#True Empress

[nojillnolife]

[atangledfate]

Empress Luna

Art by @sweet-chimera

Empress Luna, the Endless Storm

[artaxlivs]

"Eddie, babe, you've seen this movie like seven times already." Steve whispers, rubbing his hand down Eddie's back as it hitches with sobs. "You know the horse comes back."

"N...Not this horse. That's a new horse. A new idea." His shoulders shake as he fights the build up of grief. "It's just *sniff* Bastian is a new reader, making a new story, making n-new w-wishes. This Artax dies."

Oh.

Oh.

Steve gets it, finally. Wonders just how long he's been missing the point here.

Because Eddie died. They got him back. But he'll never be the Eddie he was before. He's different now. It wasn't the Swamp of Sadness but it got him all the same. Maybe worse because he died full of hope and heroism. He died fighting. And when they got him back, they were still fighting. The story had continued without him.

Shifting them on the couch so they're face to face, Steve tucks Eddie's curls behind his ear, watches his face as he tries to calm his breathing, rubs Eddie's tears with his thumbs.

"If I got to wish the whole world into existence, you are the first thing I would wish for." Steve tells him, chest aching with weight of all the love he's been building up for Eddie since he'd taken his second first breath. "You. Every version of you is this one because you wouldn't be you without all the things you've learned along the way. Even death."

Fresh tears spill from Eddie's dark eyes and when he closes them against the honesty, eyelashes shadowing his pale cheeks, he shudders, "Promise?"

"A grain of sand. Just like in the Empress's hand. I promise on that grain of sand, you, and all the versions of you yet to come, are what I would wish for. Promise."

Steve tucks Eddie in close, holds him while he trembles through the last of his grief. Silently thanking The NeverEnding Story for showing them that there is hope after grief. Even if it starts with just a grain of sand.

[ladyelainehilfur]

Literally insane to me how small the general webtoon fandom is outside of the webtoon app itself (and maybe reddit??)

I've talked to multiple people irl who LOVE reading webtoon, but the online community is borderline threadbare ! Most people on Tumblr have no IDEA who our blorbos are! I've checked tags for some fairly popular webtoon and it was like visiting that Tatooine town in the Mandalorian where there are 5 citizens total, but only if you also count the Mayor, the sheriff, and the deputy.

Lore Olympus is the most popular webtoon and has under 2,000 fics on AO3. Lookism has roughly 1,000. Unordinary, THEE legacy webtoon, only has 600, and it's been running for almost 7 years now. It has nearly 6M subscribers and still gets 50K+ likes each week. It's not dead by any means.

I guess it doesn't help that each webtoon is its own micro ecosystem and once a webtoon ends, that ecosystem typically fades with it. But webtoons can go on runs longer than most shows on streaming services, and those fandoms burn hot and bright even if only for the first month of a new season drop.

By comparison, webtoon fans are largely casual about their enthusiasm, even if they're highly invested in the story or characters. From my experience, only the most passionate try to connect with other fans online. But when you're passionate about one webtoon, I suppose it's hard to show constant excitement about the 20+ other stories one might keep up with. Still, between the 85 million monthly readers, you'd think each major webtoon would at least have a dedicated fan base (meaning people who regularly post theories, thoughts, fics, and fanart) of mere thousands outside of the app.

One exception for this is that Batman webtoon? It actually trends on Tumblr every now and again. But it doesn't count, because Batman has a built in fandom who'll eat up and yell in the streets about any content where he's a decent dad.

People who read romance webtoon all tend to read the same comics, and actively understand the references to other popular romance comics (Trashta, Team Seojun, SLS), so you'd think there'd be a greater sense of unity. More people actively searching out others to discuss with and posting their thoughts online and not just in that webtoon's comment section.

I mean, C'MON girls!!! Millions of people log into that app like everyday!!! WHERE is the community?? WHERE is the fanart?? WHERE is the fanfic?? WHY does Odd Girl Out only have 7 fanfics?? WHY are there like 2 people on Twitter posting about Weak Hero?? Head in hands fr

[linka-from-captain-planet]

"[Celene accepting Duke Remache's proposal of marriage, which would likely eliminate Gaspard's challenge to her rule] is worth considering," Briala said, interrupting Celene's thoughts. Celene glanced over to see that Briala was refilling her teacup, her eyes still downcast. "It is not." Celene took the elven woman by the shoulder and gently tilted up Briala's chin until those beautiful eyes met hers. "If I tie myself to some lord, it will be for more than good hunting grounds in the Deauvin Flats." Perhaps it was selfish. Perhaps it was a mistake in the Game, even. But Celene had lost enough of her own life to the Empire of Orlais already... as had Briala. Briala's gaze softened. "Majesty."

A favorite moment from The Masked Empire, encapsulating a lot of what I find so compelling about them, particularly the drive-by interruption by Celene's guilty conscience and how much of a colossal understatement "perhaps it was a mistake in the Game" turns out to be

[antianakin]

I feel like I've seen a lot of "Empress Padme" or "Sith Padme" stories where Padme's gets pushed to a breaking point and becomes evil or convinces herself into doing evil things in the name of justice, and while that's all entirely valid, I feel like I need more Empress SATINE stories.

Because Satine is, canonically, someone who is absolutely willing to go for torture and wrongful imprisonment when pushed far enough. She is someone who will performatively destroy things just to prove that she's "against corruption." Satine is someone who will see the consequences of her own choices happen and refuse to take an ounce of responsibility for it.

So I can absolutely see Satine becoming a violent tyrant while convincing herself and telling everyone else that she's just getting rid of corruption, she's just doing what has to be done. She will purify the world and anyone who tries to get in her way is just part of that corruption and will be eliminated.

Like maybe this is in an AU where she doesn't die during the attack by Maul and Death Watch, she manages to survive, but then she lives through the rise of the Empire and instead of being deposed by Gar Saxon, she fights back and fights back hard enough that Mandalore gets glassed early. And that pushes her to a breaking point because she REFUSES to let her people just... scatter, she WILL hold them together if it's the last thing she does, and she WILL get vengeance on the Empire for what it's done to Mandalore.

And poor sweet pacifist Duchess Satine just spirals further and further into her own darkness, convinced that she's just doing what she has to, swearing that it's necessary in the name of justice. But if her own people start questioning her, if they try to stop her, well they're probably spies for the Empire and she's promised to take out the Empire as vengeance for what was lost.

[presiding]

revenge solves everything.

by @lexsnotdead commissioned for swan song, in which daud is haunted by regrets and jessamine kaldwin.

[lightningtitties]

“…knowing you’re meant to be here, you’re both meant to be here”

[ic-napology]

Young Naposéphine sketch dump because I'm sad and I need some warm and cute love like theirs in this moment

[mydaylight]

The show didn't keep all the book details of Zhen Huan's poisoning of the Emperor in the last episodes, but there was actually quite a lot happening in the years following the aftermath of Yunli and Yuyin's deaths. Zhen Huan has Wei Lin use medicine to render Yongzheng infertile, so that he won't be able to produce any more children to threaten her and her sons. This also enables Zhen Huan - who is the de-facto empress at that point - to use a "divide and conquer" strategy in ruling the harem; she keeps throwing new concubines at Yongzheng to keep him occupied, but none of them are able to ever get pregnant. The result is that all the low-ranking concubines exhaust themselves in petty fights for favor while Zhen Huan's position, as the one with the most kids, is unattainable. At the same time Zhen Huan letting the Emperor have more consorts gets her a reputation for being virtuous and generous. This was actually one of Zhen Huan's most cruel moves towards the end, since she knows none of these girls have any future in the harem, and she's basically just waiting for Yongzheng to die anyways. I think this scene might indicate show!Zhen Huan is using the same strategy, although we don't see it be explained exactly.

(also I have to mention that one concubine comes up pregnant and Zhen Huan immediately knows the baby cannot be the Emperor's but her reaction is basically ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. She couldn't care less and even felt vindicated at hoodwinking him in this way)

[teathattast]

I'm sure I'd recognize you if I lost my memory

There's no voice on earth that speaks so sweet

I hope the next lifetime you'll be somewhere next to me

Like two blades of grass beneath a tree

I know that it's not always perfect

If I had the chance I'd do it all again

[puertoark]

my take on @misssicknesss 's lovely template + some reasoning behind it on the tags bc i feel like. explaining myself (original below the cut)

[mythoughtdumps]

WEBTOON

you guys I need recommendations for webtoon 🙁

These are the ones I’ve read so far

• Eaternal Nocturnal (MY #1 <33)

• The Remarried Empress (power couple btw)

• Marry My Husband (I need him btw)

• Homesick (MY FAVVV)

• Operation: True Love (i actually don’t know who to ship her with atp)

• School Bus Graveyard (we love a psychotic man)

• Lore Olympus (hades is the standard!!)

• Secretary Out-Of-Order (THE AMOUNT OF MONEY I ACTUALLY SPENT FOR COINS WAS INSANE)

• To Love Your Enemy (they’re so awkward and I’m here for it)

• Not Even Bones (dude kovit’s pain kink..it does things to me)

Andddd that’s it 🥲

[geraldofallon]

Fallen London’s True Identities

Queen Victoria as the Traitor Empress

[wonder-worker]

"Some modern historians, apparently fascinated by the fact that Matilda was eleven years older than her second husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, have been quick to assert that the marriage was unhappy. The historical basis for this assertion rests upon the word of the Durham chronicler, who stated that when Matilda returned to Henry I’s court in 1129 it was because Geoffrey had repudiated her. [Historians have thus assumed that their mutual incompatibility led to hostility and an eventual separation]. However, it must be noted that the northern chronicler was hardly in a position to have first-hand information about events across the Channel, and that he had the chronology of the affair completely wrong. The author placed Matilda’s marriage in 1129, and wrote that only a few days after King Henry returned to England on 13 July of that year, he was told that his daughter had been repudiated by her husband and had returned to Rouen with only a few attendants. The marriage actually took place in 1128, and Matilda was in Anjou with her husband in 1129 when the la Haye brothers brought a charter in favor of the abbey of Fontevraud to her for her confirmation. The other contemporary accounts of Matilda’s separation from her husband did not record her departure or suggest reasons for it, but only noted her return to Anjou in 1131.

It is possible that Matilda’s return to her father’s court in 1129 was not a marital separation at all, but rather a political mission. Perhaps Matilda and Geoffrey grew uneasy in their isolation and began to doubt the commitment of the Anglo-Norman barons to their cause. Leaving her husband behind to manage affairs in Anjou, Matilda may have travelled to Normandy seeking clarification of her position. A few scraps of evidence point in this direction. A letter that Hildebert of Lavardin wrote to Henry I in 1131 expressed pleasure that the king was now reconciled with the count of Anjou, who ‘had now fallen in with his wishes in everything concerning him and his daughter’. Henry of Huntingdon and Robert of Torigny stated that a ‘great council’ held at Northampton on 8 September 1131 decided that Matilda should be returned to her husband. The wording implies a decision made by the great men of the realm for political reasons, not a family’s success in persuading a tearful daughter to return to a husband whom she disliked. Furthermore, William of Malmesbury wrote that ‘no small gathering of the nobility being held at Northampton, the oath of fidelity to her was renewed by those who had already sworn and also taken by those who had not done so previously’. The renewal of the oath also suggests that Matilda’s mission may have been occasioned by concern over the succession rather than by the marital discord that historians have often taken for granted."

-Jean A. Truax, "Winning over the Londoners: King Stephen, the Empress Matilda and the Politics of Personality", The Haskins Society Journal 8 (1996)

[emmatgc]

The Forbidden Love I Love

I realized all my favorite ships and pairings are from a "they were not supposed to fall in love " trope. All from a tv series, too. It doesn't matter if they were the end game. They just clicked and their story were damn epic and memorable.

Here are my top 3 couples in the last 20 years

Tommy and Grace from Peaky Blinders (British)

Top 1

Never had a thing for Spy x Gangster love story even on books but this one hits different. All major thanks to the actors who made is so fookin believable. Annabelle Wallis and Cillian Murphy. Both were perfectly casted. To hell with haters. Chemistry on Fire. Epic tv series but mind you, very dark, too and disturbing. Yet it has a haunting, heart wrenching beautiful love story. It makes you forget, the show is not a love story but because of these two, its a freaking ode of a Mob Boss who fell in love with a an enigmatic undercover and who moved heaven and earth grieving and trying to move on. They ended up together, short lived though tragically he is still in love with her even in the after life.

Top 2

Emperor Ta Hwan and Empress Ki (Tanyang couple)- Empress Ki (Korean)

This was my number one until PK came along but this still holds a very special place in my heart. Still the better show than PK and still has my favorite kissing scene of all time in this underwater scene. A magnificent korean tv series, with numerous awards and all star cast. Ji Chang Wook and Ha Ji Wony favorote korean pairing, ever. The 50 episodes were nothing short of incredible. Based loosely from a real Empress Ki. An epic, powerful portrayal of sad, another tragic love story with war, madness, politics, ambition and power at the forefront. My forever top Koreanovela. Very Top Notch!

Top 3

Lana and Clark - Smallville (American)

In the movies, its always Lois Lane but here, nobody can deny Kristen Kreuk and Tom Welling were pure magic on screen. It made a fandom war because Lana was supposed to be this highschool crush only yet here I am one of the "Clana"warriors lol but for 8 seasons, their love story became a star crossed one. They had so much depth and made it through more but yeah, got to stick with the comics. Still, devastatingly beautiful yet tragic and their chemistry was also insane! To this day, Smallville for me is Clark Kent and Lana Lang.