#clemence and lucien who are

[justanotherrandomperson]

Just started 1899 last night and the ship is called KERBEROS??? AS IN THE COMPUTER AUTHENTICATION PROTOCOL (THAT VERIFIES IDENTITIES)??? WHILE EVERYONE ON THE SHIP IS LYING ABOUT WHO THEY ARE????

[prometheus-ghost]

This has to be one of my favorite not mistranslations, necessarily, but UNDERtranslations. What Clémence actually says here is "Putain, c'est quoi ton problème?" which is more like "Damn it, WHAT is your problem?" than "what's wrong with you?" A slight difference but the original meaning carries much more anger. I think about this a lot, and it makes me wonder about other translations that didn't capture the original intent...

[mighty-meerkat]

ok i thought tove/clemence was going to be another case where tumblr looks at two women being somewhat supportive of each other and says 'lesbians' but no.

tove can't speak much french so from her perspective a pretty lady said something about admiring her, love, marriage, looked at her fondly, and then took off her skirt.

[the-girl-in-the-high-castle]

What I find interesting is how all the characters end up in a completely different place than where they started. That’s what I call good storytelling, when it’s all about the characters.

Maura starts with trying to convince herself she isn’t crazy, trying to never let emotions cloud her judgement and never letting things get to her. She ends up almost broken, drained, on her knees crying, begging Sebastian to bring Eyk back, ultimately doing whatever Daniel tells her in order to wake up. 

Eyk starts being an authority to everyone on the ship, never letting anyone question his decisions (except Maura, he’s into that😏). He’s not answering to anyone and actually does what he wants and thinks is right. He ends up losing him mind, surrendering his authority, desperately searching for answers and never really getting any.  

Angel and Lucien start on the same page, as wolves, dominant compared to their partners. Angel taking everything he wants, doing anything he wants without fear, while Ramiro remains in his shadow, Lucien keeping Clemence in the same spot with his anger and pride. They both end up dying. Angel’s last words being “I’m scared” and Lucien surrendering to his fate he thought he could escape. While Ramiro and Clemence step in, expend their borders and start being a vital part in the most important events on the ship. Jerome starts as suspicious to everyone, everyone always trying to keep him on a leash. Ends up being one of the people Clemence, Olek and Eyk relay on and someone who steps in to save the day.

Olek start off as no one. Keeps his head down and is trying to not get involved in anything. But his sense of justice, kindness and loyalty brings him to a point where he, just like Jerome, ends up being a hero, and ultimately Eyk’s right hand man. Ling Yi starts as someone on a leash, being controlled like a bird in a cage, not allowed to have dreams. Ends up doing whatever she wants, against everyone’s decisions.

Tove starts off as someone always having to fight for herself, as being the pillar of sanity in her family in spite of everything she’s been through. None of them ever there to protect her when she needed it, but her protecting herself and being the reason that controls her family’s desperate actions. She ends up finally experiencing how it feels like when someone fights for her for a change when Franz of all people sacrifices himself in order to protect and save her. Finally someone to put her first. 

Virginia starts off as dominant and controlling, using other people for her own gain. She ends up afraid, begging and depending on kindness of others. 

[jon-snows-man-bun]

By Turns

Chapter One

Masterlist

The closer Eris gets to his goals the harder he has to work to keep all plates spinning. Tensions simmer underneath his new alliances, pulling him into the Hewn City where the impact of Rhysand’s rule shapes the future.

Pairing: Eris Vanserra x OC. Other pairings to be added.

Other featured characters: Elain Archeron, Lucien Vanserra, Azriel. Variable POV

Rating: E for Explicit. Minors DNI.

Warnings: misogyny, violence, torture and domestic abuse both on and off screen, sex, sexual violence, dubious consent, drug use, character death, no reliable narrators to be found. Further warnings to be added.

Find this fic on AO3

A/N: The first full length fic I’ve ever written, and entirely on the notes app too. I think everybody in this fandom resents the lack of detail and world-building, so let’s get to fixing it via fanfic.

Total number of chapters TBC, additional warnings will be added as they occur but please note, explicit content occurs at the outset and throughout.

About the fic… the Hewn City really gets a rotten deal in canon, don’t they? This is my attempt to sort it out. Please note that involves Rhysand being a real “ends justify the means” sort of guy, so if that clashes with your vision of him perhaps this isn’t the fic for you. Keir and Morrigan are Irish names, so I’ve run with that since the Hewn City doesn’t get much detail in the books.

My characterisation of Azriel also seems to be against type for the fandom - he tortures people explicitly in this fic, and I’ve tried to line him up more with his angry, horny, fucked up in the head attitude that I got from his POV chapter. I don’t think he’s an emo softboi, so if you only like him in that sort of characterisation, this also probably isn’t the fic for you.

Thanks for reading! This is my first fic as I said, so I’d be delighted to have a beta reader if anyone is willing.

———————

The pit monsters were active that night. They didn’t make much noise but Azriel could feel them, waiting there beneath his feet. His shadows didn’t like going in the pits but were skating over the top of the grates and twining with the bars, telling him that the creatures were alert, waiting for him, for his gifts to them.

Some males had hounds waiting at their doors for their return. He had the Hewn City beasts.

Azriel had grabbed the fae from the throne room, dragging him through shadows down and down to the lowest levels of the dungeons. The assembled courtiers and citizens had stepped back from him when Rhysand called him forward, scattering like insects under the light of the High Lord’s displeasure. Azriel hadn’t followed what the fae’s transgression was, merely centring himself for what was to come.

He was a Darkbringer. This would not be easy.

Azriel shoved him through the doorway, turning to close it behind him. When he turned back, the male calmly went to the chair in the centre of the room and looked at him with flat dark eyes, so like Keir’s, which meant they were like Mor’s, too. Azriel could hate him for that, so he did. There was a dull acceptance there, which made everything in Azriel sour, turning to stone, turning to dust. He was blonde, as well; his hair looked grey in the ugly, dank light of the cells. Everything was grey and ugly here.

Rhys dipped into his mind briefly. I want to know who he was meeting with, he instructed. Names. I’ll return to you in a few hours.

This will take longer than a few hours, Azriel sent to him. Rhys’ only answer was the silken slip of his familiar darkness as it left Azriel’s mind.

Azriel began his work.

He thought of nothing at all as Truth Teller danced, by turns fast and sprightly, others slow and aching. It was only when he had the tip of the blade lodged under the fae’s broken third rib, carefully turned to keep the bone from healing, that he began to fade from consciousness. He knew his fate was death regardless; Rhysand had no clemency for Darkbringers who whispered of discontent and mutiny. Azriel paused with his finger in the knife wound as he mulled over how best to motivate the fae for information when his life was forfeit regardless of whether or not he provided it. His blonde hair had stained with blood, dark brown and congealed.

Azriel grabbed the fae by his dislocated arm and dragged him to the grate on the floor. Beneath, the beasts twined, appetites whetted from the blood dripping to them. The fae thrashed as he was pulled, swearing and snarling, but Azriel merely slammed his face against the grate, hard enough that he knew his eye socket would be shattered. The fae fought him, flailing like a trapped animal, but Azriel merely chained him down by his neck and retreated to wait.

This was why the beasts loved him, he mused as the fae started to scream. The only living things in the Hewn City that did.

In the morning Azriel was had no new information to give to Rhys. The fae was done - Azriel had been aggressive, hoping to coax the fae to speak by making death seem sweeter, but if the Darkbringer had any secrets he was taking them to his grave.

Not that he was getting a grave. Azriel merely cut his throat and rolled the body to the waiting beasts.

He opted not to winnow from this low, dank cell, choosing instead to walk upwards and see who might be waiting, see if anyone showed unusual interest in a traitor’s fate. The watery enchanted light pulled him up, and as he stepped through the door of the dungeons he parsed through what his shadows were telling him. They moved without fear here despite the light; even with the enchantment, the Hewn City was shadowed and dim.

Three children are walking to school. A blonde female is baking a rhubarb pastry for breakfast and brewing mushroom tea. A teenager with blue eyes is arguing with her mother over porridge because she wants to attend a dance but her father said no. The fire prince is here.

Fucking Eris. Azriel followed the last one, ignoring the whispers of his shadows about the Hewn City waking up; life happened here despite it all. He had meant to take in those around the entrance to the dungeons, but all whose paths he crossed ducked their heads and turned away. The acrid tinge of fear followed him everywhere in here.

It was a short walk from the dungeons to the court rooms along one of the wider boulevards. The stone fences of some of the grander mansions hemmed him in on either side; behind them he knew the occupants often kept small reflecting pools carved into the rock, little places to sit and take tea. The wooden gates through the tall fences were carved and painted with the crests of the families within: a luminescent moth, a gold seven-pointed star, two bats of rust and grey. He didn’t bother spying on most of these families - his time and energy was limited, far better spent outside of the Court. The Hewn City hadn’t necessitated it in a long time, but perhaps, with discontented soldiers…

He shouldered his way into the room without preamble. Eris Vanserra’s hair was so red in the half-light it was nearly luminous; brilliant, flaming colour after all of the anaemic imitations of life.

“And just when I thought my reception was too welcoming. I’m pleased Rhysand has sent one of his bats to brood in the corner. Tell me, which of the bastards are you?”

Was there ever a day when Eris didn’t antagonise everyone he came across? Azriel curled his lip at him, half a snarl and half a sneer. Eris merely smirked.

“I remember now, you’re not the one who fucked Morrigan. You’re the one who wishes he did,” Eris drawled, turning back to Lord Thanatos dismissively. Azriel only realised he was clenching his fists when his shadows started writhing around him, and he worked hard to master the hot flush of anger that grabbed his lungs and squeezed whenever Mor’s name fell from Eris’ lips.

“And this meeting has been approved with your High Lord, Thanatos?” Azriel ground out. Keir’s second gazed darkly at him, quickly rearranging his face into something neutral.

“Yes, as always, this falls under Lord Eris’ permissions to enter the Hewn City,” Thanatos grumbled. “Now, unless you’d like anything else? Perhaps to execute another one of my soldiers?”

“Don’t tempt me,” Azriel warned, pinning him with a stare. Thanatos didn’t flinch, as usual - Keir was the one who oozed through life like oil, bending away from the slightest pressure but impossible to be grasped with both hands.

By the time he winnowed back and reported to Rhys, he was ready to wash the Hewn City off of him. As he scrubbed the fae’s blood from his hair, he remembered how it had been matted into the blonde fae’s, how the rust brown bat on the gate he passed was the same colour. He let those thoughts flow down the drain, too.

———————

The ceiling of the Hewn City was spelled to emit light during the day and fade to blackness at night, but the light it mustered was watery and grey. It tended to give Eris a headache and was why he largely preferred to visit at night. Unfortunately, Keir and Thanatos preferred meeting at first light. Eris suspected this was to vex him.

“Tell me news of your dealings with Rhysand,” Keir said, gazing at him imperiously from across the black onyx table in the meeting chamber, not even deigning to add pleasantries. He had slunk into the chamber after Azriel had slunk out, the timing too exact to be coincidental.

Eris stuffed his hands in his pockets, affecting a casual insolence that he knew twisted screws into a certain breed of male.

Rhysand referred to this place - rather obnoxiously - as the Court of Nightmares, but he always thought of it as the Court of Masks. A web, a game of chess, a dance; the metaphors were endless, but they engaged in the same behaviour courtiers everywhere engaged in. But Eris had worn a mask all his life. It wasn’t any more frightening for him here than anywhere else, barring the monsters below the dungeons. He knew this dance well and could turn about the floor better than most.

Better than Lord Keir, certainly. His nonchalance was grating on the male, Eris could see in the twist of his mouth, and he smirked. Thanatos merely looked stone-faced and surly.

“My dalliance with Rhysand is as rewarding as ever,” Eris remarked smoothly, an utter lie. Rhysand was as withholding and miserly as ever. It also wasn’t why he was here with the lords of the City today, but he supposed when you had a boot on your neck it was all you thought about. All the same, Keir’s obsession with Rhysand grated.

The rest of the meeting continued in the same fashion. They were all too happy to further codify their alliance by allowing for the purchase of Hewn City diamonds by the Autumn Court - to be celebrated with a diplomatic dinner that evening - and Keir pushed again for access to Velaris. Eris had enquired about the executed soldier Thanatos had mentioned but they stayed mute, protesting that they had no idea he was disloyal.

Unlikely, given that you couldn’t so much as take a breath in the Hewn City without Keir’s permission and Thanatos knew the whereabouts of any Darkbringer at any given point. He set the matter aside for now, mulling it over and deciding to speak with the captains he knew at the dinner later.

———————

It was her eyes Eris noticed first.

In the reception room adjoining to the dining hall, Eris had sauntered in among the crowd. He had chosen a charcoal grey jacket for the occasion, blending himself into the Night Court fashion. The assembled courtiers were the usual blend of schemers and liars, and as he made his rounds, his eyes snagged on hers.

They were dark blue like a moonlit ocean, framed by thick lashes. Deep and fathomless and the blue of a silent midnight.

She was surrounded by the court of the Hewn City, the Darkbringer captains and low lords of shadow and ladies who wove webs of secrets and lies against each other. She wore dove grey silk overlaid with black lace, draped around her like gossamer webs, revealing skin in elegant swaths. Her skin was as pale as marble and, as fashionable here, had been dusted with something that made it look silver and luminous. Half her black hair was twisted back in a silver comb and adorned with a dove feather, while moonstones and diamonds glinted at her throat and fingers like many of the females in the Hewn City.

A daughter of Night. He met those sapphire eyes impassively, glancing over the high cheekbones, the full lips.

He knew his face was the picture of bored indifference, but his fire burned hot all the time, raging to consume, to destroy. It was constant effort to keep it tame within him, something he had refined through centuries. But as his eyes met hers his ribs ached to contain the pressure within him, his fire pressed up under his skin in a sudden rush that hit him like a blow to the chest.

Eris knew Keir was keen to curry favour and preserve the alliance - anything that might open the wards of the City and unleash him upon Prythian. If he wanted to, he could ask for the female; depending on who she was, he could go as far as asking for her to be brought to his chambers and find her waiting there in his bed for him. Females were tools here, chattel to be traded amongst the men.

He reminded himself that weapons were a type of tool, too. Instead, as he took his seat for the court dinner, he was gratified to find her diagonal to him. Was it intentional? A beautiful maiden dangled before him over a meal, to whet both his appetites? Keir sat to his right, Thanatos two down to his left. He was buffeted by the scheming males of this court, so was careful to keep his eyes from devouring her before he knew her measure. Most of the females in Night would go to his bed to pry something of value from his mouth; while females in Autumn clamoured for his attention for the social cache, here they desired his secrets to leverage over their keepers and each other. To tip his hand to anyone was to be taken advantage of - in chess, in politics, in pursuing women; this had been one of the first lessons he learned violently at Beron’s feet.

He didn’t bother speaking to her.

[cefonteyn]

European History and Sensibilities in 1899 season 1

Please forgive the length of this post -- I know I'm rambling, but I am so taken by the depth and brilliance of this show. For context, I'm an Indian immigrant to the United States, who studied American and European history and literature in the U.S. As you might imagine, I have many, many thoughts about 19th century European history and ideologies evident in 1899.

One of the really fascinating things to me about 1899 is how European it is -- obviously in terms of the nationalities of the actors and the characters, but also in terms of one of the show's leitmotifs: you cannot run from your station in life.

There were populist revolutions across Europe in 1848. They broadly failed, and the monarchs won. So in 1899, Europe was still a land of kaisers and czars (both words that come from Caesar, immediately locating 19th century Europe within a two-thousand year history of inherited status).

This is in direct opposition to the American myth, right? The idea that you can come from nothing and become the king of the world. That's a story Americans love to tell and hear, and when we Americans talk about European immigration in the 19th century, that's the way we tell the story. "All men are created equal," we say. This is where you're supposed to come if you're the "poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free." New York, specifically, is where Lady Liberty holds her lamp beside the golden door. (Lady Liberty is European, of course -- but she is French. France had a successful republican revolution in 1791, relapsed with a series of emperors, but by 1899 was a republic again.)

That's why the Kerberos is bound for New York, and not Buenos Aires or Sydney or Bombay. The American myth calls to all our friends on the Kerberos. The show begins with an American poet's words. Olek repeatedly looks at an image of the Statue of Liberty. Virginia explicitly says, "Everyone is running from something." They all hope to escape their pasts and begin anew in America, specifically, because of America's foundational mythos. Maura hopes to become a woman doctor. Tove hopes to lead a normal life with her baby and siblings. Iben hopes to establish a church rather than toiling in the fields.

But they never make it to New York. They've tried "dozens of times," Daniel tells Maura, but the ship never reaches its destination. Because New York isn't real. These European have no hope, ever, of successfully becoming the masks they wear. Angel says exactly this to Ramiro: "You cannot change the nature of things." Later on, it seems that he has had a change of heart, but his realization comes too late, and he's never able to act on his epiphany and become a better person.

Consider the stories of Ling Yi, Lucien, and Franz.

In the British colony of Hong Kong, Ling Yi tries to steal her way into a better life. The results are disastrous: she loses her best friend. Later, she loses her mother. Even though she acknowledges to her mother that she's not entitled to have dreams, she begins a dreamy relationship with Olek -- and then loses the boy she loves. By the end, she's lost everyone she cares about. There is nothing left of the better life she tried to steal from Mei Mei. The ship isn't real. The ocean isn't real. Even her beautiful stolen kimono is gone. The only familiar presence left in her life, the only person with whom she can communicate, is her pimp.

Like Ling Yi, Lucien tried to steal an identity. He returned to Paris from French Algeria trying to live out a dead man's life, and learned that the universe would not allow it. He accepts his death as soon as Eyk announces that he's heading for the Prometheus, and later tells Clemence, "I didn't get what I wanted. I got what I deserved." He understands his fate as almost a karmic balance. He stole a dead man's life, and now he has to die, too.

And then there's Franz. He's the "American" on board, in the sense that he does what a prototypical American would appreciate. He's clearly of a lower-class background and builds solidarity with the working class. He attempts to democratize the ship by empowering the underclass -- giving them arms. And when he feels that the ship's leader is not doing a good job, he seizes power to redirect the ship to its original course. It could almost be in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which starts by justifying the American Revolution. His actions are so very American that he could almost be heroic.

Of course, the name Franz is related to France. France gave critical support to America in its revolution. Then, as I said above, it had its own bloody revolution and deposed its king. By 1899, France was a republic. So maybe it's more accurate to say that Franz is the French revolutionary, not the American.

But either way, in 1899, he's not a hero. His coup fails. Nobody shows him any respect at all, from haughty first mate Sebastian, to dignified first-class passenger Maura, right down to humble stoker Olek. The crew that was initially on his side turns against him (before he's deactivated, Wilhelm admits that Eyk had been right all along). Even the third-class passengers Franz empowered lose respect for him by the end, when he can't explain the mysterious Calling.

So, in the second half of the show, Franz returns to his proper place: under Eyk's command. (Just like France returned to imperial rule under Napoleon, even after its revolution.) Eyk is above deck, seeking philosophical enlightenment, exploring the nature of the mystery with Maura. And Franz is lower than ever, in the lowest part of the ship, performing manual labor: shoveling coal. When the storm hits, he doesn't even know until someone comes down to tell him.

In contrast, consider Olek. He never, ever subverts his station in life. Even when he's frustrated by Eyk, he does everything the captain requests. He treats everyone with deference, not even meeting their eyes, because he understands that he's lowest ranked. Even the relationships he forges -- the friendship with stowaway Jerome and relationship with prostitute Ling Yi -- are with people in his own class/rank.

Notably, Olek is Polish. In 1899, Poland hadn't existed for over 100 years; it had been divided between the Russian Empire, the Austro-Hungarians, and Prussia (later the German Empire). Olek is literally nobody, from no land.

And for knowing his place in life, he is rewarded by the universe: he ends up acting in stead of the captain, steering the ship. (Brilliantly, Olek's name comes from Alexander, as in Alexander the Great. It may not be immediately apparent to people who dismiss him as a "Polack," but Olek has rich history and leadership in his name.)

And finally, there's Eyk himself. His old-fashioned name also means "ruler," from the word for oak trees under which village heads issued their rulings. And he is the definite ruler of the ship. He is imperious and stern to start, and Maura immediately recognizes from the way that he carries himself that he is the ship's captain. He knows Morse code, and how to read naval maps, and the depth of the sea. He also knows how to read his crew and order them around.

Eyk exhibits a magnetic charisma, which works on everyone. Jerome and Ramiro, who would rather have kept their heads down and stayed out of the spotlight, end up risking their lives for him. Sebastian apologizes to him before deactivating him. Even Daniel -- for whom Eyk is a romantic rival -- helps Eyk, agrees with him publicly, and eventually just moves him elsewhere rather than deactivating him.

But as events get stranger, Eyk's behavior becomes erratic. He drinks heavily on the job. He treats officers, crew, and passengers poorly. He makes an imperious decision against the wishes of every single person on board. George III lost America for the same thing. Julius Caesar died for that, and so did Louis XVI.

But the mutiny against Eyk fails. Tove, who points a rifle at Eyk and informs him that they're turning the ship around, is also the first person to defect from the mutineers. She says to him, "Du bist der Kapitan." After the Calling, everyone again acknowledges Eyk as the captain. When the crisis of the storm begins, it's Eyk they seek first, before turning to Sebastian and Franz.

The show presents this as the correct order of things. Eyk is sympathetic, intelligent, and noble, in every sense of the word. We, the audience, love him for it. Even when we sympathize with Franz, we never agree with him and turn against Eyk.

So, the first season reifies the 1899 European idea that one ought to act in accordance with one's class status. Escaping one's station in life is impossible, and attempting to do so always leads to disaster.

(Here I would be remiss not to mention the relationship to Hinduism and Buddhism. The idea that everyone's life circumstances are a reflection of their actions in their past lives, and therefore should not be avoided or changed? That's Hinduism. The idea that the universe is an illusion? It's called maya, and it's in Hinduism and Buddhism. The idea that attachment to the illusory things of maya necessarily brings suffering, that suffering distracts you from your true self as part of atman and your goal of achieving moksha -- of being blown out of existence like a candle (nirvana) -- of achieving liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth: all of this is in Hinduism and Buddhism. It's exactly what Daniel tries to tell Maura.

Europeans in the 19th century were familiar with these concepts. Knowledge of Hinduism and Buddhism was quite fashionable not only in Britain, but across the continent, and it remained so into the 20th century. See, e.g., Hermann Hesse's 1927 German novel Siddhartha about the Buddha, or this Polish translation of the Sanskrit Ramayana from 1937.)

Of course, European history didn't end in 1899. Major shifts were on the horizon; a century of war was about to begin, reshaping Europe's map several times. European nations bit into one another, sometimes spitting each other out, sometimes swallowing each other whole.

The British empire continued to lose its global power. World War I ended Eyk's German Empire and established the Weimar Republic, setting the stage for the Third Reich. The 1917 Revolution ended Imperial Russia and established the Soviet Union. The Treaty of Paris reestablished Olek's Poland. Civil war raged in Angel's Spain. World War II began in 1937 on the Sino-Japanese front, and Ling Yi's Hong Kong was occupied by Japan. Olek's Poland was occupied by Germany, as was Clemence, Lucien, and Jerome's France.

And then the Cold War raged. Europe was split in two. America became a superpower and spread its sensibilities across war-ravaged Western Europe, while the Soviet Union did the same in the East. Eyk's Germany was itself split.

Until, finally, came the mostly peaceful Revolutions of 1989 (the same numerals as 1899!), fulfilling the populist promise of the 1848 revolutions. Round Table Talks -- beginning in Olek's Poland -- spread capitalist democracy across Eastern Europe. The Berlin Wall came down later the same year in Eyk's Germany.

(Jantje and Bo are German, too, of course. Their age and vantage point in Central Europe means they have a wonderful perspective on late 20th century European history.)

The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, leaving America as the sole world power. Obviously, Europe is not America. To this day, America is a very libertarian country, ruled by a worship of individualism and the belief that riches and success are only a reinvention away. European countries are not ruled by this same fundamental ideology.

But in the 20th century, we Americans exported (read: forced) some of ourselves across the world, including in Europe, very often in evil ways. A lot of it was horrible and self-interested. We ruined lives. We ruined generations. We ruined entire nations.

But not all of it was bad. (Black Americans invented jazz and rock and roll, after all, and it's the latter genre that plays at the end of every episode.) And one of the things we exported was our foundational myth -- our belief -- now widely accepted in many parts of the world, including modern Europe: that it is inherently right and correct that people should chart their own destinies rather than being forced into roles determined at birth.

(Not to suggest that self-determination is uniquely American. Other cultures have this belief indigenously, of course! I only mean that we exported our own version.)

At the end of the first season, we see the same people that we've gotten to know, but in a new historical context. They no longer believe that they are in 1899; now it seems they're in 2099. They're not exactly in America, but they are in the territory that America claimed to have won spiritually in 1969, in its space race with the Soviet Union. (Of course, we now acknowledge space as a place for all humans, not for any race or nationality. That kind of unity is reflected in post-WWII organizations like the United Nations...and the European Union.)

And so I wonder if the same leitmotif will play in the next step of these characters' journey, or if the next season will reflect Europe's 20th century: changing social roles. Democratization. Mass murder and genocide. Waning empires and anti-immigration sentiments. Homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and gender equality and increased LGBTQ+ rights. Socialism and austerity.

I really hope the next season embraces the next chapter in Europe's history. If so, it promises to be a very interesting season, marked with sharp internal and external conflicts and contradictions. Because, to borrow a phrase from the American poet Walt Whitman, Europe is large, it contains multitudes.

[enigma-the-mysterious]

I am almost at the end of Episode 7 and I have compiled a list of the people who show up in the intros :D

First of all, we have Mrs Wilson:

(Oooohhh notice how that black quartz thingie is eating away at her hand here :D)

Then there is Daniel:

(Slipping through the wires, is he?)

Olek:

Eyk Larsen

And probably either his wife or one of his daughters

Kraster

Ling Yi

Maura

The Boy/Elliot

And finally this woman (?) who I am not sure about. Maura seems like the obvious answer but I am not sure

Does this mean anything at all? Does the absence of Angel, Ramiro, Lucien, Clemence, Jerome and Tove signify anything? Who knows?

[ultrahelo]

Marauders' era au

It's a late night idea. I've watched the show 1899 and I tought about the fact that an au with the marauders would be incredible.

It's a psycological show which look a bit like The maze runner story, but on a ship in 1899. I don't really want to spoil so it's only ideas.

What if all the marauders were people that Dumbeldore studied about by exemple : Sirius woke up after a nightmare with some memories : him being enchained by people and someone put a serum in his veins (that is when he woke up.) He remembered his name, the date and he had a letter with is name written on it, he also knows that his brother needed him in New York (that’s why he is supposedly on the ship)

He visited the place, he knew everything wasn't normal but he tried to fill in. (As Maura in the show).

And in the show everyone is from another country, there is different social classes which is really interesting too !

The main character can also be Lily, with James as the captain of the ship and Severus as her husband she forgot. (Watch the show to understand why I say that) but it can also be Narcissa (Maura), Lucius (Daniel , even if Lucius is too much of a coward to be him) and the captain Eyk can be someone else…

The gay characters can be Wolfstar, Remus as Krester or Ramiro (even if Krester is better for him in a way) and Sirius as Àngel (rich Spanish man who run away from his family with a man because they were caught ! Homophobia and all)

The French people can also be Lily (Clémence) James (Jérôme) and Severus (Lucien), because of the dynamics between them…

Tove as Mary (because of what they went through both in the canon story and in the show) and she is so strong and I ship it with Clemence who can be Lily …

Ling Yi and Olek I don’t know which character they can be but please if someone see this don’t hesitate to tell me !!!

Of course things can be changed but I really like the idea of period drama with experience on the human brain and everything!!

Don’t hesitate to watch the show ! It is truly an amazing show with great actors and a fantastic plot !

[eggsaladstain]

Hey, it's me again! Bc I loved how insightful your posts about Olek and Ling Yi were, showing you clearly think deeply about the show, I would like to ask you something outside the couple, if that is okay! So, I was rewatching Ep 3 (I have a severe case of brainrot for the two lovebirds) and something that Eyk said about the ships messed me up. He said the company bought 3 German ships. We have Kerberos and Prometheus, but who do you think is the third? I almost lost it. Could it be important?

@inferubim hello hello again, i'm so glad we are all still foaming at the mouth over this show.

i don’t know if the third ship itself is important, but the fact that there are three ships is important, and that importance is twofold: first, it continues the show’s central theme around triangles, and second, the ships themselves serve as a clever bit of foreshadowing for the plot.

triangles are obviously a huge part of the show, both literally and metaphorically. you have the ship company’s logo being the triangle with the line through it (the alchemical symbol for earth) and that symbol is repeated throughout the show in the set and costume design. we see the symbol tattooed behind elliot’s ear, and later on in the “present,” we see it tattooed on maura as well.

the characters are also grouped into sets of three, but never equally. there is an imbalance in each trio, and while that is certainly just a fact of human relationships, given the context of this show, i think it’s an intriguing detail we can’t overlook. maura’s first family unit is with henry and ciaran and her father prefers her to her brother. her second family unit is with daniel and elliot - she doesn’t remember either of them and the two of them are working together to change the simulation, and henry later tells elliot that daniel will always pick maura over him. maura has a love triangle with daniel and eyk and while she is married to daniel, she arguably has a stronger connection with eyk. speaking of the captain, he has three daughters but nina is clearly his favorite as she’s the only one he calls out to by name over and over again. clemence is married to lucien but has an instant connection to jerome and jerome and lucien have a shared history and secret from the war. krester, tove, and ada are siblings with krester and tove being much closer in age to each other than they are to ada. ramiro and angel are lovers but angel is tempted by krester. ling yi and yuk je are both employed by and at the mercy of virginia wilson. i could keep going but i won’t, and i should mention that of all the main characters, olek is the only one who doesn’t have this dynamic. he does have a brief scene with the two stokers, but that’s really it. instead, he has two strong duos - his partnership with jerome and his relationship with ling yi. this may or may not be significant, but when you take a step back and see all the other trios happening on the ship, olek’s lack of one really sticks out even more.

there’s also the fact that more or less everything significant to the plot is presented in a set of three. the three items that can alter the simulation - the pyramid, the remote control, and the lockpicking bug (alfred, you’re doing amazing sweetie). the three distinct time periods - 1899, the 70s/80s look of henry’s office, elliot’s bunker, the soundtrack, etc., and 2099. the three times we see the words “wake up” - on the memorial cross, on the stone pyramid, and on the toy pyramid. and of course, the fleet of three ships that started it all.

which brings me to my second point - the ships and their names directly tie into the events of the first season. prometheus is a titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind, giving them knowledge and technology, and it’s only after discovering the prometheus that maura and eyk gain the knowledge that there is something deeply wrong about both ships and their entire reality. kerberos is a computer protocol that provides authentication and allows a server and user to identify each other and it was named after cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld. many of the passengers on the kerberos are hiding their own and discovering each other’s true identities, and in the last episode, the remaining survivors end up in an afterlife of sorts in the graveyard with all the other failed simulations. i love little details like this when you reach the end of a story and then realize all the breadcrumbs the creators left starting from the beginning. and fun fact, in episode 1, we learn that the prometheus had 1,423 passengers, and in episode 2, we learn that the kerberos has 1,612. which means the kerberos has an additional 189 passengers. i know we’re missing a whole digit, but come on, what a great detail!

i’ll end with this - cerberus’s three heads are said to represent the past, present, and future. you have prometheus as the past, kerberos as the present, and the unnamed third ship as the future. but is that a happy future where everyone is free of the simulation or is that future simply a return to the beginning of the loop as the cycle begins anew? despite ciaran welcoming maura to “reality” in 2099, the fact that they are once again on a vessel named prometheus also with 1,423 passengers should at least make us consider the possibility that they have simply traded environments, swapping a steamship for a spaceship. so perhaps we end at the beginning where the future is the past. after all, a triangle can always fit a circle inside it and vice versa.

[mechanical-orange]

wild 1899 speculation ahead

ok i don't believe that daniel and elliot are really maura's husband and son

she doesn't remember them and she says she doesn't feel anything when she looks at a picture of the three of them

BUT inexplicably she and eyk are immediately drawn to one another?

we see this with other people on the ship too, Jerome goes to confront Lucien and finds Clemence instead and they're instantly drawn to each other. Compare that with how Lucien and Clemence act around one another even though they're supposed to be married

Olek and Ling Yi, as well as Krester and Angel, have a similar thing going on, they can't even speak the same language (in this reality) and yet they have an immediate connection

IF we posit that the spaceship is the "real" world (which i am loathe to do bc i've seen Dark and I know how these things go) then is the 1899 ocean liner world a communal simulation or dream all of these people are participating in while en route to their far-flung space destination? If so, why is it so creepy and weird and disastrous? wouldn't you want to dream something a little more pleasant?

Something (or someone) in the simulation has changed things so drastically that it no longer corroborates with what the people in the simulation know (or have known) to be true, which i believe is why things go so haywire so quickly, as people consciously or unconsciously try to correct the things they perceive as wrong

i promise this is not just a justification for shipping eyk and maura, there are a lot of improbable things happening on the kerberos even before we find secret tunnels and ghost ships, like eyk and maura trusting and relying on each other almost immediately, or clemence right away trusting a strange man who turns up in her cabin

this is a very weird show and i love it

[darkwinged-angel]

Here’s my opinion on the love triangles of 1899:

First things first: usually, regarding love triangles, one easily makes their choice. With 1899, that’s not what happens, cause it’s 1899.

*minor spoilers*

1. Ramiro x Angel x Krester:

Honestly, Angel might have given a whole redeeming speech before his death but he was so arrogant in face of his actions that it doesn’t really feel like he regretted them. Also I think there’s more to Krester’s story since he really doesn’t seem like someone who’d assault people. Then we have sweet Ramiro who should be protected at all costs. This is a triangle right? All angles are connected so we can have Krester x Ramiro and ship Angel back home to his mother.

2. Lucien x Clemence x Jerome

Ok I was sorta suspicious of Clemence at the beginning. Technically, Lucien is a cheater too, he did lie a lot to Clemence and blamed her for something he knew she wasn’t culpable. As much as I felt more sympathy for Lucien than I did for Angel during his redemption speech, I still find Jerome a better person. So Clemence x Jerome.

3. Eyk x Maura x Daniel

Why oh why? Eyk is the sexy german captain, beautified with pain and agony, Daniel is the “I’d do anything and everything for you” lover of the century and Maura is the role model protagonist hanging to the last strings of her sanity with all she’s got and managing to fall in love at the same time. She does deserve a treat, can’t she have both? Yea she can. Also I am incapable of choosing so, it’s Eyk x Maura x Daniel.

[meduseld]

Anyway here’s my Ciaran Singleton theory: he’s real (as in a human character and not like an AI with his name) and took the divergent path from Maura. Namely, Maura went the neuroscience route, and Ciaran went the neuropsychology route. Both had similar reasons, namely their messed up family and obsession with people’s behavior and reasoning, and how to alter that, but Maura went nuts and bolts of brains while Ciaran went into the less defined emotional reasoning. Which helps explain their father’s attitude to each, and makes his disdain for emotion, love and mistakes all the more charged.

Point being, when the mission came about, Maura went to her brother for the emotional underpinning of the simulation meant to occupy their minds in the void of space/en route/during hibernation. But Ciaran, like Searle in Sunshine before him, is not the sanest of psych officers. Of course, if you ask him, he did it all for good. For making them confront their psychological issues.

He’s not taking advantage of what he knows, in manifesting their mental scars physically in the simulation, or in putting them in soul-breaking scenarios. He’d call it therapeutic, about exploring their relationships. That’s why he split them up, and twisted their views (I like to think Iben is a devout atheist, Ramiro took one look at Ángel’s baggage and knew he wouldn’t put himself through that for a man, Krester has 0 hangups about his sexuality and might be a little vain, Lucien is a nebbishy loser who quietly covets Jerome/Clemence’s bond and J’s authority and in getting it is even more tormented......)

The only reason he altered his sister’s simulation was to provide closure, catharsis, new perspective! He’s helping, that’s what he does. It’s not torture, Maura, he’s not playing God the way she planned to. Except, of course, in the ways in which he is.

[cabinboy100]

1899: Season 1: (Conspiracy) Theory: Undercover Clemence…?

Beware: Season 1 spoilers! If you have not watched all eight episodes of 1899 season 1, get thee to your streaming device and watch! Then come back for some outlandish connection-making and crazytalk theorizing based on a funny look, the wrong pants, and an envelope. =)

THE HONEYMOON IS OVER.

CLEM: Are you telling me this is my fault? LUC: Stop your little act. It's pretentious. Your parents aren't around anymore. It's fine. You don't love me, you never did. This is not a marriage. It's an arrangement. So you can stop pretending.

Lucien explicitly characterizes their marriage as a sham and releases Clemence from any obligation she feels to keep up appearances. He exits the cabin immediately after this and we see Clemence aghast, at a loss, for maybe three seconds. Then a change comes over her and her expression turns to lip licking satisfaction or anticipation. It is a pretty radical transformation, and remarkable to witness.

This may be relief and pleasure at being freed from playing the role of doting newlywed wife, but I like to think that it's something more—delight in something falling into place as planned.

SAY YES NO TO THE DRESS!

Later, when searching for survivors of the clock ticking siren song, Tove and Clemence wander into a certain cabin and Clemence is moved to wax philosophical on the compulsory wife and mother role of women in society. She does not find anything fulfilling in that purpose, a part she was raised to seek and play and accept. Inspired by the strength and independence she admires in Tove, she decides to declare her own independence from patriarchal expectations with a fashion flourish…

CLEMENCE: I feel ridiculous. Do you know what they say? That men invented dresses and heels so that women can't run away.

With this, she trades her skirts for a pair of trousers from an open wardrobe trunk, signifying her rejection of the societal expectations she has experienced placed on herself and women in general.

Her words and actions *are* a nice follow-up and follow-thru on her reaction to Lucien's real talk about the nature of their marriage. But maybe that's not all they are…

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE…

Later still, when Eyk and Maura are reunited in the lifeboat launch bay of the archived Kerberos, Maura produces the envelope she received from her brother…

MAURA: The last thing I remember before waking up on board the Kerberos was finding the envelope in front of my door. I think my brother sent it.

This prompts each of the survivors* to produce their own identical envelopes.

*Except for Jerome, but I believe we've already seen that he has received one, as I'm certain that's how he acquired the information that led him to Lucien and his cabin on the Kerberos.

And just like everyone else, Clemence pulls her envelope out of her pocket. 

Correction—she pulls an envelope out. And not out of her pocket, but out of the pocket of the pants she is wearing! Whose pocket of whose pants, then? And whose envelope?

Let's take a closer look at that cabin she and Tove were in. Look there, behind Tove, over her left shoulder…

It's the wolf and sheep painting! They are in Angel and Ramiro's cabin! If you didn't notice it before, that is the painting that inspires Angel's wolf-sheep metaphor when he chastises his definitely-not-his-brother earlier. It is also the painting hanging in the sexytimes corner of their cabin.

In the boat launch bay, we see Ramiro pull out his envelope, so the pants Clemence is wearing—and the envelope contained in its pocket—must belong to the dear departed Angel!

I believe that Clemence has maneuvered her way into being counted as a member of a select subset of travelers aboard the Kerberos—those who have received envelopes from Ciaran. She did not receive an envelope herself, but is aware of them and who received them. How and why?

1. She is a passenger who remembers the envelopes and their recipients from a previous Prometheus loop or loops. This would mean that she is aware of the repeating nature of their world and is immune to or able to avoid the memory reset between loops, perhaps like Daniel and Elliot do, or perhaps thanks to an innate natural gift. She has experienced loops in which Ciaran contacted other travelers and realized that they always survived longer than she herself did. Once she understood this, she began trying to get her hands on an envelope and so make it to the end of a loop. In this scenario, she does NOT necessarily know that the loop is a programmed and hackable simulation.

2. She is an undercover "plant" of Father's, like First Mate. Her mission is to locate and acquire the exit key via more surreptitious means than kidnapping and extortion. Flashing one of Ciaran's envelopes is meant to ingratiate herself with Ciaran's "chosen", a subset of travelers who for whatever reasons manage to keep closer to Maura by the end of a loop than most everyone else on board. This in the hopes of getting a chance to locate or even seize the key for Father.

3. She is an undercover "plant" of Ciaran's, a traveler selected—or created?—by Ciaran to maneuver herself into an ever-tightening spiral orbit around Maura for the duration of each loop.* And she may be doing so without being consciously aware of it, hacked/programmed to do it at a subconscious level. 

We don't see her make any drastic moves that seem to directly affect Maura, but perhaps her being a connection between and for Lucien and Jerome is an important role in itself. Producing the envelope in the launch bay bestows upon her some mystery cred, "proving" that she belongs among the final survivors of the loop.

*This is the weakest explanation that's come to me, because if she is Ciaran's agent, there's no reason he couldn't pump up her story and inventory with an envelope of her own. I say "no reason" based on his already demonstrated ability to materialize envelopes containing traveler-specific content for others.

4. She is a passenger whom Daniel has tweaked to be an agent in his plans, programmed to contain a piece of code vital to Maura's exit. She operates completely independently and in character to go unnoticed, but her ultimate goal is to be one of the last travelers standing when the Kerberos is deleted and the simulation shut down. She contains a vital piece of code that is only effective at the moment of ship deletion and in conjunction with the activated key, saves Maura from deletion and/or reboot into a new loop. Sure, Daniel never mentions her role, but why would he, when doing so would only expose her to Father and his henches?

5. Some other crazy possibility… =)

Of course, if crazytalk notion 1, 2, or 3 is true and Clemence ends up with Angel's envelope by design, it doesn't seem to get her—or her puppetmaster—anywhere, right? But we have only been privy to this last loop. Perhaps in previous loops Clemence is not one of the last travelers standing, is not immune to the click ticking, or does not have a friendly exchange about prisons with Jerome on deck, or does not enter Angel and Ramiro's cabin with Tove. We just witnessed the latest attempt, and the closest she's gotten to Maura and the key. Who knows? Perhaps she has won enough of Maura's trust in this last loop that Maura will wake her in 2099 and Clemence will be able to proceed with the *next* phase of her mission. =)

Are her earrings another sign of her secret agenda and/or allegiance? Perhaps, but the "Earth" triangle icon/logo appears in so many elements and contexts, it's difficult to say when it is significant and what it's significance might be beyond as an artifact and clue that the world of the Kerberos is not as real as its passengers and crew believe.

Wake up 🜃

Keep on keepin’ on~

[itsalongwaytotipperary]

I was just adding songs to my 1899 playlist when I realized: Ángel and Lucien are actually pretty similar (Apart from being the same age I mean). But let me explain:

In essence, Ángel is everything that Lucien wants to be. Or at least, Ángel presents himself as everything that Lucien wants to be. Rich, carefree, he probably hasn't worked a day in his life, hasn't seen the horrors of war (This is Lucien's perspective not mine). This is what Lucien has worked for, has stolen an identity for.

They both project a hard front; they're both trying to leave their old life behind and are staying cold (metaphorically speaking) until they reach 'the promised land' (it doesn't exist, they both know this, they're hoping, desperately, inanely). Granted, everybody on the ship is waiting, wishing for a better life, and maybe none of them know what they'll do on the other side. For Lucien, this voyage is life or death, and I'm not sure what he thinks he'll do if the operation is successful (he's an enigma, truly). For Ángel, this voyage is also life or death, though less for medical reasons and more for the fact he is hoping to outrun the law (As are many other people, including Lucien).

But others on the Kerberos aren't being so cold and guarded, they're trying to be optimistic (Example: Olek, Maura, Ramiro, Clemence). These people are under the same circumstances, but they're not being so completely cruel and honestly jackass-y as these two. Both of them are being complete assholes to their partners, who are trying their best to love them.

As the show progresses, both Ramiro and Clemence grow past Ángel and Lucien, and become key members of the- um, it doesn't have an official name- anti mutineers? People who didn't die in The Calling? Whatever you want to call it. Ángel and Lucien fade into the background a bit, and (No hate on them, I'm just talking about their roles later in the show) only become relevant again when they both die tragically, right after each other.

I'm about to wrap this up, but here's some more similarities: Both of them not only are pretty fucking mean to their partners, but they both cheat, or at least contemplate cheating on them (I almost forgot about Lucien's stint with Ling Yi lol, though I know that wasn't the same as Ángel and Krester). They're also the only two characters shown smoking (expect for Miss Wilson I think, but she's a mystery in and of herself, but these are the only two characters shown smoking cigarettes).

Not sure where I was going with this but yeah. Parallels.

[professionallydeadinside]

also okay now im gonna think about the dating show au

so first ship outline: Maura/Eyk, Daniel/Krester (bc your idea is so fucking valid), Jerome/Lucien/Clemence, Clemence/Tove (or virginia/tove but im still on the fence because i also think tove would beat virginia for trying to get Ling Yi to have sex when she didn't want to), Angel/Ramiro, Ling Yi/Olek, and i think thats everyone. If i don't go the virginia/tove route than she'll either not have anybody or be like a show runner

I'll have to figure out a gimmick later, or if the show even has one, but I know it isn't gonna be like the dating shows that have eliminations. it also wouldn't be like a love is blind thing, or too hot to handle

The storyline would be like: Maura and Daniel go on as a divorced couple that just really want their son to have the security of full families on both sides, and they're very friendly and still loving towards each other. They never ruin things for each other and just genuinely want the other to find love. Eyk is there because his wife and daughters died and he wants to find love again, but doesn't know how and decided why not go on television, the fuck else is he doing. Krester and Tove are there as a middle finger to their extremely christian mom and Tove is very protetcive of her brother after he got the shit kicked out of him (Krester has the scar he does in the simulation). Jerome and Lucien join not knowing the other has also joined, and they have a homoerotic past like in canon, and they start off hating each other but something causes Lucien to have a really bad episode (seizure) and Jerome helps him and it starts paving the way for better relationships. Clemence is there because she saw the ad and was like Sure, and she falls fast and hard for Jerome, and slowly gets her heart stolen by Lucien. The show tries to frame it as a love triangle, but the moment they realise they all love each other they're like Well, Why Dont We All Just Date Each Other? Angel is there because he just wanted the paycheck but meets the dorky but loving and protective Ramiro who is there in hopes he'll actually find love and Oh No, Angel Is In Love (theres a side plot where Angel bonds with Tove and the show tries to frame it as him being torn between them but hes solely besties with Tove and they shit talk people together (the Krester/Angel thing never happens because he befriends Tove really fast and the moment she sees him try she threatens him and he backs off immediately)). Ling Yi is also there for the paycheck because her friend and mother are sex workers and she's hoping the money will be enough to help Ling Yi be able to get them out of that work. While she's there she meets Olek, who is a foreigner that went on the show because he really wanted/needed to get to America but was unable to immigrate for reasons so he uses this as a work excuse to come to the states, and Ling Yi gains a sweet husband who will do anything to help her dream of helping her mom and friend (sister? I dont think the girl in the trunk was her sister but maybe Im wrong).

I'll think on this for a bit longer and then add more

WAIKSSJJDKDJKSK MAYBE BECAUSE I DO LIKE THE CLEMENCE AND TOVE SHIP BUT ITS SO FUNNY THINKING OF VIRGINIA AS THE HOST BECAUSE SHE WOULD BE SO UTTERLY CATTY

[flowerflamestars]

Effloresce Snippet

Ruby bright, blood ran down Rhysand’s neck. A knife that could slice air in the right hand- Cassian had the faraway wisdom to be glad it was Elain holding it, not Nesta to whom the wind would listen, Nesta, who probably would have taken off his damned head.  “Elain,” Feyre sounded like she was choking. “Rhys wasn’t- no one is going to hurt Nesta- what are you doing?”   Elain ignored her, pressed harder, blood welling. Rhysand, frozen in place, wasn’t even looking at her- over her head, to Cassian, as though to ask: why?   Cassian shook his head.   “You’ll get our people out.” Elain was velvet, a High Fae courtier speaking in a human voice.   And Rhys, sky fucking drown him, demurred. Look down her arm, ignored the blade like even bleeding, these women weren’t a threat. “It will take time, to evacuate.”   Nesta laughed, an entirely different sound than before. Storm wild, the sound of it moving up Cassian’s spine like a caress. “You don’t have time. You did this- Feyre didn’t get there on her own.”   Rhysand, who’d lost all ability to back down when he aught sometime in the last fifty years. Rhys, who’d absolutely play chicken with a curse that would destroy him and his- he was probably hoping it would helpfully boil Keir’s blood as it worked its way to him.   “The curse can kill you,” Elain crooned, “Or I can slit your throat and watch the crown pass to Archeron hands. Your choice.”   “A curse,” Feyre whispered, eyes flying between her sisters. “Nesta, please, what is she talking about?”

Lush bravado, Rhysand’s smile. “Always good, to have deadly allies.”   And just like that Elain turned the blade in her hand- starry, gleaming, released Rhysand and handed it bloody to Nesta, handle first.   Even braced for it, Cassian wasn’t prepared. Nesta continued the motion, angry and hectic, his dagger spun sure in her grip, keening to the air.   Did she know she could shape the wind? That Cassian- because Cassian- that the very storm would listen to her, in true need, star steel singing in her hand?   “I don’t understand. What crown? Is this about the Queens? You can pledge for clemency- if you’re really the one running all those trade route, the Lords owe you- they can”-   Steady, deadly, Elain in her lace and silk, the scent of her rage more Lucien’s fire than her own skin, Elain who said, “High Lord, would you like to say it?” Rhys, Cassian thought it, Cassian roared it in his head, barriers down, walls crumbling- I won’t forgive you- Feyre won’t forgive you- don’t- don’t- don’t- Rhysands mouth twisted.   “We have a deal, your sisters and I,” He told Feyre, charm laid thick over the grimace. “For the preservation of House Archeron. Isn’t that right, Banfhlaith?”   Nesta bared her teeth.   Like a call and response he couldn’t quite control, Cassian gave into the burning urge to slide closer, to guard even for a second, her back.   He loved his brother. He’d served faithful the Night Court for five centuries- half a millennia and never once, not for a second, anticipated a real future.

What loomed, endless, in the sky of Nesta Archeron’s eyes.