#everything bcs of courtly love rules

[delphiniumpacificguinevere]

Archive: Something abt Guincelot’s Courtly Love

source: The Once & Future Queen: Guinevere in Arthurian Legend - Nicole Evelina

I still think that courtly love is a very female-centred thing.

Honestly, this is why I need more female scholars.

[charmixpower]

Thinking about Stella's princess ball and wondering if that's a Solaria only thing or a custom adopted by all the royals in the magical dimension to keep certain things cohesive as to when people enter "high society" officially

And if it's the second one, Aisha's and Bloom's ball???

I have a few ideas

Aisha 1

For Aisha's I imagine that there was one set up for Aisha in season 3, so she would be officially eligible for marriage, and she just didn't go

Aisha has made it super clear though out the show that the whole pretty part, small talk, courtly behavior shit gets on her nerves. So when her parents inevitably set up the most "sit still and look pretty" "don't talk to anyone we don't say you can talk to" and "put on this seven layer dress" party possible she just....doesn't show up

Everyone sees it on Tv and Aisha just ignores it lol

Since she never technically enters high society, she can't be entered into political marriage, which is essentially her flipping off her parents by refusing to play by any of their rules

Anyways I think it would be fun if Crown Princess Tressa of Oceania was like "we should do our Princess Ball together!! Since you didn't have one :)" and this is after she was awarded the role of Supreme Guardian of Andros by Oceania, so her debut into high society is like "This is Aisha!! She spent weeks upon weeks on Andros helping deal with the Valtor crisis!! She fought tirelessly!! She's Andros hero!! Her official Noble Title is now *insert knight title that's equal in rank to the king bc she's like official protector of everything Andros now*!"

Aisha would be SO amused by this, bc she'd have a title higher than crown princess, so like??? Who's gonna tell her to sit quietly in a corset now??? She's equal rank with her dad, she wins essentially

Aisha 2

Aisha still doesn't go to her first princess ball because it's everything she hates in parties, but after the Valtor situation and Aisha putting her foot down about her not getting married, her parents back down

Anyways when Stella gets her do-over princess ball (that she desperately deserves) Stella is like "what if we do a DOUBLE!!! PRINCESS BALL!!!!!"

I feel like Stella would be super over having the day to herself, and just want someone who genuinely cares for her to be there with her after what Radius did

And Aisha is like??? Yes??? That would make these parties so much more tolerable??? I love you???

Anyways they have their Princess Ball in a third location (not on Andros or Solaria. Maybe Noctilucae) so there no political strife about why do the Princesses go there and not here, and they have a grand ol time together and they get to introduce eachother and it's really cute and they both take something that was ruined for them and makes it into something fun for them

Bloom

Bloom gets her princess ball in s5 bc Domino thinks this would be the best way to reintroduce Domino into high society. Bloom is a very safe choice for the face of Domino because she's unimaginably popular with political people for the whole stopping Valtor thing

Bloom?? Is so??? Unhappy and unprepared??? She's never been in this kind of situation and she hates attention like this with a burning passion and everything fucking sucks

I feel like Stella, Aisha, Sky, and Diaspro would all have different reactions to Bloom's discomfort that ties into their own feelings as royals

Diaspro would tell her to suck it up. Domino needs this to get back on it's feet, and she can't just turn her back on her people

Fresh off his parents commiting crimes against human rights against him "for the sake of Eraklyon", Sky goes in the exact opposite direction than Diaspro, with telling her she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to

Stella would try to encourage her to take her place as a princess, and just enjoy the party

And Aisha "I'll die for Andros" would tell Bloom to try to negotiate about her party with her parents to make herself as comfortable as possible and help Domino at the same time

Bonus Diaspro

Dia already had a princess ball in Eraklyon, which currently has a royal family in jail and who's empire is completely crumbling much to Diaspro's delight, but unsurprisingly she wants a new one. On her planet, as their princess, with her people. This probably happens in s4???? Everyone's invited. Idk how that would fit in but it would make a cool first introduction for Roxy to the Magical Dimension

Omg I just realized bc Roxy is technically the future queen of the Earth fairies she'd also get one....fnnsjdkd

That would be a cute plot point for the spin off show she deserves but never got

[unicyclehippo]

not sure why i have to make everything so complicated... ollie why not just write about cool dragons??? why add a weird courtly intrigue to it?? WHY?? maybe because the rigid rules & expectations of a made up social system is fun to create esp when it borrows from & alludes to dragons? & maybe because i’ve never gotten over the idea of a courtly romance...a knight & the person they’re sworn to protect...in LOVE? plus MAGIC? and also bc the idea of the doctor being stuck in one place & within one rigid definition of the self for such an extended period of time makes me itch from the inside out & i wanna put that down on paper i guess

[aegon]

Marriage anon again. Thanks for the detailed response a lot of what u said i didn't even consider, as an arya stan its really interesting to read about polarizing thoughts for her endgame. The reason why i thought she wouldn't marry for love was to me arya represents liminality, caught b/w the courtly world of the highborn and the chaotic world of the lower classes (metaphorical forest?) Shes introduced as this willful little girl who chafes against her duties as the daughter of a lord paramount

In a sense Ned’s death is liberating to Arya bc she can fully realize all those things she wanted to do uninhibited by the restrictions placed upon her by birth. She consorts with whoever, gets to be whoever she wants albeit by necessity, but in her heart she’s still a lord’s daughter, that’s why I think in reclaiming her identity she’ll have to pick up that mantle of responsibility she always chafed against. That’s what her fc training should help her for to be two ppl at once cont..

Arya Underfoot in her heart but Arya of House Stark outwordly. This could just be my own envisioning, but I’ve always wanted her to become over time less associated with Lyanna and more like Nymeria. With the interplay of revenge, mercy, duty in her arc it would be more poignant conclusion for her imo to marry out of a grand self sacrificial impulse, like saving her people. Sorry for the detailed ask, ur one of my fav bloggers and it’s great to have a back and forth with a fellow stan. 

She does start off as a whirlwind of chaos and rebellion, but I disagree that Ned was the one inhibiting her. His death didn’t give Arya anything she wanted. He never stopped her from being friends with anyone she wanted. He never stopped her speaking her mind and pursuing her interests. After all, he’s the one that arranged for Syrio Forel to teach her and allowed her to keep Needle. 

Arya’s dreams don’t surround freedom as an abstract concept, like being friends with whoever she wants and to go wherever she wants. Arya’s dreams specifically revolve around gaining agency and holding a position of power and respect. It’s not responsibility she turns away from, but illogical rules and customs that make no sense to her other than she has to because she’s a girl. 

A king’s conciliator, to build castles, to be High Septon. They’re all powerful positions that are held by men. Arya’s heroes are all women too, warriors and queens who stood side-by-side with men and carved their own place in history. Ultimately, it comes down to Arya not wanting to be a page in another man’s history book, but to make a name for herself, by herself, as an independent woman. 

The women are important too.

True, Ned rebuffed this by saying she’d marry a king and her sons would go on to achieve everything she wanted, but that’s the patriarchal society for you, not just Ned. After he died, Arya was left in a position even further than what she wanted. She was vulnerable and alone, and had to pretend to be a boy to survive because being a girl is too dangerous. It’s a tragedy for someone who dreams of being an independent and powerful woman. 

The FM provides her with a semblance of agency with offering to train her, to make her stronger, to help her survive - but the irony is that the girl who wanted to make a name for herself, had her name stolen from her. I see your point about Arya learning to be two people at once, but the truth is, Arya isn’t very good at it at all. With every identity she assumes, the real Arya Stark always breaks through in some shape or form. She can’t be anyone but herself, which is why she’s not very good at being an FM. At the end of it, she’ll reclaim her identity, but just one. Arya Stark of Winterfell. 

I agree that she should separate herself from Lyanna, who was a tragedy. I don’t want her to follow her footsteps - but I don’t want her following Nymeria either. Both women were forced into situations beyond their control. Lyanna with the Rebellion and Nymeria with having to find a safe place for all her people and marrying a stranger to keep the peace. Lyanna and Nymeria represent two sides, one chose love and the other chose duty, but both had to sacrifice. 

Arya’s endgame shouldn’t reflect anyone’s that came before her. She is her own person and she’s carving out her own path. Her endgame should be something we haven’t seen before: a marriage for love that’s successful. They mostly end in tragedy in ASOIAF tbh, and I want her to break that cycle. 

I agree that she’s a liminal - she belongs to the highborn and the lowborn. She belongs to the old and new world. But I don’t see that as a prison, but a position to be a catalyst for great change. She has the unique ability to bring Westeros forward, and a self-sacrificial arranged marriage would be a step back. She’s sacrificed enough already, no one should ask her to do so again at the very end. 

Moreover, there’s no reason why whoever she marries for love can’t be good for House Stark too. It might be ideal politically, but the point is that she’s not marrying him for that, but because her heart wants to. That’s pretty sweet to me. 

I love the detailed asks! Really, I’ve missed talking about Arya like this and I really appreciate you coming to me for a discussion! So thank you so much, you fantastic person! ❤️

[krissidanielle]

An Art History Primer

by Kristian Krawford

      I spent many years studying art history in school and dearly loved it. So allow me a few moments to share the fruits of my education with you. Here is your art schooling without the cost of tuition. And you can really impress your friends with all your refinement!

    We begin in Egypt from 3,000 to 330 BC. The style was marked by stiff figures in profile, subject matter was gods and goddesses, kings and queens, jackal-headed deities and the occasional cat. Egyptians were strong believers in the afterlife and decorated tombs with things they felt one needed in eternity.

    Greece from 1200-200 BC. Not much art has survived from this period other than pots, all decorated in geometric patterns—zigzags, chevrons, checkerboards, diamonds. Also Homeric scenes and later some Kouroi statues.

    Rome from 700 BC- AD 500. Virtually everything we know of Greek art comes to us from the Romans. They were the ultimate copycats, conquering the Greek world and plundering their treasures. They did the same to Egypt. They were the first art patrons and art collectors. A tradition that continued for centuries.

    The Dark Ages AD 600-1350. This title is a misnomer as it was a very exciting time in the world. This was the era of beautiful churches, of Charlemagne (my own great-grandfather), the university and of some really beautiful art.

    Charlemagne was King of the Franks and the first Holy Roman Emperor. His empire was called Carolingian and he set out to change the world. He built monasteries and churches, basilicas, murals, sculptures and frescoes—almost none of which have survived. What have survived are beautiful illuminated manuscripts from this time period, which is also called Romanesque because it draws on Roman models.

    One way it was Roman-like was in its bigger and better churches. The architecture at the time, centered in Paris, was called Gothic by Giorgio Vasari, who intended it as an insult. It means “crude and barbaric.” Gothic style was simply the over decoration of a house of God. Elaborate stone tracery, crested finials, painted details—miscellaneous doodads. All crafted by anonymous artisans.

    A French historian (Jules Michelet) coined the term Renaissance, meaning “rebirth,” in the 1800’s. And because the subject is so broad and involves so many artists, I could go on for pages. So for the sake of brevity, some things will receive only a passing mention.

    The Renaissance can be divided into High and Low or Early and Late. The major artists of the Early Period were Giotto (first to paint three-dimensional people); Masaccio (mastered groups of figures); Lorenzo Ghiberti (spent 21 years working on the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery aka. Gates of Paradise); Donatello (invented relief sculpture); and Filippo Brunelleschi (architect of the Duomo and first to apply the rules of perspective to art).

    The major artists of the Late Period were: Sandro Botticelli (known for sensuous human forms, i.e. Birth of Venus); Leonardo da Vinci (arguably the most famous artist ever of the most famous painting ever, i.e. Mona Lisa); Michelangelo (started out in Florence, moved to Rome to paint the Sistine ceiling); Raphael (another darling of the papacy and one of my personal faves. I love School of Athens); Tintoretto (he closes out the High Renaissance with a Mannerist style); and Titian (greatest Venetian painter, he painted a lot of mythological subjects).

    Some interest tidbits about Leonardo before closing out the Renaissance entirely. Leonardo wasn’t just an artist. He was a scientist, architect, engineer, draftsman, inventor and jack of all trades. He studied the human body by dissecting cadavers and imagined flight hundreds of years before the Wright brothers. He was interested in everything, yet finished almost nothing. He was a master of unfinished work. In fact, the Mona Lisa is one of only a handful of pieces he ever completed. And it was his personal favorite that he carried with him until his death. For centuries, Mona Lisa has remained an enigma. Not just her identity but her unusual expression. Is she or isn’t she smiling? According to Vasari, Leonardo painted a very melancholy sitter. He employed magicians, jesters and theatre performers to entertain her while he painted. It was while painting this portrait that he developed his sfumato technique (Italian for “like smoke”) in which colors and form subtly merge. It would become his trademark.

    The Northern Renaissance is also divided into Low and High. These are the best known Low artists: Jan van Eyck (founder of Flemish painting, he painted the Ghent Altarpiece); Rogier van der Weyden (known for attention to detail and portraits of nobles); and Hieronymous Bosch (known for fantastical landscapes of a dark, medieval world).

    The High Artists of the Northern Renaissance are: Albrecht Durer (not to my liking but this German artist is known for his engravings and woodcuts); and Pieter Breughel the Elder (Flemish painter known for allegories and parables of peasant life).

    Baroque came after the Renaissance. It was a time of courtly festivals and royal ceremony. The term meant to be an insult—“degenerate.”  Caravaggio was the most famous Baroque artist. A rogue character (even tried for murder), he was a naturalistic painter known for dramatic light. He placed ordinary people in his paintings of religious subjects. Scandalous! Peter Paul Rubens painted nobles while El Greco was known for his elongated figures. Rembrandt, considered the greatest Dutch painter ever, was known for his unusual lighting in which he made the most ordinary of people look mysterious. Jan Vermeer, also known for interesting light effects, enjoyed painting the Dutch bourgeoisie. Lastly, Velazquez was a great Spanish painter most interested in royalty.

   From the 1700’s to the 19th century, there were four major art movements: Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and Realism.

    Rococo (c. 1730-1800) was art of the boudoir. It was a flirty, fanciful way of decorating the canvas. The main artists (all French) were Francois Boucher, Jacques-Louis David (I can’t stand that guy), Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres, Eugène Delacroix and Gustave Courbet.

    Neoclassicism (c. 1750-1820) was a genre in which artists copies the simple designs and restrained ornament of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The main artists Jacques-Louis David (I still can’t stand him), Antonio Canova, Jean-Antoine Houdon (known for his amazing bust sculptures of Ben Franklin and George Washington) and Jean-Dominique Ingres.

    Romanticism (c. 1780-1850) was melodramatic portrayals of imaginary subjects. The best known artists were Eugène Delacroix, Francisco de Goya and William Blake—a wonderful writer who illustrated his poems.

    Realism (c. 1848-1875) was basically a reaction to the excesses of Romanticism and some Neoclassicism. In this movement, it was the Americans who led the way. Many were painting beautiful landscapes of their young nation on large canvases. The landscapists were Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran. Realist artists were Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins.

    Ah, Impressionism! Who doesn’t love it? It all began in 1874 when a group of Paris-based artists who’d been rejected by the Salon were mockingly called “Impressionists” by the April 25th issue of Le Charivari magazine. The name stuck. The style itself was marked by a close observation of nature whereby marks of pure color are placed side by side to create the effects of light on the canvas. They also differed in subject matter, tossing out literary subjects, mythology, and even history. They focused instead on scenes of everyday life. They also abandoned contour, modeling and precise details.

Though Èdouard Manet is the founding father of Impressionism, it is Claude Monet who is most often associated with it. Other stars are: Edgar Degas (he favored ballet dancers); Auguste Renoir (young women and rosy-cheeked girls); Alfred Sisley (the only Brit in the mix); and Mary Cassatt (the only American and most famous woman).

    From 1874 to 1886, the Impressionists exhibited together a total of 8 times, but long before they broke up, the members were moving on to other things.

    Post-Impressionism is a catch-all term to describe all the art that came after Impressionism. It also relied on the use of bright colors and splashy brushwork, but differed in what artists were feeling and saying. The stars of this movement were: Georges Seurat (inventor of Pointillism and a personal fave); Paul Gaugin (the native-loving man of bright colors); Vincent Van Gogh (most mad and magnetizing); and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (decorative posters of cabaret life).

    Expressionism was marked by sometimes violent colors, abstract forms and emotional subjects. The big Expressionists were: Edvard Munch; Henri Matisse (inventor of Fauvism); Wassily Kandinsky (inventor of Abstraction); and Amadeo Modigliani (lover of long, lean bodies and necks); and the Viennese love-chronicler, Gustav Klimt.

    Cubism is my least favorite genre so will receive scant mention here. It was the first totally abstract art movement—not at all representational—relying on geometric forms. Created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, they were influenced by Cézanne, modern science and African masks.

    Dada was a brief European anti-art movement that sprang up after WW1. It spawned the likes of Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and Man Ray. I take back what I said about Cubism being my least favorite. Dada is.

    Surrealism came after Dada and although it was primarily a literary movement, it translated well into art. Basically about the relationship between dreams and the unconscious, this movement gave us Marc Chagall, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí.

    Constructivism was another brief art genre, this one centered in Russia. It spawned no internationally known starts, only regional artists on a mission.

    Abstract Expressionism was about bigness—big canvases, big brushes, big cans of house paint, big male egos. It was also almost totally American. The main men were: Jackson Pollock (big drips and splatters); Willem de Kooning (brushy abstractions); and Mark Rothko (large blocks of color).

    Pop Art is populist art. It’s representational and easily comprehensible. It’s spawned some very famous artists—Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, to name a few. These artists rejected nature and instead focused on the manmade.

    Minimalism came after Pop Art and spawned Frank Stella and a few minor artists.

    So what genre is the art of today and where is it headed? Well, all the art since is generally lumped into the category of post-modernism and involves artists deriving their work from both natural and manmade sources. Today artists even use a third source—the wonderfully human imagination. Artists also create their work from many different mediums. Today, we have oil painters, acrylic artists, watercolorists, charcoal and pencil artists, collage artists and even mixed-media artists who use a combination of all of the above to create their unique works. And let’s not forget digital artists who create their imaginary worlds entirely on computer. Though future historians will have a difficult time categorizing the art of today, one thing is for certain: they won’t lack for interesting and beautiful paradigms to study.

[yangxiaolonging]

Iokheaira: Part 1

(Hark, a Vagrant! #328)

It was going to take the continuation of my favorite fic of all time to revitalize my love of STRQ. we in it now boiz

Go read Iokheaira!!! If you haven’t read the original fic Akrasaia go read that too! @romanimp​ and @theivorytowercrumbles (sorry, for some reason I can’t @ you, Ivory :C )

It’s got everything: bloodthirsty fairies, swords, gay rwbies, sharp teeth, claws, creative application of the seelie court, and courtly intrigue. I even recommend this fic to my friends who’ve never been in to RWBY just because this is just such solid writing and I would kill for an original universe series by the Bear Senate.

ANYWAYS PART 1 LETS GET NASTY

this is a wonderfully long chapter so I’m going to at least try to keep this vaguely succinct 

It starts with the trash bird twins and I’m in love. We never get to see Qrow and Raven as a team in the show, just them being the bitter husks left behind by bad decisions and tragedy. Raven and Qrow were a Team since they were children and seeing them fight together and banter is nice, even if it’s Branwen quality interactions.

Qrow held up the mask, his fingers hooked around the first cusp of bone. It had always looked like a pair of bird's wings to Raven's eye, each skeletal layer flaring outward, yet wholly joined to itself. The red paint marking it was in dire need of repair, but the helmet beneath had survived untold generations, passed through the Wild Hunt with each death of the wearer.

aaaahhhh

Through a veil of bone, everything looked like prey.

aaaaAAHHH

Raven used the edge of her sword to pry it from the snow, spying polished links of gold woven together with feathers of black glass looped between the chain. She carefully transferred the bracelet into her gloved hand, looking for any sign of decay, but it merely seemed to be part of a matched set absent its twin.

AAAAAHHHH

"A trophy." Raven remarked, although the gallows humor didn't lift the pressure now crushing its way through her chest. "Maybe I should give it to the girl she left behind."

AAAAAAAHHHH

And if I hadn’t thought I was fucked to begin with, I sure knew then. It’s always delicious piecing together bits and scraps of information given between two different sources in the same canon. The liberties Roman and Ivory take with existing lore is always so good.  (listen. read akrasaia if you haven’t. do it. do it now. i linked it at the top of the post.)

Poor Amber gets wanged in every universe she’s put in. RIP. 

I love how despite the Wild Hunt being sort of the gray area between the Courts, Raven has always been a very intense and black and white person. 

Pushing at her knees, Raven stood. When she spoke she raised her voice somewhat so that those other members of the Hunt could hear. “Corruption is the Hunt’s prerogative. The Courts are none of our concern.���

Qrow rolled his eyes in reply. “Oh, sure. And if you just so happen to do their dirty work along the way, all’s the better.”

Behind the mask, Raven’s eyes flashed, and she rounded on him. “If I had wanted to kill the King's daughter before his own Court in royal assembly, I would have had every right!”

With a laugh, Qrow shook his head, hands on hips, his enormous scythe slung across his back. “See -- that’s just your problem. With you, it’s always the word of the law, never the spirit.”

Raven scoffed. She rested her hand upon the pommel of her sword at her hip. “The spirit of the law is for humans and philosophers. It means nothing, and you know it.”

At that, Raven paused, holding the mask between her hands. The Hunt, the casteless, the nameless, forsaken of the Courts, those who walk between worlds, those who slay transgressors from the path of nature by removing themselves from the cycle, entire.

:’))))) I love her sfm.......

Shout out to Cythera “how much can I fuck with this terrifying dark haired woman” Adel. 

Dropping to her knees, the fae shrugged the stag to the ground in order to lay it at Raven’s feet. For a moment she remained there, gathering her strength before using the stag’s antlers to push herself upright once more. The two stood close enough that Raven could cleave a sword through her heart without a second thought. Releasing a long, suppressed breath, Raven finally uncurled her fist from her sword, but her stance remained tense, on edge. Defiance reigned in the fae’s eyes, and for a brief moment Raven felt unmasked before her.

Cinder is too gay and too powerful and that’s the theme of all seelie au writing. 

In a smooth motion, Raven stepped over the stag, moving close and lowering her voice. “It would seem I know you after all.”

...

Dipping her fingers into a pouch strung along the belt at her waist, Raven retrieved the chain’s twin and held it up for Cinder to see.

Amber eyes widened. Cinder’s hand darted up to snatch the trinket from Raven’s grasp, but she pulled her own hand back with a finger raised in warning. Lip curling in a snarl, Cinder hissed, “That belongs to me.”

“Is that so?” Raven cocked her head. “The way I see it, a prey’s trophy belongs to no one but the hunter.”

Cinder’s face went through a range of emotions, shifting from dawning horror, to sorrow, to flinty resolve, then settling on an ardent fury.

Raven hummed a contemplative note at the back of her throat. “Ah, yes. I can see the resemblance, now.”

I know for a Fact that Ivory is waging a shadow campaign to make everyone ship Cinder/Raven. (spoilers: they succeeded and I ship it)

Anyways, time to jump into the most wonderful time of the year: Beltane.

"Who says that it's my first?" The girl was riled now, and hastened her step so she could dart in front of Raven, walking backwards across the bridge like it was no trouble at all. "I won't run if you bare your teeth, stranger."

The hint of amusement Raven took from the exchange twisted into a darker hunger, and she shuddered with it. Swift as a shadow, she pinned the other faerie to the side of the bridge, nearly bowing her over the rail that guarded the edge. Her mask was a mere centimeter from the girl's face, close enough for the next shocked, ragged breath to warm the outline of painted bone.

"Tell me your name," Raven growled.

"V-Vernal," she choked back, fear outpacing the need in her veins as the strength pinning her in place became apparent.

"Vernal," Raven repeated, rolling the name over her tongue like a bite of fresh meat, "Go find some beautiful girl who looks at you like the sun and stars. Come near me again and I'll eat you to the marrow."

me: 

With the sun soon to fall, Summer had surrendered her regalia to the chest at the foot of her bed, crown and cloak locked away in a bed of red velvet. Without them, her black dress was a dark column in the center of the room, severed only by the pale, waxen lacing woven beneath Summer's ribs. If not for the centuries she had already ruled, Raven would scarcely be able to guess the Queen's age, for those who sat upon the rosewood throne were unburdened by time, immune to the withering whisper of the seasons that followed.

THERE SHE IS IT IS HER IT IS MY DARLING IT IS MY QUEEN SOUND THE TRUMPETS ITS MY GIRL ITS SUMMER

Summer Rose took One look at Raven and immediately decided she needed to fuck her/fuck with her in any way possible and if that doesn’t make her a national treasure and hero I don’t know what does.

I’m already copy-pasting huge chunks of text so I’ll spare everyone me just showing the entire Summer/Raven interaction save for this bc in this house we ship Nevermore and tasty tasty writing.

"May I offer a parting gift, then?" The distance they shared was closed with one careful step, and Summer's dress was a whisper of cloth away from making the two of them touch. "To ease your travel."

She hungered. It felt like such a primal, animal admission, that something as simple as touch could render her a beast. Raven nodded before she could stop herself, and bit back a sound when Summer's fingers slipped beneath the edge of her mask, drawing it up and away. Her eyes recoiled from the light, their red long lost to pulsing black, but then Summer's hands were cupping her jaw, drawing her down to a warm and yielding mouth.

The kiss stung like a brand, searing through Raven's body until she was forced to pull away, her restraint twisted taut to one singular, quivering thread. One more touch, even Summer's breath against her skin, and it would snap.

"Blessed Beltane, your majesty," Raven gasped, then pulled her mask back down as if it would strip her of temptation.

It was back in the dancing circle that she spied Glynda, locked in arms with Taiyang, a prince known more for who he bedded than his bloodline. Summerborn he was, but clearly not to the Grand Seneschal's taste, for Glynda suddenly shoved him back so hard that he had to break his fall on emerald-streaked marble.

It’s okay Taiyang, you’re a good good boy. 

...he welcomed her, he welcomed everything.

There’s something so sad about the closing scene. Raven is a wildfire, her story is always of her trying and eventually failing to keep her destruction minimal. She doesn’t need a semblance of bad luck to be a harbinger of misfortune. 

[janiedean]

68 + 57? JB obviously 😉

forgotten first meeting and heroic sacrifice hmmmmm

okay so: au where jaime kills aerys and it has realistic consequences ie he gets ACTUAL IMMEDIATE TRAUMATIC REACTION and stops talking point blank and spends a week not even emoting when he talks to people just stares at them blankly - then he stops THAT but still doesn’t talk, shrugs at everything, doesn’t deny or confirm either way why he did it etc, stays in the kg but when cersei shows up he wants nothing to do with her. cue a couple years and he still doesn’t say anything, except brienne and her dad are visiting KL for courtly things and she’s like four or five and he finds her being insulted by a bunch of assholes, he glares at them until they leave and she tells him smth like oh you’re a true knight i want to be like you before running away and he’s like FLOORED bc someone said THAT and like he doesn’t start talking again or anything but just hearing that made him feel good for the first time in ages not that anyone guesses except tyrion

cue a LOT more years with the necessary canon divergence in which c’s kids are not his bc they haven’t been together since they were fifteen, brienne participates in the tourney in ned’s honor and like she sort of remembers THAT meeting but she hadn’t realized it was JAIME back then and he got older so she doesn’t do 2+2 while HE does because he recognized the eyes/he knows her name and while they’re doing the melee and she’s pulverizing everyone he hears four people talking about going all at once on her breaking the rules to take her out, and he doesn’t really think about that before putting himself in the middle except that it’s not to his favor and by the time she notices he got wounded pretty badly - she obv takes all of them out while he’s brought outside and has to sit the rest of the melee out. at that point she actually remembers him and goes like OH THAT WAS HIM THEN and weeell he doesn’t really expect her to make him queen of love and beauty when she wins the next day but she does and he goes like you know what fuck this and the first thing he says since aerys died is asking her if she wants to be knighted and ofc she accepts AAAAND well i suppose somewhere down the line he’s going to quit the KG ;) ;)