i had a dream about Klaus and Five fighting then five brought up Klaus being a junkie and thennnnn
Klaus brought up how Five is the reason every bad thing has happened to him. five LITERALLY did it to himself.
nobody pushed him out the door to go attempt to jump into the future infact everyone tried to stop him because they called after him.
five literally made his life the way it is because he's a stubborn bitch who thought he knew better
i woke up @ 4am after this dream and haven't slept since
also he called Klaus a junkie who has no idea what it's like being alone but Klaus literally was on the streets for like 12 years so he probably understands better than anyone
cause five and Klaus both probably had no food and had to eat out of dumpsters and do things they absolutely didn't want to do in order to survive
dream verse has it out for me honestly
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I want to preface this by saying that I am in no way shape or form saying that any of this is excusing Elara and the shit she did to Maven. I think she's a pos who deserved what she got. That being said her and Maven's relationship is so interesting to me!!
I hate when people paint Elara as hateful towards Maven and like she viewed him as inadequate because I just don't think that's true. I think she understood Maven's position as the second born and as her son specifically. I think she understood that despite him being innocent regarding everything that happened to Coriane, he would always be antagonized by their family and he would always be othered by his father. I think because of this she conflated every "flaw" as something major even if it's as small as him learning to walk later than everyone else. Those "flaws" would always follow him, he wasn't given the same leeway as Cal. Obviously this doesn't excuse what she did to him, nothing will, but I do think it's interesting to think about how she reached the conclusion that what she was doing to him was okay.
I also like how there are instances in the books themselves of her being caring towards Maven in a very motherly way. There are two instances that come to mind of this happening. After the Sun Shooting Mare sees her clinging onto him. I think it's because she finds comfort in him and she was also worried for him, because even though the shooting was planned it was still something that could've killed him. There was also when Mare mentioned Thomas during the betrayal scene. Mare brings Thomas up and even though Maven brushes her off she can see she hurt him. Elara immediately reached towards Maven and told him to say goodbye. I don't see this as her being scared of Mare getting through to him, but instead her being worried because she knows more than anyone how much Thomas still effected him. I've always interpreted her taking his ability to dream away as a desperate attempt to help her son who was grieving. She was likely the only person to ever see Maven's grief and how much it was hurting him and the only thing she could do was try to remove any trace of Thomas from Maven. Even though it didn't fully work, if anything it left him worse off, I do think it was her trying to help her child in any way she could.
Elara, more than anyone, was aware of the way everyone in that court viewed Maven. Even though she knew Cal loved him, I wouldn't blame her if she had the fear that Cal would turn on him given that all of Cal's family openly showed their disdain for Maven. I also think that the treatment Cal received compared to Maven reaffirmed her belief that any "flaw" Maven had would follow him always. For example, Cal was never very good at politics and, despite politics being something he would need to be competent at, he was always given leeway when it came to it. It was understood that even though Cal struggled with politics he would receive help from his council. Compare this to Maven. Maven struggled heavily with combat, he was competent enough with it to defend himself but he was by no means great. It felt like there was a sense a shame that surrounded the fact that Maven needed protection. That even if he wanted to, he couldn't fight in a battle the way Cal could. Maven's strengths were always cast aside because of his weaknesses, whereas Cal's were accepted and he was given the resources he needed without any sense of any major insult.
I wonder what an average day was like for Maven when he was growing up and what his relationship with his mother was like day to day. I don't think Elara was in his head making changes everyday, so I wonder what their day to day interactions entailed. I wonder if she was openly motherly to him or if she restricted it private interactions only. I wonder how exactly she felt when Maven would go to Cal for comfort instead of her. I wonder how she felt knowing that everyone (atleast on Tibe's side smh I NEED more on the Merandus') outside of their immediate family at best couldn't care less about Maven and at worst hated him simply for existing. I wonder how she felt watching Tibe emotionally neglect Maven. I think most of all I want to know if she ever did feel bad for what she was doing to him. Did she ever feel guilt or shame for changing things about him? Was there any instances where she didn't want to make the changes but felt she had to for his safety in the court? Did she have limits/changes she would not make no matter what? Were there any changes she regretted?
I think in general the story could've benefited as a whole if there was more insight to Elara and her mentality when it came to Maven simply because it would've fleshed out two of the central antagonists more. I think just getting the conversation where she told Maven the plan regarding his engagement to Mare from her perspective could've added some insight to their relationship and Maven's character as a whole.
I also think Maven's feelings towards his mother are wonderfully written. I love that he understands she's hurt him and he still loves her. He tells Mare about how she forced him to walk and told her that Elara only told him because she felt it proved her love for him. He understands that what she did wasn't love because all it did was hurt him, but he still loves her. He still wants to be buried next to her and he still misses her. It's heartbreaking to know that the only reason he loves her as much as he does is because he feels he has no one else. She hurt him but she was the only one who cared enough to do anything at all.
I would feel wrong not mentioning Cal as he is the only other character who was with Maven through all of this and he certainly did care. Obviously it isn't Cal's fault he wasn't able to help Maven. They were both children, to expect Cal to have been able to do something when they were both children is stupid. But I do see how Maven could rationalize this as him not caring enough. He loved Cal so much and actively sought him out for comfort, so I can understand how Maven would feel betrayed when Cal wasn't able to notice the changes occurring. Once again, it isn't Cal's fault in the slightest but I understand how Maven reached the conclusion he didn't care enough. (not to mention he had his ability to love Cal taken but I have mixed feelings on that whole ordeal)
I want to once again mention, none of this excuses Elara's actions. What she did to Maven is unforgivable even if she did think she was helping him. I think it's interesting to think about why she did everything she did and how she justified it to herself.
I probably missed a few things, it's been a while since I read these books. (I'm rereading them soon so maybe I'll make a follow up afterwards with any new thoughts I have) I've been thinking a lot about the relationship a mother can have with her child and naturally my mind drifted to these two lol.
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𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: so, i'm actually in the process of moving with my parents back home to california [ hopefully be outta texas by the end of august ... no concrete dates yet, but the ball is definitely moving adkfldsf ]! i have talked to my manager at work about it because i'd like to keep my job / work remote [ which is ... possible, but with the owner it's not a sure thing unfortunately cause he's just .... yeah ]
so!! it's just been very stressful right now with the uncertainty / potential even if it's a tiny chance that i'll be out of a job that i've been grinding and growing at for nearly 11 years -- AND IT LOOKS like my boss and i are gonna have 'the chat' with the owner maybe in the next couple of weeks so i'm ... on edge y'know!
and on top of all that: i'm being made to move out of my cubicle [ for about the 5th time in the last few years ] so that a new person on our team can have it ... i'll have less privacy at my new desk and just ... it's gonna be a time so, i may not have as much time to take 'breaks' in tumblr or my drafts or whatever like i usually have had. so!! as slow as i am, stuff on my blogs [ writing-wise in particular ] is gonna majorly slow down maybe until we're all moved?? i'm not 100% sure tbh!
i appreciate everyone's patience and kindness as always!! it's just been a tough time over here, but stay tuned! ❤️ ❤️
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