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stylespresleyhearted · 1 month

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CCG - LUCI’S 3RD BIRTHDAY

In honor of the great @blainesebastian ‘s birthday here’s a little instagram compilation I’ve conjured up for our adored CCG nation <3 Austin, CCG, and Luci we miss and love ya’ll forever and Mccall you are a brilliant mind whom I will adore until the end of time! Have the bestest birthday ever, you deserve nothing less!

—————-

liked by coffee.girl, salmahayek, and 20,342 others

enews And the Best Dad Award goes to ….! In honor Austin Butler and Y/N’s little girl turning three today let’s take a look back at our favorite moments of Austin Butler being the best dad ❤️ link in bio for full video of second slide.

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austinfan18 video of luci running into austin’s arm after two weeks apart you will always be famous!

butlerishh him throwing her in the air LMAO LUCI WAS NOT HAVING FUN

ccgfan HA fr luci was looking at her mom to save her

iloveaustin Can we talk about how proud his mom would be about what a great parent he is?

sharonbleu Austin even has Salma Hayek up in the likes 😉

liked by austinbutler, priscillapresley, and 872, 196 others

coffee.girl Celebrating Luci day should be every day tbh. 🦖💕👁️🐠🪷🌸☃️🥞 @austinbutler and I can’t believe we created this wonderful being, she had to have come from a lab of perfection.

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ashleytisdale Luci told me she’s from Pluto and I believe her. It’s the only logical explanation.

austinbutler Nice use of all of Luci’s favorite emoji’s, she’s going to be so proud. ❤️

jillian.mua The best thing you and Austin ever did and will ever do is have sex three years ago to give the world the best human to walk the Earth

coffee.girl JILLIAN!

ashleybee I’m disgusted but I get what she means

austinbutler Babe close your comment section please

chrisevans Happy bday to the one who is gonna prove aliens exist!

liked by austinbutler, bazluhrmann, and 20,807 others

people Luci Butler turns three today so we must not forget to credit her mother (and best friend) in a world where it seems moms get no recognition for being superhuman.

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user12 imagine using a 3 year olds bday to make some political womens movement statement. mom’s get plenty of recognition.

butlerfamupdates I actually applaud People Magazine for this. All day magazine’s have posted Austin’s cutest moments with Luci and talked about what a wonderful Dad he is - which no one would ever doubt to think he is - but Luci’s mom is very much present as well and deserves love too. Luci loves both her parents. It’s normal for a kid to have favorites, it doesn’t make the other parent ‘bad.’

ccgfan Y/N and Luci sharing their love for open water together and creating sea shell necklaces i cry

ccgfan1 You just know she’s the most supportive and loving mother! Austin and Luci are so lucky to have her!

liked by coffee.girl, austinbutler, and 341, 289 others

ashleytisdale happy birthday to Jupiter’s bestest friend in the whole wide world! We are so lucky to have you in our life Luci ❤️🦖✨

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coffee.girl the cutest besties 👯 🤣

fan23 ashley and aus are bffs now their daughters are too 😭

austinluv STOP my heart can’t take it

liked by ashleybee, ccgfan, and 34, 567 others

butlerfamupdates a cute little insight into Luci’s “THREE-REX” bday party! Posts and reposts from @austinbutler and @coffee.girl IG stories

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sugartreats Thank you for choosing us for her cakes and treats! The sweetest, most beautiful family 🙌🏼 #happybirthdayluci

fan34 so luc is like obsessed w dinos huh 🤔

fan33 austin literally calls her lil dino

fan45 u just know it was luci’s idea to put a tutu on the scary t rex LMAO

sugarcakes Oh it was! Her parents brought her in and Miss Luci was very specific with what she wanted haha

liked by ashleytisdale, oliviadejonge, and others

jillian.mua Happy birthday cool girl 🥳 I love you

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austinbutler vibin’

ashleybee oh gosh i wanna kiss those cheeks

oliviadejonge i wanna be her when i grow up ✨🥳

coffee.girl @austinbutler trendsetter 😂❤️

liked by austin12 and others

austinbnews via Austin’s IG story for Luci’s birthday! Happy birthday sweet Luci 🎂 ♥️

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austinfan23 she’s taking after her parents with her love of books 🥹

ccgfan yes Y/N and Austin built Luci her personal little library 😭

butlerupdates Austin taking a picture of Luci taking a picture of Y/N — ICONIC

liked by ashleebee, coffee.girl, and 1,235,096 others

austinbutler happy birthday lil dino ♥️

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coffee.girl … and she’s out for the count

jillian.mua @coffee.girl she had a busy day bossing everyone around

ashleytisdale @austinbutler please tell me you at least wiped the cake frosting off her face

austinbutler @ashleytisdale I’m not dealing with that tantrum when she wakes up

coffee.girl @austinbutler neither am I smart move

ashleybee I LOVE HERRRR

LMAOOOO MCCALL WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF I TOLD YOU I WAS ALREADY WORKING ON THIS BEFORE YOU TEXTED ME TODAY ASKING ABOUT LUCI ?!???? OUR BRAINSSS INTERCONNECTED 🙌🏼❤️❤️❤️❤️ happy birthday mccall love you and your little universe and luci and ccg so much you’re awesome

#a gift for mccall #made by moi #austin butler x reader #dad! austin #ccg series #austin butler instagram au #austin butler instagram edit #we love you mccall!!!

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danikamariewrites · 9 months

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Hello! Could you write a story where Lucien and Reader have to share a room? Thank you?

One Bed

Lucien x reader

A/n: y/n/n = your nick name

Warnings: none

You didn’t mind sharing a room with Lucien. But you weren’t so sure about sharing a bed with him. You were friends and when it came to situations like these you both became extremely awkward. The inn you two have stopped at for the night only had one room left, and naturally there was one bed.

“I’ll take the floor y/n.” You place your bag down, slumping your shoulders at Lucien’s chivalry, rolling your neck out. You were too tired for this. “Luc, it’s fine. We can share the bed. We’re adults.” You sigh out. A smirk dancing on his lips, his golden eye gleaming in the fire light.

You start pulling out your PJs and pad over to the bathroom. Lucien strips his shirt and pants off, leaving him in his underwear. He pulls the covers back, slipping into the rough sheets and leans back folding his arms behind his head.

Coming back into the room you spot Lucien’s relaxed form. You chuckle padding over to the bed and slipping in next to him. You lay on your side facing Lucien, “Hi.” He copies you and smiles at you, “Hi.”

Letting out a yawn you stretch out. “I’m going to go to sleep. Good night Luc.” You flip over so your back is facing him. Lucien whispers, “Goodnight y/n/n.” He reaches out a tan, calloused hand to lightly play with the ends of your hair. You let out a happy hum, letting sleep take over.

Hours later you jolt awake from a scream next to you. Sitting up you see Lucien is writhing next to you. A thin sheen of sweat covering his tan, scar flecked chest. His breathing was fast and labored. His hands clenched the sheets while his head whipped back and forth.

You kneel next to him, grabbing his shoulders, shaking him. “Lucien, Lucien, Luc wake up. It’s just a nightmare.” Lucien’s eyes shoot open and he flys into a sitting position. His heaving breathes loud, a few gasps escape his lips as he sucks down air.

You rub his back in soothing circles and leave a light kiss on his temple. He leans into you, closing his eyes as his breathing evens out. Lucien rubs at his face and you give him space.

“Hey, it’s ok. It was just a bad dream.” Lucien nods. He turns to look at you, fear in his eye. “Are you ok.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m alright.” You give him a sad smile. “Lets go back to sleep.” You lay back and open your arms for him to lay on your chest. Lucien is hesitant but you give him a warm smile.

Lucien lays his head in your chest right above your heart. He immediately relaxes, snuggling into you, wrapping his arms around your middle. “Get some sleep Luc.” You press your nose to the top of his head, breathing in his scent of sweet apples and cedar embers.

Sun filters in through the holes in the moth eaten curtains. Lucien blinks, lifting his head off your chest. He looks down at your sleeping form. You look so peaceful, he can’t help but brush loose strands of hair out of your face. As he cups your face Lucien feels a lang in his chest. A glowing sensation spreads in his chest and then snap.

The mating bond falls into place for Lucien. He’s holding his breath, shaking from nerves and excitement. You. His best friend. His mate.

tags: @nyotamalfoy @auggiesolovey @bubybubsters @baybay123455 @msiecrane

#acotar #acotar fanfiction #acotar reader imagine #acotar reader fic #acotar imagine #lucien x you #lucien vanserra x reader #lucien acotar #lucien x reader #lucien vanserra #lucien vanserra x you

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etsuven · 2 years

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etsuven's first kinktober: day 3/8

rating: smut cw: none includes: reader receiving oral, diluc likes getting his hair pulled, he also likes getting praised, usage of toys, etsuven has never written the reader receiving oral so she apologizes for it being bad, reader does art as a past time summary: diluc's favorite spot happens to be in between your legs...

note: day three of my first kinktober! did you guys enjoy the last fic?? hopefully you did, as i enjoyed writing it!! (these kinktober posts are all scheduled so i have no idea if you guys actually enjoyed the post or not-) anyways, this is more of a shorter thing, i realized quickly from the first kinktober day that spending 2-3 hours writing a whole fic and having to write 8 of them in... 3.5 days wouldn't be good for me and my back (i have awful posture when writing on my laptop as i'm on my bed with no desk!) so i've decided to switch between shorter things and full on fics. anyways, enough of that, onto the story.

sounds of a pencil scraping against paper accompanied by a faint buzzing filled your ears. it was quite the strange combination of sounds, but you found that you didn't mind it that much, especially when you had better things to worry about.

a picture was steadily forming in your sketchbook. a pretty face, with long hair that curled around an equally as pretty jawline. the subject in your sketches' eyes were closed, eyebrows furrowed as he tried his best to please the person who had their thighs around his head. it was such a gorgeous picture, honestly. if only it were real...

oh wait, it was.

moving your attention away from your sketch, you glanced under the desk, smiling at the sight of your boyfriend in between your legs. you could tell that he was trying his best to please you, using his mouth and even his hands when needed. there was also a toy buzzing in between his legs, causing the occasional moan to leave his lips.

you ran your fingers through diluc's hair, removing the slightly damp bangs away from his face with a small smile. "you're doing so well, sweetheart." you spoke, your voice slightly airy from the pleasure you had been receiving for the past few minutes.

your lover let out a whimper, his face flushing even more from your praise. his tongue grazed against a particularly sensitive spot in between your legs, and the overwhelming feeling made you throw your head back in pleasure and grasp harshly at diluc's hair.

“you’ve- ah- been going at this for a while now…” you stumbled slightly on your words, tugging on your boyfriends hair again to ground yourself. “why don’t we get this over with? i’ll even let you cum.”

a newfound energy coursed through diluc, his hands flying up to grab at your thighs. the vibrating device had been buzzing in between his legs even before he started touching you, so he was obviously very eager to cum after waiting for so long.

the device was something you found in fontaine on a small vacation. you thought it was interesting, and the employees at the shop made a huge fuss trying to tell you how worth it the device was. feeling a bit skeptical, you bought it.

turns out they weren’t lying at all.

you felt your mind go blank, only focusing on the feeling of diluc’s tongue in between your legs. the feeling in your abdomen began to build up, and you quickly found yourself pulling at his hair even more.

diluc let out a groan, his eyebrows furrowing as he buried his face in between your legs. he was getting close as well, the buzzing feeling a new constant for him. forcing himself to open his eyes, he looked up at you, whimpering at the sight the pure ecstasy on your face.

“shit, ‘luc… i’m gonna cum-” you began to grind against his face, your moans getting louder and more frequent until you eventually came. diluc came soon afterwards, spurred on by the sound of your moans and the taste of you on his tongue.

diluc quickly cut the toy off, and the two of you spent the next few seconds panting softly as you tried to catch your breaths. you took the chance to run your fingers through your lovers’ hair and scalp, soothing the spots that you had previously been putting strain on.

you watched as he laid his head on your thigh, his cheek pressing against the soft flesh of your thigh. “good boy…” another brush through his hair with your fingers. “let’s go get cleaned up, yeah?”

diluc nodded slowly, standing and helping you up like the true gentleman he was. with a pretty hand on your hips, he leaned in, connecting your lips in a quick kiss before leading you to your bathroom.

you smiled at the sight of him, taking note of how shaky his legs were. you held in your laugh by covering your mouth with your free hand. goodness, he really was a mess…

but so were you.

taglist

@yourlocal-bunny @boba-is-a-soup

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin fanfic #diluc #genshin diluc #genshin impact diluc #diluc x reader #genshin smut #genshin impact smut #genshin impact x reader #sub genshin #sub genshin impact #sub diluc #dom reader #kinktober 2022 #etsuven's kinktober 2022

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acourtofthought · 6 months

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I know sjm puts her characters through a lot before setting them up in relationships, but I feel like with everything Lucien and Gwyn have gone through, she won't make them suffer an e/riel affair too just for added "drama". Plus she already did this to an extent with Rhys and Cassian that it just feels needless to me? With everyone knowing El and Luc are mates, making him deal with THIS to boot just feels like a bridge too far to me when there are so many other interesting ways for Elucien to end up together.

I'm cheering on your anon.

Say for arguments sake E/riel is happening.

I truly, with 100% conviction do not think Gwyn would be drug into their situation in any way that would be harmful to her. There is no chance that SJM is going to take Nesta's new found friend and put her in the middle of a love triangle with her sister and her mates best friend. That is a recipe for disaster beyond just Gwyn, Elain and Az.

It would be extremely odd for SJM to backtrack on something sparking in Az's chest for Gwyn and I do think she shows curiosity / flirtation towards him so SJM would have to twist that a bit but, I don't think as of SF Az or Gwyn are too deep in terms of their feelings for one another. Which is a GOOD thing because he's clearly not 100% over Mor and he's really messed up in the head about not getting a mating bond like his brothers so he's obsessing on Elain for the wrong reasons (or at least was through Solstice). And in SF, Gwyn just started to dip her toes into the idea of sex / dating? so it's not like she's pining for Az or is (I think) under the impression he's got a thing for her. Right now it's just playful rather than deep.

So at this point if she absolutely had to, SJM could write a new LI interest for Gwyn and I don't think Gwyn would suffer as a result. (again, completely hypothetical scenario if E/riel was happening).

But Lucien.......he already lost the female he thought was mated to (and was in love with) centuries ago. That's been a burden he's carried around for hundreds of years. Then he discovers his real mate is Elain in ACOMAF and we see the torment that causes him. First because he's trying to reign in his instincts, making him feel out of control which he rarely is. Then because it's the first time since Jesminda he's ever put emotional effort into another female. He's thinking about her, showing no interest in dalliances because of her, wanting to make sure she's safe. Then he finds out his mate is in love with / engaged to someone else which is another emotional blow. Then we see him in a room with Elain for the first time feeling bothered because he knows Elain wants to go back to Graysen (remember, he heard her tell Feyre that she wanted to go home and that Graysen would be looking for her) so he already knows she's not going to want him and can't understand how the one who did want him didn't end up being his mate. Then he looks at Elain for the first time since Hybern and suffers extreme guilt because he thinks she's the most beautiful female he'd ever seen.

And even though he knows it's not him that she wants, he stays to help her through her depression. Stays for Elain, surrounded by people who he thought were enemies and around Nesta who is nasty towards him. Then when he finally reaches out through their bond and sees / feels something that causes him to blush it changes something for him. When he volunteers to leave for Vassa, you know he doesn't want to go, he bows his head which hides the longing and sadness he has but he knows Elain needs time and he walks away so she can figure out what she wants.

He has a little bit of hope when she invites him back to Velaris after the war but something happens so that their two steps forward turned into many steps back by the time the novella rolled around (really, it seems like it was SJMs way of rebooting things so she could keep them apart until their story). He ends up staying in the human lands with Vassa and Jurian but you know it's still upsetting him that she doesn't want to interact. It's not that he doesn't want to spend time with her, it's that he's completely aware that she's been ignoring him. In SF, it's entirely possible he's also aware of the "glances" between Elain and Az, just like Cassian was aware of the fact that Nesta was sleeping with other males. But even after nearly 2 years, with first knowing that Elain was engaged to someone else, then not being ready to explore their bond then flirting with someone else, he STILL looks at her with longing.

There is no male in the series who has put that much effort into showing Elain she means something to him.

So does it honestly make any sense at all to have put Lucien through all that only to have her end up with Az?

I'm sorry but if he couldn't have the female he desperately loved because she was murdered by his father then also loses his mate to a guy who is kind of a jerk when it comes to him (like, if Az was a good guy about all this, maybe it wouldn't be so bad but he is not looking like the better male in this situation)......there is not going to be someone that makes that pain magically disappear for Lucien. If it took a mating bond for him to move on from Jesminda than what exactly is going to help him move on from a mating bond that will trail him for the rest of his life? He didn't even have a bond with Jesminda yet he struggled for hundreds of years. People really think Vassa is going to be the one that is his truest love after Jesminda's death and not getting his mate? Vassa who spends more time bickering with Jurian than paying attention to Lucien? That Vassa?

And that's just Lucien's love life! We didn't even address all the other trauma's he's got going on throughout the series.

Lucien has put in the time and the suffering. Just like Rhys did, just like Cassian did. Graysen didn't fight for Elain. He didn't pine for Elain. Az has been in love with Mor pretty much the entire time Elain has been on page with him (all those four books of buildup have consisted of him loving Mor) and then when it came down to laying out his truth, he couldn't give Rhys one decent reason why he actually wanted Elain because of who she is. And moments later, he was already curious about another female.

This sounds possessive but these are fictional characters who have no real agency outside of what the author wants them to have so I'm going to say it. Az has not earned the right to be with Elain. Lucien has though, he's put in the time and the suffering. Lucien's head has not been turned by any other female romantically (sexual or otherwise) since Elain came onto the page and he was aware of their bond. Again, he is FRIENDS with Vassa and his blush was not over any feelings for Vassa, it was embarrassment at Feyre saying what she did in front of his mate. Azriel blushed at Nesta for gods sakes.

It is SJMs thing. She likes her males to suffer once they suspect they have a bond with the female (especially the humans turned fae who are adjusting to this new world), seeing only her once they suspect there is a bond while she fights it, only to have the female finally choose them in the end.

E/riels love shouting about "Elain's choice" but I think they forget she is only 50% of this equation. It is Lucien's bond too, Lucien who would suffer with it's rejection and Lucien who SJM has been building up since book 1 (Lucien who was always supposed to end up with an Archeron but SJM was surprised to find she had the wrong one at first), Lucien who has always been one of her favorite characters, Lucien who she constantly writes about being broad, sculpted, handsome, intelligent, cunning, well mannered, well dressed, and soon to be a High Lords heir. Lucien is MMC energy full stop and MMC don't lose their mates to guys who throw a temper tantrum because they didn't get a bond like their brothers did.

Whew. Sorry about all that but I had a glass of wine and apparently I got into Lucien defense mode with alcohol. 😂

But yeah, neither Gwyn or Lucien are going to suffer because of an E/riel endgame. Since they all have main character energy, SJM is not going to write a story where any of the main characters have to suffer an unfulfilled bond because another main character ended up with someone else. She's a HEA romance author and like it or not, all the main characters are ending up with their mates. SJM already told us a well matched bond is the best it gets (at least with heterosexual couples with a heterosexual bond, it's possible an LGBQT character would happily break a hetero bond) so you can't really backtrack on that and give your main characters a regular love while having a bond with someone else that trails them forever.

#elucien #pro elucien #lucien vanserra #elain archeron #pro lucien vanserra #elucien bond

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desafinado · 1 year

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₊˚ʚ ➼❥ realizing you like LIKE them

thanks to you, i am saddled with unnecessary feelings…

°｡⋆ fluff, mentions of minor and major bodily injuries, mentions of grief

°｡⋆ diluc, zhongli x reader (wc: 645)

note: if anyone gets the reference up there ^^, then hey bestie let me see those molars /j joking, im joking. this is definitely not based on any recent or REAL events author is experiencing

diluc ♡

“there might come a day i won’t be here, you know?”

how many more times would it have to be until he learned his lesson? night after night, it was a new cut, scratch or bruise. it wasn’t like him to be this reckless, and you’ve definitely noticed the change in his demeanor recently. you were fed up, to say the least, and it seemed that your remark finally struck a chord in him.

“you… i know that.”

his voice was colder than usual with hesitation you can only assume is sadness. to be honest, you didn’t mean what you said, you were just caught up in your emotions. i mean who’d want to lose their best friend to some stupid abyss mage?

“diluc, i– i didn’t mean that i’m sorry, i just… i noticed you’ve been a bit more careless nowadays. i will always be here for you, but i want you to be here to see me too.”

he looked up at you, letting out a defeated sigh. “you know me too well, it’s just– his death anniversary is coming up, all these feelings are stirring again.” his eases back into your touch as you trace faint circles onto the surface of his skin. “i understand, ‘luc. just please remember, there are people out there who care about you, hm?”

“i’m well aware.”

“you better be, because i don’t think i can imagine losing you.”

oh. that you didn’t mean to say, but you definitely did mean. your emotions were a blur, yes, but your mind felt as clear as ever. you’d do anything to see him come home, and you wanted to be there to welcome him with open arms.

he couldn’t help but notice your aghast silence and try to make light of it. “oh, you would now?” he chuckled as you still tried to process your accidental epiphany.

“trust me, i've never been more sure…”

zhongli ♡

his charm and chivalrous aura was enough to make anyone fall head over heels in the middle of a busy straight, but that wasn’t quite enough for you to fall for him. no, you realized it at a very different kind of moment.

"forgive me, it seems i've gotten a bit too excited."

he was telling you another old folk tales, when he jumbled up his words. his face flustered immediately as he apologized, waiting for you to respond. you, however, were too caught up with how cute he looked at that moment. if only you had brought a kamera, you’d have already taken a hundred pictures. "it's fine zhongli, go on."

he told the rest of his story a bit more relaxed, looking to you for assurance, and assurance you did provide with your soft gaze only for him. it was a bit after he had started recalling stories he had already told you, however, that your mind started to drift elsewhere; a sinking feeling in your chest that felt as though you were about to jump off a cliff.

you didn’t feel even the slightest bit worried though; despite the uncertainty of what might lie beyond the cliff, you felt like it wasn’t something to be afraid of. you only needed to look back at zhongli, and any worries you had simply disa–

ah.

so it was love, a love so mighty it took your breath away while simultaneously giving you life anew. suddenly, the sky seemed as though it was falling, and that feeling in your stomach only intensified. you tried to tear away from his gaze, fearing that anymore would reduce you to a bumbling mess of words, but you simply couldn’t. his swirling amber eyes always did have that effect on you.

“dear? are you alright?”

"yes, of course." you feel your smile curve a bit higher than you'd like, a sign of your little white lie.

requests are open!! please do not repost on other sites.

#diluc #zhongli #genshin x reader #genshin imagines #diluc x reader #zhongli x reader #genshin impact #fluff

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maisha133 · 6 months

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ACFTL was disappointing

Okay so it is currently 1:41 AM and I have finished reading A Curse for True Love and I have been let down and just wanted to get my thoughts out

Jacks characterization was the biggest down fall; The book is basically about Evangeline pinning for Jack but I wished it was the other way around; Jacks finds out Evangeline lost her memories and avoids him because she believes he is dangerous and he gets pissed off and desperately tries to get her back. I think this change in story telling would have allowed so much character growth for Jacks considering the fact he is so cold and calculating and having him grow desperate to have Evangeline by his side shows how much she had affected him and also showcase his humanity/vulnerability in his desperation to have her by his side as opposed to being cold and indifferent which leads me to the next point

JACKS BEING AN ASSHOLE-Literally every Evakjacks scene starts like this Jacks says a sassy/asshole dialogue>save Evangeline>Evangeline swoons>Jacks goes back to being an asshole again. Now I get Jacks often puts out a cold front because he doesn't want to be too close to Evangeline and hurt her. But we are three books in and it is established that Jacks loves her. So I don't understand the unnecessary rudeness like ie coming in the middle of the night tossing clothes at her face as she is waking up and almost knocking her off the bridge (yes I am well aware he was never going to let Evangeline fall) but dang does he have to be rude all the time???? I wanted Evangeline to tell him off, all she needed to say was something like "Jacks stop being such a jerk and wasting my time " and he would have stopped. But no. Evangeline is constantly talking about how angelic his face is and how blonde his hair is. Jacks treat your girl better pls????

Evangeline and damsel in distress x 1000000 -damn my girl cannot catch a break literally everyone is trying to kill her. Now I am a firm believer that strong female characters don't have to be physical fighters and I am ok with Eva not being a fighter. However, I wish she would have gotten herself out of danger at times maybe just by using her wits or having a strategy? I got tired of seeing Jacks saving her. Yes he did teach her self defense but not much came out of that?

SO MANY MISSING PLOT POINTS- The bite of on Evangeline's wrist-does she owe Jacks a debt anymore? Luc? What about Evangeline's parents, what about her family's shop-does she not want to go back to Valenda?? Probably more I cannot think of right now.

Evangeline is not the first fox? Major disappointment in that. The first two books heavily implied that Evangeline was the first fox and there were so many hints regarding that ie Chaos telling Evangeline she looked like the first fox in TBONA and Jacks having volumes of the archer and the fox in his office (clearly he is not over the fox girl either) Also the fact he is over Donatella just like that?? Didn't she cause him so much heartbreak? Atleast having them talk it out would have helped to bring closure. Also are we never going to figure out who the first fox girl was? If not Evangeline? IDK it takes away the true love/soul mates aspect that drawn me to Evajacks in the first place imo

TOO MUCH APOLLO. I don't know why we got so many chapters of him, I rather had more chapters of Jacks and EvaJacks moments. Especially when it was established that he is the antagonist so I do not know why he was a main character when it really showed have been more about Evangeline and Jacks

No evajacks wedding-I am super bitter that we don't get to see Jacks and Evangeline having their wedding like in her dream

Overall, I think TBONA was 100/10, definitely the best book in the series. I still love this series to death and I am grateful for Stephanie for sharing her story with us. I just feel so underwhelmed from the ending, it sooo could have been better. I think the biggest problem is that the story was too complicated. Stephanie should have kept it straightforward>Evangeline is the reincarnation of Jack's true love and the first fox, Apollo is the bad guy, Jacks fights to be with Evangeline, they win and get married. Not everything has to be sophisticated. It’s okay if stories are predicatable, they just need to be good.

3.5/5

#evangeline #jacks #spoilers #evajacks #acftl #caraval #i am so sad its 2:05 am lol this story did not hit #myrants #i still love this series to death still enjoyed all the evajacks moments #loved the confession scene

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animentality · 1 year

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I’ve seen some of your posts about Star Trek, and decided that I want to start watching it. Where do you think I should start?

Oh BOY.

See, this is a fascinating question. Technically, there are several places you could hop in. I will give you the pros and cons of each.

The short answer is honestly The Next Generation (TNG) or Deep Space Nine (DS9).

TNG is on the edge of accessible and non-accessible. It's a little dated, but still stands up well to the test of time. Its stories are self-contained and often don't need context from the greater world or previous episodes. It's thoughtful and optimistic about the human condition and highly intelligent.

But DS9 is easier for the modern TV watcher to start with, because it's more realistic, grounded, and it fleshes out its characters and their interpersonal dramas more.

It's also this clean mix between episodic and more serialized, so you'll get the fun and outstanding standalone episodes, like TNG's greatest hits, but mixed in with a fascinating overarching narrative, which will have a lot of fun space battles and space politics and something you can really sit down and get invested in.

so I'm biased to DS9, as you can tell.

But I concede to TNG too.

That's my short answer.

I'll also give you my short answer proposed order too:

DS9 or TNG first

Then watch DS9 or TNG, depending on which one you picked to watch firrst.

Followed by VOY.

You don't have to watch TOS, but if you're invested by that point, it might be fun.

Then skip ENT.

And from there, you get into modern Trek.

I'd give Discovery a try, because it's definitely high octane, easy for a modern viewer to get into.

But skip Picard, which is just...awful.

Then definitely watch Lower Decks, which is really fun.

Then check out Strange New Worlds, which is pretty good.

That's my short proposed order.

But if you care...here is my LONG answer, where I explain the pros and cons of starting at different spots.

TOS: The BEGINNING.

The Original Series, commonly shorted to TOS by fans.

Pros: This is the literal beginning of it all. If you wanted to really get into the lore of Star Trek and be this mega nerd who has a strong opinion about every following Star Trek interpretation, and get your nerd credentials, then this is a good place to start. Plus, some people don't mind the "oldness" of it, because it's simple, it's silly, and it's fun. The characters themselves are fun, and memorable. The episode plots range from ridiculous and batshit insane to thoughtful and somber and philosophical. You get to watch the OGs, Spock and Kirk and Uhura and Scotty and Bones, who are all iconic in their own way. It's also a nice little ensemble of goofballs, and you'll get to understand and appreciate the silly little TOS memes. Plus, I personally find it iconic how the TOS fandom is still going strong...after literally fifty seven years. That's icon status, baby.

Cons: IT REALLY IS VERY OLD. And kind of hard to get into, if you're not looking to watch a show that is VERY dated. I fully admit that I haven't re-watched TOS much. It's just not everyone's cup of tea, you know? It has its great moments, but I very rarely recommend TOS to people because I don't want to scare them off from Star Trek! So I wouldn't recommend starting here. Maybe watch it later, after other series, to get a well rounded view of the world, but TOS is sort of an odd place to start for the modern TV watcher. Ironically.

TNG: The SUCCESSOR

The Next Generation, commonly shortened to TNG.

Pros: TNG is iconic in its own way. It has its own memorable crew of Jean Luc Picard, William Riker, Deanna Troi, Geordi LaForge, Beverly Crusher, Worf, our best robot boy Data. It has aged much better than TOS, with a greater number of standalone episodes and thought provoking plots. It has some of the most brilliant non-serialized writing of all time, with great social and political commentary that hadn't ever been discussed in TV at that point, and honestly aren't even being discussed now. Its highs are peak Star Trek, with some of the most intelligent analysis of what it means to be an evolved human being ever created for television. It takes a serious look at many aspects of humanity through the lens of "alien" troubles, and its philosophical ramblings are deep, rich, and often thickly layered. That being said...

Cons: It's highly episodic, so you won't find yourself really "gripped" by one single or even multiple plot threads. If you don't like non-serialized stories, then well, most of the stories are designed to be enjoyed without the context of the rest of them. Also, some of it is wildly dated. ESPECIALLY the first season, which is a fucking mess, with like...almost no redeeming episodes. The pilot is AWFUL. The female characters are handled...in such a sexist way that it's honestly kind of enraging. Now it DOES get better, much better, by mid season two, and pretty much starts pumping out nothing but bangers by season 3, but... there will still be some dated stuff. Plus, even the really good episodes are still paced rather slowly. So keep that in mind, if you want to start with TNG....

ALSO, extra note: The crew has great chemistry with each other, but it doesn't do much in terms of fleshing them out in the early seasons. Gene Roddenberry, the creator, really didn't want the crew to have interpersonal dramas, or even want to show them relaxing or hanging out at all. Later seasons you'll see more character moments, which are great, but... TNG and TOS kind of skimp out on showing you the human elements. You aren't often allowed to get close to the characters, see their inner lives, their personal feelings about situations, the issues they have, with themselves or others. There's a distance, this professional aura to the show, which can be kind of daunting and a little alienating, no pun intended. So keep that in mind...

But now we come to the show I am most biased towards, and shamelessly.

DS9- The REALIST

Deep Space Nine, shortened to DS9.

I must start this segment by admitting, DS9 is my favorite and I am fucking biased. That being said, I first watched it when I was 9, and didn't have any problem understanding it without seeing the other Treks. There are also a million other things it has going for it that would make it the easiest place for a modern TV watcher to hop in.

So full disclosure, this IS where I would recommend you start. But anyway:

Pros: Like I said, it did away with some of that professional distance that TNG was so well known for. The characters are richer, more fleshed out, more flawed. They don't like each other in the beginning. They have to earn their found family, and that just makes it sweeter and more poignant when they finally begin to see themselves as a family. DS9 is the "grittier," edgier Star Trek, the one that seriously tests the hopeful optimism of the future...but it never breaks it. That's important to note. It still understands the idea that humans have evolved to be better.

It covers more controversial topics in a more straightforward way. War, genocide, fascism, political instability, coups, war crimes, espionage, propaganda, religious dogma, trauma, it can get pretty heavy. But there still is this hopefulness to how characters grow and change and heal from past traumas. It also fleshes out the aliens more than TNG or TOS, taking a more nuanced perspective of them, and even has individuals who fight back against the "mono" culture that was so popular in early star trek.

As mentioned above, it also blends serialized with non serialized. You get standalone episodes, and episodes that follow up on pre-existing plots. That's where you get the nuances and the depth and the richness of the universe, as well as the interpersonal relationships of the crew.

Now for the Cons:

NONE. It's perfect.

Just kidding.

Some people don't like DS9 because of its darkness, but in just terms of where to start...I agree that there ARE some things that come from TNG that you might appreciate more if you watched TNG first. It does mostly explain these things, but the flesh comes after the bones, you know. Also, DS9 has its weaknesses in season 1, same as TNG. It has some real stinkers. It doesn't get going until season 3, and also? You know how I said it's political?

Well, some of the politics are reallllly boring. Not very sci fi, dare I say. You might find it better to watch with a guide that can tell you what to skip, because some of the early stuff is pretty bad. It also took some time to find its footing, which means there are some elements to it that might come across as just bizarre.

But anyway.

As I said, my favorite Star Trek, and where I personally started. But anyway.

Moving on...

Voyager- the Troubled

Voyager, commonly shortened to VOY.

Pros: First female captain, and she's very charismatic. For feminism reasons alone, you could start with VOY. It also has the most interesting beginning concept too. Voyager is a warship that gets dragged out and stranded in the Delta Quadrant, which is far, far from where Star Trek normally operates. So it's about a crew, stranded in what is essentially hostile alien territory, with no one to help them. Their whole mission is just to get back home, which will take them 70 years to get back to. So it has that going for it. It also has its own fascinating little crew, which has great interpersonal relationships and some great sci fi standalone stories. It does have its own overarching stories as well, which makes for some fun action and drama. Also in terms of understanding what's happening without seeing other Star Treks? Pretty good. Less connected than DS9, mostly, with a few glaring exceptions.

That being said...

Cons: Just like TNG and DS9, atrocious first 3 seasons. Also, Voy is sort of known for being a little sloppy. The writing is all over the board, ranging from mediocre to absolutely dogshit to not bad actually to pretty decent. It's a fun premise, but it's squandered a little. Characters are also inconsistent, depending on who's writing that particular episode. Unlike other Treks, it also doesn't quite meet the standard of mediocre, not even by season 3. It also doesn't flesh out some of its characters, and squanders a lot of their potential. It also has a very strange and rushed ending...also, it tries to be as edgy as DS9, but without the emotional depth, which often comes across as distasteful and even dare I say, boorish. So it has a lot going against it.

Moving to....

Enterprise- the Yikes

Shortened name: ENT

Full fucking disclosure. I fucking hate Enterprise.

Its stories are bad, most of the time. Its best episodes are still mediocre, by other Star Trek standards. Its overarching stories are terrible, with only a few even potentially interesting.

Also it got fucking cancelled by season 4, so its finale is baaaad.

Don't start with Enterprise.

Pros: Archer is great. I love Trip. T'Pol is adequate. So that's three good characters. There's one plot that's kind of cool.

Cons: It only has 3 good characters. And they are so waaaasted. As is that one plot.

So.

Moving on.

Now we get to modern trek.

Star Trek Discovery - the Doing Its Best

Nomenclature: DIS

Alright, full disclosure again. I watched two seasons of it, before quitting. But I can tell you this.

Pros: It's exciting and fresh and high quality. No more dorky little alien suits. State of the art CGI. High octane sci fi stories. Lots of death and drama and characters all hate each other and have trauma and don't want to deal with it. It's definitely made for the modern audience, and it has this like...disdain for other Star Treks. So if you haven't seen the other Star Treks, don't worry, it also has not. Not a bad place to start, if you don't care much for older shows and want something fun and new and set in space, and you like seeing phasers blow stuff up.

Cons: If you were interested in Star Trek for its hopeful future, that isn't what DIS is. DIS is more like, what if we had this one character and we focus on just her, and the rest of the crew doesn't matter? It's also sloppily written.

Now extra note: my MOM says Dis gets good by season 3. And I am inclined to believe her, because she is a diehard trekkie, and a true trekkie knows, season 3 is like...always where a Star Trek show gets off the ground.

But again. I have to admit, I never got there.

And I don't know if you'd personally like it. Maybe, if you're a fan of the more..exciting space action sci fis. If you like mega gritty war stuff, and torturing aliens to make your warp drive go fast.

But in terms of places to start...? Again, not a bad place if older star trek seems dull.

Discovery certainly is modern and not dull.

Picard- the Cash Grab

Name: PIC

Do not start with Picard. You won't get much out of it if you haven't seen TNG. You won't get much out of it if you have seen TNG.

Pros: It's good for...if you haven't seen Patrick Stewart play Picard in along time.

Cons: It's kind of terrible and messy. It also relies way too much on nostalgia and preexisting knowledge of TNG. So definitely do not bother with Picard as your first Star Trek.

Lower Decks: The Satirical Love Letter

Just called Lower Decks, I think.

Don't start here either, it is VERY dependent on you having seen every Star Trek ever. It's pretty good, but...it's satirical and to understand it well, you would've had to have seen the other Treks.

Strange New Worlds: the Fixer Upper

Shorthand: SNW

Pros: It's the only modern Star Trek that actually seems fond of the original Star Treks, while also being pretty decent just on its own. It brings back the optimism, while maintaining the high quality CGI. Its interpersonal relationships aren't bad. The overarching plot is only somewhat important, and it goes back to form, on that whole episodic thing. If you were allergic to bad rubber alien masks, and wanted to watch something from this era, SNW is the best place to start.

Cons: It might bore you a little if you weren't already a diehard Trekkie. It does depend a little bit on you knowing preexisting properties, just so far as the little wink wink, nudge nudges. It's also a little weird in that the crew doesn't quite live up to the fleshed out nuances of DS9, nor does it rise to the intelligence of TNG's plots.

So there you have it!

This took me almost two hours to write!

I don't know why I wrote it.

Something is wrong with me.

I love Star Trek.

Even the ones I criticized the most, I still like most of them.

I fully accept the Star Trek fandom's wrath too.

I know some people are bigger fans of the other Treks.

But this is my opinion, you know?

Which means I'm right, and everyone else is wrong.

#star trek #tng #voy #ds9 #ent #tos #picard #lower decks

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jesternene · 1 year

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The heart of the Universe

We have encountered extraordinary characters in the Star Trek universe over the last five decades. One of those amazing characters is none other than Dr. Beverly Crusher, the Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Enterprise-D. Not only was she an accomplished doctor and scientist, but she was also a mother. This is where her story showcases just what kind of person Beverly is.

Let's take a quick trip down memory lane, shall we?

Beverly didn't exactly have the most amazing upbringing. She was orphaned at a young age and was raised by the only family she knew; her Grandmother, Felisa. Beverly mentioned she was an awkward child, often lonely, and didn't have many friends. She survived a cataclysmic disaster on Arvada III before settling down in Caldos with her Grandmother. Beverly found solace in helping others and it gave her a sense of gratification and she decided to take those ambitions to Starfleet to become a Doctor. This is where she meets Jack Crusher, they marry and have a son named Wesley. Her new life with her family was a stark comparison to how she grew up and for Beverly, life couldn't be more perfect… or so she thought.

When Jack died in a Mission accident, Beverly was now a single mom of her 5-year-old son and was determined to make his life the best possible. She continued her career in Medicine and Science, even becoming a Commander. She also made sure Wesley had every opportunity to grow his interest and become who he needed to be. This leads them to Enterprise-D, where Beverly is now the Chief Medical Officer and her son can have hands-on experience with his interests. Though, her complicated relationship with the Captain, didn't deter her from doing what was best for not only Wesley but for herself. However, as Jean-Luc and Beverly grew closer, her relationship with Wesley grew apart.

As Wesley got older, he realized that following in his parent's footsteps and joining Starfleet was not the path he should be on. Wesley joined the Travelers, magical space and time beings, leaving Beverly behind. This was the hardest decision for Beverly because she always wanted to make sure to be there for Wesley and now that he was on a path she didn't fully understand, she was completely out of her element. This wasn't a typical empty nest syndrome, this was complete uncertainty about if she will ever see her son again. And sadly, she never really did…

Beverly's career and love life (to Jean-Luc Picard) was the only thing she had left in her life. Her family was now gone and all she had was her crew. She loved her crew of the Enterprise and they loved her just the same, but Beverly had a void in her she never thought she could fill. She wanted more children, but because the on-again off-again relationship she had with the Captain was uncertain, she didn't think it would happen. Especially because he made it very clear he didn't want to have a family. Yes, she could have moved on to someone else, but in typical "Beverly" fashion, she put others before herself and loved wholeheartedly and loved Jean-Luc very much to the point that it hurt. I do not believe she could have easily moved on and she wouldn't want a child just out of need. That part of her life was now over and she had to figure out what to do next.

After one last attempt at their relationship, Beverly and Jean-Luc broke up and she left the Enterprise. Even though Beverly was now alone and with only her career at hand, she was surprised to find out she was pregnant. Even though she attempted to tell Jean-Luc the news, she had a hard time getting it to him as he was always in some sort of danger. This is where Beverly's maternal instincts kicked in and she felt she had a second chance at being a mother and she wasn't going to let anyone hurt her child, not even the father. As much as she wanted to be a family with Jean-Luc, she couldn't in good conscience risk her child's life of the uncertainty of being the son of Jean-Luc Picard. It was bad enough that she had to endure the pain of his life being at risk, she couldn't do that to her unborn child. And after losing Wesley, she couldn't risk losing another child.

Beverly left her career and her entire life behind to raise and protect her son, Jack. This time was going to be different in Beverly's mind. With Wesley, she gave him the space he needed to grow and didn't hover over him, but she still lost him nonetheless. Since Jack was her second chance, she wanted to be a part of his life in a different way, expose him to many great things and share that experience with him. Though Jean-Luc was not far from her mind, she kept him close by telling Jack stories about him and playing songs that Jean-Luc shared. She made it clear his father was a wonderful man, even if he couldn't be there with them. Beverly would have never exposed Jack to being a fatherless child, but she never could shake the feeling that if the universe knew who Jack's father was, the consequences would be dire.

As we saw in the recent Star Trek: Picard installment, Beverly was right. Beverly could no longer protect Jack from the villainous beings that were now after him, and she had to turn to the only family she knew: The Crew of the Enterprise. Beverly felt she failed in protecting Jack, but after a week of letting the news that he is a father settle, and seeing just the kind of danger Jack was in, Jean-Luc reassured Beverly that it was a testament to her strength, love, and loyalty that kept Jack safe all this time.

Finding out that Jack was special with abilities beyond her comprehension, didn't help in the matter. Losing one son to an unpredictable cosmic journey, but both sons? Beverly was always the hardest on herself and so failure wasn't far from her mind. She had to endure the most difficult challenges while trying to save Jack but the end didn't happen like she expected. Her life had always ended in a heartbreaking manner, losing those she loves and leaving her behind. But instead, Jack was saved, Jean-Luc was saved, the universe was saved… It was a feeling Beverly never had experienced before: relief and gratification.

Many may think Beverly was wrong in keeping Jack away from Jean-Luc, and many are right. However, when you break down just what Beverly had gone through in her life and just what kind of man Jean-Luc was, it is only a human reaction to fall victim to fear. But it wasn't just fear she had, she had maternal instincts. Like Beverly said:

"As a mother, your whole being is about protecting your child"

She may have done the wrong thing but she did it for the right reasons. As much as we associate Beverly with her fierce determination, dedication, and empathy, we also must showcase the love she has for not only her children but the love of Jean-Luc, her friends, her crew, and her patients. This is what makes Beverly what fans call "The heart of the crew" -- But I want to take it a step further and say she is "The heart of the universe" -- willing to always put herself last, and as a mother, she is willing to sacrifice everything for her children no matter what the consequences that may be. Being a mother has always been Beverly's top priority since the day Wesley was born. It is that protective nature and unconditional love she has for her children that make her such an amazing character. That IS Beverly Crusher.

Beverly may be a flawed character but it is those flaws that fans love about her and understand her the most. We understand her drive, we understand her commitment and we understand that no matter the best intentions, it doesn't always come out the way we want it. Beverly is the fan's character, the most relatable. She has taught us that Love is always the most powerful and most rewarding gift of all.

Happy Mother's Day

#beverly crusher #gates mcfadden #star trek #tng #the next generation #star trek tng #picrusher #star trek the next generation #star trek picard #wesley crusher #jack crusher #happy mothers day

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butterflydm · 6 months

Text

My "s3 speculation" post was so organized compared to my actual thought processes about it, btw. My brain was that guy with the corkboard (from Community, I think?) lol.

So, this is a messier version of my "what might happen in s3" thoughts plus a new potential outline for s3 (I have several, lol):

Step One: It's a "closer" adaptation of TSR. What does that mean? What are the moments that the spine of the book hangs from?

So, per character, what are the defining events of the book, and how tied are they to a specific place and time (can they be moved?).

Rand -- goes to Rhuidean and learns the history of the Aiel. Goes to Alcair Dal and announces himself as the Car'a'carn. Fights with Asmodean, 'breaking open' Rhuidean and caging Asmodean as a teacher. I feel like that's probably the spine of s3 (along with Perrin defending the Two Rivers).

Mat -- goes into the realm of the 'finn, learns some prophecies. Goes in a second time, gets a weapon and some protection. This season I feel like the show is going to double-down and expand on what we got from Mat in 2x8. Since the show focused so much on his relationship with Rand last season (and touched on his regret re: Egwene)... that flows pretty naturally into them both being in the Waste together.

Egwene -- learns from the Wise Ones as a dreamwalker (pretending to be full Aes Sedai). She honestly has... zero actual plot in TSR, lol. But some of her 'Accepted Test' moments could perhaps come as part of her training with the Wise Ones? But we'll probably learn a lot about dreamwalking in her scenes.

Perrin -- goes back to the Two River and defends it from Shadowspawn, while dealing with Whitecloaks; definitely meeting Faile; we should see Aram & co here; Dain & co here; Alanna & co here; and probably Verin & Tomas as well. I suspect Padan Fain will be here and we know that 'Slayer' aka Lord Luc is cast as well, I believe. Plus we have Bain & Chiad, and we might get Gaul. So there is quite a lot going on in the Two Rivers. If anyone doesn't make it to any kind of 'cast reunion' at the end of the season, it would be Perrin, who is pretty far from the Waste.

Nynaeve & Elayne -- so in this book, she and Elayne are searching for An Item in Tanchico but I'm not sure there's a lot of reason for those to be brought up yet. Much like Callandor, its place in the story doesn't happen until later on. So it's possible that this storyline will be a combo of TDR and TSR, where the goal that Nynaeve and Elayne has is 'hunting down Liandrin' as opposed to 'finding the weird thing in Tanchico'. The main thing here I think would be her encounters with Moghedien -- first getting Compelled near the the beginning of the story, then briefly defeating her towards the end. (obviously, they could do the Tanchico storyline! I'm not ruling it out). But their storyline can take place in 'any city' if it doesn't involve Egeanin. If it DOES involve Egeanin, then it would need to probably still be on the west coast, away from everyone else. I am hoping that they are closer to home, in Cairhien and Tear, so that we can have Nynaeve & Elayne reunite with Rand's part of the plotline at the end of the season but I am prepared for that not to happen.

The other main event of the season is the White Tower coup, and I'm thinking we will see Yacissa & Sheriam here. I'm hoping we'll see Ryma, attempting to report about the Seanchan invasion (the other possibility for Ryma is that we'll be seeing the Seanchan again and she's stuck with them, but I will hope for the best until proven otherwise!) and getting caught up in the coup (suggestion by @markantonys but I love it).

Villain storylines: I think the focus will be on Moghedien & Liandrin in Nynaeve's storyline; Asmodean and Lanfear in Rand's story; and Perrin gets the non-Forsaken with Luc and Fain.

So that was kinda the spine of what I gathered from "a closer adaptation of TSR" and were kinda the bones of what I started with.

Step Two: What we know about the production so far.

We know that we're getting Caemlyn. We know that Elaida and Galad are cast. I am assuming that Gawyn is cast but we don't have official word on that yet.

Because the Caemlyn cast hasn't met our main cast yet, that is why I thought it would be likely that the first episode might take place in Caemlyn. But they could also do episode one in Falme, then split off Elayne and Nynaeve (if they are doing a coastal location) and only have the rest of the group do episode two in Caemlyn, and have episode three be the episode when Rand arrives in the Aiel Waste. If Elayne & Nynaeve aren't there when the rest of the group goes to Caemlyn, then her location remains an open question to her family.

I have four main reasons to doubt that any meetings would happen at the White Tower:

a. it means that Rand is excluded from any of the meetings with the Caemlyn cast, because he is extremely unlikely to go to the White Tower when he knows the law is 'shield on sight', so he wouldn't meet Elaida, Galad, or Gawyn. He is a major motivating factor for two of those characters in the books, and is the half-brother of the third of them. If he doesn't meet Galad in early s3, then he's probably never meeting him, given plotline restrictions.

b. it's just really difficult, timeline-wise, to imagine the Wondergirls getting to the Tower, doing stuff there, and successfully leaving again, and then also having a plotline with Moghedien (for Nynaeve and Elayne) and with the Aiel Wise Ones (for Egwene) without them becoming tangled up in the White Tower Coup.

c. there is nothing in the overarching plot that requires Elayne or Egwene to become Aes Sedai. Egwene can leapfrog to Amyrlin as easily from novice as Accepted (and it would make it even more obvious that she's meant as a figurehead), while Elayne's plotlines can easily work around her not being Aes Sedai because she's also royal and can lean on that in certain situations. Nynaeve only really 'needs' to become Aes Sedai for a Certain Situation that can be written around by making it a life or death type of situation for the other person.

d. Egwene's Accepted Tests, as they are in the books, are hyper Rand-focused, which would be jarring in a season where the two of them are probably fully broken up, and also all about leaving Rand behind so that she can be Aes Sedai, which contradicts her motivation in s2 (getting stronger specifically to help her friends). Obviously, the show could put a different angle on her Tests, but as they are in the books, they are not suited for where Egwene's character is, imo

So, yeah, while they might try to squeeze in a White Tower visit at the start of s3, I don't think it's at all needed and it would really create some major timeline squeezing for the rest of the plotlines. I tend to think it was always unlikely (given that they need to compress the books and one of the book sets they have been explicitly planning on compressing from the start were TGH-TDR), and I think that's part of why the show threw such a big obstacle in the way of anyone going back to the White Tower (Siuan following Tower law when it comes to the Dragon Reborn) and also removed the potential urgent reasons why people might need to go there (ex. Mat avoiding touching the dagger in 2x8).

We also have some teases that Rafe has given about s3 in interviews, mainly things like hinting that there will be a 'big cast death/change' at the end of s3 that book fans would be familiar with. That's why I brought in the idea of Moiraine & Lanfear going through the doorway at the end of s3, because of that hinting.

Step Three: constructing an eight-episode plot using some of the same highs and lows that they used in the previous seasons.

And that's essentially how I got my first theorized s3 structure in my recent post. But it's definitely not the only potential outline, for sure.

Another potential outline, one that only reunites part of the cast and that uses less of TFoH, would be:

episode 1: Falme: do early book4-Tear stuff in Falme; Elayne and Nynaeve get a lead on Liandrin somehow and end up splitting off at the end of the episode and we get a Lanaeve goodbye scene. Perhaps we get introduced to the Sea Folk, and Elayne and Nynaeve take a ship to their next destination? (we could also use Doman here for that purpose, since he's already in Falme) Egwene and Rand have their final breakup. Egwene enters TAR for the first time and meets Amys, who tells her to go to Rhuidean. Rand and Moiraine argue about what he should do next.

episode 2: Caemlyn: do the book 1, 2, & 3 Caemlyn crew stuff -- have Rand meeting the brothers and getting a Foretelling from Elaida (triggering her to head to the White Tower); Mat has a 1v2 battle with Gawyn and Galad; Egwene meets G&G -- having just 'for the last time' broken up with Rand in ep1, we now see signs of her having romantic sparks for someone else. Elaida's Foretelling prompts them to leave, with Perrin & co heading to the Two Rivers while Rand & co head to the Aiel Waste.

episode 3: Rhuidean: Rand and Mat pretty much head for Rhuidean as soon as they land in the Aiel Waste, so this episode can still be the Rhuidean-focused one.

episode 4: This can be the episode when everyone else arrives in their locations -- Perrin in the Two Rivers and Elayne & Nynaeve in Tanchico or its stand-in (I'm going to go with Tear in this specific outline). Perrin meets Faile?

episode 5: Alcair Dal & capturing Asmodean as a teacher. Elayne and Nynaeve get Compelled by Moghedien and interrogated. Might be an episode where we get Asmodean and/or Moghedien AoL backstory?

episode 6: Given that 1x6 and 2x6 both had Siuan coming into the story, 3x6 might be when the White Tower coup happens. I am currently going to assume it involves the same players (aka Min, Logain, and Leane, in addition to Siuan and Elaida) because we don't really have any information about it.

episode 7: Maybe Couladin doesn't attack the wetlands right away, so instead Rand focuses on another prophecy of the dragon (prompted by Moiraine?), and he takes the Aiel to Tear, taking the Stone. This might mean not changing the location of the two doorways to the finn, just swapping the order they appear in the story. Nynaeve and Elayne are also in Tear already, chasing down Liandrin and running into Moghedien, and we see them facing off against Liandrin & Moghedien inside the Stone while Rand, Mat & the Aiel take it from the outside. This would give us a Rand-Elayne-Aviendha reunion in Tear, one that could be more romantic than their interactions in ep1 would be, maybe even the official forming of the throuple. And it means we'll have had several episodes of Rand and Egwene settling into a friendship before anything explicitly romantic happens between Rand and Elayne & Aviendha.

episode 8: The Battle of the Two Rivers as the main focus of the episode, while over in Rand's plotline, Lanfear finds out about his feelings for Aviendha and/or Elayne, and we end up getting the Lanfear & Moiraine confrontation in Tear, with the two of them going through the doorway (as Moiraine perhaps found out about in the silver rings of Rhuidean in ep3 and as been planning for?). If we keep with having

This would leave TFoH & LoC as the main plotlines for s4. Rand would learn that Cairhien is being attacked by the Shaido at the start of s4 and go north from Tear with the Tairens & the Aiel. Perrin would start traveling east from the Two Rivers after saving the Two Rivers and arrive in time to help Rand when he needs it. And during a lot of that time period, we could have Rand-Elayne-Aviendha getting to be in the same plotline and be falling in love. I want at least as many Randavilayne scenes as we've gotten Alanna-Ihvon-Maksim scenes!

Instead of aimlessly wandering the countryside because Nynaeve can't remember the word 'Salidar', she and Elayne could hang out with Rand's group during this time period and Rand can have more than a handful of days to learn politics from Elayne.

yes all this once again leads to dumai's wells being a group rescue of rand you can pry this speculation out of my cold dead fingers

#wot #wheel of time #wot on prime #wot speculation #wot book spoilers #wot 2x8 spoilers #wot s2 spoilers #lord of chaos #wot s3 speculation

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frecklenog · 4 months

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after spending an evening listening to jessie gender tell me about starfield, capitalism, gender, selfhood, and ursula k leguin, i had. some Thoughts about another science fiction series; one you're probably at least somewhat familiar with if you follow this blog or watch ms gender's videos.

to start off; hey. this is partially based on my own experiences, my understanding of them, and how that lens can be applied to star trek. it's also very much inspired by the work of jessie earl, whose channel i can't recommend enough. she's funny, intelligent, kind, and an incredibly gifted writer, and she's a gift to both the star trek, trans, and "video essay youtuber" communities. show her some love!

that said, i want to start by looking at star trek. we all know the vulcans, don't we? pointy ears, green blood — spock's dad's side of the family. gifted with telepathic abilities, vulcans are practitioners of the mind meld, also called things like a mind link, probe, touch, or fusion, which is exactly what it sounds like. it allows two (or more, on occasion) sentient life forms to exchange thoughts as though they were one being.

of course, this kind of thing is common in media. steven universe has gem fusions, which should be examined from a plural viewpoint in their own right. x-man charles xavier almost routinely delves into the minds of others. but rarely does it have any lasting impact on the characters. even star trek itself falls into this, with doctor leonard mccoy not getting nearly enough screentime in the voyage home to show off what must have been the intensely strange experience of carrying spock's katra within him. (maybe that's addressed in a novelization or comic that i'm just unaware of, but regardless, i haven't seen it, and i think that's a travesty. (and if you know of a book where that gets touched on oh my god give me the fucking link now-))

there are instances of star trek mind melds having lasting effects, as discovery shows part of sarek's katra being permanently linked to michael burnham, though that could be considered an extenuating circumstance, what with her being on death's doorstep at the time of the meld. which most trek fans probably already know, and is honestly more fantastical than i care to bother reading with a plural lens. however, star trek is a fandom with nearly sixty years of history, including hundreds of books and comics from various authors and publishers. these stories are plentiful, bizzare, and sometimes outright terribly written. i don't blame anyone for not having read them all — to do so seems like a terrifying task.

but the one i want to look at right now is a particular run of the star trek: the next generation comic, published in 2000 by wildstorm comics.

the run is called perchance to dream — a lovely, flourishing name for a comic where half of the plot could be it's very own jessie gender video for how much sexual weirdness goes on (but i'll leave that to the professionals). the part we're going to focus on is that the b-plot of the run surrounds captain jean luc picard, captain of the uss enterprise-d. the comic is set after the events of the star trek: the next generation season 3 premiere, best of both worlds: part 2. in that episode, the captain had been disconnected from the borg hivemind (after being assimilated in part 1), and he returned to duty as usual at the end of the episode (though he does choose to go on leave in the following episode). it's also set after another episode from later on in season 3, — episode 23, sarek, wherein picard preformed a mind meld with sarek in order to allow the aging ambassador better emotional control, as it was being ravaged by his bendii syndrome — essentially, vulcan dementia.

the a-plot of the run isn't really important to us, i'm afraid — although it reveals to us in the second issue that worf accidentally killed a kid on another soccer team as a child. suffice to say, one of the abilities of the aliens the crew has to play diplomacy with is that they can prod into people's traumas through their nightmares. they have a lot going on. it's a comic book from 2000, what did you expect?

and, speaking of things that are easily dated, the third issue of the run brings us to the second part of today's topic.

image id: a comic book page. beginning at the top, a narration box reads: "chief medical officer's log, stardate 48503.8. lieutenant commander data, doctor selar, and i have gone through the damiano [alien] records regarding the chova. while no direct way to combat the weapon was ever developed we have discovered that certain people were immune to the chova's effects and could destroy the weapon." doctor beverly crusher is beside the narration box, depicted from the shoulders up, facing slightly to the right and saying "there has to be another way." a vulcan -- doctor selar -- is viewed from the waist up, holding a padd in her right hand and facing to the right of the page. she is saying "we have been over the records six times a piece, doctor. if there is anything to find, it is likely that we would have found it by now." data, an android designed to appear as a human with pale yellow plastic skin, is holding a book slightly behind doctor selar. his mouth is slightly open as he speaks. "i believe doctor selar is correct. this is the only course of action open to us under the circumstances." to the right of this panel is another shot of beverly from the shoulders up, this time facing to the left. her expression is stern as she says "i know, i know, it's just-- it could kill him." in the next panel. beverly is shown from the back, and captain jean-luc picard enters, saying "you sent for me, doctor?" beverly responds, "yes, jean-luc. please sit down." below this, the left panel takes most of the remaining page. this time we see captain picard from the back, while beverly faces the reader head-on, speaking first. "we've gone through the records chief du're [irrelevant one-off character from the a-plot] provided. it turns out that there was one group of people who were immune to the chova when it was first used. mpd's." jean-luc repeats "mpd's?" curiously. to the right, data is shown from the shoulders up, saying; "mpd stands for multiple personality disorder. mpd can come about through psycholo--" but beverly interrupts him; "not now, data." end id.

ah, multiple personality disorder. a term that hasn't been clinically used since 1994. these days, we call this dissociative identity disorder (did), but it's one dissociative disorder of many, which is what beverly is talking about. for whatever reason, people with this sort of dissociative plurality seem to be immune to the specific trauma nightmares induced by these aliens. (finally, some good news.)

okay, neat! so, dissociative disorders and plurality have been canonically addressed in star trek. let's see how it goes!

image id also available unbroken in alt text. image id pt 1: beginning in the top left corner, beverly is shown from the shoulders up, facing the right side of the page as she speaks. "the point is the people who are afflicted with more than one personality would destroy the chova before it could affect them. the chova was only built for one personality. mpds would literally overwhelm it." in the next panel, to the right, picard is shown from the chest up, partially obstructed by speech bubbles. facing right, he asks; "how does this help us?" beverly is also in this right panel, although from behind, and nearly completely obfuscated by speech bubbles. she answers; "well, mpd was never a common occurance, and it's almost unheard of these days.there've only been two cases reported in the federation in the last two hundred years -- and damiano [the alien planet] hasn't seen a case in the last fifty."beverly continues. "however, we do have someone on the enterprise who has the makings of a classic mpd. i'd like your permission to ask this person to volunteer to undergo a mind-meld with doctor selar in order to bring the submerged personalities to the fore."

this particular line, i take umbrage with, as dissociative disorders are a lot more common than people might think, and star trek has shown us a future as tumultuous as our own present for decades. there would absolutely be people experiencing some level of multiplicity in everyday life both within the federation and without. but, again, this was written in the 90s, i think? i don't know how long it takes a team of professionals to make a comic book. but, i digress.

image id pt 2: picard responds; "permission granted, as long as it remains on a volunteer basis. who is the officer in question?" below, the leftmost panel is larger than the right. beverly crusher is shown in profile, facing right, with doctor selar and data behind her from the chest and shoulders up. picard is on the right of the page, slightly smaller, but also in profile, facing right to contrast beverly as he listens to her speak. "it's someone who's been exposed to an especially intense vulcan mind-meld, who lived another life for thirty-five subjective years— and who had a second personality grafted onto his own for a brief period by the borg. the next panel takes the entire width of the page, and much of the height. picard is shown in the middle, standing in a purple void. around him are three other male characters shown in bust. from left to right, they are; kamin, a humanoid man bearing great resemblance to an older imagining of jean-luc picard, wearing a plain blue shirt. sarek, a vulcan with grey hair, a turquoise shirt, and a green stone amulet on a large gold chain around his neck. he is cast in shadow and his eyes are not visible. locutus, an ashen version of jean-luc picard, with about a third of his face obscured by black metal exoplating and implants that surround his right eye. tubes come off of his face and neck, trailing behind him, and a red light made to shine at his point of focus shines from the side of his head. there are several yellow narration boxes, which read as follows. "sarek of vulcan. picard mind-melded with the legendary ambassador in order to lend him strength for an important negotiation — an act that almost cost picard his sanity." "kamin of kataan. a probe sent out by kataan before their sun went nova allowed picard to live most of kamin's adult life as a way to remember his people."

oh, yeah. did... did i not mention that that happened?

basically, he was targeted by a device that beamed him into the world's most immersive vr game — kind of like the one from rick and morty? if you watched that? if you didn't, sorry for bringing it up, and if you did, ditto. but it forced picard to live out an entire life as though he'd been abducted by aliens and placed in a sims game. though, ultimately, the plot intricacies of the inner light are beside my point.

image id pt 3: "locutus of borg. quite simply, the greatest nightmare of picard's entire life. the subversion of his intellect, his will, his very self to the collective of the borg." "all three are part of him, but they do not dominate. if picard does as doctor crusher suggests, he will subsume himself in order to let the others come to the fore. for sarek, for kamin, he would be willing." "but locutus--?" the next panel takes a little more than half of the remainder of the page. a narration box in the upper left reads; "then he thinks of his first officer, counselor, chief of security, chief engineer, and all the others who have fallen victim to this vicious weapon." the rest of the panel shows two sleeping figures, both humanoid, in what is presumably sickbay. the last panel takes the remainder. a narration box in the upper left reads; "and jean-luc picard makes the only decision he is capable of making." captain picard is shown from the shoulders up, facing slightly to the left and saying; "what do i need to do?" below his speech bubble is another yellow text box, which reads "to be concluded..."

...which is how issue 3 leaves us.

fortunately, we can pick up in issue 4 with ease, since these comics are over twenty years old. i'm going to do my best to limit my use of comic pages, juuuuust in case, but once we reach the sixth page, with the credits...

image id: a two-page spread. beginning in the uppermost left corner, narration boxes read; "welcome to the mind of jean-luc picard." "'locutus' was a personality superimposed upon picard when he was taken by the borg, meant to serve as the spokesperson for that cybernetic race's ruthless assimilation of what they described as the 'authority-driven culture' of the federation." "ambassador sarek of vulcan suffered from bendii syndrome. in order to keep the effects of this devastating illness from endangering his final mission, sarek entered into a deep mind-meld with picard in order to give the ambassador emotional control and stability." "kamin was a prominent member of the community of ressik on the long-dead world of kataan. a probe sent by the kataan people allowed picard to live kamin's life for several subjective decades, although less than half an hour passed in reality." "all of these personalities have made up a part of jean-luc picard, but he remained dominant." "until now." "this is the mind of jean-luc picard." the left page is mostly taken up by a large illustration of locutus, drawn in far more detail than before. trailing off to the right are two tubes or wires, as well as a speech bubble that reads "resistance is futile." also on this page are the details of the comic title, run, issue number, writers/artists, and copyright. taking up most of the right half of the right page is sarek of vulcan, drawn in less detail than locutus, but easily recognizable. his hair is a lighter grey, he is wearing white and cream robes and an amber amulet on a thick gold ring around his neck, and he is holding up his right hand in a vulcan salute/ta'al. depicted below sarek is kamin, drawn from the shoulders up, wearing a plain white shirt with a collar. below kamin is captain picard, also shown from the shoulders up, in his starfleet uniform, and surrounded by four lights, with two on either side of him. (there is also further copyright information beside him in fine print.)

...i'm pretty sure that this analysis falls under the "commentary" part of fair use. right?

but, regardless, this is kind of a huge thing to drop in a comic that virtually no one has bothered to read. i mean, especially when, amidst the clashing of picard's plurality with the a-plot, we get this panel;

image id: a single comic panel. kamin is shown from behind, speaking to locutus and sarek within a noneuclidean space with four circular white lights shining in the distance. "what is going on?" kamin asks. "we have been subdued for too long. but now we shall dominate, as we were meant to." locutus replies. sarek interrupts. "your logic is flawed, locutus. we are all merely aspects of jean-luc picard's mind." "you may be sarek of vulcan, but we are of the borg."

sarek is able to acknowledge himself, kamin, and locutus as "aspects" of captain picard, despite picard rarely if ever sensing them or their influence. picard is being, not just implied, but explicitly stated to have a latent form of plurality, and perchance to dream depicts it in a way that strikes true to members of my own system, at times, with certain alters first making themselves known in the front already well aware of who they are, and having existed without the my knowledge due to dissociative barriers that only came down later in life.

unfortunately, because this is a star trek media, locutus ends up assimilating kamin in the headspace and forcing himself into the front. however, as he does it, he says something that does, to an extent, resonate with the experience of being one among many, for better or worse.

image id: a single comic panel. locutus is shown facing the viewer, and his chin and the top of his head are cut off by the borders of the panel. his light breaks the plane of the panel to simulate the effect that it is shining into the "camera." locutus's mouth is open as he speaks; "for too long you have suppressed us, picard. but you are of the borg."

plurality is a defense mechanism by the brain to protect against trauma. it is, from what i have seen, more common among those who are already neurodivergent, which already presents in a myriad of ways. mixing the ugly truth of trauma with the raw reality of mental illness caused by it can result in certain alters feeling as though they are being suppressed by not being allowed to front and live their own life, depending on how the system functions. admittedly it is more common in fictional depictions of dissociative disorders for these alters to simply live their own lives in secret anyway, as is the case in the marvel tv series moon knight with marc spector, steven grant, and jake lockley (along with the other possible members of their system who may or may not be present depending on the canon, but those are the main three). but, in reality — or at least my experience — this more often translates to alters making themselves social media accounts, or using services like tupperbox or pluralkit on discord, or finding other ways to more discretely express themselves, such as icon changes or status updates.

but, getting back to star trek, this is ultimately a one-off comic. so captain picard saves the day with his secret alters, ends the mind meld with doctor selar, and goes back to living his life as a singlet, ready for the people of the future to be able to easily comprehend without having to read a very specific comic run from 2000.

...right?

image id: part of a comic page. each panel takes up roughly one quarter of the page each. in the first panel, counselor deanna troi is seen standing, having just entered captain picard's ready room. picard is shown from the back, sitting at his desk. "counselor! good to see you up and about." he greets her. "it's good to be up and about." she responds. "playing some old tunes?" [picard had been playing the ressikan flute prior to her entry.] picard responds. "mmm. i wanted to make sure that i still remembered how." in the next panel, we look over counselor troi's shoulder and across the desk at captain picard. "were you worried that you wouldn't?" she wonders. "actually, yes," picard answers. "after what happened..." the third panel shows picard facing the viewer head-on from the shoulders up. he continues, "i suppose i knew intellectually how close to the surface locutus, sarek, and kamin were. but i never really thought about it. they were — memories, experiences. no different from any other. but they're much more than that." the fourth panel shows counselor troi, facing slightly to the right as she speaks. "not much more. all three of them are part of you. but the important word is you. the fragmentation was artificially induced." picard asks; "was it?"

ultimately, yes, this is a one-off comic run that isn't very well known, and i only read because i took a personal interest in the subject matter. i knew going in that it wasn't going to fundamentally change the entire fandom's understanding of captain picard, or make the star trek fandom an instant haven for systems everywhere. but, still, captain picard has his doubts, and that truly touched me when i first read it as someone who was actively reckoning with the fact that past traumas that had impacted me more than i realized.

the comic goes on for a while longer, but the last thing it has to say on the subject of plurality is this.

image id: a single comic panel. counselor troi is seated in one of the chairs in captain picard's ready room, facing him from across his desk. she is on the left, facing partially right, and he is on the right, in profile facing left. the dialogue reads as follows. picard wonders, "was it [the dissociative fragmentation of his identity] truly a creation of the mind-meld, or was it simply breaking a dam that was already cracked?" riker interrupts over the comm. "riker to picard." "go ahead, number one," picard tells him. "it's time to beam down to damiano for the ceremony, sir." "thank you, commander."

and that's it. picard asks a question, then gets called away and never tells us his answer.

i think, at least subconsciously, that might be part of why i held star trek: picard to such a high standard.

to be clear, i hadn't read this comic when the first season of picard was coming out. but i was starting to grapple with my plurality, and i used fictional media as a means to do that (as is still evidenced by things like my system simon tag). the first season of the show was centered around both picard's relationship with both his legacy and his history with the borg collective. as mentioned in perchance to dream, captain picard had previously been assimilated by the borg collective — a cybernetic hivemind from the delta quadrant that absorbed cultures and species into itself, effectively wiping out the cultural histories of entire planets, at times, in their quest to become the "perfect" life form through a combination of genetic engineering and mechanical augmentation. and, as this happened, i came to know a young man named hugh who took form within my mind. a fictional introject, or fictive, of the character of the same name from season 5, episode 23, i, borg. with his help, i grew to further understand my own plurality, and saw the potential for our stories to be told in the wake of reclamations from the borg collective. the reclamation project became a hyperfixation, and—

and then came the jurati collective.

my own system bears no connection to the jurati collective, but it is a wonder, and can be examined through a plural lens as an allegory for our own experiences as dissociatives. many consciousnesses, all working together as one towards a common goal, and willingly. after all, what is a system if not a hive within one body?

and then came picard's third season, completely ignoring her, along with all the unique perspectives that stories surrounding her might have offered in favor of what felt like a final next generation movie.

ignoring me, it felt like.

is that silly? probably. but, try as i might, i am human, and so i have a propensity for illogic — no matter how much my autistic brain craves structure and definitive explanations in order to understand the world.

i'll be honest, i'm not sure how to end this. but, sometimes i remember the time in season 6, episode 20, the chase, when picard became incredibly excited about an ancient alien society that believed people were, indeed, collectives within themselves.

"...the kurlan civilisation believed that an individual was a community of individuals. inside us are many voices, each with its own desires, its own style, its own view of the world." -captain jean-luc picard

and i realize that, with the core tenant of this series lying in the infinite diversity of both the known and the unknowable — the building blocks are already in place. star trek is a media that has grown over the decades, and hopefully will continue to do so, because there are still so many ways for new and interesting and meaningful stories to be told within this franchise.

but, if you can't summon your representation from a nostalgiabait sequel/reboot within a preexisting intellectual property... there's nothing to stop you from crafting your own story and letting loose as many systems as you like.

#shut up emrys #star trek #star trek tng #star trek the next generation #the next generation #jean luc picard #captain picard #multiplicity #plurality #actually multiple #actually plural #first time using those tags. whoogh #uhhh. unsure of other tags..#i think that’ll do tbh

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marivenah · 10 months

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WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by @socially-awkward-skeleton @kyber-infinitygems and @nightbloodbix to post some wip lines! thank you all beloveds 💙

sending no pressure tags to @risingsh0t @sstewyhosseini @detectivelokis @jinfromyarikawa @river-ward @poisonedtruth @ghastlyrider @confidentandgood @josephslittledeputy @aceghosts @corvosattano @jackiesarch @voidika @madparadoxum @indorilnerevarine @shadowglens @purplehairsecretlair @nightwingshero @fourlittleseedlings @strangefable @poetikat @leviiackrman @shegetsburned @roofgeese @jacobseed @captastra and YOU!

writing hasn't been going that well this past week, so everything has slowed down a little

barely something for BTVAFTV (god this is so long lmao) chapter 2 (Shireen)

She holds her blaster to his head.

“Who are you?”, she breathes out. “Where am I? How did I —” She can barely croak out the rest of her question. The cold is pulling the air out of her lungs, and she can feel her insides freezing.

also picked Luna's story up again, this one's definitely longer (that little oneshot with Luc incited me ig) this is still pre-av*ngers

Luna takes the blue glowing cube out of its containment, which is accompanied by a faint hiss.

It feels surprisingly light, almost like a feather. And it is radiating with energy. Though, this one feels different from anything she’s ever encountered before. The base energy is unlike that of her own, but oddly enough it creates some form of synergy with hers. So much so that it doesn’t affect her the same way it does other people. Granted, the others don’t have any psychic powers, but energy certainly can clash.

Her eyes widen. “This is pure energy.” And yet, somehow, it’s contained within itself.

“Precisely”, Coulson says. The crinkles around his eyes giving away his amusement at Luna’s childlike wonder for the cube.

“Where did you get this from? It’s not human-made.”

“No. It was found alongside Steve Rogers.” He hands her the files regarding the man out of time. “Originally used by Hydra, though its origins are without doubt extraterrestrial.”

After browsing through the information regarding Captain America, Hydra and the Tesseract, Luna tilts her head, “So, you want me to do what exactly?”

“Figure out how to utilize the Tesseract for unlimited sustainable energy.”

Something feels iffy. Since when is Shield interested in something like sustainability?

If there’s one thing she’s learned in all those years working for the secret organization, it’s to never take anything as it is. Unfortunately, trust is a luxury unaffordable in this business. While she does believe Coulson would never lie to her, he might not know about everything going on either. Her shoulders go tense.

“That’s it?”, she asks deadpanned.

Rumlow snorts, “That’s it? What, like it’s that easy?”

“I do firmly believe that Ms Richards is more than capable of taking on this task. She’s the best we have. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

In any other given situation, Luna would have been more than flattered but she pays his compliment no mind. “Not what I meant.”

While his expression remains fairly neutral, something in Coulson’s posture shifts. He drops his head as he exhales. Then his eyes move to look at her again. “I assure you, this is our sole intention. As I said, you are the best in the field. What you’re implying isn’t exactly your field, now is it?”

She drops her shoulders, her eyes roaming the Tesseract that’s still sitting in her gloved hand. She puts two fingers on the cube and slowly drags them over it. Almost as if she were touching a sky full of stars.

Luna is usually head over heels for new challenges. However, something tells her she should trust her gut. What would her dad do? He’d certainly see it as an opportunity. But thanks to her mom, he also learned to never blindly trust organizations that work with the government.

“Under one condition, I’ll be in charge of the project”, she states.

Coulson wants to agree but Luna interrupts him before he can speak. “And, I’ll work on it alone.”

and wow look who makes a comeback 🤡 (Paz)

In hopes of shedding the skin she couldn’t stand to look at anymore. The scars being the reward she received for the atrocities she had to commit for the people who fed her with nothing but cruelty. The acts of violence she doesn’t even remember.

“Just when I thought the pain finally stopped, it comes back to haunt me again. I've already been buried in the ground the day I was born. How much further down can it all push me?” she says, her voice dry and hoarse from crying for so long.

“Why didn't you do it?”, she blurts out after a moment of silence.

Simon remains silent. Whether he doesn't know how to answer or simply doesn't want to answer, she can't tell.

She decides to be a little bit more specific and turns her head to look at him. “Why didn't you kill me?” He turns to her ever so slightly, barely moving a muscle. But as his eyes meet hers, she can feel her own starting to burn again. Tears forming at the corners

#wip tag #i can't focus on one thing at a time i hate it here #biggie is solely to blame for me working on that last one again 😭#omg i'm sorry the second one is so long #and the first one is two lines #the duality of woman #i might be in a m*rvel phase 🤢#partly?#brooke and erik have entered my mind again today #it's over for me

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stellarred · 24 days

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Laris: You're just using Jean-Luc! You don't really love him, Q.

Q: And what, pray tell, would make you come to such an astoundingly ridiculous conclusion?

Laris: I don't know much about you, Q.

Q: You don't say.

Laris: But, I do know you're powerful--

Q: Beyond

Laris: You are cruel and vile--

Q: You've been hanging with Guinan, haven't you?

Laris: Look! Just shut up! Just...let me speak!

Laris: You could have anyone you wanted.

Q: Oh, really?

Laris: And yet, you insist on playing these games with him!

Q: No more games. They...never really were.

Laris: Oh? And what would you call them?

Q: Something deeper. Meaningful. Scaffolding to where he and I are today.

Laris:

Q: I hate to break your poor, little, rejected heart, my dear, but it's always been a slow burn between us. A love story. Over thirty years in the making--

Laris: I don't believe it. You're telling me that Jean-Luc loves you?

Q: He does. I know he does.

Laris: Well, he can't.

Q: If you're such an expert on Jean-Luc Picard, perhaps you can educate me.

Laris: Because he will never submit to your power, Q! You can't make him love you the way you want.

Q: Can't I?

Laris: I don't know that much about you. But, I think I despise you.

Q: What can I say? You're in good company. I could make Jean-Luc fall head over heels in love with me. I could seep into his mind, his thoughts, his very soul ...

Laris:

Q: And will him to submit to me.

Laris:

Q: But, what good would that do? What meaning is there in forcing him to give himself to me?

Laris:

Q: You grossly misjudge me, madam.

Laris: You mean, with all these great powers at your fingertips, you're willing to forgo any opportunity in ensuring he loves you?

Q: I can lose Jean-Luc. I can watch him turn from me a million times. I can let go...if it means he will have what is best for him.

Laris: I don't--

Q: I'm sure you would do the same for him. You agree with me, n'est-ce pas?

Laris:

Q: Now, what was this about my not really loving him?

Laris:

#qcard #star trek q #q #john de lancie #patrick stewart #orla brady #laris #star trek pic #star trek picard season 4 #q x jean luc picard #jean luc picard #q and laris confrontation #star trek #q and picard #trek

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papervo1d · 5 months

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after three months, i have finally finished the shadow rising (a few days ago). what a beast of a book! my copy had 974 pages. a beast of a book. long post incoming!

and it's by far the best one of the series yet. it's easy for me, as a newcomer to the wheel of time, to say that i feel like the story is only just beginning, as it's a completed series of fourteen. but four books is a lot for any series, especially given each book's size, so it's not right to say the story has just begun, but more it feels very solidly wheel of time. i think a lot of the aiel history and revisiting the two rivers made this one feel quite fleshed out compared to the first three. instead of racing around to new places, we got to spend some more time in emond's field, the place it all began. we got to dive into the deep history of the aiel, who i had no real interest in beforehand, because of how little i knew about them.

i would say that perrin's storyline this book was unexpectedly my favourite one. i've never hated perrin, but he always has been my least favourite of the main lot. i think it's just he feels like he has a smaller personality than mat or nynaeve (my favs), but i've always liked his complex conflict with his wolf abilities. i really enjoyed seeing his rise into leadership this book, i feel like he actually ended up doing something compared to what he did in the dragon reborn. a nice development i noticed was how, when he first started leading the two rivers people against the trollocs, he went from only focusing on the people who died, to at the end focusing on the people who lived. making him into a leader felt like a good path for his character. i imagine perrin's story going forward will lead to some bigger conflict with slayer. when first introduced to luc i definitely suspected him, i thought he was a forsaken and didn't expect him to be slayer until it was revealed at the end. now raises the question of who slayer really is - who's luc and why does he look different in the wolf dream? well, i suppose i'll find out eventually.

i quite liked all the other characters in his storyline too: faile, loial, gaul, bain and chiad. faile i quite like actually, she frustrated me a bit throughout the third book, but i thought her stubbornness and general annoyingness began to settle down slowly after reaching the two rivers. at first she was irritating, but she seems to show genuine care for perrin, and i thought their wedding at the end was sweet but maybe a bit too early for that. gaul i never expected to like so much, he's such a ride or die bestie. loial is as always the best.

next: the aiel plot. i was definitely looking forward to this once it was revealed that this is where rand will be heading. and it delivered!! it was so interesting to finally learn of aiel culture after not knowing much about them. the aiel history section was super intense and at first i found it hard to understand, but it clicked eventually and those two chapters are by far the best of the book. it was nice to be able to read rand chapters again, and see how much he's changed from book one. he comes across so much more guarded and plots so much more.

egwene i feel like wasn't in this one too much. i kinda hoped we would see some more of her lessons with the wise ones, and felt like this was one plot that there was no time for (in this 1000 page book lol). and not much to say about mat either. i do like that it felt like he had rand's back, despite his fear of channeling. but the whole sequence of them two in rhuidean was intense, and now he has a cool weapon and prophecies from the fae foxes and snakes. but as always he remains a favourite and i always want to see more of him. and one character i loved was aviendha. i loved seeing her in the show and i loved having her around more in this one. she's a joy to read :)

the tanchico plot. again i was excited, as nynaeve is my joint fav and i do enjoy elayne a lot. but sadly we didn't see too much of them :( of all three main plots i'm curious to see what happens next here. where did moghedien go? what will happen with the panarch? what about the black sisters? again, i suppose i will find out!!

a special note goes to the nynaeve vs moghedien showdown. that was wonderful, seeing nynaeve unleash forsaken level power and beat a forsaken. but we didn't see where moghedien went - she'll be back, i'm sure of it. just like how we see lanfear time and time again.

finally, the smallest plot point: the tower business. oh my god. so much happened within so few chapters. this will only be bad news now that elaida is amyrlin. it's good to see siuan so determined to keep going. i'm excited to see how min, siuan and leane deal with this, what their next steps are. and what on earth is next for the white tower? where did all the blue sisters disappear to? are they gonna form some kind of movement against elaida? i'm so invested in this!

so overall: a wonderful book, definitely my favourite so far. i'm excited to start the fires of heaven, but i also definitely need a break to read something else. i have a few standalones that i'll be reading first, but i'm looking to return to the wheel of time in the new year :)

#wheel of time #the shadow rising #hi wheel of time fandom please enjoy a long post of opinions #there's so much i could say about these books!! i love them so much #this makes my fifth book read this year #next is circe by madeline miller and then dracula :)

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azsazz · 2 months

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MM Feedback Contd.

Anon Feedback: for the midnight muse feedback: what was missing: for me most of the plot was missing, besides their bickering phase and then them getting together i think we didn't really get much else. also a backstory for the reader character but i understand why we didnt get it here since it's a x reader fic

Yes, backstories will be flushed out for sure, a bit difficult to do like you said because x reader, but i will for sure work on this!

what you didn't like: honestly most of the relationships between them, the talk between the bat boys and az was good but it felt like they just apologized and moved on and that was it. but feyre was a terrible friend with the whole rhys situation and in her talk with reader she basically admitted she was prioritizing rhys over her and reader was just like "it's fine, we're best friends" it made me not like feyre for the rest of the story. cass going to befriend the girls immediately also feels a little weird, like i get the vibes that he didn't really think about it but i think if i was azriel i would be sad about it, of all the people in the world my bestfriend went to befriend the people i don't like? that's low. and then their relationship because it felt like it dragged on where they hated each other to then have them get together after one nice talk and then the story ends after a couple of chapters. there was some tension between them but just sexual so when they got together that's the only thing i felt. the little fight they had was unnecessary, it literally served no purpose and made no sense.

Working on friendship relationships, noted! Will also work on Cass becoming a more gradual friend instead of jumping in headfirst with them behind az's back, good feedback for sure. I will also work on reader x feyre's relationship because they're supposed to be better friends than that, so good thing to point out, thank you!

what you adored: i like the characters. reader is cool but if it gets turned into a book like i said i wish we got more story for her. i like az and even when he was being an asshole it's clear it's mostly because he has a lot on his mind and probably needs a therapist. cassian is funny sometimes but he gives too much frat boy at other times and it's a bit icky because it gives me war flashbacks, i also don't love the himbo characters usually so i think it's really personal preference. feyre was a terrible friend but other than that she was just there i guess. rhys was also giving me the ick too much in the beginning but then towards the end it got better, i like how he went and talked to reader about feyre (almost better than feyre herself did) and he was really good with azriel especially during their talk. lucien ended up not really serving much of a purpose in my opinion but his character is cool

there were def some times where i was writing cass where i was like this is probably way too much, so i'll probably rework some of his liners and such. i didn't really have a backstory for feyre x rhys but i think i do now so that will help give the story and their actions some meat/will be reworking thier characters a bit so that makes more sense as well. yeah i need to figure out what i'm doing with lu. i was trying to allude that at the coffeehouse he was there to show off reader to make one of the barista's jealous, so they were kind of using each other a little bit, reader didn't know her feelings for az at the time so she wasn't hanging out with him to make az jealous but luc kept suggesting coffee because his love interest works there.

what I should remove completely: the fight after they got together and i think how they end up being friends. i don't know cassian just going up to them and suddenly they were all besties was a little weird to me also i get what you were doing with the elevator scene because at that point they only talked if they were locked together but it's just so cliché and it's another one to add to the others like the talk was nice but it being in the elevator was predictable

I did get a lot of feedback about the fight, so this has been added to my feedback notes a lot. i mean, i don't mind the elevator cliche, or a cliche at all, as long as the entire book didn't feel like one...i'll consider it for sure during the rewrite and see how i feel about it, so thank you for the feedback on that!

things that felt off or you felt were unresolved: their relationship because like i said we got them hating each other and then they got together and it just ended. and i think at that point they really didn't know anything about each other so there was even more of a whiplash when they actually start dating immediately because you only see sexual tension before that and then suddenly they're super nice to each other and act like they always liked each other. i think people go into it already liking azriel and knowing they'll end up together so they're just waiting on it and never take it as not being a possibility because its azriel and they're reading fanfics about him because they already like him but if it's a nameless character you need to make people like the characters and like them together and feel the tension between them and like they'd be good together which i dont really get from this fic. most of the plot felt unresolved too because the dad thing never really went anywhere which i guess was the plot besides the romance, also lucien was there and then just wasn't (it also didn't really feel like he liked her much)

will definitely be working on their chemistry and them getting to know each other/building a relationship. i agree with what you're saying that they just got together and didn't know anything about each other so i'll edit that too. az's dad will have more presence in the rewrite as well, as i was writing i kept thinking of ideas (as we can tell) so that's why they weren't predated in the story etc, so i will def fill those holes in as well!

also this might just be my opinion but the idea for her tattoo is so bad im sorry, i had to stop when i read it and it's her first tattoo as well. just the thought of it looks ugly to me but even the meaning is off for me... maybe if you want to keep the hand idea let him get it because he's already so heavily tattooed that the big two detailed hands piece might kind of blend in but for her first tattoo let him get her something else, either something meaningless and pretty (i mean she's in art school i know she has to have better ideas) or something important for her but not necessarily a relationship tattoo not even a year into their relationship.

i'm not going to lie, i struggled so hard with what to give her a tattoo of and i think that's also why i didn't actually add it into the story is because i had no idea what to do. i do agree that she shouldn't have gotten that when they've only been together for not that long, and it is cringey but i felt like it made sense at the time. i will work on her tattoo ideas tho

also (and i might be talking out of my ass) but if his injury only happened a year ago i'm not sure he'd be even drawing already even if shaky, you'd have to do some research there but i think it wouldn't be bad if you pushed it back a little further in the past

this is also a fair point, i'm also not sure, but if i ever go to publish it will be a different injury so i will for sure do some research about that when i go to describe it! and yeah, i can totally move it a bit further into the past like you said :)

Thank you for the feedback this is a lot to work with here, so thank you for reading and taking the time to send all of this back to me!! 💙

#midnight muse #midnight muse feedback

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thetypedwriter · 10 months

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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Book Review

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Book Review by V.E. Schwab

This is the best book by Schwab that I’ve read, hands down.

I’ve read a few of her other books and if you’ve been following me and happened to read them, my responses range from meh to bleh for every one of her novels.

Until now.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a Faustian tale in which Addie makes a deal with a devil. Desperate to leave her small town of Villon, Addie exchanges her soul for true freedom. However, deals with devils are never what they seem. While Addie does get to leave Villon and the small life destined for her, she also leaves behind any kind of semblance of companionship and memory.

Because the devil hasn’t just freed Addie from her mundane life, he’s made sure that any person who ever meets her forgets about her as soon as she leaves their vision, he’s made sure that Addie can’t leave any imprint behind, whether in writing, art, or otherwise, and he’s made sure to drive Addie to the brink of giving up her soul in order to escape this so-called “freedom.”

Except that it doesn’t work. Instead of succumbing to hopelessness and loneliness, Addie finds the beauty in every moment, person, and situation. She learns that she can leave an imprint—in the form of inspiration, ideas and passions, and in lingering thoughts and feelings. She travels and sees the world and experiences lifetimes worth of history, culture, and art.

Instead of creating an individual so desperate to be remembered that she’d willingly give up her soul, the devil, self-named Luc, instead creates an equal in his own right, someone stubborn and headstrong enough to battle it out with him over centuries.

This all changes, however, when Addie comes across Henry, an unimpressionable young man living in New York. Nothing about Henry should stand out. He works at a bookshop, failed out of Theology school, and is victim to depression and anxiety, seasonal “storms” that never seem to go away.

Nothing about Henry is special.

Except that he remembers her, remembers Addie.

What unravels is Henry’s own tale of making a deal with Luc, a deal born out of the bone-crushing desperation to be loved. Henry and Addie find solace and companionship in one another, something that both of them have craved and needed.

A love between them grows, a connection so strong that Addie will do anything, including changing her own deal with the devil, to make sure Henry is okay and will have the long life he deserves.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue isn’t a particularly noteworthy idea, Faustian bargains have existed for decades, but Schwab does it well.

Switching back and forth between time periods, readers get to see Addie in Villon 1714 as she claws her way out of her predetermined life, witnessing wars, revolutions, and renaissances along the way, juxtaposed with present day Addie in New York City, having just met Henry and having her life flipped upside down.

Swapping back and forth might seem irritating, but Schwab did a great job of intermixing the past and present so that any chapter built and scaffolded the others. It didn’t feel like I was reading two different stories side-by-side, but instead one seamless tale where each chapter filled in a missing blank of Addie’s life.

I do prefer the past chapters slightly more because I love the historical elements included in it. Each time we see Addie in the past, we also get a little taste of what Paris was like in 1725 or Germany during World War II, or Florence at the height of the Italian Renaissance.

This intermingling is fascinating to read about and every chapter left me both interested in Addie’s choices and development, but also the period at the time.

Each chapter is also incredibly short, making reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue easy and addicting. It was effortless to say, “Oh, I’ll just read one more chapter” and before you know it, you’ve been reading for two hours and you’re halfway done with the book.

I loved seeing all the different settings Schwab took us to while regaling Addie’s journey to get to the present. While the New York chapters were similar, earmarking the best and most interesting sights and eateries New York has to offer, I don’t think it held a candle to the historical segments.

In terms of actual plot, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is solid. I do think the novel was predictable and as I said earlier, the idea of a Faustian bargain isn’t unique, but the journey Addie takes is breathlessly beautiful and immensely fun to experience.

Henry’s chapters, while also engaging, did drag on a bit as I thought they felt more tedious than any of Addie’s chapters.

That brings us to what I believe is the only flaw of the book: repetition.

While The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue had a lot of stark and raw moments that left me emotionally battered but satisfied, there were several chapters, especially towards the end, where I felt like the theme or takeaway of each chapter was the exact same thing over and over again. It goes like this.

1. Addie experiences something horrible about humanity

2. Addie experiences something lovely about humanity

3. Addie realizes that life is ugly and painful, but always worth living

Rinse and repeat for…pretty much the whole book.

Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s a great message to have. However, Schwab sort of beats you over the head with it. A lot of the New York chapters were simply Henry and Addie doing something fun together and realizing how great life is.

While I liked these chapters, it seemed more like a New York tour recommendation blog than an in-depth insight into Henry and Addie’s relationship which went from zero to one-hundred in only a few short chapters.

Given the circumstances of both of their deals, it wasn’t unwholly unrealistic, but I still would have preferred more time to develop their relationship versus advertising an art installment on The High Line.

I think the book could have been around fifty pages shorter and still packed the same punch that it did, without the repetitiveness of sight-seeing around New York and lamenting about their bargains and yet ecstatic to have found each other.

That being said, I still really enjoyed this book. Reading those unvaried chapters was still enjoyable, even if I think the book would have been fine (aka even better) without them. Addie, Luc, and Henry as characters are all well-developed and fleshed out.

This is a good thing as they’re really the only three characters who matter. There are some side characters, especially Henry’s friends and family who make an appearance, but overall the novel revolves around those three.

The theme of this book is well done and cemented: live your life to the fullest. Enjoy every moment. Cherish every day.

Again, while not necessarily new, the theme did make me appreciate the small things as I was reading—the sunshine dappling my legs, the sweet tang of iced tea on my tongue, a fluffy cloud slipping overhead. And while Schwab came across a bit heavy-handed with this theme at times throughout the novel, it made an impact on me.

There is no better marker of a good book than the realization that it’s made an impression on me and my life.

Recommendation: As Addie spends the whole novel trying to leave impressions on others, there is no greater compliment I can give to Schwab other than saying that The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has left its imprint on me and my heart.

Score: 7/10

#the invisible life of addie larue #ve schwab #book blog #books #book review #favorite books #popular fiction #Popular Books #Book Recommendations #book rec #book recs #7/10 #faustian bargains #historical fiction

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