#Alice looks at all this and is like 'how do I raise my generation'

[avelera]

A Doylist Argument for Why Alice, Daniel's first wife, is NOT Armand in "Interview with the Vampire"

So I know the IWTV fandom has more or less made up its mind about "Armand = Alice" but I have to say, I am still not convinced. In my opinion, the discussion of how Armand knew what Alice was thinking that night was because Armand was spying on Daniel and Alice as a powerful telepath, all things we've known Armand to do, not because he was somehow Daniel's first wife and at no point did Daniel, an investigative reporter, in the present day recognize that Armand was Alice, his first wife who he would presumably have photos of.

Anyway, let's start from a Doylist angle. Doylist means, "from the creator perspective, analyzing from the point of view as the work of art as something created by people outside the universe of the story, ie, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes, not John Watson who wrote the book in-universe."

First of all, it's pretty unusual for a show to outright lie to the audience. There used to be a whole script writing rule about it and if you look closely, it's very unusual in most TV shows for a character to outright lie unless the story is a mystery and unless the fact they're lying is well supported as being something the audience should be on the lookout for. But even when characters lie on tv, there's usually a bazillion neon signposts going, "The guy twirling his mustache and cackling is a liar!" and we're usually introduced to the actual truth at some point within the story.

Ok, all of that aside because I could talk about when and how and where and the nuances of writing liars into stories and why it's best generally avoided (unless it is the entire point, because audiences tend to take what they're told by a character at face value unless they're specifically told not to, etc etc.), IWTV by contrast with most tv shows is notorious for playing with lies and truth with this in very interesting ways.

Truly, I don't think I've ever seen a show lie to the audience as much as IWTV but even then, IWTV lies in very careful ways.

So, let's examine how IWTV depicts lies and subjective truth, and why I think this makes it unlikely that "Alice = Armand", which would be an absolutely gigantic lie to drop on the audience.

We always know that lies are going to be part of the story in IWTV. There's tons of support and scaffolding to the fact that the audience should know that this is a subjective story, that facts will be misrepresented and misremembered.

For example, it was an entire plot point with a long pay off that Lestat shouldn't have been able to communicate telepathically to Louis after he was turned and it was used to highlight that we should not take anything that happens in the flashbacks as objective truth. This has been told to us over and over and over again in this story.

This is so they can avoid the cheated feeling of a, "Gotcha!" Audiences do not like to be lied to but they do like to solve mysteries. If you're going to lie to the audience, you need to give them a chance to solve it. Generally speaking you accomplish this by telling them ahead of time what they should be looking out for and that there's a mystery incoming, you don't just "Rocks fall, everyone dies," dump it on them out of nowhere then laugh that they were too stupid to figure it out. That enrages audiences.

Now, it might seem like I'm contradicting myself here. "Avelera!" You might say, "We have it well established that something fucky is going on with Daniel's memories! A big red flag was raised that Armand has messed with Daniel too in the flashback to the 70s! We know from the books that Daniel and Armand had a relationship and the show is at least teasing that they had one in the show canon too! Isn't that enough to establish that Alice = Armand is a reasonable mystery that is being hinted at within the context of the story?"

And to this I answer, sure, it's reasonable. I think the number of people who are speculating that Alice = Armand is actually a point in favor of it being true, because a good established mystery should have enough hints that people can begin to put it together before it's confirmed.

But here are my personal hang ups about why it still doesn't feel quite right to me.

We have the fact that Daniel has ruined two marriages. This is set up early. Like, super early, in episode 1, before we even see the vampires. We also establish that Daniel's two marriages are with (presumably mortal) women and that he has 2 daughters. This is set up long before the themes and ideas around the subjectiveness and falsehood of memory are introduced. Generally speaking, you don't introduce a mystery before you introduce that there is a mystery. To my eyes, we were meant to see the details of Daniel's marriage and family life as objective truths about him that inform his character before the interview starts.

Even when we do get into Louis' interview, there is a strict dichotomy to the dreamy, subjective world of Louis' story and recollection, and the sharp reality and harsh brutalist lines of the apartment in the present day.

To my eyes, the meaning is clear: All flashbacks are suspect and subjective, but scenes that take place in the modern day are objective. They are really happening. We can speculate about what things like what the decor tells us about their mindsets and the way Armand and Louis present themselves to Daniel mean, but this isn't a dream or a lie or a framing device happening here. Modern day = objectively true.

Daniel talking about his two failed marriages and his daughters is not presented within the framework of the subjective interview flashback world. These are not facts we've been asked to question, these are the objective building blocks that tell us, objectively, where Daniel is coming from and why he's the bitter old man we see instead of the bright eyed interviewer seen in the IWTV film or books.

The very AU premise of IWTV from the books is that we are in a canon divergence world where Daniel was allowed to grow old, have a family, and have a successful professional life even if he never had a successful personal life. It is the way we are objectively meant to understand his point of view and other elements like his saltiness towards the vampires. It's how we're supposed to understand him as different from his book counterpart. I think it would be cheap to then pull a "gotcha!" about those, personally.

Now, there is a mystery introduced as far as Daniel's memory, recollection, and possible falsehoods in his own understanding of his life but those are questions like: "What happened after Daniel interviewed Louis the first time?" Which is part of the broader question of, "Why are we returning to the interview now?" Which also plays a bit into Daniel's broader questions of, "Am I going to survive this interview?" which is connected to the question of, "Why did I survive the first one?"

But those questions are generally raised and addressed within the flashback to the 70s, because flashbacks, as we've established, are (within the story of the IWTV show) where these doubts about objectivity are allowed to exist.

Note, that Daniel's 2 marriages and the existence of his daughters are not discussed in the flashbacks. What is discussed is, "Why did I survive that night in the 70s?" And we learn that Daniel's memories of that time have been tampered with, there's more to the story that it appears, and he had a moment of connection with Armand that he did not recall.

"But Avelera!" You say, "Is this not further proof of Alice being Armand if we establish that Daniel doesn't have the whole story and that he and Armand had a connection that he doesn't fully remember??"

I think it is a point in favor of the theory. I think it's a point in favor of the theory being a valid one to explore, but I'm still not sold because of a few reasons.

Armand has never:

Presented himself with feminine pronouns, never cast himself in a feminine light, never associated himself with the feminine.

Furthermore, Armand has never disguised himself as a woman. Disguise is a theme in the show, Daniel talks about how people put on disguises before he finds the truth of them. But if "Alice" is a way for Armand to disguise himself in Daniel's memory, it is not a disguise that bears any resemblance to the other disguises we've seen Armand wear throughout the show. It is not a theme for Armand, it is not related to his story. Armand is many things to many people, but he's never ever associated himself with the feminine.

Armand would not need to disguise himself as a woman in Daniel's memory for Daniel to plausibly remember having a relationship with Armand, because Daniel recalls having queer experiences in the 70s. If Daniel remembered a relationship with "Andrei", I'd be more inclined to believe he's substituted himself in Daniel's memories with a mortal. Going so far as to say, "Of these 2 women Daniel told us in the objective present that he's been married to, one of them was a man who was also Armand," just seems a bridge too far in tricking the audience for no apparent reason. To me, that feels like a cheap trick on the audience.

Now, what about those weird things Louis and Armand say about Alice when they're shaming Daniel with the memory of her?

Specifically: what about Armand knowing what Alice is thinking the night she turned Daniel down?

This is my biggest point of difference with those who theorize that Alice = Armand. After all, how could Armand know what Alice was thinking that night unless he was Alice?

To put it simply, I think he knows because he was stalking Daniel that night.

I think we are meant to go, "Wait, what??" when we hear that Armand knows what Alice was thinking that night. That conversation is mean to be a red flag when we're invited to notice that Armand and Daniel have more history together than we, or Daniel!, have been led to believe.

But we also know Armand is a powerful telepath. This is a hugetheme throughout the show.

And, personally, I'm big fan of Queen of the Damned the book. It is my personal theory that IWTV the show takes place in a world where Armand and Daniel had their "Devil's Minion" whirlwind romance in the 70s, but instead of Armand turning Daniel as he requested, he wiped Daniel's memories and then let him go.

IMO, Daniel continued life thinking that he'd lost his memories of the 70s due to drug binges, and then from the 80s onward lived a relatively normal life with his two failed marriages to mortal women, his two daughters, and his award winning career. That's the divergence point.

To me, it seems much more plausible based on everything we know about Armand, that after he "freed" Daniel from their relationship and "allowed" him to live a mortal life instead of "cursing" him with vampirism, that Armand continued to stalk Daniel. Because that's what Armand does. Even in the Devil's Minion chapter of QotD, he's constantly stalking Daniel to the point where all Daniel needs to do in a particular city to have Armand swoop in to save him is think about him really hard.

So to me, what I think that line of dialogue was setting up was not "Armand = Alice" it was, "Armand continued to stalk Daniel after their relationship ended and that is the red flag you're supposed to pick up on from this dialogue, not a convoluted masquerade where Armand replaced Daniel's memories of the relationship with a woman named Alice who at first rejected Daniel but then eventually agreed to marry him."

To me, Armand = Alice just seems too convoluted. It also seems too easy to disprove given that Daniel is an investigative reporter. You're telling me he doesn't have any photos with "Alice", his first wife? You're telling me that if Armand was Alice, Daniel's first wife, that he never looked at "Rashid" or Armand and said, "Wow, you remind me of you my first wife?" Because to me, that's the sort of line you drop (in a more subtle manner) if you want people thinking about Alice = Armand but there is nothing along those lines in the show.

Now, what about the line, "You felt safer holding her hand in Paris."?

That one is a bit of a head scratcher. That one I think does lend to the possibility that "Alice" was male, that "Alice" was Armand, because Paris is discussed as more queer friendly (even though we also have scenes of Louis and Armand receiving homophobic comments while in Paris so... idk, "more comfortable" doesn't mean it was truly accepting, much like Louis felt "more comfortable" being a man of color in Paris even if racism was still rampant, but I digress).

But I didn't take it as a comment on Paris being queer-friendly (and therefore Armand = Alice) at the time when I first watched that scene.

I took Louis statement there as much more of an attack on Daniel's hatred of Paris. Paris is the city of love. America is the country where Daniel lives and works and has his identity as a hard-ass American reporter. In Paris, though, he was able to relax and be in love, far away from his work. Daniel has now grown to hate Paris because Paris was the place where he was young and in love with his first wife, a relationship that ended badly.

I felt that Louis was more calling out Daniel's changing attitudes towards Paris, rather than implying that Paris was more queer-friendly so Daniel could be openly with his lover Armand.

TL;DR: Look, I think the theory of Alice = Armand has a lot to recommend it, but I still have my objections to it. I think it's too big of a trick to pull on the audience to say that investigative reporter Daniel Molloy wouldn't recognize Armand as his first wife upon seeing him. I think it's too big of a trick to pull on the audience because the identity of Daniel's wives has never been presented as a mystery to be solved. I think it's much more plausible that they were setting up that Armand has been stalking Daniel very closely over the years, not that he insinuated himself into Daniel's life under false premises as a woman, a disguise and identity he's never used before.

I think Alice is real. I think Armand is a stalker, and that was meant to be our take away from that conversation.

[popcornforone]

All Inclusive

A Dave York Fan Fic

Sorry it’s been a while people. Life, the Olympics & lots of WIP trying to work out what to do next has consumed my mind. But here we are, it’s a Dave York Saturday & we are here to get naughty with our favourite Stabby Murder Daddy.

Synopsis:- Dave asks you his nanny to accompany him & his family on holiday in Hawaii, but does the trip have alternative motives.

Word count:- 3500

Warnings:- DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 18! DAVE YORK COMES WITH HIS OWN WARNING! Unfaithful, affair. Anal, oral, PIV, consenting adultery, swearing, alcohol, choking, squirting, cum play ,controlling Dom vibes, rough sex, spanking, sex toys. Basically Dave is a menace at home & away.

Thanks as always for the read peoples, I hope you enjoy. All feedback is welcome .

He’s been fucking you for months. Carols job means that often she’s not around when he’s back from a mission. So why not use the nanny. You didn’t protest. You’d fancied Dave for the 8 months before these daliances started. Now on a Tuesday morning after his run, you make sure you’re just in your underwear cleaning the kitchen. He will stroll in, sweating & grab a glass of orange juice from the fridge before bending you over the island in the kitchen & fucking your arse. You’d never done anal before Dave but you now wish you had, knowing how ferocious & good Dave is. He also fucks you after any mission & a Sunday night. In fact Dave fucks you more than your last boyfriend did in total.

So after months of sex, Dave comes home one day looking excited. He bounces towards Carol as you make dinner, the girls are watching cartoons in the other end of the kitchen.

“Ladies, we’re going on holiday”

“Really?” Carol screeches, clapping her hand.

“Yep, 2 weeks in Hawaii in 2 weeks time”

“I’m not sure I can get the annual leave at such short notice” Carol says concerned her husband is being so reckless & spontaneous.

“You don’t like your job anyhow, just quit” Daves blunt in his response. This makes Carol laugh.

“I’m sure work can cover me”

“Exactly” Carol then give Dave a huge kiss on his cheek.

“Hear that girls a nice little family holiday just for 4 of us…”

“5”

“5?” Carol ask & then Dave points at you.

“She’s coming too, I want some alone time with my wife, she can look after Molly & Alice” you turn your head & look at Dave.

“Really? Mr York?”

“Really, & don’t worry you will get some days away from us too & I’ll pay you double for when we aren’t with the kids too.”

“I don’t know what to say, thank you”

“That’s more than generous Dave” Carol raises an eyebrow. “But it does mean I get time with you so, thank you deary” Carol says in a condescending way.

That night Dave fucks you hard & rough. Carol had gone out with friends so Dave made the most of his opportunity once the kids were asleep, & you were bent in half, feet up by your head as he pounded your pussy. He’s very interested in trying out new positions after finding out you were double jointed, especially as he has now been able to make you squirt for him. He also loves to look at you flutter & clamp around him as you take his girthy length.

“Fuck fuck fuck Dave fuck…” his hand goes over your mouth.

“Don’t make me smother you with a pillow again” all this this makes him go faster. His thumb on your clit not missing a beat as you give in & drench him. “Oooh fuck sweetheart” he growls as he then rolls his eyes into the back of his head before he cums. He stays in position catching his breath watching your chest heave, looking at the mess you’ve both made. Enjoying the squelching noise as he withdraws, your cunt leaking. He slides his penis through the mess & you know it’s time to sit up & clean the shaft for your boss. He doesn’t cum again but he lets out several deep moans.

When your done you look at Dave who then grabs his boxers. He never sleep in your room, it’s always just sex.

“Carol was pissed off when you said I was going to be on holiday with you all” you say.

“She’ll get over it, she will read free bar at the resort & forget you’re there” he scoffs & watches your naked body head to your ensuite bathroom. Your bum & boobs both jiggling.

“Well she had better,” you reply. “I’m guessing I’m gonna have a different room to you & Carol & the kids?”

“Yes we are staying in a little hut in the resort where Carol & I have one room & the girls will had another. Unless you want to sleep on the sofa, I’ve organised you to have master suit in the hotel 2mins away.” Your face does drop when you realise you will be a little bit away from Dave, but you also know that he can sneak out & come see you for some time away from the kids.

“Sounds like paradise already”

Hawaii is beautiful. The hotel is fantastic. The food delicious & the beach & pool exquisite. You could be here forever & never feel guilty.

Yes you have had to work. Each morning you take Molly & Alice to the kids club & there have been 2 evenings so far where you’ve had the girls while Dave & Carol have done stuff but Dave has still attended to your needs too. You tried not to laugh one day when Carol said Dave had been for a morning swim, he technically had, he’d just been in your bath tub which was huge in your luxurious hotel room & hed made the water splash over the side of the bath as he held your head under the water & took you. He even at one point put the shower head on jet mode to watch your clit tremble under the water pressure, neither unsure what was soapy residue or cum. He made you orgasm 3 times in 30minutes. But today is a weird one.

“You can have the night off” Carol says as you top up Alice sun lotion tonight “& tomorrow morning until 2pm, go enjoy the bar & go party, you deserve it”

“Really Mrs York” you raise an eyebrow. Dave not told you they are having the kids or that somethings going on, in fact you’ve not seen Dave at all today.

“I want to take the girls to the sleepover movie by the kids club to watch Paddington tonight” she says.

“Well thank you mrs York.” You had met a couple of girls at the resort who are reps & always ask why you aren’t out longer. Tonight you can enjoy being technically single in paradise. Dave hasn’t told you, you can see other people. So after applying lotion of both the kids you then start thinking about where your going to go tonight & what your going to wear.

You have dinner with Carol & the girls, still no sign of Dave & then head back to your hotel room & get ready to go out. You pick out your short silver glittery dress. It’s backless & does just about cover your bum. You straighten your hair & do your best make up. You put on your heels & look in the mirror at your outfit.

“Yea I look sexy” you say to yourself twisting your blonde hair & downing your Prosecco. Everything is on Daves account & he said you could have what you want & you’ve taken advantage of that. Why not pre drink even if you’re alone. You then grab your bag & head out to find a bar full of singles to enjoy yourself tonight.

By the third bar you’ve met a group of girls & are drinking with them, not showing off your unlimited tab too much but you’ve got a round in & some shots. You are coming back from the bathroom to go join them on the dance floor. You are walking past a couple of secluded tables when you see those eyes. The eyes that undress you not matter how they look. Your knickers dampen straight away, as you see Dave sitting in his own, whisky on the rocks in his glass sitting on the far side of the table to not draw attention to him, but much like every man you’ve walked past tonight, he has to look at the girl in the short silver dress, oozing confidence, strutting in heels.

“Dave?” You say as you stand next to the table. You twist that strand of hair & open your body up for a friendly open aproach.

“Evening” he replies coldly. Trying not to be affected by his instantly hardened penis under the table.

“Haven’t seen you all day” you say as you lean on the table perching your bum on the edge. The dress raising a little almost showing your underwear. “Where have you been handsome”

“None of your business” he’s looking stern.

“All right, calm down” you say casually & smile. Your eyes beaming. “So what are you doing here?”

“Drinking”

“Can I join you?” You say & reach for his wrist & he pulls his arm away & doesn’t reply. Your a little to tipsy to care why he’s here at the moment. “A simple no would have been fine” you say.

“How much have you drunk”

“Clearly not enough for me & too much for you”

“I think you should go back to your hotel room” Dave says not looking at you. He’s trying to act angry but he honestly wants you under the table sucking his dick until he can’t cum anymore.

“Only if you’ll join me” you say seductively. Dave has to look up this time, he sees you lick your lips, & then watches your hand go into his glass to get an ice cube out & press it against your lips. “You wanna know how relaxed & good I am tipsy”

“You need to stop”

“Thought you liked me being naughty” you roll the ice cube down your neck. Your hot from the busy bar, alcohol & the fact you’re in a warm place.

“I said stop” Dave slams a hand int he table. You jolt a little, leaping off the table. He notices your knickers are blue. He’s trying to not like them.

“Bloody hell Dave,” you respond “just calm down”

“You need to stop drinking & go back to your room”

“No Carol gave me the night & tomorrow morning off”

“Go back”

“No” you grab his whisky & down it. Leaving lipstick on the glass. Condensation from the glass dripping down your neck to your chest & then down your cleavage. Your nipples harden instantly from the cool touch. He’s trying hard not to get a full erection.

“Don’t make me do something I regret” he snarls.

“I said that the first night I sucked your cock”

“For fuck sake” he pounds the table with a fist & stands up his eyes looking crazed & incensed. He towers over you so broad & big & all you want to do is wrap your arms around his neck & make out with him, but you can see from the way he’s staring at you that he really isn’t teasing. He suddenly realised he’s stood up & raised his voice. He sits back down.”leave me alone,” he mumbles.

“A simple no thanks have a nice evening would have done Dave” you then hear heels approaching behind you & a busty ginger is walking this way & you catch Daves eyes light up. He’s being unfaithful to both Carol & you. You sigh & glance back at Dave.

“Well enjoy your evening Dave, remember to use a condom” you blow him a kiss & walk off not hearing his”wait you don’t understand”. You walk past the ginger & whisper in her ear hoping she hears you say “he’s married” as you go & find that group of girls. You see her sitting next to Dave a few minutes later. As you & the girls head to the next bar, you can see his thumb on her chin & the other hand stroking her arm tenderly. You can’t be shocked Dave would cheat on you too, you are already the affair from his wife.

You eventually get back to your room at about 1:30am, truly loose & relaxed. You lock your door but don’t put the chain across it in a tipsy state, & walk across the room shedding your clothes as you go. You look at your naked body in the mirror & sigh.

“Bet the ginger had fake tits”’you say to yourself before you reach into your mini fridge & get out a cold bottle of water drinking it all the way down, also enjoying the coldness from the fridge feeling on your skin. You then get into bed & put your phone on charge & reach into the bed side table. You packed a couple of toys with you for the holiday & you need to feel the friction. You don’t even use lube, you slowly insert the gspot tickler in & turn it on low.

“Oooh fuck” you grown working up to your favourite setting, which when it pulses on your clit, you call it the Dave setting. It’s the same rhythm he has when he pleasures you. You reach that setting in about 5 minutes as your legs open wide in the moment & you start moaning his name.

“Fuck Dave Dave ooh more stabby more more more” your almost at your high with your eyes shut & your thighs trembling, your wrist working your pleasure, when you hear the latch click on the door. You open your eyes which are met with glare & are shocked in silence. Did you not lock the door? Yes you did. The door is now shut, someone is in your room. You go to shakily scream for help with the vibrator still inside you, but a large hand smothers your mouth. You’d recognise that hand anywhere, & then you feel another hand push the vibrator further in you. You look to the left & see those deep brown eyes, staring at you. They are so wide & dilated & he licks his lips. I’m your drunken state you forgot Dave had a room key.

“Gonna teach you a lesson sweetheart” Dave hits the button to change the vibrator setting & its short & sharp pulses on your clit keep it fluttering, your cunt oozing as you moan into his hand. “You might not have been working for us tonight, but I still fucking control you.”

“Fuck Dave” you moan into his hand & then he squeezes his hand over your mouth more.

“No you showed me up tonight, it’s Mr York, anything else & youll be punished” he then very quickly pulls the vibrator out of you & shoves 3 fingers inside your quivering sex, the movement & friction so quick. The wet sounds filling the room.

“Fuck” you scream is muffled slightly as you squirt drenching his hand. A wave of pleasure making your whole body twitch. He cackles watching you come undone so quickly. The hand covering your mouth leaves & you take a big inhale of air before his other hand drenched in your fluids is shoved in your mouth. You obediently suck, eyes wide getting all of the residue off. He snaps his hand back before he then forcefully turns your over. You hear him unzip before your head is pushed into the pillow.

“You almost fucked tonight up sweetheart” he says & then he moans as he swipes his cock through your slick, so he doesn’t need lube. You then jolt your head up as he fills your arse with one swift thrust.

“Fuck fuck fuck” he raises your head & his hand goes round the back of your neck.

“No you’re being quiet” you head slammed back into the pillow as you moan. His pace relentless. You can feel he’s still fully dressed as he fucks your arse. “Thought you could distract my informant, thought you could fuck up the job I’ve been working on for the last 6 months” your trying to take in what he says but your to busy trying to not scream in pleasure. “No sweetheart, no way” he growls. “God your arse is so good to fuck” he smacks your buttock & lifts your head so he can hear you.

“OOoh fuck” you manage to get out in pure pleasure before he pushes your head into the pillow again. He’s being dominant & forceful & you like it.

“& you had to wear that short, slutty dress” he snarls. “You know I can’t control myslef when you wear that oooh fuck” he can feel you clamp around him, puckering, so he completely withdraws not wanting to cum yet & lifts your head up again.

“Fuck Dave please please” he smack your arse twice.

“Sorry what’s my fucking name sweetheart”

“Mmmrr mmm mr yyy y yo York?” You are overstimulated ready to have your next orgasm, words not forming.

“You’d better fucking believe it” he sharply pushes back in & you try to hold on, knowing he doesn’t want to cum yet. But then that trigger finger that’s not holding your head in the pilliow slips inside your cunt & it’s too late.

“Fuck Dave” you cum again “fuck fuck oooh yes oohhhh ahhh ahhhh fuckkkkk”

“Damn it sweet heart,” he’s jolting. He’s tensing up you can tell he’s about to burst. Usually at this point especially with your arse, he’d ask if you want him to cum inside you or give you a facial. You don’t get that option tonight. You shudder feeing his seed spill inside your arsehole. Oozing out of you, as he screams your name. Completely forfilled & satisfied. “Oooh sweetheart I needed that” he then let’s go if your hair & withdraws. Your body going limp & dropping flat onto the mattress as you pant, trying to regain cognitive function. You try to move but everything aches from his ferocious pounding of your arse for the last 30minutes.

“Dave” you mumble & you suddenly feel a long hand move a stand of hair off your face & he kneels next to the side of the bed.

“That will teach you for disobeying orders & interrupting work” he says, lifting your head by your chin & kissing you passionately with his tongue inspecting every cavity. He bites your bottom lip & is smug as your head drops back to the mattress & you pass out, fast asleep. You don’t know that Dave sits there & watches you to make sure you’re okay for the next 30mins. Before he leaves he makes sure some water & headache tablets are on your bedside table for when you do wake up.

“So how was last night” Carol asks you when you join the Yorks by the pool the next afternoon at 2pm.

“Fantastic” you say as you”drinking dancing bit of flirting, just a really good night off, thank you for letting me have the morning off too” you sit in the Sun lounger & flinch. Daves lasting memory from last night, your arse still feeling sore.

“Hmmm looks like someone over did it” Dave chuckles & peers over the top of his mirrored sunglasses on a sun lounger 2 away from you. He’s more ogling up your bikini & how easy it will be to take off.

“Go hard or go home” you reply in a happy up beat voice trying to not allude to Carol or the kids that you got up to anything naughty with anyone let alone Dave.

“I’m sure you went too hard” Dave says & Carol playfully hits him.

“The girls are right here” she scoffs at him.

“Yes they are” he then smirks. “Girls do you want ice cream?” They shout back enthusiastically. He then looks at you as he stands up in his blue & white swim shorts, his man hood isn’t hard but you can see its outline. “I need an extra pair of hands want to help?”

“Of course mr York” you stand up. “Usual girls? bubble gum & strawberry?” they cheer & you walk to where the ice cream place the girls like with Dave. Carol not suspecting a thing as she opens the next chapter of her book.

“Do you want ice cream?” He ask.

“Yes but…” you raise an eyebrow at him”I’d like something saltier to suck on” you lick your lips.

“Good girl sweetheart” he pulls you behind the shower block which is secluded, just a few meters away from where you were sitting. Your gasp & then his lips crash with yours, his hand caressing your face as the other had squeezes your bum. You wince a little as it’s from where he smaked you the night before.

“Dave were literally meters away from your family”

“So…” he raises his eye brow. “Thought you liked being naughty”

“Only for you Dave” he pushes you to your knees.

“I’m sorry what’s my name?” You pull a face “you still need to understand you place from last night”

“Yes Mr York” your small delicate hands slowly pull on his draw strings in his swim shorts. Your eye beaming.

“That’s my girl”

[meteor752]

I rewatched ever after high with my girlfriend after like, six years

We had…thoughts

Do you guys think fairytale people look down on those who aren’t from a fairytale? Because, Ever After High seems to be the most like prestige school, but not everyone can go to it. Is there like racism going on between fairytale people and normal people?

It’s said many times that Apple will be like, the future queen, but when we meet Snow White she’s a fucking capitalist. Also Apple being queen means kinda nothing cause half the school are royalty and will grow up to become kings and queens. That title doesn’t mean anything

We had like, ten kids from wonderland, but no Oz kids? I feel like a Dorothy child would be very obvious, like what the hell, same with the witches

The school actively encourages evil people to be evil, then become surprised when they are evil. Like, Evil Queen cursing Wonderland and almost taking over the world? That’s on you, principal

Also can we place lock up the principal in jail? He lied and manipulated his students, stole from Raven, and kept his brother cursed and locked up in the basement. Like, ???? The brother comes back and is just like “Oh I missed you so much brother” like no!!!!!! Get that man out of here!!!!!

Do the fairytale people reproduce like, asexually, or do we have a ton of inbreeding between the royals? Well, it would be the most realistic aspect of the show

Hot take: Apple is a great character. Like yeah she’s a little selfish, but when we’re shown how she was raised it’s fully understandable that she’s so obsessed with fulfilling her destiny, but she’s never rude or bitchy, not ever really to Raven. Also she gets better! Active character development! She’s one of my favorites

Why the fuck is Allister frolicking in Wonderland. Bro Alice came back, she left that place, yet everyone is just like “Yep he’s a wonderlandian”, like no! Also he’s a royal? Bro you can’t be a royal, you were actively rebelling against your story by going to wonderland early

It’s a little messed up how many of the kids are like, being forced to die. Like Ramona? She will be fucking gutted after eating her sister if she goes with her story. Like what is this school, what are these rules?

Apart from Sparrow, surprisingly, everyone of the boy designs are so fucking boring. Ew

I love the direction they took for Briar. I think they kinda realized after the first episode that shit, it’s kinda weird that this girl who’s destiny it is to sleep for 100 years to just be fine with it. Briar is also one of my faves

Speaking of the sleeping beauty story tho, do you think it’s rare for the school to have a sleeping beauty? Cause we’re shown that this school has housed like, generations of fairytale characters, but since Sleeping beauty clocks out for a hundred years, and probably only had a child after that, they must only get her like, every fourth or fifth generation. Kinda interesting actually

Daring X Cerise > Daring X Rosabella. Like idk, maybe it’s that Cerise can like, fully challenge him in his views, forcing him to become better in a way. Like, with Rosabella it feels more like an “I can fix him <3” mindset, while with Cerise it’s more “I can knock him down a peg”. I just thought they had a better dynamic, idk

Speaking of the Charming family, gf and I fucking hate Dexter’s name. Like, Daring and Darlings names match each other so well, not just that they sound alike but that they have meanings. Dexter is just a boring name

We tried to come up with name ideas, Dating was the funniest one to us, but we thought Dastardly was kinda fun.

Like, our thought process was that he was meant to be like, the classic jealous twin brother, always looking to sabotage his perfect older bro, except he wasn’t that at all. Like, a running joke would be that it would look like he was sabotaging Daring, or like being mean, but then the camera would like zoom out or smt and show that he was like, playing a video game or just doing something completely different. It would have been more fun, plus it would have given Dexter like an actual personality instead of just, inferiority complex the person

Dashing could also have been an idea for a name

Kitty should have a tail. As should her milf of a mother have. Also like, real cat ears instead of just a hat or a headband. It feels obvious

I mean Bunny has actual bunny ears, plus she can transform into a bunny, but why is the cat just like A Girl

How can Hunter belong to both the Little red ringing hood story, and Snow White. Is his dad just a mad multitasker, or does he have two dads? I like the second option honestly

The storybeat of the characters all living through each others story honestly should have been like, an entire special. It’s the most interesting thing the show did, and I wish we could have seen more, cause it lasted only like seven minutes. But that gives us more time to see that thrilling book all storyline, amiright?!

Briar’s moment was especially heart aching, and I wish we'd gotten more of it

But like, since Briar as the evil queen saw Apple poisoned instead of her mum, does that mean that Raven was talking to herself in her story

But at the same time, Blondie saw the current queen of hearts instead of Lizzie, so like what's going on

Snow White and The Evil Queen have like the vibe of high school rivals/ex girlfriends, and they did go to school together, but like Queenie is literally her step mom. Like what. If Raven were to live out her story, would that mean that she would marry Apple's dad? Whoever that is?

The more you think about the lore of this world the more it doesn't make sense, but it also becomes like incredibly dark

The Pied Piper is one of if not my favorite fairytales, but I hate how he is represented in this show. Like he kidnapped children and then drowned them, that man shouldn't be a teacher!

Also white queen is a teacher at ever after, yet her daughter is still in wonderland. Like bitch just left her there, what the hell.

I love that they didn’t make any of the princesses stuck up bitches, like Descendants did. Like, the girls are all kind, with vibrant personalities and a lot of love for the people around them. The closest thing to the “mean girl” stereotype is Duchess actually

But Duchess makes total sense! She fucking drowns at the end of her story, of course she wants another one. Why is Raven’s rebellion praised but Duchesses scorned? Also why is she a royal, girlypop is literally trying to steal other people’s happily ever after, she a rebel

There is more I can say, but this post has already been deleted twice from my drafts, and I am scared of it, so it’s better to get it out now

Also, as a final little send off, here’s my ranking of the characters, and the ships

[disregardcanon]

a few ways others influenced how Billy manifested "The Road"

the conversation about "taming your fears" and then "trials" and agatha claiming that they would face a trial for "each skill" shapes not only the setup as A Series of Four Trials, but also the emphasis on PERSONAL GROWTH. Billy ends up focusing in on what he knows about these different women whose minds he can read and who he keeps getting to know more and more as they go around

"i thought this would be obvious, but we should stay on the road" and then teen adding "I STRAY NOT FROM THE PATH!" happily like a student eagerly raising their hand in class. and then agatha is able to say "hello yes favorite student PLEASE make our situation go by what happens in the song i made up with my son. if you believe it then that'll become our reality! yay!"

agatha keeps asserting that billy is the familiar because oh boy! if he doesn't think of himself as Part of the Coven in the same way maybe his brain won't turn on him and get us all killed! yay!

For the first trial, Jennifer says that she "looks like one of her customers", and her business and clientele are BOTH something that Billy is familiar with. From the different versions of the Ballad, he already considers Personal Trauma to be something that's confronted on the Road, so of course he subconsciously chose something that created traumatic hallucinations, and then Agatha is still figuring out How This Thing That Shouldn't Be Is Going to Work so of COURSE she's reticent to drink the weird ominous now surely poisoned wine. she knows that the road isn't a real, cosmic entity that has set rules the way that others think. she fights against the idea that they all have to drink because if she had convinced billy that they didn't... she wouldn't have to! but with the combination of his preconceptions and the rest of the coven, who thinks that this is One Hundred Percent Real... he stays set on the idea that them, the Coven Members, all have to drink.

agatha stops fighting for HEY NO WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS as soon as billy decides if she doesn't, he will. she doesn't want to die for this, but she's also not stupid enough to have The Kid That Almost Definitely Is Making This Happen drink the wine instead of her. it actually IS better for her to be incapacitated and them have a chance to get out than to poison the kid who's clearly Doing The Magic Here,

For the second trial, Billy has some information from Alice about how her situation with her mom went via Being Right By Her During Her Hallucination and Alice Telling Him Things. from the hallucination: we get lorna playing with the cigarette lighter, saying she could feel alice's grandmother die thousands of miles away, smoke, and "I CAN'T PROTECT YOU!" he was right outside the door, where i'm sure he could hear her thoughts. this gives him enough to clearly connect Alice with fire in his mind. the rest of the trial was just... him knowing that alice has issues with her mother and her mother's version of the ballad, and creating a circumstance where she'd work through that issue. he really lucked into it being a protection spell for a proper generational curse.

other bits of trial number two: "seriously, we're an album cover waiting to happen!" teen exclaims. the walls of assorted Bad Things That Happen to Witches and then lorna wu merchandise.

he doesn't actually know nearly as much about agatha as the others, because he can't read agatha's mind. i think that the ouija board trial was the first one where his brain was just "huh, okay... what are the vibes of talking to spirits?" lilia establishes that spirit magic can't be hers because it was a con and establishes herself as divination for later, and then RIO is the one that makes it agatha's. i haven't totally figured out why, though. or what his subconscious had in mind for what "passing" the trial would look like. evanora and nicky were definitely the real ghosts pulled in with the help of the ouija board, but the reasoning behind it is a lot less... clear to me than the others.

the outside of the road was treacherous enough to keep sharon inside, but it didn't kill him and i don't think that it would have. the goal of that subconscious bit of magic was a fence, vs the subconscious use of the Trials, which according to the ballad, being used to construct it, COULD be deadly. (if one be gone we carry on, spirit as our guide). then of course when agatha, lilia and jen got sucked under it, despite how angry he was... it was a conscious enough use of magic and he didn't ACTUALLY want them dead.

the divination trial was pretty clearly set up in his brain for lilia. the tarot, the old timey european aesthetic of the set, and then the different witch costumes assigned to different witches to represent how he views them. it also makes sense that they couldn't figure out how to "pass it" before lilia got there because neither billy nor agatha are very good at tarot and they were just sniping at each other about how to do it, vs lilia who divined her whole life and was able to use the power boost billy's powers gave her to go out with a bang.

the green trial, i think, was a desperate last moment brain attempt to just shove them in a room and get results. the aesthetic was Scary Morgue because he finally had rio/death to slot into the green witch part of his brain. the idea, then, became Give the Survivors What They Came For, then they can leave. they got jen unbound and she got to disappear. agatha guided him through getting tommy a body and then he got to disappear, and then his brain kept agatha there until she was able to get at her own reason for being on the road: starting anew. then it let them all out.

[two-white-butterflies]

you're losing me (four) | am. targaryen and j. velaryon

Description: The awkward family and friends dinner continue. Rhaenyra tries to prod deeper into your relationship with her brother. Rating: General Audiences Author's Note: I didn't expect this series to last longer than 3 installments. Might reach longer than 5 or 7, but I'll keep the chapters light. part three

Jace watches as the waiters began to serve their food. It was gourmet of course, prepared solely for the guests' enjoyment. You couldn't help but feel out of place - an imposter crawling into the inner circles of the upper echelon. "I'm vegan, I'm sorry - I can't eat this." you whisper, declining the wagyu steak in front of you. It looked delicious, but there was no way in hell that you were eating meat.

"Really? Aemond was the one who confirmed the meal samples?" Rhaenyra raised her voice, saddened since she was the one that planned the party. "Oh, he didn't know." you smile, and the waiter places the food back on the tray. "How long have you known each other?" Jace speaks, swirling the wine on his glass.

The first thing that couples do before knowing each other - is going on a date, and if you've been on a date with him countless of times - wouldn't Aemond know about your certain likes or dislikes?

"A year." Aemond answers, flashing you a sorry smile. " - and you can have my food, it doesn't have any meat." he smiles, quickly placing his plate on your table-mat. "Thank you." you mumble, and he motions for the waiter to bring the steak back and to give it to him.

Jacaerys' eyebrows raised in intrigue. A year and his uncle knew nothing about you. Aemond didn't know that your eyebrows bumped into each other when you were worried. He didn't know that your favorite game was Mario Kart even though you sucked at it. He was losing you to a man that hardly knew you - and he could do nothing but watch. "Where did you meet?" Lucerys pipes, realizing that drama was about to go down.

"At a hotel room garden," Aemond smiled - staring at you with stars in his eyes. He looked at you with all the warmth that he could muster. He was a magnetic force of a man. "I wanted to grab a picture for Helaena, but she grabbed my heart." he placed a hand on your chair, a coy smile on his face.

Alicent smiles at the both of you - a look of adoration on her face. Her son has fallen in love with a wonderful woman. "When are you getting married?" she inquired, joyous at the thought of grandbabies. "Soon, somewhere around May or August." you answered. You were staring deep into his eyes - convincing yourself that you were doing this to free yourself from debt, and that you weren't actually in love with Aemond Targaryen. "This year?" Jace choked.

"Of course, the good ones never wait." Aemond smirked.

Jace finally has you alone.

You were standing on the balcony - with another glass of wine on your hand. The dress that you were wearing was slightly wrinkled, the ring on your finger was beginning to slip. He knows that this is the only chance that he'll be given - and he's taking it.

"Are you sure?" he opened his mouth, leaning on the balcony rails. This wasn't how he imagined it to turn out - you were his sacred new beginning, his sweet nothing, but now - you were his hoax.

"Sure about what?" you asked with a hoarse voice.

What the fuck did you get into?

"My uncle." he responded plainly, looking for something hidden in your eyes. Was it too far gone to bring back to life? Did you win the battle but lose the war? "He's the only thing I'm sure of nowadays, Jace." you answer - he could hear a tinge of sadness in your voice. You were hiding something and it wasn't his place to ask any questions. He takes a deep breath.

His biggest regret - standing in front of him. "I'm sorry," he apologized - and your eyebrows merged into each other. "Sorry for what?" you asked, playing with the rim of the glass. "I'm sorry for chasing fame - when I should've been happy with what I had. In another life, maybe - I'll love you, and you'll still love me back." he chuckled, slowly walking out of the balcony - completely oblivious of the man leaning on the door and eavesdropping on your conversation.

scammerui streets are saying that aemond targaryen (new dad) and j*ce velaryon are related. 😄 Y/N is a family hopper? IDGAF I STILL SUPPORT HER #SueMe

arthurmenchie: If my bf was related to a hot/rich/tall specimen like aemond targaryen, i'd family hop too 😳 also @ynwebster confirm this boo. - ynwebster: (source, wikipedia but put into terms that we can understand) Aemond is J*ce's uncle, they're related through his mom (Rhaenyra Targaryen) xxx ynwebster OUT

Aemond smiled at you with a drunken stare. He was evidently tired from all of the mingling and talking, but he still managed to escort you into the safety of his car. There was silence between the both of you. None daring to move or make a sound. He slumps on the backseat. Popping a small mint into his mouth.

You help him unbutton his suit, freeing his chest from the tightness. His smile deepens - staring deep into your eyes. "You're my best friend." he states - slurring though his words due to the amount of wine that he consumed. Your eyes widen slowly. He was in love. The drunken smile continues to paint his mouth, until he falls asleep on the drive home.

(your first name): here's to forever and more.

89,123 comments 3,128,801 likes

jacintarobinhood: "I wanna teach you how forever feels like," is not for Jack-in-a-box because it's for Aemond now 😭 - bananashake44: You mean Aemond Targaryen; born in Nairobi, Kenya who beat Jacaerys for the spot as President of Fire and Blood Corporations using equal machinery Aemond Targaryen? 🤘🏽 - technobrat61: I think you mean, Aemond Targaryen who was raised in Monte-Carlo and founder of his own corporation Aemond Targaryen. 💪🏽😳 - (your first name): is there a meme about him now? i don't get it

part five

@glame @xcinnamonmalfoyx @winxchesters @yentroucnagol @hotchnerswife @mxxny-lupin @joliettes @kemillyfreitas @mxtantrights @urmomsgirlfriend1 @kravitzwhore @sweethoneyblossom1 @introverbatim @flrboyd @kemillyfreitas

[stuffymcstuffsworld]

Don't mess with our dad

The great general Furfur was attacked. Somehow, winding up in the hospital with several cuts, a concussion, 3 broken ribs, his left kneecap broken, and a dislocated jaw. The large demon pouting about whatever had occurred.

A nurse walked in and smiled. "Look, general! Someone sent you a "get" well gift!" Showing him the large boutique of flowers that she arranged in the vase next to his bed. As well as a small card. For a demon like Furfur, who understood the meaning of several plants for research purposes that was anything but a gift.

13 types of flowers hidden away in disguised present. 13 flowers, basically screaming at him the same message. It was actually kinda cute how passive-aggressive the warning in it came.

Yellow carnations, meaning rejection. Columbine stood for foolishness, and the Geranium empathized that by adding folly and stupidity to the mix. Hydrangea showed signs of heartless or frigid affection. The lavender indicates deep signals of mistrust.

Orange Lily screams out hatred with its loud coloration. Marigold showed off grief and jealousy, but considering there were also Yellow Roses added, also implying jealousy and infidelity, he knew which way the message leaned. Then came the Peonies for bashfulness and shame.

The Poppies were a consolation of sorts as the Snapdragons spoke of deception and grace. The Zinnia were absent in affection while the Lotus tried to offer enlightenment and rebirth. Something along the lines of... 'Get lost, you jealous pig. I wouldn't even trust you in the next life.'

On the card, there was the entire misfit class, and several of them were holding a "get" well soon banner. It was rather sweet until he spotted his two trainees holding a sign over their heads. In big bold letters, it said. 'DON'T PICK ON DAD AGAIN!'.

Even that was somewhat amusing... until he remembered how he ended up here in the first place. A shudder rushed down his spine cause a brief grunt to escape as it pasted his ribs. Maybe he should wait a bit before he ever decides to visit again.

**the day before**

It was just an average weekend spent at home. All the kids were over and causing mischief. Balam currently had an energetic Clara on his shoulders whilst Iruma and Lied clung to his legs.

Kamui was sitting with Kerori and Elizabetta currently having tea. Alice and Sabro were fighting again, but they weren't destroying anything, so you chalked that up for a win. Picero was taking a nap on his cloud while Goemon, Allocer, and Jazz seemed to be playing some kind of card game.

Which left Soi, who was currently trying to sneak up on Balam with one of your freshly made flower crowns. You giggled as you watched the two of them playfully participate in a game of now you see me. Every time Balam-San would turn to acknowledge the little demon, he would disappear.

Overall, it was a lovely day. Too bad something had to ruin it. A shadow loomed over you, and you glanced up recognizing your uninvited guest. "Hiya cutie, did ya miss me?" General Furfur.

You gave him a blank stare in return. "What are you doing here?" The disinterest in you tone making the answer to his question very clear. "Aw, don't be so cold. Didn't we have fun last time?" That slick smirk stretching across his face.

"I believe I told you already. I don't waste my time with people who don't raise my interest. You had it, but you lost it just as quickly. It's not my fault if you can't maintain something." You shrug before turning back to watch your kids.

Somehow, Soi had either snuck up a tree without Balam-San noticing or the demon had let the boy think that. Either way, he hung precariously above the gargoyles head, shushing a giggling Clara as he dropped the laurel on top of their dad's head.

Shichirou, for his part, blinked and pretended to be surprised when he reached up to touch his head. "What do you even see in him?" You heard the frustration in his voice, and you stiffened.

"I mean, he's so weird, I heard he constantly carried creepy books around as a student, and he is constantly mumbling strange nonsense. So what's there to even like?" You could feel your nails digging into your flesh, your teeth clenching together like a steel trap.

"And you know even if he is strong, he's more of a pacifist, not very demon like if you ask me." Every word seemed to grate on your skin. How dare he?!? How dare he scoff at your husband/mate/whatever this relationship had escalated to.

Standing up, you were ready to send him flying through the garden wall. Only.... someone beat you to it? Well, more like two demon's cause it seemed Alice and Sabro had heard the red demon trash talking their master.

It seems all of your children had heard to actually as they proceeded to gang up on the large general before he could stand. Kicking punching scratching, you even saw iruma bitting him!! Balam cautiously approached you and wrapped an arm around your waist.

"Are you alright?" He whispers softly in your ear, brushing his woven feathers behind your ear as he does. You glance over to him. Seeing your present still firmly in place wrapped by strong vines around his neck. The pretty stone sort of winking in the light.

Reaching up, you wiped your shocked tears off of your face in surprise. Oh! You hadn't realized you were crying. "Yeah, it's just..." looking back in time to see Clara and Sabro holding a large hammer and smashing it on one of Furfurs legs.

"I'm just so proud!" The tears of shock quickly turning into one's of joy. "Look at my babies fighting to defend you! Oh, where's my camera?!" You quickly grabbed your phone and started taking pictures.

The gargoyle shifted somewhere between nervous but also proud. "Shouldn't we stop them?" You waved off his concern. "It will be fine as long as they don't kill him."

[darklinaforever]

Why do u think of the theory that Aemond actually cares for Helena and the kids are his? I actually wouldn’t mind it because he might be more tolerable. Helena is the only likable green at all. Like it would add some humanity to him that wouldn’t be annoying or bad writing. Maybe… and the irony that he killed Luc and we don’t know if the Blacks would know the son is Aeomond’s… Team Black ONLY: thoughts??

Frankly, for the book, this theory is clearly a throwaway.

But it could be possible in the show given how these writers do anything, and the fact that technically it could clearly work with what was briefly shown in season 1.

Already there is the fact that it was Helaena specifically who prophesied that Aemond would lose an eye. We are introduced that she is a dreamer through Aemond.

Also Aemond did not seem at all against the idea of ​​marrying Helaena and did not seem to like how Aegon II spoke of her.

Generally speaking, Helaena is always placed next to Aemond.

Without forgetting the moment where Jace invites Helaena to dance which seems to annoy him, even if this is also the case for Aegon II and it is probably due to a simple rivalry between Aemond and the Velaryon boys, but compiled by the rest that may raise questions.

There are also these weird scenes in episode 9 where Helaena catches Aemond's look when he enters the room.

And then she always seems close to him during the coronation of Aegon II, still leaning towards Aemond.

Plus the fact that she seems to caress / touch his arm when Rhaenys attacks.

It could clearly make it into the show.

I am both for and against. Already I am against because of the book. More whitewashing for Aemond in the show...

But on the other hand, I could agree that already, at least Helaena could have had a little respite by having her children with someone 'one she likes.

And then also, the Green stans could no longer open up about the fact that the Velaryons boys are illegitimate children or about the fact that there is no incest in their team (at least consented and therefore abominable according to their term, even if Aegon II has already made sexual advances towards Baela who is his family, so still incest, but hey, apparently Aegon II is against incest ! 😂).

Honestly, I think if that happened it would just make me laugh.

And I would love to see Alicent's reaction to this, she who harassed Rhaenyra for years for not having her children with Laenor when her own daughter would have done the same.

That would be delicious.

Although I know some green stans would love to see Helaena & Aemond perform. Again, not really consistent with most of their initial comments but hey ! It's not like we should look for logic in the Green stans after all, or even in the basic HOTD show...

In any case, I will always choose Helaemond if they want to do something "romantic" with the character of Aemond, to avoid dealing with the romanticization of Alysmond... Definitely a woman that Aemond raped, since he took her as a prize of war, and it disgusts me to see this being romanticized.

But anyway, in the sole context of HOTD with what season 1 gave us, yes, Aemond being the father of Helaena's children could totally pass if that's what the writers want to do.

But honestly, Helaemond shp is just a pale copy of the Aemon & Naerys relationship in my eyes.

[adobe-outdesign]

in honor of international women’s day, could you review some royal neopets (since all women are queens?)

(Royal has a lot going on with it, as there's not only the usual customized vs UC designs, but also the royal boy vs royal girl designs on top of that. For purposes of this review I picked out royals where both genders look great, but let me know if you guys would be interested in seeing a royal girl/royal boy-specific review.)

Royal is one of the more complicated Neopets colours, having special art and poses pre-customization and having a gender split on top of that. Normally I'm not big on gender splits as a whole for being overly cis, but I'll forgive it in this case because it is actually possible to get a female royal boy pet and vice versa through lab ray shenanigans. Customization also allows for clothes to be swapped around at will.

One thing that I always found strange about royal as a colour is that it oftentimes doesn't really match up with anything lore-wise. For example, Blumaroos come from Roo Island, and their leader, King Roo, is vaguely dressed like a jester because Roo Island is the happy-go-lucky fun land. Makes sense! But then the royal Blumaroo colour is... space themed, for some reason?

It's not that the colour literally needs to match up with actual Neopian leaders all the time, of course; it's just that sometimes the choices made feel random and ill-fitting for the species.

Another instance of this is in the royal pets that are based off a specific country/region. I do like the diversity in not having all pets share that Meridell-esq European look, but sometimes it does make me raise my eyebrow. Like, where in Neopia is "Mongolia", exactly?

And in terms of customization, royal pets generally got hit pretty hard. Previously, royal pets were bipedal, and many of them had subtle anatomically changes to give that them royal look. It's not even that royal pets just got converted in general, but many of the conversions seem very poorly done—such as the poor Aisha above, which inexplicably lost an entire set of ears. Like I said, I like the ability to trans our Neopets easier, but that's about the only benefit.

Favorite Species:

Skeith: One common problem with royal pets tends to be that the royal girl and royal boy look completely different, with one of them (usually the male) looking significantly better. Thankfully, the royal Skeith do not have this problem, with both male and female sharing a white base with a subtle accent color and similar-but-distinct sets of clothing. The Alice in Wonderland inspiration is also very fun, and feels supper fitting for the species. Great stuff.

Kyrii: I already went over these designs in my Kyrii review so I'll keep this short, but the UC/styled royal Kyrii are just fantastic designs all around. The squarer head shapes than normal give them a very elegant look, and the designs make full use of the Kyrii's distinctive long manes (not to mention the old BD poses, which were just delightful). The only drawback is that the converted versions are particularly bad, to the point where I'm not even bothering to show them here to save space.

Peophin: Something about underwater royals just tend to hit, and the Peophin is no exception. The species already has their distinct head ornamentation, but the royals take it a step further by adding extra jewels and extending it over the ears and head fins, then accenting it with even more additional jewelry. I also really like the robes, which feel surprisingly natural for their body shape. Beautiful all around.

BONUS: Remember how I was saying that a lot of royal designs feel random and ill-fitting for their species? The royal Koi avoids this completely by basing the royal boy design off of King Kelpbeard, the ruler of Maraqua. Once again, both designs here are well balanced and go well with each other, and I like the degree of underwater elements—coral crowns, seaweed accents, and pearl necklaces.

(Side note: a very honorable shoutout goes to the royal Mynci and Flotsam, which didn't quite make the cut but are still excellent designs.)

Least Favorite Species:

Moehog: Most royal pets are at least interesting, but I can't say that about the poor royal Moehog, which is mostly forgettable; just the standard clothing that you'd expect from royals. The royal boy is slightly better, at least sporting a nice dark blue base, but the royal girl has a very "cheap" design, like it's wearing a Halloween costume instead of actual royalty. The royal Moehog never got a UC option, but they did have pre-customization designs that were slightly better–but only slightly.

[24hlevi]

Hiiii! Could I request “i just wanted to make sure you're okay” with Arisu Ryohei??? He deserves some good fluff!

Congrats on 1,700 followers! Hope you have a good day!

you are so right arisu deserves fluff i need to write more happiness for him

— talk to me

arisu ryohei (alice in borderland) x gn!reader

genre: fluff

summary: fluff prompt 2("i just wanted to make sure you're okay") from my 1,700 follower event

warnings: language

in the borderlands, there was little to no happiness. whether it be from your best friends dying in front of your eyes to the survivors guilt and depression of still being alive while everyone else perished around you. and arisu ryohei was very familiar with that feeling. the feeling of hopelessness, loneliness, and unhappiness. but thanks to his inferiority complex, he was able to make it through and survive until the second stage. that was, until another friend perished.

arisu was torn apart after tatta's death. which makes sense seeing as he was the one slamming the crate closed onto the other male's hand causing him to ultimately bleed out. last time with karube and chota, you were able to help him. but it was different this time. now, arisu didn't want to participate in any more games. but you had to get him out of this funk, or else you knew he wouldn't survive.

you walked back to the tent with some canned food from a store that somehow still had items in it, seeing arisu laying on the ground like you found him the first time. not moving an inch. a small frown grew on your face as you sighed aloud, making arisu finally lift his head and see you were standing in front of him.

arisu didn't speak, laying his head back down on the cold cement as you set down the food next to him. you stared at him for a few seconds, waiting for him to say something, anything, but nothing was said. he looked dead inside. like there was no reason to continue on living, and it made you feel like crying seeing him like that again.

"hey," you crouched down and moved his hair out of his face, "what's wrong?" you asked him.

"nothing," arisu replied in a mumble.

"don't lie to me, ryohei," you said in a stern voice. "i just wanted to make sure you're okay, that's all. i won't know what's wrong if you don't tell me, you know."

this time it was arisu who sighed, slowly raising his body off the ground to sit up straight as he looked down at the cement. "i killed him. i did it again. i killed someone."

"hey," you lifted his head with your hands to make him look at you, "you didn't kill tatta, and you sure as hell didn't kill karube or chota, okay? you didn't do anything wrong. you didn't know tatta would bleed out from his injuries. you didn't know how heart games worked. it's okay. as long as i'm still here with you i will continue telling you that you did nothing wrong," you told him, your thumbs caressing his cheeks gently. "i love you, okay? and i can't stand seeing you like this."

arisu didn't say anything for a while, and it made you worried you had said something wrong when he suddenly wrapped his arms around you and hugged you tightly. immediately your arms embraced him and he rested his head on your shoulder. then, you felt wet droplets hit your shirt, resulting in you quickly realize that he was crying and your grip on him tightened.

you rubbed his back with one of your hands while he cried on your shoulder, not even saying anything but simply letting him cry. there was no need for words. you knew arisu struggled a lot with these types of things. from being practically neglected from his father who focused on his brother more, to his only best friends dying in front of his eyes, he was completely alone with no one to depend on. except for when he was with you, that is.

arisu was incredibly grateful for you. every moment you spent with him felt like years together for him. he loved you so much he would do anything to make sure you're okay and safe. just in general, anything you asked of him he would do. it didn't matter if he was uncomfortable with it or not, he would still do it anyway just because it was you who asked. he was completely head over heels for you.

but during times like this, when he was at his lowest. all he needed was someone to support him. even if there was no words exchanged, a simple hug was enough to help arisu feel a little bit better than how he was before. that's why you didn't need to say anything to him. knowing just the one act of affection would help him. even if it wasn't a lot, he wouldn't trade it for anything else. not even going back to the real world.

arisu ryohei was forever thankful to have you in his life, an angel as he would call you. like god sent him his own personal angel to keep him safe. that's what he felt like you were to him. to help lift his spirits when he was low. to give him unconditional love he had never felt before. to just stay there with him. he was absolutely utterly in love with you. and there was nothing that would change that. nothing.

[bananadrinkxxx]

THE BLOOD CROWN (20)

[Aemond Targaryen x Original Female Character ! I fem!reader]

[Dark Romance / Enemies to Lovers / Revenge]

Content for adults. 18+

[warnings: smut, sex content, dark romance, angst, fights, domination, murder]

[description: Aemond Targaryen meets his niece under a different name and falls in love with her without knowing that she is supposed to be his enemy.]

Masterlist - click here for all available parts

"We have found four burnt corpses on the edge of the forest near Harrenhal, my king."

Aemond looked tired to Grand Maester Orwyle, and suddenly he felt life coming into him again. Burnt bodies? Orwyle had spoken to the king, but his gaze was on Otto, who looked intently at the old man.

A Grand Maester was the king's personal maester, a learned man wise in history, science, and medicine who also provides counsel. Aemond had always wondered why Maester Orwyle had been given this position, a foolish man with too much misogynism in him. Of course, he saw it as Maester Orwyle did that Rhaenyra had no place on the Iron Throne, but only because he followed the laws of his ancestors and he knew that someone like his half-sister, who trampled on honor and decency, had no right to sit there and not because he hated women in general. There was no one he respected more than his mother.

"Daemon Targaryen has been sighted nearby aboard with his dragon Caraxes. It suggests he did it. The type of fire is definitely from a dragon."

Why would Daemon burn four unknown men? It seemed unnecessary and risky.

"Now the Rogue Prince is killing innocent people, too? His madness knows no end," says Jasper Wylde, Master of Laws. "This is an abomination."

"Maybe it was also Rhaenyra who gave the order?"Orwyle said again with a touch of poison in his words. "She's like Maegor, only with tits. Now that she can squeeze her bastard back to her breasts, there's no stopping her."

Aemond watched his mother raise her eyebrow disapprovingly and Orwyle shrink in his seat. "Forgive me, my words, Queen Alicent."

"For Rhaenyra the iron throne is more important than peace," Otto interrupted. "She has now proved that. She has refused every offer of peace from us and we expect her attack at any minute."

"An unsuitable candidate for the inheritance of Aegon I the Conqueror. It's good that her revered father came to his senses in the last few seconds," Lannister added, looking at Alicent contentedly. But his mother did not respond to his words and looked to her father.

"She has already declared war on us. She already did when she attacked our family."

"Barbaric."

"We must respond with fire and blood."

Aemond glanced at his brother. He stared around like it was none of his business. They hadn't much to say since their fight. Aegon seemed disinterested and once again Aemond realized how inappropriate Aegon seemed in this round. If he had been born as the firstborn, Rhaenyra would have been on her knees by now or, at best, already dead.

But his mother had insisted it had to be Aegon and Aemond understood. The Greens claimed that the firstborn son had to ascend to the throne, and what basis would their government have if he were to overthrow Aegon? It would have been best if he had brought Aegon to the ships, as the elder had begged him. In doing so, he would have spared Aegon the burden of the crown, to which he was no match, and he would have received what he was best suited for of all his siblings.

Aegon was weak.

"Ser Criston shows outstanding successes," reported Otto, alternately looking at Aegon and Aemond as if he heard his thoughts. "He's laying siege to Rook's rest right now. Ser Criston sent us a message. He's counting on the black attack."

He'd be ready. She should come. He would finally be able to show that he not only flew the oldest dragon but also the most powerful. He would crush their rebellion. He would know no mercy.

Ever since the attempted murder of Aegon's children, it's been willing to do anything. He would kill every single one of Rhaenyra's children, he would leave none to remain, as long as he traveled with Vhagar across the seven kingdoms until he had ensured that the last child of that bitch had died.

"My brother and I will ride on Sunfrye and Vhagar to Rook's rest," said Aemond, sensing Aegon's gaze upon him. Who was the king here? "We will not tolerate another black crime act."

He exchanged a glance with Aegon and his brother nodded.

"I agree," Aegon confirmed, and Aemond nodded contentedly.

"When they see you, they will return immediately, my king."

"Wouldn't it be advisable to inform Prince Daeron? Three dragons are better than two."

"My brother flew to Altsass this morning. Until we reach him, it won't be until the hour of the moon. Rhaenyra could attack at any time," Aegon contradicted and stood up. Suddenly he seemed determined and ready to fight. No sign of the weakling who had sat in his seat before.

"We're going to lure them into a case. We'll be close by, and if my sister attacks, we'll meet her on Sunfrye and Vhagar."

. . . . .

Rhaenyra had been expecting her lord husband back in the evening, and she felt a sense of relief when she could see Caraxes in the sky. Losing Daemon would be the downfall for them. Both as a personal loss and as a Queen. She stepped down the steps of Dragonstone, and went to the landing site where Daemon had already landed on Caraxes. She smiled and was about to greet her husband when she saw Daemon pulling out a girl. First she saw the brown curly hair, which was completely ruffled, then the torn dress and the wounds on her arms and legs. For a moment she looked like a young Alicent, and Rhaenyra inevitably remembered their childhood and friendship, but then the girl turned her head in her direction and Rhaenyra felt all the air leaving her body. The blood in her veins froze and it was suddenly hard to breathe.

Her eyes.

Rhaenyra stepped forward and grabbed her chain. The necklace she had given to herself and Aemma for her fourth name's day.

The engraving on the back is etched in forever, just like the meaning of the words.

In dreams we are united.

It couldn't have been.

The closer they got, the more frightening the resemblance Aemma and this strange girl shared. That's how Rhaenyra imagined her daughter. These eyes, these lips and their heart-shaped face.

Suddenly, a thousand memories flashed before her mind's eyes.

Aemma on her lap, cuddling herself asleep in her arms.

Aemma as she and her dragon Marax made a connection.

Aemma, who played with Lucerys and her older brother made her a dragon out of paper and Aemma proudly presented it to her mother.

Rhaenyra felt a tear roll over her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. Her hand trembled. Her eyes had to play a vicious game with her. She had longed for her daughter for too long, that she had longed to see her again, that now she suddenly thought a girl she had never seen before in her life was her daughter who thought she was dead.

"Mother," a familiar voice shouted behind her, and Rhaenyra broke away from the sight of the girl. She saw Lucerys coming towards her. He had his eyes on his mother, but then Rhaenyra watched Lucery's gaze wander to Daemon and he opened his eyes.

"Rose," he said, and Rhaenyra looked at her son in surprise.

"Rose? You know the girl?," Rhaenyra asked surprised.

Lucerys looked serious at her. "Yes," he nodded. "This is the girl I told you about. She is the one who reminds me of Aemma."

So she wasn't the only one? Your eyes didn't deceive you? Didn't play with their cruel games? Her son's words gave her relief, but at the same time they frightened her.Rhaenyra turned to Daemon to take another look at the girl to see that they were only a few steps away from her. The closer they came, the more Rhaenyra saw the resemblance. Her heart pounded wildly against her chest.

"My Queen," Daemon greeted her, pulling the girl roughly in front of him. She stumbled and almost flew there if the prince hadn't held her. Rhaenyra gagged about his rudeness.

The girl, Rose, as Lucerys had called her, looked up and her brown eyes stared straight at her. It was as if she looked into her soul and swallowed Rhaenyra. If it was Aemma, wouldn't she have to recognize her mother? That she wouldn't recognize Lucerys would be understandable due to the change his development brought about, but even if she had grown older, would she have to recognize her mother or not? But she saw only surprise and shock in her eyes, which gave Rhaenyra a disappointing sting.

"I brought us Aemond Targaryen's whore."

Rhaenyra looked surprised at Daemon, who looked at her content. Then she looked behind her, to Lucery's squeezing his lips. She had a connection to Aemond, to her brother, to her enemies? The girl who looked like Aemma, and who seemed to deceive both her and Lucerys, had a close connection to the Greens, their enemies?

What a cruel joke of the gods.

. . . . .

Larys had to admit that it wasn't easy not to be noticed when he heard about the four bodies burned. Since he was neither stupid nor naive, and none of the men he had hired had come to collect their payment, he knew that something must have gone wrong.

The burned bodies. The girl, Rose, was not among them. He had ordered four men, there were four bodies, and none of them had been a woman's body. He could only hope that the girl had died some other way. Perhaps the men had already killed the girl before the Rogue Prince burned her. Larys was not in any danger at the moment, he would not have any consequences to fear, no one knew of him as a client, but he hated the feeling that he had no certainty.

He'd have to move on quickly with his plan.

. . . . .

Aemond did not turn around when he heard a gentle knock on his door and how it was opened timidly. He watched himself in his mirror and straightened his clothes. Rose didn't say a word when she entered his chambers. Daeron had told him that she had woken up, but that she had been asleep when he had visited her. Aemond had not visited her, but the feeling of relief and gratitude had brought him to the Sept and made him pray to the gods. For the first time, she had granted him a wish. Rose was alive. He sacrificed everything for that. He had not forgotten his oath to the gods. He made a deal with them. He promised them that if they let Rose live, he would do his duty and not bring any further disgrace upon her. He'd give anything to keep her alive. He was a believing man, since he was a child, his mother had taken him to the Sept, and since then he was a god-fearing man.

And that was the deal. His happiness for Rose's life.

But he didn't expect it to be so hard for him. Yes, he hated the feeling of weakness that she caused in him, and he didn't want to let her go into his heart, convinced himself she didn't mean anything to him, but no matter how much he lied to himself, it didn't change how much she had crept into his heart.

But he had decided to put that connection behind him. That's why he lied to himself and everyone else, denied it and its value to him. Only the gods knew what Rose meant to him, and he had no intention of changing that. He knew that he had to be cruel to her now, so that she too would quickly believe that she had no meaning to him. He didn't want to hurt her, but her life was too worthless for him.

He would rather see her alive and happy at the side of another man than plunge her into her misfortune.

He felt a touch on his shoulder and looked into the mirror again, but the reflection that was facing him was not the one of the woman he had been expecting. He quickly turned around and grabbed the hand of Alys Rivers, who looked at him in fright.

"What are you doing to her?"He hissed and squeezed hard. Why was she in his room?

"I have been assigned to you, my prince," she replied, closing her eyes.

"Why? I have a maid."

Alys looked at him again. Her eyes were deep and invited to sink into it.

"Do you mean Rose?"

"Who else would I mean, woman?"

She annoyed him. Her innocence didn't work on him. He thought it was ridiculous that a woman her age would still play these games. Perhaps Rose was still too weak to fulfill her duties to him? Just because she was awake didn't mean she was ready to go back to work.

"But, my prince," began Alys, looking at him pityingly. "You don't know yet?"

"What should I know?"Aemond hissed and had to control herself not to break her wrist. What did she know that he didn't?

"Rose has decided to leave the Red Keep and King's Landing. She told me yesterday. She was going to say goodbye to you and ask permission, but her things are gone, which is why I thought you signed her release."

Aemond didn't know what to think for a moment.

His head was empty. His mouth is dry. Suddenly it was painful to breathe and it felt as if his intestines were contracting in his body. The blood rushed in his ears.

Rose was gone?

How could that be possible?

No, she wouldn't dare it.

She wouldn't dare to leave him. She wouldn't dare leave him without saying goodbye. She wouldn't betray him. She wouldn't. Never.

"She said she fears for her life here and doesn't want to be in danger anymore."

That's bullshit. She was in danger if he couldn't protect her. He would never have let her leave him. How dare she? She wouldn't dare, would she? She wouldn't leave him.

She was his. His.

Just because he decided he wanted to stay away from her didn't mean she wasn't his anymore. He would have taken care of her anyway. He would have accepted it even if she had chosen a man at some point, but it would have been a man he considered worthy.

Rose belonged to him and neither she nor anyone else could say otherwise.

"Are you all right, my prince?"Alys asked, and Aemond shook as she put her hand on his cheek. Her hand was soft and cold, but for Aemond it felt as if she were burning him. He ripped his eye open and pushed Alys away. She breathed in fright, and Aemond put his hand around her neck. The anger in him was unstoppable. Alys gasped in a panic and tried to release his hand from her throat.

"If you dare to touch me again," began Aemond, and for a moment he no longer recognized his own voice, so cold and strange, "then I will kill you, do you understand me?"

He meant it. He'd kill her and he wouldn't hesitate. He was exploding inside, ready to kill anyone who stood in his way.

Rose didn’t leave him.

She wouldn't.

She must have been around.

He would do his duty today to his family and to this kingdom, and then he would turn every single stone after her.

He would bring her back, even if he had to put her in chains.

Alys nodded and he saw the horror in her eyes.

She feared for her life. All right. She should. She would never again make the mistake of touching him without his consent. He snorted and pushed her away. She stumbled backwards, over her own feet, and Aemond looked down upon her. He didn't feel sorry for me. She was of no value to him.

Without paying any more attention to her, he turned around and left his chambers. Nobody dared to speak to him, and that was a good thing. He didn't know what he was capable of at that moment.

Arriving in the Dragonpit, Aegon was already waiting for him, who looked at him surprised.

"What happened?"He asked, irritated, but Aemond didn't say a word. He ignored his brother and went to Vhagar, who looked at him attentively. She felt his inner struggle. She knew exactly how he felt. He approached Vhagar, pressed his hand against her scaly skin and saw her right in her eye looking down on him.

"Let's kill them all today," he said in Valyrian, and Vhagar gave an approving sound.

Aemond looked up to her contentedly.

. . . . .

"We can use her against Aemond," Daemon suggested, and Rhaenyra felt an irritating sting in her heart. She had no connection to Rose, and yet it felt to her as if Daemon was proposing to sacrifice one of her children.

But Rose was not her daughter. Or ? No, that was impossible. Or ?

Rhaenyra didn't know what to think.

"Are you sure she means something to the prince?"Lord Corlys asked, and he had a good argument. "Just because she's supposedly sleeping with him-"

"She does."

"Just because she is sleeping with him," Corlys corrected with a raised eyebrow, "doesn't mean she's important to him."

"Well, I think we can only find out if we try."

"And how do you imagine that, Daemon?"

"We can-"

Daemon was interrupted by Ser Erryk, who pushed open the door without permission and bowed deeply to Rhaenyra. She saw the look he gave Lord Corlys, and she felt it had happened. Something terrible.

"A letter from the Crownlands, Rook's Rest, from Lady Staunton," Ser Erryk said, and Rhaenyra accepted the letter.

Her hands trembled. Rhaenys was there. Why didn't she get a message from her?

She looked at Lord Corlys who seem to think the same. She saw fear in his eyes.

She opened the letter and read the words she had feared.

Everything in her pulled together. She trembled as her gaze turned to Lord Corlys and she saw that he understood.

"No," he breathed, and his pain was clearly audible.

"I'm so sorry, Lord Corlys. My beloved cousin, Rhaenys Targaryen was killed fighting Aegon and Aemond," she had to pull herself together not to cry. She couldn't be weak. She was the Queen, the protector of the realm. She couldn't afford to be weak. It wasn't about her at that moment.

"Meley's head was taken to King's Landing. Just like Lord Staunton's head, beheaded for treason."

"And Rhaeny's?"Daemon asked, and she heard the anger in his voice. The hate. The same hatred she felt.

She looked at Corlys, who suddenly looked like a broken man. But he also looked at her, hope was still in his eyes, which she would destroy immediately.

"They left a body behind," her voice sounded strange. "Lady Staunton and her men are unsure, but a woman's body was found burned right next to her dragon Meleys."

That's exactly what Rhaenyra wanted to prevent. She didn't want anyone to die for her. And now this war had claimed its first victims. Rhaeny's had decided for her in spite of the disagreement with her. Rhaeny's died because of her.

And she didn't seem to be the only one to think so.

"It's your fault, Rhaenyra," Corlys sneered suddenly and she looked at him. Daemon also had his gaze fixed on him. "If you hadn't held back your children, Rhaenys wouldn't have flown alone. You sent her to her death."

Lord Staunton had asked for support when the Greens besieged him, but she had forbidden Jacaerys and Baela to join Rhaenys. She was scared. Unbearable fear. Lucerys had no dragon since Aemond attacked him and Rhaena was still dragonless. Rhaenyra was not willing to make the same mistake twice. She had tried to stop Rhaenys from flying there, she wanted to send men on foot, but Rhaenys had made it clear that it would be foolish to sacrifice men if you had a dragon that could quickly fix the problem.

So she let Rhaenys fly alone.

And now Rhaenys was dead.

Corlys stood up full of hatred, anger and sadness in his eyes and Daemon walked towards him, but Rhaenyra held him back. "No," she said quietly, shaking her head. She watched Lord Corlys leave the room and Ser Erryk followed him silently.

"It's not your fault," Daemon said to her. "You didn't force her to fly there."

"But I let her fly alone."

"It was her own decision."

Rhaenyra nodded. It wasn't just a personal loss for her. It was also a great loss for the blacks. Rhaenys had been a powerful opponent. She had been a smart woman, with a strong dragon, and now she had lost both. She looked in fear at the table on which the whole kingdoms had been drawn. She grabbed Rhaeny's figure and took it off the table.

She watched it in her hand.

She knew it wouldn't be the last loss she'd have to endure.

She wondered when this war would end, knowing that it was only the beginning.

"I want revenge," Rhaenyra said, turning to Daemon. "I want to punish them for everything. Every single one of them."

Daemon nodded and approached her. He grabbed her hand and opened it. He looked at the figure that symbolized Rhaenys and Meleys. He knew how to hide it, but she saw the grief in his eyes. He, too, had been wounded by her death. And worst of all, Rhaenys died believing her two children were dead. Rhaenyra could never forgive herself.

"Let's execute the girl," Daemon said suddenly, and Rhaenyra looked at him in surprise.

"What?"

"Let us execute her and send her head to Aemond. I want him to know we'll pay him back twice for every loss. This is just the beginning, Rhaenyra."

Rhaenyra knew that Daemon's suggestion made sense. She probably would have agreed immediately if there wasn't an inner struggle raging inside her, a struggle of feelings. Something in her told her it was a mistake to kill the girl, but she wondered if it was just the wish that Rose could be someone she probably wasn't, or the certainty that she would kill an innocent girl.

Taglist

@watercolorskyy @marvelescvpe @ammo23 @helaenaluvr

[victorluvsalice]

Valicer Polyship Week 2024, Day Two: “Blorbo Has Two Hands” (Soulmate AU)

It's Day Two of Valicer Polyship Week 2024, "sponsored" by @polyshipweek, and today's prompt is "Blorbo Has Two Hands!" This prompt, as per PolyshipWeek's write-up on the matter, is all about "The rallying cry of polyshippers everywhere: Why have a love triangle when you can have a trio of lovers instead?" and how the polycule makes love, not war. This is naturally an excellent prompt, but I wasn't sure whether I was going to use it or one of the other ones when it came to writing a story for Day Two --

Aaaand then Wednesday, November 6th happened. And after rather a lot of time spent staring at the prompts with no inspiration because I was still feeling kind of numb inside over the fucking election results, I came back to the list right before going to bed, looked at "Blorbo Has Two Hands" again, and thought, "You know what, I can probably do something with that and my Soulmates AU -- specifically, someone doubting the trio are all actually soulmates because multiple soulmates isn't a common thing in that verse." So I drafted out a story about Smiler, working at a bar post-the trio fleeing England to avoid the wrath of Kelman, the wrath of Victor's parents, and possibly the wrath of the police after Alice killed Bumby, getting harassed by a customer who didn't believe them when they said that both they and Alice were Victor's soulmates -- only to get proven wrong when said soulmates showed up to find out why Smiler was suddenly feeling so upset. It was pretty rough, but I figured it worked for the prompt --

And then I went, "Hang on...didn't I just do something like this yesterday?" For indeed, this story was rather similar, at least in general theme, to the "Alice vs Nessa" Valicer In The Dark tale I wrote for Day One. But given my mental state at the time, I couldn't come up with anything better for Day Two. So I left it be and gave myself a choice -- either try to write a different story later, or lean into the theme and do a Victor-POV story of some jerk inserting their nose into the polycule's business and getting theirs for Day Three.

...given the story I'm about to present is the "Smiler gets harassed by a customer about whether or not multiple soulmates is a thing" story, you can probably guess what I chose. XD For now, here is your Day Two story! Sorry it took a bit to get there! XD

--

“So – Mister Van Dort over there is your soulmate?”

“Yup,” Smiler confirmed, smiling over at the table where Victor was currently involved in what looked like a rather intense conversation with Alice, his hands flying all over the place as they spoke. “We met at one of his parents’ parties – ended up in the same corner together, started commiserating over the fact that we both hated stuffy social gatherings, went to formally introduce ourselves by shaking hands, and – well.” Smiler grinned down at their own hands, currently drying a glass. “Suddenly the party was that much better.”

“I see,” their current customer – a fellow named Robert, who apparently ran a woodworking shop in town – murmured, nursing his third whiskey. “And Missus Van Dort is – all right with that?”

Smiler tilted their head. “Er – yes. Why wouldn’t she be?”

Robert raised an eyebrow at Smiler. “Because – she’s his wife?” he said slowly, as if they were an idiot. “And would likely want to be her husband’s soulmate?”

“Oh, there’s no problem there,” Smiler said brightly, putting away the dried glass. “She’s also his soulmate.”

Robert blinked at them. It was a pretty long blink. “What?”

“Alice is also Victor’s soulmate,” Smiler repeated obligingly. “We’ve got a bit of a thing going on.”

“You’re – but – that’s impossible,” Robert insisted, leaning heavily on the bar.

“It’s not,” Smiler said, mentally preparing their usual speech. “It’s rare, yes, but–”

“Balderdash,” Robert cut in, putting a finger in Smiler’s face. “People can only have the one soulmate. Otherwise, what’s the point of them?”

Now it was Smiler’s turn to blink. “What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about how the whole point of a soulmate is that they are the person that the universe has ordained as the most important one in your entire life,” Robert said, warming to his topic. “The relationship beyond which all others pale. The one twinned to the very center of your being! If you were given more than one, then – then it would cheapen that bond. Make it – make it lesser. It wouldn’t be about finding your perfect match – it would be about finding someone you just kind of like more than the rest. A person only has room in their soul for one soulmate. It’s simple fact.”

“It’s not,” Smiler insisted. “There’s been studies done on the bond, and–”

“Oh, studies,” Robert said derisively, grabbing his drink and taking a big swig. “Yes, everyone appreciates a study. As if any scientist really knows how to measure a soul.” He looked Smiler up and down. “And what do you know about studies? You’re a bartender.”

“My father’s an alienist,” Smiler said, wrinkling their nose against the bitter taste in their mouth produced by even obliquely mentioning Kelman. “And I study chemistry in my spare time. I’m not an idiot just because I pour drinks for a living.”

“No – you’re an idiot for letting your soulmate get married to someone else,” Robert retorted, attempting to poke Smiler’s arm – they jerked it out of the way just in time. “Shame on you for that. He’ll never be able to be a proper husband to his wife if you’ve already taken up that space in his soul! Everyone knows that people who have soulmates that are just friends have to remain single. It’s the natural order of things!” He took another drink. “Cruel of you both to lead that poor woman on. She should be off trying to find her actual soulmate, not being – taken advantage of by two horrible monsters like yourselves.”

Smiler opened their mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Closed it again. Where the hell were their words right when they needed them most? Alice had once said they could talk their way out of a murder scene while holding a bloody knife, and now they couldn’t refute one drunk?! One deeply annoying drunk who’d hit pretty much every nerve in their body, sure, but… “I...you…”

“Smiler?”

Smiler and Robert both looked over to see Victor and Alice approaching, wearing identical expressions of concern. “Is everything all right?” Victor continued, picking at the knot of his tie. “You – you feel quite upset about something.”

“Very deeply annoyed indeed,” Alice added, giving Robert a suspicious glare. He smartly shrank away. “Is this fellow bothering you?”

“Yes, but he might not be for much longer,” Smiler said, smirking. “You were saying about how people can only have one soulmate?”

Robert looked between the three of them, visibly processing the fact that Alice too had felt Smiler’s emotions. “I – but – she – you?” he stammered, clearly having trouble collecting his thoughts.

“All three of us,” Smiler said, leaning on the bar. “Two romantic bonds and one platonic one, and all very real. And even if we weren’t all soulmates – so what? I think Victor would still have enough love in him to handle both his wife and me.” They put on an innocent stare. “Unless you’re saying that nobody can care about anyone but their soulmate? Because that sounds like a pretty lonely and miserable life to me.”

Robert stared at them for a moment more. Then he reached into his pocket, plonked some coins on the bar, and fled out the door. The trio watched him stumble away on wobbly legs. “...so I guess he didn’t believe you when you told him we were all soulmates,” Victor finally said.

“He did not, and decided to give me a big old lecture about it,” Smiler said, scooping up the money and counting it. “Okay, good, this is what he owed...anyway, it was all about how ‘multiple soulmates cheapens the bond’ and ‘if your soulmate is your best friend you need to remain single’ and nonsense like that.” They shook their head as they put the money away. “Who comes up with those things?”

“Arses,” Alice said succinctly.

Victor and Smiler both snorted. “Well put,” Victor said, then laid a hand on Smiler’s wrist. “And for what it’s worth, I don’t feel at all that having both you and Alice as soulmates has cheapened anything. If anything I feel – I feel blessed. I had trouble believing sometimes when I was younger that I was worthy of one soulmate, let alone two.” A bright smile split his face. “And now look at me. Tied forever to the two most wonderful people in the world.”

Smiler beamed, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. “I feel exactly the same. Two bonds just means twice the love to spread around.”

“Well said,” Alice said, putting her hand over theirs. “Hopefully someday people will understand that better.”

“Mmm. Until then…” Smiler leaned in and gave Victor a quick peck, before shooting Alice a grin. “I’ll just enjoy what we’ve got.”

[reddishwork]

I can not explain how much I'm loving Alicent reverses the hourglass! I'm being real when I say this is the best HOTD fan work that I have come across and hits all the right spots! A well done fix it is such a rare find and yours is one of the best that I have had the pleasure of reading. The plot keeps me on the edge of my seat, the characters are so well done and feels like themselves and the writing is absolutely a joy to read. I have gone back and re-read a lot of chapters cause it's brilliant and I find something new to gush about! Something I really appreciate is Otto and Alicent's relationship in this story and how you write them. Otto as a character (both here and in canon) is so fascinating to me. I just want to study what goes in his brain! Sadly, there are not many (or any tbh) works that explore this dynamic and it makes me sad 'cause there is just so much to unravel. There is love there but also a lot of complex feelings and motivation. It reminds me of Alicent and Aegon's relationship and I wanted to ask what you feel about them. Really looking forward to the next chapter!

Thank you so much for your comment, this was a joy to read!!

Ah the Otto and Alicent to Aegon and Alicent relationship pipeline is something I could just go on and on about.

I don't think it's so much that Alicent 'becomes' Otto but life is often a cycle. We see that Alicent is unable to give Aegon (actually Aegon rather specifically) the love he attempts to claw from her.

I think she resents Aegon because he made her Rhaenyra's natural enemy, but also I think she finds him genuinely foolish and disappointing. She also doesn't know how to really deal with him so I think she just emotionally shuts down, which is how she copes in general.

In my story, I didn't want to cast Otto as a full villain in Alicent's life because some of us do have a parent we can't connect with, but we desperately want to please. Alicent doesn't hate Otto, she loves him, but she's scared of him, he frustrates her, she plots against his schemes but is also awed by him. I didn't want to lose the fact that they're very similar to each other in some ways too. Even though Otto sees Alicent as taking after his wife, my HC is that Gwayne is actually much more like her.

I also try to use the same vocabulary when describing Alicent and Gwayne's thoughts and actions- they have the same fear of love having both been raised by Otto. For them, love has never been on the table. (Which is why Gwayne always pushes Laenor away).

In my fic, Alicent will be wanting to repair her relationship with Aegon, but will also be weighed down by guilt from her first life with him. She still doesn't really know how she'll handle him. But this time, you have the added factor of Daemon who is going to LIVE on his first son's neck making sure she's a worthy Targaryen. There will definitely be some tension between them as Alicent will want to coddle Aegon and Daemon (daddy issues of his own) will want to mold him into a great swordsman.

[my-makeshift-masquerade]

Springdad AU Headcanons Up For Grabs

Why? Because I can? Credit for the AU to @skeletoninthemelonland as per usual! While trying to figure out how my OC would fit into this universe my love of worldbuilding got in the way… So these headcanons may not even be accurate or confirmed by the AU’s original creator. They are just ideas I’m throwing at the wall.

General Headcanons

For some reason, (cough cough this mysterious hunter character cough cough) I suspect there is a dark history of how humans treated these sapient humanoid animals in the past.

Perhaps hunting them used to be a lot more common? Perhaps they were sold to rich humans or circuses once upon a time? (I am talking like a hundred or so years ago, here…)

I imagine the two groups coexisting or having blended families is relatively new in society at large, only happening in the last century. Maybe some on both sides are still hesitant about it or outright against it.

Not to get too political, but I can see their being a lot of bigotry around it in cities at least. The rural areas were likely founded by the sapient humanoid animals, so they would be more tolerant.

Orphanages end up with a lot more orphans like Evan and Micheal than they do human orphans for this reason. There is still a lot of shady stuff happening underground that these kids end up being rescued from.

On a more positive note, I imagine these blended families are the best sorts of families: bound by love and not blood. The best family is the one you choose after all! They typically seek out rural communities to live in peace.

Staff at these orphanages have a lot of methods to weed out suspicious figures who may want to harm the orphans, and they especially look out for any human only wanting to adopt an animal orphan.

Parents like Henry and William are beloved by the orphanages for giving any child a chance at a good home, regardless of species. Even if they may only adopt one or a few, those kids have a good family now.

Lots of seasonal festivals happen in the rural communities and raise money for any nearby orphanage, as many residents build their blended families through adoption. This is mostly lower level though, and doesn’t reach those like the directors.

Rebecca Backstory Headcanons

She was taken from her biological parents by humans. Perhaps hunters? After they killed her parents, they had planned to sell her off to the highest bidders who could do with her as they wished.

The little rabbit was neglected emotionally. Though all her physical needs were met to keep her alive, she wouldn’t have anyone come comfort her if she cried, or show her actual genuine love.

These humans were soon discovered and charged with kidnapping, leading to Rebecca ending up at the orphanage. This was around the same time Micheal and Evan arrived as well.

The only other orphans she really warmed up to were Evan and Micheal. They were the new arrivals and got lumped together often, especially Evan and Rebecca, who had to share a bed to save space.

During the orphanage fire, Rebecca was one of the few children unaccounted for. Her instincts to hide made her impossible to find until after the fire was completely extinguished.

She did go to the hospital briefly for some minor injuries, then returned to the orphanage to find Evan and Micheal were gone. This led her to feel more afraid even as the other orphans tried to help.

This little bunny is observant and timid, always on alert. She enjoys blankets and stuffed animals/pillows. She cries quietly due to her past teaching her nobody comes if she cries loudly.

Springdad doesn’t know her past just yet, but he could always ask someone who does. Micheal knows the general idea of her past since he helped watch her and Evan at the orphanage.

Rebecca only started to trust William after Evan showed how comfortable he was. From there, the other rabbit instantly became her new guardian. She is slowly bonding with Elizabeth and Alice, too!

[marvelita85]

The gift was overwelming.. it was true your uncle was your first choise... your only one but the animocity between your mothers made it almost imposible for you to talk with your mother in favour of her own brother

You grab the box and walked around the corridora of the home which seen you grow up together and be best friends of a time and then everything was different but her heart never changed

- hi.... - you found him in the library and rise his face from the book looking at you

- hi... y/n...I didnt expected to see you today...

- I come to thank you for your gift...- you put the box beside the book he left on the table...- Although very generous of you uncle I can't accept it

-why not?...- he rise from his chair trying to get closer to you...

- you shouldnt ask that question after your espectacle at dinner yesterday night...- he tried to talk but you raised your hand signaling you havent finished - you called my brothers bastards yesterday and that is something I cant allowed for whoever become my husband, your part of the family is a priority for you Aemond... well mine is for me and I chose Jace and Luke and Joffrey over you or anyone else...

- it wasnt intended that way...I just said they were strong boys what is wrong with that

- everything when your own mother and grandfather has been spreading vile rumors about Ser Harwin Strong and my mother... you even insulted my mother your own sister how can I chose you as my intended when you hold no love for the people I love...

- you think I have no motive to feel nothing but hate for the person responsable for this - he took his eyepatch showing you a beautiful sapphire in place of his left eye...

- I'm so sorry for your eye Aemond I really am... my brother should have been punished that night but he was just a kid

- I was too...

- yes... we all were...- you turn around and left the library leaving an enraged Aemond... he felt rejected again for the last person who expected and that was you

He got out of the library walking in a different direction he saw you turn the corner... his primary goal was to find his mother who was with Rhaenyra, aparently their relationship was mending

- oh Aemond... - Alicent saw her son looking at Rhaenyra...

- I better go to find the children..

- I need to talk with both of you..- he finally said and Rhaenyra looked at her half brother and then to Alicent

You found your brothers who were playing with Helaena's children and you smile sitting beside your aunt - children...- you said refering to Jace and Luke who were playing as kids would do...

- my brother sometimes plays like that with the twins...ans soon he will with your own...- you turn looking at her... your aunt sometime talkes in riddles it was something you never understood but it was somethinf that didnt bother you either

- princess I'm sorry your mother and the queen are requesting your presence in the parlor...

The first one you saw was your mother talking with the queen as you entered the parlor you saw Aemond beside his mother who rised at the look of you

- what is going on?

- y/n darling... come sit down with us... you turn to your mother and sit beside her...

- y/n I learn that Aemond gave you a gift and you refuse it

- you are for real involved the queen and my mother in this...

- y/n!! - Rhaenyra exclaimed

- is true... is because I say no to you favoring my brothers you have to run to your mother ans mine to see if you can win either way

- is not that at all and you know it... you have always been the one I've chosen to be my wife... when your mother anounced you were going to started looking for suitors I wanted to put myself there is not about winning

- then what is it?

- I love you...- the gasp around the table as Alicent and Rhaenyra were still there listening - I've always loved you... and I dont want you to leave ever again not to Dragonstone or anyother place with anyone else... I want to be your husband and you my wife because I can't bare the thought of you leaving again - your eyes soften conciderably as Alicent hold her breath... Rhaenyra still had her doubts to give her only daughter to the greens but she couldn't deny her brother being sincere woth his feelings... - you don't need to say it back.. just don't leave me again

- Aem....- you couldn't even talk... and he got the gift out of one poket opening it up

- with our mothers as witnesses please accept this gift... - accept me you almost heard he really said

- your marriage signified the union of our family... and I believe is due time for that... I refused that posibility once... now things could be so different..

- is alright... our children can be very happy but is still y/n choise...- you looked at your mother, the queen and then to Aemond and you smile holding your hand to him, Aemond had a playfull smirk in his lips taking the ring and place it in your finger

- congratulations to both of you! - you grab into his hand and Aemond smile the first real one you've seen and you realise there was no other choise for you than him

[quoththeowl31]

Tea Time

(Post-Manor AU)

Melly Plinius poured honey into her favorite tea, orange blossom, ignoring the look of ire directed at her from Martha Bahamfil. The latter had yet to touch her own cup that Melly had generously offered when she had stormed onto the Plinius estate, upset and irritated.

"Your tea is getting cold. Would you like some honey? It's from my personal apiary."

"Why did you tell Mr. Campbell Alice was leaving?" Martha demanded. No longer wearing her veil or mask, Martha could clearly see the raised eyebrow on her host's face.

"Ah so that's what this is about." Mell sipped her tea, once again offering the jar of honey. Martha reluctantly accepted it, making an obvious eye roll.

"Of course that's what this is about. What else would it be about?"

Melly hummed.

"It wasn't obvious, you stomped onto my property demanding a word with me. No polite greeting and no "how are you." She took another sip of tea. "To answer your question though, it was a mistake on my part. I let slip that Miss DeRoss was leaving. He started moping around my estate for a few days; it disrupted my own work and brought down the mood, so I let him know she didn't leave yet and let him know where to find her. He left that afternoon for the next train to London." If Melly were being honest with herself, even with the limp, she had never seen someone move as fast as he did to catch the train. She was worried that he'd injure himself again just by running.

Martha still looked irritated though, now she had to try and help forge a new identity for him too for the boat to America. And the scar was not going to make it easy; sure make-up would helpful but only from a distance. Him sticking with Alice was a huge risk to her safety; the people behind the Manor games, they were many and they were powerful. They were going to be looking for all of them, Alice especially.

"He's going to compromise her safety. He's too identifiable; our goal is to cover our tracks before They find us." Martha retorted, angrily taking a sip of her tea.

"I believe that's where you're wrong," Melly leaned forward resting her chin on her hands. "Mr. Campbell may be someone who could provide an extra layer of cover. He's cautious and observant; when we were in that game, his quick thinking threw Orpheus off."

"He punched you in the face." Martha retorted.

"Only because Orpheus was watching from a distance. We had to do what we could to survive him. We needed him to believe we weren't working together."

"But he's...he's greedy and rude and what if he hurts her?"

Melly smiled a warm smile.

"You care very deeply for Alice." Martha looked down at her cold tea, reminiscing on their shared past.

"Of course I do. She's been through hell and back. She's the one who gave me the courage to choose my own path and I don't want her to lose any potential for a happier life."

"I think she'll be ok," Melly offered Martha a refill of tea. "Besides, any man who gives off that much of a puppy-dog look at the thought of never seeing someone again is going to follow that person to the ends of the Earth."

They sat in silence for awhile, Martha taking it all in.

"So what are you going to do?" She asked. Melly leaned back.

"I think maybe it's time to take my studies to a few new places for awhile. I'm thinking maybe the Amazon or Africa."

[silver-dragonborn]

I saw some hotd spoilers on TikTok and while I would normally feel ashamed for watching them, this show is such a fucking dumpster fire that I simply do not care anymore. With that being said, here are my thoughts. Out of respect, I will not post commentary in my tags.

-) Aemond telling Helaena to saddle up only for her to tell him to kindly fucking fuck off and coldly predict his future where he will die alone.

"B-but Helaena loves her brother!"

Correction. Loved. She loved Aemond until he killed Lucerys which set off a chain of events that got her own son killed in retaliation. I'm sorry, but if my asshole brother told me to fight for him after his decisions led to the gruesome death of one of my babies, I would spit in his face for the audacity.

"Will you burn me as you did Aegon?"

"That is a lie."

"I saw it."

Helaena was done playing around. No riddles. No musings. She was grieving and angry and lashing out at the jackass responsible. Helaena refuses to fight a losing battle and plus, she no longer trusts Aemond so why the fuck would she ride beside an emotional time bomb with a geriatric dragon that refuses to listen to him?

-) "It's all a story and you're but one part in it. You know your part." Gave me chills. Phia was SERVING in this episode and knowing what I know about Helaena and her ending, I'm praying we'll see more of her. Daemon's final vision in Harrenhal bore some fruit as I got to see a haunting glimpse of Daenerys and her dragons...Night King looked like a leathery Halloween costume from a general store...not my cup of tea.

-) Aemond throwing a hissyfit and putting his disgusting hands on Helaena to force her to burn Harrenhal with him was nothing new to me. You've seen how he treats members of his family...Helaena and Alicent are no different. Also, imagine being raised for YEARS to hate your sister and being trained to fight her only for your mom, the one responsible for your upbringing, deciding to throw in the towel and sue for peace. Yeah, I don't blame Aemond for feeling betrayed by Alicent who RAISED HIM TO HATE HIS SISTER.

-) That scene with Alicent and Rhaenyra...I'm sorry, but that was total bullshit and out of character. The fact that Rhaenyra was written out to be the disgruntled spouse listening to her wife's apologies was ridiculous. Rhaenicents will count this as a win, but to me, it's poorly written-fanfiction. Even when Alicent was "apologizing" and "baring her soul" to Rhaenyra she still justified her bullshit (go figure). Now, NOW, after humiliating Rhaenyra at her wedding, allowing a murderer to walk free, plotting against her, and TORTURING HER FOR YEARS, SHE WANTS TO RUN AWAY FROM IT ALL?? Lady, you sealed your family's fate the moment you wore that green dress. Alicent wants to flee from the problems that SHE created and I was fucking GOBSMACKED that she practically betrays her "favorite son" in favor of opening up the city to Rhaenyra without bloodshed. Kudos to Rhaenyra for sticking to her guns to cut off Aegon's head. I know anti-Rhaenyra stans will screech that this is proof she was always going to kill him and refuse to believe that Rhaenyra, having lost a son and a daughter, wants vengeance for her dead children...honestly, what do y'all expect??

-) I half-expected Aemond to fly over to Dragonstone, bend the knee to his sister, and hug it out. Y'know...like in every fix-it fanfic ever where Rhaenyra forgives those usurping murderous cunts and strives to be a better sister because it's all her fault that her siblings are SAD and not pure, sweet Alicent's fault for turning them against her in the first place.

-) We finally see Sheepstealer, but no scene of Rhaena claiming him and flying in the skies. Seriously, what the fuck? We get a pointless scene of Alicent treating with Rhaenyra on Dragonstone, but nothing for Rhaena? I swear, the writers add in these pointless scenes to avoid anything to do with the twins. No, we just see her staring bug-eyed at Sheepstealer while Hugh gets extra screen time with Vermithor.

-) I'd say the only scenes that stood out to me were Daemon bending the knee to Rhaenyra, Helaena's predictions, and Team Black gearing up for war.

-) Anyway, this episode was insane and not in a good way. The Rhaenicent agenda and the constant need to portray Alicent as this misunderstood angel who just wants her best friend back are dragging this show through the mud.