#book one mal and mal in my world is still being the best most lovely most wonderful being

[storyofmychoices]

I HC that Mal can't sleep because of nightmares of when Daenarya was gone.

But he may be corrupted by the shadow realm since he's on the shadow side of the book cover. He probably made a bad rash decision when MC was gone and figured he had to try everything.

Or you know... it could be Nia somehow. They spent a lot of time together and we know she had such darkness in her and her powers are so not normal so there's something going on there. Maybe she's taking from Mal?? I don't know, but Nia's not right either.

[amethxxt]

i'm ranting about descendants again and this is a long one

Alright, I talked a little bit about this on twitter literally yesterday (https://x.com/amethxxt/status/1798768561613361458) but I wanted to do it here too, so here we are!!

I think everyone has seen these pictures by now. It's from Descendants new book "The World of Auradon: Royals & Villains".

Now, at first, I got really excited (in a way, I still am) because it'll probably give me more material to use in my fics. Also, Uma looks absolutely stunning, so I immediately began reading her page and... Well, it's not the nicest things, right?

Like I said on twitter, I can't be the only one who sees the majorly different ways they talk about Uma and Mal.

With Mal, they start saying she's a "confident natural leader", and like- no, she's not, far from it.

I think the best version we got from Mal was on D1. She was such a good character and that's when I think the writers succeded the most with her - I believe it was hard to find someone who actively disliked or simply hated her.

When D2 came out, things went slightly downhill. Mal's inner conflict of not being the picture perfect Lady of the Court and feeling that the odd one out because she wasn't doing well in Auradon when compared to her friends is very realistic.

The pressure that she was feeling to be perfect and all the new things that came with being the King's girlfriend makes you understand why she was so anxious and wanted to leave. Now, I think we should all understand that this makes Mal a very insecure person.

She's insecure, she's flawed and runs away the first chance she gets because everything becomes too much. And if they wrote her like that, how is she a confident natural leader?

When the Core Four and Ben go after her, it's when things begin to change. Mal has a few moments in this movie: running away and leaving just a note to her best friend, claiming Dizzy was going to be fine when Evie felt sorry about leaving a child in the abusive place they all grew up in, betraying Uma's trust. Yeah.

I'm gonna make it very clear that I really like Mal as a character. I criticize her a lot because the writers started putting her in a pedestal, overpowering her and trying to erase anything that could be seen as bad.

Why would they have Mal apologize for using a love spell on Ben when they make such a cute couple and would be endgame anyways?

It gets worse in D3. I remember watching them announce that Hades was Mal's father and being like "No fucking way" because you want this girl to be not only half-fairy but a half-god?? Was this the only way to have his ember in the story?

Well, I think we got used to that plot after a while, but then - Oh, Mal's also Lady of the Court, she'll be a part of the decisions that concern the Isle of the Lost and a voice for the other VKs.

Yes, Mal is "a confident natural leader" who turns her back on her people and comes up to the idea of closing the Barrier for good to protect Auradon citizens.

Why do they refuse to bring up the fact that it was her idea?? Nevermind the fact that her and Ben weren't married yet, she was not the Queen and had absolutely no power to make that decision. They make Ben so useless, a King with no voice because he's not the main character, right?

So she makes a decision that's not up to her and proceeds to lie to all of her friends, makes empty promisses to both Celia and Uma, and when shit hits the fan, nothing happens.

Having Evie confront her about it is one of my favorite scenes, but what are the consequences? I understand that it was the final movie, but it's so rushed that makes everyone else feel out of character.

Mal and Evie can be the best of friends, but you can't tell me Mal would be like "I was wrong, I have to be a voice for everyone and I shouldn't have lied" and Evie would be just "Ok, perf".

And what about the opposite? When Mal betrays Uma for probably the third time, Uma has no trouble forgiving her? Of course they don't mention what happens in the books, they don't mention Mal trying to hurt Evie (or even get her killed lol) and they don't mention the "shrimpy" incident with Uma.

They don't talk about Mal's wrong doings the same way they talk about Uma.

Uma, according to the new book, is a "confident and resourceful VK with a major mean streak". Sorry, Uma has a mean streak? I don't think so. What Disney and Descendants keep doing is use the definition of a villain for a character who's an antagonist.

Villains have malicious intentions, they are evil. You're gonna tell me the girl who simply wants for all the children to get off the Isle, a place they were forced to live in along with murderers and other criminals, some of those who happened to be their parents, all while surviving off of the garbage that came from Auradon, is the evil one?

That is not to say Uma doesn't make mistakes or does bad things. Mal and Uma have the common point of using a love spell on Ben, which is awful and should be acknowledged as that, but they only do it in Uma's case.

"When Mal and her friends successfully freed Ben, Uma took it one step further by putting Ben under a magic love spell" x "She [Mal] used spells to mess with other students, to convince Ben that he loved her, and to change herself in order to fit in as Ben's girlfriend. But once she realized she needed to ditch the spell book and learn to survive without magic, she was able to become the queen she was always meant to be"

Those... are not the same to me. They detail every thing Uma does during D2, making it clear that using a love spell was worse than the previous actions of kidnapping him, but with Mal it almost feels like they excuse her actions because, eventually, she learned that magic wasn't the way to become who she was meant to be.

Also, what do you mean Mal felt guilty about the other VKs who were left behind? Mal didn't even look sad when her and Evie were leaving Dizzy behind! Evie was the one to come up with the idea to bring more children to Auradon, and when that magically turned into the VK Day (my arch-nemesis plotline along with Merlin Academy), she didn't look worried at all that it would them so long to free all the kids if they were going to pick 4 each time.

And again, her idea to close the Barrier for good (with no way in or out) would mean that eventually, everyone left in the Isle would die. I know it's Disney, and they would never make that happen, but if you're not going in to even leave your trash there (aka their food source), yeah, they're all dying.

Now, with Uma, they point out how she wanted to escape and get revenge on Mal, but like...... not really? Of course she mentions in D2 how she wants Mal's new turf and tries to make a deal with her to leave with her crew, but when she's actually free and we get into D3, it's been months (I think) and while Auradon's scared she's going to do something, we find out Uma spent all that time looking for a hole in the Barrier to get the kids out.

When she makes another deal to help Mal, all she asks for is the guarantee that every kid who wants to leave the Isle is able to do so. Who breaks that promise? The "villain" with the major mean streak or the confident natural leader?

I'm not saying that Mal is real villain, because she's really not. But she's far from how they describe her and if you're gonna tell me she's a natural leader, I better not see her bringing down the Barrier, letting both the kids and villains out, and acting like it's the right thing to do.

VK Day wasn't the answer to free the innocents, but bringing down the Barrier isn't it either! Mal doesn't "help convice Auradon citizens to accept all VKs into Auradon Prep" she just decides to do that lol

And again, that decision is not up to her, she had no legal right to do it. She was just Lady of the Court and nothing else.

Like I said on twitter, Disney and Descendants like Uma because she's a fan favorite, she was one since they announced her as a character. But they insist on the idea that Auradon changed her for the better, as if she was never someone who fought for what was right. She's not perfect either, but they can't write about her in a way that makes her look better than Mal.

How did Mal stop her at the end of D2? Mal didn't do anything, they were fighting, Ben made a speech, Uma turned around and left. That was it.

How did Auradon transform her? Of course they are implying that because of Rise of Red and her becoming the new principal, and even though this plot still kinda confuses me, it still seems like all the wants is for Auradon to be a fair place that doesn't discriminate against anyone.

I now this is getting too long, but I really like ranting about descendants. It's my comfort franchise but there's so many things wrong with it lol

And I also know I'm probably looking too deep into it, but I don't think I'm the only one who sees the ways Disney has always treated Uma and Mal differently.

I want to get this book and see if there's anything else about them. I really wished Disney and Descendants treated Uma better, though.

[mister-eames]

Hello Ash! So, we know that Dom got into dreamsharing because of professor Miles, but how do you think Arthur and Eames got into the industry? And why did they stay, what attracted them to it?

(this is especially true for Arthur, who seems to not have side gigs apart from it, from what we know at least)

And do you think they'll stay after inception?

Hello lovely!!! Oh I love this question and I'd love to know your thoughts/theories as well!!

For Arthur, I love the fandom fave military backstory, and having been a part of the original project. Or maybe Miles used to work in the US and it was Arthur that was one of his 'best and brightest' that Cobb corrupted. Mostly, I gravitate towards the idea that Arthur was never a student or in the military - that he worked himself up into a position as a research assistant through sheer hard work and happenstance, met Cobb through this position and got roped into dreamshare when Cobb went off the rails.

Arthur, to me, seems to be one of the most grounded in having a life outside of dreamshare/criminal activity. I think he was deeply attracted to the exploration of it - to the knowledge, the learning. A whole new world of ideas, notions and theory that he couldn't extract from any book. His thrill was the unspooling of it all. If Arthur wanted to know about dreamshare, its mechanics, its history, then he had to work for it, experience it. Dreamshare, to Arthur, was a challenge, it was the chance to dream up the life for himself that he always wanted - to make the money everyone said he never would.

But then, I think, once Arthur had learned and experienced as much as he could... it stopped being a challenge. It stopped being fun, something he enjoyed. It stopped being the thing that lit the fire under him. That, and what happened to Mal. Maybe he just wants to do something else, go back to a semblance of normality. I truly think he got a big dose of 'play stupid games, win stupid prizes' with Mals death, amongst other things to where it just wasn't worth it anymore. He stayed to get Cobb out of his mess, and didn't return to it, after Inception, except potentially for a handful of times when someone really needed him.

For Eames.... also love the military backstory. Solid. Works for me, love it. I'm also fond of the idea that he was just a young man down on his luck at one point, got into stealing, forging, cat burglary, whatever, and was tasked - either by fee or by blackmail - to steal a PASIV. Of course, seeing what a high price it fetched for, he kept it for himself. The rest is history.

I have a headcanon that Eames was actually retired from dreamshare at the time of Inception, and that he couldn't help but have one last chance at succeeding where he had failed before (and one last chance to dream with Arthur again). I don't know if he ever goes back after. Maybe on very rare occasions, to see if he's 'still got it'. My feeling is that his heart hasn't been in it for a long time, and that the detriments truly outweighed the benefits for him.

I like to think they were both on the path of different things in life besides dreamshare at the time of the movie. Neither of them seem particularly invested in the work itself for the reasons I mention before - especially Arthur, he didn't even want to take on the job, had no professional interest whatsoever. Eames barely kept a toe in the door prior to his recruiting. That, and I think they're at a transitional point in life - thirty-ish/thirty-something - where your priorities are just...changing. Your drives are different, your goals. You look back at your twenty-something version of yourself and say see, you survived, it's time to take a deep breath now. With all of the imagination, influence and investments they must have, I don't know if they would want to spend their time moving forward the same way they did the decade before when they were young and careless, after all they've been through.

[lilyoffandoms]

My February Challenge Masterlist

So January is done and I still need things to occupy my time while I’m laid up so onto the next challenge. A Choices February 2024, Choices Pride, and other fandom challenges seemed appropriate since I’ll go back to work right around the 14th so it gives me copious amounts of time to draw lovey dovey (platonic included) art for the season.

Trystan x Emma (CoP)

Based on the fic, The 2AM Christmas Tree Farm, by the extremely talented @thosehallowedhalls. Regrets, wishes granted, new regrets discovered, and best of all the most perfect mix of angst with happy endings.

Aiden x Evie (HSS)

Based on two lovely edits by @cadybear420. I’ve never played any of the HSS books but I’m incredibly tempted to give them a go based on this edit alone! Plus, Evie in a suit? Yes please (can’t wait to see you post that one)!

Kit x Jules (Untamable)

Based on the fic, We’ll Figure It Out, by @peonyblossom. Many of ya know I’m a sucker for cowboys and a select few (really all y’all know) I’m usually a sucker for books the fandom loves to hate. So this pairing was a no brainer for me. Cowboys? Check. Gay? Check. Fluff and picnics? Check. What’s not to love?

Daenarya x Maiele (Blades)

For me and for @storyofmychoices. Thanks for being so wonderful and creating Daenarya!

Imtura x Rán (Blades)

Based on the fic, Swordplay, by @trappedinfanfiction. If I’m a sucker for cowboys yall know I’m even more of a sucker for swordplay with a hot partner. And who wouldn’t want a little help learning that? Especially from Imtura!

Eva x Troy (WtD)

Based on Starlit Night by @dutifullynuttywitch. There is something so magical about friends bringing joy and comfort to each others lives before they become take the leap from friends to lovers. And if that comfort comes in the form of stargazing or even better, Aurora Borealis, sign me up!!

Ash x Skylar (ILITW)

Based on the fic, Répondez, S'il Vous Plaît ! 3, by @aallotarenunelma. Is there anything better than that moment before a first kiss? Well, other than the first kiss itself.

Trystan x Gabriel (CoP)

Dorian x Aerin (Blades)

Based on the fic, I Cannot Bear To Hold You With These Unworthy Hands, by @aria-ashryver. I title this art, Moments Before Disaster 😂 But seriously there is something so wonderful and tender in the moment when all seems right in the world. And for me, that moment is made all the better knowing it will be ripped away hehe (I’m sorry I’m like this).

Sloane Washington (PM)

For @sloanewashingtonappreciationweek day one.

Anna x Nyx (WT - lace)

Requested by @noesapphic for @choicespride Valentine’s event.

Early Morning Bryce

Based on this post.

Bryce x Jensen (OPH - bouquets)

Requested by @mydemonsdrivealimo for @choicespride Valentine’s Event.

Derek Taylor x Charlie Howard

For @tveitertotwrites as part of the @choicesfandomappreciation Secret Pal exchange.

Thomas x Jackie

Requested by @peonyblossom for @choicespride Valentine’s Event.

Mal x Daenarya

A gift for @storyofmychoices from @peonierose for the @choicesfandomappreciation Secret Pal Exchange. Based on this fic.

Tobias x Casey (OPH)

A birthday gift for @jerzwriter. Love ya babe 😘

Tyril x MC (Blades - dancing)

[wyked-ao3]

writer questionnaire

Tagged by @ink-flavored here and @the-letterbox-archives & @mundanemoongirl & @nczaversnick & @thecomfywriter

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

I post story's on ao3. But snippets and stuff here and a few months a little before April?

What led you to create it?

I saw a few other ao3 people had Tumblr and I joined...got confused then came back to try again a few days before the boop war and I ended up staying after the boop war due to making a few friends

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

The support, getting to see others hard work. Making friends along the way and of course the OC's that we all fall in love with.

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

I love talking about books, wips and fanfictions or just your characters or world building. I admit sometimes I don't know what to reply so if I'm silent I'm probably thinking about a reply or you managed to hit a time slot I'm busy or sleeping but I will reply eventually... 0_o

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

My mutuals stories, I love to follow them as they are written and get insight into the characters. Chances are you will have at least one oc i will fangirl over and I'm going to apologize now lol

WIP it Good

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

The Pirate king of deaths redemption which will be book one of the pirate's cursed god series. I'm thinking it will have 4 stories and 2-3 mini stories

How long have you been working on them?

The idea since I was about seventeen

The plot I'm still figuring out

The characters some are old and some are new...infact two new ones arrived to the story yesterday ken will not be getting a major role he's just a background character.

World building since I was 19

Actually writing started about a month ago in seriousness and little snippets a month before that

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

Tbh I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking but it's happening so let's roll with it

But I have always had a fascination with lore and supernatural beings and I was in a pirate phase do that might have something to do with it

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

Way to often..when I'm not writing I'm usually plotting out the next few scenes and consequences to it

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

No one offline knows I write, but if I was asked the question by one of y'all.

I'd say mostly fanfiction but I'm starting a queer fantasy pirate story...just don't ask me about their cursed god yet as he is staying silent. I figure book to or three he will start talking or I may have to break out the threats again 0_o

What do you want to say (if it’s different from what you do say)?

Whatever the characters tell me to write and then I get to have the fun of tagging it 0_o (side note to myself I need to find a place I can find genres and stuff with a base description )

Let’s Rotate Blorbos

Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

Daimhín,Oisìn, Jade,Galen, Briath, Morana, Heather, Coinín, Mal, Adoh, Taz, Amon, Oscar , Rob, Queen Kia, Queen Coral, princess Anne, Hill, Eric, Nimue, Death, Nyx, Davey jones, Nereza, Kieran pirate queen Eris, ken, pirate king cutthroat, and a ton of others who are not coming to mind right now

Who’s the most unhinged?

Amon, Briath and Morana are fighting for the title

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Oisìn at the moment, but I have a feeling Jade and Briath will both be easier to write when I get to them

Do you ever cringe at them?

Yes especially when writing certain things, yes I want to include them but some things just don't come naturally to me

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

🤣 they write themselves mostly while arguing with me so it's a blast sometimes and change things frequently well most if that can be blamed on Amon

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

No preferred method I will interact with them all although sometimes I don't get notifications on tags for some reason

I will talk about my wips or OC's or we can talk about your wips and OC's ...or mutual interest or anything you want to info dump on.

On Writeblr Engagement

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

I like most genres so I usually just scope for vibes and see what their wip is about or a published/posted work. I'm not picky so I follow quite a few writers lol

What makes you decide against following?

I try to avoid politics I don't mind a few post but if it's all politics I tend to back away or if I see them bullying or harassing people or threatening animals.

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Sometime but I usually like to scope people out first as I have stated in the past, I'm shy so sometimes I have to work through that first.

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Yes to list a few

Ari from a starwars fanfiction by @lillybaaaka

Val and Kaz by @jev-urisk

Ashley by @gioiaalbanoart

almost all of @the-golden-comet s OC's

Royston is my favorite oc of @fortunatetragedy s story and that's not going to change easily.

And several others I'll stop listing now or we will be here all day and I do mean that literally.

Np tag @jev-urisk @the-golden-comet @thatuselesshuman @gioiaalbanoart @fortunatetragedy @aintgonnatakethis @lillybaaaka @evilwriter-originals @stars-forever

[prismaticflare]

Okay, enough with the positives, lets talk flaws. I wish I could say there weren’t any, but I am not a liar. Warning, spoilers along with swearing and excessive caps lock.

Also am being pretty blunt here. I did overall enjoy the movie a lot, but if you’re reading my criticisms, I doubt you want me to sugar coat them, so I won’t. If you don’t want the negativity, that’s totally fine! A movie doesn’t have to be perfect for you to like it, and, again, I ENJOYED THIS MOVIE! So, feel free to skip this post and enjoy the rest of my autism fueled happy rants! However, if you want to hear my honest criticism, here you go.

Firstly, ending was fucking awful. I will be making a whole post alone on it just because of how much it sucked. Also wont did into the problems with the time travel, other than one major one at the end. Time travel in ANY show is a horrible idea.

Choreography was garbage. Every single song had the same dynamic. The main singer was at the center while a triangle of backup dancers flailed around in the back. If you don’t know, I’ve done dance for a large portion of my life, and have a background in ballet among many other styles, so I know for a FACT they could have done better. And its not just that it was bad. D1-D3 were no chorographical masterpieces, but DROR felt as if it was HIGHLIGHTING IT! YOU COULD NOT ESCAPE THE JOJO SIWA ASS FLAILING. WHAT THE HELL!

That one ponytail on Bridget was a hate crime. I’ve never really been a wig snob, I though Mal’s D3 wig was fine although apparently it wasn’t, but if I can tell a wig is bad, you need to burn it.

Although Uliana (aka my wife) was the best thing in this world, the rest of the Merlin-Era VKs were meh. They tried to recreate the Sea Three dynamic and did it, but it wasn’t good. I actually liked Morgie better than Gil, but that’s because I never liked Gil as I am a firm hater on comic relief characters, and Morgie is the same exact things although he gets glowey eyes so that’s better than Gil. Hook was just Harry but boring and no longer a whore (non-derogatory), and the rest of them could be erased from the show and nothing would change.

Speaking of characters, WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH MADDOX!? I didn’t finish the newest book, but unless something CRAZY happens at the end, these are two different characters. I suspect this is another crime of Disney not telling Melissa de la Cruz enough, or maybe it was bad writing on her end (wouldn’t be the first time,) but still was lame.

Also, this might just be me, but the way they handled Carlos rubbed me the wrong way, although that was a decision from the wedding animation that I always hated. They could have just pretended they never did that, but I understand why they didn’t. Still made me hella uncomfy.

As of now I think that’s about everything, although there were quite a few minor things. I won’t list them all off as I don’t want to nitpick, but just to name a few…

Flamingo CGI hurt my eyes

So This Is Love was D1 Be Our Guest coded (derogatory)

Tried too hard to recreate D1-D3 although they actually had a fine plot without it

Uliana’s “perfect revenge” was boring. Go with Hades’ idea and burn her. Much better (also will mention this in ending chapter)

IDK how a sequel (which they hinted at) would work since they literally said Mal, Ben, Jay, and Evie are just on a trip. Are they not gonna come back?

Speaking of which, such a lazy excuse. Just say they died. If you did it for Carlos, you can do it for them

Didn’t have my bbgrl Lonnie

See you soon for my final part of this chat. The one I hate the most. The End

[choicesficwriterscreations]

CFWC Writer of the Month: liaromancewriter

Each month CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers, and this month’s writer of the month is @liaromancewriter ! We hope you will enjoy learning more about her and her work below! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page.

Quick Links: 

Tumblr blog: liaromancewriter Tumblr Masterlist Maxenna Masterlist

Tumblr Blog: 

How do you want to be known on Tumblr? 

Lia or Mal. Both are my nicknames in real life, depending on who’s calling, so I respond to either.

1- When did you start playing Choices? What's the first book you played? 

I first downloaded Choices in August 2020 after being bombarded with its ads on another game. I figured I'll try it and see what it was about. My average track record for mobile games is 2-3 months, and then I get bored and delete the app. That didn't happen here because I quickly realized it's not a game but a library of fiction books in all genres. Two and a half years later, I'm still here reading Choices.

The first book I played (read?) was The Royal Romance. I believe it pre-loaded when I opened the app the first time. I fell in love with the Prince (who I named Aiden as it's my favorite boy name) from the first moment. To this day, I think the first two TRR books are the most romantic stories on Choices. 

Incidentally, I started playing Open Heart at the same time, but mostly to earn diamonds for TRR since medical stories weren’t really my thing (that’s changed now obviously). But Ethan Ramsey was equally irresistible and I had a hard time saving my diamonds when romancing the two.

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I didn't know there was something called a Choices fandom, so it's very happenstance. Unofficially, I joined in November 2020 as a silent reader and didn't have a Tumblr account. Officially, I created my Tumblr account on December 7 and started becoming more active in January 2021. 

I had just finished Open Heart: Second Year and then Platinum (for the fourth time), and was feeling adrift. I was obsessed with Raleigh Carrera and googled him out of curiosity to see what might be out there. I came across fics posted on AO3 and then Tumblr. 

Then, I googled Ethan Ramsey as I was missing OH and just wanted to get lost in that world again. I came across a plethora of fanfics, mostly on Tumblr. I originally started reading them on my mobile browser and still have masterlist pages bookmarked (in order) on Safari for @lem-20 (the first OH writer I read and followed because her pfp match my book sprite), @jamespotterthefirst and @starrystarrytrouble. 

I didn't know fanfiction was a thing, so I was a bit baffled by all of it initially. The more I read, the more I loved the interpretations others were bringing to the story. I was also generally impressed by writers unafraid to write and post their work for the world to read, and that inspired me to want to publish my original stories online.   

3- How did you pick your url name? 

My original intent with Tumblr was to publish my original romantic fiction novel, Happy Ever After. And, maybe in the future write and post more original romance short stories as an exercise to rediscover my fiction voice. 

When I was creating the account, I blanked on what to call it. In a burst of "just pick a username already", I named my blog liaromancewriter to represent my nickname (Lia) and the type of stories I would be posting (romance). 

By the way, my desired account name initially was hopelessromantic, but it was taken. When I was setting up the blog headline and description, I decided to go with The Hopeful Romantic because the phrasing best embodied my perspective of soulmates and happy ever afters.

4- Go back to your archive and tell us about the first post on your Choices blog. 

My first Choices fandom post was a reblog game response on January 11. All posts on my blog before that were chapters of Happy Ever After.

5- How long have you been writing fanfiction?

I published my first ever fanfic, First Impressions, on February 15, 2021. So, about 22 months.

6- What is your favorite Choices book to write about?

I only write for Open Heart, so I would say it remains my favorite as I keep coming up with stories for this extended universe I’ve created for my pairings.

7- Share the first fanfic you wrote with us. Do you still like it or would you change anything about it?

The first fic I submitted to CFWC was Me Before You on April 5, 2021. I think I’d only heard about this blog in March of that year and didn’t know that anyone could submit. 

It’s very much an introspective piece, showing Ethan’s inner thoughts, and Cassie's too. I love writing descriptive stories about what people are thinking and feeling. It’s when my writing is the strongest.

I still like that story. Having said that, the middle of this fic drags a little, so I’d probably want to tighten that up. I also hadn't fully developed my headcanon for their relationship yet. Anyone who reads my work knows that it's like a TV series where everything is connected, and the plot continues along a specific timeline, even if one-shots are posted at different times of the year. 

So the timeline inside the story doesn't quite sync up perfectly with the rest, but I've learnt to let it go....somewhat. 😂

8- What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Can I pick two? I’m picking two, one for each of my pairings. At this stage, they’re both equal OTPs anyway.

Ethan & Cassie: Come Undone

Max & Sienna: Unforgettable

9- Do you have a fic that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to be but could use a little more love?

I know that notes aren't everything since there are many silent readers out there. But it's the only metric Tumblr allows writers to use. So, this answer is solely based on that.

It’s not a fic, but a series. The original Maxenna series, Then There Was You, was incredibly popular both in terms of notes and comments and in attracting new readers despite the fact that I wrote it after the series had already ended, and it was a side character (Sienna) and an OC (Max). I’m forever grateful because it’s an original story in every sense of the word, with some nods/references to canon. Despite the fact that it’s Sienna, she’s an OC, too, since we don’t know too much about her in canon.

For the second part of this question, I thought Seeing Red would have been more popular. It's angsty, and has Ethan’s relationship with Louise, Cassie and Ethan fighting (somewhat). So, it was surprising it didn't get as many notes. But then, I also wrote it in 2022, and the fandom isn't what it used to be. So that could be one reason.

10- If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? 

Fluff...absolutely 100% fluff. Anyone who knows me for five seconds knows that I'm all about finding and keeping your soulmate. Real life is hard, the fictional world doesn't have to be.

I grew up reading fairytales and love Hallmark movies. When I discovered romance books in uni, I fell in love with the journey of two people falling in love and finding their happy ever after. I also enjoy writing about relationships; while there are angsty moments in those, it's the resolution of finding your way to the light that makes me happy. Happy Endings Guaranteed is my motto. 

11- Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

I bring parts of myself to all my characters. In real life, I'm more like Ethan and Max; the professional and personal elements in their personalities are based on me and my experiences. 

Cassie's ambition and determination to prove herself are pure me. That's why even in canon, I never gave a thought to why a Junior Fellow was qualified to head the Diagnostics Team. I was running my own department by the time I was 30. It's all about seizing opportunities even if you don't think you're ready. You learn on the job and eventually make it your own.

One other observation is that I’m a champion researcher and accuracy is important to me. So, when I write I bring that accuracy and plausability to all scenarios. My Google history will attest to that. 😝

12- What element of writing do you struggle with most?

I struggle with writing common, every day body gestures without repeating myself. I can visualize the scene in my head like someone wrapping their arms around the other or framing their lover’s face between their hands. But I don’t always know how to write it well or at least have more diversity in the words/expressions that I use. 

13- Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

No. I don't do WIPs. Sometimes I'm not happy with a fic, so I'll write the first draft but not publish it for a while. I'll do/write other things and then come back to start editing the fic until it works. Candy Thieves and Postcard Memories are two good examples of that.

I do have a document with about 20+ possible story ideas, but some of those are random thoughts that might or might not have a story in them.

14- If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first? 

Absolutely! I mostly share my Wattpad account with them rather than Tumblr as the former can be easier to navigate for novice readers. But my close friends have my Tumblr blog link. 

I always ask them to read Happy Ever After (original work) first since it’s mine and doesn’t require knowledge of canon. But for fanfiction, I tell people to start at the top of my masterlist and work their way down. This way, they’ll get to meet my characters from the beginning and go on the journey with them, even if they’ve never read canon. 

15 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing?

I’m mostly influenced by published authors with Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz and Julie Garwood leading the pack. I love how Nora does scene setting and descriptions, and shows relationships between people (romantic and platonic); my approach to storytelling is largely influenced by her. 

Jayne Ann Krentz does a great job of writing spunky heroines who aren’t afraid to take chances, no matter if it’s a modern setting, paranormal or historical. While Julie Garwood’s novels are fluffy with wonderfully memorable characters especially the LI. Aiden Madison remains my perfect guy to this day and I wish he was real. 🥰

I do want to give a shoutout to @jamespotterthefirst whose edits and text fics showed me that there’s another interesting way to tell a story than writing prose. I live in hope she will finish her First Year Pictagram series (hint, hint, Bree 😉)

16- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series? 

Maxenna’s original series would make a great Hallmark movie/series. As a student of Hallmark’s formula, I think it has all the elements including a slow burn, delayed first kiss, love declaration closer to the end, swoonworthy proposal and wedding, and of course family.

17- Do you write original stories? 

Absolutely, but maybe not as much recently (unless you count Maxenna). I’ve already talked about Happy Ever After here. I have 2 other completed manuscripts that I hope to do something with one day.

18 -  What other hobbies do you have?

I don’t have a ton of free time, so what I do have is reserved for reading books (my first love). Other than that, I watch a lot of cooking shows on Food Network. At the end of a long and busy day, there’s something very soothing about watching other people cook/work. 

19 - What’s your favorite emoji? 

😂

[nikethestatue]

I have this suspicion that one of the reason SJM is putting CC3 first is to establish the love triangle between E/A/G instead of A/E/L because it will be more profitable.

I say this with the awareness that up until now in the books ELRIEL has been strongly set up, and it was about a females choice but money is a strong motivator to fuck your story up.

The shipwar has brought a lot of publicity to ACOTAR and if you look at Goodreads you will see that the number of reviews from book 1 to Acosf has decreased around 65% I use this decrease as a rough estimation of copies sold. Only the publisher knows true copies sold. Even best seller lists are based on a small market not the entire market and can be manipulated if the publisher gives money to the lists creator. So I assume that terrible ” interview” was to try and get people to buy Acosf. While watching the interview you could tell she was forced to pump it up by kept saying how important the book was to her but SJM knows its one of her weaker books in all series.

So after all that I think she may have seen how shadow and bone did so well because of the Shipwar that was created between the darkling and Mal, that the series got a TV show. I am willing to bet she wants the TV show but is most likely being turned away.

Also if she does switch the love triangle to E/A/G I am out of this fandom and will probably never read /purchase a SJM novel again.

I am in marketing and know how much money drives decisions at this level. This stuff interests me. Would love to hear what you think even if you strongly disagree.

So, I am not in marketing, but I know enough about it to understand that BB and SJM would be fools not to capitalize on Gwyn and people's rabid interest in her. What I would do is simple--I'd write Gwyn into CC3, and give her a whole new love interest. SJM is doing it with Ithan, with Ruhn, and a bunch of other people in CC, so if she is gonna bring Gwynnie in there, it's her chance to write everyone's favourite priestess into the book. I'd market it prior with lots of mentions of her, but no indication of who the LI is. Then I, as the author and the publisher, get my money, because Gwynriels are running to buy the book, I get my sales, I write her in and even though I am Miss I-Am-Writing-NA-and-Not-YA now, I still can't get away from writing the Gwyns of the world.

I'd set her up with like Hunt's or Ruhn's cousin or something--hung like a tree trunk and winged, with "TRAUMA'. Gwynnie can go and redeem something or whatever, hook up with Mr Broody Winged Man--who also knows what a phone is and is on FaeInsta and FaeTok and therefore relatable to Gwyn fans.

Meanwhile, the OG Broody Winged Man is hanging out with Miss Flower Girl and everyone is happy.

I mean, it sounds like a joke, but it really isn't. That's exactly what I'd do. I wouldn't change anything about my original plan for Elriel, I would write an Elain book, and I would get her together with Azriel. But, as a savvy marketing person, I'd also write Gwyn, because it's no sweat off my back, I'd give her a storyline, a dude, and that way I'd satisfy my pocketbook and all the fans.

It's actually quite easy to have everyone be quiet, end the shipwar, and still stick to my original story.

[serpenteve]

LMAO court of porn and roses, i haven't read sjm but this sent me xD

i think the anon has a point tho! CW has done well with YA shows before. tvd, the 100, PLL, idk so so many ya shows that also typically followed the love triangles and various interesting cast of side characters. S and B hasn't even come close. (The 100 is a bit different maybe in the sense that it also got a fair share of adult viewers ig and it was generally less trashed on at least in the earlier seasons.)

I get that sab is a fantasy setting so might have more lore etc, but it's not a very COMPLICATED world to understand. in fact a lot of it is like this group has fire powers, this group has healing powers etc. (And they've got colour coded uniforms too!), the royal family and many citizens have no powers so they're the muggle equivalent, and the muggles are largely more dominating in this world. that's really the biggest chunk of what needs to be understood at a superficial level for the first book/season to make sense.

Additional info like the larger world can come in eventually, but things like tvd also would randomly come up with lore and audiences would just roll with it. Like ohkay now in s2 we have werewolves and also the blood of this x thing can cure vampirism and there is also some bloodline connection and hunter theory and whatnot??

Maybe it's the dumping of all the episodes in one go, but maybe it's also that sab just didn't capture non book folks as much that they'd want to make theories etc as to what's gonna happen. It just didn't create the fandom that it was supposed to. Book fans know the first one was the best one lol, and then it's the crows books that are more fun because of the heist. And non book fans didn't care all that much. And maybe this is my darklina bias but for most ya stuff you need a good romance subplot and sorry but ma*linas meadow scenes were a snoozefest for me. I couldn't care less and didn't want to sit through 10 meadow scenes. (The darklina scenes were good but those are probably done now)

You could generate enough debate or hype around character decisions and actions but the gregverse throws away all nuance in favour of making the darkling evil and where's the fun in that? So maybe have the main character face difficult choices? But it's basically alina has to do x y z to stop the evil darkling but now that she has done x y z she's gonna get punished? Was she given a choice between choosing more power vs taking more difficult paths to defeat the darkling? No she wasn't. So is there a fun love triangle where we can have folks pick a team? Nope, she has multiple love interests but one is an evil guy, the other is her childhood crush who in the show is perfect. The result is a decent ish show but not strong enough to keep pulling viewers back in.

I'm curious to see how the show fares after Season 2 because I think it will give us an idea of how many people are still invested. Are non-book fans going to tune in to another season? Will they go back and binge the first season to refresh? How will show darklina shippers deal with the darklina arc being derailed and demonized? Most of them already seem disappointed with the direction of the source material and have shied away from picking up the books as a result. Will the Mal and Alina dynamic be interesting enough to keep people rooting for them? And more deliciously, will there be a similar audience backlash if Alina loses her powers? 😈

I just don't think the source material for the original trilogy is really strong enough for non-book fans to actually enjoy. Even regular old book fans are salty about a myriad of things, let alone have much hope for how they could be adapted for the screen.

As for the love triangle, I think general audiences are getting annoyed with the overuse of the trope. Even Leigh clearly understood she played with fire by adding that Alina-Darkling-Mal-Nikolai love quadrangle because it left so much of the fandom against her canon ship that she conveniently had all the main characters of the Six of Crows franchise in safe one-to-one ships to avoid potential backlash.

[kattangeln]

Shadow and Bone commentary s2

Cause I did it for s1 (this is in the order of watching)

So every change in the crows and ketterdam story makes me scratch my teeth. I hate it cause like we all know six of crows has one of the best writing ever

Kinda hate that they are all um speaking English? Like sure they have languages, but just speak English. And I get why. But also, like takes away a lot of the world building. Nina is a language prodigy and I want it to be known <3

The ravkans can only speak ravkan pretty much. Jesper can speak Zemeni and Kerch. And yeah, it’s sad. I miss languages

Like Pekka Rollins is getting way too big?

Nina following Inej, and like managing to follow her. That’s cute <3

Waffles and people skills, love you girl

We are already getting to know about Kaz’s backstory???

Also Nikolai is great. He looks just as charming and slug as I imagined. Hm his introduction though, that was um interesting.

Okay when Wylan is playing the piano and Jesper just wow. I need need the scene with Kuwei playing the piano and Jesper thinking it was Wylan. And them kissing. And that whole scene and misunderstanding and everything. Please guys. Like this could be an amazing foreshadow. Like dude jespers face. I need it

Actually love love that Nikolai’s proposal came that quickly. Yes, dude. You are so ahead of time <3 and Mal talking sense into Alina, yes

I mean I still don’t hate Mal (like the books). But I’m not sure if I would care if he died? Like I remember liking him in s1 for your knowledge.

Genya is crazy. Thinking she can flee Kirigan like that? Wow

David hearing Genya being scarred like that? Oof. Knowing how awfully um that was? Knowing he can do nothing? I mean I love that he is smart enough to like don’t try to stop it cause he wouldn’t have had a chance. But wow, the powerlessness. David <3 you will be rewarded I promise

All the bonding Jesper and Wylan are doing. To die for <3

Why do the Netflix um subtitles call them dogs? Aren’t they supposed to be wolves? Like yes they are obviously dogs and not wolves cause like many reasons. But come on. But also, the foreshadowing <3

Nina, nina, nina? What are you doing? Pekka is there? What the fuck (about nina calling matthias name after the fight)

I hate not being able to tell what the fuck is happening. Although the stakes are so high and I love it

Love the girl who’s so loyal to the darkling. Like she’s pretty. Go girl, go do what you think is best. You’re most likely a sadist.

Every episode opener is soo pretty

Genya getting her nickname <3

Baghra and Genya bonding??

You know at least, Alina is less selfish. And Mal is still selfish. Character growth guys

Love how much this explores Baghra and Aleksander’s relation. And his upbringing and so. Awww like this is well done. I can see the hurt child still in him. And I mean Baghra has some um stuff on her conscious

“I kinda like your face” goosebumps wow hate it (the place in the story) and love it

yes, Alina is training

Love the new mythology, more saints, mythology yay

Okay, hm I do believe Nina and Kaz are in on it. But eh Inej caring about a crying baby? I do not think was part of their plan. Why is Pekka always kicking their asses? Guys, I’m scared

Okay, I love love this scene with Pekka and Kaz. Oh, it's amazing.

Is the brother of Nikolai actually supposed to be smart now? I liked him better dumb. Cause some people are selfish and dumb and only care about themselves and yeah. Pls don’t be smart (yes I’m very happy he died)

Wylan and Jesper. I don’t know how to feel about their backstory.

Oof, my bisexual afraid of commitment self is feeling this very much. Jesper, love. I’m so proud of you. Like I could never do that

THEY KISS IN S2E4 NOT OKAY NOT OKAY WOW AMAZING AHHH GUYS WHAT

one fear I have, is I still want the ice court and everything with that to happen. Nina sacrificing herself, taking that drug, being her most powerful self. God, just that whole heist, guys. I need to see it executed.

Wylan? “Maybe you need a fuller reminder” what is happening guys? Wylan is not supposed to be that gutsy. Even if you get a weird ass confession like that, it still takes guts you know. Oh my goodness, my feels are all over the place.

Kaz turning his worry for Inej into blaming Inej. I love that for him. Very him.

Alina’s smile when she saw Nikolai. Yes.

“Love it when you quote me” is already here. Omg my Nikolina heart is already dying.

Okay he got killed quickly, I love that.

Some part of me love that Pekka Rollins is being dealt with so early. But he is such a good villain though. And I also wish to spend more time with Nikolai and Alina pls <3

Okay, love jesper and Wylan. But no. Too soon. But omg my heart

Alina and Genya omg <3

Genya, go hard! On the queen and on nikolai. Now some years later. You speak for survivors and I feel you. You speak for me too. And I love you for it.

Love it when Mal and Alina fight <3

If nikolai already gets turned into that in s2 I hate it

Nikolai and Alina <3

Baghra and Aleksander, that was so sad. Also I’m glad we are seeing more of Aleksander and his journey. (her dying)

Jesper’s and Wylan’s relationship is just not doing it for me in the show, like it’s the pinning and dumbass and all that. Like it’s too romantic??? And too soon?? I feel like they barely know each other. The heist in six of crows is like weeks yk

I love that Mal is the firebird. Love. Love. Love. Please do it. Kill him and use him <3

This season really makes me realize how much I want more for Alina. Way more than the goddamn book ending. Show Alina, please be better.

And now Aleksander knows that tooo. Amazing. Amazing. There’s no way Mal won’t die right?

Oh, Nadia and Tamar already. Yes.

I don’t have a good feeling about this. (about going out to war with the ambush and all that)

Okay, actually. Alina bringing him back with merzost is actually better than him just dying. Cause pain <3

Can’t believe Nikolai still got cursed 😭

“Make sure there’s nothing left of me”

Also I adore that we got a last emotional and beautiful scene with the Darkling, and Alina.

That was one of hell of a demonstration of jurda parem. But wow god, Alina hasn’t used her powers since she brought back Mal. The price she had to pay is.. from light to shadow?

[therubyreader]

My Review of Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

See a full list of my book reviews here

*Disclaimer: there will be spoilers later on in the review*

Review Word Count, non-spoiler: 854 Review Word Count Total: 1,582

We're back with the second installment of the Shadow and Bone series! You all have managed to make me a fan of this universe so much so that by the time I'm writing this I just started Crooked Kingdom (I'm reading in publishing order) and I had to force myself to stop because I didn't want to get too ahead of myself before I finished writing all of the reviews for the rest of the series. But do not fret imaginary readers, I will be doing a review of Six of Crows sometime this week while I wait for King of Scars to come off hold.

On to the main event!

Siege and Storm takes us back to Ravka, where Alina and Mal are escaping the country, on the run from the Darkling to keep Alina safe from his control. Of course they are eventually captured and forced to help the Darkling find the sea whip, the second of Morozova's amplifiers, for Alina so that her power can be used to aid the Darkling's evil plan, or whatever. She is rescued by privateer Sturmhond, who originally was working for the Darkling but then claims he's working for a higher bidder and takes her back to Ravka in order to strengthen the Second Army and help defeat the Darkling while also learning more about her powers and forbidden magic (ooo spooky).

As per usual with trilogies, at least in my personal opinion, I almost always find that the second book is the best, it's always the right mix of plot and action. The reader is already well aware of the world that we're in so we don't have to focus on worldbuilding like in the first book, and the author isn't rushing to try and tie up all loose ends into a pretty little bow like what usually happens in the last book. This isn't a complaint, yet (stay tuned for my Ruin and Rising review), but just an observation and after finishing the trilogy I can confirm that the second book is my favorite. I mean, for starters, Nikolai Lantsov beloved, he's been added to my fictional crush list and this is the first time a fictional crush has been added to my list that's younger than me while I'm consuming the source material, though it is only a year-ish, closer to two, but still.

I think my favorite part of this book was that we get to see Alina struggling mentally with the weight of being the Sun Summoner and also how she starts to become addicted to the power of the amplifiers after getting the second one. I feel like books of this nature don't really add in the mental toll that the plot would take on its characters. On top of Alina slowly becoming more like the Darkling we see Mal spiral into depression and self-harm (through fighting and drinking) and just becoming an even worse person than he was in the first book, which surprised me because I didn't think I could dislike him any more than I already did. But at least this time he's being annoying because he's mentally ill as opposed to his regular brand of annoying and bad, so yay justification, I guess.

Another thing I loved was how we see Alina trying her best to be a leader that the Grisha need but she's honestly just winging it and using some advice from Nikolai, which is honestly pretty good advice he should write a self help book. It's realistic, a random girl who up until like a couple of months before was just some map maker in the First Army was suddenly the second most powerful Grisha in the world and expected to lead all other Grisha into war would not know how to be a leader. She is honestly just trying to do her best while slowly losing her mind, and it's realistic, tell me if you weren't in her shoes that you would do better. It's easy to judge from an outsider's perspective but we as the reader have to recognize that Alina just inadvertently killed multiple people, gained an immense amount of power that's making her thirst for more, learning about a new type of dark magic that the Darkling is welding and wants to participate in it, and her closest friend/lover is being an ass to her all while she has to be the leader of all Grisha for the safety of the world, I would also go insane. But that is good writing and a great time to read because these characters, despite their magical powers and titles are just people who make mistakes and are also sometimes not the nicest which makes the book much more relatable and it feels more realistic and immersive.

Overall, this was a great continuation of the series and it was a nice mix of setting up the story and also conflict, the final battle was absolutely insane and also very bloody. I would give this book a doesn't have middle child syndrome and is the best in the series out of ten.

Spoilers Below!!!

I don't think I have much to talk about that requires a spoiler warning since everything I liked about the book could be explained without the need to give any essential plot details but I do want to talk about the love of my life Nikolai Lantsov. First of all, I had a bit of an inkling as to what Nikolai was off doing when I was reading Shadow and Bone when Genya mentioned that he hadn't been at court for years and was apprenticing for a shipwright, a civil engineer, and a gunsmith, which I suspected was a cover up for something cooler, and I was right. He's also such a good dude, Mal should take notes, he was always trying to take care of Alina, never pushed boundaries (except for that one time he kissed her but at least he gave her a warning and more or less accepted her kicking him about it), and respected her choices without throwing a temper tantrum. Refreshing. He is also the funniest character in the book, I'm not going to give any specific quotes since I don't remember whether they were in this book or in Ruin and Rising but just know he had me cackling on multiple occasions.

I did also really like Alina and Nikolai's relationship, though it was mostly one sided in terms of romance (Alina you suck) they were pretty much best friends and I felt proud seeing Alina become friends with more people that aren't Mal (and also Genya but she was in her not a good person era). They genuinely became really good friends which made my heart happy, especially since Alina had at least one person who was being entirely honest with her the whole time and cared about her as a person not just as a pawn in his game.

Also a side note about the cult that the Apparat made surrounding Alina, first of all, so strange, second of all it does really add to the plot because there's another layer of guilt for Alina to feel about how she might not be strong enough to protect all of these people who essentially see her as their personal Jesus (which is a song btw) though Jesus doesn't exist in the universe. The cult adds more pressure for Alina to be the savior of Ravka alongside the everything else pressure which is a nice bit of spice for the plot that makes you feel really bad for her.

Also the fact that the final battle is probably the bloodiest scene in the whole book and the whole thing just happened so suddenly, we're all just enjoying Nikolai's birthday dinner and then out of nowhere a bunch of nichevo'ya crash the party and literally rip the crown prince apart, which like deserved because he sucked, but damn they didn't have to do it so suddenly. The way that all of the death was described too was insane, just bodies everywhere, people being eaten and ripped apart by the nichevo'ya essentially massacring the entire Second Army and a good chunk of the Soldat Sol, it was so intense that it really captured the pure evil of the Darkling. And you don't even get time to mourn your favorite characters, because people just keep dying, as soon as you're like "omg no this character that I grew attached to just died" two lines later it's like "omg not another character that I grew attached to is dying" and it keeps going on like that. Absolutely insane and honestly well written, no matter how bloody it was and sad it made me.

Another thing I wanted to talk about was the last fight with the Darkling which was so insane to me. This girl literally made out with him in order to steal his power enough to control the nichevo'ya, and then it worked??? That whole scene was so strange I honestly don't know what else to say about it but it sure is funny in hindsight, so there is that.

Again, overall my favorite book in the trilogy and I enjoyed almost every page, all the ones that had Mal in them made me mad but it's ok I got over it by the time I finished Ruin and Rising, which you all will see a review for very soon, executive dysfunction be damned.

[xnervouscircus]

i didn't know if i was gonna bother watching shadow & bone s2 since general reviews were basically: "it's CRAP" but watched it on a whim this week and am mostly happy with it actually

preface that i only read the og grisha trilogy and haven't read the crow books or whatever the heck came next that i think starred nikolai? so i only vaguely remember the story of alina and co and know little to nothing about the jurda parem storyline and where it's going and who will be involved or at least was involved in the books

but man. just from the perspective of someone who was immensely displeased with the ending of the grisha trilogy: I LOVE THIS ENDING. they fixed my biggest beefs with the og ending, and up until the very last scene i was like "ah still a shame alina never went darkside though" aND THEN THEY WENT AND SAID "BITCH SHE MIGHT" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I LOVE IT

in the books i haaaaated the implication that mal and alina were only together bc of ~destiny~ and they were only drawn to each other by the firebird power and even after knowing that, they didn't question it at all and were just like, "welp the universe tossed us together so guess this is it for us huh." so not only do i love show!mal more in general--they fixed up his personality so much and made me actually mostly like malina--but i wanted to kiss him on the mouth for being the one to bring up the whole destiny thing and give themselves a chance to figure out who they are without it. and i wanted to kiss alina on the mouth for accepting and understanding it. i would absolutely not hate malina being endgame in this universe the way i hated it in the books.

though i'm confused if alina is still engaged to nikolai now? she gave the ring back to him a while ago so i figured that was the end of it, but at the end the apparat made it sound like the betrothal was still on, and alina was wearing that very elaborate tiara/crown and stood beside nikolai at his coronation so. nikolina still possible?

though i will say that i really didn't feel any chemistry between them in the show and they were portrayed much more as friends than potential love interests. honestly i loved it. love triangles are exhausting enough, having to deal with 3 potential love interests in the trilogy was just. blaaaargh. as much as i loved nikolina in the books, i was kind of happy that i felt nothing for them in the show and it seemed like i wasn't supposed to. they really just came across as allies doing their best for the country, friends at most. there were a few moments that kiiiiind of came across as potential romance, but there was nothing to make me be like "fuck yeah nikolina." since they made mal 2.0 so much better, i genuinely enjoyed not seeing nikolai as legitimate love interest material lmao. but i could be into it in the future if there's a s3 and they decide to go that route.

i was worried the condensed storyline would be crap since i knew they were apparently putting all of books 2 & 3 into this season, alongside whatever the crows would be doing, but it worked so much better than what i vaguely remember of the books. book 3 was pretty much all meaningless page filler of the group being trapped underground and then going on a completely pointless hike to look for the firebird, so i'm glad they cut all that out. i liked the addition of the blade, if only to expand the world more and show us another living saint--go be besties with her alina. and really the best parts of both s1 and s2 were the crows. sorry i haven't read your books guys but y'all are the best. i fuckign love inej and nina and of course my gay little heart was so very happy with jesper and wylan and wesper.

(i do mostly like kaz, he's clever and witty and really cares about his crows, but sometimes he's just a bit too edgelord for me. i kinda like kanej but at the same time i think inej deserves a hell of a lot of happiness and kanej is just all angst all the time and after 2 full seasons of it i'm kinda over it lol. i was honestly super into that extremely brief hint of . . . inya? tolej? lmao. but yeah tolya/inej honestly sounds amazing to me. ofc i hope kaz can deal with his trauma and be more open--not even in regards to touch necessarily, but just be less consumed with grief and revenge in general. but his whole life is shaped around it and inej has dealt with enough shit and i just want her to be able to laugh and have some genuine fun, ya know??)

it wasn't perfect, and a lot of the dialogue made me cringe (i'm still facepalming but also laughing over that one scene where some grisha girl started saying, "i'd hoped--" and seemed like she was just gonna say some bland thing like i'd hoped this would be over or even just i'd hoped i'd get to sleep in an actual bed tonight but the darkling interrupted her with this completely angsty and overdramatic monologue about hope LMAO CALM DOWN EDGELORD IT WASN'T THAT DEEP). but overall i thought it was good! s1 was better but s2 made a lot of improvements to the books and i appreciate that they were willing to deviate and take risks to try to make a better story.

what i loved the absolute most wasn't just that they changed her love story, i loved that they changed the entire ending of alina's story. because the trilogy ending for her was TRASH. a woman becomes the most powerful person in the world, comes to embrace and revel in her power, but her endgame love interest won't stop sulking about it so guess she's gotta lose all her power and suddenly want nothing more than a quiet life on a farm. LMAO WHAT. it was absolutely infuriating and still is almost 20 years later lmao. having her stay in the capital and plan to actually help the country she worked so hard and sacrificed so much to save makes infinitely more sense; sure, at the beginning of the trilogy she wished she wasn't grisha or the sun summoner, but she comes to love the power and the realization that she can save ravka with it. as far as i remember, once she embraces it, she never wishes it away again. so it just felt grossly unfeminist and lame to take her power away in the trilogy and pretend that actually she secretly desired being no one in the middle of nowhere just raising a bunch of orphans. nope, that was just not alina.

so i am LIVING for her still having her power (though i'm not sure if she's got all that fully amplified power or she's basically reset to pre-amplifiers power after destroying the fold? i wish they'd cleared that up) and continuing to follow her dream to reunite ravka and make a more peaceful world for the grisha, rather than just run away with her endgame boy ugh.

BUT WHAT I'M LIVING FOR THE MOST WAS WATCHING HER FINALLY DO THE CUT AND REVEAL THAT SHE'S GOT SHADOW MAGIC NOW AND RATHER THAN BEING SCARED OR DISGUSTED BY WHAT SHE'D DONE SHE WAS FUCKING RELISHING IT

DARKLINA LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO

(i just mean that in a dark alina sense, though i would not at all be opposed to the darkling coming back to life and making couple darklina a thing lmao)

do i believe they'll actually make her go anywhere near actually dark? no. do i believe her endgame boy will be anyone but mal? no. do i believe they won't ultimately have her story end the same as in the trilogy? not really tbh. but at least there's some possibility here and it could turn out really interesting, or at least more satisfying than the og trilogy.

so yeah i hope s3 gets the green light. at the very least, i'd definitely love to have more of the crows.

[amethxxt]

What are brutally honest thoughts on:

Harriet Hook

Li Shang Jr(ignore his name)

Herkie

Aziz

Claudine Frollo

I'm not sure about brutally honest lol but I'll do my best:

HARRIET HOOK

• I don't think you guys understand how much I love Harriet. She's one of my most favorite Descendants characters to write about.

• Based on the few things we know about her from the books, she already seems awesome. Sometimes, I have to remind myself that my headcanons are not canon lol but I have many about her.

• What bothers me the most about Harriet is not her fault at all. I get so mad that they have created Harriet, Harry and CJ, and altright refuse to have them coexist. I would love to see all three Hook siblings together, but noooo, Disney hates fun.

• I can't remember if they mention her having her own crew, but to me, she does and it's one of the most respected gangs on the Isle. No one dares messing with Captain Harriet.

• She dances with Anthony Tremaine in the books and they're a couple. I'm not sorry, I make the rules and they are canon to me.

• To be honest, I could make a whole list of my headcanons about Harriet, I'm just not doing it now because there's more characters to talk about.

LI SHANG JR

• I wish we had seen more of him, maybe have him and Lonnie interact - then again, I don't think it would be possible for them to include all the characters I want in the movies.

• Again, I hate his name, just to make it clear. Also, just made some headcanons about him and Lonnie here.

• It would be nice to have him interacting with Jay and Carlos in D1 after they joined the Tourney team, maybe giving them pep talks instead of the coach and help them feel like they belong there.

HERKIE

• If Disney doesn't stop giving Descendants characters such terrible names, I swear-

• Again, since he's part of the Tourney team, it would be cool to see the boys interacting with him. Since Herkie's really strong, he could show Jay strenght doesn't have to equal agression.

• I also have a few headcanons about him that I'd be willing to share someday. Herkie's also a minor character in my fic about Audrey.

AZIZ

• My poor boy, getting cut from the first movie...

• Seriously, I would've loved to see him! They cut his character and didn't even have him appear in the other movies or Wicked World.

• He was also supposed to be in the Tourney team, why does Disney hate them lol So yeah, it would've been really nice to see all of these boys hanging out. Since Mal mentions Jay getting "victory pizza with the team", I wish we had gotten to see that.

• Despite D1 being the movie that I think was able to work the Core Four individually the best, I still think we could've seen a bit more of how the boys were doing in Auradon.

CLAUDINE FROLLO

• This character... Oh, I adore her. Like I said on my other post, I don't remember much from the books, but I know she was part of the Anti-Heroes Club.

• I always say I wish Descendants could be darker, and Claudine is one of the main reasons why. The daughter of Claude Frollo? The girl is a walking bundle of trauma. There are some og characters that I can see growing to be good parents, but Frollo? No, call child services.

• I don't really like that Claudine is mentioned to be the person ringing the bell at Dragon Hall in the books, mainly because I don't think Frollo would raise her to be a copy of Quasimodo.

• Still, I like that she's part of the Anti-Heroes Club, and I imagine her as very strong girl who would be extremely determine not to become like her father.

I would love to talk about my headcanons for some of these characters, so just send an ask if that's something you'd like to see!

[dylanobrienisbatman]

The main problem with the whole mal vs the darkling thing in regards to being possessive (or really when it comes to any of their traits) is the fact that throughout, the darkling is clearly framed as the villain and his actions reflect that, whereas Mal as supposed to be the good guy and best romantic partner for Alina, and yet he has all these awful character traits and tendencies. So its less about how awful the Bad Guy is (since he's supposed to be), and more about how awful the person that we're supposed to believe is the best option for Alina is. I don't ship either, just my two cents.

Okay well... two things. First, your comment about "its less about how awful the bad guy is, since he's supposed to be", takes every comment I've made about Darkles out of context, which seems fitting since everything Darklina's spout about Mal is out of context. Him being the Bad Guy is fine, and if you like him AS A VILLAIN, and acknowledge all the bad shit he does, then my posts aren't for you. I think he's a very interesting villain, and a lot of the terrible shit he does that I have to keep making posts about make him a good villain, the problem is when the terrible shit the "Bad Guy" does is romanticized and viewed as the reasons why Alina SHOULD have picked him. So, don't assume everyone gets that "hes supposed to be awful". The point my post was making is that Darklina's love to call Mal possessive, but then turn around and act like Darkles literally enslaving her in somehow sexy and romantic. It's fucking not, and it's transparent as hell that y'all romanticize and sexualize the actually possessive character, and then project false character traits onto Mal. It's so transparent, it's almost funny.

But, more importantly, to your second, very wrong point, I wonder how much of the narrative about Mal having "awful character traits and tendencies" is actually a commentary on Mal as a character, or is it just Darklina's lying about things Mal has done and everyone accepting that misinterpretation as canon. Because, if were making a list...

Fuck boy - False! Mal was not a fuck boy! He was an attractive teenager who hooked up with consenting girls his age when he could, and he was not in a relationship during that time. Alina had never told him how she felt, so he is not beholden to her. (Also, nobody seems to have an issue with the fact that Darkles hooked up with Zoya in the show, that doesn't make HIM a fuckboy... interesting) (also also, nobody seems to discuss Darkles literally sexually assaulting Alina, and lying and manipulating her to get her to be physically intimate with him so he can use her... double interesting).

Slut Shames Alina - FALSE! The ever favourite callout line from Darklina's "He's all over you" isn't him slut shaming her. First, he has no idea what their relationship is like at that point, but more importantly, he is making an observation of her status in the little palace and how she has become his tool. He has dressed her up in his colors, made her put on a show for his benefit, and has created a situation where Alina appears to be his. Mal is noting that after months of searching for her, believing she was being hurt, tortured, or worse, when he arrives to save her, she looks like the Darkling's pet. (and, even if he WAS angry because he perceived them to be romantically involved, boy just spent months fighting for his life, lost multiple friends, and almost died to find her, all while coming to the realisation that he was in love with her, and then he shows up, after not hearing from her for months... I'd be pissed as hell too.) Important Note: He even acknowledges that what he said was wrong and tries to apologise, before Alina tells him that he was right. (Shadow and Bone, pg. 286). He also then apologizes, completely unprompted, for what he said. (Shadow and Bone, pg. 297).

Fat Shames Alina - False! This one is particularly laughable to me, because its one of the Darklina arguments that falls apart the second you actually read the scene. They are running for their lives in the forest, and Mal has to hunt and gather to feed them. He is noting that Alina's appetite has increased since he last saw her, and he makes a joke (ya know, how you do with friends) about how it would be easier to keep her fed if she still had her more meager appetite from before. He makes no comment on her weight, or her size, and he is not actually commenting on her appetite in a negative way, he is just acknowledging that it's a lot more work for him now that she eats more. Right before he says the line, the quote even proves that he isn't shaming her or thinking badly of her: "With a bemused expression, he watched as I gobbled down my portion and then sighed, still hungry". He is noting a change in her, and complaining that its made more work for him. If you think thats the same as fat shaming, well... thats a you problem.

Hates Alina's Powers - FALSE!!!! How to begin... do we talk about it was Mal's idea to hunt the stag in S&B, because he knew she needed it to be more powerful so she could stop the darkling? Do we talk about how he vowed to find the firebird for her, even though he was terrified of what all that power would do to her? Do we talk about how he literally died so she could achieve the power she needed to save the world? Or maybe we could talk about how he believed in her power more than anyone else, like when everyone was making bets about her abilities with the Cut and he knew she'd go further and better than anyone else expected her too, or when he tells her that he was never afraid of her powers, only what seeking all that power would do to her (which is literally the theme of the books, that power corrupts and seeking unmatched power can destroy you)? Mal being afraid of what is going to happen to Alina, being protective of her and worrying over her, is not the same as him hating her powers. He exists to help remind Alina of the themes of the story, and to guide her into maintaining her humanity.

Abusive - ... Do I even need to explain this one? Must I deign an explanation as to why this favourite Darklina lie is so fucking stupid, and also totally hypocrisy? No? Because we all know Darkles is actually the abusive one and they're trying to project their own shit onto Mal to further their abuse apologist agenda? Cool. Moving on.

Possessive of Alina - False! Throughout the entire series, Mal is quite literally the opposite of possessive, but yall just cant read. Not only does he quite literally step out of the way and allow Nikolai to court Alina without argument, which is the most direct example of him not being possessive, he also spends two full books believing, and repeatedly saying over and over and over, that they can't be together because he is not good enough for her. Mal believes, fully, that Alina deserves more than him, better than him, because he's just a tracker and a soldier, just a regular man with nothing to offer her but his love and his protection, and she is a Saint and should be a Queen. Possessiveness is the wish to own and control someone, it is literally the opposite of Mal believing that he's not good enough and doing everything he can to ensure that Alina achieves everything and gets everything he believes she is owed. A possessive character would not tell her to tell him to leave because he has nothing he can offer her, no title or land or country or crown. A possessive character would not promise to be the blade in her hand, because he believed he had nothing but the blood he could spill to offer her.

Angry - True! Yeah, omg, you caught us, Mal is ANGRY! Heaven forbid a teenager who is traumatized beyond belief and has to give up everything in his life, his position in the military (he deserted for her), his friends and the job he loved (Mikhail and Dubrov died for him, and he can't be a tracker in the army... because he deserted... for Alina), and, most importantly, he has to give up Alina (she should be Queen, he believes, and he has to give up the future he imagined with the girl he loves, who he was pretty sure loved him back, because she's a saint and queen and he's just a man), and more, is ANGRY. He has to be the one to find the amplifiers that he knows will end up hurting her, because thats what she needs to save the world. He has to sit by while Nikolai treats him like the dirt on his shoe and tries to woo Alina for his own personal gain (because Nikoalai did not love Alina. Maybe he came to care for her, but he proposed and spent all of S&S trying to get her to marry him when it was obvious they were not in love. He straight up says its so that the next King of Ravka can be married to the Sun Summoner. It's a power grab.) and he can't do anything about it. So yeah, Mal is angry. And yeah, sometimes he's even angry at Alina, just like sometimes she's angry at him. But they always find their way back, always apologize and try to be better for each other, and if you think anger is a toxic trait, and not simply a natural human emotion, might I suggest touching some fucking grass?

Idk why you thought I'd stand for Mal slander on my blog, cuz I will not. So, I'm gonna stop there, because I have shit to do today, but I really do wonder how much of Mal's 'toxic' or 'terrible' traits, that make him such a 'bad' love interest for Alina, really comes from Darklina's who refuse to actually read the text critically at all, and instead take everything he does and says out of context to further their agenda that Alina should have ended up as the Darkling's fucking slave forever, because thats the "girl power feminist" ending somehow. Mal supports her, loves her, sacrifices for her at every turn, and does everything he can do, to the point of literally dying for her, to ensure that she can defeat Darkles and save the world. He protects her, and when they end up happy and safe together on the orphange that they've rebuilt to help the children that were victims of Darkles war and genocide, he spends his days bringing her tea and cakes and flowers, kissing her silly under the stairs in the view of all the teachers, and calling her names like beauty, beloved, cherished, my heart for the rest of their ordinary life together, if love can ever be called that.

[descendantofthesparrow]

Soulmate au! Countdown - Harry Hook x Reader -oneshot

soulmate au idea sent in by Anonymous 

=

Everyone in the world was born with a watch, not on their wrists or anywhere attached to them, just a simple watch that would appear when a new soul was born into the world. Doctors would blink, and suddenly, next to the new babe, was a watch.

A watch that had a set date of years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the new soul would meet their soulmate, the one destined to love them forever.

Some watches were simple ones, a simple leather band with a plain clock attached to go around their wrist. Some got more…exotic clocks, one person, whose soulmate was an astrologist, watch had planets instead of hands to tell the time.(luckily for the person, who didn’t know how to read the time by looking at planets, there was still a small digital timer in the middle just above the sun) some had intricately carved pocket watches, some had sundials.

Prince Ben’s watch had confused some people, being a pure gold and silver watch, rusted slightly (and unable to be buffed to perfection as so many tried) with a horned dragon decorating the top, the back engraved with thorned vines. It wasn’t till years later, as Ben locked eyes with Mal, the daughter of Maleficent, did the watches ticking stop (small A/N; Ben and Audrey don’t date since they know they aren’t meant to be already. Okay let's get back into it!)

Audrey’s watch hung off a silver necklace, the top cover being diamond-like glass that seemed to shine like magic. Her watch had stopped when she met Chad at only six months old, his rose gold wristwatch stopping at the same time.

Doug's watch, a gorgeous gold-plated pocket watch decorated with heart-shaped red rubies, had stopped when he first locked eyes with Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen, who for a small while had denied that her own watch had stopped ticking, and had only admitted it after she and her friends had proclaimed their decision to turn their backs on their parent's evil ways.

Most people your age had met their soulmate already, you knew some who had yet to meet theirs but mostly everyone had already been found.

Not that you personally knew that.

You hardly talked to anyone really, so how were you to know if someone had found their soulmate yet or not.

You were just a regular person in a school of the descendants of heroes and royalty, a loner at that. The only interesting about you was your watch.

It was a gorgeous gold watch with thin black paint under the gold curved detailing that looked like waves, surrounding the outer rim of the cover, with an anchor and a ship's steering wheel in the middle of the cover, the back was a carved compass, the entire thing connected to a strong bronze chain.

You admired it every day, excitement and anxiety running through you as every second passed. And those feelings were amplified recently.

The clock now read seven days, seven hours, eight minutes, and forty seconds. It was only that until you met your soulmate.

You only hoped they wouldn’t think you weren’t worth their time…as everyone else did.

-

Harry had been born with a pretty plain-looking pocket watch, smooth and silver metal protecting the gears.

You could imagine the surprise he felt when he finally opened it for the first time. The inner works of his watch were beautiful, the silver metal had turned to gold, curving details surrounded the hands and timer, a shining scale texture covered the inside of the cover, never leaving a residue on his finger when he traced it.

Many villain kids were told to never open their watches, being told that it was pointless to even look since they would never need their soulmate in the first place.

Some obeyed, some, like Harry, had gotten too curious and looked anyway, and some just looked because they could.

And Harry couldn't say he regretted looking, every day he grabbed his watch and popped it open, smiling as the ticking hands signified the ever-coming day of meeting his soulmate.

Like now, it read seven days, five hours, three minutes, and seven seconds. Coincidently, it matched the same day he would be going to Auradon prep, seven months after king Ben had invited the original four to Auradon.

His closest friend, Uma, had a plan to get the wand and do what the original four couldn’t. but Harry had another plan.

He wanted to meet his soulmate, he knew they couldn’t have been on the isle, he had met basically everyone on the isle, there was no other explanation than for his soulmate to be in Auradon.

He looked up from his watch to gaze at the bright lights of Auradon, his breath visible as he let out a sigh and leaned against the rails of the lost revenge. “you ready for next week?” he suppressed a flinch as Uma suddenly appeared next to him, joining him to look at  Auradon.

“aye” he simply muttered back, clenching his pocket watch in his hand. He looked away slightly as Uma turned towards him, her brow quirked.

“…you want to find them, don’t you?” Uma asked, turning back to Auradon and resting her chin in her hand.

Harry stayed silent.

Uma reached out and squeezed Harry's shoulder “I won't stop you from doing that, I know our parents told us that soulmates are bullshit but I could give less of a fuck, if you decide not to go through with everything because of them, I’ll leave you two alone…” Harry sighed in slight relief and turned to Uma.

“even if it would ruin yer plans?” Harry asked softly, laughing as Uma grumbled a bit.

“yeah yeah…if you’re happy im happy” Harry tossed his arm over Uma’s shoulder and pulled her into his side, grinning as she quietly complained at the hug.

“Thank yeh Uma” he whispered, closing his eyes as Uma sighed against him and hugged him back.

“you’re my best friend Harry, I would do anything for you” Harry smiled against her hair, squeezing her shoulder a bit before letting her go as she started to bat at his chest “Alright alright that’s enough, come on we got night shit to do” Harry snorted and shook his head a bit, grabbing his hat from the milk crate next to him and flipping it on, whistling slightly as he followed Uma off the ship.

-

You looked up from your summer history essay as a group of girls rushed up to the window, giggling to themselves as they pointed out whatever it was they were talking about.

‘oh right’ you mentally sighed, closing your book and packing it away, knowing that the study hall you were in was going to be filled with the laughter of these girls for who knows how long ‘the new vks’

You spared a glance back at the girls, sighing wistfully to yourself as they smiled amongst each other.

What you would give to have friends like that, but you had always been closed in on yourself and always froze up when someone tried to talk to you, that you had never gotten the chance to make friends.

You shrugged your bag over your shoulder and walked out of the study hall “where to go now” you whispered to yourself, taking out your pocket watch and smiling slightly at it, rubbing your thumb against the wheel before popping it open.

Six hours, forty-five minutes, and seven seconds.

You would meet your soulmate today.

You closed the watch and held it against your chest, letting out a giggly sigh and walking towards the other end of the dorms to get to the other study hall so you would write your essay in peace.

Behind you, you heard king Ben talking, taking a glance back you saw a flash of a scarlet red coat pass by the entrance to the hallway you had just entered. You brushed it off and looked back in front of you.

-

One and a half hours, ten minutes, and forty seconds.

Harry stared anxiously at his watch, his foot tapping rapidly against the floor of his new room. “you know if you just sit and stare at that thing it's not going to go any faster” Gil offered, setting his new laptop down and sitting next to Harry, reaching out to close the watch.

Harry blinked back into reality, pouting at Gil slightly. Gil just gave him a look and pushed the watch towards Harry's chest “sitting in here won't help you find them either, go explore or something, you might find them easier” Harry huffed and grabbed his watch, sticking it in his pocket and walking out of the room “you’ll thank me later!”

-

You groaned a bit as you rolled your shoulders, you had finished your essay, along with a handful of other projects, and had decided you needed a break. So it was off to your “secret” spot near the dorms, it was well hidden by the forest and you had to cross a hanging bridge to get to it so hardly anyone knew about it.

You shrugged off your top and pants, kicking off your shoes and setting everything next to your towel and watch before diving in.

Underneath the water your body shimmered, your legs turning to a transitioning (f/c) and (f/c) tail with a strong fabric-like tail, scales the same color as your tail appeared next to your eyes and trailed down your cheeks, your shoulders being covered as well.

You let out a soft sigh as you swam through the clear water, trailing your fingers across the smooth rocks that lay at the bottom of the lake.

You picked up a particularly shiny clear and black one, swimming back up to the surface and examining it, humming to yourself as you waded through the water.

-There once was a ship that put to sea/ And the name of that ship was the Billy o' Tea/ The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down/ Blow my bully boys blow-

You started to sing one of your favorite sea shanties aloud, closing your eyes and letting yourself drift across the surface of the lake as your voice echoed around you.

- Soon may the Wellerman come/ To bring us sugar and tea and rum/ One day, when the tonguing' is done/ We'll take our leave and go-

-

Harry sighed quietly as he walked around the grounds of Auradon prep, tubbing his thumb against the smooth metal of his watch as the comforting -tick tock- of its gears rang in his ears.

He sighed again as he stopped in the middle of a pathway, running his hand through his messy hair. He pulled out the watch and quirked his brow.

three minutes, forty seconds.

Suddenly something caught his attention, he turned his head towards the forest, his lips separating as a lovely drifted towards him.

He started walking towards it, entering into the forest and pushing past the bushes that covered the main path. He quickly walked over the hanging bridge that led him directly to a sparkly crystal-clear lake.

And wading in the water of that lake was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen or heard.

- No line was cut, no whale was freed/ An' the captain's mind was not on greed/ But he belonged to the Whaleman's creed/ She took that ship in tow -

As he walked closer to the mermaid, he didn’t notice the timer on the watch tick down to the seconds.

3…2...1.

Suddenly the mermaid looked up from their rock and gasped, her glowing (e/c) eyes locking with his ocean blue.

The ticking stopped.

The mermaid squealed in embarrassment and ducked under the water, Harry quickly snapped out of his stupor and ran towards the edge of the lake, kneeling at it and looking around for the mermaid who had suddenly disappeared. “where did yeh go?” he whispered, yelping and falling back on his butt as the mermaid suddenly popped up in front of his face and tried to reach for her items behind Harry.

He watched her struggle to reach toward them before she groaned and flopped on the ground, her top half lying pitifully on the dry ground as her tail angrily hit the surface of the water.

Harry let out a soft chuckle and looked behind him, spotting a gold pocket watch resting just next to a (f/c) towel, he glanced back at the mermaid for a moment before reaching out for the watch and gently handing it to the mermaid.

She quickly popped it open and gasped.

Harry watched as the mermaid just stared at her watch, then slowly look up at him. He took out his watch and popped it open, stopping as he realized the clock had stopped.

00:00:00:00:00:00 blinked rapidly

Harry looked back at the mermaid and turned his watch towards her. She reached out slightly, looking at him for permission to take it.

He pushed it into her hand and she set it next to her watch, a smile growing on her face as the blinking of the timers synchronized perfectly. Only soulmate watches could sync perfectly as they did.

She looked back up at Harry with a wide grin, Harry's heart fluttering like crazy as she did.

“I found you” she whispered in the most melodic voice, squeaking a bit as Harry stood and started to strip out of his clothes “what are you doing?!” she yelled, pushing off the edge and diving down under the water a bit, only her eyes and the top of her head above the water.

“joinin’ yeh,” Harry responded simply, kicking off his shoes and pants and tossing them aside with his shirt, jacket, and belts.

Once he was down to just his underwear, he jumped into the water next to his soulmate, closing his eyes as he sank into the surprisingly deep lake.

Almost immediately after he jumped in, arms wrapped around his waist and kept him afloat. Harry cracked open his eyes to see the glowing ones of his soulmate, their pupils slanted as they stared back at him.

Harry let a smile grow on his lips as he and his soulmate floated under the water. Then Harry's body proceeded to realize he was underwater and that he needed air.

His soulmate watched him look up, realize what he was doing, and grabbed his face. Harry looked at them and let out a muffled squeak as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

He snapped his eyes shut and felt his face burn with a blush as she licked his lips and opened his mouth, breathing into him.

She pulled back and giggled, which oddly wasn’t muffled. Harry opened one of his eyes and pouted slightly as his soulmate covered her mouth with one of her hands as she laughed at his expression.

He took a breath to say something, but then realized he was breathing underwater. He gave her a wide-eyed look and she giggled again.

“mermaid kisses can let the person breath and speak underwater” her voice purred, grabbing his hands and pulling him up to the surface. Harry shook his head, smirking as his soulmate squealed a bit as the water droplets hit her.

“I’m Harry” Harry spoke first, swimming slightly closer to his soulmate and pressing a soft kiss to her cheek “Harry Hook.”

“(y-y/n) (l/n)” she squeaked slightly, Harry smirking at the heat that burned against his lips as he pressed another kiss to her cheek.

“I think” he pulled back and pressed a kiss to her other cheek “you and I are going to get along very well~” he purred, grinning as (y/n) set her forehead against his.

“whys that?” she hummed, pushing her lips together as Harry tightly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him.

“a pirate and a mermaid? What's a better match than tha’?”

-end-

Short but sweet, might do another one of the suggestions! Thanks for reading!

permtaglist

@queer-cosette @sephiralorange

@lunanight2012 @daughter-of-the-stars11

@musicarose @remembered-license

@random-thoughts-003 @jatp-rules-my-life

@verboetoperee @imtryingthisout @thecaptainsgingersnap

@rintheemolion​

[carriagelamp]

Art of Aardman

I found myself a cheap copy of the Shaun the Sheep movie, so I was rewatching a bunch of Aardman films earlier this month and decided to hunt down some books too. For anyone that doesn’t know, Aardman is a British stop-motion studio that does fantastic work like Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run, Early Man… tons of cool stuff. They’re always quirky and funny and warm-hearted. This was just a very nice art book for anyone that’s a fan of Aardman stop motion and wants to see a bit extra; it shows some cool concept art and blows up the neat details in Aardman work, especially in their intricate stuff like The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

Asterix and the Picts (Asterix and the Chariot Race, and How Obelix Fell Into The Magic Potion)

I decided to try a couple of the new Asterix comics that were done by the new team, just to see if they stand up to the old ones (that and How Obelix Fell Into The Magic Potion cause I’d never read that one before). They were pretty decent! Asterix and the Picts was my favourite of the two though I wouldn’t say either are going to contest for my favourite Asterix comic... but still! The art looks good and the stories felt like what I would expect, they made for a pleasant couple evenings of reading especially since it’s been so long since I’ve read a new Asterix comic. If you’ve never read Asterix it’s one of the biggest name French comic series in North America, as far as I know and very worth the read. It’s about a single Gaulish village that’s holding out against the invading Romans through sheer force of will, slapstick hijinks, and a magical super-strength potion brewed by their druid. Lots of fantastic visuals and cute wordplay, even in the English translations.

Bear

I found out about this bastion of Canadian literature via tumblr post that was losing its collective mind over the fact that some bizarre bear-based erotica novella somehow won the most prestigious literary prize available in Canada. Since I too found this hilarious and unspeakably bizarre I had to give it a read, obviously. And yes, the flat surface level summary is... a librarian moves out into rural Ontario and falls in love with a literal for-real not-supernatural-not-a-joke bear. And I have to say… it is actually worthy of an award, which I was not expecting given that I was there for a laugh. It has beautiful writing, and the subtextual story is pretty interesting… it kind of makes me think of The Haunting of Hill House actually in terms of themes. (Womanhood, personhood, independence, autonomy partially achieved through escaping the male gaze by claiming non-human lovers... listen if I were still in university I would right a paper comparing the two novels).

I dunno man, it’s fucking weird. Actually a well-written book, but sure is about a woman falling in love with a literal bear. Give it a read if you want something bonkers but like… high-brow bonkers.

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites

Best book I have read in like… a while. A long while. I am not a fast reader, and I consumed 90% of this book over a weekend. It’s not at all like Terry Pratchett, but at the same time it scratched an itch for me that I haven’t had satisfied since Pratchett’s death. A very clever, hilariously funny poly romance between a disabled werewolf, an anxious vampire lord, and an incredibly powerful woman, with heaps of social satire, political commentary, and sinister undertones. The whole thing reads a bit like fanfiction and I say that in the most flattering way possible -- it is so easy to jump right in and be immediately taken over by the characters and the world and the plot, you never feel like you’re fighting to engage even though the world-building is fascinating and expansive. It welcomes you in right away, it was the book equivalent of a quilt and a hug which is something I sorely needed with all this pandemic bullshit. If you read any of the books on this list, go read that one while I sit here in pain waiting for the sequel.

Kid Paddle

I watched the cartoon of Kid Paddle as a kid and was thinking about it recently, so I decided to hunt down some of the original comics online. They’re fun and weird, with a cute art style and fantastic monsters designs. (My favourites are always about Kid either daydreaming or playing games that involve Midam’s weird warty troll creatures. It’s like a cross between Calvin and Hobbes and Foxtrot with the fun sort of quirks that I love in Belgian comics. Unfortunately, unlike Asterix, I’ve only come across these ones in French, but if you can read French it’s totally worth popping over to The Internet Archive and reading the ones they have available.

The Last Firehawk: The Golden Temple

The lastest Firehawk book. Despite being written for quite young readers, I did enjoy the early books in this series quite a bit. They’re about a young owl and squirrel who found an egg for a magical species that was believed to be extinct. With the newly hatched firehawk, the three of them head off on a mission to find an ancient firehawk magic that could save the entire forest. Very basic adventure story but a good intro to the tropes for children. Unfortunately the quality really feels like it drops with each subsequent book; this will probably be the last one I bother reading.

Lumberjanes: The Moon Is Up

I honestly think I enjoy these Lumberjanes novels even more than the comics just because it really gives time to delve into each story and examine how the camper are really thinking and feeling about everything. (Also I’m always weak for novelizations of anything.) The Moon Is Up is a book that focuses more on Jo, and takes place during the camp’s much anticipated Galaxy Wars, a competition between cabins that goes over several days. While the campers prepare for these challenges though, they also run into a strange little creature with a penchant for cheese and theft. Roanoke cabin needs to keep ahead in Galaxy Wars and somehow deal with the fearsome Moon Pirates that a closing in...

Lumberjanes v4 (Out Of Time)

One of the Lumberjanes comics, a cool, girl-focused, queer comic series. Honestly, this is just a fun series that I never got as into as I should have. My advice is honestly to skip book one because it gets better as it continues, and I’ve really been enjoying the later books now that I’ve given it another go. It follows five campers at Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types (Jo, April, Molly, Mal, and Ripley) as they handle all sorts of challenges, from friendship to crushes, camp activities to supernatural horrors, getting badges to not being brutally killed. Great if you liked the vibe of Gravity Falls but want it to be queer-er.

Mooncakes

Another queer graphic novel, but unfortunately not a very good one. It really looked appealing and I had high hopes, but the book itself really didn’t hold up… I actually couldn’t even finish it, the plot was just too… non-existent. The art is fairly mediocre once you actually look at it, especially backgrounds, and it feels very… placid. Not much conflict or excitement or even a very compelling reason to keep reading. If you just want a soft queer supernatural you may get more mileage out of it than me, but it didn’t really do it for me. There’s better queer graphic novels out there.

New Boy In Town

One of the worst books I have ever read. My girlfriend had ordered a very different book online but through a frankly stupendous error was sent this 1980s pulp romance instead. Absolutely nauseating on levels I couldn’t even begin to enumerate here. Naturally we read the whole thing out loud. Probably took us 10 times longer to finish than it warranted because I had to stop every two sentences to lose my mind. If you like bad decisions, baffling hetero courting rituals, built-in cultural Christianity without actually calling it that, and gold panning then boy howdy is this the book for you.

(seriously, you better have patience for gold-panning if you attempt this one, because I sure learn that I don’t)

Piggies

This was a picture book I enjoyed as a kid and had a reason to reread recently. Honestly it’s just very cute and simple, and the art is completely mesmerizing. Wonderful if you know a young child that would enjoy a simple goofy boardbook.

Shaun the Sheep: Tales From Mossy Bottom

Related to my Aardman fascination earlier this month. I tried reading a varieties of Shaun the Sheep books — most of which are mediocre at best — but the Tales From Mossy Bottom Farm series is genuinely good. Just chapter books, of course, but the illustrations match the series’ concept art and each story feels like it could have jumped directly out of an episode. They’re just cute and feel-good! Kinda like Footrot Flats but more for kids, and from the sheep’s perspective moreso than the dog’s.