#yeah that checks out Levana

[chemicallyyourss]

Levana: “I can’t let my planet have another horrible Queen like my sister, I need to get rid of Selene! She won’t be fit to rule and she’ll be just like my sister! This is what will be best for Luna!”

Also Levana: Indirectly attempts to kill her niece, orders her husband and step daughter to be killed, takes babies from their parents mere hours after birth because of something they can’t control and leads parents to think it’s an infanticide but really she’s enslaving the children to harvest their blood to make a lab made virus, takes kids at young ages from their homes to tamper with their genetic makeup and make them into human-wolf hybrids and strip them of their humanity and rights, lets the majority of her planet live in poverty and work in extremely unsafe conditions and only give them weekly rations that barely sustain them at all, executes people randomly and publicly for little to no reason at times, does corporal punishment and executions of ENTIRE FAMILIES and groups of people for the little actions of a single person that could range from saying the princess is pretty to trying to flee the country to escape infanticide and slavery and poverty

[annewritesfic]

Happy Endings Don't Exist

i've decided to just keep the same title for all the tlc au stuff sjwjwjwjwj

anyways! so this is based off the end of cress, and for context:

- farrah lost her vision in a satellite crash when she hit her head

- erland is the doctor who figured out kate is selene

- chess has been taken captive by a thaumaturge, one of the queen's lackeys, and cairo is terrified for her

- also i don't know if i mentioned it but kate's a cyborg, a 36.98% ratio, left leg is metal pretty much halfway up their thigh, left hand is metal, a bunch of ribs, vertebrae, and half their heart are synthetic, and her eyes are synthetic with a control panel in the back of their head

- eva was supposed to marry levana today, but kate, reese, cairo, mattie, and farrah kidnapped her right before the wedding could start

okay yeah i think that's it

word count: 1703

triggers: mentions of blood/violence/death, mentions of massacre, mentions of a gun, mentions of torture

"It's me, Eva." Kate clenched both hands into fists and stared at their boots. "I'm the lost princess."

"Oh," Eva said softly. "Oh."

"And, um, in case it wasn't obvious, I was being sarcastic about being great," Kate said, unable to take the silence. "I mean- obviously, you've got your own stuff to worry about, but, like, it- it kind of has been a rough few weeks with the ball and Levana and my sister and Erland is dead and Chess is missing and Farrah is blind and Cairo is- I don't know. She's so still and I'm worried about her, but- don't worry, I've got this under contr-"

"Please stop talking."

Kate stopped talking.

Eva leaned against the wall and slowly slid down until she was sitting. "You. You're Princess Selene?"

"Yeah…"

"The whole time, it was you."

"I mean, I didn't know for awhile, either," Kate said. "Dr Erland figured it out first, but he didn't think to tell me until I was in prison, so…"

"Levana knows, doesn't she?" Eva seemed oddly calm, considering the bombshell Kate just dropped on her head. "That's why she's so fucking determined to find you."

"Yeah."

"And it was you this entire goddamn time."

"You know, you're taking this way better than I thought you would."

Eva leaned her head back against the wall, eyes closed. "It-it makes sense, kind of. In a weird way." She was quiet for a moment, then cracked a smile. "Although I always kinda pictured the princess, like… in a dress."

Kate managed a laugh. "That's probably not happening anytime soon."

"And I thought that if I could just… find her, it would be so easy. We'd present her to the world as the true queen of Luna, and Levana would just crawl and hide in a hole. I didn't think…" Eva took a shaking breath. "I never thought she'd know. That she'd be fighting it."

"I don't think you know your fiancée very well."

Eva's eyes opened, and she stared at Kate with a steady, determined gaze that made Kate forget to breathe for a moment. "Okay, no more secrets. I'm done with big reveals from you, so if there's anything else you're keeping from me, I wanna hear it now."

Kate thought for a moment. Big secrets… cyborg. Lunar. Princess. Eva knew it all.

Well, maybe one more secret. They might be just… a tiny bit in love with her.

But obviously she couldn't tell her that.

"I can't cry," they whispered, sitting down against the opposite wall.

"I knew that," Eva said.

"Wha- how?"

"Your guardian said something about it." Eva ran a fingernail up and down a metal seam on the floor, almost nervously. "And, um… I looked at your files. Your medical records."

"You what?"

"I'm sorry, but-but you were a fugitive and I needed to know more." Eva paused. "I didn't want to, though. I felt- it was too much of an invasion on your privacy. I'm sorry, Kate."

Kate fought to breathe slowly and steadily. "No, it's- no more secrets."

"Are your eyes really…?"

"Synthetic," Kate confirmed.

Eva moved a little closer across the floor. "And that's why you can't cry?"

"It's not like I need the tear ducts for lubrication, and they got in the way of… I have a retina scanner and like, a really small netscreen in my eye." Kate tapped one metal finger against the side of her head. "So there's a lot of wiring… fuck, I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"I think it's pretty fucking awesome."

A laugh ripped from Kate's throat, oddly pleasant.

Eva reached for Kate's hands. "Can I see?"

Kate rolled their eyes, but sighed and nodded. Eva stared into her eyes, almost like she was trying to see right through to Kate's control panel, but then she shook her head with an expression of wonder. "You'd never know."

Embarrassed, Kate bit her lip. "Look at the bottom of my left iris." They pulled up a news feed they'd been watching before the ship had even landed in New Beijing, from the African Union. She didn't bother turning on the volume, letting the news anchor stay muted.

"Wait, is that-"

"Yeah, that's it."

"It's tiny. Just- really just a dot."

"It looks bigger to me." Kate dismissed the news feed, trying not to think about how close Eva was, or how she was still holding their hands.

Eva studied Kate's face - not the retina scanner or the synthetic eyes, just Kate. "I'm sorry I had you arrested. But I really am glad you're alright."

"Don't you hate me for, you know… shooting you?"

Eva's lips twitched up into a smile. She dropped Kate's human hand to pick up the metal one in both hands, studying the tips of the shiny grey fingers. "You know, none of the diagrams I looked at said anything about a gun."

"I like to maintain an air of mystery."

"Funnily enough, I've noticed."

Kate bit their lip again. "The hand is new. It's… plated with one hundred percent titanium. And that's yet another thing I can't believe I'm telling you."

Eva lifted Kate's hand to her lips and pressed a kiss against the cool metal. "Kate?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Just to be sure, you're not manipulating me right now, right?"

"Of course not."

"Good. Just checking." Then Eva slid her arms around Kate's waist and kissed her.

Immediately, Kate's retina display went crazy. INCREASED LEVELS OF DOPAMINE AND ENDORPHINS. REDUCED AMOUNTS OF CORTISOL. ERRATIC PULSE. RISING BLOOD PRESSURE-

Kate dismissed the retina display and kissed back.

Eva shifted to sit back and pull Kate closer without even once breaking the kiss, and both of them smiled into it, relaxing after weeks of stress piling on both of them. Kate broke the kiss and pressed her forehead against Eva's, breathing easier than they had in weeks. Eva gently rubbed circles against Kate's back, calming and soothing, and even though every person on Earth was probably freaking out over the missing empress and determined to find them, Kate had never been calmer.

But then the retina display, alone against the darkness of Kate's closed eyes, caught their attention.

FARAFRAH.

LUNARS.

MASSACRE.

Kate pulled away, huddling against the wall, every happy emotion from kissing Eva quickly being replaced by panic and fear.

"Kate-"

Kate shook her head frantically, and Eva stopped talking for a moment.

"I'm sorry," she said after a pause. "I shouldn't have- shit, Kate, I'm so sorry-"

"No, that's not- it wasn't-" Kate dug their hands into their hair. "Levana."

Eva inhaled sharply. "What did she…?"

"She- she retaliated," Kate managed to say, focusing on the news feed. "She attacked- she attacked Farafrah, the- fuck, that's the town that helped us." The air went cold, and Kate tried desperately to process this. Pictures flashed across the display with so much blood.

"Kate-"

Kate grabbed a wrench and hurled it against the wall in frustration, then slumped against the wall, shaking.

"Has Levana issued any demands?" Eva asked, infuriatingly calm.

"I don't know." Kate grit her teeth. "But they're all dead, and it's my fault. Because they helped me."

"It's not-"

"It is my fault, Eva!"

"Kate, listen to me." A hand settled on her shoulder. "You didn't kill them."

"I basically did."

"Did they know the risk when they let you stay?"

Kate didn't say anything.

"Maybe they thought it was a risk worth taking. Because they believed in you."

"If you're trying to help, you're doing a really shitty job," Kate spat.

"Kate-"

"You wanna know another secret? The biggest secret?" Kate swallowed down the familiar lump in their throat that said you should be crying. Would be, if you were human. "I'm scared, Eva."

Those words hung in the air for a moment.

"I'm scared of her army, and of what she can do, and I'm supposed to be strong and brave but I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know how I'm supposed to overthrow her, and even if I did, I don't know how to be a queen. People are relying on me and now they're dying because of a fantasy that I can maybe save them, but- what if I can't?"

Eva pulled her into her arms, and Kate buried their face in her soft shirt, a headache pounding behind her eyes. "I'm scared."

"I know how you feel."

"Not really."

"Close to it, at least."

"No, because-" Kate curled her human fingers into Eva's shirt. "What if I'm becoming like her?"

"You aren't."

"How can you be so sure?" Kate demanded. "Because I manipulated soldiers in France. And your advisor today. And Cairo, and I- I keep thinking sacrifices have to be made for the good of everyone, right? And then there are the mirrors- I think I'm starting to get why she hates them so much." They started shaking. "And… I tortured her thaumaturge today. I tortured her. And I almost enjoyed it."

"Katie, look at me." Eva sat back and cupped Kate's face with one hand, staring into their eyes. "I know you're scared, and believe me, you're allowed to be. You have every right to be scared. But you are not Queen Levana."

"You can't know that."

"Yeah? I do."

"She's my aunt, you know."

"And my grandfather signed the Cyborg Protection Act." She brushed Kate's hair out of her face. "But here we are."

Kate almost smiled at that.

"Now, how about we never talk about you being related to her again? Because I'm technically still engaged to her, and that's really weird on so many levels."

Kate managed a laugh as Eva pulled them back into her arms. Her headache started to fade, and the news feed drifted out of their gaze. Even with the shit show of Kate's life… Eva felt safe.

"You won't tell anyone, right?"

"'course not."

"And if I'm a shitty princess?"

"I don't think Luna needs a princess. I think they need a revolutionary."

Kate turned that word over in their mind. "I like that more than princess."

"And then, once this is over, I do have some experience in the ruling-a-country field," Eva pointed out. "So I'll help you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

[firelxdykatara]

So... here's the question I've been waiting to ask since you starting reading Cress. What did you think of the kidnapping plan, and what are your thoughts on what went down from the plan's start (infiltrating the palace) to the end of the book? I was so happy to see you finished the book so I could ask you this. :D And I'm curious - why did you choose to read Fairest between Cress and Winter? Thanks for indulging me. Again. ;) ~An anon called Blue (had enough characters for the sign off XD)

I thought it made sense, honestly!

Yeah, it was reckless and had very high chances of something going wrong (which very much did, and I always appreciate when authors understand that no plan of action survives first contact with the enemy and figures out how to get their characters out of a bind without everything magically going the way they wanted it to), but they were also running out of options. Not to mention the fact that it was planned and spearheaded by a sixteen-year-old girl with very little practical experience in this arena (though I'm sure having a google uplink in one's head is a big help), and they did have experts with the right skills on hand to pull things off properly.

I got a little frustrated when Cinder didn't just tell Kai why she was there--and who she was--but I understand the doyalist logic behind saving that reveal for an in-character moment where it would have a lot more impact because the urgency of the situation was not nearly so demanding. And besides, getting frustrated with her crush, so she just tranqs him and figures on explaining things later? Who hasn't wanted to do that at least once? (Besides, 'forgiveness is easier to obtain than permission' and all that, plus it would've been a lot harder to get his forgiveness if she stalled out with big explanations and wound up killed before they could escape.)

I cried so much when Erland found out he was dying and then said goodbye to Cress, and she couldn't say she loved him back and how wracked with guilt she was about it, but then Thorne comforting her afterwards was so good and I sobbed a lot then too.

And Cinder being a badass and digging way down deep to fry Mira's mind like an egg? Poetic cinema.

I'm really curious, though, about whether or not Jacin was bluffing when he claimed that he was the one who sent Mira the ship's landing position. Part of me thinks it was a calculated gamble--he knew that Mira figured out where they were somehow, and likely wouldn't have communicated it with her underlings, so claiming he sent a tip anonymously wouldn't be likely to be provable or disprovable either way--but then I wonder if there's more to his agenda and he actually did it, specifically so that he would be taken back to Luna, and to Winter. But the jury's still out either way, and I assume I'll find out in the next book.

As for Fairest, I checked the publication dates and I'm pretty sure it came out either right before or alongside Winter--and a friend of mine who's read the entire series suggested I read Fairest first because there are things in the final book that will make a lot more sense with this knowledge of Winter's early life and Levana's past. Plus it's a fairly short read, so I'll probably finish it relatively quickly and then move on to Winter and the grand finale, so to speak.

[wordsablaze]

Twenty Nine: Everyone Fights

A Month Of Kaider Just some fairly long daily drabbles for the life of AU Cinder and Kai… A Kaider tale. Enjoy!

Warning: some violence

Cinder breathes.

Breath is such a fickle thing, sometimes filling you with the cool ability to function but sometimes leaving you so sequestered that you forget it even exists at all.

Most people don't pay attention to their breathing, taking it for granted, but it's hard not to notice when it's being slowly lured away from you.

But Cinder is paying attention because she wants to evict the ghost of liquid filling her mouth and taking over the territory of air.

So Cinder breathes.

For a long time, she doesn't question how she can breathe, she just shuts her eyes and lets herself take in the air she'd been so desperate for not so long ago.

Eventually, she realises that she can't spend so long focusing on her breath and simply ignore the fact that she's breathing in the first place.

"I'm breathing," she breathes.

"I know."

She blinks, trying to understand why she recognises the voice.

"Cinder?"

Now she knows why she'd recognised the voice. Even when barely aware of her surroundings, how can she not recognise the voice she'd come to lean on?

She doesn't respond, unsure of whether or not her vocal chords will let her form a proper sentence that makes any kind of sense, instead opting to throw herself forwards so she can wrap her arms around the boy in front of her.

He yelps, barely managing not to topple over and fall.

"I'm still breathing," she repeats.

"I thought we'd already established that."

Despite the fact that she can practically still feel the water surging though her lungs, she laughs.

She pulls away so that she can see him, keeping both her hands on the back of his head and watching the flecks of gold sparkle like newly formed stars in his warm copper eyes.

"Hey," he murmurs.

She's never been so glad to hear someone talking; she can't help but appreciate the english language and the way it can act as a comfort in flawless way the letters flow and how soothing it is to hear when someone's talking in a hushed whisper to try and make you smile.

"Kai..."

In answer, he kisses her nose softly.

She giggles, then gasps, "What happened?"

"You almost died." Kai looks away from her as he says it, as if wanting to hide his pain from her.

She gently pushes his head back so that he's facing her again. "I love you."

"I love you," Kai echoes back.

But it's more than an echo. Where an echo is hollow, empty, merely a mindless repetition, Kai's words are full of meaning care, and, despite being identical to hers, the individual affection that he feels towards her.

"What happened?"

"You've already asked me that."

"I don't understand, you were getting married..." Cinder trails off as she sees Kai wince.

She doesn't get a chance to ask him anything because a woman comes in and says something to Kai in a language she doesn't understand. He replies and the two of them start a conversation, glancing at her every now and then before the woman nods, apparently satisfied.

Kai turns back to Cinder with a wide smile.

For most people, smiles can be different sizes. They can be forced and they can be natural so they range from barely more than smirks to huge grins that make the person's face look like it's going to tear apart to wide beams that reach people's eyes and cause their faces to light up entirely.

But with Kai, each smile is a warm light in the dark, a shining star in the night, all the colours at once on a blank canvas.

He raises an eyebrow and she blinks, not having noticed that she'd been staring at him, a blush creeping onto both their faces.

"This is Dr Nandez. You can trust her, I promsie."

Cinder nods. "Where are you going?"

Kai cuts off his cringe and shrugs, going to say something but deciding not to and kissing her cheek before slipping out of the room before she can say his name.

Dr Nandez smiles warmly. "Are you in any pain?"

"Does confusion count as pain?"

Dr Nandez chuckles, "Thankfully not, or else my clinic would be swarming with patients all the time."

Cinder laughs, deciding that she likes the woman.

It's not too long later, only after a second blood test and a few bandage upgrades, that Thorne and Cress burst into the room.

"Oh, aces, thank stars that you're alive," Thorne says, his voice full of genuine concern and relief.

"You scared us!" Cress accuses, hugging her gently.

"What she said." Thorne rubs the back of his head awkwardly.

Cinder smirks at him but nods, appreciating his strange way of expressing emotions.

Cress suddenly narrows her eyes. "Did Kai tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Cinder asks.

Thorne and Cress share a look before Thorne coughs, "About the wedding?"

"Did it happen? Or did you stop it? I don't know anything about it yet."

Cress makes a sympathetic face and Cinder groans, throwing her head back in annoyance, now understanding why he wasn't telling her what had happened.

But of course he wouldn't want to talk about it. What kind of boyfriend would want to tell their girlfriend that they'd married her Aunt's daughter?

"Where did he go?" Cinder asks, sitting up with Cress' help.

Dr Nandez walks back in with a frown on her face. "Don't you even think about going anywhere in the next hour."

"The next hour?" Cinder echoes incredulously. "I can't wait a whole hour!"

"You can and you will." Dr Nandez points a finger at her in warning, the other hand on her hip.

Cinder huffs, watching Dr Nandez unwrap the bandage on her hand and clean the cuts she didn't know existed before fixing on a new bandage.

"Right. I've got to go and check on your other friend but I'll be back soon," Dr Nandez says, "Don't move."

She bins the old bandages before giving Cinder a warning glance and leaving.

"You're not going to actually stay here, are you?" Cress asks, almost sadly.

Cinder grins. "Either you help me get out or I'm getting out myself."

"That's the spirit!" Thorne laughs.

Cinder pauses as she replays what Dr Nandez had said, and frowns. "Which friend?"

Thorne and Cress look immediately confused.

"She said she was going to check on a friend. Who's hurt?" Cinder asks, chewing on her lip.

"It's probably Scarlet she's checking up on. Jacin took Winter back home and she's already looked over both of us so..." Cress shrugs.

Cinder nods. "She's okay though?"

"She's going to be absolutely fine, stop worrying," Thorne says, waving a hand.

Cinder nods, sending her worry to the furthest corners of her mind before she can focus on it and let it consume her.

"Anyone know how to disconnect this?" she asks, lifting her hand up and referring to the IV line.

Cress makes a show of cracking her knuckles without actually making a sound. "Let me."

Thorne and Cinder share an amused but proud look as Cress safely takes the IV drip out, ensuring that it doesn't bleed or give her blood poisoning.

Cinder smiles. "Thanks."

Thorne makes a show of cracking his knuckles this time, but actually managing to make the sounds, and nudges Cinder, raising an eyebrow. "Where to first?"

Cinder sighs. "We need to find Kai."

Thorne nods. "Agreed. There is the small matter of needing to shut down the security codes on the doors first though."

"Can't Cress do that?" Cinder frowns.

Cress smiles at the compliment but shakes her head. "This is an old building so I can't connect to it remotely. I need to be at the source."

Cinder chews on her lip again but Thorne nods with a determined expression. "We can get you there."

"How does this building have any kind of security despite being so old that Cress can't get into it?" she wonders.

Cress shrugs. "Your Aunt seems to know people."

Cinder sighs. "Yeah, that she does."

The three of them leave together, Thorne and Cinder in front of Cress. They manage to get out of what Cinder now knows is the makeshift infirmary and get past two empty corridors before they actually come across other people.

And they're not very nice people.

Thorne yells as a punch lands on his jaw and Cinder jumps into action, pushing Cress behind them even as she aims a kick at the one closest to them.

The kick lands on the girl's stomach and makes her reel back but there no time to be smug because the boy behind her hits a pressure point and Cinder staggers, clutching her shoulder. She hisses as the girl kicks her shin but kicks the boy where it counts and watches him stumble back before punching the girl's nose, her hand throbbing even as she girl gets a nosebleed.

The girl doesn't hesitate before lunging forwards, sending both Cinder and herself towards the unwelcoming floor.

Cinder manages to turn while they're falling so that the other girl lands on her back and she lands on top of her. She watches the girl wince and punches her before she can get up, barely feeling the girl's punches as she lands blow after blow on her, wanting to get revenge.

She breathes heavily as she girl groans and slumps in defeat, on the verge of passing out.

She doesn't notice herself fighting the other boy because he passes out far too quickly, obviously not as well trained, and she almost feels back for fighting him.

She and Thorne exchange an exhilarated look and nod at each other, still full of adrenaline.

"Are we just leaving them here?" Cress asks.

Thorne chuckles. "You're welcome to carry them, my darling."

Cress blushes but shakes her head and the three of them continue forwards.

They decide to avoid any more violent interactions, not that they'd chosen to have the first one, and spend far longer than acceptable ducking behind walls and running through random doors until they get to what Cress tells them is the control centre.

Not the main one where Levana's people are no doubt stationed, but the secondary one that can override just about everything.

Cress grins as they push the door open, Cinder and Thorne both running their shoulders as they follow the smaller girl.

Cress' nose scrunches up as she gazes over the machines in front of her. But she smiles in relief when she sees a computer, even if it does look ancient. She immediately finds a way to log on, laughing as the screen comes up with what looks like endless code.

Thorne makes a face. "I don't know how she can read that."

"The same way you can read the instructions on your hair cream," Cinder retorts.

Thorne rolls his eyes. "Oh please. I don't follow instructions."

"So you admit to using hair cream?" Cinder asks, laughing.

"It's called hair gel," Thorne corrects, smiling despite his pretentious tone.

Half a discussion about hair product later, Cress makes a victorious sound, jumping up. "I did it!"

"Congratulations, angel." Thorne grins.

"What did you do?" Cinder asks, confused.

Cress smirks.

It's not that Cinder didn't know Cress is absolutely deadly once you give her any kind of WiFi but there's something about someone so small wearing such a large, smug smirk that makes her want to hide, even if she has had her hair braided by said smug person.

"Every single lock in this place is now wide open," Cress says, smiling.

Cinder almost jumps for joy but she chooses not to make the effort herself, instead doing it vicariously as she watches Thorne twirl Cress around with a proud, loving smile on his face.

The three of them make their way back to the infirmary without encountering anybody, closing the door behind them with identical, relieved sighs.

An exasperated cough startles them.

Dr Nandez glares at them disapprovingly but there's a small smile lying on her lips.

"I'd ask where you went but it's pretty obvious that one of you is very skilled with computers."

"Why just one of us?" Thorne scoffs, but it's good natured.

Dr Nandez rolls her eyes, something none of them had expected. "Oh please, don't question my abilities."

Cinder laughs. "We're sorry."

The woman waves a hand. "It's not an issue, don't worry. Drink this."

Cinder catches the drink she throws and frowns at it before chugging it down, feeling guilty for wondering if it was poisoned when nothing happens and she feels much better within seconds.

"Is Scarlet okay?" Cress asks quietly.

Dr Nandez nods. "She's stable and recovering, don't worry. I'm afraid your tall friend probably won't be able to talk for a while but he'll be okay as well."

Curiously arises inside of Cinder as she tried to figure out what happened to make him unable to talk.

"It's not like Wolf's a scintillating conversationalist anyway," Thorne says, then makes a face at himself.

"Did you just-?" Cinder frowns.

"Use a phrase that Kai usually does?" Cress giggles. "He totally just did."

"Nobody tell the nerd," Thorne orders, still scowling.

Cinder's amused smile disappears as she turns back to Dr Nandez. "Have you seen him?"

The doctor nods slowly. "I think it's best you get to him soon. Levana is rather angry at him."

Thorne laughs. "We didn't tell you! He had a massive fight with Simone."

"And?" Cinder asks, confused.

"He's more or less okay but Simone's got a massive gash on her arm, so she can't really move it, a sprained ankle and she can't open one eye," Thorne says with pride.

Cinder can't help smiling too.

Cress whistles, "Where did Kai learn to fight?"

"I don't actually know," Cinder admits.

"We'll ask him later," Thorne decides. "For now, do you have any water?"

The question startles them but Dr Nandez nods. "Stay here. And actually stay here this time."

They nod, waiting patiently as she returns with three bottles of water.

Cinder glances at it, not wanting to see water again for the rest of her life. But she knows this water can't hurt her so she Ignores the spikes of fear inside her and unscrews the lid, gulping it in and loving the way it cools her throat down.

The three of them flop down on the floor while they stretch out their aching limbs and Cress braids Cinder's hair, claiming that it's a 'battle braid' and that she should have her hair styled like a warrior.

Thorne makes a confused face, muttering about girls being curious creatures, before he once again smiles at Cress.

Cinder rolls her eyes at him, knowing what he's thinking.

When you love someone, everything they do seems so much better, so much more skilled, and so much more impressive, even if it is confusing or seemingly illogical.

It's a smile she often finds herself directing at or receiving from Kai.

Even if the two of them understand each other perfectly, they don't necessarily understand exactly what the other is doing.

Once Cress has relieved her stress and finished Cinder's braid, the three of them stand up.

"What's the plan?" Thorne asks.

Cinder smiles.

She knows they've all been fighting on behalf of each other, in all sorts of ways, but it's not over yet. She half wishes that none of them had any battles other than exam grades, but there's no turning back when they've gotten this far. She might as well try to end this war.

"Let's go make my boyfriend a widower."

She just hopes she can.

For all of their sakes.

like/reblog but don’t repost, thanks!

[ekrochford]

‘She was silenced by the blare of recorded trumpets through invisible overhead speakers. She ducked at the sound, eyes widening, as the short melody faded. At the last trill of the horns, a majestic voice boomed through the ball room. ‘Please welcome to the 126th Annual Ball of the Eastern Commonwealth, a personal guest of His Imperial Majesty: Linh Cinder of New Beijing”.’

-Marissa Meyer, Cinder

All right, Marissa Meyer, you have my attention.

Sheesh.

Yes, I did need to use that gif. How could I NOT use that gif?

For those who are not familiar with the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder is the first book in a series of fairy tale retellings set in the distant future of our world. That’s in a nutshell. And in a glimpse, I was intrigued.

A little more information: Linh Cinder is a teenage cyborg in the futuristic New Beijing, a place where being a cyborg is on the same level as being a sex offender or a polygamist. She didn’t have a choice in becoming a cyborg, and she has fewer options still when her adoptive father dies of the dreaded blue fever, the plague that is ravaging Earth, and leaves Cinder in the care of her bitter adoptive mother.

Cinder is a pragmatist and the best mechanic in the district; she has a plan to slip out of her guardian’s noose. But when the handsome Prince Kai comes around seeking her help to restore his personal android, Cinder finds her path to freedom quickly clogging up with complications. Before long, those complications involve the feared and powerful Lunar Queen Levana and the despised Lunar race, beings that can use their energy fields to manipulate perceptions of sight and sound like magic.

I’ve read good YA fiction before, after all. Just because a book is aimed at teenagers doesn’t mean it is, by default, bad.

THAT BEING SAID, CINDER ISN’T QUITE OFF THE HOOK.

I’m not going to condemn the whole series based on a few shortcomings, but these really should be addressed.

My usual shortcoming with modern YA fiction is the typical shallow feeling of its world and characters. This is not a quirk of the genre; I’ve read excellent fantasy YAF with real depth--sci-fi is not a far step to the left. I’ve been a teenager before, guys. I know Meyer, also, has been a teenager. For all that adults like to laugh at teens and their silly problems (”Oh, you’re out of lip gloss? How terrible.” “A two-thousand word essay? *snickers* That’s rough”) young adults do, in fact, possess real emotions. The transition between child and adult often leaves teenagers unprepared to handle the volatile complexities of ‘grown-up feelings’ but to fail to explore the depth of thought and feeling in a teen character is a terrible waste. Reading through, Meyer failed to connect us adequately to a truly, phenomenally unique incarnation of the familiar Cinderella figure, and that’s a damn shame.

Taking it further, she created a stunning new world in a techno-retro future of East-meets-West culture, and I actually felt underwhelmed. What the hell? The opportunities to drag me into New Beijing were there, and the best Meyer could do was put up a picture window for her readers to peer through. If this wasn't such an amazing setting and an amazing recreation of these fairy tales, I wouldn’t be so harsh, but I have literally never seen anything like this before. Such a novel concept deserved better presentation.

One last thought--it was all too predictable. Yeah, I knew Cinder was obviously going to end up a princess some way or another, but the hints along the way were so heavy-handed. It was like when your co-worker wouldn’t shut up about Rock Hard in the Park for a month straight and then mysteriously called out sick that weekend. Seriously. We saw that coming.

But please, this series is far from a bust! I enjoyed it, despite my complaining.

Did I mention how jaw-dropping this entire concept is? Holy gods, it’s about future New Beijing, with a whole different race of people living on the freaking moon, and mind-control, and a plague, and looming world war, and... cyborgs! The fact that I bitched about all those other things and picked the style and depth and predictability to pieces and I still really enjoyed this book is a huge indicator of its value.

I, myself, am guilty of not letting my verbs do the heavy lifting. I have committed the high sin of being disgustingly predictable. And yes, I’ve failed to bridge the gap between my readers and my characters in the past. Meyer does these things, and I understand, because I’ve been there. I also forgive her, because the bright shiny gleam of fresh blood in the fairy tale retelling world is soooooo worth it!

Now for the count.

5/10 Voice. Yep I hacked Cinder to pieces on this one. Look, when you have an idea this spectacular, you’ve got to step up your game. The writing in Cinder was pallid and shapeless; there was some magnetism to the sci-fi genre in the use of vocabulary, but too little, too late. I’ll check out Scarlet and Cress and Winter, but Cinder is the first novel and the hook that needs to yank people into the series. Descriptions were cookie-cutter, emotions were cut-and-paste, and dialogue was acceptable at best.

7/10 Characters. Now, if the premise of future-sci-fi fairy-tales is the crowning jewel of the Lunar Chronicles, the characters are the Scepter of Office. I ADORE Prince Kai. The thought of a teenage prince being a social media star was so jarringly close to reality--so, so good.  And grouchy, down-to-earth cyborg Cinder being the city’s best mechanic? OMG. Those things being said, Meyer builds her characters with very predictable templates, and I don’t refer to the fairy tale source material, here. My two commandments of compelling characters are thus: 1) Thou shalt act according to one’s nature, and 2) Thou shalt not be boring while doing so. And there were times were Meyer’s characters were, in fact, boring, not in what they were, but what they were doing.

9/10 Story. With a little more spice, I would have given Cinder a 10/10 for this one! Meyer shines in her glossy retelling of oft-told-tales and stories that have been rewritten so many times, they’re getting creased at the spines. The story is the reason I will go back, spend money on Scarlet and the others, use my time to read through, and give Meyer another shot. I was intrigued by it all, and while her hints got excessive and her characters mechanical (lol I made a joke), Meyer still had a slew of brilliant ideas for this retelling.

All in all, I give Cinder, the first book in the Lunar Chronicles, a 7/10. I have a lot of problems with this book, but I’ll still come back for the rest--if that doesn’t sell you, I don’t know what will.

Young adult fiction is in a tricky place of being in high demand, which means sometimes lesser works make it to the limelight. The Lunar Chronicles are a marvelous concept that I don’t want to see wasted. Come on, Meyer, don’t bring me down.