I’m rereading Po3 and despite its flaws I really enjoyed the introduction to the three. Jaykit isn’t mentioned to be blind in the first few chapters and instead they chose to show how much MORE capable he is compared to his littermates; until at the end of chapter 3, he brings up his blindness on his own. It makes forcing him to be a medicine cat SO much more frustrating because it really feels like they’re setting him up to be a warrior and choose his own fate (note i haven’t finished the reread this is just my first impression)
I like how you seem to take that path in BB regardless! It makes his arc so much more enjoyable
His arc in canon is super frustrating because he's such an independent character who clearly wants to make his own decisions in life, but then he just gets shoved into the medcat den. I LIKE that he ultimately goes there and that he enjoys it; but it was still really fucked up that they stripped away his autonomy in the process.
Re: they are not real, they are writing choices. Taking away the choices a disabled character can make over their own life, forcing them into a celibate nun role, and then going "awwwww dont worry see? he likes it! This was the best thing for him :)" was fucked up.
And imo it didn't have to be that way! You wouldn't have to go the FULL route I did with big changes, he could just be more involved in the descision to stop being a warrior apprentice and it would be fine. Minor change that would make a world of difference.
I do also have to interject to say though... blindness should really not be an extremely severe impairment for a ThunderClan cat.
I'm dead serious.
Whiskers are built-in sensors that tell you the exact position of everything within several inches of your head, ears swerve to pick up sound, and the jacobson's organ provides a sense of smell so keen that I have an entire Clanmew expansion draft because I needed to make WORDS describing the power of this sense that humans do not have. I cannot stress enough how delicate their other senses are, felines do not rely on their sight like primates do
ThunderClan lives in a mixed-oak woodland, where sight is already often obscured by foliage, objects are close together (for whiskers to feel), and nearly every movement makes noise against the leaf litter. RiverClan and (moor-running) WindClan cats would have a harder time with this disability than Thunder or Shadow.
Cat sight SUCKS to begin with. It sucks BADDD. They don't have color vision, they're significantly nearsighted, and they can't track up-and-down movements well. WC doesn't write realistic cats (more like small fuzzy people really) and I also work with more humanesque eyesight, but the only thing Jay should really lose is an ability to rapidly track a small animal swerving fast. Blind cats are often still excellent hunters in spite of that!
So it's an extra big waste that they railroaded him into a position he didn't choose, saying he couldn't be a warrior. This is the perfect disability to write, if you want to explore how ableism can impact the characters in this society who ARE legitimately still capable of nearly full independence, but still need to find accommodations for what they can't do.
In the same arc they're doing the dumb Cinder Reincarnation Plotline, no less!! Where SHE is also feeling like she has no choice over her "destiny," and gets a conflict over a potentially disabling injury
"Oh nooo if cinderpaw breaks her leg she wont be a warrior!"
"What the f-- Im Jaypaw and im reporting live from the scene where a Category 1 Idiot Moment is taking place. Woman breaks leg, suddenly everyone believes she is a horse, more at 11."
One of these days I should really make "herb guides" just covering how various sensory disabilities impact the lives of Clan cats and some tips for writing them as warriors, especially between Clans. Stuff you wouldn't usually consider, like how much noise deaf cats tend to make, how RiverClan would get a ton of sinus infections and lose their sense of smell, being blind in Sky vs Thunder, etc.
Alex on his way back from Paris is one of the most underrated Taylor scenes in Red White and Royal Blue and I think he did such a splendid job there. It's underrated in the sense that, it's not as talked about as his coming out to Henry scene or lake scene or Kensington palace confrontation scene, mostly possibly because it's so short (about 9 seconds). But it's one of my favorites and it owns my heart 🥺♥️. I even talked about it a bit in my little moments series part 1, but not nearly enough.
To me, this scene was incredibly beautifully acted. Taylor poured his heart and soul into it. I believe he discussed it with Matthew extensively and put a lot of thoughts on his approach to it. He knew, the focus would be on his face and he had to portray the many emotions of Alex perfectly and boy did he deliver!
Alex was seen to be so lost in thoughts on the plane, taking in all the new things that had happened, contemplating Henry and their situationship, navigating all the new feelings that were bubbling up within his chest.
He was thinking about Henry, who had become such a good friend to Alex in such a short amount of time, who listens to him, supports him, reassures him while having his own demons to deal with, his closetedness, unsympathetic grandparent. I'm sure Alex felt heard, connected, loved and at the same time feeling a new sense of responsibility towards Henry, to care for him, to protect him. He was falling so fast in love with Henry. This must have been overwhelming to him in the best possible way. And you can see it in the way he goes from pensive to taking in a deep breath. I love how it shows that he is relaxing and coming to terms with all these new feelings.
And he tears up a bit at the weight of them, the weight of all the good things, the prospect of something much bigger and more beautiful than a hook up. And he smiles, ever so softly, at how happy and at peace it made him feel.
I cropped the photo so that his teary eyes can be seen a little better. This 9 second scene is so important and sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Alex was clearly very serious after this about their relationship. His transition from showing just pure Physical want and devouring looks (at the polo match), and then just having a good time with Henry, discovering little things about each other (garden scene and Paris Cafe scene) to Paris hotel scene where they make love for the first time and him pouring his heart out to Henry, and seeing Henry say all the right things, respond in the most loving way, has been done so seamlessly and all of it culminate in this plane scene. And it's so apparent that Alex is grasping and accepting all of that. It's just amazing to see Taylor portray this with just facial expressions (and not through a convo with a friend like it's sometimes done in movies). Such a well scripted and well acted scene, it was so refreshing to watch 🥰
Putting in an official request for A and X patreon bath snippets (I'm kidding this is a joke this is a joke do whatever you want forever, I just really like the R and D snippets you've given us so far they're very very good thank you so much for them) (also for everyone else reading this if you're looking for a sign to subscribe to the patreon this is it, it's absolutely worth it)
Oh, you mean these tier 3 snippets?
Yeah, I'll probably write a version for X and A as well 🤭
If you want further evidence of Ed being fully cognizant of what Izzy did to him and to Stede, let us take his comment that Izzy's leg is "up in leg heaven."
This line recalls Izzy's insistence the Ed murder Stede and send him to "doggy heaven." It was a breaking point, leading to Ed's confession of his father's murder, and then to Izzy himself attempting to kill Stede. It relates Ed's physical violence against Izzy to the violence of trying to remove Stede.
Their conversation goes on:
"Have you come to take the other one?"
"I think one's quite enough."
Izzy did try to take something intrinsic to Ed, and that was "quite enough." He justifies having Stede shot by firing squad: "This is a humane way of ending it. It's quick, it's clean. Edward, you know that." He's blind to Ed's suffering, and is fully expecting Ed to agree with him. He's removing a healthy limb, ripping something away that's an intrinsic part of Ed's self, and saying that it's for Ed's own good.
"I think one's quite enough" is a reminder of that moment. It is quite enough to have a part of himself ripped away for no reason, and now Izzy has experienced that too.
In both instances, Izzy does fail to kill Stede, but the trauma he inflicts on Ed still leaves a mark. During the duel, Ed fully shuts down, clinging to the rigging and rocking himself back and forth. He only starts to recover when he realizes Stede has survived. In the firing squad scene, he panics until he finally shouts "act of grace." He only recovers when he realizes that Stede is going to live.
But now there's no act of grace. Stede is gone, and Ed is fully preparing himself to die. In the depths as he is, Ed wants to see Izzy panic. He wants to see him shut down. He wants him to feel a fraction of the pain he felt when Izzy tried to sever Stede from him.
It’s very much “You took him from me. Now just kill me.”
The relief in his eyes when she said she wouldn't judge him so easily. The delight in his face when she said she would've taken it further.
The curious tilt of her head, thinking how he knew she got expelled, and with no hesitation she'd do it again. His reaction to it; the evident joy that he couldn't hide.
Then all goes to hell when he says;
"I knew there was a reason I liked you."
Her face softens as he says it. Thee Wednesday Freakin' Friday Addams.
It sealed it. A validation.
Someone liked how unhinged she was, a normie even, accepted her for who she is. He was different from the snobbish, insufferable elites she had met in the school she didn't want to attend. He gets his hands dirty and not like the Nevermore brats too spoiled to know how a coffee machine works.
And it all made sense at the end why she was so into him too.
Him being a normie was fine.
She couldn't have foresaw or imagine him as an outcast.
But him being both of two worlds was so unexpected, it stung. Everything he did was a mockery of her shortcomings, and they both knew it. Him more than anyone else.
As much as she couldn't stand the fact that being a psychic, a raven, and missing the most crucial part of the puzzle humiliates her to the bone, it didn't change the fact that, yes.
Yes. All was done, blood was shed, tears were wasted and lives were taken.
He was suddenly the monster wreaking havoc in town. Disemboweling bodies in the woods, lying as if it were walking, killed his therapist boy-monster.
He wasn't just Tyler Galpin; a part time barista, and a wide eyed boy ready to comply with her whims.
He was, and is the Hyde.
Walking freely in town wearing the same innocent face that managed to fool her and stayed out of her radar. With his bigot, normie, sheriff father.
All smiles and sunshine in the daylight, but at night the shadows consume him.
"Of course the first boy I'd kiss would turn out to be a psycho killing monster. Guess I have a type."
Yeah girl you have a type.
And it's a temperemental beast with a mind of its own.
And it all started with a cup of coffee he had made for her. And those damn words she held in the back of her mind every time she does something unpleasant or disappoints her family or the head of the wretched school.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you."
But this time, it wasn't Tyler Galpin's voice echoing in her shabby mind.
It was her voice that she tried to suppress as her ribcage claws out of her chest. Denying any hint of affection.
There is always an explanation why things are the way they are, and why people act the way that they do.
And it was in front of her all this time.
Even now that Tyler is splayed bloody in the open.
As every Adam Neylan written HB episode passes, I keep having to remind myself that he is also the co writer for Hazbin, and I legit wanna die every time.
Crielle ferch Fnwy is the matriarch of the An Fnwy estate, a beautiful, evil Machiavellian supervillain who has been manipulating the Seelie Court and her family for tens of thousands of years, while giving the appearance of being a perfectly loving Seelie fae who only cares about truth and justice.
Mother of Gwyn ap Nudd, and aunt of Efnisien ap Wledig, Crielle is actually only rarely seen in stories, but has an explosive impact regardless, due to the trauma she inflicts or causes others to inflict on our main characters.
‘You’re not mine. You may have stolen from our family legacy, you may have parasitised our reputation, you may have even exploited and ruined the things about our appearance that make us – not you – beautiful. But you are not, you have never been mine. If you felt a short, sharp shock when you came into the world, my darling, it was my hands around your throat while your father tried to pull me off you.
‘Imagine, if you will, my dear, reprehensible thing. Imagine the first time you came back to me after we sent you away to play with Efnisien. Oh you were only twelve or thirteen? What a lovely idea that was. And Efnisien had you for hours. I told him to use knives. He liked them so, and he didn’t think he’d be allowed. So precious. And I heard the distant echo of your screams like a faint, familiar melody all throughout my day. A time when they stopped because he gagged you perhaps? Or your voice gave out? Tsk. He is – was – so crude. But still...effective. And do you remember? Oh, my creature, imagine it...
‘You came home hours later, hours after Efnisien. You were broken and cut and bleeding and so, so ruined. And you stumbled into the house, and there I was waiting for you. Breathless, actually. And you stared at me as though I would – what? – tell you that Efnisien had crossed a line, gone too far? Do you remember what I did?’
‘You smiled at me,’ Gwyn said, his voice rough and rusty.
Game Theory
Game Theory: Introduced as the manipulative, evil, and cruel mother of the King, Crielle starts off with Cinderella stepmother vibes, until you realise that Gwyn's her only son and she can't stand him, favouring his cousin Efnisien instead. A torturer, abuser, schemer, and conniving Machiavellian figure, she ultimately has been puppeting the Seelie Court for thousands of years, and is the cause of Gwyn attaining, and then losing, his Kingship.
It's safe to say that Crielle has never been the Most Valued Player of any story.
The Court of Five Thrones: While Crielle only has a very brief appearance in this story, her presence is felt throughout. We find out more about her feelings towards Gwyn, through journals he discovers in her house after her murder at Augus' hands.
The Drawn Bead: In a story that explores Gwyn's first love, Crielle is there as a forbidding, tormenting figure, ruling Gwyn's life with an invisible, oppressive kind of terror.
The Curse: The only story which features Crielle's perspective, we see her as a child, a teenager, an adult, and learn about her dangerous proclivities, how her family did and didn't deal with them, and the depth of her love for a select few people, a love that she gave to Gwyn right up until the moment he was born.
Fae Tales – Alternative Perspectives: Crielle is only here briefly, but we see more of her dialogue with Gwyn, and more of Augus' perspective about her.
Underline the Black: Crielle here emerges as a cruel villain to Efnisien, in a flipped/reversed narrative where Gwyn is her beloved child, and Efnisien is nothing more than a neglected science experiment. Efnisien's life is at the mercy of Crielle's whims, and she puts him first in Hillview (an institution) to put him out of sight and out of mind, but as soon as he causes too much trouble for her, she won't hesitate to strike him down.
The Spoils of the Spoiled: In which Crielle even in the human world as a human herself proves that she can be just as evil as ever. Ruler of the household, torturer of Gwyn (and later, we learn, Efnisien), and clearly involved in corruption and organised crime, Crielle lives her best life in this story until Gwyn tries to legally emancipate himself from the family.
Falling Falling Stars: In the follow up to The Spoils of the Spoiled, Efnisien - previously thought of as the beloved and protected 'adopted' child of Crielle's - reveals over time the verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse he suffered at her hands through therapy sessions with Dr Gary. Over time, we realise that no one is safe from her influence.
Crielle is very 'classically' beautiful, with blonde hair that has a slight wave in it, that generally falls down to her shoulders. She has azure eyes, a shade of blue almost never found among humans (even when she's human). She wears only enough make-up to accentuate her eyes and perfect lips, and maintains a very 'natural' effect to her beauty. It looks effortless and perfect enough that many who are experienced with beauty routines know she puts a lot of time into her appearance.
Crielle is asexual, sex repulsed, and aromantic.
Crielle is common fae, and while she's affected by the curse that Olphix cast upon the family, I like to think she'd still be pretty awful.
Born into a family in which some members are predisposed to sociopathic behaviour, Crielle was one of the worst and was not encouraged by her parents to be the way she is. Many people assume that she was abused into her evilness, but she wasn't.
To me, the concept or alienness of someone who is as evil as Crielle simply because she was 'born that way' is very fascinating to me.
Incredibly intelligent and perceptive, her few weaknesses are around the (few) people she loves and the way she will indulge them, as well as anything that threatens her reputation.
In Game Theory, when we finally realise that she is at the centre of Gwyn's devotion, standing there watching his humiliation, reacting in disgust to being called 'Mama' in a moment of vulnerability from her own son.
In Falling Falling Stars, Efnisien calls Crielle, and it becomes quickly clear that she holds no love in her heart for Efnisien when she calls him a 'ghost' and reminds him that ghosts are very easy to kill, making it clear she still wants him dead, and only inertia/disinterest is keeping her from following through because she'd already killed him once.
Always really fucking evil and irredeemable.
Frankly dies a lot.
Always a bit of a mad chemist. In Fae Tales she is a literal chemist and inventor of many different poisons. This has carried over even in to her human incarnations where in the Spoils universe she uses her knowledge of science to cultivate, create, or acquire poisons and viruses and bacteria to insert into Gwyn's food. And carries even more strongly into the Underline universe, where she runs one of the most successful synthetic hormone companies in Australia.
Visibly stunning.
Cares a great deal about reputation.
Usually loves Efnisien. Underline is the first series that has flipped the narrative so that Gwyn is beloved and Efnisien is loathed.
Kind of disdains her husband, who has no power over her.
Crielle is a real figure in Welsh mythology, though she was never meant to be an evil figure. Nor is she Gwyn's mother in the mythology. A sign of just how intensely I've bastardised everything for my own purposes.
She is good friends with the Ratcatcher of Hameln.
I wanted Crielle to be an example of how you can't expect that someone perfectly beautiful is a good person. I also really wanted to write a woman villain. I felt like a lot of woman villains at the time that I was seeing or reading were often written as petty or just in ways that made them somehow 'weak.' The appeal of Crielle is that she's an extremely effective villain and the only thing that stops her is her death (with the exception of Falling Falling Stars).
Despite how awful she is, I really love her! I'd write her more, but she's too strong and powerful lmao and she ruins my character's lives too much.
Crielle's colours for me have always been cream, yellow, white and blue. It's hard to imagine her wearing anything else.
‘How perfectly disgusting,’ Crielle purred. ‘A little worm has learned how to use the phone. I thought I had a caterpillar once, that would turn into the most beautiful butterfly, but it turns out the only thing my sister’s loins are good for, are despicable little worms.’
‘D-Do you hate me now?’ Efnisien whispered.
Crielle laughed lightly.
‘Oh, oh, my darling, I don’t hate you.’ A moment of hope, strong and bright, a sudden dawn inside of him. ‘I feel nothing for you. As far as I recall, I killed my nephew, and you are nothing more than a ghost.’
my plan tomorrow: watch decked out vods during work bc it's probably gonna be slow. make myself food in my crockpot for dinner assuming i did indeed get all my ingredients i needed the last time i went shopping. make myself....some sort of alcoholic drink. sit down at my computer and spend the rest of the evening fully rewriting That Scene in firewatch au