#and i couldn't even use escapism to help bc it literally involves me being in a relationship LMAOOO

[lovejoshua]

it kinda scares me how i could be having a meltdown that feels like it will never end and then be fine hours later, like nothing happened

[baeshijima]

— stardust

the world is a vast place. in the grand scheme of things, humans are but a speck of dust; much like how you are sure you are nothing but a meagre speck of dust in the world he lives in, forever to be remained unseen. (if only you knew how you are the brightest star he'd ever laid his eyes upon.)

CONTAINS : gn!reader, 1.5k wc, royalty!au, contract marriage/marriage of convenience, fluff, smitten reca bc what would he be other than smitten, a little hint of bittersweet at the end if read between the lines aha...

A/N : ....i have a paper due monday. i havent started it. why do i do this to myself. (reca i love u can u not hear my cries and wails as fic after fic appears in my brain for u...)

Duke Reca of the northern territory; to many he is a well-accomplished noble, a young genius set for greater things, and the owner-slash-founder of the top theatre company. He is an idol ��� a role model to those who aspire to be more involved in the artistic side of the world.

To you, however, he is an absolute lunatic, the bane of your existence, and your contractual husband.

It's not like you had much choice. It was either: a) remain as a hollow puppet whose strings danced at your family's fingertips, or b) find some way to escape with outside power.

You, of course, chose the second option. Unfortunately, that somehow led to you meeting the young duke when out in the shopping district, trying to escape the suffocating presence of your family's knights accompanying you by running into a secluded alleyway, even if it was for but a momentary breather.

It was a whirlwind of a meeting... quite literally. Bodies flew; clothing tousled; breaths stolen. Well, at least for you it was like this. He, on the other hand, looked right as rain. (Lucky bastard.) You hadn't realised it was him at first, too absorbed in hasty apologies and the numbing bloom spreading across your backside like a wildfire (really, they ought to incorporate more padding in these flimsy clothes!), but when he uttered an apology of his own for not paying attention to his surroundings with an arm outstretched to help you stand, your mind all but blanked. What was someone of his status doing in a dingy alley? Didn't the newspapers report word of his self-confinement, having not stepped foot outside his manor in fervent preparation of his upcoming performance?

No, never mind all that; wasn't this a blatant opportunity being presented to you? An outside power that could help you escape the clutches of your family...

With gritted teeth, all sense of self-dignity was cast aside as you grasped his outstretched hand with both of your own, gazing into his widened eyes with your own narrowed ones.

"Your Grace, I know this is hardly the appropriate time nor place, but please... marry me!" Your words echoed within the enclosed space. Duke Reca blinked slowly down at you, and it was then you realised you never elaborated. "In... in a contractual marriage of convenience, of course."

"Oh?" he grinned, amusement and intrigue twinkling in his eyes. "And what is it you can offer me?"

"I..." Truthfully, there was nothing you could offer which would be beneficial to someone like him who had everything at the tips of his fingers. You were but a speck of dust in his world, merely floating and remaining unseen within his view. But even so, here you kneeled before him, his gaze wholly fixated on a speck of dust such as yourself. If nothing else, you at least had your desperation — a desperation to be your own person. "My lineage may be from that of a baron's, but I am confident I can be of use to you if you would permit it. So long as you accept my offer, I will do anything to aid you, whether that be through practical means or a performance you wish to see."

A beat of silence.

"Ha... haha... ahahaha!!"

And, as if things couldn't get any worse than a sore rear and disgruntled self, you were pulled out of your daze by a pair of gleaming carmine eyes, a maniacal grin, and his body, now kneeled just like you were, so very close to your own.

"That determination... how brilliantly you burn with such an expression!" The sheer glee which bled through his tone sent shivers down your spine, having never realised someone so esteemed had such a side to him. The duke breathed a breathy laugh and slightly backed up, his hands still holding your arms. "Alright, I look forward to seeing how brightly you will shine in your performance, my dear leading actor."

...Was it too late to back out and find an alternative solution?

Admittedly so, for the next thing you knew vows were declared and you were moved into the duke's residence. You could still remember your family's aghast expressions the moment you declared you were marrying Duke Reca and thus cutting ties with them. It was oddly freeing to see their contorted faces reveal their true nature.

Life as the duke's spouse was... something, to say the least. His servants and attendants almost seemed to have shed tears of joy at the revelation of their ever so lonely duke (their words, not yours) finally settling down and getting married, asking you questions such as how you both met, what drew you to their duke, who popped the question first, why you chose him of all people, so on so forth. It was... cosy. Something you admittedly weren't very accustomed to, but found yourself welcoming nonetheless.

One thing you never expected was for the duke to have a little pet of his own; a little toad dressed in a miniature beret and matching suit, at that. Assistant Director is what Reca had called her, and you think for someone so obsessed with the arts he ought to up his naming sense. She was also quite susceptible to compliments, something you discovered when commenting on the little toad's cute attire, with the duke's baffling translation of her bashfulness and her own compliment on your own looks. Apparently. You're not really sure, but you're inclined to believe it ever since she claimed a spot on your shoulder.

As the days-turned-weeks-turned-months bled into each other, you found yourself oddly lost at how well-adapted you have become of your new life and the duke's personality. From impromptu displays of affection both in and outside the manor to sporadic radio silence on his end when wholly consumed by his fervent passion for a project, you sometimes wonder just how you're still alive with the amount of heart attacks the man has given you.

But despite his... eccentricities, to put it lightly, there are times where you can't quite put a finger on certain expressions he would make when he thinks you're not looking. They're unlike his (once again, to put it very lightly) passionate eyes when rambling to you during mealtimes about an upcoming performance the troupe has; unlike the sheer mania he can exude when something truly sparks his inspiration; unlike the playfully smug grin he would give you when swooping down in dramatic flair to press a long kiss to the back of your palm; unlike the rare darkening of his expression that you cannot help but stiffen at when something or someone in the troupe doesn't quite match his expectations.

No. These ones are... soft. A kind of tenderness and unprecedented longing able to be identified if scrutinised close enough. It was evident in the ghost-like touches he would trail along your skin, as though afraid just a little more force would do irreparable damage. It was evident in the attention to even the most minute details, having everything from clothing to food to the decor suited to preferences you yourself never realised you had. It was evident in the way unadulterated fondness leaked through his tone when his unique terms of affection for you slipped through his lips when all was silent and you were supposed to be asleep.

"My dearest star..."

...Much like now, it would seem.

The bed dips by where your knees slightly bend, hidden under the beige covers. A familiar musky scent surrounds you not long after, and you find yourself involuntarily relaxing at the comfort it brings as your head further burrows into the pillow.

You want to stay awake, even if it's just for a second longer, to hear what he has to say to your less than conscious state. But, oh, his fingers threading through your hair and softly massaging your scalp and the gentle touch of his forehead against yours and the subtle comforting warmth that rolls off his body in waves does little to help you fight the sleep which easily takes over.

Oh, whatever! You'll just try and catch what he has to say next time.

Eventually your breathing evens out, only soft snores now heard within the large shared bedroom. Upon noticing this, Reca cannot stop the fond smile which lifts the corners of his lips, nor can he prevent the softening of his eyes as he continues to gaze at your sleeping form.

"My dearest [Name]," he whispers into the dead of night. Even now, several months later, he still cannot believe his luck to have run into you in that alleyway. It must have been fate which made him heed its call, urging him he would discover something sure to escape that terrible slump plaguing him for weeks on end.

Sure enough, it brought him to something irreplaceable; something he has been searching desperately for.

You.

And, with the tenderest of kisses pressed to your forehead that would put even the most sickening romantics to shame, he murmurs words of promise against your skin, an oath he swears to uphold no matter the obstacles which stand before him.

"In this life, I will ensure you have only the best of endings."

if you enjoyed this, reblogs and/or comments are greatly appreciated <33

[wri0thesley]

re read canicular and omg I'll never get over the slow build up and dissipating of tension when darling realizes all her effort was futile 😭 but with that being said, I hope u don't mind if I ask about a 'what if' scenario

as much as I know this will probably never be a probable situation considering the amount of security kaveh and alhaitham have, I am still curious as to what you think would happen if darling did manage to escape - if only for a few hours? would kaveh and alhaitham have a big fight upon realization darling escaped? or would they save it until after securing darling once more? who's blaming who? and would alhaitham also punish kaveh in some way if he believed this situation to be the result of kaveh's carelessness? what lengths are they willing to go and resources are they willing to use in order to find darling 😭 bc part of me rly thinks maybe alhaitham would make up some bizarre lie like darling is a con artist or something negative of the like in order to get people to report their sightings faster, but I also highly doubt he'd do that.. I just can't help but think he'd be an absolute asshole like that

but I cannot even begin to imagine the punishment alhaitham (and maybe even kaveh! it was so mean of you to scare him like that, you know..) have in mind for darling once they are captured. seeing as the current most severe punishment is the cage.. oh it literally makes me shiver to think what alhaitham might do to darling to break them down after their little escape

i just answered the 'what if they DID' escape question but i am publishing this too bc i appreciate it so much that it stayed with u!!!

i do think alhaitham is ready to make up a needlessly elaborate lie that he backs up with paperwork and all of the other kinds of boring things nobody would ever think twice about. of course, he has to be careful about what lies - he doesn't want the matra involved, and how awful if cyno found darling first and realised what was going on - but he has contacts and knowledge everywhere, on top of kaveh's contacts too . . . no matter how much they run, they won't get as far as they'd like to.

and as for the PUNISHMENT . . . well. i think the cage will certainly be moved into his bedroom (it's currently left in the living room, because alhaitham prefers to choose when he sleeps alone). i think darling will certainly be divested of other things they might have taken for granted - no warm water, sure. no more clothes. alhaitham will deal with showering them and brushing their teeth and their hair and all of those other hygiene issues (utterly humiliating, but . . . well. you can't be trusted). if there was something they had that they were particularly proud of - a lovely painting done with gifts from kaveh, perhaps . . . it would find itself destroyed. he'll work from home for a few days, a leash about their throat, forced to kneel next to him as he keeps the handle looped about his wrist. naturally, they'll be eating from bowls again. they couldn't be trusted with a spoon, let alone a knife. alhaitham almost almost almost wants to brand his name into them, the way one might with a prize livestock. a reminder that they are a pet and property, and so that anyone who does find them out there knows to 'return to owner', so to speak.

. . . that last one hangs in the air, a threat given voice, as a promise of what he will do to you the next time you place even a toe out of line. he does not neccessarily enjoy inflicting pain.

but if it's for your own good . . .

[batarangsoundsdumb]

guess fucking what? my inbox is so fucking full right now i'm unloading all of this shit in one post.

For the 11th gotham memes: gothamites react to bruce being jacked in a tiktok he made with kids, like super yoked, ripped as hell

fucking hilarious thanks. i think i did it in one meme post, but i genuinely don't remember which one

i dunno which of the batfam would do this but one time i was sleeping over at a friends house and ended up on the floor bc the bed was so very small and i just stayed there because the rug was soft

that's a drunk jason move i don't know what to tell you

tim and jason are "i listen to pop punk" solidarity. whenever jason highjacks the batmobile theyll go on long ass car rides blaring mcr and paramore and then never talk about it again

as they should!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tim: no jason it's my turn using the aux cord i gotta put on my jams jason: don't you dare put on weird shit tim: don't worry, you're gonna love this *plays fearless (taylor's version)

hear me out hear me out, red hood stans 🤝 nightwing stans t h i g h s

holy shit yes.

SNL au: Bruce breaks character when pretending to superman and says something like "I'm not superman! You've seen his gps!! It's from 2001!!!" @sabeanybabe

superman flies past the snl building the next day just to say 'actually it's from 2005, i'm not a heathen'

does your back hurt from carrying the batfam fandom

it hurts more from the exotic rock collection i keep in my backpack, but thanks for the concern.

I love your posts by why would you always leave the best parts in the tags?

as a treat for the people that check the tags ;) (and also because i'm committed to the short post aesthetic)

somehow your playlist was everything i never knew i needed. i mean it. this is my new favorite playlist.

and don't you dare get a new favourite playlist!

babe ur stoner tim playlist is exactly too perfect, earth is literally blessed by ur existence

babe thanks so much! i love my stoner tim playlist because it's just my usual playlist but people think it's an artistic choice that i put taylor swift and britney spears in there, when it's just what i unironically like listening to

JANDKSKDK BILLY RAY CYRUS ON THE STONER TIM PLAYLIST I LOVE IT IT

again it's not even an ironic choice, i know every single word and i genuinely like the song

The last chapter of Fundamentals of Casework has me crying at work. Thanks I love it @dudelookitsalesbian

oh babe, i'm sorry, but also, not sorry i love chapter 4 so much it's my lovechild with the 'mental illness' tag

soooo....stumbled on your tumblr by some stroke of fate??? read your DC fanfic first. which is PHENOMENAL btw. then found all the batmemes; the funniest thing EVER bc everyone forgets about regular old gothamites. kept scrolling and your blog pops up as recommended. clicked on the ao3 for shits and giggles and waddaya know?!?!? it's YOU!!! you're LEGEND!!!! ever seen that meme? it's a video of a cat that got into a baseball field and the two announcers get really invested in his escape attempt and start giving a play by play of the cat instead of the game. memeable moment: "GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!"

i seriously think about this ask every single day and it's so fucking funny to me that i've never seen the meme you're referencing, but i still find myself going 'GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!' whenever i see something funny. but wow i'm glad you liked this steaming pile of garbage

Fav dc character overall? And fav batfamily character?

don't ask me to pick between the loves of my life, but i can tell you i've cried about every single batfamily member and also wally west (my beloved)

What's your opinion on fans having a problem with batfam being "too big"? And some even claim that batfam is just "Bruce Alfred Dick Damian" and the rest of them are just "friends and allies" (source: reddit) Personally, I like batfam because of this reason but idk

stupid. a family can never be too big. i'm not that big a fan of like huge batfam stuff with everybody from every single universe, because as much as it's funny for bruce to have like 30 kids, it just feels a little too OOC for me.

This is the best tag I've seen involving the batfam, thanks for thinking of it

This is canon now @nctxrejects

lmao yeah i think at that point alfred has had to sit through like at least a dozen coming out talks and just has a pride flag collection in the attic that he pulls out whenever a kid comes out

idk why batfam hits different as compared to any other superhero family

bc it's found family and usually the other superhero families are almost all genetically related in one way or another

I don't know if you watch the umbrella academy but I saw your last post about batcest and saw the similarities. But the thing is (although I think it's weird) in TUA, they addressed it by saying "they were raised as weapons, not siblings" or something along those lines, which is simply not the case with batfam.

yeah i watched tua but i also thought it was ridiculous and they still treated each other as siblings so i didn't like the luthor/allison thing, and am glad they stopped doing that shit bc it fucking sucked.

Hot take: Batcest shippers are the same people who believe adopted siblings are not actual siblings

smoking hot take: batcest shippers are the people who watch 'my sister got stuck in the washing machine' porn

Duke was adopted by Bruce?

not technically no, but do i, tumblr user batarangsoundsdumb, look like i care?

True story but I had to change my freaking name because it used to be "Damien" and most people would go "OH LIKE DAMIAN WAYNE" like please I'm just tryna live

true story, but i don't actually think of damian when i hear the name damian, literally the first thing that pops up is damian darkh like bruh what?

apparently dc comics company supported comic stores by giving out new titles and stuff during the beginning of the pandemic to help them run and I just think that's wholesome

ah yeah that's so fucking cool, still don't like dc, the company, because this world is a capitalist hellhole and we're all owned by warner brothers or disney with no in between.

ayo looking at tumblr head canons and finding out bruce is actually a terrible father is a punch in the gut

lmao yes, in like 50% of comics bruce is a terrible father and it gives me whiplash

oooh I just saw the jason todd vs winter soldier post and the real question is: batman vs iron man

while iron man has like hundreds of cases of armor, batman could throw out an emp and have the guy dropping out of the sky in 2 seconds.

dickfast = fastdick = quickdick = quickie

magnum hot take

hey bata(?) just thought I'd let you know I have copied the obnoxious emoji and Billy Ray post for use on simping men going forth

thank you 😘🌷 (@spacebarsidecar)

why would you do that to your followers???? i get why i did it, but why would you???

what is scarecrow made the nightwing funko pop himself, like those diy-ers that paint over other ones

oh god no, horrible take, horrible take, that's a disgusting thought oh no

I see your HC that Bruce and Oliver fucked and raise you this: Dick and Roy ALSO fucked

yes they did and it was a horrible moment for jason to find out dick has fucked both of his best friends

"at this rate bruce adds like 1 child to his family every decade or so" Duke is introduced in 2013, Damian as Damian, not as an unnamed child, in 2006. And he is already 14 years old, Robins rarely remain Robins after 16 😬 It looks like a new Robin and Batkid will appear in a couple of years

i mean i can't wait? but somebody will probably die first tho, we're due for another major character death. my money's on either cass or duke this time.

BRO you're so right all of your Bruce's ex headcanons are amazing but they aren't ships, that's kinda wild. Like I don't want any peeks into how their relationship was I just want to see everyone make fun of them

lmao YES it's just i love bruce being a slut, like good for him.

I am in love with your posts your honour thank you

omg thanks are we like,, gonna kiss now?

The justice league needs to have a meeting to discuss how many of their members/partners have slept with bruce. Because through a combination of cannon & fannon (if DC wasn’t homophobic) we have AT LEAST: 1) clark 2) lois 3) oliver 4) dinah 5) john

Thats not counting villains or random civilians @dudelookitsalesbian

yes yes yes, they'll have a yearly meeting about how many of their collective exes could be out for revenge and batman's list just keeps getting longer.

tim was like "i'm drake now" and everyone was like ahh so your fursona is a dragon and tim was like pffffft no. ducks.

and what about it?

when steph's fighting livewire and she zaps her with lighting and nothing happens and then they both just. stand there awkwardly for a second and talk. yeah i couldn't stop laughing at that batgirl steph is the BEST

oh yeah that was fucking hilarious and i think it would be so cool and sexy of dc to give steph a little comic series,,, as a treat

Hi I absolutely adore all of yours "Bruce and Oliver very badly pretending they didn't fuck each other" memes

lmao i do too

I need you to know that “Bruce Wayne had frosted tips” is one of my favorite Bruce takes of all time it’s so galaxy brained. you’re right and you should say it

he also painted his hair blonde once when he was travelling and in conclusion, this is why he's being blackmailed by the gotham gazette.

you know my thing about gordon being branded as the only good cop in gotham is its a load of shit like arguably he's a good person and not working to screw people over or anything but the fact that he also works w. batman makes him a shit cop. like yea batman is better than the mob but its still illegal its still an abuse of power he just not making bank

babe, all cops are bad cops. (but yeah youre absolutely right, working with vigilantes makes you a shit cop, but also working against vigilantes just makes you an asshole cop yanno?)

ruh roh i think i’m about to add “so not yeehaw” every time i don’t like something

that's a very good vocabulary upgrade

somehow i feel like steph already knew. like babs obviously knew but i feel like bruce got high/drunk in front of steph and started telling his boarding school stories and steph was just like “oh you fucked up i’m never gonna forget this”

steph and bruce have weird uncle/rebellious niece dynamic and they just hang out sometimes and bruce will be like 'i once broke my arm when i tripped over a hedge when i was drunk so oliver drove me to the hospital on an electric scooter' and steph will just have to sit there with that knowledge in her head.

Hello I just wanted to tell you you are So right in all your steph opinions bc she is, in fact amazing and I think that's very sexy of you. Ps. Your Bruce/Oliver fic is hilarious

babe, thank you so much and yes steph is amazing and i love her and she deserves the world and she's the best member of the batfam hands down. also thanks

In Supersons we see a couple of kids that are implied to be Damian and Jon's children and the boy has laser eyes and can fly, so I asume he's not adopted. The girl, who calls Bruce grandpa, can also fly, btw. So it's canon (probably by accident) that Jon can have kids and he must have married one of Bruce's kids. (I'm hoping for Damian, mostly because any other of his children would be waaaaaaaaaaaaay too old.) @artemisa97

lmao that was probably an accident seeing as jon is a 17 year old superhero in the year 3000 (by the jonas brothers)

You know, I'm a die hard fan of your memes, but I gotta say one thing: if Gothamites actually took gas mask everywhere with them, then the Scarecrow would just be a weird dude in a weird costume, and not a villain oh so scary. DC really should just takes notes from you.

bold of you to assume there's no gothamite anti-maskers

How does it feel being the funniest person on this app?

horrible, next question.

I can't listen to Green Day or Billy Joel without thinking of your post about how Bruce got arrested at a Billy Joel concert @nightwings-kid

yeah that's your mistake, i on the other hand can't enjoy billy joel without thinking about the glee rendition of 'uptown girl'

I've FINALLY been watching the Batman animated series and I gotta say, after watching "the gray ghost" I am CONVINCED that Batman is a closeted super hero geek who was 100% freaking out the first time he met Superman and is just REALLY good at hiding it.

superman: so what do you do in your free time? batman, thinking about the superman fanfiction he's writing on the batcomputer: i have no free time

bruce and oliver be like boyfriends to co-workers 401k (do the justice leagues get 401ks??? not that bruce and ollie would need them, but-)

lmao yes just 400 thousand words of bruce realising 'oh dip oliver is such a fucking dumbass' (also i don't know what a 401 k is but i assume they don't?)

Gothamites would totally boo superman as he saves Gotham while batman is out. @meenje

he's like 'okay think about that next time you want to be saved from an alien octopus'

I just took long break from dc comics and I come back to see ric grayson ??

i think it's very cool and sexy of dc to see dick and just think 'you know what? let's just give him a traumatic brain injury' and then didn't develop his character in any real way

SPEAKING OF RIC GRAYSON, gothamites making confused memes out of ric grayson is much needed

'dick grayson is my taxi driver? can anyone explain what the fuck happened he looks like an italian plumber?'

i hate to say it but batfam are def "marvel characters" in that sense they are characters who are human but become superheroes unlike most dc characters who are gods trying to be human maybe this is why I like batfam

fair enough

[sapphim]

not a cullen fan myself but doesn't he genuinely confront meredith during the templar route before the silly hawke cop-out one on both routes? iirc some mages surrender, meredith wants to kill them anyway, cullen actually i think finally stands up to her for some reason and says they shouldn't, and hawke has to side with one or the other? maybe that's what that user is referring to?

Looked this up bc I legitimately couldn't remember it from the, like, one time I played the templar ending all the way through, and yeah, Cullen does push back against Meredith and that probably is what op was referring to. And including literally anything like that in the mage ending probably would have made the absolutely narratively incoherent mage climax very slightly less absolutely incoherent. And they should have. I'll dump the dialogue exchange under the cut.

I have said in the past that the very least that Cullen should have done was object to committing genocide at literally any point prior to committing genocide. So like, I will give him the props he is due. He did object to committing genocide. Only during the ending in which you the player are gearing up to commit genocide, but whatever. Proud of him. <3 Centrist king.

Mage: Have mercy, we beg you! Mage: Do whatever you want with us, but let us live! Meredith: No. Meredith: This Circle is beyond redemption. Cullen: Knight-Commander, surely the Right of Annulment requires something more— Meredith: It requires my word, Cullen. Do as I've commanded. Mage: Champion! Will you not defend us? Must we all be slaughtered for the actions of a few? Hawke: (What does Cullen think?) I want to hear what the knight-captain has to say. Cullen: I... Cullen: The Right has always been a last resort, when every mage involved was beyond salvation. Cullen: The situation was far more dire in Ferelden's Circle, and yet many mages were saved. We could still do as much here. Cullen: When Ferelden's Circle was lost, the situation was far worse than this. I can't believe wholesale slaughter is the only answer. Meredith: Objection noted, Captain. Hawke: (Are they innocent?) Is there a way to tell if they're blood mages? Meredith: There is not. Cullen: But they haven't resorted to it, even to save their own lives. Perhaps, if we watched them carefully— Meredith: And if they hope to escape by playing innocent? Will you accept that responsibility, Cullen? Cullen: Yes. I believe that's what being a templar is about. Meredith: And I say we are here to protect the people. We must be judges, jailors, and even executioners. Hawke: (Can they tell us anything?) Maybe they can answer some questions. Mage: I think the first enchanter is still in the tower. He... said he had a plan, something that would stop you. Meredith: Demons? Or something worse? Mage: I don't know. We wanted nothing to do with it, so we ran. Mage: Please, help us! We've done nothing wrong! Blue Hawke: (Spare them.) We're here to prevent a crisis, not raze everything in our path. Purple Hawke: (Spare them.) They've already surrendered. Killing them now is just petty. Red Hawke: (Spare them.) Take them into custody. Cullen: Listen to the Champion. Meredith: >:[ Blue Hawke: (We do this Meredith's way.) Our hands are tied. Purple Hawke: (We do this Meredith's way.) There's no point in stopping now, is there? Red Hawke: (We do this Meredith's way.) The time for mercy is over. Cullen: Perhaps you're right. Cullen: Do as the Champion commands. Hawke: (It's not my decision.) I'm not the head of the templars. Meredith: Indeed. Since when do you look to the Champion for orders, Captain? Cullen: Carry out the sentence.

also, for the record, the random ambients in cullen's climax dialogue:

Cullen: I hope Meredith knows what she's doing.

Cullen: I will do what she commands of me, but... something about this isn't right.

Cullen: You must steel yourself for what is to come. We both must.

Cullen: The Right of Annulment was invoked on the Circle in Ferelden when I was younger. Cullen: There, it was justified—demons overran the whole tower. Here... it's much harder to tell who's in the wrong.

Cullen: I am not looking forward to this.

Cullen: Maybe with you on our side, we can resolve this quickly, and with little bloodshed.

[melrosing]

Hey, can I ask you something? How do you interpret the scene where Jaime leaves Cersei to her fate? Do you think he's justified for doing so? if not, were his actions understandable? Some people say that he was missing a hand so he couldn't have done anything, but it's not like he had a hand when he ran off with Brienne/helped Tyrion escape. Some people get mad at him for doing so and call him a f*ckboi and judge him for not understanding that Cersei had no choice but to cheat on him because the patriarchy made her do it. I've seen people blame him for the WoS. Other ppl and casuals + dudebros cheer on him because "crazy Cersei" and bc she cheated on him. What do you think? Does the narrative want us to agree with his actions and root for him for abandoning his sister? Are we supposed to be mad at him? Or both?

I apologize if you see this as me involving you in bullshit shipping discourse, I swear that's not my intention. It's just a very controversial topic amongst fans, and since your takes are so nuanced and well-written and you're like the peacemaker of the fandom as you like Jaime, Brienne and Cersei, I want to know what you think. But if you don't want to, that's fine too. I love you 😘

I think we’re supposed to feel both. Kind of. It’s complicated. Like I don’t know, imho it’s way messier than people on both sides like to claim.

I basically don’t think there’s a right thing for Jaime to do in this scenario. I completely understand not going back: he’s realised that Cersei’s been manipulating him his entire life and that it’s cost him everything, and now she’s sitting in a cell in KL waiting for him to give her his actual, literal life purely because she sees no point in him living without her? Yikes.

And I mean we see Cersei carefully calculating her wording in that letter, we see her acknowledge to a third party precisely what the odds are here – why would anyone want him to go back? For what? Just so he can be locked in her tomb with her? Of course we don’t want Jaime to fall for it, and his burning the letter is a succinct rounding off of an arc spent dissecting his own delusions about her and finding new priorities in life.

But I also think it’s a bit… too tidy? I think this is Jaime wanting an end to that relationship and trying to force it, without really stopping to consider the consequences of that. Like, for one thing: what’s supposed to happen to Tommen if she loses her trial? What will happen to his House? How will Jaime actually feel if Cersei dies? He’s conspicuously not stopping to think about these things, and maybe that should trouble us. It doesn’t mean that some day he’s gonna just bounce back like elastic à la GOT, but that that reckoning is coming and he may regret not stepping in at some earlier stage.

I mean if he did go back to KL at the end of AFFC, he would either have died as Cersei’s champion - or if he decided to just be there as the trial played out, Varys would’ve probably seen to him sooner or later. So it’s as well he wasn’t there. But I think Jaime is trying to force apathy on the matter (he’s gone away inside, even), which has left him blind to what a crisis his family is actually facing right now. It’s not realistic for him to just be pondering the aftermath of this trial and what he might do for Tommen then, as obviously shit is happening right now. I think the result is that he’s going to try and do something for his family at too late a stage and it’s going to be his absence during Cersei’s trial that he ends up regretting, and that’s when readers will start to look at ‘put this in the fire’ decision differently.

But again, the odds were so shit it was always a lose-lose. His family’s fucking doomed either way, but I believe he’ll come to see his absence as something of a catalyst in that, rightly or wrongly.

Would also say part of the reason people are already scolding Jaime for his decision is to do with how unfair Cersei's punishment ends up being. When you see how horribly she's treated in ADWD, I can understand why some readers are angry to see Jaime shrugging at her letter and leaving her to her fate. But I don't think that's really fair on Jaime either. Again, messy :/

Anyway, I wouldn’t see myself as a peacemaker haha, I just really don’t want to alienate anyone without very good reason lol. It’s interesting hearing opposing viewpoints sometimes and I can’t foster that environment if my blog is covered in ‘x fans say this/that’. There are things certain Jaime/JB fans believe that I don’t and wouldn’t like to be lumped in with, so I just want to afford everyone else the same courtesy idk.

But I am also aware that I’ve posted like a handful of things that say ‘pls stop sending me asks like X/Y/Z’ and I don’t mean them to be discouraging lol, obviously I love talking to y’all about asoiaf! I’m just cautious of the tone I have going here :)