#we deserved more blue ronan friendship
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A Pynch ‘first time’ fic list
For the Anon who asked for it * clears throat * a whole year ago on Valentine’s Day.
First times - of various sorts - necessarily mean M or E rated fics, so I’m not specifying for each.
Everything’s 2020 or earlier, and mostly one (or sometimes two) shots, in no particular order after the cut (as always feel free to add your recs).
*
sun came out of nowhere like a bar fight by liquidsky
“Christ, Adam, fucking do something already,” Ronan says, a clear attempt at getting rid of any discomfort.
Adam grins, “Eager, are we?”
*
Feels Like the First Time by FalseCamaro (Gandalfgirl579)
"Never done this before." Ronan glances up, catching Adam's eyes when he asks, "You?"
"Only with girls." When Ronan makes a particularly unflattering gagging noise, Adam rolls his eyes, though he can do nothing to fight back his smile.
*
the place to lose your fears by gaewaren (shadowhunterxhunter)
Gansey's voice was low and soothing. "Is he pressuring you?"
"Holy shit, Gansey." Ronan's face was in his hands and he was seconds away from punching the two-hundred dollar custom made coffee table.
"I'm being serious!"
"And I'm going to dropkick you!"
*
caught up in your heartstrings by softambrollins
In which Ronan is very distracting, Gansey is an oblivious idiot, and Adam is not freaking out at all. (Bonus: Blue abiding no bullshit and Noah being all-knowing.)
*
Expansion by gonergone
The thing was, Ronan had never actually thought that the thing with Adam was an actual thing.
Missing scenes around the events of the third book.
*
You Will Always Be Enough by Becky_J_1022
Ronan can't dream and can't stay in the apartment, and Gansey sends Adam along with him to keep him out of trouble. Adam does not do a very good job.
Alternate summary: Ronan yells at Adam, Adam yells at Ronan, and Adam decides the best way to resolve this is to kiss Ronan. There are feelings and they spill everywhere. The Barns is involved.
*
from when I wake the want is by solitarydreaming
Adam doesn't want to talk about sex, so it looks like they'll never be having any.
*
Declarations by Again_n_Again
Adam and Ronan have just started "dating" ...is that what they're doing? They kiss a lot, but that's all. Ronan makes a declaration, and Adam does't know how to respond right away. He knows he doesn't want to ruin this new and fragile thing between them, but is he ready to jump in fully?
*
a little more touch my body by softambrollins
The room feels too small, almost claustrophobic, but Ronan makes every room feel like that. He's always painfully, viscerally aware of him, his body, every single movement and gesture and subtle shift in expression, even when he's not touching him or looking at him like that or about to take all his clothes off.
*
and baby when you kiss me there's nothing else by fanscribbles
Honestly, they don't mean to get off in Gansey's car. Alas, that is what happens.
*
Hold On to Me as We Go by basicallymonsters
It’s like they’re enjoying some fantastic beginners luck, but they don’t actually know how the game is played...
Revised relationships come from the settling dust of unmaking, and Ronan and Adam try to find a balance between grief and joy, love and sex, friendship and occasional hand kissing. They navigate first times and promises and a feeling like magic - even when they're forest-less and wide awake.
(Pre-epilogue)
*
as we fall we sing by asael
Adam wants more, he’s only beginning to understand this aching hunger inside him for someone who will be willing to touch him, will want to touch him, will reach out when he doesn’t quite know what to do.
*
Honey & Caramel by Pigzxo
Adam & Ronan's first time.
*
say my name and i'll lie in the sound by oftirnanog
It’s almost too much, Ronan splayed out in front of him, all hard lines and sharp angles, his fingers trailing up and down Adam’s ribs like he’s something to be treated with care, not fragile, but deserving of softness.
Or the first time Ronan and Adam have anal sex. That's it. It's just smut. Fluff and smut and awkward boys with awkward feelings. Adam POV.
*
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The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater (I’ve officially hit my goodreads goal 🥰)
⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
I'll get right to it, then.
Things I liked:
- The characters. Loved them all.
- Gansey. Because he's always deserved a whole note of his own.
- The friendships. I loved Henry joining their close friend group, I loved the father/daughter relationship between Mr. Gray and Blue, I loved the romantic relationships.
- The main group's story.
Things I didn't like:
- The writing was WAAAAAAAAAY too pretentious. As usual with Stiefvater's work, I was far too aware of the fact that I was reading a book because the writing was so "poetic" that it kept yanking me out of the story. And, as usual, it was difficult to understand at times. I love these characters and these books, but I don't think I could ever call them fully immersive. Not when I just know that the writing was trying too hard at times to look cool instead of make sense.
- All the side characters. Considering this was the last book in the series, couldn't it just focus on the main characters from the first book? Especially since the side characters played no major part and forwarded the plot in no real way.
- Quite a few things came out of nowhere. Ronan "worships" Adam now? That was a line he used. If you only gave me the first three books, the most I could say about Ronan was that he definitely had some feelings for Adam but maybe didn't give them much thought. Now he worshipped him? Now Adam's feelings suddenly shifted from what seemed like indifference in the first three books and a bit of the first of the last to something stronger? When? Or what about Blue being part tree? Dreaming of the stars? No, Artemus, I can't say she's ever dreamt of the stars. It just felt like there wasn't enough focus on Adam and Ronan in earlier books and so their relationship was a bit rushed. And the plot twist about Blue seemed more for shock value than it making any sense.
- So many things went nowhere. Mr. Gray? Where'd he go? What about Artemus? Laumonier? What were they even around for? What was the purpose of them? What did we suffer with Piper or Neeve for? I couldn't stand either of them, and this demon could've formed without them. It just made no sense to bring them back, and needlessly complicated things, in my opinion.
I love these characters, and I love Henrietta. I love their story, and I feel like I'm always going to love it. No matter the small annoyances, I think that these particular main characters make it all worth it. I could've done without the Greenmantles, Laumonier, and Neeve, but when I only think of Gansey, Blue, Adam, and Ronan (and Henry with them all), I'm quite happy to reread the books, if only to get to be with them in Henrietta again.
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Can I call you tonight?
And then they were roommates.
Adam and Andrew are best friends turned roommates turned co-workers. Andrew is searching for a new roommate since Adam lives at the Harvard campus with Neil Josten. And Andrew's roommate turns out to be a certain blue-eyed boy who Adam knows. Will Adam face Ronan Lynch again? After breaking his heart or will he choose to not face him at all? And will Neil find out that Andrew has a thing for him? Or will Andrew have to make a grand confession of love?
This is a story about friendships, caring and most importantly, finding love in the cracks that time leaves.
Chapter 1: "Fuck. Is he tall? Shaved head and blue eyes?"
Adam is thriving at Harvard with Andrew and Blue as co-workers and friends at Cabeswater Café. Andrew's new roommate is hauntingly familiar.
Chapter 2:"Ronan?"
Neil runs into someone from his past and it goes surprisingly well. Until Neil decides to introduce Ronan to his roommate. Shocking revelations are made.
Chapter 3:"I can't do this anymore."
What happened between Adam and Ronan, the beginning and the end.
Chapter 4:"They can't hurt you anymore, okay?"
The boys are chaotic in general. Conversations are had, more truths are exchanged featuring a fed up Andrew Minyard.
Chapter 5:"Thank you, Andrew."
Adam and Ronan talk, they try to navigate through the weird relation they have. Ronan has a nightmare, Andrew helps. Basically Adam and Ronan being boys in love and Ronan and Andrew bonding.
(TW: Past abuse, non-con.)
Chapter 6:"What if he doesn't want that?"
Adam Parrish turns 22. That's it.
Chapter 7: "Fuck off, Lynch."
Andrew's feelings take a toll on him, making him take drastic measures because Andrew Minyard doesn't deserve nice things, does he? Andrew self-harms, Ronan helps him.
(TW: Mentions of Drake, Self-harm, panic attack, general angst)
Chapter 8:"Fine, I'll get confetti sprinkles okay, Parrish?"
Adam and Ronan go on their first date.
Featuring confetti sprinkles, sex puns and Ronan being a sap for Adam Parrish.
Chapter 9:"Josten."
Neil and Andrew sort things out, with quite the unexpected results. Lots of fluff and texting and kissing ensues, duh.
Featuring a roast delivered the Josten ™ style, Andrew asking important questions and waffles.
Chapter 10:"Come back Ronan. Please."
Pynch angst. But also Pynch fluff.
Featuring our boys with communication issues™ finally talking it out, holy feelings are shared.
Chapter 11:"I might probably faint now."
Neil falls sick and doesn't tell anybody, not until later. They're all there for him.
Chapter 12:"Jean Moreau, you are an enigma."
Adam takes a literature class for extra credit, leading to a friendship blooming between him and Jean Moreau.
Featuring our favorite French boi and his sunshine boyfriend, tattoos and two adorable dogs.
Chapter 13:"You have an addiction, Josten."
Andrew and Neil try to take their relationship to the next level, but a slip of tongue is enough to make it tumble.
Chapter 14:"Being here with you is enough."
With Adam by his side, Ronan turns 22.
Chapter 15:"And we'll be there, too."
Ronan's cottagecore birthday. But do all good things last forever?
Featuring Adam and Ronan painting, lots of fluff and beginning of heavy angst.
Chapter 16:"Adam, I need you here with me."
The aftermath.
(TW: Blood, mentions of death, general angst)
Chapter 17:"Your dumb fucking heart."
Ronan breaks, again.
Chapter 18:"I want this."
Adam wakes up.
Chapter 19:"You're leaving."
The twins turn 22. With a lot of drama of course. Neil makes another confession of truth.
Chapter 20:"I want to go home."
Adam recovers, and finally goes home.
Chapter 21:"You're prettier than Moana."
Neil, Andrew and London. Sometimes it's better to celebrate Christmas at home.
Chapter 22:"What do you want, Adam?"
Adam has a nightmare, Ronan is a good boyfriend.
Featuring cookies, grocery shopping for chocolate chips and sappy car singing.
Chapter 23:"But we missed you."
Neil and Andrew surprise Ronan and Adam at the Barns.
Featuring some more truths, smut and Christmas preparations!
Chapter 24:"That I want you, that I need you."
Just your average Christmas at the Barns.
Chapter 25:"We're home."
Like the title suggests.
#the raven cycle#maggie stiefvater#the raven boys#the dream thieves#blue lily lily blue#the raven king#all for the game#nora sakavic#the foxhole court#the king's men#adam parrish#ronan lynch#neil josten#andrew minyard#kevin day#aaron minyard#david wymack#blue sargent#richard campbell gansey iii#matt boyd#jean moreau#jeremy knox#allison reynolds#dan wilds#nicky hemmick#renee walker#psu foxes#pratt posts#pratt's fics
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Joseph Kavinsky analysis, part 1
aka how did I get here and why is he the reason
Warnings: spoilers for the whole Raven Cycle, mentions of: drug-use, abuse, death, murder, homophobic slurs, xenophobia
Part 1 // Part 2
After finishing The Raven Cycle and analyzing every chapter, character and the overarching plot with my friend, we were left feeling empty. It's been few months, I kept looking-up more TRC related things, other people's opinions, look through fandom content and even read some post from the author's, now deleted, tumblr account, trying to find answers to why I'm feeling like this.
Why the books seem to decline for me in quality as I kept reading? Why I can't see Ronan in the same light as the rest of the fandom? Why I couldn't like the author?
And the answer was looking me in the eyes the whole time.
"Depending on where you began the story, it was about Joseph Kavinsky."
I loved his character from the moment we met him in The Dream Thieves and still think about him to this day. But why? In a way, Kavinsky is too familiar to me, from his attitude, through appearance to his voice. It’s like I knew him, and this isn’t surprising. I met/saw Kavinskys on the streets, I know Kavinskys, and I was a Kavinsky once in my life. Although I'm the opposed to him, I still sympathies with him and understand how it feels to be in dark places in your life. And I'm not the only one, many people adore him and don't deny his actions to be terrible.
But on the other side, the majority of fans hates him and titles him "the worst/most evil antagonist of the series".
But why? What about K makes him so polarizing?
The simple answer is: the way he was presented and the function he played in the plot.
Even then, K's whole arc in TDT was handled horribly and damaged the way readers will view, not only people like K but also themselves.
This and also future posts, I’ll be analyzing everything relied to K, including his treatment after book's release by the author and what some deleted scenes and unused ending can shine on.
This is part 1 of a series of posts to come.
This part is about the narrative and characters views of Kavinsky.
Narrative and characters
Narrative is a powerful tool of telling a story, well crafted and coupled with character's internal-voice makes the reader view the story under different light. In a PoV of one character, one thing might bring-up different emotions and ideas, than the others. Exploring relationships and events differ, because everybody experience it differently.
But problem begins when the narrative forces a reader to a opinion, without backing it up with reasons or giving a opposing one.
In case of Joseph Kavinsky, before we properly meet him, we are told by the characters to hate him and the narrative backs them up in reasons to hate him. All the reasons given to us at that time, boil down to "I heard a rumor."
Gansey hates him, because "There was nothing about Kavinsky that wasn’t despicable" and "he thinks life is a music video". He doesn't want Ronan to associated with him, which is connected with him covering and getting Ronan's ass for the mess he made, having him project his anger and frustration he has with Ronan on to K, who part-takes in the same activities and probably with Ronan, is understandable. But I didn't expect much from a guy who: payed the school officials so they won't kick Ronan out; insulted Adam and throw Adam’s abuse at his face, just to instant of apologizing to him, make a pity party for himself (also having Adam apologies to Gansey for his rightful outburst isn't okay), is fine with having a romantic relationship with Blue while she's still with Adam, hurting him even further but makes it all about himself, etc. Him hating K, just because of his lifestyle, made sense.
But were the line was crossed, was when he started to decide on other people's worth. Lines like "we matter" (on which I'll extend later in the post) or "Ronan is fixable and has a soul [Kavinsky doesn't]", were used not only to show what Gansey himself thinks of K (he isn't a human being to him), but also demonize K and make the reader not consider him an equal to the Gangsey (a teenage).
Blue hates him, because he's yet another Raven Boy. Her hatred comes mostly from her distance for them, rich boys with privilege to which Gansey gang is an exception (although two out of four are exactly the kind she hates, and she told Noah directly she wouldn't be friends with him if he was alive) (There can be made a whole post about Blue's hypocrites regarding Raven Boys, but this isn't it). She also talks about how she doesn't feel comfortable around K and "if she couldn’t forgive Kavinsky for always managing to make her feel so insignificant", which makes sense. But while describing him, she calls him "a import from somewhere else", not only lessening him as a person but also making a xenophobic comment, noting his long nose as one of the factors (you could say, she meant him being from New Jersey, but you don't "import" stuff from inside a country, you only "import" from abroad and K is Bulgarian, doesn't matter if he's an immigrant or just has Bulgarian roots).
Later, while discussing what to do with K draining the ley lines, Greyman offers to talk to him, to which Blue asks him "can you make him feel worthless while you do?”. Yes, she asked a hit-man, who killed not only Niall Lynch but also multiple people (including three on pages, which was described in the case of the ones breaking into Montmouth) for money. (Yes, fans say it's fine he murdered Niall, because he was a dick and horrible father, but what we forget is that it wasn't a fast death. It was slow and brutal, having him bludgeoned to send a message to Declan. No "he was a weapon in Greenmatle's hand" can excuse it.). Plus, he beat-up and threatened Declan with a gun if he doesn't give him the Greywaren. "Making him feel worthless" can only mean the worst. Kavinsky was a asshole, but he didn't deserved that.
Also Blue gives the idea to give Kavisnky to the Greyman instant of Ronan, which was shot down, but not because it's horrible, inhuman and they can't decide on someone else's life, but because they think Greenmantle's people will come back also for Ronan. They were ok, with K being basically a scapegoat so Ronan will live.
Adam just "hates that prick" and "looked at the table with a studied disinterest" when K approached their table at Nino's, those are his only interaction in anything Kavinsky related (In a part regarding the "original" ending, we'll see it wasn't always the case.).
Noah barely exists in the series after The Raven Boys and never comes in contact with K or gives any opinion on him, outside of "ducked his head down into his shoulders, but couldn't take his eyes off the newcomer".
Ronan's relation with K could be its own post all together and there already are some good post about it, but for this one, I'll only mention few things.
He gives us a very "I hate him but I'm into this lifestyle" attitude. He races against K but doesn't want to have anything to do with him or he's "dogs". (Yes, Dream Packs canon name is "Kavinsky's pack of dogs" as Ronan calls them. Ironically, Ronan gets angry then Declan and K called him "Gansey's dog" but is fine when Gansey calls him "his dog".) He never thanked or acknowledged K saved his life from the Night Horror. He accepted K's help in dreaming-up the new Pig but afterwords ditches him without even a slit gratefulness (his motivation being remembering Gansey's words), and mocks that K thought there could be anything between them (friendship or relationship, it dependents how you interpret it), turning this into just using K to get what he wanted. And yes, what K did while Ronan slept (tracing Ronan's back tattoo with his finger) was unacceptable, if it really happened and wasn't just phantom-touch while falling asleep (if it was real, it can be interpreted as K acting out of his internalized homophobia, letting himself a moment of “curiosity”, but it still wouldn't make it fine).
Ronan and K insult one-another multiple times through-out the story but the difference is quite showing. K's insults are mostly homophobic, calling Ronan a "fag" or implying Ronan and Gansey are together. This is a typical teenage insults, but are also showing of K's internalized homophobia if viewed through "Don’t say Dick Gansey, man. Do not say it. He is never going to be with you. And don’t me tell you don’t swing that way, man. I’m in your head." and "It's a bomb. Just like you." scenes.
But Ronan, excepting the typical insults like "ball-sack", goes after who K is. "Bulgarian mobster Jersey trash piece of shit" or "Russian" (to the latter, K responded "Hey now, let's not make this ugly") are personal, referring not only to from where K's from, implying he's a mobster like his father and just calling him "a waste". Unfortunately, K's whole character is already one big stereotype of Slavs as viewed not only by Americans. But insulting someone for being "Bulgarian", something they had no control over, is xenophobic. (And for "Russian", as a Slav myself, let me tell you. Calling a non-Russian Slav "Russian" is a quick way to get on their bad side.) And if you're like "Ronan isn't xenophobic, because he's Irish" or "Maggie isn't xenophobic, because Ronan...", you have no idea how things work in Europe. This is the same argument as "He can't be racist, because he's black". TRC fandom is always ready to bring-up all K's sins and even enlarge them, but when in comes to Ronan, all his sins are either forgotten or excused.
One more thing I want to touch on is one of K's parties.
After Monmouth got broken into by people looking for Greywaren (which Greyman broke into first), Gansey thinks it must be Kavinsky's doing, because of the fake ID left in front of the door. Him and Ronan go to K's party, he tells them, it's a substance party and asks where are theirs. As an answer, Ronan hits him in the face and throws through a car, just to show him his blooded knuckles with "This is your substance.". The rest is Gansey and Ronan not believing K, that he didn't trash their place, and a "different Gansey" throwing a Molotov cocktail at K's car. After that, they leave.
But one thing isn't sitting right with me. The "This is your substance" is a beloved, may I say iconic, scene that is glorified by fans and cited as this "Ronan is so cool and K soo deserved it" thing.
Here's the thing. K is in full right. It's his party, on his rules. Gansey and Ronan just came from nowhere, probably for the first time, so the rule is stated for them. And Ronan's response? Physically assault K. Even if he's angry about the apartment, still he shouldn't just assault him.
And Gansey does nothing.
And one more thing:
K never hits Ronan back.
Not in next chapters, not at the end.
Never.
Before the chapter ends, we get probably my most hated line from this book:
"Closing his eyes, Gansey leaned his head back on his seat, chin tilted up, throat green in the dash lights. There was still an unsafe sort of smile about his mouth — what a torment the possibility in that smile was — and he said, “There was never a time when that could’ve been you and me. You know the difference between us and Kavinsky? We matter."
We matter. And he doesn't.
I could talk about this line and how damaging it is to people who see themselves in Kavinsky, but instant I'll say, why I hate it.
I have anxiety mixed with being introverted and back-in-the-day I felt isolated from my classmates, desperate for friends but only had toxic ones who dropped me so the popular girls would talk with them, just to be friends with me again after some time, bullied to the point of breaking multiple times, and hating myself for not fitting in, unable to connected with my peers in anyway. The line "we matter" echos my worst fear and thoughts from that time. "Everyone matter, you don't". I was too young to even have those thoughts, but they were always there. In the back of my head, like a recurring nightmare.
Just the idea, someone can say with confidence that someone, anyone, doesn't matter, makes me sick. No one has the inside to what's going on in someones life, to what thought are plaguing their head. Everyone's life matter and to say something like this in a book targeted to 12-18 year olds, who are at there most vulnerable stage, is not only irresponsible but enraging.
Gansey is saying this about a guy his age, who is drug-addicted and self-destructive, because he doesn't like him and wants Ronan to stay away from. No one calls him out on it. Not Ronan, not the narrative.
Nothing.
Until the kidnapping of Matthew and the paradox/question "did the tattoo tracing scene happened?", Kavinsky did nothing to earn hatred from the reader. He was living his life, being a stupid, reckless teenage boy with a power to get everything he wanted.
Ask yourself a question: "If you had the power to pulled anything* from your dreams, wouldn't you go crazy with it? Maybe in a very selfish way?"
* Throughout TRC and CDtH, we see no limit to what a dreamer can pull-out. From a pen or working car, living creatures (animals, copies of real people or purely made-up) to abstract things, like a word with power to animate the dead or an apocalypses.
Yes, K's dreaming drained the ley lines, causing Cabeswater to disappear. But did K knew about it? He knew that he needed to wait for it to recharge before dreaming more things and he did just that. The over-draining was cause by preparations for this Fourth of July party (dreaming many copies of his Mitsubishi) but same did Ronan’s dreaming (but Cabeswater acts as weird gatekeeper, so Ronan seems to be forgiven). But did he knew about Cabeswater? Or furthermore, Glendower? We can't confirm or deny it, but considering K isn't from Henrietta and probably is there only for school, he's there for about 2 years. Would he be interested in some random forest or some Welsh King, which just idea of him being in America is so far fetched to believe in?
No.
All he was interested it, was parting and wasting himself away.
We don't get any other or opposing opinions on Kavinsky, only the ones given by Gangsey. They are the outsiders looking in, not having any inside, just rumors and their shallow observations/interactions. But we don't even get any "inside", not from other Raven Boys or even the Dream Pack (who are barely characters).
After K's death, the only thing we get is Gangsey's not caring or being glad K's gone. Aglionby is silent and Henrietta, doesn't even acknowledge Fourth of July's Party even happened (but to be honest, the town feels like a theater stage than a living place). The only mentions about K that gives some idea someone noticed anything, was his name alongside Whelk’s and Dittley's in the newspaper at the end of BLLB (but this plot point is never mentioned again).
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remember that scene in bllb when they're in the cave and ronan instinctively grabs blue and holds her tightly so she doesn't fall and blue just thinks to herself "I cant let myself forget that" like??? it's one of my favorite moments from the books and I think about it all the time,,, blue&ronan friendship is god tier and we deserved more
#ronan lynch#blue sargent#bronan#the raven cycle#blue lily lily blue#blue and ronan as enemies to reluctant friends to best friends/partners in crime *chef's kiss*
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Catching Up
Archer stared into the steaming mug, his spoon clinking against its sides as he absentmindedly stirred the sugar in his coffee.
“Honey, I think it’s mixed,” Jodi teased as she sat down across from him with two cups, taking a sip from one while setting the other in front of the empty chair to the side of them. “Where’s your head? You seem lost in thought.”
The man shrugged as he finally set his spoon aside & brought the cup to his lips. He wasn’t sure he was ready to share too much with anyone, even his oldest & dearest friend. Around the same time his last relationship had fizzled out, he met someone new, someone he was instantly attracted to & intrigued by. Learning from his past mistakes, he’d told himself not to jump in too quickly so they’d started an innocent friendship. Still he couldn’t help it when his mind wandered to the handsome, auburn haired man with the soft voice.
“The kids are with Tobias this week, right?” Jodi asked when she realized she wasn’t getting anymore out of her best friend. She waited for his nod before continuing. “Maybe we can set a play date for the boys this weekend after they get home. How’s that sound?”
Just two months after Archer had Tiberius, Jodi & Ronan had welcomed their own son Rory into the world. The now one year old had definitely softened the young woman a bit & Archer loved have another parent friend in his life. It was also nice to see how happy having her own little family made her.
“Yeah, for sure. We can do that,” Archer nodded with a smile.
“What are we talking about?” Levi asked as he pulled out the empty chair & took his seat. He immediately reached for the sugar & turned it upside down into the coffee Jodi had gotten for him.
“Baby play dates. Wanna come? You’d fit right in,” Jodi teased.
Archer’s ocean blue eyes just stared at the long stream of sugar. “That’s disgusting. You know that, right? There’s more sugar than coffee in that cup.”
“No to the smelly diaper date & thanks, dad. The extra sugar gives me even more energy though,” Levi laughed. He glanced around the table before reaching across it to take the spoon that Archer had used to stir the liquid in his own cup.
After their last failed attempt at a romantic relationship, Archer & Levi had rather easily fallen back into their friendship. The three of them were now as close as ever before. It felt right & Archer found their bond invaluable. Of course he’d been heartbroken when Levi revealed he didn’t think he could handle it after they found out Archer’s baby belonged to Tobias & that Archer would be staying on as partial owner of Tobias’s record label, they both were, but it quickly became apparent that it was best for everyone this way. Levi then continued to date around as he had before, loving the freedom & fun-loving lifestyle he enjoyed, while Archer found his new normal as the divorced parent of two.
“I think Ruben has a new boyfriend. I saw some guy picking him up from work yesterday,” Levi told them as he sipped his coffee.
“Good for him.” Archer couldn’t hide how disinterested he was.
Jodi sat back in her chair, grinning over the white cup that she held between both hands in front of her face. “Salty.”
“Right?” Levi laughed. “I was simply sharing some gossip. Finally someone knew something before Jodi so I thought it’d be a win.”
“Oh, I’m interested. What’s the new guy look like? Is he hotter than...?” She motioned across the table, whispering the last part.
Archer rolled his eyes. “I meant that sincerely. Good for him. I don’t have anything against him. I just honestly don’t care.”
While the breakup with Ruben hadn’t been pleasant, it didn’t end on the worst of terms either. He’d wanted more than Archer had been willing to give so ending it when they did had been necessary. They were cordial when they saw each other, which happened from time to time since Ruben was still a dance instructor at Owen’s studio. For the most part, they hadn’t continued to talk or pursue a friendship though.
“Whatever. You can tell me later, Levi. My turn.” She cleared her throat dramatically as she turned toward him. “I heard a certain blond hair, blue eyed boy that we know...” She shot a look across at Archer, her perfectly groomed brow raised. “Has been hanging around the music shop in town, even when he’s not there on business.”
Archer could feel the heat quickly rise to his cheeks, his own gaze falling into his half drained cup of coffee. “I should get a refill.”
“Wait, the music shop? I know the people who own that now, the Black siblings. You’re not...” Levi chuckled, pausing as he tried to read Archer’s face. His friend’s embarrassment was blatantly obvious on his blushing face. “There’s no way you’re fucking Vince.”
“I’m not,” he quickly confirmed, finally lifting his eyes to look between his friends. “But why would you say it like that? We’re friends. They do promotions for Mercury artists & I’ve always loved music. Why’s it so surprising that I’d be there?”
“Because you’re there to flirt with the hot, young owner,” Jodi giggled. “Tell us more about your friend Vince.”
“No, stop,” Levi cut in to answer his question seriously. “You’re shitting me, right? I can’t believe he’d even be friends with you, especially if people around town are talking about it.”
“Hey...” Archer scoffed.
“Rude,” Jodi snapped at the same time.
“Not like that.” Levi rolled his eyes & shook his head. “I know him because he’s best friends with Shane. You know... Shane, my ex, the one who hates you & I with a deep & passionate rage.”
“To be fair, you were fucking each other behind his back while you were in a relationship with him,” Jodi reminded him smugly.
“I never said it wasn’t deserved.”
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rank your favorite noah moments! there probably aren’t more than a few </3
i'm not playing this game anymore but i'm having too many noah hours lately :/ also jordyn u have a special place in my heart and so does noah sorry this is 70 years late 😭😭
1. one of my favorite moments in like the whole series and def my favorite Noah moment is in TRK when Blue is there chilling with Gwenllian over her head and Noah appears and just straight up starts going off about the "general you" and chicken recipes like it's his job. Like yes king go off!!!!!! Cute babey!!!! talk to me about chicken recipes!!!!! (also on another note i think this is the most genuine noah moment we get in the series and i am Emotional about that)
2. absolutely the whole scene in TRB when the gang is like, "who killed you?!???!" and theyre all murdery. yeah gang protect noah he deserves it. and also feelings.
3. in TDT when Ronan is about to race against Kavinsky and Noah is all like I Have A Super Bad Feeling!!!!!!!!!! noah let me hold you challenge
4. glitter!!!!!!
5. when he goes feral in blue's school. ghost king haunt me challenge
bonus: lit rally all his interactions with ronan. chaotic friendship rights
#listen i know i didnt include dont throw it away but actually i hate that scene#how dare noah die. how dare mstief allow this 😭😭#noah is alive in all my dreamworlds actually#noah czerny#trc#jordyn tag#asks#tania.txt
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I read blue lily, lily blue here’s my existential crisis:
*spoilers*
I am already very confused
Bro I thought Maura got taken but she rlly just up and left that’s messed up
I FINALLY GOT TO “maybe I dreamt you”
Ronan being forced to sing is my new favorite thing
Ronan instinctively holding onto blue, gansey paralyzed with fear, Ronan saying that if they die he dies this is so stressful hELP
Let Adam be happy for once challenge
The Bluesey tension tho
“I’m tired of it” “Tired of what?” “Decaying” I cant take this literally stab me in the heart it would hurt less
Oof Latin teacher is the trc equivalent of the cursed defense against the dark arts position at hogwarts lol
“he was surprised that the person was Gansey and not Ronan” ... does Ronan often visit you late at night Adam?? 👀
Gansey and adam’s friendship seems so fragile and insecure at the moment but it’s mending ! It’s mending !
Gansey said he’s gonna ask glendower for Noah’s life but why do I feel like that’s not gonna happen
Also I’ve kinda been in denial about gansey’s fated death but this book just won’t let me ignore it
Either he has to die to wake glendower or he has to die in order for Noah to live again or something bc they mentioned before that the favors are reciprocal
I even have this crack theory that gansey is.. glendower or like a vessel for glendower ? Like when he was brought back to life as a kid glendower became a part of him so in order for glendower to wake gansey has to die (idk it sounds more plausible in my head)
Even if my theory is wrong you cannot deny the parallels that are being drawn between gansey and glendower
Blue explaining how the gangsey are all so in love and obsessed and caught up in each other,, truly an unmatched found family
This book should be titled “gansey’s existential crisis”
RONAN GAVE ADAM LOTION I-
Knowing that gansey was chosen to live over Noah bc gansey would be the one to get shit done has me feelin a lot of conflicting things bc like yes but also Noah deserved better
Gansey keeps talking about death and the end and the grave and time and I just feel like he knows. Deep down he knows that he’s supposed to die
Ok I’ll admit these bluesey phone calls are cute
MuRdEr sQuAsH
Noah really be knowing everyone’s secrets huh
Adam keeps catching glances from Ronan and he’s like oh? What’s this? But he just brushes it off bc it’s Ronan,, I cannot handle this
MATTHEW IS A LITERAL DREAM
Ronan has a crush Ronan has a crush Ronan has a crush
Man I wish we were getting some of these scenes from Ronan’s pov tbh
Adam no there’s no way that gansey dying is gonna be your fault, no way
Oh damn gansey is letting blue drive the pig?? Thats how you know it’s true love
Shopping cart: 1 Adam and Ronan: 0
Adam has compared Ronan to a god and a king in the span of like two pages
Also I love how Ronan keeps showing Adam all these new sides to him and Adam is so taken aback every time
Was dream Ronan’s death really necessary??!!!!!!! stiefvater ma’am you’ll be hearing from my therapist
Cabeswater protected Adam from Robert 😭
There’s not enough Noah in this book, but I guess maybe that’s the point since he’s like.. decaying
Adam just keeps getting more and more magical and I love it
GANSEY AND RONAN SHOWED UP FOR ADAM AT COURT IM SOBBING
PERSEPHONE NO WHYYY
Damn jesse too :(
I hate that there’s only thirty pages left but so much is going on still I’m so anxious
Whatever you do don’t imagine Maura going home and realizing that Persephone is gone
ADAM WAS THE OTHER SLEEPER
“It was time to find Glendower. They all knew it” I’m not ready I’m not ready I’m not ready
Ugh neeve
There’s so much I didn’t even address like who/what is artemus and I actually grew to like mr gray this book and what the heck did neeve and piper wake up and what is gansey’s secret thing at school and I liked malory’s aura thing and how much I enjoyed reading gwenllian’s chaotic scenes
But my thoughts are so full of Adam rn bc of the growth this boy has gone through and how he’s finally finally allowing himself to be known and he’s powerful and that makes him realize his worth and my heart is just so full of Adam Adam Adam Adam and how I know he’s going to do everything in his power to save gansey in the next book and I’m scared
(As always thanks for sticking around if you made it this far!!!)
Book 1 Book 2
#i read this book in a day so this commentary is probly not the best but whatevs#blue lily lily blue#maggie stiefvater#the raven cycle#trc#gansey#adam parrish#ronan lynch#blue sargent#noah czerny
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the one where gansey befriends a deer: the au
hey remember that time ronan dreamed up a deer that was described with language suspiciously similar to how adam’s described, because i sure do!!! anyway
OK.
ok. so. this au’s actually evolved a lot since its initial already-pretty-fleshed-out inception one sleepless night, so me talking about it’s gonna be more than one post, but here’s the first one well actually the second technically yesterday’s warmup doodles were also from this au but i didnt talk about it at all so
and I’m gonna start with more or less the same pitch I gave to a couple people on discord
SO. starting out: it’s standard fantasy times, vaguely medieval but no specific time period because I don’t care enough to be digging into that quite frankly, but it is somewhere in England where this is happening. Story starts with just Gansey, Ronan, and Noah. Fey are very real and known entities and there’s been a conflict in England between the fey and humans, if not in the whole country then at least in the lands that the Ganseys are the lords of but probably the whole island tbh, and Gansey’s not inherited the lands yet but he’s going to and wants to maybe find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. It’s not open warfare by any means but it’s been a big problem.
To the effect of solving that, he heads to some little village that I haven’t named but it’s right next to a known fey forest called Cabeswater. This village has avoided being stomped by the local fey because, despite witches not being particularly liked by the nobility of the time, there’s a big old coven (the psychics of Fox Way, essentially) situated right by this village that’s kept things in check. Gansey’s made his excuses to his parents about why he’s officially going there but really he wants to talk to the witches and get a better grasp of the conflict from the people actually dealing with it. He and Ronan set out from home together, pick up Noah along the way--who is not a ghost in this AU, he’s a fey who owes Gansey a life debt, that’s a whole other post and THIS post is mostly about gansey and adam--but anyway they get to this village and NOBODY gives gansey the time of day.
the witches don’t let him into their house because they don’t like the nobility right back thanks and the next time he tries to visit Cabeswater won’t even let him get to the coven’s dwelling, the one witch’s daughter who regularly stops by the village for supplies and to check if anyone needs anything has a big argument with him the first time he talks to her so that’s going nowhere, and, well, the villagers are polite, but they clearly don’t take him seriously. He’s just the lordling playing at things and potentially meddling in their business to them.
So he starts hanging out just barely within Cabeswater, even though he knows that’s not wise, because he finds this perfect spot by a stream, and he’ll sit out there and think and work on the journal he keeps of all his thoughts and plans, and one day while he’s there has a straight up Disney princess experience when a deer stops by the stream and seems incredibly unafraid of him. he cherishes the experience but accepts that it probably won’t happen again.
and then it does. several times. gansey’s losing his mind. this deer??? apparently likes listening to him info dump?? it’s very therapeutic and also very magical and he’s amazed
a few times in, he names the deer “Pryderi” after a character from a welsh legend, because “such a handsome creature deserves a princely name,” [[muffled blue laughing and whispering “princely” in the distance]], and he tells ronan and noah about this experience but ronan doesn’t believe him at ALL.
one time after gansey’s particularly upset at how bad his attempts at getting along with the villagers, Pryderi actually lets Gansey touch him for the first time and gansey cannot shut up about it to ronan who’s finally like “i think you’re bullshitting me about this deer thing. im coming with you next time” and gansey’s like “well he’s a deer he might not show up if a stranger’s around and he doesn’t come every time i go down there anyway” and ronan’s like “this sounds like a lot of excuses, dick, you’re not making me believe you any more with this” and gansey’s like “>8\”
but pryderi does show up, and gansey is delighted, and ronan stares really hard at him and then goes
and gansey’s like what? nooo. but ronan keeps arguing it for the duration of the visit and the deer actually starts to look annoyed and at the end ganseys like ok maybe but i doubt it. and then hes like “well since you are a fey apparently (/sarcasm) i ought to say farewell with respect” and bows very mockingly and then the deer makes direct eye contact with ronan and bows back and gansey loses his shit
gansey continues meeting up with pryderi but even while his infodumping still happens it does so now with the knowledge that He Does Actually Understand What Im Saying, he may be a fey but he seems like a friendly one and hey that’s way more than gansey thought he would get out here, and also this deer is his friend now thanks,
he, ronan, and noah (who’s amused by Pryderi but keeps his main thoughts to himself for now) make some excursions into cabeswater, but the thing is noah’s not really native to england, he’s from the european mainland, again i’ll get to it in another post sometime, but. he can sort of help navigate cabeswater but not all THAT well so they get lost a couple times, and every time it does happen pryderi shows up and helps guide them out. there’s some very funny moments of a very jealous ronan getting into weird conflict w/ a very smug deer
anyWAY one day there’s like a festival, everyone’s drunk because its the middle ages and there’s not really a drinking age, gansey’s making another effort to make friends with anyone, and this one guy about his own age is like “ok look here i’ll teach you the folk dance everyone’s doing ok?” and gansey spends the night dancing w/ a handsome stranger, yes he will recognize the irony in the morning, but for now it goes. well badly because they’re both drunk but it’s fun, and then the guy says “ah, fuck it, i’ll finish teaching you next time we see each other” and gansey’s like “thats a little forward but ok!” and the guy (adam. its adam) panics and leaves while gansey’s back is turned and gansey doesn’t remember that last snippet of conversation the next day nor can he quite recall the stranger’s face. ronan does, because he was watching and not sure which of the two he was jealous of, but neither of them has any idea who the guy actually was.
and then like, 3 days later, gansey falls asleep at the spot he usually hangs out in in cabeswater and wakes up in the early evening just in time to hear people yelling and for Pryderi to burst into view with an arrow in his flank. he collapses in a bush. gansey snaps into “protect friend” mode and gets the hunters off his trail by being all “oh a strange buck? i saw it pass that way over there friend!” and then when they’re gone he comes back and is all “alright pryderi they’re gone, let me just--” except pryderi’s not a deer anymore. it’s a boy.
(Adam. its adam. the deer is adam.)
gansey takes him home, gets the arrow out, noah’s like “i mean he’s not a fey, i dont know what turning into a deer is about but if he were fey the iron in that arrow would already have him dead. he might be partially fey but so little that he’s human in the ways that really matter”, over the next couple days they figure out that pryderi is in fact from the village and is a young man named adam parrish who’s been labelled a changeling and is assumed dead since he was yknow shot, gansey decides for now its probably best to keep him that way, but adam’s not getting better--apparently even having had the arrow in him as briefly as he did has poisoned him, he’s desperately ill and on the third day is finally like “get persephone” so gansey tries again (he’s tried several times over these days, they’d worked out that to have survived this long he must have someone else with a small degree of fey blood teaching him the ropes and the most likely suspects are the witches, but he’s hoping adam specifically asking him to will grant him permission enough to go in) and runs into a very frantic blue en route who as soon as he makes it clear he’s got adam is like “move your ass over on that horse im climbing on too”
they get persephone, who turns into a fox rather than a deer, she saves adam, everythings cool except adam’s pissy now because he cant go back to the village and he has to give up on the attempts he had in the works to get out of town by working his way out and he takes it out on gansey who doesnt deserve it because this friendship is a mess, he’ll feel bad and take it back eventually but thats yet more posts ANYWAY YEAH theres our starting point
(also worth noting: due to cabeswater being Right There, p much everyone in this village actually has a small degree of fey blood, adam just won the genetic lottery)
tl;dr adam’s a fey-blooded witch’s apprentice and he’s been the deer the whole time and thats the start of this au ty for coming to this ramble
#longpost#trc#the raven cycle#lolsketch#gonna make separate posts w/ just the art in a sec#anyway i love this au with all of my heart its extremely self indulgent#deer boy au#because thats what ive been shorthanding it to
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If my video game OCs were canon characters, where would the player meet them? (bonus: identical post on @huntersuggestions for the OCs there!)
Leah - similar to Anri, the canon “companion” summon you can meet and talk to at various points in your world, Leah would likely be met early on. I’m thinking you would probably encounter her in the Undead Settlement (the second area of the game after the tutorial, essentially), since this is where the first invasion covenant in the game is founded, and since at this point the player already has the Way of Blue covenant item. She’s resting by the bonfire in the building under the cliff, and is very friendly to the player as long as they don’t have the Mound-Maker covenant equipped (or on NG+, the Fingers of Rosaria covenant). If you have the Mound-Maker covenant equipped, then like Sirris does for a Finger, she would politely decline to talk with you. Otherwise she would offer her friendship and aid, and somewhere further down the line (inside Farron Keep or outside the Cathedral of the Deep [where there’s no canon NPC Invaders; outside Farron there’s Heysel and inside the Cathedral there’s Kirk]) she’d be scripted to come to your aid against an NPC invader, even if you weren’t wearing the Way of Blue.
You could then encounter her and have a short chat at the beginning of Irithyll, at the first bonfire (she hates the cold and would be warming up by it). She’d tell you she’s on her way home to Anor Londo, which is just past and above Irithyll, and that she’s not entirely certain how much time has passed since she left home. She’d laugh it off and again offer you aid, but you wouldn’t see her again until Anor Londo. This time she would be past the bonfire, in the chamber where the Giant Blacksmith can be found, staring sadly at his corpse. She explains that Sulyvahn (the boss the player would have just defeated in Irithyll) led some sort of coup or invasion, and that the palace is swarming with Aldrich Faithfuls and that she fears for the Dark Sun. This would also be the point where the player realizes from the hesitant, meandering way she talks that she may not be as sane as she appears.
The player wouldn’t see her again until the Profaned Capital, where they would be invaded by an NPC Mad Phantom, “Leah, Broken Knight”. Defeating her here would be the last time the player sees her... unless you have the DLCs.
While exploring the Painted world of Ariandel, you can encounter her twice; once as a summonable purple Phantom “Mad Knight Leah” (capable of hurting you as well as attacking enemies), and once as an actual NPC long before the summon sign (which would be just after Vilhelm). As an NPC she’d be sane and speak in a slow, muffled way [hinting her missing tongue], and would not remember being Hollow; you’d have a dialogue option to mention it and she’d act confused and distressed in response.
Ailin - The player would only conceivably meet Ailin at one point in the game, and since I have to adhere to game rules for this, the encounter would actually be a lot less intense than intended. In my RP group, we bend the game rules a LOT, so certain invading phantoms can invade in, or follow the player into, boss rooms. In the RP Ailin was essentially a miniboss, but here she’d be more like a regular invader. Her phantom color would be grey, and she invades at the top of the stairs leading to the Twin Princes, once you get to the doors to open them. She would tell you to leave, and that the Princes deserve their peace, and that she’ll defend them to the death.
Sticking to game rules, you could simply run into the boss room/fog to avoid her. With the RP rules, she would just follow you in and then you’d be facing multiple opponents. She will continuously invade until defeated, so if you skip her, run into the boss fight, and then die, she’ll just invade again once you get to the top of the stairs again.
Caelas - Caelas is met on the High Wall of Lothric, on the “hidden” ledge below the dead wyvern’s wing. He’d be friendly enough, introducing himself as a northern wanderer and hinting vaguely about being a Pyromancer, though he’ll refuse to teach you if you ask, and his demeanor changes if you do.
If you don’t ask him to teach you Pyromancy, he offers you his skill in battle, though you won’t get to take advantage of it until the Catacombs, when he’ll help you kick the shit out of just about everything if you keep his squishy ass alive long enough. He can also be summoned in Lothric Castle, but good fucking luck keeping him alive. He’s one of those NPCs who hits hard as hell as an enemy to you, but is nowhere near as powerful against the enemies in your world.
If you do ask him to teach you Pyromancy, he warns you not to ask people for such personal favors (in the first game, one of the potential Pyromancy teachers informs you that a Pyromancy Flame [what lets you cast Pyromancies] is a part of its user, and teaching/giving someone new a Pyromancy Flame is giving them a part of yourself). He won’t offer to help you, and will in fact invade you over the course of the game; once on the Wall, once in either the Cathedral or Keep (he is the invader Leah will come to aid you with), once in Anor Londo, and a final time in the Profaned Capital (so it’s entirely possible to end up with red phantom Caelas AND purple phantom Leah invading you at once).
Ronan - Ronan would leave white signs everywhere, but in very obscure, almost hidden parts of each area you’re in. You’d have to explore every nook and cranny of each section of the game to find all his signs. However, you wouldn’t meet him as a real person until you either got to Lothric Castle (he’d be praying at the Sunlight Altar) OR, if you have the DLCs, in the Ringed City; he’d wander and fight in the area similarly to how Ostrava did in Demon’s Souls, but would only start interacting with the world when you got close enough to him (to prevent him from killing all the enemies in the swamp before you even got there).
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if love is just a game is so! fucking! good! no idea how many times I whisper screamed and/or literally laughed out loud because the character interactions/dialogue/plot absolutely killed me. such lovely adaptations of both the first words trope and trc canon, with a whole host of elements that are all your own. blue & ronan is often one of my favorite relationships in trc fic because grudging love couched in intense sarcasm just delights me, and you portrayed them beautifully and (1/2)
even brought that dynamic into some of the other relationships. also I uhhh teared up a bit when I got to the end from the combination of 1. the ending being lovely 2. being sad I was done with the fic and mostly 3. reading your comments on the meaning of adam's tattoo. tl;dr: so good, thank you!! (2/2)
Blue & Ronan brotp is the best and we all deserve more of their grudging “I can’t believe I love you so I’m going to be really annoying about it” friendship, I am just doing what anyone would do
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Unpopular opinion: adam/blue was treated as a way for gansey and blue to antagonise adam, and it never got the resolution it deserved (e.g. blue saying adam should be happy but he saying how could he be happy if he wasn’t supposed to know, that conversation in my opinion never got closure) Love your blog :) nice url
strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree
STRONGLY AGREE!!! i’d never even really put 2 and 2 together like that but lol you’re so right. so much of blue + gansey’s “drama” was about “oh nooo we can’t tell adam about our secret relationship because [we don’t know how he’ll react/it’ll hurt his feelings/other reasons here]”. meanwhile adam had been moving on from the relationship the whole time while forming a new connection with ronan. also? adam kinda nailed it on the head when he said they were treating him like a bomb about to explode if he found out when all he wanted is for them to be happy (this is probably paraphrasing; i haven’t read the books in a long time but i remember adam calling blue out on this while they were “getting fabric from the car” - PLEASE correct me on this if i’ve got it wrong).
and then that aspect of blue + adam’s relationship in particular never got closure and it’s a damn shame tbh! like the “tension” between those two and gansey about their relationships got built up so much and there was never really... an apology to anyone on either of the 3 sides (adam for losing his temper in tdt, blue for kissing noah while she was still in a relationship with adam (if i remember correctly) and both she + gansey for concealing the relationship from him.) (i feel like blue’s taking a lot of the blame here bc i’m talking about her and adam’s relationship more, because i’ve always felt ROBBED of their friendship, but gansey is equally to blame for the concealment - just wanted to make that clear!)
tl;dr adam and blue’s dynamic could’ve been really thoughtful + touching if it had actually been followed through in that final confrontation about gansey and blue’s relationship, and there are a lot of things about adam + gansey’s relationship i would’ve liked to see resolved. right at the end of the series we see adam + blue hugging, but up until that point their relationship never really seemed to progress much and it feels like wasted potential :( and you’re right: adam + blue’s past relationship was completely used as a way for them to make him out to be a ticking time bomb, which is unfair for many reasons
also! i’m glad u like my blog :’0
EDIT!: correction in the replies from @toomanykings (thank u!!): blue asks adam why he can’t be happy for gansey because gansey is his best friend, and adam asks how he could be happy for something he wasn’t meant to know had happened
#anon#gus answers#this is such a mess ugh alsdjflsd does it make sense guys?#this one's such a mess that i'm gonna say don't reblog just bc like. it's so jumbled and i was working solely from memory so this isn't lik#super accurate#meta
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I THINK it’s a popular opinion but just in case; adam wasn’t in love with blue, they just liked each other and the fact that blue and gansey painted him as a jealous ass (us knowing it was more because of gansey that bc of blue) is wrong and shows us how little by little in the books gansey stops knowing who adam is as a person
strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree
yeah, i think adam and blue weren’t in love, they just had mutual crushes on each other! obviously their hearts settled on someone else in the end, but i thought they had a very cute dynamic at the start - they felt immediate kinship, and a great deal of physical attraction. in fact, i’m a little sad we didn’t get more of it - blue’s reaction to meeting adam, instantly knowing that he was special and was someone she could have a conversation with... i wanted more of that!!
from what we see on-page, it seemed like they never really had one-on-one time (maybe they had dates off-page, like adam and ronan’s sleepovers?? who knows??), which doesn’t make sense to me because adam is very proactive and blue has given clear signals that she likes him (even that one scene we get in st. agnes is loaded with sexual tension between them, lol). where are the conversations, maggie? blue and adam were never destined to fall in love, they don’t work together like that, but i think they deserved to have at least a little bit more of a high-school-crush relationship rather than going on one (1) group date. i really wanted them to have more bonding time, even as friends, since really they have a lot in common and clearly like each other. oh well.
as for gansey and blue thinking adam was going to get jealous... i don’t know that i would say it’s “more bc of gansey than bc of blue”. perhaps i don’t remember the details - rereading that part of the books annoys me a little - but i would say they’re both guilty. they both go behind his back, they both assume he’s going to react worse than he eventually does, and they both decide to keep him in the dark rather than be honest about their feelings. sure, gansey should know better as he’s adam’s best friend; but blue also clearly indicates in trk that she thought adam wouldn’t have been able to handle the truth. the one thing i will concede is that adam does have a jealous streak - he himself admits freely to being jealous of his friends - but that’s still not a justification. if blue and gansey thought he’d be ~too fragile~ to handle it, then they should not have acted the way they did; otherwise, they should have told him. that’s kind of what friendship is about.
(psa: please note i’m not doing unpopular opinions anymore atm, i just got around to answering this one late)
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does anyone just sometimes think about how gansey kept his feelings locked inside because he thought he didn’t have a right to tell his friends because he had money and his family had wealth so he had always had it the easiest? and when blue found out that gansey was having nightmares she was almost sure it couldn’t be the same richard gansey she knew because the gansey she knew wasn’t like that. how gansey’s inter monologue was always about how he didn’t deserve adam and his friendship and he didn’t deserve ronan. and i know the fandom jokes about it a lot, but he ACTUALLY MEANT IT. gansey actually thought that he didn’t deserve to have adam or ronan or blue and that they were so much better than him. how in the raven king, a quote from gansey was “and gansey kind of wanted to live.” gansey always just wanted to be alive and live a happy life but he has been through so much and i feel that we need to appreciate richard campbell gansey iii more
#richard gansey#richard campbell gansey iii#gansey#the raven boys#the dream thieves#blue lily lily blue#the raven king#the raven cycle#maggie stiefvater#trc
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Taste Like Coming Home
@Notes: Huge thank yo to @ravens-world who made this so much better than what it was!!! <3<3
A REBLOG IS WORTH A THOUSAND STARS<3
.-
Adam’s always appreciated the light thrumming of life that buzzed in Washington, even in the middle of the night. It’s nowhere near as loud as Boston had been, but still, it distracts Adam from floundering in his own thoughts that even now threaten to swallow him whole in an ocean of insecurities and doubts (that had first bore to life in the precarious stillness subsequent Robert’s fists and his mother’s impassive gaze) . ((Adam had lost count of how many nights he'd spent like this, wondering if he’ll ever be good enough to earn his parent’s affections, Gansey’s friendship, Blue’s warmth, Ronan's-Ronan's everything. )) Adam is always questioning if he’ll ever be good enough to deserve the near reverent way Ronan regards him, has always regarded him. To deserve the soft touches and encapsulating kisses and the way Ronan looks at Adam as if he’s the answer to his every question, as if Ronan could find what he’s looking for whispered between the space of Adam’s lips.
Adam tries not to linger too much on the latter anymore, because he knows he'll never find a sensible answer. Knows that he’s never deserved Ronan and all Ronan’s brought to his world. He'd transformed the muted grayscale of his carefully methodical outlook into vivid tones of impossibilities come true. No matter how much he loves Ronan, how he never wants to be without him. Ronan has become a fixture in his very soul that he could never fathom existing without, and yet Adam is still so very inept. Still can’t tell him his feelings in so many words— more often than not opting for gentle caresses and tender kisses that can bring his feelings to life— and he knows he still comes off distant and cold during their more real arguments, despite how sparing they might be. Adam can’t ever contort his mouth in the right ways to speak out loud words of comfort and vulnerability he was so deprived of once upon a time. But still, he tries. Adam tries because this is Ronan, and he wouldn’t be true to himself if he didn’t give Ronan— give them— all he had.
“It’s not your fault,” Adam says, flicks off residue from one of the bright blue creepy-crawlies that had followed Ronan into the real world, from his legs.
Ronan’s only response is an incredulous huff.
Looking at him now, Adam can’t help but marvel at how beautiful and sincere and unshielded he truly is. The dark shadows paint across his face and the light spills over him so that his profile is nothing but flat planes, made all the more sharp, and pale eyes shifting to a haunting, stormy grey rather than the icy oceans Adam has always known and has always ben able to see through. Eyes he’s been enthralled with for forever, even when he only viewed Ronan as the savagely handsome best friend of Gansey’s who infuriated him in ways Adam never was able to completely comprehend.
“Don’t. Don’t do that,” Adam tells him, moving so that they’re shoulder to shoulder. “Don’t push me out because you’re mad.”
“I’m not,” Ronan says, hurried and stubborn, his face morphing into something desperate.
“Ronan,” Adam says, but actually means bullshit, and the translation seems to have gone through if the decidedly ceded expression that passes over Ronan’s rough but handsome features is anything to go by.
“I hate that I can’t control it, no matter what I do.”
“Hey,” Adam laces their fingers together and squeezes. “Nothing happened.” He kisses Ronan’s shoulder right then, is relieved when he feels the slight loosening of tension there. He’s suddenly, acutely thankful to all the stars above that Ronan can understand the spaces of words that go unspoken between them.
“Yeah, this time,” Ronan sours, eyes flickering to their closed door and Adam understands him completely. Understands that Ronan doesn’t care if those poisonous arachnids had bitten him, Ronan never cared. The only thing Ronan cares about when concerning bringing back his uncontrolled dream things is the possibility that they could hurt any number of the three people he loves more than breathing. One, Adam, who sleeps right besides him every night. And the other two— their set of twins— are just right across the hall.
“It could so easily go wrong.”
“It won’t,” Adam says with more steel than even he expected.
“How do you know?” Ronan asks chargingly. Hesitantly. Imploringly. Like someone would ask a prophet.
“Ro,” Adam says, quiet and tentative while he runs the pads of his fingers down Ronan’s cheek, tracing the outline of his nose and lips and jaw. His fingertips land on the hollow where Adam could feel his heartbeat, and he swoops forward to press an open mouthed kiss to it. He revels in the sensation of Ronan carding a hand through his hair, nails lightly scratching Adam’s scalp. “I’m here for you, always. I won’t ever let anything happen to you or the kids, and I know you won't either. Stop worrying, okay? ” Another kiss on Ronan’s mouth, arms wrapped around his waste to pull him even closer. “Else you’ll start getting wrinkle lines and I’ll have to find myself some new arm candy.”
“Pff,” Ronan snorts, rubs a ginger hand down Adam’s naked back. He can feel the cool scrape of the golden wedding band Adam’s got a matching pair to. “If anyone’s the trophy husband here it’s totally you.”
“Fuck off.”
“Lynch farms just got another expansion, fuck face,” Ronan preens, and Adam loves him like this. Boasting and teasing and always, always so soft whenever he peers down at Adam. “Me and my herd are gonna blow fucking Wisconsin right off the map with our Dairy prowls.”
“Actually, I think California’s now the state to beat for title of Dairy capitol,” Adam corrects with a nonchalant shrug.
“What the fuck ever,” Ronan snipes, words full of humor.
“Come back to bed.”
“I shouldn’t,” Ronan frowns, and Adam doesn’t miss the fear, fear that’s only ever directed at himself, that ghosts across his face. Adam parts his lips to argue and chide at him that he needs to trust himself, but Ronan must’ve seen that coming from a mile ahead because he stops it with another resounding kiss that Adam can feel to his core.
“Had to be up anyways,” Ronan explains amidst heavy breaths that mirror Adam’s own. “Me and Opal were gonna check out that Farmer’s Market back in Henrietta and Declan wanted to join.”
“Fine,” Adam gripes, follows him out the bedroom to help collect the things he’ll be needing, partially because he’s too riled up to go back to bed now, but mostly because he knows that if he leaves now, Ronan won’t be back until late afternoon. He always misses him so achingly during these long trips away from their home.
God does Adam love that, the idea that he’s got this. He’s got a home that he gets to share with the man he loves more than any other and his two kids that he would willingly lay down his life for. Sometimes he has to stop and just take it all in, climb out of the memories of crying on the steps of the trailer wondering if anything was worth existing for in this world and thinking that the kid he was finally found that worth.
Adam passes Ronan a thermos of coffee for him and an herbal tea for Opal, sends him off with one final peck of farewell.
“You should welcome me home with a martini,” Ronan goads, grin gone sharp and slightly feral. “Put on a slutty genie outfit?”
Adam pinches his forearm, hard.
“I will never play out some kinda I Dream of Jeannie tableau for you dickwad, get over it.”
“You can’t blame a man for trying,” Ronan shrugs, goes off to kiss the tops of the kids’ sleeping heads. He gives Adam one more kiss before he has to finally head out to the BMW.
Sometimes Adam forgets that these long days apart are just as hard for him.
.-
“Is it Daddy’s birthday?” Livvy asks, eyebrows hiked, and lips pitched.
“No,” says Adam while pulling out spare mixing bowls from the cupboard— it's a miracle that he even knows where they are, if he’s being at all honest. In their household, the kitchen is largely Ronan’s realm of expertise and all Adam’s good for is washing dishes and the occasional toasting of bread.
“Are you graduating again?” Gage— a near spitting image of his sister, with all their trappings of dark hair and intense eyes and thin lips, asks owlishly.
“Not that either.”
“Then why on God’s green earth are we baking cupcakes?”
Jesus fucking Christ, do these kids have some mouths on them. Adam would like to blame it totally on Ronan’s frame of mind that unfiltered speech is the only way he’d speak around his kids, but Adam knows that ever since they had first brought them home, ten months old and just barely crawling, that they’ve gotten just as much of his cynical outlook than what Adam would’ve liked.
“Because, squirt,” Adam pulls out his phone to search for a decently simple recipe he both had the ingredients to, , and one that wouldn’t turn out an utter mess. “Daddy woke up a bit sad this morning and I thought that if we made him this, it would show him we're thinking bout him and he wouldn’t be so sad anymore.”
The twins look suitably cowed at that, both pairs of eyes going pleading and chorusing a thousand questions on whether Ronan’s okay and when he’ll be coming home and how they could help.
“He’s fine, kiddos, just was gonna miss you guys when he went out with Opal and Uncle Declan today. But he’ll be home any minute, so I wanna make sure this is done by then, kay?”
Gage nods with grave certainty, wielding a whisk like a weapon of war, but Livvy still looks a bit unsure.
“Aunt Blue says that your cooking should be considered a weapon of mass destruction.”
“Like a nuke!” Gage tacks on helpfully.
“Or mustard gas.”
“Ooo! Or like—“
“Neither of you are ever allowed to say the names of weapons out loud again! Not ever!" Adam scolds with no actual heat.
“Hey, but what about,” Gage points to Chainsaw, who’s perching atop the refrigerator watching them.
“Not my problem.”
They both roll their eyes but don’t press him on it.
“Papa, are you sure you can do this?”
“It’s baking, Liv, not cooking a full course meal," he says, only slightly indignant.
“Ms Gomez says that baking is just like science and that’s why it’s way harder than just normal cooking.”
Adam’s expression goes flat.
“You get to crack the eggs,” he tells her in lieu of a response.
“Oh, yay!” Livvy crows. Gage howls with the unfairness of it all.
.-
An hour and a half later finds the white marble top island of their spacious kitchen splattered with batter and oil and substances Adam is almost positive he doesn’t recognize. There’s a tray of a dozen cupcakes in the oven but Adam isn’t quite sure that they’re meant to be staying flat, refusing to rise even once the halfway mark passes— that along with the fact that the toothpicks literally are stuck once used to puncture doesn’t bode well. The sink had overflown about a dozen times because one of them keeps forgetting to turn off the water once they’ve rinsed a dish.
All and all, it probably could’ve been worse.
“Aunt Blue’s always right,” Livvy says sagely.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Adam can’t help but agree while frowning at the mess, his heart contracting the moment he hears the front door swing open and the recognizable thudding of Ronan’s farm boots.
“Oh joy,” he mutters as the kids dash off to the front parlor, leaping into Ronan’s arms, batter splattered hands and all.
“Mother of God, Parrish,” he bellows, obviously in a better mood than this morning. “What are these changelings doing here and where are our actual kids?”
Adam can’t help the way his mouth dips down into a small, delighted grin, his heart doing palpitations at the sight of the three people he loves more than anything all together in one spot.
“No, Daddy!” Livvy squawks. “It’s us!”
“We were making you cupcakes because we thought you were sad and we hate it when you’re sad and we love you and Papa is really bad at anything in the kitchen, but he tried.”
“Thanks, Gage,” Adam ruffles a hand in his hair, tugs softly on Livvy’s pigtail, before kissing Ronan hello.
“You taste like shit that’ll rot my teeth.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.”
Ronan’s answering laugh is something splendid.
“You guys didn’t have to go through the trouble.”
“We love you, Daddy,” Livvy argues, kissing the back of his hand and making Ronan’s expression go gentle in the way it only ever does for them.
“Thanks, princess. I love you more, though.”
Livvy sticks out her tongue, contentious, and Ronan follows suit by pulling a face at her that makes it so she’s cackling.
“Look, I’m sure your Pops has made the kitchen a living nightmare,” Ronan says, and Adam glares at him, affronted. “So what about we go out to grab something sweet? Sit out on the peer while eating it?”
Livvy and Gage chorus excited words of affirmation and Adam refuses to let Ronan in the kitchen till it’s cleaned up.
“Fuck, it looks like World War III or some shit in there, doesn’t it?”
“One more crack at my cooking resembling a war zone and I swear I’m filing for a divorce,” Adam threatens.
Ronan just laughs and something deep in Adam’s chest blooms, pleased that at the very least the cupcakes had their intended effect.
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Blue and Ronan BROTP appreciation
One of my favorite things in TRC is Blue and Ronan’s friendship and, honestly, I feel like it’s so wildly underrated by everyone so I had to shout about it, obviously, because it’s such a wonderful example of a slowly growing closeness. Like, Gansey himself says that he makes friends all at once, from strangers to brothers, just like Henry, and Blue and Adam started by dating and then had to go through an entirely different path, and Noah depends so much on Blue’s energy to survive that their closeness is somehow explained through this... but Ronan? Ronan is the one friendship that Blue actually needs to earn. And she wants to earn it, from the second she meets him.
The Raven Boys
Blue talks about Ronan and how he’s the kind of person whose approval you want to earn, precisely because it seems like such an exclusive thing. She’s perceptive enough to catch that Ronan is an extremely loyal and supportive friend, and finds herself craving to deserve that same intense relationship with all of them.
Ronan, on the other hand, doesn’t start with the best foot when it comes to Blue. It’s hard to tell, of course, since he doesn’t get a POV in the first book, but knowing what we do about him later on it sort of makes sense. A: She’s dating the boy who we later find out he has feelings for. And in re-reading TRB it becomes clearer that most of his negative reactions to her come from that. B: Ronan is a jealous person. Gansey later describes Ronan as being jealous of Adam when their friendship started, Ronan is jealous when Gansey becomes closer to Blue, Ronan is even jealous of Henry when he comes along later on.
And yet, they get along. Almost reluctantly, like acquaintances, even though they spend most of their time together. They are tied by their love for Adam, Gansey, and Noah, so they tolerate each other. They are both the ones recognized by Cabeswater, as the medium’s daughter and the Greywaren. There’s an unspoken connection there that neither wants to acknowledge.
The first turning point, though, comes right after Blue comforts Adam, who is upset about Noah’s death and his own personal issues. Ronan comes out of his bedroom, looking —per Blue’s description— like he’s been having an argument with someone and finally gave up. That someone is, most likely, himself. Debating on whether he trusts Blue or not. When he comes out, though, he offers to show Chainsaw to her. Blue is shocked, of course, by his opening up and first, he takes it like a ‘no’, clearly upset and leaving until she jumps to say she does want to meet his pet. Blue is extremely careful with Chainsaw, petting her shortly before giving her back for Ronan to hold.
At that point, Blue says Ronan’s smile is genuinely happy. Like that little bird is his heart and he’s happy to finally show it.
And she’s right! She’s so right! Blue, at that point, has become part of Ronan’s pack, she’s earned enough trust for him to share one of his most beloved dreams with her, and she doesn’t even know it. To be fair, I don’t think he knows it either.
The Dream Thieves.
Funny enough, Ronan and Blue don’t interact a lot during TDT, but we finally get a look of Blue from his POV. Which shows several things. A: As stated above, Ronan is jealous of her, her presence makes him pissed though he doesn’t understand why. B: Ronan is surprisingly aware of Gansey’s growing feelings for Blue (when he sees her dressed as a lamp, he remarks that whatever lamp she is, it’s probably one Gansey likes a lot). C: Ronan likes Blue’s independence and standoffish attitude, like when she jumps into the lake to spite Orla and Gansey. He laughs heartily, in a way he rarely does.
They still crash, of course, like when Blue calls him out on knowing the translating box’s secret language, or when he makes crass comments at the Barns (though he also shows a softer side with her and the sleeping mouse that she initially distrusts) or when Ronan refuses to go to Blue’s family for answers and Blue takes offense of his religious moral high ground. It’s at this point, however, when Blue also notes that Ronan would do anything for Gansey, even if it means going to them for answers. Which, in turn, seems to earn him positive points in her book.
By the end of the book though, despite those fights, it’s pretty clear that Ronan already counts Blue as one of his own. Blue risks her life with Gansey trying to find Matthew for him when Kavinsky takes him, and Ronan instructs his night terror to protect both of them. She is already part of his pack, and recipient of his fierce loyalty. She just doesn’t know it, yet.
Blue Lily, Lily Blue
At this point, Ronan has adopted Blue in pretty much every way. It probably helps that her relationship with Adam is out of the equation too, but that is not all that’s changed. Gansey, correctly, thinks of Ronan as someone fiercely protective and loyal to a fault, and through this book, Blue gets to experience that first hand more than once.
Like when Gansey falls down a hole, nearly dragging Adam along, and Ronan’s first instinct is to hold on to Blue tightly and not letting go. She’s so shocked by this, that she even makes a mental note to remember that. His lack of hesitation to hold on to her.
Later, when Blue and Noah go to Dittley’s to negotiate to get access to his cave and everyone freaks out, Gansey remarks that he will call Ronan to let him know he can stop looking now. Again, Blue is shocked to find out that Ronan was out there looking for her with the rest of her family, worried about her well-being. When she gets home, he remarks that he can’t believe she’s not dead in a ditch, which is his way to break the tension and could seem dismissive, if it wasn’t nearly the same thing he told Gansey at the beginning of the series. Ronan deals with feelings by making crass comments, but that’s only because he cares.
By the end of the book, when it’s only the two of them by the cursed lake, Ronan holds Blue back again and comforts her when she thinks her mother is dead. This Ronan is entirely different from the initial one. He’s soft, hugs her tightly and lets her cry —much like he would do with his little brother, as Blue remarks. He’s also dismayed by her intention to cross the lake and gives her their only lantern to fend off the darkness, even if it means he’ll be left alone in the shadows.
By this point, both of them know what their friendship is.
The Raven King
By now, their friendship is an easy given. Earlier in the series, Adam remarks that it’s a wonder that they don’t get along being so similar... well, by now the statement’s become true.
Ronan happily congratulates Blue over getting suspended from school, and his approval clearly makes her feel much better when she’s upset.
Later, when Blue gets hurt by Noah, he seems genuinely upset as Gansey recriminates his absence. However, when she walks out of the hospital with stitches, he makes a joke about her looking badass and bumps fists with her, which evidently cheers her up. He also makes a rude comment after she and Gansey come clean about being together —clearly intended to break the tension. He’s helping, always.
In turn, when Ronan calls the gang to meet up at the Barns, Blue is ready to drop everything —her pride included— to join them. There, Ronan confesses he tried to get some special balm to help heal her eye, which she’s genuinely touched for. By the end of the night, as she and Ronan go to the kitchen, they are laughing and roughhousing like siblings —something that Gansey remarks on and is marveled to see how much Ronan has recovered from his pain in the past year.
They are, still, bound by their love for Gansey, of course. They’ve become his protection squad and it becomes far more evident as they tag-team to go find and save his ass from his solo incursion into the tomb.
As Ronan is being unmade, Blue and Gansey both make the biggest possible sacrifice to save his life.
The last thing we see of Blue, actually, is her following a scavenger hunt that Ronan set up for her as a graduation gift. RONAN ‘ASSHOLE EXTRAORDINAIRE’ LYNCH MADE A SCAVENGER HUNT TO GIVE BLUE A GRADUATION PRESENT. She admits that she got some details about the gift from him before the hunt because she wasn’t going to blindly follow his leads —something Gansey admits even he couldn’t do. Ronan and Blue understand each other on a deep level... shown by how perfect his gift is for her. It’s a personal and special gift because they know each other best. It took them a while, but that long road led them to a deeper and stronger friendship than either of them could have anticipated.
ANYWAY I LOVE THEM A LOT OKAY? THEY ARE THE BEST AND MOST UNDERRATED BROTP AND I HOPE TO SEE MORE OF THEM IN THE NEW TRILOGY
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