the last time the Mierel and the Da'neers (yes because they are 100% descendentes of Attes) got along

Nyktos: You know what to do if you get in trouble?

Ires and Malec: Call the cops. Then call mom. Then pray the cops get there first.

Nyktos:

Sera: Damn right, but you forgot 'don't call Dad'. He'll just slow me down.

OMG, it just hit me how extra Extra EXTRA pissed off Sera is going to be if Ires was assaulted by Isbeth to create Millie and Poppy after reading AFITF. She is going to absolutely lose her shit.

Thinkign about Sera willing herself not to cry in asite but also thinking about all the diamonds in illiseum in tcogb

The War of Two Queens with no context:

Asite

Twotq

Sera really didn't lie when she said she'd tear the realms apart if something happened to her children

Characters meetings in Blood and Ash that I'm most exciting for:

Malec and Eloana plus Valyn

I want go see the world burn honestly. I said this already but I want Eloana and Malec to have this resentful attitude where they trow beef at everything the other says. And plus Valyn because I know my man will have eloana's back against everything. Besides, I can see Malec don’t liking Valyn not because he wants Eloana back or something but I believe Malec gives vibes of being that type of man that believes his dick changes a woman’s life forever so the fact that she remarried, moved on, had a life and named someone else king??? I think he would be like “this fucking idiot who he think he is, i am a god i am so much better than he him” bla bla bla and then Valyn, as I said he is always there for eloana plus he said he believed that Malec did not deserve her love so I don’t think Valyn likes Malec either, he probably recents him for what he did to his beloved wife (honestly same valyn)

I hope we get at least a snake peak of Sera and Isbeth

this is an obvios one, I just want to see isbeth literally suffering and sera having fun

Malik and his parents

this one is going to hurt me like a bitch. It already did when Valyn seemed about to cry when he saw Malik again and Malik couldn’t even look at his father. Malik recents his parents for hiding the truth from him so there is so much tension in here. I want the pain that come with this reunion but I hope that at the end everything is happy again

Millicent and Ires

I want ires to see his daughter again and not just poppy

Jadis and Nektas

an obvious one

Ires and Malec

There is a lot to unpack between this two. I highly doubt they will be just ok with one another after everything that happened around them. I think this could be a tensed moment for resentment, blame and idk I just feel that it can’t be all perfect and harmonic between these two after every thing that happened

Malec and his parents

If a remember correctly, Nyktos and Sera knew where Malec was entombed and they actually had guards guarding the entrance yet they did not take him of his entombment do I wonder if Malec knows that or if he will find out at some point, I think this will be tense too, and again I don’t think they can just pretend nothing happened

The Da'neers; a fucked up but not-that-much-fucked-up family

(Found this half written on my drafts and decided to finish it lmao so this is an old teaser. not from 1h ago like the pic shows)

I read this teaser from A soul of ash and blood and a random thought occurred to me. The Da'neer family might be all fucked in the head, like Malik, Casteel, Eloana, and Valyn are at the very least murderers-manipulators-liars-kidnappers (again, at the very least). Nevertheless, Casteel and Makik have the best upbringing among the main characters/the characters that are part of the prophecy and that is just so funny to me.

On the one hand, there is Poppy who grew up under that veil and never actually got to experience life. She didn't have friends or an actual childhood/teenagehood until Casteel (literally) kidnapped her from there. Then there is Millie who is Poppy's sister. It is true that we do not much about her but we do know that first, she was also a maiden so she probably didn't grow up much differently from poppy. Second, the girl is literally dead, she was literally murdered, Millicent is literally a walking corpse moved by either, she can't even die now and that does not happen in a healthy household. Next, there is Sera, whom I personally think had the worse of all upbringings. Sera was groomed and basically handed like a sacrificial lamb by her own family, her own mother could not even look at her in her eyes, her stepbrother was an abusive disgusting pervert, and her stepfather was too passive when he needed to do something about his own son, etc. Her life before leaving Lasania was a nightmare basically and it all started as a young girl in her own home, with her own family. Following, there is Nyktos. He does not apply much to this list because his younghood was hard but it was not directly and fully his parents' fault. They seem like great people and that they would have been lovely parents. Yet, Nyktos' life/younghood was, in fact, traumatizing so I am going to mention him anyways. He literally had his parents killed by his own uncle, who is also a constant threat in his life. He grew up without his mother and she was murdered while still pregnant, horrible.

On the other hand, you have Casteel and Malik whose childhoods couldn't have been happier compared to the others. These brothers were born to parents that actually wanted them and truly loved them in the healthiest way they could. Plus, Valyn and Eloana didn't even know that their sons were part of an ancient prophecy about how they are basically key parts to save the realms (lmao). Malik and Casteel grew up like normal children or at least normal princes. Examples of this are:

the fact that they were free to explore the caves, or casteel mentions in one book an adventure to the sea the fact that different from the rest they had toys such as Casteel's wooden horse, etc. they were allowed to have friends and interact with people, to leave their home, to show their faces, to have partners, and basically to have a common healthy life/social life.

It is not only the fact that they were treated like normal children but also the fact that they were actually shown love, support, and kindness. Casteel never shows to have a bad relationship with his parents. In TCOGB that man turned into a little kid while embracing his mother and letting her ask him if he had gotten taller despite the fact that he is 200+ years old, or when he literally shook while hugging his father in TWOTQ and described that he felt like a kid back to the time where his father would be the strongest and bravest to his eyes. Also when Casteel recalls his childhood in AKOFAF he does it so fondly and 99% of types Poppy describes that she smiles while remembering.

And it is not even only that, Valyn and Eloana continue to support and respect their boys, for example (AN: this will always be so funny to me, I just love it) Eloana and Valyn were genuinely worried and care for Casteelʼs happiness when he brought Poppy to Atlantia and married her and not the fact that she just has kidnapped her like lmao their youngest boy was like "yeah this the maiden, the one a kidnapped, also the one whom we believe to be malec's child, just murdered a bunch of atlantians, is literally the blood queen's favorite etc and oh I married her" and they were like "okey! we are so happy you are home baby, let;s crown you and your wiffy king and queen" *nodding heads*, then there is the fact that they respect and support his claim as king, Valyn respected Malik's boundaries to not want to be hugged in twotq which I think that is very important considering how none of the other characters' boundaries get respected, another example is when Valyn helped cas to find poppy and even went to fight for her by his side, etc etc. Basically, Cas and Malik had basically the healthiest childhood in blood and ash, yeah their parents are not perfect but they really try their best so yeah I adore this family and I will defend them no matter what.

(AN: If this does not make sense I apologize, is one in the morning but I can't sleep)

so sera is mad at the Da'neer family, it was expected after everything they did to her family, I was not expecting her to be happy. But I'm terrified, please jen don’t let one of my favorite characters (Sera loml) murder my other favorite characters (the Da’neer fam). I have never been so scared for the lives of fictional characters in my entire life

plus don’t give redemption act to malec, fuck him, ires is better anyways

Isbeth and redemption.

(disclaimer: I don't like isbeth, you can find a few posts of me bashing her. I am just here rumbling and trying to analyze a character)

I saw a post that was about how one of the last things Isbeth did was to choose Poppy over Malec by choosing to murder Malec and not Poppy during the final battle. Some comments said that they believed this was because Malec was more vulnerable than Poppy and he was within her reach etc, personally I think Isbeth chose to kill Malec because she could not bring herself to murder Poppy. After all, one of the intentions of the book is to let the reader understand that in some twisted, sick, and unhealthy way, Isbeth does love both of her daughters, especially Poppy (or at least I got that feeling while reading it).

“Good” and “Bad” Characters:

Isbeth is a very complex character, and that is a thing that I always have to give Jen. I might have my critiques on her writing but she creates this complicated characters that are not pure evil and that they are neither good people. It is not only Isbeth, for example, Sera is a murderer and a liar, yes she had her reasons but that does not take away the fact that she murdered, manipulate people, and lied. The same goes for Casteel who murdered god knows how much people and kidnapped a girl. Malik who again god knows how many he murdered and tried to murder the protagonist of the story when she was a child. Nyktos who can be very cruel and revengeful when he wants to. Kieran who followed Casteel to kidnap poppy and again god knows how many he murdered. Eloana who had a man embroiled in a cave for centuries and again! god knows how many she killed. Almost every single character is like this, even Poppy. She was absolutely ready to end every single innocent mortal in the entire kingdom of Solis only to get to Casteel when she believed that he was being hurt. The point is that despite they want the common good (to save the realms) and are "the good ones" they are not exclusively good. They have done awful things and it is clear that they are capable of great evil if they want to and especially if their loved ones need them. They are "good people" because the reader understands their actions and empathizes with their stories, therefore they become the good side, the heroes. Nevertheless, in this book universe, even the villains have a backstory which makes them much more complex (which I personally love). Isbeth is not the exception to this, she is evil and at the same time, she is not.

Isbeth; both sides of the same coin:

Isbeth had an awful life. She fell in love with a man that would not leave his wife for her, was rejected to be ascended, was murdered and brought back to life, was persecuted and had to fly the kingdom she lived in, and her son was murdered when was still a babe, she believed that her heartmate was murdered and then the ones that once were her people (those who live in atlantia) absolutely hated her for centuries after she was turned into the villain on their story. Her life was completely awful but there is when it takes a turn that is when she meets Jalara and later becomes the Blood Queen and the ruler of Solis. Here is the is when Isbeth goes from some type of victim to a victimizer and she is evil. She couldn't care less for what happens to the people in Solis and she forces the to give their children “the acention” even when she knows first-hand how painful that is for a parent, she also became the fear of the people of Atlantia. Moreover, she used and abused Ires, Malik and Casteel. Letʼs not forget how she referred to Malik as a thing/a property and not a person, and also when Casteel tells Poppy how Isbeth and the lords and ladies of Solies made him believe he was more of a thing, an object than a person. Last but not least, Isbeth might not have killed Poppy but she did murder Millicent, the daughter she claimed to love. However, she was not always a terrible person. Isbeth has dim glimpses of humanity throughout the series. Most of them come from vague memories that Poppy has of her childhood, for example when Isbeth used to brush her hair, or take care of her wounds when she used to tell Popy how beautiful she was, etc Poppy felt safe with the person she knew as queen Ileana, she knows Ileana would protect hr from the cruel duke and would not let anyone else like the priest or the lord abuse her. Another glimpse of humanity is when Isbeth ascended Ian because of Poppy so she would not lose her brother or the fact that she took care of Ian even after Coralenaʼs betrayal to her. Despite Isbeth being a monster, she also was not always or exclusively a monster. In some odd, sickening, and twisted way, she loved Poppy and Millicent. Is that love what led her to kill Malec or to do Primal magic to bring back Millicent. She loved her daughters but it was so clouded by hatred and centuries of resentment that it became something suffocating and horrible.

Do I think Jennifer will give Isbeth redemption?

I think and hope not. Jennifer may have settled Isbeth under this light of “oh she cares about poppy” and for that teaser that she posted of FBAA5 it can also be seen that Isbeth is being tortured by Sera, therefore she is a victim again. However, I do not think this is to put her under the light of innocence or to prepare for redemption, I believe that this is just because, as I said before, Jen writes characters whose personalities are more than just good or evil. Isbeth can be good by not murdering Poppy and evil for all the other things she did, Sera can be good for all the good things she does but evil when someone hurts her family the way Isbeth did. I believe that it is just part of the characters and story development. (Isbeth can not get redemption, there should never be redemption for a rappist. That would be one hell of a reason to drop the series)

Do I think isbeth deserves redemption?

No. No matter what she did at the very end of her life, how much she is suffering fein the abbys, how much she actually loved her daughters, etc. She made the lives of hundreds miserable and some she ruined forever even if they made it out alive.

To conclude:

She is an interesting character tho.

More 'A Fire in the Flesh' thoughts

Now that I've gotten a little bit of sleep, I have more thoughts.

JLA making such a big deal about the relationship between Attes and Kyn throughout the entirety of A Fire in the Flesh and at the very end of the book having Nyktos point out that Kyn lost his memories after Ascending (thus most likely being one of the catalysts to him being the "evil twin") makes me so scared for Malec. We still don't know what happened to make him leave Iliseeum. Between Attes and Kyn's issues and Eythos and Kolis' story, the track record for male twins in this series isn't very good.

I'm also so curious about how and why he ends up in Atlantia and how Atlantia was created in the supposedly sacred Bonelands.

Baby Malec and Ires: L-l-l

Sera: Oh my gods, Ash! They're going to say their first word!

Nyktos: Come on now. You can do it!

Baby Malec and Ires: L-l-li

Sera: You're almost there! You've got it!

Baby Malec and Ires: Liessa!

Nyktos:

Sera:

Nyktos: I've never been so proud.

Spoilers for FBAA #5 (teaser) and ALITF

Also, trigger warning for mentions of SA and consent.

So this teaser for the next Blood and Ash book has been making it's rounds again...

And it got me thinking. Because I also recently reread The War of Two Queens and came across this passage:

This is, of course, Poppy reflecting on the dubious "consent" Ires would have given Isbeth in order to conceive Millicent and Poppy. Dubious because Isbeth had all kinds of power over Ires in that moment, starting with the fact that she was holding Jadis hostage too. The part that stuck out to me the most after reading this passage after A Light in the Flame is Poppy's use of 'the worst sort' to describe Isbeth.

I know JLA has a tendency to reuse the same words and phrases throughout the books, so this could entirely be a coincidence or mean absolutely nothing. But, just in case, just for shits and giggles...

In both A Shadow in the Ember and A Light in the Flame, this same language is used by Nyktos and later Sera to describe Veses, the Primal Goddess of Rites and Prosperity. Who was called 'the worst sort' for forcing herself on Nyktos by blackmailing him into giving up his blood. In the process of that, she liked to 'push limits' and, essentially, sexually assaulted him. Nyktos allowed this in order to protect Sera.

Later in the book, we see exactly how angry and violent this knowledge makes Sera, with Sera threatening as still mostly mortal to kill the Primal Goddess. To make her suffer. Promising herself that she will get revenge for him.

Now...can you imagine how Sera feels about Isbeth? Beyond the two genocides, wars, abuse, and the violent harm Isbeth has caused. Just based on this one situation where Isbeth clearly had power over Ires. And she forced herself on him, one of Sera's own babes, for her own personal gain. And Ires who might` have given in just to protect Jadis.

I don't know about you, but I have to imagine Mama Sera is very, very pissed off.

The family angst in the next fbaa novel is going to be over the mf roof.

(Twotq + From blood and ash series spoilers)

Ires slept with his twin brother’s heartmate, willingly and TWICE. Even though Ires knew Isbitch is in fact a bitch. The outcome is that Ires had two daughters with Malec’s heartmate.

Nyktos and Sera, on basic terms, sought of left Malec to be entombed, the mother fucker deserved it though. So no hate to those beautiful characters, but I feel like Malec is going to go RAGE mode on them if he ever realises.

Poppy is in love with Casteel, married and heartmates with him, as is Malec’s other niece, Millicent, who is heartmates with Malik. Casteel and Malik are the children of Eloana. The person, out of many, that Malec presumably DESPISES the most.

Sera and Nyktos, from what I can see from their characters in Asite, hate piece of shit men. courtesy of Tavius.

Through out their son’s relationship with his wife, Malec cheated numerous times. He also changed the Atlantian crest so that the sword was higher than the arrow. The sword is symbolic to the king and the arrow to the queen, therefore implying that the king is somehow more powerful than the queen, I’m getting major misogynist and sexist vibes from Malec.

I just automatically know that Seraphena absolutely hates those types of people, I can see this from her character whilst reading asite and Jla holds this belief very firmly with her MCs.

Malec also hunted down and killed most of the remaining deities after he became king of Atlantia, the deities were the descendants of the gods. Many of the deities whom, might of been descendants of Sera and Nyktos’s friends.

“Alexa, play Backstabber by Kesha”

Seranyktos deserve better sons then what they got. I was here thinking at least ONE out of the two are good people and then just BANG. Outta nowhere I read this. (Twotq spoilers)

“I think Ires even grew to become fond of me.”

“He was angry. But when we came together to make you, he was not forced. Neither time.”(TWICE?!)

“For him, it was just lust and hatred.”

I’m agreeing with Poppy on this one 👉🏻 “but would Ires have grown interested in his brother’s lover? Seemed kind of…gross, ”