Even In The Future…

I’m a Linh Cinder stan first and everything else second

[tlc3628]

My friends who have also read the lunar chronicles (but are not involved in fandom culture and tumblr and things) sent me the art that Marissa posted today and I didn’t have the heart to tell them I’ve known about this for awhile since it leaked and was posted on tumblr lmao

[tlc3628]

Okay but like ‘5 times Cinder’s friends trick her into relaxing +1 time they don’t have to’

And it’s a fic exploring Cinder’s journey after the revolution learning how to have work life balance and not work herself to the point of exhaustion everyday. Because of Adri, Cinder is definitely the type of person to constantly push herself to the max otherwise she feels “lazy” and she really struggles with putting herself first at all physically and mentally and while her friends find it amusing at first they eventually do become genuinely concerned for things like her propensity to forget to eat or her lack of sleep, especially as they learn more about Cinder’s life and treatment before the Revolution.

[tlc3628]

No thoughts just a sleepy Kai trying to tug an early bird Cinder back down to bed to get her to cuddle and relax for once

[tlc3628]

HC that Cinder purposely never learns how to pilot a ship and Thorne never takes the Rampion to be serviced by anyone except Cinder because it’s this unspoken understanding that if Cinder ever needs a pilot outside the royal fleet he’ll be there and if Thorne ever needs a mechanic she’ll be there.

So while she absolutely could learn very easily, she always turns down Scarlett and Jacin when they offer to teach her and while other mechanics and shops may be more convenient, Thorne waves off anyone who points that out. It’s just a fact of their friendship. They’re partners in crime (literally, or least they were) and though they won’t admit it to anyone else or each other it’s just a fact that Thorne flies and Cinder is the Rampion’s mechanic.

And of course they both are secretly very touched and it means a lot to them that the other has reserved that place in their life for them.

[tlc3628]

I just know whenever the crew reacts to finding out about some new horror Adri inflicted on her Cinder is Queen of ‘no I didn’t have it that bad really, I mean I had that whole garage space to myself (etc). I should really be grateful there are so many other people out there who have it worse than I did” because that conditioning from abusers to feel guilty for calling out the abuse and advocating for yourself runs deep

[tlc3628]

More fics where Cinder horrifies Kai (and/or the rest of the Crew) with how casually she talks and jokes about how cruelly Adri treated her like it’s totally normal and acceptable behavior (it isn’t) that she’s used to (unfortunately she is) which then leads to him doing everything in his power to reassure her that she didn’t deserve that treatment, she deserves the world, and he’s going to do everything in his power to give it to her. Please and thank you!

[tlc3628]

I wish we got to see more of Wolf and Cinder’s friendship framed through their dynamic of him training her!

Like this scene of him being proud of her landing a punch on him is so wholesome and really adds to his personality. It also made me realize I’ve been undervaluing their friendship dynamic!

Like give me more of Wolf being an older brother to Cinder give me more of them bonding over feeling “unnatural” due to their bioengineering give me more of him training her give me more of their friendship!

[tlc3628]

I used to think Wolf was my least favorite character of the main crew but upon doing a reread I realized that it’s actually just specifically Wolf after Scarlet is kidnapped that I don’t really care for. Because he’s so depressed about it he loses all his edge and snark and cleverness and banter and then he gets the additional bioengineering and we never really get that original characterization back.

I don’t know why but this part in particular stuck out to me on my reread. He just seems like such a different character before Scarlet is kidnapped. The way he talks and interacts with others and his relationship to the mission everything.

[tlc3628]

I love Kai’s pov in The Mechanic because he’s so much more loverboy than Cinder realizes. Like he’s so charmed and endeared by her and that girl is oblivious. He is crushing hard and we don’t have enough of his internal monologue concerning Cinder from the first book where’s he’s initially catching feelings that isn’t in retrospect and angsty.

[tlc3628]

While I’m on my Cinder&Thorne friendship soapbox:

We also don’t talk enough about how healing and surprising Thorne’s quick acceptance of her being a cyborg probably was for Cinder. Like he barely batted an eye at it and his reaction was more fascination than anything else (he had a bigger reaction to finding out she was Lunar) Like he made jokes and comments about it on occasion but not in an unkind way just in the way that you tease your friends about anything. He clearly didn’t see her as lesser than or second class because of her cybernetics, and I think it was subconsciously a big relief for Cinder and helped cement their friendship.

[tlc3628]

Need a fic exploring Cinder getting used to the idea of casual platonic physical touch specifically a her and Thorne brotp centered fic because there’s so many examples of it in the books with them

For example, in chapter 5 of Cress “‘Yes, yes, she’s fine, we’re fine, everybody’s fine,’ said Thorne, perching an elbow on Cinder’s shoulder and leaning toward the screen with furrowed brows.”

And that’s just one example. I just love their friendship so much. We don’t talk enough about how Thorne’s casual platonic affection and their friendship was probably just as healing for Cinder as her and Kai’s romantic relationship.

[tlc3628]

We as a fandom have a criminally low amount of fics that are Kai’s pov and reaction to finding Cinder stabbed in the heart with the knife literally still sticking out of her chest

[captainkirkk]

Another favourite angst trope: When a character is so used to being treated badly that they don't see anything wrong with it and talk and think about it very matter-of-factly

Until they meet the other characters and see how HORRIFIED they are every time they reveal another detail from their past

[tlc3628]

LINH CINDER

[impossiblesuitcase]

Imagine Back to the future, Kaider AU?

I don't know if you are a referencing the post I made about this, but I already have an entire Back to the Future TLC AU mapped out. Cinder is Marty, Kai is Jennifer, Dr. Erland is Dr. Emmett Brown. In the AU I do considerably change up some things so it flows better with the TLC universe, and yes poor Kai does have a larger role than Jennifer does. I don't know if I'll ever write this AU because I'd want it to span all three movies which is a lot 🥲 But I'll give you the basic premise:

Cinder is a high schooler in 1985 training to be a mechanic. She's friends with Doc, an eccentric scientist who once invented a time machine but accidentally sent his daughter Crescent back in time. He's since then been trying to recreate it so that he can get her back and is using Cinder's mechanical skills to help him--though she has no idea what the project is for. Cinder is dating Kai, a high school senior a year ahead of her who's preparing for University. His parents don't approve of the relationship because Cinder is the orphan of Channary Blackburn. The Blackburn family took over Kai's family business and drained it of all profits, leaving his family for broke.

As you can guess, Cinder and Kai accidentally end up in 1955. As they try to figure out how to get home (lack of plutonium and all) Cinder wards off her young Aunt Levana--the queen bee of the high school. When she does in a particularly epic skateboarding sequence, a young Rikan becomes infatuated with her instead of Kai's mother. Cinder is a dead ringer for her mother Channary at this age. So Rikan confuses the two, and every time Cinder rejects him, Channary flirts with him and puts him back on the chase. Which, if not remedied, will mean that Kai and Cinder will be erased from existence...

[tlc3628]

I would actually kill to read this omg. The idea of Rikan becoming infatuated with Cinder is so hilarious.

Like Cinder gets awkward when Kai flirts with her so I can only imagine that times 100 if it’s a young Rikan doing it. She would not know what to do.

[eerna]

the Linhs bc I had to do my mandatory TLC reread~~

[eerna]

what makes Cinder such a compelling 2012 not-like-other-girls protagonist is that she is surrounded by Other Girls, and she loves them. Iko and Peony are the most stereotypical teenage girls obsessed with pretty clothes and boys and pop culture and she would die for either of them in a heartbeat. Iko rolls in with makeup smeared all over her plastic face and Cinder is like "ayy girl slay!". she knows that she is JUST like other girls in all the ways that matter.

[tlc3628]

This exactly. Like you put it into words perfectly.

[alsoanarchy-deactivated20220717]

why don’t we talk about the hobbies nova took up out of boredom ? why don’t we talk about that ? we should talk about that.