#this isn’t fucking game of thrones there doesn’t need to be great loss and horrible decisions to end the show

[tyrianlynch]

I’ve been watching will and Grace for the first time and I love it I’m on season 5 but I looked up spoilers and like. Their lives go no where! They both get married but then they get divorced and they both had kids in the finale but in the reboot the kids were retconned and they end up living together again and like. What was it all for then??? None of the growth they went through means anything?? Disappointing writing.

[xserpx]

Battle Ground Thoughts

Major spoilers below.

The Good

I really enjoyed the last part of the fight with Ethniu. Hendrick's sacrifice was well done, and the Marcone reveal was fantastic. The action was really great, although it did get too much at times, especially the beginning of the fight with Ethniu where it’s more like reading a shonen manga, lots of huge ‘final’ attacks and mist clearing as they wait for the blood spray before someone pulls a trap card. Still pretty likeable.

Marcone as a Knight of the Blackened Denarius is intriguing. My one caveat is that I think it diminishes his post-Small Favor achievements quite a bit, knowing he had access to all that power. It makes sense, especially considering just how much Marcone was able to get done, but yeah, I liked this little twist. Marcone is probably the main reason I would keep reading the books, as things stand.

I like the fact Harry's finally been kicked off the White Council, as he should be. I'm not sure why this is controversial, though. He’s clearly broken several laws, and tbh I was kind of surprised they kept him on after becoming the Winter Knight, like... conflicted interests, much?

Drakul and the Blampires were cool. Wouldn't mind seeing them again.

The Bad

Justine's reveal, while interesting bc omg Outsiders infesting the characters we love, it also absolutely terrifies me in terms of what it actually means for Thomas/Justine both in the future and in the past. A future that might not even happen, now. And considering how long it's been since she was infected, it's entirely possible a lot of Justine's feelings have been manufactured as well. One of the things at the top of my Do Not Want list was Justine or the baby getting hurt, and now we’re here.

I'm severely disinterested in Harry/Lara. I have no idea where it's going, but it's boring at best. Maybe Jim Butcher has an idea for it that doesn’t result in me rolling my eyes, but I’m not feeling charitable today.

Ivy and Harry never got a proper conversation. Also why tf was Ivy dressed in a school uniform for that fight? Unless she's a sailor senshi or something, it just doesn't make sense. Plus she should be in her mid-late teens by now, ffs, not her early teens.

We're still drawing out the Starborn mystery? Ugh, ok.

Michael's cursing out the White Council for kicking Harry off the team... Completely OOC, sorry, I hated it. Michael is a great character because he doesn't swear as a matter of principle. If he had to start swearing, that was a bad hill to choose.

The way the morality of the White Council flip flops depending on Dresden's mood is getting annoying. At the meeting at the end, he says the Council is the biggest defender of humanity, and that he's clearly sitting at the monsters' table, but they're also supposed to be the enemy for treating him as such? Ebenezar and some of the Seniors are douchebags, for sure - especially Eb as it's personal - but Carlos and the rest are solid good guys trying to do their best. After everything that's happened, Harry shouldn't be so freaking bitter. He’s a monster now. Either own it, or make different choices. Also Carlos should’ve told him what Molly did to him. I hate that this hasn’t been addressed and that Carlos just looks like a suspicious bastard when he’s actually sustained life-changing injuries and trauma. Communication generally between Harry and the White Council needs to start happening like yesterday.

Butters needs to just go away, please. Give me a break from this shithead. He's had a few months of training and can keep up with literally everyone. He gets all these Crowning Moments of Awesome, but he never suffers for it, and at this point I'm genuinely wondering whether he'll ever suffer any consequences whatsoever. Also he constantly outshines Sanya, who is ostensibly better qualified, and the Sword of Hope should have been the stronger of the two in that last fight. I’m sick of hearing how great Butters is, and being expected to laugh at all his dumb, nerdy references.

Harry barely thinks about Thomas when he considers his recent losses. Sure Thomas is still alive, but barely, with no guarantees he'll survive or that he'll come back the same person. Harry should be grieving for him as much as he's grieving for Karrin at this point. I also wanted there to be more reason behind Thomas's actions, some sort of conspiracy within the White Court, but there wasn't. It's bad enough being anxious for Thomas, but being anxious for his whole goddamn family is just way too much, ffs.

The Ugly

I mean, I've told people: if I'd tried to imagine a worst case scenario for Karrin Murphy's death, it would have been better than the ending we got. It's worse than James Norrington dying at the hands of Bootstrap Bill. It's worse than Superman's dad dying while trying to save the dog. She shouldn't have died at all, period, but if she absolutely had to go, there is no fucking way in HELL that that was the best way for it to happen. Whether she comes back or not, there is no way to justify that scene. Gard saying she saved everyone by defending Dresden might be a satisfying Watsonian explanation for some, but of all the times, of all the places, of all the ways, and of all the people... JB picked the absolute worst possible combination. Absolute. Garbage. It's not that he can't write decent sacrifices. Hendrick's death was superb! So why the FUCK couldn't Murph get the same treatment? Why the FUCK was she killed off so FUCKING pointlessly? This isn't a real life story. This isn't some hyperrealistic, anyone can die, Game of Thrones type bullshit, where you can just kill off the second main character as shock value and have it be valuable to a bigger theme. This is the Dresden Files, a fucking series where all the women are Playboy models, and there's a middle-aged dweeby guy in sports goggles riding a skateboard and wielding a lightsaber and facing off with a Titan after just a few months of training, and having threesomes with bisexual women half his age, one of whom wears a fucking Avengers t-shirt to bed. It's a fanservice show. So it is not too much to ask for the main female character to be given the kind of death she actually deserves, let alone that she be allowed to live long enough to enjoy a relationship that's been so fantastically built up over 15+ books. (Query: was any of her family at her funeral? Audiobooks make searching hard, and I can’t find out if that was mentioned.) It's not unfair to hate the FUCK out of JB for pulling such a horrible, awful, LAZY move. I didn’t cry when it happened. I actually laughed quite a bit, maniacally, because it was that much of a train wreck. I'm not crying now, either. I'm just so, so tired. RIP Murph.

Granted, I haven't had to wait for a Dresden Files book like this before. Skin Game had a very neat ending, whereas this asks way, way, way more questions than it answers, which is probably more par for the course in this series? But now my two favourite characters are out of the field and may never come back, and I'm just so fucking tired and disappointed, and tired of being disappointed. I don't know whether it's worth staying invested in the vague hope Jim Butcher will start giving a shit about anyone other than Butters, but I can't see the next book being much good when Thomas and Karrin won't be there. When Karrin may never be there again. When I don't even know if the next book will show up, or if there'll be another hiatus resulting in a mediocre story.

I'm predicting that there'll be a Murph-centric short story in the near future that'll probably be a "gotcha!" to all the fans like me who fucking hate how BG turned out. Either it'll finish her off entirely or hint at a resurrection, which may or may not come. Either way, it won't justify her death. It won't make this better.

If I wasn’t as invested in Karrin, I’d like this book more. I can understand if people like it, and there are definitely some good things about it, but it’s hard to appreciate those bits when there’s such a massive pile of stinking shit sitting smack bang in the middle.

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Return Her pt. 2

The Company (and friends) x Reader

Not being from Middle Earth has brought you some amazing moments, but this should’ve been expected.

Now you have an unwanted audience with the king, and he wants to know everything.

A great deal of frustration comes with talking to the King of Mirkwood.

He always speaks down to you, condescendingly, while carrying himself like he’s the most important person in the room at every given time. Personally, you don’t see the appeal. 

You’re standing on the ground a few paces in front of said king while he stands at the beginning of the steps to his throne.

For a while all he does is stare, taking in your unusual appearance (mostly the clothes, you’re in jeans after all) and the brightly colored backpack hanging from your shoulders. His hands are behind his back much like when he was speaking with Thorin, his scrutinizing gaze making you feel uncomfortable and vulnerable. 

“It is very interesting… I’ve never seen garments like yours before, not even in my own imagination. And your bag? Unheard of. So do tell me, where are you really from? Because a creature such as yourself, speaking as you do, is in no way from Middle Earth.” His little monologue was well thought out you had to admit.

Nothing escapes his keen eyes and ears, and you find yourself at a loss for words. There is no lie you could conjure up from your limited knowledge of this place that would convince him of anything, so instead you choose to hold your tongue. 

You can see your silence annoys him from the change in expression on his face, so he takes a step forward to intimidate you with his obviously larger size and broad shoulders. His gaze is intense, but you will yourself to maintain eye contact despite your waning resolve. 

There’s another long stretch of silence and then he steps forward with another long stride.

You tilt your head up a bit to look at him better, attempting to keep your face as it was before. You aren’t scared per-say, but you are intimidated. And you know that he can tell.

“Speak.” He hisses to you, tapping his foot lightly against the ground.

For a few moments you make no effort to speak, then you drawl out lazily despite how unnerved you are. “I have nothing to say to you.“ 

His jaw sets tightly as clear frustration shows on his face. His hand shoots up before you can even blink to grab your jaw harshly, pulling your face in close. "You will tell me what I want to know, or your dwarves will rot in their cages.”

You can’t stop yourself from whimpering at the bruising grasp on your face, but you meet his eyes defiantly regardless, and it seems to successfully piss him off.

“I have been patient, but you will tell me what I want to know, one way or another.” His hand drops from your face, but he doesn’t move to step back.

So you do that for him, crossing your arms over your chest, “I don’t have to tell you anything!" 

He stands there for a minute, anger radiating off of his entire being. The king turns away from you, hands still behind his back, as he stares out to the twisting roots that make up his kingdom probably in an attempt to calm himself down. "All I ask is where you are from. It is a simple question.”

You huff in frustration, then shoot back, “I’ve already told you, I won’t ta-” You’re cut off abruptly by a loud resounding smack echoing out around you. Your head snaps to the side and a burning pain blossoms on your right cheek.

You hand goes up instinctively to gently hold the side of your face, eyes wide from shock. “Fuck you!” You yell at him, turning away.

Taking a few steps forward you move to leave, but he grabs your arms and yanks you back into his chest.

“Answer my questions and you will return to your friends." Even after he hit you, he still kept his voice even (with traces of anger).

You stomp down on his foot a couple times, but it doesn’t effect him like you had hoped it would. Instead, his grip on your arms tightens and you feel the beginnings of bruises forming beneath his sharp fingers. 

Where does this bitch get the time to do his nails?

He pushes you down to the ground and looms over you, the glower on his face making an uncontrollable shudder pass through you. "Those dwarves do not care for you. The riches they want? As soon as they have it, you will be cast aside, and left to die hundreds of years before them. None of them will care, or even flinch if something were to happen to you. I simply want to know about you and you keep denying me.”

You can tell he isn’t used to being told no; which is probably the source of his uncontrollable anger.

“He told me not to tell you anything, and I won’t!” Tears blur your vision at his harsh words, but you refuse to let yourself cry even with the horrible burning of your arms and cheek trying to coax the tears out of you. 

Thranduil almost felt impressed with your tenacity, but your determined expression hasn’t changed and your refusal to give into him is what really spurs him on.

He crouches down next to you and reaches out to lightly press his hand to your cheek, seeming much more tender and soft than before. “I know you’re not from here, and I need to know why and where. That’s it. Nothing more, and nothing less. Tell me this and I’ll let you return to your friends." 

The request is simple, and you know he’s already aware that the way you got here is far from natural, but it feels like a betrayal to even do that much. You haven’t done much to help the group as of yet, so the least you can do is endure this situation.

"Why don’t you just let them go? I can do what you ask if you let us leave." 

His expression hardens again, but his touch doesn’t become harsh like before, "You’re not in any position to be making demands, girl. All I want to know is why someone from another world is before me with 13 dwarves. It is not a hard thing to answer, and I’ll hardly learn a thing from it." 

You jerk your head back and scoot away as far as you can.

He lowers his hand slowly, staring you down intensely as all signs of kindness leave his face. "Perhaps I should send one of my guards to tell them you’ve told me everything. Tell them that you’ve decided to stay here with me and even shared my bed. And after your image is ruined for them, I’ll let all of you go and throw you out and leave you at their mercy. I’m sure you know of how much they hate us after all.”

You eyes widen from horror at his words, shocked that he would even threaten such a foul thing. 

“Y-You wouldn’t! They wouldn’t be dumb enough to fall for the lies of a stupid elf like you.” You’re surprised that you manage to keep your voice so even, but his expression doesn’t change despite this.

“I will. Or you can tell me what I want to know.” He repeats yet again. 

And you find that you have to comply this time. Even if you’re sure they know how loyal you are to them, you can’t stand the thought of such a thing being uttered to them, nor do you want to even entertain the idea of anyone actually believing it. You take a deep breath and wipe your wet cheeks, mumbling softly,“…Fine." 

The king almost seems surprised when you finally submit. He’s mostly shocked that you care so much about how they perceive you, how none of his threats or battering managed to sway you but a simple promise to slander your character turned you in mere seconds. 

He gets up after that and folds his hands behind his back again, "Go on." 

And you do. 

You spill everything about where you’re from to him, about what you do and what you plan to do, how you got there, and he simply listens along. And when you finally finish your rather unbelievable tale, he heaves a heavy sigh. 

The look on his face makes your heart drop, and you realize he no longer has any intention of fulfilling his promise. 

"Well… now that I know this, there’s no way I can let you return to them…” He heaves a heavy sigh after saying that, looking out at the twisting roots and huge trees once more, “Such an important piece to their game in my hands? I can’t pass up such an opportunity, I’m sure something like you could only bring me fortune and luck.” He speaks as if you’re some sort of magical item or accessory they carry around. 

You get to your feet and protest immediately, “W-What do you mean? You said I could go back! You promised I’d be allowed to return to them!” You find yourself pleading with him now to go back, eyes wide with a sad expression on your face.

Surprisingly enough he finds himself almost wanting to comply with your wishes, but he has his mind made up. 

He turns away from you again and walks ahead a few paces. “You really do care for them… it is peculiar…” he trails off for a few moments before turning his head over his shoulder to look at you, “You will get your own cell for the time being until I can prepare you your own room. Don’t get comfortable.” He gestures towards you and then heads back up the steps, his steely gaze not meeting your relieved eyes again. “Take her away." 

You don’t bother fighting the tall elf that escorts you to the cells, for two reasons. One, you’re eager to return to your friends, and two, despite the fact that it’s captivity you’re being brought to, anywhere is better than being under the scrutinizing gaze of the Elf-King.

When you enter the dimly lit dungeons you find yourself searching for anyone or thing that may be familiar, but you find that it’s hard to see into the cells and the red-headed elf and blond one from before aren’t anywhere around. 

The distinct voice of Kili calls your name suddenly, and you turn towards the sound to just catch a glimpse of something familiar.

A small smile makes it way to your face, though it’s a bit painful because of the swelling on your cheek. You can see his face through the bars, but once he gets a good look at you his smile drains away from his face.

”What happened?!“ Thorin yells a cell away from where you’re taken too.

You’re nudged in a bit harsher than necessary, and then the door is closed and locked without hesitation on the guards part. 

When you stand in front of the prison door and look out at the cells before you, you see the majority of your friends pressing their faces through the bars to get a peek at you.

"What did that freak do to her?” Someone asks in the cell next to yours, though you can’t see who it is. 

“Did you see her arms?” Someone else calls. 

Thorin then repeats, “What happened? What did he want with you?”

A long, weary sigh leaves your lips as you look at the swollen skin and claw marks caused by his harsh grip and sharp fingers. “He was asking about my home and why I was here…” you trail off after a few moments. 

“Did you tell him anything?” Thorin presses, and you find yourself feeling ashamed. 

“I-I didn’t want to! Thorin I’m sorry, but I had to tell him what I knew! He was very cruel, and he was threatening to-” You cut yourself off quickly, dipping your head down as your knuckles turned white from your grip on the bars. Discussing the things said to you isn’t really something you want to do right now. 

Thorin’s expression softens almost immediately when he sees how distressed you are over it.

“Threatening to do what?” His oldest nephew pipes up after a few moments, his tone voicing the concerns that everyone else had for you. 

You sign shakily and drop your arms, sitting down against the wall next to the door. “Nothing… I’m sorry… I really tried to keep quiet but he knew exactly how to get under my skin…" 

There is an unbearable silence for a few moments there, and then Thorin speaks up again. "I am not upset, Y/N. None of us are. Just tell us what he did.”

You feel yourself relax at his assurance, but still you don’t want to discuss any of that. “No… m-maybe later. I just need a bit to sit and think, okay?” You pause after saying that and add, “Though… I suppose I won’t have much time to do that." 

"What do you mean?” Ori asks in his usual soft voice. 

“The king has ordered that I be taken to a separate location. He said something about me bringing him luck or something…" 

When you tell them this outrage beaks out amongst the dwarves. Dwalin begins yelling multiple curses, Ori whimpers in the cell next to you, Fili and Kili yell about how they wont let that happen etc, but Thorin stays quiet until the yelling dies down.

After most of the shouts have ended and everyone is quiet, he speaks calmly to you, "We won’t let that happen… so please, do not worry yourself.. I’m sure master Baggins is taking care of the issue right away." 

You nod your head quickly at his words, feeling rather hopeful that what he says is true. A small smile makes its way to your face, then you press your knees to your chest. "You know I trust you.." 

—

You’re not sure how much time passes between then and now, a few hours maybe, but eventually the lot of you stopped all the blabbering and quieted. 

From what you could tell a majority of the dwarves are either resting, sitting idly, or speaking in hushed whispers with their cellmates/cell neighbors, and you’re apart of the middle group. 

You’re seated right next to the gate with your head leaning back against the stone wall and closed eyes when the light is suddenly blocked. 

One of your eyes flutters open and you’re met with the sight of the same red-headed she-elf from before. 

She’s staring down at you with an expression you can’t quite read, but you don’t ask about it and instead stand up and ask quietly (so you don’t bother the others), "What are you doing over here?" 

When you step out into the light her gaze flickers from your swollen cheek to your bruised arms, then back up to your face again. Her eyebrows furrow together and, instead of answering your question, she asks, "Did King Thranduil do that to you?” Her voice holds concern and no little amount of surprise. 

You grimace, glancing down at your arms before looking back up at her, “I’m afraid so." 

"I am sorry.” She finds herself speaking without thought, feeling guilty almost, “That shouldn’t have happened, you didn’t do anything wrong…" 

"No, you don’t have to say sorry. I’m fine…,” you trail off, then add a bit more slyly, “Besides, I’m a prisoner in your dungeons." 

If you hadn’t been smirking she probably would’ve thought you were upset, but she allows herself to smile slightly and steps closer to the bars, "They’re hardly my dungeons, though I am the Captain of the Guard." 

You smile this time (albeit painfully since the movement hurts your face) looking up at her with amusement sparkling in your eyes, "Captain of the guard? Wow, beautiful and impressive." 

Pink tints her pale cheeks as she laughs softly, leaning down slightly to see your face better, "You’re such a forward little thing, a complete charmer." 

"Charmer? No, my dear I just call it as I see it.” Yeah you definitely are a charmer. 

She laughs again and her eyes flicker back down to your arms, the smile dissipating from her face right away. “Here, let me see.” She states suddenly, holding her hand out to you. 

At first you don’t quite get what she means, but then you notice where she’s looking and understand. 

“N-No, you don’t have to-”

“Just do it.” She cuts off, smiling at you reassuringly since she seems to sense your hesitation. 

Despite your urge to argue further, you reach through the bars with both arms and turn them palm-face up. “Like this?”

She nods her head and places her hands beneath both your elbows, observing the darkened and irritated skin of your upper arms. 

A few beats of silence pass with her holding your arms and looking at you before she finally speaks, “Well, you will be glad to know that they aren’t too bad. These should heal in a weeks time I’m sure." 

You nod your head and return your arms to your sides when she lets you go, but instead of leaving it at that, she reaches through the cell door and places her fingertips under your chin, lifting your head. 

She turns it left and right, then tilts your chin up, "This one isn’t so bad either, though it will take a bit longer to recover.” Slowly she trails her fingers up the good side of your face, her touch feather soft and tender, “It’s a shame, you’re very pretty." 

And queue the blush. 

Your face goes warm at her compliment and you begin to stutter as your brain goes into panic mode. "P-Pretty? M… M-Me?” You just barely manage to stammer out, pointing at yourself lamely. 

Once more she begins to laugh as she retracts her hand, “You certainly can give compliments, but it seems you are not familiar with receiving them." 

"Well…,” before you finish that thought you realize something. “Oh! I haven’t even asked your name." 

"Tauriel.” She states warmly, “And what is yours?" 

"My name is Y/N.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” She replies. 

Gosh she’s so lovely. 

“No, the pleasure is all mine.” You begin to flirt again, really it’s just so easy to do with her, and then say a bit quieter, “Thank you for looking over my bruises…”

Her humored expression becomes a bit softer at your thanks, and she replies just as quietly, “No need for gratitude. You didn’t deserve that." 

"Tauriel!” Someone yells suddenly. 

Said she-elf turns quickly on her heel, looking up the stone stairs at the blond elf who brought you to the king before. 

“Legolas.” She replies slightly nervously, glancing back at you. 

They exchange a few words in their Elvish language, the male elf glancing over at you a few times, before she turns and walks off. 

As Tauriel passes by she smiles slightly and says, “Goodbye, Y/N. I hope we can speak again." 

And then she’s gone. 

The blond elf approaches your confinements and looks down at you, "I apologize for my fathers treatment of you." 

Your eyebrows furrow and you look at him weirdly, "And you are…?" 

"Legolas, son of Thranduil, the king." 

Oh shit, you didn’t even realize. 

"I’m afraid I must go, though I wanted to tell you as much before leaving." 

You nod your head and smile up at him gratefully, "Thank you." 

And then he’s gone too. 

Gosh, where the fuck is Bilbo.

[wxldchxld]

let’s talk about characters that have meant a lot to me and been totally shit on. like everyone else on tumblr rn. (warning this gets kind of personal)

So anyone that has known me for a long time has known that Daenerys was the reason I got into Game of Thrones (the show). I have a very long history of loving dragons that started out with books like The Enchanted Forest Chronicles and Heartsblood (which is not a book i hold in high regard as an adult, but meant a lot to me as a kid). Anyway, I didn’t really actually start watching the whole show until season 6. Before that, I skipped between scenes that featured Dany and her dragons and didn’t really invest in any of the other characters.

I’m not someone who is super easily emotionally shaken by media. I might cry at a book, I might yell at a show, but very few things have been able to make me have some sort of lasting emotion that affects my mood beyond the credits. That being said the destruction of Daenerys Targaryen has been kind of devastating for me. This character who I’ve been invested in for years has been slowly dismantled and now thrown into the fire to burn.

What bothers me most is that I’ve always felt connected to what I thought was one of the morals of Dany’s story. As someone with a hereditary mental disability who grew up in a household with a father suffering that same problem, who did not get treatment and was violent toward us because of it, I am deeply hurt by the “mad queen” plot they’re determined to reinforce. To me, a big part of who Dany always was revolved around knowing what her brother and her father were like (if not directly, then by hearing stories and such). She has always struggled with the impulses to be like them, and she has always done her best to be better than that. She demanded Khal Drogo stop his men from raping and murdering the women they’d taken hostage, she freed the unsullied when that could have cost her literally everything if they’d have decided not to fight for her as free men. In conquering cities and achieving her goals she has fallen and she has committed acts of horrible violence as an act of revenge rather than justice, but we got to see her war with that. When she is presented with the burned bones of a child, she doesn’t just say well dragons will be dragons, she locks her own children beneath the great pyramid and it breaks her heart. 

Dany’s story has always been about things like liberation, survival, and the desire to do better. To see her character be reduced to something like this---I don’t care HOW they would have done it or with what kind of set up---is really upsetting for me. 

I’ve said this to a few people and I’ll say it again: the stories we tell about mentally ill people matter. The show has made a point to demonstrate that Dany’s family is “mad.” But you don’t just get to say someone is crazy and that they’re like the bad crazy and there’s no more explanation than that, and pretend like you can avoid people making real world connections to it because you didn’t put a medical name to it. I’m not going to try and diagnose Dany or her family, but I am a person that struggles daily with a mental illness, and a person who suffered as a child because of a patriarchal figure in my life being mentally ill and refusing to admit that. So when I see them basically saying that after all she’s done, after how far that she’s come, in spite of all of her dreams and desires and ideals for a better world, that Dany can not avoid going “mad” and committing the same sins as her father it’s a big fuck you to people like me.  

What’s going to be even more frustrating is how they’re going to deal with this. There has not been any sympathy for Dany in the last two seasons. Dany has become more and more isolated as people trust her less and less and treat her like a child who needs to be handled rather than a human being. This is one of the major reasons (beyond them being literally related) that I never could get behind Jonerys or whatever it’s called. I felt like Dany threw herself into that relationship way too hard and way too fast all because she didn’t have anyone else that she could look to as an equal and lean on emotionally. 

This season has been even worse. Dany has been consistently defied, disrespected, and treated like a mad woman. And now they’re going to paint her as crazy and Tyrion, Varys, Arya, and Sansa are going to be like I KNEW IT WAS COMING TO THIS. And there isn’t going to be any part of the story where they reflect on what they could have done differently.

Is Dany to blame for her own actions? I don’t think so. Honestly. If Dany is suffering from some sort of metal break down she is NOT responsible, nor is she a bad person. She is a victim of an illness that was triggered by several stressers, including things like rejection, isolation, and the loss of two of her children as well as her oldest and dearest friends. But she’s not going to be treated with sympathy from a narrative stand point. She’s going to be treated like a rabid dog that needs to be put down and everyone is going to go “oh what a shame she could have been so great” and no one else is going to take responsibility for the part they played in pushing this mentally ill woman to the edge and demanding that she not fall off it.

I personally don’t like the entire plotline, so I’m not going to argue the last point that I just made about other people sharing the responsibility. I think even going down this road at all was wrong. It was insensitive to people struggling with mental health disorders and survivors of abuse, it was racist in the way it portrayed the Unsullied and the Dothraki as mindless savages, and from a narrative stand point it was just poor writing. They took six years of character development and they jumped on it like some asshole kid kicking over a sandcastle at a beach just to see people be shocked and emotional. And they’re going to look at this, ignore all the criticisms, and say “that was good tv because it inspired emotion.”

But stories carry weight. We invest our time, our money, and our emotions in them. They have meaning, they have symbolism, they have parallels to the real world. Being emotional or entertained enough to sit through an hour and thirty minutes without changing the channel isn’t what people want. It’s not a satisfying return on all we’ve invested.

[emthinks]

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Note: Okay, so I just realized like a good solid month and more later that I never posted my review for this book. Or maybe I did and I never tagged it. Or maybe I did tag it but it got lost in the endless sea that is the Internet (and also Tumblr). I don’t know. The point is that it’s not in my records and I need it to exist here because I love Sarah and I love this series and I’ve written reviews for all the other books so this can’t not exist. So. Here it is. The following is what I wrote after while marathoning ToG, so this is before I touched QoS and EoS. I have not edited anything: this is literally a copy & paste from my word doc. Enjoy.

If you could hear me right now. God. I sound like a dying whale. A dying, beached whale that has no hope but is still screaming for one. I wish I have a punching bag in my room. Would get a lot of use out of it right about now. I think I just kicked nearly everything off my bed. This book is ridiculous. I was not prepared.

This is not YA. YA is…nicer. Gentler. This is. I mean, Throne of Glass was bad. Crown of Midnight was…equally as bad. Heir of Fire? Heir of Fire didn’t hold anything back. Heir of Fire was hell. It was heart wrenching, heart pounding, heart aching hell.

Rating: 9.6/10

An Overview:

Unfortunately, I didn’t take notes on everything, which sucks, but hey. What can you do. I did not some more essential bits though.

Dorian and Chaol. Dorian and Chaol are a fucking mess. Dorian and Chaol. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Dorian and Chaol.

Moving on. Celaena ends up tagging along with Rowan to meet Maeve, who decrees Rowan is train her to shift and wield magic before she can enter Doranelle. Celaena becomes a kitchen maid. Hey, at least there’s food.

Meanwhile, Dorian is…hitting on a healer? I’m not sure what Dorian is doing. We don’t get much from Dorian.

Monan, on the other hand, we get a lot of time with. And it’s a bit of a slog, perhaps. But then she gets Abraxos. And she goes to fight the fucking giant arachnids for their silk and steals it (which I really wonder if that’s gonna bite her in the ass later on). And Abraxos. If she’s on Abraxos, things got a lot better. Especially that bit at the end, with the War Games and how she saves the Blueblood heir? Yeah. That was good. That was nice. Hey, our little heartless witch grew a heart!

And then there’s Chaol. And then there’s Chaol. Chaol, for some reason (I forget) decides that he needs to get information out of Aedion (to even the ground? I think Aedion knows something about Chaol? I don’t remember the specifics). Of course, Chaol’s a fucking idiot and disregards the fact that he’s tailing the Wolf of the North (or whatever fancy title they gave Aedion) and that, maybe, Aedion would notice he’s tailing him. Thankfully, all’s well that ends well, because Chaol manages to become allies with Aedion. Aelin is alive. One can only hope it remains that way.

When Celaena walked into Rowan’s room while he was tattooing Gavriel (albeit uninvited), and Rowan said all those things to her, I knew what was coming. That next morning, when Celaena saw the blade Emrys got from Mikalai, the Eyllwe blade, and she snapped, my heart broke. I could feel all her pain. It was horrible. And for Emrys to lecture Rowan, when he finally (finally) came to fetch her, God I wished he’d torn him apart.

Well, at least they’re bonding now. Right? Nope. Rowan fucking throws poor, innocent Luca (with the promise of food, of all things!) into the middle of the ice and demands she rescue him. She does (of course she does) but then there’s that creepy ass one-eyed fish monster. Of fucking course the lake wasn’t empty, I thought. When would the lake ever be empty? They’re not that lucky.  

Eventually, on one of those journeys to see the killed demi-Fae, we run across a problem. A major problem. Well, a problem and an answer, I guess, if you want to be particular about it. An answer to who (or what, I suppose) is sucking the life out of all those demi-Fae. And the problem? Well. The problem is those hundreds of soldiers and not-human dark things used to attack demi-Fae and use them as hosts. Of course. Fucking hell. But what could our heroes do but hurry back to prepare the fortress? And it was absolutely beautiful how everyone had just banded together, not argument, no fear. And I had thought Wendlyn was an ass for not sending reinforcements. Nope. They were just being attacked, too. They would’ve helped, had they had the ability to. But they just had to prioritize. It sucked, but at least they had a valid excuse.

And then the Valg came. And Celaena, brave, brave, wonderful warrior Celaena steps out and says she will protect them. And her fire burns and burns and burns. For so long, she burns. But not long enough. Because then they envelop her. They don’t consume her, she’s too great of a vessel, but they take sips. Sips of her deepest, darkest memories. All her secrets spilled out, and she doesn’t do anything – nothing. God, it was one of the most horrifying things to read, to imagine, to feel. I could see everything as if it was happening right in front of me, to me. The darkness, the sheer terror, the complete loss, the hopelessness. Everything. We saw what truly happened that night, where she crawled into her parents’ bed and they were already dead and Lady Marion sacrifices herself and that just makes what Nehemia did that much worse and I just. I couldn’t. I’m not a huge fan of horror, of scary shit, and I definitely don’t seek them out in books, so that was some of the darkest pages I’ve read. Ever. It was horrifying. And I plowed through them like a woman on a mission not because I enjoyed them (I really, really didn’t) but because I needed to see the end to this misery. And, thankfully, there was an end. Our heroine emerges from the ashes, wielding fire the likes we’ve never seen before and embracing her titles. She does not hide under the shadow of Celaena Sardothien anymore. She is, finally, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen, and ready to take back her throne, her people, her land.

In the meantime, across the sea, we have Chaol and Dorian and Aedion who figured out how the fuck the king cancelled out all magic. The pillars. The triangle. Now, if we could only just knock out the clock tower, that would be great. And I think we really need to get on that. Maybe Dorian could just, I don’t know, accidentally throw some of his ice magic at it. Just a little bit. And then poke it so it would shatter in a million pieces? Ooh! Maybe Celaena can burn it. Or not. It’s obsidian. One giant pillar of obsidian. Sigh.

Also, I find it absolutely ridiculous that we spend all this time – all this fucking time trying to get into Doranelle, to talk to Maeve and find out what she knows, and then we’re in there for one chapter. Of the whole entire fucking book. And it is a large ass book. And it was one hell of a chapter. Maeve is an absolute bitch. We knew she was shit from the get-go – we knew Celaena’s mom (Evalin?) had run across the sea and hid her for a reason. But still. Celaena asks her questions. And Maeve knows nothing. Yes, we learn some things about the Vlag (blergh) and how the king, with three Wyrdkeys, could summon an endless army (jfc we need to fix that soon) but we don’t learn anything of use about they keys or the gates. Instead, we learn – or rather, Celaena reveals she learned that Maeve was the one who wanted to use the keys, and that’s why Brannon took them across the sea. To see Rowan obeying and his so-called “friends” just not even trying to resist…that was painful. Thank God Celaena has mastered her power enough to fucking set the whole palace on fire. That was beautiful. And she bargains – beautifully – with Maeve. The ring, for Rowan. A severed bloodoath, only to forge a new one immediately afterwards. Well, at least Celaena has somebody to watch her back, right?

Nope. Fucking idiot. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that Celaena left Rowan behind. Yes, he might not be as powerful thanks to the “all magic has been destroyed” thing in Adarlan, but he isn’t useless. She better go find him soon. He better come back in Queen of Shadows. That’s all I’m saying.

And oh no, that’s not all that happened. That’s only on one continent. On the continent with even more problems, we have the (slight) issue of the king kind of kidnapping Chaol. And Aedion. And Dorian and Sorscha. So Sorscha was Ren’s informant, huh? At least he’s not as much of a wimp as I thought. Still, God that was horrible to read. First, Aedion reveals himself. Which. Fine. It sucks, but it’s necessary. He’s taken away. Then. Then. Sorscha. God, Dorian was a disaster. But still salvageable. But Chaol – fucking, idiotic Chaol. Stupid, stupid, stupid. So stupid. Why was he so stupid? Stupid Chaol decides that “oh, now is the time for me to reveal that I’m traitorous to the crown”. Like, now is so not the time, Chaol. Aedion has already sacrificed himself, knowing that you would be more important to Aelin than he is, in the long run, and Sorscha is already fucking dead and now is really not the time. You realize he could you?! You’re not his son. You’re not the crown prince. So one thing leads to another, and Dorian reveals his magic. Great timing, Chaol. You just made everything a hundred times worse. You get to escape, which, hurrah, don’t have to go to Anielle. Your friend, on the other hand. Well. Poor Dorian is fucking screwed. He’s got a Wyrd collar on his neck now, and gods know what that will do to him. How it will warp him. I can only hope that Celaena can come back and somehow manage to remove that fucking collar.

Oh, I can’t wait to tear that guy into tiny little pieces. No mercy, man. No mercy. Not for the kind of shit he’s done.

And it’s only a matter of time, because Aelin, across the sea, on a different fucking continent, has made her stand. It was her declaration, in front of the Valg. That battle was where she announces to the whole fucking world that she’s back, and she’s better than ever. Aedion knows, finally, that his cousin is alive for real. Chaol knows he didn’t just send her off to death. Dorian knows. The king knows. Everyone knows. And I can only hope that the people of Terrasen are ready. And the people of Adarlan, because when she comes, she comes for blood, she comes for revenge, she comes for the king’s head mounted on a pike and no one can stop her.

“You didn’t need a weapon at all when you were born one.”

Likes: What I really liked in this book was that we got to see from different POVs. Well, maybe I should amend that: We got to see from multiple POVs, with buildup. Like, before, we only saw from like, say, Kaltain or the King’s POVs when the really needed to push along the plot. Or reveal something we, the reader, had already half-suspected. Like with the headaches or the Wyrdkeys. We didn’t use them until they were truly necessary. Like, every time we saw from Kaltain’s POV, she was whining about headaches (in ToG). In HoF, it’s different. We see from Celaena and Dorian and Chaol, ofc, but then there’s Monan and Sorscha and their stories take a while too unfold as well, to interweave themselves into the overarching plot. Sarah, imo, has really gotten better at weaving. And I really, really like this weaving.

Dislikes: While I said I like the multiple PoVs, there were times when they became a burden as well. Especially with the Monan ones. I just found them to be such a drag sometimes, particularly when there was something a lot more exciting going on with Celaena and Rowan or Dorian and Chaol.

“They had survived, when so many had not. And no one else could understand what it was like to bear it, unless they had lost as much.”

The Characters:

For me, in this book, I didn’t particularly like this Celaena. I mean, she was going through a lot, so I understand. But I just. It’s hard to watch someone you know, someone you love, go through all this hardship and break. It’s just really, really hard to see such a tough character crumble so easily like that, and we see that happen to her multiple times in this book. It’s a reality check, I guess. But still. Like, with the Valg princes, I just. I couldn’t. So while I love all of Celaena, the Celaena we see most in this book is a mess. She eventually comes back into herself, mastering her magic, training by herself at dawn and being a complete badass, but it takes a long, long while. Hopefully, we get to see her be more confident and sure as she takes on the mantle that is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius.

Okay, I’m going to be completely honest: I thought Aedion Ashryver was such a pompous asshole when I first met him. But even worse, because he has Ashryver blood. He’s cousins to Aelin. He’s...he’s supposed to be good. But then Chaol started tailing him, and we learn he’s been disappearing form his own parties. Ah. So he’s loyal after all. And as we read on, we learn he is very loyal. He would’ve become bound to Aelin by blood, bound to her like Rowan now is and stayed by her side for eternity. He would’ve done anything for her. And I think that really shows, especially at the end. He sacrifices himself, not for Chaol, but for the hope that is Aelin, knowing that Chaol will help Aelin, and perhaps be of more help than he is to her. He would’ve loved to see her one last time, but instead, he gives himself up. Damn, that Ashryver blood is nice.

Now. Let’s talk about Rowan Whitethorn. Random fact: I totally thought it was white-horn for the longest time. Oops. Anyways. Rowan. Fucking ass, I thought. Doesn’t talk to Celaena at all. Completely ruins her. Drags her down. Isn’t helpful at all. Any inkling of bonding moment they have, he breaks it off immediately afterwards. Thankfully though, Emrys (good ol’ Emrys) slaps some sense into him and he and Celaena aren’t on such a rocky edge anymore. Walking a tight rope instead of tight thread. They banter more, are more comfortable with each other. And then the soldiers of Adarlan come, Norrak and the Valg princes. And then things really shift. They are bound together for life, now. And Rowan, in Maeve’s palace, taking that whipping just. No. Celaena might not have wanted him to swear that bloodoath to her, but he needed to. An anchor, so to speak.

Now for another new character we meet: Sorscha. Now, I had no idea what to think of Sorscha. We learn of her infatuation with Dorian early on, and immediately I know it’s going to be acted upon because why else would we read from her PoV unless it’s truly important? But I’m glad Sorscha existed. Because Sorscha pulled Dorian out of whatever wallowing misery he was in and helped him hone his magic. Without Chaol, Sorscha was the only one he could kind of lean on. So to have that happen to her, at the end. We all were a mess, no doubt. Fucking distraught. Ruined. Hell.

And oh. Dorian. Poor, poor Dorian. Dorian for me really grows in this book. At first, I absolutely detested him. Like, I wanted to like him in the beginning, I really did. But then he found Aedion and Chaol talking and immediately thought of betrayal and consorting with the enemy. And he doesn’t even try to work with them. Doesn’t try to understand, to understand why Chaol kept the secrets. To think that, maybe, he could work with Celaena. Work with Aelin, to overthrow his father, so then they can all be better off. Nope. Doesn’t do that. Thankfully, he meets Sorscha. Sorscha is his one beacon of hope and light, especially after he kicks Chaol away to the curb. Sorscha helps him master his magic, and I think that’s really where Dorian’s turning point is. Dorian isn’t trying to suppress his powers anymore, but instead is learning how to control it, how to harness them. He is embracing who is, and I think that’s really important for him. Dorian, who has had basically no control over what he is and what he does for his entire life, finally has control over something. Very nice growth, Dorian. I’m proud. I can only hope that growth helps you survive whatever horrors your father will make you suffer through in QoS.

Now for Chaol. God, I didn’t think I liked Chaol. But Chaol is sacrificing so much. He sacrificed his dignity by going to his father for help. He sacrificed his friendship with Dorian to protect him. And he sacrificed his love for Celaena to protect her. Chaol is like the ultimate shadow-guard. Unfortunately, on the other hand, Chaol is also, like Dorian said, the only one who hasn’t let go yet. Celaena is breaking herself apart every single day in Wendlyn, training with Rowan, finally embracing her heritage. Dorian is...well. Dorian is stifling his magic, yes, but with good reason. Chaol, though, could do so much more, and he doesn’t. Yes, he works with Aedion and eventually comes up with something. But then that all goes to shits and pieces at the end. Everything they did, even that little bit he patched up with Dorian…all goes down the fucking drain with one summon from the king. Jfc, I could murder Chaol right now for his idiocy. Definitely not my favorite character in this book.

On the other hand, Emrys. Emrys I could totally get behind. Emrys is that really old uncle that no one knows how old he is and has all the cool stories and is just this useful presence. Doesn’t poke or prod, but is there when Celaena or Rowan needed a jab. Any of you watch Merlin? Because I don’t if it’s just the BBC show, if the real (real? was he real?) Merlin was actually called Emrys but I freaked when I read that name. Just a little. Internally.

Now, I mentioned above that the varying PoVs were a double-edged sword for me. Monan Blackbeak, we learn early on, is a witch. A deadly, cruel, fierce witch. And, at first, I just could not get through her chapters. But then we continued on. And we grew more attached to her. We learn she may not be as harsh as the rest of her compatriots, as cruel as the Yellowlegs heir. We actually sympathize with her, feel with her, even though she is being trained to ride her wyvern for the king. We actually (or, at least, I) begin to understand her, which is interesting. She chooses a bait beast for her wyvern. Abraxos. God, I love Abraxos. Abraxos sniffing those flowers when she tries to feed him a goat leg? That was hilarious. And I especially loved how HoF was basically watching Monan grow a heart. Like, she bonded with Abraxos and she saved Petrah and she hesitated with killing the Crochan witch. Still though, while I feel for her, she’s still Wing Leader, flying a squadron for the king and against our favorite characters. Can you imagine if she and Celaena came head-to-head? My hope is that Monan will one day see the light and meet up with our main gang and burn that glass palace to ruin.

“It would not take a monster to destroy a monster – but light, light to drive out darkness.”

My Questions

What does that Wyrd collar do?

We’ve seen the rings in action. We’ve seen them manipulate and hurt. But the collar. Does the collar mean that Dorian has no self-control whatsoever? He’s a puppet to his father? Or does it mean that it manipulates him into thinking he does have control, but in reality he doesn’t? How do we get it off? I want it off of Dorian! Now!

What the fuck is Celaena going to do about the fact that she hasn’t killed the royal family of Wendlyn? What the fuck is the king going to do to her?

Uh, I’m still holding out the hope that the Ashryvers will suddenly want to help their cousin.

What about the whole Dorian/Celaena/Chaol love triangle?

Um. Huh. Good question. I was nearly convinced it would be Chaol. But then. Well. Then there’s Rowan there. And Dorian has the same ice and wind power to extinguish Celaena’s fire like Rowan does, so that’s a nice match. And – the real deal breaker here, I think – was the part where Celaena questioned Rowan about mates and how she had attacked Chaol that one time and Rowan kind of avoided answering. That really made me question it. But still. There’s a major problem of the fact that they are heirs of two different kingdoms. What the fuck are they going to do about that? Can Celaena put Aedion on the throne? I suppose she could do that. Maybe she’ll do that. Celorian?

"She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.”