#anti kingdom of ash

[lucien-calore]

rowan is a cheap, boring and rude version of chaol. they're both grumpy, annoyed, no-nonsense warriors who at first are wary of aelin/celaena but grow to care for her deeply. they even have the same mbti!! the main difference is that chaol did it first, and chaol did it better.

#chaol westfall #pro chaol westfall #pro chaol #anti rowan #anti rowan whitethorn #anti rowbat #sjm #sarah j. maas #sarah j maas #the assassin’s blade #throne of glass #crown of midnight #heir of fire #queen of shadows #empire of storms #tower of dawn #kingdom of ash

[highqueenofelfhame]

I’m going to start this off by saying that I don’t care if you don’t share my sentiments because this one is a little… I think it’s going to incite a lot of opinions and that’s great, I love the discussions. This is just wholly my opinion and what I think and what I’m picking up on during my reread (relisten really) of Kingdom of Ash. 

Secondly, if you like Chaol, this post probably isn’t going to be for you and that’s okay. But if you’ve been on my blog for a decent bit of time you’ll know that I don’t like him and I have so many reasons for it. I never found his character “development” to be enough for me to come around to him. I will give him credit where it’s due in this post but I just have a lot of thoughts that are so loud I wish i could pause them so I could like, finish my dinner. But I can’t because they’re screaming in my head and I have to get it out. 

I’m also not here to argue about Aelin. I mean, I absolutely will, but that’s not the focus of my thoughts currently in this moment even though a lot of this is going to be focused on her and Dorian to help make my main point.

Toward the end is what I really want to focus on because I’m currently in the thick of the final battle with Aelin just having called herself a god (iconic) and Yrene is getting ready to face Erawan. So now that you know where I’m at, I’ll get into it. 

I’ve noticed through my listen that at every turn, Dorian is like whats up what can I do to help this cause and help this war and help the future. I think we can all agree on that because I think we all love Dorian, I genuinely have never seen any Dorian discourse anywhere and I love that for him. He’s a cinnamon roll, we protect him. And once he and Aelin are reunited, he doesn’t spare a second thought about doing what he can to help her. Closing the gate together? He’s putting on her shoes before she’s really even finished talking and ready to go. In the battle when Elide and Yrene are like this is what we need you to do? He’s flying off without having to be asked twice, without having to even think about what he’s about to throw himself into.

Dorian’s character development is genuinely something that is great and well written and he has fully grown into the King he’s meant to be. And it’s amazing. 

But at every turn when Dorian immediately says yes, Chaol immediately says no. And that’s kind of always his M.O. Chaol’s thinking has always come from a selfish place and this is something that I see in the text over and over. SJM tried to sell his character development but it’s just not there for me. 

At this point in Kingdom of Ash, yes he has a lot more to lose. The stakes are a lot higher to him and I understand that. I think it’s great that he’s thinking so much for his wife and his future child and the family that they will have together. 

However. There isn’t going to be a family if there’s no world left. Right? Like there isn’t going to be a baby if they don’t get out of the absolute dumpster fire their world is in right now and there are limited ways for that to happen.

He is always immediately for Dorian’s life being spared over Aelin’s. And I also do understand that to a degree. Like, that’s his best friend, that’s his brother, they’ve grown up together. But he never thought about this other person that he considers to be his friend when it came down to it. 

This is when I’ll bring up Aelin because it’s relevant to her and Dorian in the last several chapters of this book but also to her character. I can’t stand it when people say she’s selfish when she’s proved time and time again that she’s incredibly selfless. Like if you think she’s selfish you’re reading the words but not seeing the actions, you know? Especially in Kingdom of Ash but in everything leading up to it. 

When she’s in the coffin the only thing keeping her going is knowing that she is the person that is going to have to end it all. She’s going to have to give her life so that everyone she loves and all the people of their entire world will have a better one. She’s been resigned to that for a while. It’s why she didn’t bother fighting Maeve when she was captured on the beach, it’s why she didn’t care if she made it out alive at the end of Heir of Fire when she walked out to face the demon princes. Not only does she have pisspoor mental health and does a lot of suicide missions, but she’s doing it all with the thought of the people she loves in mind. And I think Dorian had a lot of similar motivations in KoA, especially considering he destroyed Morath for his father (whom he still hated.) 

The two of them have always been thinking about the bigger picture, about the future, about the future generations. Even Dorian entirely walked away from Manon offering him literally everything because he knew it wasn’t what she truly wanted, and knew that it would be something of a prison to her, no matter how much he might love that future for himself. Dorian didn’t walk into Morath with selfish motivations. He walked in there not even really truly knowing what was going on with Aelin at the time, knowing that at the end of the day he could be the one having to sacrifice his life to close the gate. He also knew if he was caught he would have another collar put around his neck or be killed. But he did it anyway. 

Chaol, while I understand that his stakes are much higher right now, he’s still like really only thinking about the situation as it pertains to him and what he wants. He wants Dorian to live, he doesn’t want Yrene to face Erawan knowing that she’s like the only person that can truly defeat him at this point. And again, I understand it. I understand the selfish motivations here but it also just goes back to not feeling like he had much character development. 

He’s not entirely the same as he was at the beginning. I don’t think anyone can go through what they’ve gone through and come out the same on the other side. It’s just not possible. But I also don’t think his development has gone far enough to cancel out the wrongs, the hurtful shit he’s said, the prejudice he’s shown specifically to fae and magic wielders. Like, he only decided Rowan was a good male when Rowan tried to heal him at the end of QoS. Which again: only pertains to him and his perception on things which is a very tight circle around himself.

If he truly had any regard for Aelin he would have had a hesitation, even a little bit, when she was the one that was like okay yeah I’m going to die. There would have been something there, some objection, but there wasn’t. Dude never even said sorry for anything he had said to her when he made her feel like a monster. And that’s just a whole other level of fucked up that I’m not going to get into right now. 

Even Rowan, knowing his mate was sacrificing herself, he still acknowledged that it was her choice, that he never lets her do anything, and he came to some sort of place of acceptance. Was he devastated? Absolutely he was. He didn’t know if his tattoo would work or if her and Dorian doing it together would keep them both alive, but he supported her decisions as much as he didn’t like them. Because he also understands what is at stake and that it’s just bigger than them. He was straight up like if she doesn’t come out, I’m going to die too and I’ll find her in the afterworld. Is that selfish? Sure. But there were other people that, if Aelin had died, could rule Terrasen if they succeeded and closing the gate had gone how it was supposed to (with Erawan being taken out with the gods.) But my point is he still supported that, he accepted it. 

But I just don’t see the development from Chaol that we were supposed to see. When Yrene wants to face Erawan, he just keeps trying to shut it down. Because Chaol refuses to see outside of his bubble. Yrene knows what’s at stake. She knows she’s carrying their child, she knows she loves this man something fierce, but she also knows that none of that is going to matter if they don’t win the war, if she doesn’t at least try to take out Erawan when she’s capable. 

And like the badass that she is she fucking does it like a queen. 

I will do another post on Aelin’s selflessness one of these days and I will bring receipts with quotes and page numbers to go along with it. I feel like I’m getting into rambling territory. But all of this is just to say that I simply don’t see Chaol’s character development in terms of him not being selfish. 

I may add more to this later, it’s late and I need to eat my dinner. Thanks to autism, my thoughts were so loud I couldn’t even focus on eating and the only way to make them relax a little was by getting them out of my brain and onto a page. 

Anyway, I still don’t like chaol. And I’m not even on a fresh chaol hate-train. I haven’t read this full series in over a year but relistening has just like further solidified for me that he just really hasn’t changed that much. Not nearly as much as SJM wanted us to think, anyway.

And I still think that Yrene, the brilliant healer, getting pregnant was the silliest story line. 

But also like how can Yrene defeat a valg king while pregnant but Feyre’s healers couldn’t do a fuckin c-section? Hello?????

Okay that’s all. 

Love u bye

#hot tea and hotter takes #hot tea & hotter takes #sjm #dorian havilliard #rowan whitethorn #aelin galathynius #yrene towers #tog #throne of glass #heir of fire #queen of shadows #kingdom of ash #fandom discourse #not tagging chaol because i don't want to add anti shit to his tag that people enjoy

[silverflameataraxia]

Rather than releasing Feysand's bonus chapter again, what SJM should do is release Elorcans first sex scene as a bonus chapter.

Lorcan and Elide deserved better.

#acotar #acosf #feysand #sarah j. maas #elorcan #lord lorcan lochan #lady elide #sjm critical #lorcan salvaterre #elide x lorcan #anti sjm #lorcan lochan #elide lochan #sjmaas #lorcan x elide #throne of glass #kingdom of ash

[smolandweirdwriter]

I feel like my biggest problem with Celaena/Aelin was just that. Celaena Sardothien and Aelin Galathynius were two COMPLETELY different people.

“But that’s how it’s supposed to beeee!” Angry sjm Stans protest. “It’s her becoming a Queeeeen!”

And yeah, okay, that would be fine. But let’s analyze this from a distance, alright?

in Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight (and also assassin’s blade if you read it first ig), we get the beginnings of the character Celaena Sardothien: arrogant, vain, and traumatized (not that her trauma is written very well, but we can touch on that later). And all of this is good- She is open for character development. And she does. She has a full character arc throughout the events of Assassin’s Blade AND throne of glass, the latter even spilling into the beginning of crown of midnight in which she refuses to kill the people the king orders her to.

BUT THEN! Her character development is completely cast aside in favor of her “lost queen” arc. Enter Heir of Fire Celaena! She is traumatized again from the death of her friend, she is suicidal, she is depressed, she does not want to claim her birthright as queen. And all of this would be fine on its own, but it is now COMPLETELY skewing away from the Celaena we got to know and like. As she learns to control her power, she becomes more like her “original” self— the celaena who was cocky and bitchy and had a huge “better than other air-headed girls except for when I’m air-headed of course then it’s ok” attitude. She becomes Aelin and doesn’t listen to anyone. And then she… doesn’t change. Like I really thought QoS would be a good opportunity for her. She can learn to become queen, be more level headed. And she IS NOT. She just continues making more terrible decisions and thinking herself the best. Every single point Darrow brings up in EoS is a legitimate one, and while I don’t blame Aelin for getting angry, I DO blame her for not being able to swallow her damn pride and think for two seconds. She has been gone for TEN YEARS. She’s been a champion murderer for their enemy. She returned with a Fae warrior who was once sworn to the dangerous queen of the fae. OF COURSE THEY’RE NOT GOING TO TRUST HER. of COURSE they’re not going to hand her the kingdom just because it’s her birthright. She’s a whiny brat who thinks she deserves everything just because she’s powerful. And while it’s good characterization, it’s that of a person you want to see change and evolve and learn from her suffering, not just suffer for the sake of having a dramatic backstory and remain the exact same.

#aelin ashryver galathynius #throne of glass #the assassin’s blade #crown of midnight #heir of fire #queen of shadows #empire of storms #kingdom of ash #anti sjm

[westfall-castle]

What do you really think about Aelin? Personally,  I think she's really rude. I'm not staying this because she is written to be confident in herself.  But I believe it is arrogance. We as an audience are gaslit into believing that she's just strong and doesn't take crap. But so was Nehemia,  but the difference between Nehemia is that she isn't arrogant, but Aelin is.

Also there is the issue about her making "plans", that include no-one. I'm pretty sure that's not how you run things. It's pretty selfish to not tell anyone about your plans (like what happened to Aedion), and it's pretty selfish to be physically angry about someone who has a different of opinion than she did ( like Dorian talking about freeing manon in EOS).

Hahahaha, I’m sweating cold with this question because I have a feeling that when I answer, Aelin fans are gonna come for my head with torches and pikes. Still... ilysm for asking this, you're my crush, send you kisses and I agree with you on many levels.

My opinion: Its just too much to understand her anymore. It's like that movie, Split with James McAvoy. I heavily suspected dissociative identity disorder at some point 🤣. Aelin should be at least 45 to have lived all she has lived. It gives me the impression that SJM had to pick ONE main character for her fantasy books, either a girlboss pirate, a young assasin in a mens' world, a medieval courtier with a secret agenda, a gifted magician or a queen from a lost kingdom and she said "fuck it, i'll take them all". There would be no problem with this IF the character stayed consistent, if there were enough TIME but... SHES 19 IN THE FINAL BOOK. I mean...

Her personality traits just keep appearing left and right and us, as readers, don't get accountability for these new ways of behaving. She's feminine when it suits her but then bashes femininity in the next chapter. She's "one of the boys" but also a "girlboss". She's crazy and manic but also mighty and merciful. The only thing that remains constant might be her sense of humor. Her moral compass is a mess and there comes a point where she's truly unpredictable. It seems that she behaves according to what the plot needs in the moment.

For example; She's a girlboss feminist who is willing to teach Yrene how to defend herself and seems to have intentions of "empowering" women around her but then looks down on "soft" vulnerable women, rolling her eyes and mentally shaming and judging on multiple ocassions throughout the books and even saying things like (quoting one of her lines when she meets Philippa, her personal maid.) " Why send such a soft woman to serve her? She'd outpower her in a heartbeat". (And yes, Assassin’s Blade happened before TOG, is she evolving backwards?)

The books center so much in praising her through the point of view of multiple characters that we do not get enough introspection on her behalf. If anything we are swayed into a new tragedy/ battle/ moment of suffering where we only see her brooding over herself or past events as if making her suffer more and more somewhat was the way to revindicate her instead of her having a moment thinking to herself " well, I fucked up, things were not as I thought and I see it now".

Everyone owes her everything even if she was wrong sometimes and never accepted it. She has way too many life debts to call in the end and SHES ONLY 19. That’s why many readers felt in KoA that whenever Aelin and the plot hit a dead end, she just had to send a letter and 8 new powerful allies came claiming they owed her their lives. COME ON 😂 There’s a difference between writing fantasy and magically solving plots with unrealistic arguments.

I think what I hate most is the gaslighting of the narrative. as you mention. There are times where she's being arrogant, mean or condescending and instead of getting a REALISTIC and UNBIASED perspective we just get a Rowan POV chapter saying something like "It was not a plain woman but a queen standing before them" or "It was a queen's voice speaking" and then, as if it was not enough it follows another simping POV (usually Aedion) saying also " Wow, it was not his cousin speaking but a queen before them" like... NO STFU she's not right this time hahahah, and when exactly did she become so high and mighty.

Another example is how she fn ADORES to splurge on dresses on Assassin’s Blade but the moment she meets Kaltain and eavesdrop her conversation in the gardens Kaltain says that her own dress is ‘so old’ despite being practically new and Celaena’s reaction is ‘ugh, these air-headed women’ instead of maybe not pointing it out or even find it relatable. I know that this tells us more about Kaltain, so that we understand the type of person she is, but I still don’t like the harsh judgement Celaena seems to have about specific traits of her personality. Readers are gaslit into believing this change comes from her time in Endovier and now she’s so centered and appreciative and morally superior but THEEEEN in Crown of Midnight she LITERALLY DOES THE SAME, buying more clothes and jewels than she can wear, becoming suddenly a little bit cocky saying things like ‘ugh, these tacky clothes, I wouldn’t be caught dead in those’ . Come on girl, don’t be judgy when you’re the same.

I loved Celaena in Throne of Glass (BOOK 1) . Up until this point it was a tight character, I liked her personality, her internal monologue was funny and relatable. The events that had happened in her life were somehow believable (even if it’s a fantasy book) Her moral compass was clear for the reader and we had this concept of "rogue with certain moral values/ chaotic good" persona. When Aelin comes though... Idk anymore, It feels so inconsistent. She's just... everything, she has 8 different personalities at the same time, it's like she was an A03 fic and she had ALL THE TAGS, all the tropes. She gets away with the bad things she does too easily. In the end I was happy she was happy and never came to hate her but its just too much going on for one character.

#tog #throne of glass #rowan whitethorn #celaena sardothien #aelin ashryver galathynius #sjm books #sjmass #yrene towers #yrene westfall #chaol westfall #dorian haviliard #tog series #kingdom of ash #anti aelin

[eclecticsuitcat]

the fact that nobody is angry about lysaedion getting together at the end of koa is actually baffling to me

how do you read “i have been degraded and humiliated in so many ways, for so many years, but i have never felt as humiliated as i did when you threw me into the snow. when you called me a lying bitch in front of our friends and allies. never. i was once forced to crawl before men. and gods above, i nearly crawled for you these months. and yet it takes me nearly dying for you to realize that you’ve been an ass? it takes me nearly dying for you to see me as human again?” (443) and then be like “omg couple goals!”. 

i’m not saying that aedion’s feelings weren’t in part justified, but the way he treated lysandra as a result was genuinely horrifying to read. i liked lysaedion the first 2 times i read the series and still liked them into eos, but jesus christ, after reading all the koa scenes for the third time i ended up seeing their relationship through a very different lens.

i understand that their imminent death during morath’s seige on orynth probably provided an impetus for their getting back together (knowing that you’re probably going to die definitely sets your priorities out of order) but no way in hell should they have stayed together after that, let alone get MARRIED. 

yeah a lot of the tog ships had bad moments between the couples (see: rowaelin) but the difference is that their cruelty towards each other was never as one-sided as this and they ultimately worked through it and healed together, none of which happened with lysaedion.

i dont really have a great way to end this tangent post other than ship rensanda xoxo (yes i am pushing a ren allsbrook x lysandra ennar agenda. they are a significantly cuter couple with excellent parallels between them and most importantly: would have been a healthy couple). cheers

#throne of glass #kingdom of ashes #lysandra ennar #aedion ashryver #lysandra x aedion #lysaedion #anti lysaedion #ren allsbrook #rensandra #ren allsbrook x lysandra ennar #lysandra ennar x ren allsbrook

[lostinfantasyworldsbi]

I forgot how painful the ending of KOA was. Am hurting very much. I still dislike Rhysand even if he did help her get back to Rowan.

#kingdom of ash #sarah j maas #Books #emotional damage #the thirteen #gavriel #gaaaaahhhhh #sobs #anti rhysand

[jinkieswouldyoulookatthis]

These were some of the tags on one of those "Are they soulmates?" polls...

Okay, once more with feeling...

The axis mundi runs through heaven but it's not the corridors that we see later on in the series that the angels use to get around up there. It's the path that a soul can take to move through their memories, their own heaven. If they follow it long enough it will lead them to the garden. Just like the axis mundi, the garden appears differently to different souls. But Sam and Dean both see the axis mundi the same, a two lane blacktop road, and they both see the garden the same, the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. Every other time they show us Heaven, souls have to pull serious tricks to get out of their heaven and into someone else's but Dean doesn't have to do anything special to find or get to Sam, he just follows the path through his heaven which leads him to Sam. Ash finds them together because they are in a shared heaven, that's literally how the show set it up. Only special cases like soulmates share heavens and they see the garden and the axis mundi the same because they are soulmates.

And whether or not Sam and Dean are soulmates in the show has absolutely ZERO to do with anyone's personal ideas about soulmates and what they are or aren't. All that matters for this discussion is what the show says. I realize the show didn't come right out and say, "Sam and Dean, you two are soulmates" but that is the only fucking reason that the idea of soulmates would have ever been brought up in the first place. What the show did say was...

Sam: So… no offense… Ash: (interrupting) How did a dirt bag like me end up in a place like this? I’ve been saved, man. I was my congregation’s number one snake handler. Sam: (smiling) And you said this was your heaven? Ash: Yup! My own… personal… (Ash shotguns his beer while Sam and Dean watch. He burps.) Sam: And when the angels jumped us? We were… Ash: In your heaven. Sam: So there’re two heavens? Ash: No. More like a hundred billion. So, no worries, it’ll take those angels boys a minute to catch up. Dean: (completely confused) What? Ash: See, you gotta stop thinking of heaven as one place. It’s more like a butt-load of places all crammed together. Like Disneyland except without all the anti-Semitism. (Dean and Sam still look confused.) Sam: Disneyland? Ash: Mm-hmm. Yeah. See you got Winchesterland. (He holds up his hands to indicate the bar.) Ashland. (He points all around outside the bar.) A whole mess of everybody-else-lands. Put them all together: heaven. Right? At the center of it all? Is the Magic Kingdom. The Garden. Dean: So everybody gets a little slice of paradise. Ash: Pretty much. A few people share—special cases. What not. Dean: What do you mean ‘special’? Ash: Aw, you know. Like, uh, soul-mates. (Silence greets his statement. Dean and Sam don’t look at each other.) Anyway. Most people can’t leave their own private Idaho’s. Dean: But you ain’t most people. Ash: Nope. They ain’t got my skills.

There are a few important things said here. When the angels attacked them, Ash found Sam and Dean in their heaven, Winchesterland as Ash calls it, not Deanland or Samland, but combined. He then says that soulmates are unusual because they share a heaven. And then, in case there was any doubt, he specifically says that most people cannot leave their own heavens. Ash can because he has special, unusual, skills. So Dean couldn't have simply driven from his heaven to Sam's heaven because heaven doesn't work that way.

Like, this really isn't that complex. What they gave us was a basic equation where they explained the variables and left the answer understood but just not filled in.

Neither Sam nor Dean could leave their heaven on their own because they lacked the skills to do so, only soulmates share a heaven, but they were together and seeing the landmarks of heaven the same way. The only thing this equals is that Sam and Dean are soulmates.

#canon soulmates #fandom discourse

[kingmagnificoofrosas]

‘Magnifico overreacted so bad over a little light!!’

Think. Please. I’m begging. This man, who saw his family and home burn, saw a bright glowing orange light that was letting off heat and growing in intensity heading for his kingdom that was disturbing his magic and making the very wishes rattle. What’s a fire look like again? OH YEAH! BRIGHT GLOWING ORANGE LIGHT THAT LETS OFF HEAT AND GROWS IN INTENSITY. The brainwaves aren’t waving.

(Btw this isn’t intended to be me accusing you of anything I just need to yell this somewhere 😭)

THIS!! FOLKS!!! THIS!!!! ☝🏻 💥💯 you hit the nail on the head, anon! You can yell this through this 📢

The utter panic he must have felt ... The horrific memories flooding back like a never ending nightmare. Flashes of buildings and people on fire, collapsing to ashes, screams of agony, smells of burning wood, flesh and death. He instantly goes into defense and survival mode. The immense fear, the anxiety, the paranoia, the deep trauma rising in him like the tide during an approaching tsunami and pushing him, forcing him into action.

"Not again! Not again! Never again!" His mind goes into a spiral. He must protect his kingdom! He must not let his past repeat!

Also, THE BRAINWAVES AREN'T WAVING!!!! 🤣🤣🤣 I cried tears of laughter for 5 minutes straight! This is one of the most brilliant things I've ever heard someone say!! And now I will make this our Magnifico-defenders anthem for the antis and haters!! Because that's exactly right!

I'm touching up on this in every single analysis!! And now all l'll say concerning haters is :

Their brainwaves aren't waving! 🤣✨️

#hear hear! #king magnifico #disney wish #wish 2023 #thank you anon! #team magnifico #magnifico defenders #king magnifico isn't a villain

[mistandshcdow]

i’ve seen some chatter regarding pro-war sentiment in rings of power. lotr was so clearly anti war, and people are claiming that is lost in rop. are we watching the same show?

when finrod goes to war, galadriel loses her best friend and brother.

when the southlanders go to war against the orcs, they end up slaughtering their own townsfolk.

when elendil sails to middle earth with miriel, he is sailing to the loss of his son and she her eyes. when she returned, her father was dead and her kingdom at a precipice.

when galadriel takes ups arms with halbrand, she ends up bringing the destruction of the southlands and advances sauron’s own plans.

war touches even the harfoots, who come to arrive to their haven to find the stones of eruption have destroyed their grove and all their food and hope for the next season.

there is no glory in war here. there is only ruin, black orc-blood, and the ashes of mount doom. when the characters in rings of power go to war, they end up killing their own kin and causing a chain of events that cannot be undone.

#rings of power #the rings of power #lord of the rings #galadriel #elendil #sauron #tolkien #jrr tolkien #rop #rop spoilers #herald of ravens

[mariamastermind]

Books as TS Songs

• A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder- no body, no crime

• Good Girl, Bad Blood- this is me trying

• As Good As Dead- Look What You Made Me Do, I Almost Do

• The Insomniacs- Electric Touch

• Renegades- Better Than Revenge

• Archenemies- Glitch

• Supernova- Vigilante Shit, Renegade (Big Red Machine)

• Lore- Sweet Nothing

• Kingdom Of The Wicked- Cruel Summer, I Did Something Bad

• Kingdom Of The Cursed- Lavender Haze

• Kingdom Of The Feared- Dress, So It Goes…

• Caraval- Mastermind, Snow On The Beach

• Legendary- …Ready For It?

• Finale- You Are In Love the last great american dynasty, Long Live

• Throne Of Glass- Change

• Crown Of Midnight- Midnight Rain, Back To December, Dancing With Our Hands Tied

• Heir Of Fire- Cruel Summer, Gorgeous

• Queen Of Shadows- Vigilante Shit, Glitch, Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve, Dear John

• Empire Of Storms- False God, I Can See You, “Slut!”

• Tower Of Dawn- Electric Touch, Paris, Say Don’t Go, gold rush, Everything Has Changed, invisible string

• Kingdom Of Ash- Castles Crumbling

• The Lightning Thief- Welcome To New York

• The Sea Of Monsters- marjorie, I Know Places, Clean

• The Titan’s Curse- You’re On Your Own Kid, Is It Over Now?, Now That We Don’t Talk, Forever & Always

• The Battle Of The Labyrinth- Labyrinth, You Are In Love, Suburban Legends

• The Last Olympian- The Great War, This Love, Maroon, State Of Grace, Treacherous, Mine, Sparks Fly

• The Lost Hero- The Outside

• The Son Of Neptune- Question…?, Hey Stephen

• The Mark Of Athena- Mastermind, Vigilante Shit, Hits Different, Question…?

• The House Of Hades- Getaway Car, You Need To Calm Down, Death By A Thousand Cuts, The Man

• The Blood Of Olympus- Mine, You’re On Your Own Kid, Call It What You Want

• The Hidden Oracle- 22

• The Dark Prophecy- it’s time to go

• The Burning Maze- You’re Losing Me, Bigger Than The Whole Sky, Ronan, Forever Winter, epiphany, Soon You’ll Get Better

• The Tyrant’s Tomb- Castles Crumbling, The Man

• The Tower Of Nero- Dear Reader, Anti-Hero

• The Sword Of Summer- The Outside, Fearless

• The Hammer Of Thor- The Man

• The Ship Of The Dead- the lakes

• The Chalice Of The Gods- Anti-Hero, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, You’re On Your Own Kid, Karma, Is It Over Now?

#taylor swift #1989 taylor's version #party like it’s 1989 #swifties #speak now taylor’s version #long live taylor’s version #red taylor’s version #evermore #fearless taylor’s version #percy jackson disney+ #books

[silverflameataraxia]

I'm convinced that the reason we never got an Elorcan sex scene is because Elide turned out to be quite freaky in bed and SJM just didn't know what to do with that.

#throne of glass #kingdom of ash #elorcan supremacy #elorcan #lorcan x elide #lady elide #elide x lorcan #elide lochan #elide supremacy #elide stan #sarah j. maas #sjm critical #anti sjm #sjmaas

[keftiu]

my last two+ years of mecha roleplaying

a little over two years ago, my friend group got together for a game of Microscope, intent on creating a setting for ourselves that could host at least one (and potentially more!) Beam Saber campaigns. seven hours later, we emerged from a feverish haze with the bones of an indulgent sci-fi mecha world perfectly tailored to our niche tastes: the Pearlescent Expanse, a former frontier province of a fallen Coalition between seven interstellar empires who now feuded over the ashes.

following that, some of us branched out into our own corners of this Expanse. i claimed Aureate, the world of golden deserts and briny seas that had once been the region's capital, now scarred by war and tyranny, and wound up running a Beam Saber campaign of my own, Gilded Sands! we told the story of a revolution being built out of criminals and the oppressed, rising up against both fascist Hellenistic technocrats and the slave-owning exiles of an avian faux-Holy Roman Empire, and had an absolute blast with it - some of my proudest GMing ever, with an incredible crew of players.

i experimented with one-shots that jumped around the timeline: a Scum & Villainy game (Gilded Sands: Cobalt Revolt) about a doomed anti-Coalition rebellion centuries before GS, and an Armour Astir: Advent game (Gilded Sands: A Sign of Zeta) set fifteen years later, as the next war for liberation left Aureate behind for her wider solar system.

eventually, i managed to get together folks for a truly brilliant 4-session run of Kingdom 2e (Gilded Sands: Broken Promise) that played out that next war from the perspective of our fragile young republic's leaders - ending on a bittersweet note, as we won freedom for all in our sun's orbit, but saw our nation dissolved in the hopes of building something less flawed in a time of peace.

getting to explore ~300 years of this planet's history has been an absolute joy, and given it a sense of depth that's made it incredibly real for us.

there's notes on my computer for what the world looks like a century later, where the weight of history and the intrusion of psychic alien energies have made Aureate into a Songs for the Dusk setting, about as far as can be from the militant grit of Beam Saber so long ago.

while i've been busy, my friends have not sat dormant: a Beam Saber campaign on the world of Garden happened largely outside our sight on another Discord server, while a friend had a really good run at Armour Astir last year on the planet Teter. several recent additions are about to try out Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands on troubled Makesh, while (with luck!) i'm playing Mothership out in the turbulent Keshi Rim very soon. Veranova is looking to host some 2400: Inner System Blues in the coming weeks. folks have spilled tons of digital ink on worldbuilding with nothing to do with actual play, creating for the sheer joy of it and for the excitement it brings everyone else on the project.

in short - we're a bunch of autistic nerds who all like mechs and love sharing things with one another, and it's led to a golden age of both collaborative creativity and getting to play obscure indie tabletop systems.

this post is a lot of rambling, but more than that, it's me shouting from the rooftops: find cool friends, make cool shit together, and play games that aren't made by giant corporations!! the Pearlescent Expanse as been an absolute gift for all of us, and we don't intend to stop any time soon - you could do the same!!

#worldbuilding #ttrpg #mecha #pearlescent expanse #beam saber #armour astir #songs for the dusk #mobile frame zero #2400 #scum & villainy #mothership

[westfall-castle]

hey! Aelin stan here, I just wanted to say that i've seen your anti Aelin posts and you make really good points! You're completely correct in pointing out that Aelin should in no way have all the "life experience" SJM throws at her or be able to play the queen card all the time. In my opinion, the root issue is bad writing and SJM's apparent inability to write MCs who aren't some glorified, deified "perfect" being who checks all the boxes ever imagined.

I honestly wish that we saw more of Aelin making her mistakes and having to deal with the consequences. Like yeah, we sort of do, but not in any real way, and I think that's one of the things we as readers in general but also as Aelin stans tend to gloss over. She was rash and impetuous and never seemed to suffer the consequences, and everyone around her backed her up even when they "were mad that she didn't tell anyone her plans." Again, i think a decent part of this is bad writing and a too-heavy relance on the fantasy as opposed to making characters believable, but Aelin was the main main character, she deserved more than being exalted to god status.

thank you for being a voice of critique :) feel free to respond however you think this giant rambling braindump deserves :)

Hi Aelin Stan! I hope you’re doing awesome.

First of all I’m so sorry for taking centuries in replying to this 😭 Thank you very much for taking the time to drop by and leave your question.

Thank you so much for reading my posts! I wouldn’t consider myself fully anti-Aelin, but I include the tag so people can navigate through the content easier and well, because that post, as you remember, wasn’t precisely hyping her up hahah 😅. I do, however, see she has lots of positive traits to her and actually like her, she has a special place in my reader heart.

I agree with you completely! It was most likely because lots of things were going on throughout the series. First, it heavily relied on fantasy, as you say (which is not bad and it’s part of why I loved it) but soon SJM was tasked with

-Generating lore for this fantasy world

-Explain fantastic elements as more characters were added (For example: Introduce Manon= Explain the whole dynamics about witches. Introduce Rowan= Explain the whole dynamics about fae and demi-fae)

- Weaving the characters and making them interact so we had a story

-Developing each character’s arc

- Bringing the story forward making it make sense

-Write romance for all these characters ending with more than 6 pairings

SO IT WAS A LOT GOING ON! And I do admire as a reader the amount of work this represented and how she brought it forward. in the end, the series counts with 8 books and it still left us wanting for more!

At the same time, maybe this was the reason there wasn’t enough space for development, introspection, accountability for Aelin. There simply was no space for this to happen! If Aelin suffered the consequences, as you very smartly mention, it would have required to edit the text and narrow certain elements to have space, or add 2 more books to the series and make it 10 (which I’m personally not opposed to hahah, but we know how editorial publications work and it’s already hard as it is to publish 8 books in a row!)

Perhaps the work got so big no amount of words did it justice. Maybe we wouldn’t have gotten Elide or Aedion. Who knows how it would’ve gone.

Many readers mention in their critiques of TOG the space management (aka: reading and editing to cut out irrelevant parts and make reading more efficient and straightforward) What I can say about it is: I agree, however, SJM is the writer. We must respect as readers that maybe these parts in her mind were specifically relevant to her and helped her build this big fantasy world in her head. Many parts could be left out to make it “neater” but it’s easy to critique when you’re not the one who’s writing.

Throughout the 8 books, I felt SJM’s necessity to transmit. She wanted to take us into the narrative, clarify all of the reader’s questions and she did a commendable job in doing so. However, she did drown in words in some parts. Sometimes you were reading and the narrator was talking and talking and you couldn’t help but think: ???? Why is this relevant? Hahaha

Maybe these parts could be used for the character development we were seeking at the expense of cutting out certain details from the books.

Well, you have no idea how much I love engaging in these types of conversation so I really have to thank you 🥹❤️ I send you a hug wherever you are and you’re not rambling! It makes so much sense! I can see you’re an avid reader 💕

Lots of love and if you ever want to discuss books again I’m here! Promise to take much less in replying.

#throne of glass #tog #aelin galathynius ashryver #crown of midnight #heir of fire #queen of shadows #empire of storms #tower of dawn #kingdom of ash #rowan whitethorn #dorian havilliard #sjm books #sjm #celaena sardothien #aelin ashryver #aelin of the wildfire #anti aelin #pro aelin #just Aelin talk in general hehe

[docpiplup]

DAENERYS TARGARYEN APPRECIATION MONTH 2022

Day 9: Anti-Parallels with Westerosi Monarchs (Cersei, Stannis and Robert)

-Dany taking care of child hostages on Meereen

Dany pushed her food about her plate. She dare not glance over to where Grazhar and Qezza stood, for fear that she might cry. The Shavepate has a harder heart than mine. They had fought about the hostages half a dozen times. "The Sons of the Harpy are laughing in their pyramids," Skahaz said, just this morning. "What good are hostages if you will not take their heads?" In his eyes, she was only a weak woman. Hazzea was enough. What good is peace if it must be purchased with the blood of little children? "These murders are not their doing," Dany told the Green Grace, feebly. "I am no butcher queen."

A Dance with Dragons, Daenerys IV

-Cersei ordering to kill Robert's bastard children on King's Landing

"No," Tyrion snapped. "Damn you. Damn her." He could not touch Cersei, he knew. Not yet, not even if he'd wanted to, and he was far from certain that he did. Yet it rankled, to sit here and make a mummer's show of justice by punishing the sorry likes of Janos Slynt and Allar Deem, while his sister continued on her savage course. "In future, you will tell me what you know, Lord Varys. All of what you know."

The eunuch's smile was sly. "That might take rather a long time, my good lord. I know quite a lot."

"Not enough to save this child, it would seem."

"Alas, no. There was another bastard, a boy, older. I took steps to see him removed from harm's way . . . but I confess, I never dreamed the babe would be at risk. A baseborn girl, less than a year old, with a whore for a mother. What threat could she pose?"

"She was Robert's," Tyrion said bitterly. "That was enough for Cersei, it would seem."

A Clash of Kings, Tyrion II

-Stannis willingly accepting to sacrifice Edric Storm, his nephew, for R'hollr to try to get dragons (and probably will do the same with Shireen in the future)

"I know the cost! Last night, gazing into that hearth, I saw things in the flames as well. I saw a king, a crown of fire on his brows, burning . . . burning, Davos. His own crown consumed his flesh and turned him into ash. Do you think I need Melisandre to tell me what that means? Or you?" The king moved, so his shadow fell upon King's Landing. "If Joffrey should die . . . what is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?"

"Everything," said Davos, softly. - A Storm of Swords - Davos V

-Robert approved the deaths of Rhaenys and Aegon, Rhaegar's children, just for getting the crown

Ned did not feign surprise; Robert's hatred of the Targaryens was a madness in him. He remembered the angry words they had exchanged when Tywin Lannister had presented Robert with the corpses of Rhaegar's wife and children as a token of fealty. Ned had named that murder; Robert called it war. When he had protested that the young prince and princess were no more than babes, his new-made king had replied, "I see no babes. Only dragonspawn."

A Game of Thrones, Eddard II

#danymonth2022 #canondany #daenerys targaryen #antiparallels #day 9 #cersei lannister #stannis baratheon #robert baratheon #text

[cut-content-contest]

Matchups, Round One!

Botsun | beta Alice Yabusame (Your Turn to Die)

playable Zelda (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword) | Vah Manta (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

life indicator rune | early concepts (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)

Termina Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask) | Unicorn Fountain (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

cut dungeons (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) | The Legend of Zelda: Mystical Seed of Courage

Yosuke Hanamura romance route (Persona 4) | devil Joker boss fight (Persona 2)

Moonjumper | Timmy (A Hat in Time)

Sand n Sails | Vanessa's manor third floor (A Hat in Time)

distilled emotions (Psychonauts 2) | Li-Po document (Psychonauts)

human woman (Star Fox 2) | Dinosaur Planet (Star Fox Adventures)

Michael Tutori (Wii Music) | fish render (Wii Party)

"like, half the game" (combined with cut levels of Monty Gator Golf) (Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach) | coconut.vtf (Team Fortress 2)

F-Stop | Cave Johnson cube (Portal 2)

Czar Dragon (Final Fantasy VI) | musketeer class (Final Fantasy XIV)

room_water_prebird (Undertale) | unused art (Undertale console versions)

twisted sword | everybody weapon (Deltarune)

unused Ralsei battle (Deltarune) | final boss battle backgrounds (Mother 3)

wolf howls | beast boy (Minecraft)

Rana | Steve and Black Steve (Minecraft)

beta Arceus | beta Giratina/Kimairan | ???-type Arceus (Pokémon Diamond/Pearl)

Pokémon Z | Paldean sea and skysphere (Pokémon Scarlet/Violet)

cut beta pokémon (combined with unused baby pokémon) (Pokémon Gold/Silver) | Kotora and Raitora (Pokémon Red/Green and Gold/Silver)

unused trade theme | Mew (Pokémon Red/Green)

Honey the Cat (Sonic the Fighters) | Tiara Boobowski (Sonic Xtreme)

good Cortex (split from Good Cortex and Evil Coco) | evil Coco (Crash Twinsanity)

8 beta colossi (combined with Spider colossus) (Shadow of the Colossus) | "Hot Coffee" minigame (NSFW) (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)

backdash | ancient_bench (Hollow Knight)

extended Abyss | Pure Vessel dream nail dialogue (Hollow Knight)

the Aviary | Daylight Prairie invisible boat | early Isle of Dawn (split from the entirety of Sky: Light Awaits) (Sky: Children of the Light)

arms on the player characters (Journey) | Omori keyhole cutscene (OMORI)

original rabbit designs (Splatoon) | octoling backup dancers (Splatoon 2)

Singing Mountain (Chrono Trigger) | multiplayer sabre (Halo: Reach)

Selph/Self | robo NiGHTS (NiGHTS into Dreams)

fur (Wobbledogs) | Ancient Castle Spires (Neopets: The Darkest Faerie)

Dude (Hylics) | FN F2000 (Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades)

BomBom (Angry Birds) | Snick the Porcupine (Pizza Tower)

Golden Deer!Ashe (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) | Jagen death scene (Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light)

Laura Cruz (Tomb Raider) | Kale quest (Eldin Ring)

Dragon King: The Fighting Game (Super Smash Bros.) | Melee selected animations (Super Smash Bros. Melee)

Meteor Slime (Slime Rancher) | SNES CD-ROM (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)

the original story (Bayonetta 3) | Kid Kirby

Bionis Shoulder (Xenoblade Chronicles) | pitcher plants (The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion)

Phoenix Wright heart eyes | early concept art (Ace Attorney)

cut character models | docks mission (Dreamfall Chapters)

Musa boss battle (Skeleton Boomerang) | the plot (Ace Combat 03: Electrosphere)

Starbeans café crossover cameos (Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga) | Bottles's Revenge (Banjo-Tooie)

Shipwreck Cove (MySims Kingdom) | MySims Agents 2

Shockwave (Genshin Impact) | doki17.mp3 (Doki-Doki Literature Club)

Satsuki Rin (Touhou Project: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil) | anti-piracy measures (Higurashi: When They Cry)

elh (Luigi's Mansion) | Tramplin' Stu (Super Mario Sunshine)

cats (Super Paper Mario Korean version) | dragonhead flower (Super Mario Galaxy)

#cut content contest #contest info