#bryce balfour

[a-blade-disguised-as-a-girl]

Imagine you’re Jonas Maccabees. You get an invitation to two meetings at a nightclub with all the other streetlords in the city, the only stipulations being that you can’t bring weapons or guests. You’re curious, so you go.

Your nemesis is there, showing excessive PDA with the nightclub owner. A new streetlord named Séance is there, and you already know her identity. The Dove Lord is there at the second meeting, and so is the leader of the Orphan Guild and his salesman, because apparently they get to break the rules. (For the first meeting, the Doves’ second had been there instead and the Orphan Guild leader’s girlfriend was there, and you suspect she killed your sister and is impersonating the Dove Lord, so this adds up. The second meeting is more important though.)

Séance suggests a stock market for the gangs and starts threatening the most important, dangerous people in the room to take her seriously. She pulls it off, so she has your respect. Everyone likes the idea except for Ivory—who, again, you think is actually Rebecca and murdered your sister. If this theory is correct, then Bryce is her boyfriend, and yet he goes against what Ivory says (not a smart move in any instance) and pledges to join the stock market.

Ivory is furious, and Harvey starts grinning like an idiot, confirming your theories bc if she was just the leader of the Doves, why would he care? Ivory stands up and walks away, and then Séance (in a real power move) just up and leaves, thanking everyone for their time. The audacity. Your nemesis follows, which, good riddance, he’s a mess.

Leaving you—Jonas Maccabees, Scavenger, the Scar Lord—alone with Bryce Balfour and Harvey Gabbiano, who are filled with simmering resentment and wildly inappropriate happiness, respectively. Two people who are almost certainly colleagues with the woman who murdered your sister. Two people who are absolute disasters and also just fucking ridiculous, and you are now stuck in a meeting room in a nightclub with them because everyone else at this Important Gang Meeting just bailed.

Pour one out for Jonas y’all

[chelsea-lat3ly]

[rosesfox]

passing by to remember that female characters don't need to hold a sword to show strength. being an epic warrior isn't the only way for characters to be strong. they can be strong through many things, and having hobbies or being passionate characters doesn't make them any less than others. reproducing this speech is misogyny in disguise. (talking about this because whenever i see this speech i get irritated, and it's always the ''feminists''.)

[sad-endings-suck]

i’m gonna need fantasy romance authors to stop claiming that their books are an “enemies to lovers” story with a “morally grey” love interest and a “badass independent” heroine, because i have read a lot of these damn books and not one of them was even close to being any of those things.

[nikethestatue]

What do you think of Azriel and Elain as individuals and as couples ? Do you think they'll be more like Feysand or Nessian in terms of how well the story is written

Genuinely hoping that their story will be their own. Unlike other ACOTAR or other series stories. The only thing I do think will happen is that Elriel will be more like Feysand and Chaol/Yrene and Elorcan in that it would be more of a couple story.

I know people really want an Elain story, but i feel like if it's just an FMC-centric book, then SJM cannot write a soft, normal woman.

I feel like SJM's books are divided into two camps: your Aelins, Bryces, Nestas, Manons -- all girl bosses, whose romances are secondary and it's all about THEM.

Then you have Feyre and Rhys, Lorcan and Elide, Chaol and Yrene, to some extent Lidia and Ruhn, where it's more couple driven storytelling.

Personally, I prefer the couples. Because to me, the stories are more emotional, robust, and overall interesting. When you start piling on more and more and MORE super powers on these FMCs (Aelin, Bryce, Nesta) I don't know, but I become disengaged. I call it the 'Poppy Balfour Syndrome'--what started as a normal sort of girl, turned into some monstrous thing that's a goddess or some crap, and I just feel they all jump the shark at some point.

i liked Elide BECAUSE she was human and weak and she bled and fought in a way that I can relate to.

I liked Feyre for the same reason--she was human and frail and made stupid decisions and was relatable.

SJM can't seem to write a non-fighting FMCs if it's just them. If she pairs them with a LI, they seem more balanced and realistic.

So I don't want Elain to become a Bryce or a Manon. I want Elain to remain Elain. And if it has to be in conjunction with Azriel, then so be it, because to me, it's worth it.

[gwahren]

brief summary of elethea’s bri.dgerton verse until i expand it in my carrd:

daughter of bryce sutherland, baron of cousland in scotland, and married her childhood friend/sweetheart dairren havard, the future marquess of montrose shortly after being presented to society. she didn’t ever really have a true Season on the mart because of this. they were so close in childhood and as they grew up it was sort of expected for them to marry.

elethea and dairren had one son, william, two years into their marriage. then six months later, the sutherland’s country estate burned while the young couple were visiting for christmas. most within died, including dairren, elethea’s parents, and her eldest brother’s wife and son.

as elethea’s father in law is still alive, she was never truly made marchioness, but she is the mother of the heir and is kept in comfort because of this. however, she feels a sense of duty to restore her family in its fallen state by helping her twin brother balfour establish himself as the new baron in their father’s absence (and find him a wife). so she’s in london for the social season to help him.

[cthoniian]

muses :

in frustration and futility i have given up trying to add muses to my carrd. so i'm instead making this list which is easily editable and expandable. so i apologise for being obnoxious but <3 'tis what it 'tis.

a court of thorns and roses :

azriel || active & open || fc; avan jogia cassian || active & open || fc; dev patel rhysand altair || active & open || fc; jan uppin nesta archeron || active & open || fc; elizabeth debicki elain archeron || active & open || fc; natalia dyer feyre archeron || active & open || fc; diana silvers lucien vanserra || active & open || fc; elliot knight morrigan || secondary & selective || sharmin segal eris vanserra || secondary & selective || fc; rege-jean paul tarquin || secondary & selective || fc; kingsley ben-adir helion || secondary & selective || fc; idris elba gwyneth berdara || secondary & selective || fc; bo bragason

throne of glass :

aelin ashryver galathnius || secondary & selective || fc; rowan whitethorn || active & open || fc; henry cavill lorcan salvaterre || active & open || fc; ranveer singh elide lochan || active & open || fc; avantika vandanapu aedion ashryver || secondary & selective || fc; fenrys moonbeam || currently inactive || fc; booboo stewart dorian havilliard || active & open || fc; sebastian amoruso chaol westfall || secondary & selective || fc; jacob elordi gavriel || secondary & selective || fc;

crescent city:

orion 'hunt' athalar || active & open || fc; justin johnson cortez ruhn danaan || active & open || fc; rob raco tharion ketos || active & open || fc; kj apa prince aidas || active & open || fc; felix yee danika fendyr || secondary & selective || fc; paris jackson sofie renast || secondary & selective || fc; amber midthunder ithan holstrom || secondary & selective || fc; connor holstrom || secondary & selective || fc; bryce adeline quinlan || secondary & selective || fc; fury axatar || secondary & selective || fc;

fourth wing:

xaden riorson || active & open || fc; taylor zahkar perez tairnenach || secondary & selective || fc; hes a drago bro violet sorrengail || secondary & selective || fc; naomi scott brennan sorrengail || secondary & selective || fc; tbd ridoc gamlyn || secondary & selective || fc; tbd liam mairi || secondary & selective || fc; luke eisner

bridgerton ( book & show hybrid ):

anthony bridgerton || secondary & selective || fc; jonathan bailey colin bridgerton || secondary & selective || fc; luke newton benedict bridgerton || secondary & selective || fc; luke thompson simon basset || secondary & selective || fc; regé jean page kate sharma || secondary & selective || fc; simone ashley

from blood and ash:

casteel da'neer || secondary & selective || fc; lee soo hyuk penellaphe balfour || secondary & selective || fc; nicola coughlin kieran contou || secondary & selective || fc; ismael cruz cordóza

other literature:

cardan greenbriar || active & open || fc; hyunjin hwang

anime:

luffy d. monkey || secondary & selective || fc; iñaki godoy zorro roronoa || secondary & selective || fc; mackenyu sanji 'black leg' || secondary & selective || fc; taz skylar shanks || secondary & selective || fc; peter gadiot ace d. portgas || secondary & selective || fc; tbd gojo satoru || secondary & selective || fc; tbd megumi fushiguro || secondary & selective || fc; tbd shota aizawa || secondary & selective || fc; tbd shoto todoroki || secondary & selective || fc; tbd

television:

trevor belmont || secondary & selective || fc; fabian frankel the doctor || secondary & selective || fc; (9-12 at the moment) rose tyler || secondary & selective || fc; billie piper rory williams || secondary & selective || fc; arthur darvill amelia pond || secondary & selective || fc; karen gillan clara oswald || secondary & selective || fc; jenna coleman

marvel / dc ( comic & film hybrid ):

charles xavier || secondary & selective || fc; james mcavoy bruce wayne || secondary & selective || fc; jon hamm harley quinn || secondary & selective || fc; margot robbie the joker || secondary & selective || fc; steve rogers || secondary & selective || fc; chris evans maria rambeau || secondary & selective || fc; lashana lynch carol danvers || secondary & selective || fc; brie larson

video games:

zagreus || secondary & selective || fc; thanatos* || secondary & selective || fc; hypnos* || secondary & selective || fc; nyx* || secondary & selective || fc;

mythology:**

hades || secondary & selective || fc; persephone || secondary & selective || fc;

*the muses asterisked technically cross two categories as both mythological muses and muses who are in other media such as literature or games. but they are chiefly based in their media; the hades games by supergiant.

**mythological muses are complicated for me, i write them based on personal hcs / popular media that i've formed attachments to. as such they tend to be a conglomerate hybrid of these medias along with the original myths.

updated 4/19/24

[gccdstories]

Mobile Muse List (06/15/2024)

Since I hate blog maintenance with a passion... I decided to link a "mobile muse list" on my pinned post, that will be a hell of a lot easier to update if/when I take off or add muses, etc.

This is the MOST UP-TO-DATE on available muses, but it's just a quick list. More information is, of course, available on the carrd (mostly) but some muses might be here that I haven't gotten around to adding to the carrd yet, etc.

Hence... the reason for this list! (Also, there is no rhyme or reason to the order. ALL muses are considered open and available.)

SJM-verse

Rhysand (acotar)

Cassian (acotar)

Azriel (acotar)

Feyre Archeron (acotar)

Nesta Archeron (acotar)

Elain Archeron (acotar)

Amarantha (acotar)

Nyx (acotar)

Lucien Vanserra (acotar) **testing

Ruhn Danaan (cc)

Hunt Athalar (cc)

Bryce Quinlan (cc)

Danika Fendyr (cc)

Baxian (cc)

Lidia Cervos (cc)

Aedion Ashryver (tog)

Rowan Whitethorn (tog)

Maeve (tog) **testing, divergent

Fenrys Moonbeam (tog) **testing

Grishaverse

Alina Starkov

Baghra (Natalia) Morozova*

Genya Safin

Zoya Nazyalensky

Lara Fruszi

Ivan (Kaminsky)

Empyrean Series (Fourth Wing/Iron Flame/Onyx Storm)

Xaden Riorson

Violet Sorrengail

Rhiannon Matthias

Tairn

Sgaeyl

Andarna

Liam Mairi

Sloane Mairi **testing

Wizarding World

Narcissa Black Malfoy

Bellatrix Black Lestrange

Sirius Black

Remus Lupin

Misc. Literature / TV

Penellaphe (Poppy) Balfour Da'Neer (fbaa)

Casteel Da'Neer (fbaa)

Nyktos (f&f)

Alaric Ossinast (the hurricane wars)

Gideon Sharpe (crimson moth) **testing

Emelin (fae isles) -- only read book 1 (so far) **testing

Malakai (Kai) Azer (powerless)

Raihn Ashraj (crowns of nyaxia)

Nyaxia (crowns of nyaxia) **testing

Daemon Targaryen (hotd--show only)

Rhaenyra Targaryen (hotd--show only)

Daenerys Targaryen (got--show only) **testing

Original (Fandomless) Characters

Laela Belmont (royal vampire princess)

[highaver]

the whole bal & anora political marriage thing also makes me feral because i do genuinely believe he would choose that over just about anyone and anything. like, even if he wasn't having the most confusing romantic relationship in the world with morrigan where she was like "no, actually, good job, you should absolutely grab what power you can" and she's planning on fucking off in about three days, he would have married anora. sorry to anyone else who might romance this guy during origins but he has one goal at the end of it all and it is very much: the couslands must survive.

while i'm sure he knows anora to some degree - eleanor was so important to them both, and eleanor cared for them both so dearly that i know they must have met at least a handful of times - she's not really anything to do with why he decides to marry her in the end. it's about power and the security that comes with it. it's a marriage of convenience, it's about his family, it's about being so powerful that anybody else who might try and harm his family again wouldn't stand a chance of it. and by the end of origins, that's the important thing to him. he's almost died a dozen times, thea has almost died a dozen times, and they're almost at the end of this horrific journey that neither of them wanted to be on.

balfour has so much negative character development in origins. he's afraid and he's angry and he's learned that he has to do questionable and sometimes horrible things if he wants to survive, if he wants the couslands to survive. it's we do what must be done taken to a degree that bryce likely never would have asked his children to take it to. he is so soft at his core but, over the blight year, he's learned that he can't be. he has to be cold and calculating if he and his sister want to survive. and it might make him miserable but he understands that, when it comes down to it, he has to put his family first. and he would choose that marriage - he would choose keeping elethea safe - over pretty much anything else.

[ellithida]

the couslands are influential, powerful patriars of baldur's gate with a seaside estate along the sword coast called highever, which is primarily where elethea spent her time growing up.

her parents, bryce and eleanor, are famous but retired adventurers. eleanor being better known as the seawolf.

rendon howe, a fellow patriar, occasional companion to her parents on their adventures, and long - time friend of bryce betrays the cousland family seemingly out of nowhere (in reality, howe had long envied bryce's fame and power and had simply been biding his time.)

in a single night, the cousland family is almost entirely wiped out (with the help of gortash and orin) and howe is made a "true soul" in the absolute cult.

elethea and her brother balfour are the only survivors of the massacre and are left without evidence against howe, and are unaware of the cult influence on his actions. they are also unable to get close to howe to enact their vengeance

blah blah blah elethea gets kidnapped on their quest for vengeance by the cult and gets tadpoled. you know how the game goes.

[chelsea-lat3ly]

[planetexo]

book faves

these are my faves from books.

return.

azriel, feyre archeron — a court of thorns and roses

jason todd, stephanie brown, barbara "babs" gordon — batman: wayne family adventures

bryce quinlan, hunt athalar, ruhn danaan — crescent city

jason todd, stephanie brown, barry allen, barbara "babs" gordon — dc comics

magnus chase — magnus chase and the gods of asgard

peter parker — marvel comics

percy jackson, annabeth chase — percy jackson and the olympians

jason todd — red hood: outlaws

tiberias "cal" calore — red queen

theron shan — star wars: the old republic - annihilation

hudson vega, jaxon vega, xavier wellington — the crave series

julian blackthorn, mark blackthorn — the dark artifices

bodhi durran, xaden riorson, liam mairi — the empyrean series

cardan greenbriar — the folk of the air series

casteel da'neer, kieran contou, penellaphe "poppy" balfour — the from blood and ash series

nyktos, nektas — the flesh and fire series

nikolai lantsov, malyen "mal" oretsev — the grishaverse

grimshaw "grim" malvere — the lightlark saga

percy jackson, annabeth chase, leo valdez — the heroes of olympus

william "will" herondale, theresa "tessa" gray, james "jem" carstairs — the infernal devices

matthew fairchild, james "jamie" herondale, lucie herondale, cordelia carstairs, jesse blackthorn — the last hours

clarissa "clary" fray, jace herondale, isabelle lightwood, simon lewis — the mortal instruments

chaol westfall, dorian havilliard, fenrys moonbeam, aelin galanthynius, rowan whitethorn, yrene towers, sam cortland — throne of glass

zatanna zatara — zatanna and the ripper

[sutherlnd]

ELETHEA SUTHERLAND.

NAME. Elethea Moira Sutherland NICKNAME. Thea, Ella, Ellie GENDER. Cis Woman (she/her) AGE. Thirty DATE OF BIRTH. September 20, 1993 PLACE OF BIRTH. Edinburgh, Scotland. RESIDENCE. London, England. ORIENTATION. Pansexual, Demiromantic. OCCUPATION. Socialite. Model, Singer/Songwriter (Discography TBA)

MOTHER. Eleanor Sutherland ✝ FATHER. Bryce Sutherland ✝ SIBLINGS. Fergus Sutherland (Older brother), Balfour Sutherland (Twin brother)CHILDREN. William Hewitt (Son, with Darren)OTHER. Darren Hewitt (Husband) ✝, Oriana Sutherland (Sister-in-law) ✝, Ryan Sutherland (Nephew) ✝ PETS. Arthur (Cane Corso), Phaedra (Siamese Cat)

HAIR. Dark, honey blonde, wavy/gently curly in texture. Frequently changes hair lengths, always in sleek classic styles. EYES. Pale blue. HEIGHT. 5'0" BUILD. Slim. SCARS. Surgical scars on her back and stomach, a large long scar on her right bicep. OTHER. Her right leg is amputated below the knee, she wears an expensive chrome-plated prosthetic. MARKINGS. Dense freckles across her nose and cheeks. FACE. Willa Fitzgerald

history. tw: car accidents, family death, ptsd, amputation, pregnancy

Elethea is the youngest child and only daughter of the powerful Sutherland family. Her parents, Eleanor and Bryce are well known, beloved public figures.

She starts off her career in modelling when she's sixteen, she's a commercial/glamour model for most of her career as she's too short for runway.

When she's eighteen she breaks into the music industry. Very much a nepo baby riding on the coattails of her parents' wealth and fame. Not that she isn't talented - she's a great singer and musician, but her success is most definitely due to her family's connections.

She has a squeaky-clean public image that she meticulously maintains. She has a frankly unhealthy obsession with perfection in both her public and private life. This obsession with her image leads her to rush into marriage when she's twenty. She marries close family friend Darren Hewitt; heir to his father's business and fortune. Their lavish wedding is heavily publicized. A year later she gives birth to their son William. It's all very picturesque and perfect.

A year after that, the family gets into a fatal car crash that kills her parents, husband, sister in law, and nephew and severely injures Elethea. She suffers a herniated disc, internal bleeding, and has to have her right leg amputated.

Just like most of the private, intimate moments in her life, the tragedy is heavily publicized. The British media becomes obsessed with them, images from the worst days of her life scattered across every magazine, newspaper, blog article, and news network. The crash, her being wheeled out of the hospital, her family's funeral.

Understandably, following this, Elethea withdraws from public life. Taking refuge in their family home in Edinburgh with her son for a year and a half.

She emerges from her period of mourning with a new album very clearly written about her grief, it's a deviation from her typical pop sound, but is immensely successful. She goes on tour, throwing herself back into public life far too early. She's the poster child for "strong women" and there are multiple photoshoots centering on her prosthetic and is invited to give speeches at various events.

She's holding it together (Barely) for the family she has left, trying to ignore her grief for the most part.

[nikethestatue]

oh I absolutely HATED that Bryce stole truth teller 🙃. I was okay with the book until that happened then I was so uneasy. she spent the time she had it acting like it was her birthright and she didn’t even know what the blades were for.

I felt like in HOFAS, SJM really amped up Bryce’s powers too much and kinda made Az and Nesta seem less powerful than they are. and then her acting like the destined starborn to reveal all this fae history when she was set on letting them all burn just really put me off her even more lol

I really, really, REALLY disliked Bryce in this book.

The number of times I wanted to punch her in the face was....too many to count.

I think that --unfortunately--SJM decided to give her the Aelin treatment thinking that we wanted a Bryce and Aelin mashup. We didn't. The problem, to me, was with this mashup, Bryce came off looking like Poppy Balfour.

It's all 'me, me, me, me, I, me, I, I, me' and I am the greatest, most powerfulest, the mostest, most greatest powerful starborn princess that ever lived. That was basically Poppy--she started off as this a bit over the top, but basic girl, and then ended up being a freakin goddess or some shit, with the guy trailing her like a stupid pup.

Like what Hunt and Baxian and Ruhn went through--what was it all for? Not to mention, I don't think that Bryce even asked Ruhn about anything that he went through, and then petulantly whined to Hunt about how much SHE went through.

Yeah, the ACOTAR characters, including Rhys and Amren, came off looking like bumbling children. And the fact that Bryce somehow outsmarted them all was kind of offputting. I think only Nesta stood her own, but that wasn't enough.

[fotoflingscotland]

Chest Baring on St Andrew Square by FotoFling Scotland Via Flickr: One of six larger than life-size statues by A. Handyside Ritchie representing Navigation, Commerce, Manufacture, Science, Art and Agriculture on top of the former British Linen Bank (founded 1746) at 38 /39 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh designed by David Bryce in 1846 and now a boutique hotel - The Gleneagles Townhouse. [In popular culture: Robert Louis Stevenson's classic historical adventure novel, Kidnapped (1886), ends at 2 PM on 25 August 1751, outside the British Linen Company in Edinburgh, Scotland, where its protagonist, David Balfour, plans to manage his inherited income. This is precisely where the book's sequel, Catriona (1893), begins.]