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Hi Maggie, I'd really like to hear you say a bit more about why you wrote Adam trying to repair the relationship with his abusive parents in the Raven King. What is the merit in salvaging a relationship such as that, and do you think it is possible for Adam's parents to truly redeem themselves? P.S. Can't wait for Call Down The Hawk, hopefully by the time it comes out I'll quit accidentally calling it Call The Hawk Down (every time I do that I'm like SHIT...was that it? That wasn't it...)

Dear courageofhorses,

I have also seen CALM DOWN THE HAWK which is a perfectly appropriate title.

Following is spoilers for TRK

spoilers

spoilers

no seriously

spoilers

CAVEAT: I’m going to answer this with how I interpret Adam’s character, but in the end, the books live without me, so it’s what makes it on the page and into your interpretation that counts.

THAT SAID. I’m not sure I would call Adam’s final move in The Raven King an attempt to repair the relationship, because it’s not about his parents, it’s about him. It’s about what he needs to say and do in order to feel he has the moral high ground; it’s what he personally requires to allow himself freedom.

By the time we get to that final scene of his in TRK, he’s been living on his own for quite awhile, a high school senior who fled his childhood home under duress. In that time, he’s lived through a helluva lot of traumatic and brilliant events. He’s seen his mentor die, he’s fallen in love, he’s dreaded his best friend’s death, he’s learned that he can be a good friend. 

The only time he’s seen his father in that time is when he comes busting through the door of his apartment with violence and Cabeswater intervenes. 

Otherwise, it has been only Adam and his memories of his parents, and if there is anything Adam doesn’t trust throughout the series, it’s his own interpretation of events. He’s been trained his entire childhood to doubt himself. 

So him returning to TRK isn’t about him genuinely trying to repair a relationship, to accept his parents back into his life despite all the’ve done to him. Instead, it’s about him — for the first time, ever — walking back to the trailer he grew up in without fear. He’s just come from graduation, and he’s closing the books behind him. He’s choosing to be blunt with his parents, without fear, older, wiser, more powerful. He knows he can trust whatever he sees as he walks back through that door under his own steam. It will be the truth, not what his battered emotional thoughts whispered to him for 800 pages.

Adam returns to see if, now that he knows himself, these people he saw as monsters still look like monsters. He wants to see if he becomes monstrous in their presence. He wants to feel for the first time in his life the glorious glow of the absolutely certain high ground while looking at his father. 

He wants to exorcise the memory of a fearful man who controlled his life for 17 years by instead facing him with the full knowledge that he has no control over Adam whatsoever. 

And as to the rest: shit, man. Even if your parents beat the crap out of you, it can be hard to make the decision to walk away completely. The voices whisper that maybe it wasn’t that bad –

But Adam says what he came to say.

He came to see if he ever had parents. If, once he didn’t hate himself, they might be different. And guess what: he’s the only thing that changed. They didn’t. 

He fled that trailer last time he left. Like the scared kid he was. But now he just walks out, like the man he became.

So to me, that scene is about Adam coming back to the trailer to realize this about his past:

And this about his future:

And walking out as Adam Parrish, son of no one, only himself.

tl;dr: abuse is a complicated creature with many different roads to closure. Is what Adam does right? I can’t say that. Is what I think Adam did in that scene what you think he did in that scene? I can’t say that either.

But I reckon that’s what I was thinking when I walked him out that door for the last time.

urs,

Stiefvater

no, no i don’t

Me reading trc

It is simply not fulfilling to enjoy media in the height of its popularity. You need to show up so late to the party that everybody else is gone and the hosts are asleep so you can rummage through their trash for chip dip and stale hors d’oeurves to eat alone in the dark like a dirty little raccoon secret

Maybe its just cuz im a minor too and therefore closer to holden in age than most adult critics but are you all stupid. This 17 year old is not the devil incarnate. All these bitches in their 40s going "this depressed child who lost his brother, is flunking out of school, doesnt have any real friends and is clearly troubled dared to complain about his life in his own journal, put him to death" meanwhile emotionally speaking ive never related to a fictional character more. I too recycle the exact same phrases, am upset by people who bullshit, constantly want to call someone but everyone in my life is usually too busy, have fits of gloominess, etc. Is he annoying? Sure? Is that the whole fucking point? Absolutely.

Hear Me Out: The Raven Cycle and Yellowjackets crossover.

They both involve magic fuckery in the woods, intense character relations and dynamics, murder. Also hella gay.

Gangsey gets stranded in Cabeswater like woods. Gansey obsession is straight up religious. Adam still makes a sacrifice. Kavinsky is out there cause someone’s gonna end up dying in a Yellowjackets au.

Or maybe this me trying to combine two things I love.

not only did irvin die for helly r he died doing what she loved doing most (trying to kill her outie)

when i remember that no amount of waiting will make me brave and no amount of fear will keep me safe

edit: image description by voxratasma added to alt text

I've been pondering the split fandom reaction to Helena Eagan trying to make sense of it all. On one side there is an understanding that all of the harm she has done is unacceptable and irreconcilable. On the other hand some people are intrigued and empathize with the misogyny and pressure she may face and how love and acceptance may be a salve to those issues.

A little bit of it is girlbossification and fandoms yearning and enjoyment of redemptive narratives but I also think the privilege of whiteness is also at play.

Helena Eagan is a rich white woman who benefits and aids in the oppression of the average laborer. And though she is a victim of misogyny and daddy issues she is still the heir to a major corporation. Parts of this fandom have twisted themselves into pretzels trying to justify why she is actually the victim and heroine of this story. And maybe they're right I have no idea what Dan Erickson has planned but the need to make her the central victim when she is facing the same facets and tools of oppressiveness that Devon and Natalie are doesn't make her particularly special.

It just means that she is in a world in which these systems and attitudes exist. It doesn't make her any more oppressed than any other woman who lives in this society. The thing that actually sets Helena Eagan apart is the power she holds as an Eagan and the harm she perpetuates and creates. Helena Eagan RAPED Mark S./Mark Scout. She took away Helly R's autonomy.

Why hasn't the same empathy been given to characters like Seth Milchick and Natalie Kalen. It's because they are not white. As the racial contours of this story continue to take shape I urge you to deconstruct where your biases lie and how they impact how you interact with the characters.

Ok guys I’m gonna be honest there’s a LOT of Voltron but plz be aware I haven’t rlly used Tumblr