Latest Posts by nepenthe-of-the-nutcracker - Page 3

jude and cardan escape the coronation — part 1/2 ☻

— Danez Smith, from "summer, somewhere" (via lunamonchtuna)

Having just finished KoC, I didn’t expect Halt to take the throne, and I would’ve disliked the outcome had he. But. I absolutely need fanfic of King Halt, had things had gone differently. Call it morbid curiosity.

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 :,)

Lidia Yuknavitch, from Reading the Waves: A Memoir published in 2025

Been rereading The Kings of Clonmel lately and I'm pretty sure that's what sums up Halt and Ferris' relationship

THE BALLAD OF NEVER AFTER

a comic adaptation of “the end”

"There will come a poet, who's weapon is his word,"

I think that after several years, the Rampion Crew grow so used to Cinder being cyborg that they sort of forget about it entirely, resulting in interactions such as this:

*Cinder applying sunscreen to her right leg at the beach* Thorne: Wow, you're brave. Cinder: Huh? Thorne: Well, if you only wanna put sunscreen on one leg and end up looking like a two-toned popsicle, I won't stop you. Cinder: *Stares at him* Thorne: *Stares back* Cinder: ... Thorne: What?

D. H. Lawrence, from The Complete Novels and Writings of D. H. Lawrence

This rant was inspired by @freddycartr's post here because it's all I can ever think about and I'm probably insane 😈

enjoy <3

Cinder and Kai are truly two sides of the same coin, and their connection is so powerful because it's rooted in shared trauma and mutual understanding. Both are thrust into unimaginable circumstances at a young age -- for Kai, it's the death of his father and the pressure of marrying Levana to save his country. For Cinder, it's the death of Peony and years of abuse from her adoptive family. They're both carrying the weight of responsibility while also battling internal fears: Kai fears losing his autonomy and becoming a puppet, while Cinder fears she'll die alone, never seen as fully human because of the prejudice against cyborgs.

Kai was drawn to Cinder because she was refreshingly honest and didn’t treat him like a prince or a celebrity -- she saw him. Her lack of awe challenged him and made him feel real in a way few others ever had. In contrast, Cinder was so used to being avoided or looked down on, and Kai was the first person who looked her in the eyes and treated her like she mattered. For someone who had spent her whole life being dehumanized, that kind of genuine attention was revolutionary. She was terrified of him discovering who she really was, not because she didn’t trust him, but because she finally felt safe, and the idea of losing that was unbearable.

They both craved something rare: to be seen for who they are beneath the labels -- not the prince, not the cyborg, but just Kai and Cinder. And in each other, they finally found that.

That elevator scene in Cinder -- when Kai asks, “Imagine there was a cure, but finding it would cost you everything…” -- becomes hauntingly prophetic. Once Cinder learns she’s Princess Selene, that question isn’t hypothetical anymore. She’s literally forced to choose between her life as she knows it and the hope of saving others. It’s a turning point, and it links them even more deeply: both of them carry the crushing weight of their nations, expected to sacrifice everything for the greater good.

And that’s why they’re such a perfect match -- not because they complete each other in a cliche way, but because they understand each other in a way no one else possibly could. They know what it’s like to be seen as something other than human. They know what it’s like to feel completely alone -- until they found each other.

Okay, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk 😊

“Well, there’s no proof that will happen. You can’t count on things happening tomorrow just because they happened in the past. It’s faulty logic.”

How are we holding up? I’m still crying about Lenore Dove and the gumdrops

"There will come a soldier, who carries a mighty sword,"

Banana Yoshimoto, from her novel titled "The Premonition," originally published in 2015

crowley: i'm fine, halt, it's just a scratch.

halt, dragging him with one arm over his shoulder: yeah? you've got a concussion and three broken ribs.

crowley: really? i don't seem to remember hitting my head.

halt: that would be the concussion.

"There will come a ruler, who's brow is laid in thorn,"

the "I'm not a drinker myself" to gradually becoming an alcoholic to numb out the pain pipeline

the "I don't want them to change me. turn me into something I'm not" to being turned into a mutt version of himself pipeline

the "I do everything in my power to protect my sister" to losing her anyway pipeline

"I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren."

Martin Buxbaum

lil miss cringe delulu manifestation damsel in distress hacker <3<3<3

and some sketches