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randomlyblues · 1 year

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How little stuff there is about Marissa Meyer books saddens me, I have no one to geek to about them. Then there's the other part of me that wants to gatekeep them.

#marissa meyer #renegades trilogy #the lunar chronicles #nova artino #adrien everheart #linh cinder #wolf kesley #scarlet benoit #winter blackburn #carswell thorne #cress darnel #tlc jacin #levana blackburn #heartless marissa meyer #catherine pinkerton #Jest heartless #gilded marissa meyer #instant karma marissa meyer

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mydarlingdearestdead · 9 months

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Impossibilities

Heartless, Cath and Alice, post-book by however long until Alice is in Wonderland. She's acting as a maid for some reason... Idk either. It's Cath reminiscing about Jest.

"It is impossible." Alice whispered, the delicate flower crumpled in her palm and she reeled back as the heavy stench of blood hit her... Right into the Queen's skirt.

"Your-" Alice tried for a curtsy. "Your Majesty, I'm afraid-"

The Queen waved her hand impatiently. "I am in no mood to hear your pitiful try of an excuse just..." She trailed off, deflating. The Queen gazed at the flowers with an expression Alice may have mistaken for mourning if she hadn't known the woman in question. "Just... Bring the tea, dear." She said at last.

Alice nodded and hurried off, far too quick to be proper but the thought scarcely crossed the young girl's mind. "And-" The Queen's voice hasn't regained it's regal quality just yet. "I once knew a man who spoke of impossibility as a challenge to be conquered." She laughed, a brittle sound. Such was unknown to Alice. Something in the Queen's voice changed when she spoke again. There was, if Alice wasn't mistaken, hope laced in with the stubborn bitterness years on the throne had left her with. "Impossibility was his speciality."

Alice froze in the doorway. "He sounds spectacular."

The Queen briefly touched her fingers to her lips, smiling fondly. Alice caught the moment in the vanity's reflection, but suspected it was not for her eyes to witness.

"He was." The Queen whispered. "Dear Hearts, he was."

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sc11vb · 4 months

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Heartbroken

A Heartless fanfic

1620 words

A/N: This is sad and sweet and made me cry at one particular part. I hope you enjoy reading it!! Let me know if you would like to see it on AO3!! Much love!!

She saw him everywhere.

She glimpsed his reflection in her mirrors, but he was always gone by the time she dared to turn around.

She thought she heard his easy laugh echoing throughout the corridors of the home she’d never wanted, the Castle of Hearts.

It was all wrong.

Her heart was supposed to be gone; why did it feel as though there was another in her chest? This new heart - it was trying to repair what had been lost.

“A heart, once stolen, can never be given back.”

Could that be Jest’s heart, then? Could he be inching her towards feeling once again? Her mind had been a blank slate for so long, erased of the brokenness that had been her. The sweet relief of not being able to feel had satisfied her for a while, until he started coming back.

He was gone. He should stay gone. How would she - could she - love him, if her own heart refused to beat? It wasn’t hers anymore, anyways. But what if Jest still had a piece of her heart? What if he had coaxed her into being able to feel again, without her knowledge?

Cath scoffed to herself. It wasn’t as though Jest could return.

. . . . . .

Then he began coming to her while she was sleeping, in her dreams - or were those nightmares? Cath could never tell. He was the hazy, beautiful boy she had first known.

In those visions, he would hold her and kiss her and tell her he loved her. Sometimes, she would do the same. Sometimes, she would back away, startled by the unnaturalness of it all. He would always wear that expression of hurt as her footsteps receded nervously. But he had a reason to hurt. He was dead, after all.

Cath revelled in those moments, those times when she and Jest could make up for what was lost - for all the kisses that they had been unable to give, to share. She imagined a happy life in Chess where she was not a queen, not a king’s wife. Where she didn’t have to play at love.

. . . . . .

Then he started speaking to her.

His voice was the water that eroded her stone-coldness. He wore away at her hurt, chipped off the lingering pain.

He had always been one for achieving the impossible.

His words were always soothing and kind, never harsh, like they should’ve been. Cath had let him die. He should despise her, not welcome her into his arms like she belonged there. But these were just dreams … weren’t they?

And although Cath was loath to admit it, he needed to stop. She couldn’t go on like this.

. . . . . .

“We can stop the pain.”

The three sisters were back, having been summoned by Cath for their knowledge. They carried the remains of her black, broken heart … or did they? Was there a fresh part that she was unaware of, kept by Jest even in death?

“What do you ask for in return?” They always asked for a price, high or low.

“Tillie wants a strand of midnight hair, Lacie wants a gown you’ll never wear, and I want a jewel from the crown you can hardly bear.”

That was all easy enough to get.

A tug at her scalp was the midnight hair. A quick search of her plentiful wardrobe produced a white dress that reminded her too much of the roses Jest had bestowed upon her. A trip to a blacksmith, and her crown was absent of a singular ruby.

All were given to the sisters three.

“You must sleep, my queen,” said Tillie. “When the joker enters your dreams, you must bid him goodbye.”

“Do the impossible, and ask for your heart back.” This came from Elise.

Lacie stood next to Cath. “Sleep,” she murmured, and Cath slumped against the wall.

. . . . . .

“You’ve returned.”

As always, Cath opened her eyes to a garden of white roses. It was the common setting to any dreams featuring Jest. It was ironic, she supposed - the one flower that she had demanded never to see, she was always happiest to be greeted by.

The second thing in sight was Jest.

Cath could not help the tears burning at her eyelids. With a sob, she fell into Jest’s strong arms. He seemed more realistic than usual - it was him. Truly him. The boy she loved so greatly, brought to life in a vision.

What was this feeling? Why was it so familiar? Why did it ripen the pain, split open a nearly-healed wound that Cath had been so prudently nursing?

“Don’t cry, Cath,” Jest whispered. His lips brushed softly against her hair. “Shh. I’m here.”

Nonetheless, Cath sobbed again. This time, she dared to look into those lemon-yellow eyes. They were as sweet as the lemon tarts she had made (and twice as beautiful), before she’d truly known him, before she’d loved him, before she lost him. Before vengeance was a thing that occupied her every waking thought.

“Jest,” she said, her voice like broken glass. “Jest. Why did you leave me? Why would you go?”

“Oh, Cath.” His words sent a fresh wave of tears down her cheeks. She swiped at them, determined to make this a happy moment, instead of a tearful one.

Cath clutched his black tunic with shaking hands. She never wanted to let go. She wouldn’t let him leave again.

“I killed him,” she said. “No, Raven did. But I ordered the execution. Sir Peter is dead.”

A frown creased Jest’s beautiful, perfect mouth. “Cath …”

“I couldn’t bear the pain. Elise, Lacie, Tillie - they took my heart. Carved it clean out of my chest. And then I knew, more than ever, that Sir Peter’s death was the only thing that would truly allow me to let go of you.”

“If you let go, then why am I still here?” Jest made his way over to a bench in the white rose garden that Cath had never noticed. He sat on one side, and Cath sat on the other. It fit them perfectly, as if it had been built to suit both of their bodies as one.

“Because …” Cath’s lip trembled.She couldn’t help it. This was the boy she loved, returned to her. Even in a dream … He had to be real. This was Jest. This was the court joker whom she had given her heart to “Because you have my heart. Even in … death,” she struggled over the word, “you still have my love.”

“And you want it back.” Jest’s laugh was bitter. “That’s why you came back for me. Because you want me to return your stolen possession.” He turned away from her.

“Please, no, Jest - you can’t believe that,” Cath cried, clutching his arm. “I love you. You’re able to see me, and I’m able to see you - because our love is so strong.”

When Jest turned to face her again, their lips joined, his mouth crushing hers. She made a surprised sound before returning the kiss. She never wanted their lips to part. She didn’t want to say goodbye.

It was all happening too quickly. Time wouldn’t wait for her, especially since it had hurt her so easily before.

“How long do we have?” Jest asked, when he was finally able to move away. “Before you leave and never return?”

“Until I wake from this dream. I don’t know how quickly time passes outside of here, but it waits for no one.” Cath traced her thumb across Jest’s cheekbones, around the dimples engraved so cleverly into his cheeks.

“I don’t want to waste any time,” Jest said. His voice had lowered. Cath dared to look him in the eyes. His pupils had dilated, eclipsing the twin golden suns.

“I don’t either,” Cath replied.

“How do we do this?”

“Something tells me you have a knack at accomplishing the impossible.”

Jest chuckled. “Perhaps not entirely what I meant at all.”

“You’ve also successfully undid my laces once before. I assume that’s what you meant?”

“More like it.”

. . . . . .

The sun that had been shining so brightly before had dimmed, and Cath assumed that her time with Jest was coming to a closure.

“I don’t ever want to leave you,” she said.

“You’ll never truly be leaving me,” Jest responded, tracing the contours of her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. “Remember my name. Remember the court joker whom you loved. I’ll save your heart until I see you again - treasure it, protect it. No harm shall befall it. And then, when we’re together, it’ll be like we were never apart.”

Cath just smiled.

“I would never wish for your death,” Jest continued, “but I’ll await your return anxiously. Know that I am in a happy place - not a better one, but a kingdom in which we can be ourselves - and do not let anything lingering behind distract you.”

Cath felt like a liar when she nodded. But the knowledge that she would see Jest again kept her from too much pain, especially as she waited to give him his heart, and take hers back. Not for forever, though.

“Jest,” she said, relishing the feeling of his name on her tongue. He pressed a sweet kiss against her swollen lips.

“Say it,” he whispered. “Cath, I love you.”

“I love you too.” Her voice was shaking. There would never be enough kisses, never be enough times when she was entirely centred on Jest’s touch and that alone. “Jest,” she said again, knowing that it would be almost an eternity - almost forever - before she saw him again. “Goodbye.”

It was not a goodbye at all, but just another way to tell him she loved him.

#Heartless #cath heartless #jest heartless #heartless marissa meyer #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer

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theymademesignup08 · 7 months

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My new favorite hobby is reading books where I know the cute little boyfriend dies and get sad at the cute parts because of how badly it ends.

#i’m fine i swear #its cathartic okay #Because I hate men #the assassin's blade #throne of glass #sam cortland #sarah j maas #heartless #jest heartless #marissa meyer #sad books #this is why we can't have nice things

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brainrotlesbian · 10 months

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I was thinking about Heartless yesterday, and about the “get Cath to Chess so she can lead the white queendom to victory” plot line that’s later in the book. Obviously this never happened and the sister’s prophecy of the monarch, the martyr, the murderer, and the mad came to pass. However I was wondering what would’ve happened if they had been successful in getting to Chess.

The audience knows that the land of Chess is locked in an eternal game of chess (or at least, they should, after consideration), but the citizens don’t. They don’t understand why after any sort of checkmate, the game resets, cause they don’t understand that they’re just pieces on a chess board. Jest himself even says that he and Raven are rooks—chess pieces.

Now, knowing that, why would bringing Cath into this change anything? Even if she were able to achieve the rank of queen, there’s no guarantee that the game wouldn’t reset upon a checkmate. Even her being from Hearts doesn’t save her from that fate; we know Hatta was originally from Hearts and he became a pawn (literally) in the White Queendom.

It seems like Cath was doomed no matter which kingdom she stayed in. Staying in Hearts leads to the sisters’ prophecy, and going to Chess means a never-ending fight until they die.

#aspen stfu challenge level impossible #heartless #marissa meyer #heartless marissa meyer #catherine pinkerton #jest heartless

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raspberrybirb · 2 months

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Jest and Catherine King and Queen of Hearts

Ending in which the King of Hearts dies at the claws of the Jabberwock shortly after marrying Catherine leaving her to rule Hearts and defeat the Jabberwock alongside Jest.

As for Jest he gets married to Catherine a while after she defeats the Jabberwock, making him the King of Hearts.

He doesn't die or go back to Chess. (It's complicated if I explain)