₊˚⊹♡ THE GRANDEST GAME
["Riddles are for people who enjoy playing,” .... “Do you consider yourself playful, Mr. Hawthorne?”]
| ✮ 4 stars |
THOUGHTS ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . [!!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!] this is very long guys sorry
ok so *cracks knuckles* lets talk about tgg
!!warning i'm finishing this like four days after i read tgg so i might've forgotten things because reading until 2am and remembering what i read is apparently a hard thing for me to do!!
first of all.... JLB, you and i need to have a chat because that ending was not okay. you literally just left us with no answers. seriously. what the hell????? and while i wanna kick my feet and scream because we got two kisses and then you had to go ahead and ruin it in the span of two or three pages and give us that shitty ending.
i would like to point out one question i had through out the book, which was why was grayson playing? what was the point of that???? like seriously was there an actual need for him to play or was it just jameson, avery, xander and nash fucking with him? whatever it was it didn't make sense and just felt like jlb was trying to shove lyra and grayson into forced proximity so they could interact.
speaking of thatttt i love graysonlyra and rohansav (more thoughts on sav later) the banter the looks the touches the everything i love it sm omg AND AVERYJAMESON!!!!!!! THE CRUMBS WE WERE GETTING MADE ME SO HAPPY OMG!!! I CAN DIE HAPPY!!
i will say i feel jlb really did pull out all the stops for this book the different levels of everyone's connection and knowledge of how to solve the riddles/puzzles (i was literally CLUELESS) like how does one make all that connect. the level of detail was insane connecting books and characters together just weaving some kind of intricate web of characters.
and at first i did feel like the game felt really short but i think that was just my 2am dumbass brain forgetting this is only the first part of the game lol. i did kinda hope there would be more like running around and trying to solve things on the actual island not stuck in a house though but who knows whats happening in the next book soooo
it did get very confusing there with calla (who is fucking INSANE BY THE WAY!!! SHE TORTURED KNOX??? WTF????) and the whole calla lily thing with lyra and odette was confusing af. so its like calla (the person) has a connection with knox and brady and then a calla lily has a connection with odette and lyra (also kinda gray cause he knows abt it i guess)
and and and and im a die hard gigislate shipper (and brady daniels hater) so im praying that we get an enemies to lovers with gigi and slater where he's forced to be mean/hate or wtv because of *gags* eve and then its like oop no im breaking you out of here idc what eve thinks because i only care abt you. ESPCIALLY because gigi was talking abt how no ones ever looked at her the way jameson looks at avery throughout the book (SOMEBODY HIRE ME FR)
OK THATS ENOUGH RAMBLING ITS TIME TO FOR THE CHARACTERS
CHARACTERS ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° .
lyra - ok i love her. she was such a good strong character it was so much fun to read about her interactions (with grayson 😏) she was actual so wife material but idk why i felt like i wasnt allll that into her character too much like i love her but didn't really feel connected with her?? idk she was a very good fmc to read about tho!! but i do wanna know about miles end and her whole connection with her dead dad (who btw is an ass who tf kills themself in front of a FOUR YEAR OLD???) and whoever's stalking here (honestly i had a whole ass thing thinking its ALL PROBABLY EVE LIKE SHE WOULDA DONE THAT MUCH RESEARCH OR SOMETHING or maybe eve was js there for gigi) but now i think it might've been something to do with alice. who knows honestly
gigi - this is my time to shineeeeee. if gigi has zero fans i am dead (and slater bc im delusional like that) i love gigi so much omg. she's my no 1 girl i love her. my girl just needs someone to love her fr she talks through out the book about how she wants to be looked at with so much love (she thought it was brady BUT NO EW) i loved reading from her perspective abt how she just wanted to prove that she was good enough to be in the game AND SHE IS!!! im still bitter about her getting kicked out of the game - AND IM NOT EVEN GONNA TOUCH ON THE WHOLE KIDNAPPING AT THE END (GIGISLATE ENEMIES TO LOVERS WHEN????)
rohan - marry me. thats it. honestly just marry me. u need to work on ur nicknames tho- it was super interesting to read about his way of think and the whole labyrinth thingy lol. there wasn't too much more about his backstory tho WHICH IM SO INVESTED IN FR. WHAT DO YOU MEAN HIS FIRST MEMORY IS DROWNING????
savannah - girboss fr. she could step on me and i'd say thank you. its really interesting to me how (obviously) she's been manipulated by eve and it'll be super interesting to see how jlb will play out her whole revenge plan. she's extremely driven which is admirable and a good characters (she's literally like a female grayson imo - which also reminds me of that one scene where she goes "i am grayson hawthornes sister" which made me smile so big fr)
there are so many characters oml
knox - ok so my buddy boy knox. broski, brozilla, broville, brother from another mother, u need a hug? i didn't really like him in the beginning tbh he was a moody lil girl working through his issues. but after a while when he warmed to gigi it was nice to see the softer side to him (which tbh wasnt for very long until oop trauma dumpppp) but seriously oml knox baby the scar???? imma find calla fr (jlb cant write new characters also why complicate the shit out of everything and have a calla lily be relevant to lyra and also have calla be a person???) i did like how sweet/soft he was with gigi when she fell though that warmed my heart.
odette - iconic grandma shit tbh. she was third wheeling the entire time and at some points actually seemed like she was shipping them but then two seconds later she was warning them? saying no? idk the whole 'seizure' thing seems faker than eve's lies. and the fact she instantly gave brady the watch after gigi said no. like um what about knox? idk if thats js my brady hate coming through here though so yeah idk if i trust her or not (bet everyone is working for eve except for gigi, lyra and rohan)
grayson - marry me. love me. choose me. pls. i'd do ANYTHING. my simping for this man aside. IT WAS SO GODDAMN REFRESHING TO SEE A HEALING GRAYSON. like yes. it made me so happy to see him admit he was wrong but also know that its okay to be wrong skdjhaasd. this is so short because i love him and cant write proper thoughts about him fr.
brady - *cracks even more knuckles* brady daniels....... you know i've always wanted to know what it'd be like to write a hate paragraph. i guess im finding out now. i hate him. literally. i have unbridled hate for this man - who by the way still shocks me that he's only 20 he acts like he saw the fucking first world war. its one of the reasons i never liked him like he sooo took advantage of gigi's smartness and kindness like HE DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING during the game gigi carried the entire team and when she refused to take odette's watch and then him instantly taking it. ICKKKK don't even mention how he lied abt his mom like dude just admit it you knew you were fucking cooked in that fight and the only way you could win was by lying. AND WHAT ABOUT THE WHOLE BOMBSHELL ABOUT HOW (i cant remember his name but the dude who raised knox, calla and brady) died??? and then being a little shit and dropping gigi's heart. like we get it u dumbass man child u think you're clever cause u can speak so many languages and read even more but NO. i was onto you, i never trusted your crusty old man ass. like he even touched gigi without her permission (on the stomach) which so gross to me, the dogshit under my shoe can do better than you brady. seriously. i hate him. i'm the leader and founder of the I HATE BRADY DANIELS CLUB. so thats at least something to sate my anger. help this got so long 😭
QUOTES ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . [i'm putting like two because this already wayyyyy to long for anyone to actually bother reading.]
"you will come back to me, or i will make you come back to me." - grayson
"Beside Avery, Jameson was looking at her like she was the sun and the moon and the stars and eternity, all rolled into one." - gigi
"give me your eyes sweetheart." - grayson
if you're here at the end of this *APPLAUSE* i commend you on getting through that kilometre of my shit thoughts. have a piece of cake 🍰
31 notes
·
View notes
The Taming of Man: chapter nine - Dragon Shifting!Katsuki Bakugou x F!reader
OMG I'M BACK FROM THE PITS! That writer's block was hell, but lemme tell ya, I came back a stronger woman. Enjoy this new chapter, my wifeys! (Ps- ACOTAR brought me back, highly recommend reading something to get those writer juices flowing.)
Words: 2,163
This is incredibly based on the song The Willow Maid by Erutan, I highly recommend giving it a listen for the best experience.
Warnings: Cursing, reader is She/Her and will be AFAB in later chapters, angst, reader revisits traumatic events (loss of her father), Katsuki is lowkey a bad listener, but he's trying dammit!
I can't remember my dad's face anymore...well, not all of it. I can remember his smile, and I can remember his eyes, but that's about it. I like to think I remember the more important things, though, like his laugh, and the stories he would tell me. Uh...He always used to take me on adventures, even if it was just wandering through the gardens. He used to bring me here, to this realm, and we used to sit on the giant stump, eating tea fruit and talking for hours. We never left the circle, because the Dragonborne on the other side were dangerous.
"Hey, What's that supposed to mean," Katsuki huffed.
"Relax, I'm trying to build up the story, just wait," You said.
"Fine."
"anyways..."
My mother never liked us going out, but my dad always seemed to be able to convince her to allow it. I think, at this time, it wasn't so crazy to leave. the portal was more prominent, and people were more willing to allow us to leave.
One day, as we walked around the circle, my dad seemed like he was different, distant and thoughtful, the way he was when he had big ideas. He had a lot of ideas, he liked to make new potions, and build little gadgets, and study the plants and animals everywhere.
When he was around, the palace had energy, it had soul.
A-as I was saying, He looked distant. I asked him what he was thinking about, but he just smiled and patted my head. he said, "Nothing, Doodle bug," and kept walking with me. Uh, He used to call me "doodle bug" because I used to roll around in the dirt, like a slater.
"Of course you did," Katsuki scoffed, with a hint of laughter and a ghost of a smile on his face. He didn't look and sound as condescending as he wanted to, he seemed more...lovesick.
"Do you wanna tell my story," you ask, frowning at him.
"Whatever, just do it already!"
ok, so...he told me not to worry about it, and so I didn't, being a kid and all, and we kept playing for a while. We always used to look at the clouds and try to find shapes, or watch the constellations and trace them with our fingers. Sooner or later, he said it was time to go home and...and he sent me back, alone. I was used to going home alone, because he usually did his best thinking in the circle when no one was around. So, he sent me home and I walked all the way back to the palace.
I found my mom, and she picked me up so I could watch her paint. She was different then, she did things like paint in the garden, and play with the village children, and laugh and smile with light in her eyes.
Eventually, it had reached a late hour, and I remember looking out my window and watching as mom rode her Pegasus into the forest, along with three armed guards. I didn't know it then, but she was going to look for my dad.
I should have been asleep by the time she came back, but Dad always told me a bedtime story, and I couldn't sleep without it, so I stayed awake, waiting and waiting and waiting. My mother had returned hours later, and by then I was just walking past the entrance to get to the kitchen, planning to get the chefs to allow me to have cookies and milk.
I'll never forget the look on her face.
She had little burns on her skin, and her clothes were torn up, but it was her face that hurt me...I feel it might have been the first time I ever experienced deep sorrow.
Her eyes were wide and glossy, blank, not as if she were feeling nothing, but as if she were feeling so much of something that she couldn't process it. Her lips were parted, taking in breaths so slow you might think she was dead. Her brows were furrowed, as if she were confused, or even angry.
She looked at me, gaze drifting emptily to meet mine, and when our eyes met it I felt this overwhelming sense of fear and sorrow.
We stepped closer to each other, simultaneously, and she collapsed to the ground, taking me with her. She sobbed into my hair, her face hot against my skin, and all she could do was whisper that she was sorry, over and over again she apologized to me. I didn't know what had happened, but I sobbed too, big hiccupping wails because I feared the worst. I remember asking, and this may be a little selfish, "where's daddy," starting quietly but getting louder with impatience every time I repeated it. I demanded to know, I needed it, I wanted her to say it out loud even though I knew her sadness was overtaking her.
you looked to Katsuki for a moment, only to see he was staring at the ground, listening closely to your story and seeming to be lost in thought about it. He seemed a little...awkward, like he was unsure of what to do or say to this. You took a deep breath, continuing.
She wouldn't tell me anything until we had calmed down, and even then she just told me that he was gone. Neither of us did anything but cry for the weeks leading to his funeral, although in my mourning I had been confined to my room, and as such could hear every conversation the guards had outside of the door. I didn't pay much attention, until the topic of my father and how he died came up. I remember pressing my ear to the door, listening close to see what they would say. I needed to know more. I can't recall their words, but I know they said that he had been killed by a Dragonborne after venturing out of the circle, and my mother had arrived just in time to see it happen, and fight a fruitless battle.
I was so angry, after all my dad always had hope that things had changed since the beginning, since our ancient tale, and yet he had been killed by the very thing he had tried to defend. I think I would have been resentful, perhaps even vengeful, forever, had it not been for the following week.
We had hastily thrown together a funeral...oh, because, In our culture, the sooner you mourn someone with a proper ceremony, the easier their voyage to the afterlife is. It's said that when a fairies dies, Time moves much slower for their soul as they travel to the after life, and your funeral helps push them along...their heart becomes a certain type of flower, their brain becomes a certain type of tree, and their soul moves on to Edelsteinländer, or the Gemstone lands, to live happily and protect their loved ones.
"What do you mean, 'certain type of' stuff?"
"What you become depends on who you are, as well as where you die. Sometimes people say that if you are buried with specific things planted on your grave, that's what you'll become, so you get to choose."
"Oh."
As I said, It was the following week that the funeral commenced, and Everyone close to us attended the intimate gathering. As royals, there's a parade for the dead that the entire country participates in, in some way, so we like to have a smaller funeral first. Everyone showed up, wearing red because of how he died-
"Wait, what?"
"Uh, it's a lot to explain, but basically people wear different colors based on how a person died. Red for murder, Black for natural, blue for uncontrollable, stuff like that."
"Right...keep goin' already." He seemed a little calmer, more considerate.
Ok, so one of the people to show up was my grandmother on my Dad's side, and although I had never met her, I felt strangely connected to her. After the service, She had asked to take me on a walk, and my mom allowed her to, assuming it'd be a walk in the garden. Well, she walked me all the way to the river. We didn't enter through the portal, but we sat on the riverbed and watched as the water flowed past. She asked me, "(Y/n), How do you feel about the Dragonborne?" Naturally, I responded with, "I hate them, I wish they never existed."
You glanced again to Katsuki, who didn't snap at you this time, instead opting for silence. You began to balance on a tree root as you walked, already nearing Schatz. Katsuki took your hand instinctively, fearing you'd trip.
She smiled and shook her head, handing me her woven basket. She said, "Do me a favor, dear, go and fetch me as many pebbles as you can fit in this basket." I did as she asked, finding pebbles of varying shapes and sizes and colors, carrying as much as my little arms could bear to, before returning to her. She peered at the rocks, and sifted through them. "Now tell me," she ordered, "Do all of these appear to be the same?" I shook my head no. "But, they all came from the same river, no?" Well, I, only being around 8, did not understand yet and said, "But that doesn't matter at all!" She nodded, and told me, "This river is the Dragon lands-" we don't know the correct term for Forrmidūl in Gildflå, but she continued with- "and these pebbles are the Dragonborne. Some are sharp, some are smooth, some are red, some are blue, some are good and some are bad."
In my head, then, it all seemed to click for me. I realized exactly what she was saying to me. She let me keep her basket, and all the pebbles I wanted. I loved her a lot, even if that was the first time I ever met her. I wasn't allowed to see her again after, too, because I unwittingly told the story to mother, and she banned her from coming near me. It was around this time that mom started to...decline, but that's a whole other story.
"So...yeah, that's how my dad died," you finished unceremoniously. Even though you had stopped walking on that root long ago, Katsuki still held your hand.
"...'m sorry...about all that," Katsuki mumbled, cheeks burning from embarrassment. He wished he could be more for you...he'd have to work hard on that, read a book on it or something.
"It happened forever ago anyways, I'm doing...better now. Good now." You squeezed his hand, peering at his thoughtful face. "What about you? Uh, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, I just-"
"It happened when I was 12," He grumbled, his hand slipping out of yours and being stuffed into his pocket. "It wasn't much, not some big story like yours, he just...got sick. Ate somethin' bad, I don't know. Whatever it was, he was sick for a while. Had time to get all his shit in order, and he went in his sleep so it wasn't painful or anything." Although he seemed to be trying to ease your mind, it looked like he was trying to ease his own mind. He sniffed a little, looking away and roughly wiping his nose with his finger.
"Katsuki," you started, but he cut you off. "Don't give me any 'better place' bullcrap, It's not that big a deal!" without another word, you brought him into a tight, warm embrace, standing on your tiptoes to rest your chin in the crook of his neck. His arms hesitantly came around your back, holding you to him. Right, he forgot this was you. Caring, empathetic, always knowing what to do you. He didn't have to worry about you being condescending or stuck up towards him, you understood him for who he was. You knew what he needed. He didn't know how he lived before you.
you pulled back from him, eyes meeting his as he looked at you with intensity. His face was hard, just as it always was, but his eyes held truth. His eyes held every emotion possible, all at your beck and call. You suddenly began to cry, and Katsuki immediately took you back into his grasp. "Hey, relax, it's not that big of a deal," he reassured you, gruffly, as he frantically searched your face for a hint as to what he could do for you.
"N-no, it's-" it's just that I have to leave you soon, forever. "I'm ok, just a little worked up."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
The two of you kept walking, the cool breeze causing your wet cheeks and nose to feel as if they were getting pricked by a thousand tiny knives. You reached the Circle in no time, ready to go home as the sun began to set on your adventure.
AUGHHHH I've missed this! as always, let me know your thoughts, I will always do my best to comment back, and if you have any questions at all, you can either ask in the comment section or in the Ask Me box! I don't bite, pinky promise!
Taglist: @sky-angel101 @the-galaxy-fiend @chixkadee @ssplague @sappho-the-kitten-tamer @andysdrafts @daria-rona @tanjirofan63 @aizawaslut09 @tsukiiomii @me1297
41 notes
·
View notes