#book three

[redux-iterum]

Charred Legacy: Chapter Four

(AO3 counterpart here.)

Fireheart didn’t have much time to mull over Whitecloud’s words; the next evening, before anyone had a chance to leave camp, Bluestar walked in and silently jumped onto the meeting stump, sitting down and waiting for everyone to notice her and circle around.

“What do you think’s up?” Greystripe whispered to Fireheart as he and Ravenwing joined him.

Fireheart just tilted his head in acknowledgement. “We’ll see in a moment.”

“The time’s come,” Bluestar called when everyone was close, “for Frostfur’s kits to become apprentices.”

Surprised chatter bounced through the crowd. When Fireheart glanced at Frostfur's way, she was slightly frowning and muttering to herself, “I could’ve sworn we had another half-month to go…”

Sitting close by, Speckletail too had a look of confusion and—if Fireheart wasn’t mistaken—slight frustration. Fireheart didn’t get a chance to ask her about it before the buzz settled down and Bluestar called, “Kits, come forward.”

Fireheart was nearly pushed over by Brightkit as she led Snowkit up to the front of the crowd, which was in the process of backing up to give the litter space. Thornkit and Brackenkit soon followed, and the kits began shuffling around to stand in a line (as, of course, ordered by Thornkit).

“Bit disorganized,” Teaselfoot murmured to Mousefur beside him. “Did she not tell them what to do?”

“Huh,” was all Mousefur said. She had the air of mild disappointment. “I was hoping she’d talk to me about mentoring. I guess she’s already got her list settled.”

Speckletail’s eyes narrowed just a fraction and she looked Mousefur’s way. “She didn’t talk to me, either. I think—”

“Thornkit, step forward,” Bluestar said loudly, cutting her deputy off.

The brisk little tom marched a few steps closer, standing with his chest puffed out.

Bluestar leaned down a bit to talk to him. “Are you ready to train to serve your Clan, and care for your Clanmates the way they have cared for you?”

Thornkit gave one firm nod. “Am. I am.”

“Then with StarClan’s blessing, I name you Thornpaw.” Bluestar’s eyes flicked to one side of the crowd. “Your mentor will be Dustpelt. I entrust him to teach you diligence and honor, and pass down everything he knows.”

Dustpelt blinked in surprise, but recovered quickly and trotted into the empty ring, meeting with Thornpaw, who looked a little lost. Bluestar definitely hadn’t told him what to do the way she had told Fireheart when he received his own name. Dustpelt saved it by whispering something to Thornpaw. Quickly, the two touched noses and Thornpaw nodded respectfully to his new mentor before following him back to the edge of the crowd, where they stood together, the little tom’s eyes wide and sparkling.

“Brackenkit, step forward,” Bluestar said now, and was quickly and eagerly obeyed. “Are you ready to train to serve your Clan, and care for your Clanmates the way they have cared for you?”

“I am!” Brackenkit shouted, earning a few titters.

Bluestar nodded once, not looking particularly amused herself. “Then with StarClan’s blessing, I name you Brackenpaw. Your mentor will be Willowpelt. I entrust her to teach you focus and clear-headedness, and pass down everything she knows.”

Again, the new mentor had a look of surprise, and again she took it in stride and went to meet her apprentice. Brackenpaw’s tail flailed about in excitement and he almost banged his nose into Willowpelt’s, just barely catching himself in time.

“Call their names,” Bluestar said to the crowd as the pair moved away. “Welcome Thornpaw and Brackenpaw to apprenticeship.”

The Clan immediately cheered, “Thornpaw! Brackenpaw! Thornpaw! Brackenpaw!”

The brothers, standing next to each other, shared a glance, and in that glance was the very same overwhelming wash of joy Fireheart had felt when he’d first come to the Clan, and again when he’d been named a warrior. Granted, Thornpaw looked a little more stoic, but the happiness was palpable.

“Brightkit,” Bluestar said when the cheering was done.

Brightkit did not walk forward so much as bounce, and when she remembered to stop, she was vibrating with glee.

“Are you also ready to train to serve your Clan, and care for your Clanmates the way they have cared for you?”

Brightkit bounced on her pads. “I am! I am!”

“Then with StarClan’s blessing, I name you Brightpaw. Your me—”

Brightpaw poorly contained a squeal of joy that came out as an energetic whine. Again, the crowd rippled with amusement, and she ducked her head. “Sorry.”

Bluestar, to her credit, did not scold her—in fact, she didn’t react at all, simply continuing with the script. “Your mentor will be Mousefur.”

Fireheart immediately turned his head to the dusky molly. She straightened up, eyes wide and ears perked in delight.

“I entrust her to teach you wit and tranquility, and pass down everything she knows.”

Mousefur quickly wove around the cats in front of her and went to meet her apprentice. Both of their faces shone with joy, and Brightpaw whispered something that Mousefur snorted at before she led the apprentice to the edge of the crowd.

“Now, Snowkit,” Bluestar continued, and at this the crowd went dead quiet. She made eye contact with the little white tom and beckoned him to walk forward with her tail, which he did. She returned her attention to the rest of ThunderClan. “Snowkit is a special case. He cannot hear the oath he’ll take to become an apprentice, and he will require a mentor that can learn to communicate with him, and teach him to communicate better with all of us, and us with him in turn. Therefore, we will do this oath a little differently.”

Her eyes roamed over the gathered cats… and they landed on Ravenwing. The black tom suddenly stiffened.

“Ravenwing, join Snowkit,” she said.

Ravenwing didn’t move, but his tail immediately started shaking. “Wh– um– …Why?”

Bluestar narrowed her eyes. “Because you are going to be his mentor.”

The shaking swept over every hair on Ravenwing’s body. Fireheart watched in shock (as did everyone else) as Ravenwing gasped and trembled even harder, until it looked like his unsteady legs were about to buckle.

He barely managed to find his voice. “I– no, Bluestar, I ca– I c—”

“Come forward and meet your apprentice,” Bluestar snapped.

Speckletail stood up, looking between the panicking Ravenwing and the annoyed leader. “Bluestar, did you talk with him about this?”

Bluestar ignored her, simply glaring at Ravenwing like a rabbit still in its burrow.

The poor tom was visibly fighting to control his terror, but he still shivered and breathed shallow breaths. His eyes stared ahead, unfocused.

Fireheart, sitting next to him, eased his side on Ravenwing’s. Greystripe scooted closer and mirrored the gesture, nearly drowning the oddly scrawny tom in his warmth. When Ravenwing’s head snapped between them, Fireheart gave him as encouraging of a nod and a blink as he could, and Greystripe whispered, “You got this, bud. We’re right here.”

Ravenwing gulped down another chestful of air, screwed his eyes shut, clenched his jaw, and then barely managed a nod back. Despite his shaky legs, he stood and shuffled past Willowpelt and Brackenpaw. Fireheart tried to mentally send his support to the skinny warrior as he stood by Snowkit. The kit looked up at him, his excitement fading a little to concern.

“Though you can’t hear me,” Bluestar said to Snowkit, “I know you will agree to what your littermates agreed to: training to serve your Clan, and caring for them as they have cared for you. Therefore, I name you Snowpaw, and your mentor will be Ravenwing.” She now looked to the warrior in question. “Ravenwing, I entrust you to teach him wisdom and carefulness, and pass down everything you know to him.”

Ravenwing, fighting to breathe normally, turned to Snowpaw, and with a quaking paw gently nudged him to stand. Snowpaw did so, his pretty blue eyes shining again. At the eye contact, something in Ravenwing settled just a little, and he managed to lessen his shaking enough to touch his nose to Snowpaw’s. The apprentice straightened up and beamed, giving his mentor a nod like his siblings had done to theirs.

“Welcome, Brightpaw and Snowpaw, to apprenticeship,” Bluestar said, not waiting for the pair to move.

Again, cheers. “Brightpaw! Snowpaw! Brightpaw! Snowpaw!”

Snowpaw didn’t acknowledge the cheering, but he did bump his head against Ravenwing’s shoulder, purring quietly. Ravenwing nervously blinked at him when he pulled his head back.

The crowd dispersed, chatting among themselves or congratulating the apprentices on their ceremony. Fireheart tapped Greystripe with his tail and led him over to Ravenwing and Snowpaw.

“She– she didn’t tell me,” Ravenwing stammered out to his friends. “I just– I could’ve told her– I can’t mentor, I’m not—”

“None of that,” Fireheart said, gently but firmly. Ravenwing quieted, staring at him. “You can do this. And if you need help, you’ll have me and Greystripe around any time.”

Greystripe nodded. “And really, you’re the best one to teach him. Frostfur’s got a couple signs for him already, doesn’t she?”

Ravenwing sighed out a trembling breath. “I mean, yeah? I’ve seen her, but I don’t know how many signs, or what they mean—”

“I can help with that.”

The toms turned their heads, gradually followed by Snowpaw, as Frostfur padded up to them. Snowpaw went up to meet her and she licked his ear, nodded and blinked twice.

“I’m sorry you didn’t know ahead of time,” she said to Ravenwing. “I didn’t either. I would’ve talked to you and given you a headstart on communicating with him.”

Fireheart chanced a look back at Ravenwing; to his surprise, at Frostfur’s words, he seemed to have calmed down a little, saying with focus in his eyes, “I’d– I’d appreciate everything you can give me.”

Snowpaw looked almost upside-down at Ravenwing, still purring. Ravenwing slowly gave him a blink, and Snowpaw fluffed up, looking back now to his mother.

“He’s starting to understand lip-movement,” Frostfur said, gently ruffling her kit’s head. “But that’s still slow-going. He’s got pel* signs that he knows, and they should be enough right now for you to start with.”

“Can you share them with us, too?” Fireheart asked, Greystripe nodding in agreement. “We want to help however we can.”

Frostfur gave him a grateful face, but still spoke to Ravenwing. “This, what I just did—” she blinked twice with a nod “—that means ‘yes’. Or ‘well done’. He’ll know the difference. You can just nod for yes, but you have to nod and blink for ‘well done’.”

Focus burned brighter in Ravenwing’s eyes, and he leaned forward a bit, nodding for her to go on.

“For ‘no’, you can just shake your head,” Frostfur continued. “If you want to make him understand you’re not happy with him, put your ears back, too. He reacts pretty well to discipline, but don’t be cruel to my son.”

“Of course not!” Ravenwing blanched. “No, I’ll– I’ll be kind, of course. What else?”

“He also has ‘stop’ and ‘go’.” Frostfur folded her left ear back and lifted her left paw and lowered it just enough to leave it in the air, then did the same to the right, with the right paw landing on the ground again. “In that order. ‘Stop’ is for when he’s being too rowdy or when he’s doing something he shouldn’t. ‘Go’ is to let him have fun or do something he wants to do. He’ll check in with you with a head-tilt.”

Ravenwing nodded. “How do I tell him to ‘go’—like, to walk or crawl forward, when it’s time to show him how to hunt?”

Frostfur twitched one side of her mouth. “I haven’t gotten to that one yet. I think maybe you can work with ‘go’ and change it a little. Tap the ground twice, perhaps?”

“That’ll work.” Ravenwing paused, eyes squinting a little, then asked, “What’s the sign for ‘prey’?”

“Well, for food-prey, I’ve been pretending to chew three times.” Frostfur exaggeratedly opened and shut her mouth. Fireheart noted that she was rotating her jaw like a deer chewing—maybe that would keep Snowpaw from thinking she was talking out loud. “For huntable prey, I’d say he’ll get it best if you do something to pretend you’re hunting.”

Ravenwing hummed in thought. “…Maybe I can chatter my teeth. I’ve seen your kits do that when they were pretending to hunt each other a time or two.”

“Hey!” Mousefur called, and trotted over to the little group, a bouncing Brightpaw in tow. “Ravenwing, we were going to show the chriil** the territory. Do you and Snowpaw want to come with us?”

“Oh—” Ravenwing startled, glanced back at Fireheart and Greystripe, then said to Mousefur, “Uh– yeah, we’d like that. I was just getting some signs from Frostfur.”

“Oh, good idea.” Mousefur gave him an approving nod. “We can wait a little more, if you want.”

Ravenwing looked at Frostfur for her deliberation.

“I think you’ll be okay with those right now,” she said warmly. “Thank you for this, Ravenwing. I can see you’ll do well with him.”

Ravenwing weakly breathed a chuff. “I’ll try, at least.”

With that, he nosed Snowpaw to get his attention. When the little tom looked his way, he cocked his head in the direction of the rest of the apprentices at the camp entrance. Snowpaw nodded eagerly and followed after him as Mousefur led them back to the new trainees, Ravenwing glancing back once (weirdly past his friends) and relaxing his steps a bit.

“Maybe we should go with?” Fireheart said to Greystripe. “In case he needs support—”

“Don’t do that.”

The toms and Frostfur almost jumped in surprise, even though Whitecloud’s voice was low and raspy. He had approached without any of them seeing him and was sitting politely, waiting to be acknowledged.

“This is something he needs to do himself,” he elaborated after a moment of letting the surprise settle. “He has your help in many things in his life, but now is the time for him to grow on his own.”

“But—” started Greystripe.

Whitecloud shook his head. “You can always help with training on your off-nights. But Bluestar gave him this challenge for a reason. He’s smart, as you know, and very quick to pick things up, and you know that too. Let him do this alone. Give him the chance to come out of his shell.”

“I think I agree with that,” Frostfur said to the boys. “He can always ask me about signs if he needs to. You two just focus on yourselves for now.”

Fireheart tip-tapped the sand anxiously. “But what if he panics again, and we’re not there?”

Whitecloud gave him a calming tail-wave. “Have some faith in him. He’s not as fragile as he thinks he is.” His voice dropped even further. “You know better than anyone that he’s a lot more capable than he looks.”

The investigation was all his doing, Fireheart thought immediately. He drew in a breath, sighed and nodded. “We’ll try too.”

Greystripe grimaced, but copied the nod. “If he’s struggling still, then can we step in?”

Whitecloud purred. “Yes. But let him get through the initial struggles of first-time mentoring. He’ll learn on his own.”

Fireheart exchanged a look with Greystripe, both worried but cautiously optimistic. Whitecloud tilted his head to them and then walked off, heading to speak with Speckletail. Frostfur looked over at where her kits had gone, eyes fond and a bit sad.

He’ll be okay without you, a voice in Fireheart’s head gently told him. Like Whitecloud said. Give him time.

Even with his own subconscious encouraging him, Fireheart had to fight to not hurry out after his friend and offer support. He flexed his claws to get his anxiety out.

“He’ll be okay,” he said out loud.

Greystripe, looking equally less-than-confident, only sighed softly in response.

 *”Pel”: a vague amount between five and eight.

 **”Chriil”: plural of “chrii”, meaning “little changing cat”. Essentially equivalent to calling a young person “kid”.

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles—Update 31/March/2023

Oh my word! THIS IS IT! The last update before Book Three is released!!!

If you can hear intense shrieking, it's just me, don't worry, hehe! :D

This week I got even more test playthroughs done of the final files and got back to Hosted Games about those, so that was fun but also so scary—to think this is it! A few days and Book Three will be released!!

We're still pushing forward on the build-up content! Hope you guys are enjoying that! Also working on some really fun and interesting things to come on Patreon starting next month, including the Spring Scenario Specials!

The winning scenarios from the poll were:

- Pet sitting Dylan (the firestation's golden retriever)

- A couple's self-care day

- Paintballing

- Spring cleaning the MC's apartment

Good choices, guys! :D I'm not sure which love interest will get which scenario yet, but I already have some very inspiring ideas, hehe!

It'll be good to have those to think on next week. On the one hand, I'm so nervous about release I can't think of much else, but on the other hand once it's released I know I'll really be able to throw myself into Book Four planning, and I am seriously excited for that!

Not the most cohesive update, I'm sorry. My brain is a super mush lately because I really can't focus on much else than the release with it SO close!

Next week, it'll all be focused on the release on April 6th!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! We'll be offline as usual, so I'll talk to you all on release day!! Aaahhhh!! <3

[archivedbyebye]

I was rewatching this wonderful scene from season three for ✨science✨and I am just now noticing how even after Rayla kisses him, Callum still lingers a moment longer and shit bro that's really messing with me right now

[lizaluvsthis]

Book Three teaches Twelve year old -?- about Geometry

Who is this character?

[fang-venkas]

Evervale

[wayhavenmemes]

I loved Bobby's interaction with all the ROs in the demo! I laughed so much at the salt😂

[dorkybooktrash]

I am so very excited to see the “benedict realising he’s popping a boner bc of Sophie and jumping out of the window to take a swim in the lake” scene. Just as much as the ballroom scene. Cmon Shonda. Give me my benedict x Sophie content

[mothmanavenue]

azula’s psychotic break was genuinely the most heartbreaking part of the show??? i’ve never felt so much sympathy for the ‘antagonist’

[ultraericthered]

A tale of two "tragic downfall" villains.

Really think about this - the villain is someone who has suffered greatly in his life to the point of being a traumatized, fragile wreck of a person but is a close friend of the story's main protagonist and works alongside them for years until certain events make his hatred, pride, and need for power, control, and the loyalty of others grow and put him on a worse path, on which he betrays the protagonist and leaves them for dead, taking over his friend's group and making all of them follow him now, and when the protagonist returns to face him and get him to relinquish his control of the group, they have a fight to the finish where the villain proves once and for all that he is too far gone to see reason and beyond hope of redemption, so he ends up meeting a terrible, painful demise. Which one did I just describe?

And I don't want to tear either one of them down, since they're both phenomenally written villains who star in their own dark, tragic tales that were both very well executed. ....BUT, I have to go here: I believe there is one thing that one of them got down a lot better than the other one. And it ain't the damn dirty ape.

I am referring to the quality of pathos, which is derived from, for lack of a better word, humanizing the character. Matt Reeves has expressed very clearly that we are intended to feel pathos for Koba, and for his limited screentime in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and in the first act of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, we do. The poor bonobo was terribly abused, tortured, traumatized, and damaged by callous human scientists and has the physical scars to show it. Even after joining with Caesar and being allowed by him to personally kill his abuser, the deep hatred of humans and fear of what might happen to him and other apes should humans find some way of striking back at them remains with Koba for years; the one thing he ever learned from humans was hatred and nothing else, as Caesar puts it. But the deeper into Dawn we go and the worse Koba gets, the issue arises. Caesar and all these apes were family to Koba for a good many years, years lived in peace and relative happiness, with Caesar even likened to a brother to Koba. However, after a heated dispute with Caesar over his willingness to work with humans turns violent, Koba is beaten down and sees none of the other apes are on his side, he turns his thinking around to view any "weak" ape who'd side with or have leniency on humans to be no better than humans, and that he needs to secure the loyalty of the stronger apes (including Caesar's own son) by taking Caesar's life and framing the humans for it. So he goes for it. And keeps going. And going. And going. And in all this time he's being a villain, the whole second half of the movie, there's not a single moment where Koba ever feels conflicted over what he's doing, no visible traces of remorse nor any sign that he's internally pushing back against remorse because second-guessing himself and surrendering to feelings of shame would reflect weakness. After he's shot his "brother" and left him for dead, Koba is stuck playing the one note of being an evil, wrathful, deranged, murderous monster. There is no metaphorical dog he won't kick, no one he won't mow down in order to assert his dominance and satisfy his rage, and no limit to his blatant hypocrisy. And yes, it was the narrative intent to have Koba slide so far down the slippery slope that he becomes this twisted caricature of his former self who must be put down. But at the time he's condemned and dropped to his painful demise by the ape who was once his brother, there should be a tiny twinge of pity and sadness that it had to come to this....but I think most audiences just cheered when it happened, as there was nothing in Koba left to feel any pity towards.

For Simon, being the equilvalent to what Koba was in the second half of the film occurs only in Book Three's final episode, "The New Apex". In the episodes prior to it, throughout the course of Book Three, Simon is one of the main protagonists and has a wide range of facets and emotions to his characterization; we see moments of him and Grace having the sort of camraderie with each other that could only come from years spent together as friends that makes them both a bit easier to like despite their apalling actions, we get funny bits from him that endear him to us, we see him get sad, get frightened, get confused and unsure of the direction Grace is taking things in, hear about his personal interests, learn about his past trauma, see him vulnerable and interally torn up by conflict. When he works together with Tuba in the Color Clock Car, even sharing a laugh with her, figuring out she's colorblind, and learning more about the sad past with her deceased daughter that also shows him how much Hazel means to her, we can tell that all his views about "Nulls" and about the train are being challenged and he's starting to second-guess himself, to think that this "Null" might be so much more than he'd written her off as from the start, which would lead to guilt and shame over all the "Nulls" he'd mistreated and killed in the past...and so naturally, there's the internal pushback from Simon, because he not only cannot admit to being wrong, he cannot let himself be wrong: he has to be right all the time so that all the years on the train and in the Apex can mean and amount to something beneficial to him rather than having all been a sad waste that'd render him a pitiful, insignificant failure. So with all doubts dispelled from his mind and clear from his consicence, he deliberately and cold-bloodedly sends Tuba to her death, and feels proud to have done so. Things only spiral downward into further darkness and madness from there.

Simon finding out that Grace learned the truth about Hazel before he did and withheld it from him as a secret between herself and the "Null" is the tipping point for him. He snaps, turns against Grace and leaves her for dead, and like Koba, now feels there is no one in his life that he can trust to be on his side unless he were to force their loyal devotion to him through fearmongering and shows of dominance. And yet even in "The New Apex", even with Simon at his most irredeemably loathsome and psychotic, the writing allows for some pathos. When Grace saves Simon from falling off the train, he asks her why she did it. Grace responds "I don't know." Looking at Simon's face in the brief silence that follows, we can tell that deep down in his heart of hearts, he was hoping for Grace to give him a different answer. Something like "because I love you" or "because you're my dearest friend", or "becuse I didn't want to lose you", or "to make amends to you for everything" or even "because you're not the one who deserves to die; you were right about me, about everything." But instead, he hears a vague, ambiguous "I don't know", as it was just basic human decency from Grace and nothing deeper than that. And thus goes away whatever was left of Simon's mind and heart, as he kicks Grace off the train to her apparent death in an act that rescinds years of love and friendship built up with her, raises Simon's number higher than even Amelia's, and sends him into a complete mental breakdown as we see a surge of conflicting moods all over him. So then even if his grisly end that follows elicts some cheering from viewers (I certainly wouldn't blame them!), that tiny twinge of pity and sadness that it had to come to this is very much there by the time Simon is dust on the ground that Grace is sobbing over.

Two exceptional villains in two exceptional works, but only with Simon do I get the sense of a victimized and vulnerable not-all-bad person who tragically descended into becoming a mega asshole. With Koba, I just see a mega asshole.

[dovessoiscanon]

just reread book three and i'm shaking

contains ✨spoilers✨

Just to make y'all cry imma post the most depressing extracts possible

enjoy ;)

NO NO NO NO NO YOU WILL HAVE LOVE BACAUSE YOU'RE GONNA GET MARRIED AND ADOPT SOPHIE AND AGATHA AND REAPER STAWPPPP

little gay me just died when I read that

they gays always win what can I say ✨🏳️‍🌈

PRECIOUS. god you can see what's coming...

👆 the moment we all thought they were safe 😭😭😭

AHHHH NO THE MOMENT MY HEART STOPPED

CALAMITY. TERROR.

SOMAN U STUPID BITCH WHERE ARE WE GONNA GET REPRESENTATION FROM NOW?!?!

AHHHH MY POOR GIRL SHE JUST WANTED TO LIVE WITH HER GIRLFRIEND

god if they make more movies and Kerry and Charlize do this scene, I will end myself.

this funeral speech made lil old me ruin the book crying

SOPHIE BABES I LOVE YOU BUT YOU WILL NEVER BE HERRRR AGHHHH THE ANGUISH AND PAIN

Well ladies, gents, and nb aristocrats, I am going to go and hurl myself off a cliff. Goodbye ;)

[epnona-the-wisp]

[redux-iterum]

Charred Legacy: Chapter One

(AO3 counterpart here.)

All things considered, it was a nice night.

Fireheart was half-rolled onto his back, front paws tucked into his upturned chest while his rear end remained on its side. His tail tapped absentmindedly on the still-warm sand as he gazed up at the stars. The weather had loosened up, mercifully keeping the sky clear and even warming the air a little. It was still somewhat chilled, but the ground had softened from muddy slop to dense soil—still retaining a bit of moisture, but not enough to stick to a traveling cat’s paws—and the frost had barely made an appearance before shying away and melting again into dew.

Thank the Three for small miracles, Fireheart thought as his eyes lazily drifted from star to star. They know we needed it.

Caught up in the beauty of the sky and the grainy comfort of the sand, he was only somewhat registering cats talking around him. Faint squeals drifted out of the nursery’s entrance and his ear twitched at what he thought (hoped, really) was Goldenflower gently chiding the kits inside. Frostfur’s litter was already out, but in the past month they had calmed down considerably and come to prefer talking with the one cat in the apprentice’s den who would soon be a warrior, Swiftpaw, as he regaled them with stories of the territory and all the strange creatures they would see there.

Fireheart twisted his head back and to the side a bit—yes, there they were, listening to the black tom recounting his experience going to the Mother on the far side of the territories.

“And I know she looks scary,” he was saying, “but that’s kind of the point, I think. It makes you respect her even more. You just have to be brave and go into her mouth, trusting her. And Yellowfang will be there to guide you, so you’ll find your way.”

The sole molly of the litter, fluffy ginger-patched Brightkit, spoke up now. “I won’t be scared. The Mother wouldn’t hurt us—we’re her favorites.”

Thornkit, dark and golden-brown, frowned at her. “Still gotta be ‘spectful.”

Fireheart’s mouth twitched into a brief grimace in sympathy as the tom’s ears went back in embarrassment at the end of his sentence. Thornkit still slurred and stumbled over his words, even with as much as Frostfur had worked with him on speaking clearly, and he had been speaking shorter and shorter sentences recently, and at a much lower volume. His siblings understood him just fine, save one.

That one, the deaf little white tom directly in front of Swiftpaw, was Snowkit. His bright blue eyes, wide and vibrant, were fixed on Swiftpaw’s mouth as the apprentice said, “Yeah, it’s important to be quiet on the walk in and during the ceremony. Just wait until Yellowfang speaks to you.”

Brackenkit, a thinner and lighter version of Thornkit, tilted his head. “Will Cinderpaw be there?”

“She was when I went.” Swiftpaw’s eyes lifted upwards as he squinted a bit. “I mean, we did ours together, so that’s why, but I think she’d have to go anyway.” He turned to look at his dark grey sister as she limped out from the ferns by the meeting stump. “Hey, Cinderpaw! Are you going to be with these kits when they do their pilgrimage?”

Cinderpaw beamed with a hacking scoff very similar to her mentor’s. “Obviously! I have to learn how to do it myself, and there’s no way I’m missing out on Brighty getting blessed.” She swept her tail, crooked at the tip, in the direction of the toms. “And you guys, of course.”

Brackenkit seemed to take no offense. “I bet my blessing will be from Rokhar.”

Fireheart purred, rolling slowly onto his side. Of all the three gods, the Tiger was the one he understood the least. Then again, it seemed like everyone outside of the seer role had some trouble grasping exactly what Rokhar was all about. The first seer of Fireheart’s life in ThunderClan, Spottedleaf, had described him as being “in-between” and “all-encompassing”. Even after more than a year of being a Clan cat, Fireheart still had no idea what that meant.

“Why Rokhar?” Swiftpaw asked, sounding amused. “Because he’s the cool—?“

“Because he’s the cool one!” Brackenkit said, exactly in tandem with the apprentice. At another frown from Thornkit, he added, “I mean, they’re all cool, but Rokhar’s the coolest.”

Cinderpaw limped up to the little gathering of the young, her bad leg crumpled up towards her belly. “Knowing your dad, he’s probably telling Horoa right now to bless all of you with a Lion’s touch.”

While the kits all started babbling to each other about whether that was true or not, Fireheart’s heart clenched at the mention of Lionface. He had been the deputy of ThunderClan after Redtail, another first for Fireheart when he had joined the Clan from life as a house cat. Both of them had been great toms, Redtail kind and friendly and Lionface majestic and confident (even if he and Fireheart had clashed here and there). Both of them were gone, and both of them had been…

Fireheart’s claws sank into the sand. He eyed Cinderpaw’s crippled leg.

It had been around a month since the trial that shattered the Clan’s collective heart. No one had spoken of it after it happened, and even the mere implication of something that would link back to that night was hushed or ignored. Fireheart couldn’t stand this thing Clan cats had with refusing to acknowledge bad cats or the things they’d done; it didn’t help anyone feel better, it just made things awkward and sad. Supposedly, the spirits of these bad cats could come back if spoken about or named and haunt the territories, but as far as Fireheart had seen, the only thing they haunted was his dreams.

What he’d give to talk about this with Goldenflower.

But she was in the nursery now, and she needed peace and quiet to raise his adoptive siblings until they were big enough to come out and explore camp. Being forbidden from visiting, Fireheart just had to rely on news shared by Brindleface or Frostfur—mostly Brindleface, as Frostfur had left the nursery early to give the crowded den some room and now only came to check on her nearly-grown kits. Brindleface had been incredibly nervous and sensitive when she was stuck in the den, but now that she had been able to leave her kits for walks here and there…

“Fireheart! There you are!”

The ginger tom blinked and got to his feet, shaking off what sand had clung to his fur. The beautiful grey tortoiseshell in question had just climbed up and out of the nursery, her pale green eyes shining as Fireheart approached her.

“I have a surprise for you,” she said when he was close enough. “Well, two surprises.”

Fireheart perked up. “Really? Are they about Cloudkit?”

“They are.” Brindleface’s fluffy tail curled at the delight that must have immediately brightened up Fireheart’s face. “I’m sorry you couldn’t have come seen him before, but that makes this a little more interesting.”

Cloudkit had been adopted into the Clan, the same as his uncle. Fireheart had been given the kit by his frantic sister, Rosy, and ThunderClan took him in with only a bit of reluctance. The two of them did not look similar—Fireheart was skinny and shorthaired and Cloudkit was a ball of white fluff—and with the automatic distance of Fireheart not being able to visit to see his nephew and bond with him, he could only hope that they wouldn’t be so different that they could not find common ground besides being outsiders at birth, especially since Fireheart had promised to mentor Cloudkit once he became an apprentice.

“What is it, then?” he asked, trying not to sound overly-eager.

“Well, for one…” Brindleface turned and poked her head into the nursery. “Babies, do you want to come out now?”

Indistinct squeaks of excitement immediately followed this, and Brindleface purred before turning back to Fireheart, saying, “That’s the first surprise. They’re ready to meet you.”

Fireheart’s fur flared out and he beamed. “I can see him now!”

Brindleface nodded, her whiskers twitching. “And the second…”

She gestured with her paw just in time for the first kits to scramble out of the den: both grey with broken tabby markings, similar in every way except for the molly being both more delicate in the face and fluffier than her brother. They completely ignored Fireheart and bumbled out into the center of camp. Who followed them was—

Not the kit Fireheart had brought in.

This kit was fluffy and round, sure, but ginger covered his ears and nose and was steadily claiming his tail. His fur was quite long and puffed out, even if he was a bit small; if it weren’t for the unusual color, he would fit perfectly in with the rest of ThunderClan. By the way his deep blue eyes blinked owlishly at Fireheart, he was just as surprised at the reunion.

“Cloudkit,” Brindleface said with another paw-gesture, “this is your uncle, Fireheart. Remember how we talked about him?”

“Ohhh,” Cloudkit said loudly. He looked Fireheart up and down before announcing, “You’re short.”

“Cloudkit!” Brindleface scolded. “That’s rude.”

Fireheart chuffed and bent his head to meet his nephew’s eye-level. “And you’re pudgy.”

Cloudkit squinted at Fireheart. “What’s ‘pudgy’?”

“Fat!” Cinderpaw called from across the clearing.

Cloudkit squawked and slowly and clumsily swatted a paw in the direction of Fireheart’s nose. “’Mnot pudgy! You’re pudgy!”

Brindleface stared at the little tom in baffled embarrassment, but Fireheart pretended to be struck and rubbed his nose like it’d been scratched.

“Don’t beat me up, please,” he said, poorly hiding his amusement. “I’m sorry, you’re not.”

Cloudkit nodded in satisfaction—then, to Fireheart’s surprise, he toddled right up to his uncle and bumped their noses together. Him being so small, it didn’t hurt, but it was more of a punch than usual.

“Hi, uncle,” Cloudkit said, pulling back.

Fireheart’s whiskers twitched. “Hi, nephew.”

“That’s better.” Brindleface stepped forward to lick Cloudkit’s ear. “Are you ready to meet your Clanmates now?”

The little puffball nearly jumped in place and waddled off after his siblings, who were currently interrupting the discussion between Frostfur’s litter and Swiftpaw. Fireheart watched him go, amazed at the strength of the flame of affection in his chest, even when he hadn’t seen the kit since he’d come to the Clan.

“How did his fur get like that?” He turned to Brindleface now. “He was white when I brought him in.”

Brindleface rolled a shoulder. “Kittypet blood, I’m guessing. I’ve never seen anything like that in the territories. I thought he was sick at first, but he’s been perfectly happy and healthy this whole time.” She gave Fireheart a cheeky squint. “Both of you stick out now.”

Fireheart sighed a chuff. “At least he’ll be warm this winter.”

Brindleface nodded. Then her eyes flicked to the side and narrowed a fraction before she walked off after her litter. Fireheart’s gaze followed where she’d looked.

Darkstripe. Of course. He was glaring at the now-wandering Cloudkit.

Fireheart contained another, much heavier sigh. Since the trial, the dark tabby had hardly said more than one word to anyone, and they had to speak to him first. Fireheart hadn’t dared start a conversation with him—Darkstripe had never liked him to begin with, but since the end result of the trial was largely on Fireheart’s shoulders, the hatred in Darkstripe’s eyes burned Fireheart’s back whenever the two had to cross paths. He’d done his best to give the older warrior space, which was difficult when they shared a den.

Anticipating the glare to turn on him, Fireheart prepared to look away and find something else to engage with. He was saved by the camp entrance rustling to reveal the pale brown tortoiseshell Speckletail leading a patrol in. As her followers trotted to the prey-pile, she approached Darkstripe and said something to him Fireheart didn’t catch. Darkstripe didn’t respond beyond a twitch of his lip, getting to his feet and stalking out of camp. Speckletail watched him go, huffed and shook her head before joining the rest of the patrol.

After the loss of the prior deputy—the one that trial had been all about—Speckletail had been selected to replace him. She hadn’t been the expected choice, but she had accepted the role and immediately went about keeping the Clan busy and organized for the first month of her tenure. Fireheart suspected that this was a tactical decision; giving everyone something to do kept them from stewing in their own thoughts over the events of the past fall. Things had finally slowed down, with the warmer weather gifting the Clan with more prey than Fireheart had been told showed up in the end seasons. This was one of the first nights in quite a while that Fireheart had gotten to stay home and just enjoy the peace of camp.

“Good evening,” he said to Speckletail as she walked past him with a woodrat.

She nodded to him, putting down her prey for a moment. “Any word while I was gone?”

Fireheart shook his head, ears going back sadly. “I haven’t spoken to her since a few days ago.”

Speckletail sighed through her nose. Her eyes were tired. “I’ll talk with her once I’ve eaten.” She picked up her prey again and continued on her way, sitting down with Willowpelt on the far side of camp.

Fireheart’s eyes drifted to the wall of briar that surrounded the sandy clearing. Though he couldn’t see it, his gaze landed on the area where the leader’s den was situated on the outside.

Where Bluestar was undoubtedly sleeping.

The trial and the near-murder preceding it had hurt everyone, but it had broken something in the Clan’s leader. Only a few days after the deputy’s execution, Bluestar had become a rare sight. She now walked alone in the forest or holed up in her den, only coming out to order patrols or respond to something Speckletail asked her about. It had been part of the quiet conversation for some time now, but no one dared to broach the topic to Bluestar—even Fireheart, her former apprentice, or Whitecloud, her nephew.

It wasn’t fair, Fireheart wanted to shout to the stars. Of all the cats suffering, why did their leader have to struggle the hardest? The pain and suspicion and fear clouded her eyes and silenced her voice. It had been her throat the deputy’s teeth nearly crushed, her friends and Clanmates he crippled and murdered to get to her. Now, whenever she looked at her charges, it seemed like she was gauging their intentions, how well they could be trusted. Even Fireheart had been under scrutiny more than once.

She really would benefit from being able to talk about this whole thing…

“Cloudkit, please!”

Fireheart blinked and was back in camp. He turned his head to see his nephew marching for the fallen log that was the elder’s den. The elders were already out—lanky and grey One-eye, dark brown Halftail, and black-and-white Patchpelt—but they were talking among themselves, completely unaware of the kit making his way towards them, his siblings trailing behind with curious looks on their faces. Brindleface was padding after them, calling for Cloudkit.

“Let them be—” she started, but Cloudkit broke into a clumsy imitation of a run and continued on. Just as he reached Patchpelt, he tried to slow down, only succeeding in crashing right into the elder and stumbling backwards, plopping into a sitting position.

Patchpelt coughed (as he had been lately) in surprise and looked round to see the kit. His faded eyes brightened. “Well, now! I don’t remember this one.”

“I’m Cloudkit.” The furball blinked up at him. “My sister is Aspenkit and my brother is Ashkit.”

Halftail tilted his head, eyes narrowed analytically.

“You’ve got some ginger on your face, little ant,” croaked One-eye, peering with her single eye at the kit. “Or you’ve been playing in the sand.”

“No, he’s supposed to look like that.” Brindleface hurried up to them. “I’m sorry he disturbed you.”

“You know we love being disturbed,” Patchpelt said fondly, looking at the grey kits as they approached. “Ah, and this must be Ashkit and Aspenkit.”

The tom kit nodded firmly, standing as tall as he could, while the molly lowered her nose and shyly regarded the ground. Cloudkit, meanwhile, was meeting One-eye’s gaze, looking completely unbothered by the marred face that every kit and new apprentice was a little taken aback by. Fireheart noted with pride that he didn’t broach the topic of One-eye’s accident, only chirping, “You’re tall.”

One-eye chortled. “And old, on top of that. Do you know what my name is?”

Cloudkit shook his head.

“I’m One-eye, unsurprisingly.” The pale molly nodded to her denmates. “That’s Halftail and Patchpelt. Can you guess which is which?”

“Um…” Cloudkit scrunched up his little face before answering slowly. “Patchpelt’s got patches, and Halftail’s brown, right?”

“Very good.” Patchpelt purred. “We have easy names to remember.”

Cloudkit brightened up and wagged his short little tail. “I did it!”

“Yes, you did it,” Brindleface said, touching her nose to her adopted son’s head, adding to the elders, “I can distract him if he starts to bother you.”

“Oh, he’s not a bother at all.” One-eye tilted her head comically at Cloudkit, who trilled in response. “I haven’t had a kit not flinch at my face since I became an elder.”

Fireheart watched on as Cloudkit made his way around to Halftail, who eyed him suspiciously but said nothing. An anxiety he didn’t know was in his stomach settled at the warm looks on the elders’ faces when Cloudkit loudly announced, “Fireheart’s my uncle!” and puffed out his little chest.

He’s bold, Fireheart thought affectionately, watching his nephew respond to Patchpelt’s kindly questions about life in the nursery. Rosy, whether or not you get to see him again, I know you’ll be proud.

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles—Update 24/March/2023

It was a seriously exciting week this week!!

I got the proof-read files back from Hosted Games so as I could do my final look overs before sending it back, which means that it’s really, really done!

Aaaahhhhh!!!!

One super awesome thing was in the content review the proof-reader did was a synopsis of Book Three, and it was pretty much bang on what I wanted the story to be. It really gave me a boost to know that the story I wanted to tell was obviously the one that came across, hehe :D

So yeah, for Book Three now it’s just a case of waiting for that fast approaching release date! We still have lots of fun content planned for the run-up to April 6th so we hope you’re enjoying that!

We also got some more things in motion for Book Four. I have an idea of a better way of editing and testing this time, with a couple of testers and sensitivity readers already on board for the process. The plan is to have people do more of the editing and testing as I go along. I think it will really help to do things in smaller sections than one big thing at the end, especially with how big the games are getting with branching and variation now!

But I suppose now it’s time to actually look at properly putting away Book Three stuff. Filing it away and writing a big ‘COMPLETED’ across the front. Oh man, that makes my nerves spike but also such a feeling of pride and relief. Book Three was a much bigger undertaking than I had planned on it being, but it was also exactly the type of game and story I’ve always wanted to create!

Can't wait for you guys to get right back into those romances and enjoy what's to come! :D

Hope you all have an amazing weekend! We'll be offline as usual, so I'll update you all again next Friday! <3

[romancebibliophile]

Dreaming Death is book 3 in The House of Marchese Saga. https://books2read.com/Marchesebook4

Book 1 - Cheating Death - can be found here https://books2read.com/Marchesebook1

Tropes

Paranormal - vampires and shifters

True Blood Vibes

Why Choose/ Polyamorous

Fated mates/ Rejected mate

Fake engagement

Vampire Royalty

Small town/ Southern girl

Found family

Action/ Mystery / Adventure

Developing powers in a unique magic system

Sleep is for the weak.

Between saving my mate, hunting for my brother, and trying to overthrow an entire freakin’ empire, catching some Z's feels like a luxury I just don't have time for. Masquerade balls? Check. Daring escapes by every mode of transport known to man? Double check. A creepy Russian vampire who can't seem to take a hint? Ugh, major check.

Maybe I do doze off at times and wake up feeling like I lived an entirely different life. And let's be honest, staying snuggled up with Grayson in Dreamland sounds pretty darn amazing right about now. But the world needs saving, and that ain't gonna happen if I'm snoozing forever. I have to break the spell of these dreams, even if it kills me. While fueled by enough energy drinks to power a small city, of course.

Content Warning

Dreaming Death is a Why Choose Paranormal Romance containing MF, MM, and MMFM scenes. The heroine has multiple romantic partners. 18+ readers only due to strong language and spicy content. A complete list of content warnings is available on the author's site, www.sarahreynoldsbooks.com

[agnisleftpec]

ok @akiizayoi4869 opened a can of worms by expressing mild, passing interest on my thoughts on the second half of book 3, so here's my Ramble

disclaimer, this is mostly just initial thoughts. i haven't gone through the Essay Analysis process for this, so there's bound to be holes in my interpretation here.

so 2 topics for this breakdown. 1st, zuko's narrative symbols and how i interpret them. 2nd, how those symbols play out in season 3 and a few gripes with season 3 in general.

this one's fuckin long, so buckle up

part 1, zuko's identity and its symbols

okay so the main symbols i tend to see are as follows: fire, swords, and the blue spirit mask. each represents a part of zuko's identity that is somehow at odds with each other at some point. fire is basically Prince of the Fire Nation. swords are who zuko is detatched from his nation. the blue spirit mask is selfishness and the Ozai mentality, as ive been calling it.

first, fire. pretty big for a symbol, i know. specifically for zuko, i think that fire represents zuko as the crown prince. and that comes with all the turmoil of prince zuko. it starts with being what he's been taught a prince is, following orders and being the loyal son, and ends with what he discovers a prince should be, a protector of his people, even if its from themselves. that mirrors the development of fire throughout the show as initially spooky scary big bad burning rage to actually it's life and love and rage and everything in between, and you have to know how to use it. zuko learning how to firebend without anger parallels him learning that being prince is more than what he was taught.

second, swords. and yes, this is distinct from the blue spirit mask. this is basically "just zuko." it's what zuko relies on when he's not a prince. when the prince can't do anything, "just zuko" can. its what he is when traveling the earth kingdom, basically nationless and without a higher identity to cling to. it's instinctual, something he's good at, and something he hides away because it's not becoming of a Prince to be "just zuko."

the most important aspects of this symbol come when they are used without the mask. in zuko alone, he uses the swords to defend innocent people from cruel soldiers. (he decidedly does not use the mask.) the one time zuko firebends while using his swords, combining "prince" and "just zuko," he is punished for combining them and run out of town. (wouldn't it be great if there was a chance for positive reinforcement of combining these symbols later on?) he uses the swords against jet to defend his right to be "just zuko" in ba sing se. he uses them against ozai when he finally sees through the ozai mentality (more on that in a sec) and leaves to teach aang firebending. he presents himself as "just zuko," who was never enough for ozai, and tells ozai to go fuck himself.

third, the blue spirit mask is a combo of selfishness and the ozai mentality.

the ozai mentality is the idea that some things are awful and essential. they are excusable because of the end result. the war, zuko's banishment, his disfigurement. the ozai mentality isnt necessarily tied to the blue spirit, but the blue spirit doesn't exist without it. he steals the avatar from zhao because it's essential (not princely, he doesn't firebend. its horrible for a prince to do, but essential). he steals song's ostrich horse because its essential. he sides with azula in ba sing se because its essential. awful, but essential. these last two happen without the mask because the ozai mentality sticks to zuko far beyond the reaches of the mask as a symbol. (so maybe the mask doesn't actually represent the ozai mentality, and that just doesn't have a symbol, idk lol, im just moving past that, rigidly defined symbols are hard.)

the selfishness is over-indulgence, taking more than he should, stealing in excess because he deserves it. it's only believing in the ozai mentality when it serves him.

letting go of the blue spirit mask is getting rid of the idea that what he wants is more important than the world, as much as it is the first step in accepting that some things that happen are not essential. ("it was cruel and it was wrong" doesn't come out until he starts to reject the ozai mentality.)

the mask and the swords make the blue spirit. the blue spirit is what zuko doesn't think is princely, doesn't think is honorable, but he'll do because fuck the world, he deserves this. sounds nice in theory, but not great self care in practice. selfishness, the ozai mentality, and "just zuko" collide in a mix of someone who doesn't have the responsibilities of being prince on their head, but still feels they're owed by the world. who feels like some things just have to happen, and it sucks, but they had it coming. the blue spirit is the worst part of "just zuko", and is abandoned in lake laogai because it only hurts him.

(the mask and fire are incompatible because the blue spirit and the prince are incomaptible. the blue spirit does horrible things that cant be honorable, and the prince can't be selfish in the face of his people's needs.)

if you want more on the blue spirit and vigilantism, here's my breakdown of that in a reblog. it has been changed since OPs reblog, mostly cuz i was acting like there was zero justification for the avenging vigilante take even though the first time zuko does blue spirit shit in season 2, it's literally that. had to think for a bit and clarify. lmao when you wrong, you wrong.

part 2, book 3 second half dumb

so imo, i think the second half of book three feels like a checklist. like, zuko joins gang, zuko reconciles with our list of characters that need reconciliation, token recap comedy, finale. you know exactly whats coming, which i guess isn't bad, but i always struggle to rewatch these episodes cuz it really feels like a list of narrative tasks instead of a story.

so, down the list, episode by episode:

the firebending masters was a great episode, but how was it one fucking episode? a character just fucking losing their bending?? no one is concerned?? this hasn't come up before, why is no one terrified by the fact that this can just happen? also also, why is it resolved in a grand total of one episode? same with Aang's reluctance to firebend. i get what the writers were going for, but a couple of missable lines about "fire is life actually" doesn't do much convincing after an entire show's worth of effort showing us the dangers of fire. give us some time to learn to love it, like come on. take us through that journey with aang. let it culminate in the firebending masters, where aang finally feels like fire is a part of him, and zuko finally knows how to exist without rage driving him.

zuko and aang's relationship also needs more attention. for a whole episode meant to convince us that all feelings are resolved, i was left feeling more awkward than when we started. frankly, i feel that way about everyone. zuko literally has direct character parallels to every gaang member that would be so fun to explore, and yet these episodes felt so hamfisted to me. (aang & zuko: homesickness, did something stupid and cant go home because of it, trying to preserve their culture being swallowed by the war. katara & zuko: anger, emotions, mothers died/vanished protecting them from the fire nation. sokka & zuko: "less talented" sibling to a prodigy, and all the fucked up emotions that that comes with, swords. toph & zuko: aristocratic upbringing, and literally everything iroh said when toph ran into him for tea during The Chase.)

specific annoyances with the symbols, a lot of people think that zuko should've been able to use firebending with his swords more often, and i wholeheartedly agree. i mentioned it earlier, but this combo only happens once, in Zuko Alone. zuko bends with his swords and immediately introduces himself as prince, heir to the throne, and also still fighting off these shitty soldiers and still holding his swords. its proof that the prince and "just zuko" can coexist, and can do it well.

he's forced to leave town for that, and we never see him firebend while holding swords again. fuckin wack is what that is. bad wack.

what we needed was a reconnection of those symbols after that loss of faith. we needed to reconfirm that zuko can be fire lord, because "just zuko" and the prince work together beautifully.

there's a huge amount to tell through these symbols as well, with zuko losing his firebending after betraying his father and technically giving up his place on the throne. it's so obvious that im frustrated it was never brought up. zuko gave up on being prince, in ozais image at least, and now needs to relearn to be prince in his own image or else not be prince at all. he needs to learn to bend without anger, or else not bend at all.

additionally, aang and zuko's relationship ties in with these symbols. aang has personally dealt with each one of them, and surprisingly, its the mask and the swords that he gets along with in terms of zuko. (not entirely sure thematically how to resolve the blue spirit mask and aang connection, but also im just yelling at a wall here, not rewriting the season lmao.) they were amazing fighting companions in the blue spirit episode, where fire and the prince were nowhere in sight. when it comes to fire, that has a loaded history.

i would have loved to see an extended version of events that showcased aang and zuko meshing unreasonably well for recent enemies, all until they see the dragons and firebending pops up. after all, its the prince part of zuko that causes the most trouble, so aang thinks. aang learning firebending isn't just about learning that fire is a part of him as the avatar, but also about learning that zuko being prince is okay and doesn't mean they can't be friends. that tension resolves when we finally get some scene that prompts zuko to start bending with his swords, and both he and aang realize that these two parts of zuko are stronger together.

the boiling rock episodes are a joy to watch, but the outcome of the episodes feels so pointless when in the next episode, we immediately separate from hakoda again. like?? there's got to have been a better way to deal with this. the most important things in those episodes were sokka reaffirming his own skills to himself in the wake of the invasion, and azula being betrayed by her friends. the fact that hakoda, suki, and a random ass guy??? were treated as an afterthought to be disregarded next episode is obnoxious. (ok, suki wasnt disregarded, but she also got gaang position with hardly any narrative work, which is annoying cuz she doesn't deserve to be snubbed like that.)

the southern raiders gave katara some closure, dragged zuko along cuz the checklist!!, and then promptly disregarded everything except for "now katara wont kill zuko." like, it even got rid of the shit katara learned. this episode seems like it has a lot it wants to say, but fails to meaningfully say anything, and therefor leaves viewers in a spot where they have to come up with a moral lesson on their own. which is fine, i guess, but it's also a kids show. if there's any place to be direct about your morals, this is it. the episode thematically is in line with things that zuko would do with the blue spirit mask. its all about how that selfish mentality taunts everyone, and that like katara, zuko is also tmepted by it. the selfish need to get what you think you deserve, regardless of what the world needs. regardless of what you actually need. showing this same thread in katara is amazing, and so key to her character development. especially when she, despite being fully enabled by zuko, refuses to submit to it.

we jump forward to aang being anxious over killing ozai, and katara doesn't side with him. after all that?? like i understand there are differences, but i thought the point of the episode was that sometimes bad people go unpunished because enacting "appropriate" punishment will hurt the punisher, and that's not worth it. killing her mom's murderer would've hurt katara in ways that she didn't need. sparing him was not a mercy to him, but to herself. if that guy tripped and fell off a cliff the next day, it wouldn't matter. the point was that katara didn't put herself through that suffering. and now she's totally fine with aang needing to go through that? i don't believe it.

zuko would. zuko will. he'd fucking kill ozai in heartbeat. he might have gotten better at spotting it, but he has not gotten rid of the ozai mentality. it sucks, but it's essential. his dad must die.

and he expects aang to believe the same, and that's another bit of conflict that isn't touched on enough. zuko is ready and willing to kill his own father, regardless of the harm it would do to himself, and i feel like that should be more concerning to the gaang than it is. at the very least, to aang and katara, who have both been in situations where they could kill someone who made their life awful and refused to. and despite the fact that it's good for the world, leaning into the ozai mentality in order to justify killing ozai is fucked up. the show makes a point of telling us this, the whole finale tries to drive it home. the entire show is about refuting this mentality, and now zuko, ozai's son, the guy who's trying so hard to be good, has slipped into it so seemlessly he didn't even flinch, and no one is concerned? cmon.

also the energybending stuff? we coulda worked that in sooner. we've been talking about energy connecting people since the swamp episode. we've been talking about bending being a restriction of the mind since lightningbending, since metalbending. im not opposed to the creepy lion turtle vacation, but there were ways to foreshadow energybending as a solution before the finale, and they just didnt.

also also toph and zuko deserved better. where the fuck was their field trip? they didn't get one because the point of those episodes was not friendship, it was reaching a baseline of okay.

which is another thing. fandom is awesome, but watching season 3, i still don't believe that zuko is anywhere near close to these kids. they're hardly friends by the end of this, and based on what the show shows me, i fully believe that the coronation was the first time aang even called zuko his friend. and that's not something someone like aang would hold off on, so they're very much just battle bonded companions until the epilogue.

and i mean, if it works, it works. there's only so much time, but still. i think there should've been 4 seasons, enough to actually establish friendships between zuko (and suki, fuck she's so ignored its stupid) and the gaang and really drive home the fact that joining the gaang wasn't just good for the world, but was good for zuko too.

anyway, thats my uh. rant. about season 3. clearly overshadowed by my love of zuko's character with a heavy lean into Aang's space because he's blorbo no. 2 and i love aang and zuko's relationship because of the parallels.

i have no conclusion. hope you enjoyed adhfjdh