Nepenthe-of-the-nutcracker - Nutcracker

passing on ownership of this post to you because yeah he absolutely would loll

a series of incorrect quotes based on personal interactions:

tennyson: don’t listen to anything this man says. half of what comes out of his mouth is lies!

halt: no

halt: more than half, i’d say

duncan: when halt began teaching crowley hibernian, i was convinced the two of them would use it to talk about me behind my back

*muffled hibernian bickering in the background*

duncan: as it turns out, they mostly use it to antagonize each other without my interference

halt: do we have to go to this funeral? i don’t even know this man!

pauline: he’s dead, if that helps, so you aren’t likely to meet him!

halt: it doesn’t help

will’s fortune cookie: your persistance will soon pay off

will:

will: I WANT A DOG I WANT A DOG I WANT A DOG I WANT A DOG I

crowley: i don’t see how anyone can drink their coffee with honey. it’s disgraceful

halt, behind him, pouring a copious amount of honey into his coffee: oh, yes — truly unthinkable

crowley: *writes “project” on a chalkboard* alright you motley lot, what should we name this project?

berrigan: operation oakleaf

farell: project coffee-beans

halt: mission ‘see-that-morgarath-never-shows-his—sorry-backside-outside-of-gorlan-again’

crowley:

crowley: *underlines “project”* we’ll think on it

will: *carefully places the final card on top of his card tower and sits back proudly*

pre-character development horace: *turns on fan*

if canon won't let crowley absolutely go postal on someone due to that temper we literally never see, i'll have to do it myself

𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔞 𝔯𝔲𝔩𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔴 𝔦𝔰 𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔡 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔫, 𝔰𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔬𝔦𝔩 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔇𝔞𝔳𝔦𝔡'𝔰 𝔟𝔬𝔶, 𝔬𝔥 𝔩𝔢𝔦-𝔬𝔥 𝔩𝔞𝔦-𝔬𝔥 𝔏𝔬𝔯𝔡 ⋆｡˚♬ﾟ. ㅤ

As much as I absolutely regret spoiling most of the RA series for myself (I unfortunately have the self-control of a five year old, and the wisdom of a duck) it’s admittedly kind of fun watching pieces of future plot-lines slide into place without any foreknowledge about how it will. Examples, and huge spoilers ahead:

• Halt ‘lying’ to Deparnieux about being Hibernian royalty. And then denying that he was to Horace afterwards. Crazy work. It felt like I possessed illegal knowledge.

• Malkallum actually being Malcom. I was aware of there being a healer named Malcom, but little else, so I was somewhat excited to put together that they were the same person.

• Not as much of a connection, but I definitely got wide-eyed when I read that Tennyson was working with the Genovesan assassins (which is where I left off, so… I guess I can’t say no spoilers but I still hope to be a little left in the dark for Halt’s Peril lol).

Moral of the story — don’t read fanfic until you’ve finished reading/watching all the canon content. But there are sometimes some pros that come along with knowing stuff prematurely. Still, it’s hardly worth it in the long-run :,)

would I run off the world someday, nobody knows

Yes.

Weird thought, but do you think Halt ever thought about the fact that Lord Orman’s situation was similar to his own? Being the unlikable, aloof one, and having to contend with the fact that people preferred your much more charismatic relative, regardless of their true nature?

Just a thought.

𝑇𝘩𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝐴 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝘩𝑒’𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑑. 𝑃𝑢𝑟𝑒-𝘩𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝘩𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠, 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟.

𝑇𝘩𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛, 𝑠𝑜 𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑑, 𝑊𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑎 𝑏𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑛 𝘩𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑎 𝘩𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑. 𝐻𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑠 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑐𝘩 𝑡𝑜 𝘩𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟, 𝐴 𝘩𝑒𝑟𝑜’𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡, 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒.

—A lady and her quill, Courage Worn in Scarlet and Green

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘰'𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘈 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯, 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱, 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.

—Unknown author, The Last Unicorn (inspired by Peter S. Beagle’s novel)

It annoys me when people say that Jest died because Cath decided to save a traitor. Mary Ann was her best friend. She was one of the few people who she loved and who loved her back. Mary Ann was confused and didn't know what to do. The nuance and heartbreak that is Cath's decision to go through the door and save Mary Ann is what's so compelling about Heartless.

Cath saved her best friend. She didn't kill Jest.

Yes, the prophecy was going to be fulfilled, but what was she supposed to do? Let Mary Ann die? The deepness of her decision comes from the fact that whatever she did, someone she loved was doomed to die. That's why this is a tragic story. Whatever Cath decided to do, someone was going to die. And yes, Mary Ann was impulsive and scared, and you could interpret that she "betrayed" Cath. But when was love conditioned by loyalty? Cath loved her, and she couldn't just leave her there to die.