#The Fire in the Forging

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Victor Vale- Vicious by VE Schwab

August Landry- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Daja Kisubo- The Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce

Neil Josten- All for the Game by Nora Sakavic

[lyndentree63]

Just thinking about how 2020 was a TERRIBLE year to re-read the Circle of Magic books.

[first--lines]

Sunset blazed above Golden Ridge Valley in north Emelan, throwing shadows over a company of mounted riders. At the head of their train a banner-man carried the personal flag of Duke Vedris IV, ruler of Emelan. The duke himself rode behind the flag, surrounded and followed by his staff, guards, and friends. Smoke drifted through the air in veils, stinging everyone's eyes. They had been riding through it for two days, watching it stretch over pastures and fields. Now at last, as the company entered the forests that filled the northern half of the valley, they began to rise above the thick air.

  —  The Fire in the Forging (Tamora Pierce)

[its-tea-time-darling]

➸ The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) vs. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Look at this. They're holding hands. I want them dead.

[thymbraeusrising]

I think the thing about Spy X Family that I love so much about it is that there IS like suspense and tension, but it's never like…."these two characters are upset at each other and it makes me uncomfortable."

In situations where that kind of deal arises, it's either portrayed in such a goofy and over the top manner that it doesn't come across as disconcerting, OR it's a scenario where WE as the audience are in the know, and we know pretty much everything. And even then, the characters react out of LOVE and CONCERN rather than distrust or fear.

The perfect example of this is when Yor gets wounded and Loid IMMEDIATELY thinks she hates him. What does he do? HE COMES UP WITH EIGHT HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO DATE IDEAS THAT WILL NOT ONLY MAKE THINGS EASIER ON YOR BUT ALSO WILL SHOW HOW MUCH HE LOVES AND APPRECIATES HER.

And how does Yor react? SHE DOES HER DAMNEDEST TO MAKE LOID HAPPY BY ENGAGING IN HIS CUTE DATE IDEAS. Even though she feels rough and is in pain and is worried about not being grateful enough, she struggles through because she knows how important this all is to LOID.

After so many fucking rom/coms (which, let's be real here, Spy X Family is a fucking rom/com) having miscommunications be poor and lazy excuses for conflict and lies and hurt, Spy X Family is over here using miscommunications for growth and as opportunities for KINDNESS and CARE.

And that's because they trust each other SO DAMN MUCH. I don't think I've seen a media property where conflict is used for positive growth as consistently and with such skill.

The strongest metal must pass through the crucible, but the crucible need not be one of stress and fracture. Let yourself be forged stronger by care, by reassurance, and by love.

[caiusthecat]

Brave Robin🥺❤️

[blindbisexualgoose]

That moment when you’ve stayed up until 3 am and just read the most earth shattering, heartbreaking, sob worthy chapter of a fanfic and have to wake up in a few hours and do things and carry on like your entire fucking worldview hasn’t been reshaped by a stranger’s writing about two fictional gay dudes

[saintmachina]

As an indiscriminate bisexual I don't really have a "type" persay, but one time my best friend looked me dead in the eye and said "are they actually hot? Or are they just a brunette wearing a vintage costume?" and I don't think I ever really recovered.

[alm0staliv3]

probably spent way too much time on these little copia studies but I just couldn't resist the silly poses

[mochilled]

they wouldn’t stop throwing picks at each other and aether got bitten

just chilling vs [ angry chihuahua noises ]

[data-la-forge]

kind of a coincidence that geordi naturally has trouble with women and he was with aquiel that one time but she was never mentioned ever again (GEE I WONDER WHY), and data had a girlfriend but immediately lost her after trying too hard (GEE I W

kind of a coincidence that data hyperfixated on media with two characters that are basically gay for each other and then told geordi "can u be the watson to my sherlock please please please please p" and he went "ok!" and then they cosplay said characters like they AREN'T in a relationship like okaayyy

kind of a coincidence that geordi's the chief engineer and a total nerd and data is the most technologically built lifeform on the enterprise (and also a total nerd), so of course geordi is his doctor, and obviously there's sexual tension bc he's literally playing with his wires like come on

kind of a coincidence that data only really gets visibly nervous/worried whenever geordi is in danger ("i have no emotions mcgee when geordi is in trouble") and geordi is overly aggressive/tense whenever data's off on his own/something happens to him

KIND OF A COINCIDENCE THAT GEORDI'S SO-CALLED WIFE IS NEVER MENTIONED OR EVEN NAMED IN PICARD!!!!!! JUST A THOUGHT TO PUT OUT THERE

what isn't a coincidence though is that they're literally polar opposites in every way and made to be soulmates totally not homoerotic best friends

just look at how they fucking look at each other for example like good god merge your quarters already freaks

[artbyanca]

A young Artemis getting her golden bow from Hephaestus.

[blorbocedes]

yuki tsunoda's formula one career so far // the hero’s journey (myth and the movies, by stuart voytilla)

[burntsodas]

in god we trust. literally. LMAO. he be doing something i guess 💀💀

[bthemistake]

~ Morgana Pendragon, The Mad Queen ~

[Audio Description: Morgana Pendragon, the character from the BBC series Merlin, stands against a dark red-purple background with a golden crosshatched pattern behind her as a halo. She is wearing a red dress, the colour belonging famously to the Pendragon household and Camelot. In her hands she holds a golden sword by her side, pointed downwards with the hilt raised above her head. She is holding it incorrectly though, her lower hands holding the blade directly, while the other half-holds the hilt and blade, each hand drawing blood that drips down the metal and stains her hands.

She doesn't pay the pain any attention, however, and her eyes are in fact closed with an expression of yearning on her face. For Morgana, the sword represents power, which she is clinging to despite the harm it is causing her. Without a mentor or a friend to guide her properly, the sword will ultimately be her undoing, but for now she longs for it.]

[rovieghoul]

she's allowed to do anything concerning my mental and physical health