#When Maven died Cal lost a piece of himself

[aerticent]

the multiple annotations of VA reaffirming that Cal literally can't ever move on or give up on Maven is really hurting me rn:(( Like he loves Maven so much despite everything Maven did to him because to him that's just his little brother. He'll always try to protect Maven even when he's looked down on for it and even after Maven died he honored his wishes and buried him on Tuck so that he could possibly experience peace and quiet because he was never able to have that in his entire life:(((( When Cal got to Mare and Maven after their fight he immediately went for Maven because he needed to check if he was still alive. He wasn't checking to make sure he was dead, he was trying to see if he was still alive, if he could be saved. If Maven still had a pulse would Cal have called for a healer? Would he have let him pass?

[themadauthorshatter]

A lot of you seem to really like that Swap AU for Red Queen, so...

Time for a Part 2!!!!!

Like with Glass Sword, we start with Mare and crew on a train, Shade next to her while the rest their rifles aimed at Maven, who sits resolutely.

Kilorn is especially pissed because he doesn't trust the crown prince's younger brother, nor even when the bastard almost got all of them killed. Twice.

Maven snips that he was at fault for the second time, but Kilorn's stupider than he already is, if he thinks Maven palnned for Ptolemus to survive and come came to hunt them all down.

Mare barks at Maven to shut up, but Kilorn is more direct, punching the traitor prince in the nose.

Before he can do more, Farley calls him off, telling him he can kick Maven's ass later, when they're not on the train.

Reluctantly, Kilorn backs off and leaves Maven to wipe his nose off.

Mare, in an effort to diffuse the tension, asks where they're all going, anyway.

Shade and Farley glance at each other, then to Maven, before Shade explains they're on their way to Tuck.

Both Mare and Maven are confused, but there's no time for questions because they get attacked, as in their train gets derailed and is crushed like a tin can, chasing everyone outside.

ACTION TIME!!!!!!

Everyone hightails it out as they and the rest of the team with them fight off Silver forces. Their main goal is to get to what looks like a cliffside; Farley points to it and shouts they run there.

Mare notices the sudden lack of Maven, but shakes it off; he can either die or catch up somehow, it's every man for himself right now.

Mare does well in fending for herself, like before, but that stops when she's found and surrounded by a huge number of Silvers who are not afraid to rittle her with bullets, if she does anything.

The only reason they ARE afraid is because their General gave them a very strict order to not shoot unless he says so.

And this General is Cal, who instantly notices that Maven is missing and asks Mare where he is.

Mare challenges him, wondering if he's planning on shooting his brother himself, if she gives him up.

Cal snaps, asking if she's really defending someone who betrayed her, after lying to her for so long.

Mare still doesn't reveal that Maven ran, and instead growls that if Cal's trying to bring her back, it won't work, because she's not getting her family killed with her.

And she sure as hell isn't trusting the person who screwed her over in the first place.

Those words put a hole in Cal's chest and he turns to whoever is his second in command.

"Open fire."

The poor bastard doesn't get a chance to do anything because Mare brings the plane(I think it's a Snap Dragon?) down, and blue flames fly out and drive away most of the Silvers.

Turns out Maven didn't run far at all, and instead gestures for Mare to run for the cliffside, which she does.

Mare and Maven cover themselves and each other, even as Cal says, 'fuck it,' and gives chase, the boys engage in a firefight from a distance.

Before things can get serious, Mare and Maven make it the cliffside and jump, Cal shouting that they can't run or hide forever. They will be found, and they will pay for their crimes, one way or another, regardless of their rank or the color of their blood. Even if Cal has to be the one to find them and execute them, they will face justice.

Mare and Maven find themselves in the submarine like before and Maven is made to stick around because no one wants to go looking for him, should he decide to run off and get lost.

It's here that Maven expresses that if Cal's hunting them, then they're all on borrowed time, 'them' being him, Mare, the Scarlet Guard, and any Newbloods Elara bothered to remember.

While he gets patched up, Shade asks why that's such a big deal, seeing as how they managed to get away.

Maven makes it clear: Cal does not know how to sit still. He's a hunter, a GOOD hunter. He'll solve problems with action, not words. He has an entire legion at his command, too, and both Samos children on his side.

And Cal can't think for himself to save his life. Most of his decisions come from someone else.

And guess who decided that Mare, Maven, and the Guard need to be erased?

It paints a clear picture for everyone, and Farley asks Mare to think about the Newbloods and try to remember any specific names, or pick out someone they need to pick up before leaving.

Mare doesn't have too long to think because they arrive at Tuck.

It's raining and pouring, but the group still gets to the surface, where Mare reunites with Bree. (Hooray!)

And Maven is captured by the Colonel.

Unlike before, there is and isn't a rush to find the Newbloods, there is because Elara and Tibe can pull the names of on a computer, print a list, and have them all killed, but there isn't because they need to look through the blood base to find the names, which will probably take a while because no Silver ever pays a Red any mind.

Mare still wants to go and talks Shade, Farley, Kilorn into helping, but also stipulates that she needs to bring Maven with, because he knows the most as a Silver she doesn't trust him in his own(Sure, good cover).

They're agaunst the idea, but Kilorn caves and helps her get Maven out.

Speaking of Maven, what's he been doing? Simple. Trying to find a way out without going inside. Elara's in his head and he can't get her to leave.

He's been in his cell for a few days, but has been more cooperative than Cal, turning his back to eat, not beating his knuckles bloody, and even trying to rearrange so he doesn't absolutely lose it.

He's chilling against the wall when Mare and Kilorn come in, and he's so excited to see BOTH of them for a change.

Neither really notice how the acrylic is scuffed up.

At least until Kilorn throws Mare in and locks them both inside of the cell.

They're left anger and unhappy and, after some back and forth, Mare asks what Maven about Tuck.

He admits he doesn't know much; geography was more up Cal's league, but Mare doesn't have Cal with her, she has Maven, and he apologizes for not being what or who she wants.

Mare doesn't respond and they remain silent for up to a few days.

In one of those days, Maven has a really bad phantom Elara headache, and from all the stress of what's happened.

While they sit across from each other, Mare against one wall and Maven against the other, Maven cluthes his head and screams until he runs out of breath, which he catches before screaming again.

Mare, out of curiosity and having similar feelings, after realizing what she said to Cal and how she's in over her head, joins him.

It feels good to get it out, so she keeps going.

Both scream until they're sick of it and sit back against the wall, sitting side by side.

They're met up by the Colonel, who comments in both the layout of the room and literally screaming matching before cutting to the trace.

The crown prince made an offer they can't refuse: one of the traitors for the removal of the measures as a whole. It doesn't matter which one, they just need one of them alive, and the Colonel wants to keep Mare around, for the sake of the 'Newbloods' Julien told her about.

Maven, not exactly buying it, asks why they only need ONE of them when both would be more valuable.

The Colonel warns him not to get cocky, but Maven pieces it together:

The COLONEL offered one in return for both, seeing as how both Mare and Maven have seen the list. All Elara really needs is one of them, and then she, Tibe, and Cal have access to find and hunt down the Newbloods. After that, they'll probably kill him.

Maven, understanding there's no real way he's getting out of this(if he refuses, Mare's getting sent to them instead, and then he'll have to deal with the fact he got her killed and her grieving friend and family), asks when he'll be leaving.

The Colonel nods and states whenever the jet is ready. Just as he leaves to let Maven and Mare say goodbye, he tells Maven that enough men and women have been killed, so with his death, at least he'll stop children from following.

Maven and Mare watch him leave.

Only to see him fall back.

Kilorn has returned with Farley and Shade in toe, Farley holding up a set of keys to the cell.

Like before, they leave via the Black Run, but this time it's Farley that has to pilot because Cal's not around in this timeline- I mean, AU.😁

Also like before, after some discourse from Kilorn and and maybe teasing from Shade(because he calls Maven the 'little prince' to be harmless), they find Nix Marsten, and if he beat the daylights out of Cal, he beats THE EVER AND NEVER LOVING SHIT OUT OF MAVEN.

Did he lead his daughters to their deaths? No.

Was he there with Cal when it was planned that they take a legion across a river/waterfall? Yes.

Was he known for instilling a little bit of reasoning in Cal? Yes.

Did he do that when Cal made the decision to cross a waterfall to fight an enemy force? No.

Maven is incredibly guilty, having been a few people behind when he saw the girls went over the falls, screaming, sputtering, and crying for someone to help them even when they went over the edge and screamed most of the way down.

He says that he knows it's useless, but he's too sorry for words. Too many Reds have died and soon Newbloods like Nix, Mare, and Shade will follow, if they don't hurry.

Nix, reluctant, goes with them, but asks firmly that Maven be kept the HELL away from him.

With Cal, Tibe, and Elara, the Queen is led to the Silent Stone cells, where Cal is sitting.

She asks the Sentinel to leave them, and he does, before asking Cal why he can't follow simple orders, for a General?

Cal snaps that he DID follow those orders. He just didn't retriwve Mare and Maven because Mare threw a plane at them and he and Maven had a firefight before they escaped.

And it was not his fault there was a submarine there and that it was on a cliffside.

Elara laughs out and tells him that he'd better be able to explain that to his father, because he's just about ready to kill him, Mare, and Maven himself.

Cal gives a laugh, asking if she'd like that to happen, seeing as how that was her plan.

Elara takes a breath and warns Cal that if it weren't for the Silent Stone, she would have disposed of him the same way she did with Coriane; in her own words, "the weak bitch stole the crown from me once, and I won't let her bastard take it again."

Cal asks when he's getting executed, but Elara smirks.

No need, because they found Maven and Mare, and Tibe, who loves Coriane's son SO much, is sparing him for Maven, who's getting thrown to Volo Samos and Rem Rhambos.

After that, she'll scramble his brains with a fork until he's more broken than both his parents put together, regardless of his place as the crown prince of Norta; this ain't The Folk of The Air, people. She can marry and ally to whomever, but ELARA is going to rule Norta and will make the Lakelands and the other countries surrounding Norta kowtow to her will.

Cal watches her leave, nervous for himself, but more concerned for Maven.

Well, at least he hears, "WHY IS EVERYONE SO USELESS LATELY!?" down the hall.

Elara returns and Cal makes a suggestion to where Maven and Mare are going, for it's population amd the fact Elara hates the place in general:

Harbor Bay.

And he has a way to bring Mare back, one he made a while back.

And Part 2 is going to need a Part 2 because this is going to be longer than I thought😅

[elliemarchetti]

In the Queen of Fangs and Steel how is Volo and Larentia handling Ptolemus' death?

The Queen of Fangs and Steel (part 4)

I hope this is a fairly comprehensive answer regarding how Volo reacted. The part on Larentia will be in the next chapter.

Previous parts 

Words: 1358

Many things had happened since Ptolemus had died, but her parents attitude toward her never hinted at changing: they gave her to Maven, forced her to live at his court, to serve that king corrupted by his dead mother’s whispers, and made her fight in every possible occasion, a display of House Samos’ power, as if they haven’t accepted they’ve already lost their first born and they were left only with her, the shameful daughter that anyone else would’ve loved anyway, in that situation. But they were Volo and Larentia Samos, they had, or at least they showed, no emotions, and if they realized how much they risked her life every day, they didn’t cared, probably because they were convinced that once she married Maven, they would’ve been able to get rid of him, but Evangeline knew better: if and when the king would’ve died it would’ve been because he would’ve signed his own death sentence and the executioner would’ve been Mare Barrow, that despite being his biggest enemy he still kept with him, or, in the most unlikely of cases, Cal, if only her previous betrothed had managed to put aside the love for the brother he was convinced he had and had dropped the hatchet on that monster’s neck. What a ridiculous thought: Cal had no backbone and would’ve never beheaded Maven, not after what Elara had forced him to do to his own father. Anyway, however powerful Volo Samos felt and was, and they were very different things, he could do nothing against this King Calore, not the alliance to his House had any value, evidently, since Maven, during the meeting with the Cygnets, organized to try to find an agreement, a peace with the Lakelands that would bring the Reds back to his side, if there had ever been any, accepted his wedding propose. Evangeline looked at King Orrec with disgust, but she did it sideways, so as not to make the same feeling she felt for her father too obvious: what kind of man could you consider yourself, if you were willing to sell your daughter to a monster? A king, and if Evangeline had learned something in those years it was that every person who holds power isn’t a good person. His daughter, Iris, the younger of two sisters, stood perfectly still behind him. She knew her fate before she got there, just as Evangeline had known her own. They were the same, in a certain way, but as at that moment the whole pavilion was dividing them, there would always be something that would prevent them from becoming even just allies, be it Maven or the fact her loyalty, even if she was going to marry the Nortan king, belonged to the Lakelands. This, however, didn’t stop her from feeling pity when her father said it would be an honor for him to call that insolent little monster, to whom a joke of fate had given more power than he was capable or deserved to manage, son. The silence that followed that falseness was filled with the sound of chairs scratching against marble. In a swirl of black and metal, what was left of House Samos left the pavilion. Evangeline followed her father as if she were in a dream, and she didn’t felt her legs moving nor did she cared about what was going on around her: it was as if she had started to float, every weight that that life had loaded on her shoulders finally disappeared. There were no other kings she could marry, not in Norta nor elsewhere, and this one had put her aside for another woman, a princess, everything with a very clear purpose, so it wasn’t even her fault, which was a relief, because her father would’ve never forgave her, just like he wasn’t able to do for the fact she loved Elane and not Stralian, or any other man, as much as he cared. If only things had gone differently and Barrow had never entered her life, now she would’ve had Cal by her side and Elane in her heart, in her bed and in her mind, all the places she had to stay: who cared that they couldn’t get married? Tiberias V too had had a lover, and he was a man. Once she would’ve regretted that throne she would never have, but now she had other things that she missed, for what she would’ve sacrificed everything just to get them back.

“What’s the next move?” Evangeline asked when they were far enough from prying ears. It was unnerving not to be able to trust anyone, and if they had gone home to the Rift, that situation would’ve ended too, just like everything else. But not the pain, that would’ve remained forever.

“We act as if we’re loyal, so we stay with him and wait,” replied him, with his usual thoughtful expression. There were things he wouldn’t say to her, as always, but that was too little: everything at Maven’s court was corrupt, just like him, and the longer they stayed with him, the more they were poisoned by his rot, by the black caries that ate his brain and every bit of him that could be considered human, too. Even the king himself knew that there was something wrong with him, that he couldn’t be fixed either with the same ability that had broken him nor, for sure, with power; he was in pieces, and these were too small even for the best healer in the world.

“Wait for what? He had shown he doesn’t respect his greatest and strongest ally in the least, what more do you want? Do we have to sacrifice another life for these cursed Calore kings for you to understand we mean nothing to them? Who do you want to be the next? Me? Mum? Who are you still willing to lose for power? Or do you think anyone would spare us if he asked them to eliminate us? They didn’t do it for Cal and you’re wrong if you think you have more power than he did. We are just a threat to his new plan, you can’t just not see it!“ she snapped, but immediately realized that, even if she knew she was right, those words were a huge misstep. She had gone too far, and if instinct told her to run away, run as fast as she can and never come back, anger in her father’s eyes petrified her. Obviously Volo Samos must’ve seen the terror in his daughter’s eyes, but when he hit her hard enough to make her head turn the other way he didn’t cared, as it always happened when it came to her parents. When Ptolemus was there he always interceded and he had been hit in her place more than a few times. But now he was gone, and she was scared as if she was still a child.

“Never allow yourself to exploit your brother’s death for your personal advantage with me ever again,” hissed the man. “I thought you loved him more than that,” he concluded, the hoarse voice of someone with a lump in their throat, after a second of silence, and then he didn’t looked at her anymore. She wanted to scream, tell him he was the one who never loved him enough, who had always seen him only as yet another pawn in his hands, and at the same time she wanted to cry, tell him in a broken voice that he didn’t even remotely realized how much she loved him, how much she missed him, to the point that her heart ached even physically, that she felt an emptiness in her chest, a void no one will ever be able to fill in. She would’ve been never full again because someone took the other half of her, so, just like every broken thing, Evangeline stopped working in the proper way and she stood silent, thinking that her only chance of survival was to turn to the person that had broken her in the first place, the girl who had killed her brother.

[inopinion]

hi! I loved your barrow family fanfics they are amazing! could you do a short little excerpt of 1. cal and kilorn coming back from the end of gs where mare gave herself up and telling her family what happened? maybe in brees pov?? and then cut to before they left to rescue her ruth talking to cal telling him good luck and them having kind of a heart to heart about mare and how much they love her? sorry its specific its been in my head for a while but i dont have the skills to write it lol

A perfect reason to expand. Thank you for this prompt.

The Barrow Family Chronicles (What was left behind)

Part 1, Part 2. (This one comes chronologically before those)

Tag list: @lilyharvord, @mareshmallow, @redqueenfandom, @anyone-anything-canbetrayanyone, @runexandra, @tiberias-vii, @mareshmallow, @adraxsteia, @wrenskonos, @scarletguardsource, @clarafarleybarrow, @morebooks-pls, @lucid-shinobi, @cordelnight, @redqueenforever, @naercxy, @juggyandbetty, @mom2reesie, @lamemathpuns, @artemishdp, @feeoly, @psychopath-butterfly, @caloresblood, @evngelinesmos, @magicpara-dise

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For all theabilities and powers we have on this base, trenching drainage ditches is stillbest done by hand. There’s a Strongarm helping, but she’s not that muchstronger than me. A little, I guess. We keep our distance from thesilvers. Though, she sure is fit and it’s hard not to watch her work.

Being busy surebeats letting my mind wonder. Mare left last night and there hasn’t been wordsince. It’s not unusual for them to keep things quiet, but it sure sucks forour family. 

There’s just a tonof rumors. As soon as the jet took off, tongues start wagging. It’s all theusual: they only filled up halfway; they didn’t pack enough rations; they weregoing to have to abandon some of the team to make it back. The latest is thatthey lost communication, that the plane went down. It’s all talk.

Three other planeswent out today and that has even more scuttle collecting. A search party, theysay. Some say they’re surrounded and need reinforcements. When they thought Iwasn’t around, one asshole had the nerve to say they were body collectors. He’sin the infirmary for the day. No one’s gonna make a joke out of my sister’slife.

.

The planes come backfew hours before sun-set. Something about it, the way they went so deepinto the hangar, I knew something was wrong. It’s the same way that we knewsomething horrible had happened when Mare showed up with Shade. They hadstopped in the middle of the yard, where everyone could see them. One adisplay, now this one is hiding. 

It’s not good.Everything feels tight again, like when Shade… Everything pinches and prickles.It’s hard to breath and hard not to breath so fast. It’s harder still to makeit up the small bank, to get out of the ditch we’ve been digging all day. Somecall after me, but I’m not in any mood to wait on knowing. I walk to thehanger.

Farley is there to meet them. She’s still puffy-eyed andstrained looking, still grieving hard for my brother. She and Mare had wordsbefore the plane took off. Mare’s had words with a lot of people lately. She’ssort of war-fucked at the moment. Seen it a thousand times and it’s still worsewhen it’s your sister fighting herself so hard. Farley looks at me and thenaway. I’m no expert, but that’s not a good sign.

“Barrow, you should clean up. Go home,” she suggests.

“Go home? No news for us?” I ask.

“Prepare yourselves, best you can,” Farley strides away from me.

Dead. Dead. Gone. To be in the ground securely buried. When fivebecomes four and then becomes three… the three have to wonder, “why us.”

At the barracks, mom is patching a stack of pants. Gisa movesslower on her own set of shirts. Gisa stops immediately, mom won’t look up.This is a disruption to our routine and that is never good. Dad pushes himselfover and reads my face.

“She didn’t?” He holds together just for those two words andthen stops himself.

I nod, it’s easier to do than to say what we’re all thinking. Soinstead, I say, “Farley said to collect ourselves. I’m going to wash up.”

“Tramy…” mom murmurs, setting her sewing down.

“I’ll get him,” little Gisa is quick to get away. Running usedto be Mare’s thing, but maybe we all have a bit of that in us. She moves fastout of the room and down the hall.

I follow but only to the washroom. I scrub the dirt from myarms, my hands, wipe the sweat from my neck. I dug a ditch today already. Ithink I have it in me to dig a grave. For Mare, I’ll dig that grave all nightlong. And that’s when the tears come.

Tramy has been tending the fields at the on-base farm. They growsome of the vegetables we eat in small patches. The weeds are constantlyinvading. Tramy moves on his hands and knees down the rows clearing the soil.It’s turned his skin dark and hunched his shoulders. If hekeeps at it, he’s going to be hooked as an old man.

Oldman… Tramy and I, we might grow old. We were all supposed to die. We tried ourbest not to, but out of all of us, the smartest are gone. How is that fair? Iwant to switch places with either of them, with both of them. Surely I’m big enoughto take their place. But that’s not how death works.

Idry my face and take long breaths, steadying myself. I will be strong for Gisaand for mom. I will be strong for dad and for Tramy. I will not break. I willnot break.

Tramyand Gisa scurry from the other direction. Tramy is pale and getting lighter ashe walks. He’s moving fast and barely breathing. I can see the dizziness strikehim. We let him recover on the floor, watch him vomit his nerves, and then wehaul him up.

“Formom, now. Steady for mom,” I remind him. He nods and pulls his shoulders back,attempts to be straight and strong.

Thewaiting is the worst. Mom is already losing it. She runs her hands over thesmall blanket all of us used as babies. Even if Gisa was the last, it was alsoShade’s, also Mare’s. Dad holds her hand and they cry then mom gasps when theknock comes on the door.

Kilorn,our sixth sibling, our cousin, our… family by choice. You get the family thatyou get and that is precious and unique. But then you get the family that youneed. That’s what we are to Kilorn, the family that he needed.

“She’snot dead,” he says before anyone behind me can see him.

Momcries in a release of stress.

“Thankyou. Thank you,” Dad murmurs into his hands.

“Warren, what is going on?” Tramy pushes past me and drags himin.

He is not alone. Behind him, the fucking Prince of Norta hoversoutside. It least he has manners enough not to enter uninvited. I move to shutthe door.

“Bree Barrow, you let that boy in,” mom intervenes.

If dad had asked, I probably still would have shut the door, butfor mom, I move to the side and he steps in. Our house is split. He and hiskind have killed too many of us and ours. We knew at the front when the princewas in command, they wouldn’t ever let us forget it. The number of reds dead onthe battlefield didn’t seem to matter when it came time to call it a success.Thousands died because of him. I almost died because of him. Mare has been drugthrough the mud and across arenas because of him. And dad shakes his hand.

“Mr. Barrow, Mrs. Barrow, I am,” he swallows, he struggles. Iwant him to choke. “Mare made a deal with my brother.”

“Her for us,” Kilorn finishes, hands on his hips. “It was thator they’d kill us all.”

“Well, that sounds like Mare,” Gisa growls, and it’s enough tolighten us and earn a chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s our Mare,” my dad agrees.

“What will he do to her?” My mom sets her jaw and grips dad’shand.

Her question floods my mind with deplorable options. If it’strue and he’s obsessed with her, would he… could anyone… I feel sick justthinking about how men hurt women. I think about torture. I think about thetraining the guard gave us that was more like telling ghost stories.

“I don’t think he’ll hurt her,” the prince says.

“You don’t think? Shekilled his mother!” Tramy challenges.

Kilorn pushes back on Tramy’s chest an forces him to give theprince more room. His head shakes and Tramy cows. The prince could light us upin a second, best not to start anything.

“Maven… I think… he, um…”

“He had genuine feelings for her,” Kilorn says and it hurts him.I always knew he had a think for Mare.

“At one time, before Elara finished her gut-job on his mind. It’sa bit of a screwy situation, but I don’t think he’ll hurt her. If what I thinkcounts,” Cal presses his hands into his pockets.

“Then why take her?” I ask.

“He’s broken,” Cal says. “There is no why anymore.”

Dad blinks. Tramy huffs. Kilorn drops his hand from Tramy’schest and just looks haggard, bruised. I guess, looking at the prince in amoment of stillness, he looks worse than anyone else in the room. His pale skinis bruised purple in places, his hair is missing in places and he has blood andsinge marks on his clothes.

“What happened to your wrists?” Gisa points at white bands onKilorn’s wrists. Kilorn’s hands come up to his neck where a piece of gauze liesunder his shirt. “Your hurt?”

“Burns,” he looks at Cal, who looks away.

“You need to go to the infirmary,” Gisa stands.

Kilorn moves like a magnet repelled. Her movement pushes him tothe door. She reaches out to touch him, he moves further away. Until he thinksbetter of the situation and stops at the door.

“Cal, you better get looked at.”

It’s the excuse the prince needs to get out of our quarters.When he lurches forward, hands in his pockets, he stops.

“I’ll get her back. I promise. I’ll get her back.”

The promise of a prince goes as far as I can throw a piano withme. But that’s all we have.

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[gavrinking-blog]

WAR STORM by Victoria Aveyard: The Ugly Truth Book Review

Hey guys. So I'm making all this because I think of most of you are just disappointed with what happened with War Storm, the 4th and final book to the Red Queen series.

Just so you know I posted all this blurb on Wikia last night as anonymous but I think it's worth talking about here in Tumblr. Because again, all fandoms exist here.

I’m not asking anyone to agree with me, but if you think everything makes sense, then please REBLOG or SHARE so others can UNDERSTAND as well.

War Storm just showed the ugly truths no one wants to write about.

I've been reading the whole series for four years. And we all know how difficult it is for readers like us to wait another year just to know what happens next. So when you guys say that you aren't satisfied with War Storm, I completely agree.

After I read the whole thing, I somewhat felt how useless it has become to even read the whole series to begin with. Red Queen existed because of the war. Mare and the rest of the characters were set into motion because of the war.

THE WHOLE THING IS ABOUT THE WAR.

So for War Storm to have an open ending like that, without the war officially ending?

Yes, it sucks.

But remember this is our point of view.

We, as readers who went through all the books, read through chapters of planning and talking about the war, think it sucks. And that's understandable because we all wanted an ending where the war actually ends. After everything we all have been through, we are sick and tired of planning and talking about it and we all just wanted it to finally end.

But again, this is our point of view. OUR READER POINT OF VIEW.

Now let's go to a different point of view. THE PRAGMATIST AND REALITY CHECK POINT OF VIEW.

We all know for a fact that wars don't really end, right?Like c'mon guys just look around you. Even in the world we live in now, wars are still ongoing, may it be cold or not. We don't even need to talk about it. BECAUSE WE SEE IT.

So what do you expect? OF COURSE THE WAR WILL NEVER END.

Victoria was just writing the truth. I can't speak for her but that's how I see it.

Apart from the whole series rooted on war, we get to see so many ugly truths we all try to ignore because we can't bear to even read it.

Cal and Maven were fighting for the throne because they were both raised for it. Mare wasn't even enough to take that away, like Maven said. Because let's be honest, when you've worked so hard for something in your life, for ALL of your life, do you just throw it away because some girl just enters the picture? NO, OF COURSE NOT.

And let's keep in mind that they are Silvers. LOVE ISN'T THEIR VALUE. IT'S STRENGTH AND POWER. Don't for a second think that love will always win over everything. Because it certainly didn't win at the end of War Storm. If you don't believe me, again look around you. Divorce rates are spiraling upwards, people break up over the most inconsequential things. The only constant thing we all fight for is money. BECAUSE THAT'S HOW WE SURVIVE. JUST LIKE HOW SILVERS SURVIVE ON STRENGTH AND POWER. WE CLING TO WHAT WOULD MAKE US SURVIVE.

The world is a cruel place and that's what War Storm showed. It’ll always be about the survival of the fittest. That never changed since forever.

So yes, we can all complain about the ending but sometimes we have to try and perceive.

We have to look at a different angle and perspective because that's our flaw as well. We don't realize it but we should.

The war didn't end. But just because it didn't, does it mean everything that happened was pointless?

NO.

You guys answer why.

PART 2: MARE, CAL, AND MAVEN

Also I'm adding to that what happened with Mare and the others.

Let's admit we all hate her at some point. If you didn't hate her by the end of War Storm, I did. But again, we need to see different angles to it.

I know we're all thinking:

1. Cal gave up the crown, told Mare "I'm what you want me to be". And yet they didn't end up together?!

Okay that is infuriating. Not because I'm Team Maven through and through, but because I hated the fact that Cal sacrificed everything he worked for for his entire life and in the end, it looked like it was all for nothing. Like Mare, seriously?! YOU WANTED CAL TO CHOOSE YOU BUT YOU CAN'T CHOOSE HIM IN THE END.

That's another infuriating choice. But again, let's try to look at it at a pragmatist/reality check POV. Mare still chose her cause and her blood before Cal. That's why she wanted a country with no monarchy and Silver kings ruling it. So yes, IT WAS CAUSE OVER CAL EVEN THROUGH THE END. Can we blame her for it? Maybe not.

And then there's the "We need time to heal and rebuild" thing, courtesy of Maven. Let's be realistic to this out of respect for Maven's character. Cal and Maven grew up together. Maven did everything he could to keep Mare. Just because he's gone, it doesn't mean he didn't leave a deep wound on them. In fact the whole series wouldn't have been so complex and twisted if it wasn't for him. IF IT WAS THAT EASY TO MOVE ON, THEN WE READERS WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ALL HERE TALKING ABOUT IT.

2. Maven. Was that a Tris Prior thing?

People are telling Victoria not to pull a Veronica Roth when RQ came out. I'm not trying to criticize out of hate, but I just want to be objective. Tris died because of a gunshot when the whole Divergent series was about people chasing and shooting at her. Unjustified death? Definitely.

But not for Maven.

If you just try to read in between the lines, you'd notice that maybe Maven actually wanted it. He wanted to die by Mare's hands without the fire and the electricity. Just both of them so bare and vulnerable and very human within the cages of the Stone. And there's definitely a lot symbolism to it.

Maven found comfort within the Stone because he knew whatever he did was of his choice. Not Elara's or anyone's. Just like how he was comforted and satisfied by the fact that it was Mare who killed him.

Mare made him feel alive and not alone. And in the end, he was glad that he still felt it when Mare killed him. He was winning against Mare during that fight. But he finally decided to choose Mare, even after he countlessly said in his POVs that he'll choose himself if it ever came to the point that they would be killing each other.

He chose Mare.

Justified death? I think yes.

Also, if you think there wasn’t any redemption from Maven, think about it again.

There's a bit of redemption from Maven even if he was fighting with Mare til the end. We all know he's broken beyond repair but look at his last line. He said, "I tried, Mare." And obviously he did try because he's winning that fight. He wasn't stupid. He could've snatched the knife out of her hand from his vantage point. And he could've dodged Mare's attack because he was on top of her. He could easily avoid the knife. But he allowed Mare to win and in the end he was satisfied he died by her hands.

Now people are saying, why didn't Victoria just write it clear how Maven exactly died? Aka where he was stabbed, how did he look, what was his last moments when Mare couldn't see it anymore?

Well, it's Maven Calore. He'll always be a mystery even after his death. And I don't think you can really give justice to that if Victoria just wrote it plainly. As an author, I think she felt fear at least and anxiety. Let's all just leave it at that because it doesn't exactly change anything if we know the clear details of it.

And with Maven's twisted mind? I don't think he'd want us to know either.

He'd want us to think about him forever. Just like how he did with Cal and Mare.

So if that means leaving a big puzzle with so many missing pieces, then that’s what we get.

As a reader, I would've wanted at least to know more about how Mare felt about it. I feel like it would've add a bit more justice to him if Victoria elaborated on how Mare felt and not just graze through the motion when Mare found out he's dead.

Also, it would've had more impact if Mare actually did see the body. But again, we can't expect we'd get all the missing pieces. Sometimes it's better left that way.

AND DON'T EVER FORGET WHAT MAVEN SAID TO MARE.

It won't end here. You can drag my corpse across the world, and it won't end any of this.

ENOUGH SAID. HE'LL ALWAYS BE "THE ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS".

PART 3: MAVEN AND SYMBOLISM

If you want me to elaborate more on the symbolism, then you can continue on. But if nah, you're good then that's fine too.

So I've said before that Maven found comfort within the cages of the Silent Stone. Again, there's a lot of symbolism behind this one because we all know King's Cage and what happened when Mare was in captivity. During those times she was under the Stone, Maven has built a cage for her because it made him feel as if Mare was his.

So for them to fight within another Silent Stone cage in War Storm? It made Maven feel Mare was his. Like his said, Mine. During those moments where both of them were vulnerable, he felt alive and satisfied to be bare with her. Because for one, brief moment again, he laid out a part of himself that was real and truly him until the very last time he looked at her. 

He said many times before that they were both alone. So yes, they were both alone. Together. Again if you guys read closely, he said, We can still run. Together.

Obviously there are a lot of implied meanings behind what he said.

The fact that Evangeline ran to Montfort and left behind everything, meant that Maven was ready to leave everything behind just to be with Mare again. He knew he had lost the war and there’s nothing else left for him. For one last time, he tried.

And let’s not forget they were inside the Silent Stone cage/room.

Everything Maven said and did with her was of his own choice.

He died, letting Mare win because he knew his last try will never work.

But at least he was satisfied.