#rowan rants

[cursed-critters]

I adore Gale’s epilogue kiss

[rowanthestrange]

you like fountain pens? tell me about your favorite inks!

i'll tell you about mine in exchange :)

Okay, but I’m a fresh newbie to it all, having once again been autistic and gone ‘oooh tactile experiences with colours’, and made the mistake of touching something that has ensnared autistics for centuries.

I’ve got Diamine inks because they’re so cheap here with a good range.

Colour corrected as best as possible. Cerise is a brighter pinkier pink when it gets going, and Amber is yellow when you start but goes orange in the nib by the second time you pick it up, hence the unexpected Golden Sands purchase.

I like pangrams that feel fitting to the colours, which ended up with me having to make them up now lol - Celadon Cat and Golden Sands.

Pen wise…the community will probably hate me but there were these wooden pens that came with refillable cartridges and they were only five bucks. So that meant I could slowly acquire more and more for each ink, and colour them, and the wood feels nice in my hand cus i hate the feel of plastic it’s like school and-

(Washi tape on the glitter ones Blue Flame Shimmer (blue and gold glitter), and Golden Ivy Shimmer (you can guess) to mark them as separate. …And on Mondobbos Hat because apparently my eyes really struggle with the difference between their dark purple and Macassar brown in low light, and I keep making the mistake.)

When people didn’t know what to get me for a present this year, I just pointed them at the pens and… I have been enabled.

They’re not all perfect, there’s some variability in nib width - I’ve got one that needs squeezing before attempting to write (Golden Ivy one, but at least the glitter doesn’t clump) and one scratchy. But for the price, eh, that’s an alright percentage. Did need to seal the barrel metal with an all-purpose finish though, cus someone skimped on anti-oxidising costs, but I’m alright with that.

My main problem was finding notebooks that worked. Avocado And Spice have changed their branding and with it apparently their damn paper, so they were a bust. Surprisingly the very cheap Amazon Notebooks are perfectly good with no bleeding or real bleedthrough. But my favourite are these, because when I got it I went: *sigh*, okay let’s set up a test page at the back…and it already had one. Marked Test Page. Has a contents and numbered pages too, with great paper with no bleed or bleedthrough, and a nice feeling cover. Bargain.

At the moment it’s my chill-out hobby, or something to do when my heart starts acting up (god that makes me sound old). I’m currently writing out the first pages of my favourite books. It’s a cool exercise to try. Shows you how little consistency there is in grammar and punctuation choices, and how little they matter. As well as getting the creative juices flowing.

[inthedarkofficial]

"So what are you writing about currently?"

Well I'm trying my hand at high(ish) fantasy - yes, elves and shit! Epic quest, swords and sorcery but a little more modern magi-techy. But, well, really I'm writing about characters I originally created for d&d games that either ended prematurely or I felt have more potential than I can really explore in that medium. Self-indulgent passion project. But, well, I guess I'm trying to do the Star Wars prequel trilogy better, what if the temptation of Christ had worked, what is it to be a chosen one and have your personhood stolen, but really the character I'm exploring that through originally came from a place of using gods and powers beyond comprehension to explore the loss of personhood in a toxic relationship and how a person can reclaim that. But, well, it's me, so really it's all about complex interlinking yet contradictory Irish identities (even though there is no Ireland in this setting, I'm working that kink out), both the political elements of that and the personal, generational trauma aspects. But really it's about my own family's generational trauma, it's about squaring a loving marriage with an abusive one, it's about forgiving, it's about grief, grief, grief, it's about watching my grandmother die as I fall down this new rabbit hole, it's about the last conversation with my nan being about why I'm not my cousin, it's about knowing someone loves you but also that you're just the walking embodiment of their failings, it's about loving someone I barely knew and working to love people I knew too well, it's about family, family, family. But really it's about necromancy.

"Elves and shit."

"Nice!"

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

People who listen to tiktoks out loud on a bus/train/other mode of public transport are public menaces and if you do this, I hate you.

Especially because my phone was out of battery thus I had literally NO WAY to drown out your bullshit, and I can't get away from you because we're on public transport

Like literally go away ffs

[dollybeagle]

the erins screwed mothwing so much, she could have been so so much more in canon. The tiger family is huge and the potential in it is massive, yet the writers chose to focus only on brambleclaw, maybe hawkfrost too ig.

Give me Mothwing pov. Im begging you i need mothwing's pov in the new prophecy. I wanna see all of her thoughts, I wanna read about her i wanna get in her mindset. The way she views StarClan is so interesting to me. Deep down, we all know she's right- they're nothing but dead cats, and they shouldn't rely on them so much. Idc we got one or two pages abt her thoughts on them, idc at all. I want her pov please

[justreadertings]

can we please talk about how important Rowan’s trauma is to not only the book series in general, but also his character and his relationship with Aelin? Like he is actually a very sentimental man. He is so traumatized by what happened to his family that we have this person who wants to remember all the good moments with her, with his friends. Yes, his trauma hardened him, and he cut himself off from those people because of his pain, but once he and Aelin realized through each other that they could enjoy life beyond the pain they once experienced, we see how much he values the people in his life. Like he is wise, and caring, and has so much infinite love that he never got to share with the people he lost. Yes, he would literally do anything for Aelin, but he also loves his friends, he cares about the world, and Aelin heightens that for him. Aelin brought him back to life just as much as he did for her. Because he got to see himself as a friend again, a person who can make a difference in the world. He has so much compassion, and I literally cannot stop thinking about how much he gained after Aelin made him see how the world could be. He saw himself as a good man again. I am so emotional about Rowan Whitethorn I can’t. Ok rant over I just love him. 

[anderants]

Rowan talking to his brother about giving Amerie the flower saying that some day he’ll give one to a girl too is just so good story wise. He never got over his brothers death and everything he says shows that so clearly.

His brother then responding with ‘no I won’t’ hurts (and is a very good subtle nod to his death), because deep down Rowan knows all this.

[shadowhandss60]

Sorry but I’m here to rant…I get so fckin mad when people hate on Manorian and say they were purely lust and had no real bond.They clearly have no reading apprehension because there are straight out lines in the books confirming the opposite and are mad Manorian is way hotter then their boring faves.Of course people have different tastes but I’ll never understand spreading hate and literal misinformations everywhere.I always report on these people…

Also how hooowww can they say they aren’t endgame after Dorian literally saying “There’s only one witch who will be my queen.”…Unbelievable…

THIS.

I can understand how people don’t connect to them because I don’t always connect to ships either, but I think they expect this intense romance like the other ships but their past/traumas don’t give them that luxury and I’m not saying the other ships don’t have that at as well but they allow themselves to open up sooner.

Does it start with some lust? Sure, but that’s not all it is.

(I’m gonna rant a bit)

Dorian is the only main character in the series to never say “I love you” outloud to someone and there’s a huge reason why. We know why Manon is so closed off and not wanting to be vulnerable, even with those she’s known for 100+ years, she doesn’t even say it until Abraxos in KOA.

For Dorian it seems like he’d be someone to say it but in ToG we hear how Dorian did fall for a “fiery” girl (Rosamund I think) and then she left and married another.

Then he falls for Celaena and is ready to “tear the world apart with his bare hands” and wants to tell her he loves her but she breaks it off with him and pushes him away and falls for his best friend (I am not faulting her, just saying what happened) again, making him feel like the second choice.

Then a few books later he finds comfort and love in someone different, someone softer and seemingly more open where he finally feels like he’s the first choice and she’s ripped away from him in one of the most brutal ways, by his own father, while he was helpless after literally BEGGING him to spare her.

Side note this just made me realize what Dorian meant by “I am never begging for anything again.” Because of that outcome, and OUCH

So now he’s had his heart broken over and over again and then immediately after, he’s a slave for months. Forced to torture and kill his friends, while being torn apart internally while he can do nothing about it. He can’t even remember who he was and relives her death over and over and the FIRST reprieve he has is this beautiful woman who gives him his voice and allows him to remember his name after what felt like eons to him.

Then he’s forced back into that darkness and pain when she’s gone, but he latches onto her and her name and holds on after saying he didn’t want to fight and when he was forced to enjoythe pain he caused. Manon thinks of him to pay her debt to Aelin, she thinks of him and can’t even think of why when she checks up on him in Rifthold.

Then in EOS she goes to save him, she feels a part of herself “wake up” at his half smile and his tone, the way he doesn’t balk and doesn’t fear her. She talks about how he has seen death and worse and has that dark part of him that was forced to enjoy it when he was collared and she relates to that because of what she learns about her past in EoS.

Then after everything, he goes to save her as she did with him, no thought of himself, sprinting across the ship and jumping into the ocean so she wouldn’t drown and when he sees that she looks intent on dying he pokes at her and teases her and tries to stoke something in her like she was able to do with him.

She also comforts him without needing to when he talks about how he enjoyed killing the Ilchen and was forced to enjoy killing while collared. Sure, she does it in the Manon way, but he bites right back in the Dorian way and THEN there’s the lust.

Then she sees that part of her that’s drawn to him more physically and let’s her guard down (physically).

Lysandra talks about how she is different and dangerous and everything Dorian shouldn’t want after what he has gone through but everything he needs. She doesn’t judge him, doesn’t pity him or coddle him. He says he’d raze the continent for what was done to Sorscha and Manon accepts and agrees and he’s relieved. We see that fierce protectiveness when he talks about wanting to take time and pleasure in killing her grandmother for hurting her and we see her say he tastes foreign yet familair and allows herself to be vulnerable for the first time in 100+ years.

We see in KoA that they do talk in depth about what his father did to him, what her grandma did to her, what happened to Sorscha and Manon’s sister. We don’t SEE these conversations but we know they happened because of context and the details that are said and I feel like people ignore this.

We see Manon at the most vulnerable she’s ever been, admitting that she cares and admitting she doesn’t want to lose him and how those hours waiting for him to come back on Narene we some of the longest of her life.

There are no grand romantic proclamations (out loud, but if you pay attention in their POVs and how Manon had to fight herself to not fly to morath, “to him” and “there is only one witch will be my queen”…we all know) but those lovey dovey, super open “I love yous “ and “sweet nothings” aren’t who they are.

Manon JUST started to understand that she was capable of caring and Dorian was burned too many times to allow that vulnerability again, he didn’t even open up to Chaol or Aelin at that point.

That’s not who they are and though they were growing to that point in the short time they, the love and care is still there, still in context if you pay attention.

They challenge eachother but listen and respect eachother and accept all aspects even if they don’t always agree and I LOVE their love and the way it’s not blatantly stated but in the nuances of their story.

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk. (I didn’t proofread this so oops)

[broadcast-sys]

weird as hell but sometimes we get like. suspicious? of solo hosts who consider themselves to be cores and/or have always been host. like. there's absolutely nothing inherently wrong with that and very often it's entirely out of the system's control. but also, consciously or not, there's often a part of us that thinks "do you think of the other alters in your system as people or just like. things in your brain? do you think of yourself as an alter as well or do you think of yourself as 'the real one?'"

i think it's entirely possible to function as a healthy system with happy individuals while functioning like that. but i think it shapes the way you think of other systems, too. it contributes to people who hardly consider fictive hosts to be real hosts. it contributes to system friends who know how we function telling us to "tell your host" the most basic things that we should all know. people asking to talk to our host when one of our hosts is already fronting

it's not some inherit cause & effect thing. it's not some sort of 'slippery slope' thing and systems who function like that don't inherently do/say those things. but man they're much more prone to all of it.

[criticalrolo]

pov you are dating the dawn and haven’t seen her in a thousand years @actionsurges

[rowanaelinn]

i will always hold a grudge against anyone other than Rowan (maybe Fenrys too) in the voting scene in KOA

He was the only one to speak up and say he didn’t want Aelin to sacrifice herself.

Aelin Galathynius who went out of hiding, who learned to love two men devoted to the King, who accepted the bloodsworns of another Queen as members of her court even before they were banished…. She fought for all these people, and they voted for her to sacrifice herself or they just watched it happen

At the end of the day, the only person Aelin truly had in her corner was Rowan. He was the only one fighting for her whereas Aelin fought for everyone

[cursed-critters]

Wyll’s kiss screams theatre kid, but I’m here for it

[rowanthestrange]

So I went to see Sonic 2 yesterday, and sat at the back near a woman and a maybe six year old kid. No problem so far.

But you know how it used to be a thing that you have to judge whether or not a child has enough of an attention span to sit through a one-and-a-half to two hour movie?

Oh the kid was fine.

But Momma could not stop being on her phone and scrolling through twitter every twenty minutes.

So please, if you are an adult taking a small child to watch a film, if you could check that you also have the capacity to sit through the entire thing, that’d be swell.

[inthedarkofficial]

So far 2024 is the year of "wait, holy shit, this condition I've never heard off before aligns perfectly with both the symptoms I've been experiencing for 16 years and the experience of enough members of my family that we've genuinely been calling it 'the Valente curse' for at least three generations" and also the year of buying myself a really cool jacket. I'm not saying these two things will fix me completely but like. I do feel a decent chunk more fixed.

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

Y'know that feeling when someone so massively fucks you over that you feel like they've driven a knife though your spine?

Yeah it's not fucking great

Anyway I wonder if they'll let me have Tumblr in prison I'm about to commit some fucking felonies (/nsrs)

[dollybeagle]

does the tiktok warrior cats community actually read the books

sure, cinders lashed out to sol once which you can be mad about or whatever. but what sh did was due to the fact that she knew she wouldnt be able to take care of her kits right. she wanted to give them a better future, one she couldnt provide. you guys know that right. right