#my crackship finally got something in canon...

[flashyfools]

YAMAHIYO WIN???

[watchingyoufromthestars]

Finally cleaned this up so here’s my DnDads ultimate ship opinions list. I was waiting until after s2 ended to clean this up in case I had any final opinion changes with the last few episodes. Please don’t bash me for any of these. The DnDads fandom is generally very nice but shipping discourse is something that can get heated no matter the fandom.

Dads

Henry Darryl: very neutral. I understand the ship I just never fully got on the boat

Henry Glenn: absolutely fucking feral about them do not get me started on Glennry

Darryl Glenn: feral in a different way that I don’t know how to describe other than toxic yaoi in the way that they’re damaged but refuse to talk about it so they kiss about it instead

Loveeeeeeee polydads but only as Henry/Glenn/Darryl. Not really a Ron shipper I love him and Samantha too much. Ron and Glenn’s friendship is very important to me though

In terms of Jodie, I don’t really ship him with any of the main dads, ESPECIALLY not Glenn. Even if Jimmy didn’t play Jodie I’d still never ship them. Wish Scamster was real and not completely a scam because they’re literally a crackship become real except it was never a crackship before canon. It’s surprising to me that they weren’t really shipped beforehand

Henry Mercedes: THE T4T OF ALL TIME BABEYYYYY. Absolutely iconic couple, fate was in their favor with how they met they were destined for each other

Darryl Carol: After hearing how Darryl talked about his family in Heaven, I was actually really happy they ended up not getting divorced. They clearly had a rough patch as seen in s1, but they genuinely love each other and I love how devoted to her Darryl is. The little finger puppet he made of her in the time out zone… :,)

Glenn Morgan: GLORGAN!!!!!!!!! Oh my god these two tear me apart. I am feral for Glorgan angst there’s too much to work with. More people need to start calling them Glorgan instead of Morglenn please please please please pretty please indulge me in my silly ship name

Ron Samantha: sobbing. They’re so sweet. The distinction that Samantha is also a little silly is very important to me. They love each other so fucking much

Kiddads

Nicky Sparrow: didn’t realize how much I love them for a good while but when I did oh god I love them so so much. T4T it’s so real to me that they’re both trans

Nicky Lark: used to like it but yall mischaracterize Nicky so much in fics. If yall want toxic yaoi just ship Grant and Lark I’m so serious

Nicky Terry: sobs. They were best friends. I don’t personally ship them but the fact that Terry said he was his best friend… that line rattles around in my brain so often

Nicky Grant: recently learned this might get shipped and has THE coolest ship name. Crossfire I love you but for the ship name alone

Sparrow Terry: I think I’ve seen this shipped a few times but only in the context of Terry/Nicky/Sparrow. Not my personal cup of tea though

Sparrow Grant: I don’t see this shipped too often but they have the worst ship name ever /aff. Wtf is a spant lol. Also I’m too much team transfem Sparrow to feel comfortable shipping this

Lark Terry: do not know the appeal of Gun Control but their ship name is fun

Lark Grant: toxic yaoi central. They both need intense therapy but them both being so fucked up is what makes them interesting not that that’s healthy though

Terry Grant: I see them more in a qpr place than anything romantic. I have one fic of them that’s bookmarked on Safari because I think about a part from it from time to time

Don’t have any poly ships for them

In terms of s2 spouses I so desperately wished we could’ve seen more of them. We barely get to see them

Nicky Cassandra: Telling Taylor his dad was a good man and that she misses him every day makes me think they parted on good terms. But then Nicky disappeared because of FBI shit. In another life maybe they could’ve worked.

Sparrow Rebecca: more ugly sobbing. I’m unsure on my sparroace thoughts if they’d end up getting divorced post-finale but I know they’re not fully separating or breaking up. They really are in love but it’s unconventional and messy.

Terry Veronica: I think the reveal that Terry is infertile is a nice touch to their relationship. It sounds weird to say and I feel like I might word this all weirdly. Him being unable to have bio kids but finding love in someone who wants to raise a kid with him anyways. Veronica finding new love again after a supposedly abusive relationship. Both of those combined is something I really love.

Grant Marco: Canon gays ftw. The Titanic episode was so generous in letting us get to see their dynamic. Obviously Grant still has a long way to go in finding self love but I’m so happy he found someone who can support him and loves him back like this.

Teens

Normal Scary: ugly sobbing over them I love them so much. Cradling my madomagi and tma aus with them as madohomu and jmart

Normal Taylor: yearning for the early s2 days like when they went to Sonic and made some devious plan off screen I wish they had more silly interactions together. Was truly fed with the kareoke intro and them bonding over costume making for a minute. Tayloak could be so interesting if there was more material to work with

Normal Link: Childhood BFFs to Lovers; I wish they could’ve hung out more as kids but all that happened

Normal Hermie: I get the hype but I have personal reasons for feeling neutral on them that I wish I could get over. Good soup though /ref

Scary Taylor: see them too much as a sibling dynamic to ever ship them

Scary Link: respect to all y’all shippers but I do not gothcleats and will leave it at that forever. I can only accept the finale with my transfem Link hc

Scary Hermie: I love Scene Partners. These stupid kids and reflecting each other /aff

Taylor Link: one that I can’t believe I didn’t ship sooner they’re so silly

Link Hermie: I think this one is very funny (/pos) but not my personal vibe

Love love LOVEEEEEEEE Marloakworthy AUGH. A giant triangle of everyone paralleling each other

Polywagon I love you; cannot believe you’re real and genuinely canon. This is just Homestuck again when Hussie said all ships are canon (DnDads never beating the Homestuck allegations from me)

Scary Erica: wish there were more interactions I love Erica so much but alas she’s a guest NPC. “You awaken a lightness in me” sapphic ass Scary I know what you are

[bubbleddisasters]

So I saw a cool ship edit with Jade and Che’nya, and that has given me the confidence to talk about my favorite crackship/Rare pair!

(This is pretty long, sorry!)

Che’nya and Idia!

It originally started out as a joke like “Over Powered Cat Boy x Cat Loving Gamer Boy”, but then I realized how actually good they could be for eachother.

Although they never technically talk in canon, they do meet in Glorious Masquerade for like 6 seconds, but I shipped them prior lol.

Basically, Che’nya would be extremely good for Idia in many ways, I hope its not a bother, but I’ll just list my personal ideas!

(Keep in mind that in Alice in Wonderland, Its stated in “Through the Looking Glass” the Cheshire Cat is the second most powerful being, next to the personification of Time, So I envision Che’nya is pretty op, and theres some evidence to prove that but i’m not going to get in to that right now)

Starting off from Idias side:

One: Lets say Idia refuses to eat or care for himself, Che’nya could teleport away his consoles until he does, or teleport the food to him.

Like : “You won’t shower? Gee I wonder where your routers went.” “Won’t sleep? I opened a portal on your gaming chair that teleports you to your bed” “Won’t drink water? Damn, that figurine near the edge of the table looking real pushable right now.”

We also know that Idia has a huge soft spot for cats. Che’nya is most definitely the most cat like person in the cast. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a cat form. So thats definitely some sway there.

Also, if he does or even if he doesn’t have a cat form, he has a big and floofy tail, and if he does have a cat form, I imagine it to be Mainecoon like (since Che’nya is pretty tall and lanky) so free floof to pet/brush when Idias stressed (also A Whisker Away AU?)

Another thing is Che’nyas invisibility: He can be a comfort for Idia without being seen, so Idias less judged for his anxiousness. Like if Idias in a stressful meeting or something in STYX, He can be there to comfort or calm him without anyones notice. Also, If Idias in a stressful social situation, Che’nya can teleport him or them both away, or make them or just him invisible.

Plus, judging from the most definitely self made artwork on Che’nyas pants, I think its safe to say he’s probably an artist of some sort, and I think he’d be more than willing to indulge/read/play/watch Idias recommendations, and maybe draw something for him. (The requirements are either cuddles or Solving Che’nyas riddles three)

Finally, judging by the fact Che’nya casually waltzes through NRCs magic barrier, which took SEVERAL HIGH TECH STYX STRIKES TO CRACK, often enough for Riddle to be able to say “The Intruder” and everyone just knows its Che’nya.

Also, RSA is THE ENTIRE ISLAND AWAY AND ON A GIANT FUCKING MOUNTAIN, so this means Che’nya is very casually teleporting across the equivalent of atleast a small country without producing jack shit in terms of blot, while (from what we can see on his design) not wearing a mage stone.

He’s also been detaching his own body parts, flying, going invisible, etc since age 5, and from Rollos story we know that amount of magic use would indefinitely kill 80% of people, especially a kid, so knowing that, I’m pretty sure its somewhat safe to say if Che’nya got into S.T.Y.X atleast once so he knows where it is, he’d be able to teleport back in and out (the security team fucking hates him and the blot research team wants to experiment on him.)

With that, Idia wouldn’t feel as if he’s trapping Che’nya down there if they were to tie the knot, and gives the possibility of being able to teleport out to shore for in town dates.

On Che’nyas side, Idia is someone who’s very fun once he sort of lets himself go, and god forbid if those two team up on April Fools.

He’s also someone that is already pretty lonely by nature and I find it extremely plausible Che’nya feels slightly replaced by Cater, and although he definitely still cherishes Riddle and Trey, its nice to have someone that you don’t fear might find a replacement.

Also, at RSA, we know he’s good friends with Neige, but because of Neiges fame, that must be hella stressful when you’re trying to hang out and get jumped by fans or paparazzi.

Not to mention Neige is likely very very busy due to the same factor. I’d also wager most people at RSA are not as much fun to him, considering it’s mentioned they always seem to be perfect and pristine at events.

That cycle of semi- perfect paradise like school days would probably bore him, along with the very bland or stereotypical reactions I can imagine his pranks getting.

So we have on one side the stress of being friends with someone in the limelight at all times, and the stress being chased around when you go to visit your childhood friends + being lowkey replaced.

So someone you can pretty much always count on to be available and a dorm that won’t chase you out (probably too anti-social and/or Socially anxious to do so) and is somewhat willing to indulge in your chaos from time to time, or just play games with.

I could also see Che’nya and Ortho getting along very well too, with Ortho being the most aggressive wingman for Idia. Also, if Che’nya gets Ortho in on pranking Idia, it’s going to turn into a prank WAR.

Also, fun idea, Lilia, Cater and Trey being Che’nyas Wingmen.

I like to imagine Che’nya and Lilia are extremely good friends (They call themselves the Pink Bats and Purple Cats Jumpscarers) and since from what we know, Che’nya only has his grandfather, Lilia emotionally adopted him after Che’nya unintentionally fell asleep in his Cat form in the woods and Lilia told Silver to bring him back because “he was concerned about the high magic levels he sensed” and basically did the equivalent of

—-

Silver: “Father, It might not be a stray-“

Lilia, fully aware its a fae beastman : “Finders Keepers :) “

——

Basically this snowballs into Che’nya getting invited into the dungeon runs with Idia, and yea.

Trey’s wingmanning is 40% trying to make sure Riddle doesn’t catch Che’nya, 20% trying to make sure he doesn’t blow up the kitchen trying to make something for Idia, and 40% being the sane consultant of date ideas, making sure Cater doesn’t go overboard with ship posts, and the preventive measurer to the date ideas recommended by Lilia.

——

“Please do not have a sword duel for a date.”

“Nya? I’d be fun!”

“I don’t see why not. I did that with my lovers back in the day. Melanor in her training uniform was quite a sight to behold, Ravaene also looked fine, I suppose. Poor him was always too easy for us to take out however-“

“Lilia, thats uh, not the point. I don’t trust either of them with weapons.”

“Hm? Silver got his first sword when he was 10 or so. Baul and I refereed Sebek and Silvers first real duel when they were…12, methinks? For all Bauls bragging about his grandson, it was my son who won in the end-“

*Camera pans to a very concerned Riddle in the doorway.*

“What kind of a discussion is going on here?!”

—-

Yea, thats pretty much it!

(If you recognize some of the beginning spiel from a comment section on tiktok yes I wrote that and I got mildly lazy and thought past me explained it pretty well so I copy and pasted a few pieces)

[nocasdatsgay]

ACOTAR TAG GAME

So I got tagged by @teddyhoneybear @fieldofdaisiies @tsunami-of-tears @hieragalbatorixdottir @achaotichuman and @matrixsss ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I hope I didn’t miss anyone. So much love. I’m finally well enough to do a tag game 😂

I also think everyone has done this game but if you want you can say I tagged you ❤️

Who is your favorite ACOTAR character?

I hate picking favorites. I guess Eris. He’s so sassy and OBVIOUSLY good even when he’s being ‘evil’

Who is your least favorite ACOTAR character?

Mor. I’m sorry but she’s a pick me lesbian and of course only Sarah could make a pick me lesbian 🤦‍♀️

Say something nice about your least favorite character.

She’s good to Feyre when they meet. The best thing she ever did was move Feyre to that cabin to give her space from Rhys when she needed it.

Who’s your favorite High Lord?

Tarquin. He deserves better.

Who’s your favorite Minor Character?

NUAN!!!! SHES SO SMART AND I WANT HER TO COME BACK!!!

Favorite Ship (crackships included)?

I love Azris. I also love Elain/Eris don’t look at me

Favorite Court and Why?

spring and Dawn are aesthetic vibes. But so is summer. I like pretty courts.

Make up a brand new court RIGHT NOW NO PREP just vibes:

Uhhhhhh court of beaches where it’s an island and all the nice beaches just off the coast of summer. I wanna go back to the beach can’t you tell?

what relationship do you want to see more of in the books?

Lucien and Nuan. Their friendship. Or maybe the wrath twins and Az 👀👀👀 what are they doing in those shadows hmmm???

What’s your unpopular opinion?

Azriel is a pathetic fuckboi and would leave his lover for a mate in a heartbeat no questions asked.

What’s your favorite headcanon/fan canon?

Everyone says Helion writes the Drake novels but in my heart I know it’s Mama Autumn. Eris runs errands and publishes them for her.

If you were swept away to Prythian, what’s the ONE thing you would want to do?

Take me to the spring court immediately I’m about to fix it.

If you could have one Faerie ability seen in the books, which would it be?

Winnowing would be nice. That or healing.

[icey--stars]

Stories To Be Told: PART 29

Series Index

A shadowsinger, a warrior, an Illyrian, that's what she was. Trained by one of the most formidable female warriors. Escaped the Illyrian camps and her clipping when she was barely sixteen and is now the holder of 6 siphons. What happens when she tries to sneak into the City of Starlight? And starts down a whole new road of chaos?

↢ 『 ☾ 』 ↣

a/n: warning for like… extremely fluffy things. is that a warning? idk. but like… the author, me, squealed while writing this part. this was combined with the epilogue i planned since it was too short. so that huge time skip? yeah.

BUT, since this is the last chapter… I want to thank everyone who came around while writing this series. Thank you all for your support, whether you were commenting, reblogging or just liking- it means a ton. This story wasn’t originally going to be posted online. It was a rewrite based off of a 115k word fic I wrote. well… not really. That one had extreme inconsistencies, and very limited character development. It was set post-acomaf, where all canon plot ended basically. I much prefer this post-acosf version. 

I'm always very nervous posting online, so getting all the support I got for stbt? It means the world to me. I can’t express how much all the support just made my day. Thank you readers, from the bottom of my heart.

After this, I’ll try to work on either a new series, or some oneshots, but I beg of you, please send requests. I am incapable of coming up with ideas to post 😂 (okay, im not, but it helps)

If you have read all that, here’s a little vote for a new series: Azris fic (or another rare pair/crackship)? or new x Reader/OC fic (probably eris)? Something else? Not guaranteeing I’ll write any of them, but just to gauge what ya’ll might like to see

Now… onto the last chapter of Stories To Be Told :)

WARNING: mentions of nsfw things.

↢ 『 ☾ 』 ↣

Azriel and I didn’t come to training the day after either, both of us waking up way too late to even dare try and go. They’d probably be doing the final stretching before we’d even be ready. So we settled for a slow morning, memorizing each other’s lips.

We had, however, arrived for lunch. Nobody had said anything, but I could tell what they were all thinking. We had taken a bath before we left the room, but I knew that the bond could probably be scented quite easily now.

That afternoon, Azriel had to do some paperwork, but I relaxed with him, reading a book, surrounded by his scent. A note arrived sometime.

Family dinner tonight at the River House. See you both there.

Azriel scoffed. I lifted a brow at him in question. “Rhys,” he explained, “wants us to attend a family dinner. Clearly, Cassian told him something, because he said ‘See you both there’ like he knows.”

I chuckled a little. “Does he need to pay for traumatizing you too, my love?”

“By the Cauldron, yes. Him and Feyre, I swear. I have just been suffering. The only thing that did go right was that Cassian was the one brawling with Rhys after their bond. I was saved from some bruises.”

“Oh,” I paused. “I forgot about that part. And they what?!”

“Which part?”

“The part about bonds where the males get really… protective.”

Azriel snorted. “I’ll try my best at this dinner, angel, but do offer me some leniency.”

“As long as you offer me the same leniency, because I am one hundred percent laughing my ass off if you growl at Rhys."

He rolled his eyes. “I won’t growl at him-”

-----

Azriel growled deeply as we walked into the dining room. Rhys’s eyes had been up and looking for us, latching onto me, since I’d been the first to enter.

I snorted, and patted Azriel’s shoulder.

Rhys tipped his head back and laughed. “Alright, Cass, you win,” he chuckled. “You were right about Az being a possessive type.” A gold mark was thrown in the direction of the general, who quickly pocketed it.

I huffed out a breath in amusement and spotted Mor looking quite confused. Oh, this was my chance!

I left Azriel’s side, even as he glared daggers at Cassian, who was sitting near Mor. Mor’s eyes did indeed practically pop out of her skull when I came near enough.

“YOU’RE MATES?!” She squealed.

My face widened into a grin and I nodded.

She let out another happy squealing noise, throwing her arms around me. Azriel growled again and I laughed, backing up a step so that Mor was forced to let me go. She was smiling at me. “Oh! I’m so happy for you!” She squealed again suddenly, startling me slightly. “Welcome to the family!” She said quickly. “I was first!”

I turned my face again slightly in a useless effort to hide my huge smile from those words. Azriel curled a hand around my waist. “This is your family now,” he whispered.

I lifted a hand to rub my smile away, but it didn’t work. So I turned to behold my new family.

Rhys was grinning, with Feyre looking at me warmly. Nyx was obviously happy. “Does that mean I have a new aunt?” He asked Rhys.

“I suppose so,” Rhys chuckled. “But ask Y/N.”

I bit my lip. There was so much joy coming from me right now. Nyx turned to me expectantly.

“If you want me to be…” I replied. “You can call me aunt.”

“Yes!” Nyx threw up a fist in victory. “Auntie Y/N! Now you have to help me steal all the chocolate dad hides in the pantry.”

I snorted in amusement, giggling softly. “Alright Nyx.”

“Don’t conspire in front of me!” Rhys exclaimed.

“Did we just conspire?” I asked Nyx. He shook his head, smiling wide. “See Rhys?” I turned to face the High Lord. “We didn’t conspire anything. You must be hearing things.”

“Welcome to the family,” Cassian hummed, arm thrown over Nesta’s shoulder who sat beside him. “I would come over there and bowl you to the ground in a hug, but you have a possessive shadow death monster attached to you.”

That broke the last of the restraint I had on my laughter. I wheezed loudly, knees going weak from the force of it. My chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath, but almost everyone had joined in. Even Az. Nesta stood and came over. Azriel almost growled a warning, but I slapped his shoulder, stepping out from his grip to hug my sister. My first family here.

There weren’t any words shared between us, but as Nes pulled away, she gave me a soft look that said everything.

Amren gave me a little dip of her head, and I deduced that was likely all I was going to get from her. Lucien and Elain, two people who’d I mostly forgotten about, also gave me slight smiles. They seemed… close, but also not as close as any of the mated couples in the room.

I sat beside Azriel at the table, and ate with my new family.

-----

Later in the night, when mostly everyone had gone home, Azriel asked me the question.

“I know I’m traditionally meant to kneel down before you,” he began. “But I haven’t had the chance to buy a ring yet, so I’ll do that a bit later since I’m impatient. Would you marry me Y/N?”

I squealed immediately, turning so that I was sitting in his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck. “Yes!” I said loudly, drawing the attention of the remaining people in the room. Rhys, Feyre, Nyx, Cassian, and Nesta.

I kissed him swiftly, which probably gave the others enough of a guess of what had just transpired.

“We are having a wedding,” I told him. “Family only.”

Azriel grinned. “Whatever you want, angel.”

“AUNTIE Y/N!” Nyx exclaimed loudly, like it was a celebration.

I turned, grinning widely. “Officially,” I agreed.

Rhys smiled, his teeth showing. “Congratulations,” he said.

Feyre scoffed. “You’re so dull Rhys,” she admonished, bursting from her seat to wrap me in a hug. “Congratulations. Welcome to the family.”

“I was just trying not to get attacked!” Rhys protested. “Azzie is terrifying.”

I huffed in amusement. “Azzie?” I questioned, turning back to my mate with a smirk.

He snorted. “You are not calling me that,” he chuckled. “Rhys gets to do it only once a month.”

“Azzie…” I cooed, and paired the nickname with a scratch at his scalp. He seemed to be placated, but glared up at me petulantly.

“I’m getting bowled over,” someone said from behind me, and then wrapped two large muscled arms around my shoulders, lifting me up. I squealed at the movement, crushing my wings to my back. Cassian laughed as Azriel got to his feet immediately, eyes darting around like he was trying to deduce the easiest way to free me from Cassian, without hurting me.

I slapped Cassian’s arm. “You idiot!” I yelled happily as he only tightened his grip. “I yield!” I shouted. “I yield!”

Cassian squeezed even tighter for a moment before he let me down. I turned to him with a challenging grin.

“I have another sister,” he reasoned. “I had to make sure she knows I give good hugs.”

“You call that a hug?” I scoffed, grinning. “I prefer Az’s.”

There was a sound behind me that told me Az agreed with me. He took his seat again, the couch dipping.

“Well then,” Cassian said, voice challenging. “I guess I have to try again. Because I always give the best hugs-”

I dodged his next attempt, shooting out my foot as he took a step forward so that he tripped right onto the couch, face planting almost directly into Azriel’s lap. I was surprised when I felt a surge of possessiveness from myself at the sight of Cassian so close to my mate’s lap.

Cassian was laughing and sputtering as he stood back up. “I’m making you pay for that in training,” he growled.

Those words made a bolt of heat travel up my spine. Goddamn, had Azriel really ruined those words for me? Must have.

I tried to keep my scent in check as I coughed. “Sure you will,” I challenged. “I’ll win.”

“You can try,” Cassian scoffed. “I always win.”

“I’ll win because Nesta is on my side,” I chuckled, meeting Cassian’s mate’s eyes across the room, still sitting on the couch with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

Cassian turned with a look of betrayal on his face. “How dare you!” He accused dramatically.

I chuckled, and fell back onto the couch beside Azriel. “Love you,” I chuckled, kissing him gently.

His hand fell onto my thigh, just a little too high to be normal. “I felt that through the bond, you know,” he informed me as I pulled away.

I blushed. “Shut up,” I growled. “Or I’ll show them where you’re ticklish.”

He paused, narrowing his eyes. “You wouldn’t dare,” he said playfully.

“Oh I will,” I said.

Azriel trailed his hand up threateningly, and I basically leapt up on top of him, and went for the ticklish spot in his armpit. He wheezed, capturing the attention of everyone.

“That’s where you’re ticklish!?” Cassian exclaimed. “Damn it. I’m exploiting that.”

I grinned as Azriel’s eyes widened even as he struggled to get my hands away from his ticklish spot. “I’ll kill you,” Azriel managed through his laughter.

“Not intimidating,” Cassian chuckled. “You’ve used the line too much.”

I relented after a moment. Azriel heaved for breath, glaring at me. He leaned up to whisper in my ears.

“You’ll pay for that.”

I grinned. I planned on it.

-----

It was the Winter Solstice, and goddamn was it cold outside. I heard a shout as Rhys assumingly got pummeled by snowballs by Cassian. No surprise there. Cassian apparently had been “training” for the annual snowball fight my mate and his brother’s had every year. As I gathered up my own snowballs to launch my attack on Cassian, I smirked in the direction of Azriel’s snow fort.

We weren’t explicitly teaming per say, but we were acting as tentative allies. That little peace treaty would break as soon as Cassian began to complain about his toes freezing off.

Az had mentioned this tradition about a month ago, explaining Cassian’s training, and Rhys’s determination to beat him. Apparently, my mate was by far the most competitive for the fight. He’d won basically every fight leading up to this one. Rhys and Cass had quite a few wins, but Azriel? Azriel definitely had the most.

I offhandedly mentioned that if I were a part of the snowball fight, I’d go straight for Rhys’s face and then pummel Cassian. Then deal with Az.

Azriel, apparently, having taken that internally, offered to let me join. His brother’s mates hadn’t been interested in being out in the cold for hours, but me? Oh I was so for it. No magic. No wings. Just an even playing ground for the Illyrian idiots who just wanted to pummel each other with snowballs.

Rhys immediately let me in on it, even trying to covet an alliance with me throughout the month, but little did he know that Azriel would be getting my “support” through the game. He’d gasped dramatically when I told him I was betraying him right after he’d told me all the strategies he planned to use. Oh, it was so worth it. Now I knew the High Lord was worried, and preparing for that strike that would end him, coming from me.

Cassian shouted as the snowballs hit him from behind his fort. “Y/N!” He shouted angrily. But a playful angry. “I’m going to get you for that!”

“Just try!” I challenged.

For another three hours, we fought. When it was basically just Azriel and I, I turned on him immediately, gaining the element of surprise as I came up behind him and stuffed a whole pile of snowballs right down the back of his leathers.

He screeched and tried to shimmy them out.

“Betrayer!” He shouted, apparently giving up on getting the snow out, and intent on getting revenge. He picked up a pre-made snowball, but I merely smirked and produced one last snowball in my hand, and threw it directly into his forehead.

Azriel groaned, wiping his face. “I’m fucking freezing,” he admitted.

“Do you yield?” I asked him, and subtly packed another pile of snow together with my boots to easily form into a snowball and throw it at him if he didn’t.

“Fine, yes,” he groaned. I grinned.

“RHYS! CASS!” I called. “YIELD OR DIE UNDER THE POWER OF Y/N!”

“I yield!” Cassian yelled back. “My ass is numb.” The second part was quieter, but just loud enough to be heard.

“Never!” Rhys shouted.

I stole some of my mate's snowballs, holding them with one arm and leaped over the fort, running across No Man’s Land. Then I leaped straight into Rhys’s fort and pummeled him with the snow.

He screamed dramatically. I smirked, and then gathered more ammo, and stuffed it down his neck as he tried to clear his vision. “I yield!” he shouted. “Fucking hell! No! Don’t stuff it down my shirt even more-”

I chuckled, and then with one final push of the snow down his shirt, I stood and vaulted over the fort again, hands raised in victory.

“FIRST WIN!” I shouted, laughing hysterically after.

Cassian came out of his fort, shivering. Azriel was still struggling with the snow down his shirt. Rhys basically dragged himself out of his fort.

“Too cold,” Cassian said, “to care.”

I rolled my eyes, scoffing. “Come on then idiot. Your mate can console you for your horrible loss.”

“This is horrible!” Cassian complained.

“Let’s go to the damn birchin before my toes decide to fall off,” Rhys said, shivering as well.

We’d decided before that they’d not go in completely naked, despite tradition. Azriel was way too possessive for that. They’d keep their undershorts and I’d keep on my undergarments.

“Who won?” Nesta asked as we came inside. Her stomach was just slightly starting to get that little bump that told everyone she was having a child. I silently hoped for a little girl.

“I did!” I announced triumphantly. “These males stood no chance.”

Feyre snorted in amusement. Gwyn clasped me on my back. “Better you than them,” she joked. Emerie, who was beside Mor, called out a congratulations.

“You guys should compete next year,” I suggested. “We’d be the height of competition.”

“Freezing in the cold for hours?” Emerie asked. “No thank you. Not even on a good day.”

“Boring,” I teased. “Is Mor making you soft dear sister?”

“Shall I slap her?” Mor asked.

“No, I’ll make her pay for it in training,” Emerie chuckled.

“Just try me,” I challenged. “Just try.”

“Oh I will,” Emerie chuckled. “Now go sweat with the other idiots.”

Azriel chuckled, putting a hand around my waist and leading me in the direction of the birchin. “Come on love, I’m freezing still.”

“Fine…” I would be merciful… today. I pecked Azriel on his cheek gently. “Only for you.”

“Oh yes,” he chuckled. “So merciful towards your mate.”

I scoffed, smiling. “Love you.”

He smiled, and said that little phrase that always left me breathless from the sheer love.

“It’ll always be you.”

↢ 『 ☾ 』 ↣

TAGLIST (see post for getting added)

@mis-lil-red, @bunnymallowo, @judig92, @biblophilefox82, @azzydaddy, @thegirlintheshadows101, @whatupmydudes01, @feyres-fireheart, @elizarikaallen, @xenlynn, @panzees-bizarre-adventures, @starswholistenanddreamsanswered, @baebeepeach, @nyctophiliiiiaaa, @brekkershadowsinger, @officiallyunofficialperson, @bookslut420, @margssstuff, @bluephoenix908, @goldentournesol, @rebloggiest-reblogger, @inpraizeof, @ladylokilaufeyson5, @graciereads, @chanaaaannel, @towhateverend13, @eos-princess, @marina468,

Make sure to ask if you'd like to be tagged in more of my writing! This taglist is soon to be deleted :)

[nikethestatue]

Hi! I saw the former gw*nriel confession and I always thought I was the only one and it felt like a bad thing. Last August a friend told me to read ACOSF alone. I am not really a big fan of a long series and prefer stand alone and my friend said that ACOSF can be a stand alone. So I did picked it. And honestly, I don't feel any connection to the characters but I still didn't like the whole Inner Circle, the sisters, but Elain and Az's interaction, no matter how few, made me think there's something between them especially the "charged glance". Look, I like Gwyn and I don't feel a thing towards Elain during ACOSF so Elriel interaction kinda made me doubt Gw*nriel because honestly, Elriel is more heavily hinted tho I wouldn't deny Gwyn and Az's moment. I was then told to read the bonus chapter because it only "confirmed" Gw*nriel more but it made me doubt the ship further but I believed in the secondhand necklace. I believed they were mates. I actually led myself to believe they will have the next book and hated Elriel due to the brewing ship war.

But thankfully I was led to light. I began Acotar, acomaf, acowar last September and just finished ACOFAS last week. Hahaha yey for me I guess because I now love Feysand, Elriel, and Cassian. I finally understood where Elriels are getting their quotes and why everyone hold importance to canon scene because lies and headcanons are given more value in this fandom and I think that's what divides and creates this messy and toxic shipwar in the fandom. Gw*nriel will now always be a crackship for me and there's nothing wrong for crackships. But I am officially an Elriel who are just waiting for their book.

PS: I didn't know Elain actually did alot of things in the series, I'm so sorry to other Elriels since I also thought she was just there in the background doing nothing. How Cassian, Rhysand, Amren and Az saw Elain made me happy. Because they are all right. I'm sorry this is long.

This is actually a very interesting and I think important thing to understand--I think so much frustration on part of Elriels, and the essence of this shipwar lies in that Elriels have been with these characters for 4 books. 5 now. Whereas from what we've noticed, many Gwynriels read only ACOSF, if that.

And all the canon-based arguments and 'evidence' usually went over people's heads, because they couldn't connect the dots, since they didn't have any reference points for previous books.

So I can quote 20 pages worth of stuff regarding Elriel, but if you haven't read any of the previous books, can't understand the setup, how everything unfolded, then it would just be noise to you.

And I think that's why ultimately, the arguments make no real sense--we are talking about apples, and Gwynriels are talking about matches. There is no common ground because so many don't know anything beyond ACOSF, don't understand the IC, don't know who and what Elain is and what she did, and how everything connects.

So they start placing unbelievable importance on gwyn and stating that Azriel is getting a book. But if you look at the entire landscape of these books, you'd understand that none of it makes sense, and that the only natural progression is through Elain, because she is literally connected to EVERY part of these books. Every scene. Every person. From Koschei, to Lucien, to Vassa, to Beron, to every person in the IC, to the Cauldron--Elain is entwined with all of them. By comparison, Gwyn is entwined with no one except for Nesta. She might be a lighsinger and a secondary character in Nesta's book.

I'm glad you got to read all the books, Anon. It definitely is a series, and needs to be looked at holistically.

[glapplebloom]

Yep, this is a thing for some reason.

Mordetwi, as said on Know Your Meme, is the portmanteau name given to a crossover ship between the characters Mordecai from Regular Show and Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The couple was first shipped in 2011 from a fanfiction called Earthworm Zim. Honestly, I thought it was because of the Artwork with Airplanes.

Now I have my fair share of Crackships (if you’re reading this article, you probably have seen my comics), but the question is “could Twilight and Mordecai work as a couple”. In theory, any relationship could happen. And the idea of a slacker pairing off with a hard worker is a common trope. But could Moedetwi work? Let’s analyze.

Twilight has two potential canon love interests, and they’re both Flash Sentry. One is a pony that she is physically attractive to, but nothing ever comes up beyond that. The other is a boy she was obviously crushing on. Despite looking like a rocker, he is kind of a dork when trying to impress ladies. So that sounds like Mordecai, at least in the early seasons.

When we see Mordecai with Margaret, he’s also dorkish when trying to impress her. But then we get to CJ, who he is MUCH better when doing date things. So if this were to happen, Mordecai would definitely be smoother than he was with Margaret. And speaking of Margaret and CJ, let’s compare them to how Twilight is.

While Margaret is down to earth at times, she is definitely a career woman. She broke up with Mordecai when she had to go to college and still have that job by the end of the series. So you could say that is similar to Twilight considering she’s so focused on her studies and her title as Princess. CJ, who I honestly prefer, is pretty close to Mordecai as she’s just as laid back as he is. But considering how that ended, that could have been the problem.

Mordecai’s break up with CJ was just horrible. He did it in front of his friend’s wedding and still didn’t end up with Margaret. There’s also the Bat Lady he ends up with in the series finale, but we don’t know much about her to really give an understanding of what she is like. But it does show that Mordecai won’t make a butt of himself again like with CJ.

If Mordecai got anything going for him, it's that each time he’s in a relationship he improves. His dates with Margaret usually had problems. CJ’s were smoother, but the unresolved Margaret issues was the big reason it sank. But with those cleared up, any future relationship should be even better than with CJ. And the Bat Lady proves it.

Back with Twilight, if we compare Flash Sentry to Mordecai, we know they could be dorky and awkward around their love interest. But Flash is also nice. Mordecai is nice as well, but we’ve seen his fits of anger from time to time, even towards Rigby. Granted, Rigby did deserve it at certain times but Twilight may not like that. When she was as angry or did something similar, she would regret it.

We see this with Pinkie Pie. Whenever she gets so angry, she eventually feels bad about it. And in a short amount of time. Meanwhile, Mordecai could be mad for a long time in comparison. She may not like the teasing he does to Rigby. Though I don’t think he does it as much since Rigby proves to be the better person when it comes to relationships. Now the question remains: how well can they handle each other’s extreme natures.

Honestly, I think they can handle each others’ problems fine. Twilight sometimes deals with Monsters, which Mordecai has dealt with before. And Twilight’s over analytical nature could be a help with some of their wacky adventures. See Eileen. So that leaves one question: would Twilight be interested in a slacker? I don’t think she was, but Mordecai isn’t really much of a slacker.

Sure, he does slack off at times and usually at the worst times, but he does try to be a good worker at times. Sometimes it's Rigby’s fault he strays from that. Sometimes it's his own doing. But he tries at least. And he wasn’t as bad as Zephyr was in that one episode. Like Breeze, Mordecai does get better at working to the point he’s a big time artist in the finale.

So could Mordecai and Twilight Sparkle work as a ship? Maybe. Mordecai does get better every new relationship and his issues with Margaret are done. And Twilight does have a thing for Dorks and with a passion for the arts (granted musical over pictures). If someone has an idea for them it could in theory work. But is this enough for me to ship them? Honestly, not really.

I don’t see Twilight dating anyone really. Like she’s all business. Meanwhile Mordecai definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth after that CJ Break Up incident. And it's not that hard for me to like a ship. Someone told me about a Mina the Mongoose and Manic the Hedgehog ship and I instantly liked the idea because it reminds me of the song Skater Boi. And Mina did leave a bad taste in my mouth after the Nicole incident.

(By DarkSonic250)

Like Mordecai, she did get better at least at the end, but still that incident really makes it hard for me to support them. And yet I like the Mina/Manic ship for one simple reason. Mordetwi doesn’t have that simplicity. If you legit ship them, good for you. But I don’t think I would ever join that boat even for the meme.

[bookofmirth]

So, ever since I finished TOG for the first time last summer, I wanted to get copies of TOG and COM to keep for myself by way of used books. Well, I finally found one. It was the only SJM book there. The bookseller said that a lot of people have asked if he had anything from her, and realized she must be very popular. Then, later, I walked into B&N and my mom (who's helping me search) and I were bombarded by tables containing all three series. I feel bad for saying this, but it's getting annoying how big she's getting. I don't remember her being this big when I first got into ACOTAR 5 years ago (which I decided to read after going through Tumble). Thus, even though I'm not an OG, I still feel rather weird with people now gushing about it. I'm not sure if it's because I'd begun recently browsing the anti-SJM tags, because those guys do have a point, I have to admit. At any rate, it's only going to get worse when the show comes out, if it ever does.

On the one hand, it's great for her that she's getting even more and more successful. For her, it's amazing that people continue to discover the series and enjoy it!

On the other hand, it's annoying as hell for the fandom.

Fandoms are a very specific little ecosystem that have their own rules and etiquette and ways of communicating, and we keep getting people here who don't understand how it works. See: people misusing the term "crackship", people not understanding that fandom is not necessarily about canon, people not understanding how to just stay in their damn lane and block tags, people not understanding how inherently queer fandom spaces are/have been in the past.

Usually, people figure it out and they stick around or they move on to something else. It's normal for people to join/leave the fandom, it's a normal ebb and flow. But now?

I like that we get more creators, more fan art, more writers, more memes, etc. But given the state of the acotar fandom right now, that comes along with loads of new antagonists and instigators, and combined with the fact that these people don't understand how fandom works... grandpa I'm tired. And it's not even just the acotar fandom! See: the whole mess with the ToG fairyloot special editions in April or whenever that happened.

Anyway, tl;dr I agree with you. I don't want to be gatekeepy, but also I do.

[saficswrites]

what about panne x olivia??

Thank you so much for the ask! This is actually my first one so I got really excited, I couldn’t tell whether you were asking my opinions on Olivia x Panne or requesting some type of Olivia x Panne content so I did both. 

Also sorry for the delay and this being mostly unedited, it’s been a rough couple of days and my proofreader is sick.

I love Olivia and Panne a lot both as characters and together, the biggest thing that really set off my Panne Sully crackship was finding their Summer Scramble conversations absolutely adorable, but I also find Olivia and Panne’s supports absolutely adorable so… Panne has two hands?

I head-canon Olivia as an uber top once she’s actually in the bedroom and gets more used to her partners so I can already see some shenanigans in my head of her winning against the very outwardly tops that are Sully and Panne.

—————————

The contrast between Panne’s chiseled abs and the thin layer of downy fur covering her entire body set the nerves in Olivia’s delicate fingers alight. It was a small thing, that contrast between unyielding muscle built through years of surviving the wilds and the soft inviting warmth of her coat and the smooth skin underneath, but it was part of Panne. Something wholly unique to Panne.

There was no one else quite like her, at least not yet.

Olivia lightly hummed to herself as she stroked Panne’s sensitive ears, even in her sleep the Taguel shuddered under the dancer’s practiced touch.

Moments like these were truly beautiful to Olivia. For so long Panne had never been able to sleep deeply, always ready to shoot awake on a hairs trigger. She had never felt safe enough to put her trust in others and stop looking over her shoulder to finally get some much needed rest… that trust belonged to Olivia.

And she would never let it break again.

—————————

I’m totally fine writing longer more edited stuff in response to more specific asks, I kept this short cause it was so open ended I kinda had no idea what to write without stepping on the toes of my Panne work in progress, but I really hope you enjoy how it came out regardless!

[brainrot-yumm]

I am so fucking tainted because my splat-bestie finally got me to watch a Dark Revival letsplay (we’re doing a crackship fic with the Ink Demon and this is like Her Thing)

and the first thing I thought when I heard the Ink Demon’s voice was “ew gross that’s not his voice that’s a dumb canon voice”

and the second thing I thought was “ohhhh my god no wait that’s so hot?????” And then anytime he said anything after that I blushed and barely contained the urge to punch something

[pastelpaperplanes]

You mostly draw Megatron with Crusade in his Cybertronian look but in your canons it was said that while carrying the spark Megs wore his Marauder look. Did Megatron changed bodies or is the Canon changed?

yes! haha so hmm let’s see. So far up until A Little Too Familiar I have tossed Crusade into my Crackship AU—because with the Cybertron’s future AU with a whole lot of my other sparklings, ones that have considered backstories, they wouldn’t exist because of Shamus and Envoy!—and yes in the Crack AU, Megan does sport his Marauder Upgrade.

I’m still 1000% open to keeping Crusade as like,,a cameo for the Crack AU but I will say I’m getting far too attached to their character to better NOT explore them more in a more intricate backstory kind of sense! Many of the asks I’ve answered previously about Crusade’s personality and future are still canon—with the exemption that Crusade has a far more present/loving relationship with their Carrier, who as a literal helicopter parent is near suffocating in his protectiveness and efforts to keep his sparkling away from the hands and influence of the Autobots, even if that means locking them away on the Nemesis far too much to be healthy, and lying straight to their face, and others, about their origins.

Since the TFN 2021 S4 kickoff script reading I’ve been leaning towards guess what—a whole other AU that continues RIGHT after that point, much like where the CF AU would—only certain rescission within the timeline have been changed leading to, in some relationships, a vastly different setting for a next generation! (No, I don’t think I’d create a whole ton of other sparklings in place, for example a planned Strika/Lugnut kiddo wouldn’t happen for obvious reasons, nor would Shmaus or Envoy exist!! Who would remain, THAT I will figure out later down the line.) So Megatron is not in his Marauder form, Optimus is named Magnus, Jazz is with team Prime/Ninja Corps, Sentinel is still a dick figures, Prowl is still dead and so forth.

What I have planned is sort of like where the Deceptions sport a retreat after their bust on Earth when attempting to take over the central line of techno organic energon. The Cons faced losses, high command was scrambled and still very much injured from their cruel, and unusual keeping within Trypticon, heavy sacrifices turned out to NOT reap greater rewards, and the troops are still starving—and starving, scared mecha are far more dangerous than angry ones.

Optimus is still coming to terms that he is due to lead Cybertron, under the title of Optimus Magnus as soon as he’s back, whether he likes it or not as the front lines are still very much on edge with the evermore increasingly violent rouge Con raids.

I made some commentary on the reading as a whole which was PHENOMENAL and I’m still riding the high that is the fanTASTIC work that was put into is, like god. There was a brief but hilarious moment from Rattletrap where he attempted to sell off a crudely photoshopped Megop photograph as dirt—a part of me thought it would be even MORE hilarious if said photo was actually, used and Op was left sputtering after a double take going like how did they find that. HOW.

My poor, poor fanfic loving heart got going on of course the What if the Enemies Were Fraternizing Throughout the Whole of The Show, Morals be Damned in Those Stolen Moments Because I Like YOU For Some Reason trope. Wow is me, be still my beating HEART. It did not stop—so I made another AU :D yayyyyy

Basically the creation of Crusade follows along in this timeline in that sense. They were a product of one too many lonely nights in some far off abandoned cave that never could quite seem to end with a civil conversation, let alone spark apprehension from the other when it came to going toe to toe of the battlefield for the sake of their Causes. A Comfort without Strings relationship, even if they did come to grow fond of each other, not that they’d ever admit it—a confession, in a sense, would only hurt both parties knowing that the two would never give up their motivations in the ‘impossible ‘case that said feelings were mutual.

From the looks of it, the Autobots did not once tend to the Deceptions during their stay at Trypticon. Megs still sported bare struts and tattered armor up to his escape—it would be believable that medics never once ran scans, let alone were ordered to get anywhere near the high command. With already being in such poor shape, battered, humiliated, starved, violated (those minicons?? homage to Trepan??? yikessssss) and sedated—it would be believable that Megatron wouldn’t pay notice to a small flutter in his spark amongst all the pain and anxiety, at least until he finally could gather his bearings under the lockdown of his temporary fortress stuck on Earth.

Megatron, knowing he was alone, now extremely vulnerable, heavily outnumbered and out favored by his remaining struggling troops, called upon his definitely not most favorite sub team to cower behind—the DJD, to meet his blaring distress beacon.

Tarn and his crew, with the help of the rest of high command’s signal dampeners, are able to as covertly as possible—minus the world sweeper size of the Peaceful Tyranny and the paralyzing droning on of the Empyrean Suite that Tarn just loves so dearly—made it off planet save for a few bumps and bruises from the small force of Team Prime. The High & Mighty Megatron was no where to be seen in the action. Probably off in a hurry to lick his wounds in retreat after getting his ass handed to him, many assumed, but Nickel knew better. Tarn knew better. Something was terribly wrong in order to resort to a ‘cowardly’ extraction and evasion mission.

You can see where I’m going w this—so anyways YES that is the general gist of where this AU kicks off!!! Megs and Op, particularly Megs, got unlucky on their last night together—eventually all leading to the introduction of the previously secretive back up weapon that was the DJD. Coming to the rescue of their Fearless, All Powerful, and Resilient Leader?? A strange, but instantly understandable measure to resort to once Megatron reveals himself as a carrying mech, the beholder of a true heir and a testament to the resilience that is the Deceptions though the terrible reign the Autobots have held against them through the eons.

I’ll go into why he keeps Crusade on a tight leash and Op out of the loop entirely for as long as he possibly could—and how the rest of Megaton’s troops behaved around this clearly, half blooded Con sparkling their leader doted on— later!

Needless to say, Crusade’s reputation from the moment they were born was tottering on a fine line between that of pitiable condolences for their leader, and that of true Decepticon pride knowing that the one to lead them to glory some day is none other than one of the Autobots’ very own descendants.

Hope that kinda better explains things! I like Meg’s Cybertronian design, it’s sleek, it’s sexy, it’s easier to draw, and since S4 gave us a fresher design to admire of Optimus, why not have the same for his other half!

YEAHH. so new AU :D AYOOOO I’ll tag this timeline/future mentionings of Crusade and their journey as Cybertron’s Legacy AU

extremely stupid doodle under the cut! I can’t get over the duality of Old Written vs New Written Crusade ahhh 💀💀

I found a horrifically perfect tik tok audio for these two oml

Swapping Megatron stories!

[thesebookishdelights]

ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS: Simon Snow trilogy wrapped! (review)

Hi, there! It took me a while to finish this post, as I could talk about it for... a long time (not necessarily a good thing), but I got it! I like praise, so if anyone wants to tell me I did a good job... Also, I might edit this post later on. I don’t remember anything else I’d like to add, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I did after posting. My brain does not obey me. Anyways, off to it! By the way, I won’t give this book a real rating.

While this is a review on Any Way the Wind Blows, I intend on analysing some points of the overall series too. The book starts where Wayward Son left off, the end of the road trip, Simon and Baz having problems in their relationship, Penelope helping Shepard with his curse... and the whole situation of the NowNext vampires. Rainbow Rowell only seems to remember the first part. That leaves us with the second book of the series ignored almost completely, with the exception of Simon and Baz’s feelings as well as Shepard’s existence.

Don’t get me wrong, aspects of the book are mentioned, but never in a truly important way. Lamb, the Vampire King, is mentioned by Simon, but only focusing on his and Baz’s relationship, never about the fact that there are a bunch of vampires (supposedly ‘evil’) in the U.S. but I guess what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? I could count on one hand the times the NowNext vampires were mentioned (like, literally, this isn’t an exaggeration, I looked up ‘NowNext’ on the e-book and only got five results), all of them either being one of them considering telling someone else about it, then not following through with it, or dismissing it as a concern for Lamb. Which makes the plot of Wayward Son completely useless for the trilogy. Now, that wouldn’t matter as much if everything else had been properly developed, but we definitely can’t say that.

We are introduced to a brand new, poorly developed villain, Smith-Smith Richards, whose character arc is as ridiculous as his name. He’s one of the fake Chosen Ones that started appearing after the events of Carry On (and the only one to be mentioned and/or defeated, for that matter). It becomes clear that presenting as Simon Snow-ish is part of his brand, especially when Baz describes him as looking like the Netflix adaptation version of Simon, and that he was raised and guided by his uncle, who’s just... there. I don’t think it would’ve been hard to make him manipulating Smith-Smith into believing he’s the prophetic savior of the Magickal World, which would not only make both of their characters more interesting, but it could also serve as a parallel of Simon’s relationship with the Mage. Richards also has some special powers such as increasing a mage’s magic for a limited amount of time, but taking it away afterwards, as well as making someone immune from spells. It’s worth saying those aren’t skills that are usual in the Magickal World, or else there wouldn’t be so much confusion and shock from people (specially Baz and Penny, who would definitely have heard of something like this before), but we get no explanation on why or how Richard has them.

Then, we have the Salisbury’s. We, as readers, already know Lucy and Davy are Simon’s parents, making Ruth his grandmother. It’s noticeable that Rowell builds up to that discovery, by making Simon get along with Ruth instantly, him thinking about Lucy a lot etc. It makes us excited to read the part where they actually figure it out, to know how Simon would deal with that, him dealing with the fact that he’s the Mage’s son and the fact that, technically, he killed his father. I suppose that’s the point, but actually getting to that part was incredibly underwhelming. The way they discovered about Simon—being able to lift a family sword—hadn’t been mentioned or hinted at before. One would’ve expected Simon, who’s particularly interested in swords as it’s mentioned many times throughout the series, to notice a freaking Excalibur at the Salisbury’s place before. 

And speaking of noticing things: when it’s finally revealed that Simon is Lucy’s son and the Mage’s heir, Baz pointed out the uncanny similarities between his boyfriend and the deceased Watford principal. “Those narrow eyes. That tilt of his head. I thought... I thought he’d learned it. Was imitating it.” + “Merlin, Simon, you even look like him.”  (Any Way the Wind Blows, chapter 86) Simon was the Mage’s protégé for years and I assume the Magickal authorities knew that he was the one to inherit all of his money and personal belongings, but no one, in the whole British Magickal community, thought about them being related? I refuse to believe there were no conspiracy theorist teachers at Watford or that Mitali or even the Pitch’s alongside everyone who was against the Mage didn’t at least check to know if there was something behind those characteristics. Baz literally said (chapter 88), “I think it’s undeniable. I’d cast ‘Flesh and blood’ on them, but it would bounce right off of Snow (...)”, so there is a spell for that. Plus, we didn’t even have one whole chapter of Simon dealing with this information! The chapters (no more than five, out of ninety-one) were divided between Simon, Baz and Lady Ruth’s POVs. He’s the main character, so one would think he’d get more development.

Another point that felt rushed was the romance. While Simon and Baz’s relationship wasn’t, as it’s been a topic Rowell has explored for three books (we’re not counting Fangirl here, as their ‘participation’ on it was minor and their personalities weren’t as consistent as in the trilogy. Not that it is that consistent there), the others just felt like she wanted everyone to finish the trilogy with a pair. I’ll start with Shepard and Penny. There were fans who liked them together before Any Way the Wind Blows, but it wasn’t hinted at—it was more like a fandom thing. I personally like them as a couple, but it could have had development and, maybe, foreshadowing in Wayward Son. I mean, they did fight monsters during a huge part of a road trip together.

The next one I’ll talk about is Agatha and Niamh. I love them, don’t get me wrong. Actually, it’s precisely because I love them that I wish they’d gotten a better treatment. Niamh wasn’t introduced before Any Way the Wind Blows. I get why she wasn’t introduced in Carry On—it was interesting to see a character who wasn’t caught up in Simon and Baz’s drama during the school years—but a hint of her existence could’ve been left in Wayward Son. Agatha is an important character on it, and a mention of her father training an aspiring veterinary could’ve fit somewhere, as a hint, maybe. (Also, Lucy, the dog, being absolutely forgotten during this book when a lot of Agatha’s time is spent in a veterinary clinic...) Besides, we could get the vibes from them, but after they kissed, there was barely any content. We didn’t get them calling each other ‘girlfriend’ (or if they even like that label at this point), or the aftermath of the kiss, or a POV from Niamh. Or Niamh appearing the epilogue? If Agatha was taking care of the goats, I’m sure Niamh would have a part in that too. Still on Agatha’s character, but not on Niamh’s, it felt like Rainbow Rowell was setting up for aromantic and asexual Agatha, specially because of this quote: “It was like she'd pulled the feeling right out of my heart. I could have kissed her. (I still wish sometimes that I wanted to.) (That would feel like an answer to... the question of me. Then I could say, 'Oh, thats who I am. That's why I've been so confused.')” (Wayward Son, chapter 4).

And I was leaving the best (I need to be sure everyone knows I mean this sarcastically) of the romance topic for the end: Fiona and Nicodemus. It’s just... so forced and undeveloped. Not even because, to me, they’re both gay as hell. There was just... such a lack of development! I don’t think we had any interaction between the both of them before Any Way the Wind Blows. There was no foreshadowing or why would Fiona, a vampire hunter from a family of vampire hunters, would marry... a vampire! I’d already find it weird to see fanfiction of them as a crackship, but it’s canon?! Like, canon as in they’re going to get married and use Fiona and Natasha’s mother’s ring? Seriously, nothing will take from me that this is a lavender marriage (as I’ve already discussed with my best friend, which inspired this post of theirs.)

I’d also like to speak about a topic that’d been hinted throughout the series, especially post-Carry On, which is the criticism towards the Magickal Community in the U.K.. That criticism is very much embodied in Shepard’s character. It’s explicitly said that the British mages have some kind of supremacy towards other supernatural beings, such as vampires for example, gatekeeping literal magic. Up until relatively recently, mages with weak links with magic couldn’t attend Watford (and that’s a major plot point in the final book) and there’s a denial towards any other kind of magic except the ones that are part of their craft. Even within the Magickal community itself, there are more important families that are more likely to succeed, like Natasha receiving criticism for marrying Malcolm, as a Pitch. It felt pointless not to tackle the issues you’ve set up yourself in your own universe. Penelope has very strict morals related to magickal law and beliefs, something that she could’ve deconstructed, especially considering Shepard, her love interest, symbolises that. Another point related to that is, the trilogy is very clearly heavily inspired by Harry Potter, where many of those points are very clear (e.g. wizard supremacy in relation to other species, such as werewolves and domestic elves and the status quo that makes some traditionally magical families more influential than others, like the Malfoy’s vs. the Weasley’s), so it’s not an easily forgettable concept.

The series also had a lot of inconsistencies. The one I’ve seen talked about more often is Simon and Agatha’s... intimacy status, let’s call it that. Simon’s whole thing in the first book was that he struggled controlling his magic when experiencing intense emotions, which makes it hard to believe that he managed to have sex withount an... accident. Besides that, though, there’s this quote, “She (...) presses a kiss into my temple. No one has ever kissed me there. No one has ever kissed me anywhere but on my mouth” (Carry On, Chapter 27), but in Any Way the Wind Blows, when Simon’s about to have his wings cut, Agatha says, “It’s a strange feeling to look at someone’s chest and know it’s nothing to do with you anymore, but still to remember kissing every inch.” (Chapter 14)

So, we have established that Rainbow Rowell’s work, both character and plot driven, is flawed. “But we got the characters interacting for the closure of the series, at least!” Well... we got interactions between the canon romantic relationships, yeah. But besides that, we didn’t get much. There were no interactions between Agatha and Penny, or Shepard with Simon and Baz. Or Penny and her mother figuring stuff out. Or literally anyone with a therapist. And not gonna lie, the interaction we got between Baz and Dev was underwhelming, to say the least. Niall is nowhere to be seen, too.

Rainbow Rowell’s writing is beautiful: she writes poetic lines that make the book seem perfect at first glance, if you don’t think about it for too long. Her words are very shiny, but once you get use to that light and see what’s behind them, what’s between one shiny quote and another, it has so many flaws and plot holes that it reads like a first draft. There are many concepts in there that are genuinely good: the rest of the trilogy focused on the protagonist dealing with the trauma of being a child soldier instead of being entirely an adventure, Simon being unlabelled, a fake Chosen One that gives mages fake hope... Those are all good ideas, but so poorly explored that, despite being an entire book/trilogy, it still feels like a writing pitch or something among those lines.

I felt iffy about other things during my reading of the series, but they aren’t exactly plot points, so I’ll just list them below:

Mitali, Penny’s mom, including ‘discovering your bisexuality’ as a mid-life crisis thing 

As I’ve seen people talking about biphobia/bi erasure in the books, I’ll be including this post that features both unlabelled and bisexual individuals talking about the topic (it isn’t my place, as a lesbian, to talk about this, that’s why I decided not to do so.)

Romanticising of Baz’s suicide (a.k.a. chapter 61) in the first book. If you’re not in a good place mentally, like I was when I first read Carry On, I hope you know that a kiss or romance doesn’t help any mental illness you or others might have. Don’t let anyone use your guilt to manipulate you. Paraphrasing Alice Oseman in their graphic novel Heartstopper, love can’t cure a mental illness.

Any Way the Wind Blows was... very horny. I can’t point out how this makes the book bad exactly, but it wasn’t something I enjoyed. One of Rainbow Rowell’s strongest skills is that her quotes, when loose, are good. They tend to be poetic and just beautiful, overall. But in the... explicit scenes, these skills were barely used, and I felt like I was reading NSFW tweets off of someone’s private account on Twitter. Besides, the first two books of the series weren’t written like that, so the change was very sudden.

The older people could’ve been more explored. Penelope and Mitali’s relationship and how similar the both of them are compared to each other, Daphne and Professor Bunce’s insecurities and why they believed in Smith-Smith, Fiona, Nico, and Ebb... Also, the Mage and Lucy. We could’ve had more on them, y’know. 

The pop culture references. They made the book read even more like Twitter’s feed. Honestly, if I wanted to read prompts and nice ship content alongside memes from Twitter with some horny thoughts sprinkled all around, I would’ve opened the Twitter app. Or Tumblr, Instagram, whatever.

The POV switching felt lazy to me at times. It’s nice to know how different characters are experiencing that situation, yes, but sometimes, like during the discovery that Simon is a Salisbury, it read as if Rowell wanted to create tension, but couldn’t think of any other way to do it except the switching around.

Narrative wise, I think Simon and Baz should’ve spent more time broken up. 

[butterflies-dragons]

Canon or not, i'll sink with this ship

So I’m new to this whole shipping guessing. I’m used to reading stories with obvious end pairings. So this is the first fandom I’ve been in where i thought i knew the end game j/a then i read a meta about jonsa and it got me questioning my whole life. I was fine if jonsa was not canon because it wasn’t the first time I’ve ship non canon characters and I was ready to sink with the ship and sail it on fanfics instead. But now after reading every meta of them i could find, I want to believe they’d be canon but then there’s also so many hints of j/a in the books that tie them nicely as well even if i dont ship them i can understand it.

Like A’s connection to sam(bread giving in bravo), J ane A were both beat and both refused to cry/cry out. A talking about flying away and starting her own pack, J being a trag and wanting to find a place to belong. Plus the more obvious ones like “I want my bride back” “stick them with the pointy end”. And the fact that sansa is not part of the main 5, Grrm saying if a 12 year old needs to be the one to something then so be it (dont remember the exact words but he was talking about A) J being called half wolf half widling, A being called half boy half wolfpup and so many forshadowing or red herrings (idek anymore) of j/a. And finally GRRM saying he always KNEW how is main 5 would end in broad strokes and his original outline having them be end game. 

But jonsa just be hitting differrent. The idea of suppress feelings or even them developing a proper relationship when they meet again but not as siblings, they never really were. Jon actually surrounding himself with people that are similar to sansa ex. Lover of songs Sam, Gentle Satin being his closes friends. Their dreams of rebuilding winterfell, the ashford Tea, GRRM intentionally placing you know nothing between S and A like he KNOWS. HE FREAKING KNOWS. This is my first time not knowing the end pairings and wanting my potentially crack-canon shop to be validated. This is all so knew i dont know what to do. 

The one thing i can say for certainly is that if this is crack ship, i don’t care. They can have fun or their canon ground and I’ll just live it up in crack ship space. Sorry for the confused rant, its just your metas make me so hopeful that they would be together in the end but my heart is cautious. 

* * *

Hello Jonsa passenger, 

It’s OK if you enjoy a ship, even if it is “non canon” or even if you consider it a “crack ship.”

Since the Books aren’t finished, I think the only canon ships are Ned/Cat, Cersei/Jaime, Dany/Drogo, Dany/Daario, Sam/Gilly and Jon/Ygritte; and even Robb/Jeyne, Tyrion/Shae, Petyr/Lysa, Tywin/Joanna, Rhaegar/Lyanna, and a few more.    There are other ships that are non canon, but with a chance to become canon if all the speculations and theories come true at the end.  And there are the real crackships.  The ships you mentioned, J/A and J/S are both non canon, but they aren’t crackships.  Since you used to ship or at least accept J/A as the eventual/future “canon”, I see that you have internalized some made up facts elaborated by those shippers, and since you shared those with me, I supposed you would like my opinion about them, or not? But I will tell you anyway:

Like A’s connection to sam (bread giving in bravo), 

Sam met Cat of the Canals, a girl whose father was the oarmaster on a ship called Nymeria, not Arya Stark. And there was not connection between them, they didn’t bond, she didn’t ask about Jon. She saved Sam from two bad men, let him eat some clams and told him where Daeron was.   

J and A were both beat and both refused to cry/cry out. 

Is this supposed to be romantic foreshadowing? And let me tell you that other Stark kids have similar passages. 

A talking about flying away and starting her own pack, 

Again, other Stark kids have similar passages. 

J being a trag and wanting to find a place to belong. 

Once again, this is a common theme among all the Stark kids. 

Plus the more obvious ones like “I want my bride back” 

Between Jon knowing about Ramsay’s wedding with A (Jon VI) and the Pink Letter (Jon XIII) there are eight chapters and certain time period. Jon didn’t leave everything behind to go and prevent the wedding and rescue A instantly after knowing about the wedding. It was the Pink Letter, that happened when A was already a married woman, what triggered him, that letter meant the possibility that A got to ran away from Ramsay, then Jon had a bigger chance to rescue her.  

“stick them with the pointy end”. 

Thinking about certain blade when he was being stabbed multiple times…. Is this suppose to be romantic foreshadowing? Actually, Jon’s last thought was about Ghost, he said the name of his direwolf, like Robb did with Grey Wind while dying, like Ned did before killing Lady; but if you want to believe it was about the owner of certain blade, let’s remember that that blade was named because of Jon’s ladylike half sister.  

And the fact that sansa is not part of the main 5, 

Is this supposed to be romantic foreshadowing?

This is not a fact. This is a lie. GRRM only mentioned the “key five” in the so called “original outline.” But did you know that there are at least 2 “original outlines”? So far, I counted 3 of them.

Despite that document, GRRM has constantly and explicitly counted Sansa among the major/protagonist/core characters of the series.  

Grrm saying if a 12 year old needs to be the one to something then so be it (dont remember the exact words but he was talking about A) 

Is this supposed to be romantic foreshadowing?

According to a fan report, GRRM said this while talking about the abandoned 5 years gap. 

Q: 5-year gap?

A: It worked for characters like Arya and Dany but not so much for the adults or those who had a lot of action coming. He was writing chapters where Jon thought, “Well, not a lot has happened these past five years, it’s been kinda nice.” And Cersei chapters where she thought, “Well, I’ve had to kill sooo many people the last five years.” So he ended up dropping it. He said he would have done it sooner if he hadn’t told so many fans about it. And there is no gap anymore. “If a twelve-year old has to conquer the world, then so be it.” [Source]

As you can see, GRRM wasn’t talking about Arya in particular, he was talking about the kids of the series. I particularly suspect that he was talking about Bran Stark when he mentioned a 12 years old conquering the world. Or maybe he was really talking about Arya, discovering new worlds during her endless sea voyages???  

J being called half wolf half widling, A being called half boy half wolfpup 

One more time, this was said about all the Stark kids, since all of them are wargs/skinchangers. 

and so many forshadowing or red herrings (idek anymore) of j/a. 

Yeah, most of the supposed/assumed foreshadowing, are in fact, red herrings. 

And finally GRRM saying he always KNEW how is main 5 would end in broad strokes and his original outline having them be end game. 

Is this supposed to be romantic foreshadowing?

You know what, it’s funny that you mention this quote because in that same quote GRRM mentioned his major characters, and Sansa is among them:

He went straight from talking about the references in the actual books, to the “differences” in the outline from then to now. He did say that he still knows who sits the iron throne and the end game of the main 5, but also included Sansa, but did not give any details (for obvious reasons).

(…)

[question if he is still going with the 1991 ending]

“Yes, I mean, I did partly joke when I said I don’t know where I was going. I know the broad strokes, and I’ve known the broad strokes since 1991. I know who’s going to be on the Iron Throne. I know who’s gonna win some of the battles, I know the major characters, who’s gonna die and how they’re gonna die, and who’s gonna get married and all that. The major characters. Of course along the way I made up a lot of minor characters, you know, I, uhm…Did I know in 1991 how Bronn, what was gonna happen to Bronn? No, I didn’t even know there’d be a guy named Bronn. I was inventing him along the way when I was writing, ‘Okay, he gets kidnapped. Let’s see, there are a couple sellswords there, their names are Fred and Bronn’.

“It was actually Bronn and Chiggen, and then one of them dies, I flipped a coin ‘okay, who dies? Chiggen dies, cause his name is stupid. Bronn is a better name, so I’ll keep Bronn’. And then Bronn became quite an interesting character and plenty of these characters take on minds of their own. They push to the front till you [?] speech and you think of a cool line and you give it to Bronn because he’s trying to talk, and now Bronn is somebody who says something cool. [?]. That’s how characters grow on you.

“So a lot of the minor characters I’m still discovering along the way. But the mains-”

[question if he knows Arya’s and Jon’s fates]

“Tyrion, Arya, Jon, Sansa, you know, all of the Stark kids, and the major Lannisters, yeah.”

—Balticon Report 2016 [Source 1] [Source 2] [Source 3]

I hope this helps you. 

Thanks for your submission.

[nagirambles]

what's your favourite ships in the show?

I don't passionately ship anything in the show, honestly.

I guess you can take it as 'I'll ship anything if you convince me it's cute', but most of the time, especially for the Big 4 because it's Mashima's job to convince me of that, I already have impressions that probably won't change.

Gajevy's 'the rough one is soft for the cute one' bond, but I never saw it immediately romantic. The 'big scary guy's always got a loli' trope or even 'cute little sister with overprotective big brother' uses this dynamic as well. I only saw it as Gajeel trying hard to make up for what he did, and he felt responsible to protect Levy. Yes, it's endearing, but is that apparently a declaration of love already? Darn, now I see why some people think Gajevy was forced. Anyways-- I can be incredibly passionate talking about these two, but do I go around seeking out fluff romantic fanfic about them? Nah, they're cute as a couple now, but shipping in general is just not my thing. I enjoy seeing it play out between the lines of the Fairy Tail manga, and cute fanart of them is always a joy-- but that's it, really.

Gruvia was very one-sided, so child me never understood it. In the same way Gray needed to break it to her, Juvia needed to take a hint-- or she was blatantly ignoring the obvious hint, which grates my gears, because speaking as an aroace, it's not cute. You're not going to get me if you lay jewels at my feet for long enough. They finally progressed after the timeskips though, and I like where they were trying to go with it. Using their battle with Silver as a crux, things are better in their dynamic now. It's getting somewhere.

Jerza was probably one I wanted to see most (of the clearly intended to be canonical ships, aka the Big 4,) because it was a slow journey of recovery between two people, and while it's weird they almost kissed on that beach, I believe it was done to tell the audience that right now, Jerza is going to take three steps back. They're not going to kiss, they're going to set this back and Jellal is going to find redemption first. It's called overcoming trauma and the miracle cure is not 'finding your true love'.

As for other ships in the show that I quite adore, high on that scale would probably be Gray and Loke. The anime tends to eradicate a lot of casual intimacy outside of Big 4 ship moments (which is why all the Nalu hugs are there untampered but somehow the Gray and Erza hug in the Phantom Lord Arc was the most awkward thing I've ever seen) so things like Gray being the only one worriedly looking at Loke and consistently asking him if things are fine because something's not right? I fully appreciate them, and I fully want to explore the partnership between them that we never see. Loke is rarely shown to have as significant a relationship with people in the guild other than Lucy, so this stands out.

I also kinda ship Chendy, RenxSherry, Bixloke, Canalucy, Nali, Gratsuza, and Thunder Legion trio. But once again, I'll ship even rarepairs or crackships if someone manages to convince me that their dynamic's interesting to explore.

I also ship Laxana for no reason other than the fics I've written and contributed to. They have near zero interactions in canon and yet, because I explored them interacting in childhood in the guild-- I've started to see them working in a rather endearing way. (I still spite the source material because Cana, my favourite character to write, is such a waste of potential in the main story.)

But once again-- I don't passionately ship anything. If I do write them or think of them, it is almost always intended to be platonic or an endeared character study, because romance in general is just not my thing. Yes, I can rave about ships, I can squeal about them when they have a wholesome interaction in fanfic, fanart, or the show itself-- but do I particularly seek out instances them kissing or dating or expressing their desire in a deep, meaningful speech? Do I try to interpret 'clearly' romantic motives into every impactful gesture each of them do for each other? Not at all. I feel this exact same way for the Big 4, maybe stronger.

Honestly, I watch Fairy Tail for the nakama power. That's genuinely all I really want to take away from it.

[wellavanilli]

WARNING contoversial!!!!!!!!!

about tomgreg queercoding

DNI if you are not sharing my pov

Thank you, I just want to rant a little, do not want to start a argument with anybody :-)

OKAY,,,,,I know,, aknowleged, even Aware that tomgreg is queercoding and not queerbaiting

BUT

IF TheY MAke Greg straight in next ep I WiLL BE TELLING PEople That IT Is a QueerBAiting!!! "its ok if greg is straight stupid tomgreg crackshippers get mad their crackship isnt canon🙄" bro???? YES???That's the Point? IF We wanT representation in media WE SHOULD GET MAD!!! STRAIGHT GREG? FUCK straight Greg!!! WE WAnt GAy Greg!

"This show about cis straight rich white people why we shou--" FUUUUCK YOOUUUU This is a transphobic, homophobic, classist and racist rhetoric at the same time! Why trans, queer, poor or POC exist in real life?? Fuck you.

We have Jess and Liza (POC), Tabitha (Bi), Willa (obv not the upper class) and Tom (upper middle class I think) and even that is sooo small!!!!! Remember when ppl got mad about crazy rich asians???? Our society can't even comprehend that... So what I am talking about... tomgreg is cis white --- so if we add homo it still remains positive for the general audience (2:1).... I do not care about how much do you love jessy armstrong I want him not to stop at this queerbating and finally add explicit homosexual relationship, not something that happens outside the screen or someone mentioning that they had same sex partner but show the homo to the audience.

Unlike real people fictional characters need to prove their queerness.

And if I hear from someone that we are not ready for that-go fuck yourself

[degenerate-perturbation]

Magnus Archives retrospective review

Found this review in my drafts that I wrote after just-evo-now reminded me that I had written a Magnus Archives finale & retrospective review and never posted it so here it is.

Season 5 sucked. It was 70% bad episodes, directly as a result of being filler. All the torture porn and lame whinging about ethics is Quite Clearly Filler.  Apparently Jonny wanted a short season that was half office romance and half brief apocalypse. I think this version of the season would have been awesome, and I can kind of see the shape of that story

But, I really liked the finale. It works really well as a conclusion to the overall story of the Magnus Archives. The vast majority of even stories I like do not really stick the landing, so this is a welcome change. Here are some of my assorted thoughts on it:

I like the fact that there was a real moral choice about what to do with the fears, and some acknowledgement of the associated epistemic uncertainty. I think Jon was right and the correct choice was for him to become the pupil of the eye, while containing the fears to that world. The other characters were clearly either being selfish (Melanie) or engaging in motivated reasoning (Martin) and the fact that Jon's guilt was distorting his own reasoning doesn't make him Wrong. However I would have liked way more time to be spent on this! This could have been several episodes worth of drama. For instance, the question of whether or not the fears ended up in the TMA reality in the same way they ultimately escaped it is important! And they just...didn’t spend nearly long enough thinking about it. They didn’t spend nearly enough time thinking about this at all.

I'm pretty sure we are Supposed to think that the choice to loose the fears on the other realities was wrong. Basira's final "good luck" was so chilling and a consistent theme of the show has been Systems and how they rope you in and make you part of them and get you to inflict horrors on others just to make sure you suffer a little less--and the only way out of such a system is to not participate, end the cycle, take the L and don't perpetuate it. Which Jon was 100% right about. So, downer ending for sure, but a hopeful ending would have felt inapt.

I liked Jon&Martin's final apocalyptic goodbye. Very mysterious very dramatic very romantic. I have no idea what was going on in that scene but I don't really care because it got the emotional point across, which means that the scene worked on the level it was supposed to work.

On the subject of Jon&Martin, I really liked the explicit acknowledgement that theirs is a relationship only possible through traumatic bonding, and that absent all the horrible stuff happening they just wouldn't be compatible. That might have been Martin being self-deprecating--but I dislike it when fans treat ships like "soulmates,” because man, love is contingent on so many things. All my favorite fictional relationships are really context-dependent, which is why I really vibe with rarepairs and “crackships,” because the basic writing challenge of something like that is to answer the question of “What would it take for these two people to love each other?”

So honestly a world where Martin crushes on Jon because he has Only Likes Unattainable Men disease and Jon never really warms up to him in their regular context and eventually Martin picks a different Unattainable Jerk Who Will Never Like Him Back to crush on...makes a lot of sense to me. And this of course makes their actual canonical relationship much more special, because it could easily have never happened.

So, like, bad final season notwithstanding, when I consider The Magnus Archives as a story overall, I feel it holds up. The worst thing about it is a far-too-stringent commitment to formal structure, which completely cripples the late seasons. A better version of this story would have ditched the statements, and condensed seasons 4 and 5 into one. It might also have had less plot and more pre-relationship Jon&Martin development in season 3 - such that it actually feels like something is being prematurely arrested when Jon goes into the coma at the end of season 3. Season 4 and especially 5 had a lot of mediocre episodes that absolutely tank the average episode quality of the podcast. But largely it stayed on-theme, had an emotionally resonant central relationship, nothing seriously undercut anything else. And given how many bad stories that disappoint and enrage me fail on this, I give credit for that! 

My final rating for this podcast is “worth your time,” but somebody should definitely make a listening-guide for the late seasons that tell you which ones can be safely skipped, like Naruto filler.