#make Nova COOL and THREATENING and CLEVER

[lord-squiggletits]

Pausing my nap to say that Nova Prime is a little bitch who died begging for his life and was a really underwhelming villain for how ~big~ his return was supposed to be. At least Galvatron managed to be actually cool, funny, and unique. Nova was just a little bitch that lost a one-on-one fist fight with Optimus. I would throw him in the horse plinko/send him to superhell but he's too pathetic for even that.

[mistwraiths]

2 stars

Apologies for the blurry picture but I couldn't seem to find a good one. The Crown of Gilded Bones is the third book in the From Blood and Ash series. I want everyone to know I'll be putting on my clown makeup after I post this review because despite rating the first two books low and having issues with them, I somehow deluded myself into thinking this one might be better! It wasn't and dare I say it I think this was the worst one by far.

I'm genuinely trying to find something good about this book ot at least something I really enjoyed. I do like that the books pick up right where the last book ends up. The first few chapters are pretty exciting. Around page 600, the last few chapters are fast paced and things are happening. Other than that, I can't really think of anything I really liked about the book.

Crown of Gilded Bones majorly suffers, like its predecessors, in the same four ways. Being too long, repetition, world information and building, and nothing important to the central story or plot happening for huge chunks of pages.

I firmly believe that all the books were half their length and the story beats were quicker coming and longer, it would be far more enjoyable. Instead you're forced to slog through inner monologues that don't add anything new, Poppy getting dressed by Casteel, showers, and other mundane parts. I thought knowing that it would be slow would help me enjoy the book but nope. The whole deciding to go to the realm of the gods literally doesn't happen until nearly the end of 500 pages in.

The worst part about the book being far too long and nothing happening is that when something does happen, it gets rehashed several times to the point where I, as a reader, am exhausted about reading about talking about it. I'm a big lover of communication. I love it when characters who are working together or are together tell each other important information and trust each other, but this is different. Once something happens, it gets talked about it detail for a handful of chapters, usually lasting longer than the actual event itself, and then is brought up again to go over, and then again. It's frustrating because I just want to move on but the story is so determined to go over everything again.

That's not the only instances of repetition. I know authors tend to reuse certain words over again. SJM and her "croon" and "toes curl" and "barked/roared". I can forgive stuff. I can look over Jennifer's constant use of dimples. The honeydew part is the most disgusting. I don't care what flavor Poppy's vagina is. There's a difference when it comes to the same thing happening with the near similar responses/situations being used over and over again as an attempt in humor but it falls flat after its been used several times. I'm talking about the "I have a question" "No one is surprised by that" parts and the Poppy being prone to violence makes Casteel horny and Poppy has to be like you're disturbing. If it showed up once or twice after the initial one, I could get over it. But it's reused every so many chapters. If it's an attempt at humor, it is a poor one.

This book is number three in a series and this book is still chock-full of world building and world information. I could possibly forgive it since I suppose at the start Jennifer didn't plan for a big fantasy series, but it's too much. There's so much information being crammed at you and it's in a very obvious way. Poppy asks and Kiernan or Casteel answers. That's pretty much the only way Poppy and the reader learns anything. At this point, I feel like I need a glossary and timeline because there is so much information.

In fact, despite nothing happening, l don't know how it still feels that there is a lot going on. There's the Solis problem. There's the Poppy should be queen problem. There's the people have concerns of Poppy being queen. There's the Unseen problem. Another Dark One problem? Poppy's lineage/past mystery. Something about waking up the Consort? And a little bit more. It's a lot.

In the second book, I liked Poppy (sort of), Casteel, and Kiernan. However, I find myself not liking any of them that much. From personality to saying similar things, they all feel very much the same character. There's not much difference in personalities or dialogue. About the only difference is that Kiernan is cool, Poppy is compassionate when it suits the narrative, and Casteel is protective. Other than that, there's not much of a difference between any of them.

Poppy is pretty much the same as always. Massively overpowered and incredibly special, doesn't know anything about her world that she lives in, and somehow despite being so special and powerful, she's kidnapped and hurt and then levels up again. We are forcefully spoon-fed how Poppy is so strong, so beautiful, so intelligent and clever. I haven't found one instance that I've been wow that was smart. Poppy's powers she inherently knows how to use perfectly the moment she gets them.

There's also almost no female interactions or female friendships with Poppy. Tawny was barely there in the first one but when she surprisingly shows up here, she's immediately rendered injured and unconscious. We're told Vonetta and Poppy are friends, but there's been almost no interactions. Vonetta gave her clothes once and then delivered a message later. Is that a basis for friendship? Vonetta eventually falls in a hole and Poppy saves her. That's about it. Ileana and Eloana are both older motherly types but also significant worrisome individuals for Poppy internally. Again, there's like one conversation each with them individually. Lyra is introduced to us by giving Kiernan a blow job but no interactions. Hisa and Nova are soldiers but no interactions. It's even mentioned that female draken are rare, but I'd argue that female characters are exceptionally rare. It's ridiculous. It's like there isn't any female that's allowed to have a moment of spotlight or competency other than Poppy. Poppy also has a moment of nastiness that's out of character when she threatens a woman who admitted to her that she had no interest in Casteel and Casteel had said the same and he wasn't interested in her, and she threatens to rip her limb from limb. It's so sudden and startlingly and leaves a terrible taste in my mouth.

As for Casteel, I no longer like him nor do I think he's a good guy. I think he's capable of good, being good, doing good but there's too many times where he's been vocal about killing anyone and burning his own kingdom down if Poppy doesn't get her own freedom of choice or what she want and what not. It's played out as the most truest love but to me, that's like a villain kind of love. If someone I loved burned down a city because I didn't get to choose what I wanted, I'd call the police. The craziest thing I had to read is people believing that Casteel would make a good king when he legitimately states that Poppy's needs comes before his own kingdom's needs. And if hers are met, the kingdom's could be met. That's not how any of that works!

He also does something incredibly reckless. I get it, he couldn't live without Poppy so he chooses to Ascend her. I can wrap my head around it. The fact of the matter is that Casteel refuses to take the blame or even entertain the consequences that could have resulted in that and how reckless it was. Poppy even refuses to allow the conversation. They are both like: I am not a vampry. Nothing bad happened so let's move on. It's astounding. Not only that but I felt it extremely odd that Poppy would have been okay with Casteel making her into a vampry, something incredibly dangerous and something she hates and would never want to be. It's just oh okay well luckily I didn't turn into one. And that's... it? It would have made good tension but no. Instead, they're just in love so much we have to listen to Casteel tell her how strong and beautiful she is every twenty pages.

I was excited to learn more about Kiernan but I still couldn't tell you much about him. Best friends with Casteel, a wolven, and he's always like "no one is surprised by Poppy having question". That's about all I know of him. Those are all things I knew about him in the second book.

Some other things I had issues with is that the villains are eager to spill everything about their plans. I feel like I'm watching a cartoon show with their villain monologues going on and on. Everyone except for Poppy is knowledgeable about everything!! People are constantly apologizing for things they have no control of. Characters somehow know exactly what to say to Poppy all the time like mind reading. I'm annoyed that the gods realm and the draken were such short parts.

When the reveals and the action which took 600 pages to get to happened, I really couldn't find myself caring. Reading felt like a chore. I'm not worried about any of the characters. I don't know if I'm interested anymore in reading this series because it feels like work trying to read it. I'm here for enjoyment and I'm not having a good time.

[voxpanica]

No. 4 - TRUST FALL “Do you trust me?’ | taken hostage | pushed

Hostage situations normally follow a certain protocol. There’s a threatening stage, a negotiation stage, and if things go well, an exchange. All in all, a tense situation, but one with a defined set of rules and expectations.  

Which is why Taris is confused. 

They’ve been held for three weeks now and there has been no negotiation. 

They remember the threatening stage very well, they still have the bruises around their neck. Every time they turn their head, they can feel the crushing sensations around their windpipe, see the lights dancing in front of their eyes. But it seems like that was just for show. The group holding them doesn’t seem to want anything. It’s like they’re keeping Taris just to prove they can. 

The door to their cell opens and their head snaps up. Light floods into the dark but Taris stubbornly keeps their head up, not flinching at the change in brightness. A person steps into view and gestures roughly for them to get up. Taris doesn’t move. 

The person growls and waves a hand. The bracers clamped around Taris’s wrists heat up uncomfortably. Still they sit. They are no stranger to burns. 

They feel pressure mounting behind their eyes. Their head swims as something compels them forward. They shrug it off but it keeps coming back, stronger and stronger, until, teeth bared in a snarl, they are forced to their feet, their body moving against their will. 

The person grabs them as they exit and tightly secures a blindfold around their face. The cloth is coarse, scratching slightly at their face. They sigh and just let it happen. 

A few minutes later, after being led through a very complex compound (their captors had walked them in circles a few times to try and confuse them), they are shoved into a chair of some sort. Their hands, which had been secured together, are separated and attached to the arms of the chair. Two voices, one low and rough, the other slightly higher and younger sounding, argue with each other a little bit away. Taris can’t quite make it out, distracted by the sounds of something, someone else moving around. A few more moments of shuffling, Taris resisting the urge to cast a spell, knowing it won’t work, and the room stills. 

“Ready boss?” The younger one pipes up, answered by a grunt.  

Fabric rustles right by Taris’s face and they jerk. Something cool comes to rest at the base of their throat and they still instinctively. Knife. 

Something beeps gently and then a third voice, deep and distorted, sounding both human and inhuman, like a void personified, rings out. 

“Woods family. You have refused our gracious offer to meet and negotiate.” Taris’s heart leaps into their throat. Their mouth dries up. They… they rejected the offer to meet? They… no, no they wouldn’t. “We are not a cruel group, we simply desire compensation to return your wayward sibling. We make the same offer as before. But this time, incentive.” 

The voice stops for a moment and the knife digs a little deeper into their throat. They swallow, feeling the knife move on their skin. Apparently satisfied, the voice continues. 

“Did you know,” the voice is casual, conversational, as if it were about to impart a fun fact, “that Revivify does not need to be consensual?” 

Taris’s stomach drops like a stone. They begin to strain at their restraints, tugging and pulling with all of their strength. The chair creaks under them before a hand makes contact with their face. Their head snaps to the side. 

“I would imagine that dying is not particularly pleasant. However, dying repeatedly and coming back to life sounds like an even worse ordeal. But I’m sure you think this is a clever ruse. Here.” 

The voice mutters a few words and what little light Taris had been able to see vanishes. Their breath catches in their chest, panic threatening to overtake them. They don’t have Nova to help them so they try to take slow, steady breaths, focusing on the feeling of the cloth on their face. Their breathing steadies. But then that is tugged off. 

They can’t see. 

Their rising panic is stemmed by the feeling of a knife on their throat again. The voice rings out, “As you can see, this is indeed Taris. You have a week to give us what we want. For every hour you delay, we will kill Taris and bring them back. Starting now.” 

Something cold slashes across their throat and liquid begins to run down their front. They choke, coughing violently, thrashing against the restraints, desperately trying to get free. But nothing works. If anything, it makes their death faster. Their senses dull as the blood drains out of them. Black encroaches on the edges of their consciousness and they can’t do anything but surrender to it. 

They know no more. 

Something is pulling at them, sharp and insistent. 

They try to run away, to turn and go into the gentle darkness but it insists, tearing into the edges of their mind and getting a firm hold. 

Then Taris wakes with a shout, chest still covered in blood. 

[a-friendinthedark]

bnha au

i am very bad with the names...

Theo -- Elastic Hair

Description: Able to manipulate his hair, shoot it out in spikes, hit things, throw things, change its shape. Has quite a long range. It’s a bit like The Incredibles’ Elastigirl, but only for his hair.

Cons: Overuse makes his hair fall out. It’s his hair after all, so if you shock it, he will be shocked. 

Theo’s use: He just uses it to shape his hair into whatever hairstyle he is into. He also changes his hair to punctuate his sentences. He almost never uses it as a tool to fight because he loves his hair, he doesn’t want to damage it. He is also super vain and he freaks the hell out if his hair is falling off. Most people who know him probably don’t even realize he has elastic and powerful hair. He loudly tells everyone about how awesome his hair is because it can form any hairstyle he wants (and how many other plebs can achieve that?!). He uses a special conditioner and takes great care of his hair.

Ayla -- Blaze of Power

Description: Inspired by the Blaze Pokemon ability. Able to burn metabolism and energy to temporarily enhance a physical ability, eg. speed or jumping skills.

Cons: Overuse obviously makes her quickly exhausted/fatigued and she might faint if she really pushes herself.

Ayla’s use: She is so ready to use this, but she is not able to accurately gauge the effects on her body in moments of passionate urgency. Eg. She will overextend herself without realizing. Since she is rarely in life-threatening situations, she probably mostly uses it to show off a bit here and there in daily life, or she uses it in competitions designed to feature/showcase Quirks.

Noella -- Henshin

Description: Can turn any inanimate object into a hen. It’s a permanent transformation. The hens she creates matches her age -- when she was a kid, she could only create chicks.

Cons: When overused, she creates really weird-looking hens. 

Noella’s use: She tries not to use it at all because although she loves hens, she wants to take in every hen that she creates. She feels really bad if they wander off and get lost after she turns them, or she isn’t capable of caring for them. She reluctantly realizes that she can’t keep 500 hens even if she wants to. All the hens she creates somehow lay the most delicious eggs ever.

Icarus -- Telekinesis

Description: Low-level telekinesis. He can move objects with his mind, depending on his mental focus, clarity and strength of will. He can throw things, pick things up, etc. 

Cons: He gets a migraine when he overuses his Quirk. The heavier it is, the harder it is for him to pick up. In bad cases, he would even get nosebleeds or concussions.

Icarus’s use: He is that person who forgets he has a Quirk lol -- he still ends up crossing the room to get something, or being confused at something he can’t reach -- until he suddenly remembers he has a Quirk. He struggles with lifting heavy things (he can usually only lift lighter objects and finds it hard to lift furniture), and he also can’t lift non-solids like liquids. If trying to throw things, he will actually miss if he’s not focused or he’s distracted.

Morrigan -- Psychic

Description: Able to launch psychic attacks against others, causing horrible headaches to the victim. Able to lift items telekinetically. Able to create illusions. (Her Quirk is similar to a Gardevoir’s Psychic, a tbt to her origins).

Cons: Like Icarus, overusage causes a debilitating migraine, and usage of the Quirk depends on her mental focus, strength and clarity.

Morrigan’s use: She does not use her psychic powers to show off by throwing things, despite what her bff Odette always asks of her -- she thinks it’s crass to show off. She only uses her powers when it’s life-or-death. She mostly uses psychic attacks when attacking because she has good mental focus. She likes to use her powers to create very aesthetically-pleasing illusions (she has a love/admiration for all things pleasing to the eye and artistic). She is easy to rile up and make angry, which is to her detriment, because then she loses all mental focus and becomes ineffective -- attacks miss or fail.

Odette -- Earth Stomper

Description: Able to use metabolism and energy to manipulate the earth, like earthbending. Can create fissures, can create walls (similar to Cementoss). She does it by stomping on the ground or moving her hands like she’s pulling/pushing something.

Cons: Physically draining/exhausting when overused. She can only manipulate the earth if there is soil or rock -- so if she was in a metal box, she won’t be able to do anything.

Odette’s use: She loves and lives for any chance to use her quirk, she thinks her own power is so cool lol. Unfortunately or fortunately, her power is not easily used IRL, so she rarely gets a chance to do anything. She is actually quite powerful because she has a very strong body, good physical reserves and good endurance. She has never reached the limits of her strength/metabolism before, as she frequently does not need to use a lot of it. When she does use this though, she gets hungry and devours a huge meal after. She frequently complains to Morrigan about Morrigan’s ability, which is more used in daily life, and frequently asks Morrigan to demonstrate her abilities to Odette’s friends, or for Odette’s convenience/benefit. Morrigan frequently refuses because she thinks it’s very crass/unnecessary.

Emily -- Shock Wave

Description: Able to convert metabolism/energy into shock waves. 

Cons: Again, overuse causes exhaustion and even fainting. Also if there’s a thick/heavy object in the way, the opponent would be shielded.

Emily’s use: Emily can emit this using nearly every part of her body. She frequently uses this to make life convenient for herself, eg. using this to give herself a hand when pushing heavy things, or using this to propel herself forward if she’s late. She has gotten clever/opportunistic at using this, able to easily figure out how to best use it in any situation. She’s very at ease/integrated with her Quirk. She is more aware of her limitations than Ayla, and less likely to push herself to fainting state. If she was participating in Quirk contests, or for the sake of showing off, she probably designed a cheerleader routine where her actions emit shock waves.

Nova -- Psychic Tank

Description: Able to use mental powers: telekinesis, psychic attacks, energy barriers (like Reflect/Light Screen).

Cons: Similar to Icarus’s and Morrigan’s ability, overusage results in migraines, internal bleeding.

Nova’s use: She can use her power in more ways and on a larger scale than Icarus or Morrigan -- she is also better at the two when it comes to using her environment or spotting opportunities. Like Emily, she’s good at her Quirk. Unlike Emily, she integrates it into her life to a lesser extent. She uses it to multitask -- eg. taking another book while she’s looking at something else, or preparing something she has to do next while she’s doing another thing. She basically uses it to save a little time and inconvenience here and there, maximizing efficiency. She has a strong, focused and clear mind, so she can use her powers for quite a while before she feels that she is reaching her limit, and it’s hard to distract her from what she is doing.

Jacob & Yvonne -- Shadow Portal

Description: They can move within the shadows (quicker than normal, almost like teleportation). So long as there are shadows, it looks like they appear and disappear all over the place.

Cons: Overusage causes their bodies to feel numb. They will pass out if they push themselves too hard. If in a harshly lit, shadowless place, their Quirk is useless.

Jacob’s use: He almost never uses it in daily life, not really seeing chances for it or thinking it’s unnecessary. If in conflict situations, he uses it very defensively. He just fades in the shadows to hide or run away until his body limit forces him out into the open.

Yvonne’s use: She rarely uses it in daily life as well. If in conflict situations, she is able to use it very much to her advantage, like an assassin probably lol.