#FIONA DESERVED BETTER

[spainkitty]

The Fiona is Secretly Alistair's Mother Scenes Part 1

Lanil's Pieces Masterlist

I knew his father a... long time ago. I would just like to know if... if he's happy. For his father's sake.

"King Alistair..." Lavellan began slowly, not quite sure where her thought was going.

Cullen looked up from the board, but she turned the next words over in her head carefully instead of continuing. She frowned, then moved her castle. Cullen smirked at her, eyebrow rising, and she scowled at him. She moved the castle back and tried the knight. Cullen nodded in approval.

"So the king, he's... you said once, he's not like other royals? Or nobles? I can't... remember." She huffed and leaned back in her chair. "I know Cailin was the previous king, I know he died in Ostagar, but I can't remember Maric having two sons."

"Officially he didn't," Cullen told her.

He surveyed the board and moved a pawn. Lavellan scowled. Minute little plays like that were fucking annoying. She couldn't figure out what he was going to do next with a play like that. She braced her elbows on her knees and glared, ignoring his chuckle.

"King Alistair's birth was a very closely guarded secret. No one knew for most of his life, not until the Landsmeet where the Warden declared him king, and her his future Queen."

"Well, that's one way to take over the world. Good for her." She raised her fist in the air.

"It was Ferelden, not all of Thedas," he said, laughing. "I met them both, briefly." She glanced up at the strange shift in tone. He was looking over the garden, but it was obvious he wasn't seeing it. "They came to the Circle to conscript the mages against the Blight, and they... saved us. What was left of us." His voice lowered and he passed a hand over his eyes. "They saw me at my worst, but her. Cousland, at the time. I'll never forget her. It was like waking out of a dream, out of a nightmare. The others, they tried to get through. Leliana was there, Wynne, a healer and enchanter I'd known for more than a year, too, but her. The Warden. She got through. I believed in her, and I was furious that she wouldn't listen. She was the only one who could... who could do what I asked." He sighed, shoulders falling. "I'm so glad she was... so much wiser, stronger, so much kinder than anyone I'd ever met. If she loves a man like our King, he must be a good man. I have to remind myself of that sometimes whenever I meet him."

Lavellan huffed in amusement. "It sounds like you had a little crush."

"No." She drew up short at how vehement that was. Cullen's look was intense, earnest, and completely genuine. "She is my Queen, and a hero. She saved my life, and then she saved my soul."

Lavellan blinked. "Oh."

"I'm sorry. This was--"

He started to get to his feet, looking too pale and shaken. Lavellan reached without thinking, wrapped her hand around his wrist, and smiled as gently as she could. As if she was trying to soothe her high-strung Ferelden Forder. He stilled immediately, eyes on her hand, and then slowly up to her face.

"I'm about to kick your ass for real this time. You can't go yet."

He slipped back into his chair, smiling weakly. "I told you, I didn't let you win last time."

"And I told you, you're a shit liar."

The answering laugh was deep, unabashed, and her heart lightened to hear it. She'd done something right, and Cullen was smiling.

"But, um, Alistair. If it was a secret, it can't be now, obviously. So who's his mother? Where did he grow up?" she asked, getting back on the original topic. She moved a cleric recklessly.

Cullen frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know details. I wasn't in the headspace to notice much at the time. What I've picked up since is that he was raised in Redcliffe until he was sent to the Chantry to be a Templar, younger than I was when I went, actually. I don't know exactly when or why the Wardens conscripted him, but it wasn't long before Ostagar."

"You were... thirteen, right?" Lavellan asked.

"I was." He glanced up, surprised. "You remembered?"

"I don't talk just to hear myself," Lavellan retorted with an eye roll. "And it's easy to remember what you tell me. Maybe because you're easy to talk to. Or maybe I just like hearing you talk."

Flirting with Cullen, even as innocently and obviously as she did, was always worth it. Just to see how easily and quickly he turned red. She smirked as it crept up to his ears He cleared his throat and moved a piece on the board. Her reckless cleric was gone and he was two moves from a check.

"Fenedhis!" she cursed.

He laughed, leaning back in his chair and shoulders shaking. "So. The story goes his mother was a serving woman, and she died giving birth to him. King Maric sent him away in secret to his brother-in-law and closest advisor. Other than... well."

"Loghain, Hero of River Dane."

"Yes."

Lavellan scowled darkly, leg hopping in place, and finally moved a different castle. This time, Cullen didn't protest, both eyebrows rising in surprise.

Ha.

"You... sounded unsure," Lavellan said, interrupting Cullen's focus after a long minute. It looked as though he dragged himself back to the garden, staring at her a little too long, before the words sunk in.

"Did I? I suppose I am."

"Why? Surely kings and nobles taking advantage of pretty serving maids is a tale as old as time," Lavellan said, mouth curled in disgust. "Though, perhaps it was a love story."

"Either could be true, but King Maric... He wasn't that kind of king, or man," Cullen said, his expression mirroring hers. He saw her incredulous eyebrow and he quickly raised a hand. "I'm not saying that as a Ferelden boy who grew up on stories of our heroic King Maric, who kicked the Orlesians out and freed us all. No matter what, if a king, um," he broke off, ears red again, "tends to... take advantage of pretty serving maids," Lavellan couldn't help but laugh at his uncomfortable expression, "people find out. They may whisper about it, or joke about it, or shake their heads about it, but people know. But until King Alistair took the throne, the only thing people ever talked about was how much King Maric loved his late Queen. No other woman managed to get his attention for years afterwards."

"So if he did tip a maid a few times and got himself a bastard son,"

"Inquisitor!"

"it was probably a love thing. It would only make sense, it being such a secret." Other than her wide smirk, she completely ignored his outburst.

"It's your move, Inquisitor." Cullen sighed, then sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking so very tired.

She wanted to poke a little more. See what it would take to tip him over the edge. What would it look like, if he was already so flustered? She looked down at the board and blinked.

"Oh shit. I didn't see what you did."

"I'm not helping this time. You deserve this."

She burst into laughter.

To Part II

[tequilaasquared]

God the fact that we were meant to fully take Fiona’s side during her whole ‘independent Fiona’ phase in s7 pisses me off. Asking the family that she CHOSE to become legal guardian of to put her at the bottom of their emergency contact lists, (underneath a couple with small children and a business who was unrelated to them, and their bipolar brother who had a super high pressure and high responsibility job) was completely unfair and irresponsible frankly. And doing it after she’d been called to Ian’s work as his emergency contact because he was clearly dealing with hypomania and his colleagues were concerned just felt like an extra twist of the knife. But I understood her reasoning to an extent.

But threatening to make her underage sister and her baby niece homeless because she was still pissed a traumatised 14 year old decided having a baby was the only way to become a part of a stable family environment? That was just plain cruel. Fiona didn’t have to be happy or agree with Debbie, and was well within her right to let Debbie know her disappointment and frustration, but she was still her legal guardian and she knew better! She was an adult and Debbie was a child being threatened with homelessness by the woman that raised her. Demanding Debbie get a job and getting her the application and Debbie following through and going to the interview, only for Fiona to actively sabotage it bringing Franny mid way through her interview was cruel and so unFiona like. Fiona was a grown ass 27 year old and should’ve sat Debbie down to communicate with her. I get that Debbie could be petulant and argumentative but she was a literal child! Fiona should’ve put her foot down and demand Debbie discuss with her how best to organise balancing work with childcare instead of offering zero support. She also lived with 3 brothers old enough to babysit Franny from time to time whilst Debbie worked. One of the overarching themes of Shameless was how the Gallaghers literally raised each other because their parents were awful human beings and you’re telling me Franny’s uncles couldn’t look after her for a few hours a week? It frustrates the shit out of me that the narrative successively villainised a young, impressionable girl because she made stupid decisions, influenced by grooming and the toxicity of her home life and her friends. And her following through with the decision to have a baby was further cemented by her sister’s cruel ultimatum and her only actual support at the time coming from her narcissistic, opportunistic father who used her vulnerability for his own gain.

Fiona was let down and emotionally neglected by Monica and she participated in that cycle of abuse with her pettiness towards Debbie. And I say that as someone whose favourite character for most of Shameless’ run was Fiona.

[cherry-treelane]

I find it so ironically funny when hardcore Debbie defenders use the defense that she was just a victimised teenage girl (agreed) and then proceed to slander Fiona and express their hatred for her character and lack of sympathy

as if being an adult magically absolves an individual of the horrifying trauma that precedes them and screws up their mentality and actions

funnily enough these people get mad at others for "expecting Debbie to be an innocent angel and hating on her for acting out as a result of trauma" (also agreed, debbie does deserve more sympathy, she can't be expected to grow up to be a perfect saint when she's been through so much) yet seem to hold Fiona to the same unattainable standards and put her on a pedestal as if she wasnt a child that was forced to intensely grow up while never actually being raised

like lets put this into perspective and remember that fiona grew up surrounded by corrupt morals and insanely screwed up behaviour yet still emerged as messed up, yes, but surprisingly good considering the situation she was in??? she had to navigate basic things such as morals and being a good, responsible person on her own. imagine how difficult it must be to lead a bunch of kids, including yourself, with no previous role model or good example of your own to follow. most of the time, she always tried to do what she thought was best and would have the most desirable outcome

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

3x05 - shameless (us), mastermind - taylor swift, 9x12 - shameless (us), a burning hill - mitski, 5x12 - shameless (us), unknown, 11x07 - shameless (us), unknown

[mcrizzystardust]

rip regulus black you would have loved fiona apple

[tvshowpilot]

In this video, we’re diving into the lives of some of the most tragic female characters on television—women who, no matter how hard they fought or how much they gave, just couldn’t catch a break.

[shinakazami1]

Fiona plzz bc she deserves better 💖

ESP AFTER THE BOOK BASED ON YOUR REVIEW DJSJSH

How I feel about this character

I won't lie. 15 yo me just skimmed over her, focusing on Rhys. But when I played it finally myself. God DARN DOES THIS WOMAN NOT GET REST.

- Betrayed by long time mentor and father figure

- Stuck with, in her perception, corporal scums that represent everything she hates

- No time to mourn over anything, constantly things go wrong

- getting trained by Athena, using her improvisation skills, wanting to become a Vault Hunter and seeming to succeed

- Strong. Independent. Funny and pretty.

She really deserved better djhehw

All the people I ship romantically with this character

HAHA FINALLY FINALLY I CAN SAY IT

I Headcanon her as AROMANTIC *final fantasy VII music* SO NONE OF THAT HERE

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I think she and Vaughn had potential to talk and be silly together though she does consider him as a postman. I wish we got more time with her and Athena, or Scooter. She also was so good with Loader Bot and Gortys. Even with Rhys she had some great moments.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Gosh darn with the unpopular. Headcanons:

- she prefers sour tastes. Texture of a beef jerky but also, at the same time, she would love to eat rich people food, just to say how disgusting it is.

- she learnt to read very early. Helped her come up with stories for being a con artist

- if she was the one who had Handsome Jack in her head, I think even she, in the end, would bend. He would just need to play his cards right which would be hard in this situation

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Respect JSHDJEKSJWJ AND MORE SHOW TIME pls don't butcher her in the future please please please I beg of u

[callmearcturus]

hi, the year is 2024 and i just realized why Gearbox gave Rhys Talesfromtheborderlands that stupid fucking last name in Borderlands 3 and I'm furious

[thisismyroadtothethrone]

Lip not getting to adopt Xan is my villain origin story because what the fuck

[mentalmeles]

Seriously like. What am I supposed to take away from this? What lesson am I supposed to learn?

That Simon and Betty’s love was pointless in the end? That Betty’s sacrifices were all in vain? That neither she nor Simon can have a chance to improve upon their faults and get better? That they’re destined to fail, no matter what and Betty is condemned to suffer alone for all eternity?

Fuck that.

[pikinanouart]

It's OC Sunday! + random fanart dump

[rubberduckyrye]

Man I've been watching a few episodes of Aggretsuko and like. Man I just fundamentally dislike it. The ship with Haida and Retsuko is probably the least interesting ship imo. It also had an episode that really rubbed me the wrong way about losing/quitting a job and homelessness and it just frustrated me

And then I watch Fiona and Cake and my god. That show is so good!!! I wanna REWATCH it!!! Just, Simon and Betty ;o;

I know the shows are completely unrelated but. Yeah.

[m4ndysk4nkovich]

i will never forgive the writers for how much they hurt these two in season 11/how sad both of their endings were

[ladymarinamart]

"Both stubborn"

"Both have strong principles"

"Both fight for people weaker than themselves"

"Both willing to make personal sacrifices to make that happen ("I am who I need to be" and Ciri sacrificing The Path for the greater good in the Empress ending parallels anyone?)"

Ciri and Vernon even have facial scars! They're matchy matchy! And that alone is much more than whatever D/S/A thinks Ciri and Iorveth or Iorveth and Roche have in common.

[literaturebf]

i don't remember sean coming back at all but maybe that's for the best. he fucking sucks!!