him, because I can’t otherwise think why he would think that at all. Other than antagonistic characters being written expressing controversial things because they are antagonistic, of course. Much in the same vein like your last message. Any of the Good Guys could never!

[foxhole-pipe-dream]

My God. I wasn't gonna reblog this again, but I want to expand on my previous tags.

I'm not Thea's biggest fan, but I'll defend her because a lot of these talking points are built on assumptions or aren't applied to other characters in the series.

The amount of hate Thea gets is disproportionate and people go rabid at the very mention of her to the point of directly asking Nora to kill her when she's brought up.

I personally do not like the age gap.

But Thea and Kevin being in close proximity a few times over the years is not grooming. They played on the court and Kevin admired her from afar, that's it. There's no real evidence that Thea gave him more than a passing glance or any thought outside of exy before he turned 18.

Andrew and Roland met at 17 and 22-23 (which I also dislike). This is confirmed by Nora. Why aren't we campaigning for Roland's death? Let's dogpile him too.

Thea grew up in the same toxic environment as the other Ravens. Y'all harp about the cult mindset and the aftereffects, but don't give her the same leniency. Her thinking 'no harm no foul' because Kevin's hand eventually healed is no doubt fucked up, but again, cult mentality.

She needs therapy just like the rest of the Ravens. That thinking is unhealthy, but it's how she was conditioned. That doesn't mean she thinks it's okay or doesn't care for Kevin. Nora stated that she's furious that Riko went so far.

And no, Thea was not angry at Kevin for outing the Ravens/Riko's abusive behavior (???). She was angry that Kevin went no contact and left her completely in the dark. She had to find out through a press conference that Kevin was hurt and was leaving the team.

She was worried. And now she's finding out that Kevin's injuries maybe weren't an accident and he didn't think to say anything to her. She came to find answers.

Andrew is another love interest who expresses his worry through anger, yet Thea is the one demonized for it.

After Kevin brings her to Jean and explains everything, he comes back relaxed. Everything went well and she believes him.

So what is the issue?

Her actions in this scene where she's upset don't define her entire personality and Nora did say she planned to develop her more in the scrapped 4th book.

You can't call her toxic/abusive for being 'mean' to Kevin for 5 seconds and love the rest of the Foxes, a team of assholes. They've lashed out at Kevin at one point or another, even Matt.

Y'all can say Kevin deserves better and should be with someone who isn't a Raven, but I never see people give the Kevin/Jean ship the same hate.

Again, the lore excuse falls flat because y'all give depth and headcanons to every other character who appears for 0.5 seconds (like Jeremy). I never see people do headcanons for Thea or make any effort to flesh her out.

If you hate her just because you want Kevin to be gay, then that's a personal problem. This is the same 'she's getting in the way of my gay ships' excuse.

I do believe a lot of the hate is misogyny and antiblackness. Characters of color get waaay harsher treatment and Thea would be received differently if she were a man.

You're allowed to dislike her, but the amount of hate she gets compared to other minor characters is ridiculous.

Hating on Thea in Nora's mentions isn't going to do anything but make her stop interacting with the fandom.

Thea is going to be in TSC, whether you like it or not.

This fandom is going to devour itself from the inside when the new books come out.

putting a theory to the test here