rosewood thinking

ness || they/them || 20+ || lesbian || if kyanqiyan interacts with you, hi that is me! || mostly inactive

[skyrim-forever]

The worst characters are the ones were you only get like three pieces of lore about them but the lore is so fascinating and hits your brain at just the right angle to have you behaving like a feral dog in front of your conspiracy theory cork board

[binahfaes]

my maybe unpopular opinion is that i genuinely like jaru....not because i think the execution writing wise was the best (i think there wasn't enough page time for them tbh) but because Subtextually i SEE the vision and think they (could) have a very compelling relationship born from toxic circumstances, melting into something softer and "more simple" and earnest....and i think that Eats

[binahfaes]

omg i have a draft from last year that sums up most of my feelings on jaru...it's like i Knew

[binahfaes]

some of @olliesmoreno tags which i absolutely agree with !

#this makes me realise jaru could*ve actually been good #the thing is haru is such an abysmally written character which majorly contributes to why jaru is so badly written #like go haru give us nothing! #but seriously when i finished pea i was shocked bc connie genuinely doesnt dive into his character like. at all #why did he join leviathan? how is his relationship with sayuri? how does he feel about manipulating jamie? where do his true motives lie? #none of these questions are answered and it's shitty character writing #his redemption arc is like "idgaf i'm only turning good for jamie..' shouldn't we get into that #plus the idolising that never gets talked about

and

#(continued) BUT UR SPITTING WITH THE TAGS HARU COULD'VE ACTUALLY BEEN A GOOD CHARACTER #but he's got the shittiest character writing ever #my moot said on goodreads that haru's only role in the story is to be a consolation prize for jamie to make it sting less #when jottie doesnt become canon

what ur moot said is so so right though cos it feels like haru as a character in his own right just Isn't fleshed out enough to read as anything more than a "shitty consolation prize", when he could've been so So much more. i just think it's such a shame that the main poc in the story (jamie) gets such an subpar ending writing wise, and that haru is so underdeveloped. like surely we should've been given more to work with we met him in book THREE and by the end we still didn't have anything regarding his own perspective on things. sighs. and i do think there are some implications and some subtext regarding haru that is breadcrumbed throughout the narrative, but it's really not enough for any substantial amount of people to empathise or sympathise with haru

[binahfaes]

omg i have a draft from last year that sums up most of my feelings on jaru...it's like i Knew

[binahfaes]

seeing the rwch discourse in 2025 and zipping my mouth shut because i fear i have unpopular opinions

[binahfaes]

TCM COVENT GARDEN BOOK EVENT

(notes i jotted down after the fact, so take it all w a pinch of salt — this isn't Everything either, just things i remembered! may edit/add onto this later)

- central themes of TCM - knowledge, evil, obsession and possession — the twins are both obsessed w gwen, astrid straightforwardly and openly, and jonas more pragmatic/annoyed about it; the twins are also very enmeshed (?) and obsessed with each other (they only have one another, scared to be separated), the older characters (names escape me) are obsessed with knowledge

- world building wise connie went from/considered a more typical horrific monsters approach/idea to observing and learning about things we don't quite understand, (gothic) pursuit of knowledge

- (on what motivates connie to keep writing) what keeps connie going is the feeling in the third act when all the pieces begin to come together and things start to click in place in that wonderful way they do

- WANTS TO WRITE AN ADULT VAMPIRE ROMANCE NEXT (potentially)

- lola/mickey-astrid/jonas have been characters connie has had in their head since they were about 12, will probably appear in everything they write in some form

- og name for faymor manor was rotting manor, but it didn't translate well to other languages

- jonas is in parasocial gay love with prince teddy the way one would be with a kpop idol (he doesn't want anyone to know that)

- connie enjoys varying settings partially for the novelty/gets bored setting things in one place for too long; wants the manor to feel alive/like a home

- ALL THE MYSTERIES/SECRETS will be revealed in book 2 (including who the twins' parents are), so start theory crafting Now — book 2 will be incredibly traumatic, no one is safe - connie cried while writing bk2, something that didn't happen often while connie wrote rwch

- listened to 'Celtic woman' among other songs while writing, but when in the flow can listen to anything really; often writes on the sofa with gilmore girls on

- intergenerational queer dynamics + more focus on the adults of the cast and their mysteries also

- the musical aspect of the magic system didn't 'happen' until Connie was 40k words into the first draft and a character hummed something to summon a power and they were like fuckkkkkk so That's it

- connie said originally TCM was a Victorian era period piece,, penguin said maybeee you should do contemporary? (she agrees is was a better choice)

- there May be a maradova mention in book 3 — perhaps the maravish royal family really are descended from wolves, who knows?

- relates most to jonas, who is a bit of a little bitch and a gremlin (affectionate)

[binahfaes]

i went to the cursed melodies book event and it was so good!! may post my notes of stuff connie said in a bit — also have started reading and am loving the twins and gwen so far!!

[scotchgrove]

when u like a character for their potential to be interesting and complex more than how they’re actually written

[olliesmoreno]

just realised jaru is toxic yaoi lol

[binahfaes]

the toxic yaoi potential they have is through the roof ty for speaking on it,,, the codependency would go CRAZY

[binahfaes]

had the fright of my LIFE thought tumblr decided to send my long post into the void never to return....it was about to be So Over

[binahfaes]

a collection of Thoughts on haru's hidden complexities

(originally a bunch of threads from my priv twt where i ramble to myself, essentially— collated and edited. long post ahead.)

on haru, sayuri and what Exactly is his whole deal anyway?

i think it's safe to say that for me and many others, haru as a character felt enigmatic at best, and plain underwritten at worst and very divisive lol. but, i do think within the series we're given some interesting things to work with when inferring haru's reasonings for being with leviathan, his motives, and the nature of his obsession with jamie (before it, in my opinion, shifts to something "more simple," as claude observes).

to start with, a quote:

"it was haru's apathy that fascinated [Jamie] so much. but was it apathy, or something else something more dangerous?

it's interesting because lottie/sayuri believe partially that haru was brainwashed into joining leviathan....and as far as we know, that's not true. claude doesn't use the hamelin formulaon members! but in another way they're not Wrong.

it IS claude's manipulation + his ability to appeal to vulnerable teenagers base desires and wants—he promises to haru that of being a hero (is what he says anyway) and generates this obsession with jamie in haru that inadvertently becomes haru's sole motivation.

but what EXACTLY is going through haru's mind when he joins?

is it that sayuri is so capable that haru feels obsolete? pushed to the side as a partizan? and MAYBE he thinks jamie can fill that role as someone he can protect...?

in PEA, it says something along the lines of "the obsession Claude had encouraged in Haru had turned to something more simple...a boy who felt unwanted by his master [and] fancied himself a hero, so claude gave him a prince to save."

from this we can easily infer a big part of the reason really is that he felt like sayuri didn't need him, and in haru's mind this probably felt like a fairly righteous cause. i mean, haru can relate to jamie as a partizan—perhaps he sees parts of himself in jamie too. claude definitely spun it to him as a worthy endeavour. he might have said something like "oh you're so unsatisfied in your current life and sayuri doesn't need you, but if you joined leviathan you would most certainly be needed," and haru, probably feeling directionless and vulnerable, saw that offer and thought yeah actually that sounds Good.

and perhaps, sayuri was all haru really had. seeing as he's a partizan it's possible he doesn't have a relationship with his family/is an orphan, and I THINK her aunt dying (if it was as recent as i think it is) maybe led to her changing and becoming more distant, effectively shutting haru out (that and her parents divorcing; god poor sayuri).

in a sense, jamie—or the idea of him at first—was all haru had. this all, i think, gives us a bit more context as to how he acted during the Reveal in PAH despite manipulating jamie—the flash of genuine hurt when jamie found out Everything, because of the possibility he would lose him.

how all of this, informs haru's actions

in addition, reading with PEA in mind and the small incites we get from it does actually put a lot of haru's choices into context. whereas before i was thinking oh no poor jamie and his trust issues, I can see a little from haru's perspective too now.

for haru, his top priority was saving jamie. for him, the end goal justified the means. even tho his methods certainly were not pure or ethical. he has to deceive jamie for some time, yes, but he does also come to very earnestly like him. he says he was planning to tell jamie everything, and i do actually believe that to be a genuine remark because beforehand he'd been dropping clues.

there is, of course, also something so tragic about it, on both sides— jamie's never felt seen and understood the way haru sees him, and haru very desperately wants to be needed and in a way jamie is all he has (so there's a lot at stake for him).

not only that, but despite the illusion of free choice and liberation claude gives his subordinates, haru's just another one of claude's pawns. his "obsession" with jamie is apart of claude's plan, and of course claude has no regard for haru's emotional state—in fact he uses said emotions to his advantage.

i think parsing these details out ultimately renders haru more a sympathetic, and comprehensible character. of course, he's still flawed and antagonistic, but to me that makes him a more compelling character, not less! i like the idea of a character who does lie, and does manipulate, but underneath all that there is pure intent, no matter how dishonestly they started out. i also think that, in haru's case, it could've been executed better.

[binahfaes]

i would love if you dropped the haru hcs

👀 maybe i should....i have haru / jaru headcanons of the fun variety and then ALSO more serious character analysis thoughts on haru and the way he's written (cos i DO think there's a case to be made in his favour, and a way to interpret him in a more complex, sympathetic way). even if it's just u and one other person who wants me to write that all up i might just do it for my own peace of mind lmaoooo

[scotchgrove]

when u like a character for their potential to be interesting and complex more than how they’re actually written

[binahfaes]

damn rwch discourse on the dashboard?? in 2024??? 👀

[olliesmoreno]

it’s been very enjoyable i have to say

[binahfaes]

i was seated for it like yes drag that mean little lesbian (love you ellie wolf <3)

[binahfaes]

damn rwch discourse on the dashboard?? in 2024??? 👀

[binahfaes]

DUDE ARE YOU JOINING THE READATHON

AHHHH I SAW THE POSTS!!! I've been busy lately so I'm not sure but!!!! it's so nice to see rwch mutuals back 🥲🥲

[binahfaes]

i actually think of jamie volk everydayyyy

me too bro, me too