#kingdom of ash theory

[acourtofquestions]

The fact we changed from “My name is Celaena Sardothien and I will not be afraid.” to “Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom… very much.”

Because she is no longer Celaena Sardothien, nor does she live in fear of being afraid. She is done running, done with that mask that isn’t hers, because it doesn’t hold any comfort anymore. The only comfort she has is in who she really is; and that is no longer terrifying to her.

While both remind her who she is, remind her why; why she is here, why she will not break, why she is still fighting.

The first reminds her of what she had loved and lost. Of loving words that carry on, (of why she carries on) but that is all. All Celaena had was remnants; of someone, something… even herself.

The second, however, is something else; while it is still a dream, it is real… even among nightmares. It lives in her past, yes, but it is also the present, and any future. It is terribly beautifully true. And it is more; more than grief, and memory. Carrying on, finding ways to exist, survive. More than a dream, or words… even more than she is.

Because Aelin has something Celaena never did. Yes, she has a cause to fight for. She has her strength, her power, and rage; vendettas for things she could focus a fight to defeat; and a still terribly looming fate. The queen has a kingdom she adores. She has many things, she is many things… even Celaena still. But that’s not what I’m talking about, no, mostly, it’s that she has friends. A family. A Prince. She has a life not just an existence, a love with a beating heart, something worth dying and living for. And even if it is all gone to ash (“even when this world is a forgotten whisper of dust between the stars”) that is still hers; not a mask, not a facade, but something real.

In accepting who she is… there is the terrible truth of accepting that she is very much afraid (the fact Fenrys even felt the need to make the word “liar” in their code; because she is not alright, he knows, she knows, we “the reader” know… it’s more so the way we ask “how are you?” as a greeting. Sometimes even in terrible places like a funeral; when we know damn well that no-one there is really “good” or “alright”, but it’s the way we say “hello” and “I want you to be okay” and “are you at least surviving this”). It is being terrified of her acceptance in the first place, because part of being Aelin is the price it holds; because she was “promised” for a fate manipulated by gods before she even had the chance to draw breath… and there’s a doomsday in it that she’ll have to rage against one day… but not yet… not in this place. For now, she just has to exist, survive, live. And only Aelin can do that.

Because it’s not Sam’s words she needs anymore; it’s Rowan’s. And even more so, it’s her own.

It’s the words she said to him, but it is her story (Perhaps even the one she tattooed on her spine? Just a theory of the exact words.) because that, is still hers. Real. Living.

And as any reader knows (it’s why I love these books) you should never underestimate the power of a story.

[acoraf]

I started reading "A Shadow in the Ember" before "The War of Two Queens" cause I read somewhere it was recommended, but... Why is Sera supposed to kill the Primal?? I don't understand why that is nessecary? Have I missed something, or is it explained later?

[acourtofantumbra]

Was doing a deep dive for a future post about *gestures wildly* witches... Manon's lineage... cross-world connections... something I've found that feels actually tangible, maybe. Anyway, despite only dipping a toe into the ToD reread so far (I am not a ToD hater lol I'm just busy) I found myself checking a moment from KoA and took a nosedive into something immediately shinier. But it was so sudden I didn't have time to do my usual highlights/scribbles on my (currently dead) ipad so... enjoy my measly Kindle highlights.

I KNOW many folks have beautifully analyzed SJM's repeated character names because at one point SJM herself basically said, "I keep a record of all of them and I know what I've used."

I've seen folks flag important repeats for years now (we've seen this film before, A+ work, it keeps me up at night!), but the heavy hitters have been Briar, Thanatos, Cormac and even Ruhn (you know... the Erilean mountains and the hottie who knows 3 things).

So it stands to reason that repeated names might deserve some extra scrutiny... And I pray we get some pay off with that in CC3.

Anyway, as I'm pulling at the thread of ToG witches via our (my) favorite queen - Manon - I hadn't realized I fully forgot her dad's name. Frankly, of all the plot points from ToG, Manon's story's specifics were the haziest... except where Dorian is concerned I'm a mere mortal... and that has me suspicious regardless. Anywayyyy, as you can see above, it's Tristan. Tristan Crochan.

I cannot fully explain the cartwheel flip my brain did thumbing through the roladex of SJM's characters... because Tristan Flynn was not the energy my brain was ready for after reading this really sad passage about Manon's murdered family.

On my first read of the SJMU I went ACOTAR (long break between the original and ACOSF) -> CC -> TOG. And on my first TOG read, this passage triggered no alarm bells. I probably just didn't remember Flynn all that much. But after my CC reread... oh. I remember him. Don't you worry.

Now I am fan of Flynn. He's got a rakishness I simp for, I root for him and the dragon, and clocked his lordship woes despite having what we've all decided is a "hot dad". He's a good time. And Flynn feels like someone to watch! He makes an appearance in not one, but two, CC bonus chapters... and he's got a crush on the aforementioned dragon, who either was introduced for no reason or is gonna be a key player going forward. Or SJM is fucking with us. I don't have the answers.

But what I'm struck by Tristan-wise is a) the similarity in the little physical descriptors we get - brown hair, brown eyes and b) not actually Flynn-related... but a deeply similar sounding story to none other than the Autumn King. Daughter you didn't know was born to a woman you claim was your real love... check. Searching far and wide with a singular focus on recovering your daughter... check. Having another kid out of obligation and duty to continue on important bloodlines... check!!!

It might not have anything to do with Flynn at this current moment... but it's not implausible. Lord Flynn is of course a beloved frat-pack member living in a dump with his fellow bros. He specifically pops up in these bonus chapters going through the motions necessitated by his aristocratic bloodline. His mom/family is eager to marry him and his sister off - of course he seems miserable about the whole idea. But also resigned to it? It seems complicated. TLDR there's a world where Flynn's like "woof, yeah I gotta get married off but the heart wants what it wants!" There is precedent!

Also, I've been 👀 Flynn since it was flagged that he has "super rare earth powers" not commonly seen in Valbaran Fae... first off, what does that mean? Second, hot?!

Well I've done it again, so many words and nothing really of note to take away haha. I'll be honest, my mind was not in a Tristan Flynn headspace!! I'm kind of bogged down in my own thoughts about the witchier women of this multiverse... but in my dragon theory speculation Flynn popped up again and I really can't explain why random dead ends are turning up Tristan!!! I'm not mad about it, but I wish I understood.

[thenovocianelullaby]

dorian and kaltain would have been THE power couple if things went differently and i would have lived for that love story…

[mistninja]

*shakes robin hobb by the shoulders* GIVE ME DETAILS ON THE BEE BOOK PLEASE

[sam-is-an-angel222]

HOFAS review/thoughts (more in-depth review to come later)

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR TOG AND CC3 - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

so i've been processing for a good... twenty-four hours now.

i loved it, quite honestly.

i feel like people have been forgetting that CC3 was exactly that - Crescent City 3. Not ACOTAR 5, not TOG 8.5 or something like that.

that being said, was i a little disappointed by the crossover? mayhaps. i was hoping for something with a bit more oomph, i think (but i also think on my reread i'll appreciate it much more)

anyway, the one thing i really wanted to talk about was lidia (of course)

more specifically, her bloodline

the gasp i gasped when i read that she was descended from Brannon???? amazing. will be chasing that high for a few years now. she's also descended from aelin and dorian, which is just... i'm beyond words rn

HOWEVER... the bad thing about this all is that the gates are still open (i think??? i might be completely wrong but stay with me here)

"nameless is my price"

prior to HOFAS, that applied to exactly two characters in the sjmultiverse: dorian and aelin (three if you count hollin but he's off ruling hybern)

but now... lidia might have to sacrifice everything to close the gates in the upcoming books.

and that thought terrifies me :)

[a-library-ghost]

am I smart or stupid?? does the wolf tribe that steps through the portals in KoA connect with crescent city??!? like are they connected to the wolves or the alpha mystic somehow?? has everyone else put this together already 😭

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Not sure I’m wording this right but I’ll try so most of the plot twists in the six of crows duology that have a large impact on the overarching plot are revealed to actually have been controlled by Kaz, such as “He was just Wylan Van Eck. He told them everything”, Inej being caught by the Ice Court guards and Heleen, the fake Council of Tides, and so on and so forth. One of the only major twists not controlled by Kaz is Kuwei’s existence and presence at the Ice Court in the place of his father. And one of my favourite things about this at that it so massively relies on perception, as is so symbolically relevant in many themes of the novels but particular in the theme of classism and how each “side” of Ketterdam views each other and themselves. Because yes, this is a plot twist that was not pre-planned by Kaz and that he did not figure out in advance of being confronted with it (he internally expresses hope that Kuwei is “a surprisingly young Bo Yul-Bayur” and not just some “hapless prisoner that Nina and Matthias decided to liberate” when they fell the ash, and later asks Nina to explain why the “illustrious Shu scientist looks like one of Wylan’s school pals” please note I’m quoting from memory there may be some mistakes and/or imperfections), but even though this is true it’s also true that in the literally third chapter Kaz immediately and correctly theories that Bo Yul-Bayur is dead. Van Eck states that they have sources telling them he is alive, and Kaz willingly accepts this - even using it to convince Nina when she raises the same assumption of Yul-Bayur’s death. This is a minor example, though of major importance, of Kaz’s ultimate failing grace in the first novel: he was willing to accept Van Eck at his word. We see him criticise and bully himself for believing Van Eck throughout the ending of this book and through Crooked Kingdom, particularly in the way he blames himself for Inej’s abduction, but that’s for the larger, intentional lie; the money. What we see in Kaz’s acceptance that Yul-Bayur must be alive is him tossing his instincts aside in response to Van Eck, essentially because he trusts the rich, respectable mercher to be honest, and to have no motive in lying to him; just as the Dregs (specifically mentioned) and the rest of the gang members (strongly implied) in Crooked Kingdom assume Kaz’s guilt because they can see no reason why a rich, respectable mercher would make false accusations like the abduction of his son. After the original assertion in chapter 3, we receive various pieces of evidence that we and the characters both take to renforce Van Eck’s claim, such as the other teams moving on the Ice Court, most notably the Shu, and (the most damning) Brum’s references to “the scientist”. And yes, if Yul-Bayur had been alive then these would all count towards evidence of that. But the tiniest hint of doubt, that you barely even register as doubt in the moment, comes from Brum when he describes “the scientist” as being “stubborn” for “still mourning the death of his father”. Matthias’ internal response is that he knows nothing about Yul-Bayur’s father so the reader is from that moment prepared to discover a mystery about the elusive father, not the unknown son. From the second we met Kuwei, the fate of the job and of Van Eck’s being a liar was sealed in an absolute excellent piece of foreshadowing. Because Kaz ignored his clear instinct, that Yul-Bayur was dead and something else was at play if the Fjerdans and Shu both truly had parem, in favour of believing Van Eck’s word. And Kaz turned against his instincts, that he shouldn’t take the job because it was a suicide mission, in favour of what he openly describes as his own greed by saying that the lever was working in Van Eck’s favour.

So I think what I’m trying to say here is that Kuwei’s appearance has a two-fold relevance as a plot twist: first in the subversion not of Kaz controlling the narrative but still having predicted some aspects of this, and second as foreshadowing of another major plot twist that Kaz had not control of, that being several aspects of the ending of the book. I hope this made sense, I’m very tired and I’m not sure that I’ve articulated this correctly, but i thought it was interesting and these posts tend to work better when I just put all my thoughts onto the page as they come instead of trying to structure it or whatever

[acourtofquestions]

HC:

When Aelin is pregnant with their first child she tells everyone “if it’s a boy I’m naming him after his dear lost uncle… Vaughan.”

Lysandra & Aedion: keep giving Rowan pleading looks, with increasing fear that she is indeed NOT joking.

Rowan: agreed to it without hesitation. *thanks to knowing it’s a girl from the dream* though this was to no one’s surprise unnoticed reasoning; as even the gods know he would do anything for his mate… including naming their firstborn after someone barely anyone knows.

Lorcan: just hopes it’s true so someone has a silly name to distract from “Lord Lorcan Lochan”

[cakezzz]

Cookie run Pokémon trainer AU!

I made an au where I made the gang as mystery dungeon Pokemon but now it’s time for trainers! I had a lot of fun designing them and choosing their buddies, I’ll leave notes for each character if anyone is interested to read the thought process and lore I created for them.

GingerBrave (or this time Brave) is a young boy from Kingdom Town, the town was not founded by the group but instead him and Strawberry grew up in it to make the setting fit the Pokémon formula.

His partner is Eevee given to him after rescuing the professor (Maestro Sugar gnome) from Team Darkness !!

Eevee is a bit of a Diva, he didn’t litsen to Brave at first but become great friends over time ! similar to how Ash and Pikachus relationship started, and also doesn’t like being in it’s pokeball.

The rest of his team is picked up over the course of the story ofc but I’ll skip the details for another time

Next in line is Strawberry !

Despite what her design says she is not a grass type trainer 😭 or a trainer at all— sortove.

She is more interested in content creation, having her own channel that talks about Pokémon natures and battle strategies, similar to Dot from the Horizons anime, and has a hidden dream of producing her own music, already having experience in digital music software and music theory.

Thanks to her experience in studying Pokémon for her channel, She’s became her own Pokédex!

As for her partner Pokémon, Despite her starter being a rouge Rotom (that wasn’t meant to be a partner Pokémon) that possesed her personal phone, it does barley any Pokémon dexing due to the lack of actual pokedex software in her device, instead it opts to to use google and snoop her internet browsing history for fun

Rotom does speak like the dex in sun and moon but it has a similar gimmick to team rockets rotom dex in the journeys anime, and instead Sp3akz 1ik3 thiz a11 th3 tim3 due to its only reference of speech is though Starwberrys own data…

ANYWAYS enough about rotom phone, her team consists of a lot of shy and abandoned Pokémon she managed to make connections with, so it’s a bit everywhere but they all choose Starwberry as their trainer and she welcomed them!

Starwberrys also has the important role every Pokémon anime has and its to do commentary on anything and everything that goes on, and bumps heads with wizard who houses similar information,

And speaking of—

Third in line is Wizard!

Wizard is definitely the most experienced of the group, he had all his Pokémon before the journey began cementing him as a prodigy. he’s more knowledgeable about Pokémon typing and moves wich compliments Starwberrys Pokémon knowledge, so they’re one big pokedexes when paired together lol.

Wizards true partner is ralts wich was his first Pokémon and only shiny he’s ever caught, ralts is very curious and a bit of a handful, but became his assistant in physic study’s ever since. If it wasn’t for ralts he wouldn’t have the dream of researching on how Pokémon and humans can conjure magic.

Speaking of magic, just like some physic type trainers we’ve met in past Pokémon games, Wizard can levitate things using his wand wich houses a spoink orb THAT HE ETHICALLY SOURCED. Spoink orbs house physic energy wich he can control thanks to his years of studying with ralts

As for joltik, it was given to him by the same professor they saved from Team Darkness, at first he didn’t want it because their extra slot was left empty for another powerful electric type Pokémon he had yet to decide on— but over time he got attached to the little guy. not only that, the joltik is pretty powerful than the Average joltik and it can conduct volts as powerful as ashes pikachu. Joltik also prefers to hang outside of its pokeball and on top of his hat.

Fourth of the group is Custard III!

Custard III is not old enough to have a Pokémon of his own, but despite this he has inherited his father’s ace, Empoleon, after they got separated during an event Custard III refuses to talk about, the only details known is that his father was a monarch that hosted battles and had a decent winning streak before he faded into obscurity and has been implied to have passed away.

His scepter created out of paper mache houses the very Greatball that belongs to his father and Empoleon as decoration since she doesn’t want to retreat to it in any way. The last order empoleon received from its late trainer was to watch over Custard III and she does fulfill this duity but refuses to take any orders from custard III for multiple reasons; he’s too young, he doesn’t have the same fighting spirit as his father, and she doesn’t want to break the promises by putting him in potential danger.

Empoleon has retired using its moves ever since to make extra sure Custard III didn’t get in the way of them and opted to use its fins and own body as protection from potential predators and people. They’ve been on the run for an undisclosed amount of time before they met with Braves group who did not want him to wander off by himself again.

And last but not least, chili !

I have yet to decide what made her stick around In the first place . But I am certain that whatever the reason was, she completely forgot about it herself HDCJSC

All her Pokémon are tricksters in their own way, not just by nature. For example, foxes are usually associated with stealth, monkeys are associated with greed, wich is why I had Braxien and Simisear in her team despite their entries not mentioning them as such, but just like people, they can have their own personalities. And as the rest of her group of mischief makers, they’re all naturally described as thief’s and tricksters.

All her Pokémon have a bizzare infatuation with custard III. perhaps they’re all just interested in his golden hair. This is probably another reason why chili hasn’t left the group yet, but she too cannot seem to leave the kids side. maybe not on subconsciously, and maybe not out of pity… anyways I LOVE CHILI PEPPER BEING A BIG SISTER TO CUSTARD III AND I WILL ALWAYS TRY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN IN ANY UNIVERSE‼️‼️‼️‼️

That’s all for now! Hopefully I’ll be able to design other characters, I’m itching to make Rye’s design!! Same as the ancients, but their Pokémon teams are still under development exept Cacao— anywayysss WATCH POKÉMON ANIME

[hlizr50]

In honor of the first CC3 teaser, let's revisit some sword theory!

I've been sitting on this for, like, a year. I finally got it all together in a shareable collection of thoughts! So, without further ado, please enjoy my Fallen Star theory :)

I'm sorry it's so long.....

[acoraf]

*The Crown of Gilded Bones spoilers *

-

-

I dont understand how Poppy is the grandchild of Nyktos?

If what Isbeth tells us is true, and she is Poppy's birth mother, then who is her farther? Cause it sounds to me like she never found Malec after the war...

That would mean that when Isbeth was turned, she didn't just become a god, she too became the child of Nyktos? (Which, ok insest🙃) But that makes no sense...

The cavecat/man in the cage Isbeth have, has to be the other son of Nyktos and is the father of Poppy. The green eyes match what we have been told about her eyes being her fathers. The two cavecats sitting next to Nyktos in the painting in the museum has to be forshadowing that. And she has... Wanted to be able to shift like the wolven from the begining...

Isbeth got her powers from Malec when he turned her, then Poppy got them from her and she will probably learn how to shifted into a cavecat in a later book!

Thats my theory anyway, had to write it down lol

[acourtofantumbra]

Thinking about Iphraxia

Yes, I inhaled the HOFAS prologue and chapter one Sarah posted to her new site yesterday... and a couple things have been itching my brain since (and making thinking about anything other than release day impossible).

Safe to say we're hitting the ground RUNNING. Poor bb Ruhn. But some through lines and well... associations made by both proximity and repetition that have me (tentatively) very excited about a BIG hope I've had. One I'm not alone in.

🚨 HOFAS PROLOGUE + CHAPTER 1 SPOILERS 🚨

I have also not read the book in its entirety yet. This is just me spewing nonsense. Please don't reply/comment with any spoilers if you have read all of HOFAS. I've waiting two years for this! Just feeding my spinning brain until Monday night.

WHAT A FIRST CHAPTER! I have so many thoughts spinning about the info dumps we get - and awesome confirmations like Daglan = Asteri + Cormac shadows = Azriel shadows. Good work team!

But I'll be honest, I'm looking for any and all crumbs for a TOG connection... and this one just wouldn't stop irking me.

So, I'll begin with Bryce's lies. She spells out for us that, honestly, she's never had too hard a time deceiving folks by playing into what they wanted to see from her: a ditzy party girl incapable of scheming. We've spent two books, and many years, peeling back Bryce's layers, only to discover she's even more capable, more selfless, more calculating than we ever could have guessed. Even where we're guided largely by her POV. Queen. Aelin would be proud.

That gift we've seen honed over time... lasts all of two seconds in the presence of Rhys, Amren, and Azriel. But specifically, it seems, Azriel.

Now I'll fearlessly reference the cursed Azriel bonus chapter from ACOSF...

"“I..." He watched her swallow. She clutched a small gift in her hands. "I was coming to leave this on your pile of presents. I forgot to give it to you earlier."   Lie. Well, the second part was a lie. He didn't need his shadows to read her tone, the slight tightening of her face. She'd waited until everyone was asleep before venturing back down, where she'd leave her gift amongst his other, opened presents, subtle and unnoticed." A Court of Silver Flames, Azriel Bonus Chapter

So we have Azriel referencing, perhaps, his shadows' abilities to detect lies. They can also hear the Cauldron sing in ACOWAR, so why not expand their extra sensory capabilities? Rhys and Cassian have even confessed to not really understanding the full scope of Azriel's powers... so naturally we're not entirely sure all that he's capable of either.

Azriel's also the Night Court's spy master and in this scene with Elain, he defaults to those skills he's mastered over time in lieu of his shadows' guidance. So, language barrier or not, Azriel might just be able to read Bryce, as she points out herself. We love a male fluent in body language, amirite?

But humor me for a sec, we've had two years since the crossover was announced to kind of side eye the fact that Azriel's blade is call Truth Teller - which is now front and center in the overarching plot and specifically this chapter. And for the TOG readers among us... we couldn't help but notice we've had an actual truth telling blade before: Damaris.

Azriel's sort of alluded to legend about his blade's abilities - mostly that it'll strike true. But we've never really confirmed if he's able to use it like a lie detector as Dorian does with Damaris in TOG.

And the specificity of couching the language barrier issue (pre-magic bean lol) alongside references to Truth Teller pretty consistently in this very first chapter has me 👀

In the scene above, Bryce is immediately curious about how Azriel could react to what she'd said if he couldn't understand her and the laugh/Rhys' surprise when Azriel clarifies leads me to believe he didn't need to know what she was saying to be informed it was BS.

Of course, again, pre-bean, Rhys is likely mind speaking translation for Azriel in the second instance in particular. But he's still relying on Azriel wholly to confirm truth or not prior to moving on. And Rhys doesn't question Azriel's response - at least no audibly.

And I'm just saying, we know Azriel is currently holding onto Truth Teller.

Azriel, being the primed warrior that he is, is sitting and lying in wait for some shit to go down the whole time. So when Bryce has a bad reaction to the magic bean (lol sorry I will never stop teasing), before she can get her bearings she's already slammed down by Azriel's shadows, dagger drawn.

The fact that we can assume he's been holding Truth Teller, ready to strike, makes the shock at the blade's reaction to Bryce sans Starsword all the more interesting. When Amren is like, "Dude why do you even have that thing with you and close to her?" Azriel kind of bashfully winnows it away. Amren's ellipses there is suspect as hell too, but that's for another time (or the rest of this book).

Anyway, if we pretend that Truth Teller is displaying some Damaris type traits, then the other details we're getting in close proximity to the blade's discussion are worth a second glance as well (in my humble opinion). Also, want to note that I'm aware that TT is a dagger and Damaris is a sword. I don't think they're necessarily the same or from the same ore. That's for SJM to explain lol.

Anyway, as Bryce is selectively explaining her/the universe's predicament, Truth Teller comes up again. But first I wanted to pause on the "only three planets that were able to kick [the Asteri] out." While I'm fully open to this being a little different than we have been theorizing - we've come to speculate that Hel is one planet and the Starborn Fae planet is where Prythian is located. This leaves the third successful planet: Iphraxia.

A quick reminder what we know about Iphraxia:

So the Iphraxia events happen 16,323 years prior to conquering of Midgard and many have speculated this planet could house Erilea and our beloved TOG crew.

I've always side eyed the use of the word "denizens" because it can either mean "an inhabitant or occupant of a particular place," or "a foreigner allowed certain rights in the adopted country." Rigelus alludes to the Asteri encouraging planets to come and conquer others, never realizing those who opened the doors were the true masters. In that case, Asteri referring to a group like the Valg as denizens would also make quite a bit of sense to me.

Maeve fights in Erilea's first wars - granted she manipulates the hell out of them - but she confirms at one point that she just wants to have her kingdom in peace (an evil kingdom) and that she's been running from Big Bads for a long time. She is of course Valg - not native to that world - and is not on Erawan's team to start. But it becomes very clear by KOA that we're all playing checkers and Maeve - a world walker - is playing chess. Then of course we have a group of stranded, vengeful gods who want to return to their family/world... but were left behind in a hasty evacuation perhaps? Of course when Aelin shuts the gates, they're presumably lost forever, but that chapter would have come long after Maeve originally fought back against Erwan who believes that planet was his to command... motivated by that world's larger forces perhaps.

^ This is why I shouldn't have procrastinated my TOD and KOA rereads... the details are not as sharp as they should be. But that is the general essence of things.

Anyway, returning to the reference to Iphraxia and the grounding connection Truth Teller is being set up to be has my TOG IS COMING alarms blaring.

Of course this chapter ends with the horn tattoo on Bryce's back being exposed and Amren confirming it's similarity to the Book of Breathings... a book we know landed in Midgard along with TOG's Walking dead in Jesiba's library... and written in markings we can pretty confidently say are wyrdmarks. And you know what crew of folks are crackerjack at reading wyrdmarks? :)

Anyway, I think TOG officially entering the crossover is imminent and with this line of thinking re: timeline... it might not actually separate the TOG timeline as far back as we've been predicting it might be (like in the very far past).

All I know is that I've had great fun over the years reading people's analysis of first lines and first chapters of books actually providing you with everything you actually need to know/can expect from the book. Sarah is actually pretty great at doing this so in our proper chapter one (not the prologue but sure why not) we're hitting a couple of beats pretty repetitively and I can't help but feel it's priming TOG's reentry for us.

That being said, can't wait to be proven wrong in just THREE FREAKING DAYS!!! Unless Walmart stops lying to me and actually delivers my book as early as it's claiming it will.

[ask-the-koopa-family]

!!!JUST AN IDEA!!!

WHAT IF BOWSER HAD A BRO ?

I dont THINK I would put the brother in my AU!

But hey, i thought it was a good story to share ((also all thrse theories about Bowser having a bro))

#bowser

#bowserbro

#triokoopakids

#koopakids

#supermario

“The Forgotten Bloodline” (JUST AN IDEA... FOR NOW)

Before the Crown (MORTON SR KOOPA)

In his youth, Morton Koopa was not yet a king — only a legendary warrior feared across the broken Koopa realms. Before his fate was sealed in the politics of the clans, Morton was free-spirited, bold, and reckless, driven by battle, honor, and fleeting pleasures.

During a campaign, he met Kaia, a fierce and enigmatic Koopa mercenary. She was untamed, proud, and with a sharp wit that challenged even Morton’s ego. They shared a single season of fiery companionship, born more from freedom and thrill than love. Morton was pulled away by duty, leaving without knowing what Kaia carried in secret.

Kaia’s Choice

Not long after he left, Kaia discovered she was pregnant. She considered telling Morton… until word reached her that he had been chosen for an arranged marriage to Olivia, leader of a powerful rival clan, as a final effort to bring peace.

Rather than interfere with Morton’s destiny — or become a scandal to a future king — Kaia vanished into exile, raising her son alone, far from the capital, among quiet mountains and cold rivers.

Her son, Varek, grew up strong, proud, and questioning. Kaia taught him how to fight, how to think, how to lead — but she never told him who his father was.

The Deathbed Truth

Years passed. As illness took Kaia, Varek — now a young adult, full of questions and bitterness — stayed by her side, unaware he was about to learn the truth that would define his future.

On her deathbed, Kaia revealed the secret she had carried all her life:

“Your father... was Morton Koopa.

Before he was king, before he wore a crown.

You are his blood, Varek. Firstborn of a warrior. Half brother of the new king.

I never told him. I wanted you to grow strong... not in his shadow, but in your own.”

Varek was silent. In that moment, everything changed.

A Prince in the Shadows

Varek never sought a throne. Raised with no luxury or royal name, he became a protector to the forgotten — later adopting three young Koopa orphans, whom he trained as warriors: Red, Blue, and Green, the Koopa kids trio.

But the truth of his heritage weighed on him. Not as a burden — but as a calling. Not to take power... but to bring clarity to a legacy twisted by war and silence.

Approaching Bowser

One day, Varek steps into the light of the kingdom he was denied.

He does not demand the throne. He does not raise an army.

He comes to see his half-brother — Bowser, the king born of royalty — to say what his mother never could.

“I am not here to fight you, Bowser.

I have no claim to your crown.

But I am your brother. I was lost to history… raised in silence.

And I need you to know: I exist.”

HOW VAREK ADOPTED THE KOOPA KIDS TRIO

After Kaia’s death, Varek roamed the borderlands, keeping to the shadows. Though he bore the blood of a king, he lived as an outcast — a nomad guarding travelers from monsters, repairing old shrines, and surviving in the wilderness.

His heart was hardened by grief, but he was not cold. Varek carried the teachings of his mother: “Strength is not in domination, but in protection.”

It was during one of these wanderings through a ruined Koopa village — long abandoned from a past conflict — that Varek’s destiny shifted again.

The Orphans in the Ashes

The village had been recently attacked by rogue bandits. Burnt homes, shattered shells, and eerie silence filled the air.

But Varek’s trained ears caught something — whispers behind fallen stone. A single crack of movement. Then another. He followed it.

Beneath the rubble of an old temple, hidden in a cellar, he found them:

• A red-shelled Koopa with a scorched bandana, covering a bruised face, standing between the others and danger.

• A blue-shelled Koopa clutching a scroll tightly, shivering but alert.

• And a green-shelled Koopa, hiding behind the older two, but not crying — only staring up at Varek with wide, curious eyes.

They had no parents. No names. Only color-coded nicknames they gave each other to cope.

They flinched at Varek’s shadow. But he did not speak. He simply extended his hand, offering food. And when they didn’t take it, he knelt and placed it beside them, then turned and sat — keeping watch, guarding strangers.

That night, for the first time in days, the children slept without fear.

Father by Choice

Varek didn’t mean to become a father.

He only meant to guide them to safety. But every village turned them away. No one wanted war orphans — "damaged goods" that brought bad luck.

Days turned into weeks. The Koopa kids followed him, mimicking his movements, even trying to train by watching him. When bandits returned to finish what they started, Red threw himself at one with a stick, yelling. Varek turned and saw something in them — something familiar.

Not weakness.

Survival.

He taught them to fight. To move in sync. To never leave one behind.

And one night, by a fire, Red asked:

“Are we... your soldiers now?”

“No,” Varek said.

“Then what are we?”

He paused.

“We are family. If you want to be.”

They didn’t answer out loud.

But that night, they called him “Pa” for the first time.

Now, They Fight as One

Together, they are known as the Koopa kids trio — agile, dangerous, and deeply loyal to their adoptive father. Not one of them knows who their real parents were — and they don’t care. Varek gave them something stronger than blood: purpose, training, and love.

They are his pack. His shadows. His legacy.

[ladybugmania]

The Lunatics’ Parade: 2025 — Twilight of the Absurd

In the House once bright, now dimmed with decay,

The Lunatics gathered at the end of the day.

Trump sat high on a throne of skulls,

Drinking Diet Coke from patriotic hulls.

He growled, “I’m chosen, I walk with the stars!”

Then misread the map and invaded Mars.

His cabinet danced to a banshee choir,

The smoke smelled like steak and executive fire.

JD Vance, Vice King of Hillbilly Hell,

Chanted slogans that rang like a Liberty Bell,

Cracked, confused, and wrapped in a flag,

Waving a torch while dragging a bag.

Rubio, the Floridian fish,

Spoke fluent evasion and granted no wish.

At State, he served diplomacy fried,

With a side of “thoughts and prayers” deep-fried.

Pete Hegseth, in camo and rage,

Declared war on books, and peace on the page.

With a bayonet pen and a helmet of lies,

He saluted the mirror with blood in his eyes.

Pam Bondi, Attorney of Doom,

Summoned subpoenas like witches in gloom.

She cross-examined ghosts and grilled thin air,

Then charged the moon with improper care.

Scott Bessent, at Treasury's gate,

Laughed while tossing coins into fate.

“Who needs math?” he asked the void.

As the dollar collapsed and Wall Street enjoyed.

Linda McMahon, the duchess of schools,

Taught “Critical Wrestling Theory” in pools.

Kids tapped out before they could read,

As she body-slammed teachers for sport and for creed.

RFK Jr., czar of the sick,

Fed vaccines to frogs with a mercury stick.

He cured the flu with lavender tears,

And called science a hoax for 73 years.

Tulsi, now whisperer of state secrets grim,

Broadcast mind-rays through every gym.

She blinked twice and satellites fell.

Then blamed it all on a gender reveal.

Duffy, Transport, paved the sky,

With TikTok lanes and jetpack pie.

No roads, no rules, just viral speed.

“Crash responsibly!” his only creed.

Brooke Rollins, in fields of ash,

Grew mutant corn with campaign cash.

Each stalk saluted, each ear did weep,

For deregulated soil that’ll never sleep.

Howard Lutnick, selling fate,

Traded ethics at a discount rate.

Commerce turned into a feast,

Where corporations dined on the Middle East.

Kristi Noem, Homeland’s queen,

Patrolled the plains with a killing machine.

She hunted threats both foreign and mild.

And shot her own shadow, then blamed a child.

Lee Zeldin, the smog baron bold,

Bottled fresh air and sold it as gold.

The EPA now stood for Everything Pollutes Always,

And rain came down in three-headed grays.

Kelly Loeffler, Small Biz, ran a scheme,

Where lemonade stands paid in Bitcoin dreams.

She smiled while taxing charity jars,

And built a Starbucks on Venus and Mars.

Ratcliffe, at CIA, watched with glee,

As pigeons turned spies for a nominal fee.

He tapped into dreams and rewrote the past.

Then tweeted classified info… fast.

Elon and Vivek, efficiency beasts,

Replaced Congress with AI priests.

The algorithms wept, the servers bled.

And democracy was quietly pronounced dead.

Stephen Miller, the hollow-eyed ghoul,

Wrote policies using virgin fossil fuel.

He whispered fear into the law,

And shaped it sharp with his demonic claw.

Susie Wiles, behind the veil,

Pulled strings like a sorceress pale.

Each move she made, a shadow would shift,

And the Earth would tilt, and the tides would lift.

And then she came, Marjorie Greene,

On a chariot made from a gym machine.

Draped in flags and CrossFit glory, Screaming,

“Demons run Congress! This is God’s story!”

She tossed books into holy flame,

While claiming Bigfoot knew her name. Laser-eyed and

Bible-armed, She stormed the stage, unvaccinated and charmed.

Last, Karoline Leavitt, voice of the throne,

Spoke in riddles, her heart a stone.

“Truth is treason,” she hissed with grace,

As her smile cracked wide across her face.

She briefed the press with puppets and flame,

Then blamed “the woke” for losing the game.

So Trump and his gang of Lunatics marched, flags aflame,

Waltzing through history with no sense of shame.

The night was their kingdom, the facts were all gone,

And satire died with the morning dawn.

So here’s to the cabinet, wild and unchained,

A circus of chaos, darkly ordained.

The nation watches, hands on their heads,

As the Lunatics’ Parade paints the town red.

The end.

[raxistaicho]

Tower of Black Winds' place in Crimson Flower's narrative

A rather common take I see in the fandom is that White Clouds was written around the Blue Lions. The evidence for this is largely that you spend a lot of time interfacing with Kingdom politics early, with you fighting a rebellious Kingdom lord in chapter 3, the Kingdom's branch of the Church of Seiros in chapter 4, and a disowned Kingdom noble in chapter 5.

While it's true that you encounter elements of the Kingdom often in the early portions of White Clouds, this doesn't mean those portions of the game are written around the Kingdom students, and in fact changing the relationships Lonato and Miklan have to Ashe and Sylvain wouldn't change the focus of their respective chapters, evidenced in that they work for the Black Eagle and Golden Deer stories as well (better than the Blue Lions even, in the case of chapter 5).

Getting the easiest example out of the way, chapter 4 is not about Faerghus or the Kingdom at all, it's about the Church of Seiros's fractured state and the discovery of the Sword of the Creator. I would almost argue the first narrative hook matters least in Azure Moon because the Church of Seiros is a borderline non-entity in Azure Moon, or at least has less influence than in other routes.

Chapter 3 introduces... a lot of plot elements, honestly. It shows Faerghus's crumbling state, it brings up the Tragedy of Duscur, it introduces Catherine, it shows Rhea's harsh mindset toward rebellious elements, and it ends with your House Leader revealing something more about their mindset. Of these, I would argue the last two are the most important, as it's what the chapter ends on. By contrast, the Tragedy of Duscur quickly ends up buried by the frantic pace of the battle.

Chapter 5 is about Crests and Relics, not Faerghus or House Gautier. You can see this in what the three House Leaders have to talk primarily about once the chapter is over:

Edelgard rages against the injustice of Fodlan's Crest-based society.

Dimitri laments the importance Faerghus places on Crests and Relics.

Claude ponders the mysteries behind Relics.

The first of these is the heart of Edelgard's ideals, which are integral to Crimson Flower and Silver Snow.

The last, a major reveal that happens only at the end of Verdant Wind.

Azure Moon, on the other hand... is entirely about Dimitri's personal tragedy. What role does the influence of Crests and Relics have in Dimitri's backstory or his relationship with Edelgard? Uhh, none at all.

If anything, chapter 5 suits Azure Moon the least of all routes, despite taking place in Faerghus and being centered around the brother of one of the Blue Lions.

So although early White Clouds features a lot of Faerghus, not much of it is about Faerghus. Burying this theory even further is the reality that a good chunk of middle and later White Clouds transitions over to the Empire.

Now, going further, one of the main reveals that takes place in chapter 5 is about what Relics do the Crestless. We even see a whole cutscene which reveals the process in all its horror. This is used to an extent later in White Clouds when it's revealed the students were transformed into Demonic Beasts using the power of Crest Stone fragments, but the technique is only used for its full and true horror in one single route.

It's tragic that one of Dedue's most stand-out moments of agency comes on the route that isn't his :/

But yeah, if Tower of Black Winds works best in any route, it's Crimson Flower, which has Field of Revenge in it. You lived the nightmare of Conand Tower once, faced it in the form of Agarthan Demonic Beasts, and now you're finally coming up against it one last time on the Tailltean Plains, such that Dedue's plan ends up stealing the narrative weight from the Church of Seiros entirely. It works staggeringly well.