reading chapter 14 it inexplicably occured to me that a japanese man is the emperor of the ENTIRE asian continent. fuck my lack of media literacy. yep i finally see why everyone is upset about asia being monolithic and homogenised in this series now. this makes me SO uncomfortable even knowing the context that each continent came together during peacetimes. yikes reeks of colonialism and imperialism

i'm at least a lot less mad at kai in chapter 14. practicality rather than outright disdain for cyborgs and lunars. usually i would be upset at love lost, but he's doing what he must to save his people and i can respect that as much as i'm like OH NO POOR CINDER. glad he's got his head on straight now and not being a close minded dick

please for the love of god don't tell me that the thorne and scarlet thing is one of those mate pair things but like scifi version. between him losing control at the fight and the foreshadowing in the article that scarlet read it seems highly likely. please don't do this to me i'm begging on my hands and knees don't make me go through this again. the only time it was tolerable was aurora rising

i also went back and reread thorne's intro because i was drop dead exhausted when i read it the first time around and i think that accounts for a lot of my annoyance and also not reading between the lines properly. doesn't outright hit on her or shows any REAL interest other than making a game out of it. he doesn't ACTUALLY want her and isn't a groomer. idk what's happened to me because i used to LOVE flirty characters when i was younger but now it seems no matter what i see them and just instantly dislike for whatever reason. while i don't outright h a t e thorne anymore he still kind of bothers me. whatever

safe to say i absolutely love scarlet to death right now. i feel like she didn't get as much of a save the cat moment as cinder did in her first chapter. i mean she DID in a literal sense when she gets up on the bar counter and defends cinder, but that's just being a Good Person and being a good person isn't exactly a personality trait, compared to cinder getting to be snarky in her first chapter. i think THAT is what was off to me when i read her first few chapters. but now that scarlet's personality has been able to shine i love her just as much as cinder. she's awesome and i love her

i ADORE the way marissa meyer writes women. cinder, peony, iko and ESPECIALLY scarlet are all such girls girls. i love them to death. i could go SO in depth about despite her being a bit white feminist (intersectionality problem which she fixes right up in renegades which i loved) marissa was SO good for this ESPECIALLY considering this is 2012. like some could easily write off cinder or scarlet as not like other girls but NO you are doing them a DISSERVICE and not understanding the INTRICACIES. i could write an entire essay about how much miss marissa meyer slayed when it came to representing women but this is neither the time nor the place. maybe next time.

"alpha male" STOP. immediately jail. first of all that was a myth debunked FOREVER ago. second of all, cringe. it's giving omegaverse. makes me want to put my head through a wall

omg he's a former gang member. this is literally giving wattpad mafia werewolf x reader but it's funny so i'm letting it slide

okay the interaction between iko and thorne was actually surprisingly touching. small tiny part of my stone cold heart has warmed towards him. perhaps he'll grow on me. also glad to have iko back i missed her dearly <3 the book didn't feel the same without her

oh no. scarlet has i can fix him disease. ik that she's meant to be little red riding hood but at this moment she seems more like belle teaching the beast but instead of reading it's what zucchinis are fksdhfsdkh

"Not much older than she was" STOP. okay. this is an Important Character. ding ding ding alarm bells are going off in my head for nondescript dimples guy (sidenote: yep he's from the gang)

not ANOTHER set of characters skipping quarantine lmao this is so accurate considering how covid went. since they're gonna jump the train i bet he's gonna have to hold her or something (sidenote: I WAS RIGHT MWAHAHAHAHA)

wow i don't remember any mention of michelle benoit from maybe-rapunzel. that now explains why granny's been kidnapped

of course wolf has pointy fang teeth. i can definitely see some simps going wild over that (let's just see how long it takes for me to become a simp and if so you have my full permission to make fun of me)

(after getting shot) "When you greeted me with a gun on your doorstep," he said, "it's nice to know you meant it." EVERYONE PACK UP AND GO HOME THAT WAS PEAK ROMANCE RIGHT THERE. same energy as emma pulling a knife on hook first time she met him. i'm severely delulu

(sarcastic voice) wow! scarlet is at the very least quarter lunar! didn't see that one coming at all,,,,,

Iko: “Personally, I don’t believe in British people”

Wolf: “If you can swallow it, it’s edible.”

Cress: “Sometimes my voice is in a good mood and lets me sing soprano… and sometimes not.”

Scarlet: “Am I the only one here who’s never eaten anything weird?”

Thorne: “NOTHING IS INEDIBLEEEE YOU JUST MIGHT DIE WHILE EATING ITTT”

Cinder: “Another good rule is to NEVER hire Thorne to drive a limo for you.”

Scarlet: “A switchblade would be better but a fork would be more emotionally scarring.”

Iko: “I’d rather die in a car with Thorne than drive safely with Cinder.”

Thorne: “Frantically searches for a meme to break the silence”

Cinder: “I’m not excited about the existence of several people I know.”

Scarlet: “Everything should be done with a little aggression.”

Cinder: “Stabbing stuff is therapy.”

Cress: “THATS NOT VERY HEALTHY OF YOU"

Thorne: "Maybe we became friends because of murder and illegal downloads."

Wolf: "The brownies are on fire."

Iko: "Flammable Brownie projectiles."

Cress: “Is it weird that I’ve never been to a Costco?

Scarlet: "I, too, have yeeted small children."

Scarlet: “I drove a tractor backwards into an electric fence once :D”

Thorne: “I’ve never actually hit a building or driven off the road. That’s all you need to know."

Thorne: "And the funny thing is, he's actually talking to someone about blowing fish up."

Thorne: "Want an autograph?"

Cress: "What I don't get is why people are obsessed with avocados. From Mexico."

Jacin: "That assumption will go unanswered for eternity."

Thorne: "Oh boi, this conversation is getting SaLtY."

Cress: "Hacked the CIA."

Cress: "I can't reach the snacks :("

Jacin: "No thanks, I have plenty of pain already."

Thorne: "Funny story when I was around eight years old I tried to break the sound barrier on my rollerblades."

Cinder: "Says the one who tried to dig a hole to China yesterday."

Scarlet: "GUNS ARE FUNNER"

Iko: "Accents are just mouth fonts."

Thorne: "I'm probably overhyping it but it's a dog."

Jacin: "Look, I love the dog, you love the dog, but be prepared to eat the dog."

Cinder: "See kids are either the worst or the best."

Scarlet: "Although arson is fun, it's definitely an outdoor sport."

Kai: "I may be sleep deprived but I'm not that sleep deprived."

Iko: "Ahem; idk what this convo is."

Kai: "A R R A N G E D _ M A R R I A G E."

Jacin: "It's an undercover CIA operative."

Scarlet: "Just scare the FBI."

Wolf: "Such a delicious tuber."

This is part of a series in which i randomly scream my love for these books into the void that is tumblr, if you wanna join me: