"I was half a dragon before I met you, and I would be even less if I lost you now."
⤜⤏
Are you ready for a bombshell?
Take a deep breath. Have a sip of water. Get up and go for a walk. Ready? Okay, here we go...
I don't like Glorybringer.
"But Siri!! This is my OTP! Glory is so cool with her magical death spit and Deathbringer is adorable with her!"
Thanks! I still hate it.
I don't have any academic reason. I'm not going to write an essay on how it was unhealthy or poorly-developed or any of that. Tui is a good writer, and I approve of her ships. I just really don't like Glory, and by extension, I really don't like Glorybringer.
Their chemistry is well plotted-out; I like the idea of a flirty assassin, and it was cute how he got on Glory's nerves. He annoyed his way into her heart. Although I ship them both with other dragons (Glory with Tsunami, Deathbringer with Greatness), I can appreciate the development.
I thought giving her a boyfriend put a little bit of a damper on Glory's character arc. Growing up, she learned to be naturally self-sufficient and even averse to the idea of relying on others. I would have liked to see her open up a little more to the other dragonets before she rushed off and found a boyfriend.
Then there's Deathbringer - wily, spontaneous Deathbringer, who can barely follow orders for more than two minutes because his mind takes things further. He's intelligent and brilliantly-trained, and the risks he takes almost always turn out fantastically. He strikes me as very sporadic and a little noncommittal, given how easily he can deviate from plans. I don't see any reason for him to stay loyal to Glory (given that he literally betrayed his entire tribe for her because she was pretty - what's to say he wouldn't do that to her?). They paired off remarkably fast, and I find it a little confusing.
And then there's the cliché of it all: the hard-shelled girl and the goofy guy. He's taller. Two enemies fall in love, against the odds. She acts like she hates him, but secretly she's in love with him and he knows it. It gets a bit nauseating to read over and over again, even if it only really crops up once here.
Plus the million OCs that have come of it. "This is my character, Deathgalaxy. She's Glory and Deathbringer's daughter, and she's an animus mindreading prophet. She looks like that one RainWing OC by JereduLevenin that literally everyone has stolen at some point." Stop.
That's not to say this ship is without its good points. I just... don't like it.
How would I rate this? For actual literary quality I'd give it a 7/10.
But really, in my eyes, it's never going to be anything more than a 5.