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#the same for declan lynch from cdth
lizpaige · 29 days
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What's the Declan outside pov Pynch idea 👀
hi anon! thanks for the ask 💕 i am really interested in exploring declan’s evolving trust with adam so i have a couple vignettes in mind of him finding out pynch are together, him realizing how serious it is to ronan, him realizing how serious it is for adam and building trust with adam, etc. all silly and fluffy not a lot of angst, just declan having the same moments of realization that ronan got to have seeing jordeclan in the sweet metal sea.
I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS and i am brain dumping so i’m sorry, but basically i think that declan is super wary of othes knowing about the lynch family secret and questions adam’s intentions for being with ronan (before he really gets to know him/them). semi deep dive below with spoilers for the dreamer trilogy.
we never get to see declan learning about adam and ronan as a couple, but from trb adam is already screening ronan’s calls and answering declan so they have history/familiarity. in the beginning of cdth declan is still wary of adam but more from the perspective of knowing that if adam were to leave ronan (really leave him) that would destroy him. when ronan is unreachable, declan reminds him that he wanted to be a farmer and live a life with adam (i think encouraging ronan back to this life that declan approves of). when adam “leaves” ronan in greywaren, declan stands up for his brother basically calling adam out for giving up so easily after everything they’ve been through.
i just GAH i want more declan and adam content because they are both so protective of ronan and love him so much and they are also both bitchy assholes the passive aggression is off the charts!!!
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parrishwife · 10 months
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I remember you mentioning you didn't like the ending of grewaren iirc and was wondering if you have any headcanons of where the characters end up, especially our main four from trc. I guess I just can't really see Adam becoming a fed lol
yeah I kinda loathe it lol which is sad because I didnt hate the book as much as other people did, in fact I like most of the story beats and some scenes were really good but wow... she really either had no fucking clue how to end it or thought making it a lazy "choose your own ending" thing would please the fans (it really hasn't). The epilogue honesty reads to me like a first draft of a vague placeholder idea she presented to her editor that ended up in the actual published book by accident instead of the actual chapter. The entire idea of Declan celebrating his "intimate" wedding with what are effectively Ronan's friends not even HE cares that much about (why is the partner of their father's killer in the wedding party margaret??), who Declan showed absolutely no attachment to ever before is ludicrous and fanservic-y in the worst way... and does Jordan have no friends of her own?? I also dont care for the pynch marriage proposal, I think it was handled better in some fanfictions lol I would have rather finally read an actual hard hitting dialogue between them about the future than a second conveniently wordless exchange.
And I think this makes the rest of the book and trilogy retrospectively worse because it all feels so directionless, even though it started so strong! I still mantain that CDTH is shockingly better than TRK, there's some of her best writing and ideas in it - so much that it almost makes me wish she stopped there, restructured it to cut the cliffhanger and make it a stand-alone adventure, short and sweet before losing steam.
Sorry you triggered another ending rant from me lol my actual headcanons for the post-epilogue:
if I had to work with what we got, which really isnt much, I'd say I dont mind the concept of Ronan's career as a sort of travelling "dreamer mentor", I just wish it was explored more. I can be kind and count Adam's brief (kinky tbh) fantasy about teacher Ronan in BLLB as foreshadowing, but he never really expressed any desire for it or confidence in his own training abilities, in fact he was an horrible teacher to Hennessy - he was crueler than Kavinsky which is saying something. I find it realistic and interesting that he's bad at it though and it was a good basis for starting an arc there but again it kind of fizzled out for some reason and we just have to trust that he's developed some empathy and patience off screen? Or maybe he still kinda sucks and Hennessy is just enabling him lol.
I imagined he would also join Declan's endeavors in the Fairy Market as he's already basically the man behind the man, THEE supplier of straight up legendary goods who is already pretty infamous in the magical underground thanks to Bryde and his father.
In the same vein I dont mind the implied morally grey ending for kingpin Declan but I would expect him to make some changes in the system since its been shown multiple times to be extremely exploitative and brutal to the point of selling whole ass slaves and engaging in magical snuff. The Lynch brothers have plenty of personal reasons for wanting to protect the dreams' wellbeing and agency permanently. Eliminating boudicca and fixing the sweetmetals' scarcity is a very superficial first step to "better" things in the seedy dreaming underbelly (while still having fun with the magical irish mafia family concept), you could write a whole new series starting with this idea alone.
If /I/ could pick Adam's ending based on this premise I would have also made him join the Fairy Market - why wouldn't Declan need a genius psychic right hand man who's also his worstie brother in law? There's a pretty much infinite amount of issues Adam could fix in the Market with his intellectual and supernatural skills. He can locate things and people both in the real and astral world, he'd make a great diplomat or spy with his chamaleon like ability to blend in, he apparently has Matrix level hacking skills, and a fucking degree in hatching nasty plots to neutralize rival criminals. He's a creepily clever little fuck who LIKES scheming, climbing social pyramids, finds power sexy and has pretty flexible morals. What I mean is that he's the PERFECT magical career criminal, this is a no-brainer to me.
If I'm forced to consider the canon fact he apparently joined the other side he's either double crossing the gov to control what they know about Ronan and Declan, or - and I wouldn't hate this - he's in some sort of international agency that specifically keeps an eye on ley lines. Think something like a mix between men in black and the southern reach from Annihilation, dealing with all the problems Adam points out himself about the lines getting more power: mythical creatures suddenly running free, people disappearing or dying or exploiting the lines' powers like Whelk and Piper did, sudden energy shortages or surges, etc etc. And the ultimate IDEAL path to me in both cases is that he eventually "retires" to found some sort of supernatural private detective agency with the same intention - either investigating ley lines or dangerous magical criminals, or both. (with Carmen. this is non-negotiable.)
The bottom line to me is that his job HAS to actively involve his psychic powers in some capacity - the entire point of his rant in GW and arguably of his (botched) arc was about realizing he can't be fulfilled just working a normal 9 to 5 office job while hiding his third eye as a secret hobby on the side. In fact I count it as a big oversight that stiefvater didnt bother to add a line specifying this, maybe it felt implicit to her as it is to me? I'm not saying there doesn't exist a version of Adam who wouldnt join the "normie" feds in exchange for capital and security, it can be equally as interesting when a character renounces growth and remains doomed by the cycle, but you have to do it on purpose (and yk actually write it)! Instead it's pretty much implied that regardless of specifics it's a good career for him, because he finally has MONEY and that's all he ever needed to be happy, despite multiple past references to the contrary. :/ His ending as it is on text without pretty generous good faith interpretations reads as uncaring, rushed, and painfully liberal.
I'm not gonna make this even longer with other characters unless you have specific requests lol, real quick I think Hennessy and Jordan had perhaps the only complete narrative arcs, and coherent career paths, I like that Hennessy works in tandem with Ronan, there's nothing I'd wish to "fix" except fleshing it out more.
Oh and I think Gansey's and Blue's major of choice doesnt make sense but we've all been there and thrown money at an useless college degree so. godspeed they'll realize it at 25 like the rest of us
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itsnotmika · 2 years
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i’ve loved declan lynch from the moment he was introduced in trc. you only started liking him during cdth. we are NOT the same
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declanscunt · 1 year
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something i think is so interesting and revealing about the lynch brothers the brothers lynch is how their existences are so deeply entrenched within each other in the narrative…rarely do we see niall or aurora described as having the same impact on them as they have had on each other…this part from cdth:
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like what do you MEAN declan accepted blame for it…wauuuughhhhhh
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piningeddiediaz · 2 years
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Hii, so a question about TDT. I read TRC years ago and loved it ofc, it's one of my favorite ya series and i still think about it regularly. Gansey and adam were my favs but i still looked forward to CDTH so much, but :( i ended up not liking it all that much. I didn't connect with the new characters the way i did with the gangsey, and i barely remember the plot, except that they drove around a lot, this one girl dreamed clones of herself and declan was there. MI is on my shelf but i've never read it. So, should i continue reading? Why/why not? Does it get "better" in MI? I want to love TDT, especially since i know the last book will be out this year but idk :/
Hi! I completely understand what you’re saying - personally, I felt the same way too. I didn’t (and maybe still don’t, though it got better with MI) connect with the new characters in the way I connected with the gangsey either. But i think that’s the point? the overall themes/message trc is very different to the ones in tdt. trc, at it’s core, was a story about friendship. yeah they searched for this dead welsh king together and in doing so went through these major personal developments, but in all the challenges they faced their strength came from their bonds with each other. the impact of trc hinged on us as the reader’s connecting with the characters and their relationships with each other, because it was those relationships that led to the development of each character. adam’s development in the books doesn’t hit until you take it in conjunction with his ability to accept his friends’ love, for example.
tdt is, i think, very different from that. it’s not an arthurian tale about friendship. it’s much darker, much sinister, because it’s about the struggles of someone who physically cannot fit in. magic is a metaphor for chronic illness, and the helplessness that ronan and hennessy feel in relation to their powers, matthew and jordan’s restlessness as they grapple with their lack of identity away from their dreamers, declan’s own conflict as he tries to protect his family but feels his facade slip away - the tone is completely different, and admittedly, it can be hard to get used to after the more hopeful tone of trc. it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s completely valid!
i can’t tell you if you should carry on, but i can tell you what made me stick to it. to me, this is a story about ronan, and i think mstief is telling a really compelling one. ronan ended trc in a place where he may have accepted himself, but he didnt understand himself. whilst everyone else had in some ways healed, ronan still hadn’t. he ended it with an understanding on his powers and love in the form of adam - and the main question of the series (and certainly of mi) was: is that enough for him? ronan is still on a journey of discovery, one that he had started in trc but hadnt finished there, and i needed to experience that journey with him. this series is about healing from the things you never thought you could escape, and i want to see ronan reach that point. declan was also a big selling point for me - i liked him since trb, and the best thing tdt did for me is finally show us the depths of declan! i didnt feel any connection to the new characters in cdth (tho that did change a bit in mi) but the story that is being told about the lynch brothers is the main thing i care about.
that was probably in far more detail than you wanted 😂 but in summary, i recommend maybe trying out mi and see if it helps? if it doesn’t, that’s completely fair bcos like i said, tdt deals with much more serious, darker themes than trc. but if you do try reading it, let me know what you think!
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nialltlynch · 1 year
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i got to ask about the niall mor v's but also...jordan blue??? can we get a morsel of jordan blue??
i posted what i have of the jordan blue thing here BUT i know i posted the bullet point version of this fic somewhere on my blog ?? i just??? cant find it??? it is so silly of me to have the whole thing outlined but like not written SORRY EVERYONE maybe ill try to bust this one out..
oooOHH okay so ive given Niall and mórs whole Thing some thought since cdth over the years (lmaooooo. sad). all of them were fleshed out and written way before greywaren so they have the added bonus of being non canon compliant too!!!
v1 was a strange half epistolary, half found footage type thing which was fun to do as a format but ultimately i decided to not use since i had no idea what i really though of niall and mór. v2 was an extended imagining of one of their later meetings in life and it's where i got a feel for the type of dynamic i felt they had (still super janky). and v3 looks A LOT like (current and active wip) v4 which is a brief (re: 17k words and counting) overview of their entire relationship in a way that is very cool to me personally and also has nothing whatsoever to do with greywaren SO. yeah. ive cannibalized and restructured quite a bit from the earlier versions so it's hard to pick out stuff that probably hasn't been reused but i tried !!!
the wip fridge: the post
v1
This appears to be the final letter.
The question of who is of most interest to us.  A bit of digging reveals that there once lived a Niall Lynch in Washington DC who was murdered in the Singer's Falls area around the time when we believe this final letter to have been written.  Furthermore, his body was found near to the place where the original burned house is located.  There are no photos of Niall as he appeared to live a life generally under the radar.
The house itself sits on a relatively hidden plot of land that had been assumed abandoned.  Legal records show that it had changed a few hands back in the 1800s but those families either did not survive this long or they appear to have moved out of the area.  Legally, it has been without owner or resident since at least the 1930s.  
The few details we have been able to cobble together make for a strangely compelling case that perhaps Niall Lynch is the same Niall who penned half of these letters.  Per immigration reports, Niall came to the United States in the early-mid 1990s from Ireland which lines up with the proposed timeline in the letters.  Niall struggled to raise three sons in Washington DC.  The family appeared to sustain themselves completely on odd jobs done under the table.  It is assumed the boys' mother died early in life and not much is known besides the indication of an "A. Lynch" in reference to the mother on the boys' birth records.
We interviewed a few of the folks in Singer's Falls and the only knowledge they had of Niall Lynch was that he had been murdered there.  No one knew him before then.  Local police records show a thin investigation for his murder, which unfortunately is not uncommon for the area.  What then was Niall doing in western Virginia when it seemed most of his life revolved around Washington DC?
Records show that the three Lynch Brothers (Declan, Ronan, and Matthew) were attending Aglionby Academy, a prestigious all-boys preparatory academy in Henrietta, Virginia, which is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Singer's Falls.  When reached for comment, Declan Lynch summarized that he had been born and raised in Washington DC and his only brief stint in western Virginia was when he attended Aglionby Academy.  He described his high school experience as "easily some of the years of [his] youth."  When questioned about the burned house and if he or his father knew anyone in Singer's Falls, Declan came up with nothing.  We showed Declan some of the letters and sketches and he seemed genuinely very surprised.  He guessed that whatever had happened was something that happened to far more interesting people.
"I do love a good mystery," he told us.
For the past couple years, Declan has lived and worked in Boston as a notable art critic and curator.  He and longtime girlfriend Jordan Hennessy are celebrating the opening of their first gallery in the summer.
Ronan and Matthew Lynch were unable to be reached for comment.
If the evidence for Niall Lynch is anemic at best, any clue to the identity of Mór Ó Corra is like chasing a ghost.  It's clear from the letter that Mór Ó Corra, is a chosen name and no references or mentions of her legal name are ever made in the letters.  Scouring historical records and those noted to be in contact with Niall Lynch turn up no mention or indication of any such character.  The references made in her letters to the supposed society she joined here in the United States do not lead to anywhere of note.  Select portion of her letters and available sketches have been sent to databases ranging from criminal to amateur to art historians alike.  To our knowledge, no hits have been made yet.  We had hoped that perhaps being knowledgeable about art, Declan Lynch would have been able to shed some light on her identity.  However, when he viewed the sketches he came up with nothing.  He did praise her technique and warm use of gesturing.
v2
Niall Lynch spits blood and bourbon on the stoop of the bar as he's so kindly escorted out.  He curses them, too, but the words splash against the door and dissipate in the humidity, thick and hungry and alive.  Even the sky up above is rolling and nauseated as though it feels as tipsy as Niall.  There's grace in good company, Niall thinks.  At least there are no witnesses to this low point.
What a mess this all is.
They had made him say her name.  Mór Ó Corra.  He rasped it and the consonants cut a line from the soft places in his gut and all up his throat.  Vowels seeped from his saliva like poison.  There was a pause on the other end, long enough for Niall to rethink things a thousand times over, and then simply the name of a bar and the line going dead.  
He came here to find her.  He came here to forget.
In the end, it doesn't matter anyway because she didn't show up.
There's a row of measly potted flowers hugging the weathered stone exterior of the bar.  They're a little dry, barely enthused to be alive, cracks all along their pots.  But the sound, oh how delightful it is when they crash and shatter on the concrete.  Petal flatten under his boots, fluttering to the dirt as he draws his foot up to stomp someplace else.  There's a window smudged with years and too old, too timid now to reflect anything.  He should break it.
"Yes, I can see you've definitely matured."
Niall blinks, the world tilts just so, and where there had been nothing now there is Mór.  The years between the Mór he had last beheld, both with his eyes and his hands, and this Mór now in front of him are distinct, jarring.  She is lovely.
"Cunt," he calls her.  His instincts flinch in muscle memory but the wave of regret never follows.
What does follow is a moment of silence.  Niall is afraid to look away, to possibly lose her as though she is only here because he longs for her to be here.  The sick clouds above rumble and spark in the distance.  A smattering of rain tentatively falls and it's the wet spots budding on her skin, on the fabric of her shirt, that makes Niall believe this moment is real.
"You used to write me sonnets.  Is that all?" she asks, already exasperated with him.  He can feel the joy already beginning to turn his stomach.
"I'm all out of words for you, woman."
"Good to know you've stopped lying to my face.  The other side of the leaf is greener and you, my steadfast and true beloved, are proof of that.  What have you done with him?"
"He doesn't know," he says truthfully.  Mór makes a face like she doesn't believe him.  Niall has missed that little pout in her lip.  Her eyes rove  the ground but they don't find anything and Niall laughs, gesturing at eye level.  "He's about here now."
"Disgusting.  Why would you let that happen?"
aaaaaaaand i actually have nothing to post for v3 since it's essentially draft 1 for the current iteration. hopefully (HOPEFULLY) ill be posting the fic soon !!! goal is before the end of the year lmao
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crimeronan · 3 years
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Ok so I’m into the dreamer trilogy and haven’t read the Raven cycle...what is Declan’s characterisation/journey there?
THIS MIGHT BE THE BEST ASK I’VE EVER RECEIVED. IMAGINE I’M STANDING WITH MY ARMS SPREAD USING DIFFERENT VOICES AND HAND GESTURES TO REENACT THIS STORY FOR A RESENTFUL CAPTIVE AUDIENCE
also declan’s TRC storyline is like. equal parts horribly fucking sad and unbelievably fucking hilarious so. i will try to strike a Balance
FIRST OFF.  there is exactly one (1) declan POV chapter in the entire series. it happens toward the end of the last book. up until then, everything we know about him comes from the observations and narration of others.
he is also a very minor character.  his importance grows throughout the series, but almost all of his actions happen offscreen.  it’s not until the last book that we know exactly how much he’s been dealing with the whole time.
when he’s introduced in the first book, he appears as a plot device.  here is a two-dimensional horrible controlling hardass who doesn’t give a shit about anything but his future political career.  look at his fake, smug fucking grin.  how did someone like ronan end up with a brother like him??  doesn’t matter.  it’s a convenient excuse for ronan to live with his best friend in a drafty warehouse, which means more room for YA hijinks!
declan’s introduction scene is Embroiled in Capital-D Douchebaggery. according to the narration (from gansey and adam), he loves to fuck women and then never call them back, cozy up to powerful people, and bitch about how ronan’s ruining his life by being sad about their dead parents.  SOME people can just get over their dead parents, ronan!
this intro scene is also Extremely Funny i 100% recommend reading it even if u don’t read the actual series.  ronan makes a nasty comment, declan goes “why are you the way that you are” and tries to salvage his date, gansey utters the phrase “man whore”
then later that night things go like. actually bad.
declan shows up at the same pizza place where ronan is with his friends.  this scene is gansey pov.  gansey runs out to the parking lot to find the two of them Very Literally Trying To Kill Each Other.  you don’t see that violence in cdth - there’s only the TINIEST shadow of it when declan confronts ronan over matthew - so i Cannot Express Enough that someone is going to end up hospitalized at BEST. ronan’s already slammed declan’s head on the car, declan’s already grabbed ronan and beaten the shit out of his face, like.
you do not get good old-fashioned Declan Lynch At His Actual Worst in cdth. u might be thinking, THAT guy???? doing THIS????
oh yeah. things are real bad between declan and ronan.
after gansey breaks up the fight (and gets punched in the face for his trouble, albeit accidentally), declan tells ronan that their dad would be fucking ashamed to see him now & that he’s washing his hands of it & basically if ronan wants to go off and fucking die, he can.
this is like. just a couple months after the magical suicide attempt referenced in cdth
in the aftermath of that scene it becomes clear that ronan absolutely unequivocally 100% will kill himself if he has to live with declan. hence. why he’s living with gansey instead.  gansey spends that whole night petrified that the declan altercation will lead to another attempt, and for Good Reason
so like, that’s how we first meet declan. he’s an uncaring wannabe corporate asshole who does not give a fuck and who only exists to exacerbate ronan’s mental health issues.
but then the opening of book 2 gets real interesting.
book 2 is where we start learning more about the lynch family.  we learn that ronan’s father was a dreamer who sold his creations on the black market, we learn that that’s why he was murdered. we learn that ronan’s a dreamer too. we learn that there are very powerful people looking for the greywaren, an artifact that takes objects from dreams. those powerful people just don’t realize it’s a person, yet.
so here’s the assassin who killed niall lynch.
he goes to declan’s dorm.
with everything we know about declan, the kid should be completely unprepared.  he can box, but the assassin knows that, so there’s no real advantage.  he’s alone, and he doesn’t have an escape route.
declan pulls out a gun.
this is an unexpected turn of events.
unfortunately he ends up getting beaten half to death with the butt of said gun, because he loses the ensuing physical struggle for the weapon.  the assassin is like, i need the greywaren.  declan is like, i know it exists but i don’t know what it is.  i’ll find it for you.  i’ll get it to you.  then you’ll leave me the fuck alone
now with everything we know of declan at this point - his attitude toward ronan, his general demeanor, and this new knowledge that he knew about the black market - there’s one obvious question.
will declan sell ronan out if he finds out about the dreaming.
and like, okay. their relationship is antagonistic in cdth but it is NOT what it is in trc. believe me when i tell you that at that point, when you’re reading, you can pretty reasonably go, “oh, god.  oh god.  oh god please no one ever tell declan what the greywaren is.  oh god.”
declan has some other interactions with ronan and the gang throughout the book, mostly where he’s just a hardass who tells ronan to stop causing trouble.  adam’s the only one who notices that declan is scared.  like bone-deep shaking to the core petrified.  about Something.
probably getting beaten to within an inch of his life by the man who murdered his father.  that’s the reasonable reader conclusion.
so imagine how everything changes when you find out that declan already knows.  that declan’s known about ronan’s dreaming for longer than ronan has.  that declan knew exactly what and who the greywaren was, and he lied to a man who was ready to torture him for information, and he got away with it.
suddenly a lot of things recontextualize.
“keep your head down and stop making trouble”? people are gonna NOTICE your magic bullshit, ronan, we do not have time for this!
“stop hanging with that loser druggie friend of yours”? you mean the loser druggie friend who sells on the magic black market and doesn’t care about protecting himself or anyone else?
“i got super weird for no reason about ronan sleeping close to adam”? i don’t have fucking TIME to be homophobic i’m busy with your POTENTIAL TO MANIFEST NIGHT TERRORS IN FRONT OF WITNESSES IN BROAD DAYLIGHT
“i’ll find out what the greywaren is and bring it to you”? i’ll die. i’m making a bargain to die. i’m never giving you the greywaren and i know you’re going to kill me about it and that’s fine as long as my brothers are safe
ronan doesn’t know that he dreamed matthew.  declan knows.  he’s known the whole time.  declan tells ronan in book 3.  and then things recontextualize even further, because ronan’s death is also matthew’s, and matthew IS close to declan in trc.
but declan never tells the goddamn truth unless it’s his last option.  he doesn’t tell ronan that he knows about the dreaming and he doesn’t tell ronan what specifically wants to hurt him and the lack of communication fucking destroys both of them.
in the last book, ronan realizes declan loves him.
more than that, he realizes declan’s loved him the whole time.
this is when declan finally tells the truth.  things are getting bad, plot-wise, and declan is scared, so he comes clean.  he tells ronan that niall specifically tasked declan with protecting ronan from the market.  he begs ronan to run from the danger.  “let’s pour gasoline on everything dad left and start over.”
this is also when ronan realizes that declan’s childhood was very different from ronan’s own.  and that niall and aurora lynch were not the same people to declan that they were to ronan.  and that their father’s decisions are what’s driven the wedge between him and declan all this time
(he’s still struggling with the cognitive dissonance of this in cdth. i don’t think he knows how to adjust his perception of declan to fit this new information.)
aaaaand the final scene with declan makes me cry every time i read it so instead of summarizing, here’s the important part:
Ronan delivered a sharp tap to the object, and a small cloud of fiery orbs sprayed up with a sparkling hiss.
“Jesus, Ronan!” Declan jerked his chin away.
“Please. Did you think I’d blow your face off?”
He demonstrated it again, that quick tap, that burst of brilliant orbs. He tipped it into Declan’s hand, and before Declan could say anything, jabbed it to activate it once more.
Orbs gasped up into the air. For a moment, he saw how his brother was caught inside them, watching them soar furiously around his face, each gold sun firing gold and white, and when he saw the spacious longing in Declan’s face, he realized how much Declan had missed by growing up neither dreamer nor dreamt. This had never been his home. The Lynches had never tried to make it Declan’s home.
“Declan?” Ronan asked.
Declan’s face cleared. “This is the most useful thing you’ve ever dreamt. You should name it.”
“I have. ORBMASTER. All caps.”
“Technically you’re the orbmaster though, right? And that’s just an orb.”
“Anyone who holds it becomes an ORBMASTER. You’re an ORBMASTER right now. There, keep it, put it in your pocket. D.C. ORBMASTER.”
Declan reached out and scuffed Ronan’s shaved head. “You’re such a little asshole.”
The last time they’d stood on this roof together, their parents had both been alive, and the cattle in these fields had been slowly grazing, and the world had been a smaller place. That time was gone, but for once, it was all right.
The brothers both looked back over the place that had made them, and then they climbed down from the roof together.
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When Ronan Lynch was first given voice in The Dream Thieves, I was excited. He is definitely the most interesting pov character.  By turns, he is poignant, funny and a total shit.  His dreaming is presented as a sort of cross between being a gifted child and having a chronic disease, both of which are isolating, and which both feed into the depression he regularly experiences.  He is an immensely relatable character. I think that's why so many readers take his pov at face value.
Chapter 12 in The Dream Thieves presents what, to me, is one of the most troubling scenes in the series. This is the chapter in which Ronan meets his brothers at church. Declan is obviously injured.  In chpt 2, Declan had just survived a terrible assault from the Gray Man.  As described, he had head injuries severe enough that I'm surprised Maggie didn't give him chronic migraines in addition to an incipient ulcer.  And Ronan's reaction to seeing this?
"Ronan's mood improved."
This nearly sank Ronan as a character for me.
This is his brother we are talking about. I know they don't have a particularly good relationship, and with the reveals in the Christmas story and TDT, we know it goes back farther than Niall's death or the will. But still.  Who gets happy seeing another person brutally beaten? 
Then the narrative switches to Declan's story that he was beaten up by burglars, which Ronan knows is a lie. Ronan briefly considers who could have beaten up his brother, who he knows to be a good fighter. But then he says to himself "It was like the truth was a disease Declan thought might kill him."
At this point in the story, we have been told that Declan is a liar, a calculating man-whore, who cheats on his girlfriends and trots out his brother's trauma to get laid, is bossy and controlling, and possibly homophobic and just a general asshole, all filtered through Ronan's pov. (In fairness, Declan's not perfect.  The lying, bossing and controlling are all true. He's also crabby.) But by bringing  up Declan's lying at this point, Ronan implies that Declan somehow deserved the beating because he's a general asshole.  But isn't this dangerously close to blaming the victim?
I eventually circled back around to liking Ronan.  He's still relatable.  He's also the victim of unusual circumstances, flawed parenting and his own poor choices. 
One of the central themes in The Dreamer Trilogy is coming to terms with your own self hatred.  Three of the principle characters hate themselves.  In Hennessey's and Declan's cases, this stems primarily from parental abuse and neglect.  In Ronan's case, it's a bit more complex.  I think Ronan's  is caused by three things:   
1.  The conflict between being a devout Catholic and gay man.  Personally, I think this is the least of it.  By the time you reach CDTH, he's pretty openly out, and seems to have made peace with it.  
2.  The gifted child / chronic illness thing.  These are circumstances beyond Ronan's control. And they are truly isolating for him.  The moment he realized he couldn't be with Adam at Harvard and he was stuck accepting that all of Adam's friends must think of him as a hopeless fuck-up, was truly heart wrenching. (And Declan's suggestion to Adam that he blame it all on Ronan, while practical, certainly showed some resentment on Declan's part).
3.  But the biggest reason is this. There was a very dangerous dynamic going on in the Lynch family.  Two children were favored, and one was isolated and excluded, made to work, and regularly placed in dangerous situations. Of course, Ronan only witnessed the first two.  But witnessing the abuse of a sibling can mess you up almost as much as the victim.  Ronan learned to think treating Declan this way was normal.  He accepted the narrative that Declan was somehow deficient and therefore deserved to be treated badly.  Even in CDTH, the way Ronan treats Declan is appalling.  
How do you reconcile this with the Ronan who fought Adam's father to protect him, who has such high ideals, who wants to be a hero?  Well, you can't.  In accepting the abuse Declan's received as normal and deserved, Ronan has been perpetuating it.  
For those of you who've read the other stuff I've written here, you've probably realized I keep circling back to the same place.
The biggest lie Ronan has been telling himself is that the way he treats Declan is normal and okay.  Until Ronan recognizes that he had been perpetuating his brother's abuse, and makes amends, he will never be true to his ideals, will never learn kindness, will never grow up and become a hero.  Eventually, this will affect his relationship with Adam, who has eyes and who is an abuse victim himself. 
So the only way forward is for Ronan to grow up, recognize his behavior and make amends by taking Declan's concerns seriously and treating him with kindness.
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fangirlfreckles · 3 years
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I finished Mister Impossible and...oof. All of my super spoiler-y, long-ass reactions/thoughts/opinions/theories/questions are under the cut!
Initial Reactions & Thoughts
Let's start with the biggest reveal: RONAN DREAMT BRYDE. THE FUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKK. I am Boo Boo the Fool because I did not see that coming.
Also: reading the Bryde stuff was such a chore for me and there was so. much. of. it. I kept thinking, could he just bite it already? When will Hennessy shoot this motherfucker? And I don't know how to reconcile those feelings now knowing that he's an extension of Ronan :(
Second biggest reveal: all of the Moderators are dreams!! My theory is the government agencies have dreamers at their disposal and made them dream up the Moderators, so that if one of them is killed, they can easily be replaced. It's an ethical and moral dilemma that underscores the series - are dreamt people real? - but I doubt the government gives a shit since they think they're saving the world.
Maggie really chose violence by giving us one single Pynch interaction and making it painful af
Ronan's dream phone lock screen picture of him and Adam - so soft!! Someone draw it please
Adam eating the celebrity chef's gourmet waffle in like three bites with no reaction whatsoever, lol. Boy is deranged and I laughed for like five minutes
Adam's theory that dreamers have always existed and monsters and dragons were never myths, they were dreams, and we've never seen them because they've been sleeping for centuries, and that fixing the ley lines will wake them all up FUCKED ME UP. I can't stop thinking about it.
The Adam and Declan interactions were *chef's kiss*. Two bitchy assholes uniting because they both (grudgingly) love emo himbo Ronan Lynch - we love to see it!!
Jordeclan was delicioussssssss. Declan blushing over Jordan's postcard? What a cutie!! The two of them recreating their first date at the museum with the roles reversed, and Jordan whispering in his ear? SEXY. Jordan trying to make her portrait of Declan into her own personal sweetmetal? Precious!! Declan casually saying "when we're married" to her? I hope our girl fucked him on every surface of that art studio, because I would have
No coherent thoughts about Matthew, just pain
Ronan's interactions with the dreamer kids and his hug with Hennessy - fuck me up!! I've always loved his capacity for tenderness
Also: a seemingly single mother raising FIVE dreamer children??? Tell me more, tell me more
Unpopular opinion: Carliana didn't do anything for me in CDTH and I'm sorry to say I feel the same after MI. For me the issue is that one person has already experienced the entire relationship and the other person hasn't. It's a weird power imbalance born from time travel fuckery, and I'm not feeling it. Not hating on the ship at all, it's just not for me.
The Nathan backstory is fascinating to me and it feels intentional that Carmen constantly mentions him in her POV chapters. I already saw someone mention that maybe he dreamed a copy of himself and that's who Carmen killed at the beginning of CDTH, and the real Nathan is behind the scenes orchestrating a lot of what's going on.
I think Jordan is still awake at the end either because Hennessy is the one controlling the ley lines and the rules don't apply to her, or because Jordan is actually a sweetmetal and not a dream. The mechanics of sweetmetals are still confusing to me so don't ask me to explain this theory!!!
Maggie really expanded the world in the last few pages with all of the dreamed things falling asleep. I would love to see in book #3 the news coverage of what happened, how it gets explained and then covered up, and a reveal of how many dreamers there really are (or that there just are a powerful few).
Why I'm not worried about Pynch
Maggie already confirmed on Twitter that Pynch will not break up and she's not interested in writing about that kind of relationship drama anyway. If she goes against her word and/or kills off either Ronan or Adam, she loses her credibility as an author and her career will not recover. I'm not being grandiose; the Raven Cycle fandom essentially pays her bills by buying her books, and that allows her to continue writing the weird ass books she wants to write. She knows this, she ain't stupid, and I ain't worried.
(Side note: Maggie does use classic relationship drama tropes for Pynch, whether she'll admit it or not. In MI alone there's lack of communication, miscommunication, and the good ol' superhero "I'm cutting off the one I love for their own good/to save them from the bad guys". It's the context around those tropes - both characters have complicated magic and trauma, the government wants to kill one of them, the apocalypse is imminent - that make it fulfilling for Maggie to write and interesting for us to read).
Maggie likes to make her characters suffer and we often forget this between each book (myself included - I blame fluffy fanfic). Pynch angst is a given, as it is for any endgame ship.
MI made it very clear that Ronan and Adam still have a lot of growing up to do, and so it's probably healthy for them to be separated right now. Ronan literally manifested his insecurities and fears around his dreaming, family, and relationship with Adam into a cult leader and then became an eco-terrorist, and Adam is an actual con artist, creating fake friendships and swindling Harvard students out of their money with bogus tarot readings. Ronan is damaged, and Adam is fucking insane. They should be on a break!
Some characters are created to die. Take Bryde, for example. He will not survive the series because he is the Mentor and Villain in Ronan's hero journey. He also represents Ronan's inner demons, and Ronan must kill/defeat/destroy them by the end or else the journey was pointless. Ronan Lynch and Adam Parrish, however, were not created to die. They've earned the right to live long lives after all the shit they've been through. (I'm not explaining this as well as it could be explained - English majors, where you at?)
Lingering Questions
Where the fuck were Mór o Córra and the New Fenian? You're telling me there's an ageless Niall running around and the Lynch brothers, ripe with daddy issues, don't think about him once during the whole book? Sus.
When is the pale-eyed woman (presumably their Aunt) from the Opal short story going to make an appearance? I'm guessing she's connected to Mór and the New Fenian, but I could also see her coming into play with Boudicca.
How does Bryde communicate with the other dreamers, and what exactly did he communicate?
Ronan created the rumors about Bryde at the Fairy Market, according to Bryde. How though? Rumors as dreamt things that people just wake up and *know* is some serious mind fuckery
How did the Moderators get a hold of Fletcher but not Adam? I imagine it wasn't for lack of trying on the Moderators' part, so where'd he disappear to?
Does shutting down the ley lines affect Gansey since he's basically made of Cabeswater and Blue because she's an amplifier? I don't expect Maggie to address it in book #3 since Gansey was barely mentioned in MI, but I'm still curious.
I know Maggie's vague about time, but it seemed to me that the book spans Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, and now we're into January because Adam is back in the dorm. Where then did Adam spend his winter break? Did he stay at Harvard (which wasn't allowed when I was in college)? Did he go back to Henrietta and stay at Fox Way? Or go the Barns alone? Maggie also won't address this in book #3 but it makes me sad to think about and I want an answer, or at least a long ass fanfic about it :(
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If you asked after I finished reading The Raven Cycle who my favourite character was, I'd tell you that I loved them all equally. But the truth is, I love Adam Parrish a little more than the others. Well, a lot more. That's what my heart said right from book 1, that's what my head realised when he said, "The Moderators have a point," that's what my most used tag of this blog says. That bitch has the heart of a hero, mind of a villain, and a mouth that would seduce less touch-starved, attention-needing people than Ronan Lynch. (Um, that sounds a bit weird, by mouth I mean how he's so straightforward and mean, cutting where it hurts with his words, that's it. Seriously. No seriously. Okay maybe not. Haha who am I kidding I would go straight for that guy.)
The thing is. He's so good at wearing a mask. So, so good. He really truly wants to do good in this world, but even his doing good is a kind of mask for who he really is, which is an asshole. It's so easy to forget the 'mind of a villain' part of his when you're faced with his heart of gold. While rereading Call Down the Hawk, I was totally up in my feels about Adam. "Oh, he's so sweet, his friends consist of people with terrible childhoods and he's helping them because he's been there, and because he escaped, and even though they're all in the same position he's being so lovely and beautiful and kind uwu," &c. I mean, all that is a hundred percent true, he is that sweet, I'm just saying I forgot he's also the kind of guy who murders latin teachers with the help of a magical forest and then frames their successors for non-existent murders. Mister Impossible served to remind me of that.
As Declan so eloquently put it, while his friends google celebrities, this guy secures secret documents, speaks to the ex-employee of the guy he framed for murder and does risky magic to find information on his ecoterrorist boyfriend. All while running a side business of card reading, and he doesn't even use magic for that--
Those tarot readings you saw were just for show. I was just reading people. Parlor tricks. Fake magic.
--because he can bloody read people. He's that smart.
Anyway, I think I started this post because I wanted to say something about all the 'Adam Parrish literally said the Mods have a point in trying to murder his boyfriend' joke posts going around, but of course this turned into an Adam Parrish appreciation post. Anyway. I see the joke in his 'Mods have a point' comment, but. The thing is. They do.
And I know people are perfectly well aware of that, I just wanted to say this because I felt so vindicated when Adam said that, seeing as I was thinking the same thing at the end of my CDTH reread. Also, maybe this is just me, but I think the stakes really and truly changed in that chapter. Adam Parrish had the lowest screen time of all characters, but the plot, which had been going at a moderate rate until then, really picked up the pace after that.
In conclusion, Adam Parrish is the greatest and the best and I would die kill for him. That's it. That's all I have to say. Thanks for joining me on this ride.
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starrlikesbooks · 3 years
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Let’s talk about upcoming books!
It’s hard to believe the year is nearly over, but it’s equally hard to believe that it’s somehow still 2020  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Either way, the new year means at least one good thing- cool new books!
Click the read more for a little on each and why I’m excited! And have a great new year! 💓🎉
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey is Gailey’s third full-length novel, and their second Adult novel. It’s an SFF story about a woman whose husband is cheating on her… with a clone of herself… which he made by stealing her research. The layers of betrayal! Obviously her and the clone have to kill him, what other choice do they have? I’m super excited for another one of Gailey’s fun, complex characters and the concept alone sounds so, so cool.
The Valley and the Flood by Rebecca Mahoney I’ve already had the pleasure over reading and I am PUMPED to get other people to read it! This is a magical realism story about grief and baggage mixed with a southern (western?) gothic vibe with the town in the desert full of otherwordly “neighbors���. This is a beautiful story of PTSD and healing and as well as a lushly magic one.
The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore is another one I’ve already been lucky enough to get an advanced copy of. This is a magical realism story about the trauma of two characters’ unfortunately closely connected sexual assault. This one is heavy, and if you’re sensitive to stories involving rape and/or blackmail you may want to avoid it, but it’s well written and honestly an excellent story of healing and reflection.
Lycanthropy & Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal I…. have also already read! Sorry- I am just a very lucky reader of books! This is a really modern online friendship based story of a girl and her community of people with chronic illnesses, like the one that forced her to come back home from college. But it turns out her best friend’s chronic illness is a little… weird. I love the humor in this book, I love the characters, I love the representation of these illnesses and the online communities they form, and I honestly think that anyone who 1) like werewolves and 2) is still on tumblr will love this book.
Blade of Secrets by Tricia Levenseller combines three of my favorite things- bladesmiths, magical quests, and the author of The Shadows Between Us. A magical bladesmith takes a commission from someone far more dangerous than she knows, and winds up with an uber powerful sword able to steal secrets, on the run, and with some surprising friends. I can’t think of anything I don’t like from that, and I know I already love Levenseller’s characters, so!
Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater has… that title, but is also the sequel to Call Down the Hawk, Stiefvater’s Ronan Lynch centric TRC spin off. CDTH was incredible and ended with a massive cliff hanger, so I’m chompin at the bit for this book. More magical dreams! More disembodied voices! More murder and art theft and Declan Lynch failing at pretending not to be weird af!
May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor has the potential to make me cry right from the get go. This is a MLM trans lovers-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story and my God I’m vibrating. Basically it’s a battle for prom king between exes who had a messy break up because one of them ended their relationship in order to come out & transition. The cover is so cute and I’m ready for this to be fluffy and fun.
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston is McQuistion’s sophomore novel after Red, White & Royal Blue, so… obviously? This one is sapphic and involves falling for someone who is literally in the past. I trust McQuiston so much I’d need this book immediately even if the concept didn’t sound amazing, but I’m feeling blessed that it does!
Violet Ghosts by Leah Thomas is about being best friends with (and crushing on) a ghost while also coming out to yourself as trans. As an enby who likes ghost books- may I just say trans rights? This book also involved parental abuse, so beware if you find that distressing or triggering!
Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury not only has a stunning cover and a main character who looks like she means serious business, but it’s a dark urabn fantasy about witches. The main character fails her ritual to come into her magic, she’s forced to kill her true love or strip her whole blood line. Ah, I love difficult choices, gray morality, and magic, so I’m already in love with this.
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson I’m astounded and super excited to know is going to exist at all. I loved the Truly, Devious trilogy, and while this isn’t exactly a part of that it is the same main character and it is still a mystery about an unsolved murder! Plus, I love summer camps, so a summer camp murder mystery makes me happy.
Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta is a sappic enemies-to-lovers about two girls on opposite sides of a war fought by giant Windups. This is a cyberpunk book of spies and pilots and gay love, and it’s also the first in a series!
Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell is the third and (most likely) final book of the Simon Snow series and it’s gonna be GOOD. My only wish is for it to be about 500 pages longer because I want a full out door stopper of tying up loose ends.
The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters is the second book by the Ghost Wood Song author- which was on my most anticipated list for 2020 last year! That one was creepy and folky and queer, and this one looks to be the same. This one has a sister disappear and some strong magic to find out what happened to her, and if their mother was the one who did it.
Mark of the Wicked by Georgia Bowers is a dark fantasy about a girl who comes into her powers but has some different ideas about how she should be using them. I love morally gray or just plain dark main characters, so I’m ready to jump right on this one. This one also involves memory loss/blacking out and being framed, which always adds a cool mysterious layer!
Among Thieves by M.J. Kuhn involves queer, selfish thieves forced to band together. I have a soft spot for characters who are really flawed and don’t want to work together (especially if it leads into found family!) and this also has a slow burn sapphic relationship and a lot of possible betrayal in it, so I’ll probably go crazy from reading it.
Beyond the Ruby Veil #2 by Mara Fitzgerald doesn’t have a title yet but it does have a great plot to work off of. I loved the first book- which was creepy, had a completely awful, villainous main character, and full (I mean full) of murder- and it ended in a way that point to the sequel being just as good if not better. The first one had the quality of just watching the world burn, and I have a feeling this one’s going to be the same thing with maybe more flames. If you plan on picking up either of them, consider checking out the CWs, though!
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen got added to this immediately because Owen definitely gained my love and trust via The Merciful Crow duology, and I’m certain it’s going to be incredible solely because she’s a wonderful writer and her characters are a lot of fun- and speaking of characters, she’s already shared some drawings and info on them and they’re GREAT I cannot wait to meet them. This is a retelling of The Goose Girl story, from the maid’s POV!
Jade Fire Gold by June C.L. Tan was originally on my 2020 most anticipated but then 2020 happened so… yeah. But it is actually coming out in 2021, as long as the world doesn’t end again (fingers crossed). Inspired by East Asian mythology, this one is about a dangerous cult, a peasant cursed to steal souls, and an exiled prince!
The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta is going to be one of those cute, fluffy, feel good reads, which I think we probably all need about now. I love Capetta’s work and their very queer characters, and I love the idea of a magical baker both breaking up and then getting couples back together. Also, the MC is agender- we love to see it.
The Second Coming by André-Naquian Wheeler follows a teen with a traumatic past falling for a boy who might be the second coming of Jesus Christ. Honestly, I’m a little nervous about this one- but also I almost wrote my own queer second coming story, so who am I to talk? I don’t know much more about this book, but I’m excited to see what it turns out like!
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cheeeryos · 3 years
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a list of things I am thinking about during my cdth re-read
I HAVE NOT READ MI YET SO THIS IS SPOILER FREE!
under a cut because it’s getting kinda long:
ronan talks about an “aunt” and “uncle” that they have lost touch with; there’s a lot to learn about the older generation lynch fam already, but are these people going to be important? why mention them, if not?
liliana “blessing” children = important? the two kids in the minivan were unharmed after her vision even though the parents/the entire inside of the car was destroyed. she also says it later at the children’s book reading in arlington, but she doesn’t have a vision there
bringing out the lace = causing the apocalypse? I always assumed that was the case, but I realize it was never actually said. plus bryde’s ramblings are extremely “burn the world”, suggesting that his “mentorship” of ronan/hennessy might lead to the fire instead, rather than the lace convincing one of the dreamers to bring it out directly (also the lace is is afraid of bryde according to adam, and if they were working together that doesn’t really make sense)
what causes the nightwash? in ronan’s case, it (or something similar) was first from the demon, and then started happening regularly. in hennessy’s case, it’s been happening for years. something related to something “unmaking” dreamers--but why did hennessy’s start so early (ditto her lace dream) and ronan’s only recently? granted, this could just be for plot convenience reasons since ronan was doing glendower stuff in his trc teens. but still I wanna know if there was a specific catalyst.
why the sudden pull to great falls for dreams? it’s not just ronan’s dreams; jordan talks about the call of the mountains and driving west etc. does the new fenian also feel it? would aurora have felt it if she had lived long enough? is it the potomac specifically, or is it a ley line thing, like maybe the line crosses over at great falls?
why is the new fenian ronan’s age? is he a dream that doesn’t age or was he dreamed recently? or dreamed as a baby around the same time ronan was born? or is he not a dream at all--another lynch relative that just looks exactly like both niall and ronan? the mentioned “uncle”? a niall love child?? but then why does he talk like he’s declan’s parent?
how did everyone at the fairy market know about bryde? not everyone there is a dreamer or even knows about dreamers. I was always a fan of the “bryde was dreamt” pet theory, maybe a combined ronan/hennessy manifestation since he isn’t actually seen at all until the end, but then how did everyone else know about him already? maybe related to the whole “lace is afraid of him” thing, like he’s some ancient consciousness that’s just been in the ether so anyone with some psychic connection can tap into him? I kinda hope he’s just some guy though.
what is bryde’s connection to adam? some of his and ronan’s conversations reflect things that ronan and adam talked about (eg “emotional cost” of saving someone’s life). I don’t really like the bryde is older adam theory bc ronan would recognize him, but I think either he’s been spying on them somehow or he can read ronan’s mind (or else he is part of ronan’s subconscious already, ie. he’s a dream space psychopomp).
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seavoice · 3 years
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thinking about how matthew is sort of implied to be the ronan pre-niall’s death, pre-losing the barns, the ronan full of easy love and whimsy. the carefree, innocent, happy, perpetually ebullient younger brother. 
and also thinking about these two quotes from the dream thieves:
“What was that?” Matthew whispered.
 “There are,” Ronan replied, “bad things in the world” 
and
The old Ronan Lynch’s laugh. No, it was better than that one, because this new one had just a hint of darkness beneath it. This Ronan knew there was crap in the world, but he was laughing anyway.
and lastly thinking about how both ronan and declan try to keep him happy above even truth, how they want matthew to be untouched by the brokenness of the world. but of course they fail (because thats not a viable expectation in a life as broken as theirs) in cdth to keep that illusion up. matthew will have to learn the same thing that ronan had to after his father’s death, and its going to be so painful (but also hopefully good) to see their parellel journeys.
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candles-for-stars · 3 years
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The Unknown Lady
Dreamer Trilogy SPOILERS below, for both Call Down the Hawk and Mister Impossible. You’ve been warned....SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!!!
I don’t follow a lot of people or tags so it’s hard for me to begin this with “why is no one talking about...!?” Instead I will start with “is anyone talking about...”
Theory thoughts under the cut...
Is anyone talking about the unknown lady who showed up at the Barns in the Opal short story??
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I believe MS mentioned that this woman would appear again in the Dreamer Trilogy. The Opal short story acted as an in-between for where the characters left off in the Raven Cycle and the start of Call Down the Hawk. But this woman has yet to appear which makes me believe she will in the last book of the trilogy.
Opal says she can sense the same kind of energy in this unknown lady as she can in Ronan. Is this a hint that she is a dreamer? The lady showed interest in Ronan’s notes he left by the computer, notes that I assume have to do with his dreaming whether it’s inspiration or how to dream it. 
The lady goes into Ronan’s parent’s bedroom and looks at the photo of Niall and says “Damn you.” So this lady knows Niall. This lady is described as someone with dark hair and pale eyes. Who else in this series have dark hair and pale eyes? The Lynch’s. Is this woman related to Niall? A sister? A cousin? Or does she just happen to share similar features? 
Could this woman be Declan’s real mother? Yes, I know the woman in the painting from CDTH has blonde hair. Aurora, the dreamt mother, was based off this blonde woman. This theory is a bit of a stretch. But if Declan’s real mother doesn’t want to be found by her own son (at least that is what is hinted) then who’s to say she didn’t color her hair as a disguise? It’s a bit nerdy but I think about dominant and recessive genes and how dark hair and dark eyes are dominant and the chances of offspring getting light features over dark are slim but not impossible (I myself am an example of that. My mother has dark brown eyes and my father has light bluish hazel eyes. I have my father’s eyes). So whether this woman has dark hair or blonde hair Declan would very likely get the darker hair. Both this woman and Niall have light colored eyes, signs of a double recessive gene therefore that’s what they pass down hence Declan’s light blue eyes.
Relative of Niall or mother of Declan, doesn’t matter, she is attached somehow to the Lynch’s. If she is a dreamer, could she be the one who dreamt the copy of Niall that is in CDTH? Is the woman who looks like Aurora in CDTH a dreamt copy or is she the real one? Someone had to dream these copies. Niall is dead, anything he dreamt should be asleep. But as we’ve discovered in MI sweetmetals are a thing. So maybe they are Niall’s and are kept awake by sweetmetals. Maybe Niall dreamt these copies to stay with Declan’s mother under the protection of the Boudicca. 
But what if this woman is not Declan’s mother. Take that off the table. A different theory. This woman still knows Niall, relative or not. This woman is a dreamer...maybe. She has an interest in Ronan. She read his notes. She broke into his house. She tried to get into the long barn. She has to know Niall is dead, that was news that spread across the community as seen in CDTH at the fairy market, and evidence of word spreading is in MI with the rumors of Bryde. So why go to the Barns? Was she looking for Ronan or his dreams? Was she looking for a sweetmetal somewhere on the Barns property? After Niall died it took 3 days for Aurora to fall asleep. So is that a hint one could be there? MS said in the Reddit AMA that we saw the effects of a sweetmetal in TRC but obviously did not say where. The painting of The Dark Lady has Niall Lynch’s signature. He could have dreamt it, and probably did. But what if he was a painter? Did he paint a sweetmetal at any point in his life? 
Gosh I have so many questions and most of them float around this unknown lady who broke into the Barns in the Opal short story. Will she help save Ronan and destroy Bryde? Will she even show up again? Is she part of Boudicca? So so many questions.
Talk to me. What do you think?
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girl4pay · 3 years
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i don’t know if you’re still doing the rambling (?) meme but i love reading your words so 📁about anything at all, but if i should give a topic niall asshole lynch (to go with the amazing aurora one?)
fkjdlsa;jfkdlsaj; i am always doing the rambling meme that’s like a perfect description of my state of existence. i don’t exactly have headcanons about niall asshole lynch but i do think a lot about how violence is a father to son inheritance in trc like you have the very obvious example of adam which i’m pretty sure i’ve talked about before but you also have declan and ronan who both interact with their father’s violence in different ways - declan uses it as a tool and compartmentalizes it into His Father’s World, where violence is honest and nearly constant, and the townhouse kind of world, where violence is faraway and casual and hidden, and to ronan violence is a language and a tribute and a form of expression and relation: his father taught him how to box, his father left him the ability to create life which is a delayed act of violence, his father died on the driveway minutes before ronan found him. like when ronan commits violence the words describing it are almost artistic...matthew is the only lynch brother who isn’t primed to violence like that (i feel like he might have wrestled someone at some point but that doesn’t qualify in the same way imo) and like i’m not going to get into the whole creation myth garden of eden allegory that’s there because no one wants me to be catholic on main let alone myself but also now i’m thinking about if we’re going to get a cain and abel situation in the cdth saga but also i’m OFF TOPIC. anyway then you obviously have noah, whose murder is whelk’s reaction to his father’s fall from grace and abandonment (puke rich boy problems but like that was his motivation) so his entire afterlife is defined by the trauma of bearing whelks anger towards his own father, and gansey, who is conflicted about it but still mimics his father in the harm he causes his friends in trying to manipulate them to fit his own standards and expectations. i care very little about kavinsky but his violence is pretty clearly linked to his father’s abuse and absence...like you could argue that kavinsky is ronan’s foil mainly because he believes in his own mythology as opposed to ronan who believes in his father’s, and you have that direct link between kavisnky and niall who both live violently for violence’s sake and ultimately both explosively self destruct..even piper’s violence, although largely just dumb and selfish, is enacted through the family business her fathers/uncles have taught her. also the grey man but i truly cannot remember enough about his backstory to get into that. i think gwenllian is the only character whose violence acts in direct opposition to her father and that is why i love her. you also have characters with absent fathers, namely henry, blue and hennessy. hennessy’s moments of violence are largely practical or turned inwards, henry has a marked distaste for violence of all kinds and blue probably has the most well adjusted relationship to violence to anyone in the books besides gwenllian, embodied by her little pink switchblade that she feels uncomfortable with but will use when necessary...trc is about connection and absence and harm is an inherent aspect of both those things and the books do a varied in quality but always interesting job of showing the different ways combinations of the two can affect relationships. also cannot wait for more creation is violence discourse as the books go on i feel like that’s the most underdiscussed theme of those books.
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piningeddiediaz · 3 years
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Ok hear me out i really dont want to seem like i diminish the friendship between h and r, or the brotherly relationship between d and r but like….. people seem to forget that h and r only met literally 2-3 months ago. Yes i know love and friendship can grow fast but people act as if they’re bffs already like no? They have stuff in common OBVIOUSLY and they go through quite some stuff together but they dont really know each other that well and they are barely alone to have a real conversation. That is not to say i dont love them and im happy for their blooming connection and friendship and that they have someone to talk to. And when people melted over declan remembering that r wanted to be a farmer i mean????? Thats literally the only possible outcome for r right now/when he quit aglionby and the only thing he wanted to be so obviously anyone would remember? Of course it’s a very delicate convo they’re having but idk i thought it was blown out of proportion a bit?
hi anon! I do see where you're coming from. the reason hennessy and ronan's friendship dynamic immediately stuck out to me in cdth was because they are. well for the lack of a better analogy they seemed like the same people in different fonts. they both give each other as good as they get. they have this animosity thing going on where hennessy doesn’t quite hate ronan, but thinks of him as being extremely privileged. it always comes back to the idea of alone vs lonesome. we know, having seen ronan across six books (so far) that ronan feels lonesome. he has powers no one understands, including him. he wants a community where he can belong. he’s never alone, exactly, because he does have a great support network and people who care about him very much, but if you look at it from hennessy’s pov, ronan is extremely lucky. i can’t find the page anymore, but there’s that whole inner monologue where hennessy thinks about how really, ronan isn’t alone at all. he has a brother who is willing to do anything to protect him. he has friends who are willing to look into something in the middle of night while on vacation for him. he has a loving boyfriend he will not stop bringing up literally two seconds after meeting her. hennessy herself had a mother who did not love her, a father who sounds like he didnt give a shit. all she had were the girls she dreamt, and all of them want to leave her. ronan has what hennessy wants, and there’s a part of her that resents him for it. and honestly, i didn’t clock that until they have the adam conversation. but the reason i like their dynamic so much is because despite this bitterness they have, they are very protective of each other. hennessy defends ronan with bryde, she brings bryde’s attention to herself instead to spare ronan. ronan tries to keep the lace out himself so that hennessy can dream peacefully. they’re like siblings who want mum and dad to like them more, but won’t let the other one get into trouble either. so i do see what you mean - they’re not bffs in the traditional sense but i do think they have a pretty solid foundation to be good friends in the future books and I think after the kind of friendship Ronan had with gansey or Adam or Noah or even blue, perhaps it seems like his friendship with hennessy hasn't matched up to that level. they hit off amazingly from the start, and tho mi complicates things a bit it does have bryde being that annoying parent who tries to make them be each other’s competition. maybe they’re not the gangsey level of friendship yet (and probably shouldn’t be - the gangsey may be an epic friendship but aren’t exactly healthy by normal standards lol) but i am excited to see how their dynamic develops in the next book. 
the declan thing i have to disagree with, mostly because i am an absolute sucker for platonic relationships and in particular declan lynch. extremely unpopular opinion, but I liked declan since trb. like, of course Declan wants his underage brother to not street race. of course he wants to make sure his underage brother who is living in a bachelor pad is looking after himself. of course he wants his brother to get an education and build a future for himself. of course he wants him to keep his head down and not attract attention to himself since there are people who would kill to have his power. it was so amusing to see declan show himself to be a great big brother time and time again and people hate on him lol. anyways, the point of that is that declan has always had to choose between being ronan’s parent and being ronan’s brother, and to him being his annoying parent was better. declan’s priority was never being liked by ronan, or keeping ronan or himself happy - his priority has been to keep ronan alive, to make sure ronan actually has a future. declan wanted Ronan to move on and leave the barns behind, maybe a bit because he wanted to leave it behind himself and couldn't do it as long as ronan wouldn't, but I think even declan to an extent knew that as long as ronan is stuck at the barns, he is going to be stuck in his past and all he is going to see every day is niall lynch’s bashed up head on the driveway. for Declan, that is ensuring ronan’s safety and wellbeing, for Ronan, that is Declan not understanding him and what he wants and instead imposing what he thinks is right on him. neither of them are wrong exactly, but it does mean that their relationship is virtually non existent. Ronan doesnt think Declan cares about him or what he wants or anything. he’s been seeing Declan as the villain in his story for so long he stopped seeing it from any other pov. so that’s why Declan remembering he wants to be a farmer, he wants Adam, was so big for Ronan. because it’s not just Declan saying ‘yeah I remember this is the profession you wanted fine go ahead’ or even Declan proving he actually listens to Ronan. it’s Declan saying ‘I understand you. I understand what you want, what you've always wanted. you think no one knows what your future is, but you have always known it. I have always known it. don’t throw it away.’ so much of ronan’s arc in this series is his need to be understood, and this was the first indication he got that declan always did. 
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