pearlsw

[pearlsw]

A Non-Gamer's Open World Spiral 🎮🧭

Tutorials? I need a tutorial for the tutorial. Exploration? I follow the quest marker out of guilt. Fighting? I'm the 10th-best thing at it. Finishing the game? Who finishes games?

⚔️ From Elden Ring panic rolls to Baldur’s Gate triumphs, here’s what it’s like to love fantasy... and kind of bumble through the games that bring it to life.

💻 Full chaotic journey → here

[pearlsw]

My Throne of Glass Journey Part III

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This post contains spoilers for the book Heir of Fire Read at your own risk. Or just embrace the chaos.

Heir of Fire is on a whole other level when it comes to character depth.

As much as Celaena girly loves to have the attention, both familiar and new side characters steal the spotlight time and time again.

It is not one of those books where you’ll find everyone around the main character acting as an NPC, or their lives only mattering as long as they are busy doe-eyeing or hating the main character — even the ones that do have their own solitary depth.

Celaena was waiting her turn equally, like the other characters whom Sarah graced to have their own POVs.

They have their own unique journeys, personalities, and goals.

The new characters with their own POVs are introduced before they meet Celaena, and I found myself fantasizing about what their first encounter with her — or even other characters — would be like when their paths converge.

So I never skipped anyone’s chapter or found it boring — even Chaol’s.

If you don’t know how I feel about Chaol — our history, lol — check out my Part I and Part II Throne of Glass journey ramblings.

I have already touched on how Celaena’s and Rowan’s dynamic was in the last post with a few brushes on her state; I will circle back to her eventually. But now it’s time to explore the others.

Back to my old-time favorite: Dorian.

Here, we see someone catching Dorian’s eye — Sorscha, a servant who works in the palace.

Their romance is just the cutest — easy and sweet. I liked how it developed gradually.

I loved staying inside Dorian’s head as he tries to navigate around the discovery of his magic and his feelings for Sorscha.

Sorscha is portrayed as this doormat person who accepts shit from everybody because she wants to survive. She doesn’t show a backbone until she finds herself around Dorian — even then, she will apologize too much if she feels she was out of line. People have different coping mechanisms for tyranny, and this was hers.

However, I didn’t like the solution she provided once she discovered his magic.

Instead of being there for him or helping him navigate through it, she gave him an iron tonic to mute it. Maybe this was the only way she knew how to help — but was it, though? I narrowed my eyes reading this.

Was it a red flag or a beige flag?

Later on, it is revealed that she was one of the rebels working against his father’s tyranny. She was an informant inside the palace. So it can be seen that her choosing to give him a tonic to mute his powers was, in a way, disarming her enemy so he would not be at his full potential.

So, it was a red flag in my opinion.

She had admitted she eventually loved Dorian, seeing he wasn’t like his father.

Their short-lived love story was friends to lovers from Dorian’s POV, but enemies to lovers from Sorscha’s standpoint.

It was sad seeing Dorian heartbroken when she was dead. He didn’t even resent that she deceived him. What a sweet soul.

I was raging when the book ending with him being collared by his father — a demon prince taking hold of his body.

And If Chaol didn’t run away this could have been avoided. Dorian was his best friend. He should have stayed and fight, altered the situation if possible — even if he couldn’t, die trying — at least that would have make him a bit likable. I hated Chaol a thousand fold for failing Dorian.

What was the point of Chaol helping the rebels free magic that would, in turn, help Dorian if he is going to abandon him?

It doesn’t matter that Dorian told him to go; you just don’t leave someone you have vowed to protect behind when you know full well that death or a worse fate awaits them.

This guy has confused nobility and cowardice so much that he doesn’t know where one ends and the other begins.

I don’t remember if Aedion is mentioned in previous books but Heir of Fire is where we get to see him.

When Aedion is first introduced, he is a cruel traitor who is torturing Terrasen — his and Aelin’s homeland — under the King of Adarlan’s orders.

Chaol was suspicious of him being under the king’s control so he started stalking him around.

Chaol couldn’t discover what Aedion was up to because he has a trend of hosting parties and not attending them — leading Chaol off-trail.

If you think about it — suspenseful plot aside — it’s kind of funny. It’s even funnier that the guards were abandoning their posts to attend these parties… to Chaol’s dismay😈.

I don’t remember the details here much, but in one of his snooping-arounds, Chaol was caught by the rebels. They attacked him, but the “noble man” that he was, he warned them against Aedion, who was also there.

Long story short, it is revealed Aedion isn’t another antagonist.

To the contrary, he is guilt-ridden for failing to keep Aelin safe. He is acting on the king’s orders in a way that would make the king think he is loyal — squashing resistances in Terrasen.

But he was working with the rebels.

Aedion didn’t like the Captain of the Guard discovering his ruse, so he decided to kill him. (I savored every blow that landed on Chaol’s face and was a tad disappointed it had to stop at some point.)

But then Chaol disclosed that Aelin was alive.

Since Aedion was introduced, I had been eager for the moment he discovered his cousin was alive.

If he was the evil he was portrayed as, I was intrigued about the family drama that would unfold. I was dreading it but also curious on what kind of direction it will take.

And if not, would his reaction be anger at his cousin for not saving them sooner, or guilt for not saving her? I suspected he would be angry when he finds out, but to my relief, he was thrilled.

His thought process after this revelation was chef’s kiss.

The closest you will get to a main character ass-kisser is Aedion.

However, he’s not like that just because. It fits his personality well. Aedion is either a deep lover or a deep hater, and all his actions are just a product of his extreme standpoints.

He became one of my favorite characters.

My exploration of the Throne of Glass journey is kind of chaotic.

Sometimes I dive deep into characters, sometimes into feelings, sometimes into plot. I just go wherever the chaos leads me — like it’s the Pied Piper.

If you are looking for a very polished review, you are not going to find it here. I am recalling things based on how I processed them at the moment.

I call it a rambling for a reason, dear 🙂.

If you are interested, let’s embrace the chaos together, and the comment section is your oyster.

That being said, until we meet again with my last Heir of Fire journey, adios! 💃

[pearlsw]

The Family That Will Never Share a Dinner Table

Trying to put Lyra, Asriel, and Marisa in a room is like trying to fit a cyclone, a wildfire, and an earthquake under the same roof.

💔 Betrayals, rebellion, gaslighting, prophecy… And somehow, one girl still became her own best version.

⚠️ Spoilers for His Dark Materials (show & books-ish).

Dysfunctional family dissection here

[pearlsw]

My Throne of Glass journey part II🛵

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This post contains spoilers for both books: The Assassin’s Blade and Heir of Fire and for future books in the series. Read at your own risk. Or just embrace the chaos.

The Assassin’s Blade

I am not a fan of short stories. I like very long books and prefer them to be series. I have two reasons for that.

The grand reason is that I want to get to know the characters and stay with them as long as possible. The plot is the oil that makes staying with the characters worth it — appealing even — so if long books or series execute well until the end, why would I want to say goodbye? I just want to bask in the pages.

But the not-so-grand reason is that I forget short stories — unless they amount to something bigger and become part of that larger narrative, I will forget them. 😬

That’s why I remember the collective short stories in The Assassin’s Blade — because in future books, all the characters show up, except the dead ones.

These stories take place before Celaena was a slave in the mines of Endovier.

I want to start with my favorite: The Assassin and the Healer.

I don’t know why, but I loved Yrene from the first page of her story. I was glad Celaena helped her, and for some reason, I was crying because of it.

I have a tendency to cry during mundane scenes and have dry eyes during scenes worth crying over.

My reactions to stories are bizarre and anticlimactic.

It wouldn’t be entertaining to watch me if I made reaction videos, because you’d see me wailing when someone says something sweet but remaining stoic when my absolute favorite character dies.

When I finished Yrene’s story, I was looking forward to meeting her in the future books. I wanted to see what she would do with the opportunity Celaena gave her, and I loved Celaena a thousandfold for it.

Another story is The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. Celaena outwitting the Pirate King to free slaves was cinematic, and I loved every second of it.

I don’t remember if this is where we met Sam, Celaena’s first love interest , who is way better than Chaol, by the way.

Throughout the stories, I found Sam to be far from a typical fictional guy; he came across as a genuinely good person. The dynamic he built with Celaena was very natural. The slow-burn romance was believable — even their bickering after they started living together as a couple sounded like that of an old married couple.

Until Arobynn, her boss, ruined it in The Assassin and the Underworld.

Do I hate Arobynn? No. I don’t hate smart characters, even if they are evil narcissists. I have a soft spot for smarties. But I hated that he orchestrated Sam’s death and that he was the reason Celaena ended up in the mines.

After what he did, I was looking forward to Celaena orchestrating some grand scheme and plotting her revenge.

If you want to see what manipulation, narcissism, and Stockholm syndrome enabling look like, just read Arobynn’s scenes and Celaena’s inner monologue at the time. If you know such people in real life, it will hit close to home.

Another favorite of mine is The Assassin and the Desert. It was so easy to picture the setting, the Silent Assassins, and Celaena’s training there after Arobynn punished her for freeing the slaves. This is also where we see her worrying about Sam, because after their stunt in Skull’s Bay, she hadn’t seen him. Worrying about her rival and missing him started to spark something in her.

The other character I was looking forward to seeing again was Ansel. You can’t not love her after she and Celaena stole the Asterion horses (read it for the details — I don’t remember why they stole them in the first place, but I remember exactly how I felt about it).

Yes, it was annoying that she betrayed Celaena and the Silent Assassins, but she was on a path of well-deserved revenge.

I can’t get mad at an ambitious woman.

As you can see, while I was reading The Assassin’s Blade, I was invested in the now, but because it’s a prequel, I was just as invested in meeting the characters again in the future — except Sam (may your soul rest in peace) — even though I didn’t cry when you died.

Heir of Fire Part I review

I was in a hurry to finish The Assassin’s Blade because I wanted to know what Celaena’s journey to Wendlyn would be like after she said goodbye to Chaol (secretly wishing the long distance would sever their relationship 😈).

My girl Celaena was in a depressive, drunken streak, blaming herself for Nehemia’s death and all — until Rowan Whitethorn finds her.

By the way, one small thing I’ve noticed in Sarah J. Maas’s writing is that when she describes a male character from the FMC’s first encounter, she uses the line “he is the most beautiful man/male she has ever seen” if she intends for them to be mates.

I suspected this was the case here, because the same thing happened in Rhysand and Feyre’s first scene in ACOTAR.

And I was right. (Though it isn’t revealed in this book.)

Not only Sarah, but other romantasy authors use this line too, which is why I noticed it.

Anyway, we get to meet creepy Aunt Maeve. We see Celaena now being forced to use the name she had forsaken. Aeilin.

The name is about accepting herself as Terrasen’s queen, accepting her magic and her fae origins, doing something about her guilt for Nehemia’s demise.

Her character development wrtiten in Heir of Fire was written beautifully.

My first impression of Rowan was that he’s a grumpy-ass dude. I hated how harsh he was to Aelin for no reason.

One thing I hate about enemies-to-lovers tropes is when the characters hate and mistreat each other for no reason. Like — no reason at all. Sure, they might have personal backstories, trauma, etc., but that doesn’t give you the right to be cruel to someone you just met.

That’s why I’m not much of a fan of enemies-to-lovers. Unless they have a real, grounded reason to be enemies towards one another.

You know why?

Because if someone is mean to you until they fall in love with you, what’s stopping them from being mean to you again if they fall out of love?

Being mean is their personality. The person we are when we’re in love is a very curated, trimmed version of ourselves. So… I know this is fantasy, and the authors will never make them fall out of love, they will also give us the reasons why they are the way they are.

But just because you’re traumatized by the antagonist of the book doesn’t give you the right to be mean to others. You might be 600 years old, but that doesn’t make you any less immature — or any more attractive. That’s my take.

Though I don’t hate Aelin and Rowan’s dynamic, it’s not the kind of relationship I’m jealous of or would want for myself.

Another reason for that is: Aelin might be a morally grey character and might present herself as cruel and ruthless, but to those she loves, she’s a golden retriever. I love that confidence for her.

She’s always the one who makes the first move — like when she was planning Chaol’s birthday in Queen of Shadows, or the way she teased and initiated things with Rowan. She has to throw herself at Rowan time and time again — tease him, initiate the first kiss — only for him to draw a line between them, make her feel guilty, and then eventually come around himself.

Rowan, are you a princess or what? Ms. Hard-to-Get.👸

It’s okay for a woman to make the first move. But it’s not for me. If Aelin is satisfied with that, good for her.

I have few more things to say on Heir of Fire, so their will be another part for it in the next blog.

Until next post, adios!💃

[pearlsw]

Kiss of the Basilisk 🐍— Review

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This review contains major spoilers for Kiss of the Basilisk.

If you haven’t read it and still plan to (for some curious reason), proceed with caution.

How can a book about sex be 500+ pages long? And it’s not the Kamasutra. At least that one is educational — this one, though…

How did I get into this book?

After I liked a Mastok content on TikTok, similar content started conquering my FYP. I am not a dark romance fan, but if it is fantasy dark romance? well...

Then I ended up at the unhinged book recommendations of TikTok. I am not complaining.

Kiss of the Basilisk was one of the most unhinged books recommended. The readers who liked it suggest it to you with a line: The basilisk inserted his essence (I am cringing while writing this) in her and makes it throb when he isn’t around. Like a magical, elastic vibrator, he can change its size as well.

Would I call that unhinged? Me? No. Is it creative and gross? Yes.

I saw a few more recommendations. So, I was like, why not? and picked up the book.

The concept is intriguing: A human girl trained by a basilisk to be the wife of a prince?

OKAY!

I was hooked a few pages in. It was an immediate ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️stars — at first.

But then, when the FMC, Temperance, talks about being connected on another level after she met her first love interest a few minutes ago, it sent a shiver of cringe down my spine. But then again, I remembered she had never been kissed, had any sexual or romantic experience, and was 20 years old.

I don’t want to remember what I used to think connection was supposed to look like at that age, so I gave her a bit of grace.

But after a while, page after page after page, not only her but all the characters — except the antagonists and her mother — were nothing but sex-frenzied… things.

You could squeeze the characters, and you would only get a juice of libido the height of a skyscraper.

The antagonists had at least a character depth that was one level deeper than the others. Their actions and motivations made sense to some extent.

The sons of the antagonists — Caspen, the basilisk, and Leo, the prince — were annoying as hell. I am on board with why their fathers think they are a disappointment.

I am not a man, but I am a hundred percent certain men don’t think like that — even if they are fictional.

They wouldn’t think that the most fickle, naïve, low self-esteem, victim card-playing person is the most unique, fearsome, full-of-depth woman. There wasn’t even a whiff of potential there, either.

I was in her head, trust me Caspen and Leo, I know!

It’s okay to start naïve, and fine to still have some flaws by the end of the book. However, character growth matters. And when the FMC builds her confidence — if we are going to call it that — on Caspen’s validation, that’s worse than where she had started, and it doesn’t even help the plot.

That took one star down for me, so now it was ⭐️⭐️⭐️stars.

Staying in her head after a few hundred pages was annoying; I just wanted to smash her head after a while.

Temperance flips the switch when she sees Leo as though Caspen doesn’t exist at all, and when she is with Caspen, Leo who?

Temperance wasn’t only a hybrid; she was a tribreed — half-basilisk and half-human body-wise, but her mind was nothing but a chameleon.

But on top of all of that, her hypocrisy takes the cake.

Temperance doesn’t like it when Leo fools around with others. Though she is playing hard to get and is fooling around with Caspen.

Are you for real?

She also dared to be mad that Caspen didn’t tell her about his ex-fiancée when she is how she is.

Leo, you deserve better. You want half of Temperance rather than the full Vera, who is chasing you?

You are an emotional masochist. Not in a good way.

So it was ⭐️⭐ stars.

But no, the abysmal didn’t end there.

Because there was a non-existent plot. It was one of the most poorly written ‘plots’ I have ever read.

The concept could have been executed well. A worthwhile plot could have been created, character depth could have been thought out and built properly — even keeping some morally black and grey characters as they are — and fill the 500+ page book with words that are worth reading!

Finally, I settled my rating on ⭐️star — that was for making me stay until the end out of rage. Huzzah!

[pearlsw]

PART I: Will the CHOSEN ONES survive the Game of Thrones?

⚠️ Disclaimer: This post is based purely on the Game of Thrones show — not the books. (I’ll get to those… eventually — when George finishes writing the series.)

The Game of Thrones world is… quite a world.

You won’t survive it just because you are the main character. Is there even a main character? No. It’s like the real world, with a sprinkle of magic. If you think the world revolves around you, life has a way of humbling you — and so does Game of Thrones. The only ‘main character’ is the plot. Characters may come and go, but the plot is forever.

Who reigns on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms? The PLOT.

Long live the plot👑 — before Season 8.

So the question is: will our beloved ‘the chosen one’ characters from other universes survive the iron grip of the Seven Kingdoms?

Even if these characters are backed by powers, prophecies, or plot armor in their own universes, none of that matters in the world of Game of Thrones.

They’re ruled by the cold logic of physics, survival of the fittest, and GoT-style magic.

That is only fair.

For those eliminated characters I will do another blog, let them have their power and see if they survive.

The first character that I wanted to throw in this world is:

Y’er a wizard, Harry.🪄

🧐 What are Harry Potter’s defining traits?

He’s brave, loyal to his friends, eager to do the right thing, and has no desire for power.

So will Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the master of death, survive the Seven Kingdoms and beyond without his wand?

Harry Potter in Westeros

When Hagrid said, “Y’er a wizard, Harry,” Harry replied in the movies, “But I’m just Harry, just Harry.”

Well, now you are.

Welcome to Westeros, Harry.

It would be harsh to send you to the Dothraki right away, so let’s send you to Westeros first.

🏰 If Harry Was a Lord…

Even if Harry was already a lord from the get-go, he will die before Ned Stark. He might survive a few episodes, darting around here and there, but his death will be inevitable.

🧊 If Harry Was Born in the North…

If he ends up just an orphan in the North, or even as part of the Stark House, there is quite a chance.

He’d become Jon Snow’s apprentice, follow him to the Night’s Watch, and fight the Night King.

His insufferableness to do the right thing might drive him to be the best in his defensive skills.

There might be a chance he would die — courtesy of the world.

However, if he survives long enough to see Queen Sansa, he might finally be safe.

🐍 If Harry Was Slytherin — I mean a Lannister…

He’d get along with Tyrion because of a shared moral compass.

Cersei wouldn’t even be bothered with him until he provokes Joffery — which is bound to happen.

Tywin might sacrifice him in some twisted political scheme. If not, the only reason he’d let him live is because he’s Harry Lannister.

Joffery will be his Malfoy. If it’s not for Tywin’s authority or Tyrion’s protectiveness, he could behead Harry out of spite, and when he is asked why he did it, Joffery will answer:

Because I am the king!

🪓 If Harry was a Dothraki…

They would bully him for his spindly arms or for being the only virgin boy in the tribe.

They won’t kill him, but his life will be hell from consistent bullying, so he would go somewhere else — not for Hogwarts, this time.

🔥 If Harry Was a Targaryen…

He might get along with Daenerys at first until her first use of Dracarys on someone. They will have an altercation about her killing and it will end up with him refusing to bend the knee, so she will Dracarys the Boy Who Lived.

If only Voldemort sees this, he will rejoice in victory — “A win is a win.” And would be delusional enough to think Daenerys is a blondie Bellatrix.

👽 If Arya Stark Was His Hermione Granger…

I don’t know how, but I can see Arya getting through his moral compass just a little bit — without pushing him too far.

So, I think Harry Potter’s survival depends on whom he aligns himself with, in which part of the world he ends up, or how willing he is to be more Slytherin.

His best chances are being in the good grace of House Stark.

But I have a feeling that even in all the best circumstances, he will die defending someone because he is just Harry.

Bonus things we might see until Harry’s luck rans out ⏳

Love life ❤️

He will have a crush on Missandei before he is Dracaryase’d. But he won’t act on it once he finds out that Grey Worm is interested in her. Who wants to go toe-to-toe with the Unsullied?

Harry will definitely like Margaery, might even fall in love — I mean, who wouldn’t? She is a siren. He will do everything she asks. But she will break his heart.

Sansa is his type: red hair, the quiet strength, the beauty — like Ginny. But will he have a chance with her? For a brief time, perhaps. She might flirt with him a bit before she goes to King’s Landing, but he will evaporate from her mind once she starts pining for Joffrey.

Friendships

Brienne of Tarth will like him for his nobility.

Harry will trust Littlefinger and find himself in deep trouble.

And Ygritte?

‘You know nothing, Potter.’

Who do you think will be the Ron for Harry if he finds any in GOT?

These are my thoughts on the Boy Who Lived⚡️ roaming the Game of Thrones world.

Drop your thoughts in the comment!

Until we meet in Part II with another Chosen One wandering in the vast world of Game of Thrones, Adios!

[pearlsw]

The Throne of Glass series was quite the journey, with its ups and downs from the get-go. I’m writing this review after finishing Kingdom of Ash yesterday, at the time of this writing. So, I’ll go through each book briefly and share how it was for me. Sometimes my ramblings might focus heavily on the plot, and other times on the characters. I’m only expressing which parts strongly hooked me — so if, in some books, you find me ranting about a specific character, it’s just because I remember them so vividly.

Throne of Glass

The number of times I paused, started, and then restarted this book could be approximately the same number of times some people think about getting back with their exes (not me 😐). I even remember dusting the cover off once when I picked it up again.

But finally, after roaming through the reassuring BookTok community, I returned to this book one last time and finished it, even though it took me an excruciatingly long time. A month.

Most pages had little happening in them, and they were basically Celaena’s get-ready-with-me-in-Adarlan blog. I found the Hunger Games-style tournaments to be underwhelming until the know-your-poison and her final match against Cain.

I liked how the dynamic and the tension between Dorian, Chaol, and Celaena were set up naturally, as well as the natural progression of Celaena’s and Nehemia’s friendship. The last 150 pages were what hooked me. The plot was progressing and foreshadowing what was to come.

When it comes to the characters, Dorian is just a sweetheart, and that remains the case for the rest of the series. Nehemia is my other favorite character.

My most favorite character is rarely the main character, and this series is one of those rare moments. Celaena, honey, I fell in love with you immediately after I knew your obsession with chocolate. You just have great taste!

I only wanted to throttle Kaltain. Cain was just a typical bully — I have no thoughts on him. The King of Adarlan was like Sauron or Voldemort: you hate him because he is just pure evil. I don’t hate Voldemort, but that’s for another post.

Sarah started writing this book when she was 16, and that is a huge achievement. I had already read the ACOTAR and Crescent City series before I picked up Throne of Glass, so I can see how she has grown as an author. Everyone starts from somewhere. And my beloved Sarah started by pouring us a sea of exclamation points.

If I took a shot every time Sarah used an exclamation point in this book, my liver would have failed, and this review wouldn’t exist today.

Crown of Midnight

This was the book where I got a glimpse of Sarah’s writing that I fell in love with in ACOTAR. I loved the pacing and the plot — it was a page-turner for me.

It’s a good thing the love triangle between Celaena, Dorian, and Chaol ended. The love triangle trope has aged like curdled milk; almost nobody wants to see it now. It ended gracefully without dragging too much unnecessary drama to make it look like a Watpad story or a ripoff from Twilight.

I felt a tad bad for Dorian, but they weren’t a good fit. It’s like someone can be a very good person to you — a green flag and all — but you still might not be a good match. They could be really good friends, but that’s where the boundary should stay.

However, I still didn’t ship Chaol and Celaena. The Captain of the Guard was loyal to a fault — not to her, but to his kingdom. She was like third on his priority list: first, Dorian; second, the King of Adarlan; and maybe — she was third. He didn’t know it, but he was subconsciously living the bros before…

Besides that, I hated his hypocrisy. So what if Celaena was an assassin? She was way younger than you, 18, that’s all she knew! You self-righteous prick. You should have given her more grace and understanding. What did you do about the slave camps as Captain of the Guard? Nothing. You at least had power.

If I get sucked in that world, and specifically in this book’s time, I would just punch him in the face, and run for my life.

Nehemia’s death was on him as much as it was on other factors, like Nehemia herself.

I discovered her death not by reading the story progression up to that point. I was trying to find which page I had paused at earlier, and I was flipping through pages from the back of the book to the front. I know — a huge mistake.

In the blur of pages, my eyes snagged to the first line of the chapter I don’t remember, it read Nehemia was dead.

I wanted to bleach my eyes, and unwittingly, I went through the first phase of grief: denial. I convinced myself it was Celaena’s nightmare. But as I kept reading and reading, I realized it was inevitable: acceptance.

I have read Crescent City, and Nehemia is the Danika of Throne of Glass. Both were best friends of the FMC, died with secrets, and their sacrifices set their best friends’ journey to their destinies in motion.

These kinds of characters intrigue me. I just couldn’t wrap my head around characters who sacrifice their precious lives so that the main character could be the main character.

Chaol, take note; this is what being noble looks like — living or dying for a cause you truly believe in, not just because you want to keep things the way they are.

Am I annoyed that Nehemia kept too many secrets from Celaena? No. Lying and keeping secrets aren’t my pet peeves. Sometimes I hate it and get annoyed, sometimes I don’t. And Celaena was no better herself.

Nehemia was sneaky about Dorian’s fate/destiny as well — activating his power, knowing she was endangering him. Then she left to live her numbered days, she numbered herself and died. She should have been more transparent with him at least; she should have given him a brief or two before she decided to die.

Mort, oh Mort. I like that unapologetic doorknob.

Archer Finn is a sneaky bastard, in a cocky way. I didn’t hate him, though he was very much responsible for Nehemia’s death.

For a moment, I thought Celaena was going to be the bigger person — like a typical hero — and let Archer walk away after that classic you-don’t-have-it-in-you-to-kill-me move. Chaol would’ve eaten that up. I hate it when heroes fall for this trope, and then the plot conveniently steps in to handle the villain for them.

I would like to call this annoyance as, “When you don’t have it in you, karma has you.”

Come on. Get a grip.

That’s why morally grey characters are appealing — they’re relatable because they feel like they’re trudging through the real world we hate and know.

So it was so damn satisfying to see her plunge Damaris into the heart of her best friend’s killer.

I was rolling my eyes when Chaol balked at her action. I was pissed when he recoiled after glimpsing her Fae ears. If Dorian didn’t possess magic himself, the chances of him accepting Celaena’s nature would have been much slimmer.

At least the one good thing he did was coming up with the idea to send her to Wendlyn.

I thought I would write about my TOG journey in one blog post, but apparently, I had a lot to say — so I’ll end the first part here.

In Part II, I’ll cover what I read next: The Assassin’s Blade and Heir of Fire.

Let me know what you think about your journey in the comments!

Until we meet for the next rant — adios!

[pearlsw]

The first Ramble🪄

Dear esteemed reader, welcome to my blog.

I wrote the above line with a posh accent in mind. Don’t ask me why — I don’t know. It’s one of those moments your mind decides to improvise into a dramatic entrance.

Then, the next thing that came to mind was tea — coffee? But then I remembered this was a blog post.

A static blog post.

A non-magical static blog post.

Maybe in a magical world where tech and magic went hand in hand, it is possible. Sites would have menus you could select on the welcoming page, and you could select your favorite tea.☕️ It would pop out of your screen (hopefully without spilling). Then you could complain about the tea having too little sugar or too much while engaging with posts. Until you stumble upon such a world, this will have to do.

So the above paragraphs are not me deviating off track. No, it’s actually a glimpse of what you will find in my future posts — my mind wandering in what-if scenarios in fantasy worlds.

You might ask, really, is that what your mind is occupied with? Isn’t the real world more than enough to annoy the shit out of you? Or do you live in a basement and scarcely see sunlight, detached from reality? I very much assure you we live in the same world. Earth. And I wish I had a basement. But no, I don’t.

Then why?

First, because I can periodt!

Second, because you can replace your anxiety (which I heard is the conspiracy theory about yourself) with a conspiracy theory you have about made-up worlds. After all, that is what fantasy is about: escapism from reality. Because reality sucks — most of the time.

What could go wrong if you ruminate about “Would Harry Potter survive in a Game of Thrones world?” instead of steaming about what that neighbor said about you to your landlord? Nothing. And talk to your landlord yourself.

But take my advice with a grain of salt — I don’t want to read, “You did this to me 😡” in the comments. Don’t believe everything you see on the internet, especially not here, where magic resides in each post.

But according to a believable research study, 91.4% of our worries won’t ever happen. We all spend time thinking about non-real scenarios, which we are so sure will come to pass — as though we are a Seer. A Prophet.

But 91.4% of our prophecies of doom will never come to pass!

So I think redirecting some of your real-life anxieties to a fantasy world is, at the very least, a distraction — and, at the very best, it makes your creativity gear creak to motion and spin.

And then you might ask, what else will be in your posts?

Rambling.

Rambling about the fantasy books I’ve read and am currently reading, about the games I’ve played and am playing, about the shows and movies I’ve watched and am watching. My experiences, feedback, and reviews. It sounds tacky, but I wasn’t aiming for poetic, so… But you get the point.

And of course, I will add my what-if scenarios in those as well. Sometimes. And I will let myself be carried by the endless possibilities until some other world catches off my eyes.

I’m sure you, dear reader, have your own made-up ideas you’d want to share — what kind of fantasy books, movies, shows you want to see explored. So, the comment section is your oyster.

Sincerely,

Me😊