#Danny's more of a queen imo

[hughmanbean]

Searching for a Princess

Fright Knight has gone out to retrieve his Queen's daughter. A large Realms celebration is approaching, and he wishes for the entirety of the royal family to be present. The Wandering Princess's presence had last been in the haunt of Lady Gotham. After explaining the situation to her, he was allowed in.

Ellie's been having a great time! She met this cool guy named Damian, and his brothers and sisters too! The sewer dudes are really fun to hang out with! Though some of the vigilantes have been following her lately.

Fright Knight has come upon a strange sort of revenant. Clad in a type of avian uniform. They seem to be unable to act independently, only following orders. Of course, as the Fright Knight, his orders are paramount. Now with several of these self-proclaimed "Talons" in tow, Fright Knight begins his search for the Crown Princess.

[kitty-av]

Hello! I got a new sketchbook and I decided to try it by drawing a Danny with my markers. I might try doing something with gouache too, because I honestly really enjoy the process and the look of painting with it.

I also have some things to ramble about under the line, which isn't strictly dp related, more so me comparing how I work with different mediums and being a little analytical about it, you know, as a treat to my brain because it needs it. •^•

So, to start with the Danny above, it's nothing overly ambitious, I was just vibing, but I think it looks nice. Here's the thing though, it looks weird to me, and the reason, probably, is that the process I use with the previously mentioned gouache doesn't translate well to markers.

Here's the process in question btw, a smol sketch to illustrate the way I work with paint but with markers:

See, that's a process that's clearly a bit more suited to painting imo. So it looks good but a little off with markers. And it's not just to markers. Here's what I mean:

This is digital. With the same process.

It's even weirder than the markers imo, but you can still tell that there's a process going on that's shared.

And the gouache version of this process looks like this: this is my most recent painting ( literally yesterday )

This was done in flat brush, and I think you can clearly see that the process I used across all these paintings started with my gouache work. Which also might be why Danny looks a bit different than them because I had to adjust my process. Rather than starting with colouring my canvas and starting the face with a contrasting colour, both Danny, and as far as I can remember the digital dude, started blank and I had to do the glow effect thing a lot less naturally - especially with the lack of brush strokes. The scratchiness of them is aesthetic. Like, brush stroke and direction is important guys, it adds a lot.

I think if I try to draw this Danny in gouache and explain my process better this would all make sense, but I haven't had the time to get back into art because of uni, and I rather like to. I especially want to try doing digital art again, but I've been doing it so rarely that I haven't really got a process anymore, so I'm a bit intimidated to do anything but portraits.

In any case, if anybody has good Sai brushes that could help me get that painterly vibe there, I'd be very grateful •^•

I want to start drawing and creating things for the Phandom again, but all I have currently are sketches, which I know aren't traditionally the easiest things to interact with visually, especially without colour. Still, I'm just going to share things I make and vibe, I suppose.

I have some interesting designs I'd like to try to make digitally, like that mermaid lady ghost from a while back, and her sister who I decided was Pariah Dark's fabulous ex. Still not sure on Queen's design, but I just want to draw a regal lady.

Yes, I am dumping previous designs here so I can share them again, partly to remind myself of them without scrolling back my Tumblr for a thousand years.

Also my Bois, the clones, who I still want to write into a story and don't know how, but like - I love them and want to show them to more people.

Well, that's all for now. Hope you all have a good day. •^•>💚💜💚

[rougepancake]

JJBA men and their Pokémon teams

Since apparently I have no life, please take this. I spent way more time on this than needed, but take it anyways. This is for comedic purposes only, please do not take it seriously 😭 (not proofread)

Ft. Jotaro Kujo, Rohan Kishibe, Yoshikage Kira, Joseph Joestar, Josuke Higashikata, Muhammad Avdol, Dio Brando, Caesar Zeppeli, Jonathan Joestar

JOTARO KUJO

Okay so we all know that this guy is a marine biologist, and I decided to take come creative liberties with that. LMAO

—} Inteleon (partner)

—} Pyukumuku

—} Milotic (I was torn between Milotic and Lapras)

—} Wailord

—} Gyrados

—} Tentacruel

I love the idea of him having a fucking Wailord. It’s so funny to me 😭😭

ROHAN KISHIBE

Fight me. He just looks like he’d have them.

—} Smeargle (partner)

—} Nickit

—} Rapidash (specifically galarian form)

—} Unown

—} Hypno

—} Swadloon

I feel like Hypno is secretly his favorite. However, in my mind, he chose this team because they all “matched his unmatched style”

YOSHIKAGE KIRA

A lot of people headcanon Killer Queen as a cat, and I’m so down for it. I took that idea and ran with it.

—} Espurr (partner)

—} Persian

—} Liepard

—} Umbreon

—} Absol

—} Rockruff

The ONLY reason he has Rockruff is because he didn’t want to look weird. Bro wanted to be as normal as possible but only made it worse for himself LMAO

JOSEPH JOESTAR

He definitely goes for fighting types out of all of them. He thinks it makes him look cool but he’s wrong :/

—} Cubone (partner)

—} Beware

—} Machamp

—} Tyranitar

—} Tauros

—} Onix

He’s secretly a sucker for cute Pokémon, but he does his best not to let anyone know because he knows he’ll get bullied if someone finds out.

JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA

He takes after his dad in the type preference, but thinks they look cool rather than making him look cool.

—} Dragonair (partner)

—} Flygon

—} Garchomp

—} Metagross

—} Pangoro

—} Aggron

100% buys his Pokémon accessories so they can match. If someone brings it up in battle, he’ll make them regret it. No one insults his babies 😤

MUHAMMAD AVDOL

Fire types. Argue with me if you want but we all know it’s true.

—} Darumaka (partner)

—} Ninetales

—} Talonflame

—} Pyroar

—} Turtonator

—} Salazzle

The idea of Avdol having a Darumaka is so precious to me pLEASE-

DIO BRANDO

WHORE. We all know he’s got the scariest shit for no reason. He definitely used them to torment Jonathan when they were younger

—} Chandelure (partner)

—} Mismagius

—} Gengar

—} Spectrier

—} Seviper

—} Scolipede

FUN FACT: Litwicks (Chandelure’s first form) can drain the life force of living creatures. That’s why I find Chandelure being his partner to be very fitting

CAESAR ZEPPELI

So I was torn between sticking to a specific type or just going with his vibe. That’s what this is and you can’t change my mind now.

—} Frostlass (partner)

—} Zoroark

—} Krokorok

—} Mawile

—} Mimikyu

—} Greninja

He loves Mimikyu with every bone in his body. If Joseph ever called it ugly, he’d let it go crazy and beat his ass. (I fucking love Mimikyu)

JONATHAN JOESTAR

Pretty boy <3 I genuinely believe he’d be more into normal types. They’re chill and so is he

—} Furfrou (partner) (ITS DANNY!! RAHHHH)

—} Sawsbuck

—} Snorlax

—} Noivern

—} Minior

—} Stoutland (ITS DANNY!!!! RAHHHHH)

Snorlax only adds to the gentle giant vibe imo. And ignore Furfrou and Stoutland. I was feeling silly.

[blueiight]

The biggest WTF for me is when book fans are like well Louis is a liar in the books about why xyz didn't happen in the show and I'm like well if he's lying about everything then why am I watching this show?? are you gonna retell the entire first season with what really happened? cause I feel like the show is wasting my time then.

Any and all Lestat propaganda is lost on me. Anytime someones like well in the books he's not like this, I'm like I dont care that's not what he's like on the show so stfu.

Also I have no fucking clue what ppl are talking about with daniel + armand most of the time like I don't understand how the fuck s1 hints at anything other than an adversarial relationship at the moment.

im assuming ur the same anon as here..

and its like yeah its obvious some things didnt happen the way they did cuz its louis’s point of view & we will get another look at certain scenes but if the whole season is a total lie thats a waste of tv lol. granted the book iwtv narrative is more straightforwardly dark. theres no two interviews theres just one interview in the 70s (which was contemporary. iwtv published in 1976) .and the most that’s ‘contradicted’ in that imo is.. of course getting lestat’s point of view and all but also. ok. so you know how in the show lestat kills the tenor and clicks out on louis saying embrace what you are? in the book, lestat did the same thing but it was w/ these sex workers/prostitutes instead. in tvl lestat is like well actually these women were robbing the seamen so i wasnt the bad guy. this is actually why i think show lestat is nicer than book lestat! not rly cuz he did the same shit to lily. seriously tho book and show les were twins separated at birth and sent off to different universes imo. & in the book louis links w/ lestat whos bog body down bad holding a child and turning his back on him its irony its melodrama and we’re never sure if that scene actually happened. according to les well it didnt and louis was just a drama queen embellishing. thats what louis is, a drama queen embellishing things LOL. & the suspicion around armand is warranted like hes a powerful vampire with an adeptness in the mind gift, but he also loves lestat + his form of showing that is yandere crazy af aka torturing the people lestat cares about if not beating and tormenting lestat himself and its like..armand would do some shit like that hes crazy but itd be a bit boring if all of s1 was a big lie ?. let all the yaoi be problematic! i def think that theres some freaky shit going on between armandxlouis… the 1x07 reveal was like heyy danny ik i just checked out 5 seconds ago but i went from a bad bf to worse :3 the snake sheds his skin as ive dubbed it. i thought armand was rashid tvc until i seen the marius painting and the reveal had me sooo hype. the finale is the biggest divergence in the book besides the obvious changes (race, era, certain scenes etc etc) the fact that theres 2 interviews and that armand x louis are together in the modern day. in the book armand broke up with louis just before the interview, tried to mack on bog body struggle bus lestat and when all that failed he went to fuck w/ daniel. daniel was named in the third book finally and he was revealed to be w/ armand to have this crazy psychosexual bdsm worldwide cruising (well. armand watching danny fuck) blood airtagging romance rigmarole for a few yrs post interview cuz armand wanted someone to teach him what being human was like again and daniel wanted a demonic satanic zaddy. i am the devil’s minion (title chap drop!) armand’s put in a situation where he has to turn a dying 32 year old (book) daniel into a vampire. in the show clearly, daniel is old now but hes dying still. s1 doesnt show much so i can get why ur confused but in later seasons the nature of all their relationships between show armandxlouis , daniel & what happened and how theyll adapt the axd dynamic will be clearer to us all. i just think ppl r too committed to particular fan theories or takes rn. the ennui of being into an ongoing adaptation

[inknopewetrust]

Fanfiction recommendations!

Below is just a small list of my recent favorite fanfics that I’ve read over the past few weeks. I encourage you all to check these wonderful authors out and take the time to show them some love.

I have so much more to read, catch up on, and publish myself, but if there is anyone who would like to promote their own works, let me know and I’ll add them to my list!

Poker // @aniqua // 18+ minors DNI

~ this whole series. wow. just wow. Aniqua has been writing on here for some time now and it’s an absolute honor to call her a mutual of mine. Poker is a fantastic series that melds dark themes with smut and captured the characters in such an interesting and unique light. I love the dynamics between Steven x Reader x Marc and how the strain of deep, intimate feelings can create ridges between people. Aniqua, you absolute QUEEN! There has never been a fic I’ve disliked, you knock it out of the park every time.

Sting // @laters-gators // 18+ minors DNI

~ maybe one of the best, if not the best, stand-alone marc spector x reader fics out there. I see so much praise for it and there is nothing more to say except: so so so well deserved. Sting is spicy, juicy (no pun intended), full of everything I freaking love about smutty fanfics and just so well written. Bravo Jas, you splendid peanut, bravo.

It's Worth It, It's Divine // @the-archxr // 18+ DNI

Holy. Shit. There are few fics that take my breath away (in a great, smutty way) and this is certainly one of them. This is not only brillantly written, but it's full of passion and you can really, really tell how much effort faith put into establishing a reader who has substance and a complicated connection to Marc through being an avatar herself. It may be highly niche in your perspective girl, but let me tell you, those of us who have indulged just. want. more! Marc Spector x Fem!Reader

The Truth is Rarely Kind // @starks-hero // View Warnings

This is a part 2 of Ali's other fic Smoke and Mirrors and I just love them both to bits. Angsty fics are my absolute favorites and the dynamic between Marc x Reader x Steven is great. I think there are a handful of people who write on here that have it down, the dynamic, and this fic is definitely one of them. It's so freaking good and heartbreaking and beautifully written. Well done, Ali.

They're Not the Only Ones // @maximoff-pan // Part I of III

~ Gia has written and absolutely perfect pining pic of Benny B and Reader being absolutely oblivious to their love for each other. I love the intentional involvement of moments from each season thus far, including a hypothetical scene between Pen and Colin where Reader and Benedict have the chance but miss it every time. The end is so cute and fluffy, which is often hard to write but this author does it flawlessly.

Forgive Me // @benedictscanvas // View Warnings

~ Ciara said this is her first Bridgerton fic and tbh, you'd never realize it. Holy smokes was this good! And by good I mean absolutely amazing, amazing, amazing! Friends to lovers is such an iconic trope and so tempting to read every single one but this fic, this fic has such wonderful qualities to it that makes it hard to 1. find a fic that compares and 2. not be sad when its over. READ THIS everyone who loves Benedict as much as I do. READ IT! (Benedict Bridgerton x Reader)

Nine // @foxilayde // 18+ DNI

This one… this is maybe my favorite fic of all? I know it seems superficial to say it but I just love the way this is written. It's long (which is perfect imo), smutty, romantic, filled with a billion human emotions that it's so nice to see in a reader and Poe. The reward of smut with all the world and relationship building is so unbelievably fantasic and it's incredibly witty which is so, so hard to write. There is nothing more to say other than 1. Danny, beautiful job and keep writing and 2. GO FREAKING READ IT! I cannot stress either of those two points enough. (Poe Dameron x Fem!Reader)

Starfish // @cinewhore // 18+ DNI

I read this months ago and go back and re-read it for fun. It's such a good little fic about a show that has a lot of potential and a small, but growing base. Also, I never found Jake Johnson attractive until I watched Minx and now… welp… here we are. Tish does a wonderful job weaving angst, fluff, and smut with a reader character that has her own motivations and wants, not simply a one-dimensional product of the position she finds herself it. I just love this fic so much and I will be re-reading it until the end of time. (Doug Renetti x Fem!Adult Reader)

Also, Sympathies of a Wife??? Bloody amazing. I truly hope there are more coming one day (I know how hard it is to write so no pressure) but it's literally amazing and deserves its own spot. (Nathan Bateman x Fem!Reader)

Masterlist of Oscar Characters // @writefightandflightclub // View Warnings For Each

This entire masterlist, actually, their entire collection of writings, are perfection. I adore them all! I have been a fan of that man's characters for a literal decade so reading fics on Nathan Bateman, Llewyn Davis, Abel Morales, and some of his more popular ones like Duke Leto and Santiago Garcia is the best feeling in the world–especially when they're so incredibly well done. There is not a fic on the masterlist that I dislike, rather, freaking love them all. Each are crafted with such exquisite writing and the variety in types is awesome. Luna I love them all. I re-read them all the time and to be a follower of your writing is an honor.

[takaraphoenix]

with the movie news, how about teen wolf for the game?

Thanks for playing, though that movie should never be the reason for anything imo! xD

3 male characters I love: STILES STILES STILES he is one of THE BEST BOYS on TV!!! I love this character so much! Second, Derek with his broody dry sarcasm, absolutely delightful. Ah, let's complete the trio of main characters and take Scott, he's honestly so funny and sweet

3 female characters I love: KIRA! I love Kira so much she is so adorable and such a disaster in the best of ways, also I'm sorry but badass kitsune??? Hot damn! Second would be Allison, I always found her incredibly compelling and I am still mad at how she died (but then I'm also still mad at how they shelved Kira. Mh. Here's a trend for you. Date Scott McCall and you get canned <_< Weird writing decisions imo, considering he's the titular lead). And thiiird Melissa McCall, she's a great mom, even if she took some to adjust to Scott's situation, once she did, she was ride and die

3 romantic ships I love: Sterek, at the top, obviously. Stiles and Derek are top-tier. From the canon ships, it'd be Scott/Allison I was honestly so surprisingly much invested in this? And then Kira/Malia, ever since their dance in the club in Mexico!!! That was so yes, finally a femslash ship has crossed my radar for this show!! They were cute and Kira deserves to be happy

3 platonic dynamics I love: Scott-Stiles, their friendship is the backbone of this franchise. Second, mh, I do find the dynamic of Scott and Derek very interesting too, particularly in fics where the McCall pack and the Hale pack coexist (as it should be). And thirdly the Lydia-Allison friendship, I love me a good girls-friendship

3 favorite moments in canon: When Stiles carried Derek in the pool, that was *chef's kiss*, absolutely. Stiles in the hospital, thinking he's going to die of the same thing his mom did, but then the nogitsune reveal - Dylan's acting was incredible in the dual role. Brilliant. Third one is really hard, because despite having such shit writing for the most part, there are absolutely brilliant comedic pearls in this show. Okay let's go with one of my favorite shots, when Stiles and Scott are in the gay bar looking for Danny and Scott suddenly realizes it's a gay bar and turns toward Stiles, who is just surrounded by drag queens and goes "ya think" like he was in his element there and Jeff still trying to convince us that boy isn't bi lol what a fool

3 favorite headcanons: BISEXUAL STILES. Boyd and Erica and Allison LIVE FUCK YOU. Hale pack coexisting with the McCall pack

3 least favorite things about it: ahahahahahaha *ugly sobbing* how do I narrow this down to 3? *more sobbing* okay top has to be the existence of season 6B that was just shit the only good thing about it was FBI!Stiles and the way Derek carried him bridal style but other than that this shit half-season has no rights. Second? KIRA and how she was shelved, like, they didn't even fridge her the way they did with Allison, letting her die a heroic sacrifice death, instead they took this young woman with her whole life ahead of her and... and... put her in the sand to be gone forever what the fuck what the fuck what the actual fuck (plus the behind the scenes shit I mean hot damn to not tell Arden that they'd write Kira out of the show???) And third is genuinely hard, like, probably the existence of this good for nothing movie sequel and that they want to make a spin-off show from it

Top Three Fandom Ask Game

[panelshowsource]

anon i’ll work on that i promise 🥺 i don’t have much of a context for posting that kind of random thing, so i thought of doing a poll or some ABCs of panel shows comedians or something… these types of sets take the most time and research so bare with me, a lot of people have asked for this specifically for alan and otherwise so i’m mapping some things out in my notes :’) (have you guys ever seen my notes? LMAO they look absolutely unhinged)

anon are you kidding me!!! of course!!! because 90% of the time i’m making up taskmaster panels in my mind and there should be at least one mega underrated or non-comedian panelist for it to be just right 😋 some of it depends on context? like danny dyer is absolutely iconic on cats does countdown, but i’m not sure if that means i actually like danny dyer. meanwhile claudia could never do a panel show again and she’d absolutely have my heart anyways 😚💞 bypassing “non-comedian” regulars like richard osman and my other other other wife holly willoughby, i’ll suggest olivia colman, stephen mangan (fuck it and my other other other other wife tamsin), and MARTIN FREEMAN omg martín freeman come the fuck back to us i’m BEGGING SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP FOR U BABY 💀 (i also think joey essex has never not been funny and i’m l o s i n g it every time he has his little recorded educational segments on bfq 🤪 imma post a compilation of them soon…) you’re so right about richard grant ofc and does anyone else remember likewise how lovely and fun jim carter was on wilty? THIS IS QUITE RANDOM BUT HEAR ME OUT can panel shows give chicken shop angel amelia a chance? ik youtube is more her platform but get that cutie on an episode of celeb juice or something bc i need to see it?? actually speaking of people who need to be given (more) of a chance the drag race uk queens? the people demand lawrence or the vivienne on taskmaster STAT. uh oh see how this ramble full-circled to me making up taskmaster panels again? i’m gonna think of more while i’m walking down the street and have to come back and edit this post just watch

i haven’t finished it so i can’t say for certain, but if you really like even some of the comedians, i’d say so. the format is super weak and there’s really no…game…truly being played. but imo formats and games only matter in how much they get the comedians to interact and the dynamics they build. there are some really cute and fun dynamics in outsiders! it’s more background content for me than something imma pay full attention to, but do give it a try if you have the time and interest :’)

yes omg!!! if there was an audience and they could sit closer together, we’d have suuuch a top-tier series on our hands. but what gets me about s12 is just how much, as a whole, the panel truly does not give a fuck LMAO

i haven’t but i’d love to! i should do a giveaway~ has anyone read it? pls send in your thoughts 🥺

panelshowsource painfully average

everything i do i do for u anon 💘

[sanchoyo]

danny phantom 8-13 thoughts! again, under the cut bc I blew through 6 episodes in one go...

-LOVE THE WAY THE GHOST ZONE LOOKS. but theres fucking ghost cops??? ghost jail??? that SUCKS imagine dying and going to jail in your AFTERLIFE. danny going to JAIL WAS NOT something I expected. but seeing all the enemies together and work with danny to bust out. SO ICONIC I love that actually. and the thing about real world stuff acting as ghosts in the ghost zone is very cool.

-'there are some things more important that hunting ghosts!' mrs fenton says, about her husband forgetting their anaversary (FOR THE 18TH YEAR IN A ROW?? CHRIST) and not about, idk, their son clearly freaked out. she didnt even notice he was gone into the ghost zone!!! he might be a bad husband BUT shes not the best mom. they suck and I don't care about their relationship problems I care about these kids. danny doing his best to clean the house to keep his mom from getting mad at his dad?? hes such a good boy I want to cry, this is not his place, his dad should be cleaning his own shit up!!!

-maddie's butch lesbian sister is living my best life in her lil cabin. also being a snarky bitch to jack. queen. and her getting a 10th anniversary of her divorce. LOVE IT.

-mr. lancer being a cheerleader in his younger years makes perfect sense to me. king shit.

-dr. spectra's cat ears/mullet hairstyle?? sooo cute. I also just love the concept of a ghost just. sucking out people's positivity and feeding on emotions. a great villain. she put danny in a fucking diaper what the FUCK. and keeping it cold so no one would suspect shes a ghost??? INCREDIBLE. and her gay little blob sidekick. wlw mlm evil solidarity.

-JAZZ FOCUSED EP. YEAAAH!!! her first thought when she saw the ghosts was like 'omg i gotta tell danny :)' and her going to the teacher and also councilor trying to get help for him...shes just 16 but shes trying so hard to help him out :( watching this when youre younger I can imagine ppl are like omg annoying!! but watching this when im older im just like :( jazz baby im SO sorry </3 SHE BODIED THAT GHOST THOUGH. and the fact she didnt tell danny she knew surprised me. like, shes patient and waiting on him to tell her when hes ready!! thats so so sweet.

-christ the parents talking about 'PEELING IT LIKE AN ONION. AND EXAMINING REMAINS' of ghosts RIGHT INFRONT OF DANNY.

-'why am i so depressed and angry all the time!!' DANNY YOURE 14. i mean it IS a ghost this time, but...

-579$ top?? VALERIE NO ITS NOT EVEN CUTE IT DOESNT EVEN GO WITH THAT OUTFIT AAAA. tho this ep is called shades of gray..VALERIE FOCUSED EP FINALLY????! *THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE* I already knew about red huntress from my redesigns, but I didn't exactly know what that entails or how/why, so, it's fun to see the Origins.

-ghost pubby! ghost pubby!!!!! why is the dog a ghost?? the implication that the company had guard dogs and got rid of them...what did they DO. is it just the unfinished business?? of not having that toy it was looking for?? god I hope so.

I feel SOOO bad for valerie tho, my god. her friends are shunning her for what, because her dad lost her job and she had to move??? horrible. (and the fact the dog wrecked the moving van too...) I also love how 'from wisconsin' on the package was an IMMEDIATE RED FLAG FOR ME. WISCONSIN=EVIL NOW. vlads so petty.

-it took valerie like 5 mins to get the hang of hunting ghosts and shes already a much bigger threat than his parents tbh. who've been trying and studying this for years. and a more valid reason <3 love her shes so cute and cool. new daughter alert.

-'i should do SOMETHING to help valerie' no shit danny???

-'who is that, awesome outfit!' -top gay sam moments. i was going to say. before it immediately cuts to sam kissing danny LMFAOOO. don't think I like that, it puts tucker in a weird third wheel position... the next ep involves them holding hands and blushing when danny's cold...URGH No. not a fan ngl. the trope of 'if theres a girl in a trio she has to end up with one of the two guys!!'

-right as I say that they take it to extremes!! and ember shoots him with a love ray gun that makes him OBSESSIVE OVER SAM. AND SHE TAKES HIS HANDS AND SAYS 'YOU DONT FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT ME, I DONT FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT YOU' and her saying she doesnt want to be together like this. and tucker saying 'i always knew you two would get together!!' dont manifest it tucker please. the show pushing for it so hard makes me not want it KSHKJKJD I KNOW its probably canon. it sucks though. im a hater.

-vlad just LURKING AROUND THE SCHOOL GIVING VALERIE GIFTS ASJKDHKJ YOU WEIRD PETTY OLD MAN GO HOME!!!

-EMBERRRRR YOU WILL REMEMBERRRRRR . this is the one thing I kinda remember from when I was a kid EMBERRRRR ilu. top 10 cartoon bops. sams being a hater. popular things are popular for a reason. mr. lancer also being a hater. also everyone wearing her color scheme ..its a really good look, the purple, black, and minty color...

-penguins exist in the ghost zone. confirmed.

-EMBER JUST SHOWING UP AT A RANDOM HIGHSCHOOL TO PLAY?? UNANNOUNCED, MID DAY??? girl get a tour schedule. make some money or smth damn. I know shes probably doing it for the power boost but. lord. anyway if your show doesnt have a concert scene/ep, is it even valid.

-fellas is this gay. (she uses a GRAPPLING HOOK TO SHOOT OUT THE WINDOW AFTER SEEING AN EMBER VAN GO BY RIGHT AFTER THIS SHOT)

-hey, she had an undercut at some point!! my redesign!!! was accurate!! in..a way

-I feel like danny has a lot of pent up aggression ngl, him being heartbroken about sam and immediately going IM GONNA GO TAKE IT OUT ON EMBER. I mean she needs to be stopped I guess But. jazz has the right idea he needs therapy and a HEALTHY outlet.

-tucker singing > my singing

-girls cant be gamers -tucker and danny sexist moments. her being chaos in the game OWNED.

-TUCKERS HAT IS A BERET??? I THOUGHT IT WAS A BEANIE. SAM CALLED IT A BERET. WH.

-it was actually nice of lancer to let danny retake the test, and he go to play games again. smh. epic cringe gamer moments compilation. and driving him home!!! I actually like him as a character. anyway teachers like lancer are SO appreciated. I was failing middle school because of mental problems, and felt so dumb and got embarrassed by teachers who would just get onto me instead of bothering to ask what the real problem was, but when I was taking my ged classes I had a wonderful teacher who kept reassuring me that I was smart, and I got honors!! danny is SUCH a little shit to him (understandable, 14, but) but seeing them getting along better and danny putting in effort. SO CUTE. THATS MY SON, STUDYING HARD!!!! and being so PROUD OF HIMSELF!!! 91!!! BITCH!!! A- is STILL AN A!!!

-'why dont they ever realize thats me in a dress' mr lancer i am CRYING. i realized.

-technus being my ghost grandpa who cant game asking tucker for help. bless his heart. his out of date old ppl lingo circles back to being endearing <3 tucker not recognizing him despite the like, lack of any kind of serious disguise...I do love their lil in-game outfits....sam being the tank rules. I like technus' spider design also. more characters need to be giant freaky spiders, imo.

-finding your gf a new host because she cant maintain her ghost body outside the zone? amazing. using jazz as the host? ILL KILL YOU. jazz immediately accepting a ride home from a guy she just met and letting him know where she lives. letting him IN THE HOUSE??? nooo girl no lets use common sense </3

-sooo cringe the parents were like 'good job for spying on your sister' tho wtffff. doesnt matter if hes a bad guy, thats fucked. everytime these parents BREATHE im like. these are MY kids now <3

-BAD LUCK BEING A THEME OF THE 13TH EPISODE. thats super fun. johnny 13 being his name is so. iconic. your last name is a NUMBER? also goth tucker. I actually love the look. everyone looks good goth. 'the ladies love the eyeliner and onyx nail polish' sam you are sooo right every man needs to at least try those two things. im a lesbian and I agree. same, danny, your bff is gnc af

-LOVE kitty's design. and just, the concept of a ghost with a bike. couple goals, except yes stay away from jazz.

[gerrydelano]

every so often i think about tsp and i cry. the base concept already has me in tears but the fact that you had gerry go back to mary (derogatory) because it wouldn't be a happy fairytale ending if gerry just stayed with jon? like, one thing i heavily respect with you and ren's writing is that narrative decisions make sense, have weight, and are implemented beautifully to make the story feel more real. like yes it's sad that callum couldn't stay with danny and yes it's absolutely horrible that gerry ended up going back but,,,, what would have happened otherwise?? the characters in those situations couldn't have done anything otherwise (tho i would have loved for miriam to go ham at mary. go get her ass queen <3) and if they did it wouldn't feel natural. so thank you for having such banger writing ♥

HOWEVER this doesn't make you exempt from me fist fighting you over 'there's our gerry :]'. no. fuck off. you don't get to say that ms keay he doesn't fucking belong to you im going to cry/lh

ALSO BABY JON. BABY GERRY. WHAT MORE CAN I ASK FOR (im done now i promise agzgxg but does your tsp!gerry have the same pronoun thing as pbr!gerry 👀?)

(compiling these for ease) AAAAAAAAH. okay not gonna lie just seeing the preview from “HOWEVER this doesn’t make you exempt” scared the SHIT out of me but then i realized you just love gerry and i’m like<3 yeah. fist-fight away! the fact that mary’s ONLY speaking line in TSP was “there’s my gerard :-)” was all i was willing to afford her because imo it’s all you need to really drive home Her Nonsense. hell woman!!!! hell woman!!!!

thank you so much, though ;-; that’s definitely something ren and i like to prioritize. as self-indulgent as our work obviously is, what we love seeing most is when things are handled realistically and open up doors for more complicated consequences or results that can be tended to in different ways rather than a one-stop fix-it. that feels too convenient sometimes, less satisfying, and like. not as hard-earned? which isn’t to say that there’s nothing that can’t be fixed with one change (sometimes even just communicating can make all the difference, cough jon and tim,) but you know? you know already.

which is why i especially wanna emphasize in PBR that like... gerry and tim having each other doesn’t fix the states they were in when they met, or make them magically Better, but having support does make a difference. we like to think about the huge impact that one small thing or one extra person can have! and i’m so glad that you like that element to our stuff, it means a lot to hear! <3

as for gerry’s pronouns: i didn’t get to bring it up in there, but i’d assume he would, yes! i like to think she/her is an intimate-setting sort of pronoun set for him, so that’s why in PBR so far i mostly have tim use it/both of them use it when remembering particularly tender private moments, and then cycle back to just he/him in the broader/public sense. he just didn’t really get to that point yet with jon by the time TSP ended.

also it’s time to admit that i don’t actually see them maintaining any long-lasting romantic relationship, either! they’re just not super compatible beyond Wanting to be close, and they’ll find it more fulfilling to be Fairly Homoerotic Friends honestlyjhbkn which i don’t find sad at all, i think it’s honestly really healthy for them! healthier than forcing it when they can’t meet each other’s needs. but even without that, jon’s still one of the first people who would get she/her privileges regardless just by dint of their connection and how gender ties into it. so, yes! just not onscreen.

[solomonish]

Hmm, how about any song recs for Lucifer? Like any that you associate with his character?

owo!! yes!! there is one in specific i've been thinking about recently but i wanna take a moment to get on my soap box about two of the ones i have in his playlist

Halo / SATRSET - I'm not gonna quote all the lyrics back to you but I just. The song is about being plunged into darkness and somebody's halo lighting up their way and I just! That's Lucifer and MC! I just think that if you frame this song in the lens of "Lucifer thinking about how much MC has helped his family and realizing the extent of his devotion" it's very sweet!!

Bubble / Danny Blu (Mr. Kitty Remix) - I just think this is a fun little bouncy gritty song about MC being in the devildom. (I know this is a question about Lucifer lol) but I think the whole part before the chorus (a pre-chorus? a bridge? a hook? idk how music works) is really fun where it's like "kill the queen and take her throne / we can rearrange your skin and bones / let's get weird you can wear my crown / turn this fucked up world even more upside down" and then like right after "I wanna pop that bubble" - this is a song I use for ideas on a Lucifer that's less levy-dovey and more focused on corrupting MC. yknow, he fought his Father and is almost as powerful as the future king, he can do all sorts of messed up things to MC, but if they're willing to venture to his side.....he'll 'pop their bubble' (not as a euphanism but i mean....unless?) and i just think it's NEAT

I'm With You / Avril Lavigne - this one isn't on my playlist (i think) and HEAR ME OUT.....it's not some power ballad or anything but I think it's a nice little song if you want to think about Lucifer finally letting someone in and showing his uncertainty and insecurities (totally unwarranted if you ask him ahhaha....) like idk that "i don't know who you are but i'm with you" i mean CLEARLY lucifer knows who mc is but i like to think of it as "you came out of nowhere, who the heck even are you? well. it doesn't matter because you're mine now and we're figuring this out TOGETHER"

these are also in my playlist for him but Murder by Mako, Pride by TOTEM and Saints by Echos are all also really good for him imo

ok....i kinda went more lucifer/mc than just lucifer but finding songs for lucifer is hard!! i also think it's partially that i don't listen to many power/pride ballads and mostly to emotional stuff (and mr kitty which is emotional but make it funky)

[tibby]

thoughts on other choices books

i’m assuming you mean besides royal romance because that’s what i mainly post about so here are my feelings on the others i’ve played:

high school story: the reason i got into choices (i was like “hey remember surviving high school from the grand old days of 9th grade science? wonder what happened to it!” and it was this) and so it will always have a special place in my heart <3 maria flores is my dream girl michael is the ultimate gbf and our little gang is so cute. minus emma, who is the human equivalent of watching paint dry. berry high forever, baby!

class act: overall not as fun or interesting as hss but WOW my love for skye crandall hit me like a ton of books. insane how a stupid mobile app understands abuse better than most pieces of media. i would do anything for my goth baby lesbian daughter. and i am very fond of ajay too.

it lives in the woods: did what stranger things/clown story thought it was doing. probably the best written and most engaging choices book imo. ava cunningham is the love of my life and #kingkang. wish the game was more sympathetic towards noah because he was clearly a grieving and traumatised teen who was manipulated and shit happens. refusing to make a third book in the series and therefore robbing me of my chance to save him (AND romance jocelyn) is a pixelberry crime i can never forgive.

it lives beneath: inferior to ilitw but LOVED tom’s development and danni is my gf <3 parker can choke tho idc. feels like a third book could have done a lot of justice to imogen but whatever i guess :/ the cult stuff was fun but honestly? the ghost was right.

the haunting of braidwood manor: the idea that i would spend diamonds on a six chapter book for a DEAD GIRL is laughable but probably the nicest art style in any of the books so far and the dead kids were fun. also very funny to me because it is SUCH a victim of pixelberry reusing art. they didn’t expect me to notice that braidwood manor is just olivia’s home in lythikos? or that the youngest dead kid is just young maxwell beaumont’s model? grow up, pb. i’m a royal romance bitch. i know my stuff.

the freshman series: still only on the sophomore book two and i think it’s very fun that they made your friends insufferable or just forgot to give them personalities. except for james, who i am very fond of and i would have romanced if it didn’t give me the option to romance becca. but i see an enemies to friends to lovers lesbian storyline, and i take it. james is cute with reyna anyway. here’s hoping that by the time junior year rules around mc finally has a personality.

queen b: FINALLY, A CHOICES BOOK THAT ENCOURAGES YOU TO BE EVIL!!!! i had such a blast with this one even if the illicit romance with your professor turned out to be dealing with the most clingy bitch in existence :/ poppy is such an entertaining villain and i think zoey is easily one of the most well rounded love interests they ever put out. also just generally a very nice art style and i have to respect any game that allows you to fuck not only your teacher, but also your best friend, your rival, AND have a threesome with your rival’s ex and close friend. genius. plus i named my hometown tumblr which made a lot of the dialogue SO fun. and i really think pixelberry is on to something by making a school gossip blog so important that teachers give out awards based on it. incredible.

with every heartbeat: honestly just playing this one to diamond mine because as avery said, why spend money on a dead girl? mateo and lennox are fun though.

[aboveallarescuer]

Dany being self-critical or at least self-aware

As I was rereading ASOIAF, I made it my goal to compile all* the book passages demonstrating either certain key attributes of Daenerys Targaryen (e.g. that she's compassionate and smart) or aspects of hers that are usually overstated (e.g. that she's ambitious and prophecy-driven).  Doing such a task may seem exaggerated, but I'd argue it's not, for many, many misconceptions about Dany have become widespread in light of the show's final season's events (and even before).

It must be acknowledged that it can be tricky to reference, say, ADWD passages to counter-argument how she was depicted in season eight (which allegedly follows ADOS events). Dany will have had plenty of character development in the span of two books. However, whatever happens to Dany in the next two books, I would argue that there is more than enough material to conclude that her show counterpart was made to fall for flaws that she (for the most part) never had and actions that she (for the most part) would never take. (and that's not even considering the double standards and the contradictions with what had been shown from show!Dany up until then, but that's obviously out of the scope of these lists)

Another objection to the purpose of these lists is that Game of Thrones is different from A Song of Ice and Fire and should be analyzed on its own, which is a fair point. However, the show is also an adaptation of these books, which begs the questions: why did they change Dany's character? Why did they overfocus on negative traits of hers or depicted them as negative when they weren't supposed to be or gave her negative traits that were never hers to begin with? Another fact that undermines the show=/=books argument is that most people think that the show's ending will be the books', albeit only in broad strokes and in different circumstances. As a result, people's perception of Dany is inevitably influenced by the show, which is a shame.

I hope these lists can be useful for whoever wants to find book passages to defend (or even simply explore different facets of) Dany's character in metas or conversations.

*Well, at least all the passages that I could find in her chapters, which is no guarantee that the effort was perfectly executed, but I did my best.

Also, people could interpret certain passages differently and then come up with a different collection of passages if they ever attempted to make one, so I'm not saying that this list is completely objective (nor that there could ever be one).

Also, some passages have been cut short according to whether they were, IMO, relevant to the specific topic of the list they're in, so the context surrounding them may not always be clear (always read the books and use asearchoficeandfire). Many of them appear in different lists, sometimes fully referenced, sometimes not.

I listed the passages back to front because I felt doing so highlighted Dany's evolution better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To justify the existence of this list, let's see examples of widespread opinions that I feel misrepresent Daenerys Targaryen:

[I]f you are the person who has freed countless souls from chains -- when all those people never imagined freedom was a possibility -- you would feel you know better than everyone else what is best for them. (The Take)

~

And for Dany, the whole concept of "breaking the wheel" was always just about her taking more power so that she could dispense what she believed to be justice. It's a truly terrifying megalomania and one that I think she's had all along, we just didn't always see it. (x)

~

She wants to rule with love, not fear.

It doesn’t always go that way for her. And when it doesn’t — when the people she would rule don’t adore her — she tends to react fiercely. (x)

~

But Dany’s arc is not contrived or “coming out of nowhere” or “out of character”. This is precisely the character that she has shown herself to be from as far back as season two. She has made selfish and rash decisions one after another. She has failed to recognize the larger picture and the true needs of the people around her more times than can be chalked up to “youthful” mistakes. The seeds have been laid, the decisions have been made, and her thoughtlessness towards others and zeal for her own destiny have distorted her intentions. (x)

~

Dany’s true downfall is one of ego, impulse control and rage – and that is a human story, not a gendered story. She has become obsessed with destiny. It seems she doesn’t even have one except in helping set up others, more deserving, to lead. This certainly shows the folly of ego, presumption and dominion without listening and learning. (x)

~

She always has had a tyrant in the making kind of vibe. In addition to mass genocide, what do tyrants have in common? They all have a big ego, which needs to be massaged every now and then. Noticed how often Danny [sic] tells the story about the time she broke the chains and slaves rose up against their masters? It’s the narcissist in her, who not only loved it when people took her name as she passed through the crowd in Meereen after murdering the masters, but continues to tell that story to boost her own ego. (x)

Does Dany "[feels] [she] know[s] better than everyone else what is best for them"? Does Dany have a "truly terrifying megalomania"? Does Dany tend to "react fiercely" "when the people she would rule don’t adore her"? Are Dany's decisions "selfish and rash" in nature? Does Dany have problems with "ego, impulse control, rage, presumption and dominion without listening and learning"? Is Dany a "tyrant in the making" with a "narcissist in her" whose ego "needs to be massaged every now and then"?

I would argue these claims certainly cannot be made after reading the books (some can't even after watching the show's first 71 episodes, but the show can be all over the place and ... I digress), so take a look at these passages.

A Dance with Dragons

ADWD Daenerys X

Her tokar and veils she had abandoned in the pit, and her linen undertunic had never been made to withstand the hot days and cold nights of the Dothraki sea. Sweat and grass and dirt had stained it, and Dany had torn a strip off the hem to make a bandage for her shin. I must look a ragged thing, and starved, she thought, but if the days stay warm, I will not freeze.

~

Dany did not need a glass to know that she was filthy.

~

Once I dreamed of flying, she thought, and now I’ve flown, and dream of stealing eggs. That made her laugh. “Men are mad and gods are madder,” she told the grass, and the grass murmured its agreement.

~

If I stay here, I will die. I may be dying now. Would the horse god of the Dothraki part the grass and claim her for his starry khalasar, so she might ride the nightlands with Khal Drogo? In Westeros the dead of House Targaryen were given to the flames, but who would light her pyre here? My flesh will feed the wolves and carrion crows, she thought sadly, and worms will burrow through my womb.

~

You took Meereen, he told her, yet still you lingered. “To be a queen.”

You are a queen, her bear said. In Westeros. “It is such a long way,” she complained. “I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl.”

~

Dany, starved, slid off his back and ate with him, ripping chunks of smoking meat from the dead horse with bare, burned hands. In Meereen I was a queen in silk, nibbling on stuffed dates and honeyed lamb, she remembered. What would my noble husband think if he could see me now? Hizdahr would be horrified, no doubt. But Daario ...

Daario would laugh, carve off a hunk of horsemeat with his arakh, and squat down to eat beside her.

ADWD Daenerys IX

Soon Dany was as clean as she was ever going to be.

~

How queer, the queen thought. They cheer me on the same plaza where I once impaled one hundred sixty-three Great Masters.

~

The day she wed Khal Drogo, the arakhs had flashed at her wedding feast, and men had died whilst others drank and mated. Life and death went hand in hand amongst the horselords, and a sprinkling of blood was thought to bless a marriage. Her new marriage would soon be drenched in blood. How blessed it would be.

~

“I suppose I must be thankful for small victories,” the queen said.

“One step, then the next, and soon we shall be running. Together we shall make a new Meereen.” The street ahead had finally cleared. “Shall we continue on?”

What could she do but nod? One step, then the next, but where is it I’m going?

~

Her lord husband stood and raised his hands. “Great Masters! My queen has come this day, to show her love for you, her people. By her grace and with her leave, I give you now your mortal art. Meereen! Let Queen Daenerys hear your love!”

Ten thousand throats roared out their thanks; then twenty thousand; then all. They did not call her name, which few of them could pronounce. “Mother!” they cried instead; in the old dead tongue of Ghis, the word was Mhysa! They stamped their feet and slapped their bellies and shouted, “Mhysa, Mhysa, Mhysa,” until the whole pit seemed to tremble. Dany let the sound wash over her. I am not your mother, she might have shouted, back, I am the mother of your slaves, of every boy who ever died upon these sands whilst you gorged on honeyed locusts. Behind her, Reznak leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Magnificence, hear how they love you!”

No, she knew, they love their mortal art.

~

Pale Qartheen, black Summer Islanders, copper-skinned Dothraki, Tyroshi with blue beards, Lamb Men, Jogos Nhai, sullen Braavosi, brindle-skinned half-men from the jungles of Sothoros—from the ends of the world they came to die in Daznak’s Pit.

~

“Magnificence, the people of Meereen have come to celebrate our union. You heard them cheering you. Do not cast away their love.”

“It was my floppy ears they cheered, not me. Take me from this abbatoir, husband.”

~

In Westeros the septons spoke of seven hells and seven heavens, but the Seven Kingdoms and their gods were far away. If she died here, Dany wondered, would the horse god of the Dothraki part the grass and claim her for his starry khalasar, so she might ride the nightlands beside her sun-and-stars? Or would the angry gods of Ghis send their harpies to seize her soul and drag her down to torment?

[...] In the smoldering red pits of Drogon’s eyes, Dany saw her own reflection. How small she looked, how weak and frail and scared. I cannot let him see my fear.

ADWD Daenerys VIII

No queen has clean hands, Dany told herself. She thought of Doreah, of Quaro, of Eroeh … of a little girl she had never met, whose name had been Hazzea. Better a few should die in the pit than thousands at the gates. This is the price of peace, I pay it willingly. If I look back, I am lost.

~

You saw me as defeated, Dany thought, and who am I to say that you were wrong?

“...Never trust a sellsword.”

Or a queen, thought Dany.

~

“The dragon has three heads,” Dany said when they were on the final flight. “My marriage need not be the end of all your hopes. I know why you are here.”

“For you,” said Quentyn, all awkward gallantry.

“No,” said Dany. “For fire and blood.”

~

Her voice echoed off the scorched stone walls. It sounded small—a girl’s voice, not the voice of a queen and conqueror, nor the glad voice of a new-made bride.

~

She could hear the dragons screaming as she led the boy back to the door, and see the play of light against the bricks, reflections of their fires. If I look back, I am lost.

~

I should never have taken him into my bed. He was only a sellsword, no fit consort for a queen, and yet …

I knew that all along, but I did it anyway.

“My queen?” said a soft voice in the darkness.

Dany flinched. “Who is there?”

“Only Missandei.” The Naathi scribe moved closer to the bed. “This one heard you crying.”

ADWD Daenerys VII

Meereenese seldom rode within their city walls. They preferred palanquins, litters, and sedan chairs, borne upon the shoulders of their slaves. “Horses befoul the streets,” one man of Zakh had told her, “slaves do not.” Dany had freed the slaves, yet palanquins, litters, and sedan chairs still choked the streets as before, and none of them floated magically through the air.

ADWD Daenerys VI

Their eyes followed her. Those who had the strength called out. “Mother … please, Mother … bless you, Mother …”

Bless me, Dany thought bitterly. Your city is gone to ash and bone, your people are dying all around you. I have no shelter for you, no medicine, no hope. Only stale bread and wormy meat, hard cheese, a little milk. Bless me, bless me.

What kind of mother has no milk to feed her children?

~

Dany gazed across the camp, to the many-colored brick walls of Meereen. The air was thick with flies and cries. “The gods have sent this pestilence to humble me.[”]

ADWD Daenerys V

The weaver raised her head. “Every day we told each other that the dragon queen was coming back.” The woman had thin lips and dull dead eyes, set in a pinched and narrow face. “Cleon had sent for you, it was said, and you were coming.”

He sent for me, thought Dany. That much is true, at least.

~

“Others blamed Daenerys,” said the weaver, “but more of us still loved you. ‘She is on her way,’ we said to one another. ‘She is coming at the head of a great host, with food for all.’”

I can scarce feed my own folk. If I had marched to Astapor, I would have lost Meereen.

~

“Even then some said that you were coming,” said the weaver. “They swore they had seen you mounted on a dragon, flying high above the camps of the Yunkai’i. Every day we looked for you.”

I could not come, the queen thought. I dare not.

~

“It is good that you have come,” she told the Astapori. “You will be safe in Meereen.”

The cobbler thanked her for that, and the old brickmaker kissed her foot, but the weaver looked at her with eyes as hard as slate. She knows I lie, the queen thought. She knows I cannot keep them safe. Astapor is burning, and Meereen is next.

~

You warned King Cleon against this war with Yunkai. The man was a fool, and his hands were red with blood.”

And are my hands any cleaner? She remembered what Daario had said—that all kings must be butchers, or meat.

~

“Cleon was the enemy of our enemy. If I had joined him at the Horns of Hazzat, we might have crushed the Yunkai’i between us.”

The Shavepate disagreed. “If you had taken the Unsullied south to Hazzat, the Sons of the Harpy—”

“I know. I know. It is Eroeh all over again.”

Brown Ben Plumm was puzzled. “Who is Eroeh?”

“A girl I thought I’d saved from rape and torment. All I did was make it worse for her in the end. And all I did in Astapor was make ten thousand Eroehs.”

“Your Grace could not have known—”

“I am the queen. It was my place to know.”

ADWD Daenerys IV

“Then heed me now and marry.”

[...] “Tell me, can this king puff his cheeks up and blow Xaro’s galleys back to Qarth? Can he clap his hands and break the siege of Astapor? Can he put food in the bellies of my children and bring peace back to my streets?”

~

“...In him the prophecies shall be fulfilled, and your enemies will melt away like snow."

He shall be the stallion that mounts the world. Dany knew how it went with prophecies. They were made of words, and words were wind.

~

“Why would you want to help me? For the crown?”

~

“...The Seven Kingdoms will never accept Hizdahr zo Loraq as king.”

“No more than Meereen will accept Daenerys Targaryen as queen. The Green Grace has the right of that. I need a king beside me, a king of old Ghiscari blood. Elsewise they will always see me as the uncouth barbarian who smashed through their gates, impaled their kin on spikes, and stole their wealth.”

~

“Bright queen,” he said, “you have grown more beautiful in my absence. How is this thing possible?”

The queen was accustomed to such praise, yet somehow the compliment meant more coming from Daario than from the likes of Reznak, Xaro, or Hizdahr.

~

What have I done? she thought, huddled in her empty bed. I have waited so long for him to come back, and I send him away. “He would make a monster of me,” she whispered, “a butcher queen.” But then she thought of Drogon far away, and the dragons in the pit. There is blood on my hands too, and on my heart. We are not so different, Daario and I. We are both monsters.

ADWD Daenerys III

“I want no slave. I free you.” His jeweled nose made a tempting target. This time Dany threw an apricot at him.

Xaro caught it in the air and took a bite. “Whence came this madness? Should I count myself fortunate that you did not free my own slaves when you were my guest in Qarth?”

I was a beggar queen and you were Xaro of the Thirteen, Dany thought, and all you wanted were my dragons. “Your slaves seemed well treated and content. It was not till Astapor that my eyes were opened. Do you know how Unsullied are made and trained?”

~

“Meereen is a free city of free men.”

“A poor city that once was rich. A hungry city that once was fat. A bloody city that once was peaceful.”

His accusations stung. There was too much truth in them. “Meereen will be rich and fat and peaceful once again, and free as well. Go to the Dothraki if you must have slaves.”

~

Groleo had been a most unhappy man since they had broken up his ship to build the siege engines that won Meereen for her. Dany had tried to console him by naming him her lord admiral, but it was a hollow honor; the Meereenese fleet had sailed for Yunkai when Dany’s host approached the city, so the old Pentoshi was an admiral without ships.

~

Ser Barristan went to one knee before her. “My queen, your realm has need of you. You are not wanted here, but in Westeros men will flock to your banners by the thousands, great lords and noble knights. ‘She is come,’ they will shout to one another, in glad voices. ‘Prince Rhaegar’s sister has come home at last.’”

“If they love me so much, they will wait for me.” Dany stood. “Reznak, summon Xaro Xhoan Daxos.”

ADWD Daenerys II

A shadow. A memory. No one. She was the blood of the dragon, but Ser Barristan had warned her that in that blood there was a taint. Could I be going mad? They had called her father mad, once. “I was praying,” she told the Naathi girl. “It will be light soon. I had best eat something, before court.”

~

She was the blood of the dragon. She could kill the Sons of the Harpy, and the sons of the sons, and the sons of the sons of the sons. But a dragon could not feed a hungry child nor help a dying woman’s pain. And who would ever dare to love a dragon?

~

All the dogs are just as guilty. The guilt …” The word caught in her throat. Hazzea, she thought, and suddenly she heard herself say, “I have to see the pit,” in a voice as small as a child’s whisper. “Take me down, ser, if you would.”

~

What sort of mother lets her children rot in darkness?

If I look back, I am doomed, Dany told herself … but how could she not look back? I should have seen it coming. Was I so blind, or did I close my eyes willfully, so I would not have to see the price of power?

~

Mother of dragons, Daenerys thought. Mother of monsters. What have I unleashed upon the world? A queen I am, but my throne is made of burned bones, and it rests on quicksand. Without dragons, how could she hope to hold Meereen, much less win back Westeros? I am the blood of the dragon, she thought. If they are monsters, so am I.

ADWD Daenerys I

A boy came, younger than Dany, slight and scarred, dressed up in a frayed grey tokar trailing silver fringe. His voice broke when he told of how two of his father’s household slaves had risen up the night the gate broke. One had slain his father, the other his elder brother. Both had raped his mother before killing her as well. The boy had escaped with no more than the scar upon his face, but one of the murderers was still living in his father’s house, and the other had joined the queen’s soldiers as one of the Mother’s Men. He wanted them both hanged.

I am queen over a city built on dust and death. Dany had no choice but to deny him. She had declared a blanket pardon for all crimes committed during the sack. Nor would she punish slaves for rising up against their masters.

When she told him, the boy rushed at her, but his feet tangled in his tokar and he went sprawling headlong on the purple marble. [...]“Enough, Belwas,” Dany called. [...] But as he left the boy looked back over his shoulder, and when she saw his eyes Dany thought, The Harpy has another Son.

A Storm of Swords

ASOS Daenerys VI

When she was dressed, Missandei brought her a polished silver glass so she could see how she looked. Dany stared at herself in silence. Is this the face of a conqueror? So far as she could tell, she still looked like a little girl.

~

All my victories turn to dross in my hands, she thought. Whatever I do, all I make is death and horror. When word of what had befallen Astapor reached the streets, as it surely would, tens of thousands of newly freed Meereenese slaves would doubtless decide to follow her when she went west, for fear of what awaited them if they stayed ... yet it might well be that worse would await them on the march. Even if she emptied every granary in the city and left Meereen to starve, how could she feed so many? The way before her was fraught with hardship, bloodshed, and danger. Ser Jorah had warned her of that. He’d warned her of so many things ... he’d ... No, I will not think of Jorah Mormont. Let him keep a little longer.

~

“The city bleeds. Dead men rot unburied in the streets, each pyramid is an armed camp, and the markets have neither food nor slaves for sale. And the poor children! King Cleaver’s thugs have seized every highborn boy in Astapor to make new Unsullied for the trade, though it will be years before they are trained.”

The thing that surprised Dany most was how unsurprised she was. She found herself remembering Eroeh, the Lhazarene girl she had once tried to protect, and what had happened to her. It will be the same in Meereen once I march, she thought. The slaves from the fighting pits, bred and trained to slaughter, were already proving themselves unruly and quarrelsome. They seemed to think they owned the city now, and every man and woman in it. Two of them had been among the eight she’d hanged. There is no more I can do, she told herself.

~

“I will admit you helped win me this city ...”

Ser Jorah’s mouth tightened. “We won you this city. We sewer rats.”

“Be quiet,” she said again ... though there was truth to what he said.

~

“Bring me the book I was reading last night.” She wanted to lose herself in the words, in other times and other places. The fat leather-bound volume was full of songs and stories from the Seven Kingdoms. Children’s stories, if truth be told; too simple and fanciful to be true history. All the heroes were tall and handsome, and you could tell the traitors by their shifty eyes. Yet she loved them all the same. Last night she had been reading of the three princesses in the red tower, locked away by the king for the crime of being beautiful.

~

But Daario is right, I shouldn’t have banished him. I should have kept him, or I should have killed him. She played at being a queen, yet sometimes she still felt like a scared little girl. Viserys always said what a dolt I was. Was he truly mad? She closed the book. She could still recall Ser Jorah, if she wished. Or send Daario to kill him.

~

That night her handmaids brought her lamb, with a salad of raisins and carrots soaked in wine, and a hot flaky bread dripping with honey. She could eat none of it. Did Rhaegar ever grow so weary? she wondered. Did Aegon, after his conquest?

~

“Aegon the Conqueror brought fire and blood to Westeros, but afterward he gave them peace, prosperity, and justice. But all I have brought to Slaver’s Bay is death and ruin. I have been more khal than queen, smashing and plundering, then moving on.”

“There is nothing to stay for,” said Brown Ben Plumm.

“Your Grace, the slavers brought their doom on themselves,” said Daario Naharis.

“You have brought freedom as well,” Missandei pointed out.

“Freedom to starve?” asked Dany sharply. “Freedom to die? Am I a dragon, or a harpy?” Am I mad? Do I have the taint?

“A dragon,” Ser Barristan said with certainty. “Meereen is not Westeros, Your Grace.”

“But how can I rule seven kingdoms if I cannot rule a single city?” He had no answer to that. Dany turned away from them, to gaze out over the city once again. “My children need time to heal and learn. My dragons need time to grow and test their wings. And I need the same. I will not let this city go the way of Astapor. I will not let the harpy of Yunkai chain up those I’ve freed all over again.” She turned back to look at their faces. “I will not march.”

“What will you do then, Khaleesi?” asked Rakharo.

“Stay,” she said. “Rule. And be a queen.”

ASOS Daenerys V

Balerion floated nearest; the great cog once known as Saduleon, her sails furled. Further out were the galleys Meraxes and Vhagar, formerly Joso’s Prank and Summer Sun. They were Magister Illyrio’s ships, in truth, not hers at all, and yet she had given them new names with hardly a thought.

~

Many of the freedmen believed there was good fortune in her touch. If it helps give them courage, let them touch me, she thought. There are hard trials yet ahead ...

~

“Your Grace.” Arstan knelt. “I am an old man, and shamed. He should never have gotten close enough to seize you. I was lax. I did not know him without his beard and hair.”

“No more than I did.”

ASOS Daenerys III

Arstan Whitebeard held his tongue as well, when Dany swept by him on the terrace. He followed her down the steps in silence, but she could hear his hardwood staff tap tapping on the red bricks as they went. She did not blame him for his fury. It was a wretched thing she did. The Mother of Dragons has sold her strongest child. Even the thought made her ill.

~

Dany fed her dragons as she always did, but found she had no appetite herself. She cried awhile, alone in her cabin, then dried her tears long enough for yet another argument with Groleo.

[...] The anger burned the grief and fear from her, for a few hours at the least.

~

If I look back I am lost, Dany told herself the next morning as she entered Astapor through the harbor gates. She dared not remind herself how small and insignificant her following truly was, or she would lose all courage.

~

Dany mounted her silver. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest. She felt desperately afraid. Was this what my brother would have done?

ASOS Daenerys II

“Yet I must have some army,” Dany said. “The boy Joffrey will not give me the Iron Throne for asking politely.”

“When the day comes that you raise your banners, half of Westeros will be with you,” Whitebeard promised. “Your brother Rhaegar is still remembered, with great love.”

“And my father?” Dany said.

The old man hesitated before saying, “King Aerys is also remembered. He gave the realm many years of peace. Your Grace, you have no need of slaves. Magister Illyrio can keep you safe while your dragons grow, and send secret envoys across the narrow sea on your behalf, to sound out the high lords for your cause.”

“Those same high lords who abandoned my father to the Kingslayer and bent the knee to Robert the Usurper?”

“Even those who bent their knees may yearn in their hearts for the return of the dragons.”

“May,” said Dany. That was such a slippery word, may. In any language.

~

[“]So tell me, why is that ugly harpy not sitting beside the godsway in Vaes Dothrak among the other stolen gods?”

“You have a dragon’s eye, Khaleesi, that’s plain to see.”

“I wanted an answer, not a compliment.”

A Clash of Kings

ACOK Daenerys V

Jhiqui had braided her hair Dothraki-fashion, and fastened a silver bell to the end of the braid. “I have won no victories,” she tried telling her handmaid when the bell tinkled softly.

Jhiqui disagreed. “You burned the maegi in their house of dust and sent their souls to hell.”

That was Drogon’s victory, not mine, Dany wanted to say, but she held her tongue. The Dothraki would esteem her all the more for a few bells in her hair.

~

Pale men in dusty linen skirts stood beneath arched doorways to watch them pass. They know who I am, and they do not love me. Dany could tell from the way they looked at her.

~

It was not by choice that she sought the waterfront. She was fleeing again. Her whole life had been one long flight, it seemed. She had begun running in her mother’s womb, and never once stopped. How often had she and Viserys stolen away in the black of night, a bare step ahead of the Usurper’s hired knives? But it was run or die. Xaro had learned that Pyat Pree was gathering the surviving warlocks together to work ill on her.

~

“...Give me a son, my sweet song of joy!”

Give you a dragon, you mean. “I will not wed you, Xaro.” His face had grown cold at that. “Then go.”

“But where?”

“Somewhere far from here.”

~

Dany would get no help from the Thirteen, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, or the Ancient Guild of Spicers.

~

Sailors, dockworkers, and merchants alike gave way before her, not knowing what to make of this slim young girl with silver-gold hair who dressed in the Dothraki fashion and walked with a knight at her side.

~

“Sheath your steel, blood of my blood,” said Dany, “this man comes to serve me. Belwas, you will accord all respect to my people, or you will leave my service sooner than you’d wish, and with more scars than when you came.”

The gap-toothed smile faded from the giant’s broad brown face, replaced by a confused scowl. Men did not often threaten Belwas, it would seem, and less so girls a third his size.

ACOK Daenerys IV

Her voice was no more than a whisper, almost as faint as theirs.

ACOK Daenerys III

The drapes kept out the dust and heat of the streets, but they could not keep out disappointment. Dany climbed inside wearily, glad for the refuge from the sea of Qartheen eyes.

~

“I see a deep sadness written upon your face, my light of love.” He offered her a goblet. “Could it be the sadness of a lost dream?”

“A dream delayed, no more.” [...] The Pureborn were notorious for offering poisoned wine to those they thought dangerous, but they had not given Dany so much as a cup of water. They never saw me for a queen, she thought bitterly. I was only an afternoon’s amusement, a horse girl with a curious pet.

~

Yet the men who sat in them seemed so listless and world-weary that they might have been asleep. They listened, but they did not hear, or care, she thought. They are Milk Men indeed. They never meant to help me. They came because they were curious. They came because they were bored, and the dragon on my shoulder interested them more than I did.

“Tell me the words of the Pureborn,” prompted Xaro Xhoan Daxos. “Tell me what they said to sadden the queen of my heart.”

“They said no.” The wine tasted of pomegranates and hot summer days. “They said it with great courtesy, to be sure, but under all the lovely words, it was still no.”

“Did you flatter them?”

“Shamelessly.”

“Did you weep?”

“The blood of the dragon does not weep,” she said testily.

Xaro sighed. “You ought to have wept.” The Qartheen wept often and easily; it was considered a mark of the civilized man. “The men we bought, what did they say?”

“Mathos said nothing. Wendello praised the way I spoke. The Exquisite refused me with the rest, but he wept afterward.”

“Alas, that Qartheen should be so faithless.” Xaro was not himself of the Pureborn, but he had told her whom to bribe and how much to offer. “Weep, weep, for the treachery of men.”

Dany would sooner have wept for her gold. The bribes she’d tendered to Mathos Mallarawan, Wendello Qar Deeth, and Egon Emeros the Exquisite might have bought her a ship, or hired a score of sellswords.

~

The crown was the only offering she’d kept. The rest she sold, to gather the wealth she had wasted on the Pureborn. Xaro would have sold the crown too—the Thirteen would see that she had a much finer one, he swore—but Dany forbade it. “Viserys sold my mother’s crown, and men called him a beggar. I shall keep this one, so men will call me a queen.” And so she did, though the weight of it made her neck ache.

Yet even crowned, I am a beggar still, Dany thought. I have become the most splendid beggar in the world, but a beggar all the same. She hated it, as her brother must have. All those years of running from city to city one step ahead of the Usurper’s knives, pleading for help from archons and princes and magisters, buying our food with flattery. He must have known how they mocked him. Small wonder he turned so angry and bitter. In the end it had driven him mad. It will do the same to me if I let it. Part of her would have liked nothing more than to lead her people back to Vaes Tolorro, and make the dead city bloom. No, that is defeat. I have something Viserys never had. I have the dragons. The dragons are all the difference.

~

“The Arbor makes the best wine in the world,” Dany declared. Lord Redwyne had fought for her father against the Usurper, she remembered, one of the few to remain true to the last. Will he fight for me as well? There was no way to be certain after so many years.

~

“I mean to sail to Westeros, and drink the wine of vengeance from the skull of the Usurper.”

[...] “Will nothing turn you from this madness?”

“Nothing,” she said, wishing she was as certain as she sounded.

~

Even so, it would be years before they were large enough to take to war. And they must be trained as well, or they will lay my kingdom waste. For all her Targaryen blood, Dany had not the least idea of how to train a dragon.

ACOK Daenerys II

Dany felt shabby and barbaric as she rode past them in her lionskin robe with black Drogon on one shoulder. Her Dothraki called the Qartheen “Milk Men” for their paleness, and Khal Drogo had dreamed of the day when he might sack the great cities of the east. She glanced at her bloodriders, their dark almond-shaped eyes giving no hint of their thoughts. Is it only the plunder they see? she wondered. How savage we must seem to these Qartheen.

~

“...The Thirteen will come to do you homage, and all the great of Qarth.”

All the great of Qarth will come to see my dragons, Dany thought, yet she thanked Xaro for his kindness before she sent him on his way.

~

The Usurper will kill you, sure as sunrise, Mormont had said. Robert had slain her gallant brother Rhaegar, and one of his creatures had crossed the Dothraki sea to poison her and her unborn son. They said Robert Baratheon was strong as a bull and fearless in battle, a man who loved nothing better than war. And with him stood the great lords her brother had named the Usurper’s dogs, cold-eyed Eddard Stark with his frozen heart, and the golden Lannisters, father and son, so rich, so powerful, so treacherous.

How could she hope to overthrow such men? When Khal Drogo had lived, men trembled and made him gifts to stay his wrath. If they did not, he took their cities, wealth and wives and all. But his khalasar had been vast, while hers was meager. Her people had followed her across the red waste as she chased her comet, and would follow her across the poison water too, but they would not be enough. Even her dragons might not be enough. Viserys had believed that the realm would rise for its rightful king ... but Viserys had been a fool, and fools believe in foolish things.

Her doubts made her shiver.

~

“The high lords have always fought. Tell me who’s won and I’ll tell you what it means. Khaleesi, the Seven Kingdoms are not going to fall into your hands like so many ripe peaches. You will need a fleet, gold, armies, alliances—”

“All this I know.” She took his hands in hers and looked up into his dark suspicious eyes.

Sometimes he thinks of me as a child he must protect, and sometimes as a woman he would like to bed, but does he ever truly see me as his queen?

ACOK Daenerys I

“...Ten thousand warriors went with him. You have a hundred.”

No, Dany thought. I have four. The rest are women, old sick men and boys whose hair has never been braided.

A Game of Thrones

AGOT Daenerys X

She could feel the eyes of the khalasar on her as she entered her tent. The Dothraki were muttering and giving her strange sideways looks from the corners of their dark almond eyes. They thought her mad, Dany realized. Perhaps she was. She would know soon enough. If I look back I am lost.

AGOT Daenerys VIII

Trembling, her eyes full of sudden tears, Dany turned away from them. He fell from his horse! It was so, she had seen it, and the bloodriders, and no doubt her handmaids and the men of her khas as well. And how many more? They could not keep it secret, and Dany knew what that meant. A khal who could not ride could not rule, and Drogo had fallen from his horse.

“We must bathe him,” she said stubbornly. She must not allow herself to despair.

~

“I will not leave him,” she said stubbornly, miserably. She took his hand again. “I will not.”

~

“That one means you no good, Princess,” Mormont said. “The Dothraki say a man and his bloodriders share one life, and Qotho sees it ending. A dead man is beyond fear.”

“No one has died,” Dany said. “Ser Jorah, I may have need of your blade. Best go don your armor.” She was more frightened than she dared admit, even to herself.

AGOT Daenerys VI

Dany was near tears as they carried her back. The taste in her mouth was one she had known before: fear. For years she had lived in terror of Viserys, afraid of waking the dragon. This was even worse. It was not just for herself that she feared now, but for her baby. He must have sensed her fright, for he moved restlessly inside her. Dany stroked the swell of her belly gently, wishing she could reach him, touch him, soothe him.

AGOT Daenerys IV

His fingers dug into her arm painfully and for an instant Dany felt like a child again, quailing in the face of his rage. She reached out with her other hand and grabbed the first thing she touched, the belt she’d hoped to give him, a heavy chain of ornate bronze medallions. She swung it with all her strength.

AGOT Daenerys III

“Hit her, Mormont. Hurt her. Your king commands it. Kill these Dothraki dogs and teach her.”

The exile knight looked from Dany to her brother; she barefoot, with dirt between her toes and oil in her hair, he with his silks and steel. Dany could see the decision on his face. “He shall walk, Khaleesi,” he said.

~

“Have you forgotten who you are? Look at you. Look at you!”

Dany did not need to look. She was barefoot, with oiled hair, wearing Dothraki riding leathers and a painted vest given her as a bride gift. She looked as though she belonged here. Viserys was soiled and stained in city silks and ringmail.

~

Her supper was a simple meal of fruit and cheese and fry bread, with a jug of honeyed wine to wash it down. “Doreah, stay and eat with me,” Dany commanded when she sent her other handmaids away. The Lysene girl had hair the color of honey, and eyes like the summer sky. She lowered those eyes when they were alone. “You honor me, Khaleesi,” she said, but it was no honor, only service. Long after the moon had risen, they sat together, talking.

AGOT Daenerys II

There are no more dragons, Dany thought, staring at her brother, though she did not dare say it aloud.

~

“What should I do?” she asked Illyrio.

It was Ser Jorah Mormont who answered. “Take the reins and ride. You need not go far.”

Nervously Dany gathered the reins in her hands and slid her feet into the short stirrups. She was only a fair rider; she had spent far more time traveling by ship and wagon and palanquin than by horseback. Praying that she would not fall off and disgrace herself, she gave the filly the lightest and most timid touch with her knees.

And for the first time in hours, she forgot to be afraid. Or perhaps it was for the first time ever.

AGOT Daenerys I

Her brother held the gown up for her inspection. “This is beauty. Touch it. Go on. Caress the fabric.”

Dany touched it. The cloth was so smooth that it seemed to run through her fingers like water. She could not remember ever wearing anything so soft. It frightened her. She pulled her hand away. “Is it really mine?”

“A gift from the Magister Illyrio,” Viserys said, smiling. Her brother was in a high mood tonight. “The color will bring out the violet in your eyes. And you shall have gold as well, and jewels of all sorts. Illyrio has promised. Tonight you must look like a princess.”

A princess, Dany thought. She had forgotten what that was like. Perhaps she had never really known. “Why does he give us so much?” she asked. “What does he want from us?” For nigh on half a year, they had lived in the magister’s house, eating his food, pampered by his servants. Dany was thirteen, old enough to know that such gifts seldom come without their price, here in the free city of Pentos.

“Illyrio is no fool,” Viserys said. He was a gaunt young man with nervous hands and a feverish look in his pale lilac eyes. “The magister knows that I will not forget my friends when I come into my throne.”

Dany said nothing. Magister Illyrio was a dealer in spices, gemstones, dragonbone, and other, less savory things. He had friends in all of the Nine Free Cities, it was said, and even beyond, in Vaes Dothrak and the fabled lands beside the Jade Sea. It was also said that he’d never had a friend he wouldn’t cheerfully sell for the right price. Dany listened to the talk in the streets, and she heard these things, but she knew better than to question her brother when he wove his webs of dream. His anger was a terrible thing when roused. Viserys called it “waking the dragon.”

~

Somewhere beyond the sunset, across the narrow sea, lay a land of green hills and flowered plains and great rushing rivers, where towers of dark stone rose amidst magnificent blue-grey mountains, and armored knights rode to battle beneath the banners of their lords. The Dothraki called that land Rhaesh Andahli, the land of the Andals. In the Free Cities, they talked of Westeros and the Sunset Kingdoms. Her brother had a simpler name. “Our land,” he called it. The words were like a prayer with him. If he said them enough, the gods were sure to hear. “Ours by blood right, taken from us by treachery, but ours still, ours forever. You do not steal from the dragon, oh, no. The dragon remembers.”

And perhaps the dragon did remember, but Dany could not. She had never seen this land her brother said was theirs, this realm beyond the narrow sea. These places he talked of, Casterly Rock and the Eyrie, Highgarden and the Vale of Arryn, Dorne and the Isle of Faces, they were just words to her. Viserys had been a boy of eight when they fled King’s Landing to escape the advancing armies of the Usurper, but Daenerys had been only a quickening in their mother’s womb.

Yet sometimes Dany would picture the way it had been, so often had her brother told her the stories. The midnight flight to Dragonstone, moonlight shimmering on the ship’s black sails. Her brother Rhaegar battling the Usurper in the bloody waters of the Trident and dying for the woman he loved. The sack of King’s Landing by the ones Viserys called the Usurper’s dogs, the lords Lannister and Stark. Princess Elia of Dorne pleading for mercy as Rhaegar’s heir was ripped from her breast and murdered before her eyes. The polished skulls of the last dragons staring down sightlessly from the walls of the throne room while the Kingslayer opened Father’s throat with a golden sword.

She had been born on Dragonstone nine moons after their flight, while a raging summer storm threatened to rip the island fastness apart. They said that storm was terrible. The Targaryen fleet was smashed while it lay at anchor, and huge stone blocks were ripped from the parapets and sent hurtling into the wild waters of the narrow sea. Her mother had died birthing her, and for that her brother Viserys had never forgiven her.

She did not remember Dragonstone either. They had run again, just before the Usurper’s brother set sail with his new-built fleet. By then only Dragonstone itself, the ancient seat of their House, had remained of the Seven Kingdoms that had once been theirs. It would not remain for long. [...]

They had wandered since then, from Braavos to Myr, from Myr to Tyrosh, and on to Qohor and Volantis and Lys, never staying long in any one place. Her brother would not allow it. The Usurper’s hired knives were close behind them, he insisted, though Dany had never seen one.

At first the magisters and archons and merchant princes were pleased to welcome the last Targaryens to their homes and tables, but as the years passed and the Usurper continued to sit upon the Iron Throne, doors closed and their lives grew meaner. Years past they had been forced to sell their last few treasures, and now even the coin they had gotten from Mother’s crown had gone. In the alleys and wine sinks of Pentos, they called her brother “the beggar king.” Dany did not want to know what they called her.

~

Last of all came the collar, a heavy golden torc emblazoned with ancient Valyrian glyphs.

“Now you look all a princess,” the girl said breathlessly when they were done. Dany glanced at her image in the silvered looking glass that Illyrio had so thoughtfully provided. A princess, she thought, but she remembered what the girl had said, how Khal Drogo was so rich even his slaves wore golden collars. She felt a sudden chill, and gooseflesh pimpled her bare arms.

~

Dany could smell the stench of Illyrio’s pallid flesh through his heavy perfumes.

Her brother, sprawled out on his pillows beside her, never noticed. His mind was away across the narrow sea. “We won’t need his whole khalasar,” Viserys said. His fingers toyed with the hilt of his borrowed blade, though Dany knew he had never used a sword in earnest. “Ten thousand, that would be enough, I could sweep the Seven Kingdoms with ten thousand Dothraki screamers. The realm will rise for its rightful king. Tyrell, Redwyne, Darry, Greyjoy, they have no more love for the Usurper than I do. The Dornishmen burn to avenge Elia and her children. And the smallfolk will be with us. They cry out for their king.” He looked at Illyrio anxiously. “They do, don’t they?”

“They are your people, and they love you well,” Magister Illyrio said amiably. “In holdfasts all across the realm, men lift secret toasts to your health while women sew dragon banners and hide them against the day of your return from across the water.” He gave a massive shrug. “Or so my agents tell me.”

Dany had no agents, no way of knowing what anyone was doing or thinking across the narrow sea, but she mistrusted Illyrio’s sweet words as she mistrusted everything about Illyrio. Her brother was nodding eagerly, however. “I shall kill the Usurper myself,” he promised, who had never killed anyone, “as he killed my brother Rhaegar. And Lannister too, the Kingslayer, for what he did to my father.”

“That would be most fitting,” Magister Illyrio said. Dany saw the smallest hint of a smile playing around his full lips, but her brother did not notice. Nodding, he pushed back a curtain and stared off into the night, and Dany knew he was fighting the Battle of the Trident once again.

~

Magister Illyrio’s words were honey. “Many important men will be at the feast tonight. Such men have enemies. The khal must protect his guests, yourself chief among them, Your Grace. No doubt the Usurper would pay well for your head.”

“Oh, yes,” Viserys said darkly. “He has tried, Illyrio, I promise you that. His hired knives follow us everywhere. I am the last dragon, and he will not sleep easy while I live.”

The palanquin slowed and stopped. The curtains were thrown back, and a slave offered a hand to help Daenerys out. His collar, she noted, was ordinary bronze. 

[babysizedfics]

⛰️🎵💁📣 all for labd!! - 🐝

From this ask game!

⛰️- What was the hardest part?

Hmm probably trying to balance angst and fluff? I'm a drama queen at heart and as much as I tried to tell myself not to make things angsty I think we can all agree there were some big feelings by the end of it

But I'm also pretty proud of the balance I struck so the hard work was worth it imo!

🎵- Did you have a playlist/piece of music that went with this story?

I actually hoped someone would ask this! Because I have made a playlist for the series!! (i rlly hope spotify doesnt show my dead name lol, it should be elbee)

💁- Did readers influence or change any part of this story?

Definitely!!! I never expected it but in loads of ways this is true, firstly the obvious stuff - Eg. Duckie's stuffie outfit making became roman making meeko's hoodie, Remi's stuffie dog called Bumpkin made a cameo, Danny loved the idea of bouncy baby Vee so I made Patton play that with him in the final chapter. Plus someone else heavily inspired Patton's general behaviour in how he babies Vee.

But also people picking up on certain subtle things convinced me to address them more, eg. on ao3 someone said that they thought Patton's cg headspace was quite unhealthy because he is so dependant on the boys needing him. And I knew it in my head though I didn't necessarily plan to explore it in this fic, but it actually became the focus of the last chapter!

📣-What was the best piece of encouragement you got?

Whenever someone said that the fic helped them feel better about their own littlespace. Whether it was feeling better about being a bit of a crybaby because Patton never judges Vee for being so easily upset, or saying that the fact Roman is conscious of his age dreaming and its still just as real as Vee's regression made them feel secure in their own conscious littlespace.... I genuinely teared up everytime someone told me my writing helped them to feel happier in themselves, that's like peak author goals

[bisluthq]

I can actually see why Taylor relates to Daenerys. Danny throughout all her journey was always moving towards one goal, everything she did along the way we to get her closer to that goal. Taylor is ambitious but you get the sense that she wants it ALL. She wants to win and be on top. I have zero issues with that normalize ruthlessly ambitious women. But also Dany was ruthlessly ambitious but she cared a lot about her people and loyalty - that’s a Taylor thing too. How many times had Dany burnt someone alive for either betraying her or not pledging allegiance or loyalty towards her, also very Taylor. Dany had also struggled to overcome perceptions about her, like outrunning preconceived notions that she’s crazy like her father or would turn out to be a crazy leader like him. There were always looking for glimpses of when she would snap and funny after every mountain she climbed and all the things she survived she still ended up ruined by the exact same preconceived notions that haunted her from the very beginning. I can see Taylor relating to that. I can also see Taylor relating specifically to Dany burning down all of Kings Landing. Dany at that point had lost so much, given up so much, just to rule over people who ultimately didn’t deserve it and there’s no way after everything Cersei took from her she’s letting her go without setting her on fire. She’s so mad as in angry she can’t help but set it ALL on fire. Did y’all see Idsb, I’m sure Taylor thought about setting the world on fire a couple times herself.

No I get why she thinks that but that’s a true surface level read of it. That’s like me thinking I’m Ellaria Sand coz I’m bi and brunette. I think Taylor wants to be Dany and she relates to the key plot points but honestly I think she’s far more Margeary/Olenna/maybe Sansa in that she is very able to game the system and be effeminate - even the way she fights her battles is often by weaponizing femininity and victimhood which isn’t always a bad decision but like... it’s true - and means very well but also wants to be The Queen rather than a queen. However it’s very within the rules - like the Tyrrells and Sansa - she’s not gonna burn shit to the ground much as she’d like to. It’s that political conversation we were having - she wants reform not anarchy.

Taylor is a reformer not a “breaker of chains”.

I know why she sees herself as being a Dany but it’s one of her poorer takes on herself/the show IMO.

[ladylynse]

So it was recently pointed out to me (via reading someone else's tags lol) that there's only one DP/Merlin crossover on FFN (well, there's 3 but the other two are not in English). Sooo... since you're the queen of crossovers (imo), what would your take be on a DP/Merlin crossover?

aslkdjfalskjdf I’m flattered anyone thinks I deserve that title. Thank you!

I can easily tell you how I’d start a DP/Merlin crossover. Because that’s actually in my giant file of fic ideas. Here you go:

Danny could end up in Merlin’s world after touchingsomething in Clockwork’s tower. He goes to ask about Dani’s whereabouts,feeling guilty for not seeking her out and worrying about her, wanting toreassure himself that she is still safe, that the Ecto-Dejecto worked, thatVlad isn’t after her and that she is in no danger of destabilizing. Clockwork gives him a look. “Do you think I keep track of everyone’swhereabouts?”“Actually? Yeah.” Danny shifted on his feet. “I mean, you watcheverything, right? So even if you don’t keep track of certain people, you couldfind them.” He paused, waiting for some sort of confirmation fromClockwork. When he received none, he ventured, “Right?”This time, he was rewarded with a small smile. “It is possible.”“So you’ll help me find her?”There was a beat of silence.  Then, “And what if she does not want to befound?”Oh. Danny swallowed. “Then I won’t look, I guess. I’ll wait for her tocome back. Just…I want to know that she’s safe, Clockwork. Please?”A sigh. “Very well.” The ghost of time turned, and Danny took a smallstep closer to the table. He’d never seen Clockwork keep anything in his tower before. It made sense thathe did, but he just never had it out when Danny came around. Probably becausehe always knew when Danny was coming. Which meant it had to be strange forthings to be out now, but that didn’t mean there was any harm in taking acloser look. If Clockwork had left this stuff out, then maybe it meant he wantedDanny to see it.

Danny reached out to pick up the nearest object at hand, andClockwork’s voice floated back to him. “Don’t touch anything.”“Sorry,” Danny mumbled, withdrawing his hand. ———– caught hiseye, and he’d reached out again before he really realized what he was doing.Surely it wouldn’t hurt just to turn something over to get a better look at it,right? Clockwork just wanted to make sure he didn’t break anything.

Famous last words, right? *grins* So, I personally would set a crossover back in Merlin’s time, as opposed to showing Merlin in Danny’s time. There’s…just a lot more risk with Danny being the unwitting time traveller. (Also, he’s canonically time travelled, so there’s that, too. I mostly just like time travel, though. And a Merlin who’s lived through so much would be less surprised by everything with Danny than a Merlin who has not.) Then there’s the potential for initial misunderstandings, which is pretty much a given for any crossover fic of any length that I write. 

In this scenario, Clockwork allowed the time travel to happen, which would mean there’s something Danny needs to do. (This would also be my cop out for language differences not being an issue.) There would be something to do with the Veil and the Dorocha and–perhaps even more importantly, depending on the ultimate plot–the Cailleach, and possibly but to a lesser extent the Horn of Cathbhadh, since those are the most logical connections between the two shows, and those are the kinds of connections I use to build a stronger crossover. Something like the Cup of Life may or may not turn out to be a Ghost Zone relic in Danny’s time. 

Danny would also really misunderstand magic at first, since his reference for it is basically Desiree; that’s the only kind of magic that he knows is ‘real’, and not something out of stories/to do with technology/channelled by gems. He might not understand how the Sidhe staff works, exactly, but he’d pick up on it being magic a lot faster (and therefore be wary of it if he ever saw it) than he would figure out that the reason weird stuff keeps happening is not because his powers are acting up or because he’s being clumsier than usual because he’s nervous about this entire situation. (Who knew magic was ever banned in Camelot? He thought he knew the stories of the Arthurian legend as well as the next person. Apparently he does not. Or apparently the truth is a lot different than the stories.) He’s not particularly worried about being burned at the stake when he can just go intangible, but he’s changed the past by mistake before, and starting another witch hunt because he uses his ghost powers in front over everyone is not preferable. It would probably not be good. And he should figure out how the heck to get back home. Or even just to the Ghost Zone. He thought Clockwork would’ve popped in by now to explain something or at least berate him, but he hasn’t. 

Now, Merlin’s used to hiding his magic, even if he’s not always terribly good at it, just like Danny’s used to hiding his secret. And until Danny hears someone refer to Merlin as Merlin, he’d be expecting Merlin to look like Dragoon. Which would give Merlin a little bit more freedom when it comes to investigating the stranger that turned up in the courtyard of the citadel which apparently no idea of where he was and no guards reporting seeing him sneaking around until someone saw him and started ringing the bell to alert everyone that there was an intruder. Danny’s excuses, naturally, will be terrible. Merlin’s excuses are also terrible. I’d pretend that he could spot another liar, if only with Gaius’s help. Merlin would initially think Danny has magic, except he’s apparently never heard of Emrys when Merlin’s forced to ask out loud when Danny cannot hear him telepathically. Except Danny’s reaction when he does realize that Merlin is Merlin? That is unnerving. Really unnerving. Merlin might even call Kilgharrah and ask if there’s anything in some prophecy he hasn’t been told about yet about someone fitting Danny’s description.

I would probably set it once Arthur’s king–I like going AU between S4 and S5–but, uh, finer details would depend on why exactly Danny needs to be there. Which I haven’t figured out, which is why I haven’t written anything else for this idea. Morgana would probably get involved eventually, if only because she’s curious about the newcomer once she catches wind of him, and possibly because she thinks she might be able to use him. Poor Danny, still unable to escape from people who want to control him–and have the means to do it.

(unrelated idea but another idea for this crossover)

[bigskydreaming]

Here's a random question for you: I know you're a big (the biggest) proponent of Scanny, but if you had to pick someone else for Danny to have a relationship with, who would it be?

I actually have thought about this! Honestly, my go to after Scott for Danny is Mason, because the younger characters are literally only two years younger than the original characters even if it seemed otherwise a lot of the time. And so given that we never saw Danny and Mason interact due to the whole ‘oh sure, he totally graduated offscreen a year early just in time to not be around for the season that revolved entirely around his specific expertise aka hacking’ nonsense....I can easily imagine a few years in the future, Danny and Mason meet in college or grad school or somewhere they’re on even footing and learn they have mutual friends/experiences/knowledge in common and from there grow into a friendship and also maybe then they’re boyfriends and then husbands and then dads and then grandpas and happily ever after yada yada.

Meanwhile, if Danny encountered Liam at any age, I feel like he would just be like: “No.” And then wave his hand around in Liam’s direction in a circle like to encompass all of him, as he’s all. “All of this is just exhausting, whatever it is. I am too old and too tired to deal with this....vibe you’re emitting.”

LOL I can’t explain it, like Liam and Mason have entirely different energies and I feel that age isn’t even a factor as to why Danny would just not at all have patience for Liam. Like, I don’t think he’d DISLIKE him exactly, so much as just....’I’m going to be over here, and you’re going to stay over there, and I just think that’ll be best for everyone and we’ll all get along great that way.”

Hmm, who else. Controversial I guess, but I actually did kinda like Dethan, waaaay back at the very beginning of it, before that very same season crapped all over any real potential it or even the twins at all had in the show. Given that I’m fine with them and even like them in AUs or fics that diverge before they had anything to do with Boyd’s death, but if that’s at all in canon for a story, I have no interest in them as anything other than cannon fodder. Which let’s be real, you always kinda have a need for in TW stories. 

But initially, I REALLY REALLY liked the fact that there was this (at the time) mysterious new character that was there for DANNY, like, deliberately seeking him out because of real or suspected significance....I was all for that, because I was like yes, excellent, clearly this means they have plans to focus more on Danny and bring him into the core group eventually and also obviously Danny’s gonna turn this guy away from the Dark Side and make him betray his pack of overcompensating losers for Danny and the power of LOVE because who doesn’t love that trope, am I right? Its all so clearly laid out!

Ahhh, to be that dumb again.

Anyway, so in AUs or early canon-divergent fics, I can be all for Danny and a better, more fleshed out and non-jackass depiction of Ethan. But by the time Ethan returns in actual canon, the fact that he’s with Jackson just irritates me in a ‘hooking up with your ex’s best friend is a jerk move and we get it, show, you don’t consider Danny important and never did, jfc’ kinda way. Beyond that though, I’m just like, Jackson can have him at that point, they deserve each other, go Team Jerkwad.

I don’t see Theo and Danny ever happening because I like to think that Danny’s view on scheming, ambitious and boundary-breaking friends with possible homicidal inclinations has changed since Jackson and Ethan’s presences in his life, and he’s like.....”Nah, I’m not doing that again. Two of that type are enough for me, and I’m kinda always gonna put up with Jackson at this point because...look, I had my reasons probably, just because I can’t remember the basis of our friendship now, like....just back off, okay?”

Just saying, I don’t think he’d inherently hate Theo if Theo’s story happens in an AU kinda way where he doesn’t murder and betray his way through the show’s social hierarchy, lol, but Danny would still just be like “Look, whatever your issues are dude, I’m not trying to judge you for them if you don’t make me, but like, go put in some you-time offstage and then maybe we can talk. I am not emotionally equipped to put up with the schemes of yet another person whose whole thing seems to be ‘am I good or bad, you decide, because I sure as hell can’t.’ I don’t care how big your biceps are, that is not going to be a deciding factor for me, not this time, no sir, I have learned from my mistakes, I have had hashtag Growth, and you need to go now, and also please put on a shirt. I SAID GOOD DAY, SIR!”

Danny and Stiles is Lol That’s A No For Me, of course, Danny and Boyd I would be totally down for and can picture them being like, a snark queen power couple who hang back and watch all the drama unfold around them while providing entertaining commentary back and forth to each other but otherwise act like they’re not even there, and when someone annoyed by their running commentary finally snaps and goes “Why are you two even here?” like, I can so picture Danny and Boyd just blinking slowly and looking at them, then at each other, then back at them as if confused by the question. 

“It’s Date Night,” Danny says slowly, in the tone reserved for being asked to solve the equation on the board that’s already got the answer written out right there.

“Okay, fine. But why are you HERE, then? If its your Date Night, like.....go have your date then. Catch a movie. Its all good, we don’t need you guys here at the moment.”

Boyd squints at them. “This IS our date. Whoppers?”

The latter is directed to Danny, as Boyd extends the box of candy towards him.

“Yes please,” Danny says, reaching for a handful.

Exasperated sighs are heard all around the room.

LOL anyway....who else....Jackson tends to be a no for me too, not for any real reason beyond like....I’ve read too many fics where they’re essentially treated as the Mirror Universe version of S/ciles, and you KNOW how I feel about that ship, so like, all even dubiously associated ships are by mere proxy also noped by me. *Shrugs*

Which mostly just leaves Isaac, and....idk, tbh. I’m not inherently opposed to them, and I’ve actually even read a couple of fairly long-ish and pretty enjoyable Danny/Isaac fics. But enjoyable in the sense of like....just as their own thing, a fun romance set in the TW setting/universe, between Danny and an Isaac-shaped woobiewolf. As the few Danny/Isaac fics I’ve found over the years tend to suffer from the exact same thing that’s always kept me from really ever getting into Scott and Isaac as a couple in anything other than theory...

Like, in the fics I’ve tried, I always tend to run into the same tendency to just....sand down all of Isaac’s rough edges and make him this shy, insecure, soft boy who is withdrawn until Danny or Scott bring him out of his shell....even when its based on the events of the show and Isaac’s already been turned into his leather jacket-wearing, snark-wielding, deliberately apathetic werewolfsona. 

And that’s just...not Isaac to me? So if I treat him as an original character basically, I can enjoy those stories, and do, just because there’s sooooo little Danny-centric fic that awhile back, I absolutely spent a good year or so making sure like, I found every last scrap of it, lol. I went spelunking in some deep, dark places in search of even a little spotlight time for Danny, because He Deserved Better and I was willing to put up with a lot to see him get even a little (except for like, blatant and unavoidable Scott hate being front and center in the fic as well. Then I exited with rapidity. I love Danny, but not even for him can I stomach that).

But yeah, otherwise, I very very rarely found a lot of Isaac fics, no matter who he was paired with, where he wasn’t like....constantly soft and vulnerable and the focus of Scott or Danny or whomever else’s regular attempts to comfort and protect him. Which I mean, I love Isaac, and I’m always projecting onto abuse survivors in fiction even if just a little bit, so its not that I object to the comfort and desire to protect him parts, just the sheer unevenness that tends to be present in his dynamics as well. I’ve always said that for me, the true theme of TW was survivor empowerment, that all of these kids had been hurt and exploited and traumatized in various ways and they all struggled individually and together to find ways to cope and to heal, and also to feel empowered enough to protect THEMSELVES from whatever or whomever tried to hurt them again in the future. 

And that’s the element that so often is missing from Isaac’s arc in fics, IMO...any hint of the character who he spent a lot of time and effort growing into on the show. Evolving first into a character who reveled in the power he’d been given and that made him feel safe and strong for the first time in his life, to the point where he was quite frankly an asshole a lot of the time. 

But then from there he grew into a character who came to terms with the reality that as his own power grew, so did the power of the new tormentors he was now often in conflict with, due to the source of his newfound strength...and his strength and brutality and apathy were not at all the tools able to help him find true protection and recovery in his new world. They just weren’t going to get the job done, and that’s when he started to let Scott’s example sink in and take his lead from that, finding the power and strength in committing himself more to others, becoming more of an active participant rather than just a spectator or a henchman who needed orders before acting.....allowing himself to be vulnerable in exchange for the benefits being more open to others afforded him.

Isaac’s growth onscreen from season to season was the very thing that made him so interesting and enjoyable to me....as well as how his bond with Scott did the same thing....so when the former isn’t really present in fics, even the presence of the latter doesn’t really do a whole lot for me. And its the same thing in the Danny/Isaac fics I read, so yeah. There for it in theory, but the execution I’ve found has never done anything to make it any more compelling a ship possibility than any other random ship.

I think that’s pretty much everyone though? Well I mean like, there’s Corey, but I don’t have strong feelings about that possibility one way or another. And there’s Derek, given the whole ‘Miguel’ thing in S1, but you know me, even in future/aged-up settings, I still tend to be ‘what if Derek dated people his own damn age tho, like just for the sheer novelty, let’s explore that some more’.....not to mention that as the show progressed, the more fandom hated on Braeden and her relationship with Derek, the more I spite-shipped them. To the extent that now I find it hard to picture even AUs where they’re not endgame, or if Derek HAS to be in another ship for some reason, then they still were a super serious relationship before the fic and there’s always that hint of her being the one that got away, kinda. 

*Shrugs* What can I say? The enemy ship of my enemy is my OTP. The Art of War, fandom style. I have no problem admitting it, lolol.

But yeah, that’s all of them I think now.