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juliasgoodusername · 1 year

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Sometimes a girl has to go a little crazy. Sometimes a girl has to make a book-accurate floorplan for 300 Fox Way. These things just happen, sometimes.

Obsessive annotations under the cut ✨ but be warned, there's a LOT

Exterior

Okay first of all, I'm no architect, and my only knowledge comes from work experience in the real estate industry + a lot of Sims. The style is sort of neo-rural French colonial. I didn't set out to adhere to that standard so much as I made an amalgamation of homes in Blue Ridge Mountains-adjacent towns in Virginia. Specifically, my headcanon Henrietta template is Orange, VA (I'll save that explanation for another post) so I took inspiration from real estate listings from there.

Alright alright I know there is supposed to be one bathroom, but I simply can't tolerate that in a house with 6+ residents. I can't. There was a possible contradiction in the descriptions of "the single shared bathroom" that I used as an excuse to add a 3/4 bath, and I threw in a powder room for free. Because technically there is still only one full bathroom! But seriously with that many women over 30 most of them probably have IBS or chronic constipation and I'm not making them all share a toilet.

Officially we only have 4 bedrooms listed in text: Blue's, Persephone's, Maura's, and Calla and Jimi's shared one. Everyone else gets rooms that don't qualify as bedrooms via Virginia residential building codes (such as the attic, obviously, which falls below the combined ceiling height and square footage requirements). That really just leaves Orla unaccounted for but I'll get to that later. Other aunts and friends seem to visit during the day and live somewhere else, because in The Raven King only Jimi and Orla were described as needing to move out of the house during the demon stuff.

I designed the entire interior floorplan before I even touched the exterior, so there's a few issues, like how I'm totally missing shutters on the windows that functionally need them most. 🫶 I didn't feel like making the windows smaller to fit them, and I could have added faux-shutters but I think those are stupid. 😘

First floor

"This house is lovely. So many walls. So, so many walls," Malory said as Blue entered the living room a little later.

- Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Chapter 30

Right off the bat, we have an insane number of doors and walls. Old colonial houses are pretty much the opposite of open concept. Functionally I believe that's because it's easier to control heat with closed off rooms, but Virginia is not particularly cold so idk. As for the number of doors, I mean....😤😤😤 I prefer archways/doorless frames in small high-traffic spaces, but every time I thought I could get away with it Maggie would specifically describe doors opening and closing (For example BL,LB Ch 41 gives the reading room double doors, and even the living room gets one in Ch 11. What kind of living room needs a door???). I'm actually missing one of the doorways described in canon, but if you know which one I'm talking about I DARE you to find a place to put that thing!! But I digress.

“Mom," she said as she jumped down the crooked stairs.

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 3

I'm liberally using "crooked" to establish the corner turn stairs. Blue steadies herself on the stair railing when she identifies Gansey for the first time (TRB Ch 15), so I wanted the stairs to have good visual access to visitors. It also sort of has a feng shui-ish effect of separating the public and private energy zones in the house. If that statement made zero sense, I think one of us doesn't know enough about feng shui 👀 and it might be me.

I'm also using that quote to establish Maura's room downstairs, if Blue generally expects to find her mother there, but mostly because everything else was upstairs and it was getting hard to fit. Granted, at one point Blue leads the boys "up the stairs to Maura's bedroom" (TDT Epilogue) but since they were just arriving at 300 Fox Way those stairs could easily be the outdoor ones. There's a handful of little things to support me here, such as Adam grabbing a scrying bowl from Maura's room to use in the reading room (BL,LB Ch 41) implying that her room was the closest place to find one. And speaking of Maura's room-

Calla was overwhelmed by how much shit Maura had in her room at 300 Fox Way, and she told Blue this.

... The mess was taking years from her life. ... Maura liked chaos.

... The psychic hotline rang in the room next door. Calla's concentration fluttered away.

- Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Prologue

Maura is my favorite hypocrite. She claims to detest clutter (TRB Ch 34) and yet her room is literally described as chaos. She probably treats her room like a college student and moves the furniture every time she gets bored/stressed. Thus, I gave her the most insane furniture configuration I could think of while still matching all the contents described.

The phone ringing next door might imply that she neighbors the phone/sewing/cat room, but that area is pretty well described and Maura's room is never mentioned there in any other instance. That leaves us with the kitchen phone (TRB Ch 27) which I put in the hallway with kitchen access as a compromise so it would technically still be in a room next to Maura's.

In the reading room, the man looked around with clinical interest. His gaze passed over the candles, the potted plants, the incense burners, the elaborate dining room chandelier, the rustic table that dominated the room, the lace curtains, and finally landed on a framed photograph of Steve Martin.

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 13

There are so many quotes about the reading room that I just don't feel like citing them, but other details include the mismatched chairs, the shelves, doors etc. It's also described specifically as Maura's "front room" (TRB Prologue) so it's one of the cornerstones that I designed the rest of the layout around. Because of the plants, it makes sense that this room would be south-facing too. (Although idk how much light they get with the wraparound porch awning in the way. Oops lol!)

The outside suddenly seemed vivid in comparison to the dim kitchen. The April-bright trees pressed against the windows of the breakfast area, ...

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 3

Blue Stormed into 300 Fox Way's kitchen and began a one-sided interrogation with Artemus, who was still hidden behind the closed storage closet door.

- The Raven King, Chapter 9

Likewise, I'm using the particularly dim kitchen to place it on the north side, where we also know there's trees in the backyard.

I'll say the kitchen layout is weirder than it strictly needed to be because in the Virginia homes I referenced I adored all the strange kitchens, especially with old timey 'servants area' vibes where laundry kitchen and pantry are all connected. Instead of a kitchen island, they get one of those rolling kitchen carts which I doubled as a bar cart for the drinks they have in the living room.

The kitchen has a doorway to the hall (TRB Ch 13) and the living room is within view when Blue's on the kitchen phone (Ch 27).

Speaking of chapter 27, that's when we get the description "The morning light through the windows turned the drinks a brilliant, translucent yellow." So I put the living room on the east side of the house, where the rising sun would cast really strong light like that.

Second Floor

When she woke up, her normally morning-bright room had the breath-held dimness of afternoon. In the next room over, Orla was talking to either her boyfriend or to one of the psychic hotline callers.

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 3

Blue headed toward the red-painted door at the end of the hall. On her way, she had to pass the frenzy of activity in the Phone/Sewing/Cat Room and the furious battle for the bathroom. The room behind the red door belonged to Persephone, ...

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 11

Blue's room and the Phone/Sewing/Cat room are our cornerstones for this floor. In several examples we know that the Phone/Sewing/Cat room faces the street and has a window (TRB Ch 15, BL,LB Ch 4). While Blue's room is "morning-bright," we also get descriptions of guests at the front door "backlit by the evening sun," (TRB Ch 15) so once again we're probably talking about south windows if it's sunlit at both times of day.

Adam sat awkwardly on the edge of Blue's bed. It felt strange to have so easily gained access to a girl's bed- room. If you knew Blue at all, the room was unsurprising - canvas silhouettes of trees stuck to the walls, leaves hanging in chains from the ceiling fan, a bird with a talk bubble reading WORMS FOR ALL painted above a shelf cluttered with buttons and about nine different pairs of scissors. Against the wall, Blue self-consciously taped up the drooping branch on one of the trees.

- The Dream Thieves, Chapter 49

We get some great descriptions of Blue's room (especially TRB Ch 43), although the above one is my favorite (#wormsforall). Every piece of furniture is accounted for exactly as described except the desk which I added because it seemed practical, and Blue is nothing if not practical™.

Persephone's room is also very well-described, all the way down to the furniture and lighting placement (BL,LB Ch 4 and TRB Ch 11) and it's surprisingly similar to Blue's room, if not a bit smaller. Her room gets strong afternoon sunlight, so I put it on the south too (BL,LB Ch 43).

Calla and Jimi share a room that's also upstairs (TRK Ch 16). Because they are the only two who have to share a room, I have justified that it must be the "master bedroom" (sorry for using that term) and is far bigger than the other bedrooms. I managed to fit two queen beds in there, but some scholars [me] would argue that Jimi and Calla might also share a bed because they are in love. Can you prove me wrong? No, you can't.

As for the bathroom, remember when I mentioned a possible contradiction? Famously, Maura draws the ley line symbol in the steamed up shower door (TRB Ch 1). However, much later we get Maura, Orla, Calla and Jimi all sitting in the bathtub for some kind of ritual (TRK Ch 9). No matter how I picture it, I can't put 4 full grown women in a bathtub together without someone partially sitting on/spilling over the side. But that would be impossible in a combo bath/shower enclosed by glass doors!! Thus, I gave The Bathroom a nice tub and put a small shower in the en suite of Jimi and Calla's room. I know this is a stretch but I don't really care.

Attic

Blue had never been a big fan of the attic, even before Neeve moved in. Numerous slanting roof lines provided dozens of opportunities to hit your head on a sloping ceiling. Unfinished wood floorboards and areas patched with prickly plywood were unfriendly to bare feet. Summer turned the attic into an inferno.

... In one of the narrow dormers, two full-length, footed mirrors faced each other, reflecting mirrored images back and forth at each other in perpetuum.

- The Raven Boys, Chapter 34

Trying to fit the attic access in after everything in the second floor was my biggest challenge, because stairs normally take up a lot of space and you have to be careful about head room. I'm the end, I decided it was one of those fold out attic doors that you have to reach from the ceiling of the hallway. We might get a lot of instances of the attic door being opened (😤 seriously, Maggie... 😤) but technically a trap door in the ceiling is still a door!

Dormers pretty much cemented the French colonial style for me. And you know the drill by now: a hot room probably means a lot of sun, which means I give it a south facing window!

Mud Room/Cellar/Basement

This cellar has absolutely zero mention in the text, but my justification is based in the architecture. So far we've got a funky old colonial house, built without a garage, lots of walls etc. Especially in a low-income/semi-rural area, it's not crazy to assume that 300 Fox Way was built before most residents had refrigerators (1930s-40s). Besides iceboxes, a major way to keep food fresh was root cellars. Modern renovations for old homes convert these to concrete basements, but that's why the basement is so small and connects to the kitchen.

My headcanon is that Orla originally shared a room. Pick whoever you want: Maura, Blue or Persephone, any of them would easily be such a chaotic roommate that Orla snapped and in a fit of teen girl rage moved herself down to the crummy dark basement. Over time, she made efforts to glamorize it, such as a vintage dressing screen to hide the flood drainage pump. The privacy also allows her to bring boyfriends over, even sneaking them through the mud room.

This is really just my artistic license, but I swear it makes a surprising amount of sense in context. There's cases of Orla sneaking into the kitchen (easier if she has a back entrance) and she's almost always using the phone upstairs or in the kitchen (because a basement would get bad reception) even though her calls get kinda ~intimate.

Aaaaaand I think that's everything. Sorry it doesn't look like the photo from the wiki at all, but I couldn't find a source for it and Victorian style wasn't super common in the areas I researched. Let me know if I missed anything major! I'll probably cry myself to sleep if so.

#happy hyperfixation friday everyone #January was a weird month for me ngl this was one of my more hinged projects if you can believe it #please don't let this flop tho like this definitely took longer than any drawing I've ever posted here #trc #the raven cycle #the raven cycle fanart #300 Fox Way #Blue Sargent #the raven boys #my art #trc unraveled

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squash1 · 3 months

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THREES THREES THREES:

Oh hello. I want to talk about the stylistic/textual role of Threes in The Raven Cycle.

Threes – as a general concept and as a number – are a major symbol and motif in the series. Maggie tells us that threes are important from the very first book: from Maura’s favorite saying being “good things come in threes” to Persephone telling Adam that “things are always growing to three or shrinking to three,” threes are discussed at length in the text of the narrative. Maggie also shows us that threes are important as a motif/symbol for important aspects of the story: three Raven Boys, three Fox Way women, three Lynch brothers, three main ley lines, three sleepers, etc. Threes are, textually, incredibly significant in The Raven Cycle, and we know this because we are shown AND told it throughout the entirety of the books.

We all know the significance that is given to threes in the story itself, but what I want to talk about is the usage of a thrice-repeated word or short phrase (going forward I’m referring to this as “Threes” or “a Three”) as one of Maggie’s writing signatures (across the series, there are 65 Threes). This creates a meta level to threes being an important aspect of The Raven Cycle universe. A classic example of a Three (one of my favorites, in fact) is from The Dream Thieves:

“As they walked, a sudden rush of wind hurled low across the grass, bringing with it the scent of moving water and rocks hidden in the shadows, and Blue thrilled again and again with the knowledge that magic was real, magic was real, magic was real.” (TDT, 12)

In a way, the Threes join the intradiegetic (what is happening within the narrative itself) with the extradiegetic (what the narration is communicating solely to the reader). The reader and characters are told explicitly that the number three is significant, important, notable, and powerful. In using Threes as a writing signature after giving the reader that information, the Threes are designed to signal to the reader that this line, this moment, is important.

So the question is: What Are The Threes Trying to Tell the Reader???

Amazing question.

In my recent TRC reread, I was already keeping track of Threes, because I was curious to see how many times they appeared. And then my sister, who was also rereading, said something interesting (after reading this Three from The Raven Boys):

“He was full of so many wants, too many to prioritize, and so they all felt desperate. To not have to work so many hours, to get into a good college, to look right in a tie, to not still be hungry after eating the thin sandwich he’d brought to work, to drive the shiny Audi that Gansey had stopped to look at with him once after school, to go home, to have hit his father himself, to own an apartment with granite countertops and a television bigger than Gansey’s desk, to belong somewhere, to go home, to go home, to go home.” (TRB, 370)

My sister said: “Adam’s like Dorothy.” And then she said: “Wait. Do you think the Threes are like a spell? Or… a wish?”

Which was……. Interesting.

What I have determined, after completing my reread and spending way too much time analyzing this, is that a Three is either a wish, a hope, a longing, a prayer – or, alternately, a warning, a curse, a negative promise.

In either sense, Threes are a foreshadowing of what is to come – whether it be good or bad. Threes exist to signal to the reader that they should be paying close attention to whatever is being said or observed.

Threes in….. Everything Else:

Before we get too far into TRC Threes, let’s talk about the precedent for three being an important number in art, math, storytelling, etc. I found some interesting information about how three is a satisfying number for the brain:

Grouping things in threes leverages the power of repetition to aid memory; denote emotional intensity or importance; and ease persuasion (research by Shu & Carlson (2014) found that three positive claims is the most effective for persuasion).

Three is the smallest number that the brain can still recognize as a pattern, and the brain loves pattern and repetition. This is true in visual art – having three main compositional figures to create a pleasing image – and also in storytelling and narrative. Using threes for repetition in storytelling is a very common occurrence.

Some classic examples of repetitive threes are Shakespeare’s “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” or Lincoln's “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” In each of these examples, a repetition of three is used to create pleasing auditory rhythm. There is something inherently memorable about literary Threes.

Perhaps the most interesting information I found while digging into the precedent for threes is about the rule of threes in folktales. This information happens to come from Wikipedia (side note: Wikipedia is a modern tool of collective consciousness and we should utilize it more). This page describes how in its most basic form, the rule of threes in storytelling is just beginning, middle, and end. Because this is such a common convention, writers tend to “create triplets or structures in three parts.” It then talks more directly about the use of threes in folktales:

“Vladimir Propp in his Morphology of the Folk Tale, concluded that any of the elements in a folktale could be negated twice so that it would repeat thrice.”

This is especially interesting to me. The idea that an element of a folktale “could be negated twice so that it would repeat thrice” shows up prominently in the plot of The Raven Cycle – a book that is heavily influenced by folktale motifs – but also in so many of the folktales/fairytales we all know. A classic example of this would be Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Goldilocks must try porridge that is too hot, too cold, and then, finally, just right. The journey of these three actions is satisfying to the brain because it is a complete pattern: the third and final result of “just right” porridge is only satisfying because of the two “not right” porridges that preceded it.

Getting back to Stiefvater Threes:

For anyone who’s seen The West Wing (and even those who haven’t), here’s a good way to explain what I think the Threes are doing. You know that thing they do during a The West Wing “walk and talk” where two characters will be throwing information and little quips back and forth at each other rapid-fire, and then suddenly, they will both stop walking, and the camera will stop moving, and they’ll say a line that contains really important information that you need to know to understand the storyline of that episode? That’s what Maggie’s Threes are doing for the reader. That’s what 6:21 is doing for the characters. It’s intentional: the writers/directors/actors/camera operators on The West Wing know that they’re throwing a lot of information at you, and know that they need to get you to pay attention to the most important parts somehow, so they do it by forcing the viewer to lean in and listen. It changes the focus and energy of the scene from something with momentum to something that pauses, and therefore makes you pause.

The Threes compel the reader to pause and consider the information being delivered as more important than they might consider it if it was not written as a Three. “Maura’s expression was dark” does not read the same as “Maura’s expression was dark, dark, dark.” And in a text where characters directly state the magical importance of threes, compounded by three as an overarching motif, there is clear intention and meaning behind these written Threes.

In the context of TRC, Threes act as a fourth-wall break.

They are essentially a way to poke the reader and say: “Are you paying attention? Because you should be.”

These Threes use a symbolic motif – the rule of three – that is already heavily discussed in the text – to get the reader to pick up on the internal motivations of the character who is “wishing” their Three or the narration which is using a Three to foreshadow some important aspect of the plot.

The Threes are like the literary equivalent of a record scratch. It stops you in your tracks, breaking the established rhythm and making you take notice of what is being said in a new way.

Let’s Look at Some More Threes (but just a few don’t worry)!

1. We get a classic Three, and a very Gansey Three, right after the group comes out of Cabeswater:

“‘What about that thing in the tree?’ Blue asked. ‘Was that a hallucination? A dream?’

Glendower. It was Glendower. Glendower. Glendower” (TRB, 231).

Finding Glendower is one of Gansey’s core wishes, one of his core longings. Although this line is a literal answer to Blue’s question – he saw Glendower in the tree – in making it a Three, Maggie has given it added weight and meaning. It is prayer-like in its intention. It is almost an incantation: by saying it in Three, Gansey wishes it into being.

2. In The Raven Boys, after Gansey has bribed Pinter to keep Ronan at Aglionby and has learned that Noah has been dead the whole time they’ve known him, we are given this Three:

“The Pig exploded off the line. Damn Ronan. Gansey punched his way through the gears, fast, fast, fast” (TRB, 311).

This moment foreshadows what directly follows: a distinct lack of fast as the Camaro breaks down and Gansey is held at gunpoint by Whelk. This Three is not a prayer, but a warning, and an indicator to the reader that something important is about to happen. Had Gansey not been trying to go so “fast fast fast,” the car might not have broken down; because the Three incanted it, disaster follows.

3. To return to a Three I have already mentioned, but follows the typical Three structure:

“...to go home, to go home, to go home” (TRB, 370).

In this scene, Adam’s wish is less about actually wanting to return to his literal home, because his house was never really a home for him. Adam’s wish/longing is for a home that he could return to, that he would want to return to. He is longing for a place/feeling/experience that does not exist for him. The Three in this sentence comes after a string of active wishes/longings, and by ending with this Three, it casts a spell of sorts, honing in on the truest underlying wish that Adam has. In using the phrase “to go home” three times, the narrative is making sure you, the reader, know that this want, this need, this wish, is the most Important to Adam, and will drive his actions for the rest of his story.

Most of the Threes feel like this. They are often tacked on at the end of a sentence or embedded in a sentence. They’re an addendum to the action of the story. They’re like casting a spell – once to manifest, twice to charge, three to cast.

…..And Some Other Types of Threes:

Then there are the Threes that don't follow the typical pattern of the same word repeated three times one right after the other, but are still a Three in a different way.

There are short phrases/sentences that are repeated three times throughout a page or chapter. In the prologue of The Raven King, we get this:

“He was a king…

He was a king…

He was a king.

This was the year he was going to die.” (TRK, 1-3)

In this case, the Three acts as a promise of Gansey’s kinghood, but in ending the sequence with “this was the year he was going to die,” the promise of the three is given a condition: it is not going to be a joyful kinghood, but instead a kinghood intertwined with the death we’ve known is fated for Gansey.

One of Adam’s Threes from Blue Lily, Lily Blue, uniquely breaks the mold of Threes in a format that does not appear anywhere else in the four books:

“It was his father.

He opened the door.

It was his father.

He opened the door.

It was his father” (BLLB, 242).

❋ (We’ll talk about this one more in-depth later.)

There are also a few “unfinished” Threes:

In The Raven King when Ronan is having a nightmare (infected by the demon) about Matthew and the mask, he has this Three:

“Ronan’s throat was raw. I’ll do anything! I’ll do anything! I’ll do anythi

It was unmaking everything Ronan loved.

Please” (TRK, 96).

With the uncompleted Three, there is an uncast wish. Ronan’s wish is about Matthew, yes of course, but also about being willing to do anything to keep those he loves (ie. Adam, Gansey, Blue, his brothers) out of the reach of the “unmaking.” This unfinished Three serves to foreshadow the harm that does ultimately befall first Adam and then Gansey as a result of the unmaking of Cabeswater by the demon: without the Three spell completed, his wish is not fulfilled.

*This is Not all the uncommon/mold-breaking Threes, just a few that are interesting!

Do All Threes Come to Fruition???

The short answer is: No. Or at least not in that way.

Once again looking at the text of The Raven Cycle, we are given an answer of sorts. In discussing Gansey’s predicted death, Maura says:

“First of all, the corpse road is a promise, not a guarantee” (TRB, 155).

This seems to apply to Threes as well. Threes are not a guarantee. They are a promise. Not all Threes come to fruition the way one might expect – or at all, for that matter. The important part of Threes is not that they will definitely come true, it’s that they could come true, because the Three gives them the potential to come true.

Structure, Structure, Structure:

The main Threes structures are:

Three of the same word separated by commas:

“magic, magic, magic” (TRK, 59).

A short phrase/sentence separated by periods:

“My father. My father. My father” (TDT, 369).

A short sentence that is repeated three times throughout a page/paragraph:

“Gansey did not breathe…

Gansey did not breathe…

Gansey did not breathe” (TRK, 209).

A word that is repeated three times and is connected by “and”:

“Round and round and round!” (BLLB, 224)

Italics vs. Non Italics:

Italics in The Raven Cycle are often used for character’s inner thoughts/anxieties. This continues to be true in the context of Threes. A Three that is not written in italics indicates a promise, or some foreshadowing of a plot point being foretold through the Three – it is typically more “real” – whereas a Three that is written in Italics seems to indicate a wish/hope/longing that is unattainable in some way. Italics almost always indicate a Three that may never come to fruition, or at least not in the way the character hopes it will.

An example of this distinction can be found in chapter three (hah) (I don’t believe in coincidences and neither does Gansey) of The Raven King:

First we are met with Ronan wishing/hoping to return home:

“That morning, Ronan Lynch had woken early, without any alarm, thinking home, home, home” (TRK, 24).

This home, home, home, is in reference to the idea of home rather than the reality. Ronan is wishing to return to a home that does exist physically, but is not the same as in his memory – he wants to be at the Barns as it was in his childhood.

Then, in the very same chapter, Ronan actually returns home and we are given this Three:

“Slowly his memories of before — everything this place had been to him when it had held the entire Lynch family — were being overlapped with memories and hopes of after — every minute that the Barns had been his, all of the time he’d spent here alone or with Adam, dreaming and scheming.

Home, home, home” (TRK, 27).

This second home, home, home, is about the actual reality of being in his childhood home – the good and bad that has existed in the years since the childhood he longs for.

The Addition of AND:

The most notable use of “and” is in Noah’s very last chapter:

“Sometimes he got caught in this moment instead. Gansey’s death. Watching Gansey die, again and again and again” (TRK, 416).

When “and” is added into a Three, it becomes circular, cyclical. The “and” gives the Three a sense of infinity, or creates a loop of sorts.

This Three operates in the same way “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” does in Macbeth – it is meant to convey the endlessness of time, a relentless cycle of tomorrows.

❋ While there are not many of these Threes with “ands” in The Raven Cycle, there are other examples of Threes or Three-like occurrences that fulfill the same purpose as the “and.” For example, remember this Three:

“It was his father.

He opened the door.

It was his father.

He opened the door.

It was his father.” (BLLB, 242).

In this case, instead of the word “and,” the Three (It was his father) is connected by “he opened the door.” This Three is accomplishing the same feeling as “again and again and again” – the feeling of being caught in an endless loop.

Another example of an (implied) “and” in The Raven Cycle is: Gansey’s life. Gansey starts out alive and then dies as a child only to be reborn, and then killed again through his sacrifice, and then reborn for a final time. Gansey is Alive, Dead, Alive, Dead, Alive. And so Gansey’s life is a cycle of Three.

As with the Threes that contain “and,” Gansey starts where he ends: alive.

Other Ways Threes Show up in The Raven Cycle:

I will state the obvious once again: there are three Raven Boys, three Lynch brothers, three Fox Way women, three sleepers, three main ley lines (the lines that “seem to matter” to Glendower’s story), Gansey the Third (Gansey Three, Dick Three).

There are also the more obscure: the “three kinds of secrets” in The Dream Thieves prologue and epilogue; each Lynch brother inheriting three million dollars from Niall Lynch; the three figures with Blue’s face on the tapestry and later as a vision in Cabeswater; Adam and Gansey going to DC for three days; the shield pulled from the lake having three ravens embossed onto it; Ronan having dreamt Matthew at the age of three; the door to the Demon’s room needing “three to open” it; Aurora Lynch staying awake for three days after Niall died.

And of course, we have the ley line symbol/chapter header:

And then there are the 300 (three hundred!) Fox Way “villain” readings. (This was something that was particularly interesting to me.)

The first antagonist we meet is Whelk. When he comes for a reading at 300 Fox Way, he first pulls the Three of Swords.

When the women all draw cards together, they pull identical cards for Whelk: three of the Knight of Pentacles, then three of the Page of Cups. After drawing, essentially, three threes (the Three of Swords, then two sets of three matching cards) in this reading, the first Three of the entire series appears:

“Maura’s expression was dark, dark, dark” (TRB, 124).

The second “antagonist” we meet is the Gray Man, who comes to 300 Fox Way in The Dream Thieves to “observe.” Maura, Calla, and Persephone are predicting which card is on the top and bottom of the stack and the first card, predicted by Calla, is the Three of Cups off the top of the deck that Mr. Gray is holding (a remarkably happy card in stark contrast to Whelk’s Three of Swords).

When the third antagonist, Greenmantle, comes for his 300 Fox Way Reading he also draws the Three of Swords. The fact that each of the three antagonists come for a reading is in itself a sort of Three, but to further the importance of these moments, each of them draws some sort of three-related card.

All of the examples I have touched on have been more symbolic references to Three as a motif of the books as a whole. However, Threes also show up in the literal number of times important quotes are said/written.

I was tracking some of the most well-loved TRC lines to compile them, and noticed that the lines “don’t throw it away” and “safe as life” happen to appear exactly three times throughout the series. This was honestly pretty surprising based on the importance of those quotes – I would have assumed they showed up far more. Actually, they both appear twice in The Raven Boys and once in The Raven King. Threes, and the importance of Threes, is embedded so strongly into the narrative of The Raven Cycle that even the quotes we all think of as the most beloved of the series follow this rule of Threes.

Now, could you chalk some of these up to coincidence? I guess. But Gansey doesn’t believe in coincidences so I don’t either. So what’s the point of all these Threes?

Conclusion???

In a literal, literary way, Threes are a fourth wall break to make the importance of a moment obvious, but I’m not sure what the larger “point” of Threes is. My best analysis comes from the idea of The Raven Cycle being all about time and Threes playing into the importance of time as a sort of record scratch or loop. The Threes, as a stylistic, written motif, seem to connect the time-based cycle the characters experience to the time-based cycles the reader experiences by reading the books.

But my conclusion feels incomplete and so I would like to rely on the collective for this one – just about the most Raven Cycle thing you can do. So I’m asking you, the collective you, what conclusion would you draw? What do you think?

What I do know for sure is that Threes are magic, magic, magic.

For Your Convenience: Here is the textual significance given to threes within the books (chronologically):

And here are the Threes, Threes, Threes (compiled):

(If you made it to the end of all this, I love you. Have a gold star and a hug <3)

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friendofcars · 9 months

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blue tells adam to keep being brave in the raven boys and maura tells the gray man to be braver than he already is in the dream thieves. in both scenes, they are alone in the backyard at fox way (artemus's beech tree is mentioned, of course) and their conversation references a prior tarot reading, both of which emphasized the suit of swords. physical touch is highlighted. adam assumes a more vulnerable posture in trb, while maura does so in tdt. adam aches to escape henrietta; the gray man aches to stay there. both scenes feel like the last quiet moment before impending doom.

#rchl #trc

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leithillustration · 8 months

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Tarot Suits and the Gangsey

Does anyone have thoughts on which of the four minor arcana suits match which characters in the Gangsey? This is something I’ve been wondering about since I want to make some illustrations referencing the qualities of each suit in order to help me in my tarot readings. Obvs being a big Raven Cycle and Dreamer Trilogy nerd, I cannot possibly consider doing these illustrations without including my good boyos in the background!

Here’s what I have so far (below the cut)… sorry it’s such an essay… but also not sorry. CW: Spoilers?

💙Blue of Cups

Obviously Cups has to be Blue, right? It’s referenced so much in the books. Cups is all about togetherness, family, creativity, love, feelings, how we express emotions and connect to others. It feels right that this is Blue, with her connections to her family at 300 Fox Way. The way she communicates with Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah and loves them all for different reasons. Blue is creative and the element of water seems to fit her well - she reflects others potential while having hidden depths of her own, and holds her dreams close to her heart. Blue is also fiery enough to be wands, especially with her ambitions to travel and her creativity, but I’m not sure it fits her as well as Cups. I think there is still space within Cups for her to be her wonderful passionate feminist self.

Here are my first sketches for this piece.

🗡️Gansey of Swords..?

I feel Gansey is a good fit for representing Swords as it’s about intellect, logic, reasoning, knowledge, ideas, taking action. The imagery of Gansey with a sword is very kingly, and through TRC he’s constantly striving for knowledge and applying his own brand of Welsh King obsessed logic to everything (Gansey truly is the king of neurodivergent hyperfixation/adhd deep dives and I love him for it). Conflict is a part of swords too, and Gansey has a lot of that going on with Adam and Ronan as well as his family.. BUT here’s where I start to question things. Swords could just as easily apply to Adam. He’s arguably wrapped up in more conflict than Gansey (his father, his view of himself and what he wants, his ambitions constantly butting up against his background etc) and he’s an equal driving force for action throughout TRC. He’s intelligent and logical too. So who is a greater representation of Swords energy? Gansey could also represent Pentacles for his wealth and his connection to Glendower being very earthy.

🔥Ronan of Wands.. or Pentacles.. or Cups!?

Before I go on to apply Adam to every other tarot suit too, let’s give Ronan some attention. Wands is a great fit for Ronan (despite the magician imagery that obviously suits Adam- oops, I said I’d move on). Wands has fire energy, and Ronan is burning throughout TRC and The Dreamer Trilogy (thank you so so much Maggie for giving us this amazing spin off which gives me LIFE). He’s active and passionate, creative and everything is sexually charged with him. He can be aggressive and argumentative, and he grows so so much throughout all the books. But then, perhaps because if that growth, Ronan fits with so much earth energy too, which is encompassed by Pentacles. He dreams of / is partly a fantastical forest (all the best people are). His dreams are all about sensation, he is grounded in nature at the barns and he has strong values… which also relates to Cups! Ronan’s love and fierce loyalty for his family and friends, the way he loves is so cups! He’s instinctive. He wears his heart on his sleeve (I know there is a quote about this somewhere in the Dreamer Trilogy but I have no idea where). Cups is about dreams and family. Ronan is definitely Wands throughout TRC, but he’s also very Cups too in TDT imo. Of course, there’s also the conflict aspect of Swords that is Ronan all over- the punk is made of conflict - plus Ronan makes Vexed to Nightmare so he literally has a sword.. but the rest of the Sword suit doesn’t really fit with him as he’s far more about feelings and instinct than logic and reasoning.

🌱Adam of Pentacles… but also everything else too.

I originally cringed at applying Pentacles to Adam (I feel like he’d be mad at me because this suit has so much to do with finance) but having thought about it more, I think it fits him quite well. Pentacles has earth energy, which is so Adam Parish it’s ridiculous. I will be your hands, I will be your eyes etc. Despite all the turmoil in TRC, Adam remains grounded. He’s sure of where he wants to get to. He’s probably the most practical of the group too, next to Blue, and is very aware of his environment and his financial instability. He strives for financial security and seeks opportunities where he can. Throughout and especially by the end of the Dreamer trilogy, he’s a real grounding force for Ronan (fuck, Greywarren did things to me. Is it too much to stick my favourite Adam / Ronan chapters to my walls?!) and his connection to Cabeswater in TRC is all very earthy.. but it’s also very mystical and Cuppy?? Cups encompasses psychic energy which Adam has in spades. He also has the intellectual prowess and logic for Swords, and the fiery stubbornness and ambition of Wands.

Ultimately I think it’s really interesting how all the characters overlap in some areas, just like the tarot suits do. I’m very excited to make some art based on it all!

PS- Noah’s suit is Major Arcana. Henry’s suit is a toga.

PPS- If you read this far, thank you for sticking with my ramblings! Have a cute little ghost 👻

#tarotcommunity #tarot cards #minor arcana #the raven cycle #the dreamer trilogy #gangsey #maggie stiefvater #tamquam alter idem #ronan lynch #adam parrish #dick gansey #blue sargent #sorry Noah and Henry I still love you #deep dive #i should be working

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one-squash-one-end · 1 year

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here are some things about Greywaren that will make me cry if I think about them too much <3 (spoilers ahead obviously)

• Adam bringing back Chainsaw

• the importance of hugs, like between Hennessy and Ronan

• "my Adam"

• Niall making sure Ronan felt human and loved! dreaming all the feelings into him

• Declan being the first to love Ronan!!!

• Declan actually being loved by Niall, so much that he gave up the memories because he cannot bear all the happiness??

• all the cameos in the epilogue! those people mean so much to me! (imagine someone only reads tdt, imagine not screaming when Sarchengsey and the 300 Fox Way psychics show up, couldn't be me)

• just Declan loving Ronan and Matthew so much

• Jordeclan having a super duper happy ending ahhh

• the fucking Pynch proposal Maggie was so insane for that, they all got their happy end fr

#the entire book honestly #there is probably more #greywaren #greywaren spoilers #the dreamer trilogy #tdt spoilers #tdt #declan lynch #ronan lynch #jordan hennessy #adam parrish #the raven cycle

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worthyking · 6 months

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im talking ab ur gansey cameo post for context BUT LITERALLY ME!!! i would perk up like a starved dog smelling a whiff of food everythime i read anything remotely related to gansey in tdt but now w aftg im so scared like i know nora is writing it to get closure but i was really really happy with the way things ended sigh

ik ikkkk like I can't get too excited about this book because I'm overwhelmed with the fear that it's going to change too much ...I hope it doesn't span much further than the end of tkm because that way there's not much new that could be said about the foxes, and I really hope that we don't see any cameos or anything from them because like you said I like how things were wrapped up and I like how it left things really open so you could fill in your own blanks (and aftg fans have gone crazy with that) idk like I feel like such a wet blanket about it but i just don't want changeeee

#not to keep ranting but also like. I just hope that this doesn't feel like a Fourth Book #I hope it gives more...extra content?#so that aftg stays itself own thing instead of becoming aftg+tsc #and that this'll be like a fun little dessert that you can read if you want more after reading the original series‚ but doesn't actually #feel like anything more substantial than the EC #okay I'm done I need to be done with thinking about this

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olreid · 2 years

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would you say you liked the series as a whole? like as someone who's read the raven cycle but not the dreamer trilogy is it worth reading

for me it was worth reading! i guess it depends what your commitments/priorities were in the first series -- if you were mainly a sarchengsey or fox way enjoyer they are just like. not in tdt lol. on the other hand if you were an adam or ronan enjoyer... oh baby tdt gets into it. i think other people have said and i agree that tdt feels in some ways less relational than trc -- trc is sooo interaction-heavy and so much about figuring out who you are by bouncing off others because all the characters are living on top of each other. and tdt is more like. characters have one conversation or interaction and then go away by themselves to stew alone about it for half a book. it feels much more spacious, which makes sense because so much of it is about the experience of loneliness. trc is like we are coming of age and tdt is like wait what does that even mean. it feels much more existential in some ways, which i enjoyed! it's nice for a series that you grew up with to grow up with you. i think for that reason the themes of tdt resonated more strongly with me even if they weren't always incredibly well-executed -- there is a lot here about the tension that comes from entering the world of adulthood and realizing you don't fit there any better than you fit into teenhood even though everyone told you getting older would make things better. there is a lot to unpack re: the lynch family, with matthew and declan in particular, and with new characters that i have really grown to love. there are of course also flat side characters and villains in classic mstief form but what can you do. i think in general tdt is a series that raises questions more than answers them, so if you felt really content with how trc wrapped up you might not be interested, but i don't mind a book that serves mainly a jumping off point because i'm happy to go off and do some of that analytical work on my own. if that makes sense

#also none of the books r that long so its not like. a huge commitment lol #other ppl are welcome to weigh in!#asks #anon

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theanimalsarecalling · 2 years

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She thought-wished-dreamt of leaves rustling.

Overhead, the trees shushed their leaves, forming vague, whispered words. Avide audimus.

She thought of a spring flower, a lily, blue like her name.

A blue petal fell aimlessly into her hair. Another dropped to the back of her hand slipping down her wrist like a kiss . . .

Ronan looked at Blue, eyes narrowed. She didn't look away. (BLLB chpt 1)

Sorry, just taking a moment to appreciate Blue experimenting with Cabeswater - or is that messing with Ronan. Interesting how he can't read her mind, but he knows what she's doing through how Cabeswater responds.

I also wonder if this shows a turning point for Ronan. Cabeswater is a beautiful thing, always responsive to the thoughts of other people, even people who aren't dreamers. In RB, Gansey thought of fish, and Cabeswater produced fish. But Blue is the first person to change things on purpose.

Ronan knows Blue has no ill intentions, but this happens just a few weeks after Kavinsky entered his dreams. Soon, a demon will enter and Cabeswater starts to die.

In TDT, Ronan takes Hennessey to Lindenmere. He warns her to guard her thoughts, because Lindenmere will give her what she wants, but it will also defend itself. It can enter her mind.

In TDT, Ronan creates two additional dream things that can enter minds. One is defensive: the security system, and the other offensive: Bryde's orbs. I can just about understand why he created the security system, since the Barns has been invaded more than once. That he didn't tell Adam about it, makes me wonder if he's been feeling emotionally unsafe around him; Adam is psychic and can sense people's minds. Adam would never intentionally hurt Ronan, but Ronan might still be afraid. I always thought the psychics at Fox Way showed amazing restraint around Blue - even Orla. Had Adam spent enough time with Persephone to absorb their ethics? Adam had spent all summer "playing with energy . . . the unfathomable pulse that connects all living things." (CDTH chpt 39). He would meet Ronan in dreamspace. Adam can be ruthless, as Ronan has reason to know.

Ronan's dreams, according to Calla, are pieces of him. When people enter or control his dreams, they enter and control bits of him, and can therefore hurt him. When a dream dies, a bit of Ronan dies as well. Whatever it was that entered Cabeswater and destroyed it, has apparently entered him as well. Hence, the Nightwash. No wonder he chooses to defend himself.

Ronan crossed the line, though, with Bryde and the orbs, when they used them against innocent humans who were unable to defend themselves.

#ronan lynch #adam parrish #the dreamer trilogy #the raven cycle

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iridescent-peasant · 3 years

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i am a firm believer in the inherent gayness of being a psychic

#iridescent reads #the raven cycle #trc #the raven boys #trb #the dream thieves #tdt #maura sargent #blue sargent #neeve trc #calla trc #persephone trc #orla trc #jimi trc #300 fox way

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fancifulpurposelesslovely · 1 year

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From Chaos, as described in a few scenes by Farooq-Lane

"...its blade dripping malice and moonlight" particularly stuck in my head.

#tdt #fox reads tdt #fox draws #from chaos #the dreamer trilogy #the raven cycle #raven cycle art #tdt fanart #trc fanart

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hklnvgl · 3 years

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I just saw the tags on your reblog and am curious. What conflicting feelings do you have about Persephone?

ok so because they are very conflicting feelings after getting your ask i went and reread all of persephone’s bits in the books and i came out more conflicted than i went in 🙈

because, you see, persephone is a very well-constructed character (as maggie’s tend to be) who does fulfill her role in the story quite flawlessly and helps greatly to set the general mood and vibe of the books. she’s ethereal and effortlessly magical and she’s also quite nice, actually.

and of course she helps adam a lot with his psychic abilities and his relationship with cabeswater

but precisely my problem comes in regards to persephone’s relationship with adam. i think it’s because the fandom tends to see persephone as adam’s mentor and, okay, she teaches him about scrying and tarot readings, but she is not really a mentor imo

i won’t go back as early as trb and say the fox way ladies should have done something to help adam because, okay, it was too early, they’d just met the boy, they didn’t know or care for him (although it calla saw all about ronan and his dad just by touching him perhaps it’d been a good idea for her to touch adam, who they were aware was seeing blue, who came to their house with his face covered in bruises, etc.)

(but instead they teased him and placed bets on him like they were 13 but whatever.) on a side note, shot out for persephone for being the first one to call adam parrish coca-cola t-shirt!

anyway. my real problem with persephone comes in tdt, when he’s already a regular at fox way because he’s effectively dating blue (not saying that makes him part of the family, but, come on). they all knew about adam’s abuse and how he was now supporting himself. they’re all adults watching how this kid is running very, very thin and nobody thinks to sit him down in front of a plate of food and talk to him? they leave it for the other kids to deal with it and yet persephone (especially her, but the rest of the fox way ladies too) is sometimes seen as the mother adam wished he’d had.

(i know persephone is not actually in here but i just find this bit really cruel)

and then adam and blue break up and then persephone comes in and saves the day and, yes, she helps, and she’s all cryptic about it because that’s her thing, and most of the time she’s fun to read.

and still she sometimes gives him pieces of advice that sound all gloomy and mysterious but imo are not actually good advice at all? like please is this really what adam needed to hear from an adult he trusts?

idk as i said i think she’s a cool character. she’d be a fan fav in a tv adaptation, i’m sure. but she’s really too childlish/childlike for me to like her as a person. which could really be a clue that she’s been a visionary all along 🤔

#the raven cycle #persephone poldma #trc #adam parrish #thanks a lot for the ask!! it made me think a lot about this #and ofc it all comes back to adam parrish #which i'm always happy to rant about!!#creativefiend19 #ask #d

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crushpdf · 3 years

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Persephone Prediction Post

Okay it’s here and it’s far-fetched but fuck it I’m posting it!

I’m not saying that I think Persephone will make an appearance in TDTrilogy, but... I don’t know. I think she’s going to be... relevant?

Here are my clues:

1. We don’t really ever find out what the fuck was going on with her

I want to talk about the scene in TDThieves when Persephone helps Adam seal his sacrifice to Cabeswater.

“They won’t understand,” Persephone said. She laid her deck of tarot cards on the table in front of him. “They didn’t when I came back.”

Did Persephone... bind herself to a magical forest/ley line, too? When did she leave? When did she “come back?” I can’t remember any other instance of a Fox Way character mentioning Persephone in this way.

In Cabeswater, Adam meets “a miniature Persephone”** who slashes his arm, leaving three bloody scratches. When Adam wakes up, Persephone has those three scratches on her arm. This is a different kind of magic than we see at any other point in the series: someone being wounded via someone else’s trippy vision.

It’s a weird and unsettling scene, one that offers more questions than answers.

1.5 Time is not linear to psychics.

Maybe Persephone didn’t “come back” yet in the timeline of TRC, and it’s yet to happen.

**There are other people in Cabeswater. People Adam recognizes from his weird hauntings before he aligned himself. The hauntings themselves are another example of a type of magic that is never seen again in the series. But it’s weird that he meets these different dreams? creatures? ghosts? when he bonds with Cabeswater, especially after we discover Cabeswater is Ronan’s own dream. Anyway, talk to me about my Bryde-Is-The-Ley-Line theory.

2. Persephone’s Death

...Is fucking weird, to put it lightly. She is already dead when she has a whole conversation with Adam on the porch. Or at the very least, the whole conversation is happening in Adam’s head, or on another dimension of time. Or some shit.

Canonically, she has already made an appearance post-death.

Here are a few choice-quotes that also stand out:

“You’re like me. We’re not really like the others.”

“It makes it hard, sometimes, for others, when they can’t understand us.” She was trying to get him to say something, to make some connection, but he wasn’t sure what.

In TRK, Blue finds the women of Fox Way in the bathtub, trying to communicate with Persephone. Do they not believe she is actually dead? Her body is gone, but they’re still trying to find her mind.

3. Cloud Lady

In Opal, Opal describes a woman with cloud-like hair. Just about every other description of the woman is very un-Persephone-like, but...

That would be like introducing another character and describing their hair as “spiky” or their face as “smudgy.” They’re distinctive descriptors, and you immediately know that I’m borrowing those from Blue and Noah. They’re not as general as “sharp,” which could be Ronan or Greenmantle or Adam depending on the context. Or “assured,” which could be Gansey or Declan or--you get the point.

I think Maggie is good enough a writer to recognize that she’s borrowing that specific descriptor from Persephone. My hypothesis is that she wanted us to remember Persephone, to keep her in the back of our minds as we transition from TRC to TDT.

4. The Haunted Tarot Deck

I don’t really see the point in establishing Adam’s tarot deck as “haunted” unless that will become significant. I don’t see the point in bringing up Persephone (sure, not by name) unless her relationship to Adam becomes significant once more.

TDT was written keeping in mind that not everyone will have read TRC first. (I won’t provide "proof,” but I can if you want) So again: there’s no reason to include a very specific detail from a previous series, unless that detail is relevant to this current series. I think Maggie is a better writer than that.

Conclusion: I don’t know if Persephone will literally make an appearance. But I have a prediction that we’ll learn more about her, or that her death will impact TDT in some way!

#LONG POST #mister impossible #the dreamer trilogy #tdt #cdth #call down the hawk

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creativefiend19 · 4 years

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Raven cycle asks 5 11 24 :)

Hey Anon! Thanks so much for the Asks. I’m loving them!

I already answered 5 :) Seems like a popular one!

11. Opinions on Kavinsky?

Right. Not pulling any punches are you? This is going to be a long one (I’m tempted to make a Kavinsky-style ‘that’s what he said’ joke here, LOL). Just read the bolded bits if you can’t be bothered to read everything (I wouldn’t blame you.)

(TW: some canon level discussion of physical and sexual abuse, but Kavinsky is his own warning anyway, right?)

I’m not actually going to answer about Kavinsky as a Person. Because, y’know, he’s to your taste or not. But I’m really interested in Kavinsky as a CHARACTER. How Maggie uses him to move the plot forward, why was he in TDT anyway. Here is my list, in no sort of order:

A. He was the villain of the piece. Very true, IMO. K was Coded to be the villain of TDT. We’ll come back to this in a bit.

B. He was Ronan’s gay awakening. Really tho? Idk. He did bring the Gay motif to the fore, I grant you. But the sex dream featured both K and Adam. And pretty much anything K said to Ronan about being gay was a slur or a joke or full of not very subtle internalised homophobia. Except maybe when he says to Ronan: Don’t tell me you don’t swing that way. This is K at his most authentic and vulnerable - no jokes or slurs now. Just desperation.

Also, K definitely has low regard for Ronan's personal boundaries. Although, his dialogue about consent being overrated and 'sometimes you just gotta take it'? I've always wondered if the 'take it' hinted at K actually being a survivor of sexual abuse, rather than the more obvious indication of him being only the abuser.

(However, I love that little trip Ronan has of: does K have 3 balls, is he Gay etc. Lol)

But there is no doubt about the fact that K is, well, sexy – to put it frankly. Not just sleazy sexy, like bad boy sexy, but legitimately has animal magnetism. Even sensible Blue feels it a bit, when K enters Nino’s and she’s torn between wanting him to notice her, with his Full and Vulgar Lips, and being relieved that he doesn’t (definitely interesting that she thinks about K ‘swallowing’ her, just like Ronan dreams of later. Those must be Some Lips). Even Gansey is egged on by him at the substance party – with the infamous Molotov cocktails and the ‘dog’ dialogues. Adam seems the only person genuinely unaffected by K.

C. He was Ronan’s Dreaming mentor. Yup. Because Niall bloody Lynch was such a shit excuse for a dad or a responsible dreamer, Somebody had to teach our Hero, so we could have an actual fucking story.

Ronan needed an Obi-Wan Kenobi. And how Absolutely Brilliant of Maggie to make KAVINSKY Ronan’s mentor! It’s like Darth Vader teaching Luke about the Force:‘In and out like a motherfucking thief, Luke. And, ah, speaking of motherfucking…’ (LOLL I crack myself up sometimes). So, it all immediately becomes hella complicated and interesting and full of possibilities!

Aside: unfortunately for the complexity of the story, Ronan isn’t actually swayed by the Lure of the Dark. Or the Lure of the Kinky Sex. Or the Drugs. Or the Violence. All of which are supposedly siren calls to Ronan’s self-destructive tendencies.

D. He showed how much of an asshole Ronan can be. (Okay, I LOVE Ronan to bits. But he’s not a perfect person, and is not meant to be. His flaws are never in question).

Ronan takes advantage of K offering to teach him to Dream and then just - fucks off! Without so much as a thank you, literally. Wham bam thank you ma’am. In fact, it was Ronan who was ‘in and out like a motherfucking thief’ in this situation, to be fanciful about it. Not saying how K reacted to this was in any way excusable, tho, let’s be clear.

But here is where Ronan’s arrogance makes him a POS. And maybe he was influenced by Gansey: We matter Ronan (and K doesn’t). Or maybe Ronan cares about field mice and people he loves and is an absolutely heartless bastard to everyone else. Maybe this is just pre-evolution Ronan and he grows into a less 17- year-old- toxic-masculine- closeted-gay- angry version of himself.

E. He is Adam’s narrative foil. So, here we have two ‘broken’ boys from horrible families, with violence in their backgrounds. Except Adam is poor and K is rich (and born Magical pbly). But K wastes it all on drugs and Dreams. Adam ‘rises above’ the disadvantages of his life, and works three jobs and is coded for Ivy-league greatness.

F. He is Ronan’s narrative foil. This is who Ronan could’ve been if he hadn’t grown up cocooned in the loving valley of the Barns. (Corollary: so who would've K been, if he'd grown up at the Barns? Interestingly, Adam wonders this about himself in BLLB).

So, the tools that Ronan uses to veer away from K’s path in life are the tools that make him the Hero of TDT, if not the Hero of TRC. Ronan is the Greywaren. He will not steal from Cabeswater. He is someone with unshakeable principles (mostly!). He loves himself and others (see Albino night horror, and Maggie actually saying: The Lynch brothers love themselves and each other). He is loved in return.

And so, very much like a goth skinheaded Harry Potter, Ronan is coded to Rise above it all, as the Hero.

Therefore, K is coded to die as the villain.

That is the simple truth, as I see it. He existed to be the Big Bad, teach Ronan to dream, kidnap Matthew, lose the readers’ (and Ronan’s) sympathy, and show how not-K Adam is. And then die in a literal blaze of glory.

So he’s out of the picture and not complicating the remaining storylines with his seductive presence. His Fatal Flaws make him Lose so the Heroes of the story Win. He is Bad and the Gangsey is Good. These are all understandable, and typical, authorial decisions.

TL;DR: So, in other words, I absolutely LOVE Kavinsky as a character. And I think he is one of Maggie’s most brilliant creations in TRC. And definitely the most tragic.

24. Who would you want to do a reading for you?

Thankfully, after that K thesis, this is a short one.

I would love for the three psychics to do my reading together: Maura, Calla and Persephone.

I would actually be very intrigued to have that ‘Tree of Life’ spread done, with All the Fox Way ladies (whom I Adore) and all their very individual card decks, but TBH I don’t want to know That much about my future LOL.

***

Anon – thanks for this absolutely Smashing ask. It was so much fun for me, I cannot tell you. I hope it was fun for you too, and you don't regret opening this can of worms!

TRC Ask Meme

#Anonymous #Kavinsky #TRC #Meta #Joseph Kavinsky #mine #asks

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jackredfieldwasmyjacob · 4 years

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SHOWS OF MY CHILDHOOD

So, these last few days I’ve been very nostalgic of the shows and books I saw and read during my childhood, and I wanted to do a list of the shows I watched so we can all gush over them!! also, I’m curious if you watched the same shows being from other countries, I’m thinking Europeans will share some shows but not all. And, finally, let me know which shows you watched I didn’t include cos I’m 100% sure I’ll forget some 😅

Anyways, I’ll somewhat categorize them cause it’ll be easier for me to remember them that way. Long story short, when I was a kid I either watched shows from national television channels (I specifically remember watching them in La 2 and Telecinco) or in Castilla-La Mancha Televisión, the autonomic channel of Castilla La Mancha. Even though I’m from Madrid, my grandparents are Manchegos, and they managed to get that channel in their TV when I was little. There was this program called Kosmi Club, where they would put a bunch of cartoons (mostly animes) and I loved it, I even got a membership card and all. I didn’t watch Disney Channel until TDT was mandatory in all of Spain (which I think it’s just cable, I’m not really sure tho), and I watched it mainly with my sister (so when I was about 12 years old or so)

Okay, so let’s start. In each show’s name I’ll link the openings in Castilian Spanish, which is how I watched them :)

BABY VIVI:

Teletubbies: I was obsessed with this show, there are videos of me running through the house finding someone to hug during the “abrazo fuerte” sequence of the intro.

Tweenies: This was my shit, I loved it.

Caillou

Los Lunnis: I also loved the Lunnis (basically they were like the Spanish “Sesame Street”), the first “videogame” I ever played, on my uncle computer, was a Lunnis game. Also, even nowadays, when somebody says the word lubina (Spanish for “sea bass”) I always think of the Lunnis witch.

Bear In The Big Blue House (My mother told me we had Disney Channel when I was very little but then they removed it so I think I watched this show on Disney Channel)

Noddy: I remember Noddy more as a series of books and videogames we used to play at school, but I think I also saw the show.

KOSMI CLUB:

Pokémon: The og series, as in Kanto with Misty and stuff; in Telecinco they were up to date and they would broadcast the modern ones, that were the Hoenn ones, so this made me fill in the gaps.

Digimon: Again, the og series, with Tai, Sora and all of them. Again, in Telecinco they showed the newer ones, the ones with the rabbit with pants and the sexy fox; and also digimon frontier, which was my shit. Fun fact, I know by heart the four first openings of Digimon, and I like the Digimon anime more than the Pokémon one, although overall I prefer Pokémon.

Bobobo: I didn’t understand what the hell happened in this show but I loved it.

One Piece

Cardcaptor Sakura: I loved this show so much

Doremi: I also have really fond memories watching this one

Doraemon: But Doraemon was everywhere, just like nowadays lol

Hamtaro

There was also a show similar to Hamtaro but with little magical babies that could fit in cups

Zatch Bell!!: I liked it more than Pokémon and Digimon combined, my friend and I would talk about it all the time

Sergeant Keroro

NATIONAL TV:

Dragon Ball

Shin-Chan: Again, this show was everywere, just like nowadays

Modern Pokémon & Digimon

Oliver & Benji aka Captain Tsubasa: This show was so fucking good. I mean, just that opening was legendary enough. I even have a shirt from one of the characters, that suffered from a heart condition so I would relate a lot to him.

Nadja: This show was so special to me, it was like my safe place, I love it so much.

Heidi & Marco: I watched way more Heidi than Marco, that’s for sure.

Winx Club: I prefered W.I.T.C.H., but we don’t talk about that hideous TV show they did my girls dirty. Winx was great tho.

Code Lyoko: I cannot express my love for this show. It was everything. And the opening song is such a jam.

Las Tres Mellizas aka The Triplets

Lets & Go: I remember enjoying so much this show I got a backpack of the main characters and nobody knew who they were lol

Totally Spies: This show simbolizes waking up early during weekends and turning on Telecinco to watch cartoons, I specifically associate it with that.

Ranma 1/2: I didn’t watch this on any specific channel, but rather I had somehow a DVD with the two first episodes, and I used to watch it over and over again.

Manuelita: I know it’s a film and not a show but honestly I watched so many times that I’m sure I’ve watched it more than some shows on this list. Also, I wanted to link THAT SONG.

Lucky Luke

Detective Conan

TMNT

Inuyasha

There was another anime that was about ninjas but I don’t remember which it was, they were all little kids i think (and of course it’s not Naruto, I know that one)

Arthur

Courage the Cowardly Dog

There was a show I really loved and used to play with my friend pretending we were the characters; it was about these people that were like the embodiments of the chinese zodiac, kinda like saint seiya, and had cool bracelets they used to transform into their “super” version. The main character was the dragon and the main girl was the tiger. Sadly, I don’t remember the name :(

Powerpuff Girls

Ed, Edd & Eddy

Dexter Lab

Monster Allergy: I couldn’t find the Castilian opening but it was a bop :(

The Simpson

Also I remember watching Bandolero wherever I went to the beach cause it’s in Andalucía and Bandolero is an Andalusian show, although I don’t remember it that much.

DISNEY CHANNEL:

Phineas & Ferb: My favourite show of all time along with ATLA. It’s just phenomenal, and the songs are fucking amazing.

Kim Possible: I’m pretty sure Kim and Ron were the first couple i’ve ever shipped, and oh boy was it worth it.

American Dragon: This show was so good and it’s so so underrated.

The Secret Show: Okay this show was everything!! My sister and I watched it together and we really loved it cause the two main characters are named like us two, and it was all very nonsensical and bizarre.

Brandy & Mr. Whiskers: This is THE childhood Disney Channel cartoon. It feels like weekends in the morning with no stress whatsoever.

Pichi Pichi Pitch

Pretty Cure

The Proud Family

Recess

Fairy Odd Parents

There was also a Lilo & Stitch anime I really enjoyed

Kuzco

LIVE ACTION:

When I was a kid I wasn’t that into live action, and mainly only watched Disney Channel shows, so the shows I’ll put here that weren’t broadcasted in Disney Channel I’ve only seen tidbits of them. Also, I’m sad cause I missed out of so many great Spanish live-action shows like Física o Química, Los Serrano, Los Hombres de Paco, Aída, or El Internado. I only saw El Barco :(

I also saw part of El Secreto de Puente Viejo (until the timeskip) but I don’t know if it counts lol.

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Friends: I associate it with summer, cause it would run on Neox all day and we would just watch it non-stop.

Art Attack: Jordi Cruz is a childhood hero

The Steve Urkel show, I don’t know what it was called but we watched it a lot

Zoey 101: Just a bit

Lizzie MacGuire: Again, just a bit

Camera Café

Boy Meets World

Hannah Montana

That’s So Raven

Zack and Cody

Wizards of Waverly Place

Sonny With A Chance

Jonas

Good Luck Charlie

Jessie

La Gira: Lucía Gil I love you okay

Cambio de Clase

Patito Feo: it was more of my sister’s thing, but i also remember it quite well.

And that’s all folks :)

#list #tv shows #cartoons #nostalgiatrip #i'm sure i left a lot of shows out #let me know please!

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