#her heart wasn't even in it it was very perfunctory

[wallabywannabe]

We had a tense moment earlier were it seemed like Petra maybe wasn't ready for dinner yet and Purrcy would either have to go hungry or...eat first? Before his sister? Unthinkable! Breaking of the weird eating hierarchy that is entirely of Purrcy's making?

Fortunately after a minute she decided she could eat, after all, and Purrcy enjoyed his food shortly after.

[sleeplessdreamer123]

Fanfic Idea! (ABO Lucemond, where Lucerys had a son before Aemond part 2)

Part 1:

Aemond agreed to marry Lucerys for Jaehaera. His niece has lost her entire family, and she requested, no, she begged not to marry anyone, least of all the child of the man who ordered her twin brother's death. He was thankful that it was the blacks who gave them an alternate way out, even if it meant having to marry a recently widowed omega, heavy with another alpha's child.

When they met again on the day of their wedding, Aemond couldn't recognize him. Gone were the fiery eyes and healthy glow, he looked sick, barely able to stand without assistance. Whether it was because of his pregnancy, or because of his desire to not have the wedding, he didn't know. It was his eyes he couldn't bare to look at. They weren't cold, no, but they lacked the liveliness of a young dragon.

It was a quick wedding, a vow and the bite. Aemond could feel Lucerys freezing up when he felt his fingers tracing Lucerys' old mark, the mark of his long dead husband. Aemond bit his nape a bit harder, a small part of him was satisfied to remove someone else's mark on Lucerys. If he noticed tears on Lucerys's eyes when it was over, he pretended not to see them. There was no celebration held afterwards, just a dinner before being sent to their marital bed.

The marriage was not to be consummated yet, the maesters told them that Lucerys was too far along, it could hurt the child. It was a relief to here that. They didn't talk, they just laid on the same bed, stayed on their side, and slept, ignoring the person right next to them.

This continued on until Lucerys was in labor. Aemond could hear the screams and curses as he waited outside, his hands subconsciously reaching out for his blade. He felt the primal frustration of not being able to stop Lucerys' suffering, but he had no one to take it out on, so he forced himself to calm down.

When he was finally allowed to enter, he saw a sight he didn't even know could exist again, one he didn't even know he could miss, but he did. Lucerys, tired, sweaty, red faced husband of his, was smiling. It was not the perfunctory smile he gave the maids and noblemen alike, nor was it the dead smile he would give Aemond's mother whenever she tries to talk to him, no, this smile was something familiar, but not on Lucerys. This was a smile he saw Rhaenyra make whenever she was with her boys. This was a smile of a mother looking at their child.

The child in question was a boy, and looked like a carbon copy of Lucerys, pale skin, brown hair. He wasn't sure what his eyes would be like, but he has a feeling they would be brown like Lucerys. He felt some sort of comfort with that. He has a feeling the gods blessed that boy knowing that Aemond would hate him if he came out looking like Lucerys' first husband.

Lucerys changed, though Aemond isn't sure if it was for the best or not. He was more alive, more present in a way he wasn't before. He at least would speak to him from time to time, about small, insignificant things at first, before informing him of whatever he found out about his son, who he named Corlys, in honor of Lucerys' grandfather (grandfather in question was very proud of that fact, often parading the boy around, the heir-to-be of the Velaryon House). He would tell him of a new mole he found on Corlys, or the fact that he noticed Corlys would start making a certain whining pitch whenever he was hungry, or the fact that he gurgled at him that one time. Aemond allowed him to ramble, afraid that if he would try to stop him, Lucerys might return to the old shell of a man he was before.

It is a bit frightening, how attached Lucerys was to Corlys. He would be given reports of Lucerys checking up on Corlys once every few minutes, checking his breath, carrying him around. A slight cry and he would call the maesters, afraid that his son was hurt in some way. He was also very anxious if he couldn't see Corlys. Aemond noticed how his eyes would drift over to the doors, waiting to be allowed to leave so he could rush over to Corlys.

And Aemond, Aemond began to fantasize a bit. Would Lucerys continue to act like this with their own children, he wonders? He often imagines Lucerys with children of their own, oh, how alive he would be, how happy. Maybe it would be their chance to fix their own relationship, to heal and to move on from the scars of war.

He waited a few more moons, so Lucerys would enjoy his time with Corlys, much longer than his side of the family would want, their constant urging for him to have an heir was exhausting to deal with. When he asked Lucerys if he was ready to have another child, he hesitated before nodding. Soon, a babe was in his belly, and he gave birth to them. Twins, both boys. They were named Baelon and Aemon.

Aemond expected to open the doors to see the same sight, Lucerys smiling down at their sons, looking more alive than ever. Instead he was greeted by Lucerys' dead eyes staring at them, no smile, no look of love. It was the same look he had when they got married. And Aemond's fantasies of them ever having a happy marriage shattered then and there.

Aemond made sure to watch over the twins, to ask the maids to report everything Lucerys does when he is with the children. So far, he has acted like a mother should, he breastfeeds them, he takes them with him on walks, he reads to them as he does with Corlys. Many say that Lucerys loved his children, doing all this for them, but Aemond could tell. He sees it in his eyes. The only one he loved was Corlys.

Was it because of him? Was it because they were of his blood as well? Did Lucerys truly hate him so much it would affect how he saw the children they created together? Were his children hated because of him?

Aemond pulled away after that. He didn't change how well he treated Lucerys, nor did he confront him, because despite the lack of love and warmth in his eyes, Lucerys was equal in his treatment with their sons. He, however, would no longer listen to Lucerys' rambles of Corlys, thinking about Baelon and Aemon. He would cut him off, redirect the conversation, or simply leave. Soon, Lucerys' words would dwindle, from specific instances to vague descriptions, to simply answering yes or no whenever Aemond would ask about them. He stopped trying to share new information about any of their children to Aemond, and Aemond missed it, their little nightly talks changed to both of them doing their own things, before falling asleep.

When Lucerys gave birth to a girl, Aemond held hope that maybe he would see even a glimpse of warmth in his eyes, only to be disappointed. He was confused, however, to see a hint of fear in his brown eyes when he looked at their girl. Again, he treated her well, but Aemond knows, whether it was out of duty to the children, or to keep others from whispering, whatever the reason, it was not out of love the way he was with Corlys.

Something happened, however, with their fourth child. He didn't know what happened prior to this, nor did he know what was going on in Lucerys' mind. All he knows is that something in him snapped, to cry this heartbreakingly. All he could do was hold him as he cried so much he could barely breath, gasps and hiccups was the only thing to be heard, and tears that could fill buckets fell from his eyes. Aemond may not understand where this sudden onslaught of emotions were coming from, nor does he know what caused his unusually silent husband to suddenly crack, but he knows his omega needed him now, so he stayed, and he comforted him gently until he falls asleep.

[ba-mi-soro-orisha]

Here's the non-spoiler review I just wrote for retail sites:

This is the series that got me back into reading, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. But the five year gap between book 2 and book 3…I felt it.

Bottom line: I did enjoy reading the book. However, it doesn't get full stars because the trilogy finale just doesn't hold up to the first two, and I think there's a lot of things that could have been done for a better read. The book reads a bit like Tomi lost enthusiasm during COVID and like she was just kinda finishing from an outline without the heart of the other books.

The deep emotions of the first two books just aren't there. There's a whole lot of telling rather than showing. You can tell by the smaller size of book 3 that we just don't get as much detail or exploration or action as we did in the previous books. I sobbed through entire portions of book 1 and book 2. In book 3, I had some perfunctory tears at the end of the story. But it absolutely wasn't the same emotional ride as before.

Characters from the last books are just shoved aside in favor of introducing the new characters and new worlds. The worldbuilding and new magic systems are amazing…but I would gladly lose them to be able to complete the story that it felt like the Orisha trilogy was originally telling. I would gladly lose them to be able to get answers to questions I had after book 2 that did not get addressed at all in book 3. Some characters were also just straight up lost and ignored and their fate's left open as plot bunnies.

I think we all knew that the cliffhanger in book 2 was going to drastically change the direction of the story, but I didn't expect that it would mean the story we spent getting built up in two books would just be completely abandoned and wrapped up in what was, quite frankly, an extremely unrealistic and unbelievable answer. The ending of book 3 and the entire series was just so abrupt. For as much work as Tomi does teaching writing, I really would have expected a fully played out climax with a suspenseful build and some sort of closure/ending. But it felt rushed. The ending was quick and then all of a sudden we're at the epilogue. It was not a well paced climax. After all the build up, the ending just fell flat. The final action was basically 0 compared to the buildup, and there absolutely was no taking us down from the climax. AND, I was left with a pretty big question at the end, plot-wise, which just doesn't get addressed whatsoever.

I've spent a lot of time on the things that I wish had been done differently, but since I did overall enjoy the read, I want to also point out what I enjoyed.

The writing was good, even if the storytelling wasn't the best. I finished the book in two days, and I did so because I did want to know what happened.

The worldbuilding and new magic systems we see are very interesting, though they might have been better explored in their own books and their own stories.

I don't know if it was always Tomi's plan or if she was responding to the fanbase, but I heavily appreciate how she handled Amari's character in particular.

I honestly thought the pacing in book 3 was much better than book 2. Book 2 was so heavy and hard to get through emotionally. I felt book 3 found its footing a lot better in giving me a lot of action but also not overwhelming me.

That said, I think the book definitely just suffered a mismatch of my expectations developed from the first two books and the final product, especially after so much time in between releases. It's been five years. A pandemic happened. A lot was going on in general, and I know Tomi must have grown so much in this time. Perhaps Tomi just outgrew the story she was telling for the age group she was writing for in the time it took for this series to get fully published and will blossom even further in her future projects.

I would like to go back and re-read all three books together and see how I feel about the finale after that. I did not re-read the series before book 3 (so the tons of flashback and reminder scenes were helpful for me, but might feel like too much on a re-read), and I would like to do that for a better overall picture of book 3.

[yellowsocialbunny]

targaryen sims portraits pt. III

Prince Aemon Targaryen had eyes "as pale as lilac". His hair was a rare color, rare even in Old Valyria: it was pale, and shone like white gold. Aemon was tall and handsome, even as a boy of seven. He was taller than his younger brother Baelon, and stronger. By the time Aemon was fifteen years old, he was six feet and two inches tall. As a young child, Aemon was very serious, cautious, careful, and obedient. Aemon was fast friends with his brother Baelon, and would train with him in the yard. They were evenly matched against each other, and their contests were very spirited, always drawing crowds of onlookers.

Prince Baelon Targaryen at birth was smaller than his older brother, Aemon. He was louder and lustier, however. The first time Baelon visited the Dragonpit, he hit Balerion on the snout, causing Ser Samgood of the Kingsguard to remark that he was either brave or mad. Ever since, Baelon was also known as Baelon the Brave.

Princess Alyssa Targaryen was long-faced and skinny. She had dirty blond tangled hair, without a trace of silver. She had mismatched eyes, one violet, the other green. She had big ears and a lopsided smile. At the age of six she broke her nose, which healed crooked. As a child, she did not act like a girl. She would dress in boy's clothes whenever possible, and preferred to ride, climb, and duel with wooden swords over more lady-like activities, and shunned the company of girls. Alyssa was strong, quick, and spirited. She loved to boast that she was "as bawdy a wench as any barmaid in King's Landing".

Septa Maegelle Targaryen as a girl was gentle, quiet, studious, and exceedingly bright, and was said to read from the Seven-Pointed Star every night before sleep, and was eager to take the vows. She was known for her compassion, and her gift for healing.

Archmaester Vaegon Targaryen had the silver-gold hair and purple eyes of the Targaryens. However, he could not be described as "comely": he had a long face and round shoulders, even at a young age. He always had a pinched sour cast to his mouth. He was not a coward, but neither took joy from the play of squires and pages. He was a miserable fighter, and not well-trained at arms. He was a bookish boy and much preferred the library, where he could often be found. Books were his only passion. When he had to speak he was often blunt, though never intentionally cruel: he always dutifully performed perfunctory courtesies, but no more.

Princess Daella Targaryen was small of stature: on her toes she stood five feet and two inches. Everyone who met her judged her younger than she was in truth, as there was a childish aspect to her. As she grew to maidenhood she was described as pretty, enough to attract the attention of young lords, but wasn't singled out as exceptionally beautiful. Daella was considered sweet, kind, and gentle, with a tender heart. However, she was also a delicate and shy, tongue-tied girl, who was easily frightened and quick to cry. She liked flowers but was afraid of gardens, bees, and cats

descriptions by A Wiki of Ice and Fire

[moon3thereal]

Summertime sadness

NOT MY GIF!!

Pairings: Platonic Lady lesso x OC! never student

Genre: hurt/comfort

Warnings: mentions of anxiety, break down

A/n: honestly this was a very self indulging fic and the title is just my new hyperfixation! This is not proofread and written on my phone so I'm sorry for any typos and the mediocrity of it

you are not allowed to copy, translate or repost my work onto any other platform without explicit permission from me.

1200 words

"Ms. LeFay, see me after class." Isolde's heart sank as she heard the edge in Lady Lesso's voice, she gave a curt nod in return and spent the rest of the class in a world of her own while the dean delivered her lecture on eternal curses.

Isolde only snapped out of her daze when the deafening bell rang signaling the end of class, she slowly rose up from her seat hoping to blend in to the multitude of students streaming out of the class to no avail.

She hadnt even been able to take a step before a firm hand curled around her bicep. Isolde let out a huff of frustration and allowed herself to be stopped since there was no escaping the dean of evil, as a matter of fact she wasn't even sure why she tried, she'd just listen to the lecture Lady Lesso surely had in store for her about her poor performance and try her best not to break down right in front of her dean.

When all the students were gone, the classroom descended into a heavy silence between Lady Lesso and Isolde. she couldn't even bring her eyes up to meet the striking green of her teacher's gaze. When the silence got too loud, it was evident Lady Lesso was waiting for her student to speak up, so speak up Isolde did.

At that moment, it felt like everything she felt that was kept inside of her rushed out without hesitance. "yes I know I'm a huge disappointment, did you want an apology from me Lady Lesso? Well here it is, I'm sorry I can't always be the high achiever I'm portrayed as, I'm sorry I can't always live up to your expectations, I'm sorry I'm such a failure, I'm sorry you wasted your time on me for nothing. Is that what you wanted to hear? Well here it is. I really hope you're happy now."

Isolde inhaled deeply after her outburst and promptly turned on her heel to leave, Lady Lesso hadn't interrupted her once during her shouting but now her cane shot out to bar the door." I don't seem to recall dismissing you, Ms LeFay. Now if you're done with your tantrum, I would like to speak." she said calmly

"You know I always receive first place ranks, it's standard at this point.I lost to Hester and that's unacceptable" Isolde gritted out "You deserved it, you weren't giving me your best, your curse was perfunctory and you completely deserved the grade I gave you. Now before you shout and rage and attempt to run away yet again, I want you to listen to me very carefully." Lady Lesso paused to gaze at her student sternly, receiving a tentative nod of her head before continuing

"What exactly have you been doing to yourself these past few days? No, hold on, I'd like to guess. You've been spending your nights in the library and your days buried by your own anxiety and putting unnecessary pressure on yourself to be flawless constantly and not allowing yourself any leeway, does that sound quite right?" Lady Lesso asked with a perfect eyebrow raised.

It wasn't what Isolde had expected from her mentor, not at all, and it caught her off guard,"Im sorry, I- what-?" she stuttered, confusion lining her features "Despite what you may feel about me Ms LeFay, being your mentor for four years has made me fond of you, and I know that your behaviour today was completely abnormal."

Lady Lesso leaned against her desk and assessed the look of panic on Isolde's face, she softened and added in a softer tone, "and about what you said just now, you will never apologise to me for being a disappointment again. I have never been disappointed in you, in fact I will even go as far as to say you have always, and will always make me proud. And if I'm right, this has all come to be because you didn't manage to complete Professor Sheek's test in time and you haven't attended her class ever since then. There's one thing you sorely need to be told Isolde, you cannot continue basing your entire self-worth on what people think of you and numbers on a paper,that's no way to live, you are so much more than that my dear."

At this point there were tears welling in Isolde's eyes and she struggled to regulate her breathing and this time when she felt Lady Lesso's hand guide her without her usual vice-like grip to sit, she obediently slumped on a chair." you're really not disappointed in me?" she asked in a small voice while staring at her own feet suddenly feeling deeply embarrassed of her outburst.

"No my dear of course I'm not, however I would like you to take better care of yourself and to stop being so harsh on yourself to the point of getting into this state. I've never seen you like this and I will help you in any way if it means I won't ever see you like this again." Lady Lesso said gently. Isolde let out a relieved sigh and allowed her tears to slide down her cheeks as she leaned into her teacher's embrace. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Lady Lesso calmed her down subtly by rubbing her back softly and whispered assurances.

After a while, Isolde had calmed down sufficiently and her sobs has quieted to sniffles. "You'll take the day off and actually enjoy the privilege of your position as head of student body and take a bath, read, paint, enjoy your single room, you do know that everyone else has to share and they'd give up anything to have the room that you do don't you?" some of the sarcasm had returned to the dean's voice.

Isolde immediately frowned and protested, "but I have curses and death traps with you again and another class in the evening, I couldn't possibly-" Lady Lesso cut off her students stream of protests and spoke authoritatively "you can and you will, I am your dean and I demand that you not return to classes until tomorrow, I can have someone lock you in your dorm if you'd like Ms LeFay" she said in a stern tone.

"I- alright, I'll take the day off but if I fail anything tomorrow, I'm going to put the blame on you." Isolde said attempting to sound sour. The only response Lady Lesso gave was a incredulous laugh, she knew that her best student couldn't possibly fail a class if she missed an entire year, not to mention a day, but she didn't dole out praises often and she wouldn't start now.

"come, I'll walk you to your dorm" she said and opened the doors of her classroom expectantly to see several students eavesdropping on your conversation "if anyone has anything to say about this, I'm sure we can set up a time for a fun chat in the doom room." she sent them her signature glare that made students flee at the sight of it and it worked magnificently just as it did every time.

[chxmpagneprxblem]

Second Hand Ideas

Coriolanus Snow is thought to have married Julia Pompey. She is thought to have died from Snow's use of poison. Here is what happened between those two events.

Warnings; canon typical violence, coryo, grief, blood, mentions of suicide, suicidal ideation

Julia knew her husband had always been a genius in his own way. He had saved his name and regained the honour of his family. But sometimes, just sometimes, she wondered how much of this was owed to others. How many times he heard something and claimed it as his own when a lightbulb went off above his head.

Julia had accidentally provided her husband with some of his worst ideas. She hadn't meant to do it. An errant comment thrown into conversation, late night discussions with a man who could never have truly loved her.

He hadn't always had the power to act on his ideas, his own inflated self of importance years ahead of how others thought of him. But he had saved them somewhere in the recess of his brain for later use.

Watching the young girl face her audience, watching the grim determination overcome her features as she attempted not to cry. Well it was all just a little bit too much for Julia. She excused herself from the viewing room and locked the bathroom door with shaking hands.

She would die, that little girl. She would die and no one would remember her in a year. No one ever remembered the losers. That was the point. She understood it all. Or at least she had once. She had sat at dinner parties and laughed about it all, like it was trivial. But it wasn't. Those children died.

Julia thought of her own children, her grandchildren. Her babies. Grown as they may be, they would always be her babies. She couldn't imagine the pain that went through the mother's hearts as they watched their children reaped, year in and year out.

Her heart weeped while she attempted to her dry her eyes. He would know she had been crying. He always knew. She suspected he probably had cameras here in this very bathroom. In every room. In every house. District and Capitol alike.

By the time Julia had composed herself and taken her seat the readings had moved on and she watched with an aching heart and a disinterested smile on her lips and children sobbed and volunteered and accepted their faith.

But her mind was stuck on young Katniss Everdeen. Of the blonde haired sister, Primrose, who had been reaped. Of how every slip in the glass bowl had held the same name. Hundreds of times over and they didn't even know it.

An offhand comment, a young girl flaunting the rules, hunting in the woods, selling to peacekeepers. Providing for her starving family. She had no idea what she had been risking. She had no idea how heavily watched those woods had been. No idea about how her father had been killed in an accident that had never been an accident and now her sister's reaping, a freak statistic given she had only been entered once.

"She's protecting her family. Her sister." The beginning of a second hand idea. An off hand comment about the girls derision for the rules made by Julia had accidentally ruined that young girls life.

"She'd break the law to protect her sister. I wonder what else she would do?"

///

Julia had met her husband in a hospital. Not very grandeur or romantic. Just a hospital room with beeping machines, weeping cousins and rattled breathing from an old lady. Coriolanus hadn't cried. Tigris had done enough for the both of them.

Julia had been a medic in training. Assigned the slower cases, the elderly and the terminal. She didn't do much besides record heart rates and administer Morphling. Mrs. Snow had been her patient. She had spent her dying days in the hospital and consequently, Julia had met a young Coriolanus Snow.

She almost hadn't realised his attempt to romance her, as subtle as it was. Romance would be the wrong word. He had a perfunctory plans with which she fit into. She was educated, of reasonable old money, and most importantly, she was pretty.

While Julia had never asked Snow of his past, she had known a substantial amount. She had known of Lucy Gray Baird, the disappearing victor. Snow had loved her. In the only way he knew how. He had, in his own head, owned her.

Julia was young enough to believe that Coriolanus' desire to possess her was love. He was a handsome man with prospects that varied as wide as the imagination. His charm led Julia to believe he could do anything. His vanity led him to believe, and achieve, the same.

They had married quickly as Coriolanus rose in the ranks of game makers, his ideas allowing him to stand out. The renovations of the arena, the victor parades, the primping and beautifying of tributes.

Every suggestion he made was received with praise and rejoicing at the new age of the Hunger Games. By the time the last of their three children had been born, Coriolanus was directly involved with the Quarter Quell. His studies were almost completed and his ideas revered. Every year something bigger and better came from him.

For the Quarter Quell it had to be special. It had to be massive. It had to be his very best idea.

"I just don't think the academy mentors can relate to those children." Tigris had said at tea one day.

And thus the Victors were dragged back to the Capitol kicking and screaming to try and keep those children alive. To fail, over and over in the wider districts because any living mentor from those districts were once offs, lucky escapes and the most fortunate of unfortunate circumstances.

///

By the time their first grandchild arrived on the scene Coriolanus was Head Gamemaker. The second ever Quarter Quell was fast approaching and trouble had been rising in the districts again. It had been making those in the Capitol uneasy and it hadn't gone unnoticed that certain things had become limited such as coal and fruit.

"You can't go back and punish them harder. You can't just make it worse. Is losing twenty four children not enough?" Julia had asked.

The announcement that the victors would be doubled should not have surprised her. It should not have made her gasp. Nothing should have after thirty five years of knowing Coriolanus.

She had learned over and over that truly nothing was below him. She hadn't known everything of course. Not from the beginning or else she was sure she would never have married him. She could've been free. She could've gotten away before she had been dragged under.

She had thought about it once. Leaving. Times had been rough, her marriage on tenuous grounds as her husband's evil began to shine through without shame. He had been a servant, the man who had taught her what love actually felt like.

Her second child had been born only weeks before and Julia associated those weeks and months that followed with a deep sadness. Alarbus had taken notice of her, cared for her when he found her crying. He had tasted the salt on her lips the first time he had kissed her.

Avox's had just began to become common punishment in the Capitol, traitors who lost the use of their voice and had their tongues removed.

Alarbus found out the hard way that it was not a painless procedure. His tongue had been presented in a gift box while Julia had been nursing her daughter. She had almost dropped the baby in shock. Alarbus, who had presented his own tongue under his master's orders, had caught her.

He disappeared the next day, something Julia presumed had to do with the bloody razor left in her bathroom. She didn't know which of her lovers had left it to her, which would hurt more.

///

President Coriolanus Snow. It had been terrifying as his enemies dropped in the months following his Inauguration. No one could argue with him now. Least of all his lowly wife who spent hours avoiding her husband and his greed for more power.

His dinner parties with victors whom he had chosen to be his special pet projects. The young boy with the winning smile, the golden haired siblings, the genius engineer, the razor toothed beauty. All his to keep and show off. Rewards and bribes for powerful men and women.

He ruined everyone he touched. His own cousin had cast herself out, ruining her beauty just to remove association to this monster of a man. A monster she had tried to shelter from the darkness, not knowing it lived within him.

He had brought this darkness onto himself. He had followed his ideas to the end, his weapon had become a double edged sword. Punishing Katniss Everdeen for trying to keep her family alive had brought an end to his reign. The Capitol looked just as it had when Julia was eight and bombs and gunfire were the sounds she associated with daily life.

A full circle had been formed. They had returned to the dark days, all because of her husband's obsessive watch of the District 12 fence. Hoping that one day his song bird would climb it and return. Hoping one day he would get his chance to own everything he had ever wanted.

Instead he had taken her free spirit and accidentally set it alight with the districts.

The last straw had been the song.

Something ticked in Coriolanus' jaw. A muscle, a nerve. Julia didn't know. What she did know was that the end was near. The Hanging Tree echoed beautifully around the empty viewing room. A wine glass sat to Julia's left. A glass that was always within reach but she had never drank from.

Her husband had gotten drunk and loose lipped once. He had told her of Lucy Gray Baird and Sejanus Plinth. So now Julia laughed because she knew Lucy Gray Baird would have. She knew Sejanus Plinth would have. She knew the rebels would.

She lifted the glass while she laughed, looked her husband in the eye and drank deeply.

[deadendtracks]

I meant marriage but I would be interested to know your thoughts on prior to marriage too...

Ah ok thanks for clarifying.

First, I think that if Tommy's main motivation for marrying Lizzie was a fear of being alone, he would have asked her to marry him when she told him she was pregnant. You know? That would have been a great opportunity to guarantee companionship. But he didn't.

It's not that I don't think there's some truth to the idea that Tommy has a fear of being alone (I'll expand on this in a moment); but I don't think it really plays out by motivating him to marry Lizzie. And I'm not all that convinced it has a lot to do directly with why he was sexually involved with Lizzie before they married. I think Tommy can use sex as an outlet and a distraction, and yes for some human contact (which isn't the same thing as alleviating a fear of being alone). The sex we see him having with Lizzie in s2 is pretty perfunctory, though that might have been specific to the context of that episode and they seem friendly enough afterwards. He also breaks that relationship off with her once he hires her, which he most likely would not have chosen not to do if his primary motivation was fear of being alone.

I think it's more likely after Grace's death, when they were together in s3. We don't actually see any of those sex scenes (though we have Lizzie's line that it was 'bent over a desk' so not exactly super intimate). We also have Tommy's claim that it was Lizzie who kept his heart from breaking. My guess is the truth about how they interacted was probably somewhere in the middle -- 'bent over a desk' doesn't really give you the idea that she's providing him with the kind of emotional comfort Tommy claims to have gained.

But I think the more interesting question is whether or not Tommy has a 'fear of being alone' in the first place. I was talking to Lisa about this, and she framed it as more a fear of being abandoned and I think that's more accurate. I also think that Tommy already feels alone, all of the time, no matter who he's with -- there was a fundamental severing that creates a chasm between him and everyone else, and this seems to have either happened during the war or was worsened by the war.

It's not so much a fear of being alone-- Tommy's very self-aware of the fact that he's already profoundly lonely. He struggles to connect with people. This is part of his PTSD.

So back to your original question: does Tommy marry Lizzie out of a fear of being alone? I'd probably argue no; at the same time I do think that once they are married, Tommy does have a fear that Lizzie will abandon him. And that's actually driving what people have called his jealousy or possessiveness in s5, and it's painfully present in s6 when Lizzie does leave him.

Paradoxically, Tommy doesn't generally try to defend himself or try to make people stay. You see this with Ada in s1 (this is credit to Lisa again) -- he gives up on trying to convince her that he wasn't behind Freddie's arrest and just accepts her 'forgiveness' because he's so afraid if he doesn't, she'll push him away for good. This dynamic is a big part of how he behaves with his family imo.

You also see this when he doesn't try to explain what happened with Diana Mitford in s6, even when Lizzie basically asks him to (her line about how he doesn't even fight her on leaving). I think in this case it's less that he's afraid that if he does she'll push him away, rather it's wrapped up in shame and the idea that he 'belongs at that table' with the fascists. All of that is probably a whole other essay, though.

This has gotten long and I'm feeling dissatisfied with my ability to articulate what I really mean, but hopefully it has complicated, rather than simplified or flattened, Tommy's character.

I do think "Tommy marries Lizzie/is with Lizzie because he's afraid of being alone" isn't accurate and does that thing where reducing his motivations to an easy formula lead you away from really understanding anything that's going on.

[electronswrites]

Continued from this post

Lu Ten decided to begin his search with the Air Temples. The Air Temples were supposed to be impossible to access for anyone who wasn't an Airbender, but great-grandfather Sozin (great-great-grandfather Sozin? Ugh, whatever, he would ask his history tutor when he returned home) had managed it, so how hard could it be? Lu Ten checked the maps and saw that the base Uncle Ozai (ugh) commanded was near the Southern Air Temple. He could go visit his cousins!

Well, he could go visit Zuko. Azula was four, a girl and altogether very boring. Zuko was energetic, six, thought Lu Ten was the coolest person in the world (not that he was wrong) and was a lot of fun to play with. Lu Ten grinned at the thought of seeing his cousin again. Father always said that family was the most important thing.

Lu Ten made up his mind. First he would go to Uncle Ozai's (ugh) base. Then he would go to the Southern Air Temple. Then he would… something, something, something. Then he would find the Avatar. Lu Ten smiled in satisfaction at how good he was at planning.

Lu Ten whistled an old song as he went down the hall to relay his orders to the helmsman. He passed by the kitchen and then stopped. He turned around, went into the kitchen and then ate a large plate of lobsterboar. He was a growing boy and needed sustenance. Father always said so.

Fed and watered, Lu Ten returned to the hall. He was almost to his goal when he heard the familiar sound of someone clearing his throat. Lu Ten sighed the heavy sigh of the tragically put upon and turned around. He performed a reluctant perfunctory bow. "Master Piandoa," he grumbled.

Master Piandoa responded with a deep bow of his own. "Prince Lu Ten," he said with somber respect. Master Piandoa was such a buzzkill sometimes. Lu Ten didn't understand what Dad saw in him. Sure, they both loved tea, Pai Sho, weird proverbs, botany, poetry, history, painting and- Okay, maybe Lu Ten understood why they got along.

"I'm going to see the helmsman," Lu Ten explained. "We're going south!"

Master Piandoa raised his "is that right" eyebrow. It was Lu Ten's least favorite eyebrow of all the eyebrows in the world. "You're late for your lessons," Piandoa informed Lu Ten.

Lu Ten groaned. Dad had told Lu Ten that he could pick which of his tutors would accompany him on his mission. Lu Ten had been delighted by this autonomy and promptly invited none of them. "I've already learned everything I need to know from them."

"That's fantastic," Dad crooned. "Then it is time for you to learn a new skill. Master Piandoa will go with you and teach you swordsmanship."

"Swordsmanship? Dad, I'm already a Master Firebender. I don't need to learn how to play with swords," Lu Ten complained.

"When you are a general, like me, not all of the men under your command will be Firebenders. It is good to understand how they fight, so you can better lead them," Dad had explained. "Learning new skills keeps the mind nimble! I know that you will advance quickly and make me very proud."

Lu Ten had sighed the sigh of the tragically put upon, but there was little else he could do. Father always had his best interests at heart, even if sometimes it was apparently in his best interest to be bored and annoyed. So Lu Ten was stuck with Master Piandoa. Master Piandoa wasn't so bad when he wasn't being all wise and cryptic, which was… most of the time.

"Sorry, Master Piandoa," Lu Ten said. "l'll be right there as soon as I'm done talking to the helmsman."

"Punctuality is an important skill, especially for a prince," Piandoa said.

"Flexibility is also an important skill, for any warrior," Lu Ten said with a cheeky grin. He was so clever and good at improvising. He would have to tell Mai this story the next time he saw her. She might give him one of her almost, not quite, a smiles. "So, can we reschedule?"

Piandoa responded with a not quite a frown. "Very well, My Prince," he said in a stiff tone. "We will meet on the deck in one hour."

"Thanks Master Piandoa!" Lu Ten ran off before Piandoa could share a proverb with him about respect or diligence or something equally boring.

Lu Ten found the Helmsman and ordered him to set sail for Uncle Ozai's base. Apparently the navigator needed to chart a course first, so Lu Ten went and found him and ordered him to do that. After all of that hard work, Lu Ten needed another snack. He went and had the chef make him some crabscallop sushi.

After eating, Lu Ten realized that he was late for his lessons with Master Piandoa. Lu Ten pictured his father's "I love you with all my heart and even though I'm disappointed in you that will never change" expression and sighed the sigh of the tragically put upon. Lu Ten went to the deck and found Master Piandoa there with two wooden boards, some paper, some brushes and a pot of ink.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I was eating," Lu Ten explained.

Piandoa didn't roll his eyes in a very rolling his eyes sort of way. "You are your father's son," he said, which, fair.

"What's with the paper?"

"We are going to practice calligraphy today." Master Piandoa launched into a speech about a stroke of the brush being like a stroke of the sword. Lu Ten needed to write a letter to Father anyway, so he supposed a calligraphy lesson wouldn't be a complete waste of time. He could tell Father all about his new and exciting plans and about the hilarious zing he'd given Master Piandoa, although maybe Dad wouldn't appreciate his disrespecting his boyfriend like- "Prince Lu Ten."

Le Ten looked at Piandoa. "Yeah."

"Are you listening?"

"Of course." Lu Ten smiled at him.

Piandoa sighed and pushed a piece of paper over to him. Lu Ten picked up a brush and started writing a letter. Dearest Father, Crown Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation, Dragon of the West, General of our-

"What are you doing?"

Lu Ten looked up. "Writing a letter to my father."

Piandoa didn't roll his eyes in his most rolling his eyes way. "I told you to practice writing your name."

"I know how to write my name," Lu Ten said. "Even my little cousin Zuko knows how to write his name."

"I bet Zuko wouldn't give me nearly this much trouble," Piandoa grumbled.

"I'll sign my name at the bottom," Lu Ten promised.

Piandoa sighed. "Do what you like. I'll be in my room if you have need of me." Piandoa got to his feet and bowed to his prince.

"Thank you Master Piandoa," Lu Ten called out as Piandoa departed.

Master Piandoa declined to respond in that way he had where he made his silence very loud. Lu Ten wondered if he would teach him how to do that.

[yellowsocialbunny]

targaryen sims pt. III

Prince Aemon Targaryen had eyes "as pale as lilac". His hair was a rare color, rare even in Old Valyria: it was pale, and shone like white gold. Aemon was tall and handsome, even as a boy of seven. He was taller than his younger brother Baelon, and stronger. By the time Aemon was fifteen years old, he was six feet and two inches tall. As a young child, Aemon was very serious, cautious, careful, and obedient. Aemon was fast friends with his brother Baelon, and would train with him in the yard. They were evenly matched against each other, and their contests were very spirited, always drawing crowds of onlookers.

Prince Baelon Targaryen at birth was smaller than his older brother, Aemon. He was louder and lustier, however. The first time Baelon visited the Dragonpit, he hit Balerion on the snout, causing Ser Samgood of the Kingsguard to remark that he was either brave or mad. Ever since, Baelon was also known as Baelon the Brave.

Princess Alyssa Targaryen was long-faced and skinny. She had dirty blond tangled hair, without a trace of silver. She had mismatched eyes, one violet, the other green. She had big ears and a lopsided smile. At the age of six she broke her nose, which healed crooked. As a child, she did not act like a girl. She would dress in boy's clothes whenever possible, and preferred to ride, climb, and duel with wooden swords over more lady-like activities, and shunned the company of girls. Alyssa was strong, quick, and spirited. She loved to boast that she was "as bawdy a wench as any barmaid in King's Landing".

Septa Maegelle Targaryen as a girl was gentle, quiet, studious, and exceedingly bright, and was said to read from the Seven-Pointed Star every night before sleep, and was eager to take the vows. She was known for her compassion, and her gift for healing.

Archmaester Vaegon Targaryen had the silver-gold hair and purple eyes of the Targaryens. However, he could not be described as "comely": he had a long face and round shoulders, even at a young age. He always had a pinched sour cast to his mouth. He was not a coward, but neither took joy from the play of squires and pages. He was a miserable fighter, and not well-trained at arms. He was a bookish boy and much preferred the library, where he could often be found. Books were his only passion. When he had to speak he was often blunt, though never intentionally cruel: he always dutifully performed perfunctory courtesies, but no more.

Princess Daella Targaryen was small of stature: on her toes she stood five feet and two inches. Everyone who met her judged her younger than she was in truth, as there was a childish aspect to her. As she grew to maidenhood she was described as pretty, enough to attract the attention of young lords, but wasn't singled out as exceptionally beautiful. Daella was considered sweet, kind, and gentle, with a tender heart. However, she was also a delicate and shy, tongue-tied girl, who was easily frightened and quick to cry. She liked flowers but was afraid of gardens, bees, and cats

descriptions by A Wiki of Ice and Fire