#he was our first choice for daemon lmao

[harrenhalyuri]

since we're getting more targaryen spin offs I'm begging... casting director... bring Jason Isaacs into it and let him play a targaryen PLEASE

[atopvisenyashill]

you think the reason why grrm is reluctant to do gay incest is because he's like "oh, readers will assume i associate real lgbt ppl with incest and degeneracy and i don't want them to think that :( i shall commit myself to portraying same-sex relationships as realistic, humanizing romances :) none of the nasty, toxic stuff, i shall save that for the heterosexuals"

i'm not totally sure about that being a reason although then again...okay this might be a little all over the place but like on the one hand i feel like 'well he just writes whatever and doesn't think about the audience' but i DO think that part of his inability to hunker down and write the last two books is because he's kinda concerned about audience reception of what he's written. like, in context i'm sure a lot of what those two idiots wrote for the later seasons makes so much more sense, is in general much better, but the backlash being that crazy, imo, really has him sweating. especially because (iirc) there was already a lot of "now what are we doing" comments when he introduced the young griff and quentyn story lines seemingly out of nowhere in adwd. although with that said, he's been kind of handwavey of some of the misogyny criticisms so idk that he cares one way or another whether people think his queer characters are toxic or not lmao.

i've been of the mind that he essentially realized that gay people exist sometime in the mid aughts though alkjsfl. For Me, there feels like a bit of a change from the sort of subtextually playing around with gender roles and sexuality thing to more overt queer themes as the series goes on - JonCon being our first canon queer pov, the crazy toxic yuri going on with Taena/Cersei and how it's a lot more nuanced than some of his other similar pairings (*coughs*), Sweets being a rather significant minor character in Tyrion (and briefly Quentyn's) chapters. I think when he first started writing, he felt like the complexity of the Renly/Loras relationship was like..."enough" rep, that anything more would be inaccurate, only to come around to the idea years later that perhaps it's more accurate that more queer characters exist. and he's always prided himself on the accuracy, and defended the accuracy of what insane conservative culture war people would call "dei representation" ie the mere existence of queer people, of people of color, of queer people, in history. people will say arya or brienne are anachronistic, and he will fight them p hard on that and rightly. people will pretend like renly, loras, and joncon are anachronistic and he'll double down by giving loras and joncon two of the most well known romantic lines in the series. etc etc. so moving into f&b, i think the narrative focus on rhaena and her girlfriends, laenor and his boyfriends, and all the implied stuff about aegon the conqueror, the dragonstone polycule, daemon wanting to be viserys' wife, etc etc, i think that was him trying to branch out a bit and be like "okay so what characters do i have where it would strengthen the narrative if there was a level of queerness here" (because iirc, rhaena was stated to marry androw farman for love, like ANDROW himself initially in twoiaf, but he changed it to being for elissa later. i think he felt like having a lesbian queen here would be narratively interesting - and like, he's correct, rhaena being a lesbian is probably one of the better narrative choices of f&b).

but i also feel like....i know i say this a lot but he IS ultimately a white man named george who is pushing 80 and grew up in fucking jersey lmao. i don't want to knock him too much, like, i think he is much more self aware than people give him credit for, but i also think similar to his like, old timey old fashioned orientalism he is like Genuinely kind of afraid of writing a gay character aljsflkj

[eggtargaryenii]

RIP to the guy getting eaten by the crabs getting crushed by Daemon's dragon. I hate how painfully interesting Otto is because this man makes me want pick my cuticles like Alicent. Otto sucks hard but his brother seems as if is...a hmmm...huge factor of how Otto ended up as *gestures to Otto* like that.

It's also interesting seeing how Alicent seemed to be trying to get along with Rhaenyra because I only knew about them being on bad terms in the current timeliness.

They did make a few interesting wardrobe choices in episode three. Like I don't think Rhaenrya is fully decked out in red until she gets named heir in episode 1, and our first appearance of Alicent in episode 3 as Queen is her in red, which makes sense bc of Targaryen colors, but I still find it really interesting that the most powerful "Targaryen" women are only seen in that particular shade at arguable the "height" lf their power? Like Alicent is seen in the dress on Aegon's nameday, which many presume to eventually be Viserys' heir. Like the way Alicent continues to wear red throughout the episode just grabs at the audience's eyes first. It's really visually telling us that we should be focusing on Alicent and Rhaenyra...me thinks

Also, Jason Lannister is....unpleasant. Cristen Cole joking about killing Jason Lannister is wild as hell. He goes insane, but I'm wary of him because of your warning. There's no way what he does is that bad right? Like....he's so pretty.

ALSO WTH, VISERYS, YOU ARE THE KING. WHY ARE YOU LIKE HOLDING STAG POO????? HUHHHHHHHH. I'm also dissatisfied with Viserys bc of his inaction against the Stepstones and bc of Otto, BUT, MY MAN STANDS UP FOR RHAENYRA AND DEFENDS HER AGAINST JASLN LANNISTER. LIKE, YUHHHHHHHHH! He may be a mid king but he's trying as a father!!! (For Rhae-Rhae, RIP aegon and aemond tho). He is way better than Otto because Viserys is actually trying to make Rhaenyra happy while Otto is sending his daughter to like....a man more than double her age for the crown. Viserys, I love you for laughing at Otto trying to marry Rhaenyra to Aegon. You a real one. Also, Viserys, drinking so much is relatable, like I, too, would drink if I had to deal with court and the politics.

Dear god, Viserys' actor is crazy. His monolpgue about his dream is so powerful. Like one of my favorite scenes so far. I do wonder how much this scene plays through alicent's mind in the future tbh.

Rhaenyra seeing the White Stag and choosing to spare it is also a really good scene. Rhaenyra also just walking into camp covered in blood was iconic; she shall forever be famous.

Alicent Hightower honestly just has the worst job in the world. I wish she was free from all this bs. In another world, she yeeted to another place and is just overall way happier than she is in the keep.

Also dkhfjdjd Laenor is my favorite, "how have you served on the council besides as the Master of Complaints?"

Daemon is off the rails bc kenfndjf why did he beat up the messenger dkhdjdjfjdjfjf. Don't shoot the messenger, please 😭😭😭. Daemon is some other type of petty though. My man would rather risk death and get eaten by crabs than admit he's fumbling the stepstones. He is such a drama queen, please. I love him he's skeevy, smelly, and petty.

laenor saving Daemon's ass is amazing. I knew I was right to like him. He's like a teenager driving a car the first time the way he be yelling dracarys.

Tldr; vizzy k somewhat redeemed. I'm team black despite my affinity for crazy with Aemond, and Daemon is fueled by spite lmao. ALSO, IM TEAM LAENOR. He needs to live a long life

"Daemon is some other type of petty though. My man would rather risk death and get eaten by crabs than admit he's fumbling the stepstones. He is such a drama queen, please. I love him he's skeevy, smelly, and petty." HRFJFHSSJSH LMAO I literally love ur daemon commentary every time u send a live reaction... laenor being like a teenager driving a car also sent me like YEAH TRUE 😭 actually now I wonder why rhaenys didn't show up in any of those stepstones war scenes.... she and meleys are seasoned war vets!!!!

IM SO FASCINATED BY YOUR DRESS COMMENTARY!! I wasn't paying a ton of attention to the show while watching it tbh so I didn't notice any of that re: when the Targ colours are worn most prominently!!!! I wonder how the green dress scene landed for u... do let us know!!!!!

I honestly feel you so much re: Otto like I haaaate him LMAO but he truly is one of the best written characters on the show 😔 literally one of the few who consistently displays evidence of brain cells. VIZZY WAS BORN TO DREAM FORCED TO RULE. re: how much this is relevant to alicent in the future though.... I won't say anything except that I love reading all your speculations LOL u are a much more astute viewer than I was 💀

IM KINDA SHOCKED THAT YOU'RE TEAM BLACK !!! I'd be very curious to see if that'll change as you get closer to S2 🧐 TEAM LAENOR IS SO REAL THO I do enjoy every scene he's in ...... an icon

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

The safest place in the world

Summary: It's a long way back to King's Landing but Daemon knew how to spend his time with you on the back of his dragon.

Pairing: Daemon Targaryen x fem. Hightower reader

Wordcount: 2.5k

Rating: E

Warnings: mentions of abusive relationship, angst, fluff, pregnancy, smut (unprotected sex on top of a dragon, do not try this at home), protective Daemon, a little bit of violence and blood

A/N: Yes. This is exactly what you think it is. This one goes out to @wheresarizona who simps for Daemon as much as I do lmao

Masterlist

“Sometimes I believe you hate my father even more than I do,” you mumbled, laying with your front on the soft mattress, only a sheet covering your naked body, watching Daemon walk towards the window.

He looked over his shoulder, giving you a cheeky grin  before he turned back around, a cup of wine in his hand. 

You bit your lip, watching him swagger towards you, his cock right at your eye level. 

“I do not think so. He made you marry a Lannister, you must hate him more,” he sipped on his cup, coming to stand right in front of you. 

Tilting your head up so you could look at him, you smirked. 

“He spread the rumour that left you in exile.”

“We both know it was only partly a rumour.”

“Still. His… meddling… his thirst for power is making me sick. No wonder he married me off to the first Lord who came his way. Alicent is way easier to manipulate.”

Daemon set the cup down, his finger running a line from your temple down your jaw. You kissed his thumb when he lingered at your lips. 

“Shame what happened to your husband,” he hummed and you grinned, leaning in to press your lips just above his hip bone, letting your lips wander as you slowly got onto your knees.. 

“Yes, shame that he ran into your dagger repeatedly before he jumped into the sea,” you sighed, playfully nibbling on his nipple before you felt both of his hands pull you up, his lip crashing down on yours. 

“Imagine what your father says when he finds who left with, after your husband passed…” he bit into your bottom lip, both of his hands groping your ass as you knelt on the bed in front of him. 

“Imagine how he reacts when he finds out I married you already,” you grinned, your hands on the back of his neck, pulling a little at his hair. 

He pushed you down on the soft mattress with a grin before he climbed on top of you. 

“Imagine all of their faces when they learn you’re already pregnant.”

You let your hand run over Caraxes hard skin, the Dragon almost puring. At least you imagined he was. Daemon had given you the choice to stay back while he travelled to Kings Landing.

It would probably be the better choice to stay back. But a part of you wanted to face the people who had spent all their life making a living hell. 

You wanted them to see how you came out on top. 

“Ready to depart, my love?” You turned around, finding Daemon walking towards you, dressed for battle while you were wearing a soft pink dress he had brought you from one of his latest travels. The fabric playing around your curves. 

“How long will it take?” you asked. Daemon grinned as both of his hands stroked over the cold skin of his Dragon. You smiled, always fascinated by the bond between him and his gentle beast.

“Around a day.”

You sighed. 

“I will find ways to keep you entertained, my wife,” Daemon winked and you narrowed your eyes with a playful smile. 

“Keep in mind I am with child.”

“And I shall keep you and our babe perfectly safe,” he walked over to you, pulling you into his arms. 

“There is no safer space for you in this world than on my cock,” he whispered, sucking on your earlobe. You gulped, holding on to him as he kissed down your neck.

��Daemon…” you whimpered. 

“Climb on Caraxes, my love,” you felt him grin against your skin, “so you can climb on me.”

You were still in awe every time you travelled with Daemon on his Dragon. You remembered being scared the first time, but as soon as you sat in front of Daemon it was like your anxiety melted away. 

The world looked so small beneath you and you wondered more than once how just one person was allowed to rule over everything. 

It made you wonder about the men in this world. 

You and your father never liked each other. 

All your time was spent with your mother. You were devastated when she passed away. But you had not been allowed to grieve for her. Your father had married off within a week to John Lannister, a disgusting old man who made your life a living hell as soon as he took you away after the wedding. 

It was pure luck that Daemon had found you, remembering you from court. He had arrived as a guest to your home on his way to Dragonstone.

Within two days he had figured out something was wrong, noticing the bruises you could not cover up during the day when he walked with you to the gardens. 

He kissed you on day three. 

By day five you were widowed, swept away by the King of the Narrow Sea. 

There were rumours about your whereabouts. 

The right thing would have been to travel back to King's Landing, to inform your father about the sudden death of your husband so he could find a new match for you. 

Daemon had taken you to Dragonstone instead, making you his wife within weeks, showing you how beautiful and pleasurable life could be if you were happy. 

As happy as you could be with a man whose heart belonged to someone else.

A fact you chose to overlook time and time again when he made you cry out in pleasure, whispering words of affection in your ear at night, holding you close during thunderstorms because he knew you were scared of them. 

It was easy to fall for him and imagine your future with him. Outside of responsibilities and court.

You felt the Dragon ascend, the ground coming closer. 

“Are we landing?” you asked, turning your head over your shoulder so you could look at Daemon. 

“A quick break for some food,” he kissed your shoulder and you shrieked when the Dragon almost dropped out of the sky, holding onto Daemon’s arms, who just laughed against you. 

“Not funny,” you pouted, your heart beating quickly. 

It was almost nightfall when you finished eating. Caraxes had flown off to find himself something to eat too, but you could see him come back in the far distance. 

“I want you to sit on my cock for the next part of our journey,” Daemon smirked and you raised one eyebrow. 

“You just want me dripping with your cum once we arrive in King's Landing, don’t you?” you asked, sitting next to him. He pulled you on his lap, one hand protectively on your stomach, your belly only a little fuller than usual. 

You had started to show in the last week, but it could still be played off with enjoying the food a little too much. 

His other hand tilted your chin towards him, his eyes looking into yours. 

“You do not need to drip with my cum, you are growing my seed inside of you. You are my wife. You are mine in all ways possible,” he said and you smiled at him. 

“But yes I want you dripping with me. I want you to feel me with every step you take. I want you to feel me while they all look and juge us. I would fuck you in front of your father if I could. Fuck, I would fuck you in front of everyone just to show them that you’re mine,” you whimpered at his words, his breath brushing over your skin. 

“Daemon…” 

He kissed you, the kiss softer than you had anticipated, his hand rubbing over your belly. 

“You are my wife. And I want everyone to know that you’re mine.”

You were sitting in front of Daemon, facing him this time as Caraxes flew through the night. The wind was bearable but Daemon had put a soft cloak around your shoulder, keeping you warm. His arms were around you as he held onto the saddle you were sitting in, one of your arms around his back as you rested your head against his shoulder.

Your legs were hooked over his, keeping you sitting chest to chest against each other.

“Just like that,” he hummed and you grinned, your other hand pumping his cock. 

“Don’t you think it’s inappropriate to have sex on your dragon?” you asked and he smirked. 

“He’s seen worse,” he kissed you. 

“A part of me really wants to know what you mean by that, but…”

“Maybe later,” he agreed and you looked up at him, your thumb spreading the precum over his tip. He groaned, letting his head fall against yours. 

“Stop teasing me, wife and come and sit on my cock,” he hissed and you grinned. You took a deep breath before you let go of him and pushed your dress up.

“If you let me fall I will hunt you from the dead to kill you,” you said.

“I would never do anything to harm you,” he promised. 

“You are about to fuck me on a Dragon while flying gods know how high above the ground during the night,” you remind him as you used both arms around his neck to pull yourself up. You felt one of his hands on your back, his other hand between your bodies to line himself up. 

“Fair. But just imagine how good it’ll feel once I’m inside you,” he grinned, his lips parting as you slowly sank down on him. You closed your eyes, feeling as his other arm came around you to pull you against him. His face was buried against your neck and you gasped when he was fully inside of you. 

You rolled your hips against his, letting your head fall back. He kissed up your throat and you moaned as he thrusted up. 

“Daemon please…” you let your head fall against his, looking into his eyes. 

“I want you to cum just like this,” he said as you rolled your hips against his. 

“And you can scream as loud as you want to, no one will hear you here,” he mumbled, before he kissed you. 

He moved his hips too, the proximity making it hard to move without risking certain death, but you already were close.

Being pregnant had made you more sensitive. Daemon was easily able to make you cum four times in a row now and you got the feeling this part of the journey would be no different. 

He began to quickly thrust into you, and you cried out, needing just a little more. 

You pulled at his hair and he groaned, his lips pressing against yours desperately. 

His tongue played with yours while he continued to move into you. 

You moaned into his mouth when your orgasm washed over you, taking you by surprise. You feel his lips grin against yours as you squeezed his cock, whimpering as you parted from his lips. 

“That was one. Let’s see how many time I can make you cum into we’re in King's Landing.”

Lips on your forehead were what woke you up. 

“Wake up my love. Time to face the vultures,” Daemon hummed and you blinked your eyes open slowly, noticing that you weren’t in the air anymore. 

You had fallen asleep at some point last night, losing count on how many times he had made you fall apart and how often he spilled inside of you. You looked down, finding him tucked back into his pants, your dress covering you up. He gave you a tiny smirk before he carefully helped you climb down the Dragon, following you close by. 

Caraxes looked at you and you felt shy for a moment before he nudged his head carefully against your belly, making you smile. 

You felt Daemon’s arm sling around your body as he kissed your temple. 

“You are exiled, Prince Daemon,” you heard the voice of your father behind you. You took a deep breath, looking up at Daemon who squeezed your hip before you both turned around. 

Your father’s eyes widened when he noticed you next to Daemon. 

“What is the meaning of this? We have been looking for you. You are a disgrace to this family…” he began, already walking towards you, when Damon stepped in front of you. 

“Choose your next words wisely, old man. You do not speak to my wife like that.”

“Your wife?” your father spat and you took Daemon’s hand as you stepped out of his protective shadow. 

“The husband you chose for me found…. A sudden death a while ago, I’m sure you heard. Prince Daemon asked for my hand and I agreed,” you said and Daemon smiled at you. 

“You have no right….” your father began. 

“We’re not here to offer you of all people any explanations. You did not care when you married me off to a monster who spent every waking hour making my life a living hell. You choose your path, and I will have no part in this. For all I know I have no father anymore,” you said. 

“Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re here to see the king,” Daemon said and began to walk towards the castle, pulling you with him. 

“The king is not available,” your father called behind you. 

“Then I’ll take a dragon egg myself and we’ll be on our merry way.”

You felt a hand around your wrist in the next moment and you could not look as fast as Daemon had pulled his dagger, pulling it against your father’s throat. 

“Let go of her,” Daemon hissed through his teeth and you felt your father’s hand slowly letting go of you. 

“You’re pregnant,” your father spat and you took a step away from him while Daemon once again stepped between the two of you protectively. 

“Which is none of your concern. You heard her. You have no claim on her life anymore.”

“You can’t just…” he began but Daemon did not let go of him, the blade of the dagger breaching his skin, drops of blood running down his throat.

He closed his eyes before he took a step back and Daemon reached for your hand. 

“Now go do your job and tell your king we’re here. But no rumours this time. Tell him how the daughter you married off to a monster finally found a suitable husband on her own and wishes to see the king,” Daemon sneered and you shivered at the tone of his voice. 

Otto Hightower looked at the both of you, his hand rubbing over the blood on his throat before he angrily released a breath and walked into the castle. 

“Are you alright?” Daemon turned towards you, his hands on your shoulders, his eyes searching for any injuries. You took a deep breath, but nodded. 

“Just a little shaken. I knew he would not be happy. And I still don’t care, but…”

“I know,” Daemon kissed your forehead. 

“Let’s go see my brother, so we can leave again,” he hummed and you nodded. 

“I’m glad you came into my life, “ you whispered and he smiled at you. 

“I’m glad too.”

[alicentsgf]

the bond between rhaenyra and alicent is crazy. by the point the dinner happens and viserys dies theyve been enemies longer than theyd been friends. everyone has perfectly good reasons to think they would no longer care about each other. otto is the only one truly paying attention, and therefore he kinda knows. hell, even alicent and rhaenyra seem to be taken aback by each other at times. the years they spent living at the keep together must have been insane

this is the thing though (and i've said this before and i'll say it again!) - we're given plenty of evidence to suggest rhaenyra and alicent were so built into each others lives prior to alicent marrying viserys that they were basically one entity. alicent was rhaenyra's childhood companion they were always together, like to the point of unhealthy codependency lmao, thats just the nature of it; it was just them, no other playmates or classmates or friends. just them. together. always. likely from a very young age. and we know they were at least some form of in love with each other, i think thats been confirmed enough at this point for me to say that without needing to argue my point.

and then they get torn apart and maybe dont say one genuinely kind thing to each other for years. but the issue is they only hated each other so much because they loved each other so much first. every unkind act is based in 'i loved you and you betrayed me', 'i loved you and you hurt me', 'i still love you and apparently it doesnt matter' and they can never really hope to reconcile the amount they loved and depended on each other because they never get any closure for it so they just keep loving each other underneath it all and using that pain to foster their resentment of each other. their shared past is just a gaping bloody wound and its never going to heal.

and you're right its not actually that surprising that so few people see the truth of it because rhaenyra and alicents past is only kept alive in them and openly disparage each other for decades and they never speak about their past to anyone (that we see). as ive pointed out previously daemon and criston are their respective confidantes and theres no way they would feel comfortable sharing any of the lingering positive feelings they have for one another with either of them.

and sorry for the tangent but just linking back to my earlier posts today: i do still think the evolution of their relationship was a bit rushed/whiplash inducing (as quite a few elements were, that was the sacrifice made to keep the pace up). they came back too easily from the brink in a way that seemed overly narratively advantageous to rhaenyra - but regardless their story still holds up in a way i cant help but find ridiculously compelling. i still think making this change was a great way to critique the nature of the source material because now you have these two women at the centre of this story who are unquestionably victims and had so little choice and i know some people dont like that because its uncomfortable or w/e and certainly the execution leaves a bit to be desired but to me it just seems unrealistic for them to be anything else? look at the world they live in. the reality they face. we see time and time again in our own world women strive to collaborate and build bridges and men tear them down and pit women against each other and i dont think its reductive or psuedo-feminist to make that phenomenon a central aspect of this story when its set in such a heavily patriarchal world.

[cambion-companion]

I find it amusing how many people believe Aemond would be a good king. I mean, Rhaenyra and Aegon aren't great choices, but Aemond is not better. He may be more educated than the two of them combined, but he is actually Maegor reborn, it's funny how Otto thought that Daemon would be cruel as a future King if something happened to Viserys and Rhaenyra wasn't an heir yet, but couldn't see what truly Aemond was, a brute, thinking that force and violence is always a way to achieve everything, lacking compassion, not interested in his people like Jahaerys who travelled all across the country and was interested in them, caring only about learning to fight with the sword, being more than happy that his family is at war he started, and anyone really believe this man would bring peace to Seven Kingdoms? He would only bring terror and even more blood, he is the same as Visenya and Maegor and the best choice for the next king was Daeron, too bad he died

Yes, Daeron would be the best choice for king. However, you're giving far too much credence to the book's portrayal of Aemond even after the show's version of Storm's End...very interesting. He is certainly not like Maegor the Cruel, and would be a good king. The books are written as histories and the narrative is purposefully conflicting and inaccurate to reflect how real world histories get the facts wrong. I'm not sure how many more times I'm going to have to say that lmao because some of yall really be taking the book as 100% truth...which also translates into how people blindly believe everything in our own world 🤣

The show, which I dare say is giving us the Canon events, portrays Aemond quite differently in the book. He is not cruel, he has a lot of depth that the book/maesters simply did not provide and/or completely bastardized.

You say Aemond is a brute who thinks violence is the best solution...yet we have seen no evidence from the show to support that claim. In fact, it wasn't Aemond who attacked first after he rightfully claimed Vhagar. It was also Aemond who stopped the adults from tearing each other apart with his "lost an eye gained a dragon" line. It was also Aemond who made the Strong toast (hahaha a classic) yet it was Lucerys who swung first (again). Hahaha if anything Lucerys is the "brute"...especially with that posture, damn.

Aemond has proved himself cunning, brave and loyal. All qualities of a good ruler. If the Dance of Dragons had never happened, if Vhagar hadn't killed Arrax and Lucerys, if Daemon hadn't sent assassins to kill an innocent child...Aemond's character development would be very different.

He is going to blame himself for the events of blood and cheese, mark my words, and it's going to be very damaging to his mentality and I think that's where we will truly see the book's characterization of him start to show.

Anyway, Anon. Try to take the events from the book with a little more salt especially since the show has made it very clear they're not entirely accurate. And also George Martin has said it as well lmao that's the whole point behind why he wrote them as histories.

[alinaastarkov]

"the most compelling love stories are the ones that are irrational, that don't make any sense, that defy every expectation and status quo. In fact, they're the only ones that get told because no one cares about a relationship with no passion, that follows all the rules. That's boring and there's no reason to get invested in the story of two people making completely rational choices 24/7."

FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT

the tea is so hot, thank you 🍵👑💅

also you can see that it's smth grrm supports. there are so many love stories that are irrational but also realistic and that's why so often tragic. rhaegar and lyanna, basically all of egg's kids, aegon the conqueror and rhaenys, jaehaerys and alysanne, etc. all of them when against the world's against the rules, against the status quo. some won, some not, yet they risked it all the same bc it was worth it for them and the narrative does support it. what kind of bullshit this story and even world building itself it would be if everyone was all abt "fAmIlY, dUtY, hOnOr" 24/7??? humans don't work like that lmao, and no one wants some dumb "jaehaerys ii rlx mf celia Tully 💀" bullshit. even naerys and aemon who did not risk it all and bowed to damn status quo FAILED in the end. it doesn't matter if they made this sacrifice for the sake of others, chose to be "not selfish" (using the rhetoric of this deranged fandom). they suffered and died and saw no happiness whatsoever in the end anyway, so why the fuck we as readers should nod and say that everyone must've done this?

fandom septas and cultists can go cry me a river, i will watch them sacrificing their own happiness bc somehow fighting for love = selfishness (or being a wh*re 💀💀💀) before making such bullshit claims first.

p.s.: stan house "we die for love" targaryen amen 👑

A FUCKING MEN 👏👏👏

God this, so much this!! GRRM lives for drama, excitement, passion, tragedy, deep emotion and most importantly, people who don't play by the rules. Our key five are the key five for a number of reasons, but a big one is they don't stick to the rules. They break them, they ignore them, they rewrite them all together. And this can be seen so clearly in the way he writes romantic relationships.

I was gonna bring up Aegon and Rhaenys cause it's the first example, but maybe one of the more subtle ones. The relationship doesn't immediately cause any huge problems, but it's still not the done thing:

By tradition, he was expected to wed only his older sister, Visenya; the inclusion of Rhaenys as a second wife was unusual, though not without precedent. It was said by some that Aegon wed Visenya out of duty and Rhaenys out of desire.

And theirs is the love story people care about. And Rhaenys' death causes such a Jon-Snow-like reaction from Aegon it's almost painful to read about. Desire, passion, tragedy. It's all there.

Rhaegar and Lyanna are obvious. The love story that almost defines ASOIAF, that set so many events in action. Tragic, passionate, risking it all. Lyanna is proven right by the narrative too, as Robert as a husband is so exactly what she described and Cersei's arranged marriage is so fucking awful, no wonder Lyanna ran away. Such a wealth of examples like them, Barristan gives a great run down in ADWD:

Prince Rhaegar loved his Lady Lyanna, and thousands died for it. Daemon Blackfyre loved the first Daenerys, and rose in rebellion when denied her. Bittersteel and Bloodraven both loved Shiera Seastar, and the Seven Kingdoms bled. The Prince of Dragonflies loved Jenny of Oldstones so much he cast aside a crown, and Westeros paid the bride price in corpses. All three of the sons of the fifth Aegon had wed for love, in defiance of their father’s wishes. And because that unlikely monarch had himself followed his heart when he chose his queen, he allowed his sons to have their way, making bitter enemies where he might have had fast friends. Treason and turmoil followed, as night follows day, ending at Summerhall in sorcery, fire, and grief.

It's sad, but the focus is all on these love stories. They loved, and there were consequences. But damn it, they loved, and they followed their hearts, they lived and died without the regret of 'what if'. And ain't that just beautiful? For an in-series example, I look to Robb and Jeyne. It was not a smart decision, we are hit over the head with that time and time again. And there was something of honour in it. But you can't deny they had passion. And Robb's other option, another arranged marriage- I would take Jeyne over that any day. Jeyne loved him so much she fights for the crown he gave her after his death. He still lingers. It's sad, but they loved too. I do think Robb said it best. In fact, he may have just summed up one of the key points of the entire series:

"Love's not always wise, I've learned. It can lead us to great folly, but we follow our hearts . . . wherever they take us. Don't we, Mother?"

And it isn't always sad either! Jaehaerys and Alysanne, the 'good' king and queen, were just as defiant and wilful as they're predecessors and successors.

But like many such arrangements through the ages, their plan was soon undone, for they grievously underestimated the will and determination of Alysanne Targaryen herself, and her young king, Jaehaerys. [...] Like his sister, Jaehaerys did not waste time with reproaches, recriminations, or appeals. Instead he acted.

And Aemon and Naerys, ugh my favourite tragic beloveds. I do choose to believe that they had a relationship behind Aegon's back, and if they did they also defied the rules. But even if they didn't, as you say playing by them got them nowhere. It got Aemon killed. It made Naerys miserable and she died too. They are not praised for doing their duty, either, them doing the expected thing is framed as sad, that's literally the whole point. Not following their hearts was fucking sad, it made their story a tragedy, Aegon is remembered as, to put it lightly, the worst and Aemon and Naerys got nothing out of doing their duty but pain. We are not supposed to applaud that, we're supposed to wish it had gone differently.

I will stan House "we die for love" Targaryen all day every day because, damn they really are the most iconic house for a reason. This reason.

[namfine]

『Seven Deadly Sins』

Our first milestone project!! This has been in the works for a long time now, and we’re excited to finally show you what we’ve been working on!! ^.^ 

This is a 7 chapter series written by the 5~

It is a connected episodic series where y/n travels through the realms of the seven sins. (ppsstt, its smut with plot wink* wink*) Below the cut is the master-list for the series!

[ FINISHED!! ]

~Umami

Ch. 1 ⊙ | 𝕷𝖚𝖝𝖚𝖗𝖎𝖆 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 | ⊙

𝕷𝖚𝖘𝖙 ❧: A loveless marriage drives you to a dark part of your city in search of the things that once made you happy. Instead, you find a man who awakens carnal desires deep inside you that you never knew existed. An impulsive decision and a loss of control make for the best paintings but driven past the point of no return- tell me, is it worth falling for?

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖘: 18+, smut, bts smut, taehyung x reader, reader insert, artist Taehyung, strangers, knife play, blood play, rough sex, master x servant relationship, dom x sub relationship, dominant male, dirty talk, unprotected sex, affair, alcohol consumption, sex under the influence, daemon au

❧ ☆.｡.:* Zesty .｡.:*☆ 

Ch. 2  ⦿ | 𝕲𝖚𝖑𝖆 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕀𝕟𝕕𝕦𝕝𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 | ⦿

𝕲𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖔𝖓𝖞 ❧:  Your boyfriend’s mastery of the kitchen is a pleasant surprise. He loves watching you enjoy the food he makes for you, and he has you eating out of the palm of his hand- literally. When a cute little game turns into something more sinister, can you handle the heat, or do you need to get out of the kitchen?

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖘: 18+/smut, bts smut, seokjin x reader, reader insert, boyfriend jin, blindfold, strip game, food play, oral (f + m receiving), light breath play, ripping clothes, unprotected sex (pls stay safe kids), lite monster fucking?, demon au

❧ minty~ 

Ch. 3  ◐ | 𝕬𝖛𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖆 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕕 | ◑

𝕲𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖉 ❧:  When you’re in need of some quick, flashy jewelry for an event, what better place to go than a pawn shop? However when nothing catches your eye, the shop owner shows you something that you absolutely must have. But when the pricing is much more than you anticipated, you think of another way to get it. Just how far are you willing to go for a bargain?

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖘: 18+, hoseok x reader, unprotected sex, oral (f), monster fucking kinda, sexual bribery(?) (if you couldnt tell, you fuck for the jewelry), he cums in you lmao, ripped panties, hair pulling, demon au, seven deadly sins au

❧ -Fizzy ԅ(♡﹃♡ԅ)

Ch. 4  ◕ | 𝕬𝖈𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖆 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕩 | ◕

𝕾𝖑𝖔𝖙𝖍 ❧:  His company is magmatic, languid and persistent. He is a viscous fire that keeps you on your toes, suspended over the edge. Its static, bubbling up slowly and encompassing all the memories that now felt so far away. Will you stay where its warm and the pleasures are many, or will you cross the threshold he’ll tell you isn’t there? 

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖘: 18+, Yoongi x reader, established relationship, smut, unprotected sex, bathtub sex, fingering(f receiving), daemon au, mind fuck, angst? kinda? -ish, mad quarantine vibes.

❧ -umami⋆~

Ch. 5  ⬤ | 𝕴𝖗𝖆 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕙𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕟 | ⬤

𝖂𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖍 ❧: When you first signed up for private dance lessons, you thought your instructor was the sweetest thing in the world. But during tonight’s session you notice he’s on edge, more harsh than ever with his feedback. It only goes downhill when he notices you wearing a familiar piece of a jewelry.

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖘: 18+, jimin x reader, unprotected sex, TW: Jimin yells and gets a bit rough with you, oral (f), angry sex??, he shoots his load in you, more monster fucking,

❧ -Fizzy ԅ(♡﹃♡ԅ)

Ch. 6  ◎ | 𝕿𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖆 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕨𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 | ◎

𝕰𝖓𝖛𝖞 ❧: he can’t stand how those men’s eyes are on you, how they send you money with the few clicks of a button as you show your body off to them, as you touch yourself for them. You have given your body to others too many times, and it is displeasing him. It isn’t fair that they have gotten to see you before he has; you should belong to him and him only.

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖘: 18+, jungkook x fem!reader, unsafe sex, camgirl situation, possessive sex

 ❧ tart｡･:*:･ﾟ’★

Ch. 7  ❂ | 𝕾𝖚𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖇𝖎𝖆 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕙 | ❂

𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖊 ❧: He’s waited a long time to see you, and he’s taken pride in his patience. You meet him at a crossroads, a gleaming domain he’s worked countless hours to build. Earn his favor and he’ll be good to you -burn him and you’ll wish you hadn’t. At the end of the line he will offer you a choice. 

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖘: 18+, Namjoon x fem!reader, Throne sex, Daemon!Namjoon, Hell au(yall knew where this was going), unprotected sex, biting, light choking, big dom vs dom energy, genital piercings.

❧ -umami⋆~

[lordeasriel]

hdm theory: dust is actually harmful

Dust is actually harmful. Not in the sense of being sin, but it is ultimately what damages people from different universes to stay where they don’t belong. Stay tuned for what I consider to be wildest, craziest, most senseless theory I’ve ever written. Keep in mind this isn’t super serious, I’m aware there are gaps in this theory (because I accidentally countered my own arguments as I was writing lmao) and beware spoilers for both trilogies. Under the cut because it’s long-ish.

            Mrs. Coulter’s research.

We know Mrs. Coulter created the General Oblation Board to research and examine the readings of Dust in children and how to stop it from settling on them. Outside her other personal goals, which included being in the good graces of the Magisterium, she had an interest in Dust as a scholar, and while she has a lot of dubious actions, it’s fair to say she, at the very least, believed that Dust did something to people. While personally I do not consider Mrs. Coulter a woman of faith, she was raised in a society controlled by the Church - and she has personal dealings with them - so it’s safe to assume she was raised in the dogma that “Dust is Bad” and she believes in it, because why not? I mean, there is a lot of reasoning behind this claim, but none of it is important for this specific theory.

The Magisterium has the narrative, after Dust was discovered and studied by Boris Rusakov, that the particles are a representation of Sin. A lot of the discoveries surrounding Dust connected it to the fact adults seemed more connected with it than children, which only served to help the story that Dust affected children less - especially before puberty - because they were innocent. Once puberty hit, and the daemon settled, a stronger connection with the particles was established and the role of puberty in the “Dust is Evil” story is very big, especially because puberty and sexuality go hand-in-hand for the most part and the Church admonishes the idea of sexuality as a whole (it’s a bit more complicated than just this, but I hope you get what I mean). All of these things contributed to how ingrained the idea of Dust as something bad was perpetuated across Lyra’s world.

It is also rather convenient for the Church to demonise Dust, as they themselves seem to believe it is a bad thing - considering how they are influenced by the Kingdom of Heaven - but their role in making the situation even more suitable for themselves is understandable. If you were to tell an average person about Dust, they simply would acknowledge it as Something or even worse, not know about it, but to associate Dust with Sin - in a world inherently Christian, where people understand that Sin = Bad - makes it a lot easier to spread fear and control the populace. It’s as ingenious as it is evil, truth be told.

With all this in mind, we know that canonically Dust is Not Evil, it doesn’t represent the idea of Sin - or at least, it doesn’t convey Sin as something evil, but rather something the Church is afraid of - but it’s far more complicated and far reaching than that. Dust is everywhere, it shapes everything that has any value, being consciousness or angels or the whole fabric of the universe. However, they are not wrong in claiming that children attract less Dust for a reason or that the daemon settling is the connection one should look for when looking for Dust. In fact, while absolutely unethical, Mrs. Coulter’s research was very close to what makes Dust special, except she turned it to serve the Magisterium’s truth instead of actually looking into it with an impartial mindset.

Dust is everywhere, like I said, including in other universes. It doesn’t just linger in space, it lingers across dimensions and it composes the very fabric of the multiverse. In Will’s world it is known by many names, including shadows and dark matter, and for the mulefa it was known as sraf. I’m not tackling the mulefa’s world here for now, so keep in mind the Shadows and dark matter, because this is more important for this theory.

Even now dark matter is rather elusive as things go in science of our world, but ultimately it is a great part of the composition of the universe, and within the nature of His Dark Materials, it is a parallel to what Dust is.

One of the biggest differences between our world and Lyra’s, is the existence of a daemon. While daemons are representative of a person’s soul and another half of a being, they are not exposed in our world like they are in Lyra’s. In fact, they live within, which is why despite the fear Lyra has when meeting Will for the first time, she quickly calms down because she realises he isn’t missing his daemon, like Tony Makarios was, for example.

It is somewhere within him, and because a person can feel the vibes of someone daemonless (which I talked about in my visible daemon theory), she knows he isn’t separated or completely devoid of a soul, which immediately makes him “human” in her eyes. But the question is, why? Why does Lyra’s world have people with their daemon exposed, taking a physical shape? From the three worlds we visit (Cittagazze, the Mulefa world and Will’s) none of them have their souls exposed like the daemons, despite the mulefa having a bit of a different relationship with Dust with their wheels, and the seed pod oil and all that.

Having a physical soul is anything but practical. You’re exposed, your daemon betrays your feelings most of the time, and sometimes you don’t even get along, which creates conflicts that can lead to your separation, which then again creates even more conflicts, because you become an outcast in a society that thinks being daemonless makes you inhuman.

What if the daemons, exposed like they are and in tune with Dust - as it has been proved by scholars in Lyra’s world - are a lightning rod for Dust and its effects?

            Marcel’s Truth

Before we go into the lightning rod theory, we need to discuss Marcel’s hunt for the truth and how it ties to this whole shenanigan.

As I mentioned, Mrs. Coulter’s research was focused on just fixing the problem of Dust in the name of the Church, that is, fixing how Sin was spread through people. Also like I said, I don’t think she believed Dust was really Sin, but she knew something happened when Dust settled on children who were going through puberty, and adults. There was a lot of debate, especially in the academic and scientific field, about the nature of Dust, not everyone believed the Sin theory without question, although speaking openly about it was not possible.

She knew there was something going on - many other scholars knew that too - and her choice was to try and cut off the Dust connection. That is a reasonable response, when you consider how they were taught that Dust was bad and sinful and it damaged humans; you cut the source, technically Dust stops interacting. However, as it is shown, once the daemon bond is absolutely severed, even if the person survives, they are nothing but whole. They feel dead, they act dead, for all accounts; devoid of will and curiosity, essentially sick and incoherent, pretty much the opposite of what attracts Dust and what Dust represents.

This idea of a forced severing is interesting when you see that people who willingly separated do not have any of the collateral damage the Bolvangar children had - or the zombis, for that matter. They still have will, the ability to choose and think coherently, they are alive and well, despite some of them being emotionally damaged, which is a reasonable response. But it’s nothing that truly impairs them from being alive. This is material for a secondary theory, but I think it’s important to consider daemons are people too, they are their own person, with their own desires, their own free will, and because of that, they are allowed to walk away (and so is their human) if they wish to, without destroying their counterpart and therefore destroying themselves. This is what free will means, in essence; and it’s why I choose to use severing and separation as different things (I don’t remember if this is canon, though lol).

With that in mind, we know Marisa chose destroying the Dust connection as a solution, because essentially they thought Dust was bad, harmful. It’s a centuries old dogma, one that is being shaken up in the events of TSC. Marcel’s truth speech changes, well, everything. He doesn’t seem to have an interest in destroying the source of rose oil, an oil that interacts with Dust and it shows something about the nature of the particles that unnerved the Church.

 “First, we could suppress all knowledge of it, by rigorous investigation, by ruthless force. (…) The second possibility is to go to the root of the problem and wipe it out. (…) The amount of rose oil that’s ever come this far is very small; supplies of it would dry up and cease altogether, and the problem would wither away. That solution would take longer and cost more than the first, but we could do it, and it would be final. (…) There is a third option. We could embrace the facts. The roses exist; they show us something we’ve always denied, something that contradicts the deepest truths we know about the Authority and his creation; there is no doubt about that. So we could admit it boldly, contradict the teachings of millennia, proclaim a new truth. (…) I haven’t told you the fourth option. Revealing the truth in the way I described would not work. There are too many habits, ways of thought, institutions, that are committed to the way things are and always have been. The truth would be swept away at once. Instead, we should delicately and subtly undermine the idea that truth and facts are possible in the first place. Once the people have become doubtful about the truth of anything, all kinds of things will be open to us.” Marcel’s adapted speech. TSC, ch. 16.

Marcel’s points are all coherent and valid (not necessarily good things though), but I wanna focus on the fact he is far more inclined into changing the Magisterium’s core values than actually trying to destroy the roses, which refuted everything they preach about. We don’t really know what exactly the roses do, other than interact with Dust and make it visible, but we do know that whatever it is, it worries everyone that knows about it.

Personally, I think Marcel is right and that he is inclined to go for the fourth option, which is to create doubt, then reshape the way people think, and a lot of that implies he’s talking about how Dust is perceived, or Sin, in essence. If the rose oil truly reveals the nature of Dust, and that it isn’t evil or sinful, this means the Magisterium needs a headstart in protecting its image of protectors of truth, before everyone turns on them for lying. That, of course, it’s an utopia; like Marcel points it out himself, the rose oil is not that big in quantity for it to spread across the entire world, but even if just groups of people become enlightened in the Truth (whatever that is, because honestly, God only knows what Philman is planning), it could still threaten the sovereignty of the Church.

What’s really important here, however, is that Marcel wants to create a new truth, and assuming he’s trying to reestablish what Sin means, this puts him on the very end of the Dust spectrum: Dust is not sin, not evil, but rather something else entirely, benign, neutral, attached to what makes humanity, human and so on. More importantly, this ties well enough with the idea that I’ll propose in a moment, that Dust is harmful, and that daemons are the only thing actually protecting them. He could, in theory of course, promote the idea that being separated from your daemon is actually good.

The reason why I’m pointing this out now, it’s because it contradicts the main idea of this theory, but I believe this is important to highlight: Dust isn’t Evil. That is canon, and is not widely known by the people in Lyra’s world, but while Dust isn’t Evil, I believe that it is harmful to different degrees.

            Dust is Harmful

I know it feels like that wasn’t necessary, but I felt like I needed to put these points on the table, because they are important in their own way. You see, both Marisa and Marcel are dealing with the same subject in different ways, for different reasons, but whatever the outcome of their research, both of them are not truly examining the things that do matter about Dust. Why is it everywhere? Why do settled daemons attract it more? Why are there no side-effects to its exposure? Those are important questions that no one in Lyra’s world seems to be asking, and that could be for a number of reasons, but mainly because the dogma that Dust is Sinful makes these scientists not have an objective eye upon the subject. They are biased; they’re seeking a cure, not a means to harness it, to understand it.

The reason why Dust doesn’t affect people in Lyra’s world is because of their daemons. You see, Dust is attracted to consciousness or anything man-made (like the Knife, or the Alethiometer, I’ll even go as far as say the rose oil, despite the oil not being exactly man-made), and the daemons are in all their essence, a personification of consciousness. Without a daemon, a person cannot be alive; this means that, even separated, people still survive because their daemons are still conscious. Consciousness in Lyra’s world is not associated with the mind, but with the soul, which means the daemons, and they are, in consequence, a magnet of Dust.

Daemons are unique in their own composition: while they possess a physical body, once they are dead (be it their human first or them first), they disappear and leave no trace of their existence. They also do not go to the land of the dead and there are places where the daemons can’t go in Lyra’s world itself (the witch route in Siberia, the Karamakan journey to the red building). This is what I propose:

Lyra’s world has a lot more incoming of Dust than any of the other worlds we have ever visited. This is a bit of a cheap example, but you cannot find dark matter on Earth (as far as my knowledge goes, I genuinely did not go that far into this subject), for example, but Dust does descend upon Lyra’s world and it can be seen and interacted with appropriately through the right means. They are more keen in studying it than any of the worlds we see; for Cittagazze, they only used the potential of Dust to create a knife; in the Mulefa world, they are in tune with Dust, even as the flow is dying, and they accept, but have no active curiosity in studying it (which could be that they are still not at the Tech age they need to be to study this, but this is speculation). Lyra’s world is far more interested in Dust than all of the others, possibly because Dust surrounds everything they do. More importantly, because Dust is tied, intimately, with something they consider sacred, natural, intimate in itself: their daemons.

Dust is the reason why people cannot live in different universes. Every person has their own consciousness, and that is what calibrates you (for lack of a better word) to be exposed to Dust. Everyone is, the books are very clear on stating Dust is everywhere, so everyone is exposed, but to each and every single world, there’s a different amount and how it interacts with people. Will’s world, Cittagazze, and even the Mulefa world, they all have people whose daemons are within, not exposed; they all probably are used to being exposed less to Dust. This is why John Parry gets sick while living in Lyra’s world, and this is why Will and Lyra ultimately cannot stay together. Dust damages people who are not “calibrated” to interact with their ways from a particular world. Lyra’s world has A LOT of Dust, which means it does a lot more damage than for example, Will’s world.

Daemons are the reason why people in Lyra’s world survive the interaction with Dust. You see, having consciousness exposed like they are makes the daemons a proper lighting rod, or a Dust rod if you may. They can handle the interaction with Dust without being damaged because they do not share the same physical composition as their human, and this is something that is particular to the person, it’s a fix from Nature to preserve life. This is why for example, Lord Boreal seems mostly unbothered by his constant multiverse travels. Not only he doesn’t seem to stay long in the different worlds, but he is used to a lot more intake of Dust than Will’s world provides.

I know what you’re thinking, probably: but what about John Parry? or Will? They also got daemons. And yes, they do have exposed daemons that they acquired under different circumstances. Note that I used exposed, because Mary also has a daemon, in a way, that she is taught to see and that she spends a considerable time with the mulefa. But, her experience would have been different because her daemon is still inside.

John Parry’s daemon was acquired when he arrived in Lyra’s world, although it’s hard to say exactly when Sayan-Kötör showed up, but the text implies it was early on his arrival. This is probably the way the world has to try and preserve people that don’t belong there, by giving them the tool they need to harness the extra exposure of Dust. In TSK, John mentions he’s been in Lyra’s world for roughly twelve years, and I think that if he didn’t have his daemon, he probably would’ve gotten a lot sicker, much sooner.

Will’s daemon doesn’t show up when he arrives in Lyra’s world and there are two things to consider here. One of them is that Philman’s plot required him to have Will only find out about his daemon in the end, so showing up sooner would have wrecked the plot. This is probably the actual explanation lmao The second reason is that Will’s daemon wasn’t settled yet, and because of that, Dust didn’t affect him as much, so having an unsettled daemon that wasn’t showing up made no actual difference. He barely got damaged by Dust.

By the end, of course, Will’s daemon settles (although Kirjava is already exposed after the Land of the Dead excursion), so now he actually gets affected by Dust, which is why he will die in a decade or so if he stayed in Lyra’s world.

Before I finish, a few things to consider:

This theory proposes that Lyra’s world citizens could in fact live longer in Will’s world, and this conflicts with the actual canon, of course, as we know they don’t stay together because it is said they’ll both have short lives. However, I do believe a good fix for this gap in the theory is that, while Lyra could live a little longer in Will’s world, doesn’t she mean she should because she wouldn’t be happy; the exposure to Dust she’d receive in his world will be too low in comparison to what she would have been used to. In TSC, there is a passage of Lyra in Smyrna, I believe, and she’s watching the streets, observing as people live their lives.

The street below her was saturated in Dust. Humans lives were generating it, being sustained and enriched by it; it made everything glow as if it was touched with gold. TSC, ch. 27

So, while Dust is harmful depending on where you come from, it is also necessary to make life what it is. Like I’ve pointed out earlier, Dust does something to people, and as it’s been proved in the books, it isn’t evil or sinful, but rather an essential part of life. So, for Lyra to exist in Will’s world, she simply would have been miserable the whole time, which is why it’s better for her not to risk staying in his world just because she could survive longer. It’s not a life worth living.

With this in mind, assuming you’ve read TSC, you’ll know Lyra is under an extreme melancholia, and this is mostly due to the fact her relationship with Pan is wounded, Pan being her lighting rod to Dust. Not only they’re sore with each other, emotionally, but one has to take into consideration that they are physically separated.

So, just food for thought but, if their bond is split like that - and like I said before, they still survive well enough even separated - it’s possible that separation makes it more difficult for Dust to affect the human, instead going more directly onto the daemon, and their connection, being dim thanks to the separation, makes the Dust exchange between them to be lesser than what it is between people who are whole, so to speak.

Taking this into consideration, it’s possible to notice how pretty much every person we see that is 1) separated or 2) daemonless, they’re all unhappy, stoic, or simply not as happy and comfortable with life as anyone else who has their daemon. It’s not that depression is exclusive to people without daemons, but these people have had their means to communicate with Dust damaged, in a way, it’s a thinner connection so to speak, and therefore they are deprived, or at least they are touched less by Dust, which results in them being not happy or feeling like they don’t fit in in the world. After all, Dust is all about what makes life worth living, and these people simply are out of touch with that.

And I think that’s it for this theory! If you’ve read all of this, bless you and thank you, and feel free to add your thoughts to it if you have any!

[iamnmbr3]

Quarantine Fic Rec List Part 1

Since we’re all bored/stressed in quarantine, I thought I’d do a couple of rec lists. For this one I’m mostly doing some very well written but more unusual fics that you might not have come across before. I’ve listed the fandom and ships for each.  

So Much More Than That by brocanteur (complete | 4,005 | T | Mean Girls; Regina George/Cady Heron ) 

"And she missed Cady Heron. She missed her and blamed her for everything." Post-film.

The Richest Men In Town by copperbadge (complete | 2,476 | G | It’s A Wonderful Life)

George Bailey, a year after meeting the angel Clarence (second-class), gets a message from Clarence via an unlikely third party: H.F. Potter.

A Marital Education by Yahtzee (complete | 12,707 | M | Pride & Prejudice; Elizabeth/Darcy; period typical) 

Darcy's impotent.

The Kindness of Men by debit (complete | 2,476 | G | Black Beauty; Fixit)

The last time Ginger saw Black Beauty, she'd said, "I wish the end was come, I wish I was dead. I have seen dead horses, and I am sure they do not suffer pain."

Once Around the Block by ecouterbien (complete | 1,134 | M | The Drop; Bob Saginowski/Nadia Dunne)

She was shaking when he let her out of the bar, and it wasn’t because of the cold. It wasn’t even a long walk to her house, a block and a half at most, but it was the longest walk she ever remembered taking. She counted every breath, every footstep, all the time listening for his steps on the sidewalk behind her. He wouldn’t just let her go like that, would he? Not after what she’d seen him do.

You look so Seattle by chaosmanor  (complete | 8,955 | T | Venom )

Eddie and Venom are in Seattle chasing leads. Shit gets blown up. And there's fish.

A Princess And A Guy Like Me by Yahtzee (complete | 7,107 | T | Rapunzel/Flynn Rider)

“Rapunzel has never had choices before. I want her to have choices now.”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

He meant, at least in part, choices of guys to marry who were not impoverished orphans/recently reformed thieves.

gunna pass me to that house above by deadendtracks (amonitrate) (complete | 625 | T | Peaky Blinders )

This wasn’t the trenches but it was the closest Alfie’d been to pinned down since he got back, and while Tommy wasn’t exactly a friend, that didn’t make him an enemy, now, did it.

A Broken Soul by wheatear (complete | 4,529 | G | Harry Potter)

What exactly is the nature of a soul? And when Lord Voldemort so willingly split his own soul in half, what damage did he do to himself?

dying out on burnt rage by lunaskeeper (complete | 2,576 | M | Peaky Blinders; Tommy Shelby/Alfie Solomons; period typical attitudes, POV outsider )

John hadn’t seen the same, trapped look in Tommy’s eyes in his office. And all of a sudden it was bubbling out of John’s mouth, a question he'd been pondering since he’d met Stefan’s shaky gaze with his own.

“Have you ever sucked cock?”

Rara Avis by Coryphasia (complete | 14,854 | G | My Fair Lady) 

The night after the Embassy Ball, Eliza Doolittle walked out on Henry Higgins and disappeared. Three years later, she returns to see if wrongs can be made right

'til the walls did crumble by arahir (complete | 3,742 | G | Game of Thrones’ Jon/Tormund) 

Jon Snow and Tormund Giantsbane and their giant dog go camping with a bunch of Wildlings. What happens next will SHOCK you. (They are buddies who fall in love lmao.)

“Not worried, are you?”

“For a crow boy? Never.” Tormund looks away, off toward the mountains in the distance where the Fist of the First Men sits as a jut of stone in the ice fields, which are turning greener day by day. “Don’t let them keep you down there, Jon Snow. Don't die in the South."

Be Careful What You Wish For by The_Necroposter  (complete | 225,838 | M | Twilight; very dark, spitefic, horror, proceed with care; skip to the end for an author’s note in which the writer epically calls out the problematic aspects of the original canon ) 

What if Breaking Dawn wasn't a Mary Sue fantasy, but a story with a plot, character development, and consequences? What if Bella's transformation actually was a sacrifice, and not only her getting used to an alien body was a challenge, but also staying alive in a world filled with enemies? Find out how a naive, selfish girl grows up and copes with the biggest mistake of her life.

Naming of the Beast by NeurotropicAgentX (complete | 1,316 | T | Venom; pre-canon symbiote world building) 

Consciousness hit like a wave, like a signal, like an attack. There had been nothing and now there was a jumble of concepts and thoughts and impulses. It writhed and thrashed, at once realising that it had a body that could do this, that could express this new consciousness.

It screeched.

Sequence by NeurotropicAgentX (complete | 2,882 | E | Venom; sort of Venom/Riot - pre-canon symbiote world building) 

I’ve never encountered anything like those blades you formed during your hunt, Venom sent, carefully, cautiously.

I acquired them on a mission. There’s a lot of interesting information to be found out there. Riot’s close-range chemical messages carried strange accents of complex biomolecules Venom had never felt before. The taste was a clear indication of just how much of Riot must have been shaped by past hosts and alien genetic information from beyond the stars. Venom wanted.

Show me? it asked.

No Living Man by ElanaBrooks  (complete | 732 | G | Lord of the Rings; Parody) 

In which the Witch King learns that, for an inhabitant of Middle Earth, the knowledge that no living man can harm you is no reason to get cocky. AU, Humor.

Here is a truth (here is another truth) by SecondStarOnTheLeft  (complete | 2,012 | M | Pirates of the Caribbean; James Norrington/Elizabeth Swann ) 

Here is a truth: James Norrington loves his wife, but he is completely incapable of believing that she might return the compliment.

Here is another truth: Elizabeth Norrington, née Swann, is a much more patient woman than she has ever been given credit for.

Bahamian-Style Mooring by syllic  (complete | 10,370 | G | Shawshank Redemption) 

Five times Red got things in Zihuatanejo (and one time he didn’t need to get anything).

Lunch and Other Obscenities by Rheanna (complete | 9,717 | G | Star Trek 2009; background Spock/Uhura)

Nyota liked her roommate just fine until she met her.

Nom de Coeur by Dorinda (complete | 12,725 | G | Casablanca; Rick/Louis)

This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship--but beginnings are only seeds, and it's a long way to Brazzaville.

Five Ways to Stop Being a Princess by igrockspock  (complete | 3,560 | T | Star Wars; Han/Leia )

1. Spend a night in the smuggling compartments of the Millennium Falcon 2. Learn to fire a blaster without closing your eyes 3. Get drunk and go to bed with an unsuitable man 4. Yell at people who ask if you're okay 5. Go to bed with an unsuitable man even when you're sober

elioenai by Anonymous  (complete | 6,002 | G | MCU Daemon AU )

Tony falls through the space between worlds. As a result, he can see daemons. It kind of freaks him out. (It's stranger and more beautiful than he could have ever imagined.)

The Sergeant and the Captain by OddityBoddity  (complete | 7,316 | G | MCU )

The Sergeant and the Captain, or, The True and Accurate Reports Chronicling the Well-being of the Shield-brothers James Barnes and Steven Rogers, Faithfully Submitted by Thor Odinson to Maria Hill, Director.

Special Circumstances Questionnaire for Sexual Partners (Male): Long Form by coruscera (impractica), linbot (complete | 1,320 | E | Fandom Culture Parody )

Does having sex with you entail becoming married, whether legally, magically, physiologically, or some other de facto permanent relationship? Y/N If Yes, please describe our new life together.

[frenchy-and-the-sea]

ALEX AND ZEPHYR PLEASE

THANK YOU, BLESS YOU.

Alex

what they smell like

NOT. FANTASTIC, IF WE’RE BEING REAL HERE. But given the chance to bathe and clean up a little, she smells a bit like her soap, a bit like… sap, I guess? That sort of sweet musty earth sort of thing. 

what their favorite smells in the world are

Brewed coffee - specifically the way Tahir makes it - and the smell of citrus. If it reminds her a bit of Adelina, she swears that’s not the only reason.

what pajamas they wear/what they wear to sleep in

Given a choice and a comfortable temperature, she strips to underclothes, or leaves her breeches on and loses just her shirt. In fact, she likely does the same in cold temperatures and just piles on blankets. Her shirt and jerkin get tucked up in that mess to keep them warm so she doesn’t have to face the cold in the morning without them.

my favorite ship (if applicable) and a cute hc about them

Alex and Adelinaaaa, naturally. Fun fact: the very first time Adelina meets Alex’s step-brother, she immediately tells him to call her aunt, and Alex decides right then and there that she wants Ade around for the rest of her life. It’s not necessarily the first time she’s felt that sentiment, but it’s the first time it registers as a clear, coherent thought for her.

my favorite friendship (if applicable) and a cute hc about them

I mean, favorite?? Has to be Alex and Tahir. As for a headcanon; when Alex was teaching Tahir to read and write, she gave him some of her favorite plays to practice reading English with. It was a not-so-subtle way to get someone else to know some of her favorite stories, although she would NEVER admit it. It’s okay though; Tahir knew exactly what she was up to, and made sure to tell her which ones he enjoyed and why. He’s a delight like that.

a song that reminds me of them

Sinking Man by Of Monsters and Men. It’s very much the worst and saddest parts of her, but something about the sound of it just reminds me of Alex so much.

what animal i think they would be if they were an animal

I dunno about what she’d BE exactly, but her daemon is a sooty tern! They’re solitary seabirds that, when coming together with others like them, end up making a lot of goddamn noise, which is Alex exactly, I’m afraid lmao. 

what position they sleep in

On her back, hands folded on her stomach, like a plank of wood. Most other positions will end up with her thrown out of her hammock, so she learned to be a back sleeper realllllly early.

their favorite drink

Coffee, with lots of cream and a little sugar. Coffee is a delicacy that she rarely can afford, so she savors it when it’s available.

a gift i would give them if i could

I already gave her Ade, what more could you want?

-------------

Zephyr

what they smell like

She has an herbal soap that smells like gardenias and lavender, so if she’s lucky? That. Otherwise, like road dirt and sweat because Failbhe is more comfortable staying in the woods.

what their favorite smells in the world are

Sage and really black tea, freshly cleaned linens and, weirdly, campfire smoke. Zephyr has a very strong affinity for natural scents despite being a bit of a stuffy noble type.

what pajamas they wear/what they wear to sleep in

Normally she falls asleep wearing whatever she manages to stumble to bed in, but she does have an entire array of fine silk nightgowns that she (secretly) misses. 

my favorite ship (if applicable) and a cute hc about them

I mean….it’s a long way from happening, but I definitely ship her with the party’s cleric, Mira. And it’s not a CUTE headcanon necessarily, but at the current stage in the campaign, if someone showed interest in Mira romantically, Zephyr would 100% complain to the party druid about how ineffectual they are and that if Mira is going to get with someone, it oughta be someone worth it, not THAT loser, ugh.

my favorite friendship (if applicable) and a cute hc about them

HAHAHA Zephyr having friends! (But seriously, it’s our mute faun druid, Failbhe. It’s Failbhe, and my cute hc is that Zephyr would like to come up with some hand signals that they can use to communicate silently so it’s not always just Failbe scribbling furiously is his book to talk back.)(And if some of them are the simple ones that she used to use with her master? Well, no one has to know.)

a song that reminds me of them

It’s a Trip! By Joywave. Zephyr is a drunken master monk, and the haphazard jumble of this song fits into her playlist as chronicling the time she spent deciding what to do with her life after her master left. For a long while, it was a lot of sneaking out of the estate and getting trashed just to get through the day. 

what animal i think they would be if they were an animal

A very fluffy white housecat who will not hesitate to claw your entire hand off for petting her one (1) more time than she would like. That, or a bluejay who will straight up fight a falcon because fuck you is why.

what position they sleep in

Sprawled out across the mattress on her back or curled into a tiny ball on her side, depending on how much she had to drink the day before.

their favorite drink

Elderflower wine, though she’ll drink just about anything once. She’s also fond of brandy.

a gift i would give them if i could

Some manners.

[cannotescape]

Here are my thoughts on Pullman’s The Secret Commonweath, the second part of The Book of Dust. so spoilers ahead I guess

Listen I’m very torn about this and I was very torn reading it, explaining why it took some time to finish it.

I love love love Pullman’s style and universe and this world’s aesthetic. It’s so pleasing reading this after so long, like meeting an old friend and finding that not much has changed after all but our lives still are going forward. + Reading La Belle Sauvage was fun and gripping and it gave me so much love for these new characters.

Safe to say I was excited to read the new book. And it started so well! I found it clever to go from a His dark materials’ prequel (La Belle Sauvage) to its sequel. What happened 20 years before is fresher in our mind than what has happened in the original books and I was thinking it could be significant. I don’t think I was wrong.

First of all, the most moving parts of the book are in the author’s note and in the acknowledgements.

Pullman can write things like “But events have consequences, and sometimes the effects of what we once did take a long time to become fully apparent. At the same time, the world moves on; power and influence shift, or increase, or diminish; and the problems and concerns of adult people are not necessarily the same as the ones they had when young. Lyra and Malcolm, as I say, are not children any more.” and it gives me fucking goosebumps. It also perfectly summarizes the book main points. Although, the last part of this quote makes me uncomfortable, I’ll get back to this later.

Pullman’s main quality is how he describes the human and daemon’s relationships: the love, the trust, the closeness. He did not loose his touch. “He wanted to console this poor creature, who knew she was going to disappear, but all she wanted to do was feel a last touch of the warmth she’d found in her man’s body all their lives together.” I fucking can’t...

Also, the main theory in the book is so interesting? That one can be unhappy with their daemon. And what it implies: that you can hate yourself or a part of yourself so much that you have no choice but dissociate. Fascinating. And a pretty good representation of depression.

The plot was good: we get to see old friends and see new faces. All the political stuff was well done and I can’t wait to see how all the paths converge to the same end. Oh and we have revelations!! Hello! Mrs Coulter’s family? yes give it to me please.

It wasn’t perfect though. I’m still not sure about the villains’ motives. They seem one-dimensional and... idk. Plot-wise I understand why Pullman used Bonneville’s son as he did (still curious to see where this is going though), and the guy was fine at first because he was shrouded in mystery and Lyra compared him to Will (lol. that being said, Lyra compares every man she sees to Will. The girl is obsessed), but he became less interesting along the way. And it’s a shame, you know, given his father’s impact in La Belle Sauvage, we could have had a good character (good or villain) in his son. At some point, I wondered if his mere presence was to make Malcolm looks good...

Also, Lyra’s mother name is the same as my high school’s English teacher. Unfortunate

We finally have the first human lgbt character in the series. Yay! Problem: she seems to struggle with compulsory heterosexuality. I mean this is clever. She’s rejected by her rich family and can’t stand it and give up love to keep her status. Her true self, represented by her daemon, can’t accept it and leaves her to go back to the woman he loves. So in refusing love she loses one part of herself and becomes a pariah despite her efforts. Yeah clever. But I would have loved to see normal lgbt people in that world. Like is it even accepted considering the Magisterium’s influence on society? Also, I didn’t like the way she said it was her daemon who was infatuated with that woman and she had to follow him. I guess it’s the point: denial. Still. Pullman gave me this line so I’m happy: “The hot nights, our narrow bed, her slender body, the scent of her flesh. That will never leave me.”

Finally the thing that made me so uncomfortable I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep on reading. Malcolm and Lyra... Pullman is pushing really hard but I just can’t nonononono. Malcolm is in love with her??? He doesn’t even know her lmao. And every character can see it and make a comment on his infatuation but I’m just like “uh I don’t know. I can’t read”. I see Malcolm as a father figure to Lyra and she’s so fucking young wtfff leave her alone. + What happened between Malcolm and Alice after La Belle Sauvage? They had way more chemistry than what is happening (or not happening yet) in this book. + Alice is Lyra’s second mom but Malcolm could be his boyfriend? I don’t know where this is going but I don’t like it. I loved Malcolm so much in La Belle Sauvage, it’s really hard to reconcile him with... this version.

A good read overall but I was dreading every time someone mentionned Lyra or Malcolm in the same sentence. There’s no way they’re not getting together at the end after all this and... please no nono

Finally, the last line of the book moved me like no other: “There are three characters in this novel whose names are those of real people whose friends wanted to remember them in a work of fiction [...] the third is Nur Huda el-Wahabi, who was one of the victims of the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower. I’m privileged to be able to help commemorate them.”